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When God Is Displeased With A People

”And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” | Luke 18: 7-8

When God is exceedingly displeased with a people, it is not necessary, in order to their punishment, that He should bury them alive by an earthquake, or destroy them by lightening.

If He only leaves them to themselves, withdraws His blessings from their counsels, and His restraint from their passions, their ruin follows of course, according to the necessary order and connection of causes and effects.

If God gives up a people to the way of their own hearts, they will, they must, perish!

When a general corruption of morals takes place, when private interest extinguishes all sense of public virtue, when a profligate and venal spirit has infected every rank and order of the state, when presumptuous security and dissipation increase as danger approaches, when, after repeated disappointments, contempt for God, and vain confidence in imagined resources of their own, grow bolder and stronger, then there is reason to fear that the sentence has already gone forth, and that the execution of it is at hand.

~ John Newton

Click here to listen to the message “God Shall Avenge His Elect” (34:08 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.

Central Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 1 June, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a | Rocky Mount, Virginia

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Lord, What Will You Have Me To Do?

“And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.” | Acts 9: 6

“Lord, what will you have me to do?” This is Paul’s question on the road where he met the sovereign Christ.

It was not, what do I think is best for me?

Or what will afford me the most pleasure and comfort?

Or even what do other people do?

But “Lord, what will YOU have me to do?”

“I will love thee, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” (Psalms 18: 1-2)

In every case enable me, by Thy grace, to do what is pleasing in Thy sight and that which will bring glory to Thy name.

Where we get in trouble is putting our wills and ways before His!

It is not I but Christ, His gospel, His church, His kingdom, His glory, which must be considered.

“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3: 6)

When this is settled “I” will fall in the right place and though the way may not be easy; in the end it will be pleasant.

~ Pastor Henry T. Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Help, Lord!” (26:56 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: 5 August, 2018 | Previous post date: n/a

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Trust In The Lord

”O LORD of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee.” | Psalm 84: 12

Trust in God implies total self-renunciation.

The moment that I trust in myself, I cease to trust in God.

The moment I take any portion of my confidence away from the Lord and put a grain of it in myself, that moment I take away all my trust in God.

My trust in God must be all or nothing.

It must be unreserved and complete, or else it is false and delusive.

Is not the Lord worthy to be trusted?

And if he is worthy to be trusted at all, is he not worthy to be trusted with all?

What real confidence could a man have in the wife of his bosom if he could trust her with one key, but not with all?

Is that full confidence?

So, if we can trust God for one thing and not for all, it shews that we have no real trust in him.

A man has no real trust in his wife who cannot give her all the keys.

A man has no real trust in God who cannot give him all his heart, and put everything into his hand; family, property, body, and soul.

The province and work of true faith is to put everything into the hands of God, keeping back no part of the price.

It is this secret reserve that God hates; there is hypocrisy on the very face of it.

Trust in God for nothing; or trust in him for all.

God will not take a divided heart.

Give him all, or none.

And is he not worthy of it?

Has he ever disappointed you whenever you have really put your trust in him?

But David saw how few there were that with all their hearts did trust in God.

This feeling seems to have made him say, “Blessed is the man,” that peculiar man, that rare individual, “that trusteth in thee!”

The blessing of God rests upon that happy, that highly-favoured man.

He is blessed for time and for eternity.

He has the blessing of God even now in his soul.

Oh! how rare it is for us to be in that sweet, blessed frame when we can put our trust wholly in God; trust him for life and death; trust him for all things, past, present, and to come.

Yet without a measure of this faith, there is no solid peace, no real and abiding rest.

And to this you must sooner or later come; for you cannot carry your own burdens without their breaking your back.

But when you can cast your burden on the Lord, then you will surely find sweet relief.

May we not, then, join heart and voice with David, “O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee?”

Such a one will never be disappointed.

The Lord will hear his prayer; the Lord will bless his soul; will be with him in life, support him in death, and take him to be with him in eternity.

~ J.C. Philpot

Click here to listen to the message “Grace & Truth By Jesus Christ” (35:16 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: 17 April, 2022 | Previous post date: n/a | Rocky Mount, Virginia

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John Kent’s Dying Testimony

“Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.” | Colossians 3: 11

We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.

That portion cut me to the heart, while at the same time it has been my hope.

If I am to stand by myself to give an account, I am lost forever; but it is the judgment seat of Christ.

He is my surety and has paid all demands.

I shall be tried there by a covenant of grace, not a covenant of works.

Blessed be God for His great Salvation.

I bless God that the promises of the gospel met me in all my wants, wounds, and wretchedness.

I wish to die with “God be merciful to me a sinner” upon my lips.

Click here to listen to the message “Appearing With Christ In Glory” (34:02 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: 22 March, 2020 | Previous post date: 21 September, 2021

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God So Loved The World

”For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” | John 3: 16

We warn you against those who say that “God loved the world” means “God loved every one alike.”

They tell people indiscriminately that “John 3: 16 means that God loved you. You may substitute your name for the word world in John 3: 16.”

They know this is not true!

“I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob’s brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.” (Malachi 1: 2-3)

For example, they know that God Himself declared, “Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated”.

“As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” (Romans 9: 13)

Despite knowing this, we can imagine them saying to Esau, as they say to all others, “Smile, God loves you – for God loves everyone! When you read John 3:16, change the word world to your name, so that it reads ‘For God so loved Esau ….’”

Hear me well!

Neither Esau nor all the other unrepentant and unbelieving wicked people whom God declares that He hates are in the world loved by God, and to which He gave His only begotten Son for their salvation.

Furthermore, there is more than one world on this earth.

And the world loved by God is distinguished from another world in the High Priestly prayer of Jesus Christ to His Father recorded in John chapter seventeen.

“I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word. Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me. I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.” (John 17: 6-9)

That other world is the world for which Jesus Christ refused to pray, and the world from which God removed His people and gave to Christ in order that He might save them: “I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me… they have believed that You sent Me. I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours.” “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: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.” (Ephesians 1: 3-6)

“These six things doth the LORD hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto him: A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” (Proverbs 6: 16-19)

They who misrepresent God’s love to His world should remember that among the people God hates and abominates is “a false witness who speaks lies”.

“In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him; And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him; We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4: 9, 16, 19)

All who are in this world loved by God will confess: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. … And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. … We love Him because He first loved us”.

Is this your confession?

~ Pastor Daniel Parks

Click here to listen to the message “Even So, Amen” (35:28 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.

Central Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 1 June, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a | Rocky Mount, Virginia

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The Pity Of God

”Like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him” | Psalm 103: 13

God pities His children, because they are pitiful. To pity someone, it has to come from the heart and from the affections.

God Almighty pities His children from His heart and from His affections.

Pity also means to have compassion, to be tenderhearted.

Our covenant God showed His affections, His compassions and His heart in sending His Blessed Son into this world to be our Savior, to redeem us by His own blood.

OH what love, what compassion was shown toward those for whom Christ died, to accomplish a perfect, complete salvation for His people!

Thank God for His pity, His affections and His compassion given us in Christ Jesus our Lord.

~ Pastor Donnie Bell

Click here to listen to the message “An Ordered Betrayal”

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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: 25 February, 2024 | Previous post date: n/a

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Waiting On The Lord

“Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me.” | Micah 7: 7

Here are three reasons why God’s people are happy to wait on their Lord:

  1. Our example and reason for waiting – which is Christ! He waited on us that He might be gracious to us, and have mercy upon us. “And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.” (Isaiah 30: 18)
  2. The danger of NOT waiting! When we do not wait on the Lord for the direction of His will and purpose, we bring nothing but heartache to ourselves. Israel “…soon forgat His works; they waited not for His counsel: But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. And He gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.” (Psalm 106: 13-15)
  3. The promises from God at the end of waiting! “Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart…” (Psalm 27: 14) “…those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.” (Psalm 37: 9) “For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what He hath prepared for him that waiteth for Him.” (Isaiah 64: 4)

~ Pastor Gabe Stalnaker

Click here to listen to the message “We Will Rejoice In Thy Salvation” (28:12 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: 5 August, 2018 | Previous post date: n/a

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It Is Good For Me That I Am Afflicted

”It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn Thy ways.” | Psalm 119: 71

God’s ways and God’s word are best learned by experience and in time of trouble.

When our Lord is pleased to lay his hand heavily upon us, we do not soon forget the lessons learned.

“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” (Revelation 3: 19)

When the Lord singles out a believer or a church for special affliction and adversity, it is not for punishment nor lack of love for them; it is for eternal blessings and because He does love them.

“Whom the Lord loveth” he chastens, corrects, and teaches!

When Job sat before his friends, who was afflicted?

The one God loved!

When Paul stood before King Agrippa, who wore the chains?

The one God loved!

Humanly speaking, which path of life would you prefer to live on earth, that of Esau or Jacob?

Esau had the life of prosperity and ease; Jacob was full of trouble and conflict.

But God loved Jacob!

Thank God he has not left us alone!

Thank God he has loved us in Christ and is pleased to teach us his ways by dealing with us in such a way that we are weaned from the world and find our life, comfort, and hope only in him.

“But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.” (Hebrews 12: 8)

A person who measures his blessings and relationship with God by his prosperity, health, happiness, and worldly comforts makes a fatal mistake.

Paul wrote, “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10)

He who sends the trial for his glory and my good will supply the grace sufficient.

Those who know the Redeemer also know that when we are weak, we are strong; when we are poor, we are rich; when we are empty, we are full; and when we die, we live!

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “Joy After Chastening” (44:48 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.

Sovereign Grace Baptist Church Bulletin Article date: 3 March, 2008 | Previous post date: n/a | Ewing, New Jersey

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Seeking God’s Will

“Behold, the Lord GOD will come with strong hand, and his arm shall rule for him: behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young.” | Isaiah 40: 10-11

Every believer desires to do the Lord’s will.

He wants to do what the Lord’s Word says.

And I believe that for every situation we face and every decision we are to make there is a scriptural example or principle given.

If we seek diligently we will find the answer to every question regarding what the Lord would have us to do.

Like the faithful Father that He is, He never leaves His children without clear instruction.

His Word is a “lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path.”

“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” (Proverbs 3: 6)

If we really want direction from the Lord, He will give it.

Most of the time we have not because we ask not, and sometimes we ask not because we may already know the answer and do not really want to do what we know should be done.

It is sad but that is the flesh.

May God deliver us from it and make us willing and obedient to do His will.

I submit three things that I believe can be applied to every decision we need to make; every situation which arises that we need an answer as to what to do. Examine everything using these criteria…

  1. IS IT FOR GOD’S GLORY? — Is what I am about to do or where I am about to go in the best interest of God’s glory? Will God receive more glory in this way or another? “Whether we eat or drink, do all for the glory of God.”
  2. IS THIS FOR THE GOOD OF THE CHURCH? — How is this decision going to affect the church of which I am a member and vitally joined to? No believer is independent, but is a member of the body. Everything we do affects the church. We need to guard against anything which may bring reproach upon our God and His church, and we need to seek ways to serve the body and not ourselves. “That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.” “And all that believed were together, and had all things common.”
  3. HOW IS THIS GOING TO AFFECT MY FAMILY’S SPIRITUAL GOOD? –- If I have a husband, wife, son or daughter; everything I do, every decision I make affects them in some way. I must lay aside my personal desires in favor of them. I must do what is best for their spiritual good. “…as Christ loved the church.”

The very last consideration (and perhaps no consideration at all), is my own personal desires or happiness.

“Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Christ.”

~ Pastor Paul Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “The Arm Of The Lord” (37:21 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: 24 April, 2022 | Previous post date: n/a | Rocky Mount, Virginia

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Forgiveness And Fear

”Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” | Psalm 133: 1

It will help us solely rely upon Christ if we think about what a weighty responsibility he gave us when he said with one spirit and one mind strive together for the faith of the gospel while at the same time we think about how powerless we are to do it without him.

~ Pastor Clay Curtis

Click here to listen to the message “Forgiveness & Fear” (32:55 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: 29 July, 2018 | Previous post date: n/a