One’s last words can reveal much about the person’s spiritual condition. People can lie and attempt to mask their real thoughts, but we know from God’s statement that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh” (Matthew 12:34). All of a person’s words reveal character, but one’s last words can be especially striking and revealing. Wise Solomon directs us to take to heart the solemnity and instructiveness of those last days: “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart” (Ecclesiastes 7:2).

The Last Words of Sinners

First, let’s note the instruction that comes from the last words of foolish, Bible-rejecting men, whose end was full of false confidence, indifference, or despair.

Goliath’s last words illustrate the folly of the unbeliever who not only mocks faith but has no idea when his time to meet God will come. The Philistine cursed David by false gods and then bellowed, “Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field” (1 Samuel 17:44). He will now exist forever with that hollow claim weighing on his troubled mind.

The brilliant astrophysicist Stephen Hawking spoke with a false confidence and either ignorance or utter disregard of God’s description of “the future.” He opined: “We are all time travelers, journeying together into the future. But let us work together to make that future a place we want to visit. Be brave, be determined, overcome the odds. It can be done.” We can see by looking around us and by observing history what kind of place man makes. His efforts have brought conflict, ruin, and destruction.

From his own statements and treatment of them, we know what kind of future Adolf Hitler had in mind for some people, but we can also guess what he anticipated for himself in the end. On his last day, having no escape from his fate but expressing no regret, Hitler could only utter, “I’m ending it today.” According to his pilot, Hans Baur, Hitler also said, “I know tomorrow millions will curse me.”[1] How would you like to die with that thought on your conscience?

The last recorded words of Judas, a man blessed with every human opportunity for doing good and being good, were, “I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4). What a pathetic way to die, but how many millions of people likewise die with remorse but no evident repentance.

In contrast to Judas many depart this world with indifference, ignorance, or even a vague expectation that they will be fine wherever or whatever comes next. But false assumptions about death are an eternally fatal mistake. Thankfully, there is a better way, and we would appeal to every reader to make certain he does not die as an unbelieving, unrepentant, presumptuous sinner.

The Last Words of Saints (Saved Sinners)

The believer in Christ has an eternal hope, an assurance that a glorious future, free of sin and sadness awaits him. This confidence often displays itself in the last words of the dying saint. John Wesley lived a life of self-sacrificing, evangelistic, organizing zeal for Christ. Remarkably, despite all the abuse and opposition he experienced, he lived a long life, dying at the age of 87. He had noted through the years that the believers in the churches he and others had begun faced death with joy. He put it this way: “Our people die well.” As he himself came to the end, several of his friends and coworkers had gathered around his bed in London. They heard the weary and weak leader say two times, raising his hands, “The best of all, God is with us.” Through his last night he also kept saying, “I’ll praise. I’ll praise.” Then as 11 friends around the bed watched, the dying saint said “Farewell.” God was with him as he served on earth; now he was with God.

American Jonathan Edwards, a contemporary of Wesley, also died in great peace. He had recently been appointed as the second president of a new college, then called New Jersey College. He was known as a great scholar and theologian, and the people at the college were excited about the prospects for this school with him at the helm as its second president. But Edwards, believing in vaccination, the new approach to dealing with smallpox, received the vaccination. However, in his case the dose brought on his death. Just before he died, some friends were standing around his bed lamenting the supposed negative effects coming on the new college, assuming he was not cognizant of their conversation. But Edwards did overhear their laments. His unexpected response (his last words) was a charge to them and showed his faith in the Lord amid his deathly sickness. The dying man quietly exhorted the doubting men: “Trust in God, and ye need not fear.”[2]

On his death bed D. L. Moody seems to have described an awareness of both this world and heaven. The report is that loved ones with Moody heard him say in a clear voice, “If this is death, there is no valley. This is glorious. I have been within the gates, and I saw the children! Earth is receding; Heaven approaching! God is calling me!” Then his eyes turned toward Emma … “You have been a good wife to me!”[3]

Hymn writer Augustus Toplady died young, at the age of 38, but he already had thought about his “rise to worlds unknown,” where He would see the Lord on His throne. He could say as he neared that threshold, “I enjoy heaven already in my soul. My prayers are all converted into praises.”[4] With the same faith we too can sing with confidence and comfort the last line of his beautiful hymn, “Rock of Ages.”

While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyes shall close in death,
When I rise to worlds unknown,
And behold Thee on Thy throne,
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.