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Henry Mahan

Truth and Love

2 John
Henry Mahan • December, 26 1993 • Audio
1,528 Articles 3,940 Sermons 760 Books
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Henry Mahan
Henry Mahan • December, 26 1993
1,528 articles 3,940 sermons 760 books
Message: 1133a
Henry Mahan Tape Ministry
6088 Zebulon Highway
Pikeville, KY 41501
What does the Bible say about truth and love?

The Bible emphasizes that truth and love are inseparable companions in the life of believers.

In the New Testament, particularly in 2 John, truth and love are highlighted as fundamental elements of the Christian faith. The Apostle John repeatedly connects these concepts, illustrating that true love is expressed through adherence to the truth of God's Word. He emphasizes that God Himself is both truth and love, and that for believers, love should be rooted in the truth of Christ. This intertwining signifies that any expression of love without truth is incomplete and unstable, while truth devoid of love can become cold and harsh. In essence, love must be rooted in the truth, as it transforms our relationships and directs our actions toward God and others.

2 John 1:1-6, 1 John 4:7-8

How do we know the doctrine of Christ is true?

The truth of the doctrine of Christ is affirmed through Scripture, which articulates His nature and work.

The doctrine of Christ, central to Christian faith, asserts that Jesus is God incarnate, fully divine and fully human. This truth is affirmed in the Gospels and the epistles of the New Testament, where the unique aspects of His eternality, incarnation, and redemptive work are laid out clearly. For instance, it asserts that Christ came into the world with a specific purpose: to redeem those whom God has chosen. This doctrine is essential as it forms the foundation of our understanding of salvation—effectively illustrating that Christ's work was not merely possible but actual, fulfilling God's covenant promises. Understanding and abiding in this doctrine is crucial for true knowledge of God.

1 Corinthians 15:24-26, 1 John 4:15

Why is truth important for Christians?

Truth is essential for Christians as it defines their understanding of God and His revelation in Christ.

For Christians, truth is not merely a collection of facts; it is rooted in the person of Jesus Christ, who declared Himself as 'the way, the truth, and the life' (John 14:6). Understanding truth is paramount, as it shapes a believer's comprehension of God's character and His intentions towards humanity. This understanding informs our relationship with God, leading to genuine worship and authentic love for others. Furthermore, as truth is intertwined with love, recognizing the truth about God and His Scriptures fosters a healthy, loving community among believers, grounded in the realities of God's merciful grace and sovereign choice.

John 14:6, 1 John 4:20-21

How does love relate to truth in the Christian life?

Love in the Christian life must be expressed through the lens of truth.

In the Christian life, love is deeply connected to truth; one cannot genuinely love without understanding and adhering to truth. John’s letter reiterates that true love stems from recognizing and obeying God's commandments, which are grounded in His revealed truth. The lack of truth can render love superficial and misleading, while truth without love can lead to a rigid and ungracious demeanor. Believers are called to embody a love that rejoices in the truth, strengthening their faith and their bonds with one another. Therefore, maintaining this balance is essential for a healthy expression of one's faith and theology.

2 John 1:5-6, 1 Corinthians 13:6

Sermon Transcript

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Open your Bibles now to the book
of 2 John, the little epistle of 13 verses,
2 John. Now, this epistle was written
by the beloved Apostle John. Many people believe that John
was the last surviving apostle. All of them were martyred, with
the exception of John, and he was exiled to the Isle of Patmos. Some people believe that he lived
to be over ninety years of age. And then this epistle, 2 John, is not addressed to a church. Normally the epistles are addressed
to churches or general epistles to all believers. But this particular
little letter is addressed to an elect lady. John says the
elder, the elder, calls himself the elder, meaning both his age
and his office, unto the elect lady and her children. whom I
love in the truth, and not only I, not I only, but also all they
that have known the truth love you and are grateful to God for
you." He addressed this epistle to a beloved woman. And we should
not think that strange, for in Christ there's neither male nor
female. In Christ there's neither bond
nor free, male nor female, old or young, we're all one in Him.
And then when you think of the special attention which our Lord
paid to particular women, it doesn't surprise you that
John would address a beloved lady, elect lady. Remember the
care and concern our Lord had for the Samaritan woman as he
sat on the well and she came and he talked to her about the
gospel, about salvation. Remember the care that he had
for Mary and Martha in that home frequently. They ministered to
his needs. He taught them, loved them. They
were special to him. When our Lord arose from the
grave, his first appearance was to a woman, Mary. And he said to her, he said,
now you go and tell my disciples. You bear the message, a woman.
And be sure you tell Peter. He's going to be out there by
himself because he denied me. When you tell all the apostles
that I've risen, you take a special message to Peter, because he's
not going to feel welcome. And I want him to know that I've
risen. Think of Ruth. Think of Esther. Think of Lydia,
who opened her home to the apostle Paul. took care of his needs. Think of Lois and Eunice. Timothy, I don't know much about
his father. I know his father was a Greek,
but I know something about his mother and grandmother. I know the Apostle Paul said
of Timothy, from a child you've known the Holy Scriptures that
are able to make you wise unto salvation, and you learned them
from your mother. and your grandmother, that faith
dwelt first in them that now dwells in you. So John addresses this epistle
to the elect lady. Elder to the elect lady and her
children, whom I love in the truth, and I drop a word before
I move on in teaching this epistle to the ladies of this church,
are grateful to God We are for you, for your faith and your
love, your work of love, your labor of love, your work of faith,
your patience and hope, your example, your instructions, your
care of these children. Your children are a credit to
you and to your devotion to God. They're a credit to you. All
right, in these first six verses, I'm dividing this scripture this
morning into two parts. The first six verses, and then
the last seven. And in these first six verses,
there are two words that occur again and again. You'll note
it when I'm reading in a moment. The word truth and the word love. The word truth occurs in these
first six verses. Five times. Truth. The word love, four times. Truth
and love. So I suppose that would be the
subject when you found the first six verses. Truth and love. Let's
read it. The elder John to the elect lady
and her children, whom I love in the truth, not only I, but
also they that have known the truth. There's twice the word
truth and once the word love. For the truth saith, which dwelleth
in us, and shall be with us for ever. Grace be with you, and
mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus
Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I rejoice greatly that I found
of thy children walking in truth. That's five times already. truth, as we have received a
commandment from the Father, to walk in the truth. As you
have received Christ Jesus, walk in Him. Now I beseech thee, lady,
not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we
had from the beginning, that we also love one another. And this is love, that we walk
after His truth, commandments, and that truth. And this is the
commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you
should walk in it. Now John, this man John, let's
pause there a moment. This man, this apostle, is called
the apostle of love. And he did deal with that subject
of love so effectively in the first epistle. But here he expresses
something, a fact, a vital fact, and it's so vital. Here he takes
these two words, he joins these two words so frequently, truth
and love, truth and love, truth and love, over and over again. And that's because truth and
love are so noble and such natural companions. That they should
not ever be separated. Truth and love ought never be
separated. They go together. They shouldn't be separated on
earth or heaven. Truth and love. God is truth. Christ said, I am the truth.
And God is love. Truth and love. In Christ they
meet. Mercy and truth are met together. Isn't that what it says? Mercy
and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other in Christ Jesus. Someone said one time, truth
without love becomes cold and stern and even cruel. I know something about that.
I know something about truth without love. You've seen it
in me in years gone by. I've seen it in many men. Truth without love, cold, stern,
cruel. And then there's people who talk
about love without truth, if it were possible. I don't
believe that's possible. Actually, I do not believe either
is possible without the other. Truth without love would not
be of God, because God is love. And love without truth would
not be of God, because it would be unstable and without foundation.
But God is truth. You shall know the truth, and
the truth sets you free. How could a person have the truth
who is Christ? Truth is not a series of facts.
Truth is a person. How can I have truth, who is
Christ, and not have love, who is Christ? And how can I have
love, who is Christ, and not have the truth of Christ? Impossible. Turn to 1 John 4. Let me show
you that. Are you with me? Truth without love. We know the
experience is cold, killing, dead-letter, stern, and cruel. And love without truth is unstable
and without foundation. But I contend that it's actually
impossible for a person to have the truth. He can have the facts,
but not the truth without love. And he cannot have love without
truth. Not true love, it's a self-love. Now look at 1 John 4, verse 7. Beloved, let us love one another. For love is of God. And everyone
that loveth is born of God and knows God. If he loves, he's
born of God and knows God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God. Does not have truth. Whatever
he knows, it's not God he knows. It's something else he knows.
It's not God, for God is love. You see that? That clearly, powerfully declares
it's an impossibility to have truth without love, and love
without truth. Isn't that right? Read it again. Beloved, let us love one another.
Love is of God. Everyone that loveth is born
of God, and he knows God. And he that loveth not, does
not know God. Whatever he may know, he does
not know God. He knows facts. He may know doctrine,
but he doesn't know God. And God is truth. Doctrine is
not truth. God is truth. All right, one
other scripture. 1 John 4, verse 15. Same chapter, verse 15. Whosoever shall confess that
Jesus is the Son of God, God dwells in him, and he in God. And we have known, we have known
and believe the love that God hath to us. God is love. And he that dwelleth in love
dwelleth in God, and God in him. Verse 20, If a man say, I love
God, hates his brother, he's a liar. He that loveth not his
brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath
not seen? You see how this knowing God, God is truth, Christ is
truth. And that truth is held in law. Now all believers have these
things in common. Let me give you four things here.
All believers have these four things in common as far as truth
and love are concerned. They believe the truth about
God's character and attributes. Every believer knows who God
is in His sovereignty, in His majesty, in His glory, in His
power, in His wisdom. He knows that. He knows who God
is. He has that truth. I am the Lord, beside me there's
none else. The Lord reigneth in the armies
of heaven and among the inhabitants of this earth and giveth it to
whosoever will. Is that not true? That's true.
But what makes a believer different is this, he loves God for who
he is. He's happy with that arrangement.
He's glad God's God. He knows who he is and gives
thanks. He knows what he is and gives
thanks. He knows where he is and gives
thanks. Like the hymn writer said, my
times are in thy hands. My God, I want them there. See
the truth and love? He knows who God is. And he rejoices
in God's person. God's person. That's worship. All right, second thing. All
believers have this in common. All believers know the truth
about God's covenant mercies in Christ. They know salvations
of the Lord. They know God chose them, they
didn't choose Him. They know they love Him because
He loved them first, that He sought them and they sought Him.
He called them, they called upon Him. And they rejoice in that. Every
time the Apostle Paul mentions the doctrine of election, it's
coupled with praise. There are people who believe
election who don't love it. There are people who believe
salvations of the Lord, but they don't love it. There are people
who believe that God elected a people and made a covenant
of mercy with His Son in eternity and made Christ the surety and
gave them to Christ, but they don't rejoice in it. Every time
the Apostle Paul preached election, he said, Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessing in the heavenlies according as he chose us in Christ
before the foundation were. Bless God for his elective grace. Thank God for his elective grace. Tis not that I did choose thee.
Lord, that could not be. This heart of mine would refuse
thee, but thou hast chosen me. Thank God. I wouldn't preach
anything else. When he wrote to the Thessalonians,
he said, 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. That's truth! I love it! It's like Bill was telling me
about a preacher down in his area that's heard him on television
and he's wrestling with this thing of election and sovereignty
of the Lord. I'll tell you this about a preacher
like that. If he ever falls in love with
the character of God and the truth of God, he won't have to
debate about whether to preach it. Now, he's got a problem. He knows some truth, and he loves
religion. If he ever loves the truth, the
person, he'll preach it. There's no debate. I wouldn't
have, would you have it any other way? If righteousness came by
works, Christ is dead in vain. I do not confuse the gospel of
Christ. It can't be that way. I don't
have any debate over what to preach. I preach it not because
it's true, but because, bless God, I love it. You see what
I'm saying? I love it. I love the grace of
God. I love the sovereignty of God.
I love the covenant of grace. I love the sure mercies of David.
It's truth which I love. You see what I'm saying? You
can't separate them. And I'll tell you this, believers,
the third thing they know, they know the truth about the person
and work of Christ. I know who he is. I know whom
I have believed. I know who he is. I know who
he is. I know what he did. He came down
here to this earth as an effectual redeemer. He didn't come as an
effort on the part of God to round up as many volunteers as
he could round up. He came down here specifically
with an assignment. to redeem a people. Their names
were written in the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation
of the world. Their names were written on his heart and on his
breastplate and in his hands. And he came down here on their
behalf as their federal head, as their substitute, as their
representative. He came down here born of a designated
woman at a designated time to die a designated death for a
designated people. That's right. Called his sheep,
his jewels, his church, his brethren. That's right. And that's not
a doctrine, that's a truth. And I love it. I love it. And when he obeyed the law, he
obeyed it perfectly in every jot and tittle. In every jot
and till, in a perfect holiness for every one of them, in him
they have a spotless righteousness. When he went to that cross, he
bore somebody's sins in his body on that tree, and God Almighty
extracted from him every debt they owe in full, and he said,
it's finished. And he went back to glory, not
to paste the floor hoping somebody will make his death worthwhile.
He went back to glory and sat down. Wait until all the sheep
are brought in and all the churches redeemed and every one of His
people are saved, and then He's going to wind this thing up,
and they're going to reign with Him forever. And you know something? I love that more today than I
did yesterday. More than I did yesterday. Love
it, love it, love it. Love His grace, love His effectual
debt, love His substitution. Love Him, I hope, by His grace
I can love Him more tomorrow. Thank God. Truth and love. And then we know the truth about
each other. And yet we love each other. That's right. We love God for who He is. He's
God. Let God be God and every man
a liar. I like that arrangement. I found
that to be so. I found that to be so, me and
you included. I love the sheer mercies and
covenant mercies of God in Christ Jesus. I love the person and
work of our Lord Jesus Christ, committed to Him, obsessed with
Him, taken up with Him, determined to know nothing but Christ and
Him crucified, effectually. But the thing about it, I know
myself and I know you. And I know how weak and frail
we are. And yet we love one another.
We love those in the faith and those out of the faith. Those
in the faith are there by God's grace and those out of the faith
are there because He hadn't shown grace. Not because of anything
in them. Isn't that right? Turn with me
to 1 Corinthians chapter 4. Listen to this. 1 Corinthians
chapter 4. Love God's people and love our
neighbors. Somebody, I can't remember who
it was, Brother Richardson maybe, said to a man one time, he said,
Brother, and made a statement, and the fellow said, Well, did
you call me brother? He said, How do you know I'm
your brother? God said, well, if I didn't get
you in Christ, I got you in Adam, so you're a brother either way.
That's right. You're a brother either way,
and you're worthy of love. Pity? Thanksgiving, if God showed
grace to you, and pity if He hadn't. That's right. But love
you anyhow. Love you anyhow. Here in 1 Corinthians
4 verse Verse 6, look at it. And these things, brethren, I
have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for
your sakes, that you might learn in us not to think of me and
above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed
up one against another. God help us. For who maketh you
to differ from another? What do you have you didn't receive?
Now, if you did receive it, why do you glory as if you hadn't
received it? Back to our text now. The elder, the old man, ninety-year-old
apostle on an isle of Patmos, writing to a special lady and
her children, whom I love in the Not only I, but all who know
the truth love you for the truth's sake, and I rejoice that your
children are walking in truth and love." Truth and love. Now, the last time, there's a statement he uses three
times in the second part. Let's look at it and see if you
can pick it up. 2 John, verse 7. For many deceivers
are entered into the world. who confess not that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh, this is a deceiver, antichrist. Now you look to yourselves that
you lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we
receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ, in the doctrine of Christ, hath
not God. He that abideth, and my friends,
this is not running in and out, this is abiding in. He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, second, he hath both the Father and the Son. Now,
if any come unto you and bring not this, what? Doctrine of Christ. Don't receive him into your house.
Don't bid him Godspeed. For he that bid it him, God speeds
the partaker of his evil deeds. All right, let's look at this
a moment. The doctrine of Christ, three times. Verse 9, Whoso transgresseth
and abides not in the doctrine of Christ, the doctrine of Christ,
hath not God. He that abideth, continueth.
This race isn't over yet. There are a lot of dangers and
pitfalls. I've watched preachers start out with this message and
wind up with no message. I've watched deacons and elders
start out with this doctrine of Christ and wind up with a
doctrine of self or something else. He that abideth, abideth
in the doctrine of Christ. You know what it says? It says
it twice, abideth. He that abideth not in the doctrine
of Christ does not know God. He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he knows God, Father and Son. If anybody comes to
you and brings not this doctrine of Christ, don't tolerate him.
Don't you tolerate him. All right. Verse 7 says, and
I'll move along. You listen to me now. Listen
well. Many deceivers are entered into
the world. Who are these deceivers? Well,
he's not talking about atheists, plenty of those. He's not talking
about the agnostics. He's not talking about enemies
of religion. He's talking about friends of
religion. He's talking about religious people. He's talking
about the professors and promoters of religion. Peter said to the
church when he wrote the general epistle, he said, as there were
false prophets among the people, there'll be false teachers among
you. who privately bring in damnable heresies and court disciples
that they might draw me in after themselves. And many shall be
taken up with their pernicious ways. They're deceivers. Our
Lord said beware of false prophets. They don't come to you as atheists,
agnostics. They come to you as what? Sheep. Wolves in sheep clothing. Let
me show you another scripture in 2 Corinthians 11. This is
startling. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. And the world is full of them
today. Full of them. I think probably today the comparison
would be to the days of Elijah on Mount Carmel. 450 prophets
of Baal to every one prophet of God. That's sad. You listen to 2 Corinthians 11
verse 13. For such are false apostles,
they're deceitful workers. They transform themselves, they
change themselves into apostles of Christ and no marvel. Satan
himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it
is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as ministers
of righteousness. Whose righteousness? Theirs,
yours, not his. Their end shall be according
to their works. Now look at verse 7 of the text
again. Many deceivers, many deceivers are entered into the world. Now
here is their deception and here is their primary error. Here
is their chief error. They confess not that Jesus Christ
is come in the flesh. That's the chief error of these
deceivers. It has to do with Christ. The
chief error of religion today and of false preachers today
is not the law of commandments. It's Christ. Who he is. What he did. Why he came. Why
he did what he did and where he is now. That's the chief error
of religion today. It doesn't have to do with the
law or the commandments. They've got no objection to the
law. It has nothing to do with good
works and morality. They have no objection to good
works and morality. It's Christ. That's where the
error is. It's Christ. It has nothing to
do with the church. They've got churches. Has nothing
to do with good works, doing good for people. They're sending
out Christmas baskets and all these things. And we do that
here. Nothing wrong with that. But
this is not the, that's not where they stray. It has nothing to
do with the way people are baptized. It's not the ordinances. It's
not the mode. It's not the custom. It's not
the tradition. It's not heaven. It's not hell.
It's Christ! They confess not that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh. It has to do with who is this
man. It has to do with who is this
man. Let me show you that. Turn to John 9. Listen to this.
It has to do with who this man is. You didn't come in the flesh. You were born into this world.
You didn't come in the flesh. He came in the flesh. He was
before he came. God blessed forever. God took
on himself flesh. He came in the flesh. Look at John 9, verse 28. Then they reviled him. You know
this man, the Lord healed this man who was blind. And these
Pharisees, religious fellows, reviled him, made fun of him.
Listen. They reviled him. They said, you're his disciple.
We're Moses' disciple. We know God spake unto Moses,
as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is. There's the problem. We know
God spoke to Moses. We know God gave the law. We
know God established this, that, and the other. We know God created
the world. We know God made the law. We know God is in favor
of good works. But as for this fellow, we don't
know where he came from, or who he is, or why he came, or what
he did, or where he's going. Christ said, destroy this temple,
three days I'll raise it up. They thought he was talking about
that temple. We don't know who He is. Preachers today don't
know who He is. Eternal life to know God and
to know His Son. That's eternal life, to know
who He is. In all of His glory and greatness
and power and efficacious work, to know who He is. I know whom
I have believed. Oh, that I may know Him. You
have not so learned Christ. Let me show you another scripture.
Look at John 10. John 10, verse 30. This is the
same religious folks. These fellows are educating the
proper schools. They were the rulers of the synagogue
and the teachers. Christ said in John 10, 30, I
and my Father won. The Jews took up stones again
to stone Him. And he answered, many good works have I showed
you from my Father, for which of these do you stone me? The
Jews answered him saying, for good work we stone thee not.
We are in the good works business. That is not what we object to.
Listen, but for blasphemy. We are stoning you because you
are a man. You make yourself to be God. Ask your next preacher for him.
Is he God? No, he's the son of God. I didn't ask you that. Is he
God? Well, God sent him. I didn't ask you that. Is he
God? Is he God? I shall call his name Immanuel,
God with us. God with us. Is he God? Is he
the one that made the heavens and the earth? Is He the express
image, exact likeness? Is He the very essence? Is He
God in human form? Is He God? Let all the angels
of God worship Him. Is He God? Pin them down. God was manifest in human flesh
and dwelt among us, and we beheld His matchless glory, the glory
as of the only begotten of the Father. The only begotten, the
only revelation of God is Jesus Christ. No man knows God except
as he knows Christ. He doesn't even have a suspicion
of who God is if he doesn't know Christ. That's the issue. Is He God? When he came to the earth, why'd
he come? He came to fulfill a covenant. He came to fulfill the purposes
and plans of a kingdom. He came to redeem a people. All
that my Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh
to me I'll in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven to do
my Father's will. This is my Father's will. All
which he hath given me I'll lose nothing. Did he do it? Ask him, did he
do it? Did he redeem those? Well, like
one preacher said, he redeemed the world, that he may justify
the elect. He didn't redeem the world, he redeemed his elect
and justified them too. Did he do it? Did he take them
all back to heaven with him? You see my friend, what is our
creed? Our creed is Christ. We don't have, what is your creed?
It's Christ. What is your doctrine? It's the
doctrine of Christ. Do you see that in verse 9? Who's
so transgressive and a bad as not in the doctrine of Christ?
Doctrine is not a... Well, we believe God's sovereign.
We believe God elected a people. We believe Christ redeemed those
people by His blood. We believe the Holy Spirit called
those people. They'll persevere. God, Christ, elected a people. They were chosen in Him. The doctrine is Christ. The gospel
is Christ. What is our persuasion? I am
persuaded no one can separate me from the love of Christ. What
is my body of divinity? It ain't but one, that's Christ.
In Him dwell all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. What is
my role of life? It's my relationship with Christ.
It's what He wants me to do. The Apostle Paul on the road
to Damascus when God smote him, he didn't ask, well, what does
the law say? He said, what do you want me to do? He knew what
the law said. This is the difference in religion
and life. And it's what my world does not
comprehend or see. You can have religion and not
have life. You can have doctrine and not have life. You see, religion is to know
creeds and doctrines and facts. Life is to know Christ. That's
it. Religion is to know what I believe
and to be able to prove it, argue it, demand it, expect it. Life is to know whom I believe. And that kills all the arguments.
Because it's him. Religion is to be in the church.
In the approved place. The right church. Life is to
be in Christ. Baptized into one body by the
Spirit of God. In Christ, when you can't even
find a church. In Christ. But you know something,
if you're in Christ, you are the church. You take it around
with you. Religion is to be reformed. Life
is to be regenerated. Religion is a new convert. Life is a new creature. That's
the doctrine of Christ. Let me close with these two or
three comments. I've given this careful thought It says here in verse 9, Whoso
transgresseth and abideth not in this doctrine of Christ hath
not God. He that abideth in this doctrine
of Christ, person, he has father and son. Now if any come to you
and bring not this doctrine of Christ, don't receive him into
your house and don't put your blessings upon him. What is this
doctrine of Christ? Well, if you're taking notes,
I'm going to give you briefly four or five things. Number one,
it's His eternality. He is God. His eternality. Jesus Christ is God. In the beginning
was the Word. The Word was with God and the
Word was God. He said, Our Lord Jesus Christ
is God. He that has seen me has seen
God. Secondly, his incarnation, he
was made flesh. God actually became a man and
dwelt in human flesh. Number three, his effectual redemptive
work. Paul said, I preached to you
the gospel and you received it. you believed it, wherein you
stand, if you keep in memory what I preached to you. And this
is my gospel. Christ died for our sins according
to the scriptures. He's bared and rose again according
to the scriptures. In other words, all of his work
was according to God's prophecies, promises, pictures, and patterns,
an effectual work. He took our flesh, second Adam. In Adam all died. God showed
us that. In Christ we're made alive. God showed us that in
Christ. He obeyed God's law. He was made of a woman, made
under the law to redeem them that were born under the law,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. He was made sin. He took our sin in His body on
the tree. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us. He died, the just for the unjust,
that He might not make it possible for us to come to God, but actually
bring us to God. Bring us to God. And he was buried and he rose
again. And he ascended to the right hand of the Father. I saw the cross of Jesus when
burdened with my sin. I sought the cross of Jesus to
give me peace within. I brought my soul to Jesus. He
cleansed it in his blood. And in the cross of Jesus I find
my peace with God. Effectually. Effectually. Fourthly, His exaltation and
His reign. I've got to read this. Turn to
1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 15. Jesus Christ, our Lord, is not
going to reign. He does reign. He's not going
to be king. He is king. He never has ceased
to be king. It says here in 1 Corinthians
15, verse 24, And then cometh the end. when he shall have delivered
up the kingdom of God, shall have delivered up the kingdom
of God, even the Father, when he shall put down all rule, all
authority and power, for he must reign, Christ must reign, till
he hath put all enemies under his feet, and the last enemy
that shall be destroyed is death. Our Lord Jesus reigns, and seeing
we have such a high priest, who is touched with the feeling of
our infirmities, Jesus Christ the righteous, who is seated
at the right hand of God, let us come boldly before that throne
of grace that we may find mercy and grace to help us in our time
of need. It's all in him. And then, last, his return. He will return. He said, I go
to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for
you, I'll come again. and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there ye may be also. That's the doctrine
of Christ. Now, he that abideth in this doctrine hath both father
and son. And that word abide is to dwell,
to remain, to stand, and to continue in Christ. Charles Spurgeon made
the statement after pastoring, preaching for 38 years. It was
his last year of his life. He said, my doctrine has not
changed one-tenth since I started 38 years ago. It was the doctrine
of Christ then. It's the doctrine of Christ now.
And if I learn it, truth in love, There's no reason for it to change.
No reason. May God never let me change.
He's not going to change. He changes not. Same yesterday,
today, forever.
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:
#Christology #Covenant Theology #Soteriology
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1co 01v01-02 Christ and Him Crucified.pdf PDF · 0.1 MB
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