December 31

He that endureth to the end shall he saved. - Matthew 10:22.

“LET not him that girdeth on the harness boast as he that putteth it off,” said Ahab; and this was the wisest thing he ever said. And it is not enough to begin well. It is the end proves all, completes all, crowns all; while some “draw back unto perdition,” there are those “who believe to the saving of their soul.” Apostasy from the faith and practice of the gospel generally go together; sometimes the one takes the lead, and sometimes the other. “Whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God.”

It is a very easy thing to destroy religious convictions. There are two ways of doing it. One is by assassination, and the other is by starvation. Making shipwreck of faith and of a good conscience grieves the Holy Spirit, and in consequence of repeated provocations, God withdraws his restraints, and then the sinner brings upon himself swift destruction. For “it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.” “The last state of that man is worse than the first.” But will not that which is Divine always endure? Assuredly; for that which comes from God will lead to God.

The devotion of a real Christian will be like the fire upon the Jewish altar, which was kindled by the breath of heaven, and was never to go out. It will not resemble the summer brook, but the perennial fountain. “The water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” It was upon this principle that Barnabas exhorted the Christians at Antioch, that with “purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.” He believed in the terms of the “covenant ordered in all things and sure,” and in the final perseverance of saints.

Why, then, it may be asked, did he thus exhort them? Because he well knew how to apply his own principles; because he knew that admonition and warning were not needless for the people of God themselves, nor would be useless. Yea, he knew they were the only persons who derive advantage from warning and admonition, and he knew also the certainty of the end always included the intervention of the means, and that reaping always required sowing; and he knew that there would be no perseverance without persevering, and that they, and only they, would be saved who endured unto the end.

And, says our Lord, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” And the Apostle James says, “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”