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Henry Mahan

Christ Died for Us

Romans 5:1-11
Henry Mahan • August, 19 1990 • Audio
1,528 Articles 3,940 Sermons 760 Books
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Henry Mahan
Henry Mahan • August, 19 1990
1,528 articles 3,940 sermons 760 books
Message: 0978b
Henry Mahan Tape Ministry
6088 Zebulon Highway
Pikeville, KY 41501
What does the Bible say about justification by faith?

Justification by faith means being declared righteous before God through belief in Christ, apart from works.

The Bible teaches that justification is a gift from God that allows sinful individuals to be accepted as righteous in His sight. Romans 3:28 states, 'Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.' This means that justification is not achieved through human effort or adherence to the law, but solely through faith in Jesus Christ. As demonstrated in Romans 4:5, it is the faith of a believer that is counted as righteousness, not their works. Therefore, the doctrine emphasizes that salvation is entirely based on God's grace and not on human merit, highlighting the transformative power of faith in the redemptive work of Christ.

Romans 3:28, Romans 4:5

Why is grace important for Christians?

Grace is essential for Christians as it signifies God's unmerited favor and the foundation of their salvation.

Grace is crucial for Christians because it encapsulates the nature of God's saving work. As mentioned in Romans 5, grace is a free gift that God bestows upon sinners who believe. Ephesians 2:8-9 echoes this, stating, 'For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.' This underscores the fact that salvation is not achieved through human efforts but through God's initiative and love. The assurance of salvation is grounded in God's grace because it allows believers to rest in the certainty that their standing before God is secure, independent of their fluctuating circumstances or failures.

Romans 5, Ephesians 2:8-9

How do we know that Christ died for us?

We know that Christ died for us because the Bible explicitly states that He died for the ungodly, demonstrating God's love.

The affirmation that Christ died for us is rooted in scripture, particularly Romans 5:8, which declares, 'But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' This verse highlights the profound truth that Christ’s sacrifice is not contingent upon our righteousness or worthiness, but rather it is a direct expression of God’s love for sinners. Moreover, the concept of Christ dying 'for' us means He died in our stead, bearing the punishment that we deserved. This substitutionary atonement is the essence of the gospel and gives believers hope and assurance of their salvation, as their debts have been fully paid through Christ's sacrifice.

Romans 5:8

Sermon Transcript

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100%
one great important truth. Let
me show you that. Go back to Romans 3. You look
right up here at verse 28 of Romans 3. It's right across the
page. Therefore we conclude that a
man is justified by faith, by believing God. You know what
the word justified means. Someone coined a phrase that
says justification means just as if I had never sinned. Through
the blood of Christ, through the death of Christ, all sin
put away. And I'm regarded and accepted
in Him as holy, unblameable, unreprovable, just as if I had
never sinned. And that's by faith. Now read
on, without the deeds of the law, not by works, but by faith. Now look at verse 30 of chapter
3, seeing it is one God which shall justify the circumcision
by faith, that's the Jew, and the uncircumcision through faith. How? Not by works, by faith. Now look at chapter 4, verse
5. He's been talking about Abraham,
our father, and he says in chapter 4, verse 5, But to him that worketh
not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, sinners,
his faith is counted for righteousness. Not his works. He has no works.
His faith. Now look at verse 13. verse chapter
4, for the promise that he should be heir of the world was not
to Abraham or to his seed through the law, through the moral law,
through the Levitical law, through the law of works and righteousness
and religion, but through the righteousness of faith. He that
believeth on the Son hath life. He that believeth Now look at
verse 16 of Romans 4, therefore it, therefore it, that is justification,
righteousness, acceptance, life, therefore it is of faith. It
is of faith, it is by faith, by believing on Christ. For two
reasons, that it might be by grace The gift of God. Did you notice when Jim was reading
a moment ago in chapter 5, how many times the word gift is used? Look across the page. Keep verse
16. Look across at verse 15 of Romans
5. I just put a circle around the
word gift. Verse 15, chapter 5, but not as the offense, so
also is the free gift. For if through the offense of
one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by
grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded to many."
Look at verse 16, Romans 5. And not as it was by one that
sinned, so is the gift. For the judgment was by one to
condemnation, but the what? The free gift. Now, look at verse
17. For if by one man's offense death
reign by one, much more they which receive abundance of grace
and the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one Jesus
Christ. Verse 18. Therefore as by the
offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation,
even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon
all men to justification of life. Do you know what a gift is? I had a birthday today, today
I'm 64 years of age, and I received some gifts, some precious gifts, some loving
gifts, and they were free. I mean, my family and my friends,
because they loved me, not because I deserve it, not because I'm
worthy, not because I merited it, I didn't give them a dime,
they just handed me a gift, said this is for you. You know what
a gift is? It's free. You don't work for
it, or labor for it, or pay for it, or merit it, or deserve it.
It's not a gift. If you do, it's a gift. How many
times do you use the word gift, gift, gift, gift, gift, gift?
Free gift! That's what salvation is. That's
what forgiveness is. That's what mercy is. It's a
free gift. And now look back here at chapter
4, verse 16. Therefore it is of faith that
it might be by grace, a free gift. And here's the second reason
why it's by faith, that to the end that the promise might be
sure to all to see. Salvation by faith that it might
be by grace. It's by faith that it might be
sure. I'll tell you this, the only person who can have any
assurance of salvation, any assurance of life eternal, any assurance
of a hope after death, is the man who believes that salvation
is by the grace of God through faith. If salvation depends in
any way on me, I can't have any assurance. I don't know what
I'm going to do. two years from now may not even
know my name. I don't know what's going to happen,
but I know that salvation is a free gift of God. It's by the
grace of God and it's by faith alone. If it depends in any way
upon my works or my efforts or my righteousness, I have no righteousness. My righteousness is a filthy
rag. Almighty God raised up a man 507 years ago. 507 years ago in 1483. There
was a baby born to this family in Germany. Just a common, ordinary
family. Not a family of kings, but just
a common, ordinary family. Baby boy. They named him Martin. Martin Luther. In 1483, he was born. That's
507 years ago. And this, at that time, the whole
world was religious, like it is now. But it was a religion
of superstition. A religion of potpourri and ceremony. and tradition, a religion where
the people didn't have a Bible. They depended upon the priests
and the monks and the cardinals and the bishops and these men
to tell them what to believe and what to do and how to pay
your way to heaven, religion of purgatory and these things. And Martin Luther went right
into that. And he became, he was a very
brilliant boy, he became a monk and studied, went to a monastery
to study further, to be a monk and then a priest. And in the
monastery, of course, they had Bibles, they had the Bible, they
had the manuscript chained to a lectern in the library. And Martin Luther read the Bible.
He was a student. He read all the books and he
read the Bible. And he kept reading in the Bible
this phrase. Now remember, his religion was
a religion of works. Forbidden to marry, forbidden
to eat certain things, keeping holy days, fasting. They said that sometimes they'd
find him, he'd beat his body, he would take thorns on a stick
and beat his body when he thought bad thoughts and he'd starve
himself. In fact, sometimes they'd find
him lying on the floor of his cell, and that's what his room
was, a cell. They'd find him lying there almost
dead and take days to revive him, trying to find God, trying
to appease God, trying to please God. trying to keep things out
of his mind and out of his heart, and trying to live perfect and
trying to be without sin, and trying to find acceptance with
God by what he'd do. But he kept reading that Bible
up there in the monastery library, coming across this phrase, that
just shall live by faith. That just shall live by faith,
not by works, by faith. And of course when he would bring
that up, he would be rebuked severely because that's not modern
religion or Catholicism. It's not by grace through faith,
it's by works of one form or another in all religions. You
know that and I do too. So he went on in this realm until
he made a trip to Rome. This is his own testimony. He
made a trip to Rome, and in Rome he visited St. Peter's, a great
thing there. And in there, this is a religion
of superstition, like most religions. They had a stairway. It may still be there. I've never
been there, but they had a stairway. up which the pilgrims climbed.
The pilgrims would go around burning candles, and they would
go around kissing statues, and they would go around falling
on their knees before all kinds of idols. And this stairway was
said to be the stairs up which Jesus Christ walked in Pilate's
Hall. That's what they claimed. These
stairs were the actual stairs brought from Pilate's Hall down
to Rome, and Jesus Christ walked up these stairs when he was on
trial in Pilate's Hall. And they had some of the stairs
covered with glass, because under the glass there were stains and
spots on the steps where his blood fell. You say, Preacher,
that's ridiculous. Most religion is ridiculous.
Most superstitious idolatry is ridiculous, but the more ridiculous
it is, the more fools follow it. And these pilgrims would
climb up these stairs and they would pause at each dot, each
stain, and kiss the stain. They were kissing the blood of
Jesus. And Martin Luther went there and he started on his knees
with his rosary and crawling on his knees up those stairs.
Now this is to appease God. This is to find favor with God. This is works. Y'all want me
to do that for my gifts you gave me? I'll come over to the house
and crawl up the steps and kiss the pebbles on the steps." Now,
it's a free gift, right? Free gift. But he didn't know
that. And he crawled up these stairs
and he was kissing, and he said, not an audible voice, but ringing
through his head came these words he had read over and over again
in that Bible in the monastery. The just shall live by faith. By faith. And he said he jumped
up as if God yanked him off his knees and stood him on his feet.
The just shall live by faith, by Christ. By the blood he shed, not by
your kissing the steps. By the death he died, not by
the sacrifice you make, by his sacrifice. Hey! And he said,
I ran out of that place, never to come back. And you know something
about his life? He set the church to singing.
Did you know that? He wrote the first gospel hymn. He died when he was my age, 64. Wrote the first, A Mighty Fortress
is Our God. You got it right there in your
book, we're singing. And he dedicated his life to preaching what I'm
preaching tonight. And he shook Germany. He turned
it upside down. He shook the whole Roman church. He shook the world. Because he
sounded forth the message of the Apostle Paul, that just shall
live by faith. That's what this is saying, by
faith. I look back at our text, therefore being justified by
faith. Maybe there's a Luther here tonight,
maybe there's a Martin Luther here tonight, who for the first
time, and I tell you it has to be revealed, that's what Jim
said in his prayer a moment ago. We hear, we hear, we hear, but
we really don't hear until we hear. Isn't that right? Most everybody here is raised
in some kind of religion. I was. I was a preacher before
I ever heard the gospel. And I didn't hear myself preach
it. I heard another fellow preach it. I'd heard, heard, heard,
and heard nothing. I'd read, read, read, and saw
nothing but the hearing ear and the seeing eyes of the Lord.
And in his good time, Martin Luther heard the gospel. It's
the gospel of God's grace. This is the good news. He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. For by grace are you saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of
God. It's not of works. It's not of
works. You see, salvation by grace,
pure grace, free grace, through faith does not allow the strong
to boast nor the weak to despair. Is that right? Salvation by pure
grace, the free gift of God through faith, does not allow the strong
to boast. They have nothing of which to
boast, nor the weak to despair. And salvation by grace through
faith does not allow the mature to presume, nor the young to
doubt. He is an old believer, been around
a long time. I've been preaching 40 years.
I've been in the gospel of God's grace 40 years now. I have no
room to boast. Everything I have is the free
gift of God. And I have no reason to presume
on God's mercy and grace. He'll give it to whom He will.
And the young here and the immature and the weak have no reason to
doubt because he's plenteous in mercy. And I tell you this,
listen to me. Salvation by grace through faith
does not catalog sin. Sin is sin. There's no sin so
small that it goes unnoticed and there's no sin so great it
can't be forgiven. You see what I'm trying to say?
works has to take into consideration the greatness of sin or the smallness
of sin. But grace, sin is sin. And it doesn't matter whether
it's a black sin or a gray sin or what kind of sin, it's a sin.
And grace forgives all sin. You understand what I'm saying?
He cleanses us from all sin. And there's no reason for someone
who hasn't been exposed, now there's people who have not been
exposed to the most sordid side of life, and there's some who
have. But the person who has not been exposed to the sordid,
wretched side of life, He hasn't been exposed to it. A man stood
in this pulpit and he said one time years ago, he said, I've
never drank, I've never smoked, and I've never danced. We started
to applaud him, but nobody did. But I tell you this, he's got
just as much a problem as the man who has. The grace of God
doesn't catalog sin. Sin is sin. You see, that's not,
sin is not Outwardly, sin is a rebellion in heart against
God Almighty. Some of the most self-righteous
religious people on earth are the greatest sinners. Did you
know that? Unbelief is the greatest sin, and grace covers all sin. And then, listen to this, salvation
by grace through faith. Now listen, hang on just a minute. Not only does it not catalog
sin, there is no difference. There is no difference. All that's
sin can come short of the glory of God. But not only that, but
salvation by grace through faith regards all righteousnesses except
that of Christ to be filthy rags. Is that right? Oh yes. In other words, not only are
our sins just as great as anyone else's, but our so-called righteousnesses
are just as filthy in God's sight as anyone else's. Salvation by grace through faith
opens the door of mercy wide to all who believe. It opens the door of mercy wide
to all who believe and shuts that door to all who will come
any other way. That's grace. That's faith. It opens the door wide to all
who will believe and closes that door tightly to all who come
any other way. Look at chapter 5 verse 1 again. being justified by faith, being
delivered, being forgiven, being saved by faith in Christ. What's this? We have peace with
God. Oh, I tell you, peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. You know what that means, peace.
Peace with God. Peace with God. Let me look at
a couple of verses of scripture. Hold that right there and turn
to Colossians 1. Colossians chapter 1, verse 19. Now I'll tell you this, I know it's popular today to
preach that God loves everybody. I know that's popular. It's not
so, but it's popular. Most things that are not so are
popular in religion. God Almighty, being God, being
holy, does not love sin. Somebody said, well, he loves
the sinner and hates his sin. You can't separate them. The
sinner is sin. If it weren't for the sinner,
there wouldn't be any sin. By one man sin came into this
world, and death by sin, and in whom all sinned. We're the
trouble with God's world now. It's not the animals, it's not
the stars, it's not the trees, it's not things, it's us. If
God get rid of every human being off this earth, there wouldn't
be any sin here, would there? God's angry with the wicked.
God hateth the workers of iniquity. God's love, now listen to me,
God's love is in Christ. That's where God's love is. God's
love is in Christ. God's mercy is in Christ. That's
so. And God's angry with the wicked.
The canons of heaven have turned against sin, against sinners,
against wicked, evil men. Somebody said, well, I don't
believe a loving God will send men to hell. I don't either.
A loving God won't, but a God of wrath will, a God of judgment
will. And everyone whom he sends to
hell, he'll send them there under his wrath. He that believeth
on the Son hath life. He that believeth not the Son
hath not life. The wrath of God abideth on him.
The flood is an act of wrath. The destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah is an act of wrath. The destruction of Jerusalem
is an act of wrath. The condemnation of the wicked
to hell is an act of wrath. The wrath of God. the wrath of
God. Jacob hath a love, Esau I hate,
God saith. And if we are objects of God's
love and of God's affection, we are objects of that love and
affection in Christ. Now that's so. And this thing,
therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God.
A man who's not justified doesn't have peace with God. He's under
the judgment of God. You see what I'm saying? That
makes sense, doesn't it? And listen to verse 20 of Colossians
1. And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him
to reconcile. You don't reconcile friends. My brethren, my friends, don't
come after the service to try to reconcile us. If God's in, you're in love with
you and God's your friend, why'd Christ have to reconcile you
to God? See what I'm saying? Well, God
loves everybody. God's in love with everybody.
God's in love with people in hell, is he? Then why'd Christ
come down here to reconcile him? You see what I'm saying? He made
peace through the blood of his cross. Watch it now. By him to
reconcile all things to himself. By him, I say, whether they're
things in earth or things in heaven. And you that were at
one time alienated enemies." Who? Us? Aliens? Yeah, aliens. You know what an
alien is? He don't belong. He's not a citizen. You know
what sinners are? They're aliens. And they're enemies. Who's enemies? God's enemies.
And God reconciled these aliens and these enemies, enemies in
our mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the
body of his flesh through death to present you holy, unblameable,
unreprovable in this sight. Now then, object of love, holiness
in Christ, unblameable in Christ, unreprovable. I'm not under wrath,
I'm accepting the beloved. You see that? Therefore, being
justified by faith, we have peace with God. Peace with God. And I'll tell
you, as long as preachers run up and down this country hollering,
God loves everybody, God loves everybody, nobody's going to
get upset. Nobody's going to seek the Lord, nobody's going
to be disturbed, everybody dies, and like a mortician told me
over in Kettlesburg, he said, everybody I buried goes to heaven,
that's what the preachers say. He said, I've never, he actually,
he said, I've never buried anybody that they thought was really
lost. Well, we must live in an unusual area here. Therefore, being justified by
faith now in Christ. We have peace with God. Where?
Through our Lord Jesus Christ. Outside of Christ, there's no
peace? Huh? Wrath? Judgment? A man is not in Christ? And now
look at verse 2. By Him, by Christ, by whom also
we have access, by faith, into this grace, into this gift, into
this acceptance, into this family. We have access by faith into
this grace. Oh, I tell you, you know I live
right over here, two or three blocks. It's a church pastorium,
but I live there. And once in a while, Doris and
I will be gone. We leave, and I'll come back,
and I'll go into my study, and there will be a little note from
my daughter Becky. I stopped by and you were gone.
Back when Paul used to live here, if I'd be gone sometime, he'd
stop by. Hi, Dad. Sorry I missed you. See you later. That's my house. But what in
the world are they doing coming in and out of there? They got
a key. And they have access to that
house, access to my study, access to my living room, access to
my refrigerator, access to everything, freezer. They're my children. Now I'd be shocked if I walked
in there and some stranger had been in there, because a stranger
wouldn't do that. But let me tell you this, I have
access to my father's throne, my father's presence, my father's
house, because I've been redeemed by the blood of Christ and the
grace of God, and I believe on Him, and I'm His child, and I
can come bold in this question. But I wouldn't advise anybody
that wasn't in Christ to try that. Now try it. I wouldn't advise it. Because
you won't be received. God dwells in a life to which
no man can approach. You know what the Bible says?
Accept in Christ. And if you're in Christ, you
can cry, Abba, Father. You have no spirit of bondage.
I try. I try. And don't come running up there
saying, God, I gave a dollar to the church, or God, I taught
Sunday school, or God, I preached the gospel, or God, I sang in
the choir, or I've always been a good little boy. I never did
drink or cuss or gamble or smoke or chew or run around with those
that do it all. You better not try that, because that's filthy
rags. But if you'll come by Christ,
believe in Christ as a humble sinner, as a broken sinner, as
a stripped sinner, as an unworthy sinner, believing on Christ,
looking to his blood and his grace and his death, if you come
by Christ, you'll be received. Because he's able to save to
the uttermost them that come to God by him. Isn't that right?
By him. Martin Luther said this, that
same man I was talking about, he said, although I'm a sinner, Now that may shock somebody to
hear a preacher say he's a sinner, but that's what he is. He's a
sinner saved by grace. He's a sinner. You're a sinner.
We sin every day. We sin every hour. I wouldn't
hesitate to say we sin every second. Because we don't love
God with all our hearts, minds, soul, and strength. Don't love
our neighbors as ourselves. And we don't think pure thoughts
all the time. We're sinners. And Martin Luther
said, I'm a sinner, yet I don't despair. For Christ Jesus, my
Lord, my Redeemer, my Righteousness, liveth. And in Him I have no
sin, because He died and put my sin away. And in Him I have
no fear, I have no sting of conscience, I have no fear of judgment, I
have no fear of God's presence. For in Jesus Christ I have peace. Peace with God and no condemnation. I am indeed a sinner as touching
this life on earth, but I have a righteousness of God in Christ
which is above this life. Who is Christ my Lord? He is
my righteousness and my salvation and in Him I rejoice and not
in anyone or anything else. That's pretty strong. But that's
what I believe. Not only that, but listen. The
last line of verse 2, and I rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Well, there's three blessings.
Listen. Therefore, being justified by faith, I have peace with God
by faith in Christ, by the grace of God. I have access into his
presence. into this grace wherein I stand.
And I have a hope of eternal life in Christ Jesus, my Lord. Now, if your bucket's not plumbed
full, I'll show you something else. If you're able to take
some more, verse 3 says, and not only so, and not only is
that so, but, watch this, now not only is that so, but, We
even glory in trouble and trials and tribulation. You want me
to explain the religion of works? The religion of works, and that's
what we here preach almost all together now, this health and
wealth and happiness and success and God wants you to be healthy
and God wants you to be wealthy and God wants you to be prosperous
and God wants you to wear diamonds and God wants you to have a big
home and a good job All these things God wants, and the devil
sends trouble. You can thank God for your blessings
and blame the devil for all your troubles. And this is that kind
of religion. When they're up, they rejoice. When they're down, they doubt.
Is that not so? When they obey, they feel good. When they sin, they're lost. When they prosper, they're blessed. When they fail, they're punished.
They credit God with their gains and blame the devil for their
losses. But that's not the grace of faith. The grace of faith
is on this wise. Paul said, I know how to abound
and I know how to be abased. And I have learned in whatsoever
state I am. Be it in riches or poverty, be
it in success or failure, be it in palaces or prisons, be
it in success or trouble, I'm content. Because all of it
is from my Father. I rejoice not only in my prosperity,
but I rejoice in my problems. I rejoice in tribulation. In
other words, when a person is a true believer, truly justified
by grace through faith. Nothing happens in his life,
nothing, good or bad, nothing. Of great importance or minute,
nothing. The death of a son or the crash of a car, nothing. Nothing happens in the promotion
in his work or the loss of his job. Nothing happens in his life
that's not appointed and ordained and planned by his heavenly Father
and will be for his good and for God's glory. Did you know
that? Sure you did. Because the word
says, for all things work together for good to them who love God.
All things to them who are called according to his purpose. So
salvation. I believe on Christ. I know Christ.
On the basis of this word, I believe God. Christ is my Savior. Now, whatever takes place in
my life, it doesn't matter. He's still my Lord and Savior
and my God, and it's for my good and His glory, whatever it is.
And watch this. And we glory, verse 3, in tribulation,
knowing that these troubles and trials work patience. These troubles
and trials work patience. They perfect faith. They strengthen
me. And patience, read on, begets
maturity. Experience is maturity. That's
what you say about a person, he's mature. How'd he get mature?
Experience. So patience works experience
or maturity. And maturity, what does it do?
It increases my hope. Increases my hope. And verse
5 says, And hope maketh not a shame, because the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us. Is
that plain enough what I'm saying? And you have a bad day. I know
it's discouraging. I know we grieve over our sins,
our shortcomings, our failures. But now it's not salvation or
damnation. Salvation is in Christ. My hope
is in Christ, my position is in Christ, my righteousness is
Christ alone. And these ups and downs and ins
and outs and discouragements or happiness or whatever are
just things that God sends to accomplish his will and his purpose
in this believer's life. And it doesn't alter my standing
with God. Nothing I did before I saved
caused God to love me, and nothing I do after I've saved is going
to cause God to forget me. Huh? He's the same. The gifts
and calling of God are without change. 4, verse 6, When did
God love you? When we were without strength.
Weak. In due time Christ died for whom?
The ungodly. Verse 7 says, scarcely for a
righteous man will one die. In other words, here's a self-righteous,
holier-than-thou, moral man. Folks wouldn't much die for that
kind of fella. They can't tolerate him. He intimidates
them. They don't want to be around
him. You have a team of religious people you just didn't want to
be around. They're so hyper-hyper-religious. They just intimidate you. They're
so holier-than-thou, they're so snobbish, they're so self-righteous,
they're so good, they're so perfect and all that, that they just
intimidate you. You don't want to be around.
Well, ain't nobody gonna die for a fella like that. No, you
don't. But now, peradventure for a good
man, here's a man that's kind and loving and gracious and understanding
and lovable, some folks might die for them. But, what were
you when Christ died for you? What was I? But God commended
his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. And the people whom God loves,
the us, are the same us for whom Christ died. That's right. God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Now watch this, now close. Christ
didn't just die for our advantage and only for the Father's glory,
but he actually died in our stead. That little word, for, look at
verse 6. Christ died for the ungodly. Look at verse 8, the last line,
Christ died for us, F-O-R. You know what that word is? In
the stead of. David had a son. David had a
son named Absalom. Absalom was a rebel, but David
loved him. And Absalom was a beautiful,
beautiful man. He was a great leader, a warrior. But he rebelled against his father,
and he tried to take his father's throne, and he did for a while,
until God unseated him and sent him out into the wilderness,
and he got himself killed. And the messengers came back
and told David, they said, Absalom is dead. Absalom, your son, is
dead. I want you to listen to what
David said. And David the king was much moved,
and he went up to the chamber over the gate and wept. And as
he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom,
I would to God I had died for you, O Absalom, my son, my son."
What's David saying? I would God I had died instead
of you. I would God you were still alive
and I was dead. And that's that word right here.
Christ died for me. I live because he died. That's
right. I won't go to hell because he
did. I won't suffer for sin because he did. That's what, far in the
stare down. He died far. A preacher died for good people.
That's not so. He died for the ungodly. That's
what that says right there. He died for us. He died far in
the stare down. That's my hope. That's what I'm
preaching. And that's free. And that's grace. And that's the gift of God. And
that glorifies God. Let me tell you something. God's
God. He'll save whom He will. He doesn't
need any help from me or you. If God sets out to save a man,
He'll save him. Don't you believe that? You think
God's trying to save people and can't get the job done? That's
foolishness. That's a peanut God. That's an impotent God.
I don't preach a powerless, impotent God. I preach an almighty, sovereign,
eternal, omnipotent God who does what He will, when He will, with
whom He will. And He's found a way through Christ. He's found
a way through a substitute, through a redeemer, through a righteous
sacrifice. He's found a way to be God and
save folks like you and me. And he's exercising that way.
And he's going to save some people. And he's going to get all the
glory. And they're going to get all the good. Because they trust
him. They believe him. They rest in
him. That's a sinner's religion. That's
a sinner's hope. That's a sinner's foundation.
That's a man who knows what he is and who he is. And what he
needs. And knows that God's the only
one that can supply it. And that's a hope you can rest
in. You can live by it, you can die
by it. And you don't have to play games. You don't have to
try to use words you don't ordinarily use and talk language, you know,
that's memorized and hypocritical and just be you and love God. Isn't that right? And love God
and believe God and walk with God. Be an example and attitude
and conversation and conduct grace because Christ is our hope. All right, Mike, come lead us
in a closing hymn.
Henry Mahan
About Henry Mahan

Henry T. Mahan was born in Birmingham, Alabama in August 1926. He joined the United States Navy in 1944 and served as a signalman on an L.S.T. in the Pacific during World War II. In 1946, he married his wife Doris, and the Lord blessed them with four children.

At the age of 21, he entered the pastoral ministry and gained broad experience as a pastor, teacher, conference speaker, and evangelist. In 1950, through the preaching of evangelist Rolfe Barnard, God was pleased to establish Henry in sovereign free grace teaching. At that time, he was serving as an assistant pastor at Pollard Baptist Church (off of Blackburn ave.) in Ashland, Kentucky.

In 1955, Thirteenth Street Baptist Church was formed in Ashland, Kentucky, and Henry was called to be its pastor. He faithfully served that congregation for more than 50 years, continuing in the same message throughout his ministry. His preaching was centered on the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified, in full accord with the Scriptures. He consistently proclaimed God’s sovereign purpose in salvation and the glory of Christ in redeeming sinners through His blood and righteousness.

Henry T. Mahan also traveled widely, preaching in conferences and churches across the United States and beyond. His ministry was marked by a clear and unwavering emphasis on Christ, not the preacher, but the One preached. Those who heard him recognized that his sermons honored the Savior and exalted the name of the Lord Jesus Christ above all.

Henry T. Mahan served as pastor and teacher of Thirteenth Street Baptist Church in Ashland, Kentucky for over half a century. His life and ministry were devoted to proclaiming the sovereign grace of God and directing sinners to the finished work of Christ. He entered into the presence of the Lord in 2019, leaving behind a lasting testimony to the gospel he faithfully preached.

Broadcaster:
Henry T. Mahan / Zebulon Grace Church
Theology:
#Justification #Faith Alone #Grace
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1co 01v01-02 Christ and Him Crucified.pdf PDF · 0.1 MB
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