What Comes After This Life? (Crucial Questions) by R.C. Sproul. Ligonier Ministries. 92 pages. 2023
***
This is one of the newest booklets in R.C. Sproul’s Crucial Questions series, all of which are free in the digital edition. These booklets offer clear answers
to the most common and difficult questions about the Christian faith. In this volume, he examines what the Bible says about heaven and hell.
Sproul writes that death came as God’s judgment for sin. Every human being is a sinner and therefore has been sentenced to death. We are all waiting for the sentence to be carried out. The question then is what happens after death. For Christians, the penalty has been paid by Christ.
Click on ‘Continue reading’ for:
BOOK REVIEWS ~ More of this review…
BOOK NEWS ~ Links to Interesting Articles
BOOK CLUB ~ Truths We Confess by R.C. Sproul
I’M CURRENTLY READING
Sproul writes that our new body will be incorruptible. It will be invincible. It won’t age. It won’t decay. It won’t wear out. It won’t rot. It won’t break. It won’t get sick. When we see our departed friends and relatives in the resurrection, they will appear different from how they appeared on earth. But, when we see them, we will know them, and they will know us.
Sproul tells us that in all of Scripture, the place that gives us the most vivid and graphic description of what heaven is like is found in the book of Revelation. He encourages us to read Revelation 21–22 in its entirety, and think of it as a letter from heaven, addressed to us, describing this place where Christ promised to go to prepare a place for us, if indeed we are in Him.
Sproul tells us that the thought of death often brings fear for Christians and non-Christians alike. That fear is bound up with the question of what happens after death. While Christ has paid the penalty for Christians, for non-Christians the news is much less good. God’s wrath against sin will be satisfied in those who do not trust in Christ. That punishment will happen in hell.
Sproul writes that in probably no other time in the history of the church have more people challenged the doctrine of hell than in our own day. Yet, almost everything that we learn biblically about hell comes to us from the lips of Jesus Himself.
Sproul states that God is just and that He judges according to His own holiness and perfect righteousness. There will be a final judgment for human beings. Every one of us will be called to account before the presence of God, and we will be judged by His perfect righteousness and by His perfect law.
Sproul tells us that now is the day of salvation. Nothing in Scripture gives us the slightest hint that there will be a second chance after death. The longer we postpone our repentance and our fleeing to Christ, the more dangerous and perilous is our condition, for tonight our souls may be required of us.
In this helpful booklet on heaven and hell, Sproul looks at scripture passages such as John 14, Revelation 21 and the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16. He addresses whether or not there will be marriage in heaven, our new bodies, whether we will know our departed friends and relatives in the resurrection, the new heaven and new earth, whether hell is the absence of God, the reality of a final judgement, and that there are no second chances after we die.
- Study, Savor and Share Scripture: Becoming What We Behold. My wife Tammy has published a book about HOW to study the Bible. The book is available on Amazon in both a Kindle and paperback edition. She writes “Maybe you have read the Bible but want to dig deeper and know God and know yourself better. Throughout the book I use the analogy of making a quilt to show how the Bible is telling one big story about what God is doing in the world through Christ. Quilting takes much patience and precision, just like studying the Bible, but the end result is well worth it.
- The Joy of Jesus’ Return. On this episode of the Ask Pastor John podcast, John Piper responds to the question “As you write more, you see more. So, as you wrote this new book on the second coming of Christ (Come Lord Jesus: Meditations on the Second Coming of Christ), what did you see more clearly? What discoveries stand out? And particularly, did you make any new key discoveries about how Christian Hedonism echoes in the second coming?”
BOOK CLUB – Won’t you read along with us?
We are reading through Truths We Confess: A Systematic Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith by R.C. Sproul. From the Ligonier description:
“The Westminster Confession of Faith is one of the most precise and comprehensive statements of biblical Christianity, and it is treasured by believers around the world. R.C. Sproul has called it one of the most important confessions of faith ever penned, and it has helped generations of Christians understand and defend what they believe.
In Truths We Confess, Dr. Sproul introduces readers to this remarkable confession, explaining its insights and applying them to modern life. In his signature easy-to-understand style and with his conviction that everyone’s a theologian, he provides valuable commentary that will serve churches and individual Christians as they strive to better understand the eternal truths of Scripture. As he walks through the confession line by line, Dr. Sproul shows how the doctrines of the Bible—from creation to covenant, sin to salvation—fit together to the glory of God. This accessible volume is designed to help you deepen your knowledge of God’s Word and answer the question, What do you believe?”
This week we look at the Foreword from Sinclair Ferguson. Here are a few quotes from the Foreword:
- In these pages you will find a treasure trove of rich biblical instruction written in a style that is as accessible as it is pastoral.
- The Westminster Confession was the anatomy of everything he (Sproul) preached and taught.
- Few things will do you more good or set you on a safer path than to sit now at R.C.’s feet and read through his exposition of the great doctrines of the Christian faith.
- Truths We Confess is not an academic, technical discussion of an ancient document. This is a book for every Christian home and family and one that will be especially valuable for younger Christians setting out on the way.
