J.C. Ryle

As in the growth of grain, so in the work of grace, there is no harvest until the seed is ripe.

No farmer thinks of cutting his wheat when it is green. He waits until the sun, and rain, and heat, and cold, have done their appointed work, and the golden ears hang down. Then, and not until then, he puts in the sickle, and gathers the wheat into his barn.

God deals with His work of grace exactly in the same way. He never removes His people from this world until they are ripe and ready. He never takes them away until their work is done. They never die at the wrong time, however mysterious their deaths appear sometimes to man.

Let us rest satisfied, that there is no chance, no accident, no mistake about the decease of any of God’s children.