Heaven or Hell, R. A. Torrey

Punchy little book with lots of great stories and testimonies. You can tell it belongs to an older generation- but not in a bad way. Although the style is a little dated, it would remain one of my top books to give an unbeliever due to small size, clear presentation of the gospel, great warnings and compelling stories. It points clearly to heaven and salvation in Christ by a renowned soul-winner. 

Excerpts

p25

Unbelief in Jesus Christ is an appalling sin because of the dignity of the person Jesus Christ.

 

p26

An injury done to Jesus Christ is a sin of vastly greater magnitude than a sin done to man. A mule has rights, but its rights are unimportant when compared to the rights of a man. The law recognizes the rights of a mule, but the killing of a mule is not regarded as serious as the putting out of a man's eye. But the rights of man, even of the purest, noblest, greatest of men, paule into insignficance befor eht erights of the infinite God and His infiniite son, Jesus Christ

 

p33

I wish that I could believer that there was no hell. That is, I wish that I could believe that all men would repent and accept Christ, and that hell would therefore be unneccessary. Of course, if men persist in sin and persist in the rejection of Christ, it is right that there should be a hell.

 

34
I once honestly believed and taught that all men, and even the devil, would ultimately come to repentance, and that hell would one day cease to be. But I could not honestly reconcile this position with the teachings of Christ, and the apostles. I finally decided that I must either give up my Bible or give up my eternal hope.

36
One ounce of God's revelation is worth a hundred tons of man's speculation.

37
It is true that some scholarly ministers have given up belief in hell, but they never gave it up for reasons of Greek or New Testament scholarship. They gave it up for purely sentimental and speculative reasons. If a man goes to the New Testament to find out the truth and not to see how he can twist it into conformity with this speculations, he will find hell in the New Testament.

46
You will carry into the next world the desires that you build up here. Hell is the place where desire and passion exist in their highest potency, and where there is nothing to gratify them.

50-51
There is another expression used often in the Bible-- "Unto the ages of the ages." It is used in one book, eight times describing the existence of God and the duration of His reign, once referring to the duration of the blessedness of the righteous, and in every remaining instance of the punishment of the beast, the false prophet, and the unrepentance. it is the strongest known expression for absolute endlessness.

97
The third refuge of lies is universalism-- the belief that God is too good to condemn anyone, that there is no hell, and no future punishment for sin. How common a refuge is that today. When you urge people to come to Christ, they answer, "I believe in the mercy and goodness of God. I believe God is love and too good to condemn anyone. I don't believe in hell."

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