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True Profession

“My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” | 1 John 3: 18

The thing that troubles me most about the validity of our profession of Christ is that we talk, preach, and sing of love, mercy, and forgiveness.

But then, when the opportunity comes for us to love the unlovely, forgive the offender, and bind up the wounded heart, we join the circle of Pharisees, clutching our stones, ready to wound and maim.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” (Galatians 5: 22-23)

A profession that does not produce is a false profession.

~ Pastor Henry T. Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “I Never Knew You” (44:28 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: 10 June, 2021

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Six Things Believers Will Do

“O remember not against us former iniquities: let thy tender mercies speedily prevent us: for we are brought very low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name’s sake.” | Psalm 79: 8-9

1). Believers so trust Christ as to renounce every other ground of confidence. “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:” (Philippians 3: 7-9)

2). Believers glory only in the righteousness of Christ and count their own to be filthy rags. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isaiah 64: 6)

3). Believers rejoice in the cross of substitution, glorying in nothing else. “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” (Galatians 6: 14)

4).Believers love the Lord Jesus supremely and will so order their lives as to avoid commitments and associations which hinder fellowship with Him. “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14: 26-27)

5). Believers will continue in the faith, for true believers never quit. “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” (1 John 2: 19)

6). Believers obey the Lord’s commandments, not in order to gain His favor but because they love Him and dwell in His favor. “For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” (2 Corinthians 5: 14-15)

Believers trust Christ, glory only in Christ’s righteousness, rejoice in the cross, love the Lord Jesus, continue in the faith and obey the Lord’s commandments.

~ Pastor Henry T. Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Who Is God?” (40:37 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: 7 June, 2021

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Man Of Sorrows

“It pleased the Lord to bruise Him.” | Isaiah 53: 10

The death of Christ pleased every attribute of the Father.

The death of Christ pleased God’s wisdom.

The death of Christ enables God to be both just and justifier.

The death of Christ pleased God’s justice.

Christ suffered for the sin of His people until the debt was paid in full.

The death of Christ pleased God’s mercy and grace.

The death of Christ enables God to be merciful to His people in justice because their sin has been put away.

Since Christ died God can justify the ungodly, God can forgive sin, and God can accept His people into His presence because He is pleased with them in Christ.

~ Pastor Frank Tate

Click here to listen to the message “Confessing Christ” (63:29 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: 29 May, 2021

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The Lamb Is Sufficient

“Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb.” | Exodus 12: 3-4

Salvation is the most beautiful word that a lost condemned sinner could ever hear.

It includes all the blessings of grace, and all the blessings of glory.

It is the washing of our consciences from guilt, the redemption of our souls from the curse of the Law, the renewing of our heart by the Spirit of God, and the freedom of our spirits from the power and dominion of sin.

It is to be loved and chosen by God, justified in Christ, born again by the Holy Spirit, pardoned of all wrong doing, received into the family of God, accepted in the beloved.

It is to be an heir of God, joint heir with Christ.

If I am saved, I have all wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption in Christ.

~ Pastor Milton Howard

Click here to listen to the message “The Lamb is Sufficient” (32:08 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: 24 May, 2021

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Let Us Come Boldly

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” | Isaiah 52: 7

Oh, how God’s people rest in His absolute sovereignty over all things concerning them.

That is their good news.

That is their peace.

That is their hope of salvation.

No matter how much their sin has abounded, it will never be able to reign over His mercy and grace that He has mightily supplied in the death of His Son!

Every soul that the Father sovereignly chose, the Son sovereignly redeemed, and the Spirit has sovereignly called will through the ages of eternity cry, “Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth!”

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “Let Us Come Boldly” (33:01 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: 6 May, 2021

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A Plan Or A Purpose?

“These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.” | 1 Timothy 3: 14-16

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.

“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)

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.

“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)

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.

“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)

Salvation is the purpose of God for His people.

“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)

A purpose which God SHALL bring to pass.

~ Pastor Frank Tate

Click here to listen to the message “The Pillar and Ground of Truth” (44:03 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: 17 April, 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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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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The Purpose Of God

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 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: 28-30

We believe, according to the scriptures, that the Lord our God is a God of purpose, absolute and unalterable purpose.

“According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:” (Ephesians 3: 11)

Before the world began, Almighty God sovereignly purposed all that ever comes to pass in time.

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:” (Ephesians 1: 3-4)

Nothing in this world is left to chance.

“O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” (Romans 11: 33-36)

Everything is moving toward the predetermined end of God’s eternal purpose with absolute, precise accuracy.

“So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.” (Romans 9: 16)

Even a casual reader of Holy Scripture has to face this fact: The God of the Bible is a God of purpose.

“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)

These passages plainly state that the Triune Jehovah is a God of purpose, and clearly teach several things about the purpose of God:

  • The purpose of God is eternal.
  • The purpose of God includes all things.
  • The purpose of God has for its peculiar design the everlasting benefit of God’s elect. Everything that God has purposed is for the ultimate, spiritual, and eternal benefit of his covenant people.
  • The purpose of God is immutable and sure. The Lord himself says, “My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.”

“Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:” (Isaiah 46: 10)

And in its ultimate end, God’s purpose will accomplish the eternal salvation of his chosen people and the glory of his own great name.

~ Pastor Don Fortner

Click here to listen to the message “The Simplicity That Is In Christ” (47:07 minutes)

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Visit our primary website at www.ksgctn.org for more information about Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church, our livestream (when available) and previously recorded messages.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: Special | Previous post date: 14 January, 2021
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Sin And Forgiveness

”Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” | 1 John 4: 9

We love to hear the gospel that tells us of sin forgiven, of being washed from our sin in His precious blood.

Sin is too familiar with us.

We have committed it, we are affected by it daily, and it is our daily trial.

Sin of our past, sin is our burden today, sin as it is, is our own affliction until we enter into our eternal rest.

”In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;” (Ephesians 1: 7)

It is a battle we have entered into that is a war without and within… but, thank God His word says, “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sin”.

How?

“According to the riches of his grace!”

Forgiveness of sin, what a joy, what greater news can a sinner hear?

God’s free grace gave us His son to redeem us by His own blood.

God’s free grace came and effectually applied that blood to our souls!

”Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5: 20)

It was free grace that forgave us all our sin; “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.”

~ Pastor Donnie Bell

Click here to listen to the message “Herein Is Love” (28:11 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: 27 February, 2022 | Previous post date: n/a