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From Heaven Through His Church

“The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” | Isaiah 2: 1-3

The passage speaks of all nations flowing unto the Lord’s house.

We read that many people, not just his elect from among the Jews, shall go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob.

Also, note that it is the Lord who shall do the teaching; that he shall teach, not of man’s ways, but of his ways.

The prophet says that when he teaches his people they will walk, not in the path of the little obstinate-stiff-necked hills, but in the Lord’s paths.

All this is because the law and the word of the Lord are going forth out of Zion from the top of the mountains and out of his Jerusalem.

“Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD. Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that they shall no more say, The LORD liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The LORD liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.” (Jeremiah 23: 1-8)

After our Lord established and exalted his church by his life, his sacrifice and his ascension, God the Father gave him all power in heaven and in earth to send forth the gospel from heaven through his church on earth that he might rule in the midst of his enemies.

“The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.” (Psalm 110: 1-4)

From his throne in the mountain of glory, Christ Jesus the Lord is now establishing his church by drawing his redeemed people from the north, the south, the east and the west; an elect people out of all nations.

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28: 18-20)

From heavens Zion our victorious King Prophet is teaching his people through the local assemblies and pastors which he has established and raised up.

“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;” (Colossians 1: 21-23)

His people rejoice to hear of his way of electing grace, of establishing them complete in God’s presence in righteous judgment by his own wisdom, righteousness and holiness.

They delight in his way of regenerating his spiritually dead children when he comes in power and grace to each of them; his way of preserving them by the word of his power and of faithfully fulfilling his every promise.

“Again the word of the LORD of hosts came to me, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain.” (Zechariah 8: 1-3)

As he draws them to his house one-by-one, it is not a grand spectacle or something even noticed by the world of religion who reject the gospel for another jesus.

“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it.” (Micah 4: 1)

Yet, by the work that he alone is performing, his elect, hear his voice from heaven through his church on earth and they follow him.

“Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.” (Micah 3: 9-12)

Christ has made the path free of all thorns of sin and stones of ignorance; they know he is the Way and therefore they walk in his path.

“Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain, saith the LORD, which destroyest all the earth: and I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, and roll thee down from the rocks, and will make thee a burnt mountain. And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations; but thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the LORD.” (Jeremiah 51: 25-26)

This is the second manner in which the Lord establishes and exalts his house above the insignificant hills of falsehood.

~ Pastor Clay Curtis

Click here to listen to the message “Faith’s Confidence” (17:15 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.

Sovereign Grace Baptist Church Bulletin Article date: 1 August, 2008 | Previous post date: 28 August, 2021 | Ewing, New Jersey

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The Purpose Of The Church

”And the LORD hath performed his word that he spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and have built an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.” | 1 Kings 8: 20-21

This was Solomon’s declaration concerning the temple he built, which is the purpose of the church.

The church (people of God) is the temple of God, wherein the Name of the Lord is proclaimed, worshipped and honored.

And it is the place where you will hear the gospel of Christ… Whom the Ark of the covenant represents.

This is the sole purpose of the church, the pillar and ground of the truth; to honor God and preach Christ and Him crucified.

~ Pastor Paul Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Where Is The God of Judgment” (15:43 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.

Central Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 15 June, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a | Rocky Mount, Virginia

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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!

“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8: 32)

Indeed, Christ has blessed us with all spiritual blessings.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:” (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. “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1: 17)

Every believer walks by faith. “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)” (2 Corinthians 5: 7)

Every believer will die in faith, always looking to and trusting in Christ. “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13: 5)

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12: 2)

But one day faith will end in perfect and complete sight, when we behold the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1 John 3: 2)

Likewise, every believer lives with a fervent hope, a living hope and a blessed hope; because it is a good hope through grace. “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” (Titus 2: 13)

“Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace,” (2 Thessalonians 2: 16)

Hope springs from faith in Christ, for He is our hope. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Hebrews 11: 1)

“To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:” (Colossians 1: 27)

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. “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” (Romans 8: 29-30)

“Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;” (1 Timothy 1: 1)

But the greatest of these gifts is love; the love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit will never end. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. “And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5: 5)

“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,” (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. “We 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! “The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” (Jeremiah 31: 3)

The Lord’s love for His church is a sacrificial love. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;” (Ephesians 5: 25)

“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)

He laid down His life for His church. “Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.” (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.

“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. 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)

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.”

~ Pastor Tom Harding

Click here to listen to the message “Knowledge Too Wonderful for Me” (29:32 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: 8 August, 2021 | Previous post date: 2 September, 2021

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Restraining Grace

”A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven” | John 3: 27

The only thing that makes a difference between the breaking out of one man’s sin over another is the restraining grace of God.

You know that if the Lord did not restrain you, there would be no limit to the depths of sin you could fall.

You fear being left to yourself and plead for the Lord to keep you.

You know that you have nothing except that which was given to you from heaven.

You cannot find any reason to be puffed up against another.

The more you grow in His grace and the knowledge of Christ, the less confidence you have in the flesh.

As it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 1: 30-31)

~ Pastor Greg Elmquist

Click here to listen to the message “Christ and His Church”

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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 December, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a