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Much To Be Thankful For

“I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; 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: 3-6

Brethren, do we not have so much to be thankful for?

God, the Heavenly Father chose us before the foundation of the world to save us from all of our ruin and sin.

God, the glorious Son gave His life to pay the price for all of our ruin and sin.

God, the Holy Spirit has called us out of our darkness into the glorious light of the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.

We have been given the word of God.

We have been given the gospel of God.

We have been given each other – the people of God.

We have been given spiritual eyes to see Christ.

We have been given spiritual ears to hear Christ.

We have been given spiritual hearts to believe on Christ.

We have been given a place to worship Him.

We have been given freedom to worship Him.

He has given, and given, and given to us.

What do we have that has not been freely given to us from Him?

Even our trials have been given for the purpose of bringing good to us.

We have no reason to complain about any of our Lord’s dealings with us; only reason to give thanks to Him.

“O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.” (Psalm 107: 1)

May our Lord put a spirit of thanks in our hearts, and a word of thanks on our tongues both now and forever more.

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “Seek Ye The Lord” (29:14 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: 1 May, 2022 | Previous post date: n/a | Rocky Mount, Virginia

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An Honest And Pure Heart

”Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned” | 1 Timothy 1: 5

Several times when I was growing up and had done something I was not supposed to have done or had failed to do something I was supposed to have done, and was trying to keep it hidden, my mom (whom I often thought was a mind reader!) would remind me of that old adage, “Honesty is always the best policy.”

And she was right.

In the kingdom of God, however, honesty is not merely the best policy, honesty is the only policy!

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36: 26)

There is no place in the kingdom of God for pretense, deceitfulness, or hypocrisy.

“Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” (Matthew 5: 8)

God gives those whom He saves a new heart, an honest heart. “But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.” (Luke 8: 15)

“And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” (1 John 5: 20)

Having been given a saving knowledge of God, the saints know this: “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” (Hebrews 4: 12, 13)

“As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17: 2, 3)

They are conscious of the fact that their God knows their words before they speak them and their thoughts before they come to mind.

“O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.” (Psalm 139: 1-4)

Who would dare pretend or practice hypocrisy before such a God?

God’s people are honest before their God and with each other.

They are God-conscious people, and are not moved by the smiles or frowns of the world.

They are not trying to impress men, but seeking to please God. And “honesty is the only policy!”

~ Pastor Maurice Montgomery

Click here to listen to the message “Things That God’s People 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: 3 June, 2018 | Previous post date: n/a

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Out Of The Heart Are The Issues Of Life

”Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” | Proverbs 4: 23

LIFE begins when the HEART starts beating.

Life ends when the HEART stops.

So it is with spiritual life.

Spiritual (eternal) life begins when God takes away the stony heart, the heart that is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, and gives “a new heart”. “” (Ezekiel 36: 26) A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.

There is no life without heart.

The heart is the real man. The heart is the seat of affections, convictions, desires and feelings.

Real faith comes from the heart, for “With the HEART man believeth unto righteousness.”

Real faith is not simply mental but is a heart love. There can be a pretended faith, a mere spoken faith, a mere intellectual belief in facts and doctrines without real heart love for God, Christ, the brethren and holiness. Doctrine only in the head will produce an unfeeling, unloving, uncaring and unemotional man.

The love of God shed abroad in the heart will produce a man of many emotions.

Love for God, Christ, the Truth, holiness, the brethren; is rooted and comes from the heart.

There is no life without heart.

There is no faith without heart.

Faith is founded on the Word of God and that faith has feelings.

Though we are not saved by feelings, yet no one is saved who does not have them.

Feelings come from the heart.

Feelings are the reaction of the heart being touched by the Word, the Spirit of God.

Show me a man who does not feel his sinfulness, who does not feel a need for Christ, who does not feel joyful upon hearing the gospel, who does not feel deeply thankful and grateful for all his blessings, who does not feel sadness, pain, joy, happiness, gladness, relief, fear and all other emotions at some time upon hearing the gospel… the Word of Life… and I will show you a man WHO HATH NOT LIFE.

Show me someone who never mourns, weeps nor laughs upon hearing the life giving sound, and I will show you someone who is dead. Open up a grave; laugh, cry, shout at the man and you will get no reaction. The man is dead; he has no feelings.

Laugh, cry and shout to the living and they will respond.

Show me a woman who is neither cold nor hot upon hearing the gospel, and I will show you a woman whom God will spue out of His mouth.

Show me a person who does not reveal a heartfelt love, a first love for Christ, His gospel, His people, and I will show you someone who loves the world and has missed Christ.

Show me a man who claims to preach the gospel, who does not go forth with weeping, bearing the precious seed, and I will show you a man who is a hireling, a pretender, who will bring in no sheeves. “” (Psalm 126: 5-6)

Though we should not look to these feelings, trust these feelings, or seek assurance from them, (for they come and go) yet there is joy and assurance to be had, when the Word of Life is indeed a SAVOUR OF LIFE to us. “” (Galatians 6: 4)

Savour is taste.

Savour is smell.

Savour is enjoyment.

And when the Spirit bears witness with our spirit, He makes the Word very savoury to us. He makes Christ very savoury to us, He makes the tabernacle (His church) very amiable to us, He makes the brethren to be loved by us.

Whenever the Holy Spirit was present in the early church there was fire, fear, repentance, faith, feelings of conviction, love, joy, peace, and so much more.

He is called Spirit for that is what He is and that is the realm he operates in.

The heart is the spirit of a man.

When the Spirit of God moves on someone, they are moved. “” (Hebrews 11: 7)

When God gives life to a dead man, he is alive unto God and a new man.

When God saves someone, it is a glorious and obvious thing… a new birth (like natural)… a crying, laughing, living, new born babe in Christ… a miracle of God’s grace and power, a wonderful thing, an obvious thing, an inward and outward work of God to the praise of His glory.

~ Pastor Paul Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord”

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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: 20 March, 2022 | Previous post date: n/a | Rocky Mount, Virginia

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One Of You Shall Betray Me – Master Is It I?

”Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.” | John 11: 3

When the Lord told His disciples, “One of you shall betray me,” they all replied, “Lord, is it I?”

We should have such distrust of ourselves that we would have the same reply.

But one of His disciples answered differently, “Master (Rabbi) is it I?”

This is the same disciple who betrayed Christ with a kiss saying, “Hail, Master.”

Not one time do we read where Judas Iscariot ever called Christ “Lord.”

Master is a term of respect for a teacher.

But the fact that Judas never called Him Lord reveals what he was in His wicked heart.

To the believer, Christ is Lord.

We recognize His Lordship over all things, and we recognize and love His Lordship over us.

Rolfe Barnard used to say, “Don’t tell me who your savior is, tell me who your Lord is. Then I will know who your savior is.”

~ Pastor Todd Nibert

Click here to listen to the message “He Whom Thou Lovest is Sick”

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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: 22 January, 2008 | Previous post date: n/a | Danville, Kentuky

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Out Of The Heart Are The Issues Of Life

”Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” | Proverbs 4: 23

Life begins when the heart starts beating. Life ends when the heart stops.

So it is with spiritual life.

“A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36: 26) Spiritual (eternal) life begins when God takes away the stony heart, the heart that is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, and gives “a new heart”. There is no life without heart.

The heart is the real man.

The heart is the seat of affections, convictions, desires and feelings. Real faith comes from the heart, for “With the HEART man believeth unto righteousness.” Real faith is not simply mental but is a heart love. There can be a pretended faith, a mere spoken faith, a mere intellectual belief in facts and doctrines without real heart love for God, Christ, the brethren and holiness. Doctrine only in the head will produce an unfeeling, unloving, uncaring and unemotional man. The love of God shed abroad in the heart will produce a man of many emotions. Love for God, Christ, the Truth, holiness, the brethren; is rooted and comes from the heart.

There is no life without heart.

There is no faith without heart.

Faith is founded on the Word of God and that faith has feelings.

Though we are not saved by feelings, yet no one is saved who does not have them. Feelings come from the heart. Feelings are the reaction of the heart being touched by the Word, the Spirit of God. Show me a man who does not feel his sinfulness, who does not feel a need for Christ, who does not feel joyful upon hearing the gospel, who does not feel deeply thankful and grateful for all his blessings, who does not feel sadness, pain, joy, happiness, gladness, relief, fear and all other emotions at some time upon hearing the gospel . . . the Word of Life . . and I will show you a man WHO HATH NOT LIFE.

Show me someone who never mourns, weeps nor laughs upon hearing the life giving sound, and I will show you someone who is dead. Open up a grave; laugh, cry, shout at the man and you will get no reaction. The man is dead; he has no feelings.

Laugh, cry and shout to the living and they will respond. Show me a woman who is neither cold nor hot upon hearing the gospel, and I will show you a woman whom God will spue out of His mouth. Show me a person who does not reveal a heartfelt love, a first love for Christ, His gospel, His people, and I will show you someone who loves the world and has missed Christ.

Show me a man who claims to preach the gospel, who does not go forth with weeping, bearing the precious seed, and I will show you a man who is a hireling, a pretender, who will bring in no sheaves. “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” (Psalm 126: 5-6)

Though we should not look to these feelings, trust these feelings, or seek assurance from them, (for they come and go) yet there is joy and assurance to be had, when the Word of Life is indeed a SAVOUR OF LIFE to us — “But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.” (Galatians 6: 4)

Savour is taste.

Savour is smell.

Savour is enjoyment.

And when the Spirit bears witness with our spirit, He makes the Word very savoury to us. He makes Christ very savoury to us, He makes the tabernacle (His church) very amiable to us, He makes the brethren to be loved by us.

Whenever the Holy Spirit was present in the early church there was fire, fear, repentance, faith, feelings of conviction, love, joy, peace, and so much more. (Acts 2) He is called Spirit for that is what He is and that is the realm he operates in.

The heart is the spirit of a man.

When the Spirit of God moves on someone, they are moved! “By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.” (Hebrews 11: 7)

When God gives life to a dead man, he is alive unto God and a new man!

When God saves someone, it is a glorious and obvious thing! A new (like natural) birth… crying, laughing, living, new born babe in Christ… a miracle of God’s grace and power; a wonderful thing; an obvious thing; an inward and outward work of God to the praise of His glory.

~ Pastor Paul Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Marks of a Believer”

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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: 20 March, 2022 | Previous post date: n/a | Rocky Mount, Virginia