About a week or so ago, there was a Facebook post notifying that a stalwart in the faith, that I have been following for a few years, had been hospitalized. The post asked the community of faith to be in prayer for theologian, pastor, teacher and founder of Ligonier Ministries, Dr. R. C. Sproul.

I began to pray, along with many, petitioning God to heal this man of faith, for he and his ministry had played such a part in my growth. On a daily basis, I would look for the update to see whether God had indeed answered our prayers, my prayer in the way we sought.

Sometime this week though, while in prayer, I began to wonder what the will of God might be. While we desperately are wanting to hold on to him for good reason, what if that was not in the plan of God? The Facebook post update I saw last night indicated that he is soon to be home with the Lord.

That thought, is soon to be home with the Lord, was sobering. Perhaps because earlier in the week I had listened to a powerful sermon by Pastor Al Martin, What You Must Know, Believe and Do Before You Die.  In this sermon, Pastor Martin explained how after our final breath, we find ourselves in judgment.

So, as I considered that last post regarding Dr. Sproul, all I could think of as I went to bed, was that he was just one breath away from absolute unspeakable, unimaginable joy!

But not just him, we all are just one breath away. We don’t know where, when, or how that day will come for us; but it will come, and then our eternity, be it heaven or hell.

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Hebrews 9:27

One breath separates from our eternity, separates us from being in the presence of our Saviour, our Redeemer, our Lord.

Today, Dr. Sproul did make his departure. Here is a quote on heaven from Dr. Sproul captured in article, Great Quotes from A Taste of Heaven by Tim Challies.

You can grieve for me the week before I die, if I’m scared and hurting, but when I gasp that last fleeting breath and my immortal soul flees to heaven, I’m going to be jumping over fire hydrants down the golden streets, and my biggest concern, if I have any, will be my wife back here grieving.  When I die, I will be identified with Christ’s exaltation.  But right now, I’m identified with his affliction. – Dr. R. C. Sproul

My mind cannot comprehend what one breath away will bring. Dr. Sproul now knows.

Dr. R. C. Sproul (1939-2017)