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Married To Christ

“Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.!” | Romans 6: 1-4

While marrying a young couple yesterday, I asked them if they would promise to honor and love one another, “till death alone shall part you.” We believers were married to the law in the sense that we were bound and responsible to honor it. We were “under the law,” and though sinful and incapable of honoring it, it was nonetheless our duty before God to do so perfectly. Paul uses this beautiful comparison to show what our relationship is now to the law, and to the son of God.

Being dead to the law, we are married to Christ, and yet not considered “adulterers.” In other words, we have no requirement to honour the law, and yet are guiltless before the law.

Free from the law O happy condition, Jesus hath bled and there is remission. Cursed by the law and killed by the fall, Christ hath redeemed us, once for all.

It may seem extreme to you that I would say, we have no requirement to honor the law, but think about it believer. If we are responsible to honor God’s law, then we must inhabit Hell forever. Christ honored it for us, and paid our sin debt, and we add nothing to what He has done for us. Nothing.

This does not mean we do not respect the law, and even try to obey it both outwardly and inwardly, but we have found that what we would, we do not, we cannot. Paul even says we “delight in the law of God, after the inward man,” but understand. We are dead to the law for righteousness, and we are married to Another.

We cannot, do not, shall not honor the law with our works, though we do desire to and strive to, but our Husband did, and we are one with Him as man and wife are said to be before God, one flesh. We bring forth fruit unto God because our works, just like our persons, are accepted “in the Beloved.” Let us praise Him both now and forever, our Husband, our Beloved, the Lover of our souls and Him Whom our soul loveth.

~ Pastor Chris Cunningham

Click here to listen to the message “Run After Love”

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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: 1 August, 2008 | Previous post date: n/a | Danville, Kentuky

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HIS GLORY

“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

The Glory of the Triune God is paramount in all things.

This Glory is magnified in the electing of a people by the Father in Christ. It is magnified in the saving of that people through the blood of Christ. And it is magnified in the revelation of our Savior, in our new hearts, through the Holy Spirit.

When the child of God is finally brought home, we will forever sing praise to His Glory in perfection and for eternity.

~ Pastor Kevin Thacker

Click here to listen to the message “Thoughts in the Night”

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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

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Seek The Kingdom of God First

“Therefore my people shall know my name: therefore they shall know in that day that I am he that doth speak: behold, it is I. 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: 6,7

How great is our God whose hand paints every flower and shapes every leaf; who forms every bud on every tree and every infant in the womb; who feeds each crawling worm with a parent’s care and every insect that sleeps in the bosom of a flower; who opens the golden gates of day and draws the dusky curtains of the night; who measures every drop of rain, the whirling flakes of snow and the sands of man’s earthly life; who determines alike the fall of the sparrow and the fate of a kingdom; who so overrules the tide of human fortune that, whatever befalls a man, come joy or sorrow, the believer readily declares, “It is the Lord: let Him do what seemeth Him good.”

~ Thomas Guthrie

Click here to listen to the message “Seek The Kingdom of God First”

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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 July, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

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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; Proverbs 15: 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 5:1 4-15) 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 “The Baptist, The Bride, & The Bridegroom”

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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: 11 August 2008 | Previous post date: n/a | Ewing, New Jersey

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FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” | 1 Corinthians 13: 13

What great blessings the Lord has freely and eternally given unto His church! (Romans 8: 32)

Indeed, Christ has blessed us with all spiritual blessings. (Ephesians 1: 3) The apostle Paul makes mention of these three great and spiritual blessings that abide in every believer; faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Why would Paul say that? Because it is true!

Every believer lives by faith, (Romans 1: 17) walks by faith (2 Corinthians 5: 7) and will die in faith, (Hebrews 13: 5), always looking to and trusting in Christ. (Hebrews 12: 2) But one day faith will end in perfect and complete sight, when we behold the Lord Jesus Christ face to face. (1 John 3: 2)

Likewise, every believer lives with a fervent hope, a living hope and a blessed hope; (Titus 2: 13) because it is a good hope through grace. (2 Thessalonians 2: 16) Hope springs from faith in Christ, (Hebrews 11: 1) for He is our hope. (Colossians 1: 27; 1 Timothy 1: 1) But the good hope we have in Christ, that too will one day come to an end in the certain expectation of the reality of that hope being predestinated to be just like the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 8: 29-30)

But the greatest of these gifts is love; the love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5: 5) will never end. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ. (Romans 8: 38)

Our love for the Lord Jesus Christ had a beginning but it will never have an end. We only love Him because He first loved us. (1 John 4: 19)

When did the Lord start loving His own? From eternity in the covenant of grace! (Jeremiah 31: 3) The Lord’s love for His church is a sacrificial love. (Ephesians 5: 25; 1 John 4: 10) He laid down His life for His church. (John 13: 1) Oh how precious is that love for us!

May God grant us to be always thankful for this gift of His love unto us and may He cause it to grow in such a way as to glorify Him now and forever.

One day soon every believer will sing forever; “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen (Revelation 1: 5-6)

~ Pastor Tom Harding

Click here to listen to the message “Preach The Word Of God”

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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: 8 August, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

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What Is Your Comfort?

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” | Psalm 23: 4

Are you happy? Yes! But I am not without times of sorrow and depression.

Like any human, I weep over loved ones, friends, sickness, death, and disappointment. But I sorrow not as those who have no hope. CHRIST IS MY HOPE! He loved me, gave Himself for me, and will make ALL THESE THINGS work together for my eternal good.

Are you at rest in your soul? Yes! but I am not free from concern and conviction over my sins and my infirmities.

I love Christ but not as I should or as I desire. I am satisfied with Him, His mercy, His grace, and His love; but I will never be totally satisfied until I wake with His likeness.

Do you have peace? Yes! but that peace with God, peace of conscience, and peace in any situation or condition is not based on my merit, feelings, nor religious duties.

CHRIST IS MY PEACE! He said, “In ME ye have peace. In the world ye shall have trouble.”

Any man or woman who claims continual, uninterrupted joy, rest, and peace in this world is either not telling the truth or has no connection with reality! True joy, rest, and peace are things we enjoy in Christ IN THE MIDST of troubles, afflictions, and infirmities.

Paul’s exhortation was “rejoice in the Lord.”

When I am conscious of my weakness, failures, and sins, I rejoice in Christ, my righteousness.

When I am concerned about food, clothing, and shelter, I rejoice in Christ, my provider.

When I am sick, Christ is my healer.

When I am grieved, Christ is my comfort.

When I am faced with death, Christ is my life!

So it is not necessary to put on a false face and deceive others. We are still human; but our peace, rest, and joy is Christ.

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on Thee.”

~ Pastor Henry Mahan

Click here to listen to the message “The Believer’s Comfort”

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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: 11 August 2008 | Previous post date: n/a | Ewing, New Jersey

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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

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A Fallen Saint

“Peter went out and wept bitterly.” | Luke 22: 62

Peter had sat in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

He had walked on the water to go to Him. He had lived in the full assurance that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. “We believe and are sure,” he said, “That thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,” the words of blood redemption had gone to Peter’s heart from the very lips of Jesus Christ Himself. (John 6: 68) Peter had seen the power of the Lord when he spoke to the raging waves of the sea and stilled them – the Lord Jesus saved Peter’s life that day, and Peter knew it too.

Now this same Peter has denied the Lord he loved and believed – even cursed and swore he never knew him. Look at him now as he goes off in the darkness sobbing as he goes. Imagine the guilt and fear that weighed upon his afflicted conscience? Imagine the suggestions from Satan, the prince of darkness, saying to him, “There is no hope for you now.” Only those who have experienced such a thing know how Satan can work with a guilty conscience to drive it to despair.

I am sure Peter thought, as many have since, “There is no way out of this dilemma I find myself in.” A poor soul like this can despair of ever being recovered. He sank in deep mire where there was no standing. I will tell you this, if Jesus Christ does not make intercession for such a person and strengthen his faith, and send some light into his darkness, Satan will sift him. Those who dream they are a match for Satan’s accusations are ignorant of his devices.

Does our Lord Jesus know all this? Of course he knows. His intercession had already secured Peter, not from falling but from falling away. Not from bitter weeping but from final despair. Peter had a sad and fearful fall, but he had a fearless and faithful Advocate with the Father. Peter fell, but just about the time the enemy began to rejoice over him, he rose up again – forgiven and restored.

Dear fallen saint, don’t despair. Maybe you see no way in your present darkness to be restored, but Jesus Christ can see for you, He is the way. Look out of your wet eyes to him. Your heart is aching but the Lord Jesus feels it. Trust him. Wait upon Him. Your weeping may endure for a night, but joy will come in the morning.

~ Pastor Bruce Crabtree

Click here to listen to the message “Who killed Jesus, I want to know”

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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: 8 August, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a

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The Good Life

“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. | Psalm 91: 1-3

Click here to listen to the message “The Good Life”

Zebulon Grace Church Bulletin Article date: 15 August, 2021 | Previous post date: n/a | Pikeville, Kentucky

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The Morning of Forever

“The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” | Isaiah 2: 1-4

The Lord Jesus Christ established and exalted his church by his life, death and resurrection. From heaven through the church on earth he is now establishing and exalting his church above every hill of falsehood by calling out his people, teaching them, and causing them to walk in him alone by faith. But there is one last work which he shall perform in establishing and exalting his house.

By the power of his grace working within his people in his church the Lord makes his people a peaceful people. Swords and spears are poor gardening tools. Therefore he makes his people instruments for husbandry. Believers have ceased binding others with the law–not only because we can not obey it but because an obedience to the law can in no way cleanse the filth of our flesh so that we are holy, only Christ can. Knowing that Christ has freely, fully, forever accomplished our warfare by reconciling us to God in righteouness and true holiness we no longer study how to war against God with the sword and spears of our works. Instead, we preach Christ who has made us more than conquerors. And though this is true of the believer in this life, we do not yet know the fullness of peace while we remain in this sinful flesh and sinful world.

Yet, in the end of these last days, after the Lord has called his saints from the four corners of this world, he shall then bring the remainder of the nations before him in judgment and shall rebuke many people for the hardness of their hearts and the sin that all men are. But at last he shall establish his bride in a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwells only righteousness; where there will fully be no war and need for instruments of war. In that day he shall exalt his bride as the trophy of his victory by the work he performed from beginning to end. She shall be established and exalted when he presents her to himself, a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but holy and without blemish.

He established and exalted his church by his person and finished work, and by raising her in him to the right hand of God. He is establishing and exalting his church above the hills of every false dominion through his church through the gospel he teaches in the heart. He shall establish and exalt his bride one last time to be with him. On that morning when forever begins, all those present shall have one and the same song, “Worthy is the Lamb!” Amen.

~ Pastor Clay Curtis

Click here to listen to the message “Faith’s Confidence”

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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: 2 August, 2008 | Previous post date: n/a | Ewing, New Jersey