Death, Where Is Your Sting?

Deathbed Quotes ^[1]Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations : A Treasury of Illustrations, Anecdotes, Facts and Quotations for Pastors, Teachers and Christian Workers (Garland TX: Bible Communications, 1996, … Continue reading

• D.L. Moody

“A few hours before entering the “Homeland,” Dwight L. Moody caught a glimpse of the glory awaiting him. Awakening from a sleep, he said, “Earth recedes, Heaven opens before me. If this is death, it is sweet! There is no valley here. God is calling me, and I must go.”His son who was standing by his bedside said, “No, no, father, you are dreaming.”

““No,” said Mr. Moody, “I am not dreaming: I have been within the gates: I have seen the children’s faces.” A short time elapsed and then, following what seemed to the family to be the death struggle he spoke again: “This is my triumph; this my coronation day! It is glorious!””
—G. W. Ridout

• Matthew Henry—”Sin is bitter. I bless God I have inward supports.”
• Martin Luther—”Our God is the God from whom cometh salvation: God is the Lord by whom we escape death.”
• John Knox—Live in Christ, Live in Christ, and the flesh need not fear death.
• John Calvin—”Thou, Lord, bruisest me; but I am abundantly satisfied, since it is from thy hand.”
• John Wesley—”The best of all is, God is with us. Farewell! Farewell!”
• Charles Wesley—”I shall be satisfied with thy likeness—satisfied, satisfied!”
• Baxter—”I have pain; but I have peace. I have peace.”
• Preston—”Blessed be God! though I change my place, I shall not change my company.”
• Goodwin—”Ah! is this dying? How have I dreaded as an enemy this smiling friend!”
• Everett—”Glory, glory, glory!” (this expression was repeated for 25 minutes and only ceased with life itself).
• Antoinette, Marie (1755-1793) “Farewell, my children, forever. I go to your Father.”
• Frances Havergal, the song writer, lived and moved in the Word of God. His Word was her constant companion. On the last day of her life, she asked a friend to read to her the 42nd chapter of Isaiah. When the friend read the sixth verse. “I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee,” Miss Havergal stopped her. She whispered, “Called—held—kept. I can go home on that!” And she did go home on that.
Other notes:
• Those who love God never meet for the last time. —W. G. Elmslie
• Death is not a period but a comma in the story of life. —Amos J. Tarver
• At a funeral service in Winona Lake, Indiana: “We are not in the land of the living, but in the land of the dying—someday we shall be in the Land of the Living.”

Some will not see death

“Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.” (John 8:51, NASB95)

“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, NASB95)

“But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?” You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly.” (1 Corinthians 15:35-49, NASB95)

“For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 15:53-60, NASB95)

Jesus also said:

“‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’ ”” (Revelation 3:21-22, NASB95)

Near the end of his life, the Apostle Peter, recalling the time he saw Jesus transfigured and God spoke to Peter, James and John confirms that we can have confidence in all these words:

“For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts. But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” (2 Peter 1:17-21, NASB95)