WILL TESTIMONIES
The following pre-ambles and conclusions
have been compiled by the Institute for Creation Research
and are available to you with the hope that you will find them useful
as you testify to God’s great love.
The following examples are suitable for use as a preamble to one’s will:
I, ______, of (county), (state) declare this to be my will, and hereby revoke all wills and codicils that I have previously made. Having realized the futility of life without a relationship with the God who created me and who will one day judge me I have received Him as my Savior and Lord. I have done this by believing that, by the death on the cross of His only Son, Jesus Christ, He took my sins upon Himself-He paid the penalty for my sin. Believing, too, that as God the Father raised His Son from the dead and took Him back to heaven where He is preparing a place for all who believe, He sent His Holy Spirit into the world to convict, comfort, teach, and empower all who come to Him in faith.
“Realizing that when this, my Last Will and Testament is read, I will have already graduated into His presence, I want to testify to God’s constant love and coming judgment this one last time before I return with Him to reign for eternity:
“To my loved ones who need to yield to the God whom they, too, will one day stand before, I pray in Jesus’ name, that you will not wait another minute to have the weight of sin lifted from your life, that as a new creature in Christ, you might be free to love and obey the God of eternity, the one in whose presence I now live.
“ To my loved ones who know Christ as their Savior and Lord, rejoice with me in the certainty that I am with Him in whom I have placed my trust and that the Lord will meet your needs in my absence from you. We shall one day be reunited at His feet. Truly, all is well with my soul.”
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Testimony of Gratitude. In thankfulness to the Lord for the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ and the faith He has given me to accept Him as my personal Savior, I wish to include this testimony with my Will. Because of His faithfulness and His many blessings throughout my life, it is my desire that the assets He has provided will continue to be used to further His work here on Earth, so that others also will come to know Him.
I believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God and that Jesus died for my sins and the sins of the world. I have taken Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior, claiming the promise of John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” I hope that all who do not know for sure that they have everlasting life will make the important decision to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior before He comes again.
It is my desire that all who read or hear this, my Last Will and Testament, will know that my absence from this world means that I am present with the Lord Jesus Christ according to His promise recorded by the apostle John. In I John 5:13, “These things have I written unto you that you may believe on the name of the Son of God; that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may believe on the name of the Son of God.”
I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for His death on the cross for me, for His saving me from my sins, and for His giving me the gift of eternal life with Him in Heaven. It is my desire that any person who hear or reads my Last Will and Testament and who has not yet received Christ’s gift of eternal life, will realize that he is a sinner; that he needs to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; that he will ask Jesus to save him, and that he, also, thus will receive the gift of eternal life.
I thank the Lord Jesus Christ for saving me, not according to my works, but according to His own purpose and grace. I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for by receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, I am promised forgiveness of sins and eternal life with Him in Heaven. I agree with the apostle Paul when he records in II Timothy1:12, that “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” I hope that all who read or hear this, my Last Will and Testament, also will receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
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I, ______, of (county), (state), knowing and trusting in the love and mercy of Almighty God and in the finished work of His Son, Jesus Christ, His substitutionary death, burial, and resurrection to atone for my sins and those of the whole world, and being of full age and of sound and disposing mind and memory, do hereby make, publish, and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament, and hereby do revoke all other Wills and Codicils heretofore made by me.
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I, ______, of (county), (state),realizing the uncertainty of this life, and with full confidence and trust in my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in His death for my sins on the cross and in His shed blood as an atonement for my soul, and knowing that by faith in His sacrifice on the cross for me I have eternal life according to Ephesians 1:7, “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace,” and being of full age and of sound and disposing mind and memory, hereby do make, publish, and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all other Wills and Codicils heretofore made by me.
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I, ______, of (county), (state), a person saved, loved, and sanctified by Jesus Christ, guided and directed by His Holy Spirit, and preparing to spend eternity in the reign of God, the Father, and being of full age and of sound and disposing mind and memory, hereby do make, publish, and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all other Wills and Codicils heretofore made by me.
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Acknowledging the living God as my heavenly Father, knowing His Son, Jesus Christ, as my eternal Lord and Savior, and the Holy Spirit as my Guide and Comforter, I, ______, of (county), (state), being of full age and of sound and disposing mind and memory, hereby do make, publish, and declare this to be my Last Will and Testament, hereby revoking all other Wills and Codicils heretofore made by me.
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The following examples are suitable for use in concluding one’s will:
Having now disposed of all my earthly goods, and having appointed certain persons to various duties, it is my desire to leave also some spiritual goods and duties from the Word of God to all who read or hear this, my Last Will and Testament:
- First, the way to forgiveness of sins and to eternal life, as recorded in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
- Second, the way to obtain the necessities of life as recorded in Matthew 6:33: “But seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
- Third, the way to carry out the whole duty of man, as recorded in Ecclesiastes 12:13: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
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In addition to leaving behind my material goods to my beneficiaries, hoping that such goods may profit them during the short time they have in this world, I wish also to leave behind some spiritual goods as first given by the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 22:37: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,” hoping that all who read or hear this, my Last Will and Testament, might, by following the Lord’s Great Commandment, lay up for themselves treasures in Heaven that will assist them for eternity.
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Having now disposed of my material goods, which are only temporary, I wish to remind all who read or hear this, my Last Will and Testament, that the only way to spiritual goods and treasure in Heaven, which will last for eternity, is through accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and by asking Him to forgive your sins and to save you; for, as recorded in Acts 4:12, “Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is no other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”
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Finally it is my desire to leave to those who read or hear this, my Last Will and Testament, a verse from the Holy Bible that has been of special comfort to me, and should be to all born-again Christians, I John 5:4: “For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.”
in gratitude to Tom Manning
ICR Stewardship and Trust Services
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