A Good Opinion of Self???

“Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; Fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry…” | Colossians 3: 5

The first thing the Holy Spirit does when He comes into a person’s heart is this: He finds that person with A VERY GOOD OPINION OF HIMSELF. And there is NOTHING which prevents a person coming to Christ like a good opinion of himself.

The Holy Spirit must lay bare that heart and let him see the loathsome disease of sin; uncover to him all the evil and defilement of the human heart.

“The heart is deceitful above all and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17: 9)

But IT MUST BE KNOWN before the sinner will fall at the feet of Christ and cry, “Lord, be merciful to me, the sinner.”

Actually, the Spirit of God not only reveals the corruptions of our EVIL deeds, but the corruptions of our BEST deeds, until the convicted sinner weeps with Wesley and says, “Depths of mercy, can there be / Mercy still reserved for me? Can my God His wrath forbear? / Me, the chief of sinners, spare?”

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Why Men Hate Free Grace”

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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.

Central Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 3 August, 2014 | Previous post date: n/a | Rocky Mount, Virginia

A Sermon for Me

“Unto you that believe, He is precious” | 1 Peter 2: 7

Believers receive Christ, rejoice in Christ and, to them He is precious.

His obedience is our righteousness.

His blood is our atonement.

His prayers are our intercession.

His reign is our glory.

His coming is our hope.

Christ is all and in all.

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “A Sermon for Me”

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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 March, 2020 | Previous post date: n/a

Number the Days

“O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the LORD our maker. For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness.” | Psalm 95: 6-8

Richard Baxter once said, “I preach as one who may never preach again, and as a dying man to dying men.”

We need to learn the all-important lesson, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgement,” (Hebrews 9: 26) and live our days in Christ, awaiting His call.

It is so foolish to set our affection on a dying world and its short-lived comforts and relationships.

Ryle said, “For a moment of time, men lose a glorious eternity.” We are toiling and wearying ourselves about trifles, running to and fro like ants on a hill to build that which shall soon crumble, not realizing that in a few years we shall all be gone and another generation will fill our place.

“Lord, teach ME to number my days that I may apply my heart to WISDOM.” (Psalm 90: 12)

~ Pastor Henry T. Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Heavenly Arithmetic”

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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: 3 October, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a | Pikeville, Kentucky

Leave Them There

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” | 1 Peter 5: 7

I know my sins, but I rejoice in His grace.

I know my weakness, but I rest in His strength.

I know my emptiness, but I am complete in Him.

“O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,” all because we do not cast our sins, our souls, on Christ and LEAVE THEM THERE!

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “The Way Up Is Down”

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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: 26 September, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

Unto you that believe, He is precious

“And Naomi said unto her daughter in law, Blessed be he of the LORD, who hath not left off his kindness to the living and to the dead. And Naomi said unto her, The man is near of kin unto us, one of our next kinsmen.” | Ruth 2: 20

Believers receive Christ, rejoice in Christ, and to them He is precious.

His obedience is our righteousness, His blood is our atonement.

His prayers are our intercession.

His reign is our glory.

His coming is our hope!

Christ is all and in all!

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “The One Who Has the Right to Redeem”

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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: 22 March, 2020 | Previous post date: n/a

Dead to This World

“Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.” | Isaiah 28: 16

A young student asked his Bible teacher this question: “How is the believer dead to the world when he lives in the world, works a regular job, raises a family, and owns property in the world?”

The teacher sent him out to the gravesite of a friend with instructions to criticize the dead friend, harass him, and find fault, and then praise him with glowing terms and brag on him to excess.

Upon his return, the teacher asked, “What did your friend say when you criticized him?”

“Nothing.”

“How did he react when you praised him?”

“It made no difference to him; he is dead!”

“That is what it means to be dead to this world,” said the teacher.

Its APPLAUSE means nothing and its HATRED means nothing. We neither ADMIRE the people of this world nor do we FEAR them. The riches of this world are but the fancy of fools, and the honors of this world mean little or nothing; for to be a child of God is the highest calling.

The religious traditions and ceremonies of the world have no attraction nor meaning when CHRIST IS ALL!

That which was once important to us we now consider loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, our Lord.

This spiritual life in Christ cannot be explained; it must be experienced.

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Christ- A Sure Foundation”

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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.

Central Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 10 October, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a | Rocky Mount, Virginia

Eternally Beloved of the Lord

“We are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation” | 2 Thessalonians 2: 13

If you are “beloved of the Lord,” you always were “beloved of the Lord.”

He did not begin to love you when you repented of sin and believed on Christ. God saw you in Christ in His eternal covenant and loved you then. That love for those “beloved of the Lord” was shown two thousand years ago when it pleased Him to bruise His Son for you.

Christ redeemed you not only before you were aware of His grace, but before you were born.

There was nothing in you to merit His eternal, infinite, and unchangeable love.

On the contrary, you were His enemies, profaned His name, and even despised His mercy after you heard about it.

“HEREIN IS LOVE, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and gave His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Evidences of Grace”

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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: 20 June, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

Cast All On Christ

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” | John 15:13

The most difficult thing for any of us to do is to TOTALLY and COMPLETELY trust and rest in our blessed Lord Jesus to redeem us, sanctify us, and make us accepted of the Father.

We are so prone to self-righteousness and works that we have a constant battle trying to remember that “man at his BEST STATE is altogether vanity” but also that, in his WEAKEST MOMENTS, is no less loved and accepted if he is in Christ.

As Brother Don Fortner said, “My relationship with the eternal God (in Christ) does in great measure determine what I do. But what I do (good or bad) in no way determines my relationship with the eternal God.” Actually, “In my flesh dwelleth NO GOOD THING.”

It is in Christ that the Father is well-pleased; and only in Christ can He love, accept, and be pleased with me.

I did not come to Christ on the basis of my works, nor am I kept in Christ on the basis of my works!

I looked to Him THEN for ALL THINGS, and I look to Him NOW for ALL THINGS!

Any look within will serve only to discourage and depress me; but, looking to Christ, the author and finisher of my faith, will only encourage me, for He never changes. His gift of life and calling to grace is without change.

The command, “Look unto Me and be ye saved,” is not only the hope and strength of the seeking sinner, but it is the constant hope and strength of the believing sinner.

I know my sins, but I rejoice in his grace.

I know my weakness, but I rest in His strength.

I know my emptiness, but I am complete in Him.

“O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear” all because we do not cast our sins and our souls on Christ and LEAVE THEM THERE!

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Direction for Seekers”

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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: 10 October, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

OUR PORTION AND INHERITANCE

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” | I Timothy 1: 15

One who is born of God has the Lord as his portion and inheritance.

He is thankful for who he is and what he has; for in Christ he has “all things” that are worth having. Having food and clothing and believing friends, he is content. He brought nothing into this world and will carry nothing out.

Earthly possessions, honors, and property have no value after death; but to be forgiven of sin and alive in Christ is the highest prize and glory.

As soon as a person really learns, believes, and embraces the grace of Christ, like Moses, “he esteems even the reproach of Christ greater than the riches of this world.”

But they that seek after riches and worldly honor fall into many temptations, which drown men in destruction and misery.

This craving for the world’s wealth and approval has caused many to depart from the faith and pierce themselves through with many sorrows. (I Timothy 6: 6-10)

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “The Gospel Worthy of All Acceptation”

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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: 22 August, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

How Sinful are We?

“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” | Romans 3: 25-26

We can read the Scriptures which declare, “There is none good, no not one… every imagination of man’s heart is only evil continually… our righteousnesses are filthy rags… man at his best state is vanity;” but what makes this question difficult to answer is the fact that we have such little understanding of true holiness.

We compare ourselves with ourselves and arrive at a weak, perverted view of sin.

A man’s conception of sin is determined by his understanding of TRUE HOLINESS. I declare, without reservation, that a man will never come to an understanding of the exceeding sinfulness of sin until he sees the holiness and righteousness of the Lord God!

Job was an honest, upright, and righteous man in his own eyes until he saw the Lord; and then he cried, “I abhor myself.”

Isaiah put a “woe” on everyone else until he saw the Lord; and then he cried, “Woe is ME, I am undone.”

Until preachers begin to preach the true character of our God in His awesome holiness, justice, and righteousness, men will not be convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgement and will continue in their efforts to establish a righteousness of their own, denying the necessity of a REDEEMER, who alone can enable God to be both just and justifier.

~ Pastor Henry T. Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Self-Righteousness Slain”

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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: 10 October, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a | Pikeville, Kentucky