Baptist Catechism 42

Q: 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

Baptist Catechism questions 35-43 are about the benefits that come to those who are effectually called by God’s word and Spirit to turn from their sins and place their faith in Christ. 

What benefits do those who believe in Christ enjoy in this life? In Baptist questions 35-39 we are taught all about justification, adoption, and sanctification, and 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 here in questions 42 (and 43), 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. I do believe that questions 42 and 43 are still about the benefits that come to those who trust in Christ. Whereas in questions 35-41 we learn about what the believer has been saved to, here in questions 42 (and 43) we learn about what the believer has been saved from.  

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.” 

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” 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. 

Baptist Catechism 39

Q. 39. What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?

A. The benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification, are, assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end. (Rom. 5:1-5; 14:17; Prov. 4:18; 1 Peter 1:5;1 John 5:13)

Scripture Reading: Romans 5:1-5

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:1–5, ESV)

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Over the past few Sundays, we have considered the main, fountainhead benefits enjoyed by those who have faith in Christ in this life. Those main benefits or blessings are justification, adoption, and sanctification. Much more could be said about these great, fountainhead blessings, but today we move on to consider the several benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from them.   

We should remember the progression. 

Baptist Catechism 35 ask, What benefits do they that are effectually called, partake of in this life? A. They that are effectually called, do in this life partake of justification, adoption, sanctification, and the several benefits which in this life do either accompany or flow from them.

Baptist catechism questions 36, 37, and 38 then ask and answered, what is justification, adoption, and sanctification? Now we come to Baptist Catechism 39 which asks, What are the benefits which in this life do accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?

The idea behind this question is that the main blessings of justification, adoption, and sanctification bring many other blessings with them. Those who are justified are blessed in many ways because of their justification. Those who are adopted are blessed in may ways because of their adoption. And those who are being sanctified are blessed in many ways because of their sanctification.  

 So, what are the benefits that in this life accompany or flow from justification, adoption, and sanctification?  No doubt, our list could be very long. Our catechism mentions five. They are assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Spirit, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end. With just a little bit of reflection, I trust you will be able to see how each of these five benefits are related to the main benefits of justification, adoption, and sanctification.  

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Firstly, those who are justified and adopted, and are being sanctified by God’s grace through faith in Christ, may be assured of God’s love.  To be assured of God’s love is to be confident and convinced that God loves you.  There are a few things about assurance you should know.  One, obtaining this sense of the assurance of God’s love is possible in this life. Two, this sense of assurance does not come to the Christian automatically.  In other words, true Christians might sometimes doubt if God loves them.  Three, Christians should pursue this sense of assurance.  Four, this sense of assurance might sometimes be strong and at other times weak.  Five, the reasons for a lack of assurance are many. The Second London Confession Of Faith devotes an entire chapter to this doctrine of assurance.  I would encourage you to read it sometime soon.  In chapter 18 paragraph 3, some reasons for the lack of assurance are listed.  There we read, “True believers may have the assurance of their salvation [in a variety of] ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted; as by negligence in preserving of it, by falling into some special sin which woundeth the conscience and grieveth the Spirit; by some sudden or vehement temptation, by God’s withdrawing the light of his countenance, and suffering even such as fear him to walk in darkness and to have no light, yet are they never destitute of the seed of God and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of heart and conscience of duty out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, this assurance may in due time be revived, and by the which, in the meantime, they are preserved from utter despair.”  That, I think, is a very good and helpful summary of the reasons this sense of assurance may sometimes be lost or diminished.  Six, the ways to grow in your sense of assurance concerning God’s love for you are many.  One, it is important to start, not by looking at yourself, but at Christ who lived, died, and rose again for you.  God loves you in Christ, remember?  Two, it is important to meditate on the promises found in God’s word.  For example, John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, ESV).  And in John 6:37 we hear Christ say, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will  never cast out” (John 6:37, ESV).  Three, it is good and right to pray to God and to ask him to give you this sense of assurance by his Holy Spirit.  For it is the “Spirit himself [who] bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God” (Romans 8:16, ESV).  Four, Christians should strive to obey God and avoid sin.  Sin wounds the conscience. Obedience to God is evidence of our salvation.  This is what John meant when he wrote, “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments” (1 John 2:3, ESV).  That verse is about assurance.  When we turn from sin and keep God’s commandments, it is powerful evidence that we have been reborn, justified, adopted, and are being sanctified.  Stated negatively, when a Christian lives in unrepentant sin, it is no wonder they begin to doubt whether they are saved and loved by God.  Though true Christians do sin, they will not continue in it.  Instead, they will struggle against it and will experience progress in their sanctification over time. We are not saved because we are sanctified.  Instead, we are sanctified because we are saved.  Our growth in holiness is a powerful testimony to our true salvation in Christ Jesus.  Again, I do encourage you to read Second London Confession chapter 18 sometime soon.

For now, I hope you can see how a proper understanding of the doctrines of justification, adoption, and sanctification will help you to grow in your sense of assurance of God’s love for you.  First, these doctrines, when properly understood, should cause us to look away from ourselves to God and Christ to consider what God has done to save us from our sins.  Only after this should we look at ourselves to consider the progress we have made in our sanctification as evidence of God’s redeeming work within us.  And do not forget, your sanctification is by the grace of God, too. 

Secondly, those who are justified, adopted, and are being sanctified by God’s grace through faith in Christ, should have peace of conscience.  We should be at peace knowing that our sins have been forgiven and that we are clothed in Christ’s righteousness. 

Thirdly,  those who are justified, adopted, and are being sanctified by God’s grace through faith in Christ, ought to have joy in the Holy Spirit.  Psalm 32:1-2 comes to mind.  There David says, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.  Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit” (Psalm 32:1–2, ESV).  To be blessed is to be truly and deeply happy or joyous. Those who are justified and adopted and are being sanctified in Christ have every reason to be joyous.  

Fourthly, those who are justified, adopted, and are being sanctified by God’s grace through faith in Christ, will increase in grace.  This means they will, by God’s grace, grow in maturity and holiness over time.  This is one of the wonderful blessings that flows from justification, adoption, and sanctification in this life.  In 2 Peter 3:18 we are exhorted to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18, ESV).  And in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, we find a kind of benediction wherein the Apostle Paul blesses the Christians in Thessalonica, saying, “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23, ESV).   

Fifthly, those who are justified, adopted, and are being sanctified by God’s grace through faith in Christ will persevere to the end.  God will preserve his elect, and this he will do by graciously enabling his elect to persevere.  Brothers and sisters, we must persevere in the faith.  We must trust that God will preserve us.  To quote again Philippians 1:6, we trust “that he who began a good work in [us] will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6, ESV). 

If it is true that all who are justified, adopted, and sanctified will persevere to the end, how are we to understand those who profess faith in Christ and then fall away?  I do believe that 1 John 2:19 addresses this question.  There John speaks of those who have abandoned the faith, saying, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.  But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us” (1 John 2:19, ESV).  There is such a thing as a false profession of faith.  Those who abandon the faith are to be regarded as false professors.  It is not that they lost their justification, adoption, and sanctification, but that they never truly had these things.  Their departure from the faith reveals that their religious profession was merely external all along. 

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I’ll move this little sermon to a conclusion by asking, do you have a sense of assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Spirit? Are you growing in grace and persevering in the faith? If the answer to any of these questions is “no”, there are many possible reasons. One reason I would ask you to consider is that you have not rightly understood or fully appreciated the good news of Jesus Christ, that all who come to him by faith are, by God’s grace, justified, adopted, and sanctified.  

These wonderful gifts cannot be earned but must be received. They are offered to us, not because of anything we have done, but because of what Christ has done for us. And these gifts are truly marvelous. Those who understand what the gifts of justification, adoption, and sanctification are believe that they have truly received them in Christ Jesus, by the grace of God alone through faith alone, are bound to enjoy a sense of assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, and joy in the Holy Spirit? And we know that those with true faith in Christ will indeed grow in grace and persevere in the faith, for “he who began a good work in [us] will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6, ESV).