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Henry Mahan

Grace Claims the Glory

John 3:1-10
Henry Mahan • November, 1 1992 • Audio
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Message: 1081a
Henry Mahan Tape Ministry
6088 Zebulon Highway
Pikeville, KY 41501
What does the Bible say about being born again?

The Bible teaches that one must be born again to enter the kingdom of God, as stated in John 3:3.

In John 3:3, Jesus tells Nicodemus, 'Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.' This new birth is not a physical rebirth but a spiritual transformation that comes from God. The phrase 'born again' also translates to 'born from above,' indicating that it is a work of the Holy Spirit within us. According to 1 Peter 1:23, we are born again through the incorruptible seed of God's Word. This emphasizes that spiritual life is a gift from God, and we cannot achieve it through our own efforts or righteousness.

John 3:3, 1 Peter 1:23

How do we know God's grace is sovereign?

God's grace is sovereign as it is His will alone that creates heirs of grace, as indicated in Romans 9:16.

Sovereign grace is the foundation of Reformed theology, asserting that God's grace is not dependent on human will or works. Romans 9:16 states, 'So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.' This verse emphasizes that the work of salvation is entirely God's initiative. He chooses whom He will save, and this choice is rooted in His unfathomable mercy and love. Moreover, the hymn 'Grace Claims the Glory' echoes this sentiment, highlighting that salvation is a work of God from first to last, ensuring that no one can boast in their own works.

Romans 9:16, Ephesians 2:9

Why is understanding our human nature important for Christians?

Understanding our sinful human nature is crucial as it highlights our need for God's grace and salvation.

The recognition of our true nature as sinful is essential to grasping the concept of redemption. Romans 3:23 states, 'For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.' This understanding drives us to realize that we cannot save ourselves through our own righteousness or good works, as Nicodemus, a Pharisee, mistakenly believed. By coming to terms with our guilt and helplessness apart from God, we turn to Him for mercy and grace, acknowledging that salvation is entirely God's work. This foundational understanding cultivates humility and dependence on Christ, recognizing that it is only by His grace that we can be saved.

Romans 3:23, John 1:13

Sermon Transcript

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Augustus Toplady, the author
of the great hymn, Rock of Ages, wrote in 1774 a hymn entitled, Grace Claims the Glory. Grace claims the glory. And it fully states what I desire
to preach today, so I'm calling this message, Grace Claims the
Glory. The words of some of the verses
of that hymn are these, not for the works which we have done
or shall hereafter do. hath God decreed on sinful worms
salvation to bestow. The glory, Lord, from first to
last is due to Thee alone. Ought to ourselves we dare not
take or rob Thee of Thy throne. This is the will that in Thy
love we ever should abide. And lo, we earth and hell defy
to make that counsel void. Not one of all thy chosen race,
but shall to heaven attain, partake on earth of sovereign grace,
and eternally with Jesus reign." I want you to open your Bibles
to John chapter 3. Now, this is one of the most
familiar passages of scripture in all the Bible, John chapter
3, verses 1 through 10. And perhaps some of you will
say, well, I'm very familiar with these scriptures, but I
wonder if you'd look at it again with me, and perhaps after all
these years, we can enter into something that is new and rich
and a blessing. Let's look at it. John 3, verse
1. There was a man of the Pharisees.
Who are the Pharisees? There was a man of the Pharisees.
Who were and who are the Pharisees? Well, the Pharisees were men
who prided themselves on being righteous before God. And they felt they were righteous
before God because of their religious works and because of their morality. In fact, one of them stood one
day in the temple, a Pharisee, and these were his words. Let
me read them to you. He stood in the temple and he
prayed, and these were his words. This is a Pharisee. God, I thank
you that I'm not like other men. I'm not an extortioner, I'm not
unjust, I'm not an adulterer. Or even as this publican, I fast
twice in the week and I give tithes of all I possess. Here
was a man who bragged on his morality before God. He not only
justified himself before men, he justified himself before God. These Pharisees could not apply
to themselves one word. Sinner. Sinner. They could not apply that to
themselves. They did not feel that they were
sinners. Do we have Pharisees living today? Yes, we do. Pharisees
today live where good works and where religious rituals and ceremonies
and self-righteousness where these things are promoted and
where they reign instead of the grace of God in Christ Jesus. The Pharisees, they hope to find
acceptance with God by what they do, and by the kind of people
they are. This is a Pharisee. Let's read
on. There was a man of the Pharisees. His name was Nicodemus. I looked
up the meaning of the word, of the name Nicodemus. Back then,
they named children by special names that had definite meanings. And in Smith's Bible Dictionary,
if you have one, you can look it up. The name Nicodemus has
a meaning. His mother and father knew what
it meant. That's why they named him that.
You know what it means? Innocent. Innocent blood. I know what happened. No doubt
when Nicodemus' mother and father saw this little boy, He was a
goodly child. He was a handsome little rascal.
When he came forth from the womb, they saw this fine son and they
said to themselves, ah, there's no corrupt blood here. This is
innocent blood. This is a fine young boy and
corrupt blood does not flow through his veins. There's no pagan Gentile
blood here. We'll give him a name corresponding
to his nature, innocent. Innocent. How many times have
you said that? Oh, such a sweet little innocent
thing, as you held it in your arms. That's what his mother
and father said. And that was what he took with
him all his life, and that's why he was a Pharisee. Innocent. Without guilt, without sin. Of
course, that wasn't his true nature. God gives his true nature
through David. He said, in sin my mother conceived
me. I was shapen in iniquity and
brought forth speaking lies. That's my true nature. Not innocent,
but what? Guilty. Is there a name for guilty? Well, that ought to have been
his name, but they named him innocent. Innocent. Innocent blood. All right, let's
read on about him. His name was Nicodemus, and he
was a ruler of the Jews. Now, the Jews here, that's religion.
He was a ruler in religion. He was a what? He was a ruler.
This man, Nicodemus, had been through the required training,
through the recognized schools, had given his years to service,
and now, you know where he was? He was a member of one of the
highest-ranking religious ecclesiastical organizations among the Jews. He was a member of the Sanhedrin.
There were 70 men composing a great council of the Jewish nation. They literally ruled the Jewish
nation. Their name, the Sanhedrin. That's
what Nicodemus was. You know, it's amazing. It's
amazing to me how successful a man can be and can become in
religion, how high up he can get. climb and how successful
he can be. And I see it not only in Nicodemus,
I see it in religion today. How high a man can climb, how
successful he can be in religion without any knowledge of God
at all. That's stunning. That's amazing. That is amazing. I told one of
the men, we were talking about it Friday, I read a book about
the different popes. And one of the popes made this
statement. I don't know which one it was,
I don't remember. I remember what he said because it carried
such an impact. He said, when I was a young priest
studying religion, I thought I had some chance, that's the
word he used, of being saved, of going to heaven. of seeing
God in glory. When I was a young priest, I
had some hope. He said when I became a cardinal,
most of that hope vanished away. And when I became Pope, as high as I could go in religion,
I lost all hope of ever knowing God. That's something to think
about. Amazing, this man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus was a ruler, a ruler of the Jews. Alright,
notice the next thing it says about him. Verse 2, the same,
I'm talking about the same man here now, the same came to Jesus
by night. Now here's where most preachers
light in on Nicodemus, and I've done it. But I don't know whether we ought
to do that or not. I've given it fresh thought.
I know why he came to Jesus by night. I know why he came under
the cover of darkness. In fact, about every time his
name is mentioned in the Bible, it says, the one who came to
Jesus by night. He came by night because he feared
the Jews. This man was a member of the
Sanhedrin. This man was as high up as you
could go in religion without being a high priest. And because he feared the Jews
and because he would be put out of the synagogue if they saw
him, and out of office if they found out, he came to Jesus by
night. But I understand that. He didn't know Jesus. Here was
a normal man with a following of rip-rap, really. The disciples were rip-rap, weren't
they? Shepherds and fishermen and Folks, our Lord called nothing, and he wanted to talk to this
man. He wanted to investigate what
he'd heard and what he'd seen and what had come to his attention,
and so naturally he came by night. I don't blame him. I would have
to. I would have to. But the thing I'm saying is this,
I'm glad he came. It doesn't matter. See, so when
he came at night or in the daytime, he came to the right place, didn't
he? He came to Jesus. And I'll tell
you, if you ever consider this in an understanding light, it
doesn't matter when he came, it doesn't matter how he came,
it doesn't matter the situation under which he came, at least
he came. He came to talk. He came to listen. He came to inquire. And I'm telling
you this, I'm getting to the place and the age when I'm just
glad when somebody comes to hear me preach about these things. I know what I'm preaching is
foolishness to this world, it's foolishness to the preachers
around here. That God's sovereign, almighty, omnipotent does what
he will, when he will, with whom he will, that he's God. That
man is depraved and dead and guilty and in the helplessness
and hopelessness, dead in trespasses, etc. God elected a people. He
chose a people. God's not defeated, He's not
frustrated. God, everything's on schedule. Everything. He chose a people
in Christ, He gave them to Christ, Christ died for them, and He'll
call them. He will. And that's foolishness to the
average person. It's what the Bible teaches.
And if somebody'll just come and listen, if somebody'll just
come and inquire, if somebody'll just come to talk, if they'll
just come to, like Nicodemus did, he came and listened to
the next line. And I'll tell you, he came respectfully. Now this, this was no religious
fool. This was no, this man Nicodemus,
listen, Rabbi? Now that, that's a, that's a
word of respect. Master, that's what he called
him. Master? I tell you, Nicodemus addressed
the Lord Jesus according to his station. Master. He is master. And he addressed
him according to Nicodemus' profession, with respect. Master? This man had learned some etiquette.
He had learned some respect. He didn't, he's not a ranter
and a raver and a rabble rouser. He came in respect and admiration. Master, I know that your teacher
come from God. No man could do these miracles
that you do except God be with him. He was no religious fool. He didn't know Christ. He didn't
understand who Christ was. He didn't understand Christ's
mission. But he knew one thing. This man came from God. This man spoke the words of God,
did the works of God, had the Spirit of God. And Nicodemus,
though he didn't know who Christ was, though he was going an entirely
different direction, at least he knew up here that this was
no ordinary man. He recognized that. And I tell
you, people will give me that break. If they'll just come and
listen, and say it, and recognize this, that what I'm teaching
is the Word of God. A person may not understand it,
may not know it, may not believe it, but this is what it says. I'm preaching what it says. I
know that. I've gone through it. I've studied
it. I've written, like I tell people. I didn't come into Ashton
on the back of a pickup truck. I know what this says, just like
you know your business. You know what you're doing. I
know what this says. I know. I've read the old writers.
I've read all the old preachers. I've read the men who have meant
anything throughout history, the preachers who have left anything
of any consequence. I've gone verse by verse, read
all the commentaries, weighed it, looked into it. My soul's
at stake. The soul of my children are at
stake. My grandchildren, the soul of my friends here is at
stake. If I don't give heed to my life
and to my doctrine, I'm going to perish and everybody listening
to me is going to perish. I've got to be right. I don't
have to be successful. I don't have to be rich. I have
to be right. I don't have to be recognized.
I don't have to be popular. A year after I'm dead, nobody's
going to miss it anyhow. That's just so of all of us.
Henry who? What difference does it make?
But I tell you, what I preach is going to live. It's going
to live in those who live. It's going to live in these children.
And I'm telling the truth. And most of these religious fellows
today are lying now. They're lying on God and they're
lying on the Bible. And this is the truth. And Nicodemus
recognized that. He came to Christ. He said no
man could do what you do except God be with him. This was an
honest man. It was contrary to what he taught
and what he believed, but he was honest enough to know it
was God's Word. Isn't that right? That's all
I ask as a fellow of just You know the man who wrote the book,
Ben Hur. He started out, what gave birth
to that book was this man started out to prove that religion and
the gospel was wrong. I believe that's correct. And
he sat down and studied the gospel and the life of Christ and wrote
that book. I think he's the one who wrote
that book. So that's what I'm saying. Nicodemus, he came to
Jesus. Where else would you go? He came
to Jesus. He came to find out. He said,
I know you've come from God. Well, now notice our Lord's answer,
verse 3. Jesus answered him. And he said
to him, Verily, verily, I say unto you. What's this? Truly, truly, truly, truly, I
say unto you. This is the equivalent of thus
saith the Lord in the Old Testament. That's what the equivalent is.
Christ is speaking with that authority given him of the Father. He says, the words that I speak
are not my words, they're words of him that sent me. Truly, truly,
I say this to you. Except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God. Except a man be born again, he
cannot see, he cannot understand. Nicodemus, unless a man is born
again, he cannot understand the kingdom of God. He cannot see,
comprehend the kingdom of God, the mistress of the kingdom of
God. Now, the word born again, I know it's sailed through some
rough seas. It's been handled by some ignorant
people and made fun of. on every hand. But if you look
in your margin here of your Bible, born again, most Bibles have
the word born from above. And that word says, except a
man be born from above. Except a man be born from above,
he cannot see. And that word is when you're
explaining something to a child. while you're doing something,
he says, I want to understand what you're doing. Well, now you see, this
is the way it is. You see, you see, that's what you keep saying.
You see, do you understand, do you comprehend? Well, a man,
what Christ is saying to this educated, respectful gentleman
of the cloth, is that even with your training and even with your
research, can a man by searching find God? Even with your knowledge
and so-called wisdom, you've got to be born from above in
order to enter into, comprehend, understand the kingdom of God. Born from above. You see, the
whole religious world is going at this from the wrong end. I
listened to a local pastor last night. He was trying to get people
to do something for themselves. That's the wrong end. Christ
didn't say to Nicodemus, now you make a decision, and you
do this and you do that, and you'll enter into this thing.
No, he says something's got to happen from the other end to
you. You've got to be born from above. It starts with God. That's what
he's declaring. That's what he says, turn to
John 1, the first chapter of John, verse 11. John 1, verse 10. He, that is,
God in Christ, was in this world, and the world was made by him,
and the world didn't know him. He came unto his own, the Jews,
the tabernacle, the temple. And his own received him not,
but as many as received him. Oh, there's some folks that did,
yes. To them gave he the right to become sons of God. Even in
them that believed on his name, colon, that's not the end of
the sentence, which, which were born, not of blood, that is,
not of fleshly inheritance, not from your parents, nor the will
of man, or the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but they
were born of God. That's why they received him.
That's why they believed on him. That's why they saw what others
didn't see. That's why they understood his
words, which others didn't understand. They were born of God. And that's
what our Lord said to Nicodemus here. Here he stands. And our Lord said to him, I say
this truly, sincerely, this is so, except a man be born from
above. He cannot see the kingdom of
God. If we're not made alive and born
from above, we cannot understand, enter into, or see the kingdom
of God. You see, let me show you something
about the kingdom of God. Turn to Luke chapter 17. The
kingdom of God is not meat and drink, it's not the kingdom of
God. Luke 17 verse 20. The kingdom
of God is not religious organizations, it's not certain rules of behavior and
organization and certain regimented behavior and all this, that's
not the kingdom of God. Listen to our Lord in Luke 17,
verse 20. And when he was demanded of the
Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, he answered
them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation,
that is, with outward show, neither shall they say, Lo, here, or
Lo, there, for behold, the kingdom of God is within you. The kingdom of God is not outward
show. You know, you see, especially if
we're coming up to Christmas and New Year's, and you're going
to see the mass. and the Episcopalians, and the
Baptists, and the Catholics, and all of them with their uniforms,
and the huge choirs, and the cantatas, and the Mormon choir,
and all these different uniforms, and crosses, and all this processionals. And our Lord said that that's
not the kingdom of God. It's not without which show. We keep building bigger buildings
and higher steeples and churches of glass and monuments to our
flesh is what it is. The kingdom of God is within
you. Let me show you another scripture,
over in Romans 14. Oh, that we might learn. Except a man be born from above,
he cannot enter into this. Look at Romans 14, verse 17.
Romans 14, 17. You need to look right at this with me. Romans
14, 17. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink,
outward show, but righteousness. peace, joy in the Holy Ghost. He that in these things serveth
Christ is acceptable to God, ought to be approved of men.
That's what we ought to be interested in, judgment, righteousness,
peace, mercy, heart, faith. The kingdom of God is spiritual.
The kingdom of God is heavenly. The kingdom of God is grace and
spirit, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, saith
the Lord. All right, look back at the text,
John 3. Nicodemus, oh, he's so identifiable
with us. Our Lord said in verse 3, Nicodemus,
I'm telling you the truth, except a man be born from above, he
can't enter into or understand or comprehend the kingdom of
God. And Nicodemus said to him, and listen to Nicodemus, he speaks
naturally, he takes the word born naturally and again naturally
and he comes up with this. Look at it. How can a man be
born when he's old? Can he enter the second time
into his mother's womb and be born? That sounds like religious arguments
doesn't it? Talking about something so
grand and glorious and wonderful as God quickening and giving
life to a sinner, and somebody has to take it to this extreme. Well, our Lord was patient with
him. God, give me some patience. Oh, to learn the compassion and
patience of the Master. Our Lord answered, verily, verily,
I say unto you again, thus saith the Lord. I speak the words of
him that sent me. I am telling you the truth. Nicodemus,
accept. a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God, cannot be
a part of it, he cannot understand it nor be a part of it, unless
he's born of water and of the Spirit. Now, Nicodemus, verse
6, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. You're talking
about being born of your mother But if you could enter her womb
and be born again, you'd go through the same experience. You'd be
born of the flesh, and that's all you'd be. But that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit. This is anew. This is a new birth. Now go back to verse 5, that
water. What is the water? Let the man
be born of water. Well, let me take this. It's
not the sprinkling of an infant. And that was pretty important
back in the Middle Ages. And even the Reformation, they
had a terrible fight over that. In fact, the Church of England
brought it with them when they came out. When the Reformation
came out of Catholicism, they brought that with them. Baptismal
regeneration. In other words, they sprinkled
the infant at a certain age and include him in the covenant.
That's right. Include him in God's covenant.
He has a special place before God because of what his parents
do for him. The parents and the priest or
the parents and the preacher sprinkle him with water as an
infant. But the tragedy of that is that
90% of the Italian and Greek mafia has been sprinkled as an
infant. And that's a good illustration,
really. They're all sprinkled. Down in Mexico, a joke down there
among the people is that people, the men only come to church three
times. Their mom and daddy brings them
when they're born to sprinkle them. They come when they're
married. The priest has to perform the marriage or it's not recognized,
and they come to be buried. And they say they hatch them,
they match them, and they dispatch them. That's the three things
they do for her. But it's no joke. It's not funny. It's sad. The water, when he
says a man's got to be born of water, he's not talking about
this at all. Not at all. What is he talking
about? The Word. Now, I can show you
that. First of all, turn to 1 Peter
1. This is the Word of God. A man
is born again of the Word of God. 1 Peter 1, the Word of God. 1 Peter 1, verse 22. Now listen to this, 1 Peter 1,
verse 22. Seeing then that you have purified
your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, the truth
and the Spirit, the water and the word, the water and the spirit. Through the spirit unto unfeigned
love of the brethren, see that you love one another with a pure
heart, fervently, being born again, being born from above,
not of flesh, not of corruptible seed. The word there is semen.
It's a natural birth. That's not how we're born again.
But we're born of incorruptible seed by the word of God. which liveth and abideth forever."
That's the seed of the new birth, the Word of God, preaching of
the gospel. That's what we sit here this
morning, and that's what our Lord said to Nicodemus. Nicodemus
has got to be born from above to understand and comprehend
the kingdom of God. And he's got to be born of the
water, the Word of God, and the Spirit of God. You see, of his
own will begat he us with the word of truth. The word is the
seed. That's what he said there in
that scripture. And now back to the text. Born of the water,
that's the word, and of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. You see, the
word of God preached or read is just words. Now some of you
grew up in this church. You grew up listening to the
word. You've read it, you've studied it, you've listened to
it for years. And then one day, it became alive. One day, you
understood, oh, where have I been? You say, well, here's where you've
been. You've been in the grave. You've been in darkness. You've
been unborn. Because you can read even the
word of God and it won't, it doesn't mean, it's just words,
these are just words. There was a man. Well, let's
fairytale start that way, in a foreign country there was a
man that was a king. And you were just reading, just
read. But wait a minute, when the spirit of God is in your
heart and gives life and understanding by the orders from God. Saul
of Tarsus was forty-five years old. He was a brilliant, educated,
wise leader of religion. Forty-five years old, on his
road to Damascus to kill some Christians, because he despised
them, when God said, Whoa! Spirit of God, open his heart.
Reveal the word to him. And that's what he's saying here,
the Spirit The Spirit of God comes and that word which to
you has been really just words, old words of respect and words
of knowledge and old words preserved and words, you know, of proverbs
and beautiful and these things. But then one day these words
become life. That's the difference. Become
life. The living word. That's the word
that pierces. It's sharper than a two-edged
sword. You teachers know what I'm talking
about. Pupils sit and look at you, you know, with a dull, and
then one day they open their eyes. I see what you're saying. That happened to you, didn't
it? I see. I see. Where have I been?
After lunch, I don't know. But I see. But the Spirit of
God has to make it. That's right. All right? Verse 7, look at verse
7. Nicodemus, marvel not, don't
be amazed if I say unto you, even you, Nicodemus. I know this
is contrary to everything you've been taught, it's contrary to
everything you've thought, it's contrary to everything the religious
natural man understands, but you see, Nicodemus, life is the
gift of God. Life is the gift of God. And
spiritual life is necessary to understanding spiritual things.
Now watch this next verse. You see Nicodemus, verse 8? The
wind bloweth where it listeth. What's that saying? The wind
blows where it pleases. The wind blows where it will.
Verse 8, let's look at it together. The wind blows where it will.
That's just ordinary wind out there. And you hear the sound
thereof. You can't tell where it came
from. And you can't tell where it's going. So is everyone born
of the Spirit. Now listen to me. Take hold of
your seat now. The amplified version says the
wind blows where it will, and though you hear the sound, and
though you see the results, you really don't know where it comes
from, and you don't know where it'll go. So it is with everyone
born of the Spirit of God. Well, I ask this question. Who
commands the wind? Who does know where it comes
from? Who does know where it will go? Who does know where
it will go? Who does know the intensity of
it and the power of it? The one who commands the wind.
And you know who that is? My Lord. He says that over and
over again in His Word. One time the disciples said,
who is this man that even the winds obey his voice? Turn to Psalm 147. This is interesting. Psalm 147. Listen to this. Psalm
147, verse 18 and 19. Listen to this. Psalm 147, verse 18, "...he sendeth
out his word, and melteth them." Who sends it? He does. What does
it do? It melts the hard heart, it melts
the bitter spirit. He causes the wind to blow and
the waters to flow. He shows his word unto Jacob,
his statutes and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt
so with any nation. As for his judgments, they've
not known them. Who does know them? His people. Because he sends his word. He
sends the wind, Bob. He's the one. And that's what
my Lord said in Nicodemus. He said, Nicodemus, God sends
the wind. And you don't know where it's
coming from, and you don't know where to go. But I know who sends it. Even
so, the Spirit of God is sovereign in this new birth. The man who's
born again, you're not going to find him bragging about it.
You're going to find him thankful, but very humble, because he didn't
contribute anything to it. These preachers run around bragging
about, I'm born again, you're not. Oh, maybe it's the other
way around. That's right. What hast thou
that thou didst not receive? Oh, just like the wind is his
grace, all sovereign and all free. Great God, how unsearchable
are thy ways, how deep thy judgments be. The sovereign will of God
alone creates us heirs of grace. Born in the image of his Son,
a new peculiar race, the Spirit of God, like a heavenly wind,
blows on the sons of flesh and creates a new heavenly mind and
forms a life afresh. He said to Moses, I'll be merciful
to whom I will. I'll be gracious to whom I will.
So then it's not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth,
it's of God that shalt Verse 9, I can't leave you without
this, And Nicodemus answered and said to him, How can these
things be? Well, that's a good question,
isn't it? With me, it's impossible. With God, all things are possible.
How can these things be? Well, it depends on who your
God is, if that's how these things can be. You have to have a sovereign
Lord, the Almighty God.
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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