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Category Archives: Death


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Faith Doesn’t Insulate You From Sorrow (via Dale Ralph Davis)

Ralph Davis writes about Abraham mourning the death of Sarah, describing it as a common sorrow of covenant people.

This may be a ‘common’ sorrow but there is nothing common about this death. It is a special death. Sarah is the only woman in Genesis whose age is given at death. And Sarah is, in one sense, the mother of the people of God in this world. And yet for all that there is something common about this death. For Abraham, it is what we might call an ‘ordinary’ trial as compared to the severe test he endured in chapter 22. This at least is one of the trials you expect to meet. To be sure, Abraham is a ‘special’ person, the funnel of redemption (12:1-3), and yet the last of verse 2 shows that he nevertheless endures common sorrows – one that every Tom, Dick, Harry, Marsha, and Heather endure.
So Abraham here reminds us that God’s covenant people are not sticks and stones, impervious to grief and sadness. We are not some sort of elite humanity that doesn’t face these ravages. You may say: Well, yes, but we face them with triumph and victory. Well, maybe; often that is the case. But sometimes our losses are so sad, so distressing, so lonely that even as Christians we can’t feel much of the ‘victorious’ element. Just because you’re a Christian does not mean you don’t mourn and weep over your loss, over the spouse who’s no longer at your side or the child who no longer sits on your knee. And sometimes it comes in waves.
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Nor does it cease after death’s formalities. For months and months the ache never leaves. Much, much later you may sense you’re getting a handle on it, and then while you’re standing in morning worship one Sunday singing My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less something sneaks up on you and turns on the water-works. Does faith make a difference? Of course, it does, but faith doesn’t insulate you from sorrow – in fact, the deeper the love, the closer the relation, the more sever the grief may be. ‘Abraham went int o mourn for Sarah and to weep over her.’

Dale Ralph Davis, Faith Of Our Fathers -Expositions Of Genesis 12-25, Christian Focus, 2015, pgs 144-145.


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If The Doctor Asks You… (via Kathryn Butler at Desiring God)

Last Saturday night I participated in a phone conversation that dealt with directions about various medical treatment choices that may or may not be needed for someone who is not capable of making those choices themselves.
I found this article by Kathryn Butler at Desiring God covered a lot of the considerations that were being put before us, and approaches how those options can be thought of from a biblical perspective.
It is more positive to have given some thought to this beforehand, and to have even discussed them with those for whom you may end up making choices (or who may be making them on your behalf).
Butler is/was a trauma and critical care surgeon, her reflections do not come from a place of pure theory.
Well worth a read:

Making life-or-death decisions for loved ones cripples many with feelings of guilt and doubt that persist for years, and which can progress to depression, complicated grief, chronic anxiety, and even post-traumatic stress disorder.
So how do we make compassionate, Christ-honoring decisions about our loved ones’ care when the unthinkable happens? How do we discern the right path when time to reflect is nonexistent, and when the mind balks at the ramifications of our choices?

Read the whole post at Desiring God.


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Start Planning Your Own Funeral (via Grayson Pope)

Taking a cue from one of the less likely of Jonathan Edward’s well-known resolutions, Grayson Pope invites us visit the house of mourning to learn enduring lessons.
By planning your death, you should also be making plans about living.

An excerpt:

Start Planning Your Own Funeral
Jonathan Edwards is known for his famous resolutions—short promises he made to help keep himself on the path of righteousness. His ninth resolution reads, “Resolved, To think much, on all occasions, of my dying, and of the common circumstances which attend death.”
He was resolved to think about his death and the normal circumstances it would bring. That means Edwards was resolved to plan his own funeral in his mind.
His example is one we can follow. Try this short exercise: for 10 minutes today, think through the reality that you will die. Reflect on all that thought brings, from death certificates to funeral plans and coffin choices.
Remind yourself that in Christ “we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28); that your next breath comes only if he allows it. Imagine you will die tomorrow, next week, or next year.
Then, ask yourself questions like, “If I were about to die…”

  • “What would I do differently? What would I start doing? What would I stop doing?”
  • “Would I keep living the way I am—living where I live, doing the things I do, working the job I have?”
  • “What would I be ashamed of not attempting for God?”
  • “Who would I spend more time with?”

Surely, God will bring some things into focus, namely that we should live today like we’ll die tomorrow.
Resolve to think about your death more often.
Resolve to plan your own funeral every now and then, at least in your mind.

Read the whole post at Gospel-Centered Discipleship.


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Westminster Confession Of Faith – Lord’s Day 52

Westminster Confession Of Faith – Lord’s Day 52

Chapter 33 – Of the Last Judgment
I. God has appointed a day, wherein he will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ, to whom all power and judgment is given of the Father. In which day, not only the apostate angels shall be judged; but likewise all persons, that have lived upon earth, shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds; and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.
II. The end of God’s appointing this day, is for the manifestation of the glory of his mercy in the eternal salvation of the elect; and of his justice in the damnation of the reprobate, who are wicked and disobedient. For then shall the righteous go into everlasting life, and receive that fullness of joy and refreshing which shall come from the presence of the Lord: but the wicked, who know not God, and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast into eternal torments, and punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.
III. As Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there shall be a day of judgment, both to deter all men from sin, and for the greater consolation of the godly in their adversity: so will he have that day unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal security, and be always watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will come; and may be ever prepared to say, Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen.

And Amen.
Thanks for reading along through this series (again) during 2017.


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Westminster Confession Of Faith – Lord’s Day 51

Westminster Confession Of Faith – Lord’s Day 51

Chapter 32 – Of the State of Man After Death, and of the Resurrection of the Dead
I. The bodies of men, after death, return to dust, and see corruption; but their souls (which neither die nor sleep), having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them. The souls of the righteous, being then made perfect in holiness, are received into the highest heavens, where they behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies; and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell, where they remain in torments and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day. Besides these two places for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledges none.
II. At the last day, such as are found alive shall not die, but be changed: and all the dead shall be raised up with the self-same bodies, and none other, although with different qualities, which shall be united again to their souls forever.
III. The bodies of the unjust shall, by the power of Christ, be raised to dishonour; the bodies of the just, by his Spirit, unto honour, and be made conformable to his own glorious body.



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Vale R.C. Sproul

R.C. Sproul’s The Holiness Of God was one of the first Christian books I read.
(Recommended by my pastor Roger Stone, naturally)
It was a formative influence in understanding the Bible.
Sproul died today and there are many tributes all over the internet.

Here’s a topical hymn, the lyrics of which were penned by Sproul.
Now he is seeing the reality of that which his words could only imagine.
This is Highland Hymn.


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For Our Stories of Greatest Grief (via Scotty Smith at Heavenward)

Another day at the graveside with those who are grieving.
This prayer for saddened hearts from Scotty Smith is apt.

Jesus wept. John 11:35
Lord Jesus, though it’s the shortest verse in the Bible, these two words bring immeasurable comfort. Your hot tears, shed outside Lazarus’s tomb, are one of the greatest showers that ever kissed the face of the earth. You wept a waterfall of mercy, a river of compassion, a reservoir of grace.
You knew that within moments, your friend would breathe again, and walk out of his tomb. You knew you’d enjoy Lazarus’ company very soon. And yet you wept full-heartedly, as you allowed yourself to feel the harsh reality of his death. Those who witnessed your sacred fury and fierce sadness, offered this commentary. “See how he loved him!” (John 11:36). Indeed, no one loves like you, in life and in death.
Jesus, today we’re thankful you’re such a tenderhearted Savior, because many of us are in the agony of grief. Some of us have lost a friend, a parent, a spouse, or most painfully, a child. Others of us are coming upon the painful anniversary of great loss. Thank you for validating the pain and emptiness, the confusion and sadness we feel. We grieve with hope, but we really do grieve.
At times, like Martha, Lazarus’ sister, we cry, “Lord, if only you’d been here,” assuming you could have done more. You don’t respond with a lecture on sovereignty, rather you say with great understanding, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28). No one hates death more than you, Jesus. No one grieves death’s ugly violation more deeply. No one is more looking forward to the day of “no more death” (Rev. 21:4) than you. And no has done more to put death to death than you.
Today we rest our sobered, saddened hearts on your shoulder, trusting you for the peace and comfort we need. Jesus, we honor you as “the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). Death, the “last enemy,” will soon be a long-gone enemy (1 Cor. 15:26). Because of your resurrection, we sing in advance of ours, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55). We praise, bless, and adore you, as we rest our heavy hearts in your loving hands. So very Amen we pray, in your grave-robbing name.

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