Perfect in Him

“And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.” | Revelation 14: 13

There is nothing that will make a NEEDY SINNER look to Christ alone or a BELIEVER cling to, and rest in Christ alone more than to realize that everything God is, everything that God requires, and everything that a sinner needs or will ever need is IN JESUS CHRIST. (1 Corinthians 1: 30)

We are perfect in Him! (Colossians 1: 21-22; Jude 1: 24)

He is perfect, and our being in Him makes us perfect. (John 1: 16-17; Colossians 2: 9-10)

This is not speaking of what we shall be, but what we are right now in Christ before God.

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Light Afflictions & Eternal Glory”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 5 September, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

Return To Thy Rest, O My Soul

“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” | Psalm 23: 2-3

Some believers are troubled because they cannot always and at all times feel the joy and comfort set forth in Psalm 23.

We should remember that, though David lived long and wrote much, he wrote only one 23rd Psalm. There are other psalms; psalms of conviction, praise, prayer, seeking, and mourning. In fact, even this Psalm closes with our walk through the valley of death.

This valley of death is our entire journey through life.

The fall of Adam put the stamp of death on everything and everyone. But we are walking through. It is not our home, and it is a valley of the SHADOW of death. Christ has removed the substance and sting of death for us. The shadow of a dog can’t hurt; the shadow of a gun can’t kill.

“I will fear no evil.”

He does not say there will be no evil; but, because He is with me, I don’t FEAR the evil.

~ Henry T. Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Return To Thy Rest, O My Soul”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 25 July, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

Our Steps Are Ordered Of The Lord

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:” | Philipians 1: 6

What will happen in the days to come?

Everything the Lord has wisely decreed in His eternal purpose for us to experience. (Romans 11: 36; Ephesians 1: 11) The Lord gave David these words in Psalm 37: 23; “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.”

Our Lord Jesus Christ told His disciples in their day; “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16: 33)


The apostle Paul declares that every believer has won the victory of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ forever; “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15: 57) We can be assured by the word of our blessed God and Saviour; that every promise of God will be fulfilled; (Joshua 23: 14; 2 Peter 1: 3-4) that our gracious Lord will provide for our every need; (Philipians 4: 19) that He will never leave us or forsake us. (Hebrews 13: 5-6)

As the old writers used to express it; “The Lord will give us all grace now and glory forever. We don’t know what the future holds but we know who holds the future.” (Psalm 31: 15)

~ Pastor Tom Harding

Click here to listen to the message “God Will Begin And Finish The Work of Salvation In You”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Zebulon Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 15 August, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a | Pikeville, Kentucky

Married To Christ

“Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.!” | Romans 6: 1-4

While marrying a young couple yesterday, I asked them if they would promise to honor and love one another, “till death alone shall part you.” We believers were married to the law in the sense that we were bound and responsible to honor it. We were “under the law,” and though sinful and incapable of honoring it, it was nonetheless our duty before God to do so perfectly. Paul uses this beautiful comparison to show what our relationship is now to the law, and to the son of God.

Being dead to the law, we are married to Christ, and yet not considered “adulterers.” In other words, we have no requirement to honour the law, and yet are guiltless before the law.

Free from the law O happy condition, Jesus hath bled and there is remission. Cursed by the law and killed by the fall, Christ hath redeemed us, once for all.

It may seem extreme to you that I would say, we have no requirement to honor the law, but think about it believer. If we are responsible to honor God’s law, then we must inhabit Hell forever. Christ honored it for us, and paid our sin debt, and we add nothing to what He has done for us. Nothing.

This does not mean we do not respect the law, and even try to obey it both outwardly and inwardly, but we have found that what we would, we do not, we cannot. Paul even says we “delight in the law of God, after the inward man,” but understand. We are dead to the law for righteousness, and we are married to Another.

We cannot, do not, shall not honor the law with our works, though we do desire to and strive to, but our Husband did, and we are one with Him as man and wife are said to be before God, one flesh. We bring forth fruit unto God because our works, just like our persons, are accepted “in the Beloved.” Let us praise Him both now and forever, our Husband, our Beloved, the Lover of our souls and Him Whom our soul loveth.

~ Pastor Chris Cunningham

Click here to listen to the message “Run After Love”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

FreeGraceRadio.com Bulletin Article date: 1 August, 2008 | Previous post date: n/a | Danville, Kentuky

HIS GLORY

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” | Ephesians 1: 3-6

The Glory of the Triune God is paramount in all things.

This Glory is magnified in the electing of a people by the Father in Christ. It is magnified in the saving of that people through the blood of Christ. And it is magnified in the revelation of our Savior, in our new hearts, through the Holy Spirit.

When the child of God is finally brought home, we will forever sing praise to His Glory in perfection and for eternity.

~ Pastor Kevin Thacker

Click here to listen to the message “Thoughts in the Night”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 15 August, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

Seek The Kingdom of God First

“Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” | Isaiah 52: 6,7

How great is our God whose hand paints every flower and shapes every leaf; who forms every bud on every tree and every infant in the womb; who feeds each crawling worm with a parent’s care and every insect that sleeps in the bosom of a flower; who opens the golden gates of day and draws the dusky curtains of the night; who measures every drop of rain, the whirling flakes of snow and the sands of man’s earthly life; who determines alike the fall of the sparrow and the fate of a kingdom; who so overrules the tide of human fortune that, whatever befalls a man, come joy or sorrow, the believer readily declares, “It is the Lord: let Him do what seemeth Him good.”

~ Thomas Guthrie

Click here to listen to the message “Seek The Kingdom of God First”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 25 July, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

The Prayer of Faith

“And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” | James 5: 15-16

James assures us that the prayer of faith, the prayer that is born of and caused by faith in Christ, shall save the sick.

Of course the word “save” means “deliver.” The prayer of faith shall, most assuredly, deliver the sick from his sickness. What is “the prayer of faith”? The next verse tell us: “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

“THE PRAYER OF FAITH IS “EFFECTUAL”. The word used by James means “in wrought”. It is a prayer wrought in, or produced in the heart of a believer by the Spirit of God. It is a prayer that is found in the heart, (II Samuel 7: 27) produced by the work of God and based upon the Word of God. Without question, the prayer of faith willingly submits to the will of God. But there is more to it than that. The prayer of faith discerns what the will of God is by the illumination of the Holy Spirit in his heart. (Romans 8: 27) And the prayer of faith is according to the will of God. (I John 5: 14)

THE PRAYER OF FAITH IS “FERVENT”. Faith is importunate. It will not give up its plea until it obtains the mercy it seeks. (Luke 11: 8-10) Like the Syrophenician woman, faith cannot be turned away. (Matthew 15: 21-28)

THE PRAYER OF FAITH IS THE PRAYER OF “A RIGHTEOUS MAN”, one who has been made righteous by the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to him and by the cleansing of his blood. It is the prayer of one who draws near to, calls upon, and is accepted of God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. (John 14: 15; Hebrews 7: 25)

AND THE PRAYER OF FAITH “AVAILETH MUCH”. The prayer of the righteous is God’s delight; therefore “he heareth the prayer of the righteous.” (Proverbs 15: 8; Proverbs 15: 29) “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” (I John 5:1 4-15) We have what we desire, because what we desire is what our heavenly Father desires – his will and his glory. We gladly subject all our desires to these two things. The prayer of faith is free of selfish desire and personal want. (James 4: 3) The prayer of faith wants what God has purposed. Therefore, it is always effectual.

If my will is subject to and in harmony with my Father’s will, I may, and most assuredly shall have what I will.

~ Pastor Don Fortner

Click here to listen to the message “The Baptist, The Bride, & The Bridegroom”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Sovereign Grace Baptist Church Bulletin Article date: 11 August 2008 | Previous post date: n/a | Ewing, New Jersey

Submit Yourselves to God

“God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. Submit yourself therefore to God. | James 4: 6-7)

The way to overcome pride and defeat the spirit of envy, strife, and contention is to SUBMIT YOURSELVES TO GOD.

1). To His will regarding gifts, natural or spiritual.

2). To leave it to God to make us what He would have us to be.

3). To leave it to God to prosper or empty us.

4). To leave it to God to honor or humiliate us.

Resist thoughts of envy, jealousy, covetousness, and fretting, and submit yourselves to God.

Our Lord is mindful of our needs and will supply. (Philippians 4: 19)

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “A Study In James (Chapter 4)”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Zebulon Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 15 August, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a | Pikeville, Kentucky

FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” | 1 Corinthians 13: 13

What great blessings the Lord has freely and eternally given unto His church! (Romans 8: 32)

Indeed, Christ has blessed us with all spiritual blessings. (Ephesians 1: 3) The apostle Paul makes mention of these three great and spiritual blessings that abide in every believer; faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Why would Paul say that? Because it is true!

Every believer lives by faith, (Romans 1: 17) walks by faith (2 Corinthians 5: 7) and will die in faith, (Hebrews 13: 5), always looking to and trusting in Christ. (Hebrews 12: 2) But one day faith will end in perfect and complete sight, when we behold the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. (1 John 3: 2)

Likewise, every believer lives with a fervent hope, a living hope and a blessed hope; (Titus 2: 13) because it is a good hope through grace. (2 Thessalonians 2: 16) Hope springs from faith in Christ, (Hebrews 11: 1) for He is our hope. (Colossians 1: 27; 1 Timothy 1: 1) But the good hope we have in Christ, that too will one day come to an end in the certain expectation of the reality of that hope being predestinated to be just like the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 8: 29-30)

But the greatest of these gifts is love; the love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5: 5) will never end. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. (Romans 8: 38)

Our love for the Lord Jesus Christ had a beginning but it will never have an end. We only love Him because He first loved us. (1 John 4: 19)

When did the Lord start loving His own? From eternity in the covenant of grace! (Jeremiah 31: 3) The Lord’s love for His church is a sacrificial love. (Ephesians 5: 25; 1 John 4: 10) He laid down His life for His church. (John 13: 1) Oh how precious is that love for us!

May God grant us to be always thankful for this gift of His love unto us and may He cause it to grow in such a way as to glorify Him now and forever.

One day soon every believer will sing forever; “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen (Revelation 1: 5-6)

~ Pastor Tom Harding

Click here to listen to the message “Preach The Word Of God”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 8 August, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

What Is Your Comfort?

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” | Psalm 23: 4

Are you happy? Yes! But I am not without times of sorrow and depression.

Like any human, I weep over loved ones, friends, sickness, death, and disappointment. But I sorrow not as those who have no hope. CHRIST IS MY HOPE! He loved me, gave Himself for me, and will make ALL THESE THINGS work together for my eternal good.

Are you at rest in your soul? Yes! but I am not free from concern and conviction over my sins and my infirmities.

I love Christ but not as I should or as I desire. I am satisfied with Him, His mercy, His grace, and His love; but I will never be totally satisfied until I wake with His likeness.

Do you have peace? Yes! but that peace with God, peace of conscience, and peace in any situation or condition is not based on my merit, feelings, nor religious duties.

CHRIST IS MY PEACE! He said, “In ME ye have peace. In the world ye shall have trouble.”

Any man or woman who claims continual, uninterrupted joy, rest, and peace in this world is either not telling the truth or has no connection with reality! True joy, rest, and peace are things we enjoy in Christ IN THE MIDST of troubles, afflictions, and infirmities.

Paul’s exhortation was “rejoice in the Lord.”

When I am conscious of my weakness, failures, and sins, I rejoice in Christ, my righteousness.

When I am concerned about food, clothing, and shelter, I rejoice in Christ, my provider.

When I am sick, Christ is my healer.

When I am grieved, Christ is my comfort.

When I am faced with death, Christ is my life!

So it is not necessary to put on a false face and deceive others. We are still human; but our peace, rest, and joy is Christ.

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on Thee.”

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “The Believer’s Comfort”

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, watch our livestream (when available) and access our previously recorded messages.

Sovereign Grace Baptist Church Bulletin Article date: 11 August 2008 | Previous post date: n/a | Ewing, New Jersey