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Henry Mahan

Redeemed

1 Peter 1:13-15
Henry Mahan • May, 11 1994 • Video & Audio
1,528 Articles 3,940 Sermons 760 Books
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Henry Mahan
Henry Mahan • May, 11 1994
1,528 articles 3,940 sermons 760 books

Sermon Transcript

Auto-generated transcript • May contain errors

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Now go back to that passage where
we were reading a moment ago. Verse 12, we're told that we have now reported
unto us by them that preach the gospel, for the Holy Ghost sent
down from heaven things that angels desire to look into. Believers are a people favored
of God, blessed of God, chosen of God, regenerated, redeemed
by the blood of Christ, kept by the power of God, enlightened
by His Spirit. Now verse 13, listen. Wherefore,
therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, Let us apply our
minds and our hearts to these things which we have heard, lest
we let them slip. Be sober, serious. Take them
seriously. Take them seriously and hope
to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at
the revelation or at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
verse 14, as obedient children. Not fashioning yourselves. Don't
imitate the world. Not fashioning yourselves according
to the former lust in your ignorance. Don't try to be like the world. Don't try to imitate the world.
Don't try to win the favor and approval of the world. Don't
be governed by the ways and language and philosophy of the world.
Live your life as a believer. Don't let them set your tone. You set it with the Word of God.
Don't be like them. We're new creatures in Christ. Verse 13 says, take this seriously
what you've learned. Angels desire to look into the
things that God's taught you. Take it seriously. Be sober.
And don't let the world dictate to you. Don't passion yourself
after them. Don't be like them. But as He
which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy. In all manner
of conversation, be holy, be godly, be spiritual in your conduct,
in your attitude, in your conversation. Paul said over here in the book
of Colossians, listen to this, it's Colossians 4, verse 6. Colossians 4, verse 6, and this
is where a lot of it is in conversation. That's what he said, Be ye holy
in all manner of conversation. Verse 6 of Colossians 4 says,
Let your speech be always with grace. As a man
thinketh in his heart, the mouth speaketh. Out of the heart the
mouth speaketh. And our conversation is to be
always with grace. But this is not a forced religious
rhetoric like you hear on television. But it's a speech of grace, giving
glory to God. Watch this next line now. Seasoned
with salt. What salt is to meat, grace is
to the speech. Makes it tasty, makes it acceptable,
makes it good. Flavors it. Give God the glory. Be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Most of God's people are holy
in their conduct and in their business dealings and their honesty. Watch your mouth. That's what
he's talking about. Conversation. Let it be seasoned with grace.
Salted with grace. All right, go back to the text.
Because it's written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. Set a watch on
our mouths. That's where James says, Man
contain his tongue. He's done a mighty, mighty deed. The tongue is a little member,
but it's set on fire with hell. It divides, it destroys, it murders. destroys character. Oh, the tongue
is a vicious, vicious instrument. And that's where you go to work
in this holiness business. And then verse 17, watch this. And if you call on the Father,
that is, if you call God your Father, if you profess that He's
your Father and you're His child, if you call on Him in prayer,
which we do, because He is our Father, our Father which art
in heaven, So when it says, if you call on him, it's the same
thing as saying, if you call him your father. And being your
father, you'll call on him as father. Who without respect of
persons, Almighty God is no respecter of a man's person, position,
power, possessions, or talent, or nationality, or deeds. Who without respect of person,
He judges according to every man's work. God looks on the
high, That which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to
God. He respects no man's person,
power, position, possession, talent, whatever. He looks on
the heart, judges by what's in the heart. So if you call God
Father, this One who is all-wise and all-knowing, and looks on
our hearts and not on our outward countenance, then you will pass
the time of your sojourning in fear, in trembling, in awe, in
reverence, in humility, because He looks on the heart. God sees
not as a man sees. But we really know Him, call
Him our Father. We're just pilgrims here, we're
passing through, we're natives by the first birth of this land,
but we're citizens by the second birth of that land, and we're
passing through waiting his call, and we know that he looks on
the heart, that we've passed the time of this sojourning in
great awe, great fear, reverence before God. For as much, now
watch this, here we come, for as much as you know of this I'm confident that you
were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, we've
been redeemed. And according to this scripture
here, we've been redeemed from two things. Now wait and read
it carefully, verse 18. For as much as you know that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, The Apostle Peter is saying to
these people, now you've been redeemed from sin, from the guilt
of it, from the curse of it, from the power of it, from the
penalty of it, from the practice of it, one day from the presence
of sin. Adam's transgression, sin on
nature, the Adamic sin, the original sin. The sins of our consciences,
and hearts, and minds, and thoughts, and intellect, and deeds, and
feet, and hands, and mouths, and minds, we've been redeemed
from sin by the blood of Christ. But we've been redeemed from
a vain conversation received by tradition from our fathers. That's false religion. That's a useless religion. That's
what he's talking about here. This verse is emphasizing our
deliverance from a life of religion. Works, ritualism, vain, useless
things. Where did we get our religion?
We received it by tradition from our father. Most people, their religion is what they receive
handed down to them. Most people. Practically all
except those called by grace. And when he calls us by grace,
he not only calls us out of the dunghill of flesh, but he calls
us out of the dunghill of religion. All this self-righteousness. Most every sheep of Christ is
found in some kind of religion. Self-righteousness, which is
the greatest sin of all sins. Self-righteousness is not recognized
by men as great sin. They call them good men. Here's
a fellow that has no use for the righteousness of Christ,
for the sacrifice and blood of Christ. He's laboring to establish
before God a righteousness for himself. And we say, well, he
doesn't know the gospel, but he's a good man. He's a devil. He hates Christ. He hates the
gospel. He would with his hands tear
the lamb off the throne if you turned him loose. He would have
heaven by his own deeds. He would have heaven by an act
of law and works. He would take the crown off the
head of Christ and put it on his own head. He's the greatest
sinner alive. That's right. I said one time
in a message, I had rather I had rather, and I mean it, I mean
it, I had rather one of my boys be a bartender down here at Quality
Inn than be an Armenian preacher. Ten times rather. Ten times rather. You say, but he's contributing
to delinquency of people down there. The man in the pulpit
who preaches salvation by work is contributing to the damnation
of people. God saves drunks, but He doesn't
save religious people. That's right. Self-righteous
people. I'm telling you the truth. It's
the greatest sin in the world, is to try to merit heaven by
your works. And when Christ redeemed us,
He redeemed us from sin, and He redeemed us from self-righteousness. Glory be to God! I'd rather be
standing before God charged with murder than charged with self-righteousness. Any day, any day. I'd stand a chance as a murderer,
but not as a Pharisee. Because that Pharisee is challenging
the right of Christ to reign. That's right. So you weren't redeemed. It takes God to save a man from
religion. It takes the blood of Christ
to put away that self-righteous damnation. And we weren't redeemed. Nobody bought us out of that
with silver and gold. Verse 19, how did we get out
of it? With the precious, precious. Why is it called precious? It's
called precious because it's so valuable. There's none like it. It's the
only one. Precious. The precious blood
of Christ, the precious blood of God. Who redeemed us? Christ
our Lord. Why did He redeem us? The answer
is found in Himself, not in us. How did He redeem us? With His
precious blood, as of a lamb, a suffering, sacrificial lamb,
without blemish, without sin, without stain, without spot. Ah, me, ever Old Testament lamb
that was taken to the altar and had its throat cut, its blood
shed, and roasted its body with fire, shows the sacrifice of
our Lamb of God on that cross, who endured the fire and the
wrath and the judgment of God for our awful sin of self-righteousness
and all the rest of it, redeemed us. He redeemed us. according to the good pleasure
of his will, redeemed us with his own precious blood by himself
purged our sin." Now, when did he redeem us? All right, watch
it. Verse 20, "...who barely was foreordained before the foundation
of the work." Now listen to me. If one would really enter in
to this thing of He's going to have to try to enter into some
understanding of the person of Christ. Not just his work, his
person. Because it's who he is that makes
effectual what he did. And to have any understanding
of the redemptive work of Christ, we're going to have to look into
the character of Christ. We're not talking about a man
confined to times and seasons and recorded acts, but God is
our Redeemer. God Himself is our Redeemer,
and all that Christ is, from eternity past to eternity future,
all that He designs and decrees and thinks and does, is involved
in our redemption. Our redemption is not just the
shedding of His blood, The shedding of His blood is
made effectual by who He is. For example, somebody says Christ
died for our sins. Well, how can it be that Christ
died? Well, He became a man. Why was it necessary for Him
to become a man? That He might be our representative,
bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. That He might as a
faithful high priest be acquainted with our nature and our sin.
Well, who decreed that he should be our representative? Well,
the Eternal Father decreed it. Well, when did the Eternal Father
decree it? Before the foundation of the
world. So this thing of redemption, it focuses at the cross. But at the cross you keep going
back to why he came, how he came, why he came, who sent him, why
did he send him, when was it all worked out, when was it purposed,
before the world. What is that? Who verily was
foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifested
in these last times for you. I say, now don't stop there,
it's a comma, for you. Who by him do believe? All right,
we're coming from the cross for salvation now. His people must
believe. Man can't be saved without believing
the gospel. So here we've got the cross here
in the center of this thing. Somebody says, well, I'm trusting
the finished work. Uh-uh. I'm trusting the person. The person. And the work wasn't
finished at the cross. In reference to me, I've got
to believe. I've got to be kept. I've got to be raised. I've got
to be changed. I've got to be taken to glory.
And He does all that. It's by Him that I hear the gospel.
It's by Him that I believe. It's by Him that I'm kept. Who by Him do believe in God,
who raised Him from the dead. and gave him glory. That's the
assurance I have that God accepted Christ on my behalf and in my
stead because he raised him from the dead. Do you see what I'm trying to
say? Here's the cross. But before the cross is the incarnation. Before the incarnation is the
pattern set in the promise and prophecies of the Old Testament.
Every lamb that died. And before the pattern is the
decree that God made him our sheriff to have a better covenant.
And before the decree and the announcement is the covenant.
And before the covenant is the mind of God who ordained the
covenant. And all of that is essential
to the redemption of my soul. That's the reason Arthur Pink
talked about eternal justification and blood justification. And
the Holy Spirit coming, who by Him do believe, and are kept,
and continue in the faith, and look unto Jesus, the author and
finisher of our faith, and who dine the faith, who have that
dying grace, and who are buried with a hope of resurrection.
And He is able to raise our vile bodies and make them like His
own body, and the work goes on. We all stand in His presence.
Whom He foreknew, He predestinated. Whom He predestinated, He called.
Whom He called, He justified. Whom He justified, He glorified.
It's finished now! For this old world is destroyed,
and the last enemy is destroyed, death. And see, so He did it
all. I am I redeemed? You got an hour
or two? A year or two? A lifetime? I'm still looking into it. I'm
still on by it. I'm still fascinated by it. Don't
give me a pigeon hole, God. He's a timeless God. An ageless
God. An omnipotent God. An omniscient
God. And it took God to save even
the least one of us. If He saves ten million, it takes
the same Savior. If He saves one. Just you, Frank,
just you, nobody else. Couldn't spare one thing. That's the reason we're learners,
learners, learners. Disciples. We see through a glass
dimly. We know in part, we don't know
anything. Just a part. Isn't that right?
We're learning, though. I'm a-learning. Read on. See it! that you have purified
your souls, obeying the truth through the Spirit, under the
unfeigned love of the brethren. See that you love each other,
one another with a pure heart, fervently, being born again,
not a corruptible seed. This is not handed down from
daddy to son. It's incorruptible seed, born
by the Word of God. This Word lives and abides forever. It's a living Word. It begets
a living hope. For all flesh is as grass, and
all the glory of man is a flower of grass. The grass withereth,
the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth
forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you." This is the word which by the
gospel. Aren't we blessed? Aren't we
blessed? Our Father, we do call Thee our Father. And it's not just these tongues.
If we had no voice, if we had no words, in our hearts we bow
to Thee and call Thee our Father. The Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ is our Father, and we thank Thee for Your mercies to
us. You've not passed us by. You've
not left us alone in religion, in sin, but by Your grace, You've lifted us and washed us
and made us whole, justified us. and redeemed us in the blood
of our Son. And we thank you. We praise you. And we come together here tonight
around this table that our Lord gave us. As the Apostle said,
what I have received of the Lord I deliver unto you. How that
our Lord Jesus Christ, the same night in which he was betrayed,
took bread. And we take this bread tonight.
which represents his broken body, broken for us, bruised for our
iniquities. And this wine, which is his blood,
we take this wine, remembering his blood shed for remission
of our sins. And our confidence, O Lord God,
our hope, our trust, our salvation, is not in what we've done, but
in our Lord Jesus Christ and Christ alone. By his blood we
are washed. By his righteousness we are accepted. And this, our God, is our hope.
Now help us as we observe this table to do it in a manner glorifying
to Christ Jesus and set our affection on things above. We ask this
in his name and for his sake. Amen. you
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.

Broadcaster:
Henry T. Mahan / Zebulon Grace Church
Theology:
#Regeneration #Sanctification #Grace
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