The Funeral Sermon of Rolfe Barnard
By Henry Mahan
Above is the "Funeral Sermon" of the late despised, yet faithful, evangelist Rolfe Barnard, a man after God's own heart. He preached repentance and faith for the remission of sins, in the wilderness of a dying American church, between the 1920s and the 1960s in the power of the Spirit of God: a system of Church-ianity that was already becoming hostile to God. He has meant much to this work of God in our midst, and much of our labour in the Word and Doctrine, under God, has been greatly enhanced by him.
In this short and efficient sermon, preached by a close friend of his, Henry Mahan, a very sound depiction of Barnard's ministry is described. We do not agree with all of Mahan's assessment of this "prophet" of God, but we do agree with the heart of it. Mahan quotes the following words from a preacher that saw his ministry first hand, “Gentleman, John the Baptist has come to this town, and this old town will never be the same.” He went to be with the Lord on January 21, 1969, alone and away from home, after suffering from a heart attack. E.W. Johnston rightly says of his death, "Some say it was indeed a matter of the heart which killed him -- although not entirely physical. But Rolfe Barnard died of a broken heart over the condition of the American church; a heart broken over what generally passed for evangelism and the gospel of his day.” If Barnard’s heart was broken then, what would he think of American Christianity today? Yet, Barnard prophesied that, on top of the overwhelming flood of Antichristian hostility taking over the churches of America, even in his day, the Lord would bring a revival that he would be used in.
In this short and efficient sermon, preached by a close friend of his, Henry Mahan, a very sound depiction of Barnard's ministry is described. We do not agree with all of Mahan's assessment of this "prophet" of God, but we do agree with the heart of it. Mahan quotes the following words from a preacher that saw his ministry first hand, “Gentleman, John the Baptist has come to this town, and this old town will never be the same.” He went to be with the Lord on January 21, 1969, alone and away from home, after suffering from a heart attack. E.W. Johnston rightly says of his death, "Some say it was indeed a matter of the heart which killed him -- although not entirely physical. But Rolfe Barnard died of a broken heart over the condition of the American church; a heart broken over what generally passed for evangelism and the gospel of his day.” If Barnard’s heart was broken then, what would he think of American Christianity today? Yet, Barnard prophesied that, on top of the overwhelming flood of Antichristian hostility taking over the churches of America, even in his day, the Lord would bring a revival that he would be used in.
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He did not see this Isaiah 4 revival in his life, but I pray that eternity will reveal that he was indeed used in such a work of God, in your day and mine. (see Barnard's sermon to the right, The Discipline of Jesus Christ, for more about this aforementioned prophecy)
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“By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.”
(Hebrews 11:4)
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