God's People Die Well

Once again our minds were shocked by the untimely death of a popular singer and actress, Whitney Houston. She was blessed with a powerful singing voice and natural beauty that propelled her to the platform of a worldwide celebrity. It seems that too many times we have seen entertainers and folks of renown with great gifts, meet an end that is undesirable. This blog is not a judgment of Whitney Houston; that will be done by the true and righteous Judge that we all must face. This blog is about the contrast of those who die having lived well, and those who’ve not.

John Wesley the great Methodist Preacher made this statement when looking at the lives of true professors of salvation and how they died. He said, “Our people die well.”

  

• Psalm 116:15 "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints."

• Rev. 13:14 "…Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."

I think it is a true statement that those who “live well, die well”.

None of us are exempt from death. We’ll all keep that appointment, no matter our social standing, wealth, knowledge, work or pedigree. We do not know what will be the means of our death or the circumstances surrounding it, we simply know that it will happen to all. We can however live our lives for Christ in such a manner though, that when that time comes, we can leave this realm with a dignity and a peace that only living well can bring.

My mind goes back to a recent passing of a Godly sainted mother diagnosed with terminal cancer. Her son is a member of our congregation. As she lay at death’s door, at home being cared for by her family, she had become unresponsive. This went on for at least a couple of days. Her other son, who is a Preacher of the gospel, shared this story with me. Even though she was not responding he felt led of God to read the Bible out loud so his mother might be able to hear it. He leaned over her bed and asked, “Mom, do you want me to read the Bible for you?”  There was no response. Finally a sister who was present looked at him and said, “Well, she didn’t say no!” He then said, “You are right,” and began reading the Word of God to her. He read in the Revelation about that place called Heaven and then he turned and read the scripture that says “to be absent from the Body, and to be present with the Lord.” As he said those words, the mother who had been unresponsive suddenly said “AMEN.” Those would be her last words here. She died well.

I am reminded of the death of a dear Saint many years ago in our Church. She was losing a long battle with cancer and was at home unresponsive with hospice care with her family gathered around. She awakened after 24 hours without response and began to tell all her family what she saw. She told of seeing her brother, who was a Preacher who had gone on to Heaven many years before. She saw a child she had lost, and she described beauty beyond compare. She told of a song that they were singing and she said, “I’ve never heard it before but I want to learn it.”  She would soon make the crossing. She died well.

I think about so many countless stories of the death of God’s saints, of Stephen’s death, as he was being stoned.  He looked up and saw “the son of man standing on the right hand of God.” Vs. 60 and he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. He died well.

I recall the story of a dear friend’s father who was an old, mountain preacher.  He was called upon to lead in prayer, and those present later said he prayed the most humble, Spirit filled prayer, sat down on the pew, and went to glory. He died well.

I think of a recent story of the passing of a dear Saint.  She described seeing “two angels” in the room with their wings spread. She died well.

The story of the gospel pianist Anthony Burger as he played the great hymn “We Shall Behold Him” and then collapsed and went to Heaven. He died well.

The story of the man of God,  Brother Lester Roloff. He died when his plane, that he had flown so many times, crashed.  The story has it that when they found the plane, Brother Roloff was slumped over the steering wheel with his Bible pulled up against his chest. He died well.

We should all consider the fact that one day it will be our name in the obituary column. May we live our lives for Christ well, and when time comes to depart, may we die well.