Bootstrap
Henry Mahan

Lord Dost Thou Wash My Feet?

John 13:6-8
Henry Mahan • July, 6 1978 • Audio
0 Comments
Message 0339a
Henry Mahan Tape Ministry
6088 Zebulon Highway
Pikeville, KY 41501

Sermon Transcript

Auto-generated transcript • May contain errors

100%
Now turn, if you will, to John
chapter 13. You heard the scripture which
I read. It's no new passage. Most of
you are quite familiar with this passage of scripture. The disciples
with their Lord were met to keep the Passover. Supper was ended
And the Lord Jesus Christ arose and laid aside his garments. And he took a huge towel and
wrapped himself in that towel. It says, after that he poured
water in a basin. And then he began one by one
to wash the disciples' feet. Now it's true that the Lord was
teaching the disciples a lesson in humility. There's no question
about that. He was teaching them a lesson
in humility and service, for when he had finished washing
the disciples' feet, he put his garments back on and sat down,
and look at verse 12. The last line he says, Do you
know what I've done to you? You call me Master and Lord,
and you say, well, so I am. He is the Master. He is the Lord. He's the Supreme King of Kings
and Lord of Lords. There's no authority beyond His
authority. There's no glory beyond His glory. There's no majesty beyond His
majesty. He is Master and Lord. You say,
well, so I am. You are beneath me in position,
in power, in glory, in all things. No question about that. And then he said, if I then,
your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, I've taken the place
of the servant. You know the custom. People wore
sandals or walked barefooted. And when they came in off the
street, if you came into any kind of home at all, they provided
a servant. The master of the house didn't
wash the feet, the wife didn't do it, and the sons and daughters
didn't do it. They had a servant. who met you
at the door and provided water for you to wash your feet or
he washed them for you and dried them. You came in and presented
your feet and they were washed and dried and you left your sandals
at the door and walked in the house. In fact, the Master rebuked
Simon the Pharisee because he gave him no oil for his head
and no kiss of greeting and no water to wash his feet when he
came into his home. So the Master here said, if I
then your Lord and Master have washed your feet, you ought also
to wash one another's feet. There's no place in the kingdom
of God for Mr. Big. There's no place in the
family of God for Mr. Important or Mrs. Important. Anything that brings
glory to the flesh, anything that sets us apart as somebody
or something is not of God. It's not for the glory of God
and it's not of God. He that would be greatest among
you, let him be your servant. That's what our Lord said and
that's what he was doing. He was showing them that he that
would be greatest, let him be your servant. Except you be converted
and become as a little child, you shall not enter the kingdom
of God. The Lord Jesus is destroying pride and arrogance and a haughty
spirit and showing us how we ought to minister to one another.
Now we ought to take the lowest place and do the lowest jobs,
render the lowest service. That's what he's showing us here.
There's no question that he's teaching his disciples a lesson
in humility, a lesson I need to learn, a lesson you need to
learn, a lesson preachers and elders and deacons and teachers
and everybody in the family of God needs to learn, that the
little toe in the body is just as important as the eye or the
ear, though it doesn't render the same service. And that's
what he's saying here. Verse 16, Verily I say unto you,
The servant is not greater than his Lord, neither is he that
is sent greater than he that sent him. You know these things,
happy are you if you do them. Now, that is true. So let's pick
that up and lay it aside now. That's not the only reason this
scripture is written. There's something bigger here.
There's something of greater importance here. There's an even
greater lesson here which, if learned, will produce this humility. Our Lord is giving the disciples
a lesson in humility here, but there's a greater lesson which,
if learned, will produce it. It will be as spontaneous as
pride used to be. The natural man cannot produce
love, he cannot produce grace, he cannot produce faith, he cannot
produce humility, but there's an operation of grace if present
in his heart, if ever produced in his heart, will present these
things. They will result. And if we can
learn the greater lesson here, in fact, in verse 7, the Lord
said, Peter, what I do thou knowest not now. But you shall know hereafter. In other words, Peter got the
lesson on humility. He knew that. The Lord showed
him that. So that's not what the Lord's
talking about here. Peter saw the outward, that as to the literal
washing, he knew exactly what the Lord, he knew the Lord was
washing the disciples' feet. That's the reason he rebelled.
He didn't feel that the Lord, being the master and the king,
ought to be washed. He said, do you wash my feet?
He saw what was taking place. He knew what was taking place.
But the Lord is saying there's something to be taught here,
Peter, that you don't know. There's something taking place
now that you, of which you're not aware. There's a truth being taught
here that you haven't yet learned. That's what he's saying to Peter. Peter could understand the outward
washing. But he couldn't understand the
inward meaning. Peter could understand the teaching of humility. He
could see the Lord down there washing the feet of the disciples,
taking the place of a servant. He could see that. That's perfectly
obvious. That's an easy lesson to learn,
in the head anyway. It's not an easy lesson to imitate,
but an easy lesson to memorize. And that's the reason people
have foot washing, feet washing, what are they called? Feet or
foot wash, it doesn't matter, but they wash feet in churches. They've
learned the outward. They understand that. That's
evident. They show their humility. But
there's something bigger here. And let's see if we can find
out what it is. Also remember this. The feet of Judas were
washed too. He washed Judas' feet, too, along
with all the rest. So there's something here greater
than just the outward symbol, all right? Let's see what it
is. All right, he came to Peter. He had laid aside his garment,
and he had girded himself with a towel, a huge towel. And the
master, the king, the Lord of Glory, stooped down and began
to wash the feet of his disciples one at a time. And he came to
Peter. And I can see Peter sitting there in the chair amazed at
all of this, stunned, astounded. He hadn't said anything up until
now. The Lord started. I don't know how many were in
front of Peter, one, two, three, or four, it doesn't matter. But
finally he came to Peter and set that basin of water down
in front of Peter, and Peter pulled his feet back and he said,
Lord, dost thou wash my feet? And the Lord said, now Peter,
you don't understand what I'm doing. You don't understand what
I'm doing. You will. You will understand
sooner or later. You'll understand, but you don't
now. Well, he said, You'll never wash my feet. Never. Now, here's what I want you to
see. Verse 8, Peter said, You'll never wash my feet. And the Lord
said, Peter, if I wash thee not you have no part with me." That's
pretty serious, isn't it? Whatever is revealed here is
pretty serious. If I don't wash you, you don't
have any part with me. Now, what's written for Peter
here is written for us, and it would do well for us to find
out what he's talking about. So I'm going to divide it into
three parts and see if I can help us. Number one, what do
you mean, having a part with Christ? Secondly, what was essential
to having a part with Christ? And then thirdly, why is this
essential? First of all, if I don't wash you, you have
no part with or in me. I believe I can say The one great
object of my desire for myself and for you is to have a part
with Christ, not just a part in religion or a part in the
Church or a part in doctrine and theology. Everybody's got
religion. We're in the midst of a religious
revival in this world, in this nation. But I want to have a
part in Christ. I want to have a part, first
of all, in that covenant of mercy that Jeremiah talked about and
Ezekiel talked about, don't you? Now, you can say what you will
in defense of it or in defiance of it, but the Father hath given
the Son a people. Now, that's a fact. Our Lord
said, All that my Father giveth me shall come to me. In John
chapter 17, our Lord Jesus Christ prayed, and he said, I pray not
for the world, but for them which thou hast given me. And the scripture talks all the
way through about these people that the Father hath given to
the Son in a covenant of grace. I want a part in that. It distresses me to think that
I won't have a part in that covenant of mercy. And then I want a part
in his righteousness. This is what Paul is talking
about in Philippians when he said, Oh, that I may win Christ
and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness. You know,
a lot of preachers seem to emphasize the fact we'd be found in the
right church, but the need is to be found in Christ. And some emphasize that we need
to be found in the right theology. But isn't it more important to
be in Christ? And not having our own righteousness,
but being clothed upon with his holiness. I just don't want to
be found naked in that day and hear the king say, why did you,
how did you get in here without a wedding garment? Cast him out!
I want to sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb, clothed in
the wedding garment of his righteousness, don't you? A part in Christ. I want a part in his death. Paul
said, I'm crucified with Christ. He made an atonement for somebody. Hebrews says that he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. I want a share in that sin-removing
sacrifice. I want to have a part in his
first resurrection. He says, blessed and holy is
he that hath part in the first resurrection. I want to part
in his effectual intercession. He turned and said, Peter, I
have prayed for you. Paul said, God committed his
love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. And in Romans, in 1 Corinthians
15, he said he not only died for us, but he rose again. And
not only rose again, but he maketh intercession for us. I want to
part in that. I want a part in his eternal
kingdom. I want him to say to this seed,
like he said to the other one, today shalt thou be with me in
paradise. I want to be a son like he's
a son. I want to be an heir like he's
an heir. I want to be accepted as he is accepted. I want to
be glorified as he is glorified. I want a part in Christ. I want
what he's talking about here, don't you? If I wash thee not, thou hast
no part with me." This is the desire worthy of
all that a man has, to be found in Christ, to be found in Christ. It may be that some of us are
satisfied with going through the motions, it may be that some
are satisfied with Finding a doctrinal system and lighting upon it and
proving it and looking up scripture that proves it But I'm telling
you my friends. I want to be found in him. I
Want to be found in him having a part in his eternal covenant,
having a part in his blessed righteousness, having a part
in his sacrificial death, having a part in his resurrection, having
a part in his inaccessory glory, having a part in his eternal
kingdom. I want to have a part with Christ. And according to this scripture,
there's one essential qualification. He said in verse 7, verse 8,
Peter said, Lord, you'll never wash my feet. And the Lord Jesus
said, if I don't wash you, you have no part with me. Here it
is in plain language. He did not say, except you obtain
a certain degree of holiness, you have no part with me. That's
not what he said. Although I believe God's people will attain varying
degrees of holiness. Without holiness, no man will
save the Lord. The presence of Christ produces
the Spirit of Christ, the attitude of Christ, the works of Christ.
But that's not what he said. He didn't say, except you obtain
a certain degree of holiness, you have no part with it. He
didn't say, except you wash in the pools of ordinances, except
you keep the law. He said, except you be washed. I wash you. You have no part
with me." Well, what is meant by this washing? Our Lord speaks
of two washings. Simon Peter said, Well, no, just
wash my feet, wash my head, wash my hand, wash me all over. And
Christ said, He that is washed, already washed. There's one washing.
Needeth not save to wash his feet. There's another washing.
But through that first washing, he is cleansed totally, completely,
every whip. And you're clean. All of you
are not clean. He didn't say it. He could have
said it. Judas is not clean. He's not been redeemed. My blood made no atonement for
him. He's not washed. He's not sanctified. But the rest of you are. And
you just need your feet washed. So there are two washings here. If I don't wash you in a two-fold
way, you have no part with me. He said, Peter, you're already
washed. Now I'm going to wash your feet.
You're not going to wash my feet. If I don't wash you, wash your feet. You have no part
with me. All right, here's the first one. No man has any part
in Christ. Now you think about this now.
who is not washed in his precious blood. That's the way sin is
put away. That's the first washing he's
talking about there. Our Lord came down here, the
eternal Lord of glory, left his Father's home, took on himself
the likeness of sinful flesh. He was made bone of our bone
and flesh of our flesh. He took on himself a human body.
He went to the cross and shed his blood. And 1 John 1.7 says,
the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us, cleanseth us from all sin,
washes us from all sin. That's the washing he's talking
about. Look at 1 Corinthians 6.11. Let's turn over there and
read this. Let's read two or three scriptures. 1 Corinthians
6.11. Now he talks in verse 9. 1 Corinthians 6, 9. He says, "...know
ye not that unrighteousness shall not inherit the kingdom of God?
Do not be deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor
thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners
shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you are washed." You are
sanctified. You are washed. You are sanctified,
you are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus by the Spirit.
You're washed, you're cleansed. The blood of Jesus Christ has
cleansed you. It purified you, it sanctified
you, it's made you holy and unblameable. Put away your guilt. Turn to
Revelation 7, 13. Look at this, Revelation 7, 13. And one of the elders answered,
Revelation 7, verse 13, saying unto me, What are these which
are arrayed in white robes, and which came they? Now look at
Revelation 7, verse 14. And I said to him, Sir, thou
knowest. And he said unto me, These are they which came out
of great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb. John Donne led us in singing
about him, I will save you, wash me in the blood, I shall be whiter
than the snow. Though your sins be as scarlet,
I'll make them white as snow. That's the first, that's the
washing, that's the atonement, that's the effectual sufficient
particular, redeeming, cleansing, sanctifying atonement of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He came down here and His blood
cleanseth us from all sin. All right? But there's this,
he's talking about something else here now. He said, you are
washed. Charlie said, you're washed.
Now Judas is not, he said, but you are. Peter, you're washed.
But here he is, about to wash Peter's feet. And we're not talking about the
first washing, we're talking about this one too. And Peter
said, you're not going to wash my feet. And Christ said, if
I don't wash you, you don't have any part in me. All right? No man has any part
in Christ who's not washed in his blood. Right. No question
about that. But no man has any part in Christ
either who is not daily washed and daily pardoned and daily
sanctified through daily faith in Christ. That's right. Now this does away with your
little once-for-all decision, and this little easy believism,
and this little walk the aisle and shake the preacher's hand
and say, you believe some facts and get it all fixed up and kiss
God goodbye and meet him in heaven, that does away with that. That's
what Christ is doing away with right here. The Old Testament priest, let
me show you an example. The Old Testament priest, Aaron,
the sons of Levi. They were washed. The day came
for the day, listen to me, the day of atonement, or the sacrifice. And that priest was washed. He
was purified. His whole body was washed, totally
washed. He put on clean white linen.
He was totally washed, all over. Now he came to the tabernacle,
and the sacrifice was made. The lamb was slain, his body
burnt, Now, he's got the blood, and he's going into the presence
of the Lord. He's going into the Holy of Holies. What's the first thing he does?
He stops at the brazen laver outside the tabernacle and washes
his hands and his feet. Right? He never goes inside that
tabernacle. Now, he's already had a full
bath. He's already washed completely.
When he gets that sacrifice and starts in that tabernacle, he
stops right there at that brazen labor, washes his hands and his
feet, and never ever enters without washing his hands and his feet. And this is what our Lord is
saying to Peter in verse 10 and 11. He says, You are clean. He
that is washed needeth not to wash again. You don't need. Sacrifice
has been made. Christ has put away our sins.
Christ has redeemed us. Christ has died for us. He needs
some washing. What does he need to wash? He
needs to wash his feet. His feet. His feet is that which
needs continual sanctification because it continually contacts
this world. And there's a continual sanctification
carried on within us by the Spirit of God. There's a daily communion
which a believer in Christ has with his Lord. We are washed in the blood. We
are redeemed by the blood. We are sanctified by the atonement
of Christ. Our sins are put away. But daily,
walking through this world, there's a daily confession of sin. If
we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. There's a daily communion with
Christ, there's a daily fellowship with Christ, there's a daily
dependence upon Christ, there's a daily looking to Christ, and
a man cannot claim salvation if that is not true. And this is something that I
feel very deeply about, is when we have to get our binoculars
and keep looking back down yonder twenty years ago when we made
a profession or made a decision or joined the church or trusted
Jesus? We have to get our telescopes
and see if we can isolate on that spot back there when we
made our decision? Did not the Lord wash your feet
this morning? Did he not, in his sweet grace
and mercy and forgiving spirit, minister to you and put away
your guilt this very day, this very hour, just a moment ago?
Did you not, just five minutes ago, a thought went through your
mind that shouldn't have been there, and you said, Lord, I'm
sorry, I confess my sin. And did he not in sweet peace
say, you're forgiven? You mean you walk through life
without his mercy, without his forgiving hand, without daily
confession? No, sir, I'm sorry. Christ said,
if I don't wash you, you don't have any part with me. This is
what he said. He said, this is the reason he
said, Peter, what I'm doing, you don't understand. And there
are people here that don't understand what I'm talking about right
now. Maybe most don't. I don't know. But I believe some
of you do. We have been washed. Barnard
used to preach on this when he used to say to us years ago.
The old man had some brains. God gave him some spiritual brains.
He said, if you have to go back an hour to prove you're saved,
something's wrong. If you have to go back 20 years to prove
you're saved, something's wrong. Aren't you in daily fellowship
with a forgiving, merciful Lord? Aren't you a partaker and recipient
of His grace every moment? Peter, you don't know what I'm
doing. Lord, you're going to wash my feet? Yes, I am. You don't understand now, Peter,
but you will later. You'll never wash my feet. Well,
if I don't, you won't have any part in me. Well, Lord, wash
me all over. Peter, you already washed. You're already clean.
But Peter, don't you see, don't you see your feet? They're not
clean. I have to wash them every day,
every day. It's got to be a renewal of our
fellowship, and a renewal of your faith, and a renewal of
your dependence, and a renewal of my mercy, and a renewal of
my grace every moment, constantly, constantly. Now, you do some thinking. Don't throw
this out without thinking, and this is what disturbs me about
folks that can go week after week and not find their way to
the place of worship. I don't know how that can be.
I don't know. I don't know how we can go day
after day after day with content with dirty feet, how we can sleep
in peace with dirty feet, how we can walk on and on and on
and look back, well, I've been washed. Does your living God let you
come into his presence with dirty feet? Aren't you a priest? Yeah,
I'm a priest. Well, the priest always stopped
at the brazen labor. Always, without exception. He
didn't presume on the grace of God. He washed his feet. I don't know. Can you live without
prayer? Can you live without intercession?
Can you live without God's mercy every moment? If I don't wash
you, you don't have any part with me. You may have you a little
Jesus, and you may have you a God, and you may have your salvation
all fixed up, but it's not this one here because he said, if
I don't wash you, you don't have any part with me. The Lord washed
me all over. I've already washed you all over.
That's sufficient. But you need daily sanctification.
Now, why? All right. Last. Why? Why is this washing so essential?
Now, the world's full of people who speak well of Jesus Christ
and admire him, who want no part of two things, substitution and
sanctification. They want no part of either one
of them. Or they admire Jesus as the... You work with them?
They're deacons in Baptist churches, in Methodist churches they're
stewards, in Presbyterian churches they're elders. You work with
them? You do business with them? They're all over this town. They
admire Jesus Christ. He set a good example. They admire
Jesus Christ. He was a great preacher. They
admire Jesus Christ. He's a great healer. And every
time they get sick, they say, pray for me. Ask God to heal
me. They believe in his healing power.
I'm trusting the prayers of the good Christian people. Y'all,
everybody have everybody in that church pray for me. Yeah, that's
the only hope. They admire Jesus Christ the
healer, they admire Jesus Christ the moralist, the great reformer.
They don't have any use for Jesus Christ the substitute, the cross,
the blood, and the sanctifying power, the holy power, the life-changing
power of that cross. They want nothing to do with
that total commitment. Now listen to this. Now let me
show you an example. This is a good example right
here. Peter. Peter. He spoke highly of Christ. Our
Lord said, Whom do men say that I am? And Peter said, You're
the Christ, the Son of the living God. That's good, Peter. That's
great. But if I don't wash you, you
won't have any part with me. I don't care how highly you acclaim
my name. I'm going to have to wash you,
Peter. Peter walked on water. I hear people say about proving
somebody's a Christian. He won 25 souls to Jesus, Peter
walked on water. Well, to heal this one up, Peter
walked on water. And the Lord still said, if I
don't wash you, you don't have any part. Tell you something
else about Peter. He had a view of Christ's glory.
He went up on the Mount of Transfiguration and saw Christ glorified, transfigured,
with Moses and Elijah. And he was so impressed, he wanted
to build three tabernacles. Oh, he was full of zeal and enthusiasm. But Christ said, I don't wash
you. You don't have any part with me. Peter also had great confidence. You say, well, these people are
so sure they're going to heaven. He was sure too. He said, the
Lord said, you're going to deny me. He said, not me. Now these
other fellows, they all might leave you, but not Peter. I'll
be with you, Lord, to the death. Peter, you've got a lot of confidence,
but if I don't wash you, you don't impart with me. It all
comes down to this thing, if I don't wash you. And you can
speak well of Christ the example, you can speak well of Christ
even the King, you can speak well of Christ the healer and
the preacher and all of these things, but it still comes down
to this, it comes down to the cross. The way of the cross leads
home. There's no other way but this.
You'll never get sight of the gates of life if the way of the
cross you miss. Christ, if he's not a Savior,
he's nothing. If he's not a redeemer, he's
nothing. If he's not a substitute, he's nothing. If he's not a sacrifice,
he's nothing. If he's not a sin offering, he's
nothing. And you take him and do away with him. I don't want
any part of it, because without the shedding of blood, there's
no remission. I've got to have a sin offering. I've got to have
a substitute. I've got to have the blood of
God to make me whole. And I want no part of a sacrifice-less
religion, a bloodless religion. But this world, they want Jesus
the healer, Jesus the example, Jesus the moralist, Jesus the
reformer, Jesus the preacher, but it's Christ the substitute
and Christ the sanctifier. That's right. There are three
reasons why Christ has to wash us. He has to wash us because
our sins demand that we be washed. Joe, our sins are corrupt, filthy,
putrid. God said your righteousness is
filthy rags. You need to be washed. You may
be the most moral, righteous woman in this congregation, but
in God's sight you're on the same level as a harlot. None
better, none good, no, not one. You may be the most reputable,
honest man As far as men go in this congregation, but in God's
sight, you are as wicked as anybody this side of hell, because you're
in the flesh. And in the flesh, no man can
please God, and you need to be washed. You need to be washed,
not only because your sins demand it, but God's character demands
it, God's righteousness demands it, God's justice demands it.
He will be just. And if he's going to be just
and justifier, he's going to have to have somebody wash us.
that his holy law might be honored and his holy justice might be
satisfied. We must be washed. And what I do now, he said, you
don't understand. Peter did later. Of course, humility is here, and
God give us the grace to see it. But there's some washing
here. There's some washing. There's
the effectual washing of his blood, the substitute. The cleansing of his blood, I've
washed you, washed in the blood of the Lamb. But there's the
washing of water, the feet, the daily sanctification, the daily
prayers, the daily fellowship, the daily purging, the daily
cleansing. That's what he should. And Peter, if I don't wash you
in the blood, You don't have any part in me. And Peter, if
I don't wash you in the water, water and blood, the blood and
the water flowed from his side. Be of sin, watch it now, the
double cure, the top lady wrote, save me from its wrath and its
power. Let the water and the blood from
thy riven side which flow, be of sin, the double cure. save
me from its wrath and its power. You see what I'm saying? I hope
you see what I'm saying, because Christ said, if I don't wash
you, you don't have any part in me. Now, we can preach substitution,
but we must preach substitution and sanctification together.
We must preach the wrath of God being cleansed from it and the
power of sin. We must preach not only that
a man looks to Christ, but he keeps on looking to Christ. It's
not just, now, oh, you've got to believe in Jesus to be saved.
It is a believing in Christ that saves. Ask, and it shall be given you.
You read that in the Scripture. Keep on asking. Keep on looking. Keep on knocking. Keep on seeking. This repentance and faith is
not an isolated act. No, sir. I just tell you, I think
modern evangelism is going the wrong way when it talks about
this is our decision, and the next one will be too. And so
will the next one, and so will the next one, and so will the
next one. Keep on looking to Christ, being
washed and being washed. What did Paul say when he came
to the end of life? The time of my departure is at
hand. I finished my course, I've kept
the faith. I've kept the faith. Our Father in Heaven, we need to be taught, we're so
simple-minded, we want everything fixed up and handed to us. We
don't want to search, we don't want to seek, we don't want to
dig. O Lord, give us a hunger and
a thirst for righteousness that is never fully satisfied. Enable
us to say with the psalmist of Israel, I shall be satisfied
when I wake with his likeness. Give us a panting after God,
a hunger and thirst for God. O Lord, cleanse us, wash us in
the blood, and daily sanctify us. Make Christ to be the beat of
our hearts and the thought of our minds and the conversation
of our tongues and the path in which we walk. Use this message for whatever
it pleases you. And bless tonight in the service
here in Madisonville, Louisville, where thy word is preached in
Christ's name. Amen. Number 240. I hear thy welcome voice that calls me,
Lord, to thee. for cleansing in Thy gracious
blood that flowed on Calvary. I am coming, Lord, Though coming weak and vile,
Thou dost my strength assure, Thou dost my boundless holy claims.
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.

Comments

0 / 2000 characters
Comments are moderated before appearing.

Be the first to comment!

Joshua

Joshua

Shall we play a game? Ask me about articles, sermons, or theology from our library. I can also help you navigate the site.

0:00 0:00