Last Words of Great Saints!

You have been speaking about William Carey. When I am gone, say nothing about William Carey-speak only about William Carey's Savior.William Carey last words to a visitor

Into thy hands I commend my spirit! Thou hast redeemed me, O God of truth.-Martin LutherTrust in God and you shall have nothing to fear.-Jonathan EdwardsI am going to Him whom my soul loveth, or rather who has loved me with an everlasting love, which is the sole ground of all my consolation.-John OwenI see earth receding; heaven is opening. God is calling me.-D.L.Moody(to his son): And the homeless children, Bramwell, look after the homeless. Promise me...-General William BoothBuild me a hut to die in. I am going home.-David Livingstone

"Lord, Open the King of England's eyes!" -William Tyndale

Do you know these last words? This is known as the Covenanters' Scaffold Song. During persecutions in which many of these Scottish saints were put to death, these were the last words of many of them. I don't know the original tune; we sing this occasionally in our meetings to a more recently written tune.Sing with me, sing with me!Blessed spirits, sing with me;To the Lamb our song shall beThrough a glad eternity.Farewell, earthly morn and even,Sun and moon and stars of heaven,Heavenly portals open before me;Welcome, Christ, in all Thy glory!Sing with me, sing with me, sing with me,Blessed spirits, sing with me.Can you imagine them singing this as they stepped from life into Life? It reminds me of those lines by Tersteegen...We follow in His footsteps;What if our feet be torn?Where He has marked the pathwayAll hail the briar and thorn!Scarce seen, scarce heard, unreckoned,Despised, defamed, unknown,Or heard but by our singing,On, children! ever on!

Robert's Tyndale quote reminds me of the words of Latimer to Ridley as the fires consumed them in the town square in Oxford. Ridley had 'wobbled' at times, as the flames roared around them both Latimer criedPlay the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out.The place of the death the Martyrs Memorial is close to the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

“Doctor, I wish you to observe how real and beneficial the religion of Christ is to a man about to die… In his will he wrote: This is all the inheritance I give to my dear family, the religion of Christ which will give them and one which will make them rich indeed.”-Patrick Henry“Thy will be done.”-Lew Wallace (author of Ben Hur)“I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ, I am a sinner. I look to Him for mercy.”-Alexander Hamilton“I commend my soul into the hands of God my Creator, hoping and assuredly believing, through the only merits of Jesus Christ my Savior, to be made partaker of life everlasting; and my body to the earth, whereof it was made.”-William Shakespeare “Death is the great key that opens the palace of eternity.”-John Milton (British poet)“So the heart be right, it is no matter which way the head lieth.” –Sir Walter Raleigh (at his execution) “The great mystery is Jesus Christ the gospel. What would the condition of any of us be if we had not the hope of immortality?… Thank God, the gospel of Jesus Christ brought life and immortality to light. His last words were: I still live.”-Daniel Webster (just before his death)“I commit my soul to the mercy of God, through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and I exhort my dear children humbly to try and guide themselves by the teaching of the New Testament.”-Charles Dickens“My dear children, do not grieve for me… I am God’s. I belong to Him. I go but a short time before you, and… I hope and trust to meet you all in heaven.”-Andrew Jackson“It is a great mercy that I have no matter of fear or dread of death. I could, if God please, lay my head back and die without terror this afternoon.”-Isaac Watts (hymn-writer)

Thomas Bilney is little known, but was greatly used of God during the reformation and the conversion of Tyndale. He was caught once and burned a stack of Tyndale Bibles to be set loose. This pricked him in his heart and he worked to get captured again. he was taken to his cell where he was given his last meal. Some friend had arrived to encourage him; he needed no encouragement. Bilney instead encouraged his friends the night before his burning. Bilney simply pushed the plate that contained his last meal back and addressed his dumbfounded friends. One account gives us these words; Though the fire should be of great heat to my body, yet the comfort of God's spirit should cool it to my everlasting refreshing.? At this point, Bilney put his hand toward the flame of the candle burning before them and, feeling the heat, said, O, I feel by experience, and have known it long by philosophy, that fire by God's ordinance is naturally hot, but yet I am persuaded by God's Holy Word, and by the experience of some spoken of in the same, and in the fire they felt no consumption: and I constantly believe, howsoever that the stubble of this my body shall be wasted by it, yet my soul and spirit shall be purged thereby; a pain for the time, whereon notwithstanding followeth joy unspeakable. Thomas Bilney placed the tip of his finger over the lit candle as it burned to the bone as he read these words; But now thus sayeth the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel; Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, and called thee by thy name, thou art mine own. When thou goest through the water I will be with thee, and the strong floods shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest in the fire, it shall not burn thee, and the flame shall not kindle thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior... ? (Isaiah 43:1-3). The next morning he ran and embrased the stake thanking God he had another opportunity to die for the faith.

Frances Ridley HavergalFrail in health all of her life, Miss Havergal one day caught a severe cold which caused inflamation of the lungs. When told that her life was in danger, she exclaimed, "If I am really going, it is too good to be true!" At another time she responded, "Splendid! To be so near the gates of heaven." At the very end, it is reported that she sang clearly, but faintly, another of her hymns, "Jesus, I Will Trust Thee, Trust Thee with My Soul." Then, according to reports by her sister,She looked up steadfastly, as if she saw the Lord; and surely nothing less heavenly could have reflected such a glorious radiance upon her face. For ten minutes we watched that almost visible meeting with her King, and her countenance was so glad, as if she were already talking to Him! Then she tried to sing; but after one sweet, high note her voice failed, and as her brother commended her soul into the Redeemer's hand she passed away.Frances Ridley Havergal died at Caswall Bay, Swansea, Wales, June 3, 1879, at the age of forty-two. She never married.On her tombstone at Astley, Worcestershire, is engraved her favorite text, 1 John 1:7-- "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin."

---“Shout the victory of Jesus Christ” John Hyde (his dying words)---

Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put outSo Beautiful and noble... Changes the way we read Jesus' words "You are the light of the world."

"Tell them to stand up for Jesus."These were the final words of a twenty-nine-year-old Episcopalian minister, Dudley Tyng, as he spoke from his deathbed to a group of sorrowing friends and fellow ministers.A great citywide revival swept across Philadelphia in 1858. It was called "the work of God in Philadelphia." Of the participating ministers, none was more powerful than the Reverend Dudley Tyng, known as a bold and uncompromising preacher.In addition to pastoring his own church, Tyng began holding noonday services at the downtown YMCA. Great crowds came to hear this dynamic young preacher. On Tuesday, March 30, 1858, over five thousand men gathered for a mass meeting to hear Tyng preach from the Exodus 10: 11 text, "Go now ye that are men, and serve the LORD" (KJV). Over one thousand of these men committed their lives to Christ. At one point in the sermon the young preacher shouted, "I must tell my Master's errand, and I would rather that this right arm were amputated at the trunk than that I should come short of my duty to you in delivering God's message."The following week, while visiting in the country and watching the operation of a corn threshing machine in a barn, the young pastor accidentally caught his loose sleeve between the cogs. His arm was lacerated severely, with the main artery severed and the median nerve injured. As a result of shock and a great loss of blood, Rev. Tyng died four days later.On the following Sunday, Tyng's close friend and fellow worker, the Reverend George Duffield, pastor of the Temple Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, prepared his morning sermon as a tribute to his departed friend. He chose Ephesians 6:14 (KJV) as his text:"Stand, therefore, having your loins girded about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness."Pastor Duffield closed his sermon by reading a poem that he had just finished writing. He told his people that it had been inspired by the dying words of his esteemed friend. Soon the challenging words found their way into the hearts and hymnals of God's people around the world.Determine to "put on the whole armor of God" (see Eph. 6:10-20) in the daily baffle against the forces of unrighteousness."Lift high his royal banner, it must not suffer loss!"

These words are so encouraging, accidentally I found more and I would like to share them:

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The last words of [b]Charles Spurgeon,[/b] the great Baptist preacher, were, “Oh, wifie, I have had such a blessed time with my Lord.”

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The converted slave trader, [b]John Newton[/b], who became a beloved minister of the gospel and encouraged Wilberforce in his fight against the slave trade, whispered as he lay dying, “My memory is nearly gone, but I remember two things, that I am a great sinner and that Christ is a great Saviour.”

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[b]Frances Havergal[/b], the well-known blind hymn-writer, died on 3 June, 1879. When her family could see the end was near, her sister Ellen recited Jesus I will Trust Thee, and Frances “clearly but faintly sang the whole verse, to her own tune Hermas. Then she was desperately sick again, and lay back murmuring, “There now it is all over! Blessed rest!”

“And now,” wrote Maria, “she looked up steadfastly as if she saw the Lord…for ten minutes we watched that almost visible meeting with her King, and her countenance was so glad, as if she were already talking to him. Then she tried to sing, but after one sweet high note, ‘He…’ her voice failed, and she passed away. Our precious sister was gone—satisfied, glorified—within the palace of her King!”

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[b]George Mueller[/b], the orphanage builder and philanthropist, told of a Boston merchant, Mr Cobb, who declared on his deathbed:

It is a glorious thing to die. I have been active and busy in the world. I have enjoyed as much as anyone. God has prospered me. I have property enough, but how small and mean does this world appear on a sick-bed! Nothing can equal my enjoyment in the near view of heaven. My hope in Christ is worth infinitely more than all other things. The blood of Christ—the blood of Christ—none but Christ! Oh, how thankful I feel that God has provided a way that I, sinful as I am, may look forward with joy to another world, through his dear Son.

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That irrepressible Cornish Christian, [b]Billy Bray[/b], came downstairs for the last time on Friday, 22 May 1868. To one of his old friends, who asked a few hours before his death if he had any fear of death, or of being lost, he said, “What! Me fear death! Me lost! Why, my Saviour conquered death. If I were to go down to hell, I would shout ‘Glory, glory to my blessed Jesus’ until I made the bottomless pit ring again, and the miserable old Satan would say, ‘Billy, Billy, this is no place for you: get you back.’ Then up to heaven I should go, shouting ‘Glory! Glory! Praise the Lord!’

A little later he said “Glory!” which was his last word.

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Christian missionary [b]Geoffrey Bull[/b] was held captive by communists for three years at the time of the Chinese invasion of Tibet. He experienced constant interrogation and threat of execution. Later he wrote: [b]“I pictured in my mind’s eye that last morning as I was led out to die. Should I preach, should I pray or should I sing? I decided I would sing. I went over in my mind some of the songs of Zion and then chose this great chorus, determined that by His grace these would be my last words before I saw Him face to face.[/b]

Some golden daybreak Jesus will come;
Some golden daybreak, battles all won,
He’ll shout the victory, break through the blue
Some golden daybreak for me, for you.

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A Greek named Aristides, in AD 125 wrote to a friend about the new religion called Christianity:

“If any righteous man from among the Christians passes from this world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God, and they escort his body with songs and thanksgivings as if he were setting out from one place to another nearby.

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“Live in Christ, live in Christ,” said the dying Scottish Reformer, [b]John Knox[/b], “and you need not fear the death of the flesh.”

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Those at the bedside of the influential New England preacher [b]Jonathan Edwards[/b], thought he had passed from the realms of consciousness. They began to lament the sad loss to the church, only to be stopped by a memorable final sentence: [b]“Trust in God and you need not fear.”[/b]

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[b]Richard Williams,[/b] medical missionary to Patagonia, wrote as he lay huddled up in the hull of his little boat, dying of scurvy and starvation:

[i]Should anything prevent my ever adding to this, let my beloved ones at home rest assured that I was happy, beyond all expression, the night I wrote these lines, and would not have exchanged situations with any man living. Let them also be assured that my hopes were full and blooming with immortality, that Heaven and Love and Christ, which mean one and the same divine thing, were my soul; that the hope of glory filled my whole heart with joy and gladness; and that to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.[/i]

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[b]Allen Gardiner[/b] was the last of the survivors of the seven missionaries who perished of starvation on Terra del Fuego when their relief ship failed to arrive. His final diary entry read, [i]“Great and marvellous are the loving kindnesses of my gracious God.”[/i]

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Almost the last thing the great preacher [b]F. B. Meyer[/b] did, was to send a postcard in a shaky hand to Lindsay Glegg with the words, [b][i]“I have raced you to heaven. I am just off—see you there. Love, F. B. Meyer.[/i][/b]”The story is told that he asked his doctor how much longer he had to live. The doctor replied, [i]“Just a few more hours, say till four o’clock.”[/i] At this Dr Meyer went to sleep and woke later in the afternoon. His first question was, [i]“What is the time, nurse?” “Six o’clock,”[/i] she replied. [i]“Tut, tut,”[/i] said Meyer, [i]“this will never do. I ought to have gone two hours ago.”[/i]

[i]Four Score and More: Some pages from my scrap book, by A. Lindsay Glegg, 1962,[/i]

I'm raising up this old thread, these words are so encouraging!

[b]Adoniram Judson[/b] -

[color=000066][b]“I go with the gladness of a boy bounding away from school, I feel so strong in Christ.”[/b][/color]