" . . .But Small Is The Gate And Narrow The Road That Leads To Life."

Is he a brute? Is he a maniac?

(John Angell James, "The Anxious Enquirer" 1834)

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"What will it benefit a man, if he gains 

the whole world yet loses his soul?
 Or what will a man give in exchange 

for his soul?" Matthew 16:26 

Consider what the loss 

of the soul includes: 

It is the loss of everything dear 

to man as an immortal creature. 

It is the loss of Heaven, with all its 

honors, felicities, and glories. 

It is the loss of everything that can 

contribute to our eternal happiness.

The loss of the soul includes in it all that 

is contained in that dreadful word, Hell. 

Hell is the eternal endurance of the wrath 

of GOD. It is the coming down of the curse 

of the Almighty upon the soul; or rather, 

it is the falling of the soul into that curse, 

as into a lake which burns with 

fire and brimstone. 

All the tears that ever have been or 

ever will be shed on the face of 

the earth; all the groans that ever 

have been or ever will be uttered; 

all the anguish that ever has been or 

ever will be endured by all the inhabitants 

of the world, through all the ages of time--

do not make up an equal amount of misery 

to that which is included in the loss 

of one human soul!

Consider that the eternal loss of 

the soul is not a rare, but a very 

common occurrence. 

The loss of the soul is so tremendous 

a catastrophe, that if it happened only 

once in a year, or once in a century, 

so as to render it barely possible 

that it should happen to you--

it would be reckless carelessness 

not to feel some solicitude about 

the matter! 

How much more, then, when, alas! 

it is an every-day calamity! 

So far from its being a rare thing 

for men to go to Hell--

it is a much rarer thing for them 

to go to Heaven! 

Our LORD tells us, that the "road 

to destruction" is thronged, while 

the "way to life" is traveled by few. 

Hell opens its mouth wide and swallows 

up multitudes in perdition! How alarming 

is the idea, and how probable the fact--

that you may be among this number! 

Some who read these pages will very 

likely spend their eternity in Hell.

Concern, then, deep concern about 

the salvation of your soul, is the most 

reasonable thing in the world! 

Can that man have a soul, 

 or know that he has one--

who is careless about its 

eternal happiness?

Is he a man--or is he a brute?
Is he a rational being--or is he a maniac?
Ever walking on the edge of the precipice 

that hangs over the bottomless pit--

and not concerned about salvation! 

Oh, fatal, awful, destructive indifference!

Look into the bottomless pit--

can you be too anxious 

to escape its torments? 

Look into Heaven--

can you be too anxious 

to obtain its glories?
Look into eternity--

can you be too anxious 

to secure immortal life?

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide 

is the gate and broad is the road that 

leads to destruction, and many enter 

through it. But small is the gate and 

narrow the road that leads to life, and 

only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-14 

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