Throughout History, the last will and testament of a dying person has been held to be a sacred trust. Men and women of firm, lifelong convictions have often utilised their wills as more than merely a means of transmitting their property to those who may be expected to outlive them. They have given simple expression to their faith. As people with definite, though perhaps unconventional, beliefs, we ought to give those beliefs clear expression in our last will and testament. In this way we, though dead, can yet speak (Heb. 11:4). In past centuries wills were public documents, widely read. For some reason today they tend to be private, almost secretive, documents. Why is this, we wonder? Here are three quotes from wills of long ago that still speak loudly of the faith of those who made them — our faith.
From the will of Henry Hoppaye. Died, Halifax, England 1548
I believe that my Redeemer liveth, and that at the last day I shall arise out of the earth and in my flesh shall see my Saviour. This my hope is laid up in my bosom unto the last day, that I and all other faithful shall appear before the majestic seat of God. My belief is that there is but one God and one mediator betwixt God and man, which is Jesus Christ, so that I accept none in heaven, neither in earth, to be my mediator betwixt God and me, but he only. My merit is faith in Jesus Christ only, for a righteous man liveth by faith. And touching the distribution of my goods….
From the will of George Schomann. Died, Pinczow, Poland 1591
I have tried to outline those things from which you can truly judge concerning both our religion and our poverty…about the Most High God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, man, only begotten son of God our Lord; about baptism, the washing of repentance; about prayer; about the teaching of the Word of God. May your understanding of God be that which we have from the prophets of Israel and not after the fashion of the Lutherans the Papists. It is truly a great work we do, to gather people into the ecclesia of the Lord from far and near, from all sects of Christendom, from the heathen and from the Jews; so that we may all have an understanding of the Truth and live a life of purity. Truly my sons may divide my things, what little there is to have. But God will be your portion, and your real income will be far, far greater, if you cling to Him with all your hearts.
From the will of John Thomas. Died, West Hoboken, New Jersey, USA 1871
In committing me, myself — not a fraction or part of me — to my temporary resting and sleeping in the ground…I will that a brother of Christ, of good standing and repute among immersed believers of the gospel Paul preached… read, as my living representative on the occasion, declaring to the spectators the faith in which I died, and previously lived for many years, and earnestly contended for,…an address written by myself…; then cover up, and without sorrowing, leave me to a brief repose, until I hear the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, when the earth will cast me out, and I shall awake to sleep the sleep of death no more.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One