The Last Word's of Godly Men

In the last words of dying men, their true character is often revealed. The facades are torn down; the defenses that we have worked so hard our entire lives to build up are stripped away and our true nature is left bare and exposed to the world. At the same time, when a man dies well and in a manor consistent with his life, we can take it to heart that he really was the man we thought we knew.

Although I never met either R.J. Rushdoony, or Greg Bahnsen, I have the witness of their voluminous works and their last words, both of which attest to the quality of their life and their deep devotion to God and His Son, Jesus Christ.

This morning, I had the honor of reading for the first time R.J. Rushdoony's last "sermon," his last words. Tears came to my eyes as I witnessed, through the his words, a godly man dying the same way he lived. Lying in his bed, surrounded by his family, he died proclaiming the Word of God with strength and passion.

I have also recently had the great privilege of listening to the final sermon given by Dr. Greg Bahnsen in 1995. It is titled "For Me to Live" and is an exposition on Philippians 1:12-27. He delivered this sermon with a full understanding that his life would finally end in only two day's. In this sermon he says:

"Death helps to focus the mind. Death helps to focus the mind, even among believers who have lived their lives for themselves, lived their lives perhaps in quiet or even open defiance of God. When the time of death comes around, all of a sudden, the flippancy, the irreverence, the lack of serious and sober reflection on the meaning of life is gone. And the most defiant of people will be shown to be humbled in the presence of what the Bible has called the last enemy. The one which no one can avoid until the Lord returns."

R.J. Rushdoony and Dr. Bahnsen were two truly great and godly men. As a witness to the influence they had on shaping the lives of so many Christians, festschrifts were written in their honor:

• A Comprehensive Faith: An International Festschrift For Rousas John Rushdoony
• The Standard Bearer: A Festschrift for Greg L. Bahnsen

I pray, that when God calls me home to Heaven, I will die with the same honor and dignity, giving glory to God.

"For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain."
Philippians 1:21 (NASB)