Consolation of the Sick

A Brief Instruction in the True Faith and in the Way of Salvation, to Die Willingly, by Cornelis van Hille in Norwich, England, 1571

Introduction

The “Consolation of the Sick,” with the accompanying “Comforting Sayings of Holy Scripture,” certainly does not belong to the Liturgy of the Reformed Churches of the Netherlands. It is entirely a private writing, composed and published by Cornelis van Hille, Sr., in (or before) 1579, and was never adopted or approved by any ecclesiastical assembly. But already from the sixteenth century onward, printers and publishers commonly printed it with the church’s liturgical materials. As a result, it received a de facto privilege over similar tracts. That is why the text is printed here as well.

In the publications of the sixteenth century, a preface was included, with the following content:

In light of the great usefulness that the Consolation of the Sick commonly brings, it is both useful and necessary to publish this little book, which is organized better than any published before. It briefly contains all that we need to know unto eternal blessedness: the misery of man; the shortness of his life and death; his restoration through Christ; Christ, our Savior, and all that pertains to him; death and hell; faith, justification, and good works; cross and suffering; the prosperity of the ungodly and the adversity of the godly; the resurrection and eternal life; and more similar points. Everyone should memorize this, in order to strengthen and admonish his sick brother when necessary; so that, even if no minister is present, all may be diligent to do this as a work of charity, according to the Word of God: “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting” (Eccl. 7:2); and, according to the words of Christ: “I was sick and you visited me” (Matt. 25:36).

1. The Corruption and Misery of Man

Adam was created right and good, that is, holy, righteous, immortal, and appointed lord over all creatures that God had made. He did not remain in this state for long, but through the trickery of Satan and his own disobedience he fell from this excellent glory. In that way, he brought upon us all the corruption of temporal and eternal death. This is the hereditary sin, of which David speaks in the psalm with these words: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Ps. 51:5). Likewise, Paul says to the Romans that “sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12).

2. Through Adam, All Humanity Is Subject to Death

As soon as Adam fell, he immediately became subject to a certain curse, as we read in Genesis, where God says:
Cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return. (Gen. 3:17–19)

From this we know with certainty that all that receive life must die one day. David also testifies to this: “What man can live and never see death?” (Ps. 89:48). Solomon says: “For the living know that they will die” (Eccl. 9:5). “Here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come” (Heb. 13:14). In Hebrews it is written that “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment” (Heb. 9:27). For, as the Scripture says, “We must all die; we are like water spilled on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again” (2 Sam. 14:14). Job says that our days are like “the days of a hired hand” (Job 7:1) and “swifter than a runner” (Job 9:25). And Moses says that “we fly away” like a stream (Ps. 90:10); yes, like a wind-blown leaf, dry stubble, and a moth-eaten garment. For “the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Eccl. 12:7). As Job says, we are “like clay” and must “return … to the dust” (Job 10:9). Likewise, James also says that human life is “a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes” (James 4:14). Indeed, our life drifts away like a cloud, and fades like mist, and also vanishes like a shadow. Peter also says, quoting Isaiah:

All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls. (1 Peter 1:24; Isa. 40:6)

And Jesus Sirach says:
The age-old law is: everyone must die. As with the leaves growing on a luxuriant tree— one falls off and another sprouts—So with the generations of flesh and blood: one dies and another flourishes. (Sir. 14:17–18)

As Solomon says: “For everything there is a season …: a time to be born, and a time to die” (Eccl. 3:1–2).

3. The Appointed Time of Man

Now this time is in the Lord’s hand, as Job says: “His days are determined, and the number of his months is with you, and you have appointed his limits that he cannot pass” (Job 14:5). Paul says the same: God has “determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place” (Acts 17:26). And David says to God: “You have made my days a few handbreadths, and my lifetime is as nothing before you. Surely all mankind stands as a mere breath!” (Ps. 39:5). Our days are “swifter than a weaver’s shuttle” (Job 7:6) and “swifter than a runner” (Job 9:25). Also, we are here merely sojourners and strangers (Heb. 11:13; 1 Peter 2:11) for a short time. For:

The years of our life are seventy,  or even by reason of strength eighty;yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. (Ps. 90:10)

And if we live long, we may live one hundred years. Like a drop of water compared to the water of the sea, so few are our years compared to eternity. And Peter says that “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8). The same is true for our years in comparison to eternity.

4. The Fall and Misery of Man

According to Scripture, we must all die; who then would not eagerly long for death, as we see in what state and corruption we find ourselves through Adam, full of unrighteousness, adversity, and suffering, so that we are evil, and inclined to evil from our infancy (Gen. 8:21; Jer. 32:30). As Paul says, we are “by nature children of wrath” (Eph. 2:3), unfit to do any good, and from ourselves nothing but sinful. As David also says, “They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one” (Pss. 14:3; 53:3; Rom. 3:12). For “I do not do the good I want,” because of the “sin that dwells within me” (Rom. 7:19–20). Of this indwelling sin, David testifies that we were born and conceived in iniquity (Ps. 51:5) and continue in it. For “the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Gen. 8:21).

5. The Salvation of Man

While we all lie in the wrath of God, in the shadow of death, and indeed in hell and damnation, Christ has appeared as “the light of the world” (John 8:12), risen as “the sun of righteousness” (Mal. 4:2).

He was “delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). God “made [us] alive together with him,” since we were “dead in [our] trespasses” and sins, and he forgave us these, “canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.” Thus he triumphed over all our enemies: death, the devil, hell, and the condemnation of the law (Col. 2:13–15); as he spoke through the prophet Hosea: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55, quoting Hos. 13:14).

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 15:57). He also, according to God’s promise, crushed the head of the devil (Gen. 3:15), in whose power we lay bound because of sin’s transgression.

6. Christ Is Our Redemption

Thus God, in order to save us out of this, gave us his most beloved “guarantor” (Heb. 7:22), namely Jesus, his only “beloved Son,” with whom the Father is “well pleased,” and to whom he commands us “to listen” (Matt. 17:5).

He “put [him] forward as a propitiation” (Rom. 3:25) and a ransom. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Likewise, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9). “And this is eternal life, that they know you,” says Christ, “the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3).

He is the true Messiah, who came into the world in “the fullness of time” (Gal. 4:4): true God, to break the dominion of Satan; and true man, to be our Mediator before God (1 Tim. 2:5), that he may redeem us who were bound under the law. He is the unblemished Lamb (1 Peter 1:19), slaughtered and sacrificed for our blemishes as “the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10), as Isaiah clearly testifies (Isa. 53:4–7).

“Though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). He gave us all his possessions, all his benefits, all his righteousness, merits, and holiness. Because of this, we must embrace him in faith, and be grateful to him in love and obedience; and who would not love him who “first loved us”? (1 John 4:19).

While we were still his enemies, we were redeemed and reconciled; how much more, now that we have become his friends, “shall we be saved by his life” (Rom. 5:10)? How would one have greater love than someone who would “lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13)? This Christ, the Good Shepherd, proved by being “obedient” to his Father “to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil. 2:8).

He became a little lower than the angels “because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone”; for this he is “crowned with glory and honor” (Heb. 2:9). He is also the true Samaritan, who poured oil and wine on our wounds (Luke 10:34); that is, he poured out his precious blood for our sins (Matt. 26:28) and bought us for a high price (1 Cor. 6:20; 7:23), as Peter says: you were not ransomed with silver and gold, “but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18–19).

“He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:12). “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Col. 1:13–14).

7. We Must Flee to Christ for Refuge

We know for certain that we obtain eternal salvation without any merit on our part—for we have none, so that “we are unworthy servants” (Luke 17:10)—only through the death and resurrection of Christ. “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb. 4:16). And because we need help every moment, we must go to him.

For he says by the prophet David, “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you” (Ps. 50:15), and even if a woman may forget her nursing child, “yet I will not forget you” (Isa. 49:15). As Christ himself says in the gospel: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest … and you will find rest for your souls” (Matt. 11:28–29). “To whom [else] shall we go”? He has “the words of eternal life” (John 6:68), and life is revealed in him. He is the manna from heaven (John 6:51), which satisfies our souls eternally (John 6:27). Whoever eats of this heavenly bread in faith “shall not hunger,” and whoever drinks his blood “shall never thirst” (John 6:35, 56).

8. Christ Is the Fountain of Eternal Life

Again, in the gospel of John, Christ clearly calls: “‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”’ Now this he said about the Spirit” (John 7:37–39). Thus, whoever drinks from this living water “will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Likewise, God says through the prophet Isaiah:

Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. (Isa. 55:1)

Let us therefore go to this fountain to quench our thirst, and not to “broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jer. 2:13). “For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:16–17).

9. Christ Our Mediator

He is the true Mediator, who stands between God and us, to be our advocate against all our accusers. “For … there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim. 2:5). “Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant” (Heb. 9:15).

“Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them” (Heb. 7:25). Likewise, John says: “But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1–2), that is, for all nations and people in the world who turn to God in truth. For the Lamb has been sacrificed from the beginning for believers, as Christ himself says that Abraham saw his day “and was glad” (John 8:56).

10. Justification

Thus, “God shows no partiality” (Acts 10:34), for he is not only the God of Jews, but “of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith” (Rom. 3:29–30). For we are “justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Rom. 3:28). Likewise, David declares the man blessed who is counted righteous apart from his works:

Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. (Ps. 32:1–2)

11. Christ Prays for Us

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access” (Rom. 5:1–2), with “confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus” (Heb. 10:19), by which he made peace between God and us. “For he himself is our peace” (Eph. 2:14), so that we no longer need to fear. For Paul says:

If God is for us, who can be against us?… Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? (Rom. 8:31, 33–35)

Therefore, even though actual and other sin remains in us, we must not despair. For Isaiah says: “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool” (Isa. 1:18). And this happens through Christ, who washed us of our sins in his blood. Baptism is a sign of this, and the Lord’s Supper is also a sign for us, that we are redeemed by the offering of Christ, once for all on the cross (Heb. 10:10), who “delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thess. 1:10) and “from all lawlessness … to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14).

12. The Godly Desire for Glory

We must move away from this body before coming to the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8). Knowing for certain that through Christ we have been reconciled to God, we ought—according to God’s word—to have a perfect desire to be released from this mortal body, in order to come to the “glorious inheritance” of all God’s children (Eph. 1:18), which is prepared for us in heaven. Paul, that vessel chosen by God, desired this when he said: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:24). Furthermore, he says:

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling.… We are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord.… Yes … we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. (2 Cor. 5:1–2, 6, 8)

Once again, Paul says: “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together.… And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Rom. 8:22–23). And since we are “strangers and exiles on the earth” (Heb. 11:13), who would not desire to be home in his homeland (Heb. 11:14–16)? For here “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12); “we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Who would not long for this vision, seeing that the holy men of God longed for it? As we read in the psalm:

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?” (Ps. 42:1–3)
This unspeakably glorious vision of God is so great, as the prophet testifies, that “no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him” (Isa. 64:4, as quoted in 1 Cor. 2:9). Again, David says:

For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. (Ps. 84:10)

How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!…Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! (Ps. 84:1, 4)

They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights.For with you is the fountain of life;? in your light do we see light. (Ps. 36:8–9)

This is the glorious mansion of which Christ says in the gospel of John: “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” (John 14:2–3)—that is, that New Jerusalem that “has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Rev. 21:23). There “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more” (Rev. 21:4); that “last enemy” God will “put … in subjection under his feet” (1 Cor. 15:25–27). There the Lord has prepared a glorious wedding feast, where we will “recline … with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” at the table of the Lord (Matt. 8:11). And “blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:9).

13. Where We Will Go When We Depart from Here

Now we can come to this supper only through death. Therefore, Paul says: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). And as soon as believers depart from here, they enter the eternal rest, as Christ says: “Where I am, there will my servant be also” (John 12:26). And again: “Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). This is also clearly seen in the murderer, when he prayed and asked: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Christ answered him: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:42–43).

In agreement with this, Paul says: “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Phil. 1:23). Solomon also says that “the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it” (Eccl. 12:7). This is also clear in the examples of Enoch and Elijah, who were both taken up into heaven (Gen. 5:24; 2 Kings 2:11). There we have “our citizenship,” and “from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body” (Phil. 3:20–21).

14. We Must Die before We Will Be Glorified

And we cannot attain this glorification except through much suffering (Acts 14:22). Jesus Sirach speaks about this beautifully: “My child, when you come to serve the Lord, prepare yourself for trials” (Sir. 2:1). “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials” (1 Peter 1:6). But “the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Peter 5:10).

Again, Paul says that if we suffer with Christ, we will “also be glorified with him. For … the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:17–18). “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor. 4:17). And David says: “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Ps. 30:5). “But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed” (1 Peter 4:13). “Jesus also suffered outside the gate.… Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured” (Heb. 13:12–13).

For in this Christ left us “an example,” so that we might “follow in his steps” (1 Peter 2:21). Again, Peter says: “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking,” namely, that “whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin” (1 Peter 4:1). Furthermore, James says: “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kind” (James 1:2).

And Paul says: “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame” (Rom. 5:3–5). Therefore, “do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord … for the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Prov. 3:11–12, as quoted in Heb. 12:5–6).

This is also taught throughout Hebrews 12. Therefore, “be patient” and “establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.… As an example of suffering and patience … take the prophets.… We consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord”; they left us an example of endurance (James 5:8, 10–11).

For we see Jesus “crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death” (Heb. 2:9). Therefore, Christ also says: “The one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 24:13). And Paul says: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord … will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:7–8).

Likewise, James says: “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him” (James 1:12).

15. We Must Piously Fight against Our Enemies

To receive the crown of righteousness, we must piously fight against all our enemies, who attack us from all sides, and especially “against the schemes of the devil” (Eph. 6:11). “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand” the devil with all his power (Eph. 6:13). Of this fight, Peter also says that “the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith” (1 Peter 5:8–9), “and he will flee from you” (James 4:7).

But this victory and this resistance we receive from God through Christ, who “will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Rom. 16:20), in whose power and snares we were held captive. He is “the ruler of this world,” whom Christ “cast out” (John 12:31). And so we have the victory through him (1 Cor. 15:57), and share in it through our faith. He is “that ancient serpent” who seeks to devour us (Rev. 12:4, 9). He devoured our first ancestors, and still bruises our heel (Gen. 3:15); therefore, he is called “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44).

16. We Must Pray and Be Watchful

Therefore, we must guard ourselves well against his murderous schemes, as Peter says: “Be sober-minded; be watchful” (1 Peter 5:8). For, as Christ says, we “do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” But if we begin to beat our fellow servants and eat and drink with drunkards, “the master … will come … and will cut us in pieces and put [us] with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 24:42–44, 49–51), and “their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48; Isa. 66:24).

For “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape” (1 Thess. 5:2–3). Therefore, “watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap” (Luke 21:34), or like a lightning flash (Matt. 24:27; Luke 17:24). Therefore, “stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man” (Luke 21:36).

17. Faith and Good Works

But this worthiness to stand before the Son of Man consists in a pure, unblemished, and immovable “faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6), through which we embrace Christ and receive all his benefits (BC art. 22; HC Q&A 20). Of this purity, Christ says in Matthew 5: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt. 5:8). And the primary purity lies in the heart; for, as Christ says, “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person” (Matt. 15:19–20). Therefore, pursue “the fruit of the Spirit,” which is “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22–23).

Unless we are “born again,” we “cannot enter the kingdom of God” (John 3:3, 5). Indeed, as Christ says: “Unless you turn and become like children” (that is, regarding evil), “you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3). “Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false” (Rev. 21:27), as Paul also clearly testifies.

18. The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

God’s law demands perfection of us, as is written: “Cursed be anyone who does not confirm the words of this law by doing them” (Deut. 27:26). James says that whoever fails in one point of the law has become guilty of all of it (James 2:10). And again: “The person who does the commandments shall live by them” (Rom. 10:5; Gal. 3:12). However, we cannot perfectly fulfill even the least of the commandments, as the wise man says: “When mortals finish, they are only beginning” (Sir. 18:7).

And even if we do all, “we have only done what was our duty” (Luke 17:10). Because of this, we lie condemned under God’s righteous wrath, but we also have a certain remedy, namely Christ, who (as Paul says) “redeemed us from the curse of the law” (Gal. 3:13) and satisfied God’s righteousness for us, making peace, having “broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances” (Eph. 2:14–15); he “has forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:13–14).

For this great love of Christ, we ought to love him back, to be grateful to him with good works, and to have true faith in him that he has granted us all these great benefits. “For whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him” (Heb. 11:6). “The righteous shall live by faith” (Gal. 3:11); “for we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Rom. 3:28). And although we must suffer a little with Christ, we must not give up, just as “when he was reviled, he did not revile in return,” but suffered patiently (1 Peter 2:23).

19. The Prosperity of the Wicked

While the wicked live in great prosperity, as David and the prophets testify (Ps. 37:7; Jer. 12:1), we must not be amazed at this or stumble when we see it (Ps. 73:2–3), but be comforted in the assurance that their end is eternal death: the Lord will “pull them out like sheep for the slaughter” (Jer. 12:3).

Therefore, it is remarkable that believers have not even more adversity, because of the glorious joy prepared for them; and that the wicked have not even more prosperity, because of the terrible condemnation that will be theirs. Therefore, while the trials of believers are not equal to those of the wicked, the resurrection of the dead will also be unequal.

20. The Resurrection of the Dead

This is a great consolation for us, that all believers will rise on the last day (John 6:39–40). Paul argues for this, saying: “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And … then our preaching is in vain and … we are even found to be misrepresenting God” (1 Cor. 15:13–15; 1 Cor. 15, throughout). And regarding the way of resurrection, we can clearly see in Ezekiel 37 how we will rise with flesh and bones (Ezek. 37:7–8). And Job clearly says:

I know that my Redeemer lives, and at last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God. (Job 19:25–26)

Likewise, Isaiah says that the earth and the sea will return the dead that slept in them (Isa. 26:19), for Christ is “the resurrection” (John 11:25), “the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor. 15:20). Paul says:

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. (1 Thess. 4:13–17)

21. The Final Judgment

“We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil” (2 Cor. 5:10). Then Christ “will separate … the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right,” and they will hear the lovely voice: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:32–34).

“Then shall the righteous one with great assurance confront his oppressors” (Wis. 5:1). There “the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Matt. 13:43). There we will come to “innumerable angels in festal gathering” (Heb. 12:22).

There we will reign with him eternally (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:6). Amen.

Blessed are those whose names are written in the book of life (Rev. 20:15).

Comforting Sayings

Comforting sayings of Holy Scripture, to pray when facing death:

“O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath!” (Ps. 38:1).

“O Lord, restore my soul. Lead me in paths of righteousness for your name’s sake” (cf. Ps. 23:3).

“Be gracious to me, O Lord! See my affliction from those who hate me, O you who lift me up from the gates of death” (Ps. 9:13).

“Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help” (Ps. 22:11).

O Lord, “in you I trust; let me not be put to shame” (Ps. 25:2).

“Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted” (Ps. 25:16).

“Consider my affliction and my trouble, and forgive all my sins” (Ps. 25:18).

“You are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me” (Ps. 31:3).

When I call to you, I am certain that “you are my God” (Ps. 31:14), who “delivered my soul from death” (Ps. 56:13).

“Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities” (Ps. 51:9).

“Hide not your face from your servant; for I am in distress; make haste to answer me” (Ps. 69:17).

“In the day of my trouble I call upon you.…“Turn to me and be gracious to me; give your strength to your servant” (Ps. 86:7, 16).

“The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;… O Lord, I pray, deliver my soul!” (Ps. 116:3–4).

“Enter not into judgment with your servant, for no one living is righteous before you” (Ps. 143:2).

These and similar sayings you can read throughout the book of Psalms.

Likewise, here follow some more sayings for the sick on their deathbed:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).

“Let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured” (Heb. 13:13).

Let us “watch with him one hour,… that we may not enter into temptation” (cf. Matt. 26:40–41).

“God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” (Luke 18:13).

“Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:48; Luke 18:39).

“Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (Acts 7:59).

“My soul thirsts for God.… When shall I come and appear before God?” (Ps 42:2). “My soul thirsts for you,… as in a dry and weary land” (Ps. 63:1).

O Lord, you are my life, “and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).

“My desire is to depart and be with Christ” (Phil. 1:23).

“Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:24).

“It is better for me to die than to live” (Jonah 4:3, 8).

But, Lord, “your will be done” (Matt. 6:10; 26:42).

“Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” (Luke 23:46; Ps. 31:5).

May this be granted to us by God, our dear Father, through the merits of his dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.