Blessed is the preacher who can shut men up to free and sovereign grace and yet lovingly, sincerely invite all men to look to Christ and be saved. Blessed is the preacher who knows that “salvation is of the Lord,” who has the patience to wait upon the Lord to regenerate, awaken, and call his hearers; yet he prays for their deliverance, urges them to close with Christ, and beseeches them to “be reconciled to God.” Blessed is the preacher who can preach with equal force and confidence both the preservation and the perseverance of believers. God will not, “Turn away from us and we will not depart from him.” Blessed is the preacher who can rejoice in imputed righteousness; “with his holy garments on, I am as spotless as his dear Son;” and yet, along with his congregation, hunger and thirst for spiritual growth and personal godliness. Blessed is the preacher who can find and preach both justification and sanctification at Calvary.
We do not go to Calvary for justification and then to Sinai for sanctification; we are “complete in him.” Blessed is the preacher who can preach prophetical truth in such a way that his hearers are looking for the returning Christ and not only the return of Christ. Blessed is the preacher who administers believers' baptism, presides at the Lord's Table, and oversees the business of the Lord's church, not according to the “way we do it in our circles and according to our custom and tradition,” but according to the word of God. It may be that if preachers and people return to the Scriptures, someone will ask, “What kind of church is this?” And we can answer, “It is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, which he loved and purchased with his own blood and of which he is the sole Head.”
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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