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Henry Mahan

Martha Served

John 12:1-11
Henry Mahan • June, 28 1992 • Audio
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Message: 1069b
Henry Mahan Tape Ministry
6088 Zebulon Highway
Pikeville, KY 41501
What does the Bible say about worship?

The Bible emphasizes that true worship is essential, putting priority on glorifying God above all else.

Worship is at the heart of a believer's life, being described as giving our very best to God, as seen in the story of Mary anointing Jesus' feet. Worship involves humility and adoration, where we bring everything we have before Him, as exemplified by Mary who poured costly ointment on Jesus' feet. This act was not just about the physical act of worship, but it represented her entire devotion and love for Christ, signifying that nothing was too good for Him. As followers of Christ, our worship should be characterized by a deep love and reverence for Him, expressing our gratitude for who He is and what He has done.

John 12:3, Ephesians 2:1-6

Why is serving important in light of Martha's example?

Serving is important as it reflects obedience and love for Christ, as shown by Martha in preparing for Him.

Martha's service in John 12 demonstrates the necessity and value of serving others as an expression of our love for Christ. While she was rebuked for allowing her service to overshadow her worship, it is vital to recognize that her desire to serve came from a good place—a longing to honor Jesus in her home. Serving is not only an act of obedience but also a vital part of the Christian community, where individual contributions often bear witness to our love for God and our neighbor. Even in oversight, we must remember that service and worship coexist, and it is necessary to balance them in our lives as followers of Christ.

John 12:2, 1 Chronicles 29:12

How do we know God's grace is active in our lives?

We see God's grace active in our lives through the presence of His blessings and the gathering of His people.

God's grace manifests in the lives of believers as seen in the community of faith gathered in His name. Like Bethany, where Jesus frequently returned, the evidence of God’s grace is apparent in a town or area where He calls a people to Himself, enabling them to worship and serve. The presence of God among us is a motivating factor that encourages us to glorify Him through worship and service. It reflects the truth that grace changes us, enabling us to give our all to Him—just as we see the service of Martha and the worship of Mary in John 12. It's about recognizing God's mercy in our day-to-day lives as He continues to bless us through His word and His people.

John 12:1-11, Acts 16:6-9

Sermon Transcript

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John chapter 12. Then Jesus,
verse 1, chapter 12. Then Jesus, six days before the
Passover, came to Bethany. Bethany. This little town of
Bethany is mentioned frequently in the scriptures. You get your
concordance, you'll find Bethany is mentioned several times. This
was a hometown of a family of people that was special to our
Lord. It was a home of Martha, Mary,
and Lazarus. It tells us that here in verse
1. He came to Bethany. where Lazarus
was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. Nearly
an entire chapter in this book of John is devoted to the raising
of Lazarus, the visit, the sickness of Lazarus, the visit of our
Lord to the home of Mary and Martha, and then the raising
of Lazarus by the power of our God. But our Lord came again
to Bethany, Bethany. There were a lot of towns around
there, a lot of big cities. But our Lord kept coming back
to Bethany, Bethany. Oh, how blessed is a town where
our Lord is pleased to visit. How blessed is a town where our
Lord is pleased to reveal his grace and his word. You can talk
all you want to about the world, the world in general, and we
certainly will try to fulfill the commission of our Lord and
preach the gospel to every creature and go into all the world and
preach the gospel. I'm willing, and we want to,
and we'll do so as God enables us. We're trying to do that. But there are certain towns, there are certain places where
the Lord is pleased to sing his word in his presence effectually. And there are towns and cities
where he does not. Bethany was a place where the
Lord visited. Bethany was a place where the
Lord had a beloved people. Bethany was a place to which
he came back and visited quite often. Bethany. What a blessing. Think about it. Think about it. And their towns and cities. Brother
Groover, we had this experience in Mexico. Brother Milton Howard,
this is true in Africa. These men drive their automobiles
and take their message to a lot of places. A lot of villages,
a lot of pueblos, a lot of places, a lot of towns, villages. And in some of those villages
and pueblos and towns, God is pleased to raise up a people. God is pleased to raise up a
church, raise up a pastor. Walter and Milton and Ken and
Bill and Dan and these men go back again. go back again, and
God blesses. And that town is just blessed
with the presence of the Lord and the fellowship of his people.
And men come from other countries, preaching the gospel to that
town. And they go, leave Meadow and go through Motu and Hocktoon
and all these different, where there's nothing. Paganism, darkness,
witchcraft, superstition. And then we come into a town,
and there's an assembly of people. Isn't that something? But that's,
let me show you that, hold my place there in John and turn
to Acts, in Acts chapter 16, and maybe we'll get a little
light on that here. Here's the Apostle Paul speaking, and he
says in Acts 16, verse 7, verse 6, Acts 16.6, you have it there,
listen, Acts 16.6, Now, when they had gone throughout Phrygia
and the regions of Galatia, they were forbidden of the Holy Ghost
to preach the word in Asia. God said, Don't go over there.
And after they had come to Mysia, they had said or wanted to go
to Bithynia, but the Spirit of God suffered them not to go. Don't go over there. And they,
passing by Mysia, came to Troas, and a vision appeared to Paul
in the night, and there stood a man of Macedonia praying, praying
to him, saying, Come over to Macedonia and help us. And after he had seen the vision,
immediately he endeavored to go to Macedonia, assuredly gathering
the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to Macedonia. So I'm saying that When I read this, when I started
on this message and read this, the Lord came to Bethany, not
by accident, by choice. There were people there who loved
him, but he loved them first. There were people there whom
he visited, to whom he manifested his presence, who enjoyed his
presence and blessings because he would. I'll be merciful to
whom I will be merciful. There are lots of places the
Lord has not been pleased to bless. And I'll tell you, the
town of Ironton, Ohio, and Ashland, Kentucky, and this surrounding
area here, is a Bethany. This is a Bethany. The Lord Jesus Christ has been
pleased to visit us in his grace, in his word, in his power, in
his mercy. He's been pleased to raise up
a people who love him and love his word, love his gospel, love
one another, and are blessed with his presence. That's right. Let's give thanks, let's cherish
these days. It's not true everywhere. I'm
here to tell you it's not true everywhere. I'm talking about
people at a place where the glory of God is preached, where the
glory of religion is everywhere. And religion was everywhere else
besides Bethany. But the Lord was in Bethany.
form and ceremony and ritualism was everywhere, but the Lord
was in Bethany. There's a difference. The Lord
was in Bethany. And this is the place, here in
this area, where God's faithful, veteran preachers from everywhere
come and stand here and preach and share with you the word of
God. and the blessings of God upon
their ministry, and you have a part in supplying their needs
and meeting their needs. This is unusual. What we have
here is unusual. It's another Bethany. You see,
David was aware of that. Let me show you what David said
in 1 Chronicles. This is verse, 1 Chronicles chapter
29. 1 Chronicles 29. And I'll be the first one that
loud and clear declares, it's not because of us, not unto us,
not unto us, not unto us, O God, to thy name give glory. It's
not because we would, it's because he would. It's not because we
did, it's because he did. We love him because he loved
us. You know, when they reported to the Lord that Lazarus was
sick, they didn't say, Lord, he who loves you is sick. They
said, Lord, he whom thou lovest is sick. That's right. What we have is by grace. David knew that. Listen to David
in 1 Chronicles 29, verse 12. Both riches and honor come of
thee. Thou reignest over all. In thine
hand is power and might. In thine hand it is to make great.
and to your strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank
thee, and praise thy name. But who am I, and what is my
people, that we should be able, and able of God, to offer so
willingly after this salt? For all things come of thee,
of thine own have we given thee." See what David's saying? David's
counting the blessings. He said they all come from God.
We're We're honored. God has boosted us. But who are
we? Who am I? And what is my people
that God has been pleased to bless us in this way? We have
to say it's even so, Father, it seemed good in thy sight,
according to his will. But I do know, I do know this
is a Bethany. Jesus came to Bethany. Alright, verse 2. And there they
made him a supper. There in Bethany they made him
a supper. There was a gathering in his
honor. There was an assembly brought
together in his name. They made a special supper. That's what we're doing here
this morning. We've come together in his name. We've come together
to honor him. We've come together for a feast.
The people of the town didn't do this. They didn't say they
had a supper down at the city hall in Bethany. They had it
in Mary and Martha's home. The people of the town didn't
do it. The people who loved him made the supper. The people who
wanted to honor him and glorify him, they made him a supper. You know, because our Lord is
pleased to bless a town and grace a town with his presence doesn't
mean the whole town is going to receive him. Doesn't mean the whole town is
going to believe him or the whole town is going to honor him. But
at Sheepwell, at Sheepwell, some of those fellows came to him
and said, If you be the cross, tell us plainly. He said, I told
you. But you didn't believe me. You didn't believe me because
you're not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. They believe me. And our Lord
came to Bethany. The whole town didn't come together,
and the whole town didn't honor him, and the whole town didn't
pay tribute to him, but his sheep did. They made a supper, and
it was for his honor. They made it for him. That's
why we're here. We're not here to recognize ourselves
or praise ourselves. We're here to honor him. A worship
service, and there's so little of it in 1992, so little worship. There's a lot of religion. I
know that. There's a lot of promotion. There's a lot of organization.
And there's a lot of activity and much ado. But they made a
supper for him. They called a gathering for him.
They met to honor him. Him. And he promised to be there. He said, well, if two or three
are gathered in my name, I'll be there. I'll be there. I'll
be there. If they're there to honor me,
if they're there in my name, I'll be there. Every time. So he came to Bethany and they
made him a supper. An assembly gathered to honor
him. to honor him. And there were
many people involved in this supper and this gathering in
his honor. I want us to look at some of
them. You can just take your ballpoint pen if you want to
and underscore these things as I come to them, these people.
I want to talk about these people a little while. Blessed is the
town where our Lord is pleased visit to reveal his presence.
And here they made a supper. They had a gathering of folks
to honor him, pay tribute to him. And here the first person
we meet is Martha. It says, And they made him a
supper, and Martha served. And Martha served. Well, this
morning I want to vindicate Martha. Martha's been the subject of
a great deal of abuse. Now, me too. Every time someone
preaches about Martha, about the only thing they reveal is
our Lord's rebuke. Isn't that true? You ever heard
anything preached on Martha where she wasn't being ripped and rebuked? You remember what I'm talking
about. They had that supper, and Mary was sitting at his feet,
and Martha was busy in preparing everything, and she came in with
her hands on her hips, and she said, Lord, don't you care that
my sister has left me to serve? And she's just sitting there
at your feet. And the Lord said, Martha, Martha, Martha. They
had cumbered about with much care, but Mary had chosen the
good thing. Now our Lord rebuked Martha for
one reason, not because she served and not because she didn't have
much care and wanted to serve him, but he rebuked her for her
priorities. She put service above worship. You see that? That's the sole
reason he rebuked her. She had her priorities mixed
up. She had her priorities. Her attitude was wrong. And we've
been there many times, haven't we? Her attitude was wrong. Her priorities were wrong. And
the Lord straightened out her priorities. He said service has
its place, but this is the better thing. This is the needful thing.
This is first. I wish all what we call churches
would get their priorities straightened out. Serving God is needful,
but worship is more needful. It's the one thing needful. If I never lift my hand again,
I must love him. If I never preach another sermon,
I must call on his name. That's the priority. Let's get
them straight. Thank God for the Martha's. I want to vindicate
Martha. Thank God for the Martha's who
take care of the things that need to be done. Think of all
the needs that are met by the Marthas. It says here they made
him a supper and Martha served. They wouldn't have had a supper
if Martha hadn't served. Isn't that right? I got up this morning. Now, I
spend most of my time in preaching. Most of my time. You know that.
And I got up this morning. And I went into the kitchen and
some Martha had been there before I got there. And my coffee was
all ready to pour. And I sat down at the table and
I ate some toast and jelly because some Martha fixed it for me.
Getting ready to come preach to you. And then I went in and
took my shower and shade, and I came in and pulled open the
drawer, and lo and behold, some Martha had been there. There
was clean underwear and socks and handkerchiefs. Wouldn't have
been a mess without her. See what I'm talking about? And
then I came over here to the church. When I left here yesterday,
this place wasn't very straightened out. They had a wedding and a
reception, things like that. And I left here. I just left
and I went over and studied for my message this morning. And
I came back this morning, it was all cleaned up. Some Martha
beat me here. I'm sure glad she did. Aren't
you? And then I went in and got the
bulletins to put out, out here for everybody. And you know something? I didn't have a thing to do with
printing that bulletin, but there it was. Some Martha had been
there. You understand what I'm saying? I picked up my water while I
was going, what do you know, some Martha had filled the glass. Sunday school lessons, some Martha
had them all ready for me. Our Bible school, I'd prep and
fume and study and work on something to teach and preach and come
over here and the children would come over here and all these
Marthas running around here getting things ready for them. You boys
and girls think about it. You sat out here and then you
went back to class and you just sat there and there was a Martha
ready to wait on you and take care of you and even take care
of your snack time. And some of you ladies are sitting
in here right now listening to the message and worshiping God,
but there's some Martha's in there taking care of your babies. You know that? There's some Martha's
in there taking care of you. Martha's third. Martha, don't
belittle Martha. We need the Martha's, Martha's
Seller. And our Martha over here is going
to sit down this week and write missionary checks. And you just
sit there and spend money like it's going out of style. I mean, you write checks for
a missionary, $1,000 here and $2,000 here and $1,000 there,
and not take a thing of that, and stick them in an envelope
and dress them and mail them. Why? Some of these Martha's have covered
it down here at the bank. All those checks will be covered.
And she just sits down and writes them, and mails them to the missionary,
and they cash them. They cash them down there and
buy gasoline for the truck and food for the table, and they
send the check back here, and it's good, because the Martha's
have taken care of the business. I'm going to get on a plane Tuesday
and Friday to California to preach the gospel. because Martha bought
my ticket. And out there, I'll get there
with my bag and walk in. They'll have a place, a camper
already for me to walk in and sit it down. They'll have the
beds fixed and the tables fixed, a place for me to study and everything. So Martha got that before I did.
You see what I'm saying? It's very simple, isn't it? They
made him a supper. And Martha said, And in serving the Lord, she
served his people. What does Solomon say? Whatever
your hand finds to do, do it with all your might. As unto
the Lord. Whether you eat or whether you
drink or whatever you do, do it unto the Lord. I just say this morning, let's
give a hearty, heartfelt, sincere thanks to God for the Martha's,
don't you? Everyone of them. Martha served. All right, let's look at the
next fellow. In verse 2, they made him a supper, and Martha
served. But Lazarus, Lazarus was one
of them that sat at the table with him. You think about this.
You think about this now. This fellow, there's Christ,
there's the Lord Jesus, there's our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus
Christ, sitting at the table, and sitting right there with
him, next to him, is a fellow that was dead. I mean dead. In fact, his own
sister said he stank. What happened? She said, Lord,
don't know whether he's stoned, he stinks. He stinks. His own sister said
he stinks. But Lazarus heard the voice of
the Lord, and our Lord stood outside the grave of him who
was dead and who sticketh, and he said, Lazarus, come forth. And old Lazarus came forth, and
here he is now, Bob, sitting with the Lord. Is this not the testimony of
everybody here this morning who's heard his voice? You were dead. Dead in trespasses and sin. And
according to your own testimony and the testimony of those that
knew you best, you stinketh. That's right. By nature, by birth,
by practice, and by decay. But one day you heard the gospel
of his wonderful grace, of his precious blood, and of his perfect
holiness and righteousness, and you believe, and you arose, and
now you're seated with him. Seated with him in the heavens. Turn to Ephesians, chapter 2. Let me show you this. Ephesians,
chapter 2. Listen to it. Ephesians 2, verse
1. And you, you Lazarus, you have
bequeathed who are dead and trespasses, and sin, wherein in times past
you walked according to the course of this world, according to the
prece of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in
the children of disobedience, among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh, of the mind, whereby nature, children
of wrath, even as others, but God who is rich in mercy, for
his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us, made us live, raised us up together
with Christ by grace of your Savior, has raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We sit with him, seated with
Christ in the heavenlies. Because God in his mercy and
grace came to where we were and said, Liam, Lazarus, come forth. And now
we're seated with him. That's the story of all of us,
isn't it? Seated with Christ. All right, let's move on. In
verse 3 it says, And Mary, Martha's third, Lazarus' second, exalted was sat with Christ. And they took Mary, a pound of ointment, of spiked
lead, very costly, very costly. Here she was, at his feet again. And she anointed the feet of
Jesus and wiped his hair, his feet with her hair, and the house
was filled with the odor of the ointment. You know, all of these
pictures Martha serving, Lazarus sitting, Mary worshiping. All of them are part of the believer's
life. We do all of them. The believer
serves, the believer sits, he rests, he's entered into his
rest, sits with Christ. The victory is won. And yet he
worships. And we find Maverick here at
the feet of Christ. That's where you usually find
Maverick. That's humility, contrition, sitting at his feet. Here's a
beautiful young woman who takes her place sitting at the feet
of our Lord. And she brought the best she
had. I think it's very significant here that it says Maverick took
a pound of ointment and spiked it very costly. Very costly. She didn't bring Christ something
that she didn't need or something second-hand that she'd already
worn out. She didn't bring Christ something
fickle and something that was unworthy of him. I don't know
where she got this ointment or how long she'd had it or the
value of it. I do know it was very, what the
scripture says, very costly. But I tell you, with Mary, who
worships Christ the very best, it's not too good for him. He's worthy of the very best. She got the best she had. She
got that which was very costly, that which was very important
to her, and she bought it. And what'd she do with it? She
just poured it all over his feet. Just poured it all over his feet. Just took this ointment and just,
she didn't say you can have a little of it and I'll keep the rest
of it. She took it all and just dumped it and poured it on his
feet. My life, my love, my all, I give
to thee, O Christ who died for me. Here it is. I'm at your feet
and I pour every bit of it on your feet. He said she's anointing
me for my burial. She knew he was going to die.
This was the days leading up to the cross. And she figured
she'd never have an opportunity, the death he was going to die
and the hands into which he would be delivered, that she'd probably
never see him after he was dead and could not anoint his body.
And Christ said she'd just anoint him ahead of time. And he said
this will be told about her as long as this gospel is preached.
And that's something that's happened 1900 years ago, Becky, and I'm
still talking about it. They're talking about it. She
gave all. I tell you, when you come to
this place of worship, worship, that's when you give all. That's
when you give everything. And not only that, but she wiped
his teeth with the hair of her head. I know, I watch you ladies. I
know how you take care of that hair. I know it's very important.
In fact, across the street from me is a beauty shop, and they're
in there all day long. Coming out, they look better
when they're in. In and out all day long. I'm glad they come
in and out. But this girl, this woman, undid
her hair, and then she just wiped his feet
with her hands. That's love, isn't it? That's condescension, but nothing
like he condescended for us. And you know something? It says
here the odor of that ointment filled the house. I tell you, oh, that this house
might be filled with the odor of worship and the odor of love. The odor that filled the house
was a result of an act of love, an act of worship. started with
Mary, if she hadn't been in love with Christ and humble and willing
to give the best she had and brought it to the feet of Christ
and poured it out, there would have been no odor. But the odor of her devotion
and the odor of her consecration and the odor of her love, boy,
it smells so good. Where people meet in the name
of Christ and love him and worship him and adore him, it smells
sweet. Where they meet to organize and
carry on whatever they carry on and brag on each other, it
doesn't smell too good. It smells a whole lot like advantage
or covetousness or or something we're going to gain by what we're
doing, you know, and we're going to have more next Sunday than
this Sunday, so we can brag on what we had next Sunday. But
all worship smells good, doesn't it Cecil? Smells good. Older fills the house. That song,
the reason I said to Mike, that was a special, special, because
it worshipped him. I still smell it, don't you?
All right, Martha serves. Thank God for Martha. Lazarus
sat. Thank God for God's grace that
has seated us in Christ positionally, eternally. Thank God for Mary,
who sat at His feet and worshiped. Here comes the sad part of this
assembly. I hate to even get into it, but
I must. There were some more folks there.
Unfortunately, where the presence of Christ is manifested, there
are those who, for whatever reason, cannot worship him, cannot rejoice
in him, cannot find their meat and their drink to
feed upon him. Then one of his disciples, 1
Thoreau of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray him, said,
Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence and given
to the poor? Judas began to complain about
the waste, complain about the cost, complain because he didn't
do more for the poor. Well, those six said that wasn't
the real reason. What he said was not his real
problem. That's generally true. What he
said was not his real problem. His real problem was himself,
his greed. He was a thief. Says here in
verse 6, this he said, not because he cared for the poor. That wasn't
it at all. He was a thief. He had the bag.
He was the treasurer. He carried the money. He bagged
what was therein. And usually you'll find those
that disrupt worship and those who can't be happy with the presence
of the Lord, those who cannot love him and worship him and
adore him, they've got some underlying motive. Greed or something like
that. Selfishness? What they say is
not what they mean. Not at all. They've got a purpose
for it. And Judas, when he came here, he said he saw all this
ointment poured on the feet of Christ, and oh, he said, what
waste! There are poor people out there
that we could be feeding. There are poor people out there
that we could be taking care of. That wasn't his problem.
His problem, he didn't love the one that they were worshiping.
He didn't love the one with whom Martha was serving. He didn't
love the one with whom Lazarus sat. He didn't love the one upon
whom they lavished this goodness and mercy and praise. While the
Lord said to him, then Jesus said, Leave her alone against
the day of my burying, as she kept this. The poor you have
with you always. And we do help the poor and the
unfortunate here, but our main purpose is to preach the gospel.
We do help. We do help the unfortunate, but
our main purpose is to honor Christ, glorify Christ, and preach
the gospel. The poor is going to be here.
They're going to be where this church is going. You have laziness
and everything else. You have people who, that's their... frame of being. They work harder
at being poor than you do at having sufficient. That's right. Many of them do. And you're going
to have them. But the gospel has priority. The gospel has
priority. That's what Christ said here.
The poor you have with you always, but me you have not always. And
then there were some more people there. Much people of the Jews,
therefore, knew he was there. And they didn't come for Jesus'
sake only. Underscore that. They came not
for Jesus' sake only. That's not why they gathered,
that's not why they came. They didn't come to worship him,
they didn't come to honor him, they didn't come to glorify him,
they didn't come for that reason at all. They came to see Lazarus, whom
he raised from the dead. They came to see, they were curious. They came to see Lazarus, they
came to see the preacher, they came to see Lazarus, or they
came to see somebody else, but this will always be the case.
But I believe this, perhaps as they come around, one day they
may come to see him. Come on, keep coming, even the
curious, even the whatever, but come, because You know, if you
want a flower to grow, put it in the sunshine and the rain.
Don't put it under the house, because sunshine and rain may
make it live. And that's the reason I say even
people that don't come for Christ's sake, come for some other purpose,
come on. It may be that your attention
will be drawn away from whatever you're interested in to Him.
And then, last of all, and I'll close, last of all, there were
some more folks around They weren't there, they were out yonder somewhere,
verse 10. The chief priests, the religious
leaders, they consulted, they got together, they plotted to
destroy Lazarus. Let's put him out of business.
Let's get rid of him. Let's get rid of him. They might
put him to death because, by reason of Lazarus, Many of the
Jews went away and believed on Jesus. Now, that place, that town, where
the Lord has been pleased to visit and to bring his gospel
and to honor his Son, have people that serve him and people that
worship him and people who sit with him, But they always have
their enemies, and usually their greatest enemies, if they're
honoring Christ and glorifying Christ and preaching his gospel,
their greatest enemies will be among the religious who profit
by religion. And they want to put that place
out of business and that man out of business where Christ
is glorified. And you need not expect them
to say anything good. about that supper. They won't
say anything good. You see those people came together
on a crash, and out yonder on the outskirts was a chief priest,
and they objected to it. They had their temple over there.
They were in business over there. That's how they made their living
over there. They had a big outfit over there. You had to be paid
for it, building programs, all these things. And if people worship
Christ, they're not going to follow the shenanigans of these
people. So their aim is to get rid of Lazarus. If we can just
get rid of him, because he's a witness to the power of God. He's evidence that Christ is
the Son of God. As long as he's there, We got
troubles. Understand what I'm saying? As
long as he's there. All right, let's sing a song.
I hope that's a blessing to you. I hope you'll remember that message
and that's proof. Number forty-nine, number forty-nine.
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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