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BUT BY ME and EXCEPT THE FATHER

“Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven.” | Psalm 85: 10-11

“Salvation is of the Lord.”

Many in religion today preach often from the passage found in John chapter fourteen, verse six, where our Lord Jesus proclaimed that He alone is salvation. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” however many who preach stop there without finishing the rest of the verse.

I certainly understand why they do that, and I believe that they feel as though they have a good reason as to why. Those who believe that sinners are saved by man’s will, man’s work, and man’s worth, know and understand that our Lord’s words, “But by me,” destroy their theology and belief of “Salvation by works.”

Dear reader, Christ said, “No man cometh to the Father, but by me.” That means that sinners are saved only by the work of righteousness that Christ provides for God’s elect. That is why our Lord also said in John chapter six, verse forty-four that, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.”

That means the same thing. I love those little words like “but” and “except,” don’t you?

There is no salvation for me, “But,” by Christ.

There is no hope of me ever coming to Christ, “Except,” God the Father which sent God the Son draw me to Him by the cords of love, mercy and grace.

~ Pastor David Eddmenson

Click here to listen to the message “The Language 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: 28 March, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

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The Church

“And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.” | Luke 21: 1

“The church shall survive the world, and be in bliss when the world is in ruins.” – Matthew Henry

“We may with the greatest assurance depend upon God for the safety of His church.” – Matthew Henry

“Wherever we see the Word of God purely preached and heard, there a church of God exists, even if it is full of many faults.” – John Calvin

“The church is in Christ as Eve was in Adam.” – Richard Hooker

Click here to listen to the message “When You See These Things, Look Up”

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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: 5 September, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a | Rocky Mount, Virginia

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Speaking The Truth in Love

“Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.” | James 3: 5-6

I wonder if when we preach or teach or witness to others, does the love of Christ and love for sinners come through in our words and in our countenance?

I am interested to know if our hearers detect from our presentation of the Gospel of sovereign grace (whether in sermon or articles) the love, compassion, and pity we should feel; or do we come across as harsh, bitter, and with a critical spirit?

Do we tend to take our disappointments in some and our conflicts with others into the pulpit, or classroom, or personal discussions, and tear into everybody?

This is not the way of Christ.

James said, “The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” It was His love that chose us, gave us repentance, and led us to faith; and if any other sinner is brought from darkness, death, and error to light, life, and truth, it will be by and through the love and grace of Christ.

We are quick to say that the whip of the law will not make a man righteous, but neither will the whip of doctrine make a man a believer.

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Today Is The Day”

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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: 4 October, 2020 | Previous post date: 31 January, 2021

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“There They Shall See Me”

““Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.” | Matthew 28: 10

Here the Lord Jesus Christ calls His people “my brethren”, gives instruction for them to meet Him, appoints a well-known place for them to meet and promises to be there!

Who in their right mind would be absent from such a conference with the crucified and risen Master?

And yet Christ does this same thing every week, and sinners are neglectful to attend. If our services are mere social gatherings with folks from the community to catch up on current events, then let’s consider our time better spent elsewhere.

If, however, they are worship services unto the Lord in which He Himself communes with and instructs us, then let us not only show up; but let us do so with joy, anticipation and great thanksgiving unto Him. Yea, let us fellowship heartily around the gospel and be edified, encouraged and comforted in Him.

What condescension on His part to gather with us, and yet it is His delight to do so. He “seeketh such” sinners to worship Him, who do so with prepared and anxious hearts. Marvelous grace for Him to say, “there shall they see me.”

How important is it to you to see the Master?

You answer that question each week by your attendance as well as your attitude.

It was so important to one woman that, weak and ill though she was, she broke through the pressing throng in order to touch His garment. Zaccheus climbed up a tree determined to catch a glimpse of this Great One. The two Mary’s in our text came “as it began to dawn” (Matthew 1: 1) to His tomb. When they learned He was risen and met Him, they “held Him by the feet and worshipped.”

Would to God we were all this desirous to see Him and this pleased when we do.

~ Pastor Chris Cunningham

Click here to listen to the message “For the Gospel’s Sake”

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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: 16 August, 2015 | Previous post date: n/a | Rocky Mount, Virginia

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WHAT IS YOUR GROUND OF ASSURANCE?

“If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands. For now thou numberest my steps: dost thou not watch over my sin? My transgression is sealed up in a bag, and thou sewest up mine iniquity.” | Job 14: 14-17

To those who struggle with assurance, saying, “There are so many times that I do not feel saved,” I would remind you that, before you came to Christ, there were many times you did not feel lost!

Did your lack of ‘lost feeling’ at that time mean that you were not lost? Of course not! For feelings have nothing to do with whether or not we are lost. Do you not see that it is the same with respect to whether or not we are saved? Martin Luther said it well when he wrote: “For feelings come and feelings go and feelings are deceiving. My warrant is the Word of God naught else is worth believing.”

There it is!

God’s Word!

There is our foundation.

The Scriptures never instruct us to feel, but to believe. If you do not feel, believe anyway! It does not say, “For by grace are you saved through feelings.” Feelings are a look inward, at ourselves. Faith is a look outward at Christ. Feelings change because they look at a changing object – ourselves. Faith never changes, for it looks at an unchanging object – Christ!

May God grant you grace to look to Him.

~ Pastor Joe Terrell

Click here to listen to the message “If a Man Dies, Shall He Live?”

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

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WHEN WE SEE THE LORD

“And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel. And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day; I can no more go out and come in: also the LORD hath said unto me, Thou shalt not go over this Jordan.” | Deuteronomy 31: 1-2

A sight of Christ by faith brings peace to the conscience.

There is ever a war within, between the flesh and the Spirit, grace and nature, the old man and the new: the motions of sin in our members are ever warring against the law of holiness in our minds: wicked nature is like the troubled sea, which cannot rest; it is continually casting up mire and dirt: but the winds and seas of corrupt nature obey Christ.

He says, Peace, be still, and there is a great calm in the soul; for Christ is our Peace, he hath made our peace with God by his blood; he makes and keeps peace in our souls by his presence; our stubborn lusts will fight and reign if Christ be absent from our hearts; therefore, we cannot but be glad when we see the Lord.

~ Pastor David Pledger

Click here to listen to the message “Moses’ Approaching Death“

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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: 28 March, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

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THE BODY OF CHRIST

“Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. | 1 Corinthians 12: 27

All of God’s elect make up the body of Christ, His church. (Matthew 16: 18; Ephesians 1: 3-6)

All who Christ Jesus redeemed with His precious blood, make up the body of Christ. (Acts 20: 28; 1 Peter 1: 18; Revelation 5: 9-12) All who are regenerated by God the Holy Spirit, make up the body of Christ. (1 Corinthians 12: 13; Ephesians 2: 1-4; 1 Peter 1: 23) All who are made to believe the true gospel, make up the body of Christ. (John 5: 24; Galatians 3: 26)

Therefore, any earthly organization or religious cult that sets itself as the “body of christ” proclaiming they have authority to put sinners into Christ or remove them at their own discretion and power to wash away sin, is truly an abomination to Almighty God, a discredit to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and totally contrary to the whole testimony of God.

Salvation, as it is taught from Genesis to Revelation is of the Lord; from election, to justification, to sanctification, to reconciliation, to regeneration and to glorification. (Romans 8: 28-30; 1 Corinthians 1: 30-31; 2 Timothy 1: 9: Titus 3: 5-7)

~ Pastor Tom Harding

Click here to listen to the message “What God Does Is Forever”

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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: 31 August, 2008 | Previous post date: n/a | Pikeville, Kentucky

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“Whosoever believeth that JESUS IS THE CHRIST is born of God.” | 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.

This faith in Christ is not a mere assent to the fact nor merely acknowledging it as the demons have done. (Luke 4: 41) It is to believe with the heart. (Romans 10: 9-10) 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. (1 Timothy 2: 5) Such faith is far above and beyond the reach of the human mind. It is the gift of God. It is the result of regeneration and a new birth, for we must be drawn to Christ and taught of God. (John 6: 44-45)

-Pastor Henry T. Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Religious But Lost”

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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.

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Christ Our Hope | 1 Timothy 1:1

“What is hope? Hope is expectation with a reasonable basis. What the world calls hope is an empty wish. It’s like a child holding a present on their birthday hoping to find what they want. But, hope in the scriptures is defined as a person: Christ in you the hope of glory. This hope comes through a Godly persuasion, “…I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (II Tim. 1:2) Also, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8: 38-39)

The believer’s hope is not I hope, I hope, I hope. But it is hope founded upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Our expectations fully depend on His appointments, His coming as the God man, His obedience, His suffering, His death, His resurrection, and His present reign in glory. “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. (I John 5: 12) Paul said “he was an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior, and the Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope. (I Tim. 1: 1) May the Lord be pleased to make Him our hope for the glory of His own name.”

~ Pastor Darvin Pruitt

Click here to listen to the message “Crucified With Christ”

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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.

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The Guilt Of Past Sin

“Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.” | 1 Peter 2: 17

Do you remember when God was pleased to awaken you from your long sleep, when you looked within and saw that you were all defiled, and full of pollution, and all manner of evil?

Do you recollect how the thoughts pierced you like poisoned arrows… “God requireth that which is pure”; “For every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account thereof at the day of judgment”? Do you recollect how it seemed as though hell flared up right before you where you stood, and it seemed as though there were a step only betwixt you and death! The terrors of the Lord got hold upon you, and the very marrow of your bones seemed to freeze as you thought upon an angry God, and of how you, in your sins, without any preparation, could meet him! Oh! it is not so long ago with some of us but what we recollect being startled in our sleep under a sense of sin; and all day long the common joys of men were no joys to us, and though before we had been sprightly and cheerful like others, yet our mirth was now turned into mourning, and all our laughter into lamentation!

Perhaps some of you are passing through this state of mind now. You are conscious now of your old sins: the sins of your youth are coming up before your remembrance. Now, if so, listen to what David says, “What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.” Beloved! if you would ever get rid of the fear of your past sins, remember that the Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to suffer for the sins of all who trust Him. All the sins of all His people were reckoned as upon Him, and all that they should have suffered on account of those sins Jesus Christ suffered in their stead. The mighty debt, too huge for us to calculate, was all laid upon Him, and he paid it to the last farthing. He was sued and summoned at the court of the eternal justice, for the sins of His people were reckoned as upon Him, and all that they should have rendered with hands and feet, and brow and side, He discharged: the whole tremendous debt that was due to God, the debt caused by the sins of all His people were paid by Him.

Now, it is a blessed thing when sin burdens us to fly away to Christ, and stand in spirit beneath the cross, and feel that under that crimson canopy no flash of divine penalty shall ever fall upon us. “Smite me! Great God! Thou canst not, for hast thou not smitten the redeeming Christ on my account! Is it not recorded that for those who trust Him, thy Son is both surety and substitute! How, then, canst thou first sue the Substitute, and then afterwards sue the person, for whom the Substitute stood?” Faith thus clings to the cross, and feels, nay! knows, that all is safe. I would God that some of you who are lamenting over the burden of your sins, and are pressed down by it, would look to the Son of God, pouring out His life, and would trust Him, for then your sins would be gone in a moment. Only look on Jesus, and though you had committed all the sins that are committable by mortal man, yet Jesus Christ can and shall put them all away. If every form of iniquity. were heaped upon you, till you were dyed through and through with it, like the scarlet that has been lying long a-soak in the dye, yet if the crimson blood of Jesus come into contact with your crimson sins, and they: — “Shall vanish all away, Though foul as hell before; Shall be dissolved beneath the sea, And shall be found no more.” Now, I know it is very easy when we do not feel our sins to trust in Christ, but the business of faith is to trust in Christ when you do feel your sins. Brethren, it would be cheap faith to take Christ as the saints’ Savior, but it is the faith of God’s elect to take Him as the sinner’s Savior.

When I can see marks of grace in myself, to trust Christ is easy; but when I see no marks of anything good, but every mark of everything that is evil, and then come and cast myself upon Him, and believe that He can save me, even me, and rest myself upon Him—this is the faith which honors Christ and which will save us. May you have it, and such time as you are afraid of sin, may you trust in Christ.

~ Charles Spurgeon

Click here to listen to the message “As Strangers and Pilgrims”

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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: 5 September, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a | Rocky Mount, Virginia