I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die.
John 11:25-26
Words: Daniel W. Whittle, in The Gospel Choir No. 2, edited by Ira D. Sankey, James McGranahan & George C. Stebbins (Toronto, Canada: Copp, Clark, 1895), number 26. Some hymnals give the author as El Nathan, one of Whittle’s pseudonyms.
Hymn suggested by the dying words of Mrs. Van Deusen, of Sprout Brook, N. Y., who was burned to death in a wreck on the Michigan Central R. R., at Battle Creek, Oct. 1893.
When it was found that she could not be removed from the burning timbers that held her fast in the car, she said to those about her,
I’m not afraid to die: Tell them all that I died like a Christian.
Music: James McGranahan (🔊 pdf nwc).
Let the message go forth,
Send it over the earth,
Sounding clearly and sweetly,
Proclaiming the worth
Of a faith that can say,
Meeting death on the way:
Tell them all, I can die like a Christian.
Refrain
O to die like a Christian,
Who would not die like a Christian?
With Christ by my side, whatsoever betide,
Let me die, let me die like a Christian.
Unto Him who destroyed
All the sting death employed,
Making fully and justly
The death sentence void;
Let us come while we may,
That in death we can say:
Tell them all, I can die like a Christian.
Refrain
If we trust in His blood,
If we own Him as Lord,
Resurrection and glory
Shall come thro’ His word;
And in death we may sing,
By the grace of death’s King:
Tell them all, I can die like a Christian.
Refrain