Let us take care that we do not regard a magnificent funeral as an atonement for a life wasted in carelessness and sin.
We may bury a man in the most expensive style, and spend thousands of dollars in mourning. We may place over his grave a costly marble stone, and inscribe on it a flattering epitaph. But all this will not save our souls or his. The turning point at the last day will not be how we are buried, but whether we were “buried with Christ,” and repented and believed. (Rom. 6:4.) Better a thousand times to die the death of the righteous, have a lowly grave and a pauper’s funeral, than to die graceless, and lie under a marble tomb!
We may bury a man in the most expensive style, and spend thousands of dollars in mourning. We may place over his grave a costly marble stone, and inscribe on it a flattering epitaph. But all this will not save our souls or his. The turning point at the last day will not be how we are buried, but whether we were “buried with Christ,” and repented and believed. (Rom. 6:4.) Better a thousand times to die the death of the righteous, have a lowly grave and a pauper’s funeral, than to die graceless, and lie under a marble tomb!
~ J.C. Ryle
Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, volume 3, [Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1987], 379.
UPDATE: A new J.C. Ryle 365 Day Devotional has been released from Reformation Heritage Books. This devotional was taken from hundreds of J.C. Ryle's sermons. You can order the devotional HERE.
