DEATH-CHRISTIAN-PERSPECTIVES
Let us consider this settled, that no one has made
progress in the school of Christ who does not joyfully await
the day of death and final resurrection.
John
Calvin
Institutes, 3.10.5.
Resolved,
to think much on all occasions of my own dying, and of the common circumstances
which attend death.
Resolution Number 9.
I account
this body nothing but a close prison to my soul; and the earth a larger prison
to my body. I may not break prison, till I be loosed
by death; but I will leave it, not unwillingly, when I am loosed.
A Puritan Golden Treasury, compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 71.
Pray that thy
last days, and last works may be the best; and that when thou comest to die, thou mayest have
nothing else to do but die.
Vavasor
Powell
A Puritan Golden Treasury,
compiled by I.D.E. Thomas, by permission of Banner of Truth, Carlisle, PA. 2000, p. 72.
When we die
we leave behind us all we have, and take with us all we are.
Author Unknown
Many
Christians dread the thought of leaving this world. Why? Because
so many have stored up their treasures on earth, not in heaven. Each day
brings us closer to death. If your treasures are on earth,
that means each day brings you closer to losing your treasures.
Randy Alcorn
Excerpted from The Treasure Principle by
Randy Alcorn © 2002 by Eternal Perspective Ministries, p. 40.
He who lays
up treasures on earth spends his life backing away from his treasures. To him,
death is loss. He who lays up treasures
in heaven looks forward to eternity; he's moving daily toward his treasures. To
him, death is gain. He who spends his life moving toward his treasures has
reason to rejoice. Are you despairing or rejoicing?
Randy Alcorn
Excerpted from The Treasure Principle by
Randy Alcorn © 2002 by Eternal Perspective Ministries, p. 43.
For
we brought nothing into the world and we cannot take anything out of the world
(1 Tim. 6:7).
There are no U-Hauls behind hearses.
John Piper
Desiring God, p. 161, copyright Bethlehem
Baptist Church, used by permission, www.DesiringGod.org.
I don’t so much pray that my death will be without pain,
but that it will be without doubt.
John Piper
We Christians
often act like heathen. We preach that it is wonderful to be a Christian, that
Heaven is to be gained and Hell shunned. Then when one of our loved ones dies, we
act as if it were all a lie. Our actions say that this world is better than the
next, that death is a tragedy, and we ask querulously in our unbelief, Why? Why? Why?… Shame on us! When
we weep and lament at the death of our loved ones [beyond God’s-honoring grief],
we often make void our testimony, cast reflection upon the Bible and
irreverence on Heaven. For the Christian, death is not a tragedy but a glorious
promotion – not the sad end, but the glorious beginning.
John R. Rice
Bible Facts About Heaven, Sword of the Lord, 1940, p.
38.
We are immortal until our work on earth is done.
George Whitfield
Death is
never the last word in the life of a…man. When a man leaves this world, be he righteous or unrighteous, he leaves something in the
world. He may leave something that will grow and spread like a cancer or a
poison, or he may leave something like the fragrance of perfume or a blossom of
beauty that permeates the atmosphere with blessing.
James Moffatt
Your
life preaches your funeral.
Author
Unknown