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Unless Christ

”And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.” | Acts 16: 23-25

Unless the Spirit of God crosses my path and gives me an understanding of the preciousness of Christ and the glory of His blessed Gospel and creates within me a new heart, giving me a knowledge of Who He is, I will be forever lost.

Unless Christ intervenes, He will never be any more to me than someone else recorded in history who walked this earth.

When the gospel is preached it will be nothing more to me than a boring hour of the same message heard last week; the songs of praise will be to me nothing more than a different way of singing eighth notes; and when I hear those who call themselves believers witness of Him, their conversation will only grate on the already frayed ends of my nerves.

But if my cold heart is removed and God Himself creates within me a new heart, I will find myself in awe of His mercy.

I will not be able to thank Him enough, to praise Him enough, to worship Him enough, or to hear His gospel enough.

As Rolfe Barnard said, “I’ll find myself somewhere between total ecstasy and despair.”

Still, even with that new heart, sometimes I will seemingly feel so indifferent to Christ’s message.

But I will not despair at my feelings — He is greater than my feelings!

I must not rest in my feelings.

I must rest in Him, in His Word, in His promises.

~ Pastor Marvin Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “Imprisoned By Sovereign 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.

Zebulon Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 2 December, 2007 | Previous post date: n/a | Pikeville, Kentucky

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Let Us Not Be Discouraged!

”God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.” | Psalm 46: 1-5

We preach the gospel of God’s sovereign, free grace in Christ Jesus the Lord; that salvation is in Christ alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, according to the word alone.

For the most part, the message is rejected, but do not be discouraged, it has ever been so!

Elijah thought he was the only one left who believed God; Isaiah wrote, “Who hath believed our report and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?”

When the Lord Himself preached in His hometown of Nazareth, the people marveled at His gracious words when He spoke of the blessings, but when He spoke of sovereign mercy, they tried to kill Him!

The Apostle Paul was accused of being a pestilent fellow, a mover of sedition, the ringleader of a sect and was imprisoned for preaching the gospel. But remember, it is written; “the word of God is not bound,” “my word shall not fail” and “this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.”

~ Pastor Charles Pennington

Click here to listen to the message “It Shall Be Well With The Righteous”

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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: 9 December, 2007 | Previous post date: n/a | Pikeville, Kentucky

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Consider The Lord Jesus Christ

”Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” | Matthew 6: 26-29

Our understanding of what is right and good depends too often on our natural and, most of the time, sinful impulses.

Does He not know, even better than we, our true and real needs?

Surely our God will meet them in a way most profitable for us.

~ Pastor Scott Richardson

Click here to listen to the message “Consider”

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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: 14 November, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

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All The Counsel Of God

”And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.” | Acts 20: 25-28

Paul said to the Ephesian Elders, “I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” By that he did not mean that every time he preached, he attempted to cover all the various doctrines of the Gospel. He meant that he never held anything back.

In a courtroom, the witness is required “to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” This is necessary because we can tell a lie by means of telling only half the truth! This is an attempt at deception while technically telling the truth. But you know as well as I do that only half the truth is a lie!

How many preachers in our day say many good and true things, yet they only tell half the story?

It is called perjury in our court systems.

In the great court of heaven it is treason!

~ Pastor Todd Nibert

Click here to listen to the message “What Is Gospel Preaching”

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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: 8 June, 2007 | Previous post date: n/a | Danville, Kentuky

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If God The Holy Spirit Calls All…

”Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power.” | Psalm 110: 3

How often have your heard a preacher say, “God has done all he can to save you, and now it is up to you”?

Think about that for a minute.

If God has done all he can to save all men, if God the Holy Spirit is gracious alike to all, if he calls all alike, if his power is exercised upon all alike for the saving of their souls, and some yet perish in unbelief under the wrath of God and are forever lost, what does the power, grace, will, and call of God the Holy Spirit have to do with anyone’s salvation?

Absolutely nothing!

If the Spirit of God strives to regenerate and save all men alike, if he seeks to bring every man and woman in the world to life and faith in Christ, and some are not saved, then it must be concluded that he has no power to give life to anyone, that he has no grace to regenerate anyone, that he has no ability to save anyone. In a word, it must be concluded that the eternal God is a frustrated, dismal failure, incapable of accomplishing anything!

To say that God loves all people alike, that he wills the salvation of all, that Christ died to redeem and save all, that the Holy Spirit strives to save all is to declare, “Salvation is not of the Lord at all, but rather it is the response and work of man that saves!” It is to declare, as multitudes do, “God has done all that he can do, but salvation is altogether up to you!” Such thoughts are utterly blasphemous!

Caused to Approach

It is written, “Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee, that he may dwell in thy courts: we shall be satisfied with the goodness of thy house, even of thy holy temple” (Psalm 65: 4) Regeneration, the new birth, eternal life is the gift and work of God the Holy Spirit, the operation of his omnipotent grace. (John 3: 5-8)

Every chosen, redeemed sinner is, at God’s appointed “time of love,” graciously born of the Spirit, made willing in the day of Christ’s saving power, and caused to approach him in faith. It is not the sinner’s willingness to come to Christ, or his coming to Christ in faith that causes him to be born of God.

Can a spiritually dead sinner rally his will and alter it, muster faith in himself and bring himself to Christ?

What nonsense!

By the new birth and the revelation of Christ in the heaven born soul, the sinner is given a new nature and a new will, a new heart with new inclinations, and is sweetly, irresistibly, effectually caused to come to Christ in faith.

More than Religious Knowledge

The new birth is more than a change of mind. It is more than the mere acquirement of religious knowledge. Anyone who is familiar with the Word of God knows that all men and women have some awareness of God, of sin, of life, of death, of judgment, and of eternity. (Romans 1: 18-20; Romans 2: 14-15)

Man is by nature a very religious creature. (John 5: 39-40) And unsaved religious people often recognize and believe some true facts about God and Christ and salvation. (John 3: 2) But the quickening, regenerating work of God the Holy Spirit is much, much more than embracing facts about God and salvation. As John Owen wrote…

“Of all the poison which at this day is diffused in the minds of men, corrupting them from the mystery of the gospel, there is no part that is more pernicious than this one perverse imagination, that to ‘believe in Christ’ is nothing at all but to believe the doctrine of the gospel!’”

In the new birth Christ is revealed in the chosen sinner. (Galatians 1: 15-16) God the Holy Spirit gives impotent, dead sinners eternal life. (John 3: 5-8; Ephesians 2: 1-5) And the life he imparts is Christ himself. (Colossians 1: 27; 2 Peter 1: 4) Revealing Christ in the heart, he convicts and convinces sinners of sin, righteousness, and judgment, (John 16: 8-15; 1 Corinthians 2: 7-10; Zechariah 10: 12) and effectually draws sinners to Christ and makes them willing to come. (John 6: 44-45; Psalm 110: 3)

~ Pastor Don Fortner

Click here to listen to the message “A Great Savior For Great Sinners”

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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: 9 June, 2007 | Previous post date: n/a | Danville, Kentuky

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In Spirit and Truth

”God is a Spirit, and they that worship Him, Must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth,” | John 4: 24

Here are two principles of worship without which all worship of God is vain.

God must be worshipped in spirit – a heart worship – as opposed to mere forms and ceremonies, going through the motions with body and lip service, etc.

If the heart does not pray it, the prayer is not accepted. IF the heart does not sing it, the song is not accepted. If the heart does not believe it, it is vain to profess it.

Those who worship God, must worship in spirit. “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10: 10)

Those who worship God in spirit must also worship Him in truth.

God has revealed Himself in His Word of truth as who HE is; how HE saves; by whom HE saves; the way in which any one must approach unto Him to worship.

All worship that is contrary to truth is vain worship.

All who worship God must worship Him in truth.

Someone has said, “How astonishing is the fact, that man dares to introduce his miserable inventions to deform the scriptural simplicity of divine; as if God who makes all things perfect, had, in this most important institution, forgotten to direct the use of altars – magnificent vestment – pomp and ceremonies. When will man, with child-like simplicity, follow gospel rules?”

~ Pastor Bruce Crabtree

Click here to listen to the message “What is it that really matters”

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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: 15 June, 2007 | Previous post date: n/a | Danville, Kentuky

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Whoever Shall Call On His Name

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” | Romans 10: 13

Regeneration makes no alteration on the flesh, but the Spirit.

There is nothing in the flesh made holy.

And there is nothing in the Spirit left unholy.

~ Robert Hawker

Click here to listen to the message “What Must I Do to Be Saved?”

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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: 24 May, 2020 | Previous post date: 7 April, 2021

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Yet It Pleased The LORD To Bruise Him

”And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. 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.” |

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 “The King Is Coming”

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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 December, 2019 | Previous post date: n/a

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A Plan Or A Purpose?

“Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.” | Romans 1: 13

I hear many people talk about God having a plan for our lives.

I hear others speak of God having a plan of salvation.

The nature of the word “plan” subtly destroys the sovereignty of God and the helplessness of man.

God does not “plan” anything.

The sovereign God purposes everything.

A plan (like a blueprint) is something that someone else can carry out and put into being.

Salvation is not God’s plan that man must make effectual by his obedience.

Salvation is what God purposed to do for His people by the obedience and sacrifice of His Son and what Christ the Savior has fully accomplished for His people.

“The LORD of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.” (Isaiah 14: 24)

A plan also may or may not come to pass. I have planned to do many things that I did not do.

Salvation is not God’s plan.

“In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.” (Ephesians 1: 11)

Salvation is the purpose of God for His people.

“For the Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?” (Isaiah 14: 27)

A purpose which God SHALL bring to pass.

~ Pastor Frank Tate

Click here to listen to the message “Why Should I Come to 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.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 17 May, 2020 | Previous post date: 18 April, 2021

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What The Redeemed Know

”For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” | Romans 8: 22-23

The Believer’s redemption is complete in Christ, however his experience of redemption is not complete until he stands in His presence with a new body.

~ Pastor John Chapman

Click here to listen to the message “What the Redeemed Know”

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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 November, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a