Calvin's Final Journey

The last years of John Calvin's life in this world were spent battling against intensifying physical affliction. Not unusual for that time was the reality of pain and death. Toward the end of his days, the Black Death appeared again in Europe and wrought tremendous devastation, leaving some villages without a single inhabitant. But Calvin's notable maladies were things of which he seldom took any notice. Certainly he wrote or spoke about them very sparingly, if at all. But others who observed him could tell that the various sources of pain were wearing him down. Yet, God's mercy was such to the people around Calvin that he did not die suddenly. He faded away, and was able, therefore, to take his leave of those among whom he had labored in the Gospel. Even the aged William Farel came to visit him. Calvin wanted to prove the truth of the Gospel to the very last, and so he did prove that to die is gain.