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 HELL (Barnard)

HELL


Matthew 10:28
Rolfe Barnard
(1904-1969)

Matthew 10:28: "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

The two fastest growing religious doctrines in all the world today are (1) that man is too important to be destroyed and ruined and sent to hell. We are told that man is too valuable to be destroyed, therefore, there is no hell. (2) The second doctrine that is growing real fast is that they are saying, "God is sovereign," and they have quit fighting the truth that God is powerful, and God is utterly sovereign, and God's will must take place, and He doeth as it pleases Him in the earth and in heaven. Now they are using that to say that God is so all powerful, He is so mighty that no one little creature of His, or a group of His creatures joined together, could possibly defeat the all-powerful God. So now they are preaching the sovereignty of God, He is so mighty, He is so powerful, He is so answerable only to Himself that none can withstand Him, and that this all-powerful God will not be defeated by any creature; thus all men will be saved.

Those are the two fast-growing doctrines. These falsehoods have become the doctrines of demons, and the belief of this generation. And they are vital issues and here are two things that are in the minds of the people of this hour. The fastest growing religious teaching in the world today is that when the wind-up time has come, all men will be saved. In a generation where these two awful perversions of Bible truths are deceiving the multitudes everywhere.

We want to let the awful, awful place called hell come to the pulpit and bring you its message. What does the awful fact of the terribleness of hell have to say to anybody who will listen? I know that hell has a message for you if you will listen to it. I would not dare to tell you that I can take the Bible and explain much about hell. I can prove some things about it, and some I cannot. The best I know how, I want to let hell say three things: (1) There is something about eternal destruction in the Bible. (2) There is something about the fires of hell in the Bible. (3) There is something about the fire that is not quenched in the Bible. The Bible talks about the worm that dieth not.

Mark 9:43-44: "And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off; it is belier for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands logo into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched." Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." The Bible talks about eternal and outer darkness. Matthew 25:30: "And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Revelation 21:8: "But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone; which is the second death." There is something terrible out yonder in eternity in hell for all the wicked. God help us! There is something terrible facing men and women who have broken God's holy law, and they are destined under the providence of God to exist consciously somewhere as long as God lives. I tremble in my soul when I face it. My! the awful sinful condition people are in and they don't seem to even have a serious thought about it. Do you?

Just to pick up the Bible and read about the terrible expressions that are found only in this Book about the awful sinful condition man is in, and the terrible place called hell, where they are going to spend eternity. We need to come face to face with the fact that men desperately need a Lord and Saviour. And the reason they desperately need a Saviour is because they are in desperate danger of a terrible place called hell, according to the Bible. I wish we believed this. My soul! Once again our churches would be turned into dreadful places, and the awful presence of these terrible realities would crush us until we could weep over our sins and other people's sins and warn people with tears. Hell says three things, if people would listen: (1) Hell is a revelation of the holy character of God. (2) Hell speaks to us about the holiness of His very nature. There is nothing in the Bible that opens up the very heart of God quite so much as the awesomeness and the awfulness of eternal hell. (3) Hell speaks to us of a God whose indignation will yet flame in mighty waves of heat and wrath against the breakers of His holy law. If you want to get a picture of Almighty God's holy character, look at the awfulness of the Bible description of that place called hell, where men and women shall be confined throughout eternity; where it will be characterized by everybody having everybody else in utter contempt, and everybody will hate everybody else. This is the picture of the character of God. He hates sin and He is angry with the wicked every day.

What is the doctrine of hell? It is simply the unfolding of the character of God's holy law. And what is the character of God's holy law? It is just the unfolding of the holy character of Almighty God. There is nothing about ten rules to be much worried about except as behind them stands a thrice holy God, except that they are the revelation of the perfectness of His holiness. Almighty God gave a holy law to express His holy character, and to outline His requirements.

When a wicked man dies, he will have to go out to face the most awful task any human being will ever be called upon to face. He will go out alone to one day stand before the judgment bar of God and have to deal with the claims and the demands of God's eternal, just and good, holy and perfect law. He will go out with nobody to mediate between him and the God of that holy law. I don't want to have to deal with God's holy law. If I do, I am certain for hell.

If I only had one time to preach to people, I would beg them, I would scream, I would do everything I could to warn them of the terribleness of a human being born in sin, conceived in iniquity, bent toward evil, lapping up sin like people drinking water. Wouldn't it be terrible to have to deal in your own strength with God's holy law? It will damn the best man that ever lived, and it will damn you. You have to be clothed with the perfect righteousness of Christ, because He was able to deal with God's law in your stead, and satisfied its requirements, and endured its awful penalty. We are all eternity-bound men and women, and unless Almighty God is pleased to perform a miracle in you and reveal Christ in you, you are doomed for hell. If that does not happen to you, there is no hope for you.

That is one reason that is such a sweet verse of Scripture in 1 Timothy 2:5: "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. "Praise the Lord! I wish we believed that in our heart. He is the only One Who can deal with God's holy law. You can't do it. It will kill you, it will damn you. He is our only hope. The Bible says, "All our righteousness are as filthy rags" in the sight of a holy God! Oh, for God's sake, don't depend on the fact that you had a little experience! For God's sake, don't depend on good intentions! For God's sake, don't depend on believing n few verses of Scripture! For God's sake, don't stop until you know you have been joined in living, abiding faith to Him, Who alone on a cross could deal with the law in your stead. And you cannot have the least interest in what He did on the cross unless you bow in full surrender to Him and be joined by faith to Him.

Hell reveals the character of God. He is a God of holy wrath and indignation against sin. He is a God Who could find only one way to still be God and save any sinner out of hell. He could not overlook the sinners' sins, and the only way He could find was to choose His only begotten Son to take my place. God knows I cannot explain that, but praise the Lord, I can believe it.

What is the message of hell? It is the message of the revelation of the character of men. If you want to find out what an awful sinner you are, read in the Bible what God has to say about hell. Hell says three things about me: (1) It says that I am a member of the human race, and I am one who has been made a partaker of the satanic spirit. Isaiah 14:13-15: "For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.' I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." Five times Satan said, "I will" in rebellion against Almighty God. How many times have you said "I will" in rebellion against God's holy law? That is sin. That is the sin of Satan. "I will. I will." That is what is going to send you to hell, putting your big old will and trying to take your sinful will and beat down God's will, so you can sit on the throne in God's world. What is the essence of sin? Simply to live in God's world as if you were God. What is sin? It is to buffet God's will with my will. That is what Satan did, and that is what you are doing. You come along and tell me that God won't invade your will, but if He doesn't – and crush it – and conquer it – you will be certain to go to hell. People are saying, "I'll sit on the throne and I'll do as I please! We will not have this Man to rule over us! I will breathe God's air, eat His food, and receive His blessing, but I will do as I please."

Hell says, "I am a partaker of a satanic mind." Romans 8:7: "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."

Man is a mess of hatred, enmity and hostility toward God. Leave man alone, take the common grace of God from him, rob him of the restraint of the Gospel that he is blessed by, although he rejects it, leave him alone and don't restrain him, and if he could get his hands on God, he would curse Him and trample Him under his feet. That is how sinful you are.

Hell says that I am a partaker of a satanic fate. Matthew 25:41: "Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Verse 46: "And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal" You have to be punished just like the devil. Hell has been prepared and you are going to endure the same kind of punishment that the devil will. That old deceiver of souls, you will become a partaker of his fate. You are going to a hell, and it is fixed up, and it is hot enough and terrible enough to punish the devil and the wicked of all ages according to their sins.

Hell is a revelation of the glory of Calvary. Oh! that blood was awful red when you look at it through the fires of hell. That cross is mighty wonderful when you see it as the only way of escape from the pits of hell. Hell reveals the glory of Golgotha's hill from whence the blood of the eternal Son of God flows. The blood of Christ does not save from the temporal penalty, we still have to die, saved or not; women have to bring children into the world with terrible pain, saved or not; men have to earn their living by the sweat of their face, saved or not. There is lots more to it than that. Men are guilty of breaking God's holy law, and the penalty is eternal punishment in hell. Man has got to stand before God and be judged by God's holy law. Thank God for Calvary! The first year I was saved I went to Yellow Stone National Park and I was alone. I went to what they call "the handkerchief pool," and I had an old dirty handkerchief that I had used to clean the spark plugs on my old Ford. It was awful black and greasy, and I held two corners of it and let it down in that boiling water till it touched my fingers, and then I pulled it up in a hurry. I pulled it out straight and it was pure as the riven snow. I was amazed and I stood there utterly unconscious of my surroundings, and I began to sing (they told me). "There is a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains. The dying thief rejoiced to see that fountain in his day; And there may I, though vile as he, wash all my sins away."

Then I felt something touch my shoulder, and there were perhaps 100 people gathered there and somebody said, "Will you let us sing with you, preacher?" And I said, "Surely." Then those people from many states and I sung together that great verse, "Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power, Till all the ransomed church of God are saved, to sin no more." Praise the Lord!

Hell is a revelation of the glory of Calvary. My Lord died on the cross, glory to His Name. He dealt with God's holy law. He did that for somebody, bless God! Please seek an interest in what He did for sinners on the cross. Repent or perish. Proverbs 28:13: "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper; but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."

Isaiah 45:22: "Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else." Jeremiah 29:13: "And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart."

"Blessed Father, we come to Thee in the precious Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank Thee for redeeming us with the precious blood of Christ, Who delivered us from the wrath to come. I pray that You will be pleased to use this message on 'Hell' to warn everyone who reads it, that they may flee from the wrath to come and cry to God to have mercy on them. I beg this in His blessed Name. Amen."

 2008/1/4 17:14





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