The lives of God's people are very precious. We have so much to learn from them; the Holy Spirit has told us so--"mark those who so walk, as you have them for examples" He said. I pity the poor believer who knows nothing of George Muller's child-like faith; of the courage of John G. Paton; William Carey's work-ethic; the prayer-life of Martin Luther; John Newton's gentleness; the zeal of David Brainerd. How precious these lives are!

But there is something more precious than the lives of God's people. You know what it is? "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints". The God who used these men in their lives would not discard them in their deaths. Nor "forsake them when their strength failed". Bernard's prayer was answered:

"Be near when I am dying,

O show Thy cross to Me".

Hence today, I want to look at the death of an eminent Christian, Andrew Rivet. And from it, to gain courage for our own deaths, which will come sooner--far sooner--than we think.

Because Rivet is not well known, I had better give a thumbnail sketch of his life before taking you to his death bed. Andrew Rivet was a Frenchman, born in 1573. His parents were pious Christians who devoted their son to the Lord from the womb. He was accepted by God, converted in childhood, and given a powerful gift for learning. He soon became a scholar of the first rank. After finishing his formal schooling, he was called to occupy the Chair of Theology at the University of Leyden, the Netherlands. He was also ordained to the ministry of the Dutch Reformed Church. In an age of brilliant theologians, Rivet outshone them all.

But after a long and useful life, Rivet was struck down with an infected bowel, on Christmas Day, 1650. He would remain constipated and in great pain for the next two weeks. But they would be the best days of a good life, the proof of his religion, a vindication of God's all-sufficient grace.

1. Andrew Rivet's last days were spent in deep contrition. His was an exemplary life, free of public scandal and private backslidings, too. He had been a grateful son, a loving husband, a doting father, and a faithful preacher and professor. But in the presence of Christ, even the Cherubim "cover their faces". So did Rivet.

"It is God who has wrought the work for me; shall I allege or plead my own righteousness before Him? Far be that from me. If I should justify myself, my own mouth would condemn me. I will rather open my sin before Him in a most humble confession of it, and pray that He will increase in me the grace of true repentance; yea, let Him wear out this body with sorrow, it matters not, so He give to me a broken and contrite spirit, which is a sacrifice acceptable unto Himself..."

"I truly and humbly acknowledge that whatsoever good thing was in me flowed from Thy grace; but my defects ought to be ascribed to my inbred corruption. Alas! I acknowledge this with humble and serious repentance. How often have I sinned in so holy a charge, not only by omitting many things, but also by doing many things amiss! Long since had I been cast off, were it not that I had so good and gracious a Lord, who has borne with me, and has been so gracious to me as not to exact a severe account of my words and works. Alas! O Lord my God! Enter not into judgment with Thy servant; for in Thy sight, no man living shall be justified...Pardon, O my God, pardon the iniquity of Thy servant..."

Later, when he thought he might recover, he began to want it, want it too badly. This brought Rivet great pangs of conscience...

"Alas! He is departed from me, that made glad my heart. I have grieved the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, who had filled my soul with peace and joy. I have been so wretched and unhappy as to give ear to those who spoke to me of my returning to the world. I have been tickled with the desire of living, and how could such a thing be, after the fruits of heavenly Canaan have been tasted?"

Here is an outstanding Christian who felt himself to be "the chief of sinners". Why shouldn't he? He was. We are, too. The only difference between Rivet and us is "he knew it"--we don't!

2. Andrew Rivet's last days were also spent in humble submission to the will of God.

"Oh Lord God! If it be Thy will that I should longer attend upon Thy service, Thou canst assuage my disease in a moment; but if Thou hast decreed otherwise, Thy will be done". He is resigned to the will of heaven.

And more. "If it be Thy will that I die, that also is my will. I am ready--my heart is prepared".

It is easy to pray "Thy will be done"--so long as it corresponds to our own! But what about when it doesn't? When God's will is pain, infirmity, humiliation, and death? This is the will to which Rivet submitted; which he eagerly embraced. But he wasn't the first to do so. His Lord had once prayed the same prayer, bathed in bloody sweat, and looking at a cross. This is how Christ died; how Rivet died. But how about you?

3. Andrew Rivet's last days were spent with a strong confidence in His Savior. He was a good man, learned in the mysteries of God and active in the cause of His Church. But Rivet did not look to himself for his salvation, but to Another...

"Accept, O Lord, this imperfect sacrifice, and supply the defects thereof by the perfect righteousness of that great High Priest, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unto God without spot...The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord...Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect, it is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died; yea, rather is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us."

When you lie where Rivet did, what will your good deeds be worth? Now, they command self-respect and the praise of others. But what will they be worth when you lay dying? What righteousness will then avail?

4. Andrew Rivet's last days were spent with a continuing interest in holiness. He had lived more than seventy years, and grown in grace from infancy. Surely, he had grown enough, hadn't he? He thought otherwise. His last days were spent in the same "pursuit of holiness" that had shaped his whole life.

"This one thing I beg with most inward affections, that Thou wilt make me conformable to Thy good will. Let not Thy good Spirit depart from me, that in this conflict Thy strength will make me a conqueror. Accomplish this, O Lord, for Thine own sake, and since Thou hast employed me in Thy work, grant that I may die an honorable death...

"Let me apply to myself by a lively faith all the promises of the Gospel, and let them put forth their efficacy in me, unto my joy and eternal consolation, that nothing in the world, neither affliction nor distress, may separate me from Thee, or cause me to doubt Thy love and favor. Thou knowest my weakness and infirmity, permit not the grievousness of my pain to cst me into impatience or murmuring. Either make my pains tolerable, or furnish me with fortitude and constancy sufficient to bear them. That I may not offend with my tongue, Keep Thou the door of my lips".

Notice, it was not comfort he sought on his death bed, but grace! And not the grace to calm his fears, but the grace to restrain his sins. Even in death, Rivet is "bringing his body under subjection".

5. Andrew Rivet's last days were spent with a deep concern for others. He was a famous and beloved man; when it was known that he was gravely ill, his home was overrun with visitors. Well-intentioned, they were; but thoughtless, too. They were exhausting the poor, sick man. But what did Rivet do about his visitors? Quote Proverbs 25:17? "Remove your foot from your neighbor's house, lest he be weary of you and hate you"? He didn't. He welcomed them all. Why? Because he wanted to teach them one last lesson: "God's grace is sufficient".

"Let all that will have access to visit me. I ought to give an example of dying to other men...Come, see a man who is an example of the great mercy of God. What shall I render Him? All His benefits overwhelm me...And now, when the end of my life is within my view, He still affords me the perfect use of reason, that I may praise my God in the land of the living, and instruct my neighbors by my example..."

"Let none be hindered in coming to me. It is usual for a man in my station, by admonishing others, publicly to make profession of his own faith. Not for the sake of a little vain-glory, O Lord, Thou knowest; for it little concerns me to be approved unto men, provided I may approve myself unto God. But I desire the salvation of many, and to give testimony to the truth of those things which I have publicly taught".

When the end came, he finally told his friends to leave. But his dear niece was asked to stay: "Do not go from me, but be thou a witness of my last hours".

If it is ever right to be self-absorbed, it is in death. But Rivet was not. "Let the Redeemed of the Lord say so" has no expiration date.

"E're since by faith, I saw the stream,

Thy flowing wounds supplied;

Redeeming love has been my theme,

And shall be till I die".

He had learned this lesson from a Man who died better than he did. Among His last words were "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do".

6. Andrew Rivet's last days were spent reinforcing what he had taught his family. Not undoing what he had done. Dying words have no effect on a family long used to neglect and misrule. If a man wants his wife and children to listen to him on his death bed, let him lead a life that will make those last words credible!

To his wife, he said: "My dearest yoke-fellow, we have lived together in peace for thirty years, and I thank you for your help, which has been a great comfort to me, for I cast all domestic cares on you. Continue, I beseech you, to love my children with the same pious affection which you have hitherto shown...The Lord bless you, my dear love, and strengthen you. He is a husband to the widow".

He then charged his son: "And for you, my son, love and honor this dearest companion of my life, the partner of all my joys and my sorrows, who has done the duty of mother toward you. This I desire of you, and this I command you, as you expect a blessing from God upon what I have gotten for my labor--divide it between you, without quarrelling and contention, according to what is just and right. Promise that you will maintain a holy and mutual friendship. He is a Father to the fatherless".

7. Andrew Rivet's last days were full of hope in the resurrection. His last day on earth, in fact, he burst out:

"It is daylight. I shall shortly no more know the difference between day and night. I am come to the eve of that great and eternal day, and am going to that place where the sun shall no more give light. God will be an everlasting light to me; and already, O Lord, Thou send the rays of that light into my soul, and open my eyes that I may perceive them. O how powerfully do You work in me! When this old man decays, Thou put on me the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created it. Deliver me from this prison, that I may celebrate Thy name; yet neither do I so reject this body, as not to think of its restoration; for I know the dead shall live, yea, my dead body. It is sown in corruption, it shall be raised in incorruption; it is sown a vile body, but it will rise a glorious body; it is sown in weakness, but it shall be raised again in power. In a word, it shall be conformed to the glorious body of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has become the first-fruits of them that sleep. I shall see Him in my flesh--I shall behold His face in righteousness, and shall be satisfied with His likeness when I awake".

8. Andrew Rivet last days were spent in the joy of God Himself--not in His mercies--but in Himself.

"Oh, what I library I have in God, in Whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge! Thou art the teacher of spirits--I have learned more Divinity in these ten days that Thou hast come to visit me, than I did in fifty years before".

He learned the lesson of another dying Man: "In your presence is the fulness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forever more".

9. His last words, appropriately enough, were Scripture: "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith..." His voice then broke, but a friend finished the quotation: "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but to all those who love His appearing". Rivet's last word?

"Amen".

His last days were bathed in Scripture. Many quotations; more allusions; everything consistent with God's Word.

"Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his". It would be good to die as Rivet did; everyone wants to. But most people (like the man I just quoted, Balaam) won't. Do you know why? Because Rivet's death could only follow Rivet's life.

The word is true: "He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still".

The tree must lie where it falls. He who lives badly will not die well; he who lives well will not die badly.

Yes, there is a thief on the cross here, a King Manasseh there. But they are rare. They occur often enough to give hope, but rarely enough to deter presumption.

If you would die well, live well. If you would be contrite then--"break up the fallow ground now". If you would be submissive then, "humble yourself under the mighty hand of God now". If you would be trust Christ then, "trust in the Lord with all your heart now". If you would be sanctified then, "pursue holiness now". If you would do others good then, "be an example now". If you would be a family man then, "love your wife and train up your children now". If you would enjoy God then, "enjoy him now". If you would joy in the resurrection then, "live for it now". If you would be full of Scripture then, "make it your daily meditation now".

If we but learn these lessons, Andrew Rivet's dying joy would be full.

"Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord;

they rest from the labors

and their works do follow them".