“Count up and compare, for another thing, the trouble that true Christianity entails, and the troubles that are in store for the wicked beyond the grave.
Grant for a moment that Bible-reading, and praying, and repenting, and believing, and holy living, require pains and self-denial.
It is all nothing compared to that ‘wrath to come’ which is stored up for the impenitent and unbelieving.
A single day in Hell will be worse than a whole life spent in carrying the cross.
The ‘worm that never dies, and the fire that is not quenched,’ (Mark 9:48) are things which it passes man’s power to conceive fully or describe.”
–J.C. Ryle, Holiness: Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1877/2014), 107-108.
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