How to die well 4: Lessons from the Master
Text John 19:17-30, etc Time 21 09 08 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church
John Wesley once remarked about the early Methodists that 'our people die well'. Over the last few weeks we have been looking at this subject of how to die well. We have been trying to pray “Teach me to live, that I may dread The grave as little as my bed; Teach me to die, that so I may Triumphing rise at the last day” (Tallis). We don't know just when the day of our death will come and so we need to be prepared always. It is good for us to think like this anyway. The New England Puritan Cotton Mather once wrote “Live mindful of death - it will have a mighty tendency to make you serious, discreet and industrious.” We quoted J C Ryle the other week “Nothing in the whole history of a man is as important as his death”.
As we have said before there is some help for us out there in various books but chiefly we need to go to the Scriptures. And so already we have looked at three New Testament examples of dying well - the dying thief, the martyr Stephen and the Apostle Paul as he expresses himself in 2 Timothy.
This week, finally, I want us to look at the supreme example, the example of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. It is very important that in all our thinking about death that we focus there. There are two important things to think about from the outset.
1. Christ's sympathy
A 19th Century writer has said “There is nothing in the fact of death, nothing in the consequences of death, which Christ has not endured for us” (Westcott). Part of the purpose of his death was to set his people free from the fear of death. Apart from him there is no hope for us at death. We could not even contemplate talking about death in this calm and resigned manner if not for him. What a terror it would be otherwise! By his death he has swallowed up death! See Hebrews 2:14, 15 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Paul calls him (2 Timothy 1:10) the one who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. According to Thomas Kelly the cross “takes the terror from the grave And gilds the bed of death with light”. Because Christ has died in the place of his people they can face death with confidence. We need be in no doubt about Christ's sympathy and understanding when we consider death and when we finally face it. He understands.
2. Christ's example
It is important to remember that Jesus is not just a great example but our glorious Saviour. However, we must not forget that he is our great example in death as much as in life. See 1 Peter 2:21 Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. Perhaps you have never given much thought to this. You ought to. If the thief on the cross and Stephen and Paul are great examples how much more the example of the master himself? Not only does his death save all who trust in him but all who trust in him should think about his death and learn from his example how to die well. As Gregory said "Every doing of Christ is our instruction and teaching; therefore such things as Christ did, dying on the Cross the same should every man do at his last end, after his knowledge and power.”
There are many things to learn here. Let's look at some of these things.
John Wesley once remarked about the early Methodists that 'our people die well'. Over the last few weeks we have been looking at this subject of how to die well. We have been trying to pray “Teach me to live, that I may dread The grave as little as my bed; Teach me to die, that so I may Triumphing rise at the last day” (Tallis). We don't know just when the day of our death will come and so we need to be prepared always. It is good for us to think like this anyway. The New England Puritan Cotton Mather once wrote “Live mindful of death - it will have a mighty tendency to make you serious, discreet and industrious.” We quoted J C Ryle the other week “Nothing in the whole history of a man is as important as his death”.
As we have said before there is some help for us out there in various books but chiefly we need to go to the Scriptures. And so already we have looked at three New Testament examples of dying well - the dying thief, the martyr Stephen and the Apostle Paul as he expresses himself in 2 Timothy.
This week, finally, I want us to look at the supreme example, the example of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. It is very important that in all our thinking about death that we focus there. There are two important things to think about from the outset.
1. Christ's sympathy
A 19th Century writer has said “There is nothing in the fact of death, nothing in the consequences of death, which Christ has not endured for us” (Westcott). Part of the purpose of his death was to set his people free from the fear of death. Apart from him there is no hope for us at death. We could not even contemplate talking about death in this calm and resigned manner if not for him. What a terror it would be otherwise! By his death he has swallowed up death! See Hebrews 2:14, 15 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. Paul calls him (2 Timothy 1:10) the one who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. According to Thomas Kelly the cross “takes the terror from the grave And gilds the bed of death with light”. Because Christ has died in the place of his people they can face death with confidence. We need be in no doubt about Christ's sympathy and understanding when we consider death and when we finally face it. He understands.
2. Christ's example
It is important to remember that Jesus is not just a great example but our glorious Saviour. However, we must not forget that he is our great example in death as much as in life. See 1 Peter 2:21 Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. Perhaps you have never given much thought to this. You ought to. If the thief on the cross and Stephen and Paul are great examples how much more the example of the master himself? Not only does his death save all who trust in him but all who trust in him should think about his death and learn from his example how to die well. As Gregory said "Every doing of Christ is our instruction and teaching; therefore such things as Christ did, dying on the Cross the same should every man do at his last end, after his knowledge and power.”
There are many things to learn here. Let's look at some of these things.
1. Never forget death yet do not obsessively seek it either
1. Never forget death There is a famous pre-Raphaelite painting of Jesus by Ford Maddox Brown. Jesus is depicted as a young man in the workshop. As he stretches he casts a shadow on the wall behind him and it looks like his crucifixion. It is a little fanciful but it makes a good point. Jesus's death was always central throughout his life. It comes out for example in Luke 9:22 And he said, The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 31 (Moses and Elijah) appeared in glorious splendour, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfilment at Jerusalem. 41 O unbelieving and perverse generation, Jesus replied, how long shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here. 18:31-33 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again. 20:15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 22:15 And he said to them, I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
In Luke 9:23, 24 Jesus says If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. See also Philippians 3:10, 11 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
D'Aubigne quotes Luther somewhere at the time he was summoned to come to Augsburg saying
“I am like Jeremiah ... a man of strife and contention; but the more their threats increase, the more my joy is multiplied. My wife and my children are well provided for; my fields, my houses, and my goods are in order. They have already destroyed my honour and my reputation. One single thing remains; it is my wretched body: let them take it; they will thus shorten my life by a few hours. But as for my soul, they cannot take that. He who desires to proclaim the Word of Christ to the world must expect death at every moment; for our husband is a bloody husband to us.”
Or think of Richard Baxter, who was often at death's door, saying that he preached as a dying man to dying men.
2. Yet do not obsessively seek it either On the other hand, we must not seek death or become obsessed by it. Adoniram Judson the missionary to Burma at one point dug his own grave and lived in sight of it. But this was a time of depression and sorrow. It was a mistake. We are not called to morbid introspection. We need a right balance. Archibald Alexander brings it out well in his book on Christian Experience
“I recollect a sickly but pious lady who, with a profusion of tears, expressed her anxiety and fear in the view of her approaching end. There seemed to be ground for her foreboding apprehensions because, from the beginning of her profession, she had enjoyed no comfortable assurance - but was of the number of those who, though they "fear God, and obey the voice of his servant, yet walk in darkness and have no light" (Isa 50:10) of comfort. But mark the goodness of God and the fidelity of the Great Shepherd. Some months afterwards I saw this lady on her deathbed - and was astonished to find that Christ had delivered her entirely from her bondage. She was now near to her end and knew it - but she shed no tears now but those of joy and gratitude. All her darkness and sorrow were gone. Her heart glowed with love to the Redeemer, and all her anxiety now was to depart and be with Jesus. There was, as it were, a beaming of heaven in her countenance. I had before tried to comfort her - but now I sat down by her bedside to listen to the gracious words which proceeded from her mouth, and could not but send up the fervent aspiration, "O let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like hers!" (Num 23:10) Then I knew that there was one who had conquered death, and him who has the power of death; for Satan, to the last moment, was not permitted to molest her.”
2. Seek to obey God's word
In death as in life Jesus Christ was determined to follow Scripture – to be totally obedient to it. It is the same in death 28 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, I am thirsty. (See also 24, 36). Even there on the cross his great concern was to fulfil God's Word. He is like a man following a map.
Is that what drives you – conformity to God's Word? That is what ought to drive us in life and in death. Remember Scriptures like these John 14:1 (Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me), Proverbs 3:5, 6 (Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.)
In death as in life Jesus Christ was determined to follow Scripture – to be totally obedient to it. It is the same in death 28 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, I am thirsty. (See also 24, 36). Even there on the cross his great concern was to fulfil God's Word. He is like a man following a map.
Is that what drives you – conformity to God's Word? That is what ought to drive us in life and in death. Remember Scriptures like these John 14:1 (Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me), Proverbs 3:5, 6 (Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.)
3. Be practical and selfless
1. Commit others to God We have already considered this when we looked at the death of Stephen. See verse Luke 23:34 Jesus said Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. No doubt not all were forgiven but some were. When we die we must commit those we leave behind to the Lord. There is always hope for those who remain alive. Think of the thief who repented at the last minute too. It is said of George Muller that great man of prayer that after his conversion he began praying for five of his friends. He prayed five years before the first one was converted; for the next one he prayed 10 years and for the third 25. The fourth was not converted until nearly 50 years later. The last one was converted after 52 years - at Muller's own funeral!
2. Do not be falsely romantic about death Sometimes the cross is romanticise in paintings and in other ways. There is nothing romantic about a man dying on a cross. Notice especially how concerned Jesus was with very practical matters. 25-27 Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother, his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved (John himself) standing nearby, he said to his mother, Dear woman, here is your son, and to the disciple, Here is your mother. From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. Obviously there had been some previous discussion about this. Interestingly though Jesus, even in the midst of all he is doing, makes sure this very practical arrangement regarding his mother. It is a reminder of the need to deal with practical things like life insurance and a will and a funeral, etc. We need to be practically minded as well as heavenly minded.
3. Realise that death is cruel Jesus says I thirst not just to fulfil Scripture but because he is thirsty, painfully thirsty. We must not forget how he suffered on the cross and his willingness to make clear he was suffering. Crucifixion is a particularly painful death but no death is without this element. Death is cruel and there is nothing wrong with admitting it.
4. Commit your soul to God
We have again covered this looking at Stephen but it is a point that bears repeating. Jesus it appears was constantly in prayer while he was on the cross and no doubt throughout his life time too. We need to cultivate that sort of attitude. We need to pray while we are alive and especially as death approaches. Jesus not only prayed but he cried out to God. He is an example to us.
Of course, there is no point in imagining that you will suddenly begin to want to pray as death approaches. We must give ourselves now to prayer and to crying out to God however near or far away death may be. Then more specifically when we feel death is drawing nearer then we ought to pray committing our souls to God our Father. What a comfort the Fatherhood of God should be to a believer. I know that Jesus was able to act as he did here because he was perfect in every way and that is why he was acceptable to God. We are not in that position – but if we are in Christ that is trusting in him) then we will be acceptable too. We can only realistically commit our souls to God in death if we have done so in life. We only have the right to call him Father if we have received him, if we have believed in his name (John 1:12). There is mercy for every person who commits himself to God in Christ.
5. Be filled with triumphant faith
Perhaps the chef thing to stress is that in death, as in life, the greatest need is for faith. There is no dying well without a total trust in the Lord. It comes out in two ways in Jesus's dying words.
1. Faith of a more unusual sort Jesus said on the cross (Matthew 27:46) My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? At first sight that might seem to be a sentence lacking in faith. But Bishop Daniel Wilson once rightly said “Never perhaps was stronger faith exhibited, even by our Saviour himself, than when he uttered those piercing words My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”. This is the point where the sins of the world are being placed upon the sinless Saviour, yet still he speaks in faith. It is not 'O God' but 'My God'. Whatever circumstances we face at death – however much the suffering, the temptations, the loneliness perhaps – we must face it with faith, we must enter on it believing. Keep the faith!
2. Faith of a more obvious sort Jesus also spoke a triumphal It is finished! (30). Though the circumstances will no doubt be different an although thee is more in Jesus's words than can ever be in ours, this should be the cry of the dying believer also. The fight has been fought, the race has been run, the faith has been kept and now comes the crown. By faith it can be so. Remember these words (Heb 12:1-3) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Perhaps the chef thing to stress is that in death, as in life, the greatest need is for faith. There is no dying well without a total trust in the Lord. It comes out in two ways in Jesus's dying words.
1. Faith of a more unusual sort Jesus said on the cross (Matthew 27:46) My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? At first sight that might seem to be a sentence lacking in faith. But Bishop Daniel Wilson once rightly said “Never perhaps was stronger faith exhibited, even by our Saviour himself, than when he uttered those piercing words My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me”. This is the point where the sins of the world are being placed upon the sinless Saviour, yet still he speaks in faith. It is not 'O God' but 'My God'. Whatever circumstances we face at death – however much the suffering, the temptations, the loneliness perhaps – we must face it with faith, we must enter on it believing. Keep the faith!
2. Faith of a more obvious sort Jesus also spoke a triumphal It is finished! (30). Though the circumstances will no doubt be different an although thee is more in Jesus's words than can ever be in ours, this should be the cry of the dying believer also. The fight has been fought, the race has been run, the faith has been kept and now comes the crown. By faith it can be so. Remember these words (Heb 12:1-3) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
