In this sermon, the preacher discusses the concept of religion and its limitations. He emphasizes that religion allows people to feel alright but does not address their conduct. The congregation rejoices because they believe that God has finally intervened and brought judgment upon the religious system that keeps people in fear. The preacher shares a personal story of a man who confesses to stealing half a million dollars and how he realized that he needed to come clean before seeking salvation from God. The sermon also mentions the story of Noah and how he prepared an ark in obedience to God's warning of an impending judgment. The preacher concludes by sharing a story of a generous dairy farmer who donates his savings to buy radio time for the preacher's message.

I'd like, if you'd like to follow the scripture, we'll be in the book of the Revelation tonight, the 19th chapter. You Bible Presbyterian people are nice people. I always, for some 35 years, I've been commuting between the North and the South. You can't tell by the way I talk, but I was born in the South. And you Yankees certainly do talk funny, I'll tell you that. But I always know when I'm preaching on either side of the Mason-Dixon line, if I ever see the men standing around outside the church smoking or spitting chewing tobacco, I say, I'm home. And when I get up North, it always amuses me to see you Yankees seat the auditorium from the back forward front. I get rich, I'm going to come up here and build a church that's four miles from the front door to the pulpit. I just want to watch you Yankees, see if you can get a vaccine. Two things are typical of the North, you seat the congregation the wrong way and the preacher has to run to the front door and shake hands with you after the service. And isn't that a disgrace? That's all. But you do it and I won't charge anything extra for it. I believe there are ones that the Lord, who's never left himself without a witness, is drying up the wells from which we've drunk so that when they get plumbed dry, we'll quit trying to drink from them and we'll buy us a Bible. Evidently, professing Christians do not have a Bible or they've never read the ones we've got. Because we're dead sure in your day and mine haven't paid any attention to the Bible. We get our form of government and 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 day 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 drying up the wells, for he sure is, they're getting awful dry. And if we would, he might get us to the place of obedience. Unbelief, you know, is not ignorance. Unbelief is willful rejection of truth and refusal to walk in it. And we're guilty as church people as we can be, for we absolutely refuse to walk in the life we have. Thus God doesn't give us any more because we won't walk in the life that we have. I don't know what a man like myself, come in for a few days with you as your guest, I would do you good if I could, not evil at all, but I want to pose two questions to you tonight as people of God in church assembly. When tonight, there were here from everywhere except Westchester 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 has a name, the Bible Presbyterian Church. And I believe a visiting congregation is here, so I won't charge you anything extra. And if you're here from some other congregation, I'll play like you're that whole congregation. Don't ask you to agree with me 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, there isn't a preacher living, can get a crowd. Preachers do not have the respect of people now, we're to blame for it, I don't blame people for nothing. And I'm glad it's happened that way because this church, as 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 Presbyterians think more of the Puritans than you do of the Bible and the 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 hemming us up, and I'm going to share this with you and then pose these questions. I'm told by brother preachers as I go up and down that the case for our churches as such is hopeless. I don't mean the liberals, I mean churches like you people. I don't believe that. I am also told that we just well forget congregations like you people and we've got to start all over, go out to Califaster, I believe it's too late for that. But I do believe that unless congregations absolutely experience a complete revolution of your whole program, that you're going to continue to be the tail that wags the dog instead of God's people in the command of again. 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, we are God's people, are not for yesterday but for today. We're to be his representatives in this day. This is a terrible day we're going to have, isn't it, as individuals, many as a member and members of the many-membered body. Between these times it is quite so 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 us, that's a challenge, isn't it? And I want to read from the scripture tonight in that one, Revelation 19, and ask you a couple of questions. Beginning at verse 1, And after these things I heard a great voice of much 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 know they're shouting about God's judgment, for true and righteous are his judgments. For he has judged the great whore which did corrupt the earth with her. I don't know much about the book of the Revelation, but surely this is talking about religion, Babylon, this confused polygoth, conglomeration, mix and everything. If sin is damaged, and here is the promise which did corrupt the earth, and hath avenged the blind in the bondage of sin. For religion never interferes with the way men live. Religion allows a man to be all right, but has nothing whatsoever to say about it. And that's the story today. You scarce find anybody in Westchester, isn't that right? And he's all right, and he's sincere in it, and he's earnest about it. And these folks are shouting hallelujah, because God brought judgment here, and rose up forever and ever, and he'll still be on the throne after he's brought this. And as the voice, and as the voice saying hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. In the book of Isaiah especially, our attention is called to the fact that is mentioned here in verse 2 of our scripture tonight, that the saints of God are going to be called upon to shout hallelujah when God judges men. We're going to say amen. Bring it a little closer. When God sends your boy to hell, you're going to be called upon to say amen. Praise the Lord, hallelujah, true and righteous for thy judgments. I'm coming to ask you three questions in a moment. I have to make another statement or two. I wonder how anybody that believed that would conduct himself as a professing Christian. I wonder how a church, I've heard the term Bible-believing church. I wish I believed you folks believed the Bible, but I don't. I don't believe you Presbyterians 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 church people and not get involved in the blood and sweat and swine of the men and women, boys and girls, who are committing spiritual suicide all about. I kind of believe if you believed the Bible and understood that the day would come when you'd have to say amen, hallelujah God, you're sending those folks to hell. I believe if you believed that, oh, I think it'd make a difference. I believe it would. You Presbyterians are known all over America for being educated, orthodox, ossified, and dead. You're more concerned with being straight in doctrine than you are putting your arms around some old dirty bum and loving him into the kingdom of God. Us Baptists are just one step behind you. But I can remember reading about the time when the only gospel north of the Mason-Dixon 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 amount to nothing. It's your action. I can remember when Baptists were known far and wide for their zeal to get men to Jesus Christ. 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 thought as I've gone up and down the land, and as difficult my job is to keep from being a professional and stay uninvolved myself, I'm tempted to try to be popular instead of truthful. But I wonder how I would act if I actually believed that this world is headed for judgment. And so much the more when I remember that in case I did believe that this world is headed right smack dab into a meeting with a hope. I wonder how I'd act if I actually believed it. Especially since I'm called to witness to men and women who don't believe that there's a point under men wants to die and after that to do it. Unsafe people don't believe that. Christian people who say they're Christian say they believe it. It would seem to me that we'd be red hot balls. That our churches would be a rescue mission one yard from hell. That our pillars would pour out dust in these awful hours. How on God's eyes we can be as nice and dignified and dry-eyed as we are is a puzzle to me. We must be terrible sinners. I read in the Bible of a man who says by faith, Noah. I don't guess Noah is much different from me, just a man. There's not that much difference in man. But says by faith, Noah, being warned of God of things. God said Noah, judgment's coming. Noah looked around, don't see a sign of it. But by faith, Noah, faith is belief translated into action. Man can believe Jesus, the son of God, and die if God drop him. Is there any way on earth that you could be moved? Isn't it? By faith, Noah, being warned of God of things not yet seen. He said it's coming. And he moved with fear. He's in a hurry. He's running scared. And he prepared an ark. And nobody believed judgment was coming. And there he was for 120 years checking away on that ark. By the witch preparation, he condemned the world. He said this world's unsafe. You'll never come in. And saved his own household. But he moved with fear. If you're not interested, I wish you'd do something. Jack me up under God to have a holy haste. I wish under God I knew how, as I grew up and down the land. Biggest problem we face now is we're not going to move in any direction, much less condemn this world by it. Well, the holy cross that's been messing around with 10,000 times. Until while we've been cultivating somebody else's vineyard, the little foxes have eaten our hearts out. I wonder how we'd act if we actually believe judgment's coming. And that at that judgment, Ralph Barney is going to have to shout hallelujah as God sends everybody to hell to whom I've witnessed in my life. And I'm going to say amen, God. You're doing right. Hallelujah. I want to ask you two questions now. First, does the Bible Presbyterian congregation of Westchester, Pennsylvania actually believe in your heart that God ought to punish sin? Do you? Does the Bible Presbyterian 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 sinners. How about you Presbyterian? This is the reason we're content to sit in a pew and listen to a man preach, but we're not willing to preach ourselves. We just don't believe that God ought to punish sin. And thus all our talk about glorying in the cross of Christ is just a joke. Because unless sin is hateful to God, unless sin is so monstrous that God cannot state God unless the stroke of his wrath falls on his son, the cross of Christ is a joke. And it may be a luxury, but it's death. For unless God is set to punish sin, he's a monster to hang his son on a cross. Unless God is set to punish sin, there is a necessity for a sage. For if we skip all the things that men and women are, then there's no use talking about anything else. And you can put it down beginning with this old wicked heart of mine, that the absence of tears and zeal and haste and fear and pleading and worrying men with tears as Paul did, we can trace it back to the fact that we threw this. We don't believe God ought to punish sin. 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 either 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 absolute necessity, the first message of the cross of Jesus Christ is that God Almighty's law must, that it'll never be repealed. Do you believe it? They say, Brother Barnard, there's no use preaching to this crowd of church people. There's a scent in their rebellion against this fundamental truth. But you're just wasting your time. Maybe I am, but I'll be at the judgment. And I'll look you, dear people, in the face. I'm not responsible for what's happened before I got here. And I'll beat you at the judgment. And I'll say you need to get you some kind of a knife and tear into your heart and plow it up as I do mine. I have to do it every day under God. Get it the reason for the niceness, cold 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. And that we hadn't seen the last of this generation of God's people have got to be witnesses at the judgment. That's a challenge. Years since, I was in Rochester, New York, holding meetings in a Christian missionary life church. My message was a little strange to them. Dr. A. W. Tozer, a prophet of God, had gotten acquainted with me, and me with him, and he'd ask if I'd minister. And after the meetings had been in progress some 10 or 12 days, they lasted seven weeks there, for a little blessing began to fall. Rochester, the place where Finney saw 100,000 people brought into the kingdom of God, in a little town of 10,000 in nine months' time. Now Rochester, perhaps the most liberal, modernistic city in the world. Just a few little bitty churches that believe anything. Most of them so whipped they can't get a crowd, you know. And this young missionary life pastor had a heart as big as a mountain, and that 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 dairy farmer was sitting in there, and the pastor said, Brother so-and-so has written out a check for $2,900. It's his savings, he and his wife's savings. 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 dairy farmer. The kid's all gone, he's in his late 60s, and his wife sat there by him, and he said, here'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 guess the radio station would sell 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 hasn't heard that God must punish him. He said, they used to hear it back yonder, but this generation in Rochester's never heard it. He said, this town never heard that every precious drop of the blood of Jesus Christ, rice and lead, must punish him. And I said, brother, suppose I got on the radio. Whether they hear, or whether they don't, I want them to be warned. Nor by faith being warned. He minded God. So they went down to the big station, and they're still here all over America at night. Modelistic things to give away on Sunday, and they'd never sold it, but they, they sold us time. And we got on, they put me on the radio six times a day. I preached twice in the church building, six times on the radio for the next seven weeks. Others brought in their money. They said, in the next few weeks for radio. And before the meeting's over, somebody had called. Why'd that old farmer do that? He acted the Bible. He acted like that if we do not warn men. If we see men dying in the mass church, we'll be required. Last fall in the city of Houston, Texas, I went to hold a meeting for seven churches that got together, and eleven men gave a thousand dollars apiece, working men. Some of them borrowed it. And they put me on the radio station that says reaches all of Texas for five weeks, thirty minutes a day, and asked me to preach on one subject. Must God punish sin. That's the issue of this hour. This issue isn't any of your five points of Calvinism, your doctrines of grace, whatever those things are. What this country doesn't believe, this country in the churches and out does not believe, that they need a savior. Why they do. I spoke to somebody here tonight that actually believed that God Almighty was determined and sat and sworn on his own council to punish. If you haven't found him as a. The whole time. We live in a generation where from the Pope. We just make our fight. We believe there's an utter necessity for the cross of Jesus Christ. That utter necessity is that God has to punish sin. Yes, since I went to Ashland, Kentucky to hold a meeting down south with Baptists, I'm a member of a southern Baptist church, and every once in a while they have what they call all the Baptist churches in a given association. I guess that corresponds to a presbytery. They'll hold simultaneous revival campaigns. And folks feel they just hear the cam feel the pain. But this church will have meetings, and all of them will have meetings at the same time. They'll get together and try to make an impact on the community. And so happy that I was invited to the largest church in that city, in that association. They had a daily radio program, 30 minutes long. And then they had the day service at 10 o'clock. And then the preachers from the other church. And they want to know. And they came. Now you're not Baptist. And they said we represent. And extend to you an invitation. Said we'll either rent this. And when they say they'll do it, they'll do it. And they said, we won't give you that invitation. Well, I'm subject. And I said, but they said, now before you give us your answer, we have 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 the city auditorium, a big tent. We'll guarantee it'll be full every night. We'll go after people. If you'll promise us that you'll just preach on one subject while you're here, on the radio for an hour, and at night in the tent or auditorium, 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 just preach on one subject. Will God punish sin? Said everybody in the nation is a church member, but 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 membership interfere with their daily living 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 do me any good or not, till you believe 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 a 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 sin through Christ's blood. This generation don't need to think there's any need. This generation needs to hear the first God will punish sin. Every time they nail those nails into the flesh. And I said, I'll agree to that. And then Baptist used Baptist, you wouldn't believe this. They said, we don't want you to give in. That's strange for us Baptists, because we don't think you can get saved through the preacher. And we filled our churches full of folks wouldn't know the Lord from a grasshopper. They just responded to some sort of an invitation. And coming from a bunch of Baptist preachers, that sounded funny. But that's right down my alley, because I'm so tired of begging people to come to Jesus when they don't feel like they need it. And you just can't get them to do it, save your life. Well, they don't need it, get along all right. You think I'm crazy, you quit being a nice Bible Presbyterian, get out here and start going into homes, talking to people. Huh? You find out I'm telling the truth. Well, the time came and I went. And every day for an hour on the radio, and at night under the tent, I became an authority on what the Bible says about God will punish. And I preached on it every night. That's the first message of the cross. And after somebody believes that, you can come in with the second message of the cross. Ah, that substitute, he's hanging there in my stead. Well, if God gonna punish him, I'll be taking the day somebody tell me that Christ has got sacrifice in my substitute. But the Holy Spirit didn't let me preach for the entire month. The Thursday night of the fourth week, I got preaching and they had a disturbance in the congregation. And the president of the First National Bank of the city came running down, came up, pushed me aside and said, Preacher, I can't hold it any longer. He said their policemen here 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 proper authorities that's in their hands. He said, I've stolen half a million dollars from this bank. He said, I'm president of the Sunday School class, chairman of the board of deacons. He said, I've been listening to you 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 million dollars comes up for me. And there ain't no way a man can get God to save you until you come clean. The whole outfit's got to. And he said, I got down on my knees after I wrote my confession, notified the police. I'm here saying, I'll be spending the next few years of my life in prison. But thank God, Christ died in my stead. 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 you ever saw. He'd been in prison in Kentucky for these 14 years. But who lot better to spend the rest of your life in a prison and think you can cover sin, 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, shifts 24 hours a day. We had to have several people stationed at phones, people that go to work, go to the foreman and say, I can't work. Yeah, they'd come to the tent. For three and a half weeks, all we did was pray with and counsel men and women coming. Could it be that he'd have mercy on me? That's the testimony and witness that must not be confined to this pulpit, but it must burn in your heart until with a zeal that cannot be consumed. Your lips are open, your tears come, your heart enlarges. And whether anybody hears you or not, moving with fear, you're preparing art. I'm so hungry. And 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 zeal. I'm earnest about it. And I think you're going to have to do it. The scriptures say, break up your filigree. And you do it, see. Break it up. You mourn. Scripture says, you afflict yourself. You know what it says? Huh? Get you an old metal buster and tear that heart of yours up. And I used to pray, oh God, break my heart. He tells you to break it up. Isn't that right? I'm tired of being content. It's been a little over 200 years since God has bested America in a mighty way. I call on my own heart, every person here who names the name of Jesus Christ, break up your own heart. You'll find the seed of all of our trouble. We don't actually believe God must punish sin. Therefore, Christ on a cross is a nice little story, but it's not another necessity in a wonderful provision. Let us stand. Assume the job you gave him to do. And down here on mission bent, pour out his soul under death on a tree. Have our 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 we profess to be, to have something of the heart and the passion and the concern that you had, that he may again see of the travail of his soul and be glad that he died for sinners. This is my prayer. In his name, I think it is. And for his sake, I want it to be. Amen.