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Henry Mahan

Men Should Seek the Lord

Acts 17:22-31
Henry Mahan • January, 8 1989 • Audio
1,528 Articles 3,940 Sermons 760 Books
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Henry Mahan
Henry Mahan • January, 8 1989
1,528 articles 3,940 sermons 760 books
Message: 0898b

Henry T. Mahan Tape Ministry
Zebulon Baptist Church
6088 Zebulon Highway
Pikeville, KY 41501
Tom Harding, Pastor

Sermon Transcript

Auto-generated transcript • May contain errors

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This was preached in one of the
capitals of the world. All right, to whom was the sermon
preached? Well, it was preached to the
judges of the court. The wise and the learned philosophers
were there, the men who debated, the men who were always trying
to find some new thing to discuss, the different sects and cults.
and movements. They were all there. The citizens
of Athens were assembled there. This sermon was preached to the
leadership, to the learned, to the intellectual, to the philosopher,
to the religious, and to all the people. Fourthly, why do I preach it
here today? And I want you to hear me now.
because it's so applicable to this day. This sermon, as I've
read it before and as I particularly read it carefully yesterday,
it is so applicable to this day. It is to me as if it had never
been preached. It is to me as if it were not
presented at all to those people back there, but as if it were
prepared for us today. That's the way this message impresses
me, as if God Almighty ordained it for the first time to be read
this morning before this generation. Let's look at it. Verse 22, Then
Paul stood. Remember who this is. He speaks by inspiration. He
speaks by divine leadership. Then Paul stood. Remember to
whom he is speaking now. And he said, Ye men of Athens,
I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. Now, there are some men in this
congregation who preach, who study, who know and who will
tell you that word is religious. You are too religious. You are most religious. They
had more gods They had more altars. They had more shrines. They had
more religious holidays than any other nation. This was a
religious nation. That's what he's talking about.
This was a religious city. I perceive, he said, this is
my conclusion. As I walk among you, on every
hand, every turn I make, I perceive that you are a most religious
people. Now, is this not true of America today? Is this not
true of our country, of our state, of our city? My friends, religion,
religion is everywhere. It's everywhere. It affects and
influences everyone. We're all exposed to religion.
America, Kentucky, Ashland, we have more churches, cathedrals,
chapels, schools, altars, religious bookstores, radio, TV, religious
holidays in any other nation on earth. We are full of religion. Religion's everywhere. I'm talking
about religion. It's in every nook, every cranny,
up every holler, on every hill, on every street, everywhere. Religion's all 24 hours a day. seven days a week, religion.
You know it and I know it. Out there where you work, everybody
is religious. I didn't say they all knew God,
I said they are religious. Everywhere you turn, there is
religion. And that's what Paul is talking about here. He said,
I perceive, this is my conclusion, as I walk up and down your streets
and visit with you, I am convinced that you are most religious. And as I passed by and beheld
your gods that you worship, your altars and your shrines, as I
walked through the streets of your city, I observed all of
these chapels and churches and cathedrals and temples and shrines
that you worship, and I found an altar. I came upon an altar. I came upon a shrine with this
inscription, to the unknown God. to the unknown God. Now why did
these people, these religious people, these religious, moral,
intelligent, pious people, why in the world,
they had all these shrines and altars and religious holidays
and holy places, why in the world would they erect an altar to
an unknown God or to the unknown God? Why would they do that?
I'll tell you why. They erected that altar to the
unknown God out of fear, out of uncertainty. They had their
God, but they weren't quite sure. They were uncertain of the character
of the God they worshiped. They were uncertain of the power
of the God they worshiped. They were uncertain of the glory
of the God they worshiped, and out of fear and uncertainty,
they just erected an altar, in case there is another God, we'll
erect this altar over here to one we don't know, one we don't
recognize, one we've never come across. The same thing today. Now listen carefully, don't miss
this. The same reason today that men are so tolerant with all
manner of religion. And you may be, there may be
somebody sitting right here, Paul's right in this category.
Well, I'm not going to say anything against those folks over there
handling snakes, you know. I just live and let live. I'm
not going to say anything against these people over here that kiss
statues and shrines and cross themselves and march. I'm not
going to say anything. You know why you're not? Now,
don't blame it on love. Blame it on one thing. You're
not sure that your God is the God. You're not quite certain that
your God is the God and your way of worship is the way of
worship and your Savior is the Savior. It's not tolerance, it's
fear. It's not love, it's uncertainty. If you were certain of your God,
you'd make no room for another. Am I telling the truth? If you
were certain of your doctrine, you'd not tolerate another. Sometimes you think Brother Mahan
is too bold and too plain. I believe what I preach. And I don't have time for compromise. And the only reason anybody does
is uncertainty. They're not sure, Bob. That's
the reason they're wrecked. Paul said, I walked through your
street, I saw all you did. Here's the free will and the
countenance. Here's the Thocenian and here's the Arminian, here's
the Pelagian and here's the Lutheran, here's the Baptist and here's
the Catholic and here's the Camelot, and they're all acting different,
worshiping different while they sing. And here's one over here
just undenominational, just in case. We're all wrong. And he said,
I know, I know why you do that. I know why men tolerate all manner
of religious tradition and form and ceremony, why they tolerate
all this emotionalism, why they tolerate men like the Swaggart's
and all the rest of it. Why do they tolerate that? Oh,
I don't speak against that. Why not? Fear. He may be right. Uncertainty. That's exactly why. I've got
it cornered. I've got the target. I'm hitting
a dead center. That's the only reason why I'm
in a tolerate error, is uncertainty and fear. So he said this, whom you ignorantly
acknowledge, that unknown God, is the very God I'm declaring
unto you. So they really do not know God,
because to know God is not uncertainty and fear. Paul said, I know whom
I believe. David said, The Lord is my shepherd.
John said, I know I've passed from death unto life. See what
I'm saying? This religious tolerance of America
and religious tradition and religious permissiveness, it's not love. It's ignorance. And it's uncertainty
and it's fear. And that's the very thing Paul
is condemning right here. There's one God, not two or three. There is one Lord, one faith,
one baptism, one spirit, one body, one hope of your calling.
That's what's Christian. One mediator between God and
man, not a half a dozen, just one. And the only reason we'll
tolerate any other is because of uncertainty and fear and doubt
of our own position and ignorance of the living God. So, watch
this now, the next verse. So Paul comes along and he says
this. Let's back off from all these
traditions. Do you dare back off from all
your traditions? A young lady in an office said
this to me the other day. She said, it's hard to unlearn
all of the traditions in which you were raised. But do you dare
do it? Do you dare back off from all
your traditions and all your old wives' fables and all the
junk we've accumulated? Paul said, I count it but lost
that I may win Christ. my heritage, my ancestry, my
accomplishments, my morality, my religion. Let's back off from
all the form and the ceremony. Well, this is the way we do it
in our circles. Well, maybe that's not the way God does it. Do you
dare back off from all the emotionalism, all the hand-waving and the emotionalism,
all the superstition and all the organizations and all the
institutions we've created, all these names? And let's find out
who God is. Do you dare do that? Let's find
out who God is. I'll tell you this, I want to
find out who God is, I want to find out who I am, and I want
to find out how God's to be known and worshipped. I'm not willing
to rest my immortal, eternal soul on what I always thought,
or what somebody's always said, or the way we've always done
it. or to keep them offending somebody or hurt somebody's feelings.
I'm not going to hell to keep them hurting somebody's feelings.
And I hope you don't. So Paul, he shakes them down,
doesn't he? He said, you men of Athens, you're
religious, overly religious. And I've passed by all your shrines
and altars and I saw one that caught my attention, to the unknown
God which you erected out of your superstition, ignorance,
uncertainty and fear. And all the rest of these are
idols, and that's the one I want to talk about. He's the living
God that this generation does not know. And he said, verse
24, listen, God made the world. Now, brethren, let me tell you
something. I'm talking about almighty, I'm
talking about supreme, I'm talking about sovereign. God spoke the
world out of nothing, God created all things, and he did it totally
sovereign, as he pleases, when he pleases. He made the mountains
low and green, he made the valleys low and green, the mountains
high and snow-covered. He made the oceans deep and the
rivers to flow, and he made the trees to bloom and everything
to grow, and he made man in his own image. He didn't take counsel with any
Christian. Our God is omnipotent, our God is omniscient, our God
is omnipresent. He's Lord, listen, God that made
all things. See, he's Lord of heaven and
he's Lord of the earth. The little peanut God that's
being preached today is not God. He is not God. The very statement, God can't
do this, that, and the other unless you let him, that's not
God. They said, David, where is your
God? Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he pleased,
whatsoever the Lord pleased. That did he in heaven, earth,
and the seas, and all deep places. God's will shall be done. He is Lord and God of creation.
He is Lord and God of providence. He is Lord and God of salvation.
God is God in all that the word implies. When Nebuchadnezzar
found that out, he said, when my senses came back to me, I
realized that the Lord God reigns in the armies of heaven and among
the inhabitants of this earth and giveth it to whomsoever he
will. God is sovereign. He is Lord. He works all things
after the counsel of his own will. Is that right? He saves
whom he will. Salvation is a gift of God. And
look at this. Paul said he made the world and
all things therein. He's Lord of heaven and earth.
He doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. God doesn't dwell
in temples made with human hands. Solomon was going to build a
temple, and he said, The heaven of heavens won't contain thee,
how much less the house that I builded. How small and ignorant
must be our thoughts of God when we talk of confining him to a
I sat down there in the park in Mexico, and I watched those
poor people come by, and there was a big old Catholic cathedral
with these big thick doors, you know, built in 1520, the oldest
church on the North American continent. Started about 1492-15,
about 30 years after Columbus landed. There it stands, that
same building, the same doors. They'd been standing in front
of it for years. And they'd come by and they'd stand in front
of it. They'd been taught that God dwells there. that that place
represents God, so they pay their worship to that building, whether
the doors are open or closed. They come and stand there and
they cross themselves and they bow before the walls of that
building. How small are our thoughts of God when we talk of confining
him to a place, a church, a movement, a denomination. Well, when that's
so, he is indeed the unknown God, is he not? Am I talking in a language you
understand? This is what Paul says. Look at verse 25. This
God, he's not worshiped with men's hands. You hear people
say, Worship the Lord by our tithes and offerings. You can't
worship God with your hands. You say, well, that's just a
common saying. Out of the heart, the mouth speaketh. You can't worship God. God is
not worshiped with hands. as though he needed anything.
What does God need? God said, if I was hungry, I
wouldn't ask you. I hear people say, well, God has
no hands but your hands. Are you joking? God has no feet but our feet.
You are joking, aren't you? That's an unknown God. His ear is not heavy that he
can't hear. His hand is not short and that he can't save. Can we
really serve God? People talk about serving God.
Can you give anything to God? What does God need? See, he stands
in need of nothing. That's why God is not worshiped
with men's hands. We put on our uniforms, we put
on our robes, we burn our candles, we go through all these. My friends,
worship is not external, it's internal. Worship is not of the
hand, it's of the heart. Worship is not in the flesh,
it's in the Spirit. God is Spirit. There's something wrong. There's
something wrong. He says here, this God, seeing
he gives, he doesn't receive, he gives. He gives to all life
and breath and all things. God gives, he gives. Somebody
said to Abraham Lincoln back during the Civil War, a bunch
of people meeting in his office, they said, Well, we sure hope
God's on our side. I don't know how much Lincoln
knew or what he knew or what he professed, but he came back
with a good statement. He said, I'm not interested in
that at all, whether God's on our side. He said, I hope I'm
on his side. See what he's saying? I'm not
interested. I'm interested to know if I'm
on his side. He's got a side, he's got a purpose. He gives life, he breathed into
man the breath of life, he gives all things. God gives, and watch
verse 26, and he hath made from one blood. Now, you may divide
into nations and colors and classes and denominations and circles,
but God says here, everybody came from one man, one man, Adam. Jew or Gentile, bond or free,
male or female? English or Irish, whatever, God
hath made from one blood all nations of men. They all come
from Adam. They have one common source,
one common origin, one common blood. And God hath determined
the times before appointed, he hath allotted their period of
time. A man is a few days, born a woman, full of trouble, his
bounds are set, the number of his months are with God. And
God hath appointed the bounds of their habitation, their fixed
boundaries, their habitation, their land. They came from one
man. And as by one man sin entered the world, and death by sin,
so death passed upon all men. What Adam was, we are. Where
Adam was, we are, separated from God, fallen, dead, and trespassed
as sin. That's who God is. You know,
I just wish that today I believe many of you have. You could just forget everything,
all of this tradition, religion, emotionalism, all the different theories of
prophecy, premillennial, postmillennial, amillennial, all the denominations,
Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Franklin, poor
and immersion, Just wipe it all out and start all over with a
clean slate. Whether you're to stand or sit, whether you're
to bow or scrape, or whether you're to raise your hands or
keep them down or speak in tongues or what, let's just find out
who God is. Let's just start over. Start over. And he tells us this,
God's sovereign. Our God's in the heavens. He
doesn't dwell in temples made with hands. He doesn't dwell
in these buildings we've made for him. He doesn't dwell in
these little compact organizations and systematic theologies and
all these little places here we've fixed up. God is suffering. He's going to have his way. And he's not worshipped this
way. God's worshipped from the heart. God's worshipped with
the Spirit. God's worshipped internally.
You don't give anything to God. God doesn't need you, but you
desperately need him. Everything is going to go along
fine. If you are born, live and die and wind up in hell, everything
is going to be the same. God is going to be glorified.
And he has made us from one man, one blood. We came from one source,
one origin, one blood. That's Adam. And we are all just
exactly alike. It doesn't matter whether you
are tall or short, whether you are smart or ignorant, whether you
are black or white, whether you are who you are, you came from
one man, that's Adam. And in Adam we die. And we desperately
need God. Men should seek the Lord. This is one point that I wish
I could get across to my generation. Seek the Lord. Now listen, if
not the right doctrine, don't seek the right doctrine, you
may find it. And you can have the doctrine without the Christ.
Seek the Lord. If you find him, you'll find
the right doctrine. See what I'm saying? Seek him.
Well, I'm seeking the right church. I want to find a perfect church.
I want to find a church that does things like I think they
ought to be done. I hope you never do, because you'll settle
down in your comfort, in your comfortable, lost, pious, self-righteous,
pharisaical condition, and perish. Seek the Lord. It's his church. And if you find him, you'll be
in his church. See what I'm saying? Seek the Lord, not the right
form of worship. Well, I want to go where people
kneel. Well, you can kneel, nobody's going to stop you from kneeling.
I hear people say, well, the kids ought to pray. Well, sure
they ought to pray, who's stopping them? Our country's so silly. Put God back in the school, he
never left. David set out to send them to
heaven, God's there. If I make my bed in hell, God's
there. If I go to the end of the earth, God's there. You ain't
going to stop me from praying. What we're talking about is the
very thing Paul's talking about. We think we've got to get together
in our fleshly groups in order for God to be there. We've got to do our form, we've
got to bow our heads, we've got to go through our ritual, and
that automatically makes God there. I'm afraid we're mistaken.
God is where he is, and God's with whom he's with whom. That's
right. I want to get to heaven, and
I want to get to God. It's not the gift, it's the giver
I'm seeking. We got men all over this country
seeking the gift, and missing the giver. Men ought to seek
the Lord. Our Christ said, eternalize to
know God. Know God, and Jesus Christ whom
he has sent. In 1 John 5, John said, The Son
of God has come and given us an understanding that we may
know him that is true in Jesus Christ, the true God, the living
God. Watch verse 27 again. Men should
seek the Lord, if happily, if delighted, oh, wonderfully, if
we might actually find him, experience him. Not a trip to the front. I came to the front. I got a
feeling. Paul said, I want to win Christ and be found in him.
I want to know him and the power of his resurrection. I want to
experience him, find him. Not a feeling, not an experience,
not a church. And what's this? He's not far
from every one of us. For in him we live and move and
have our being. We all motion, internal and externals
of God. We have our being from God. He's
not far. He's not down here. He's right
there, where you are. If you go out to get in your
car, he's there. If you go home today, he's there. God's not
far from any of us. God's not in my hand. He's not
in the card you sign. He's not in this building. God
is everywhere. Is that not true, the living
God? I want to know him. I'm just not satisfied with the
fact that all this pretense and emotionalism and excitement and
religion is God. I'm convinced it's not. Now,
read on. Verse 28. In him we live and
move and have our being, as certain also of your own poets have said.
We're his offspring, we're his creation, for as much then as
we're the offspring of God. Why do you think God is likened
to gold or silver or stone? I'm a spirit. You say, you're
a body too. No, I inhabit this body. Someday
this body will go back to the dust and I'll go to God who gave
the spirit. I'm a spirit. I have a heart. I have a will.
I am a spirit. God created us in his own image. Why do we turn to statues and
buildings and altars and catechisms and constitutions and doctrines
and pictures? when God is Spirit. Why do you
do that, he said? We are his offspring, and we
are not that way. I think all of our traditions ought
to be considered in this light. God created me in his image.
Now, this emotionalism, when people say they are worshiping
God, relax just a minute, don't But they just carry on and scream
and shout and sweat and fall out. Now then, God is infinitely
above me, more intelligent, more powerful. God is spirit, God
is will, heart. This stuff doesn't appeal to
me. And you don't get my attention
that way. You come screaming and yelling at me and waving
your arm and bowing at the mouth, I'm going to back off from you.
and maybe call somebody to come get you. Now wait a minute, if
you tell me God enjoys that stuff, and that appeals to God, and
that puts you in touch with God, then your God is awful strange. You say, well, these people worship
statues and golden calves. God is not a golden calf, and
God is not a fool either. God's not a fool. And then I
hear people pray, and they get to shouting at God, screaming
at God. You know how they pray. Well,
you know, I'm sitting here, and you come in my office, and you
have a request to make of me. Don't come screaming at me. I think if we examine the way
we worship God, in the light, God, we're his offspring. Are
you with me in what I'm saying? We're his offspring, creating
his image. If it doesn't appeal to you,
if it doesn't get your attention, why do you think it would get
God's attention when he's infinitely superior, infinitely more intelligent,
infinitely greater than you are? And you're not going to buy me
off But I'll slip Brother Mahan a
couple of dollars and he'll do something. Now wait a minute.
Wait a minute. And you're going to buy God off?
You're going to slip God a couple of dollars and buy him off? He's
infinitely more straight and truthful than I am. This verse is from the powerful
preacher, Paul. He said, I got their number,
he said. I got their number. In verse
30 he says this, I wind it up, the times of this ignorance God
overlooked, God suffered, put up with this ignorance. He now commandeth all men everywhere
to repent. What is repent? Change your mind,
change your mind about God, change your masters, change your manners,
change your direction, change your attitude. It's time to change,
and it's not an invitation, it's a command. I know the whole generation
talks about God's up there with hope and somebody let him have
his way. Not this guy. He commands. He's a king. A king
does not invite his subjects to obey him. He commands them
to. And it's time to readjust. You know why? Because the truth's
been preached to you. Christ has been revealed to you.
Christ has come. This is what Paul is saying.
All of this superstition, these buildings and holy days and all
these things, God put up with this. God overlooked it. God
suffered it. But Christ has come. He stood
on this earth, the Lord Jesus Christ. God has manifested himself
in human flesh. You want to know God? Christ
said he has seen me, has seen the Father. Our Lord Jesus Christ
became a man. And the Master gave us the Lord's
words, the Lord's will, the Lord's message, the Lord's truth, he
gave it to us. This is my son, God said, hear
it! Hear it! But we are so bound by our tradition,
we'll hear everybody but him. We're so bound by this is the
way we do it, whoop-de-doo, you know, all this emotionalism,
entertainment, and all these rich, covetous preachers and
all their programs and My, my, my. The snowball is just going
down the hill so fast and picking up speed as it goes and gathering
fools as it travels. Somebody ought to say, hold it!
Now just stop right there. Let's analyze this situation. I'm not going with you anymore.
I'm not supporting any more of it. I'm not having any party
anymore. I'm through with it. I'm through doing things because
the guy next to me is doing it. I'm through overlooking this
I want to know this unknown God. I want to know the living God.
I'm tired of saying, well, this is the way my mama went, my daddy
went, my grandpa went, and I'm going to. Not this boy. I'm going
to find out who he is in this congregation. I'm going to tell
you who he is. He's the Lord God. And he's not
worshipped with men there. And he's not far from any of
you. If you want to find him, you can find him. But you're
going to have to turn loose of everything else. If you want
to know him, you can know him, but you can't compromise. He
will not be compromised. You're going to have to lay it
down. You're going to have to count the cost. That's what our
Lord said. Verse 31, let me tell you something. God hath appointed
a day, a day of days, a day of days, a great day of the Lord,
in which he is going to judge this world, that's us too, in
righteousness. In what? In righteousness, not
in emotionalism. Not in tradition, not in religion,
not in your profession. Come on now, I'm telling you
the truth. He's going to judge us well in pure, straight, cold,
truthful righteousness. Holiness. Perfect holiness. And that's God's holiness. And
I fall short of that. And this man, listen, by that
man whom he hath ordained by Christ Jesus, that's the righteousness
of God. whereof he hath given assurance
unto all men, that he hath raised him from the dead." He has ordained
him, and he has let us know who Christ is and what Christ did
and why he did it and where he is now. He is in the will and
purpose of God because he raised him from the dead. Do you know
Christ? There it is, in Christ. Look back at Acts 13. Here is
the summary of it. Be it known, therefore, men and
brethren, be it known unto you, that through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sin, and by him all that believe are
justified from all things from which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses." I found out who God is, Almighty
God, Eternal Sovereign Lord of heaven and earth. I found out
who I am, a son of Adam, a fallen creature related to all men from
one source and one origin. I found out that God is going
to judge me in perfect righteousness, not what I think, not what I
profess, not what I claim, but in the perfect righteousness
and holiness of Almighty God. And he is going to judge me according
to my relationship with that man, Christ Jesus. If I'm in
that man, believe that man, trust that man, in that man Christ
Jesus by grace, by faith, not in the church, not in the pool,
not in religion, not in the pulpit, but in Christ, he's the righteousness
of God. I'm in him by faith. I believe
him. I believe the record that God
has given concerning his Son. God is known in Christ, loved
in Christ, and worshiped in Christ. And that day is coming when every
man shall stand before Christ and be judged in righteousness.
And that relationship with him determines whether you perish
or whether you live forever. That's the truth. Can we just put the brakes on? Can we quit just taking things
because somebody said it? Can we really seek the Lord? Men ought to seek
the Lord. Seek the Lord. Everywhere you go the preacher's
supposed to say now we're gonna sing just as I am You want me
to pray for you? They say I can't help you I've
this much what I've just got through doing all I can do tell
you the truth. I Don't have any direct line
to the throne of God Now you come down and profess
faith Coming down here and I will help you or me the one I want
you to go home Just like I'll go home a little while with this
book You see, with this word, this word will judge you, he
said. And get on your face before God and say, Lord, I want to
know you. I want to know you. I want to know Christ. I want
my sins forgiven. I want a pardon. And don't go
screaming at God and carrying on a bunch of idiot foolishness.
Speak to God like you'd speak to anybody else in Christ. Call upon him. Whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Forget your emotionalism
and call on God. Fall down before Him. I'm a sinner,
I need mercy. And I'm going to tell you what
to say. I kind of believe if you're in trouble, you know what to say. I kind
of believe if you ever get in trouble, you know what to say.
I'm not going to tell you. And don't write me and tell me
that you've been saved so I can add it onto my list and brag
about it. Jim, I'm telling the truth. I'm
telling the truth. I'm telling the truth, and I
know it. Our Heavenly Father, what dark and dismal days. You said in your word there'd
be a famine, not of food and drink. We have plenty of that
by your grace. but of hearing the word of God, of the worship of the living
almighty God. Lord, reveal unto us thyself, deliver us from the form of religion,
from the traditions of religion, and reveal unto us your glory,
your character, your covenant of grace in Christ Jesus, how
you can be just and justify her, how we can approach you. Lord,
give us a knowledge, a heart knowledge and a heart love of
Christ Jesus. I pray for all who assemble here
this morning, all who shall hear this message in other places. Use it for your glory. Use it to shut men up to the
living God. Lord, lead us to seek Thee, seeking
Thee to find Thee, finding Thee to love Thee, loving Thee to
worship Thee. For Christ's sake and in His
name I pray. Amen.
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:
#Biblical Authority #Soteriology #Grace
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Articles by Henry Mahan

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Books by Henry Mahan

1co 01v01-02 Christ and Him Crucified.pdf PDF · 0.1 MB
1co 01v01-05 Christ, Our First Love.pdf PDF · 0.1 MB
1co 01v15 By the Grace of God, I Am What I Am.pdf PDF · 0.1 MB
1co 01v17 Christ Sent Me to Preach the Gospel.pdf PDF · 0.2 MB
1co 01v17-18 The Preaching of the Cross.pdf PDF · 0.1 MB
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