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The Prayer of Faith

“And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” | James 5: 15-16

James assures us that the prayer of faith, the prayer that is born of and caused by faith in Christ, shall save the sick.

Of course the word “save” means “deliver.” The prayer of faith shall, most assuredly, deliver the sick from his sickness.

What is “the prayer of faith”? The next verse tell us: “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”

THE PRAYER OF FAITH IS “EFFECTUAL.” The word used by James means “in wrought”. It is a prayer wrought in, or produced in the heart of a believer by the Spirit of God. It is a prayer that is found in the heart, (II Samuel 7: 27) produced by the work of God and based upon the Word of God. Without question, the prayer of faith willingly submits to the will of God. But there is more to it than that. The prayer of faith discerns what the will of God is by the illumination of the Holy Spirit in his heart. (Romans 8: 27) And the prayer of faith is according to the will of God. (I John 5: 14)

THE PRAYER OF FAITH IS “FERVENT.” Faith is importunate. It will not give up its plea until it obtains the mercy it seeks. (Luke 11: 8-10) Like the Syrophenician woman, faith cannot be turned away. (Matthew 15: 21-28)

THE PRAYER OF FAITH IS THE PRAYER OF “A RIGHTEOUS MAN,” one who has been made righteous by the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to him and by the cleansing of his blood. It is the prayer of one who draws near to, calls upon, and is accepted of God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. (John 14: 15; Hebrews 7: 25)

AND THE PRAYER OF FAITH “AVAILETH MUCH.” The prayer of the righteous is God’s delight; therefore “he heareth the prayer of the righteous” (Proverbs 15: 8,29) “And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us: and if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” (I John 5: 14-15) We have what we desire, because what we desire is what our heavenly Father desires – his will and his glory. We gladly subject all our desires to these two things. The prayer of faith is free of selfish desire and personal want. (James 4: 3) The prayer of faith wants what God has purposed. Therefore, it is always effectual.

If my will is subject to and in harmony with my Father’s will, I may, and most assuredly shall have what I will.

~ Pastor Don Fortner

Click here to listen to the message “Justification By Faith”

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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: 18 April, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a | Ewing, New Jersey

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How Sinful are We?

“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” | Romans 3: 25-26

We can read the Scriptures which declare, “There is none good, no not one… every imagination of man’s heart is only evil continually… our righteousnesses are filthy rags… man at his best state is vanity;” but what makes this question difficult to answer is the fact that we have such little understanding of true holiness.

We compare ourselves with ourselves and arrive at a weak, perverted view of sin.

A man’s conception of sin is determined by his understanding of TRUE HOLINESS. I declare, without reservation, that a man will never come to an understanding of the exceeding sinfulness of sin until he sees the holiness and righteousness of the Lord God!

Job was an honest, upright, and righteous man in his own eyes until he saw the Lord; and then he cried, “I abhor myself.”

Isaiah put a “woe” on everyone else until he saw the Lord; and then he cried, “Woe is ME, I am undone.”

Until preachers begin to preach the true character of our God in His awesome holiness, justice, and righteousness, men will not be convicted of sin, righteousness, and judgement and will continue in their efforts to establish a righteousness of their own, denying the necessity of a REDEEMER, who alone can enable God to be both just and justifier.

~ Pastor Henry T. Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Self-Righteousness Slain”

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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: 10 October, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a | Pikeville, Kentucky

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God’s Infinite Mercy And Invincible Power To Save

“Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:” | Galatians 3: 13

John Newton, a great preacher and writer of many great hymns, such as Amazing Grace, was talking with a preacher friend of his, William Jay. Mr. Jay was telling Mr. Newton how encouraged he was in the conversion of a notorious rebel they both knew, whereupon John Newton replied: “Since the Lord saved ME, I have despaired of no man living!” And I am quite sure there were many who despaired of ever seeing me saved.

How about you?

The salvation of notorious sinners is a tribute to God’s infinite mercy and invincible power to save.

The thief on the cross, Mary Magdalene, the Gadarene demoniac, Saul of Tarsus, and so many others, will forever be trophies of the Lord’s power to save. Though “with man it is impossible,” (you and I can’t save or even convince one person of anything) yet “with God ALL things are possible…” yea certain if it is His will.

So take courage people, in the hope that God saves even the chief of sinners.

As long as the gospel is being preached, as long as there is hope of someone hearing that gospel, there is hope of their salvation. So keep praying for that friend or loved one, keep giving out CDs, keep inviting to hear the preaching, for it may be… in the Lord’s good time, the Lord will cause them to come, hear, and be saved.

It happened to some of us didn’t it?

~ Pastor Paul Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Under The Law, Under The Curse”

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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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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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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

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“Then sings my soul!”

“He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.” | Isaiah 42: 4

There is a beautiful song in our hymnal titled: “How Great Thou Art.”

The third verse of that song says, “And when I think that God, His Son not sparing, sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in – that on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin… Then sings my soul!”

Once salvation is revealed to a child of God, from that moment forward the soul of that child sings the glory and greatness of the God who saved him or her.

The body may break, but the soul will never stop singing!

The heart may ache, but the soul will never stop singing!

Everything about the physical, mental, and emotional state of the child may be silenced under the overwhelming weight and oppression of sin, but knowing what the blood of Christ has done for sinners will cause the soul of that child to never stop singing, “My Savior God, to Thee; How great Thou art, How great Thou art!”

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “Courage For The Discouraged”

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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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TRUE OR COUNTERFEIT FAITH

“Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God” | Hebrews 3: 12)

Here, the Holy Spirit gives us the evidence of that God-given faith of God’s elect, and the evidence of counterfeit faith which the flesh produces.

True faith will take heed to the warnings of scripture, and search the heart for evidences of unbelief and cry out to God for aid. On the other hand, sham faith is full of presumption and looks to something other than Christ for assurance.

True faith will persevere to the end because it is fastened to a living person, Jesus Christ, (1 Peter 2: 4) while imitation faith will end in failure because it is resting on some false grounds of hope. (Isaiah 28: 17)

True faith in time of trial will bring the believer closer to His Lord, knowing the trial is from His hand and for our good. (Romans 8: 28) On the other hand bogus faith in time of trouble will result in the person departing from the gospel and from those who believe. An evil heart of unbelief is always manifested by departing from the living God. John said, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for had they 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.” (John 2: 19)

Let us not be afraid to examine ourselves to see whether we be in the faith. (2 Corinthians 13: 5)

True faith is willing to submit to the word of God because it is the foundation of faith. (John 6: 66-69)

~ Pastor Tom Harding

Click here to listen to the message “Heirs According to the Promise”

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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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WHEN YOU HEAR

“We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long. O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom. For God is my King of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.” | Psalm 74: 9-12

When you hear contemporary preachers talking about what God is ‘trying to do,’ or what He ‘wants to do’ and ‘would do’ if people would but cooperate; often accompanied with a plea to men and women: ‘Won’t you let God’ do this or that, it is important that you understand that they are not talking about the God of the Bible, the true and living God.

They are talking about a different god, a god of their own imagination, a god of their own making.

They are idolators!

The God of the Bible is described and set forth as One who does what He pleases, only what He pleases, and always what He pleases. (Psalm 15: 2,3; Psalm 135: 5,6)

HE IS GOD!

“What His soul desireth, even that He doeth.” (Job 23: 13) From Genesis 1: 1 throughout the whole of the Inspired Volume, the Holy Bible, GOD is set forth as the only true and living God, the Almighty One, absolutely sovereign, independent and free.

“Working ALL THINGS after the counsel of His own will.” (Ephesians 1: 11) “For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.” (Romans 11: 36)

“Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth” (Revelation 19: 6)

~ Pastor Maurice Montgomery

Click here to listen to the message “The Lord Hath Put Away My Sin”

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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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Sins Taken Away

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” | Romans 5: 6-8

There is a chorus that we love to sing which says: “Did you hear what the Lord Jesus said to me? They’re all taken away, away! Thy sins are pardoned, and you are free. They’re all taken away!”

With that good news declaration being proclaimed to sinners in the word of God, the apostle Paul said; “Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philipians 3: 13, 14)

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “For Whom Did Christ Die?”

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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: 15 August, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a | Pikeville, Kentucky

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Four Fundamentals of Faith

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; 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, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles. For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for 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.” | 2 Timothy 1: 7-12

1.) A NEED – Men and women come to Christ because they need Christ! “The well have NO NEED…” (Matthew 9: 11-13)

2.) THE WORD – Faith’s one foundation is the Word of God. We have no reason to believe anything except what God hath said. <“Faith cometh by hearing the Word.” (Romans 10: 17)

3.) CHRIST – The sole object of saving faith is Christ, (Isaiah 45: 22; Hebrews 12: 2) our Lord. He, of God, is made unto us all things that we need. We believe, look, trust, and rest in HIM. (Colossians. 2: 9-10)

4.) GRACE – Both the will to believe and the power to believe are the gifts of God, “not of works.” (Ephesians 1 :19; Ephesians 2: 8-9)

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Four Fundamentals of Faith”

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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 August, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a