A Man Who Is Known in Hell — Rolfe Barnard

And seated on me from all sin, His infinite graces once accorded a play. God's marvelous grace made me to dwell in this wonderful place. He's my Savior and in His seat in the Beloved. Accepted and free in the Beloved.

My retreat in the Beloved. Accounted complete. Who can condemn in Him I am free. And He's marvelous to dwell in this wonderful place. He's my Savior and in His seat in the Beloved. Accepted and free. I went to the tree there in His person.

By faith I can see infinite wrath, infinite grace. He died in my stead in the Beloved. Marvelous grace made me to dwell in this wonderful place. He's my Savior and in His seat in the Beloved. Give everybody on that side a lollipop if you will.

Just tear you all to pieces if they ruin you. If I ever get to be pastor of the church, I'm going to start out with five row of benches right down at the front. When we get them filled, I'm going to put in the sixth one.

When we fill them up, I'm going to put in the seventh one. I don't like each divided audience. I appreciate that. Brother Henry heard this down in Pine Bluff. I was out on the Broadway of sin and despair.

Crushed deep my burden of sorrow and care. Compass trouble settled my feet. Narrowed from my inner core. Barren set me for heaven. This song is old. The song of blood cleansed within and without. My settle, my narrow and deep.

And I've more to see people a bit about. Full of God's grace. Have a baptism of holy passion set on fire. There's nothing on earth naked, true. Rather be a 190 than to have some conception of truth.

And to make the sovereignty of God an excuse for my cold heart. I've been with people who dare to make the claim that we're trying to preach the gospel by which God saves men. The great things that set against us all over the land is that we preach our tears and our zeal.

And in part, the gospel has done exactly that thing. Long to see this become more and more a place. Beautiful linoleum. We'll feel the splatter of God-given gospel that God will be able to say, I saw your tears and I heard your prayers.

13th Street Baptist Church could do something like what I want to tell you about now. This is New York some years ago. It's a city of 350 ,000, 400 ,000 people. Catholicism and modernism and liberalism and everything.

That I've been preaching week up the past and said, if you've got some time, I want to come down and talk to you a moment. And the old farmer came down and wrote out a check, had a check written out for $2 ,600.

And he said, I want that man's message, people of Rochester to hear it. And he said, here's a check. And he said, I want you to buy radio time with this money and when it gives out, another check. The pastor said, brother, you're not a rich man.

He said, no, but the Lord blessed me and I've got this money and I don't need it and I want Rochester to hear this message. The pastor got on the phone and called me and I came down and I said, brother, this is too big a burden to place on me.

I appreciate it, but don't. We bought time on the radio station. I said, and we didn't have any evidence of response at all. How about it, brother? Do you still want to invest this money in the radio?

Whether we get any response at all. I can preach, but only God can give me faith. He said, I'm not interested over there. I'm interested in the opportunity that I want to have a part in affording people a hearing to work.

The pastor began to phone. He phoned the big 50 ,000 watt radio station that never had had a preacher on it at all. He made an appointment to see the manager. By the grace of God, some way or another, they sold us three 15-minute programs.

Then we got on two other stations. I preached nine times a day for four more weeks. Then the pastor got up that night. We would go on there the next day. He asked his member, told what the farmer had done, and asked his membership if they thought he was in the flesh in what he was going to suggest to them, that the membership covenant number in Rochester in the next four days.

We were not allowed to spend every week and hour when they weren't doing something else, and all them in the different shifts. They made a covenant. Time was wasting. And give an invitation to everybody that answered the phone, representing around 400 ,000 souls.

Not that many families, but that many souls. And they did it. They did it. They did it. And I had many people. I preached to over the radio nine 15-minute programs a day for four more weeks. Until I get to the judgment, and that farmer who furnished the money, it was God's money, he just was a steward.

But he challenged us, and the pastor challenged the people. Honestly, folks, I want everybody in the world to hear the gospel I preach. There are multitudes of people who can preach it better than I can, but the man never lived who preached a better gospel than I did.

That's not boasting. That's just so. The gospel revealed to me, brother, I'll fight you over that. I won't fight over anything else. If I was a member of 13th Street Baptist Church, I'd want everybody in this whole city to hear your message.

I believe in it. I believe in it, and I hope you'll get to where you believe in it enough to baptize it in tears. They that sow in tears. That's still true. I do not necessarily mean tears that run down your cheeks, but I mean tears that are in your voice.

I think we'll ask you to respond about it tomorrow night. I don't know. This may be in the flesh. Of anything you've got, I won't. I think we share a desire for men to hear about a God determined to have a family of people to love Him.

That's a great conception. It's the Bible, and I'm going to challenge you to think about it. In two days' time, I expect a membership to blanket this city, at least by telephone. If you got one response out of a thousand, you'd be doing good advertising.

That's what the folks who baptize on television. If one person out of a thousand buys their products, they'll keep on. They say that's getting the job done. But ours is not to get men to God. Ours is to get God's message to men.

Any way on God's earth we can do it. Amen? And I don't know whether that's just me. You can mull over it. As a church member, nearly everybody in America is. But that's all right. If they're not, at least you might get a little gospel over the telephone.

Amen? That's right. Well, you can think about it, and I'm going to ask you what you think about tomorrow. Tonight, I'm going to speak to you, I anticipated, it rained all day. I had the opportunity tonight to speak to the 13th Street Baptist Congregation, where perhaps fewer visitors than any night.

Paul's Ministry in Ephesus and the Ambition to Be Known in Hell

And I wanted to talk with you from the 19th chapter of the book of the Acts of the Apostles. And I wanted out of my heart to bring, if God will help me, and help me not to be in the flesh but in the Holy Ghost, to challenge my own heart afresh tonight as I try to be used of God to challenge every child of God here tonight about what to me is the greatest ambition.

I hope it will be the greatest ambition this church has and the greatest ambition that each individual Christian here has. For 35 years, I've been trying to preach. 28 of those 35 have been spit, hitchhiking from one place to another.

And I've wanted to be known in hell more than anything on God's earth. Long since I took steps, I won't know at the judgment whether God was in them or not, I think so, that fixed it so I'll never, as long as I live, be known much here on this earth.

But I want to be known in hell. I'd rather be known in hell than to be known by the powers that be here on this earth. ...to you tonight about a man. This man has been divinely ordained to be the pattern that you are to shape your life.

This man's a man by the name of Paul. And he tells us in Timothy that God saved him. ...to believe. And I want to be like Paul. That's the reason I've never been able to go on a pension. I never have got like him.

If I ever do, it's still out in the future. Paul, everyone knew about Paul. The demons that do his business here on this earth now, they knew about Paul. Let's read about him. A man who was known in hell.

In the 8th verse of the 19th chapter of Acts, and he, that's Paul, went into the synagogue for the space of three months disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. And when divers were hardened and believed not, but spake evil of that way, departed from them and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one...

Brother Barnes, if you hope to be a successful evangelist, you must never engage in anything that's controversial. But Paul did. He was down there for three years just arguing and spitting all the time about who Jesus was.

Yes, he was. And then God says, well, now I won't preach on anything that's controversial. Every inch of ground in the Word of God is the subject of controversy now. You can't touch the Bible any way on God's earth now without getting in a fight in this religious world.

And the Apostle Paul, who's to be our example, he spent three months, I think I said three years, three months disputing and persuading of the things concerning the kingdom of God. And they wouldn't listen to him.

And he went and took the disciples and went down to a school and daily he disputed. He argued with people. He talked there in that school. And he did that for two years. Verse 10 says this, continued for the space of two years.

...which dwelt in Asia, heard the words of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. Now that's some ministry, wasn't it? Two years' time, the Lord Jesus. And God, now watch it now, disputing, persuading, persuading for two years.

And then God did something. Paul preached. God has to do the confirming. And that's what I long to see in my day. I don't get excited. I've been in this quite a while. I'm not fixing to go off on a tangent.

I'm going to keep on God willing. I think I can almost promise you this as one preacher, I'm going to stick to my last. If there's any miracle working done around, my minister God will do it. I'm going to keep preaching.

That's all I can do. I can dispute and persuade concerning the things of the kingdom of God. That's what Paul did. And while Paul was taking the truth about Jesus Christ, God came on the scene and He wrought special miracles.

God Confirms the Gospel Through His People

I want you not to get scared of this, but I want to call your attention to some of this. Now we need it. God knows I need it. We're afraid that we're going to give man a little glory. And that's a well-intentioned proposition to be afraid of.

But I call your attention, my friends, that the three times that the message of salvation has to do with the turning or converting of men and women, it is a turning and a converting that is performed by man to turn by his ministry.

Isn't that right? That would receive Christ. He'll lose a text to 11. He'll make a theological mistake if some of us don't know what we all camped there for a long time. Don't you get mad at me. But those of us who speak much of the sovereign purpose of God better watch out now.

Here's something else that's true. That God's sovereign purposes ought to be worked out. And whom He commissions and whom He unpowers. It's too far till we can get into the position of our old primitive Baptist people.

God wants to convert to heathen. We needn't do it without our help. No, sir. They shocked me some years ago when I needed to be shocked that God's miracle... He's the one who did the miracle work. But ladies and gentlemen, He did it how?

By the hands of Paul. Yes, He did. Yes, He did. There's a man that God could work so that from the body of Paul were brought under the sick handkerchiefs or aprons and the diseases departed from them and the evil spirits went out of them and God did the miracle working but He did it in the body.

Our sovereign God has been pleased to entrust the gospel to earthen vessels. A sovereign God for this age the working out of His eternal purpose to have this treasure in earthen vessels. And this day of Greece, ladies and gentlemen, He does not do it apart from but He does do it through His people.

He's departed from a sea of sheep seeking Him. God seeks lost sheep now through saved sheep. He had the desire all week don't get mad at me to stick a pen in you folks and get you on fire. I'm not one bit interested in orthodoxy unless it's sitting on us.

Spiritual Warfare and the Authority of Christ

I want us to get on fire to have something afresh. This isn't you I'm calling to remember things you already know to you that we need as under God I have to have it and I think maybe you do in the name of God.

Will you face it that God Almighty has entrusted the gospel of the glory of His grace and we mustn't let it stop. We must just be careful. We must be on the lookout to bring things to pass. Certain of the vagabond Jews them which had evil schisms they were as orthodox as all get out.

These fellows said they took it upon themselves. Now watch this. They took it upon themselves but he asked his people. They took it upon themselves them which had evil spirits the name of the authority how they took it upon themselves to do it on the authority of the name of the Lord Jesus.

We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches. And these fellows that did that were seven sons of one Sheba and he is a Jew and chief of the priests. They are the ones that took it upon themselves. I'm not talking to you tonight about taking something on yourself.

I'm talking to you and me tonight about facing up afresh to something we didn't take on ourselves but which was entrusted to us. Under God the cry of our if we're doing everything that we as individuals know and as a church gathered together know from the preacher on down the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Ladies and gentlemen you can call us whatever you want but you better face this now. You better get to where you know what it is to wait on God in intercessory prayer that pleases him today. He can't confirm it.

Only God and I don't want God to do anything he don't believing of helpless sinners. Under God I'd love to see a revival where a thousand are saved where one's saved now wouldn't you? That wouldn't make God mad.

Heaven's sons of Sceva they said now to these people these spirits they attempted their charity there and they said to these evil spirits you get out! In the name of this Jesus whom Paul preaches you get out!

The scene says and the evil spirit this mocks me today this mocks me this haunts me today the evil spirit these seven sons of Sceva Jesus I know had some dealings with him he's given me a good deal of trouble this evil and then he said Paul and I'm acquainted with him too that he'd given me a right smart trouble then he said what I think Satan must be asking of us today God help us why should we pay attention to what you say?

These seven sons said you get out of there! In the name of Jesus one thing this is true in the name of truth in the name of Jesus they said you get out of there! There's just one thing they lacked they lacked authority they just made fun of him and he said Jesus I know but you don't speak with his voice the will of God I'm not certain but the fact that you and I are living in a generation hardly knows the fact that we are dead sure not troubling Satan much.

I'm not yet preaching on demonology tonight but if you don't believe Ashland's infested with demons. Ask your police ask your doctors ask your sheriff. Ladies and gentlemen a little dream Satan has this generation of hell bound sinners in Harvey said it and everybody says don't go up on the deep end and I guess I'll keep round on the edges and let the world go to hell.

Church people today seem to know nothing hardly Satan and the loosing of his captives. But there's something in the Bible about it and I'm as certain as I'm preaching to you tonight we can find some churches that'll begin to take the field that we're in battling men battling principalities and strongholds.

Man Carwell said to me a hundred times and you've heard him preach and I expect he said it to you. It is a joke. And they'll never be saved unless they're loosed from the bondage of Satan. No man I've tried to stay with what little truth I could learn.

But the older I get the more heartbroken I am that we seem to think there's the answer of the Holy Spirit. It'll take more than truth methods we used five years ago or five years too old and we're getting late yet.

Love that a Christian is truer he's truer to the gospel on his knees than any other place. You've heard it here that when Christians get down on their knees to pray they all believe what you folks try to preach.

They get up on their feet and their little weak heads. They'll come in and start arguing. But when they get down on their knees we'll recognize the salvations of the Lord that only God can. Here's a man highest accolade that I've ever heard spoken of a human being.

The forces of hell knew. Who are you? Roth, who are you? We're not going to handle this generation in the way that God expects us to handle it. Then we'll leave the results with him. We'll have to do that unless we take more seriously than we've ever taken in our lives.

The fact that the truth of God must be baptized in the spirit of God and that every member of our churches that's heard the true gospel is a criminal if they do not get on a stump having been filled with the spirit and begin to preach these things concerning the kingdom of God with a prayer in our hearts that God will confirm what was known in hell.

Bold Proclamation of the Gospel

They knew about him in hell. You know sir he is a preacher. All was a lie about giving us in trouble and let it shine under a bushel. People are going to get shot. People tell them about that church had the truth.

They go out tell people that wasn't in Bondtown had the truth with them. And I shocked them. I said it's not so in the first place. No man ever had all truth. We got some of it. None of us got enough of it.

But what we better be humble about what little we do. No that's right isn't it. And then I said that God never has the truth. So get the job down done. The apostle Paul just relied on one thing that he might preach in the and the demonstration.

He ought to have furnished the demonstration. That's confirmation. And that's the need of this hour. I guess you could not find a better prepared better preacher 37 years old than your own pastor. But he ain't good enough to get the job done without a church that learns how to not be satisfied until God confirms the message.

I doubt if brother Henry can preach any better than brother Spurgeon and the heart of his congregation never got to hear him preach. There's in the prayer room underneath the pulpit waiting on God. Every time he preaches 300 souls on their knees before God.

Every time Mr. Spurgeon preached all time he preached a demonstration affirming word from God in his eyes illumined the darkened mind to men and women in hell. The imps in hell got on the telephone. Every time Paul started somewhere else one little imp phoned down Thessalonica boys you better get ready.

So it may I declare. I wish I knew how to give that devil more trouble than he ever gave me. And then right now old Paul never did let the demon rest. He invaded their territory and hell knew no peace while he was alive.

I think about him. Where did he sharpen his edge. I know how far short I fall and I'm not first to anybody. I'm challenging you and I'm challenging me. God knows that battle is red hot. You don't think it is.

Get off your comfortable seat of truth and invade the devil's territory and begin the west. You'll find out the war is on his blade. Make it so sharp. I tried to study what the scriptures say about him and I think I see just four things.

Paul's Knowledge of Christ as God's Son

And the introduction has been longer than the message. First thing about old Paul is he actually showing up now. He actually K-N-E-W knew that Jesus Christ was God's son and that he had invaded this old earth and that he is God's only remedy.

Now here's a man that the Holy Spirit about saved a look crucified risen Christ. And what Paul saw on the road to Damascus was not a picture of the glorified son of God. It was a picture of the crucified Jesus.

And he found out that the very person he'd been seeing was the that was the bastard son of a fallen woman. He found out that that Jesus that he'd said he ought to. He got what was coming to him. He found out by personal sight and by personal hearing.

He heard his voice and he saw it. He can come hell and you won't know. This was the Christ. Ladies and gentlemen we just well camped here a little while. What mama thinks about it'll not get the job done in God's name.

Don't go to hell trusting anything less knowledge of who Jesus. I'm telling you if Jesus is God's son that settles everything. And a man's a fool to go to hell taking anybody's word for it. I say to you you ought to become a seeker after God until God reveals his son to you just like he did to Paul he said.

There's one thing I know bud I know who Jesus is. He's the eternal son of God. I saw him and I heard him. I think you preach around here don't you that salvation is a seeing and a hearing of Christ. We hear him.

We're saved by his call. They're the same thing. Listen to me. Paul saw him and he heard him. And under God if I was you I'd quit call myself a Christian. I'd seek him if it took the rest of my life until I could stand up and say I've heard him too.

I've seen him too. You can tear up your Bible brother on it but you can't tear up one thing you've heard the Lord and if you've seen the Lord that settles it brother that settles it you'll never get bigger than what you can believe.

You'll never get bigger than what you can act upon on the testimony of God and you and I don't have a Damascus road but we've got the revelation of God in Christ and I'm saying to you that nothing short of a subtle knowledge that you have yourself that Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh that it was God in a man who died on a cross that God did raise him from the dead that he's alive now and I can't hold that you know it for anybody else but under God I can know it for myself.

I heard the shaker man that seen the lord. I heard the shaker man that's heard from the lord it got to be tremendous and that's what it means to be saved. I think that the This book, if you please. Ladies and gentlemen, here's a man, and he used to be my pastor.

Believing the Bible as God's Testimony

This was God's Word. He's just showing up lately. I'm not just preaching now, I'm down to something. It's a whole lot easier to talk about this than to do. Under God, do you have any greater need? I don't, than to actually believe.

Not to argue about it, just to believe. This is it. Paul believed it. Brother, he quoted it all the time. Got to have a tidier then by quoting it. He actually believed it. He'd say, I'm persuaded. He said, it's a settled thing with me on the testimony of God.

That settles it. I'm persuaded. I don't know about you, but I'm persuaded. I've listened to God. That settles it for me. I wouldn't stake my eternal welfare on something you said. I've got to have some belief that it's on God's testimony.

I've put my faith in Jesus Christ. Somebody wrote a book and I read a sentence of it. I forget the book or the man's name. He said, someday, a simple child of God is going to pick up the book and read it.

Just bleach it. Make the rest of us ashamed of ourselves. Just bleach it. Tell them in a vice, do something about it. Testimony of this book. He believed the book. And that's the reason he'll pray. When he's asking the people to pray at all, prayer and supplication.

All the saints, and he'll say for me, that I may be granted utterance. He speaks with boldness. The mystery of the gospel. Somebody has said that the greatest contribution that John Knox made to Scotland when he saved Scotland for the gospel, was one time when the multitude five thousand strong were in that great church, I forget the name of it, cathedral to hear him preach.

And they waited. Finally, Mr. Knox came out from the cubbyhole and stood up before the congregation and said, we shall all rise, please. He said, we'll be dismissed. I have no utterance. And he dismissed them and sent them away.

Rather than preach to them out of himself, he dismissed them. Utterance in the Bible means authority. And what gave Paul authority? When he went out, as maybe some of you will do tomorrow, to give a witness to somebody, he spoke with authority because he believed this was it.

No one in doubt about it. Unless we can speak with authority, this world's in bad enough shape it don't need some more question marks. We need somebody to speak with authority. Paul said, pray for me.

That utterance shall be given to me. Don't let this just be the public preacher. God knows, elect yourself a committee of one. Pray for one another that utterance may be given to all of God's people in these awful days.

That they may speak with boldness the mystery of the gospel with authority. I never get tired of reading that account of Paul when he writes back to the church at Thessalonica. And he reminds them that when he was over there, something took place.

Receiving the Word as the Word of God

Long to see again and again and again. In the second chapter of the first book of Thessalonians, at the thirteenth verse, the apostle Paul says, for this cause also thank we God without ceasing. Because when you receive the word of God, which ye heard of us, is the word of God, and Paul said, I preached it, and ye received it, not as the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God.

Paul said, I came over there and brought you the word of God, and you received it not as my word, but as God's word. You have to have utterance to do that. You have to have authority to do that. You have to know what you're talking about.

You have to believe this book. This is God's truth. A man who doesn't accept on the testimony of God is a fool. And Paul said, I came over and preached, and was praying for him, and he had utterance, and he spoke with authority, and people heard it not as the word of men, but they heard it as the word of God, which it is in truth.

And the word of God does what? It effectually worketh also in you that believe. Utterance. I think my time is already gone. Let me just mention two other things and I won't preach on them and let you go.

The Remaining Marks of a Gospel-Shaped Servant

What healed the edge of Paul's blade? Why was he known in hell? Why did he carry up much trouble? Why did the demons say, we know you? Don't know those seven sons of Sceva. Don't know nothing about old Ralph Barnett.

He spent his life going up and down the land and had nothing to... able to kick up enough dust to bother the devil much. But Paul I know, well, not only because he knew Jesus, he regularly knew Him, and he believed the word.

He was alarmed about the destiny of sinners.