March 31 Daily Devotional

"He That Shall Endure Unto the End...."

the Rev. David Freeman

"But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."
"Matthew 24:13

Devotional

But some one will ask, "Can not a Christian fall?" Yes. There are examples in Scripture of some who have fallen. There are David and Peter. But it should be remembered, God raised up the fallen and set them on the road of perseverance. They endured unto the end.

Still we have no right to hail as a child of God every Judas, who once kept company with God's own and later sells his Lord, every Simon Magus, who once also believed and then barters for the gift of the Holy Spirit, every Demas, who at one time clave to God's servant and afterward returned to the world, and every Alexander the coppersmith, who has been known to help in the work, but has now become a worker of mischief. "They went out from us because they were not of us."

Christ's death demands that those for whom He died shall persevere. What sort of a Captain is He if He is not able to lead many sons unto glory? What are His promises worth if they are not sure? What efficacy in His blood if it does not procure our salvation? What place has He gone to prepare that will have no occupant in it? What value in His intercession that does not prevail with the Father for us?

He is a mighty and glorious Savior to whom has been given all power in heaven and on earth. Those whom He saves, He makes to endure. Of this we may be confident, "that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."

Let him who bears the name of Christian persevere. And may it be given to every reader to sing with Jude, "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen."

"Lift Up Your Heart" is a series of devotionals by the late Rev. David Freeman, an ordained minister in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church for most of his life. These devotionals, in fact, are part of the early history of our denomination. The first of them was published in The Presbyterian Guardian in 1935; the denomination now known as the Orthodox Presbyterian Church was officially formed in 1936. We believe that "the Word of our God stands forever" (Isaiah 40:8; see 1 Peter 1:25). Thus it is no surprise that meditations based on that Word have continued relevance today. Dr. Freeman's devotionals are proof of that fact.

David Freeman was a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary (Th.B., 1928; Th.M. , 1930) and of Dropsie Univiersity (Ph.D., 1951). He served as pastor at Grace (later New Covenant) Presbyterian Church (OPC), Philadelphia, PA (1936-1946), Knox Presbyterian Church (OPC), Philadelphia, PA (1949-1962), and Grace Presbyterian Church (OPC), Fall River, MA (1962-1967). He authored many articles and (along with his son, David H. Freeman) is the author of the book A Philosophical Study of Religion, which appeared in 1964. He went to be with the Lord in 1984.

There is one change from the way the daily devotional was handled in the past with John Skilton's Think On These Things: New devotionals for the new series appear on weekdays only (Monday through Saturday. It is suggested that you use your pastor's sermon text(s) as the basis for your mediations on the Lord's Day.

We trust that you will find these devotionals, once again made available seventy years after they first appeared, to be a personal help in your own Christian walk today!