A Tour of Hell — Rolfe Barnard

Memory and the Rich Man in Hell

He's been down there all this time. Well, here's that fella, the rich man's body, according to the scriptures, still in the grave. His old brain's long since decayed, but his memories with him in hell.

I'll tell you, memories can be mighty sweet, or they can be awfully bitter. Son, remember? Remember? Lord, let's be done with this now. What's done's done. Let's just forget about it. No, Abraham said, Son, remember?

Remember? To be condemned, to be harassed, and tormented, and sat down and prayed. Men have their memories in hell. You take yours there. I want you to join me tonight. I'm going to ask Abraham, if you will, to take us on a tour of hell.

Abraham, you little man, take me on a tour of hell. You want to help me preach. You want to help me warn sinners. I want you to help me brave the ridicule of this religious generation that says, Well, that preacher's trying to scare people.

You're dead right. I sure wish I could scare you. I wish I could get you where you're afraid of sin. I wish I could get you where you're afraid of facing the Holy God. Oh, well, I can't enough. I walk with tears.

I walk with authority. I walk with passion. The word is not of something I thought of, but of the eternal consequences of the fact that God's a holy God, and He's got to punish sin. So I want Abraham to take us tonight on a tour of hell.

The Memory of Noah's Ark and Missed Warning

And Abraham and I go down the elevator and land in hell, and immediately we're in bedlam. And I see a multitude of people over to my right. What's going on over there, Abraham? What they trying to do?

Oh, he said, they're knocking on the door of Noah's ark. I said, well, I don't see Noah's ark yet. He said, oh, no, Noah's ark's not in hell, but they think it is. It's in their memory. And all they do is go around.

I said, well, there's no door there. Nope. But it's in their memory. He lived unrighteous lives. How do you know? He threw the nail in the ark. He was saying, judgment's coming, judgment's coming, judgment's coming, judgment's coming.

The wrath of God is revealed from Him again. But nobody did. Nobody did. Nobody did. Seven years. More, Noah said, seven days. Still nobody got in the ark. He condemned the world. He said to both rockin' boys, this ain't not going on forever.

The wrath of God can be, can come to its end sometime. It's piling up, wrath on wrath, vengeance on vengeance, the judgment comes. He said to his generation and repented. But nobody did. Nobody did. When the flood came, scientists tell us there were three billion people on the earth at that time.

I don't know whether to tell the truth or not. I have no reason to doubt it. Three billion people. At least as many people as live on this earth now. And you know how many are crowned and under their rebellious spell.

Living the cries of the prophet of God. Crying righteousness. They'll never get away from it. God sent three billion of them to hell. I know. We don't believe that. A good God wouldn't send three billion people to hell one time, let's say so.

But He did. He did. God help us. So I bide with the way I just faced it. God won't catch up with sin some of these days. That's right. And we pass by. And Abraham says, remember, remember. That's all I got to do, remember.

Remember. Remember. We pass on through the corridors of hell. And I see a man over there. And he's saying, take it away, take it away. Take this thing away. And I say, who's that? And Abraham, he said, that's Herod.

Herod's Memory of John the Baptist's Death

I said, what is he trying to do? He said, he's trying to get somebody to take the head of John the Baptist away. So he carries it around with him and tries to get somebody to take it. It's burning and he can't forget.

I said, well, Abraham, I don't see the head of John the Baptist. Abraham said, no, Ralph. The head of John the Baptist is sitting in hell. But it's in the memory of Herod. He can't get away from it. He remembers how he went out to get John the Baptist, preached and feared him, and called him a just man.

And he quit chewing tobacco and drinking liquor and stealing money and a few other things. But one day John said, Herod, you're living in open lawless adulterous relationship with your brother. And old Herodius would have killed him.

But you couldn't. Had a drunken party. His stepdaughter danced hard. And in his cups he was pleased. And he was going to give her a present. And she slipped in the curtain and said, Mom, what do you want me to ask the old man?

He said, ask the head of that preacher. And so she came out and he said, I'll give you anything you want on behalf of my kingdom. He said, well, give me the head of John the Baptist. He sent a couple of boys down and locked the jail door.

And took John the Baptist, the greatest man that ever lived, what the scripture said. And he laid his head down on a block like the old turkey gobbler and severed it off. And put it in a big charger and took it and brought it to that wicked woman.

Oh, Nancy, by the head of the John the Baptist's wife, while I'm speaking to you now, you can't get away from it. We pass by. And Abraham says, son, remember. We pass on. And there's a man going around screaming.

Pilate's Memory of Jesus' Blood

Oh, we're back at death's door. We're back at death's door. Who's that? Well, that's Pilate. What's the matter with him? He's trying to get the blood off his hands. And I walk up close and I don't see Abraham.

I don't see any blood. Oh, no. There's no blood on his hands. It's in his memory. It's in his memory. He remembers. He remembers being warned of his wife. He remembers that experience. When he tried that fellow Jesus, according to the law of the Roman Empire, the justice law the world had ever known, and found not a thing on earth to condemn him over.

And he would have released him. No, sir. Would he lift in Caesar? Would he offend the Jews? Or would he release that innocent man? And so he weighed the situation carefully. Some of you will have to weigh it tonight.

That sore spot in your life, it's got to go. If you get to Christ, you're going to weigh it. Some of you will trade your hope for salvation one more time for that rotten spot in your life that kept you from Christ all these days.

And so he got him a basin of water, and he washed his hands. But he never did get rid of the blood there in his memory. He remembers. And Abraham and I pass by, and Abraham says, Son, remember. We pass on, and there's a little girl.

The Girl Who Delayed Salvation

And she looks up, and she sees me. And she said, that's Ralph Baric. I said, Abraham, I know that girl. He said, yes, sir. Everybody in hell knows who you are, Ralph. He said, that little girl just skulked him all the time.

Abraham, I'm not in hell. No, no. But you are according to her. You're in her memory. She can't forget you. She can't forget that time in Arkansas. One night, the spirit of God fell on the congregation.

Multitudes were swept into the kingdom of God. The whole congregation became agile. Primate and Christians praying for souls and sinners, screaming for mercy. It was the work of the sovereign spirit. That little 16-year-old girl didn't kneel.

But she stood there and grabbed the pew in front of her. The veins in her hands were burst. And a great pool of tears were at her feet. And she held her own foot to her life. You know, that sort of atmosphere where God's people spoke to her.

And the spirit honored her. And she stood there, and she trembled. And she wailed. And that service passed away. And finally the people began to go home. And I couldn't have kept from it if the devil and all his angels were there.

As the congregation was melting, she kept standing there. Going on to that seat and weeping. And I flipped up to her and would have a word to say. And she turned and looked at me and said, Now, go and talk to me.

I said, I'm going to be saved tomorrow night. I said, I'm going to get saved tomorrow night. I said, I'm not going to be saved tonight. I said, I know she talked to me. I'm not going to be saved tonight.

And the tears melted. And she turned loose. And all I could think of, probably at 27 -1, was not to die except for tomorrow. Because I know that's not what her day will bring forth. And she went home.

And at 10 o 'clock the next morning, she was a star basketball player, girl basketball player, of the high school team. And she was practicing. And she got right in the exact middle of the court. And she gave a great, agonizing cry.

And fell over on the floor. By the time the players got to her, she was dead. Tomorrow, she died. Oh, she said the night before, don't talk to me. I'm going to get saved tomorrow night. Oh, my. Tomorrow night, she is in hell.

And she can't forget it. Abraham says she quotes Proverbs 27 -1. Oh, not by except for tomorrow. Oh, I know it's not what her day will bring forth. I know people don't believe that. But still, so. That little girl in hell is quoting that scripture.

Trying to get people to get me out of hell. I'm in her memory. And that scripture's in her memory. And that night's in her memory. And those tears, the Holy Spirit produced her in her memory. I have to hang on to that seed.

The key from yield into the spirit. She'll never forget it. And we pass by the little girl. And Abraham says, son, remember. I'm going to get into theology now. It's bigger than I am for just a minute.

The Torment of Remembering God's Love

But the memory of the love of God will be the most terrible thing to torment you. Love of God. Don't limit it. Greater far than tongue or pen can ever say. To say to God. The world has to give. Men despise it.

Take it for granted now. It'll haunt them. The reaches of eternal days. You'll never get away from it. Any time.