The tendency of men, if left alone, is to drift father from God; and preachers are no exception. If left alone, they depart from preaching the true gospel of Jesus Christ and begin to major on other things. It was true in the early days of the church. For the first few years after our Lord ascended, Christ was preached; but, gradually preachers and churches began to preach works, ceremony, law, and tradition. Read the epistles of Corinthians and Galatians.
It is no different today. Where can you go and hear Christ preached? Men preach about the gospel and doctrines about Christ, but John called our gospel “the doctrine of Christ,” not the doctrine about Christ.
It would be easy to give the sum and substance of Paul’s message; it was Jesus Christ and him crucified! If you had asked Paul his creed, he would have said, “My creed is Christ.” If you had inquired as to his body of divinity, he would have replied, “There is but one body of divinity”—“In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”
To these apostles Christ was not a historical character, a creed, nor a plan of salvation; he was their Lord, real to their minds, the first love of their hearts, who was, is, and is to come—my Lord and my God.
About Henry Mahan
Henry T. Mahan was born in Birmingham, Alabama in August 1926. He joined the United States Navy in 1944 and served as a signalman on an L.S.T. in the Pacific during World War II. In 1946, he married his wife Doris, and the Lord blessed them with four children.
At the age of 21, he entered the pastoral ministry and gained broad experience as a pastor, teacher, conference speaker, and evangelist. In 1950, through the preaching of evangelist Rolfe Barnard, God was pleased to establish Henry in sovereign free grace teaching. At that time, he was serving as an assistant pastor at Pollard Baptist Church (off of Blackburn ave.) in Ashland, Kentucky.
In 1955, Thirteenth Street Baptist Church was formed in Ashland, Kentucky, and Henry was called to be its pastor. He faithfully served that congregation for more than 50 years, continuing in the same message throughout his ministry. His preaching was centered on the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified, in full accord with the Scriptures. He consistently proclaimed God’s sovereign purpose in salvation and the glory of Christ in redeeming sinners through His blood and righteousness.
Henry T. Mahan also traveled widely, preaching in conferences and churches across the United States and beyond. His ministry was marked by a clear and unwavering emphasis on Christ, not the preacher, but the One preached. Those who heard him recognized that his sermons honored the Savior and exalted the name of the Lord Jesus Christ above all.
Henry T. Mahan served as pastor and teacher of Thirteenth Street Baptist Church in Ashland, Kentucky for over half a century. His life and ministry were devoted to proclaiming the sovereign grace of God and directing sinners to the finished work of Christ. He entered into the presence of the Lord in 2019, leaving behind a lasting testimony to the gospel he faithfully preached.
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