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“There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death” (Ecclesiastes 8:8).
This is a very solemn verse, for when we come to die, we have no power to hold onto our spirit, and to keep on living. Back in the year 1603, Queen Elizabeth I of England was dying, and as she grew weaker, she cried out, “All my possessions for a moment of time!” Another man named Colonel Charteris said on his deathbed, “I would gladly give 30,000 pounds (British money) to have it proved to my satisfaction that there is no such place as hell!” (30,000 pounds would be worth more than three million dollars today.)
Neither of these people could hold onto life, when it came time for them to die. But both would have given anything to have more time, or to be sure that there was no hell. How much different it is for those who know the Lord Jesus as Savior! To die means to be “with Christ; which is far better” (Philippians 1:23).
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