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Grace, Grace, and More Grace

“And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man? Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.” | Acts 8: 3-35

Absolutely no one will cry out for God’s mercy until the Holy Spirit makes them see that they are spiritually bankrupt! Then, and only then, are they ready to receive Jesus Christ as their only hope; as their Savior; as their Sovereign Lord; AS THEIR ALL IN ALL!

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not ‘God has done His part, now the rest is up to you.’ The Gospel is not what the sinner can do for God, but what Jesus Christ has done for the sinner. “Christ… hath suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit” (1 Peter 3: 18) When Jesus Christ died, He, by Himself, purged our sins; (Hebrews 1: 3) He reconciled us to God. (Romans 5: 10) Our Savior was delivered for our offences and was raised again for our justification.” (Romans 4: 25) Christ suffered and died for our sins THAT HE MIGHT BRING US TO GOD!

The risen, exalted Christ of God is not trying to find His lost sheep. In the Person of God, the Holy Spirit, our sovereign Lord will seek and save all those He suffered and bled and died for. He MUST bring them to Himself. They MUST hear His voice. He said so. (John 10: 16) God the Father has put all things under the feet of His glorified Son and has given Him power over all flesh. By the quickening power of our risen Savior, He gives eternal life to as many as His Father gave Him. (John 17: 2) He gives us a new heart to come to Him by faith, a heart that rejoices in His glorious Gospel.

Sinners have not come to God if they have not bowed down to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. They have not come to God if they’re trusting in something they have done to try and merit God’s grace, including their socalled free will. We come to God when we come to the Christ of Holy Scripture; when we believe that He suffered for our sins that He might bring us to God; when we believe that being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.

Sinners come to God when we, by His gift of true saving faith, bow down to the risen, glorified Son of God, confessing Him as our Sovereign Lord and Saviour. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. But absolutely no one will call upon the name of Jesus Christ until they hear and believe the true Gospel of God‘s sovereign, amazing grace.

Brethren, God the Holy Spirit is the one who sends His preachers to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ in those areas where His lost sheep are. (Romans 10: 13-15) Under the preaching of the Christ of Holy Scripture, the sovereign power of the risen, glorified Son of God is manifested for the glory of God the Father when He delivers His chosen, redeemed children from the prison-house of unbelief, bringing them into a living union with Himself.

~ Pastor Gene Harmon

Click here to listen to the message “Grace, Grace, and More 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.

Kingsport Sovereign Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 30 May, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

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The Debt of Love

“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if [there be] any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love [is] the fulfilling of the law.” | Romans 13: 8-10

The law can and does require that you respect and treat your neighbor according to that which is right. The law can demand a penalty for disobedience in this. But the law cannot cause you to love your neighbor.

The civil law of our land does not really care if you love your neighbor or not as long as you do not harm him or his property. God’s spiritual law is different. Though I obey the letter of the law outwardly, yet do not love, it is worthless. Even though I go beyond just refraining from offense against any, and sell all I have and give it to the poor, without love, it is worthless. (1 Corinthians 13)

This love is the fruit of the Spirit in God’s people and restrains the evil in our heart toward our fellow man, but before God, His spiritual law requires that we keep the letter of the law perfectly, and love perfectly. You see the law of God scrutinizes uncompromisingly not only what we do, but why.

No man has ever kept the letter of the law, nor loved perfectly, but the Lord Jesus Christ. This is why God’s law condemns us and also why Christ is our only righteousness. “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” (Galatians 4: 4-5)

Love is clearly the fulfilling of the law, as revealed here, because if we truly could love perfectly then we would never hurt or defraud the objects of our love, neither God nor man.

Our Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the law perfectly in that He is love, and having loved us perfectly, He not only could never harm or wrong us, but He gave Himself for us. And because of His perfect, infinite love for His Father and us, He not only fulfilled the law perfectly as our Representative but paid the penalty for our lawlessness, washing us from our sins in His own precious blood. Upon this basis we are exhorted to love, not in word only, but in deed and in truth. (1 John 3: 18)

~ Pastor Chris Cunningham

Click here to listen to the message “Christ Came to Save”

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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 May, 2012 | Previous post date: n/a | Danville, Kentucky

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THE GOSPEL PROCLAIMED

“Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” | Galatians 1: 3-5

Our Lord sent the apostle Paul to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentile world.

God was pleased to bless the message and call out a multitude of guilty sinners to Himself. Many churches were established in the region of Galatia. After Paul had been imprisoned in Rome for the gospel’s sake, many false teachers came among the churches preaching a false message of works salvation. The apostle called it, “another gospel” or a “perverted gospel.” He also pronounced a strong curse upon all who declared such a message of, “Christ plus our efforts and righteousness equal salvation” (Galatians 1: 6-12)

Let us consider four things Paul plainly states about the true gospel of the grace of God revealed in these verses.

1). The reason why the Lord came in the flesh, “That he might deliver us from this present evil world.” It is very obvious that no man is able to deliver Himself from the pit of sin and guilt. Only a fool would say, “I need no Redeemer.” This is why the Lord came, to completely deliver and effectually redeem His people from their sin. (Matthew 1: 21; Romans 11: 26) We can be certain that He did not fail. (Isaiah 42: 4; Romans 4: 25; Romans 8: 32) Any preaching that does not set Jesus Christ forth as the complete and effectual Deliverer, is “another gospel.”

2). How did He accomplish this deliverance? “Who gave himself for our sins.” The redemption of the Lord’s sheep came at a great price. (Acts 20: 28) He purchased us with His own blood. (1 Peter 1: 18) Atonement and payment for sin can only be achieved by Jesus Christ our great High Priest. (Hebrews 9: 12; 1 Peter 3: 18; 2 Corinthians 5: 21; 1 John 4: 10) Any preaching that does not declare Jesus Christ’s triumphant and complete atonement for sin is, “another gospel.”

3). Why Jesus Christ came and why He died, “According to the will of God and our Father.” If it had not been for the predestinating purpose of God and His eternal decree, Jesus Christ would not have died. (Acts 2: 23) If Christ had not died, none would be delivered. Salvation is always accomplished, determined and dependent upon God alone. Any preaching that makes salvation dependent and determined according to the will of men is “another gospel.” (John 1: 12-13; James 1: 18; Romans 9: 15-16)

4). What shall we say concerning this great salvation, “To whom be glory for ever and ever.” The grand design and ultimate end of everything God wills and performs is His glory. (Exodus 33: 18-19; Galatians 6: 14; 1 Corinthians 1: 30-31) Any preaching that does not give God all the glory in the salvation of sinners is, “another gospel.”

~ Pastor Tom Harding

Click here to listen to the message “May God Grant You According To His Riches”

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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: 20 June, 2021 | Previous post date: 1987 | Pikeville, Kentucky

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“UNTO YOU THEREFORE WHICH BELIEVE HE IS PRECIOUS”

“Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,” | 1 Peter 2: 7

It is impossible for those who believe in Christ to fully express the preciousness of Him to them.

(1) He is precious to every believer because He is their life. “He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life” (1 John 5: 12)

(2) He is precious to every believer because He is their clothing. The best robe that the Father gives or imputes to every son that He receives is the righteousness of Christ. It is the robe of His spinning by His perfect obedience and sacrifice.

(3) He is precious to every believer because He is their food. Just as the Israel of old feasted on the Paschal Lamb so God’s spiritual Israel feasts on the Lamb of God. We continually feast upon his flesh and drink His blood; we continually look to His one sacrifice that atones for all the sins of His elect.

(4) He is precious to every believer for He is our hiding place. In the storms of life we say with the psalmist: “yea, in the shadow of thy wings will I make my refuge, until these calamities be over past” (Psalm 57: 2)

~ Pastor David Pledger

Click here to listen to the message “My Infirmity”

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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: 30 May, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

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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”

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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: 10 January, 2021 | Previous post date: 17 January, 2021

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On The Death of Christ

“Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face, and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth. And he answered, Behold thy servant! And David said unto him, Fear not: for I will surely shew thee kindness for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father; and thou shalt eat bread at my table continually.” | 2 Samuel 9: 6-7

Christ did not die to win our sympathy, nor did He die to win our friendship.

He died so that a holy God could save our souls.

He died so that “GOD COULD BE JUST AND THE JUSTIFIER OF THE UNGODLY.”

His death is not a PATTERN but a PAYMENT.

His death is not an EXAMPLE, but an ATONEMENT.

His death does not REVIVE US, but it REDEEMS US.

If you are not saved, it is not because His blood is not sufficient nor does not have the power to save, but because you reject this remedy.

God will not pardon without satisfaction by the blood of Christ.

If you ever see this “Fountain opened,” you will cry with the woman of Samaria, “Give me this water, that I thirst no more.”

~ Pastor Milton Howard

Click here to listen to the message “A Picture of Mercy”

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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: 16 April, 2012 | Previous post date: n/a | Danville, Kentucky

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No Rewards in Heaven

“Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name.” | Psalm 29: 2

God’s glory is the result of his nature and acts.

He is glorious in his character, for there is such a store of everything that is holy, and good, and lovely in God, that he must be glorious. The actions which flow from his character are also glorious; but while he intends that they should manifest to his creatures his goodness, and mercy, and justice, He is equally concerned that the glory associated with them should be given only to himself.

Nor is there aught in ourselves in which we may glory; for who maketh us to differ from another? And what have we that we did not receive from the God of all grace? Then how careful ought we to be to walk humbly before the Lord!

The moment we glorify ourselves, since there is room for one glory only in the universe, we set ourselves up as rivals to the Most High. Shall the insect of an hour glorify itself against the sun which warmed it into life? Shall the potsherd exalt itself above the man who fashioned it upon the wheel? Shall the dust of the desert strive with the whirlwind? Or the drops of the ocean struggle with the tempest?

Give unto the Lord, all ye righteous, give unto the Lord glory and strength; give unto him the honour that is due unto his name. Yet it is, perhaps, one of the hardest struggles of the Christian life to learn this sentence: “Not unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name be glory.” It is a lesson which God is ever teaching us, and teaching us sometimes by most painful discipline.

Let a Christian begin to boast, ‘I can do all things’, without adding ‘through Christ which strengtheneth me’, and before long he will have to groan, ‘I can do nothing’, and bemoan himself in the dust. When we do anything for the Lord, and he is pleased to accept of our doings, let us lay our crown at his feet, and exclaim, ‘Not I, but the grace of God which was with me’!”

~ Charles H. Spurgeon

Click here to listen to the message “No rewards in heaven”

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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: 20 June, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

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May God Be Mindful of Us

“But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” | 1 Corinthians 1: 30,31

May God give us the wisdom to know that Christ IS all!

May God cover us in the righteousness (the goodness and obedience) of Christ, OUR all!

May God see us in the sanctification (the holiness and purity) of Christ, GOD’S all!

And may the only payment offered to God for the redemption of our sin be Christ – AS all!

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “May God Be Mindful of Us”

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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: 30 May, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

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His Resurrection and Our Regeneration

“For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” | Romans 4: 3

The power of God that quickened us and made us to live spiritually is, in the Scriptures, compared with that power which raised Christ from the dead. Christ died for our sins and was raised for our justification. (Romans 4: 25) We live because He lives; and we are free from sin because our Surety, who bore our sins, is now free from them. But there is a likeness between His resurrection and our regeneration and quickening. (Ephesians 1: 19-20)

1). His resurrection is called a begetting. He is the first-begotten from the dead. Our regeneration is called a begetting. (1 Peter 1: 3)

2). His human body was lifeless in the grave, as natural men are dead in sin and without spiritual life. (Romans 5: 12)

3). His human body could not raise itself, as we cannot give ourselves life. (Romans 9: 13-16; James 1: 18)

4). His resurrection was the pure, unaided work of God, as is our regeneration. (Ephesians 2: 1)

5). His resurrection led to His exaltation at the right hand of God and is where, in our representative, Jesus Christ, we are already seated. (Ephesians 2: 6)

~ Pastor Henry T. Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Imputed Righteousness”

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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: 20 June, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a | Pikeville, Kentucky

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One Pressing Question

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” | Matthew 7: 13-14

Every time I get into a discussion with a person over the differences in our faith it inevitably comes down to the same question; “What is the gospel?”

In short, the gospel is a Person.

The content of our faith is completely tied to the True Person and True Work of the Lord Jesus Christ; who He is and what He did is everything in the gospel. The Word of God is our only source of light and truth in answering this most pressing question. “Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth.” (John 17: 17) God’s word is a revelation of the person and work of Christ. However, using biblical terms to answer these questions is not sufficient IF one is guilty of changing the meaning of those terms.

Truth is, if words have meaning, and they do, God’s word must be believed for what it means.

To say I believe all men are sinners because the bible says so, and then give those same men the ability to accept Christ by their own free will, is to deny what a sinner is.

To say I believe that Jesus is the Christ because the bible says so, but then to deny His success in accomplishing the full salvation of all Israel is to change the title Christ to ‘christ wannabe’.

To say I believe that Christ kept the law of God perfectly because the bible says so, and then to use that same law as a standard to prove men’s salvation, is to deny that Christ is in fact the end of the law for righteousness.

To say I believe salvation is of grace and not of works and then to make the accomplished work of Christ contingent on something I do, is to change grace to works.

To say I believe Christ raised from the dead because the bible says so, and then to suggest in any way that there is something left for us to do in order to secure our salvation, is to change the glorious truth of the resurrection from a declaration of Divine satisfaction to a mere historical event.

We could go on to every precious truth declared in God’s word about the Lord Jesus Christ. Only when Christ is preached according to the scriptures does the gospel become the power of God unto salvation.

God has never used a false prophet’s preaching to effect the salvation of one of His children.

Satan is a counterfeiter by nature. The Lord said he was a ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’, an ‘angel of light’ a ‘minister of righteousness’. We ought not be surprised that he would use God’s word to spread his lies. All he has to do is change it’s meaning a little. A little leaven leaveneth the whole loaf.

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. It destroys the gospel.

~ Pastor Greg Elmquist

Click here to listen to the message “Why men will not believe”

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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: 15 June, 2014 | Previous post date: n/a | Ewing, New Jersey