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Accepted In The Beloved

“But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” | 2 Thessalonians 2: 13-14

All false religionists, even though they might profess Jesus Christ to be their Savior, put their trust in something they have done; something they believe enables God to accept them.

“For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” (Hebrews 4: 10)

In doing so, they are saying that what Jesus Christ did was not enough.

They openly and publicly declare that they saved themselves, blatantly denying that Jesus Christ is their Savior.

“To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;” (Ephesians 1: 6-7)

Brethren, “God has made us accepted in the Beloved” (in Christ) “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” (Unmerited favor.)

“For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.” (1 Corinthians 1: 26-29)

When God gives His gift of faith to a hell-deserving sinner, we not only enter into His rest, we also cease from our own works as God did from His; giving our Great Triune God all the glory for His unspeakable gift.

~ Pastor Gene Harmon

Click here to listen to the message “Accepted in the Beloved” (35:54 minutes)

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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: Special | Previous post date: 25 February, 2021

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His Good Pleasure

“For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” | Philippians 2: 13

Everything concerning a sinner’s salvation is of God.

Nothing is of us.

“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:” (Philippians 1: 6)

We don’t begin the work of salvation, He does.

We don’t perform the work of salvation, He does.

“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” (John 19: 30)

We don’t finish the work of salvation, He does.

“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” (Hebrews 1: 3)

We don’t call on Him, He calls us.

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19: 10)

We don’t seek Him, He seeks us.

“And he spake this parable unto them, saying, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.” (Luke 15: 3-6)

We don’t find Him, He finds us.

“To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” (Ephesians 1: 6)

We don’t accept Him, He accepts us.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” (Ephesians 2: 8)

We don’t produce our own faith to believe on Him, He puts His own faith in us and causes us to believe on Him.

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;” (Titus 3: 5)

We don’t earn any perfection of our own, He earned it for us.

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4: 10)

It’s not that we loved Him, but that He loved us.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” (1 Peter 1: 3-5)

We don’t keep ourselves in His love, He keeps us there.

“But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.” (Jonah 2: 9)

Salvation is totally of the Lord.

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “Lord, Don’t Leave Me To Myself!” (36:17 minutes)

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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: Special | Previous post date: 21 February, 2021

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The Lord God Will Come

“But it shall be one day which shall be known to the LORD, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.” | Zechariah 14: 7

The Lord sometimes, and perhaps not unfrequently, induces darkness, that His light may be more striking.

He hedges up His people’s way with thorns, that the almighty hand, which removes them, may be more plainly seen.

Hear what the Lord saith: “When the poor and the needy seek for water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I, the Lord will hear them; I, the God of Israel, will not forsake them. I will open rivers in dry places, and fountains in the midst of valleys.” (Isaiah 41: 17-18)

Oh! it is blessed to be brought low, to be surrounded sometimes with difficulties, to see no way of escape, and all human resources fail, purposely that our extremity may be the Lord’s opportunity, and when we are most low, Jesus may be most exalted.

My soul, is it now even-tide in the soul, as it is eventide in the day?

Art thou stripped, humbled, convinced of thy nothingness?

O look to all-precious, all-suitable Jesus.

~ Robert Hawker

Click here to listen to the message “The Lord God Will Come” (31:32 minutes)

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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: Special | Previous post date: 18 February, 2021

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And The Word Was God

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” | John 1: 14

My friends, if you will carefully consider it, this is the most extraordinary fact ever declared in human language.

God became a man and “took upon him the likeness of sinful flesh.”

The Ancient of Days became an infant of days.

The Son of the Most-High God became a man of sorrows.

He made the world; but as a man, “he had no place to lay his head.”

He who made the rivers asked a woman to give him a drink of water.

He who cast out devils was tempted of the devil, and the author of life died and lay in a tomb.

“The sun that hid from Him its face
By His own hand was hung in space;
The sky which darkened o’er His head
By Him above the world was spread;
The spear that shed His precious blood
Was tempered in the fires of God;
The grave in which His form was laid
Was hewn in rocks His hand had made.”

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Four Things Essential to Salvation” (49:36 minutes)

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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: Special | Previous post date: 13 February, 2021

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 27 September, 2020 | Previous post date: n/a

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Grow In Grace

“But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To HIM be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” | 2 Peter 3:18

The apostle’s exhortation to us as God’s people who have been called by faith to believe on Christ is, “grow in grace.”

When God‘s people “grow in grace,” they grow in the doctrine of grace.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” (Ephesians 2: 8-9)

They grow in the object of grace – which is Christ Himself!

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.” (2 Timothy 1: 9)

And when God‘s people “grow in grace,” they grow in the practice of grace.

“Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 2: 1)

Psalm 111: 4 says, “…the Lord is gracious and full of compassion.”

And all who “grow in grace” say, “As He is, I desire to be.”

“Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To HIM be glory both now and for ever. Amen. (2 Peter 3: 17,18)

True growth in grace says with David, “I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with THY likeness.” (Psalm 17: 15)

The doctrine!

The object!

The practice!

“As He is, I desire to be.”

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “Hear And Your Soul Shall Live” (26:53 minutes)

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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: Special | Previous post date: 13 February, 2021

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Not A Drop Of The Lord’s Blood Was Shed In Vain

“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.” | Isaiah 53: 10-11

However men may wrestle and quibble with the Scriptures, one thing is certain: The Atonement is no failure!

God will not allow that precious and costly sacrifice to fail in accomplishing completely, that which it was designed to effect.

Not a drop of that Holy Blood was shed in vain.

In the last great day there shall stand forth no disappointed and defeated Savior, but One Who “shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied.”

~ A.W. Pink

Click here to listen to the message “A Religious Man Is Saved” (33:42 minutes)

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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: Special | Previous post date: 11 February, 2021

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The Saints Of God

“To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ” | Romans 1: 7

Who are these saints to whom Paul is writing?

Every believer who is saved by the grace of God is a saint.

“For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” (Hebrews 10: 14)

We are totally sanctified in the Lord Jesus Christ, by His effectual blood sacrifice for us.

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,” (1 Peter 1: 18-20)

The Lord Jesus Christ is made to the believer sanctification; He is our total sanctification before God the Father.

“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:” (1 Corinthians 1: 30)

There is no such thing as progressive sanctification. “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.” (2 Peter 3: 18)

“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.” (Romans 7: 18-20)

We grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ but our wicked flesh is never sanctified in our salvation. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (2 Corinthians 5: 17)

“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” (2 Peter 1: 4)

Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit making us new creatures in Christ, giving unto us a new holy nature in the new birth. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3: 6)

“And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” (Ephesians 4: 24)

That which is of the flesh is just that flesh but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

“But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.” (1 Peter 5: 10)

Thank God salvation is all of grace!

~ Pastor Tom Harding

Click here to listen to the message “What Is Repentance?” (37:45 minutes)

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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: Special | Previous post date: 8 February, 2021

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A Message To Remember

“Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.” | 1 John 5: 1

All who are born of God believe that Jesus is the Christ.

The title THE CHRIST signifies anointed and includes all the offices of the Son of God.

To believe Him to be THE CHRIST is to believe Him to be that Prophet which Moses said should come, who has declared the whole mind and will of the Father.

It is to believe He is that Priest which should arise after the order of Melchizedek and make full atonement for sin and effectual intercession for transgressors.

It is to believe He is King of kings and Lord of lords, whom God hath set over all things from all ages and for all time.

“And devils also came out of many, crying out, and saying, Thou art Christ the Son of God. And he rebuking them suffered them not to speak: for they knew that he was Christ.” (Luke 4: 41)

This faith in Christ is not a mere assent to the fact nor merely acknowledging it as the demons have done.

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10: 9-10)

It is to believe with the heart.

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” (1 Timothy 2: 5)

It is to bow the knee in repentance and to look to Christ, trust in Him, receive Him as our righteousness, to rest in His blood for cleansing, and to lay hold of Him as our Savior, Redeemer, and Mediator.

Such faith is far above and beyond the reach of the human mind.

It is the gift of God.

“No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me.” (John 6: 44-45)

It is the result of regeneration and a new birth, for we must be drawn to Christ and taught of God.

~ Pastor Henry T. Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “A Message to Remember” (44:17 minutes)

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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: Special | Previous post date: 16 February, 2022

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Christ Is Precious

“Unto you therefore which believe he is precious.” | 1 Peter 2: 7

It is impossible for those who believe in Christ to fully express the preciousness of Him to them.

1). He is precious to every believer because He is their life.

“He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” (1 John 5: 12)

2). He is precious to every believer because He is their clothing. The best robe that the Father gives or imputes to every son that He receives is the righteousness of Christ. It is the robe of His spinning by His perfect obedience and sacrifice.

3). He is precious to every believer because He is their food. Just as the Israel of old feasted on the Paschal Lamb so God’s spiritual Israel feasts on the Lamb of God. We continually feast upon his flesh and drink His blood; we continually look to His one sacrifice that atones for all the sins of His elect.

4). He is precious to every believer for He is our hiding place. In the storms of life we say with the psalmist: “Yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be over past.” (Psalm 57: 2)

~ Pastor David Pledger

Click here to listen to the message “Be Not Afraid, Only Believe” (35:51 minutes)

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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: Special | Previous post date: 4 February, 2022

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A Promise To Weary Sinners

“Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places.” | Psalm 135: 6

Oh, that a weary, brokenhearted world would learn these lessons of grace!

Oh, that they would taste and see that God is good!

Let them but come home to Him.

He will not mock them with shadows, nor feed them with husks.

He will satisfy their craving souls; He will turn their midnight into noon; He will give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord.

~ Horatiaus Bonar

Click here to listen to the message “GOD Is GOD” (31:17 minutes)

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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: Special | Previous post date: 1 February, 2021