Should God Punish Sin — Rolfe Barnard

And I'd like, if you'd like to follow the scripture, we'll be in the book of the revelations tonight, the ninth piece chapter. The Bible says that killing people are nice people. I always, for some 35 years, I've been commuting from the north and the south.

You can't tell by the way I talk, but I was born in the south. And when you're young, you certainly do talk funny, I'll tell you that. But I always know when I'm preaching on either side of the nation's ocean line, if I'm down home and I see the men standing around outside the church smoking, or spitting syringes like that, then I'm home.

And when I get up north, it always amuses me to see the youngest, see the auditorium from the back, forward, front. And I get rich, and I'm going to come up there and build a church that's four miles from the front door to the church.

And I just want to watch you youngsters, see if you can get it back quicker. Why is it so difficult? Two things are typical of the north. You preach the congregation the wrong way, and the preacher has to run to the front door to shake hands with you, out to the church.

Returning to the Bible and the Call to Obedience

And they're not at this grade, that's all. But you do it, and I won't charge anything extra for it. I believe, dear ones, that the Lord, who's never left himself without a witness, I lift the well from which we've drunk, so that when the whiplum dries, we'll quit trying to drink from them, and we'll buy the Bible, evidently.

Succession Christians do not have a Bible, or they've never read the ones we've got. Because we've got your and your and mine, haven't paid any attention to the Bible. We get our form of government in our way of doing things from tradition, and largely from Roman Catholicism.

And we utterly refuse to open the Bible, find out how the people of God are to conduct themselves in the days which they're privileged to be God's people. I could get the blues, or I could believe, as I do, whether it's so or not, that a sovereign God is drying up the well, for he sure is a-getting off a drive.

And if we would, he might put us to the place of obedience. Unbelief, you know, is not ignorance. Unbelief is willful rejection of truth, and refusal to walk in it. We're guilty as church people as we can be, for we absolutely refuse.

Walk in the life we have. Just God doesn't give us any more, because we won't walk in the life that we have. Like myself, come in for a few days with your request, I would do you good, if I could, not evil at all.

A Call to Repentance for the Local Church

But I want to pose two questions to you tonight, as people of God, in church assembly. It's Wednesday night. There was no worship yesterday, last night. And most of you, the majority of this congregation, I take it, are local.

And I want to talk to the church that meets in this building, as a name, the Bible Presbyterian Church. And I believe a Christian congregation is there, so I won't charge you anything extra. And if you're here from some other congregation, I feel like you're that whole congregation.

Don't ask me to agree with you tonight, but I want you to listen to me, as I try to call you to repentance. I believe the movement of the Spirit of God is away from the public preaching of the gospel to the private preaching of the gospel.

Preachers do not have a hearing now. If there isn't a preacher here, then you can get a trial. Preachers do not have the respect of people now. We have a blame for it. I don't blame people for not respecting us preachers.

And I'm glad it's happening that way, because this church, and most all of our churches, you do not have a Bible pattern, or a Bible model, or a Bible order. None of us do. You've had superiors send more to Puritans than you do of the Bible, and they're apostles.

And you've got your church government and the whole outfit from the Puritans and not from the Bible. And I believe God is swimming this up. And I'm going to share this with you, and then pose these questions.

The Church's Responsibility in a Corrupt Age

I'm told by brothers preachers as I go up and down the land, I've been doing it quite a while, that the case for our church, with our church, is hopeless. I don't mean the liberals. I'm not worried about them.

I mean churches like you people. I don't believe that. I'm also told that we just well forget about congregations like you people, and we've got to start all over. Go out to Southchester somewhere and start all over.

I believe it's too late for that. I don't know whether that's so or not. But I do believe that unless congregations like you dear people absolutely experience the complete revelation of your whole program, that you're going to continue to be the tail that wags the dog instead of God's people in command of a given situation, speaking for God.

I believe that. And believing it, I think we ought to address ourselves to it as the people of God. No use to talk about how it used to be. We, the house of God's people, are his people for this day. Not for the rest of you, but for today.

We ought to be his representatives in this day. This is a terrible day, but it's the only day we're going to have. Amen? And if we're going to do any representing for the Lord, as individuals, molded together, as a number, and members of the many-membered body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I know nothing between the eternity of Christ so challenging as to be a member of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. As to be one of the people of God who come to the kingdom for our sake. I read from the scripture tonight in Revelation 19.

God's Righteous Judgment in Revelation 19

It asks you a couple of questions. Beginning with verse 1, it asks us to be the saints. I heard a great voice of my people in heaven saying, Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and honor and power unto the Lord our God.

And they're shouting Hallelujah and I want you to notice what they're shouting about. They're shouting about God's judgment. For true and righteous are pure judgments. For he hath judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her fornication.

I don't know much about the book of the Revelation, but here this is talking about religion. Babylon. This confused polygoth conglomeration mixing everything and stirring well and calling it Christianity.

What sin has done in its thousands, religion today has done in its tens of thousands. And where is the promise that one day God's going to get around to judging this terrible, terrible thing called religion which did corrupt the earth with her fornication and hath avenged the blood of his fine slaves at her hands.

And they said Hallelujah. They're shouting about the fact that God has finally caught up in his purpose with this terrible thing called religion in the bondage of sin. For religion ain't nothing whatsoever to say about his conduct.

And that's the story today. You can't find anybody in Westchester with no religion. Isn't that right? He's all right. And he's sincere in it. He's honest about it. And these folks are shouting Hallelujah because God brought judgment there and her smoke, the smoke of this religious monster rose up forever and ever and the four and the twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped God that sat on the throne.

He would still be on the throne had he brought this judgment. And they're happy about that and they're saying Hallelujah, Hallelujah. And a voice came out of the throne saying praise our God all you who have borne praise and you that fill in both small and great and I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude and is the voice of many waters and is the voice of massive tundra saying Hallelujah for the Lord God omnipotent reigns.

In the book of Isaiah, especially our attention is called to the fact that it's mentioned there in verse two of our scripture tonight that the saints of God are going to be called upon to shout Hallelujah when God's judgment's near.

The Reality of Final Judgment

We're going to show them in. Bring it a little closer. When God sends your boy to hell you're going to be called upon to show them in. Praise the Lord. True and righteous serve our judgment. I'm coming to ask you three questions in a moment after I make another statement or two.

I wonder how anybody would believe that would conduct himself as a professing Christian. I wonder how so. I have heard Japan's Bible believing so. I wish I believed you folks believed the Bible but I don't.

I don't believe you folks can't believe the Bible. You're too nice. You're too dignified. You're too quiet. You eat too much. You live too high. You're perfectly content to be nice to people not get involved in the blood sweat and swine crime of the men and women boys and girls who are committing spiritual suicide all about you.

I'm trying to believe that you believe the Bible and understood that the day would come when you'd have to show them in. Hallelujah God. You're sending those folks to hell. I believe you believe that.

Oh, I think it would make a difference. I believe it would. Your best appearance is known all over America for being educated orthodox ostracized and buried. You're more concerned with doing slave induction than putting your arms around some old dirty bum and loving him into the kingdom of God.

That's right. That Baptist would get one step behind you. But I can remember reading about the time when the only gospel north of the nation just in line was held by Presbyterians and I'm ashamed of you Presbyterians.

You put the name Bible Presbyterian on it. That don't matter nothing. The name don't matter nothing with your actions. I can remember when Baptists were known far and wide for their zeal to get men to Jesus Christ.

And I'm ashamed of both Christ. I just don't believe we believe the Bible. How many of us believe that there's coming a time of judgment? I've thought as I've gone up and down the land and it's difficult my job is to keep from being a professional and stay uninvolved myself.

I just try to be popular instead of truthful. But I wonder how I would act if I actually believed that this world is full of forgiveness. And so much the more when I remember that in case I could believe that this world is headed right back into a meeting with a holy God.

I wonder how I'd act if I actually did. Especially since I'm called a witness to men and women who don't believe that they departed under men once to die and after that to be. And some people don't believe that.

Some people who say they're Christian say they don't believe it. It would seem that we'd be in the fifth manner of the road with an awful bunch of people messed together in the presence of God to pour out their supplications to God the visitor's people in these awful hours.

We can be as nice and dignified and refined and tried as we are, is a privilege to me. We must be terrible sinners. I read in the Bible of a man who says, by faith nor I don't guess nor is much different from me, just a man huh?

Faith, Noah, and Obedience

There's not that much difference in men that says by faith nor being warned of God of things not yet seen. God said no it wasn't a sin. Nor does man know suicide. I don't. But by faith nor being in faith and belief.

Faith is belief. Faith is belief. Faith is the sound God died for and is ours all. Faith is faith. Faith is belief. And upon that belief it's easy for me that I'm going to commit myself to it. By faith nor being warned of God of things not yet seen, moved, restored, expired.

I believe if God dropped a hydrogen bomb in your church again and sent it, you'd never die tonight. Is there any way on earth that you could be moved? Isn't it? By faith nor being warned of God of things not yet seen.

He said it's coming. He knows it's here. He's in a hurry. He's running scared. He's a dying art. Nobody believes in his coming. Now he walks a hundred and twenty years, catching away on that heart. By the witch's preparation he can burn more.

He's set his world on fire and saved his own household. But he knows it's here. If you're not interested I wish you'd do something like kneel up under God to have a holy head. I wish under God I knew how that I'd broken down the land.

The biggest problem we face now is the condition we keep around who claim to be Christians. Oh, it's killing the people now. We're not going to move anywhere. We must rest and let the world die. Because he's the one piece of refuge, and that's indeed the Christ.

The Cross and the Necessity of Punishing Sin

We're the holy cross on this thing, the testimony of the church of the living God that's been messing around with ten thousand controversies except the main one, your day and mine. For a while we've been cultivating somebody else's fingers, the little foxes, and eating out our throats until there isn't a tear, a sound, or fire in a carload of us.

I wonder how we'd act if we had to believe judgment's coming. And that at that judgment we're all fine. We're going to have to shout hallelujah as God sends everybody to hell to whom I witnessed in my life.

And I'm going to say amen, God. Your day and mine. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Two questions now. First, does the Bible persecution congregation of Westchester, Pennsylvania, actually believe any higher that God ought to punish sin?

Do you? Does the Bible persecution church of Westchester, Pennsylvania, actually believe that God is determined to punish sin? Do you believe that? This is central. This is at the core of those dry eyes of yours.

This is the reason 95 of our Baptist people never opened their mouths to war and sin. How about you, Westchester? This is the reason you're content to sit in a pew and listen to a man preach. But we're not willing to preach and say we just don't believe that God ought to punish sin.

And that's all I talk about glorying in the cross of Christ. Is just a joke. Because unless man is faithful to God, unless man is so monstrous that God cannot save God unless the stroke of his wrath falls on earth on him first, unless that's the cross of Christ is a joke.

And it may be a rascal, but it's not a rascal. All I want to teach you is a master to hang your son on a cross. This is fundamental things, and this is it. Father, if you speak and obnoxious to hell, and I never liked it, but in condemnation of a soul of God.

Many know you talk about him, saying, well, you can put it down, but you know he was a so wicked hearted man looking in the eye that the absence of tears and zeal and faith and fear and truth and wonder and the prayers of Saul did.

We can trace it back to the fact that somewhere down the line, if we ever have, we see this fundamental truth in the house of God. You don't believe that old funny saying? Don't believe it? Don't believe it.

The first message of the cross is God will punish sin. Why did Christ hang on that cross? He hung on that cross because God's a monster. Any man that'll kill his own son is a monster, and if God killed his own son, when there wasn't any life, there ain't no sanctity of it.

He's a monster. The first message of the cross of Jesus Christ is that God almighty's law must be established and honored and be defended. That it'll never be to you that sin must be done. They said, Brother Barney, no use preaching this crap to people.

There's a threat in their rebellion against this fundamental truth. It's just a waste of your time. I know that I am, but I'll do a good judgment, and I'll look you good people in the face. I'm not responsible for what happened to Elijah.

Yeah, I won't be responsible for what happened after I leave. I am responsible to try to be a gentleman and a Christian and true to you. And I'll be to a good judgment. And I'll tell you, you need to get to some kind of a knowledge and pour into your heart and power it up as I do mine.

I have to do it every day under God. Give it the reason for the niceness, orthodoxy, and the laziness and the refusal to get involved that characterizes us today. Wonder how we'd act if we believed God was set to punish sin.

Evangelistic Ministry and the Message of Judgment

And that we hadn't seen the last of this generation but God's people have got to be witnesses at the judgment. That's it, Sharon. Ever since I was in Rochester, New York, holding meetings in the Christian Missionary Alliance Church, my message was a little strange to them.

Dr. E .W. Tozer, a prophet of God, got acquainted with me and me with him, and he'd ask if I'd managed to have church with some, and I did for a little while. And after the meetings had been in progress, some 10 or 12, I believe, that lasted 7 weeks there, before a little blessing began to fall.

Rochester's a place where 10 or so 100 ,000 people bought into the kingdom of God in a little town of 10 ,000 in 9 months' time. Now Rochester is perhaps the most liberal, modernistic city in the world.

Just a few little bitty churches that believe anything. Most of them to work to fill their crowds, you know. And this young missionary alliance pastor had a heart as big as a mountain. And a little blessing began to fall, and one night after the service as I was fixing to go to my room, the pastor said, a moment, Brother Barnard, come into the study.

And an old daily farmer was sitting in there, and the pastor said, Brother So-and-so, has written out a check for $2900, which is saving, doing his wife's saving. And he wants us to buy radio time, and put you on the radio.

And I said, I couldn't take it, I couldn't stand that much responsibility. I said, is that all the money you saved? Yes. He was a daily farmer. He was all gone, he was in his late 60s, his wife sat there by him and said, there's the check.

And I said, getting on the radio takes a long time to get a hearing on the radio. This is a terrible town. Don't get the radio station to tell us time. And I said, I just couldn't hold it. He said, but you must.

He said, the Lord has told me to write this check, put you on the radio. He said, this town hadn't heard that God Martinez sang. He said, there used to be words back yonder, but this generation in Rochester has never heard.

He said, this town never heard that every precious drop of the blood of Jesus Christ rise to let his life God Martinez. He said, brother, suppose I got on the radio and you didn't have as far as you could see a single word on there.

You could put your hands on. He said, I'm not halfway there yet. I warned him to be prepared than I had. Nobody got in it, but he built it, thank God. So they went down to the big station all over America at night, and they've never had a religious program except the martyrs that came to give away on Sunday, and they've never sold it, but they've sold us time.

And we got on, they put me on the radio six times a day. I preached Christ into Chuck Berry six times on the radio for the next seven weeks. Others brought in their money. They spent $13 ,000 in the next few weeks for radio time.

And the wires continued on, and they went down, went to the director of that big show, half a million shows it was. And before the meetings over, somebody had called on the telephone, every home in the direction in that town, and asked them to listen in at certain times to the radio.

Well, in the afternoons, we won't know till it breaks. Why'd that old farmer do that? He asked it like he'd read the Bible. He asked it like it if he'd be not warned. If he'd seen me in darkness, then we'd be a crowd at our house.

The Same Message in Houston

That's a solemn talk. That's all in the city of Houston, Texas. I went to hold a meeting for seven churches that got together, and 11 men gave $1 ,000 apiece, Western men, some unborrowed. And they put me on a radio station that they said reaches all of Texas for five weeks, 30 minutes a day.

And I spent a place on one subject. Mark, God punishes. That's the issue with that. The issue with many of the five points of Calvinism, reductions of grace, whatever those things are. But this country doesn't believe.

This country in the churches in the house does not believe that they'll need a savior. Why? They do not believe that God will punish them. I spoke to somebody the other night that actually believed that God almighty was determined in heaven on his own counsel to punish them.

If you hadn't found him as a needed crisis, a mediator between God and you, you would have left me preaching along and you'd be screaming for God to show mercy to you. The whole thing I hold out sick now is we live in a generation where from deporting and killing on that's just the whole scene that we would make our lives.

We believe as an utter necessity for the cross that leads us that utter necessity is that God has to punish them. Ever since I went to Austin, Kentucky to hold a meeting down south with Dr. Simon, a member of the Southern Baptist Church, and every once in a while they have what they call all the Baptist churches in a given association with their correspondent priest there.

They'll hold simultaneous revival campaigns and most folks do just as well as they can to feel the pain but each district will have meetings and all of them have meetings down there. They'll get together and try to make an impact on the community.

And so it happened that I was invited to the largest church in that association. They had a daily radio program telling them so on. And then they had the day service at 10 o 'clock and God said it came upon the radio broadcast saying the messages on the radio were being defended and lambasted in the stores and on the streets.

And we don't do much of that now, but that turned out to happen again. And then the preachers from the other churches began to listen and then they didn't have day services and then they began coming in to have day services.

A Campaign Centered on “Will God Punish Sin?”

God gave us quite a hire with a little blessing from God. And when those meetings were over that day or two before, the pastor of the church where I administer called me up to the hotel and said there's a committee representing the Baptist churches of this association and they want to know if you've got time they want to come down and talk to you in the hotel.

And they came. Now you're not Baptist so I don't know if you're Baptist you'd know I'm going to lie to you. But I'm going to tell you the truth. They came and they said we represent this association we authorize to come and extend you an invitation to come back a year hence and hold a meeting for all of our churches combined.

Said we will either rent the city auditorium if it's not available we'll put up a dry tent and we'll get our churches in. And when they say they'll do it they'll do it. They don't want to just be a token church.

They ain't got nothing. They're the best organized church you ever saw. They ain't got much the Holy Spirit but they've got organization and if you ain't got the Holy Spirit you need time you know. And we got that.

And they said we want to give you that invitation. Well I'm set with the invitation. I have to wait on an invitation to go and I've got time. But they said now before you give us your answer there are two conditions.

First we want you to come. We'll give you an hour's time on the radio every day. And then we'll have a big tent we'll be here before every night. We'll go ask people if you promise us if you'll just speak on one subject while you're there.

On the radio for an hour and at night in the corner of the story we'd like to know if you could find it in your heart. After you go home think about it. Pray about it. You let us know. You come and speak on one subject.

Will God punish sin? So everybody in the church remember that they don't think God will punish sin. They sleep well at night because they don't believe God will punish sin. They don't let that church member speak in a story where they don't believe because they don't believe God will punish sin.

You talk to them about Jesus dying on the cross they're not interested because they don't believe God will punish sin. And nobody will ever be interested in whether Christ did anything on the cross that did him any good or not.

So who believes that God will punish sin? Well that's right down my alley because that's the first message of the cross. There's no use to apply remedy to this generation. This generation don't need no remedy.

There's no use to preach the second message of the cross. The forgiveness of sins because, well, this generation don't know that sin is forgiven. They don't think there's any need. This generation needs to have the other message of the cross.

God will punish sin. God will punish sin. God will punish sin. God will punish sin. And I said, I'll do that. And then Baptist, he was Baptist and the rest of us said we don't want to give any kind of a public invitation.

That's strange for us Baptists because we don't think you can get changed if a preacher invites you. And we said, all right, take this photo folks wouldn't know the Lord from a dry supper. They just responded to some sort of an invitation.

And coming from a bunch of Baptist preachers, that sounded funny. But that arrived down my alley because I'm so proud of begging people to come to Jesus when they don't feel like they need it. And you just can't give them the dirt to hold you down.

They don't need it at all. You think I'm crazy. You quit being a five or six year old and get out here and start going into homes talking to people. I'm telling the truth. Where the time came and I went every day for an hour on the radio and the night under the tent I became an authority on what the Bible says about God or punishment.

I preached on it every night. That's baptism. That's the first message of the cross. And somebody believes that you can come here the second message of the cross. I have a substitute. I will hand him over in my stead.

But if God don't understand how He took my breath from my mouth on the Sabbath, I will sacrifice for my substitute. But the Holy Spirit let me preach for an entire month. The third night and the fourth week I got preaching and they had a disturbance in the congregation.

Repentance, Confession, and Restitution

And the president of the First National Bank of the city came running down the door and asked, can you not push me aside? I can't hold it any longer. He said, the police are going to arrest me when this service is over.

And they were. He said, last night I wrote my letter of confession sent it to the copper and the apology just came down here. He said, I've stolen half a million dollars from this bank. He said, I'm president of the Sun True class of the Board of Deacons.

He said, I've been listening on the radio in my bank. And I've been locking the door of my office and getting down on my knees and pleading with God to save me. But of course, when I plead with God to save me, that half a million dollars comes up for mine.

And ain't no way a man can get God to save you until you come clean. The whole outfit has got to come out. And he said, I got down on my knees after I wrote my confession, notified the police. And I'm just saying, I'll be spending the next few years of my life in prison.

But thank God I am still hallelujah. Once a month for the last 13 years, 14. I've gotten a letter from that man. He's still in jail. That's the happiest prison inmate he ever saw. He's been in prison in Kentucky for these 14 years.

But who like that is going to spend the rest of their life in a prison and think you can cover sin and spend the rest of eternity in hell. We had to go on three more weeks. We had to have as many as six workers in the tent.

Six different people's trips, 24 hours a day. We had to have several people stationed with phones. People that go to work. Go to the foreman's tent where they come to the tent. For three and a half weeks all we did was pray with and counsel men and women coming critically that he had mercy on me.

As a testimonial witness, it must not be confined to this pulpit, but it must burn in him your heart and fill with a heal that cannot be consumed. Your lips are open, your tears come, your heart enlarges.

And whether anybody's there, if you're not, even with fear you'll prepare enough. I'm so hungry, I don't see why on earth that couldn't take place in our day. Aren't you? God bless you. If you'd get red hot, maybe I could have a little beer.

I'm earnest. I don't think you're going to have to do it. It's good to say. Break up your salad. You do it, sir. Break it up. You more. It's good that you afflict yourself. Isn't that right, sir? Huh?

Get you an old little buster and tear that heart of yours up. I used to pray, oh God, break my heart. He told you to break it up. Isn't that right? But it didn't come to that. It's been a little over 200 years since God existed America in a mighty way.

Own heart, every question there remains the name of Jesus Christ. Break up your own heart. You'll find the feet of all of our trouble. We don't actually believe God but we're nice on the cross. He's a nicer to rest.

Closing Prayer for the Church and the Cross

But it's not another necessity in a wonderful position. Let it stand. Our Father, in the name of this one who voluntarily assumed the job you gave him to do and down here on nation bent, pour out his soul unto death on a tree of sin laid upon him, to be made a curse in our step, to be a substitute for sinners in his name.

I beg you to challenge us as the people of God, at least with the festivities to have something of the heart and the passion and the concern that you have that he may again feel the travail of his soul and be glad that he died for sinners.

This is my prayer. In his name I thank you, Lord. For his sake I want it to be amen. Thank you for listening. You dismissed.