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Henry Mahan

Faith Worketh By Love

Galatians 5:1-6
Henry Mahan • April, 2 1989 • Audio
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Message: 0912a
Henry Mahan Tape Ministry
6088 Zebulon Highway
Pikeville, KY 41501
What does the Bible say about Christ profiting us?

The Bible warns that if we rely on our works for justification, Christ will profit us nothing (Galatians 5:2-4).

In Galatians 5:2-4, Paul states that if anyone attempts to be justified by the law, Christ will profit them nothing. This serious warning is directed at those who seek to find favor with God through their own works, rather than through faith in Jesus Christ alone. The Apostle emphasizes that Christ is the only means of righteousness, holiness, and acceptance before God. It is through His work that we are justified, not through adherence to religious regulations or duties. If we turn back to a system of works for our justification, we reject the grace of God and render the sacrifice of Christ ineffective in our lives.

Galatians 5:2-4

How do we know that salvation is by grace and not by works?

The Apostle Paul teaches that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The Apostle Paul profoundly asserts in Ephesians 2:8-9 that we are saved by grace through faith and not by our works. This foundational Reformed doctrine highlights that salvation is a gift from God, not something we can earn or achieve through our actions. The message of grace signifies that our standing before God comes solely from Christ's finished work, not from any effort we make to comply with the law or fulfill religious obligations. Paul reinforces this in Galatians, warning against any attempt to mix faith with works as a means of justification, indicating that doing so places us outside the scope of grace.

Ephesians 2:8-9, Galatians 5:4

Why is it important for Christians to understand their freedom in Christ?

Understanding our freedom in Christ ensures that we do not fall back into legalism or the bondage of works (Galatians 5:1).

The importance of understanding our freedom in Christ cannot be overstated, as articulated in Galatians 5:1. Paul exhorts believers to 'stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free,' emphasizing that Christ's sacrifice has liberated us from the bondage of the law and works. This understanding is essential because it protects us from the subtle dangers of legalism, wherein we may feel compelled to perform religious duties to earn God's favor. By recognizing that our acceptance and righteousness come solely through faith in Christ, we can live in the joy and peace of our salvation, free from condemnation and the fear of judgment. Our freedom in Christ empowers us to serve Him out of love rather than obligation.

Galatians 5:1

How does faith work by love?

Faith is motivated by love, producing actions that reflect our gratitude for Christ's sacrifice (Galatians 5:6).

In Galatians 5:6, Paul expresses that 'faith which worketh by love' is a crucial aspect of the Christian life. This indicates that genuine faith, rooted in a response to God's grace, naturally expresses itself in acts of love and service. Rather than viewing Christian obedience as a list of duties to fulfill, we understand it as a joyful expression of love in response to all that Christ has done for us. When our faith is sincere, it prompts us to serve others and glorify God, not out of fear of punishment or obligation, but in a grateful response to the grace we have received. This motivates us to exhibit love towards others, as it reflects the love that Christ has demonstrated towards us.

Galatians 5:6

Sermon Transcript

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Galatians chapter 5. Now, there are two statements.
I read these six verses and there are two statements in these six
verses that ought to catch our attention and hold our attention until
we find out what the Apostle is talking about. And here are
the two statements. The latter part of verse 2. Christ
shall profit you nothing. Now, my brethren, that's serious.
Christ shall profit you nothing. And the other is, verse 4, the
first line, Christ is become of no effect to you. Now, first
thing, when I looked at this, these two things, Christ shall
profit you nothing. And Christ is become of no effect
to you. To whom is He speaking? Who's
the you? You. Well, I'll tell you to whom
he's speaking. He's speaking to the church.
He's writing to the church at Galatia. He's talking to the
pastor. He's talking to the elder. He's talking to the elder elder.
He's talking to the deacons. He's talking to everybody in
that church. You, Christ will profit you nothing
if the condition he deals with exists in you. If we're guilty,
of what Paul condemns here, then Christ profits you nothing, Dan
Culper. That's what he said, you. And
he's become of no effect to you, Charles Pennington, if this is
true of you and of Henry Mayer. That's serious. That's serious. And when he says Christ will
profit you nothing and Christ has become of no effect, what's
he mean, Christ? Well, he means all that Christ
is, all that Christ does, all that Christ has done, all that
he'll ever do. The person and work of Christ
Jesus. He's talking about the covenant. You know, when David
lay down to die, his last words, he said, I thank God He's made
with me an everlasting covenant, covenant of grace in Christ Jesus.
And this is my salvation and my desire. That covenant is built
upon Christ Jesus. He is the surety of that covenant.
He is the Lord of that covenant. And I have no part in that covenant
if I'm guilty of what He condemns him. He's become of no effect.
Christ is our righteousness. He's our holiness. He's the righteousness
of God. He's the only righteousness of
God. Well, if what Paul is condemning is true of me, then He's become
of no... I have no righteousness, told.
None. No effect. Christ is the only
mediator between God and man. Notice that doesn't say He's
the only mediator between God and man. It says man. He's the only mediator. And if
this is true of me, what the Apostle condemned, I have no
mediator. And that old Negro spiritual
says, you've got to walk that lonesome valley by yourself.
That's right, I do, if I don't have a mediator. You've got to
stand the judgment trial by yourself. I will, without a mediator. No
effect. And let me tell you this, Christ
is the resurrection and the life. And this is serious, isn't it?
My, my, my, it's important. If I have no life, how serious
can you get? What's more important than what's
before us? All right, let's see what it is. Galatians 5.1. He says, first of all, stand
fast. Stand. Hold. Believe. Highly esteem. Maintain. Defend. What? The liberty. The liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free. Christ hath set us free. All
right, what's he talking about here? What's Christ set us free
from? What have we been freed from? Well, number one, we've
been freed from the penalty of sin. I know that. Christ has
freed us from the penalty of sin. There is therefore now no
condemnation to them who encroach Jesus. Therefore, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God. Christ hath freed us from
all condemnation, all judgment, all penalty. Whosoever believeth
on him will never be confounded, never be put to shame. Secondly,
Christ hath freed us from the power of sin. Sin shall not reign. I hear these preachers always
talking about Satan, Satan this and Satan that, the devil disrupted
us and the devil done this and the devil's done... Let me tell
you something. The devil and all the powers of hell and darkness
cannot touch one of God's dear children without God's permission.
I guarantee you that. And these preachers that always
talk about the devil's messed up our business and messed up
our work, messed up our church, I tell you, they're putting the
blame where it doesn't belong. When the devil came before God,
He had to request permission to touch Job. And God gave him
permission. And wouldn't let him go any further
than he will for him to go. Our Lord turned to Peter and
said, Satan hath desired thee that he may sift thee as wheat.
I've given him permission. When he taught his disciples
to pray, he said, deliver us from the evil one. And Christ
is the only one who can. And he will. He hath delivered
us from the power of sin, from the power of darkness, from the
rulers of darkness, from the attacks of darkness. He hath
hedged us about. That's right. And He hath delivered
us from the curse of the law. But that's not what Paul's talking
about here. That's not what he's talking about. Stand fast in
the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. What's this?
And be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. What is
this yoke of bondage? I'll tell you what it is. It's
the doings and the days and the duties and the denials and the
devotions of religion and the works of religion in order to
establish a righteousness before God and a good standing with
God Almighty. That's what Christ has delivered
us from. He's delivered us from Sabbaths. And He's delivered
us from ceremonies, and He's delivered us from services, and
He's delivered us from ties and laws and prayers and services
to gain favor with God Almighty. He is all the sanctification
and righteousness and holiness that we need. We are accepted
in the beloved. Christ has set us free. So He
says, don't you again be entangled with this bondage. Now what I'm
saying is this, Christ is my acceptance. I'm accepted in the
beloved. Christ is my righteousness. Christ
is my holiness. Christ is my sanctification.
God loves me and receives me and accepts me not on the basis
of anything I do, guilt, any ordinance I keep, any service
I rendered. It's solely, completely on Christ. Do you understand that? And He
has delivered me from any of these services in order to gain
God's favor. Don't you become entangled again.
You say, well, pritchard is no danger. Oh, it's subtle. That's
subtle. It's subtle, and I'll give you
some examples. I was raised believing that Sunday, Sunday was a day
that was special in this regard that on Sunday, if you did certain
things, God would be angry with you. If you didn't do certain
things, God would be pleased with you. And if you did certain
things, God would honor it. Sunday was a day when we sat
and twiddled our thumbs, you know. And do you know that that
has remained with me to a certain extent? Now, I know the church
meets on Sunday, and Sunday morning we meet together, and Sunday
is a day of rest, and man needs a day of rest, one out of seven.
I know Sunday night we meet together. But let me tell you something. God is not going to look with
favor or disfavor upon you by how you behave on Sunday. And there's something about us,
we've got this little feeling, you know. You take back two or
three Sundays that go. Now, I preach somewhere nearly
every night. Last Sunday I preached twice, And Monday night I preach,
Tuesday night I preach, Wednesday night I preach, Thursday night
I went to service, Friday night I preach, Saturday morning I
preach, Friday morning I preach. And I do that, that's my schedule
all week. I'm in service somewhere nearly
all the time. Well, I was down in Mexico and we didn't have
anything on Sunday morning. We had service Friday night,
late, Saturday night, all evening. Sunday morning, didn't have any
service at all. There's a lake out there full of fish. And there was a fishing rod leaning
against the patio wall and a can of worms. And so I got my fishing
pole and the preacher went fishing Sunday morning three weeks ago.
And you know, while I was out there throwing that in the water,
I got to thinking, what in the world are you doing fishing on
Sunday? See how subtle it is? It's subtle. It's a subtle thing. I'll tell
you about the tithe. When I was a little boy, I got
a paper out when I was 13 years old. Well, my dad was a member
of a fundamentalist Baptist church on which you did this on Sunday,
which you tithed your income explicitly down to the penny,
in which you didn't play dominoes on Sunday afternoon, in which
you didn't play ball on Sunday, which you just tithed with these
certain things, you know. where you didn't dare eat a bite
without saying the blessing before you ate. And these things were
ingrained in me so much, so much. When I collected on that paper
route and got my money, the part that belonged to the company,
my dad said, 10% of that is God's. And that was ingrained in me
from the time I was a boy. And you know it's still hard
to get out? I'm 63 years old nearly. And I sit down on Saturday
night to, I'm working on the order of service and fill out
my church check, and invariably Cecil, that number will come
in my mind. They planted that number in my
mind. And brainwashed me with that number. Ten percent does
not belong to God. It all belongs to God. And I
don't give out of a duty or a time. I've been delivered. Christ has
set me free from that. He's my Sabbath. He gave Himself
out of love for me, and I give myself and all I have to Him
because I love Him. If you pay that tent, God will
bless you. See there? You are bargaining with a holy
God. He ain't going to be bargained with. Now, it's just not right
to talk to people that way. Peter said to Ananias, before
you sold that house, it was yours. After you sold it, it was yours.
When you got the money, it was yours. There's no requirements
on you about what you have to give, but the seed's been planted. The seed's been planted. And
you catch yourself, you watch yourself and see if, do you really
come to worship on Sunday because you want to or because it's Sunday?
And you're afraid not to. Do you give because you love
God and you want to? Not for any favor. I'm not trying
to find favor with God. My favor is Christ. You see what
I mean? My favor is Christ. My acceptance
is Christ. He loves me for Christ's sake.
Not because of anything I do or don't do. Now, this is so. We always grace the table. You
know that. I hate this term, let's have
a little word of prayer. Don't anybody ever say that to
me again now. Let's have a little word of prayer. It ain't little.
When you talk to God, it's not little. I want to pray, but I want to
pray when I really pray, not out of routine. And not because
I'm afraid if I don't pray, the roost is going to follow. Well,
you better say your blessing or you'll choke on that steak. Now, this is subtle. It is. It's deceitful. And I'll
tell you, People want to get married in the church. Why do
you want to get married in this building? Well, you know, it's special.
On what ground? We all get out of here, it's
just a building. There's the church. People. God dwells in
the hearts of people. God doesn't dwell in buildings.
Let's get married in a skating rink. Well, I wouldn't do that. Why not? Well, it's not spiritual. Is this building spiritual? I
didn't know that. I tell you what makes these lights
burn is Don McGinnis' electricity generation down there. There
ain't nothing spiritual that makes them lights burn. Preacher,
you're making fun. Yes, I'm making fun of us. Because
we think God dwells in buildings and temples and God's worship
with men's hands, and it's not so, and we'd better get delivered
from it right now or Christ profits you nothing. Somebody showed me a well-worn
Bible last Sunday. That don't mean nothing. Get
you a new one. Get one with the pages still
in it. A fellow comes along and this is tore out and that is
tore out. He said, boy, look at how I used my Bible. Better
go in there and buy you a new one so you can find a place. There's no virtue. I tell you,
I warn you, I warn me. I warn you. Christ has delivered
us from these ways and means to find favor with God. A man
told Spurgeon, the preacher one time, said, well, I'll tell you
this, he said, I've read the Bible on my knees three times
and I haven't found election. Well, that impresses some people.
I've read the Bible through on my knees. That's impressive.
It didn't impress Spurgeon. He said, get up off your knees.
That's a sorry way to read anything. and sit down in a nice easy chair
and maybe you'll see what God's saying. This is a subtle thing. Don't
you become. The Jews had their ceremonies
and services and days and holy days and sacrifices and tithes
and all these things, circumcision, and it meant something. Here's
a picture of Christ. Here's a type of Christ. Here's
a type of obedience. And Jesus Christ has come and
put away the first and established the second. He is my Sabbath. He is my rest. He is my peace. That's right. I've found all
I need in Christ. Look at the next verse. Behold,
I, Paul, say unto you, if you be circumcised, Christ will profit
you nothing. Preacher, what on earth does
that mean? Circumcision is a wise thing to do. A son, a male child,
have him circumcised. He may have trouble later if
you don't. There are certain reasons for it. But circumcision
in the Old Testament, circumcision in the Old Testament represented
the whole Jewish law, the whole Jewish covenant, the covenant
God gave to Moses. It was a token, it was a sign,
it was a seal that the male Jew had that distinguished him from
all the heathen, idolaters, and pagans in the world. That circumcision
represented his tithe, his Sabbath, his ceremony, his feast of the
first fruits, his feast of the tabernacle, his Passover, and
everything was represented by circumcision. And when Paul says
here, if you be circumcised, what he is saying is this, if
you do anything, anything, required in the law, of the law, in order
to find favor with God, Christ will profit you nothing. He'd
go for baptism. Baptism is a confession of faith
in Christ. But a man says, well, I'm going
to be baptized because I think it's necessary and it's required
and God will be pleased with me if I do it. Don't do it. Don't
do it. See what I'm saying? We've got
to find in Him all. All. All in him. You know, here's a picture, and
I gave you this some time ago in the Old Testament. God promised
Abraham Isaac, the miracle son. Sabaoth's womb was dead. No way
to bear a child. God said she'll have a son. And
when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was over 90, they had
a son. Miracle, totally a miracle of
God. God gave the son. They made no contribution. Well,
before that, Abraham went into Hagar and he had a son from this
woman naturally and normally. And so when the miracle child
came along, Isaac, that's Christ. God said to Abraham, cast out
the bondwoman and her son. That's the fruit of your works.
That's the fruit of your labor. That's the fruit of your doing.
That's not a miracle. So take that boy. Fifteen years
old now. He lived with Abraham all that time. And no matter
how painful it is, how distressing it is, you take that son and
his mother and send them away. Because Isaac is the miracle
child. Isaac is the seed. Isaac is Christ. And the two can't live together.
You say, what's that got to do with what you're preaching? Look
across the page. Galatians 4, verse 29, verse
28. Galatians 4, 28. Now we, brethren, as Isaac, are
the children of promise, not works, not law, promise, miracle,
born again. But as then, he that was born
after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit,
even so it is now. Nevertheless, what saith the
Scripture, cast out. the bondwoman and her son. For
the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the
free woman." So then, brethren, we're not children of the bondwoman,
but of the free. Your Sabbaths, your tithes, your
ceremonies, your circumcision, your deeds, your dietary laws.
Now, if you want to keep certain Old Testament dietary laws because
they're healthy, okay, but not because they're spiritual. I know preachers that condemn
the poet because it condemns the Old Testament. You better
not give up the poet to be accepted of God. He lets you die from
something else. If you want to give it up, fine,
but not for spiritual reasons. You understand what I'm saying?
Not to be accepted, except in the beloved. We've got to take
all of our works. We've got to take our Sabbath
keeping and all these things, and like Abraham, painful though
it is, And man, I tell you, I was raised in this bondage. I was raised in it. And we've
got to take it to the door and tell it bye. That's right. And boy, I tell you, it hurts.
Dan, all those years you labored and blew the horn and whooped
the dude and kept him happy and cheerleaded for Jesus, you've
got to kiss it goodbye. That's right. It makes no contribution
to your favor with God. Preacher, listen now, I've been
to school and studied and worked and got this, that, and the other,
and I've given my life. Abraham loved that son, too.
Awful close to him. That's God's Son. Read the next
verse. Here's the position we put ourselves
in. I testify again to every man
that is circumcised. Do you understand what he's saying
about circumcision? That's the mark, that's the representation
of any doing, any duty. Any denial, any devotion is just
represented by one word. It includes all of it. No matter
what you do to find favor with God, it's under this term. Now,
he said, if you're going to take that road, you're a debtor to
do the whole law. And brother, let me tell you
something. Buy you an Old Testament and find out what the law requires. Oh, you think it just requires
not picking up sticks on Sunday? You think the law just requires
shelling over 10%? That's 10% of the herbs, anise,
cumin, of the corn, of the wheat, and you better get 10% too. You
better not fudge. I tell you, this law is tough. This Sabbath law is tough. This
ceremony law is tough. It requires you to love God with
all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, to walk before God
in perfection from birth to death, from cradle to grave. Now, if you want to put some
stipulations on people, if that's what you want to do, then get
ready. It takes the whole ball of wax. In other words, when
you stand before God on the basis of anything that you've sought
to find favor with God, it better be perfect. It better match the
righteousness of Jesus Christ. I tell you. So, verse 4, Christ
is become of no effect to you that are justified by the law.
You got to have one or the other. It's got to be all, it's got,
watch, the judge is here this morning. See if this is it, judge.
It's the law, the whole law, and nothing but the law. Or it's
Christ, the whole Christ, and nothing but Christ. That's where
it is. Isn't that right, John? I'm telling
the truth, and that's what he says here. Whosoever of you are
justified before a holy judge, the supreme judge of the universe,
on what basis are you justified? I'm innocent! No, you're not. For Christ paid my bill. He paid
my debt. That's where I'm going to stay.
Now, look at this verse again. Christ is become of no effect
to you, whosoever you are, or justified by the law. You have
fallen from grace. My aunt was a Methodist. And
my other aunt was a free will Baptist. And they used to always
talk about falling from grace. I've heard that since I was this
high. They've fallen from grace. You know what they meant? Here's
a deacon in the church that had a little too much to drink and
they saw him. And the good sisters got together and said, well,
he fell from grace. This verse ain't got nothing
to do with having too much to drink. Not a thing. They used to get together, and
somebody had been in church for several Sundays, and they said,
well, he fell from grace. This ain't got nothing to do
with how often you come to church. Falling from grace here has to
do with one thing, how you claim or attempt to be justified before
God. Am I telling the truth? Look
at it again. Christ is becometh no effect to you, whosoever of
you are justified by the law. You have fallen from grace trying
to find favor with God by keeping a day. You've fallen from grace
and you're attempting to be saved by works. You shell out ten percent
to God and you're trying to find favor with God by doing it. You've
fallen from grace. You're trying works. Here's two
sweet old sisters, one president of WCTU and one president of
WMU, and they're sitting talking about a brother who's fallen.
He's stumped his toe and fallen. And they said, he's fallen from
grace. No, he hasn't. They haven't. Am I telling the truth? No, he
hadn't. He's a sinner saved by grace.
He's a sinner trusting Jesus. He's a sinner looking to the
blood. They're the ones that have fallen from grace thinking
that a man's lost because he sins. We messed up, aren't we? The
religious people of our day are messed up. I saw a new mousetrap. The other
day, I've never seen a mousetrap like this before in my life.
The lady of the house where I was staying, they saw a mouse. So
she went and got a piece of cardboard about this long, about this wide.
And she stood in front of her husband and he caught a hold
of the top of it and pulled off a piece of paper, sticker paper.
And she was standing there holding a yellow sheet with some red
places on it and a big sign warning, don't touch this mousetrap. I said, what on earth is that?
She said, well, you lay it down on the floor, and it's got such
a powerful sticker on it that the mouse comes out to get that
red thing, and when his feet touch this yellow stuff, he can't
get it off. And he's trapped. And there he
is the next morning. And we followed the bait of these
preachers, trying to get us saved by law and rules and regulations,
and we're stuck on the mousetrap. and can't get free. You're fallen from grace. Don't ever say that again unless
you know what you're talking about. It has to do with how
man's trying to be justified before God. And the very people
you think are fallen from grace aren't. And the very people you
think aren't fallen from grace are. They're trying to be accepted
of God because they're nice, because they go to church and
because they don't do this, that, the other, and God is going to
show favor to them. Uh-uh. God is going to show favor
to people who are in Christ. Verse 5, and I'll wind her down.
For we through the Spirit, the revelation of the Spirit, the
regeneration of the Spirit, we through the Spirit wait for the
hope of righteousness by faith. Not work, not labor. We wait. We rest. We've entered His rest.
Well, brother man, how are you going to motivate people? You
all have a television program that costs $1,000 a Sunday. You
have missionaries that cost about $1,000 or $1,500 a Sunday. You've
got a tape minister. You've got all these things.
People have got to give and pay for it. They give because they
love Christ. And you read the next verse.
For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision. What's that mean? That means
the man that keeps the Sabbath won't be accepted and the man
who doesn't won't be accepted. But the man who worships God
because he loves Him. That's right. Read it again. In Jesus Christ neither circumcision,
law, obedience, duties, details, doings availeth anything, nor
the fellow that doesn't do it, but saves which worketh by law. No, sir. The man who tithes is
not righteous, and the man who doesn't tithe is not righteous.
Ain't neither one of them righteous. This fellow says, well, I keep
a day and I keep a tithe, that'll make you righteous. This fellow
says, well, I don't believe in that. He ain't righteous either. Well,
who is? The man that gives and is generous
and kind because he loves Christ and because he loves people.
And that's just so. Faith works by what? Spring by
love, motivated by love, driven by love. Why do you do that at
your home? You give your wife and children
things. Why? You love them. Because if
we don't put some rules on the walls, these daddies won't be
good daddies. Oh, yes, they will too. The man who takes the law
as his rule of life is not accepted of God. Neither is the man who
is a libertine. God won't have him either. But
the man to whom the commandments of Christ are not grievous because
he loves Christ. Paul said, I love God's law.
David said, I love God's law. That's a man from the Old Covenant
and the New Covenant. Both of them saying, I love God's
law. Love His commandments. And faith works by love. Let
me tell you something. You remember the other night
when I gave that A story about Hannah. She was barren. She had
no children. And God gave her a son. And she
prayed. She said, Lord, give me a son. And He gave her a son. And she made this covenant. She
said, I'm going to give him back to the Lord. So when he was 12
years old, when she had weaned him, gone through the three weanings
from his mother's milk, from his nursing, from his childish
ways when he was 12, she took him up to Shiloh. And she left
him, John. She said, God gave him to me
and I gave him back. And she did it in love. It wasn't
required. It wasn't a duty. She wasn't
trying to find favor. She already had favor. She did
it because she loved him. All right, lest we come together
on the Lord's day, duty, reward, seeking righteousness? Of course,
I just love to come here. I love to meet with you. I love
to praise Him. Don't you? Don't do it for any
other reason. Because if you do, Christ will
profit you nothing. We give, give to one another,
give. You'll see on the financial report,
$1,300 this month, social services. That's given through the social
services and to buy people groceries and medicine around here, the
poor people. That's every month from this
church. Why do you do that? Find favor with God? No, sir.
Because you love the unfortunate and you want to help. Don't you?
God's done something in you. If that doesn't motivate us,
we need to forget it. Isn't that right, Herman? And you was raised in that kind
of religion, Herman. Just raised in that. Never had
any peace. Never had any joy. The duties,
oh, duties, way heavy on you, don't you? Those responsibilities
and duties. Oh, I better not do this, God will whip me. If
I do this, everything will be fine, sunshine. Our sun shines Christ, and He
always shines. He's the same. And I have my
valleys and my mountains, but He's always the same. Well, I
told you the truth. I hope it's a blessing. closing
here.
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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