Rolfe Barnard emphasizes the imminent arrival of a great revival, asserting that the church has yet to realize its full glory, but it will. He discusses the necessity of recognizing Jesus as the true sin offering and the exalted Lord, which is essential for genuine revival. Barnard encourages believers to maintain hope and actively seek a deeper relationship with God, as revival will be marked by a profound mourning for Christ and a desire for personal connection with Him. He warns against complacency and urges the church to confront the world with the true message of Christ. Ultimately, Barnard believes that revival will begin in Jerusalem and spread globally, transforming lives and communities.

Welcome to From the Pulpit in Classic Sermons. Each week we bring you a different message from some of history's greatest speakers in the Christian faith and powerful sermons from modern preachers too. This week we have Ralph Bernard with his message, A Great Revival is Coming. I invite you to turn, if you will, to the eleventh chapter of the book of Romans. 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 will come in the days of the glory of Christ's church and 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 this revival is here. And I read about this revival beginning in verse 25 of the 11th chapter of Romans. The Apostle Paul says, For 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, they 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. We have this 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, 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% of the preachers. I hope I ain't one of them. We could. For 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. I do not believe this word saved here has reference to what we call salvation. 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 a preserver of them that believe. You're out here on the lake, there's one in this state, you see a man drowning, and you throw out a life preserver, a 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, oh, 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 didn't just forget it. I don't want to change your theology, but it introduces me to my subject. The great revival that the world is headed toward, do you believe this? It's so. The time of the letter 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 without yonder the future. One thing I wish, I wish under God that people would claim to believe the Bible, believed a little of it, and weren't such pessimists, and would open their hearts and quit writing God's church and his program off the record, and get a little of the glory of God on their counter that says, 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 what might be all I could take. I'd say with Simeon, 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 pretty hot. 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 blessing. The other day, I had a word from a preacher. He said, all over that section of North Carolina, they're talking it on the streets and talking it everywhere. I had a little touch from God. I 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. He 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 clouded 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. No, that's just a little flame. Just a little flame. But brother, this world is going to see a 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 is 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 for as soon as I've ever been in. That little touch from God had spread around the world. It's going to start exactly like a revival, if it ever comes to Carlisle. We'll 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'll 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 just 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 hope! There's nothing on earth as contagious as a man that's full of hope! He's still got 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 got 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 and everything that breathes before the wind up comes is going to bring glory to God and this whole world is yet going to witness and experience the power of a church in unity, the body of Christ, under the power of God, preaching the gospel. That's yet future. It's coming, and it can come to any congregation. If there are six members of this church 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. If this church were located, this building, one half an inch from the brink of hell, it'd still be far enough to hear from hell for us to avail ourselves of the weapons 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. 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. And 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 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 an 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 mourned 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 will never see a work of grace here, apart from men and women being constantly confronted in the gospel with a crucified, exalted Lord. What'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, is 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 God and man with the crucified, exalted Lord of glory. No revival apart from the public and private and instant and constant speaking to the less of preaching not about, but proclaiming Him, the One who was an offering for sin at Calvary, and now is the exalted Lord of glory raining 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, they made Him their Lord, and all that tomfoolery. There's two things about the Jesus that's been preached in America, that'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 the Jesus who made some sort of a gesture of love, but was not a sin offering on Golgotha's hill. But when man come face to face with the Christ who poured out His soul unto death, and God hung Him on a cross as an offering for sin, as a vital, necessary remedy. That Jesus who poured out His soul unto death, under the lash of God's holy law, and the wicked machinations of evil did, 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 on the cross, and an exalted Lord on the throne, they shall see their utter need of Him as their substitute, and their utter need of Him as their absolute Lord. You'll never, you'll never, never be saved if you never see Him as an actual sin offering, now seated on a throne. Now seated on a throne. The second thing that God uses, I will pour 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. 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. There are 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, in every street corner, in every jail, in every avenue, in every Sunday school class, everywhere, faithfully confronts men not with the popular, weak, helpless, futile Jesus today, but with 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, where he's going to stay and rule and reign, thank God, until every enemy has been disgraced, until all authority and power and rule has 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. 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. 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. The Spirit blows where he wills, and you cannot tell from whence 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, I'll pour 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 for 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. Is that all right? Just so you get to him. I'll tell you right now, but 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. Your little old church membership and the fact that you don't chaw tobacco 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 abused. I'm afraid people would trust the bench, 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 isn't that room there and there? Men and women naked before God, mourning after Christ. That'd be revival. That'd be revival. Paul had 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, if you can find it, right quick to Jeremiah 31, 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. Oh, 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, the moaning himself. I know I'm talking strange. We don't know about what I'm talking about tonight. We're members of this cocky generation that made a little profession one time, and we've been going around talking about we're born again Christians or there's some other kind. We're all right. We're nice people. But if revival came, God bless your heart, there'd be moaning and mourning apart. Men would seek God apart. You ever seen much of that? Am I? 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. You will, you know, if you listen to the way to do personal work and the way to witness today. Boy, 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 here and they'd preach. The Holy Spirit would 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's school class. And they'd give them a little piece, but they'd make a mistake and come back in to 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, if in answer to prayer, if that's how it comes, God ever pours out His Spirit on you, and men are confronted with the sure enough crucified, now exalted Lord, and they begin to mourn for Him and seek Him apart. They want to know whether they have a vital 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 Sunday school teacher here and you're 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 is going to hell, while there's nice people playing mumbo-jumbo. You better listen to me. We ought to go after people. But what all we do is catch up with them. I hope this church rings every doorbell in this city about once a month. But you ought to if you're going to count. After 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'm just miserable. I feel like I'm going to drop in hell, poor son of. Won't you come over and help me? Would you go? Surely you would, 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. 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 is a devout man. 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 I killed him to get him where he, 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 to the stage and said, Don't you believe that verse of Scripture? Yeah. Well, he was sick. And Peter went up to him and said, I understand you want me to come down and help you. 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 to preach in peace by Jesus Christ, he is the Lord of all. That word I say you know, which was published throughout all Judea and began from Galilee after the baptism with John, preached how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with 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 and Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree. Him 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. J-U-D-G-E, judge! He's going to do something with everybody, save them or damn them, of the quick and dead. To him give all the proper witness that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet speaks these words, you read these words just the gospel all about Jesus Christ, who is it? While Peter yet speaks these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them. That H-E-A-R-D heard the word. If somebody called for you and wanted to help out, what'd you do? Try to get them to do something? Peter didn't. He confronted him with the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. And the Holy Spirit added his testimony. That's right. That's right. What I'm trying to say is let the Holy Ghost comfort people. Amen? Amen. Ah, my. What did Peter do? He showed them Jesus Christ. Is that what you do? My church is presently coming, I hope accepted. With 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'd 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, listen to the 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 behind one of these things, and have some churches full of saved people called of God, to go to the Cornelius's, bless God, and do what? Just proclaim Christ. Let him comfort you. I was down in Greenville, Mississippi, Greenville, South Carolina some years ago, and was on the radio 30 minutes a day, and God began to pour out his Spirit on the broadcast. In that city is a great Bible college. Before we knew it, many hundreds of the students were listening. Then they began to crowd out the auditorium. 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, I'm mourning, I'm groaning. Couldn't help but comfort them. It just began to spread, and the telephone 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. There I stood, and everybody wanted to help me. I said, I'm scared, too. 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'd be mourning apart. The families. Old man Allspaugh would be in that room, and the wife would 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 Barney, 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 he said, you just got to help her. I said, don't bring her up here. I've got to preach five times tomorrow night. But he said tomorrow night, I've got to get some sleep. I did, too. Well, he said, Brother Barney, she's just suffering out here now. 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 flicking your gum from one jaw to the other. No, it's becoming vitally joined to the Living Lord. No man will ever have peace unless he's had bitterness. No man will ever 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. And if you ever stay in hell a while, mourning, how about my vital, personal relationship to the Living God? Nobody can do business there but you. For you. That's revival. That's revival. I 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 that sin debt. And men actually need to bow to the Lord Jesus Christ now. You've been listening to From the Pulpit in Classic Sermons. This week you heard Ralph Bernard with his message, A Great Revival is Coming. Tune in next week to hear Willie Milan talk about Daniel and 21 Days of Prayer on From the Pulpit in Classic Sermons.