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Henry Mahan

How Can Ye Believe

John 5:43
Henry Mahan • August, 22 1976 • Audio
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Message 0212a
Henry Mahan Tape Ministry
6088 Zebulon Highway
Pikeville, KY 41501

Sermon Transcript

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But John 5, verse 43, here's
a terrible charge that our Lord brings against Adam's race. John
5, 43, he says, I am come in my Father's name, and you receive or believe me
not. If another shall come in his
own name, him you will believe. Unbelief is no new thing. Unbelief is and always has been
the nature of fallen man. When God called Moses to the
burning bush said to him, Moses, go down into Egypt and tell Pharaoh
to let my people go. You tell Israel that I sent you
to deliver them, to bring them out of bondage, to lead them
to a land that I have promised to Abraham. And Moses cried,
Lord, behold, they will not believe me. They won't believe me. Isaiah
wrote in Isaiah 53, he was wounded for our transgressions. He was
bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and by his stripes we're healed. But he preceded
that good news with this, who hath believed our report? Who
hath believed our message? Paul in writing of Israel in
Hebrews 3.19 says, So you see, they could not enter in. Though
God promised the land, though God provided the land, though
God sent the servant to lead them to the land, they could
not enter in because of unbelief. And in that sad commentary in
John 7, verse 5, Our Lord Jesus Christ miraculously sent, miraculously
conceived, miraculously born, perfect life, and yet the scripture
says, neither did his family believe on him. Neither did his
brothers and his sisters believe on him. Then in John 16.9, our
Lord said, the Holy Spirit, I'll go away, but I'll send another
comforter And when he has come, when the Holy Spirit has come,
it will be his business to convince this world of sin, because they
believe not on me. And John 12, 37 says, Though
he had done many miracles right before them, in their presence,
Yet they believed not on him. And at the cross of Calvary,
Mark wrote in chapter 15, verse 32, they walked about that cross
and they looked up and laughed at him and mocked him and shot
out their lips. And they said, come down from
the cross and we'll believe on you. And Thomas, even Thomas,
even his beloved disciple Thomas, After all of the prophecies and
promises and witnesses, after three and a half years side by
side with the Master, even Thomas said when the disciples declared
unto him, The Lord hath risen, said, Except I see the print
of the nails in his hands, and thrust my hand into his side,
I will not believe. I will not believe." If you're not saying this in
words, you say, Thomas, that's terrible. Thomas, of all people,
Thomas, I will not believe. But wait a minute now, before
we condemn Thomas, before we sit in judgment on this disciple,
let's examine our own hearts. Do you believe? Do you believe? Do you believe Christ? Do you
believe his word? Perhaps you're not saying it in words like Thomas
said it. Perhaps you're not speaking it
out as he did. Perhaps you're not going on record.
I will not believe. But maybe you're demonstrating
the same unbelief in attitude. And I think perhaps our attitudes
and our actions speak a whole lot louder than our words. I
will not believe. I will not believe. I've come
in my Father's name, and you believe me not. Let another come
in his own name, and him you will believe." Verse 44, look
at this line here. How can you believe? I think I can ring our bell this
morning, mine and yours. I think I can ring our bells
and I can give you several reasons why you do not believe. Our Lord says, how can you believe?
He gives the first reason. Listen to it. He says, how can
you believe? And I'm not talking about just
believing in Christ as the Redeemer, just believing that he died on
the cross and was buried and rose again. I'm talking about
believing God not only for the building of a building, but the
building of a haystack. I'm not talking only about believing
God for preaching, but believing God for praying and believing
God for daily life. I'm talking about believing God.
As Moses believed God, as Abraham believed God, as Noah believed
God, as Enoch believed God and walked with God. Believing God. I will not believe. How can you? And our Lord gives the first
reason. He said, here it is, how can you believe which receive
honor one of another and seek not the honor that cometh from
God only? A man will never believe in Christ
till he knows himself to be nothing. A man will never receive the
fullness of Christ until he's emptied. A man will never receive
the robe of Christ's righteousness till he's naked. When others
praise us and honor us and exalt our talents and dwell on our
good points and praise our righteousness, we are apt to believe them, aren't
we? And when we seek and acknowledge their praise, We deny our sins. Charles Spurgeon said, you must
be saved as an ungodly, empty sinner, or you'll not be saved
at all. You must give up all claim of
any merit, any righteousness, any goodness, any honor, or you'll
not be saved at all. And this the flesh finds so difficult. Look at verse 23, that all men
should honor the Son, he that honoreth not the Son. God Almighty
has determined and decreed that he shall honor the Son. But men
honor us, and both cannot be. I cannot be honored and Christ
be honored. I cannot be praised and Christ
be praised. I cannot be exalted and Christ
be exalted. And as long as I'm seeking the
approval of men, as long as I'm seeking the praise of men, as
long as I'm seeking the honor of men, I'm not seeking that
honor that comes from God only. How can you believe? You're good
enough, your mama told you so. You're good enough, your wife
told you so. You're good enough, your children
tell you so. You're good enough, your neighbor
brags on you. We seek the honor that comes
from men, and not the honor that comes from God. And that honor
that comes from God is a Christ honor. He honors not us, he honors
his Son. And a man will never believe
in Christ and embrace Christ and receive Christ until God
empties him, until God strips him, until God slays him. And a man will never be used
for God's glory until God can get all the glory. How can you believe? You receive
honor one of another, praise one of another. You seek not
that honor that comes from God only. And then the second reason,
why can't men believe? Secondly, they cannot believe
because they do not feel that they need Christ. They do not
need Christ. Mike, when you stand here to
sing, do you need Christ? Pastor, when you stand here to
preach, are you really empty? Are you really insufficient for
these things? Are you really nothing? Do you
really need Christ? My sinner friend, you talk about
wanting to be saved. Do you really need Christ? Are you in such a condition that
you cannot survive without him? I was reading a book this week
and it told about a revival that swept the little Southern community
after the Civil War. People were being saved, people
were hearing the gospel. Down in that land where judgment
had fallen, where people were emptied and starving, Their loved
ones had been killed, poverty, famine. God sent a revival. And the former slave owner and
his trusted slave were both under conviction. They had been together
many years. The old slave owner and his trusted slave both were
under conviction, both realized they needed salvation. But the
old slave found peace before his master. He found Christ before
the master, and the master wondered about this and came to him and
said, John, why is it that you've found peace with God, you've
found Christ, and I haven't? This is what the old slave said. You see, when the Lord came to
you, he said to you, here's a new robe for you. And Master looks
at his coat with a few holes in it, but still mighty fine,
and he says to the Lord, I don't really need a new robe. This
your robe will do mighty fine. It just needs a little patching.
It just needs a little care here and there. It just needs something
added to it. Lord, I don't need a new robe.
I just need this one fixed up. But Master, when the Lord came
to old John, he said, John, I got a brand new robe for you, John.
And old John said, Lord, I sure do thank you, because old John
ain't nothing but rags. And I need that robe so bad. And Lord, I sure do thank you,
and I'll take that robe and put it on right now. Do you need
Christ, huh? Are your righteousnesses filthy
rags? Do you need his blood to put
away your shame and your guilt and your sin? Do you need his
righteousness to cover you, or is it true of us? Rich and increased
with goods have need of nothing. I need thee, Lord, I need thee. Every hour I need thee. Oh, bless me now, now. I will not let thee go except
thou bless me now, my Savior, just as I am poor." Are you poor,
spiritually poor, have nothing, know nothing, can do nothing?
Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body
of death, blind? Sight, riches, healing of the
mind, all I need in Christ to find, Lamb of God, I come." When
you get to that place, you'll come. You'll come. The disciple said, Lord, to whom
shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, to whom shall I go with my sins? You got any? To whom
shall I go with my sins and find forgiveness? Only to Christ,
who said, Though your sins be as scarlet, I'll make them white
like the snow. To whom shall I go with my darkness
to find light? Only to him who said, I'm the
light of the world. To whom shall I go with my sorrow
to find comfort? Only to Christ, who said, I'll
never leave you. David said, Though my mother
and father forsake me, the Lord will take me up. I'll never leave
you. I'll never leave you. When Walter
and Betty went to the mission field, had inadequate support,
had no doors on the house, no screens on the windows, no assurance
of food to-morrow, though men forsook them, He never did, did
he? He never did. I'll never leave
you. To whom shall I go in my trial,
when the way is so dark, when the road is so rough, and the
burden is so heavy? To whom shall I go? To my Lord
Jesus Christ, who said, Come to me and I'll give you rest.
Who said, My peace I give unto you. It doesn't matter how cloudy
it is, how dark it is. It doesn't matter how deep the
flood is, it doesn't matter how rough the road is, I'll give
you rest. My peace I give unto you. To
whom shall I go for an example? I can put no confidence in your
flesh or my flesh, only the Christ who said, I have given you an
example that you should do as I've done to you. If you needed him, you'd believe
on him. If you needed him, you'd believe
on him. But men don't believe. They love the honor of men, they
love the praise of men. They don't need that honor that
comes from God only. They don't come because they
don't need him. I'll tell you another reason why men don't
believe. They don't believe because they
don't approve of God's way of saving sinners. You look at John
5.40. Our Lord said, and you will not
come to me. Oh, men will come to Mount Sinai. That's not hard to get people
to Sinai's mountain of law. Oh, how natural men love rules. You say, do they? Yes, they do.
They don't keep them, but they love them. Oh, how they love
laws. No, they don't obey them, but
they love them. Oh, how they love regulations. You know why?
This allows them to glow in the flesh and to say, Lord, I thank
you I'm not like other men. I'm not an adulterer. I'm not
unjust. I'm not an extortioner. I'm not
like this publican. I have so many good points. I
thank you I'm not like other men. Take them to Mount Sinai. They'll go with you. Take them
to the mountain of law. They love it. Because it allows
them to glory in the flesh, give them some things to do. Men will
go to the baptismal font, they love that. They'll go to the
pool, they'll go to the river. This gives them something to
experience, something to feel, some act to follow. Men will
engage in good works and religious activities. This will allow them
to plead at the judgment, Lord, I preached in your name, I cast
out devils, I did many wonderful works. They'll come to the altar,
they'll come to the preacher, they'll come to the prayer room,
they'll come to the inquiry room, they'll come to the front of
the church, they'll come anywhere but to Christ. You will not come
to me. They object to God's way of saving
men. But Christ said, come to me that
you might have life. The way to be saved is to come
to Christ, to a living Lord in whom dwelleth the fulness of
God. He is the Redeemer by divine
decree. He is the Redeemer by perfect
obedience. He is the Redeemer by substitutionary
death. He is the Redeemer by eternal
intercession. Salvation is not in priests,
churches, creeds, laws, doctrines. Salvation is in Christ. It's in the Savior. How can you believe? You who
object to God's way of saving sinners, how can you believe?
You who are willing to come to Sinai's mountain of law, to religious
ceremonies and ordinances. Yeah, they'll even come to his
mother, but they won't come to him. They'll come to his ambassadors,
but not to him. They'll come to his means, but
not to him. They'll even come to his word,
but not to him. Out of my bondage, sorrow and
night, Jesus, I come. Into thy freedom, gladness and
light, Jesus, I come to thee, to thee. Out of my sickness,
into thy health, out of my want, into thy wealth, out of my sin,
into what? Thyself, Jesus, I come. You know, you read the scriptures
and you miss so much, unless the Holy Spirit of God is pleased
to slow you down and cause you to concentrate on words. The
scripture says, "...he came unto his own, and his own received
him not, but to as many as received him." to them gave he power to
become the sons of God." Not his word, him. Not his doctrine,
him. And listen, not his finished
work, him. Now, there's a difference. I
hear people say, well, I'm just trusting the finished work of
Christ. Hold it now, hold it. Are you really trusting the work
or him who did the work, huh? I hear people, we get in these
clichés and really, I think these clichés are really what we believe. I think out of the abundance
of the heart, the mouth speaks as a man is. As a man speaks
and as he expresses himself, that's what's going on within.
And I hear people say, I believe in prayer. Now, you stop and
think about that a minute. Do you believe in the act of
prayer, or do you believe in him who
hears prayer? Think about that a moment. Prayer
Is that some kind of magic? Is that some kind of superstition?
Is that like carrying a rabbit's foot or nailing up a horseshoe?
Do you believe in prayer, or do you believe in the hymn who
sits on the throne of grace and invites you, his child, to come
into his presence and make your needs known? Come on, now. I'm
trusting in the finished work of Christ. Well, I don't want
to frighten you and I don't want to upset you, but I'm not. I'm
trusting in Christ who did the work, in a person. You come to me, not to my cross,
to me! Paul said, God who separated
me from my mother's womb was pleased to reveal his Son in
me, his Son in me. When Christ comes in to dwell,
he brings himself, he brings his love, he brings his grace,
he brings his attributes, and he makes us like himself.
Salvation is not a union with a denomination or union with
a cause or union with a law or union with a doctrine. It is
a vital, living union with a person. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." This is what I'm
trying to say. People say, well, I'm going to
heaven, I believe Christ died on the cross, Satan and all the
demons of hell. And if you could go to the cemetery
and resurrect that centurion who drove the nails in his hands,
and the people who walked about that cross, they would join with
you and say, we believe he died on the cross, too. You say, but
I believe he was buried and rose again. Wait a minute, if you
could resurrect all the Pharisees who met in that council that
day when one of the guards came and said, that fellow you all
buried, Jesus Christ, he has risen from the grave. And they
said, well, I don't tell anybody. I tell you what we'll do. We'll
tell the governor that his disciples came and stole his body away,
and here, we give you money. You keep your mouth shut, and
we'll give these folks money, and you don't let it out. They
knew it. They knew it. The demons knew it. You believe
in one God, you do well. The devil believes in trembles.
But this thing of being redeemed, this thing of being saved, is
more than just believing in a work, believing in an act, giving mental
assent to a fact, it is receiving a person. bowing to him, receiving him
in your life and in your heart, Christ coming in to dwell, Christ
becoming your master, your Lord, your King, your companion, your
husband, your brother, your mother, your father, your life! Christ
is my life. That's God's way of saving sinners.
I can stand down here and folks can come down the aisle and say,
I believe what you preach, I believe that Jesus died on the cross,
was buried and rose again, but this thing of salvation takes
place in the heart when God himself comes in to dwell. Christ becomes more than a doctrine,
he becomes a person. He becomes more than a historical
character, he becomes your Lord. His fourth reason, number one,
he said, how can you believe? How can you believe? You're not
seeking God's honor, you're seeking the honor that comes from people.
How can you believe? You don't need Christ. You don't
really need him, do you? I think the greatest thing in
the world God could do for us is to absolutely take everything
and everybody we got away from us. everything, strip us, hang
us over the jaws of hell till we cry for mercy like Peter who
sank beneath the waves. We don't need it. Thirdly, how
can you believe? You object to the way God saves
sinners. You make it a form and not a
person. You make it a ceremony and not
Christ. You make it a ritual and not
a regeneration. You make it Sunday morning religion.
You go to church and you play church and you act pious on Sunday. On Monday it's a different story,
like Brother Barnard used to say. On Sunday we say, My Lord, what
a morning. On Monday morning we wake up,
My Lord, it's morning. And then fourthly, we don't believe,
men don't believe because they don't want to. That's exactly
right, they don't want to. Now, you listen to this scripture.
In John 5, verse 40, you will not come to me. You what? You
will not. You will not. What is this coming to Christ?
Well, it's not a physical coming. It's not physical inability that
keeps me from Christ. If coming to Christ is just moving
the body, we hear these Hollywood evangelists, high-pressure preachers,
come down the aisle, come on, get up from where you are, move
into the aisle, that's it, move into the aisle, that's no problem.
I can move into any aisle as long as God lets me walk. I can
move into the aisle as well as I can move into the streets.
That's no problem. moving my body and my feet. If
that's all that's required to come to Christ, that's no problem. And I'll tell you this, it's
not a mental inability either. When our Lord said, No man can
come to me except my Father which sent me drawing, he did not mean
it was a mental inability. I can believe the Bible as well
as I can believe any other book. I can listen to all the judgments
in this book, I can go through it, I can listen to all the promises
in this book, and I can make up my own mind what I think about
them. That's right. That's not my problem. That's
not the problem of Adam's race. It's not a physical inability,
it's not a mental inability. The preacher can stand up and
give his arguments, the Church of Christ can give his, the Catholic
can give his, the Baptist can give his, the Presbyterian can
give his, the Methodist give his, the Nazarene give his, the
Mormons give his, and people listen to them, and logically
can make up their mind which one of them sounds right. But coming to Christ, You know
where the inability lies? Not in my physical strength,
not in my mental strength. The inability lies deep in the
nature of fallen man. Listen to the Word of God. Through
the fall of man, through the sin of man, the nature of man
has become so depraved, so debased, so corrupt, that he loves darkness
rather than light. That's right, don't deny it.
We love darkness rather than light. We love ourselves and
not others. We love sin and not holiness. That's right. It's in the nature
of man. Here's a sheep, here's a wolf,
The sheep hears the voice of the shepherd, doesn't he? And
he delights in it, and he just comes a-running. The wolf, he
too hears the voice of the shepherd, but he doesn't delight in it,
and he doesn't come running. He flees. He fears the voice
of that shepherd. Here's the sheep. The sheep sees
the shepherd, and he sees in the shepherd a fleeing. He sees
in the Shepherd a beloved leader. He sees in the Shepherd one in
whom he delights and loves the Shepherd. The wolf, he sees the
Shepherd too. But he sees in the Shepherd an
enemy. He sees in the Shepherd one to fear, and he growls at
him. They both hear the same thing.
They both see the same thing. What's different? Nature. You
see what I'm saying? Nature. The sheep is led into green pastures. The Word of God. He feeds on
it. He delights in it. He revels
in it. He eats. The wolf is led into
the same pasture. He doesn't care for the grass. It's not his nature to eat the
grass, and he hates it. He eats the shade. You see what
I'm saying? I'm saying this. This is the
reason why Christ said you must be born again, because your nature
is depraved, your nature is corrupt, your nature is debased. And the
reason men do not come to Christ truly, they wouldn't mind having
heaven, that's a good deal. They wouldn't mind missing hell,
who wants to go to hell? They wouldn't mind having their
bodies healed, who wants to be saved? They wouldn't mind getting a
good job and being blessed of God, who wants to do without? But their natures and their hearts
know love Christ, delight in his word, in his fellowship,
in his people. That's the nature. Who maketh
you to differ? What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? Thou, people, shalt be willing to embrace Christ,
willing to surrender to Christ, willing to receive Christ in
the day of thy power. God has to do something for us.
In order to take from me that love for darkness and hatred
for light and make me love light and hate darkness, God has to
give me a new nature. In order to take from me that
hatred for others and love for myself and give me a love for
others and an ability to say, I abhor myself, God has to give
me a new nature. In order to give me a nature
that hates the world and loves the house of God, and hates that
which is enmity against God, and loves that which speaks of
God and represents God and honors God, he's got to give me a new
nature. If God took an unregenerate man
to heaven, he'd be miserable! I've heard people say, well,
when I get to hear my love, the preaching of the Word, if you don't love it here, you wouldn't
love it there. There are five things that are true of all men
who come to Christ. I'll give you this and close.
Our time is gone. Turn to Psalm 51. There are five things that are
true of all men who come to Christ. Let us all together in our hearts
pray, crying to God. You know, he said, Seek the Lord.
Ye shall find me when you search for me with all your heart. Ain't
nobody keeping you out of the prayer closet but yourself. You
ask and you'll receive. You seek and you'll find. You
knock and it'll be open to you. Bless are they that hunger and
thirst for righteousness, they'll be filled. Ain't nobody keeping
you from Christ but yourself. You could go right this day into
the closet of prayer and you could say, O Lord God, Show me
myself. I don't want to hear what Mama
says about me and what my neighbor says about me. I don't want to
hear what the preacher says. I want to hear what you say about
me. Show me myself. Reveal my sin. Reveal my corruption. Bring me to the place where I
see myself in the holiness of thy law and of thy Spirit. Strip
me. It won't be a pleasant experience.
It won't be a pleasant experience. And Lord, I cry unto you, show
me my need of Christ. Show me the vanity of this world
like you showed it to Solomon, who tried all of it and came
to the end and said, Vanity of vanities, it's all vanity! Lord, wean me from the world.
Show me my need of Christ. And O Lord God, show me the way
of salvation that gives all the glory to you and robs man of
all the glory. Show me the way of life. Break
me from tradition that has such a binding influence upon me. Break me from custom. Just destroy
all that I've ever known before and teach me all over again.
Show me how you save sinners through Christ and his substitutionary
work. And O Lord, give me a nature
to seek thee, and seeking thee to find thee, and finding thee
to love thee, and loving thee to serve thee. I want to walk
with the King." There are five things that have
happened to all these people. First of all, they have a sense
of sin against God. They justify God rather than
themselves. In Psalm 51, David said, verse 3, I acknowledge
my transgressions, my sin is ever before me. Against thee
and thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight,
that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear
when thou judgest. Let me tell you something. In
the sight of God Almighty, There's not a greater sinner
that ever lived than you, Frank, not a greater sinner that ever
lived than you, Ed, and not a greater sinner that ever lived than you,
Ava. Do you believe that? Well, let me put you, I've done,
hold on now, hold on. Are you nothing? Well, you can't
be less than nothing. If you're nothing, you're nothing. David said, Lord, what you say
is so. What you say is so. You justify. I'm going to stop justifying
myself. I'm going to stop saying, but Lord, but Lord, but Lord. Yes, Lord, that's true. Dog, that's true. Unworthy, that's
true too. Chief of sinners, that's true
too. And then verse 7, they have a strong desire to be forgiven. David cried, O purge me with
hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter
than a stone. I can't do it myself. You've
got to wash me. O Lord, make me to hear joy and
gladness. Me and these bones which thou
hast broken, hide not thy face from mine. Hide thy face from
my sin. Lord, brought out my transgression, my iniquity. Create
in me a clean," what? heart, heart, heart. It's heart work. And renew a right spirit. spirit. This is where we are
missing it. Religion is all attuned to the
outward flesh. That's right, today's religion
is flesh religion. God's salvation is heartwork. God is known to them of a broken
heart. He saved us such as be of a broken
heart and a contrite spirit. The third thing, they recognize
Christ as the only Savior, none other name unto heaven given
among men, whereby we must be saved. Other foundations can
no man lay than that which is laid. He who knew no sin was
made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of
God in him. The fourth thing, true of every
person whom God saves, they have a sense of sin against God. They have a strong desire to
be forgiven, to know him, to know him. They know that Christ
is the only Savior. Fourthly, they have made and
are making a personal commitment to Christ. Paul said, I know
whom I have believed, I'm persuaded he is able, he's the only one
that is, to keep that which I have committed to him, committed to
him, against that day. If you confess me before men,
I'll confess you before the Father which is in heaven. Here's what
I'm saying, my friend. If this gospel is true, and it
is, if Christ is the only Savior, and he is, If he's willing to
save you, and he is, you must trust him. You must receive him. You must consciously commit yourself
to him. And I don't care where you do
it. If you want to do it here, fine. If you want to do it in
my study, fine. If you want to do it at home,
fine. If you want to do it down the highway in your automobile,
that's fine with me. But somewhere at some time, You've
got to come to Christ consciously, intelligently, lovingly, and
willingly for a wholesale commitment to him. That's right. And you'll confess him in believer's
baptism. You'll come before the church
and you'll say, I've died with Christ. I've risen with Christ. I want the world to know I'm
not perfect. I'm going to be. I'm not without
fault. I will be someday. I see through
a glass dimly. I know not as I am known, but
I do know this, I know whom I have believed, and I have committed
it to him. Now, Lord, take me like I am,
just like I am, and make something out of me. Our Father in Heaven,
thank thee for thy word, and thank thee for thy Spirit. Thou
hast spoken to us, to every one of us. Thou hast spoken to this
preacher, and thou hast spoken to this congregation. Lord, let
us not find ourselves wrapped up in the bed of presumption,
which we'll find some days too narrow and the cover too short.
Let us not hide in the refuge of presumption. Let us all cast
ourselves upon Christ, commit ourselves to Christ, receive
the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us face what we are and who
we are, and justify thee when thou speakest, and declare that
thou art clear when thou judgest. O Lord, be merciful to me, a
sinner, and save me, for Christ's sake. In his name I pray, amen.
Henry Mahan
About Henry Mahan

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

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

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

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

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

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