I received a telephone call this week from a religious organization which began with this question: “We have put together study material to help pastors get their church membership interested and involved in the church and its work. Would you be interested in receiving the material?” The caller was shocked when I replied, “No.”
Organizations and projects such as this are the results of today’s “evangelism and easy believism.” Multitudes are brought into the church who know nothing of the grace of the God, the love of Christ, and the fellowship of believers.
Beloved, knowing as you do something of what we were by nature, what the Lord God in mercy and love has done for us through the obedience and death of our Lord Jesus, what we are now and have by his gracious call and loving intercession, can you even imagine not being interested in knowing more of that grace and not involved in his worship, his work, and his kingdom?
Salvation is indeed “of the Lord;” and all whom he saves will say with Paul, “I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord; for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ and be found in him.”
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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