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Henry Mahan

The School of Grace

Romans 8:28-39
Henry Mahan • June, 15 1994 • Audio
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Message: 1152b
Henry Mahan Tape Ministry
6088 Zebulon Highway
Pikeville, KY 41501

Sermon Transcript

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I'll give you my text a little
later. But I want you to take your Bibles tonight and follow
me as I turn to several verses of Scripture. Now, by way of
introducing the message, we know beyond a doubt that our Lord
has a people. We know that he has a church.
We know that he has a body, one body. We know that he has a kingdom
given him by the Father in that blessed covenant of grace, the
everlasting covenant of mercy and grace. And these people were
given to our Lord as Frank prayed a few moments ago. before the
world began. Now how anyone who knows anything
about the scriptures can doubt this is beyond me. I want you to turn first of all
to John chapter 6. In the 6th chapter of John, our
Lord says in verse 37, John 6.37, he says, "...all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven not
to do mine own will," and he's speaking here as a man, as the
representative man, "...but the will of him that sent me, And
this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which
he hath given me I shall lose nothing, but raise it up again
at the last day. Now turn to John 10. John 10. Our Lord is saying he has a people,
a people given to him by the Father, a people for whom he
came. He said, I've come that they
might have life. that they might have it more
abundantly. Now he calls them his sheep in John 10, verse 26. He says to the religious Pharisees,
but you believe not. You do not believe me. I told
you who I am, but you didn't believe me because you're not
of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. I know them. I know my sheep.
They follow Me. And I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them
out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me,
gave them to Me, and Me to them, is greater than all, and no man
is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand. I am the Father
One. All right, in John 17, I'm just
touching a few of these passages. in which our Lord declares that
he does have a people, a church, a sheep. He calls them his jewels. He's not ashamed to call them
his brethren. And here in John 17, he says
in verse 1, these words spake Jesus, that is, the words recorded
in John 13, 14, 15, 16, the words of exhortation and encouragement
to his disciples. He spake those words, and then
he spoke to the Father. He spoke these preceding words
to the disciples. Now he lifted up his eyes to
heaven, and he said, Father, the hour is come. Glorify thy
Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee, as thou hast given thy
Son authority, power over all flesh, that he should give eternal
life, it's the gift of God, freely given, without cause, on our
part, eternal life, to as many as thou hast given him. And he
refers to them in this way, in this prayer, six times, as many
as the Father hath given me. You've given me authority, control,
power over all flesh that I should give eternal life to as many
as Thou hast given me. And in verse 9, he says, I pray
for them. I pray for these sheep. I pray
for these people. I pray for these whom you've
given me. I pray not for this world. I
pray for them which Thou hast given me. For they are Thine.
They're Yours. And all mine are Thine. And all
Thine are mine. I'm glorified, isn't I? All right,
Romans 8, the Apostle Paul. I started this message out, we
know, and we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that our Lord has
a people. We know that, and that's what Paul writes in Romans 8,
verse 28, and we know. This is not speculation. This is not idle hearsay. This we know. We know that all
things work together for good to them who love God, to them
who are called according to His purpose, for whom He did foreknow. He did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among
many brethren. whom he did predestinate them,
he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom
he justified, them he also glorified." Now what shall we say to these
things? Well, we say, God be far as who
can be against us. That's what we say. We say, verse 33, who can lay
anything to the charge of God's elect, it's God that justifies.
What do we say? We say verse 34, Who is He that
condemns? It's Christ that died. What do
we say? We say in verse 35, Who can separate
us from the love of Christ? My, my, Romans 9, look over there. How can anyone doubt this glorious
gospel of sovereign and free grace when the Scriptures are
so clear? Romans 9 verse 11, For the children
being not yet born, Jacob and Esau, twins, in their mother
Rebekah's womb, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God, according to election, might stand. And it
will. It has, it does, and it will. The purpose of God. We
are called not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace given us in Christ before the world began.
It will stand. That it might stand, not of works,
but of him that calleth. It was said to Rebekah, the elder
shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Now what do we say to them? Is
there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. Paul uses that phrase,
God forbid. He's the only writer in Scripture
that uses that phrase, and he uses it several times. Every
time he uses it, it's when some ridiculous statement has been
made. Somebody says, well, if grace If our sin magnifies the
grace of God, then less sin. He said, God forbid. What's wrong
with you? On another occasion, he said,
does their unbelief make void the promise of God? God forbid. Who ever heard of such a thing?
And here he said, is God unfair? I hear people say, I don't believe
in election. That's unfair. You mean God's
unfair? God forbid. That's as close as
Paul comes to cussing. God forbid. He said to Moses,
he said this way back to John in Exodus 33, he said, I'll have
mercy on whom I will have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. Somebody said, well, Esau lost
his birthright. He did not. He sold it. He willingly, deliberately, on
purpose, sold it. for a mess of beans. If God hates
him, he ought to be hated. That's right. That's right. It wasn't any accident. He did it on purpose. About all
we do, we do on purpose. Not of him that willeth, it's
of God that shows mercy. Alright, one or two more. Ephesians
1. Ephesians chapter 1. Paul writing
to that Gentile church. And he says, bless God. You know,
about every time Paul talks about election, he does so rejoicing,
praising God. Praising God. Election is a doctrine
of praise. Praise. Praise God. Our Lord Jesus Christ rejoiced
and lifted His voice to heaven. He said, I thank you, Father.
I thank you, Lord of heaven and earth. that you have heard these
things from the wise and prudent. I thank you. And you revealed
it to babes. Praise God. Praise God. I'm glad I'm a babe. Aren't you? I'm glad I'm a Gentile dog. But
the wonderful thing is I'm glad I know it by His grace. There
are a lot of Gentile dogs that don't know it. Bless God, he
said in verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the
heavenlies, in Christ, according as He chose us in Him, in Christ,
before the foundation of the world. Not because we were holy,
but that we should be holy and without blame before Him. In love He predestinated us. unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ, not according to our wills, but according to
the good pleasure of His own will. Not to our glory, but the
praise of the glory of His grace, wherein we didn't accept Him,
He made us accept Him. He accepted us in Christ. I told you, my generation 20th
century is 90 miles from the nearest gospel outpost. The pony
express don't even run out there where they are. They don't know
anything about this. But so, alright, now here's the
next thing we know. I know that. And we're bound
to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of
the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth.
I'll tell you something else I know. I know that God has commanded
us to go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. That's right. Every creature. Let's look at a scripture, Matthew
28. Our Lord had died on the cross, rose again, appeared to
the disciples, the women, 500 brethren at once. Then He gathered
His disciples about Him before He ascended back to the Father. And He said in Matthew 28, verse
18, And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, is given unto me in heaven and
earth. I've got all power. We don't represent, we're not
ambassadors of, we don't preach the gospel of a pasteboard king. He's king of kings and lord of
lords. He has all authority over all
flesh. He always has had. Even when
he was hanging on that cross, he was the king. And he said,
all authority is given unto me in heaven and earth, so you go. Go ye therefore and teach all
nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. Mark 16. Listen to him here. Mark 16. Verse 15, and he said to them,
now you go. You go. If you can't go, you
help somebody else go. That's right. Paul was talking to the church
at Thessalonica. He said, from you sounded out
the Word of God in Macedonia and Archaea and all the regions
round about. You shall be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, Samaria, and the other most parts of the earth. Go ye therefore, go ye into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature, everybody
who will lend you an ear. You tell them who Christ is and
what he did and why he did it and where he is now. Preach that
gospel indiscriminately to everybody who will listen. And he that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved. And he that does not
believe that gospel shall be damned. And no question about
that, isn't that right? All right. Thirdly, some people
have a problem with this. Some people have a problem with
this. They say, if I believed in election, I wouldn't preach. They say, if I believed that
God knew who was going to be saved. What do you mean, if you
believed it? It's so. Known unto God are all His works
from the beginning. But they say, if some are chosen
to be saved, and those who are not chosen to be saved will not
be saved and will not come to Christ and will not believe the
gospel, then why preach to everybody? I'll give you one, two, three,
four, five reasons. If you want to, you can write
them down. For all the years that I've been
pastor here, 43 years almost, has been recognized as and known
as a missionary church that preaches the gospel over radio, television,
tapes, books, missionaries. We'll preach the gospel to as
many people in all the world as we possibly can, and yet we
believe Absolutely, strongly, that God has a people whom He
gave to Christ, for whom Christ died, and they will hear. They, my sheep, other sheep I
have, which are not of this foal, them also I must bring, and they
shall hear my voice, and they shall be one foot. First reason
why we preach that gospel, we're commanded to. You know right? My Lord told me to go into all
the world and preach the gospel. We're ambassadors of Christ.
As though God did beseech you by us, be ye reconciled to God. In the name of God, we persuade
men. He told us to. A good servant does not question
the commandment of his king. He does what he tells him to
do. And a good, obedient child does not ask his father why when
his father gives him an order. He goes and does it. That's right. He doesn't question the wisdom
of the Father. He says, you go preach to every
creature. You do it. Now, I tell you this. If you preach the gospel of God's
grace, A man asked me the other day, he said, does a fellow have
to hear a sovereign grace preacher to be saved? I said, no. But he has to hear a sovereign
grace gospel. That's right. He has to hear
a sovereign grace gospel if it ain't but one gospel, and it's
the gospel of grace. It's just one gospel, isn't it?
Just one gospel. And I'm not saying a man has
to hear a certain preacher of a certain cut or a certain phraseology,
but he got to hear the gospel of God's grace. Got to. And if we preach the gospel of
God's grace from God's Word in the power of God's Spirit, seeking
the glory of God, we're always successful. Never fail. You say,
you mean you always get convert? No, sir. No, sir. But we're always successful because
he said, thanks be unto God who always causes us to triumph in
Christ. For we are, we are the savor,
the fragrance, the sweet smell of life unto life and death unto
death. of life to those who believe
and death to those who don't. I'm always successful when I
preach the gospel in the power of God's Spirit from the Word
of God with the right spirit. Some believe and some don't,
but everybody makes a decision. Everybody. That's right. The second reason why we preach
this gospel It is by the preaching of the gospel that God's elect
are saved. That's how God saves men. Saves
men by preaching the gospel. Listen. Paul said, I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ if it is the power of God unto salvation. It's the gospel that's the power
of God unto salvation. For Paul said, it pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. You
know what he said? Ephesians 1, 13, 14 says, in
whom you trusted after you heard the gospel. After you heard the
word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. That's when you
trusted, after you heard it. In whom you believed. In whom you were sealed by the
Holy Spirit. When? When were you sealed? When
were you believing? When were you saved? after you
heard the gospel. That's right. How shall they
call on Him in whom they have not believed? How shall they
believe in Him of whom they have not heard? How shall they hear? Without a preacher. James 1 says this, Of His own
will begat He us with the word of truth. Paul said as he sat
in prison and wrote that prison epistle, I'm here, a prisoner
of Jesus Christ. I'm bound. The Word of God is
not bound. I'm bound. But I endure these
things for the elect's sake that they may hear the gospel and
be saved. That's why I'm here. We're not
looking for goats. We're looking for sheep. We're
not looking for rebels. We're looking for lost sons. That's right. He hath begotten
us again, not with corruptible seed, but with incorruptible
seed, the Word of God. Thirdly, why do we preach the
gospel? We're commanded to. Secondly,
it's the preaching of the gospel that God's elect hear. They hear
the gospel. They don't just hear a man, they'll
hear it from a man. It's like that woman wrote from
Grayson, who said she's been listening to me a long time and
couldn't connect with the messages I was preaching. She just couldn't
connect with it. She said, I can't connect with
it. But last Sunday she said, I heard the glorious things you're
preaching. Thank you, thank you, thank you. That's something. What's behind
that curtain? You know when you'll find out?
When somebody opens it. What's behind the mysteries,
the mysterious will of God? That book written within and
without, sealed with seven seals that no man can open and no man
can look upon. You'll know when He, the Son
of God, opens it and lets you see. Not until. And some fancy soul winner looking
for a little credit and a crown in heaven is not going to open
it to you. The Lamb out of the midst of
the throne, as He had been slain with seven eyes, the seven spirits
of God, it's been given to Him in His worthiness, He's found
worthy to open it. It's all revealed in Christ.
The third reason why I preach this gospel is for that very
reason. It glorifies Christ. Glorifies
Christ. It glorifies Christ. And it rejoices
my heart. Oh boy, I tell you, you can't
preach the gospel and glorify a man. Can't do it. Any gospel
that gives any credit, praise, merit, or reward to any son of
Adam is not the gospel. The gospel is the gospel of the
glory of God. That's right. That's what he
called it. Paul called it in Timothy. He
said, I'm separated to the glorious gospel of God or the gospel of
His glory. It exalts Christ, magnifies Christ. Two people came to hear Mr. Spurgeon
one time. They couldn't get in the building.
The place was packed out. Sunday morning. They came from
America to hear Spurgeon preach, and they couldn't get in. So
they went to another church down the street. They heard a good
preacher. He was a good preacher. And when
the couple left the church, the husband looked at the wife and
said, My, what a sermon. What a sermon! That night they
came early and they got in to hear Spurgeon preach the gospel.
Same couple went out of that church and he looked at his wife
with a tear in his eyes and he said, What a Savior! What a Savior! What a difference! What's the
difference? The gospel. That's the difference. That's the difference. Fourthly,
I'll tell you why I preach this. This is the gospel of Christ,
and it's the everlasting gospel. It's what the servants of God
have always preached. In Revelation 14, 6, it says,
listen, the everlasting gospel. There's not a half a dozen different
kinds of gospels, there's just one. It says in Revelation 14,
6, it says, I saw another angel fly in the
midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that
dwell on the earth and to every nation, kindred, tongue, and
people. What kind of gospel? The everlasting gospel. The everlasting
covenant of mercy and grace. Paul said just one gospel, and
if any man preach any other gospel, even if it's an angel from heaven,
let him be a curse. This gospel occupied the thinking
of Abel as he brought the blood sacrifice. This gospel occupied
the thoughts of Noah, the preacher of righteousness, not his, God's
righteousness. This gospel occupied the thinking
of Abraham who saw my day and rejoiced and told his boy, my
son, God will provide himself a sacrifice. You wait. You wait. This gospel occupied
the laugh and heart of Moses who wrote of me, Christ said,
and of David, who said, blessed is the man to whom God will not
charge sin, and Isaiah, who said he was wounded for our transgression,
and Peter, James, John, and Paul, and Augustine, and Ignatius,
and Luther, and Knox, and Spurgeon, and every faithful preacher of
God to this day, 1994. And anybody that doesn't preach
it is not a preacher of God. That's so. And I wouldn't give one of them
the time of day. And I wouldn't bid them God's
speed. And if it was in my home, I'd put them out. That's right. Fifthly, the preacher... I preach this gospel to every
creature, everybody who will listen to me. who will just pause
for a moment and turn one ear my way. And I wouldn't compromise
it for the whole state of Kentucky. I preach this gospel lastly because
I don't know who the elect are. And therefore I've got to preach
it to every creature. Some folks whom I think are the
elect are not, and some folks whom I think are not are. Only
God He said, I know my sheep. I know them. I know them. The counsels of God concerning
the election of grace is secret. And he said over here in Matthew
13, listen to this, Matthew 13 verse 24. Matthew 13, 24. He
put a parable forth to them. He put a parable forth to them.
Listen. The kingdom of heaven is likened
to a man who sowed good seed in his field. And while men slept,
we could comment on that, couldn't we? Don't compromise. Don't let down the barriers.
Don't let the enemy come in. He'll sow the evil seed. While men slept, his enemy came
and sowed tares among his wheat. And when His way, they do, they'll
come and devastate the place and leave. But when the blade
was sprung up and brought forth fruit, the tares appeared also. So the servants of the householder
came and said, Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? Yes. Well, from whence then hath
it tares? Well, he said, An enemy hath
done this. Well, the servant said, would you have me go and
pull them up? I'll go out there and pull them
up. I'll pull those tires up. I'll exclude them. I'll discipline
them. I'll get a bunch of fellas together.
We'll find out who's saved and who ain't saved according to
Hoyle, you know, and we'll get rid of them. Now, he said, don't
you fool with that now. Verse 30, you let them grow together
until the harvest. Payday. And in the time of harvest,
I will say to the reaper, this is God's business, not mine or
yours. Gather you together first the tares. Gather them together.
God knows them. He knows men's hearts. He looks
not on the outward countenance, but on the heart. And you bind
them in bundles to burn them. And then you put the wheat in
my barn. There's another objection that
arises. Preacher, if you preach the gospel
to all men everywhere... Now listen to me, listen carefully. Some of my preacher brethren
are here tonight, and I want you to hear this carefully. They
say if you preach the gospel of God's grace, the blood of
Christ, the righteousness of Christ, to every son of Adam
everywhere, then you've got to tell them all that God loves
them and that Christ died for them. If you preach the gospel
to everybody, you've got to tell everybody God loves them and
Christ died for them. No, that's not true. That's not
true. I can and I will preach the gospel
of God's grace to all men. Everywhere, faithfully and sincerely. But the gospel does not declare
that Christ died on the cross for every son of Adam, does it?
Listen now. The gospel declares that Christ
died for sinners. Are you a sinner? Now then, if
I can find a sinner, I'll say to these people everywhere, every
man, indiscriminately, I'll say, are you a sinner? Yes, I'm a
sinner. Christ died for you. That's what
it says. This is a faithful saying that
Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I'm
chief. He said, I'm come to call not
the righteous, but sinners. So I'll say, Charlie, to every
one of them, are you a sinner? Christ died for sinners. I say,
everybody's a sinner. Ask them. You find one. I challenge you to find an unadulterated,
unadorned, self-confessed, hell-deserving, ill-deserving, undeserving sinner
from the sole of his feet to the top of his head that's capable
of any sin unto heaven without the grace of God. Find one. There
ain't many of them in here. We're trying, aren't we? We're
trying to be a sinner. But it's hard. A sinner is a
sacred thing. I'm telling you. A sinner is
a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost made him so. You
find a man who's humble and broken and contrite at the feet of Christ,
who's a genuine sinner, you tell him Christ died for him. I tell you this, it says Christ
died for the ungodly. Romans 5, 6, when Christ died
for the ungodly. Christ died for His enemies when
we were enemies! Christ died for us. I'm not an
enemy of God, preacher. I always have loved God. I've
always said to my mother, I love Jesus. No, you don't either. People love the Jesus of their
imagination, not this one. The world hates me, he said. Marvel not, my brethren, if the
world hate you. The world hated me before it
hated you. They don't hate the Jesus of
their imagination, they hate the Jesus of sovereign mercy. That's right. Find me a man that's
an enemy. I'll tell him Christ died for
him. The gospel declares that the Son must be lifted up. You know what He said? As Moses
lifted up the serpent and the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up. And when He says He must be lifted
up, He's talking about His death. Watch it now. The Son of Man
must be lifted up that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish. You go preach that. Everybody
who believes in Him, he died for. And he that believeth not
is damned. He didn't die for it. Help me,
I'm telling the truth. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be crucified and
slain, suffer and die, in order that whosoever believeth in Him
might not perish, but have everlasting life." That's the people for
whom He died. Everybody who believes Him. And those who don't, they have
no mediator. Listen to me. The gospel declares that Christ
laid down His life for His sheep. And what did He say? I lay down
my life for the sheep. I know them, watch it, and they
what? Follow me. I'll tell you for
whom Christ died. He died for everybody who's following
Him. That's right. I lay down my life
for the sheep. And I know them, and they what? They follow me. And I give them
life. And if they're not following
Him, they don't have life, and they're not His sheep, and He
didn't lay His life for them. So I'll go out here and preach
the gospel to everybody. Doesn't matter who. And I'll
tell them He died for sinners. Well, I'm no sinner. That's okay. That's all right. He still died
for sinners. He died for the ungodly. Well,
you're not talking to me, preacher. I just don't like the way you
talk. That's offensive. The gospel is offensive. Paul
said if it's not offensive, it's not the gospel. Then the offense is perished. He died for whosoever believeth.
He died for those who follow him. Listen to me now. If the most guilty sinner in
this whole world will hear his gospel, take his place before
God in the dust as a sinner, and believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, he'll be saved as sure as Christ died on that tree. And he can be sure that God loves
him, or he never would have come to Christ. He can be sure that
Christ died for him, or he never would have believed. Do you want
Christ? I want heaven. That's not what
I asked. Do you want Christ? Well, I want religion and my
own way of life. No. I said, do you want Christ?
Do you desire Him? Do you wish to be saved from
your sins by His blood? Do you really? Yes, I do. Then
God loved you, chose you, gave you to Christ and He died for
you. I tell you that. And your very conviction of sin
is of the Lord, your very willingness to come to Christ is of the Lord,
your very interest in the true gospel reveals a saving work
of God. For if any man longs for salvation,
God chose him to it. If any man loves true salvation,
God chose him to it. If any man hears the gospel and
receives it, God elected him to it. And his faith is proof
that Christ died for him. And a man's unbelief is proof
that Christ didn't die for him. You hear me? A man's faith in
Christ is proof Christ died for him. Because for by grace are
you saved through faith, through faith, through faith, and that
not of yourselves. It's the gift of God. You see? Oh, you must see. This is the heart and soul of
all that we preach. This is the gospel concerning
his son, old brother Milford Hall, up in McDowell, Kentucky. Died in 1971, and he said, it
is Christ, it's not the cross. That's right, it's Christ, it's
not the cross that saves, it's Christ. It's the master, not
the mother. It's the ideal, not the idol.
It's the Prince of Peace, not the priest. It's the Redeemer,
not the rosary. It's the Son, not the sister.
It's the bridegroom, not the brotherhood. It's His righteousness,
His blood, His love, His faith, His presence. It's Christ who
is all or not at all. It's not Christ and the church.
It's Christ. It's not Christ and my confession.
It's Christ. It's not even Christ and my faith. It's Christ. Who of God is made
unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
It's not Christ and anything. It's Christ. The hope of glory. Whew! Christ as my mediator stands. Watch it now. between my soul
and God. Upon both parties he lays his
hands and presents his precious blood. You see that? Christ, my mediator, stands between
my soul and God, and upon both parties lays his hands, presenting
his precious blood. Christ is my rock, On Him I bail,
He's my life, my hope, my all. His promises shall all be fulfilled,
and He'll never let me fall. Now you can live on that. You can rest in that. You can
trust in that gospel, and you can die by that gospel. That's the school of grace. The
Holy Ghost is our teacher. All right, we're going to sing
number 80. And we're going to sing it to
the tune of page 35. And it's a song that I don't
think we've used before, but I was reading the words this
afternoon, page 80. And the tune to which we're going
to sing it It makes it a little different, so I'll tell you how
we're going to sing it. Lord, page 80, follow me. Dismiss us with our blessings.
Fill our hearts with joy and peace. Let us each, Thy love
possessing, triumph in redeeming grace. Oh, refresh us, traveling
through this wilderness. Oh, refresh us, traveling through
this wilderness. That's how we'll change it, the
last line. Alright, let's stand and turn to page 80.
Henry Mahan
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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