Christian Hope: A Great Revival Is Coming — Rolfe Barnard

Romans 11 and the Promise of a Coming Revival

I invite you to turn, if you will, to the 11th chapter of the book of Romans. May I make two comments before we read the scripture? We'll begin reading in just a moment in verse 25 of Romans chapter 11.

The first comment that I wish to make is that we are a day nearer the great revival that is yet to come, right here on this earth, than we were when we met here last evening. Without a shadow of a doubt, the Church has not yet come into her glory, but she will.

The Lord gave a promise that the gates of Hades should not prevail against his Church. That doesn't mean that he said the devil is not going to overcome it. He said the devil is not going to be able to withstand it.

The Church has yet to come to her glory. If I didn't believe that, I'd take out on what we call churches today. It looks like we're hopeless. And we are, as far as man is concerned. But we've got the Bible and the clear promise.

The second statement I wish to make before I read the scripture, after I read the scripture, I'll make two or three statements that I don't know whether you'll agree with them or not. I do not know your theology.

If they do not sit well with you, just forget them. I have to make them in order to introduce my subject. I want to reason with you a little, from God's word tonight, on this thought. A great revival is coming.

It'll come in the days of the glory of Christ's Church. I want to talk about how that revival will come, and then close with a brief word about the evidence, how we'll know when revival is here. And I read about this revival, beginning in verse 25 of the 11th chapter of Romans.

The Apostle Paul says, I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.

And so all Israel shall be saved. As it is written, this is the way all Israel shall be saved. As it is written, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.

For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes. But as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father's sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.

Moffat, whose translation I love in so many places, translates that verse, God never goes back, God never goes back on his calling. There is a statement made here by the Apostle Paul, and we claim to believe that he made it as the Holy Ghost guided his mind, that all Israel shall be saved.

I believe, and I'll not argue, if you don't agree with it, it's all right, I believe the term Israel, yes, is the Jewish nation, not spiritual Israel. I believe when it says all Israel shall be saved, that it means this, that false prophets and false preachers who got Israel in the mess she got in and is still in today, I believe that the power of God will overcome them and they'll not have a hearing anymore.

In passing, we could have revival in America if we could kill off 99 percent of the preachers. I hope I ain't one of them. While the people do not think for themselves, most of them, they believe what the preacher says.

And God hasn't got many preachers, not many. The term all Israel shall be saved does not mean that the nation as such will become Christian, nor does it mean that every individual in the Jewish nation will become a Christian.

But it does mean that a deliverer shall come out of Zion and shall turn away. The ungodliness of Jacob and Zechariah, that we'll read in a moment, tells us how that ungodliness shall be turned away. Don't turn to it yet.

It'll be turned away by getting rid of the false prophets who corrupted the message and led the people in the shape they're in. The word S-A-V-E-D, saved, in the Bible is an interesting word. And I do not believe this word saved here has reference to what we call salvation.

If you don't agree with this, don't get mad at me. I have to say it in order to introduce my thinking. For instance, the word of God tells us about Adam was not deceived, but he was. And the scripture says that nevertheless the woman shall be saved by childbearing, as your word says.

And that either means that women become Christians by bearing children, or it means, what it really means, that they shall be preserved in their agony. For instance, the word of God says that he is the Savior of all men, especially of them that believe.

That means that he saves believers a little gooder than he does other people. Or it means, what it actually means, not reference to forgiveness of sin and eternal hope and glory, but that Jesus Christ is the preserver of all men.

And in a special way, he is the preserver of them that believe. You're out here on the lake, there's one in this state, and you see a man drowning, and you throw out a life preserver or rope or something and haul him in, and you say you saved him from drowning.

That doesn't mean he got converted and born again, but you kept him from dying. And so all Israel shall be preserved. And up till now, that's been true. There's still a nation of the Jews. And at that hour of God's great revival, which is yet to come, for Paul tells us that if we Gentiles were blessed by God turning aside from the Jewish nation, that when he turns again to them, all such blessing will fall on this old wicked world as we've little dreamed of.

Now, I don't know whether that's according to your theology or not, but I didn't just forget it, I don't want to change the theology, but it introduces me to my subject. The great revival that the world is headed toward, you believe this, it's so.

The Latter Rain and the Hope of World Revival

The time of the latter rain that Joel pronounced, the time when he said he'll pour out his Spirit on all flesh, partially fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, still is out yonder in the future. One thing I wish, I wish unto God that people that claim to believe the Bible believed a little of it and weren't such pessimists and would open their hearts and quit fictionist program off the record and get a little of the glory of God on their countenances.

We're headed for great days. We're headed for great days! And I'm going to keep preaching to local churches, imperfect as they are, as long as I get one of them to let me. Because some of these days, and I may be alive, you can't tell when this revival breaks out.

Boy, if I could live six months in a revival, I don't know, a month might be all I could take. I'd say with simian, Lord, I've seen your glory. I'm ready to go now. I've never seen revival, neither have you.

I've been where the fire blazed for just a little while. And burned! Last Sunday night, the week before I got here, in the church with an audience of about 350 people, I saw over 200 people profess to receive Jesus Christ as Lord, in just a few days.

Oh, it was blessed. The other day I had word from a preacher, he said all over that section of North Carolina, they're talking it on the streets and talking everywhere, a little touch from God. Had a pastor that didn't bother me.

He wanted what I had to say. Prayed for me. He'd get up every night and say, listen to this man and don't book him. Hear him through. Don't book the word of God. And he didn't bother me. Let me preach and preach and preach and preach.

People went away, greatly confused, greatly disturbed, defending their profession, defending their church membership, defending their orthodoxy. But they kept coming back. And then God's Spirit, after the word of God had plowed hearts, opened the windows of heaven.

And we almost went to heaven there a few nights. I saw over 150 people claim Christ. Sunday nights a week ago in a small church. You say, well, that's revival. Well, no, that's just a little flame. Just a little flame.

But brother, this world is going to see revival. It's going to start in the city of Jerusalem. And it's going to spread all over the world. It's going to spread all over the world. Now, there are no Jews here.

And you say, I'm not interested in the revival that's going to start in Jerusalem. Well, I am, because that's where the big one's going to start. But it's going to start exactly like a revival, what we call revival, a little touch.

It might never go any further than Carlisle. It might die out. The flame would burn out pretty soon. Everyone I've ever been in that had a little touch from God hadn't spread around the world. It's going to start exactly like a revival, if it ever comes to Carlisle, will start.

And I want to talk to you about the two things that God will bring to pass in bringing revival to any church, to any community, or as in the days that we yet look forward to, when he'll bring it to the whole world.

I'm not a timetable man. I may not live to see the time. I don't know a thing on God's earth about this world revival I'm talking about. The only reason I mention it is, I think under God, one of our greatest contributions to this bewildered day would be to have there's nothing on earth as contagious as a man that's full of something to look forward to.

And that kind of encourages everybody he touches. Every once in a while I meet one of you fundamentalists and you tell me, well, Brother Bondage, the last days and everything about played out and I want to get away from you as fast as I can.

I'm bad enough shaped to associate with you. I tell you, I want to associate with somebody that's got a big gut and his program's going to succeed and the whole earth was created for a place to display the glory of my sovereign redeemer.

Sing that breeze before the wind up comes. It's going to bring glory to God. And this old world is yet in unity under the power of God preaching the gospel. That's yet future. It's coming. And it can come to any congregation.

If there's six members that wanted it to come, I bet you a dollar and a half you've got the key in your hand and you can have a touch of the power of God. This church was located, this building, one half an inch from the brink of hell.

It's still be far enough from hell for us to avail ourselves of the weapon God always has used and will in the future and would today, if he were not hindered by us, to bring his blessing of revival upon the people.

Revival Through the Spirit and the Word

If you'll turn to the book of Zechariah at the 11th, 12th chapter, I wish to read to you the two things that will take place that make a revival. Just simple as falling off a log backward. The brethren got a little concerned the other day after these meetings had been set up some weeks ago.

The foreman said, maybe we won't have many folks for you to preach to. I said, well, I'm used to preaching to a small crowd. So we decided to go ahead. I don't want to play mumble peg with this time. Under God!

You haven't got another day to fool around playing mumble peg moaning. We're a day near revival and time's wasting. Time's wasting. And this church's got no right to exist if it isn't working toward this glorious time I'm talking about.

With hope in God and all hell, every trick of the devil will fail. This thing I'm talking about is coming! Hallelujah. How is it coming? Well, a revival comes about in just two simple ways. When this revival breaks out in Jerusalem, when this scripture, All Israel shall be saved, preserved, till this deliverer comes, I do not believe this is the second coming of Christ.

Maybe you do. We'll not fuss about that. I believe it's the day of the glory of the church and the day of the glory of the gospel. But however it comes, it's coming. I could be wrong about my interpretation, but I'm not wrong about the fact that there's going to be a great turning to God.

It's described in the 12th chapter of the book of Zechariah. And from this passage, the apostle Paul takes his text that I read in your hearing from the book of Romans. In verse 9 of this 12th chapter of Zechariah, I read these words.

And it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and the supplication.

And they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. The first thing that will take place when revival comes, that will bring revival, men, listen to me now, shall see who Christ is.

There has never been a work of grace yet. There never will be a work of grace in the future. You'll never see a work of grace here, apart from men and women being constantly confronted in the gospel with a crucified, exalted Lord.

That's the one task for every congregation that dares to call itself an assembly of God's called out ones. We call it a church. What's our one task or one of our tasks? It's to keep on as a body closely knit together in bonds of love, honoring one another above ourselves, toting our end of the blanket, full-strength all-force ahead, to constantly confront with the crucified, exalted Lord of glory.

Do it from the public, constantly speaking to the last, of preaching not about who was an offering for sin at Calvary, and now is the exalted Lord of glory reigning from us all. No revival apart from that.

Our task is never to change. You listen to me now. I'm not a crank. I know what I'm talking about. Listen to me now. The Jesus that's preached in our churches today can't save a flea. The Jesus that most church members say they accepted as their personal Savior, and they say that they did it, and they made Him their Savior, and they made Him their Lord, and all that.

There's two things about the Jesus that's been preached in America. It's been preached, I expect, in Colorado. The two things about Him that make Him different from the Christ of God. The Jesus that is popularly preached today, and the only one this generation knows anything about, is a Jesus who made some sort of a gesture of love, but was not a sin.

On Golgotha's hill. But when man forces an offering, that Jesus who poured out His soul unto death under the lash of God's holy law and the wicked machinations of evil men, that Jesus has yet, for the most part, to be preached in our generation.

People today admire Him. People today talk about Him. People today do everything except recognize Him as God's sin offering, doing for them what they could not do for themselves, taking their place and paying their guilty debt.

They shall look on Him whom they have pierced. When men see who Jesus is, revivals come, brother. Revivals come. When they see Him as a sin offering and an exalted Lord on a throne, they shall see their utter need of Him as their substitute.

And their utter need of Him is their absolute Lord. You'll never, you'll never, never be saved if you're never seen as an actual sin offering seated on a throne. The second thing that God uses upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication.

God says, I'll do it. I'll do it. Where you've got men under the power of God, their eyes are being opened and they see who Jesus Christ is. That's revival. There's just two things I know that God's people can do in this matter of revival.

Be dead sure this church in every home in this community you can get in, in every club, on every street corner, in every jail, on every avenue, and behind this pulpit and every Sunday school class, everywhere, faithfully confronts men not for the popular, weak, helpless, futile Jesus today, but for the Christ of God who under the grace and love of God was offered as a sin offering and who under the power of God has been highly exalted and made to sit upon the throne.

Enemies, authority, power, and rule have been brought unto him. And when everything has been brought under subjection to him, I'm quoting from Corinthians, then he was going to bring a subjected world and turn it back to the Father that God may be all in all.

The Evidence of Revival: Mourning and Seeking God

Now briefly, what are the evidences of revival? Would we know one if we met it in the road? Or just one? May I give it to you? When revival comes, God knows. I've seen a little taste of it in my ministry once in a while.

And everywhere I go, I say, Lord, if you will, do it again. I've never seen it come in a way that I could explain it. And you cannot tell from which it comes or where it goes. You can't control God, can you?

But I'll tell you one thing. If you're ever in it, and I hope you are, I'll tell you how you can tell it. Men will have great concern about their personal relationship to the Christ of God. And they'll begin to seek after the Lord.

Let's read this 10th verse one more time. Of the 12th chapter of Zechariah. God says, As I have for upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication, and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him.

Mourn him. They shall seek after him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, in agony for Christ, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. Verse 12,. And the land shall mourn every family apart and their wives apart.

People ask me if I believe in a public mourner's bench. I don't know whether you Yankees ever saw one or not. Down south many of the churches have a real bench. People come there and call it a mourner's bench.

Well, you stiff folks could use a little of that. I do not believe in a public mourner's bench, although I'm not going to holler about it. I don't care how you get to the Lord until you get to him. But I'll tell you right now, bud, you ain't never going to know him until you begin to seek him apart.

If revival came to Grace Baptist Church, the families of this church would have great seasons of mourning and seeking in their home, searching for God. Church membership, the fact that you don't shoulder back or get drunk, it wouldn't make a dime worth of difference.

You'd want to get acquainted and have a personal relationship with the living God. That'd be revival. A revival would come when this generation of church members that are going to go to hell defending their profession and their confession and can tell you when they're saved but don't know Christ, when they got terribly concerned about their own relationship to a living God.

I don't believe in a public mourner's bench because it can be a... I'm afraid people would trust the brinch, but the Bible dead sure teaches a private mourner's bench. And everybody that ever gets saved dead sure knows what I'm talking about now.

Just talk about seeking apart, mourning apart. Why is in that room men and men? Men and women ask of Christ a private mourner's bench. That's what he's talking about in Romans 7. Daniel had a private mourner's bench.

David had a private mourner's bench. Everybody ever knows God's got a private mourner's bench. A Christian spends his life at a private mourner's bench. I wish you'd turn and find it right quick to Jeremiah 31 and verse 18.

Here's what's going to happen among us nice little refined church people if revival ever comes. In 18th verse of Jeremiah 31, this be a description of us. I've surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus.

Old Ephraim moaning. He said, Thou hast chastised me. And I was chastised as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn Thou me and I shall return. For Thou art the Lord my God. Bemoaning himself. I know I'm talking strange.

We don't know nothing about what I'm talking about tonight. We're members of this cocky generation that made a little profession one time. We've been going around talking about we're born again Christians or there's some other kind.

We're nice people. But if revival came, God bless your heart, that be moaning and mourning men would seek. Have you ever seen much of that? You can see it. You can see it. May I say one more word? If anything like this ever happens here in Carlisle, for God's sake, don't try to stop it.

Don't try to stop it. Hell you know if you listen to the way to do personal work and the way to witness today. I've fought many a battle on this camp field. I've seen people go to insane asylum over this.

I've seen people in my meetings go crazy over what I'm talking about. How'd it happen? They'd come in here and they'd preach. Holy Spirit take the word and tear up all the little places of refuge and just tear them all to pieces.

And the next day some preacher of personal work would go to them. Why, you're all right. Why, you teach your son to school class. And they'd give them a little piece but they'd make a mistake and come back to them and preach that night.

And the Holy Spirit would take the knife and cut their heart open again. And the next day somebody would go along and give them comfort. Listen to Brother Barney. Listen to Brother Barney. In God's name.

To prayer, if that's how it comes, God ever pours out His Spirit and men of a confide now exalted Lord. And they begin to mourn for Him and seek Him upon relationship to Him or not. For God's sake, pay a little attention to this old preacher when I tell you in God's name don't try to pour water on their mourning.

Don't try to comfort mourning sinners. Should we go after sinners? If there's a son to school teacher here and you are not inspiring and training your class to go after souls, you ain't worth the powder and lead to kill you.

You ought to resign. Let them get somebody who knows God. I'm talking straight to you. This world's going to hell while there's nice people playing mumbo-jumbo. You better listen to me. To people. But what I would do is catch up with them.

I hope this church rings every doorbell in this city about once a month. That's what you ought to if you're in account. Ask the souls. What are you going to do when you get there? Try to get them to accept somebody?

Try to get them to make a profession? Suppose tonight your telephone rings and somebody phones and says, Oh, I'm in trouble. I tell you I'd just amaze them. Would you go? Surely you would, wouldn't you?

Wouldn't you? What would you do after you got there? If you knew the Bible, you'd do one thing. You'd do exactly what Peter did when God sent him down in answer to the prayer of a man by the name of Cornelius.

Peter’s Preaching to Cornelius

You've got to listen to Brother Barnard now. Let's turn to the 10th chapter of the book of Acts and read it again. You're familiar with the story of how a man by the name of Cornelius, he's a devout man, and he prayed and he gave alms and God gave him a vision.

And then God went over and worked on a fellow by the name of Peter and killed him to get him where he'd go down and preach to this Gentile. And when Peter finally got down there to old Cornelius, he was worshiping God and he was praying and he was seeking and he wanted help.

Why, Peter stuck John Thrickstein in his face and said, Don't you believe that verse of Scripture? Yeah. Well, he was saved. No, Peter went up to him and said, I understand you want me to come down and help you.

Yes, I've been praying for somebody to come. Well, here's my hand. Won't you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior? No, he didn't say that. What did he do? Well, let's read what he did. Bless the Lord.

He just preached to him. Verse 34,. Then Peter opened his mouth and said, Of a truth I perceive that God is no respect of persons, but in every nation he that feareth him and worketh righteousness is accepted with him.

The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace that I say ye know, which was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism with John, preached how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth of the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with him.

And we are witness of all these things which he did both in the land of the Jews in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Here whom God raised up the third day and showed him openly, not to all people, but unto witnesses chosen before of God, and so forth.

And he commanded us, verse 42, to preach unto the people and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be judge. He's going to do something with everybody, whether they save him or damn him, of the quickened dead, to him give all appropriate witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive these words.

You read these words, just the gospel all about Jesus Christ. Who else, Peter, yet speak these words? The Holy Ghost fell on all them. That H-E-A-R-D heard. If somebody called for you and wanted help, what would you do?

Try to get them to do something? Peter didn't. He confronted them with the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen? And the Holy Spirit added his testimony. What I'm trying to say is, let the Holy Ghost comfort people.

Amen? Ah, my. What did Peter do? He showed them Jesus Christ. Is that what you do? My church's present company, I hope, accepts it. But the absence of most of your members, I ain't so sure, have been talked into accepting something.

My soul, they need to be listened to the word when the Holy Ghost falls on them. That's how people get saved. What did Peter do? He didn't go around trying to get somebody to accept something. There's a troubled soul.

He didn't go say, now you're all right. He didn't go try to talk them into anything. He went and did what honors God, bless God. And what everybody that's a member of anybody's church, you're either living in disgrace or you're doing it.

You're a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. You sell clothes, mister, to pay expenses, but if you're saved, your mission is to preach the gospel. If the day ever comes when we quit limiting the preaching of the gospel to behind one of these things and have some churches full of saved people called up God to go to the Cornelius's, bless God, and do what?

Just proclaim Christ. You see it? Let Him comfort them. I was down in Greenville, Mississippi, Greenville, South Carolina, some years ago, and was on the radio 30 minutes a day and God began pouring out His Spirit on the broadcast.

In that city is the great Bible College. And before we knew it, many hundreds of the students were listening, and then they began to crowd out the auditorium. And after a few nights, they began to crowd the aisles, running to the prayer room, young preachers, people stood under the missionaries, screaming, I'm lost, I'm lost, and mourning and groaning.

Couldn't give anybody comfort. And it just began to spread, and telephones began to ring, and began to drive in from 250 miles around. So we had preachers all over that town spending all that time in the daytime, not even in the meeting, trying to deal with distressed souls.

And there I stood, and everybody wanted to help them. I said, I'm scared too. Leave them alone. Leave them alone. You saw somebody with a tear, you'd get him converted right away, wouldn't you? He'd stay converted about a week.

Let them mourn. Brother, if we ever have revival, there'll be mourning apart, with families. Old man, all four be in that room, the wife be over there, seeking the Lord. Let the Holy Ghost wipe their weeping eyes.

Amen? And I remember, Saturday night at midnight, I'd just got asleep, and the telephone woke me up, and a young preacher out at the school said, Brother Barnett, we're bringing a girl up to your hotel room.

Said she's in hell. Said she's just suffering like I never saw anybody suffer in my life. And said, you just got to help her. I said, don't bring her up here. I got to preach five times tomorrow night.

But he said, tomorrow, now I got to get some sleep. I did too. Well, he said, Brother Barnett, she's just suffering out again there. I said, well, let her suffer. One more night in hell might do her good.

You think I'm cruel? Eh? No, you're the one that's cruel. You don't believe God's word. You think this business of becoming a Christian is a little matter of switching your gun from one jaw to the other.

No, no, no. It's becoming vital to join to the living Lord. Have peace, unless he's had bitterness. Never know joy unless he's experienced mourning. They shall mourn for him. And we'll let her stay in hell.

Wasn't that cruel? But when she got out, she sure was glad. If you ever stay in hell a while, how about my vital, personal relationship to a living God? Nobody can do business there but you. For you. I've said all over America, every community ought to have a church in it full of people in the power of the Spirit confronting everybody they can with a Christ who's an actual sin offering.

Men actually need a sin offering in their stead. They don't need a helper. They need somebody to pay their sin debt. And men actually need to bow to the Lord Jesus Christ now.