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Henry Mahan

Paul's Four Faithful Sayings

1 Timothy 1:15
Henry Mahan • January, 7 1979 • Audio
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Message 0363a
Henry Mahan Tape Ministry
6088 Zebulon Highway
Pikeville, KY 41501

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I'm speaking this morning on
this subject, Paul's Four Faithful Sayings. I always know what I'm
going to preach. That's no problem at all. In
every service, I know what I'm going to preach. I plan to sound
one note, one positive note, and that's God's mercies to sinners
in Christ Jesus the Lord. I know what I'm going to preach.
I don't know how I'm going to preach it. I don't know how I'm
going to approach it. I don't know what text I'm going to use. I
don't know that, but I know what I'm going to preach because God's
the same. He said, I am the Lord. I change
not. Our God is holy. Our God is sovereign. Our God
is just. Our God is righteous. Our God
is merciful. Our God is love. He's the same.
He never changes. There's no new message to declare
regarding the Lord God. He's the same. And then God's
mercy is the same. He said, I will be merciful to
whom I will be merciful. That never changes. I will be
gracious to whom I will be gracious. I am the Lord, I change not,
therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. God's gifts and
graces and calling are without change, without repentance. So that's always the same, and
His mercy in Christ is always the same. Outside of Christ there's
nothing but judgment. Outside of Christ there's nothing
for the sinner but wrath. Outside of Christ there's nothing
for the sinner but condemnation. The unspeakable unchangeable,
infinite wrath of a holy God outside of Christ. God's mercy
is in Christ. That's the reason Paul said,
I travail till Christ be formed in you. If you miss Christ, you
miss glory. If you miss Christ, you miss
salvation. Whatever else you know or have or do or profess,
if you miss Christ, you miss God. And then sinners are the
same. old sinners and young sinners,
black sinners and white sinners, but all have sinned and come
short of God's glory. What the law says, it says to
them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped. All
the world become guilty before God. Everybody I preach to has
one thing in common. You're different ages, you're
different backgrounds, you're different in intelligence, You're
different in looks. But there's one thing everybody
I preach to has in common. They're all sinners. Some don't
know it. Some know it and won't admit
it. But all are guilty before God. There's none good, no, not
one. There's none righteous. There's
none that seeketh after God. They all together become unprofitable,
guilty, guilty, guilty. So I have no problem with what
to preach. The problem I struggle with in
preparing a message is what text to use and how to rightly present
that text so that it will bring most glory to God. That's what
we're in business for, to bring glory to God. The old Presbyterian
confession of faith, the old Westminster, I believe it is,
begins this way. The catechism begins this way.
What is the chief glory of man? The chief glory of man or the
chief purpose or cause of man is to glorify God. To glorify
God. And that's where we struggle.
We struggle to take a text and so preach it that God might be
glorified. Whatever you do in word or deed,
do it for the glory of God. Whether you teach a class or
sing a special or whether you give a testimony or pray a prayer
or give an offering, whatever you do, God's not in it unless
you can do it for His glory. That's the reason our Lord said
the old Pharisees, they stood on the street corner and prayed.
Now, if somebody says, well, now that's commendable. Not necessarily.
Not necessarily. You mean to tell me a fellow
standing on the street corner, he's not ashamed of his religion. He may even be proud of it. You say, well, that's commendable.
Here's a man that's letting his light shine. No, it may not be
commendable. It all depends on why he's doing
it. If he's doing it to be seen of men, then he has his reward. And when men see him, that's
his reward. That's what our Lord said. Here's
a fellow that fasts. He fasts two or three times a
week. He goes without food, and he looks sad, and his countenance
is like, what's wrong with you? You look so sad. You look so
burdened. You look like you're under such
a great trial. What's wrong with you? Well,
I've been fasting and praying. Well, God bless you. That's commendable.
Not necessarily. Not necessarily. Our Lord said,
when you fast, wash your face, comb your hair, Put a glad countenance
and expression on your face so nobody will know you've been
fasting, so nobody will know you've been praying, so nobody
will know you're under a burden, a spiritual burden. Don't you
let it out. Don't you brag about it, because
otherwise you have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.
We're just so glad that a man gave us a $5,000 contribution
to the church. Isn't that commendable? Not necessarily.
Not necessarily. Why did he give it? Did he give
it to be seen of men? Did he give it to receive some
praise or credit? If he did, he better kept it
and spent it on himself, because he has no reward of the heavenly
Father. Brethren, we're going to have
to come to grips with this thing, whatever we do. We do it, if
I'm preaching, if I can't preach for the glory of God, I'd better
sit down and have somebody else preach. If I can't give and sing
and pray for the glory of God, I better take the seat on the
back and let somebody else preach, let somebody else sing, let somebody
else teach. That's why we're in business,
the glory of thy God. And where I struggle is to ably
present the Lord Jesus Christ. Men go out saying, well, that's
a fine sermon I've struck out. But if they go out saying, what
a wonderful Savior, I've done something. What a wonderful Savior. And to preach a message that
will properly relate to the sinner and properly relate to my day.
Let's talk about Paul, but in relation to our day. Let's talk
about the things that happened in the past, but in relation
to this day. I've got to communicate with this generation. I'm not
preaching John Calvin or Martin Luther or John Gill or Charles
Spurgeon. I'm preaching Christ. And what
I've got to do is relate, to relate my message to this day,
1979. If I can't, I'm not preaching. If I can't deal with your needs
and your problems and your distresses and your discomforts and your
sins and your guilt and your situations, then I haven't done
any preaching. Well, my text, I've selected
a text. I have four of them. They're
the four faithful saints. You know, these writers, they
wrote as God the Holy Spirit gave them utterance. The Bible's
God-breathed, God-inspired, verbally inspired. This is God's Word.
But God uses means, and God doesn't rule out the personality and
certain traits or characteristics that are identifiable with that man. And
Paul has two, especially two statements that he uses, that
only Paul uses. And one of them is, God forbid.
He uses that over and over again. Paul, as far as I know, Cecil
is the only writer that uses it. I don't know any other writer
that uses that. God forbid! God forbid! He uses that over
and over again. And then here's another statement
that Paul used four times in his epistles of Timothy and Titus. This is a fateful saying. And
what he's saying there, this is sure, this is certain, this
is a fateful saying. You can depend upon this. This
is a fateful saying. And I want to look at all four
of them this morning just briefly. The first one is found in 1 Timothy
1, verse 15, in which Paul writes, This is a fateful saying, and
worthy of all acceptation. Now, what's he saying there?
Well, he's saying this. when men are exposed to the gospel,
the gospel of Christ, the gospel of substitution, the gospel of
redeeming grace, the gospel for sinners. Now, you've been here.
God has crossed your path. The gospel that says God loves
sinners, that God loves His enemies, that God has sent His Son to
save the chief of sinners. that God's mercy is to the greatest
sinner, that though your sins be as scarlet, I'll make them
white as snow, that Christ loved us and came into the world and
died for us. He came to give us life eternal
simply by believing on him. And when you hear that, Satan
whispers in your ear, that's not true. That can't be true. That's too good to be true. But
Paul declares it is true. It is true. This is a faithful
saying. This is a true saying. This is
a sure saying from God who can't lie. And if Satan cannot convince
you that it's not true, then he'll come at you this way, well,
it may be true, but it's not for you. It's not for you. You're too sinful. You're too
fleshly. You're too evil. You're too weak. This is not for you. This can't
be for you. It may be a true saying for some
people, but it's not true to you. Wait a minute, now Paul
said this is a faithful saying, and it's worthy of all acceptation. It's worthy of universal acceptation. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Whosoever is athirst, let him
come. All ye that labor and are heavy laden, come to me, I'll
give you rest. Though your sins be as scarlet,
though they be red like crimson, though you be the chief of sinners,
he's able to save to the uttermost. This is a faithful, this is a
true Savior. And this is worthy of acceptation
by all men, of universal acceptation. What is this saying? That Christ
Jesus came into this world to save what kind of people? sinners. Christ Jesus. Why is he called the Christ?
Because he's the anointed. He's called the Christ because
he's the appointed. He's called the Christ because
he's the ordained. He's called the Christ because
he's the Messiah. He is the Christ. That's what
they said to John the Baptist. Are you the Christ? Are you the
Christ? This is what John the Baptist
sent word to Christ and asked him, Are you the Christ? Jesus Christ. That's what he's
saying, the Christ. Oh, that is called Jesus, Christ
Jesus. Why is he called Jesus? Joshua.
My God, my Savior, Joshua. Thou shalt call his name Jesus.
Why? Because he shall save. He has
the power, he has the credentials, he has the ability. He shall
save his people from their sin. What's this? Christ, the anointed,
Jesus, Savior. Christ Jesus, the anointed Savior,
the God-man, came into the world. He existed long before the world
was made. It says the world was made by
him. He was in the world and the world
knew him not. He came willingly because he
loved us. He came into the world in our
flesh, human flesh, in the likeness of sinful flesh, bone of our
bone and flesh of our flesh. What did he come to do? He came
to save. He didn't come to condemn us.
He said he came not to condemn the world. The world was already
under condemnation. There are a lot of preachers
who are preaching Jesus Christ as the condemner. In other words,
statements like this are made. The only sin, now listen to this, I hear it said that the only
sin that will send a man to hell is rejecting Christ. That's what
I'm told. And I think about that and carry
that to its logical conclusion and I say this, Then don't send
a missionary to Mexico. Then don't send a missionary
to Africa. Then don't send a missionary
to the pagan countries. Because, listen, if they don't
hear of Christ, then they can't reject him. You can't reject
an unknown Christ, an unrevealed Christ. If you never heard of
him, how can you reject him? And I think of this, I think,
well, if the only sin that'll send me to hell is rejecting
Christ, it'd be better for me if he hadn't come. But our Lord
didn't come to condemn the world, he came to save the world. It's not rejecting Christ that
condemns me, it's sin that condemns me. It's Christ that saves me. It's Christ that saves me from
my sin. It's Christ that delivers me
from my condemnation. He didn't come to condemn me.
I was already condemned. I'm condemned before Christ came. And Christ didn't come to help
me save myself. And Christ didn't come to save
me in part and leave the rest to me. He came to save. to fully
and sufficiently and effectually save. That's what the Scripture
says, he came to seek and to save. And if he does not effectually,
sufficiently save those for whom he came, then his coming is a
total failure. And he came in vain. Christ the
anointed, Christ the appointed, Christ the Messiah, Jesus the
Savior, came into this world. to save you. That's why he came. He came to save. He came to save
sinners, sinners of all sorts, and nations, and tongues, and
kindred, sinners who have no other qualifications except they're
sinners, sinners in their sins, for they will always be in their
sins until he saves them. Let not conscience, the hymn
writer wrote, make you linger, nor fitness fondly dream. All
the fitness he required is to feel your need of him. He came
into this world to save sinners. That's why he came, to save sinners. And Paul went on to say, of whom
I am the chief. Paul didn't say, I have been
the chief. I once was the chief. He says, I am the chief, Christ
Jesus, Christ the anointed. This is a sure saying. This is
a saying that's worthy of acceptation by every son of Adam, that Christ
the anointed, Jesus the Savior, Christ Jesus the anointed Savior,
came into this world. He said, I came not to do my
own will, but the will of him that sent me. And that will is
to save sinners. And Paul said he came to save
sinners of whom I am right now. the chief. All that I was, my
sin, my guilt, my death, was all my own. All that I am, I
owe to thee, my gracious God alone. All that I am, even here
on earth, all that I hope to be, when Jesus comes and glory
dawns, I owe it, my Lord, to thee. The second fateful saying
is found in chapter 4 of 1 Timothy. Chapter 4 of 1 Timothy, and I'll
have to read two or three verses because the fateful saying precedes
the declaration of the fateful saying. In verse 7 of 1 Timothy
4, But refuse profane and old-wise fables, and exercise thyself
rather unto godliness. For bodily exercise profiteth
little, or for a little time. But godliness is profitable unto
all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of
that which is to come. This is a faithful saying, and
it's worthy of all acceptation. Now listen carefully. In the
days when Paul wrote this text, And they amazingly parallel our
day. In the days when Paul wrote this
text, the Greeks and others paid great attention to physical culture. Now, you know this, the Olympics
and all of this background. The development of muscles, the
development of the body, the development of the intellect,
culture, and so forth, These Greek men and women went through
great, even violent, games and contests to obtain strength of
body, strength of mind and power. This was the philosophy of Greece.
Physical strength, material glory, cultural glory and gain. They lived in this realm of entertainment. culture, physical strength of
the body and so forth. And here's what Paul's saying.
He's writing to us and to that babe, because we are, there's
a sense in which we're headed in that direction. Paul is saying
that bodily exercise, now listen to me, profited, it profited
for a little time, for a short time, physical training, proper
exercise, right diet, these things are certainly of some service.
in its place. It's not sinful. It's not to
be condemned in its place. You know, our Lord said something
like this. He said, take no thought for what you
eat and drink, what you shall wear, wherewithal you shall be
clothed. Gentiles, the heathens, seek
after these things. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness. These things will be added to
you. There's not a denial of these things. They're not sinful
in their proper place, but they're sinful when they get in the wrong
place. And what Paul is saying is this.
He's saying bodily exercise, care of the body, honing and
sharpening the mind. Being well informed and well
trained and well cared for in culture and materialism and the
physical life, it has its place. It's not sinful, nor is it to
be condemned, but godliness. Godliness. And if we gave, I think sometimes
if we stood in front of the Bible, as long as we stand in front
of the mirror on Sunday morning, we'd be more ready to worship. I think if we were as careful
for our inward attitude as we are for our outward appearance, if you ladies spent as much time
in prayer during the week—I'm dead serious now, I'm not making
fun—if you spent as much time in prayer as you do under a hairdryer,
there'd be a tremendous change in your spiritual life. beauty, proportion, muscles,
training, exercise. Paul says, I'm not condemning
this. I'm not telling you to let your hair go. I'm not telling
you to let your clothes go. I'm not telling you to... I don't
care a thing in the world for the direction our young people
are going. Some of them don't care how they look. They wear
old dirty jeans and rag-tag clothes and don't care how they look.
That's not good. My parents, Sometimes your outward
appearance speaks a whole lot about your inward condition. And Paul's not condemning bodily
exercise or appearance of these things, but godliness, that's
what he says, the worship of God, a walk of faith, righteousness. It carries with it, listen, it
carries with it not only a promise of a meaningful, joyful life
on earth, but it promises eternal life. Well, I want to keep my
body fit so that I'll have a healthy life for 70 or 80 years here
on the earth. Yeah, keep your heart fit and
you'll have a healthy life. It's a whole lot more important.
The fitness of your heart, the condition of your heart. He says
bodily exercise will profit a little for a little time. But I'll tell
you this, disease and age is going to overtake you. I don't
care what effort you put forth. And death is coming your way,
I don't care how careful you are about your diet and your
physical appearance. You may have the disease of death
right now in your bones or blood. But he said godliness, to give
yourself to God's Word. To give yourself to the worship
of God, to give yourself to the fellowship of God, to give yourself
to communion with Christ, to give yourself to faith in Christ
will profit you not only in this life with peace and rest and
joy, but it will give you life everlasting. Life everlasting. Paul neither undervalues nor
overvalues this present life. Blessed is the man or woman who
can put this present life with its health and wealth and relationships
and materialism and possessions in its proper place. Blessed
is that man or woman. That person is taught of God.
That person is taught of God. That man or that woman who can
take his or her family, your children whom you adore, and
put them in their proper place with Christ first. or your health,
put it in its proper place. Spend the time that you feel
you can properly spend, but spend more time with Him for His glory. I'd rather be poor and be a man
of faith than to be wealthy and not know God and not walk with
God. If something's got to go, let it be the world. If something's
got to go, let it be materialism. If something's got to go, let
it be your possessions. If something's got to go, let
it be whatever it... I'll tell you this, if Walter Gruber had wanted to take
care of his health, he'd never gone to Mexico, Charlie, because
he's a sick man, and he always will be, and he got it right
down there preaching the gospel. I hear these preachers talk about,
if you trust Jesus, you'll be healthy. Not necessarily. You
might be sick. And your sickness might make
you healthy spiritually. That's right. The trial through
which God puts you may build you up in faith. Maybe I need
to be brought down that I might be lifted spiritually. Maybe I need to be brought down
physically, brought down materially, so that God might turn my eyes
in the right direction. that I might see what's really
important, what's really valuable. No, no, that's not true. Healthy
people aren't godly people, and unhealthy people aren't ungodly
people, that's just not so. Some of God's choicest servants
have suffered, and suffered exceedingly. And some of God's choicest people
have been poor, very poor. But seek ye first the kingdom
of God. And that's what he's saying here.
This thing, bodily exercise and material, these things have their
proper place in God's providence and purpose. And if it's God's
will for you to be blessed physically, thank God. Thank God. If it's God's will for you to
be beautiful, thank God. If it's God's will for you to
be well-off financially, thank God. But you better handle it
right. And you'd better put him first
and his glory, because that will be profitable in this life and
in the life to come. Oh, quickly, 2 Timothy. Let's
go to another fateful saying, 2 Timothy 2. And he said, that's a fateful
saying. That's a sure saying. And it'd be good if you'd accept
it. It's worthy of all acceptation. Here's another one in 2 Timothy
2, verse 11. It's a faithful saying. It's
a true saying. If we be dead with Christ, we
shall live with Christ. That's verse 11. What he's saying
here is this. If we be dead with Christ, we'll
live with. He's saying this. All believers are crucified with
Christ. We're buried with Christ. We're
risen with Christ. We're seated with Christ. In
Christ, our representative, we're dead to the law. We're dead to
the curse of the law. We're dead to the charges and
claims of divine justice. We're dead to sin's penalty and
power and practice. And we live in Christ. If we
be dead with Christ, we live with Christ. If we were crucified
with Christ, we are seated with Christ. That's what he's saying.
If when Christ died, he represented you, you who believe, then you
live with Christ and you'll never die. Look at verse 12. If we
suffer, we shall reign with him. Now, my friends, this world,
this world of materialism and flesh and sin
and rebellion, this world is not a friend of grace. This world
is not a friend of God. And our Lord issued many warnings
to his disciples. He said, Marvel not my brethren,
if the world hate you. The world hated me before it
hated you. Now, if you were of the world, the world would love
you because the world loves its own. But because you're not of
the world, but I've called you out of the world, therefore the
world hates you. And don't be offended. He said they'll cast
you out of their company and they'll cast you out of their
religious organization. But be of good cheer. I've overcome
the world. If we suffer with Him, we'll
reign with Him. But look at the next line. But if we deny Him,
He'll deny us. Turn to Matthew 10. Let's read
that in our Master's words. Matthew chapter 10, verse 28
and 29. Listen to this. Matthew 10, 28
and 29. He says, Fear not them which kill your
body, or are not able to kill your soul. Rather, fear Him who
is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. are not two
sparrows sold for a fathering, a penny, half-penny, and one
of them shall not fall on the ground without your father? If
the hairs of your head are numbered, fear ye not, therefore, ye are
of more value than many sparrows. But whosoever shall confess me
before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is
in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before
men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. All right, the last statement
in verse 13. If we believe not, yet he about it faithful. What
does that mean? If we be dead with Christ, we
live with Christ. Understand that, don't you? It
says if we suffer with him, we'll reign with him. Understand that.
If we deny him, he'll deny us. Understand that. If we believe
not, If I don't believe the gospel, no, it's not what he's saying.
He's talking to the same people who are dead with Christ, who
suffer with Christ, who confess Christ. But here's what he's
saying. No man has perfect faith. No
woman has perfect faith. Sometimes our faith is very low. Huh? What about Peter? He was
a child of God. He knew Christ. There he is sitting
by the fire. Well, you're one of the disciples. No, I'm not.
I don't even know that man. If we believe not, he about his
faith. What about John the Baptist?
The greatest man born of woman, Christ said. He had a lapse of
faith. He had a low point in faith.
He had a conflict and a doubt. For he sent some disciples to
Christ. He'd already stood. right down
there on the River Jordan's banks and said, this is the Christ,
the Lamb of God. And yet he turned right around
and sent these disciples and asked the Lord, are you the Christ?
He sure did. What happened? Well, he's a human
being. And so are you. And this is a
sure saying. It's a faithful saying. And I'm
warning you. You'll have lapses of faith. You're not perfect
in faith. I'm not perfect. My faith sometimes
is, that's the reason I want you to sing Only Believe while
I go. Tell me one more time. I need to hear it again. I need
to hear it again. He says, if we are dead with
Christ, we live with Christ. That's sure. If we suffer with
Christ, we reign with Christ. If we confess Christ, He confesses
us. If we deny Him, He denies us.
If we believe not, He is faithful. He cannot deny Himself, and I'm
in Him. And I'll have those times when
I hit the bottom where faith is concerned, but He'll never
leave me. I belong to Him. Actually, we
live, now listen, and I hesitate to say this for fear I'll be
misunderstood, but we don't live by our faith, we live by the
faith of the Son of God. That's how it is, by His faith,
His righteousness, His faith, His faithfulness, His loyalty,
His dedication, His sacrifice. And I know there's a sense in
which I'm saved by faith, I know that, and there's a sense in
which I'm justified by faith, but I live by the faith of the
Son of God. If it depends on my faith, the
next time that I'm down and the next time I'm struggling with
conflicts and doubts, that means I'm out of the kingdom of God.
But I'm not, because my Lord is my faith. And he stands for
me when I can't stand. And he pleads for me when I can't
plead. And he's seated in my place,
and I in him. Turn to Titus, and I'll give
you the last one. Titus chapter 3. Here, just quickly, I'll give
you this. Titus chapter 3. There's just
one thing to see here. He says, verse 8, this is a fateful
saying. This is a fateful saying. And
these things I will, that thou affirm constantly, that they
which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works.
These things are good and profitable to men. Now, there are two statements
in these verses, Titus 3, verses 5 through 8. There are two statements
that you need to look at. No preacher understands the gospel who does not understand and who
cannot expound these two statements. No man understands salvation
by grace through faith in Christ who does not have a proper understanding
of the believer's relationship to these two statements. Now
look at the first one, verse 5, not by works, not by works
of righteousness which we've done. The second statement is
in verse 8, the middle of the verse, be careful to maintain
good works. Those are the two statements.
It's not by works, and yet we're to maintain good works. It's
not by works, and yet we're to do good works. And this is what
Paul is saying. Paul is saying, it's not by works
and deeds and merit that we're saved. We're justified by the
grace of God, by the mercy of God. It's not by merit, it's
by mercy. We're saved by grace through
faith. We're saved by God's mercy, not
our merit. We're saved because he sent his
Son to die for us, and we're totally passive. Works do not
enter in to our salvation anywhere. But the second statement is this.
They who believe will be and must be careful to maintain good
works. They will delight themselves
in the law of God, They will delight themselves in the service
of Christ. The Apostle Paul and James teach the same thing,
but they say it differently. Paul says we're justified by
faith. James comes along and says we're
justified by works. Was not Rahab justified by works? Was not Abraham justified by
works? Paul is teaching the justification of our soul. James is dealing
not with our soul salvation, he's dealing with our profession
of faith. Paul is saying that our souls
are justified by grace alone, without works. James is saying
that our faith is justified by our works. You see that? I prove I'm a believer by good
works. By this shall all men know you're
my disciples, if you love one another. Christ didn't say, by
this shall you be my disciples, if you love one another. He said,
by this shall all men know you're my disciples, if you love one
another. And listen to this hymn, and
I'll close. And that's the two statements
that we need to learn, and not by works. are we saved, but maintain good
works. So let our lips and lives express
the holy gospel we profess. So let our works and virtues
shine to prove this doctrine is mine. In this way Shall we proclaim
abroad the honors of our sovereign God? When his salvation reigns
within, his grace will subdue the works of sin. That's it.
That's what we're talking about. When we talk about works, that's
what we're talking about. We're not talking about working
my way to heaven. Somebody says, we're all working
for the same place. Not me. Not I. I'm not working for a
place, I'm working for a person. My inheritance in that place
is a gift of that person. And because he loved me and gave
himself for me, what else can I do? His love constrains me
to live for his glory. Let's sing a closing hymn. Lord,
you already have one picked out. Okay, come and announce it if
you will. Turn to 226, please.
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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