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Henry Mahan

The Person and Work of the Messiah

Isaiah 61:1-3
Henry Mahan • May, 24 1989 • Audio
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Message: 0921b

Henry T. Mahan Tape Ministry
Zebulon Baptist Church
6088 Zebulon Highway
Pikeville, KY 41501
Tom Harding, Pastor
What does the Bible say about the person and work of the Messiah?

The Bible reveals the Messiah as the God-man who came to fulfill God's will, preach grace, and provide salvation.

The Bible presents the Messiah as Jesus Christ, who is both fully God and fully man. In Isaiah 61:1-3, Jesus articulates His ministry, declaring that He is anointed by the Spirit of God to preach good news, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty, and bring comfort to those who mourn. This outlines His mission to provide spiritual healing and emancipation from sin's bondage, the core of His redemptive work. The New Testament affirms this mission, showing that every aspect of Jesus' life and ministry was wrapped in the purpose of glorifying God and fulfilling the covenant promise of salvation.

Isaiah 61:1-3, Luke 4:14-21

How do we know Jesus is the Messiah?

Jesus fulfills the Old Testament prophecies, demonstrating divine authority through His actions and teachings.

The identification of Jesus as the Messiah is rooted in the prophetic Scriptures of the Old Testament, particularly in Isaiah 61, where the Messiah's mission is outlined. The actions of Jesus, including His miracles, teachings, and the fulfillment of prophecies concerning His birth, death, and resurrection, confirm His identity. Furthermore, Jesus' self-identification with the messianic role during His ministry, as expressed in Luke 4:18-19, underscores His purpose and God's confirmation of Him through the Spirit without measure (John 3:34), illustrating His divine anointing and authority.

Isaiah 61:1-3, Luke 4:18-19, John 3:34

Why is it important to understand the work of the Messiah?

Understanding the Messiah’s work is essential for grasping the essence of salvation and God's redemptive plan.

The work of the Messiah is crucial for Christians because it encapsulates the entirety of God's redemptive plan for humanity. Jesus came not just to perform miracles but to address the root problem of sin, offering grace, forgiveness, and reconciliation to God. By understanding His role in preaching good news to the poor, binding up the brokenhearted, and proclaiming liberty to captives, believers can appreciate the depth of their salvation. Furthermore, it reveals the character of God as compassionate and just, emphasizing that Jesus' mission was to glorify the Father while bringing salvation to His people—a critical truth that shapes Christian faith and worship.

Isaiah 61:1-3, Romans 8:1, John 3:16

Sermon Transcript

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Well, it was a very sad time
this morning when the Lord was pleased to take away Mrs. Green, Trish's mother. I've known
Mr. and Mrs. Green for almost 40
years. They were faithful members at
the Pollard Baptist Church when I pastored there from 1951 to
1955, and then when We came over here and organized
13th Street Baptist Church. They were charter members of
this congregation. Both of them have been very ill
for years, but they've been faithful supporters of this ministry.
Ms. Green's body is at the Miller
Funeral Home and services. There will be no public visitation
in the evenings, but there will be a visitation Saturday. Saturday the body will be brought
here to the church at noon and will lie in state until the service
at 2 o'clock. So friends may visit here at
the church from 12 to 2 on Saturday and we'll have the funeral service
here in the church auditorium at 2 o'clock. Alright, turn back, if you will,
to the fourth chapter of Luke. I call this message, The Person
and Work of the Messiah. The Person and Work of the Messiah. Now, practically nothing is recorded
in the Word of God concerning our Lord's life prior to the
time he went out to preach when he was 30 years of age. There's
one incident when he was about 11 or 12. You remember when his
parents went up to Jerusalem and that's when he talked with
the lawyers and Pharisees and doctors and they left him there
and they returned to find him and they said, searching for
you, you caused us great anguish," and he said, "'Wish ye not that
I be about my father's business.'" And that's, as far as I know,
the only incident recorded in his life from the time that he
was born in Bethlehem until he was 30 years of age. And he grew
up in the town of Nazareth, and he left Nazareth And it says
here that in chapter 4 of Luke, verse 14, And Jesus returned
in the power of the Spirit into Galilee. There went out a fame
of him through all the region round about. He taught in their
synagogues, being glorified of all. And then down here in verse
23, He said unto them, Ye will surely say unto me this proverb,
heal thyself. Whatsoever we have heard done
in Capernaum, do also here in thy country." In other words,
the Lord Jesus had been out to these other areas preaching and
performing various miracles, and the word had drifted back
to Nazareth where he was brought up. He was brought up in Nazareth,
worked in the carpenter's shop, and then he left. And word came
back to the town of Nazareth about things he was saying and
things he was doing. And when he came back to Nazareth
on this particular Sabbath day, all the people of the town knew
that he would be in the synagogue. For it says in verse 16, he came
to Nazareth where he had been brought up, and as his custom
was, our Lord was a Jew. And he fulfilled all the righteousness
of the law, even the Levitical law. He was circumcised when
he was eight days old. His mother went through all the
purification ceremonies and so forth, and he did all these things
that a Jew was supposed to do. He kept the Passover. He attended
the synagogue, and as his custom was, he went to the synagogue
on that day, and they were all there. You can just imagine what
a crowd was in that place. You see, they knew him. In John
5 or 6, they said, is not this Jesus, whose mother and father
we know, whose brothers and sisters we know? Is this not Jesus? Is
this not the carpenter's son? How does he say he came down
from heaven? They were baffled. They were amazed. They were all
there to hear him on that Sabbath morning, that Saturday morning
at the synagogue. The place was full. All eyes
were fastened on him, and it said in verse 17, and there was
delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. Now here
our Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, the God-man, is
standing before this vast crowd of people, Jews. The place was
full. And they were sitting there breathlessly. waiting to hear from him. They
were sitting there, all eyes passing on him. You can just
imagine. They had heard all these things. As far as they were concerned,
he was just a man, just a carpenter, just the son of Joseph and Maven.
They were waiting to hear what he would say. Well, what will
he say? And what will he do? Well, it says that he found the
place where it was written. Now, I want you to find that
place, Isaiah 63. Let's just turn over there and
find that place. Isaiah 61. He found the place
in Isaiah 61, and he read these three verses from Isaiah 61,
beginning with verse 1. Now, if we can discover, this
to me is so important, I just can't think of anything as important
as what we're dealing with this evening. Here's the Lord. the
Lord of Glory who's standing before for the first time to
speak to this vast group of people from his own hometown. He's declaring
now his ministry, his message, his mission, everything. This
is so important. This is the passage he selected.
And the ten points here, I know it's That's a number of points,
but I want to get briefly to each one of them. Our Lord gave
ten, ten points concerning his ministry and his mission. Ten
things. And he declares it, if we can
discover what he's saying here, what this scripture's teaching,
we'll have some insight into the person and ministry of the
Messiah. If we can't, like these people
in Nazareth, we'll miss him. And they did. They rejected him. They despised him. They took
him out on the brow. It would have killed him. But
this is his ministry. This is his message. This is
his mission. This is the Messiah. The first
thing he said is this. Now, chapter 61, verse 1. There
are ten of them, and we'll look at each of them briefly. He declared,
the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. Well, you say, why does
God need the Spirit of God? Good question. Why does God need
the Spirit of God? Is not God one? Well, I'm telling
you this, the Messiah is God, and I can't explain this. No
man can explain this. It's like Martin Luther said,
God forsaking God, who can understand that? But the Lord Jesus Christ literally,
actually became a man. I think this is the reason we
miss some of the comfort we ought to have and some of the assurance
we ought to have, and also miss some of the awesomeness of what
he did. Jesus Christ actually became
a man. How he did it, I do not know.
I do know that in him were two distinct natures. There was the
divine nature. There was the human nature. Human. The human that he limited himself. I don't know how, I just know
he did. I know that when he was tempted, he was thoroughly, completely
tempted. And I know men argue all the
time. Could he have sinned or could he have not sinned? I don't
know. But I do know this. When he thirsted, he thirsted. When he hungered, he hungered.
When he hurt, he hurt. When he was tried, he was tried.
I do know that even the Lord Jesus Christ, his own ministry
was dependent on the Spirit of God just as much as I am, or
you are. That's right. I can't explain
that, Steve. That's just so. I can't explain
that. But I do know this. Now, turn
to Mark. Just hold Isaiah 61, turn to
Mark. Mark chapter 1. And I know people
will, they get excited and scared right here when a person starts
dealing with the humanity of Christ. But I do know this, He's
a real Savior. His obedience was a real obedience
to the law of God. His submission was a real submission
to the will of his Father. His death was a real death. I
know he performed miracles to relieve the distress of others,
but he never performed a miracle to relieve his own distress.
Never. He fasted 40 days. And it was
just as difficult as if I were fasting 40 days. He wanted food
just as badly as I want food. It says here in Mark 1 verse
9, it came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth
of Galilee and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway
coming out of the water he saw the heaven open and the Spirit
of God like a dove descending upon him. The Spirit of God literally
actually came upon Christ. And this was a figurative demonstration
that God gave to John the Baptist, for he said to John, upon whom
you see the sin, that's the Lamb of God, that's the Son of God.
Now one other scripture, John 3. And if you can't lay hold
of this, then the obedience of Christ and the Trials and temptation
of Christ and the suffering of Christ will be sort of like a
charade if you don't lay hold of this. It's not a charade. It wasn't a play. It was real. Or it was not worth anything.
In John 3, verse 35, listen, John 3, verse 34, For he whom
God hath sent speaketh the words of God, For God giveth not the
Spirit by measure unto him." Now there's a difference. He
had the Holy Spirit without measure. We have it in a very measurable
fashion, him in a very measurable fashion. But our Lord had the
Holy Spirit without measure. So this is the first thing he
said. You see, he came from heaven
to accomplish the Father's will in the flesh. He came from heaven
to speak the Father's words. He said, they're not my words.
They're not my words? No, they're not my words. As
man, as the Messiah, they're not my words. They're his words.
The work is not my work, it's his work. He came literally to
fulfill the law, honor justice, and he did it as a man in the
strength and power of the Holy Ghost. It was real. a real fulfillment, a real satisfaction,
a man, a man literally obeyed the perfect law of God. A man,
literally, the God-man, took all that justice could hand him
and died under the wrath of God. And there's a man in glory. All right, the second thing,
Isaiah 61. The Spirit of the Lord God is
upon me because he Because the Lord hath anointed me to preach
good tidings unto the poor." Our Lord Jesus Christ was a preacher. He was a preacher. Turn to Matthew
4. And I think there are times when
we maybe underestimate this work of preaching. We underestimate
the power of preaching. God is chosen by the foolishness
of preaching. to save them that believe. John
the Baptist was a preacher. Noah was a preacher of righteousness. Solomon called himself the king
of Israel, but he said, I, the preacher, was king of Israel.
And here in Matthew 4, verse 17, from that time, Jesus began
to preach. Jesus began to preach. Our Lord
was a preacher. He preached by His Word. He preached
by his miracles. He preached by his looks. Do
you remember when he turned and looked at Peter? He preached
by his silence. Pilate asked him a question and
he gave him no answer. It upset Pilate too. Somebody
said he lived the prince of preachers. He died to be the theme of preachers. He arose the Lord of preachers.
But he said the Spirit of God is upon me because he hath anointed
me to preach. Preach what? glad tidings. To whom? To the meek, to the
poor. Now this is not the materially
poor. All are poor, naked and blind.
But who are the poor? He sent me to preach good tidings,
the tidings of grace and mercy and forgiveness to the meek,
or that is to the poor. Well, the poor, I'll say four things about the
poor here. Number one, the poor are those
who are sensible of their poverty before God, their spiritual poverty,
they're sensible of it. Secondly, the poor are those
who stand before God naked and condemned. Thirdly, as Arthur
Pinck said, the poor acknowledge they have nothing spiritually,
they know nothing, and they can do nothing. And fourthly, the
poor know that they're desperately in need of help. As Cecil wrote
so often says, they're mercy-benders. And our Lord came to preach the
good news to the poor, to the weak. All right, thirdly, and
he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted. You know a broken
heart, turn to Psalms. I know that many of you here
in this congregation have broken hearts right now, and they're
broken hearts because of trouble and sorrow. But what we're talking about
here is the same thing we were talking about back there when
he said he came to preach the gospel to the poor. It's not
the materially poor or the physically poor, it's the spiritually poor.
And this broken heart is not a broken heart over some particular
natural sorrow. This is a broken heart before
God over sin. And that's what he's talking
about here in Psalm 51, in David's great Psalm of Repentance. He
says in verse 17, the sacrifices of God are broken spirit. A broken
and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Try Psalm
34. Verse 18, Psalm 34, 18, The Lord
is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and he saveth
such as be of a contrite spirit. I'll tell you this about a broken
heart. A broken heart is painful, isn't
it? A broken heart over a natural
relationship is painful. but a broken heart before God
over sin, that's painful too. They're painful. And it can find
no relief in the flesh. Secondly, a broken heart is helpless. We know what to do with a broken
arm. We know what to do with broken flesh, sew it up. But
there's not anything any man can do about a broken heart.
You know what has to be done? That broken heart has to be replaced. A transplant. Spiritual transplant. And if you'll turn with me to
Ezekiel, this is what the Lord said He came to do. Ezekiel chapter
36. And listen to what He says He's
going to do for these broken hearts. He said in Ezekiel 36
verse 25, Then will I sprinkle clean water
upon you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness, and
from all your idols will I cleanse you, and a new heart also will I give you, and a new
spirit will I put within you, and I'll take away that stony
heart of your flesh, out of your flesh, and I'll give you a heart
of flesh and put my spirit within you." That's what our Lord came
to do. Bind up, heal. the brokenhearted, and he's the
only one who can. Fourthly, he said, and I came
to proclaim liberty to the captives. I came to proclaim it, liberty
to the captives. I don't know about my dates here,
Brother Trabant, but if my dates are wrong, correct me, but in
September 1862, Abraham Lincoln issued an Emancipation
Proclamation. Is that pretty close? Effective
January the 1st, 1863. Declaring, it was an Emancipation
Proclamation, he was declaring all slaves to be free on that
day. Is that correct? It wasn't a
suggestion. It wasn't an invitation. It wasn't
a request, it was a proclamation. He said they're free. On this
date, 1863, January the 1st, all slaves are free. But I'll
tell you this, the Lord Jesus said, I came to proclaim. It's
a proclamation. It's not a suggestion, it's not
a request. I came to proclaim an emancipation
proclamation liberty to all the captives. Captives of the law
set free. Captives of the curse set free.
Captives of judgment set free. And there is therefore now no
condemnation to them who are in Christ. They are free. That's
a proclamation. All right, in the next place.
And I came, he said, to proclaim liberty to the captives
and the opening of prison to them that are bound." Now I know,
I looked at this for a good while, and I know that this refers to
the bondage of sin and Satan. I know that what we were, Ephesians
2 talks about we were subject to Satan's dominion and leadership
and power. children of wrath, servants of
sin, and Christ has set us free from that bondage. But I see
in this also the opening of prison to those that abound. I see the
release of those who abound by false religion. You see, false
religion is just as great a bondage as the life of sin. In fact,
it's a greater bondage. A false refuge is a greater bondage
and danger than a life of sin. Saul of Tarsus thought he knew
God. Saul of Tarsus thought that he
pleased God. Saul of Tarsus was in a dungeon
but didn't know it. He was bound by the traditions
of religion, in the darkness of religion, in the chains of
religion, and thought he was free. And a man of Christ said,
if that If all the light you've got is darkness, how great is
that darkness? So he came not only to open prison
for those who were literally in prison to their flesh and
to their sin, but he came to open prison to those who didn't
know they were in prison. And Paul exhorts us in Galatians
5 to stand fast in that liberty wherewith Christ has set us free
and don't become entangled again in that bondage of the law. Alright,
now look at verse 2. Here's the next one. And I came
to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Do you know what
that is? The acceptable year of the Lord. This is exciting
right here. If you'll hold that place and turn to Leviticus 25.
Leviticus 25. I don't understand all of the
feasts and the ordinances of the Old Testament and all of
the types and pictures and all of the different Sabbaths and
all of these things, but I do understand this right here. Now,
every seventh year was a year of rest for the land. They let
it rest. And then he said in verse 8 of
Leviticus 25, now watch this. And thou shalt number seven sabbaths
of years unto thee. Seven times seven years. And the space of seven sabbaths
of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years. In other words,
they had the seven years, on the seventh year there was a
rest, you let the land rest, like the seventh day. And then
you were to number 7 of these 7. That's 49 years. And on that 50th year, verse
9, then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound
on the tenth day of the seventh month in the day of atonement,
shall you make the trumpet sound throughout all your land. And
you shall holler the 50th year and proclaim liberty. Proclaim, here's another proclaim.
This is not by invitation. This is not by suggestion. This
is not by request. This is another proclamation.
And you shall proclaim liberty throughout all the land. And
if you'll take your Bible and study it, you'll find four things,
four things were enforced on this Jubilee year. Now, one of the things that preachers
often do, and Bible teachers, they get so involved in all the
particulars of a type that they lose the power of the type. You've heard that done before.
And I'm not going to do that. I'm going to tell you this. This
is the year of Jubilee. This is the 50th year. Seven
Sabbaths. And don't get tied up in the
number and all these things. What is this year of Jubilee?
You shall proclaim liberty. Proclaim liberty. Number one,
every man that was sold into slavery was free on that fiftieth
year. He might have been in slavery
for twenty-five years or thirty years or forty years, but on
that fiftieth year, he was free. He walked out. No matter what
the reason for his being there. If he had sold himself into slavery
or debtor's prison, he was free. Secondly, all family property
was restored to its original owner. You see, they divided
it up by the tribes, and then that was divided, and a family
owned the land. And if they had gotten in debt,
if one of the boys had wasted the money, if they had through
foolish business dealings, If he'd sold it like old Elimelech
did and left town, it came back to the family. It was their land
again. A year of jubilee. Thirdly, all
debts were discharged. Well, that'd be fun now, wouldn't
it? Sure enough, that's what he said,
all debts. Wouldn't that be something? Sleep
good tonight, wouldn't it? All debts discharged. And then
fourthly, A year of rest was proclaimed. Everybody's going
to rest. You could rest if you have a
thing like that. If all the prisoners and all
the slaves were free, and all the debts were paid, and all
the family property was restored, you could rest, couldn't you?
Our Lord said, that's what I came to proclaim. That's what I came
to fulfill. This is the acceptable year of
jubilation. And Richard, your spiritual debts
are all paid. That's right? That's right, John,
they're all paid. And your inheritance you lost
in Adam is restored. You're a child of God again.
And you who were the slave of sin are free. So why don't we
rest? Oh, we've got to get out there
and keep trying to pay the debt. Lord, I promise you I'll bring
the tithe in next Sunday. Just hold me up this Sunday and
I'll bring it in next Sunday. I promise. No, we don't rest. These people did. The slaves
rested. The debtors rested. Everybody
rested. They ceased from their labors
and entered into His rest. Nothing they did accomplished
this. He proclaimed it. And that's
what Christ said. I came to proclaim it. Alright,
next. Which one are we on? 7? Verse
2, and in the day of vengeance of our God. The day of vengeance
of our God. Now a lot of the writers felt
like this was the cross. Where Christ took all the wrath
of God, the vengeance of God against our sins. In His body
on the tree. That may be so. But I tell you this, others believe
that this is the wrath of God upon those who do not believe
this gospel. For some believe and some didn't
believe. And he said you go into all the world and preach the
gospel and he that believe it shall be saved and he that believe
it not shall be damned. That's the day of the vengeance
of our God. If the vengeance of God was not
taken on Christ in our place, it will be taken on us. That's
right. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. He that believeth not on the
Son, the wrath of God abideth on him. Christ said, I came to
proclaim it. And then next, he said, I came
to comfort all that mourn. God's people are a people who
rejoice, but they're people who mourn. Somebody said that a believer
is a paradox. A believer is full and yet he
feels he's so empty. A believer is rich in Christ
and yet he feels so poor. We are perfectly holy in our
Redeemer and yet we feel so sinful. A believer rejoices in Christ
and yet he mourns. What does he mourn over? Well,
he mourns over his sins, indwelling sins, sins of omission, sins
of commission, He mourns over the state of his friends. He
mourns over his afflictions. He mourns through his trials.
He mourns over his spiritual weakness. He mourns because he
can't repent as he should, or believe as he should, or pray
as he should, or love as he should, or do anything as he should.
But Christ said, I came to comfort him. To comfort all who mourn. I am your comforter. And then
notice this one. This is 8. This is 9. I came, verse 3 says,
to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, that's comfort, to give
unto them beauty for ashes. Well, I sat and looked at that
a little while. What do ashes signify? When we
talk about ashes, what does that signify? Christ said, I came
to give beauty for ashes. Well, ashes aren't beautiful.
Ashes are not beautiful. Ashes usually mean three things.
Ashes usually mean death. Dust to dust and ashes to ashes.
That's death. And ashes, secondly, mean sorrow. I repent in sackcloth and ashes. And thirdly, ashes, commonly
used, means the fire's gone out. It's just gone out. Ain't no
fire there. Some of you look like you're feeling that way
tonight. But I've come and there's nothing
you can do about it. You're going to build another
fire? You're going to light it with your own sparks? He said,
I've come to do this for you. I've come to give you beauty
for ashes. He has given us beauty, life
for death, rejoicing for sorrow, and to give us, look at this,
oil of joy for our mourning and the garment of praise for our
spirit of heaviness. I've come to do that. My Messiah,
dear. He's everything I need. All I
need is found in Him. That's what He's declared. And
see, He's declared it before people whose whole system of
religion was works. Their whole system of religion
was in Sabbaths, and tithes, and days, and feasts, and ordinances,
and baptisms, and washings, and all these things. And he stands
there, the Messiah, and they never fulfilled any of these
things. They never kept them perfectly. They never satisfied
God. They offered all these sacrifices,
and all these things, and never found any rejoicing. And he said,
I've come to give you beauty for your ashes. oil of joy for
your morning, and a garment of praise for the Spirit of heaviness. That, look at this last thing.
And I've done all this that you might be called trees of righteousness. Trees of righteousness. Well,
lest I weary you, I want to give you these things that I see here.
Trees of righteousness. Well, what about a tree? Well,
I tell you this, trees are planted by somebody. Well, this one says,
these trees of righteousness are the planting of the Lord.
Every plant that my heavenly Father hath not planted shall
be rooted up. These trees are the planting
of the Lord. Another thing about a tree, a healthy tree or any
other tree has its roots in water. The tree's roots go way down. and reach for the water. And
he says there shall be trees planted by the rivers of living
water. And then the life of the tree
is the sap within. The life of the tree is not from
without. You draw a tree and there's no
life. You can get you some wood and
make you a tree and make limbs, a trunk and limbs and Go and
get some leaves and hang them on there, but after a while,
it'll crumble. There's no life within. The life of the believer is not
from without. They said, wash your hands before
you eat. He said, that ain't going to hurt you or help you.
The problem's in here. Well, not only is the problem
in here, but the solution's in here. And Christ said, you come
to me, and out of your belly will flow rivers of living water.
And that water shall be within you a well of living water, so
that this tree which God plants by the living water of Christ
Jesus has its life from within. And then next of all, God's trees
always bear fruit. Christ said if it doesn't bear
fruit after you've dug around it and cut it down. And he said,
so shall ye bear much fruit. I'm the vine, you're the branches.
The branch does not bear fruit of itself, it bears fruit of
the vine. His trees always bear fruit. Love, joy, peace, long-suffering,
kindness, gentleness, meekness. Then turn to Psalm 1 with me,
and we'll read this and close. Psalm 1, verse 3. And he shall be like
a tree. planted by the rivers of water
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season." Isn't that wonderful? But watch this next line, "...and
his leaf will never wither." Never wither. That's God's tree. But I've got to show you one
more thing. I left this out, and I believe I did it in order
to get your attention a little more keenly. Let's go back to
Isaiah 61. And the Lord Jesus stood before
these people and He reviewed His ministry and message and
mission as the Messiah. All these things I've given you,
I'm not going over them again because you see them there. All
of this. Why? The last line in verse 3,
that He might be glorified. Not us, not ours, but that He
in all things might be glorified.
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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