Famous Last Words

I have fought a good fight,

I have finished my course,

I have kept the faith.

II Timothy 4:22

Paul's writings to Timothy were, as far as we know, his last words in writing to anyone at least from the standpoint of Scripture. Paul wasn't bragging when he made the above statement. To the best of his knowledge, as he faced martyrdom, he had been as faithful and true to the Lord Jesus as he knew to be. As I've heard some folks say, “No brag...just fact.”

I think the last words of famous people are quite interesting and came across a list of some of those statements. For instance:

John Barrymore: “Die? I should say not, dear fellow. No Barrymore would allow such a conventional thing to happen to him.”

Ludwig van Beethoven: (According to his secretary) “Pity, pity...too late!”

Bing Crosby: “That was a great game of golf, fellers.”

Stonewall Jackson: “Let us pass over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.”

Sir Walter Raleigh: “I have a long journey to take, and must bid the company farewell.”

George Washington: “It is well, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go.”

Robert E. Lee: “Strike the tent.”

Bottom line is, last words are spoken by a dying person often indicate who that person really was in their last days of life. In our day, last words may be few with all of the heavy sedation that is used to keep patients comfortable, but in the days of the above gentlemen, that wasn't necessarily the case.

At this time of year, we usually go to certain portions of Scripture that have to do with Jesus' last days. He was with His disciples for over three years. They had been with Him in ministry and in every day living. On two occasions as recorded in the Gospels, Jesus did some lengthy teaching. This doesn't mean He didn't do lengthy teaching at other times but we're looking at what is recorded in Scripture. We know of the Sermon on the Mount that begins in Matthew 5. It is felt that this time of teaching was intended for the training of His newly called disciples but no doubt, it drew a crowd. The next lengthy teaching we see in the Gospels is when Jesus was with His disciples the night He was betrayed as recorded in John 14-17.

Jesus and His disciples had eaten together for the Passover. Judas left the group to complete his betrayal plan. Prior to going to the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus shared His heart with the remaining eleven. During the course of ministry, Jesus had given His disciples every indication as to what the finality of His life would entail. Jesus also knew that the continuing of the ministry He started rested on the shoulders of these eleven men. He knew far more than they could know, all they would have to endure in coming days. Jesus spoke to them and others after His resurrection and prior to His ascension into Heaven but this was the disciples' private time with Him. 

The wonderful part of all of this is that these many years later, His last words to His disciples trickle down to you and me. It's Jesus speaking to us as clearly now as He spoke to those 11 men then. Some of the most familiar verses of Scripture are found in these last words to His dearly loved disciples just hours before He was to be delivered to soldiers after a kiss of betrayal from Judas.

All of the following and others from these famous last words, I have underlined in my Bible. I love them and at times in my life have hung onto them like a drowning person would hang onto a life preserver. As you read John 14-16, there are probably some different verses that through the years have warmed your heart as well. In these few verses, may we sense the heartbeat of Jesus as He spoke on that fateful night:

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 14:1

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. 14:6

And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. 14:13,14

If ye love me, keep my commandments. 14:15

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. 14:27

This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you. 15:12

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 15:13

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Jesus then concluded this time with what has come to be known as His “high-priestly” prayer. This is a prayer He prayed for those men, a prayer to His Father that still rings down through the years right to where you and I are. Read John 17 sometime picturing Jesus praying that prayer for you as one of His children. It will warm your spirit in such a precious way. Jesus dearly loved His disciples, and knew what toll the rigors of ministry would take on each one of them. John, God's author of this book, would be one who would come to know the cost of standing for Jesus. In his senior years, he would be exiled to Patmos, a rocky horrible place of hard labor. It is in that setting that he penned through inspiration of the Holy Spirit the book of Revelation. I love the last two verses John pens...his famous last written words found at the end of our Bibles in the book of Revelation:

He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

AMEN and AMEN!!!