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Henry Mahan

Christ In You, the Hope of Glory (1)

Colossians 1:27
Henry Mahan • January, 10 1993 • Audio
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Message: 1089a
Henry Mahan Tape Ministry
6088 Zebulon Highway
Pikeville, KY 41501
What does the Bible say about Christ in you as the hope of glory?

The Bible indicates that Christ in us is the hope of glory, as seen in Colossians 1:27.

In Colossians 1:27, Paul speaks of the profound truth that 'Christ in you, the hope of glory' signifies the indwelling presence of Christ in believers. This is not merely a philosophical concept but a vital spiritual reality, declaring that through faith in Christ, His life and glory reside within us. This indwelling provides believers with the hope of eternal glory, which refers to our ultimate redemption and the inheritance we are to receive as children of God. It emphasizes that our sufficiency and holiness come from Christ alone, making us fit for the glorious future that awaits us.

Colossians 1:27

How do we know that Christ is sufficient for our salvation?

Scripture confirms that Christ is sufficient for our salvation because all we need for redemption is found in Him.

The sufficiency of Christ for our salvation is a foundational belief in Reformed theology, supported by numerous Scriptural references. In Him, we have all that we need for salvation: wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, as stated in 1 Corinthians 1:30. Furthermore, Colossians 2:9-10 highlights that in Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and we are complete in Him. This indicates that there is no further requirement for salvation beyond faith in Christ, who has accomplished everything necessary for our redemptive standing before God. Our reliance rests not on our works but on His finished work on the cross.

1 Corinthians 1:30, Colossians 2:9-10

Why is the concept of reconciliation important for Christians?

Reconciliation is essential for Christians as it signifies our restored relationship with God through Christ.

The concept of reconciliation is vital for Christians because it illustrates the restoration of our relationship with God following our estrangement due to sin. As articulated in 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, God reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, who became our mediator. This reconciliation was necessary due to God's just anger towards sin, demonstrating God's unwavering righteousness. Through Jesus's death, He made peace, allowing believers to be reconciled and no longer under condemnation. This is a profound truth, encapsulating the core of the Gospel: that we who were once enemies of God are now His friends through the redemptive work of Christ. It assures us of God's love and acceptance, inspiring us to live in light of our reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19

What does it mean to have Christ dwell in your heart?

To have Christ dwell in your heart means to have a personal, transformative relationship with Him through faith.

Having Christ dwell in our hearts is a dynamic spiritual condition that signifies a personal and intimate relationship with Him. As described in Ephesians 3:17, when Christ dwells in our hearts through faith, it means that we not only acknowledge Him as our Lord and Savior but also embrace Him as the source of our life and strength. This indwelling presence transforms our affections, priorities, and purposes, guiding us into a closer conformity to His image. The reality of Christ living in us gives us the hope of glory, as it empowers us to live out our faith actively and purposefully. It illustrates that salvation is not just about external adherence to the law but about internal change and the overflow of Christ’s love in our actions.

Ephesians 3:17

Sermon Transcript

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Before I bring the message this
morning, I want to share a letter with you that
I received yesterday from the people in Australia who are
preparing our commentaries for printing in Russian. I told you
that they would be printing 10,000 sets. the six volumes set to be distributed
to pastors and churches in Russia. And I know you're wondering about
the progress of this project, and I am too. And this is from
the president of Korong Publishers and Books in Sydney, Australia,
Brother Bruce Boots, who also pastors Smithfield. Baptist Church,
dear Henry. As we approach the new year,
we look back on the old and thank God for his grace. The Lord's
been good to us as a family, as a church. We've been given
his son as our friend and his children here and overseas as
our friends and what blessings we have. So with Paul, we thank
God for every mercy and remembrance of all. We have spent 18 days
in West Australia on business and pleasure, and on our return
I was able to contact Andrei Voth in regard to the translation
and printing of your commentaries in Russian. This is now proceeding
at a pace. We expect to have five chapters
of Romans sent to us very soon to review the translation. If
the translation of these five chapters is okayed by our Russian
brethren, we will pay one-third of the cost to Russia, and we
have plenty of money on hand for this. Then, all things going
well, it is expected that the whole project shall be completed
by April 1993, February, March, April, three months. After that,
it is expected that there will be an official handing over to
the Russian Church for distribution of the commentaries according
to our wishes. This is proposed to be in late
June or July. Now, Henry, let us look at the
commissioning service. We're asking that you be there
for that service. It'll be in Moscow. And if you
can go, the program will be as follows. You will preach in some
churches in Moscow on Sunday. at their regular services, also
on Saturday and Friday nights before. Depending on how long
you could remain, they will arrange smaller meetings with church
leaders in various houses on weekdays and weeknights. The
dates are late June or early July, but they will be fixed
so that you can be free to be there if you say, that is, you
say when you can come. Should you wish to stay longer,
they will arrange for other meetings in other cities other than Moscow. Andre is planning to go to Russia
in June and July. Accommodations and transportation
will be arranged by Russian Christians. Let me know as soon as possible
your reaction. Love from all of us here, Bruce
Boots." Well, I'm thankful. I'm overjoyed, I know you are,
at the progress of this project, and a little bit awed by it all,
you know. I believe the Lord has some people
in those countries, and if he's pleased to use our commentaries
to bring them to Christ, I'd rejoice, wouldn't you? I'd be
so thankful. And I'm awed by it, you know.
I never lose sight of the fact that we are really nobody over
here, you know, a small church and a country preacher. And I'm also reminded that the
Lord has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the
mighty and the base things and the things that are not to bring
to naught the things that are. And as far as going over there,
I'm a little bit intimidated by that. I'm not a scholar. I
never claimed to be one. And if they're looking for a
scholar and a writer, they're looking to the wrong fellow.
I'm just a preacher of the gospel. But we'll be much in prayer. I trust you will about that.
And if it's in God's purpose and will for me to go, I'll be
glad to go. And we'll see what the outcome
is. Turn with me to the book of Colossians for our message
this morning. Colossians chapter 1. Colossians
chapter 1. Now my subject is down here in
verse 27. This is my subject. The title
of the message is Christ in you. Christ in you, the hope of glory. And Paul writes in verse 27,
Colossians 1, to whom God would make known what is the riches
of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is
Christ in you, the hope of glory, Christ in you. Let's go back
and read a few verses, starting with verse 12, and see what leads
up to that statement. Christ in you, the hope of glory. Verse 12, Colossians 1. Paul
says, giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet
to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Change
that word meet to sufficient. The Heavenly Father hath made
us sinners, sons of Adam. God hath made us sufficient. All that we lack, he has supplied. All that we need, he has given
us in Christ. And we are right now in Christ
having wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
We are made by God sufficient to walk right into glory. That's
right. to be partakers of that inheritance
with the saints in glory. We are sufficient. We lack nothing. Everything's been supplied in
Christ. We're perfect in Him. He has perfected forever them
that are sanctified. He has made us holy and unblameable,
and we are right now sufficient. All right, read on. Verse 13,
and He, Christ, hath delivered us, already delivered us. From
the power of darkness, the power of Satan, the power of sin, the
condemnation of sin, the curse of the law, He has actually,
by His blood and righteousness, delivered us. And He has already
translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son, into the kingdom
of the Son of His love. We are in God's kingdom in Christ. We've already passed from death
unto life. He that believeth on Christ hath
already passed from death unto life. Translated out of darkness
into his light. Verse 14. In him, that is in
Christ, we have redemption. We've been brought back through
his blood. Even the forgiveness of all sins,
past, present, and future, all sins are forgiven. God said,
I've cast them into the depths of the sea, I've blotted them
out, I've separated your sins from you as far as the east is
from the west. That's infinity. Infinity. And I'll remember them
no more. This is what's already giving
thanks to God. We are in Christ, by faith, sufficient
to walk into glory right now. If nothing will be added, we
have everything in Christ we need. Because He's already delivered
us from the kingdom of darkness. He's already put us in the kingdom
of His Son. We already have total redemption,
forgiveness of sin. Now, verse 15. Who is this Christ? Who is this Redeemer? Who is
this One in whom we have all of these things? You know, I'll tell the story.
A little boy was walking home from church with his daddy one
Sunday. The preacher had preached a message on the sufficiency
of Christ, how that the Lord Jesus Christ is all our righteousness. The Lord Jesus Christ, in His
obedience, has imputed to us a perfect holiness in His death.
By His death, He paid for all our sins. By the death of one
man, Christ Jesus, every believer of all generations and ages and
people and tribe and kindred and tongue and nation unto heaven
are saved, are redeemed, are forgiven, are sufficient for
glory. And it's all in Christ. He did
it all. And on the way home, walking
along, the little boy said to his daddy, he said, Daddy, he
said, something bothers me about the preacher's message. And his
daddy said, what is it, son? He said, Daddy, how can one man,
just one man, pay for the sins of so many people? That preacher said that by Christ's
death, by the death of one man, the God man, that everybody's
forgiven, everybody's sins are put away. How could one man die
for so many, and the Father wisely Pondered his answer because he
knew the little fellow was real serious, and that's a good question
it They walked along and in a moment they came to Father looked down
in the in the grass and there was a there was a grasshopper And he reached down picked up
the grasshopper the grasshopper He held it out to the little
boy said what is that little boy said the grasshopper? I?
He said, well, son, he said, you're my only son. And I love you very much. How
many grasshoppers do you reckon are worth one little boy to his
daddy? Oh, he said, daddy, I don't reckon
all the grasshoppers in the world are worth one little boy. I don't
reckon all the grasshoppers in the world would be worth one
little boy to his daddy. The daddy wouldn't take all the
grasshoppers in the world for one little boy. He said, son, Jesus
Christ is God. He's God's only begotten, well-beloved
son. And the scripture says, God sitteth
in the heavens, and all the inhabitants of the earth are considered as
grasshoppers. And all the grasshoppers in this
world are not worth God's son. It's not just one man died, it's
who is that man that died? That's the question. When you
look at the cross, you're not just looking at a Reformer, you're
not just looking at a self-made Messiah, you're not just looking
at an example, you're looking at God's Son. For God so loved
the world, he gave his only begotten Son. That's what makes his blood
effectual. Not just for me, but if God saw
fit to save this whole world, Christ wouldn't have to die one
other death or shed one other drop of blood. That is sufficient. That's right. Who He is, and
that's what He tells us here in verse 14, in whom we have
redemption through His blood. Verse 15, who is He? He's the
image. He's the exact image of the invisible
God. He's God revealed. He's the firstborn
of every creature. By Him were all things made,
created, that are in heaven. He's before all things. He prayed,
Father, glorify me with the glory which I had with Thee before
the world was. By Him were all things created that are in heaven,
that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether it be thrones
or dominions or principalities, even Satan. Even demon spirits,
even fallen angels, even cherubims and seraphims, dominions, principalities. What is a principality? It's
a rulership, it's a dominion that someone has over a certain
assigned place or powers. All things, visible and invisible,
were created by Him. That's who He is. That's who's in the flesh, that's
who's on the cross, that's who's in the tomb, that's who's risen,
that's who's seated at the Father's right hand, Christ Jesus, none
other. No, you can't trust your salvation
to a man, but you can to the God-man because of who he is. He's able to save to the uttermost
them that come to God by him because of who he is. Verse 17
said, And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
That is, everything is held together. The scientists would tell you
what a remarkable thing it is that this whole world, universe
is held together. It just goes on and on and on
and on. Light years in every direction, galaxies everywhere. There is such a monumental mammoth,
huge, indescribable universe. with all the stars and planets
and the earth and the sun and the moon and all these things,
literally are held together by Him. All things by Him. We breathe
out carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide, the plants breathe it in, breathe
out oxygen. The balance of nature. I don't
know a great deal about these things, but I just know that
He has ordered all these things. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness there. We never run out of rain. We
keep catching fish out of the oceans and streams and rivers
and they don't run out. The fullness that we keep planting
in this earth and it keeps growing. And it's been doing that for
thousands of years. It's all held together by Him.
That's who, verse 18, He's the head of the church, the body.
He's the beginning. He's the firstborn from the dead,
that in everything He might have the preeminence. That is God's
eternal purpose, to glorify Jesus Christ. That in everything He
might have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father. You
say, why is all this this way? Why is Christ the only Savior?
Well, there are a lot of reasons. Fulfill the wisdom and justice
and righteousness and holiness of God. He's the only one who
can. But the chief reason is it pleased the Father. They said to David, where's your
God? We know where our gods are. Our gods are created by our hands
and our gods are on the little pedestals or shrines where we
put them. But where's your God? David said, my God's in the heaven.
And my God has done whatsoever He pleased in heaven and earth
and the seas and all deep places. That's my God's character. And
throughout the Bible it says that it pleased God to make you
His people. It pleased God that in Christ
should all fullness dwell. It pleased God to bruise Him.
It pleased God to reveal His Son in me. It pleased God by
the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. It
pleased God. And that's why things are like
that. It pleases God. Our Lord Jesus Christ one day
stopped and lifted His eyes to heaven, and this is what He said,
I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast
hid these things these mysteries from the wise and the prudent,
and thou hast revealed them unto babes. For even so, father, it
seemed good in thy sight." That's why. You want to know why God? People say, why does God do this
and why does God do that? It pleased God. It's in His purpose. And that's sufficient. That's
what it says here, listen, it pleased the Father that in Christ
should all fullness dwell, all fullness of the Godhead, all
of his wisdom, all of his grace, all of his mercy, all of his
righteousness, all of his love, it's all in Christ. That's the reason no man cometh
to the Father but by me. He said no man knows the Father
but the Son, he to whom the Son will reveal him. No man has seen
God at any time. The only begotten hath revealed
Him. It's all in Christ. Look at Colossians 2, verse 9.
In Christ dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And you're
complete in Him. All right, verse 20. Go back
to chapter 1, verse 20. And having made peace through
the blood of His cross. That's how He made peace. I know
this is not what the world believes, but God's angry with the wicked.
That's what the Bible says. God is angry with the wicked. The Scripture says not to believe
God is to have the wrath of God upon you and me. And Christ came
and made peace with the Father through His cross.
by his blood. He satisfied God's wrath. He
paid our debt and made peace, having made peace through the
blood of his cross, by him to reconcile. Now, if God loves
everybody, why are we talking about this reconciling business?
If God's not angry, then why does God have to be reconciled? You don't have to reconcile,
my son Danny and I, or Ron and I, or Mike and I, you don't have
to reconcile us, we're friends. Nobody has to come and get between
us and reconcile us, does it? Well, Christ came to reconcile
God to us. Why? Because there's a war, there's
anger over our sins. Turn, if you will, to 2 Corinthians. Let me show you something here,
2 Corinthians chapter 5. You don't reconcile friends.
You reconcile enemies. You reconcile enemies. All right,
look at 2 Corinthians 5, verse 9. To wit, that is namely. Well, let's read verse 18. And
all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself. We
were enemies. And God reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ. That's how he reconciled us.
And he hath given to us that ministry of reconciliation, namely,
to which it means namely, that God was in Christ. God was in
Christ. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead. Christ is God. God was in Christ. When Christ came to earth, God
came to earth. When Christ became a man, God
became a man. God was manifested in human flesh. God the Son, reconciling the
world to himself. He hath reconciled us to himself. God's not angry with those who
are in Christ, because Christ reconciled us. See that? And
listen, read on. not imputing their trespasses
unto them, he imputed them to Christ. And he hath committed
to us the word of reconciliation. Now I, us, we, the apostles,
then we as ambassadors for Christ, our ambassadors for Christ, though
God did beseech you by us, we pray you, be you reconciled to
God. You see what he's saying? God's
holy. God's holy, righteous. His justice
and righteousness will not be compromised. He will not clear
the guilty. We're enemies. Enemies in our
mind. We're enemies by our works. We're
enemies by our attitude. We're enemies by our pride. We're
not like God. We're enemies. And God cannot
look with favor upon us. He cannot look with love upon
us. He cannot tolerate that. He cannot tolerate Rebellion? He cast Satan and the angels
into darkness and chains of darkness waiting the judgment of that
great day because of rebellion. We're not going to have God reign
over us. We're going to do our own thing. We're not going to
bow to his law or bow to his rules or bow to his reign or
bow to his lordship. We're enemies. God sent Christ
down here. He became one of us, bone of
our bone, flesh of our flesh. He was born of a woman, just
like we are, made under the law. And He did what God commanded
us to do. He loved God. We don't. He did.
He obeyed God. We don't. He did. He was tried
and tested in every point, tempted in all points, but never sinned,
yet without sin. God looked down in him and he
said, I'm well pleased with that man. This is my son in whom I'm
well pleased. God went angry with him. God
was satisfied with him. He found pleasure in him. The
pleasure of the Lord prospered in his hand. God looked with
favor on him. Well, Christ was no private person.
He was a representative. Christ was a federal head. He
came down here not on his own. He came sent of the Father to
be a representative. Like the first Adam represented
all men in his loins, Christ represented all men the Father
gave to him. And when God looked at Christ,
He saw us. He saw every believer, every
person who is in Christ by covenant mercies, by faith, by grace,
by regeneration. Everyone who believes on Him,
God is reconciled. You can say to everybody who
believes on Christ, God loves you. You can't say that to everybody. You can say it to everybody in
Christ. God loves you because the love of God is in Christ
Jesus. You get what I'm saying? That's
how a holy God can love you. That's how a holy God can be
pleased with you. That's how a holy God can accept
you and me, is we're in Christ. There's nothing in me. to merit
the mercy and love of God. But God says, I'm reconciled. I'm not mad anymore. I'm not
angry. God's wrath does not abide on
people who love Christ and believe in Christ, who find their refuge
in Christ. It's like the killer in the Old
Testament who ran to the city of refuge. The avenger couldn't
touch him in the city of refuge. God's anger and wrath is not
on you in Christ. But now, wait a minute. Paul
said, you fellas go preach and tell these people, now you be
reconciled to God. You lay down your shotgun. You
lay down your sword. You surrender. You be reconciled
to God. The Holy Spirit, that's what
happens in conversion. That's what happens when a man
believes. You see, he's going here, like
Saul of Tarsus is an example. Saul of Tarsus, God loved him,
the foundation of the world. God loved him in Christ. Christ
was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. God loved him in
Christ. God chose him in Christ. God
intended to save him. He was God's instrument. Do you
believe that? Of course. He's God's chosen
apostle. But here he was, and God loved
him. And in Christ, God was reconciled
to Saul of Tarsus. Christ died for Saul of Tarsus,
just like he died for Apostle Peter. And God loved him. But Saul didn't love this God.
He didn't love Christ. He was angry. And he was doing
all in his power against Him. And God stopped him one day on
the road to Damascus. And God revealed Himself to him.
And God sent him a preacher. And that preacher told him about
the mercy of God in Christ and how Christ fulfilled all the
Old Testament Scriptures and how Christ is the Redeemer and
the Messiah and Christ is the the one who sets us free. And
you know something? Old Saul became reconciled to
God. He's 45, some odd years old. And he was reconciled. He laid
down his shotgun. He put up his sword. He surrendered.
He believed. But now God was reconciled to
him in Christ. And that's what I'm saying to
you. You may be one of God's elect. I hope you are. I pray
I am and you are. And God is reconciled in Christ
to his people. That's why he says he has made
peace. He's reconciled us. Now the pastor
says you be reconciled to God. There's no other way to God.
That's what he says. I'm telling you what he says
here. It's fruitless and useless to
continue to make war against God. There's no other way. Let's read on here. Verse 20
said, Colossians 1. Go back there and look with me.
And having made peace through the blood of His cross by Christ
to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him I say whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven. When Christ died, there
were some folks already in heaven. Moses, Elijah, Aaron. Well, when Christ died, He died
for them too. He reconciled everybody on earth and everybody in heaven
to the Father. And you, you Gentiles, that were
sometime, at one time, alienated, enemies in your mind by your
wicked works, He reconciled you. He's reconciled you. And I can
say as strongly as anybody in the world, you smile, God loves
you. if you're in Christ. Now boy,
he's reconciled. I'll tell you though, if you're
not in Christ, I can't say that to you, because you're not reconciled.
If God's your enemy, you're God's enemy. That's what Scripture
says. The reconciliation is in this
one who's the image of the invisible God, is that not right? How did
he do it, verse 22? He did it in the body of his
flesh. He became a man. He did for you what you couldn't
do. He did it as a man through death. Why? To present you holy,
unblameable, unreprovable in God's sight. And my friends,
that's the way you've got to be. Who shall stand in his presence? Who shall ascend into the courts
of the Lord. Who shall stand in it? He that
hath clean hands, of pure heart, who has never lifted up his soul
to vanity, who has never sworn deceitfully. Holy, what does it say? Holy,
unblameable, unreprovable. Well, let me tell you something.
That's not me. Not by nature. And that's not
you. But that's Christ, and that's
all who are in Him. He made you that. Now, verse
23, if you continue in the faith... You see, this thing of salvation
is not just walking down an aisle and making a profession and turning
over a new leaf. It's faith. It's a state of being. If you continue in the faith,
grounded and settled, and don't be moved away, from the hope
of the gospel. Where is the hope of the gospel?
We'll read it in a minute. Which you've heard and which
was preached to every creature under heaven, whereof I, Paul,
am made a minister of this gospel. And I rejoice now in my sufferings
for you. I rejoice whatever it took to
bring you to Christ is worth it. And I fill up that which
is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his
church's sake, for his body's sake, which is the church whereof
I made a minister. I'm a minister of this glorious
gospel according to the dispensation of God which is given to me,
that is the stewardship of God given to me for you. I tell you this, if God has a
true preacher, a true preacher somewhere. Listen
to me now. If he has a true, if there's
a man whom God has, like Paul and others down through the years,
if there's a man whom God has called and ordained and sent,
there was a man sent from God whose name was John, if God has
a man in an area preaching the gospel of His grace, there's
somebody there that God intends to bring to Himself. Now you
can write that down. Paul said that. He said, thanks
be unto God who always causes us to triumph in Christ. Always. That's the reason I say the greatest
blessing that God can give to a people anywhere is a true,
sincere, God-called, God-sent elder, pastor, preacher of the
Gospel, because he intends Where God sends a Philip, there's the
Ethiopian Union. Where God sends a Simon Peter,
there's a Cornelius. Where God sends a Paul, there's
a Lydia. I guarantee it. A messenger doesn't
go with a message for no reason. If God sends a man with a message,
somebody's going to hear it. I guarantee it. He's a saver
of life under life. And that's what Paul is saying
here in verse 25, I made a minister, God put me in the ministry according
to the stewardship of God given to me for you. He gave it to
me for you. Somebody's asking me the other
day, how did you get in Ashland, Kentucky? Well, it's strange,
unusual, most unusual. But God in His divine providence,
A lot of it had to do with where my wife went to school. I didn't
know the pastor up there. She went to school with him. God works in mysterious ways
His wonders to perform. And this is all to fulfill or
fully preach the Word of God. Verse 26, this mystery, even
the mystery to whom God would make known Verse 26, even the
mystery which hath been hid from ages and generations, everybody
hasn't had a preacher. Everybody hasn't had a revelation.
Ages and generations have sat in darkness, worshipped
statues, false gods. Ages and generations. But Niasse
made manifest to his saints What is it? To whom God would make
known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the
Gentiles, which is Christ in you. That's the hope of glory. Maxine said Christ in you. The hope of glory means to believe
on Christ, to believe the record God has given concerning His
Son, is to receive Him by faith, is to embrace him by faith as
your righteousness and redemption, that Christ may dwell in your
heart by faith. God said, he that believeth on
me, my Father and I will come and take up our abode in him. In him. When the Spirit of God
reveals to a person that he's a guilty sinner, when the Spirit
of God reveals to that person there's no way to God by works,
Only by Christ, when that person lays hold upon Christ by faith,
Christ comes and dwells in him. And Christ in you, that's the
hope of glory. That's the hope of glory. Verse
28, we'll close with this. Whom we preach. And I wish every
preacher and church in the world would see it's not what we preach,
it's whom we preach. We preach Christ and Him crucified.
There's a difference. Whom we preach. Paul said, I
know whom I have believed. He didn't say, I know what I
believe. He didn't say, I know when I believe. He said, I know
whom I believe. Whom we preach. Warning every
man. And teaching every man in all
wisdom that we may present every man how? Perfect. By our own
efforts. strivings in Christ, in Christ
Jesus. Wherefore I also labor, striving
according to his working, which worketh in me mightily. Christ in you, the hope of glory.
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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