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Henry Mahan

How I Became the World's Richest Man

2 Corinthians 8:9
Henry Mahan • February, 13 1977 • Audio
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Message 0242b
Henry Mahan Tape Ministry
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Over in the book of Judges, there's
a beautiful story. Manoah's wife was barren. She mourned that she had never
had a child. She prayed to the Lord to give
her a child. And one day, the angel of the
Lord appeared to her, and he said, You shall have a son. He shall be powerful man. He shall deliver Israel from
the Philistines. He will be great. He will be unequal in strength
and might." And then the angel of the Lord left her. And she
went to her husband and told him what the angel of the Lord
had said to her. And he said, well, who was he?
What was his name? She said, I don't know. I don't
know. And sometime later, she was about
her work again, and the angel of the Lord appeared to her once
more. And he told her again of the promise of God. You'll have
a son, and he'll be a great man. His name shall be Samson. He
will deliver Israel from the Philistine. And she said, will
you wait a moment? She ran and got her husband,
and Manoah came with her. He walked up to the angel of
the Lord and he verified the promise. And then he said, what
is thy name? That when all of these blessings
come to pass, we may honor thee. And the angel of the Lord replied,
why do you ask my name? Seeing that my name is wonderful,
my name is wonderful, and that is his name. His name shall be
called, Isaiah said, wonderful. The counselor, the mighty God,
the everlasting Father. He's wonderful in his person. He's wonderful in his promises. He's wonderful in his purpose. He's wonderful in his work. He's
wonderful in all that he's done, in all that he's doing, in all
that he shall ever do. He's wonderful. His name is wonderful,
His words are wonderful, His grace is wonderful, His love
is wonderful, His gospel is wonderful. And one of the most wonderful
scriptures about Him is my text tonight in 2 Corinthians 8, verse
9. For you know you who are objects
of that grace, for you know you who are recipients of that grace,
you know you who are the partakers of that grace, You know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know his grace. How that
though he was rich, for your sake he became poor, that you
through his poverty might be rich. There are three things here that I
want to invite your attention. First of all, a wonderful fact.
He was rich. Secondly, a more wonderful fact,
he became poor. And thirdly, a most wonderful
fact, that we might be rich. Look at the first wonderful fact
about our wonderful Lord. He was rich. Now this statement
leads us back into eternity. Our Lord did not have his beginning
in Bethlehem's manger. That is not the beginning of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Scripture says, in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Paul is talking here, when he
said he was rich, Paul is talking here of his eternal riches. His
eternal riches. His eternal possessions. And the Scripture talks about
his eternal riches in three ways. First of all, he was rich in
possessions. Now our conception of riches
is so limited. Our conception of riches is so,
such a poor understanding. A little child, you can fill
his hands with shiny new pennies. Just hand him 30 or 40 pennies
and he'll think he's rich, gloriously rich. And then the great ones
of this world add their millions and count their houses and their
lands and their possessions, and they think they're rich.
And I suppose if the whole world belonged to a single man, one
single individual owned the whole world, I guess we'd exclaim over
his riches. And yet in comparison with his
riches, who was rich in possessions, all of this is but chaff and
wind-blown debris. The richest man in the world
is a poverty-stricken beggar in comparison with our Lord Jesus
Christ. He was rich. Let me show you
some scripture. Turn to Colossians chapter 1.
In Colossians the first chapter, verse 16, it says this, For by
him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
earth, visible and invisible. Whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by him
and for him. And for him. He said the silver
is mine, the gold is mine in Haggai 2.8. He says in Psalm
95, the sea is mine, I made it. In Revelation 5.11 it talks about
innumerable angels, about the throne of glory that belonged
to him. Turn to Psalm 24 and listen to
the psalmist. The earth is the Lord's. He's
rich in possession. All things were created by him
and for him. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness of the world and all they that dwell therein. For
he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the floods.
Turn to Psalm 50. Listen to David here. In Psalm
50, verse 10 through 12. Every beast of the forest is
mine. and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of
the mountains and the wild beasts of the field are mine. If I were
hungry, I would not tell you. The world is mine, and the fullness
thereof." He was rich, rich All of the planets and stars, the
moon, the sun, the universe, the angels, heaven, everything
in heaven upon earth, visible and invisible, was created by
him and for him, and he's before all things, and by him all things
consist. Rich in possessions. Can you
even faintly grasp it? The riches of our Lord. But not
only that. Secondly, he was rich in love.
Turn to John. I want you to look at this verse.
I'm going to give you time to find it. John 3. God is love
and the object of his love is his Son. His Son. I don't want to be critical.
I don't like to be. But I don't think that when preachers
look out over their congregation from their pulpits or from their
television screens and glibly, lightly say, Jesus loves you,
God loves you and I love you too. I love you too. God loves you and I love you.
Oh, to think of what it means for God to love you. You think
about it now. God is love. God is love. When we talk about the riches
of his possession, we talk about riches, and we think because
we've got a hundred-dollar bill in our pocket, we're rich. We're
poverty-stricken bums. We talk about because we own
our home and got a little savings account and maybe some security.
As one man said, I've got all I'll ever need. Yeah, here, here,
but oh, compare our little old peanut holdings with his riches. And it's like comparing a worm
with Gabriel the archangel. It's like comparing a speck of
dust with the sun. Here's riches. And think, my friend, of what
you're saying when you say, God loves you. Our Lord was rich
in possessions and he was rich in love because it says here
in John 3.35, the Father loveth the Son. Father loves the Son. He said at his baptism, This
is my beloved Son! Do you know what you're saying when
you say that to a sinner? God loves you. The Almighty,
Eternal, Omnipotent, Ever-Present God of Heaven loves you. He loves you? I know He loves
His Son. He says at His baptism, This
is my beloved Son! He said on the Mount of Transfiguration,
This is my beloved Son! Our Lord prayed in John 17, Father,
glorify me with the glory which I had with Thee before the world
was, for Thou lovest me, for Thou lovest me. before the foundation
of this world. Thou lovest me." The Father loves the Son, and
because he loves him, he has given all things into his hand. Now, you look hard at that now.
You turn over to John 5, and he says it again in John 5.20,
look hard at it, and when you lightly, glibly look at a congregation
or another human being and say, God loves you, you think what
you're saying. You think what you're saying.
In John 5 verse 20, listen to it, "...the Father loveth the
Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth." I wouldn't needlessly wound you,
but I believe the only place where a man can say, confidently
and assuredly that God loves him is when he is in Christ. He that believeth not on the
Son, the wrath of God abideth on him. He that believeth on the Son
hath life, but he that believeth not the Son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God abideth on him."
If God loves you, if God loves you, he'll give you all things,
because God can't love partly or partially. He loves infinitely. That's right. There's only one
who can say unmistakably, confidently, God loves me, and that's the
Son. And the people who are partakers of God's love, I wouldn't offend
you, but you'd better buy your Bible and find out what God's
saying. And the only people who can claim God's love which in
claiming God's love, you claim God's mercy, in claiming God's
love, you claim God's grace, in claiming God's love, you claim
sonship. Son of my love, he said. In claiming
God's love, you claim God's favor. God loves the Son and showeth
him all things. And Paul said, nothing can separate
me from the love of God, Romans 8. The last two verses, neither
height, nor depth, nor angels, nor principalities, nor length,
nor breadth, nor any other creature can separate me from the love
of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. That's what it says. And I'm not in the business of
deceiving men, and I'm not going out here smiling like a donkey
eating briars, and look out over the congregation and say, God
loves you. Because I don't know. You just might be an object of
his wrath, and I'd mislead you, I'd lead you into a false assurance,
I'd lead you into a false confidence. You may be an object of his wrath.
Jacob had a love, Esau had a hating. He loved Jacob in Christ, and
Esau wasn't in Christ. He sought repentance with tears,
he never found it. He was a rebel. He was an object
of God's wrath. I know it sounds good, and I
know it makes good preaching. I know it's really emotional,
sentimental, and may get you following, but it's not so. The
Father loveth the Son. And that's where the mercy of
God is, and that's where the love of God is, in the Son. Just
like the mercy of God was in that ark, and outside of that
ark, God's judgment. Just like the mercy of God was
upon that tabernacle, and outside that tabernacle was judgment.
Just like the mercy of God was on that brazen serpent, and outside
that brazen serpent was judgment. Just like the mercy of God was
upon that slain lamb, the Passover lamb, and outside that blood,
death! That's what Scripture says. If
you want to deal with old wise fables, and you want to base
your hope on tradition, and if you want to rest on what uninformed,
uninspired, unsent preachers say, go right ahead. But this
book says God loves the Son. And we partake of that love in
Christ. And outside of Christ, he's a
consuming fire. And he that believeth not on
the Son, the wrath of God, the judgment of God, abideth continually
on him. Oh, riches! He is rich in possessions,
all things are his. Cattle on a thousand hills, he
said, the silver and the gold mine, rich in love. For he heard
the Father say, This is my beloved son, this is the son of my love,
the son of my love. And then he was rich in glory.
Moses said, Lord, show me your glory. And God said, Moses, I'll
cause my glory to pass before you. I'll be gracious. I'll be merciful. God's glory
is his grace in Christ. Daniel saw that glory, and he
has said his comeliness, his beauty, melted into corruption.
Beside the glory of the Lord, all of the splendor of that Babylonian
kingdom melted into corruption. John saw his glory on the Isle
of Patmos. He said his voice was the voice
of many waters, his feet like fine brass, his head his hair
snow white, I saw his glory, and fell at his feet as a dead
man." John wrote in John 1, we beheld his glory, the glory as
of the only begotten of the Father, the glory of Christ. And I want to show you a verse
of scripture, this John 12, turn over there a minute, and this
verse just reaches out, it just reaches out and grabs your heart.
Thrills your soul. Look at John, chapter 12, verse
41. See if you see what he's saying. These things said Isaias, that's
Isaiah, when he saw his glory, he spake of him. Huh? That'd shut a lot of mouths,
wouldn't it? When he saw his glory, the glory
of Christ, he spake of Christ. I tell you, when a man sees the
glory of Christ, he'll quit talking about himself. He'll quit talking
about himself, and he'll start talking about the Lord. If a
man ever sees the glory of Christ, he'll quit talking about the
glory of his church, the glory of his denomination, the glory
of his talent, and he'll talk about the glory of Christ. For
as Daniel said, all our comeliness in his presence and the presence
of his glory melts into corruption. Who wants to talk about corruption
when you can talk about glory? When you can talk about glory.
John said, when I saw his glory, I felt like a dead man. Who wants
to talk about a dead man when you can talk about glory? preachers claim they don't have
anything to preach. If they ever saw His glory, they'd
have something to preach. His glory. I'll tell you this,
Isaiah saw it. He said, when King Uzziah died,
and our King Uzziah might be a whole lot of things, but old
King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. I saw the Lord in glory! And
when he saw the Lord in glory, he spoke in humility. He said,
Woe is me! Oh, woe is me! I see men preach who have so
much self-confidence and so much self-reliance and so much cockiness
and haughtiness. And old Isaiah is crying, woe
is me. When a man sees His glory, he'll
speak of his own iniquity. I'm a man of unclean lips. When a man sees His glory, he'll
speak in obedience, Lord, here am I. Woe is me, but here I am. I'm a man of unclean lips, but
here I am. I'm in the midst of a people
of unclean lips, but here I am. Send me. I can tell them about
your glory if you send me." And so God sent him. And you know
what he wrote? He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was laid upon him, and by stripes
we were healed. His glory. saw his glory. And when he saw his glory, he
got his message. He spake of him. The old John the Baptist said,
I must decrease and he must increase. Whatever it takes to decrease
our self-assurance, decrease our pride, decrease our arrogance,
whatever it takes. Lord, whittle me down, show me
your glory so I can speak of your glory." A man said last
week, it was a little bit, when I first heard it, it wounded
me just a little bit. I've got too much, like I was
talking the other day, Jack, too much flesh pride, but he
was talking about having me for a meeting somewhere, and one
of the deacons said, We don't need him. He said, You've heard
him preach one time, you've heard all he knows. When they told me that, it kind
of hurt my feelings to think I could tell everything I know.
I suspect I could, you know. And then I thought for a minute,
and I thought, that's a compliment. He didn't mean it to be one,
but that's a compliment. When Isaiah saw his glory, he
spake of him. Him. He's our message. Paul said,
I'm determined to know nothing among you but Christ. him crucified. And I'll tell you, when we get
up to preach or to sing, if we preach, if we sing his
glory, we're going to preach about him. And if we sing his
glory, we're going to sing about him. And we're going to sing
about his glory, which is what? His grace and his mercy. Oh, what a wonderful fact. Well,
let's look back at the text again. It says there that he was rich.
rich in possessions, all authority is given unto me in heaven and
earth. The Father hath exalted him and given him a name which
is above every name, that is, the name of Jesus every nation
by. He will have preeminence. All things are created by him
and for him, and he is the object of the Father's love. The Father
loves him, loves him, loves him. Thou lovest me, he said. The
Father loveth the Son. That's what Scripture says. Oh, rich in glory, glory, glory. And then it says a more wonderful
fact, he became poor. He became, he who was rich became
poor. Now if you marvel at his riches,
If you wondered at his riches, you'll be even more amazed that
such a one whose riches are indescribable, incomprehensible, infinite, can
become so poor. As I stand mute in the presence
of his indescribable riches, I stand even more dumbfounded
before his total poverty. Turn to Philippians 2. Paul describes
that poverty in Philippians 2. Listen to this. In Philippians
2, verse 7, he talks about in verse 6, he's in the form of
God and thought it not robbery to be equal with God, and yet,
verse 7, made himself. He did it deliberately. made
himself of no reputation. You know what that's saying?
He emptied himself, emptied himself of all things. And yea, his possessions,
his glory, and even the Father's love, for the Father turned his
back on him. He emptied himself. No reputation. Where was he born? In a manger.
Where was he raped? Why, no good thing can come out
of Nazareth. The Messiah, we found him, where
is he from? Nazareth. No good thing can come
out of Nazareth. Who were his parents? We know
him, that's Joseph's son. What was his trade? Is not this
the carpenter? What was his education? Did the
Thou teach us, having never learned? Who were his friends? He's gone
to be the guest of a man that's a sinner. Publicans, harlots. What does he own? Well, foxes
have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man
has no place to lay his head, no reputation. Look at that next
line, "...and took upon himself the form of a servant." The word
there is slave. You who saw that marvelous television series on Roots, you
saw the poverty. of those people in chains, their
feet chained together and the whip opening their backs, eating
crust of bread, slaves. That's what it's saying right
here. Our Lord, he who was rich, made himself of no reputation
and took on himself the form of a slave. These disciples who
themselves were nothing, Sitting there in that upper room
at the Passover, there's a form down there washing their feet.
Who is that washing the feet of those nobodies? That's Mr. Nobody. That's the
slave, the servant of servants. He who was a master became the
servant of the servants. I am among you as he that serveth.
The form of a servant. Look at the next line, "...and
was made in the likeness of men," not like Adam in his sinless
condition, beautiful Adam, clean, handsome, righteous, holy Adam. No sir, not in the form of sinless
Adam, but like you and me. He took a frail human body subject
to temptation and trial and tears, reproach and persecution. He
was made in the likeness of sinful flesh," look at the next line,
"...and was found in fashion as a man." Now this word, watch
this, form of a servant, likeness of men, and a fashion as a man,
they're not the same. Those three different words.
The form is the nature or the shape. And he who was in the
nature of God was made in the nature of man. He took the form
of a serpent, the nature of a serpent. He took a human body, human nature. He was made in the likeness of
men. The word likeness there is resemblance to others in the
same condition. As our representative, he took
bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, our likeness. He resembled
us right here on this earth. He walked around here in the
flesh. When you cut him, he bled. When he had no water, he thirsted.
When he was without food, he hungered. The sun burned his
brow, and the stones broke open his feet. And fashion is external
condition. He lay nine months in a mother's
womb. He grew up in a home subject to a mother and daddy. A boy
than a man. He worked at the carpenter's
bench till his hands were calloused and rough. Sweat poured off his
brow. He actually lived as a man. He
was spared nothing that this human flesh is subject to. He knew what it meant to to grieve
and to weep and to suffer and to bleed. And look at the last
line here, and he became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross, and the full meaning of he became poor. And you can
talk about his riches, his riches, his riches, the riches of his
possessions, the riches of his glory, the riches of his love.
You come down to the fact he became poor and you can speak
of no reputation and form of a slave and likeness of men and
fashion as a man, but when you come to his death, there as in
no other place do you learn something of the deep, deep, deep poverty
of our Lord. Over here in the book of Lamentations,
the Lamentations of Jeremiah, chapter 1, Jeremiah was mourning
over the destruction of Jerusalem. And he was speaking for Christ. And listen to him in Lamentations
1.12. Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by, behold and
see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done
unto me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his
fierce anger. Our Lord was deserted by those
that claimed to love him, he was betrayed by one who followed
him, he was abused, he was stripped, the agony of total suffering
of the cross, and then that awful, piercing cry in the very depths
of his poverty, when he screamed, My God, why hast thou forsaken
me? He who was rich, nothing above
him, all beneath him, he who was rich on the pinnacle of absolute
sovereignty and majesty, he who was rich by whom, for whose glory
all things were made, on that cross of Calvary became totally,
completely, absolutely poverty-stricken. For yea, in that deep valley
of poverty, in draining the bitter, the last bitter dregs from the
cup of the Father's sovereign justice, he was in deepest, deepest
poverty, nothing, not even God. I can't understand it. I just
know it so. I just know it so. He became poor. All right, here's
the most wonderful fact of all, that we might be rich. He did
it for your sakes, that you might be rich. This is what it's all
about. This is why he came. He didn't
come to set an example, though he did. O Christ, what burdens bowed thy
head My sin was laid on thee. You stood in this poor sinner's
stead to bear God's wrath for me. Death and hell were in my
cup, O Christ, was full for thee. But you've drained the last bitter
drop. It's empty now for me." Jehovah
lifted up his rod, O Christ, it fell on thee. Thou wast forsaken
of thy God, now there's no wrath left for me. The high court's
awful voice was heard, O Christ, it pointed to thee! Thy form
was scarred, thy visage marred, ye bore it all for me, that through his poverty I might
be rich." Now, I said I was the richest man in the world. I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians
3, and I'll give you a little glimpse of my riches, and yours
if you're in Christ. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 21, look
at it. Let no man glory in men. That's
sure a waste of time, isn't it? God's going to destroy everything
about us. All flesh is grass, it's got
to go back to the dust. All these possessions will crumble.
Christ looked at that magnificent temple. He said it will all be
turned upside down. God is going to destroy this
world and everything in it. Don't glory in men, for all things
are yours. You're rich. Everything is yours
if you're in Christ. I'm not saying this indiscriminately
to every son of Adam. It ain't so. All things are yours. All things! Now watch this, he tells you
what they are, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas. Now, they
had a little discussion going there in the church, had a little
division. Some of them said, I am of Paul, others said, I am of
Apollos, and others said, I am Cephas. He said, they're yours.
They're yours. All the ministers of Christ,
they're all ordained and they're all called and they're all sent
and they're all commissioned for you to bring you the gospel.
They're yours, that you might be saved. Paul said, I can do
all things for the elect's sake. We preach not ourselves, but
Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves, your servants. Paul is yours. Apollos is yours. Cephas is yours. God ordained
them for your sake. He doesn't need preachers, you
need preachers. God doesn't need prophets and
evangelists and pastors and apostles and teachers. They are ordained
that you might come to the knowledge of Christ. That's what he says. Look, go on. Or the world, it's
yours. All things are yours, whether
Paul or Apollos or Cephas. Or the world. The world was made
for the saints. And it's continued for their
sakes. And when they're all redeemed, God's going to put an end to
it. The world belongs to him and
what's here is his mind. The world was the stage where
God would demonstrate his glory and his grace to gather together
all things in Christ. And one of these days when he
gathers them all together on this stage that he planned to
display his grace, and it's yours, it's your place. And when God
winds up calling his people, he's going to burn it up. But
it's yours, our life. The life that Christ lived on
the earth is for you. The life he purchased on Calvary
is for you. The life you live here is for
your redemption. I was born that I might be reborn. I receive natural life by the
power of God that he might, by his same power, give me spiritual
life. This life is for that life, and
it's mine. That's yours. His death on Calvary
was for you. The death of the martyrs, the
apostles were for you. Your death is the means of taking
you into his presence. Even death itself is yours to
bless you, to transport you to glory, to get you out of this
world and take you to his. It's yours. Death is yours. You don't have to fear it, you
don't have to quake before it, it's yours. All things are yours.
Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, or things present,
whether prosperity or adversity, it's yours. Whether sickness
or health, whether trial or success, all these things work together
for your good, he said. That's right. Boy, Preacher,
I couldn't see any good in what happened day before yesterday.
You won't now, but you will someday. I couldn't see any good in that tragedy and that death,
now that you will. You can't see good enough, you
know. Our sight's limited. We look on things right now. You hear people say, well hindsight's
better than foresight. That's right. Someday it'll all
be hindsight. And we'll praise him. We'll praise
him. Thank you, Lord, for what you
did. I learned to glory in my afflictions,
Paul said. Glory in them because they're
yours. They're yours. Things present,
watch it, are things to come. He's coming. He's coming for
you. His triumph, his glory, all of
it's for you. That's what he said. Why do we
glory in men? Boy, he sure is rich. He's not
rich as I am. He's just got a square acre.
I've got the world. It's mine. Boy, he's got silver
and gold, but he ain't got God's love. I've got life, I've got
death, I've got things present, I've got things to come. All
these are mine. That's what he said. All are
yours. And you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God. And
that's where it is, and it ain't nowhere else, it's in Christ.
That's as clear as God can make it. He says, don't you glory
in men, you're wasting your time. Don't be awed by them. They're
just playing with soap bubbles and sandcastles and toys that
God will blow away with the wrath of his breath. All things are
yours, you're rich. He who was rich became poor that
we might be rich, that all these things might be yours. And all
of them are, and you are his. And you know how you got it? You got it where he got it. The
Father loves the Son and giveth all things to him. That's where
he got it. All that my Father giveth me
shall come to me. I've come not to do my will,
but the will of him that sent me, and this is the will of him
that sent me, that of all he hath given me I'll lose nothing."
He gave it to Christ, and Christ gave it to me. I didn't get it
by walking down an aisle shaking a preacher's hand. I got it from
the Lord. It's all vested in him. All my
treasures and wealth are in him. And when he's mine, it's mine.
I'm a joint heir. Listen to this little song. By
nature and by practice, far, oh, I'm very far from God. And yet now by his grace brought
nigh to him through faith in Jesus' blood. Now so near, so
very dear to God, I cannot nearer be, for in the person of his
Son I'm as near as he. So dear, so very dear to God,
more dear I cannot be, for the love wherewith he loves his Son,
such is his love for me. Our Father, we thank Thee, O
how we thank Thee, for every promise we have in Christ. Our Heavenly Father, deliver
us from the error of tradition. being bound by the error of custom
and false religion, and bring us to see his glory, to behold
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. And when we see his glory, he
that seeth the Son and believeth on him hath everlasting life.
We can't see that glory. until you reveal it to us in
your sovereign purpose. And may it please thee, O Lord,
to open these eyes. The eye of natural man cannot
see his glory. Give us eyes of faith. Help us
see what Abraham saw. He saw Christ's day. And the
natural ear cannot hear. We've got too many voices to
listen to. O Lord, help us to hear his voice.
and grant unto our hearts a revelation of his glory, his glory. In his name we pray, amen.
Henry Mahan
About Henry Mahan

Henry T. Mahan was born in Birmingham, Alabama in August 1926. He joined the United States Navy in 1944 and served as a signalman on an L.S.T. in the Pacific during World War II. In 1946, he married his wife Doris, and the Lord blessed them with four children.

At the age of 21, he entered the pastoral ministry and gained broad experience as a pastor, teacher, conference speaker, and evangelist. In 1950, through the preaching of evangelist Rolfe Barnard, God was pleased to establish Henry in sovereign free grace teaching. At that time, he was serving as an assistant pastor at Pollard Baptist Church (off of Blackburn ave.) in Ashland, Kentucky.

In 1955, Thirteenth Street Baptist Church was formed in Ashland, Kentucky, and Henry was called to be its pastor. He faithfully served that congregation for more than 50 years, continuing in the same message throughout his ministry. His preaching was centered on the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified, in full accord with the Scriptures. He consistently proclaimed God’s sovereign purpose in salvation and the glory of Christ in redeeming sinners through His blood and righteousness.

Henry T. Mahan also traveled widely, preaching in conferences and churches across the United States and beyond. His ministry was marked by a clear and unwavering emphasis on Christ, not the preacher, but the One preached. Those who heard him recognized that his sermons honored the Savior and exalted the name of the Lord Jesus Christ above all.

Henry T. Mahan served as pastor and teacher of Thirteenth Street Baptist Church in Ashland, Kentucky for over half a century. His life and ministry were devoted to proclaiming the sovereign grace of God and directing sinners to the finished work of Christ. He entered into the presence of the Lord in 2019, leaving behind a lasting testimony to the gospel he faithfully preached.

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