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Henry Mahan

What Is Faith and Why Do We Believe?

Acts 8:37
Henry Mahan • April, 11 1976 • Audio
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Message 0189b
Henry Mahan Tape Ministry
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Sermon Transcript

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In the book of Psalms, David
declared, the salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. In the book of Jonah, the prophet
of God, after his experience in the whale's belly,
cried, salvation is of the Lord. Of this I have not the slightest
doubt. If the Lord of glory had not
left us a remnant, we would have been as Sodom and Gomorrah. Who maketh thee to differ? What
hast thou that thou didst not receive? God made you to differ. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, that
God hath hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and
revealed them unto babes, because it seemed good in his sight.
Salvation is of the Lord from beginning to end. He's the author
and finisher of our faith. The eternal covenant of grace
is just that. It's grace. The gift of God's
Son is just that. It's a gift. The gospel of mercy
is just that, mercy. The calling of the Holy Spirit
is just that. It's a calling. We did not plan
salvation, we did not prepare salvation, we did not pursue
salvation. The eternal God of glory purposed
it and planned it in His wise decrees. In the fullness of time
He executed it By smiting his son on Calvary's cross and by
his power raised him from the dead and exalted him at his right
hand. The eternal God of all grace
quickened our hearts when we were dead in trespasses and sin
and called us unto himself. And when this life is over, the
eternal God of glory will perfect that which he has started. Salvation
is a lifetime experience. God has saved us by his grace,
he is in the process of saving us by his grace, and someday
we shall be completely saved by his grace. We are not saved
yet. And I mean that in the sense
of this, that the work is not yet fully done as far as I'm
concerned, because when Christ shall appear, I'm going to be
like him. Now in the Eyes of God and in
the purpose of God, I'm already like Christ, but in the flesh
I'm a long ways from being like Christ. And our salvation is
nearer than when we believe, but it's all of grace in its
planning, in its execution, in its application, in its sustaining
power, in its ultimate perfection. It's all of God. Salvation is
not what I've done for Him. Salvation is totally and fully
and completely and absolutely what God has done for me. In
this matter of acceptance with God and salvation and eternal
life, I believe that the sinner is holy and completely and absolutely
passive. Now that's so, in acceptance
with God. We're accepted in the Beloved.
Not in our promise to do better, not in our decision to follow
Christ, not in our acceptance of a few facts. But we're accepted
wholly and completely in the Beloved. Jesus paid it all, not
part of it. Somebody said, paid a part, and
I'll part you know, sin left a crimson stain, but Jesus and
I washed it white as snow." I don't believe that. I believe Jesus
paid it all, all the debt I owe, sin left a crimson stain and
He washed it. And I don't want the creature,
and I don't want the works of the creature, nor the merit of
the creature to enter into this debt that has been paid by my
Lord. He paid it all, all the debt I owe. I believe that. Of
that, I have no doubt. But now, Paul said in the book
of Romans, chapter 10. Now, you stay with me tonight
and listen carefully. Now, I've laid a foundation there
for some things I'm about to say. In Romans, chapter 10, verse
13, the Scripture says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved. Whosoever God hath chosen shall
be saved. Whosoever Christ represented
shall be saved. Whosoever's name is in the Book
of Life shall be saved. But it is also true that whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's in
the same Bible. In Mark 16, 16, our Lord said
before He went back to the Father, in the 16th chapter of Mark,
verse 16, to His disciples, verse 15, He said, You go into all
the world. into Europe and Asia and Africa
and America and China and Russia and Mexico and Canada. You go into all the world and
you preach the gospel, not to those in whom you see some evidence
of the Spirit's work. You go preach the gospel not
to those who show some sensitivity to the Bible. to the gospel. You preach the gospel not to
those whom you think are the elect or show some signs of being
so. You preach the gospel to every
creature. Every little burr-headed boy,
every little freckled-faced girl, every mother and daddy, every
grandma and grandpa, you preach the gospel to every creature.
And he that is elect shall be saved. No, it doesn't say that.
It says, he that believeth. When you preach the gospel to
every creature, the way you're going to tell who God's people
are and those for whom Christ died is their response and reaction
to the gospel. Those that believe and are baptized
shall be saved, and those who don't believe shall be damned,
it doesn't matter who they are. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. When you preach the gospel to
every creature, he that believes that gospel is going to be saved,
and he who does not believe that gospel is going to be damned. If you stay by that, you won't
have any trouble. Of that, I have no doubt. Salvation
is of the Lord. I wouldn't question that. You
could pull my eyes out and my thumbs off, I'd want the grace
to stand it, but in my heart I know it's so. I may deny it
with my lips under that kind of pressure, but in my heart
I know salvation is of the Lord. I know salvation not what I've
done for him, but what he's done for me. I know I can't pull myself
out of the dunghill by my own bootstrap. I cannot climb to
heaven on the spider web of my own righteousness. I cannot hide
my sins and nakedness behind a fig leaf apron woven by my
own hands. It must be by the grace of God
through the merits of Christ. I know that. But I also know
that wherever I preach the gospel, if I can find me somebody, who
will believe that gospel, I'll find me somebody whom God will
save. And when I preach that gospel,
those who do not believe it, God's going to damn. Of that,
I have no doubt. The same Lord who ordained the
gift of salvation and the grounds of salvation ordained the means
of salvation. Turn back to the book of Romans,
chapter ten. Romans, the tenth chapter, verse
nine. Listen to Paul. Romans 10, verse
9, "...if thou," whoever you are, white or black, rich or
poor, old or young, learned or ignorant, "...if thou," not if
thou Jew, not if thou Gentile, not if thou white person, if
thou black person, "...if thou shalt confess with thy mouth
the Lord Jesus," or Jesus to be Lord, "...and shalt believe
in thine heart," not by your daddy's faith or your mama's
faith, but with your heart. If you confess with your mouth
and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
or the record God had given concerning his son, God will save you. That's
what he said, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth,
the individual believeth, the person believeth unto righteousness,
and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. My heart
must intelligently believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. I cannot
believe for Paul Edward. My father cannot believe for
me. My grandfather cannot believe
for him. I cannot believe for you. You
cannot believe for me. My heart must believe that Christ
is the Lord. I must see myself a sinner. I
must see my need of Christ. I must cling to Christ with all
my heart. I must look to Him with my eyes
of faith. That's what it says right here.
That's plainly written. My mouth must willingly, my heart
must intelligently, and my mouth must willingly confess that Jesus
Christ is Lord. Now, I don't care what anybody
says, our Lord's not going to have an unwilling bride. Somebody
says, well, if you believe in election, you believe a person's
going to be saved if he's elect, and he's not going to be saved
if he's not elect, no matter what he does. That is not so.
Election is not salvation, election is unto salvation. Our Lord will
have no unwilling bride, every person who comes to him is going
to come willingly. Now when God ordained the ark,
anybody here want to fuss over that? There isn't an Arminian
or a Calvinist or an antinomian or a legalist or anything else
that would declare that God ordained the Ark. Isn't that right? God
ordained the Ark. You can't question that. You'd
be a fool to question that. God designed the Ark. God drew
the blueprints of the Ark. God told Noah to build the Ark.
God sent the rain. God ordained that Ark the size
that He wanted it to hold the number of people that He intended
to put on it. Now, you can't doubt that. That's
so. That's so. You turn to the book of Genesis,
if you will, along about chapter 6, chapter 7. Now there's no
question about that. God ordained the ark. Man be
a total idiot to deny that. God purposed it, God planned
it, God ordained it, God set it forth. It was all of the Lord,
the flood, the ark, and all connected with it. But when it came time
to enter the ark, Genesis 7, verse 1, the Lord said to Noah,
No one will pick you up by the hair of the head and throw you
in there whether you want to go in or not. No, sir, he did not.
He said, Noah, come thou and all thy house into the ark. That's an invitation. Come into
the ark, Noah. Come on, Noah. And verse 5 says,
Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. God will
have no unwilling servants. God will have no unloving friends.
Christ will have no disloyal disciples. Everybody who goes
into the ark goes in there just as willingly as the people stayed
out, willingly. I guarantee you God didn't prevent
anybody from coming in, and God didn't make anybody go in. He
invited Noah in. And Noah came in willingly because
he wanted to come in, because he believed God, and the folks
that stayed out stayed out because they didn't believe God and didn't
want to come in. And everybody here tonight who
is saved is saved because he wanted to be saved, and everybody
who's not saved is not saved because he doesn't want to be
saved. Now don't tell me you're sitting there tonight and you
want to be saved but God won't save you. That's a lie. That's
not so. There's not a word of truth in
that. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved." I have God's promise, and I know
He's true, and the Scripture says, let every man be a liar.
God is true. God cannot lie. We can, and do,
and will, and most of the time we do, when God never lies. And He says He'll save all who
believe, all who come, all who call. A man says, well, I called
and He wouldn't hear me. That ain't so. No, sir, that's
not so. Well, I want to be saved, but
I don't think I'm one of the elect. Well, good possibility
you're not, because you're lying. You don't want to be saved. Our
Lord says, the table is spread, the feast is ready, come and
eat. The water of life is free, drink. But I'm not thirsty, I thought
so. God ordained the Passover lamb in Egypt. God ordained the
way of escape from His wrath at midnight. Is that not true?
Everybody knows that. There's not a soul on earth or
in heaven that would deny, who believes the Bible at all, would
deny that God ordained the Passover lamb. God ordained death for
the firstborn at midnight in Egypt. God ordained these things,
but He instructed the Israelite to put the blood on the door.
And they willingly, intelligently, obediently put that blood on
the door. And where that blood was on the
door, God's passed over that house. God said, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. Not when I see the covenant,
not when I see what I ordained to do, what I purposed to do,
but when I see the blood. And the blood was put there willingly. God ordained it, I know that.
God made them willing, I know that. But brethren, they rose
up and put that blood on the door by faith. And everywhere
there was blood on the door, there was a safe son. And everywhere
that there was no blood on the door, there was a dead son. Now God ordained the serpent
of brass. The children of Israel had been
bitten by the fiery serpents and they were dying. And Moses
came to God and said, the people are dying, O Lord, they're dying.
What can we do? The Lord said, make a serpent
of brass and put it on a pole and lift it up between heaven
and earth. It was a type of Christ. And
Moses lifted up that serpent, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. And Moses lifted up that serpent.
God ordained the serpent. God planned the serpent. God described the serpent to
Moses. God provided the serpent. But the only people that lived
were those that looked to the serpent. Moses lifted it up. He said,
Now look! If God wants me to be well, He'll
heal me. I'm going to lay right here on
my bed. I know it. That's exactly what you're going
to do, and go to hell. Now, brethren, you can be a fatalist. You can be a cold, hard, dead,
orthodox theologian and perish in the flames of God's eternal
wrath. You're not careful. God ordained
the serpent of brass. He had Moses put it on a pole.
He invited the Israelites to live. And they looked, and the
ones that looked lived. I have a message from the Lord.
This message unto you I give. It's recorded in His Word. It's
only that you look and live. If you're bitten by the serpent
of sin, if you're dying without hope and without God, there's
been a Savior lifted up on Calvary's mountain who shed His blood.
If you'll look, you'll live. The gift of Christ is given of
God. The heart is prepared to receive
it, but the heart must receive it. You think about that a moment
now. The gift of Christ is given by
God, and the heart is prepared to receive him, but it must receive
him. As many as receive him, to them
gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe
on his name. The gospel is freely given. And
all who believe are saved, and faith is given to believe, but
it must be believed." The gospel must be believed. Sins that are confessed will
be forgiven, but they must be confessed. Our Lord said, if
we shall confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive
us our sins. Well, if God wants to forgive
my sins, He can. He said, if you'll confess them,
He will. But if God wants to save me,
he can. I know that, but he said if you
believe, he would. But if God wants to create Christ
in my heart, he can. Yeah, he said he would if you'd
receive him. Christ is the bread, but you
can stand and look at a loaf of bread and die of starvation.
Christ is the water, but you can stand and look at a well
of crystal clear water and die of thirst. You can know the dimensions
of the well, and the depth of the well, and the quality of
the water, and you can be able to exhort on it all day long
about the sufficiency of it, and the efficiency of it, and
all these things, and not drink it yourself. Right? Come to the water. Oh, everyone
that thirsteth, come to the water. Oh, everyone that thirsteth,
you'll be satisfied. Oh no, you won't if you don't
come to the water. You won't be satisfied looking
at it. You won't be satisfied learning about it. You won't
be satisfied hearing about it. You'll be satisfied by drinking
it. What is faith? Turn to 2 Timothy,
chapter 1. 2 Timothy, the first chapter,
beginning with verse 12. We're looking at verse 12. 2
Timothy 1, 12. Paul said, I am not ashamed. For the witch cause I suffer
these things. People have talked about me and
criticized me and persecuted me for these things, for the
gospel, but I'm not ashamed. Yes, the gospel of sovereign
grace is offensive. I know that. I wish that it didn't
offend. The gospel of redemption through
the blood, the cross of Christ, is offensive. It offends man's
dignity to call him a sinner, an unclean rebel. It offends
man's pride to make salvation a gift of grace, not something
that he does himself. He'd rather give up Coca-Cola
during Lent than to go to heaven instead of looking to Christ.
He wants to do something. He'd rather crawl on his hands
and knees from here to Miami if you'll let him, if you'll
take him to heaven for doing it. Anything but looking to the
cross, anything but receiving mercy as from the hand of God,
anything but coming before God as a beggar, a naked, ragged,
hungry, friendless, penniless, broke, bankrupt beggar that offends
his pride, I'm somebody, God's awful fortunate to have me in
his kingdom, and offends his pride to make salvation a gift.
It offends his wisdom to shut him up to the revelation of God's
Spirit. It offends his love of sin to
demand righteousness, perfect righteousness, which he can't
supply, which only Christ can produce. But Paul said, I'm not
ashamed of it. I'm not ashamed. Look at the
next line. I know whom I have believed. It's a person. It's not a thing, not a doctrine. It's a person. Christ is the
object of faith. I'm not asking you to put your
faith in the Bible. I'm asking you to put your faith
in the Christ of the Bible. We believe the Bible, but the
Bible didn't die on the cross for us. Christ did. I'm not asking
you to put your faith in the church. The church will fail
you. I'm not asking you to put your
faith in a man or in yourself. I'm asking you to put your faith
not in the law or morality. I'm asking you to look to Christ.
Christ is the object of faith. Paul said, I'm not ashamed. I
know whom I have believed. I know Him. I know He's the Son
of God. I know He's the Christ of the
Bible. I know He's the Christ of the tithes. I know He's the
Christ of the cross. I know whom I have believed.
I am persuaded. Look at the next line. I am persuaded.
I am confident that He is an able Savior. Now, I've given
this illustration before. I'll repeat it. for the benefit
of the boys and girls. If I owed a large debt at the
bank, and somebody came to me tomorrow and said, how much do
you owe the bank? And I say, I owe the bank $50,000.
He'll say, well, I'll tell you what I'm going to do. You just
forget that debt. I'm going to take care of it. Now, my confidence depends on
two things. My ability to rest and to relax
and to feel that the debt is paid depends on two things. Number
one, on my friend's willingness to do it, and on my friend's
ability to do it. Now, if this sweet little girl
came to me and said, Brother Man, how much you owe the bank?
Fifty thousand. Don't you worry, I'll take care of it, Brother
Man. Well, I couldn't, I don't believe she could. See, she may
be willing, totally willing, but not able. Not able. But my Lord Jesus Christ, I owe
a greater debt than that to God. I owe the debt of sin, the debt
of rebellion, the debt of a broken law, the debt of a lifetime of
guilt. And my Lord Jesus said, do you
want forgiveness? Do you want a clean record? Do
you want a clean slate? Yeah, Lord. Well, you can have
it. I'll give it to you. Now, two
things. Number one, his willingness to do it. Now, he's willing.
Brethren, the unwillingness is not on the part of God. The unwillingness
is on the part of the sinner. God is willing to save sinners. He said He delights in showing
mercy. And the second thing is He able. Now, the priest came in to an
old lady. She was dying. He came in beside her bed. She
knew she was dying. He knew she was dying. And he
said, dear friend, he said, I've come to forgive you of your sins.
He said, I beg your pardon. He said, I've come to forgive
you of your sins. Why, she said, let me see your
hands. And the priest stood there in
his lady's garments, you know, with his robe hanging down and
little thing with tassel hanging down here and his book with a
red do-lolly hanging off of it and his cap on his head. And
he said, I beg your pardon. She said, let me see your hand.
He stuck out his hand. She examined it real carefully.
She said, son, you can't forgive sin. Said, the only one who can forgive
sins has got nail prints in his hands and in his feet. You don't have any nail prints.
So when a priest says he can forgive your sins, he's a liar
and the truth's not in him. When Mary says she can forgive
sin, she's a liar. When the church says it can forgive
sin, they're not dealing straight with you. The only one who can
forgive sins is the one who took them in his body on the tree
and died for them, and paid the debt. God doesn't forgive sin
by hocus-pocus. He forgives sin by legally satisfaction,
legal satisfaction, that debt being paid. That's how God forgives
sin. God will in no wise clear the
guilty. Every sin and transgression shall
receive a just, recompensive reward. Every one of my sins
are going to be punished. Every one of them. Every one
of your sins are going to be punished. All sin is going to
be punished. God's not going to slip anybody
into heaven. God doesn't forgive sins by erasing
them. Sins are paid for by the blood
of Christ. Christ took them in His body.
He took our sin under the wrath and judgment of God. He paid
for them. That's the reason there's no
condemnation to them who are in Christ, because the debt's
been paid. Not hocus-pocus, not passing
over them, not ripping out the page. God couldn't be holy and
do that. If that man's a criminal, that
criminal's got to face the law, and that law's got to be satisfied,
and that judge has got to be honest. Or somebody's a crook. There's a crook somewhere. And
there's no crook on the throne of glory. There's a just and
holy and righteous God who sent His Son to take my place and
honor the law and take my place and bear the judgment and justice
of God for me. And now God can show love to
me because His Son paid my debt. I don't have any sin. What in
the world are you talking about, preacher? You're a sinner? Yes,
but I don't have any sin. Because Jesus has put them away.
He separated them from me as far as the east is from the west.
You believe what you sang a while ago? My sins are all taken away. Well, all but unbelief. Oh, no.
All of them are taken away. If unbelief is not taken away,
I'm sure for hell, and so are you. All of them are taken away.
All of my past sins, present sins, future sins are under the
blood of Jesus. You don't believe that? You're
an atheist. I've got you between a rock and a hard place. I know
what I'm talking about. If you don't believe that, you're
an idolater. Now, if you don't believe that, you're unsaved.
That's so now. It's either Christ or hell. You've
got no middle ground. God will tolerate a lot of things,
but he won't tolerate anybody dishonoring his Son. It's either
all glory to Christ or all glory to man. They're not going to
split the difference. That's so. It's all of grace or it's
of works. It's one or the other. It's all
of works or of grace. Either all my sins are put away
by the blood of Christ or none of them are. Paul said, I know
whom I, I'm not ashamed of theirs, I know whom I have believed and
I'm persuaded he's able. He's able, now watch it, he's
able to what? He's able to keep that which I have committed unto
him. Faith is a committal. It's a
person, it's the knowledge of a person. It's a persuasion that
that person is able, a confidence. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is, and that he's the rewarder of them that diligently
seek him, or don't come. Now, if you're going to dishonor
the character of God, don't call on him. You're in trouble. You've
got to come to him as a sovereign. You've got to come to him with
confidence and persuasion that he's able to do what he said,
or don't dilly-daddle in his presence. Just stay away from
God. And what I'm giving you good advice here, he that cometh
to God must believe that he is, he must believe that he is the
rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Don't you bring any
dishonor on the character of God. What if your son came to
you and said, Dad, I know your word's not too good, and I know
every once in a while you lie a little bit, and I know a lot
of times you promise me things you won't give me, but I wonder
if you'd slip me a dollar. You'd better get out of here,
boy. But now if that son comes to
a father and said, Father, I know that you always do what you say
you're going to do. I know you're able to do anything
you set out to do. I know you're strong and able
and willing and my protector and my provider. I wonder if
you'd buy me, I wonder if you'd buy me a new bicycle. I bet that
boy would ride away with a motorcycle. Now that's good sin. But you
just don't come to God questioning His power, questioning His ability. It's a coming to God with a full
persuasion. They can do what He says. Now
listen to the last line, which I have committed unto Him. I've committed unto Him. I want
you to turn with me to the book of Exodus, just a moment. The
book of Exodus. I think it's Exodus chapter Oh,
let's look at chapter 8, maybe. Here's an illustration I want
you to see. Exodus. Oh, here it is. In chapter 9
of Exodus. Now, God said, Moses, I'm going
to send a terrible hail into Egypt. A terrible hail. It's one of the plagues brought
on Pharaoh. Now, verse 19. Send therefore now and gather
your cattle and all you have in the field. For upon every
man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall
not be brought home, hell shall come down, and they're going
to die." Now, brethren, you know I can tell you who believes and
who doesn't believe? In this case, the next verse tells us
who it is. It says, "...he that feared the
words of the Lord among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants
and his cattle go home." That's the fellow that believed. You
see what I'm saying? It's a committal. Now a fellow
left his cattle out there in the field, they're going to die. But he left them out there because
he didn't believe God. Everybody who believed God did
what God said for them to do and brought their cattle home.
And their cattle live. Faith is a committal. We practice
committal every day. The farmer believes the seed
will grow, so he commits it to the ground. I'll guarantee you,
he'll have no harvest if he doesn't sow the seed. The sick need surgery. They commit themselves to the
doctor. We commit ourselves to an airplane, knowing that it
will arrive at home, or believing it will. We exercise faith every
day by committing ourselves. This water right here comes out
of that river. I wouldn't drink water in Mexico, out there among
the Navy. Afraid of it. Didn't have any
faith in it. Afraid I'd get sick. I'd be thirsty out there in the
field, and I'd be standing there, and a woman would be drawing
water, beautiful, cool, cool, clear water, and she'd pour it
into a pot. I wouldn't have drunk a cup of
that water for a hundred dollar bill. I could just see the germs
floating around in it, you know. But this water, I figured I'd
drink it. Came out of that old river. But I have confidence
in the system down here that purifies it. And I can say, Lord
Jesus, I receive you, I believe on you, I trust you, because
I have confidence that he's able to save me. I need a Savior,
and I can't save myself. He's the only one that can. He's
the only one, the only one who can be a Savior and be fair to
God and man, be right for God and man. The only one. The only
one who can satisfy God's justice and righteousness, and the only
one who's within reach of any sinner. Whether he's a thief
dying on a cross, or he's a little boy or girl to whom Christ said,
come to me, suffer the little children and come to me. Whether
it be a man who's rich in earthly possessions or a man who's totally
poor. Whether it be a man who can read
well or a man who can't read at all. Whether it be a man who's
young or a man who's old. It's all fair and right and free. Will you come? I am not ashamed. I know whom I have believed.
I'm persuaded he's able to save and keep. that which I have intelligently
and willingly and eternally committed to him." Have you committed yourself
to Christ? Have you? What if I told you
tonight God's going to visit you in death? Thy fool, this
night shall thy soul be required of thee. Have you committed yourself to
Christ? Have you believed this in your heart? Have you confessed
it with your mouth? Have you ever confessed Christ
publicly? Have you ever? Have you ever
said, Christ is my Lord and my God? That's the Word. The Word said
if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth,
you'll be saved. And nobody else is going to be saved. But that's
God's promise, and it's free if you'll receive it. Our Father,
honor the Word tonight. bring glory to the Lord Jesus.
Sound a warning note, a clear trumpet here tonight to every
heart. Come into the ark. Flee from
the falling hail. Flee from the wrath to come.
He that believeth on the sun hath everlasting life. He that
believeth not shall not see life. Precedent firmly and eternally
into our hearts. Make Christ our hope and Christ
alone. 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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