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Henry Mahan

Introduction to Gospel Preaching

Romans 1:1-6
Henry Mahan • March, 20 1977 • Audio
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Message 0249a
Henry Mahan Tape Ministry
6088 Zebulon Highway
Pikeville, KY 41501

Sermon Transcript

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Preaching is more than a religious
ceremony. That's about all it is to most
people. We sing a while, make some announcements, pray a while,
take up an offering, and then someone is supposed to stand
up and preach. He's supposed to be able to preach
louder than a baby can cry. He's supposed to keep on preaching,
though people get up and walk out, walk back in, go get them
a drink of water, come back and sit down. Preaching is more than just making
known some facts. Facts to be debated after the
service, whether or not we believe what has been preached, whether
or not we'll accept it or reject it. True preaching is, believe it
or not, God speaking. That's exactly what true preaching
is. True preaching. I'm not talking about all preaching.
I'm talking about true preaching. True preaching is God speaking
and it carries with it a call. It carries with it a demand. a call and a demand from a living
God to be heard, to be received, to be obeyed. That's true preaching. Now, the Bible puts great importance
upon the office of preacher and this business of preaching. In
Matthew 3, 1 and 2, the Scripture says, In those days came John
the Baptist. Now, he was a man sent from God,
no question about that. Our Lord said, Of all men born
of women, none hath risen greater than John the Baptist. God sent
him as the forerunner of the Christ. God sent him as the messenger
to come before His Redeemer. John came doing what? In those
days came John the Baptist. Preaching. Preaching. Not just hollering. Preaching. Not just filling in the space
on a program, a religious program, but preaching. Our Lord Jesus
Christ, the scripture says in Matthew 4, 17, when he began
his public ministry, he began to do what? He began to preach. In Mark 16, 15 and 16, our Lord
had been crucified, buried, risen from the tomb. Before He ascended
back to heaven, as He stood on that mountain, He said to His
disciples, Go ye into all the world and do what? And preach. And preach. Go ye into all the world and
preach. I want you to turn with me to
Luke 10. And while our Lord was here on
the earth, during his earthly pilgrimage ministry, he sent
out 70 men to preach. And he told them to go forth,
and he would be with them, that he would give them special power,
special credentials, and a special message. And he says in verse
16, And he that heareth you, heareth me. And he that despiseth
you despiseth me, and he that despiseth me despiseth him that
sent me." That's preaching. And you talk
about the responsibility of that office and of that task. He sent
them forth and gave them the message, you go preach. And when
you preach, as Paul said, you are an ambassador for Christ
as though God Himself, as though Christ Himself is speaking through
you. I'm not saying we are those who
stand in the place of Christ. I'm not saying that at all. I'm
simply saying that God sends His preacher with His message. And He says, He that heareth
that message from that preacher, heareth me," Christ said. And
he that despiseth that message and that messenger despises me. And he that despiseth me despiseth
him that sent me. So you see, preaching is more
than just filling in some time. And preaching is more than just
making known some facts, which anybody with a good voice can
deliver. It's God speaking, if it's true
preaching. If the man who's sent is sent of God, if the people
to whom he has been sent are God's people, if the message
is God's message, well, there's some severe warnings about not
hearing it. Turn to Hebrews chapter 3, Hebrews
the third chapter. There's some serious consequences.
The Scripture's full of warnings of the consequence of not hearing
that message. I gave you one. Christ said,
he that heareth you, heareth me. And he that despiseth you
despiseth me. And he said, if they run you
off, shake the dust off your feet as a witness against that
city, and go someplace else. And here in Hebrews 3, look at
verse 7. Wherefore as the Holy Ghost saith
today, if you will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in
the provocation and the day of temptation in the wilderness,
when your fathers tempted me and proved me and saw my works
forty years, wherefore I was grieved with that generation.
I said, They do always err in their heart, and they have not
known my ways, so I swear in my wrath, they shall not enter
into my rest. Take heed, brethren, lest there
be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from
the living God. But exhort one another daily
while it's called today, lest any of you be hardened through
the deceitfulness of sin." Today, if you will, hear his voice. How are you going to hear his
voice? Turn the Hebrews forward. You
hear his voice through the preaching of his word. God is chosen by
the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Paul said, "...the gospel which I preached
unto you, which you received, which you believed, by which
you are saved." It started with what? Preaching. Look at Hebrews
4.2. "...Unto us was the gospel preached,
as well as unto them." Talking about the Old Testament rebels. But the word preached did not
profit them. not being mixed with faith in
them that heard it. But our message is not just a
rebuke, it's not just a warning, it's not just a threat, but it's
a revelation. Preaching is a revelation. It's
a revelation of two things in particular. Number one, it's
a revelation of God, His grace in Christ Jesus, His mercy to
sinners. And secondly, true preaching
carries with it a revelation of man. We find out who God is
and we find out who we are. It's a revelation of man, his
fall, his guilt, his need of redeeming grace. Now, the Book
of Romans, I've been debating for some time about what we would
study in our Bible classes when we begin them. about five or
six weeks, and I've just come to the conclusion that there's
no better book in which to begin a Bible study, verse by verse,
than the book of Romans. And we're going to be studying
the book of Romans, for I feel that Romans is the greatest example
of gospel preaching to be found anywhere in the Scripture. Romans. In the introduction of Romans,
the first six verses, we have the Apostle Paul giving us four
important things, the introduction to gospel preaching. I find Paul
identifying four things. Number one, he identifies himself.
Number two, he identifies the gospel. Number three, he identifies
Christ. Number four, he identifies the
believer. Let's look at some real preaching.
Preaching that comes from God. Preaching that moves the soul.
Preaching that breaks the heart. Preaching that brings the good
news. Preaching that God uses to quicken
the dead. Preaching of the gospel by which
men are saved. This is preaching. Paul, look
at it, Paul a servant of Jesus Christ. Now, the true servants
of Christ are never fond of titles. The true servants of Christ are
never fond of worldly acclaim or worldly honor. The men who
really represent God and preach His gospel deserve titles and
honors, but they never use them. Paul, that's the way he calls
himself, Paul. John the Baptist out there in
the wilderness, you know who he was, you know what he was.
You know how important in the kingdom of God was John the Baptist.
And yet when they came to him, they said, well, if you're not
the Christ, who are you? He said, I'm a voice, crying
in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord.
Turn to Acts, the tenth chapter, and listen to the Apostle Peter
here when Cornelius, this is interesting, you know, Someone
said all of this worldly acclaim and honors and titles that we
give one another and by which we address one another is just
one worm exalting another worm. It means nothing. In Acts 10,
verse 25 and 26, And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met
him, and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. took him up, saying, Stand up,
I myself also am a man, and that's all I am. Turn to Acts 14, and listen to
Paul. The Apostle Paul had preached,
and he had done some mighty works, and the people said, Why? He
said, The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men.
Verse 12, Acts 14, and they called Barnabas Jupiter. They called
Paul Mercurius because he was the chief speaker. And then the
priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen
and garlands unto the gates and would have done sacrifice with
the people, which when the Apostle Barnabas and Paul heard of it,
they rent their clothing and they came in, ran in among the
people crying, Sir, why do you these things? We also are men
of like passions with you. We preach unto you that you should
turn from this vanity, this will worship and idle worship unto
the living God which made heaven and earth and the sea and all
that is therein. Listen to our Lord in Matthew
23. In Matthew 23, Paul identifying
himself starts this way. He says, I'm Paul. That's who
I am. I'm Paul. No titles, no worldly
honor, no worldly acclaim, no worldly credentials, just Paul,
that's all. As Peter said, I also am a man. As Paul said, I am a man of like
passions with yourselves. And then in Matthew 23, our Lord
said, verse 8, And be ye not called rabbi or master, one is
your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren. I wish we
could proclaim this throughout the fatherless ends and reaches
of the world, father, bishop, reverend, doctor, how we love
these titles, call no man upon the earth your father, one is
your father which is in heaven, neither be ye called master,
one is your master even Christ, and he that is greatest among
you shall be your servant. And here the Apostle Paul, look
here, he identifies himself in three ways. He says, I'm a servant.
And you know what that word is? That word is bond-slave. Bond-slave. You know what a bond-slave is?
Turn to Exodus 21. I'll show you where bond-slave
originated in Exodus 21. Turn over there with me. Bond-slave.
Paul says, I'm a servant. I'm a servant of Jesus Christ.
Here in Exodus 21, now, these are the judgments which thou
shalt set before the people. If you buy a Hebrew servant,
slave is what this is. You buy him. And six years he'll
serve. Now, you know what a slave is.
You know how slaves are usually treated. And in the seventh year,
he shall go out free for nothing. If he came in by himself, he
shall go out by himself. If he were married, his wife
will go with him. But if his master has given him a wife and
she has borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children belong
to the master. He'll go out by himself. And if the servant shall
plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children, I don't
want to be free. The only freedom I want is to
be a slave or a servant of my master. Now then the master shall
bring him to the judges, bring him to the door, to the doorpost,
and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl, and
he shall serve him forever. He has the mark of the bondslave.
He's not a slave against his will. He's not a servant against
his will. He's a bondservant. He served
his master for six years. He's free to go. There's the
open door. But he says, I love my master. I love my family.
I love the people here. And I want to stay on as a servant
the rest of my life. So bore his ear, and he's a bond
slave. That's what Paul is saying here,
I'm a bond slave of Jesus Christ. Now watch the next line, called
to be an apostle. Now brethren, though Paul was
a servant of Christ and considered himself less than the least of
all the saints, and this is the proper balance we need to attain
here, yet Paul did not deny his special office. He knew he was
nothing. He said, I am nothing. He said,
what is Cephas and Apollos and Paul, but ministers by whom you
believe? He that planteth, one planteth,
one watereth, God giveth the increase. So he that planteth
is nothing and he that watereth is nothing. I am less than the
least of all the saints, nothing. But I am still an apostle, he
said. I have a divine office. I am an ordained, chosen apostle.
In Ephesians chapter 4, turn over there, blessed is the man
who can recognize his nothingness, his insufficiency. He said, who's
sufficient for these things? That's what Paul said. When I'm
weak, I'm strong, I'm nothing. Blessed is the man who can recognize
his nothingness, and yet the signal honor with which our Lord
has blessed him, and upon which our God has conferred upon him. And Paul recognized that. Look
at Ephesians 4, verse 10. He that descendeth is the same
also that ascendeth up far above the heavens, that he might fill
all things. And he gave some, not everybody,
some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors
and teachers. for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body
of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 9, if you'll
turn over there a minute. Now turn with me to this scripture,
1 Corinthians 9. And this has to do with the support
of the ministry. Paul says here in 1 Corinthians
9, now Paul realized, recognized, confessed, he wasn't anything.
He says, we have this treasure in earthen vessels, But he still
recognized that God had chosen him, and God had ordained him,
and God had anointed him, and God had given him a message,
and he was an apostle. And he says in 1 Corinthians
9, Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen
Jesus Christ our Lord? Are not ye my work in the Lord?
If I be not an apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you, For
the seal of mine apostleship are you in the Lord, you the
fruits of my ministry. And my answer to them that do
examine me is this, have we not power to eat and to drink? Now
he's talking about more than just the ability to eat food
and drink water. He's talking about he has the
right to be supported by the people of God. Now read on. Have
we not the right to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as
other apostles, as the brethren of the Lord in Cephas? How wicked
it is for those in Rome to deny their ministers the right to
marry. Paul said that an apostle has a right to marry. Or I only
in Barnabas, have we not the power, the right to forebear
working, that is, working with our hands, giving ourselves totally
to the ministry of the Word and to prayer? Who goes to warfare
anytime at his own charge? In other words, when men join
the army of the United States, they don't have to buy their
own uniform, their own gun, and pay for their own food. Who planteth
a vineyard and does not eat of the fruit thereof? Who feedeth
a flock and does not drink the milk of the flock? Say I these
things as a man, or sayeth not the law the same thing? For Moses
wrote, You shall not muzzle the mouth of an ox that treadeth
out the corn. that God take care of oxen, or
saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt
this is written, that he that ploweth should plow in hope,
and he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope.
If I have given unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if
I should reap your carnal things?" Paul did not deny his apostleship
and the powers that went with it. He said, these powers are
mine. I'm nothing, I'm a servant, I'm less than the least of all
the saints, I'm an earthen vessel, a man of like passions and so
forth, but I'm still an apostle. And with that apostleship and
with that office go certain powers. You see that? All right. Then
next he says, I'm a gospel preacher. Verse 1, I'm separated to the
gospel of God. Now this is what a lot of preachers
have failed to realize and to recognize. that we are preachers
of the gospel. God sent me not, he said, to
baptize. He's not minimizing baptism,
he's not discounting baptism, but he's putting importance where
it belongs. God sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel.
Preachers today are everything but preachers of the gospel.
They're organizers, they're promoters, they're entertainers. They're
everything but preachers of the gospel. God sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel. And he says, I am determined.
And it takes a determination. I am determined to know nothing
among you but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now, Paul dealt
with every subject. He said, I kept back nothing
profitable unto you. I have not shunned to declare
unto you the whole counsel of God, but the gospel is Christ. And the message is Christ. And
we preach Christ and Him crucified and everything else in relationship
to Christ. Do you see that? I'm separated. At one time he
was separated to the law. At one time he was separated
to the ceremonies. At one time he was separated
to the right altering of religious worship. At one time he was separated
to splitting hairs on theology. But now he says, I'm separated
to the gospel. the gospel. He identifies himself a servant,
nothing, a nothing, a floor sweeper, a foot washer, a nothing. But that nothing is an apostle.
And that apostle knows his business. His business is to preach the
gospel. All right? Then he identifies that gospel,
beginning with this first verse. He said it's the gospel of God.
Now, old brother Barnard, I believe one of God's choice preachers
and servants, used to preach about every fourth or fifth sermon
from 1 Timothy 1, verse 11. Did you ever notice that? The
gospel of the glory of God. The gospel of the glory of God. And he used to say this, a test
of your gospel. an infallible test of your gospel,
whether or not it's the true gospel is this, who gets the
glory? Now you think about that, who
gets the glory? The gospel of God will glorify
him, his wisdom, his power, his mercy, his grace, his love, his
son. That's what he said in 1 Corinthians
that no flesh should glory in his presence. Of ye, of him,
are ye in Christ Jesus, who has made unto us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption, that it is written, He that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord." Our gospel is the gospel of God.
God's the author of it. God is the executor of it. God
is the applier of it. God is the sustainer of it. God
is the perfecter of it. Our gospel from beginning to
end is the gospel of God. Now brethren, think about this
a moment. A test of your gospel, whether or not it's the true
gospel. A test of your prayers, my prayers. A test of our giving,
of our work. Who gets the glory? Who gets
the glory? You can take anything in the
worship of God measured by, if you're going to sing a special
song, look at the words, who gets the glory? If it exalts
man, it's not of God, it's not the message. If it lifts up man,
if it gives the glory to man, if it gives the credit to man,
examine our organizations, our church programs, who gets the
glory? And then he calls it, secondly,
the ancient gospel, verse 2. He says, this gospel of God under
which I'm separated is the gospel which he promised afore by his
prophets in the Holy Scripture. The Old Testament is the gospel. It's the gospel of God in picture.
Christ is that rock. Christ is our Passover. Christ
is that Lamb. Christ is that great priest.
Christ is that atonement. The Old Testament is the gospel
in picture. Christ is that art. The New Testament
is the gospel in person. Our Lord said, if you had believed
Moses, you would have believed me. Moses wrote of me. You say,
Abraham's your father? Abraham rejoiced to see my day.
He saw it. He was glad. Acts 10, 43, To
him gave all the prophets witness. I believe we have some qualified
Bible teachers in this church, and you'll find every one of
them when they're teaching or preaching from the Old Testament.
They're preaching Christ. They're preaching Christ. And
then he called it, thirdly, listen, the gospel. He says it's the
gospel of God. It's the gospel, the ancient
gospel. There's only one gospel, only
one good news, only one glad tidings, only one way of redemption.
And then he says it's the gospel concerning his son. The gospel is not a plan. The gospel is not a proposition.
The gospel is a person. Oh, that we could learn that.
The gospel is a person. All that God has done for us
in covenant mercies, he has done in and through and by and because
of and for the glory of Jesus Christ. Christ is our surety,
eternal surety. His blood is the blood of an
eternal covenant. All that the Father has done
for us in redemptive grace is in Christ. By His stripes we
are healed. We are redeemed, not with silver
and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. All that God
does for us now is because of and through Christ. He said,
seeing we have a high priest over the house of God, let us
come boldly before the throne of grace. Without that high priest,
you have no right to come. You don't even have an invitation
to come. All that God will do for us in glory is because of
and in and through Jesus Christ. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2.
Let me show you this. Ephesians 2 verse 6. He talked
about raising us up, making us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ. Verse 7, listen, "...that in
the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace
in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." Brethren, this
gospel of God, this ancient gospel, is the gospel concerning a person. A person. All that God in eternity
past, and all that God in the present, and all that God in
eternity future will do for us, in us, is because of Christ. And then thirdly, Paul identifies
Christ. He says, first of all, about
his human nature, he said he is of the seed of David. See
that in verse 3, concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which
was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. He was
made of a woman. He was born like we're born.
He was made like unto his brethren. He was made under the law, subject
to the law. He was circumcised the eighth
day like every other little Jewish boy. He was brought to the temple
at the proper time and place. He went through every ceremony.
He was subject to every law. He was baptized to fulfill all
righteousness. Everything that God Almighty
required, everything that the law required, everything that
his parents required, everything that God's righteousness required,
everything that God's justice required, met on Christ, and
they were fulfilled by Christ. He was a man, bone of our bone
and flesh of our flesh, made like unto his brethren, that
he might be for us a perfect representative. Then he identifies him in this
way, the seed of David, then his divine nature, Son of God,
Son of God. John the Baptist sent word to
him from prison and said, Are you the Christ, are you the Messiah,
or do we look for another? He said, you go tell John how
the lame walk, and the blind see, and the deaf hear, and the
dead raise. No one but God can do this. He's
declared to be the Son of God with power. And not only with
power, but according to the spirit of holiness. Which of you, he
said, convinced me of sin? His tongue never spoke except
perfect words. His eyes never flashed with jealousy
and envy and hatred. Always mercy. Our Lord's feet
never walked except in paths of perfection. His heart never
thought upon anything but the absolute will of his Father.
He was perfect. And then his resurrection. All
the so-called messiahs are in their graves. All the so-called
prophets are in their graves. But when they came to the tomb
of Christ to worship, the angel said, don't look for the living
among the dead. He is not here. If you're a Mohammedan,
you can go and worship your God at his grave. If you're a Buddhist,
you can go worship your God at his grave. But if you are a believer
and you are a Christian, You worship your God at a living
throng. He is not dead. He lives. And because he lives, we shall
live. And then fourthly, quickly, Paul
identifies the believer. Look at verse 5. Now, how would
you identify a Christian? How would you? If you are a normal
human being, which I guess we are, And as I said, we're such
slaves, we get typed so easily, we conform so easily, we're traditionless. We establish some kind of tradition,
we fall into it, and it takes heaven and earth to move us. But if you go to the average
person and say, how would you identify a Christian? Do you
know how they identify a Christian? They start talking about what
a person has done or is doing. Isn't that right? Now be honest. If you, when we identified, Paul
identified himself. First thing he did was put himself
down. If we identify ourselves, first thing we do is put ourselves
up. I always get tickled with these Christmas letters I get
from people. You ever get those Christmas letters to whom it
may concern, you know, Johnny graduating high school with honors
and Susie was elected Miss Universe and little Billy is as Grown
he said seven feet tall weighed 195 on 12 years old and and so
and so won an award for that They never tell about the bad
thing never They never say Susie plumped algebra barely made it
out of high school The one for the principal being a friend
of my husband. She'd never graduated They never tell those things
good We always brag on ourselves. If somebody comes to you and
says, how's your son doing? He's just doing fine, he's just
doing fine. But Paul starts off identifying
himself, he says, I'm a servant, I'm a nothing, I'm an apostle,
and I'm separated to the gospel. He identifies the gospel, the
gospel of God and his glory. He identifies Christ, and then
he identifies us. How does he identify our beliefs?
Now what that man has done or is doing, now still look at it,
by whom we have received. That's how you identify as a
believer. A person not who has done, but who has received. Not
what we've given, not what we've contributed, what we've received. I've received grace. Are you
a Christian? Well, I'm trying. I go to church
every Sunday and I give my tithes and offerings and teach in Sunday
school. Are you a Christian? Yes, sir.
I've received grace. I've obtained mercy. God Almighty
reached down in the pit, in the cesspool, in the mire, in the
bottom of the pit and lifted me. See the difference? I've received grace and I've
received faith. And verse 6, and I am the call
of Christ Jesus. I've been called. There's a sense
in which God calls all men, but there's a special way that he
calls his own. And then in verse 7, he doesn't
talk about how much he loves God, but he talks about how much
God loves us. Beloved of God. I don't know
whether you notice any difference. I hope you do. I hope you do.
I think I do. the way that Paul identifies
a believer. A believer, oh, he's a colossal
failure. He's empty, but he's full. He's
poor, but he's rich. He's naked, but he's clothed.
He's dead, but he's living. He's miserable, but he's happy.
But a believer is one who has received grace, been called of
God, and beloved of God. Nothing at all coming from that
direction. all given of God. You see the
difference? Let me tell you a story and I'll
let you go. Many years ago, when the powerful Roman hierarchy
with arresting preachers of the gospel, arresting believers,
dragging them before their councils and dragging them before their
ecclesiastical tribunals, they brought an old
preacher, an old minister of the gospel, to be tried for preaching
the gospel. And they stood him before this
august group dressed in their robes of religion, their pious
gowns, gaudy gowns of religion, and they looked at him and they
said, You must stop preaching this gospel. or we'll confiscate
your property." And he replied, but I have no property. It's
not mine, it belongs to the Lord. It's His. The world is His, and
all they that dwell therein say it's the Lord. The cattle on
a thousand hills, the silver and the gold is mine, God said. That made them more angry, and
they said, If you don't stop preaching, we'll banish you to
the desert." And he replied, My Lord said,
Lo, I'm with you whithersoever you go. If I dwell in the uttermost
parts of the sea, even there shall his right hand hold me.
I'm never alone, never alone. And they grew more angry, and
one of them stood up, and he said, Then we shall kill you!
To which he replied, Kill me? I died thirty-eight years ago. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live, and yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me. And one of them said, He's a
fanatic and a fool. Let him go. And that old man
wrote this hymn. I am alive forevermore. This
is the word to be said. In Christ there is no dying.
In Christ there is no dead. I'm alive forevermore. Let seasons
come or stay. Christ is mine forevermore. Forever and a day. I know not
what the future shall bring me or surprise, but this shall be
my heaven. just to look into his eyes and
to hear again the promise as he sweetly welcomes me, thou
art mine forever, alive eternally. Our Father, we're thankful for
thy servant Paul. We're thankful that you were
pleased in your grace and mercy to let us have his message. And
let us preach it again this morning. And it's as alive today as it
was when he first preached it. It's as true today as the day
he first preached it. O God, may it please Thee to
speak to us through Thy Word and through Thy service. Give
us the liberty and power that You gave Paul. And O God, may
it please Thee to make our message not a savor of death unto death,
but of life unto life. Give us hearing ears and receptive
hearts. Break our proud spirit. Make us to see we're nothing,
though in Christ we have all things. Give us a compassionate
spirit. Give us a broken heart. Give
us a contrite spirit. Give us a humble spirit. Make
us to see, O Lord, what we are by nature, but enable us to rejoice
in what we are by grace. Through our Redeemer we pray
and for His glory. 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.

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