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Henry Mahan

The Doctrine of Christ

2 John 9
Henry Mahan • June, 20 1976 • Audio
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Message 0200b
Henry Mahan Tape Ministry
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I want you to open your Bibles
now to the 2nd Epistle of John, and let me repeat my text. The text will be taken from verses
8 and 9 of 2 John. Look to yourselves that we lose not those things
which we have wrought or which we have but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son." Now, we are living in a religious world. And most people in our religious
world are aware of four things. They are aware of God and the
Bible. Most of them are aware, to a
lesser or greater degree, of right and wrong. Most of them are aware, conscious
of the fact that there is a heaven and there is a hell. And most
people have in their vocabulary these two words, salvation and
condemnation. Most of the people in our religious
world are conscious of life after death, and they'd like very much
to share in some kind of heaven, some kind of eternal happiness,
and therefore Nearly all of them give a portion of their thoughts
and a portion of their time and a portion of their lives to religion,
to a greater or lesser degree. Now there are some people like
the Pharisees who are very zealous in their religion. They have
a zeal for God. Paul wrote of Israel, I bear
them record, they have a zeal for God, but not according to
knowledge. There are many people in our
world who are very, very religious. In fact, their whole lives revolve
around the church and the church activities. They study the Bible,
they have prayer meetings, they go to church, they seek to suppress
the flesh, they give up certain habits, they're doing their dead-level
best to establish some kind of standing, some kind of religious
standing or spiritual standing, some form of acceptance with
God Almighty. Very zealous, very religious. And then there are others in
our religious world who have just average zeal. They make a religious profession,
most of them in some sort of special emphasis, some sort of
special revival, some sort of special altar call. And then they attend church,
and occasionally they read something from the Bible. They have a little
devotion or a little prayer, some prayer life. Most of them,
though, have those people, those average religious people with
average zeal, most of them have a pretty firm committal to a
denomination. Most of them have a pretty firm
committal to some kind of creed. an Armenian creed, or a Calvinistic
creed, or an Orthodox creed, or a fundamental creed, or a
creed having to do with prophecy, or a creed having to do with
something of that nature. And most of them have a favorite
church. They have a favorite preacher. They have average zeal. You wouldn't call them overzealous
people. You wouldn't call them extremely
religious, but they are religious. They would be insulted if you
accused them of not being religious. They attend church when it's
convenient, when they don't have anything else to do. And then
there's a third group of people. We have the overly zealous religious
people. Church is their lives. Church
is their activity. Church is their social. life and their family life, and
it revolves around the Church, and then there's those of average
zeal, and then there are people in our religious world who are
rather careless and indifferent about the Church. Oh, it's there,
and they're aware of it, and they were sprinkled as a child,
or perhaps they made a profession in a Protestant Church and were
baptized, and they attend especially on special occasions, they wouldn't
miss an Easter service or a Christmas service, and they give to religious
causes occasionally. And they live what they call
a decent life, and they are set for the defense of God, home,
country, mother, church, all of these four square solid principles. But you wouldn't call them zealous,
you wouldn't call them even average. zealous people, you'd call them
more or less identified. They're identified. They're identified
in some way with religion. If someone came to the home taking
a religious census, they'd say, well, we're Methodist, or we're
Baptist, or we're Presbyterian, and yes, we belong to church. No, we don't go regularly, but
we go occasionally, and we give occasionally. And then there's
another group of people, they don't go at all. Possibly they're
not even identified with the church. They have no church home.
They belong to a good club, a good civic club. And most of these
people have what we call a deathbed religion. They live all of their
lives for themselves, void of God. But when they grow old,
they begin to talk about heaven. They begin to talk about God.
Or when they get sick unto death, they begin to talk in a religious
vein. And they speak of going to be
with the Lord. I've preached a lot in what we
call rest homes or nursing homes. You never meet a lost person
in those places. They're all religious. Everybody,
when he gets old, gets religious. If he hasn't already been religious,
he gets religious. What about these people? I think
I can answer some questions for you tonight. I know they're on
your mind because these questions are on my mind. Because included
in that group of people there are my friends and neighbors
and relatives and my brother, my sister in the flesh, my cousins
and uncles and aunts and The whole family tree is included
in that group of people right there. I've just described my
family, and in doing so I've described yours, and some of you. And what about
these people? Do we pronounce them saved? Do we consider them sons of God? Are they sons of God? Do we expect that they shall
be with Peter, James, and John in the body of Christ? Are they
in that group in Revelation 5 that sing unto him who loved us and
washed us from our sins in his own precious blood, to him be
glory both now and forever, unto our God who hath made us kings
and priests? Are they in that group? Are these
folks in that group of whom the Riser said, these are they that
have come out of great tribulation, washed their robes and made them
white in the blood of the Lamb. What about these people? What
about this overly zealous religious enthusiast? What about the average
nominal church member? What about the indifferent, careless
religionist? What about the folks who just
grow old and have had no use for God, but just before they
died they accepted Jesus? Well, let me say this first of
all. No one, even with human compassion, and I hope that in
having the grace of God and the compassion of Christ that we've
also have some human compassion. Our Lord looked on the rich young
ruler who walked away, and Scripture says he loved him. The Bible
declares that God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. The
Bible says God delights to show mercy. So no one who is redeemed,
or no one with any human compassion, takes pleasure in the condemnation
of any sinner here on this If you are familiar with your Bible,
you know that at the judgment we're going to justify God in
his judgments. But we're not, with a human nature,
prepared to do that yet. I don't believe anybody here
could say amen to the condemnation of a brother or sister or husband
or wife or a mother or father or child, could you? But if you
can't say amen to the condemnation of your child, I hope you're
not able to say upon the condemnation of my child, that would reveal
that you didn't know the Lord. I don't believe any of you here
prepared at this stage of the game to say amen to the condemnation
of my brother unless you could say it upon the condemnation
of yours. We bid farewell to every son
of Adam with the hope, as the Apostle said, that he may find
mercy of the Lord in that day. I don't care whether he's a zealous
Catholic or a zealous Baptist, I hope he knows the Lord. I don't
care whether he's indifferent, whether he'd rather go to the
ball game on Sunday than to worship God, I hope he knows the Lord,
don't you? I don't care whether he was sprinkled as a baby or
baptized as a young man, I hope he knows the Lord. It doesn't
matter to me if he never darkened the door of a church and never
worshiped God in his life. If he dies, I hope he knows the
Lord. You listening? I hope he finds
mercy of the Lord in that day. Who knows what's in the heart
of the sinner? Do you? I don't. Scripture says we judge
by the outward appearance. God looks on the heart. I am
not prepared to open heaven's doors for any man or any woman. Salvation is of the Lord. Nor
am I prepared to consign any person to hell. Are you? Scripture
says he has the keys of hell and death. You know what it says? Brother Barnard used to say,
I'm glad you're not God. And he also said, you better
be glad I'm not God. You know, David offended the
Lord. He sinned. God told him he had to be punished. He said, I'll let you fall into
the hands of your enemies, or I'll deal with you, which one
you want. David said, well, Lord, don't let me fall into the hands
of those people. I'll fall into your hands. Because
I know even when you're chasing me, you do it with love. You love me. And I don't want
to be in the hands of men. And so I'm not prepared to open
the doors of heaven for anybody. That's of the Lord. And I'm not
prepared either to say that you're lost. I don't know. I don't know. I'm not prepared to say that
any person's lost. Are you? I hope you'll find mercy of the
Lord. But in verse 8 of 2 John, John exhorts every person to
do this. He says, look to yourselves,
look to yourselves, that you lose not those things that you
have gained, but that you receive a full reward. Look to yourselves. Paul said something like that.
He said, examine yourselves, 2 Corinthians 13.5, examine yourselves
whether you be in the faith. Know ye not your own selves,
how that Christ dwelleth in you, except you be reprobate? Peter
said practically the same thing back here a few pages in 2 Peter
1.10. He says, Wherefore the rather
brethren give diligence. Diligence. to make your calling
and election sure. For if you do these things, you
shall never, never fall. For so an influence shall be
ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." And then in verse 9,
verse 8, he says, "...look to yourselves, that you lose not
those things which you have gained." but that you receive a full reward."
Now watch verse 9, and then he gives us this, "...whosoever
transgresseth," not the law, for every man is a transgressor
of the law, "...but whosoever transgresseth and abideth not
in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God." Now here's where you can put
the zealous religionist, put him to the test right here. Here's
where you can put the identified but indifferent, put him to the
test right here. Here's where you can put the
careless, the cold, the lukewarm, Here's where you can put the
man who lives his life without Christ, without God, put him
to test right here. Whosoever abides not in the doctrine
of Christ does not have God. Whosoever does not believe, receive,
and rest, and whosoever does not continue, whosoever does
not abide, That's continued in the doctrine of Christ hath not
God. Now what is the doctrine of Christ? When I prepared to speak from
this subject, I gave considerable thought to this statement here,
because it's used twice in this one verse. Whosoever does not
abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. And not only
because it's used twice, but because it's used so emphatically.
So dogmatically, he hath not God. And he that abideth in the
doctrine of Christ, what a promise, he hath both the Father and the
Son. What's the doctrine of Christ?
What is it? Let me give you five things that
I believe are included in the doctrine of Christ, and I hope
you listen to them, because here's the test The inspired writer
of Holy Scripture says, this is it. Whosoever abideth not
in the doctrine of Christ. Well, first of all, turn to John
14. John 14. Now, let's begin where
the Lord began with his disciples. The doctrine of Christ has to
be, first of all, his deity and eternality. It has to be that. John wrote in John 1, in the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God, and all things were made by Him, and without Him
was not anything made that was made. He was in the beginning,
and that Word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. And then he started his book
of 1 John, he says, that which was from the beginning, which
we've heard, which we've seen, which our hands have handled,
declare we unto you, that which was from the beginning. And here
in John 14, our Lord walking to the cross, comforts his disciples
with these words, let not your heart be troubled, you believe
in God, believe also in me. Believe also in me." Look at
verse 7. If you had known me, you should
have known my Father also, and from henceforth you know him,
and have seen him. And Philip said, Lord, show us
the Father, and we'll be satisfied. He said, Have I been so long
time with you, and yet thou hast not known me, Philip? He that
hath seen me hath seen the Father. This was the issue between him
and the Pharisees. Turn to John chapter 10, listen
to it. This was the issue, his deity,
his eternality. Glorify thou me, he prayed in
John 17, with the glory which I had with me before the world
was. In John 10.30 he said, I and
my father once. Then The Jews took up stones
again to stone him, and Jesus answered, Many good works have
I shown you from my Father. For which of these works do you
stone me? And they answered, saying, For good work we stone
thee not, but for blasphemy, because that thou, being a man,
makest thyself God. Turn back to John 8. This was
the issue between Christ and the Pharisees. John 8, verse
56. Listen to it. Your father Abraham,
he said, rejoiced to see my day. He saw and he was glad. Why the
Jews said unto him, You're not fifty years old. Hast thou seen
Abraham? Jesus said unto them, and don't
you think for a moment they didn't understand what he said here.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham was, I am. Whom shall I say hath sent me,
Moses said to the burning bush? You tell him, I am. Then, then took they up stones
to cast at him. What is this doctrine of Christ?
It has to be, it has to begin here. The deity of Christ, the
eternality of Christ, is precious, precious Godhead. Now if you want to check different
translations of the scripture, You turn to all three of these
verses. These are three clear scriptures.
In 2 Corinthians 5.19, the scripture says, God was in Christ, reconciling
the world to himself. In Acts 20, verse 28, Paul said
to the elders, You feed the church of God which he purchased with
his own blood. Or you look at Hebrews 1.8, wherein
the Father said to the Son, Thy throne, O God, is forever. The King James Version leads
no doubt to the deity of Jesus Christ. Some of the new ones
do. That's the first part of the doctrine of Christ. Whosoever
transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, his
deity, his eternality, hath not God. Secondly, what is the doctrine
of Christ? The doctrine of Christ is his
covenant relationship with his people. Now I'm going to read something
to you, and I want to know what your reaction is to this as I
read it. Back before the foundation of
this There was a covenant made, entered
into, sealed with an oath, in which the Heavenly Father said,
I, the Most High Jehovah, do hereby give unto my beloved Son
a people countless beyond the number of the stars or the sands
of the seashore. out of every nation, tribe, kindred,
and tongue unto heaven, who shall be by him washed from their sins,
who shall be by him preserved and kept, who shall be by him
at last presented before my throne without spot or wrinkle. These
I give to my they shall be the objects of my eternal love. I
will forgive them through the merits of his blood, I will pardon
them through the merits of his sacrifice, I will give them a
perfect righteousness through the merits of his obedience,
and they shall reign with him forever and forever. I, the Son, covenant that in the fullness
of time I will become a man. I will take upon myself the form
and nature of Adam's fallen race. I will live in their rescued
world in the flesh, and for my people I will obey the law perfectly. In due time I'll bear their sins
in my body on the tree." I will bear thy wrath, my Father, against
their sins, and by my stripes they shall be healed. I will
be buried and rise again, and I will ascend to thy presence,
where I shall intercede for them. And I will make myself surety,
responsible for every one of them. I will bring every sheep
to glory, and of those which thou hast given me I lose nothing. I, the Holy Spirit, will in due
time quicken to spiritual life all whom the Father hath given
to the Son. I will show them their sins.
I will tear down all of their false hope. I will destroy their
false self-righteousness. I will show them their inability.
I will reveal Christ as their substitute and their savior and
their sacrifice. I will reveal the Son to their
hearts. I will bring them to genuine,
godly sorrow for sin, genuine repentance toward thee, and faith
in thy Son, and I will keep them in that faith. And they shall be brought to
glory." Turn to John 6, listen to the Master talk about this
covenant. In John 6 verse 37, John 6 verse 37, he says, All
that the Father giveth me, that's what I just said, shall come
to me. How? No man can come to me except
my Father draw him. And him that cometh to me I'll
in no wise cast out, for I came down from heaven not to do mine
own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the
Father's will, which hath sent me, that of all which he hath
given me, I'll lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day.
This is the will of him that sent me, that every one that
seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life, I'll raise him up at the last day. Verse 44, No man can
come to me, except the Father which sent me draw him, and I'll
raise him up at the last day. Turn to John 10. John 10, verse
22, it was at Jerusalem, the Feast of the Dedication, it was
winter. John 10, 23, And Jesus walked in the temple, and Solomon's
porch, and the Jews came round about, and they said, How long
dost thou make us doubt, if thou be the Christ? Tell us plainly.
And Jesus answered, I told you, and you believe not. The works
that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me, but
you believe not, because you are not of my sheep. As I said
unto you, my sheep hear my voice, they follow me, I know them,
they follow me, and I give them eternal life. Look back at verse
14, John 10. I am the good shepherd, I know
my sheep, I know of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And
other sheep I have which are not of this foal, them also I
must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and they shall be one
foal and one shepherd. Not maybe, They shall be. Turn to John 17. Here is the priestly prayer of
our Lord. Here is the surety of the covenant who prays to
the giver of the sheep. These words spake Jesus and lifted
up his eyes to heaven and said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify
thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee. as thou hast given
him authority over all flesh, that he should give eternal life
to as many as thou hast given him. Verse 9, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, for they are thine, and all
mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them.
Turn to Romans chapter 8. Romans 8, verse 29, for whom
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
then he called, whom he called, then he justified, whom he justified,
then he glorified. What shall we say to these things?
If God be for us, who can be against He that spared not his
own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not
with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. I'll
tell you, the doctrine of Christ is not only His eternality, His
deity, but His suretyship, His covenant relationship with the
people. given him by the Father. And
then thirdly, what is this doctrine of Christ? You can't disassociate
Christ from his covenant. Why, he's been the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. When you identify Christ, you
identify him as the creator of the world. You identify him as
the surety of the covenant, the Lamb slain from before the foundation
of the world. That's his character, that's
his identification. Now if you identify me, the first
thing you'd probably say is pastor of the 13th Street Baptist Church.
I've been here 20 some odd years. Then you'd identify me with Stephens
Street. I lived over there a long, long,
long, long, long time. You'd identify me with my family. They're part of me. associated
with me, you'd identify me with a radio broadcast. I was on that
twenty-some-odd years. Well, when you're identifying
Christ, when you're talking about the doctrine of Christ, you identify
those things with which he's associated eternally. He is Godhead. He is covenant. You see what I'm saying? Who
is he? He's the eternal one. Who is
he? He's the redemptive one, Jehovah. So thirdly, the doctrine of Christ
is his redemptive work. Now here's the heart of the gospel. Without God's eternal purpose,
there wouldn't be any salvation for sinners. We know that. No
question about that. We've been dealing with that
already. If God hadn't pleased to save somebody, nobody would
be saved. We'd be like the angels who are
reserved in chains of darkness under everlasting condemnation
if God had not been pleased to have a people. Without God's
purpose, there'd be no gospel, there'd be no redemption, there'd
be no salvation. Without Christ's willingness to be our surety,
there'd be no gospel. I love that old song that goes, Oh what a Savior,
oh hallelujah, but I don't like the way it starts. It says they
searched through heaven to find a Savior. That's one search.
It only had one step. The only one who could be our
Savior was Christ. God never searched through heaven,
and he never searched through earth, and he never searched
through hell to find a Savior. There was but one Savior, for
the Savior existed before the angels and before man, before
the morning stars sang together. The Savior came out of the Godhead,
the Trinity. And without his willingness,
he said, no man taketh my life from me. This wasn't shoved upon
him. He said, I'll lay it down. I
have the power to lay it down and take it up. Without Christ's
willingness to be our surety, there'd be no salvation. There'd
be no gospel. Without the Holy Spirit's work,
no sinner would be saved. We know that. But the heart of redemption The heart
of salvation, the heart of justification, the heart of sanctification,
lies in our Lord's actual redemptive work. That's where it lies. In his actual redemptive work
which he performed in the flesh. That's the heart of the gospel. The reason for the gospel is
God's purpose. The foundation of the gospel
is God's grace. The source of the gospel is God's
love. But the heart of the gospel is
Christ's redemptive work. He actually came into this world
through the womb of the Virgin Mary. In the fullness of time,
God sent forth His Son. God prophesied him, God predicted
him, God pictured him, but in the fullness of time, God presented
him. You see what I'm saying? Right
here on this earth, the word was made f-l-e-s-h, flesh, and
dwelt among us. He obeyed the perfect law. By
one man's disobedience we became sinners. By his obedience we
remained righteous. By what? Not by the prophecy
of it, not by the pictures of it, by his obedience. Paul said in 1 Corinthians, Brethren,
I preach the gospel to you wherein you stand, by which you are saved,
which you believe. Christ died for our sins, actually
died for our sins. according to the scriptures,
according to the prophecy, according to the picture, according to
all the symbols and types, but he died. He was made sin, who
knew no sin. He bore our transgressions and
our iniquities and our sins, he bore them in his body. By
his stripes we're healed. And he was buried, and he laid
in the grave. He couldn't be the redeemer of
those who would lay in the grave unless he lay there himself.
He couldn't be the redeemer of those who deserved death unless
he died himself. He couldn't be the sanctification
of those upon whom the law charged that they be obedient unless
he obeyed. I saw the cross of Jesus when
burdened with my sin, I sought the cross of Jesus to give me
peace within. I brought my soul to Jesus, and
he cleansed it in his blood, and in the cross of Jesus I found
peace with God." In the cross. In the cross. That's the doctrine
of Christ. His actual redemptive work. His work of substitution. His
sacrifice, His bleeding, His agony, His death, His burial,
His resurrection, His ascension. Whoso transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ, his redemptive work hath not
God. Fourthly, you can't leave any
of these out. You better not stop there. That's
where a lot of Baptists have stopped right there. Oh, I believe
in election. That's good. That's good. Some of the most wretched folks
that ever died and went to hell believed in election. Oh, I believe. I believe in the covenant of
grace. I believe in Christ's deity. I believe He died on the
cross. I believe in His finished work. And they stopped right there.
Let me tell you this. The devil bleeds every one of
those things. Bleeds every one of them. Every single one. That's what
James said. He said, you believe in one God,
you do well, the devil bleeds and trembles. The devil is an orthodox theologian. He knows the truth. And he did. But the doctrine of Christ, you
can't stop there. The doctrine of Christ includes
a living, personal, vital union with that Christ. Now look at
John 15, see if I'm not telling you the truth. In John 15, he
says, verse 4, "'Abide in me, and I in you.'" It's not just believe, it's abide. It's not just to accept with
mental agreement some facts. Abide in me and I in you. The branch cannot bear fruit
of itself except it abide in the vine. No more can you except
you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches.
He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit. Without me you can do nothing.
If a man abide not in me, he's cast forth as a branch and withered,
and men gather them and cast them into the fire. and they're
burned. Now then, let me say this, and
you remember this, you remember this. Just as all of the plans
and purposes of covenant grace, without the participation of
Christ in human flesh as substitute are vain, The plans for redeeming won't
save. The purposes of God won't save, unless those purposes are realized
in the actual participation of Christ in the flesh, doing what
he did. He learned obedience for the
things he suffered. He made himself of no reputation. died, even the death of the cross. Even so, now listen to this,
even so, the work of Christ avails a sinner nothing, nothing, without
faith in Christ, and without a living union with Christ. That's what scripture says. The
Word of God says, He that believeth on the Son of God hath life,
and he that believeth not the Son of God shall not see life.
He that hath the Son of God hath life. He that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. Isn't that what it's saying? Galatians 2.20, I am crucified
with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for
me. Christ liveth in me." Not his doctrine, he lives there. Not his covenant, he lives there. Not his Bible, he lives there. Just as we say that the plans
and purposes of God, all of the eternal covenants and mercies
which are ordained and purposed and planned, must have a fulfillment
in the person of the Christ who came and did what God required
of us. And even so, these doctrines
which we believe, we believe that Christ died. Christ died
for whom? We believe that Christ suffered.
Christ suffered for whom? We believe that Christ is the
mediator. For whom? We believe that Christ's
word, Christ's laws, Christ's commandments, the fruit of the
Spirit, the graces of the Spirit, all of these things, they're
out there in the Word of God. For whom? For me and you. We love him. We trust him. Paul says, commit ourselves to
him. We receive him. We believe on
him. We walk with him. We live in
him. And then I think in the fifth
place, quickly, the doctrine of Christ, back at John chapter
14, is his return. All who love him look for his
return. He said in verse 3 of John 14,
And if I go and prepare a place for you, I'll come again. I'll come again." Every one of
these apostles, every one of these disciples of Christ, these
writers of Holy Scripture, they look for his return, they long
for his return, they yearn for his return. And John closed the
last book in the Bible with these words, Even so come, Lord Jesus. Even so come. As I began my message tonight,
I described the religious world. A world in which we live, a world
in which we work, a world in which we socialize. I described
a religious world. I know you've got loved ones,
I've got loved ones and friends, neighbors. We want them to know
the Lord. We want them to be saved. We
want them to be in glory. We cannot rejoice in the death
and the condemnation of any sinner. Can't do it, not yet. John clearly
says to us, he that transgresseth and abides not in the doctrine
of Christ. Here's where life is, it's in
Christ. It's in Christ, that's where it is, it's not in the
Church. It's not in the ordinances of the Church, it's not even
in the doctrines of the Church, it's in Christ. The doctrine
of Christ. And he that abideth not in the
doctrine of Christ hath not God. And we better come to know something
about this person of Christ. Who is he? What did he come to
do? Why did he do it? And we better
find out something about his character and his nature and
his attitude. Because the scripture says, let
this mind be in you which was also in Christ. In Christ. Our Father in Heaven.
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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