JUNE 24 , 2022

Editor | Dr . Shelton Smith Vol . LXXXVIII , No . 12

LESLIE GREENING English Evangelist

“ God … now commandeth all men every where to repent :

“ Because he hath appointed a day , in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained ; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men , in that he hath raised him from the dead .”— Acts 17:30 , 31 .

I happen to be a native of the county town of Dorset and quite frequently I see an announcement posted on the walls of the county court to the effect that one of His Majesty ’ s judges will shortly con - duct an assize court in that building , when all those coming under the jurisdiction of that particular author - ity , who have broken the law of the

“ And there came a man of God , and spake unto the king of Israel , and said , Thus saith the LORD , Because the Syrians have said , The LORD is God of the hills , but he is not God of the valleys , therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand , and ye shall know that I am the

LORD .”— I Kings 20:28 .

I do not know how familiar you may be with the incident linked with these words ; but some of you at least will recall that when Ahab of evil memory was king of Israel , Ben-hadad , king of Syria , sought an occasion of quarrel with him and invaded the land of Israel with a great army .

Although Ahab had no real title or right to cry to God and expect any blessing , yet because of the need of His people and because of the proud and hard Syrians , God intervened in a wonderful way and in the hill country in the northern part of the land gave to realm , will be brought up for trial .

Whenever I read that notice with its solemn proclamation , I cannot help my thoughts turning immediately to the infinitely more solemn language of my text and to the subject I want to speak to you about : “ The Coming Great Assize ,” or “ The Coming Great Judgment .”

Will you notice first , before we come directly to our text , that in the course of their adventurous missionary journey , Paul and Silas arrive at Berea ( Acts 17 ) where God blesses their message to such an extent that a great company of men and women are converted .

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DR . HARRY A . IRONSIDE ( 1876 – 1951 )

Israel a great victory so that the Syrians were utterly scattered .

Trying to account for their defeat , they said , “ It is very evident that the God of Israel is a God of the hills ; our gods are gods of the valleys . These Israelites are highlanders ; they are used to the mountains and their God is accustomed to giving them victory in the hill country .

“ Their God is a God of the hills ; He is not the God of the valleys ; therefore , we will reorganize our armies and will come against Israel at the turn of the year , but we will be careful not to be lured by them into the highlands .

“ We will draw them down into the plains and there we will over - whelm them and we will prove that our gods are the gods of the valleys and theirs is not .”

So when this word came , Jehovah sent a prophet to Ahab , saying ,

DR . LEE ROBERSON

( Preached at the National Sword of the Lord Conference , Gospel Light Baptist Church , Walkertown , North Carolina , August 12 , 1993 )

“ Righteousness exalteth a nation : but sin is a reproach to any people .”— Prov . 14:34 .

“ But as for me and my house , we will serve the LORD .”— Josh . 24:15 .

“ For the wages of sin is death ; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord .”— Rom . 6:23 .

“ Wherefore , if meat make my brother to offend , I will eat no flesh while the world standeth , lest I make my brother to offend .”— I Cor . 8:13 .

America is sick . America is sinsick . You see it everywhere you go — in every city , every village , every state . It is revealed in the actions in Washington , D . C ., in the Congress , in all the offices . It is revealed by the conduct of a nation turned to immorality , homosexuality , thievery , robbery , murder and all else .

In Washington , D . C ., the capital city , there were 383 murders last year .

America is sick . Broken homes are everywhere . Half of the marriages end in divorce . In the past thirty years , America had forty-seven

DR . SHELTON SMITH

million divorces , believe it or not ! At the same time , eighteen million babies were killed by abortion .

The Associated Press reported that Georgia ( and this came out just a few days ago ) last year had eighty thousand cases of child abuse . The State Family and Children ’ s Services said about these children : they were beaten , they were raped , they were starved , they were burned in fire , etc .

It went on mentioning awful things that had happened to these eighty thousand in just one state !

America is sick . This is revealed in our churches . Between 3,500 and 4,000 churches close their doors every year in America and they do not reopen . We have fewer churches now than we had twenty years ago .

Seven thousand Southern Baptist churches didn ’ t have a single bap - tism last year . They had buildings , churches , pastors and people ; but no one was saved and no one was baptized . Over four hundred

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