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Being Justified Freely

“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” | Romans 3: 24

What does it mean to be justified?

I am sure that there have been many definitions given and I by no means can fully expound all that is involved in sinners being justified before God.

“Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;” (1 Peter 1: 18)

However, I am sure that it means to be eternally pardoned from all sin by the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

“Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,” (Jude 24)

It means to be acquitted and vindicated of all charges before the holy justice of God.

“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:” (Colossians 1: 21-22)

It means to be made and regarded righteous in God’s sight.

How are sinners justified?

“Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth.” (Romans 8: 33)

By God as the source, “It is God that justifieth”.

“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:” (Romans 3: 24)

By grace as the spring and fountain, “Justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus”.

“Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” (Romans 5: 9)

By Jesus Christ’s sacrifice and blood atonement as the ground, “Being now justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him” .

“Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.” (Romans 4: 25)

By His resurrection as the proof and evidence, “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification”.

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:” (Romans 5: 1)

By faith as the means to receive this salvation in Christ, “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God”.

~ Pastor Tom Harding

Click here to listen to the message “Be Of Good Cheer” (39:24 minutes)

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: Special | Previous post date: 23 January, 2021

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The Lord Jesus Christ Set His Love On Sinners

“This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” | 1 Timothy 1: 15

Do you know who will love to hear that Christ came to save sinners?

Sinners will!

Do you know who will love to hear that Christ came not to call the righteous, but sinners?

Sinners will!

Do you know who will love to hear that Christ died on purpose, for a particular people, whom the word of God calls ungodly sinners?

Ungodly (in the flesh) sinners will love to hear that!

The blood of Christ was not shed for the self righteous world, but it was shed for sinners.

Christ did not set His love on the self righteous world, but He set His love on sinners.

Christ will not receive the self righteous world, but He said He would receive sinners!

So, let me ask you this question: Are you a sinner?

If you are, like I am, this is the greatest news we will ever hear in our lives… “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.”

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “That’s Who The Savior Is” (27:31 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: 20 January, 2021
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Perfect To Be Accepted

“And whosoever offereth a sacrifice of peace offerings unto the LORD to accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering in beeves or sheep, it shall be perfect to be accepted; there shall be no blemish therein.” | Leviticus 22: 21

The voice from the cross did not summon men to do, but to be satisfied with what was done, “It is finished.”

The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is the only perfect thing which has ever been presented to God on man’s behalf.

“It shall be perfect to be accepted, there shall be no blemish therein.”

~ Pastor Scott Richardson

Click here to listen to the message “My Salvation Shall Be Forever” (38:18 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: 18 January, 2023
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By Grace Alone

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast.” | Ephesians 2: 8-9

“By grace are ye saved.”

There is no present salvation except that which begins and ends with grace!

No man can preach or possess a present salvation except those who preach and believe that we are saved by grace alone!

The work is finished!

Any other way of salvation is dependent on the sinner and it will fail.

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Jesus – Friend of Sinners” (33:16 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: 17 January, 2021
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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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Jesus Christ Is The Issue

“The eyes of the LORD are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry.” | Psalm 34: 15

A child of God should never feel forgotten because the eyes of the Lord are always upon the righteous.

Our circumstances have not escaped His notice.

He knows our circumstance because He has ordained it according to His eternal purpose and will.

A child of God should also be comforted to remember that the ears of our heavenly Father are always open to the cries of His children.

Not only does our Father hear the cries of His children but He tells us that we “ought always to pray, and not to faint”.

“And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint;” (Luke 18: 1)

What comfort to know that the Lord sees His people and will always hear their prayer.

~ Pastor Frank Tate

Click here to listen to the message “A Prayer for Deliverance” (42:52 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: 9 January, 2021
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Christ Our Hope

“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

What is hope?

Hope is expectation with a reasonable basis.

What the world calls hope is an empty wish.

It’s like a child holding a present on their birthday hoping to find what they want.

But, hope in the scriptures is defined as a person: Christ in you the hope of glory.

This hope comes through a Godly persuasion, “…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: 2)

Also, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8: 38-39)

The believer’s hope is not I hope, I hope, I hope.

But it is hope founded upon the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our expectations fully depend on His appointments, His coming as the God man, His obedience, His suffering, His death, His resurrection, and His present reign in glory.

“He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” (1 John 5: 12)

Paul said “he was an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Savior, and the Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope.” (1 Timothy 1: 1)

May the Lord be pleased to make Him our hope for the glory of His own name.

~ Pastor Darvin Pruitt

Click here to listen to the message “Crucified With Christ” (31:23 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 January, 2021
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The Glorious Death of the Lord Jesus Christ

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” | Romans 8: 35

And what if He did not die?

  • Cain would be condemned, and so would Abel.
  • Esau would be cut off, but so would Jacob.
  • Pharaoh would be damned, but so would Moses.
  • Judas would be cast into the lake of fire, but so would Peter, James, and John.
  • Agrippa would perish, but so would Paul.

The point is, our sole and only reason for being saved is His death.

“For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” (Romans 5: 10)

God was completely satisfied by the death of His Son.

His justice was honored, sin was punished, paid for, and put away.

God can ask for nothing more!

And however satisfied He is with the death of His Son is how satisfied He is with those He died for.

Oh how glorious is the death of Christ.

It is the subject of the eternities!

It is the sure and only ground of the salvation of the believer.

~ Pastor Todd Nibert

Click here to listen to the message “The Gospel” (40:52 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.

Zebulon Grace Church Bulletin Article date: Special | Previous post date: 4 January, 2021 | Pikeville, Kentucky
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Christ Receives Sinners

“Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them” | Luke 15: 1-2

While the self-righteous Pharisees and Scribes withdrew from the Lord Jesus Christ and then harshly criticized Him, many publicans and sinners drew near to hear Him.

“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.” (John 6: 44)

What a blessing from the Lord to have a willingness to draw near to Him and then to have ears to actually hear a word from Him. “Immediately therefore I sent to thee; and thou hast well done that thou art come. Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.” (Acts 10: 33)

His words are words of life. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” (John 5: 24)

His words are words of salvation. “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Romans 1: 16)

“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.” (Hebrews 4: 12)

The worst thing the Pharisees and scribes said of the Lord, “This man recieveth sinners, and eateth with them;” is the best thing any sinner could hear.

It is not sin that keeps a man from hearing the good news of the gospel of Christ, it is his presumed righteousness he is going about to establish by his religious deeds. “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.” (Romans 10: 1-4)

No man will ever come to Christ while he is resting in the deeds of the law for salvation. “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3: 19-20)

“For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.” (John 5: 21)

It is only by the almighty power of His sovereign grace that will effectually quicken us and make us alive in Christ that will cause us to draw near to Him, to hear Him and to believe Him.

“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)

This Man receives sinners!

“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;” (Ephesians 2: 1)

What a miracle of amazing grace.

~ Pastor Tom Harding

Click here to listen to the message “The Deadly Sin Of Self-rigtheousness” (32:27 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: 26 January, 2020 | Previous post date: 31 December, 2022

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I Have All

”But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.” | Philippians 4: 18

This is the testimony of a man who spent years bound by the Romans, hated and hounded by the Jewish leaders.

A man whose temporal possessions were probably no more than a few clothes, some books… yet he says: “I have all, I am full.”

Here is a man who is happy, content, and full of joy and peace.

There sits a King with wealth untold, with power, living in the lap of luxury, people waiting on him, to fulfill his every desire and command, yet he is not happy, he has no joy, he is not full, he does not have all.

What is the difference in these two men?

Paul has Christ; he knows Christ and is a joint heir with Christ. When the apostle surveys his wealth, he says, I possess the “unsearchable riches of Christ.” He knows the riches that he possesses in Christ are eternal. When he says, “I have all, I am full,” it is neither a wish nor a want; even then he was in full enjoyment of his wealth, for “Christ is all and in all.”

The worldling is never full, he never has enough, he never possesses all he wants, he never knows contentment, never knows what it is to be full.

The Lord Jesus asked, “how long will you labor for the meat that perishes?” How long will you make silver and gold your idol? Until you drop off into a Christless eternity? O, child of this world, you will never have ALL you aim for, you will always want more.

This man Paul has more than you have; HE HAS ALL! HE IS FULL! He says he can contain no more.

Christ is his PORTION, the riches of His grace, the riches of His glory.

Christ, who has ALL and does ALL, was his… “I AM FULL.” He desired no more than Christ, for in Christ he possessed ALL. “And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” (1 Corinthians 3: 23)

Beloved, let the world say “I want, I want,” but let us as Christ’s beloved say, “I AM FULL, I HAVE ALL.”

We shall soon hear, “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:” (Matthew 25: 34)

~ Pastor Donnie Bell

Click here to listen to the message “Solomon and Queen of Sheba” (43:45 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: 13 January, 2022 | Previous post date: 3 March, 2023