Dec 22
11
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Baptist Catechism 42
Q. 42. But what shall be done to the wicked at their death?
A. The souls of the wicked shall, at death, be cast into the torments of hell, and their bodies lie in their graves, till the resurrection and judgment of the great day. (Luke 16:22-24; Ps. 49:14)
Scripture Reading: Luke 16:19–31
“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’” (Luke 16:19–31, ESV)
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Please excuse any typos and misspellings within this manuscript. It has been published online for the benefit of the saints of Emmaus Reformed Baptist Church but without the benefit of proofreading.
Introduction
Over the past several weeks our catechism has been helping us to consider the blessings that come to those who have faith in Christ. In our catechism, these blessings (or benefits), are presented in three stages.
First, in questions 35-39 we are told of the benefits that come to those who have faith in Christ in this life. They are justification, adoption, and sanctification. And there in that section, we are also told about the “several benefits which in this life do either accompany or flow from them, namely, the “…assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.” These are all blessings (or benefits) that come to the believer in this life.
Question 40 then asks, what benefits do believers receive from Christ at death? That is a good question, don’t you think? We experience many benefits in this life through faith in Christ Jesus, but what about when we die? Are there blessings that come to the believer then? Yes. Here is the answer: “The souls of believers are at death made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory, and their bodies, being still united to Christ, do rest in their graves till the resurrection.” This is very comforting, is it not? Though death is an unpleasant thing for all people, for the believer there is a sense in which it is a blessed thing because of what Christ has accomplished for us.
Question 41 then asks, what benefits do believers receive from Christ at the Resurrection? Answer: At the resurrection believers, being raised up in glory, shall be openly acknowledged and acquitted in the Day of Judgment, and made perfectly blessed, both in soul and body, in full enjoyment of God to all eternity. We considered this question and answer last Sunday, so I will not comment on it now.
Notice that each one of these questions and answers helps us to better appreciate what Christ has done for us. When did Christ accomplish our salvation? A long time ago. He accomplished our salvation nearly 2,000 years ago when he lived, died, rose again, and ascended to the Father. Our catechism teaches us all about the accomplishment of our redemption in questions 23-31. But when are the benefits of that salvation that Christ has earned applied or given to the people for whom Christ died? Answer: when they turn from their sins and place their faith in Christ. Questions 32-43 teach us about the application of the redemption which Christ earned so long ago to the believer in due time.
Notice that here in question 42 (which we are considering today) and in question 43 (which we will be considering on the next Lord’s Day), the blessings that will be enjoyed by those who have faith in Christ at death and at the resurrection are contrasted with the awful destiny of those who die in unbelief and in their sins.
Listen again to question 42: “But…” That word is important. It is a word indicating contrast. “But what shall be done to the wicked at their death?” Answer: “The souls of the wicked shall, at death, be cast into the torments of hell, and their bodies lie in their graves, till the resurrection and judgment of the great day.”
Brothers and sisters, these are unpleasant truths. But please hear me. These are essential truths that must be proclaimed. For here we have the biblical truth concerning the destiny of the wicked. And here we also have the biblical truth concerning the thing that Christ has saved us from, if he is our Lord and Savior. And so as we consider these next two catechism questions and answers, we should be moved to both pray for and evangelize the lost, and also to give heartfelt thanks to God for this salvation that he has provided. For here we see that in Christ we are not only saved unto heaven, we are also saved from the eternal torments of hell. Thanks be to God.
Let us now briefly consider the catechism piece by piece.
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Catechism Explained
“But what shall be done to the wicked at their death?”
Notice that question 42 asks, “But what shall be done to the wicked at their death?”
I suppose some might be thinking, but aren’t we all sinful? Aren’t we all wicked? Well, by nature, yes. But when our catechism speaks of “the wicked” here it is referring to those who remain in their unbelief and die in the guilt of their sins. Though it is true that we are all born in sin, when a person is drawn to faith in Christ it is because they have been born again. No longer are they “wicked”, for when they turn from their sins and trust in Christ they are, at that moment, washed and forgiven. And though it is true that we all continue to struggle with sin, those who have faith in Christ have been justified (declared not guilty), adopted (as children of God), and are being sanctified further with each passing day. For these reasons, those in Christ cannot be called “wicked”. They are instead called “saints”. And this is by the grace of God alone. So then, this catechism question is asking, what happens to the wicked, that is to say, to those who do not believe in Christ, and are therefore still in their sins, when they die?
Here is the answer:
“The souls of the wicked”
“The souls of the wicked…” Notice that a distinction is being made between the body and the soul. This should sound familiar to you. In an earlier catechism question, we learned that believers have a body and soul. And here we are taught that non-believers have a body and soul too. In other words, all humans have a body and soul. A soul is not unique to those who have faith but is an essential part of human nature.
“Shall at death”
Back to the answer: “The souls of the wicked shall, at death…” Here we are talking about the moment of physical death. Question: what happens to the souls of those who have faith in Christ when they die? We have learned that at the moment of death “the souls of believers are… made perfect in holiness, and do immediately pass into glory…” (BC 40), that is to say, into the blessed presence of God.
“Be cast into the torments of hell”
But this is to be contrasted with the destination of the souls of the wicked. What will happen to the souls of those who do not have Christ as Lord and Savior when they die? “The souls of the wicked shall, at death, be cast into the torments of hell…” What is hell? I suppose we might say that it is the opposite of heaven. While heaven is a place of eternal blessedness in God’s glorious and gracious presence, hell is a place of eternal torment wherein God’s perfectly just wrath is poured out on the unrighteous.
Earlier I read from Luke 16:19–31. I will not take the time to explain that text in detail now, for that is not the purpose of this sermon. But I would encourage you to go back to that text later today or later this week to reflect upon it. In that passage, Jesus tells us about the destinies of two people at the moment of death. There was a rich man who prospered in this life. But where did his soul go when he died? To Hades. This is what the place of hellish torment was called prior to the resurrection of Christ from the dead. The rich man suffered in Hades because he was wicked and unbelieving. But where did the poor man go? The text says his soul went to “Abraham’s side”, or “Abraham’s bosom”. Before Christ from the grave, that is what the heavenly and pleasant portion of Hades was called (Hades is a general term referring to the place of the dead before the resurrection of Christ. And within Hades, there was a place of torment and a place of comfort. By the way, why do you think the place of comfort was called “Abraham’s side” or “Abraham’s bosom”? It is because it was those who had the faith of Abraham who went there. It was those who believed in the promises concerning the coming Messiah that were entrusted to Abraham who went to be with him in paradise to be comforted there. Now that Christ has accomplished our redemption through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension, there is no longer Abraham’s bosom, but only “heaven” and “hell”, for through Christ the way into the heavenly holy of holies has been opened up. All who were in Abraham’s bosom before Christ’s resurrection are in heaven now. And all who have died in Christ ever since his resurrection and heaven too. They went there immediately and in their soul. In so too will we if we have faith in Christ and die before he returns.
Though there are some things that require explanation in Luke 16:19–31 because of the fact that Jesus spoke these words before his resurrection, the text does illustrate the point, doesn’t it? When people die, their souls go either to a place of torment or a place of blessedness and comfort. Now that Christ has risen, we call these two places heaven and hell.
“And their bodies lie in their graves till the resurrection and judgment of the great day.”
What happens to the bodies of those who do not believe in Christ when they die? The same thing that happens to the bodies of believers. “[T]heir bodies lie in their graves till the resurrection and judgment of the great day.” This mention of the “resurrection” day, which is the “day of judgment”, anticipates the next question, which is this: “What shall be done to the wicked, at the Day of Judgment?” The answer to this question will have to wait until next Lord’s Day.
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Conclusion
Let me conclude with three suggestions for application.
One, this teaching should move you to ask the question, where will I go when I die? Will I go to experience the glories of heaven, or will I go to experience the torments of hell? What makes the difference? Answer: faith in Christ! We are all born in sin. We all violate God’s law in thought word in thought, word, and deed. We all deserve the torments of hell. But God has provided a Savior for us, Christ the Lord. Listen to John 3:16-18: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:16–18, ESV)
Two, this teaching should move us to pray for those who do not believe in Christ and also to tell them about Jesus. These are the means that God uses to bring his people to salvation: the proclamation of the gospel and prayer. This is why Paul wrote, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1:16, ESV)
Three, this teaching should increase our gratitude for the mercy and grace that God has shown to us in Christ Jesus. This teaching concerning what Christ has saved us from should cause us to wholeheartedly agree with the apostle Paul, when he says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places… In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, … In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:3–14, ESV). May our gratitude towards God increase. May our love for him grow and grow. May we, like the Apostle, be moved to praise.
