Henry T. Mahan / Zebulon Grace Church

Amen dear Brother Tom. And I would add to preach the Gospel is to become as Christ commissioned His Apostles in Matt. 4:19 “fishers of men”. Even as we see in this mortal world, can all men fish? Perhaps but not at equal skill or rates, and there are those who have zero interest in fishing. And as any seasoned fisherman can tell you, you don’t catch every fish, there are good days and bad days. Some fish fight harder than others, and there are some that seem to just glide right into your haul and into the net. Yet even the net is not our preaching. The net is God’s Spirit which embraces those for whom He was sent. For there are even those fish which escape the net, even fear or flee the net once it breaks the water’s surface. Let them be for they are not meant to be caught. No, our preaching is the cooperative blessed act of casting the net, invoking God’s Spirit, who alone can convict men’s hearts and draw them in with repentance and faith. All to the praise and honor of God’s glory, amen!

Seek ye the LORD while he may be found!! Listen! Heed! Search the Scriptures! Share this everywhere! What precious truth proclaimed! Who will hear and believe this report? Christ is All!

The Servant of Lord Christ Jesus presented who I am. Praise the Lord!

Always blessed by your sermons brother Tom. God moved me by your words and, after considering the wicked servant with 1 talent, drew my heart to reflect on His words in Luke 9:23-26. Recall the servant in Matt. 25:25 specifically state he was “afraid”—fearful of failure, ridicule, commitment etc. Luke 9:26 tells us the fate of them who are similarly “ashamed” of Christ and His words in this sinful world. God then drew me to reflect on Hebrews 10:23-31. The wicked servant buried his Lord’s talent, so as to appease the world, his own selfish pursuits and not be bothered with or reminded of his proper duties, which as followers of Christ we should naturally pursue good works (not to merit salvation but because God’s Spirit of charity guides us to desire those things regularly and share them with others). Hebrews 10:24-26 is practically an outline of the fate of those who forsake God’s grace, appease sin, and left to fear judgment, like the lazy servant, who would even bury and “trample underfoot” God’s gifts.

A wonderful sermon thank you so much

THE TRUTH OF AND BY THE WORD OF GOD SIMPLY DECLARED

Listened to this with my teenage son tonight as we studied the Scriptures together. Pastor Mahan taught from many passages clearly pointing us to Who this is all about, The Lord Jesus Christ. Have been trying to learn more about this subject and this teaching blessed and helped us both! Praise and thanks be to God!

The True Life of the elect sinner

Thank you for these Gospel truths and the sure refuge that is found in Christ Jesus. Not sure why but I started hearing that old business slogan “too big to fail”, but my heart immediately knew it was in contrast against where this lost world places its shallow and foolish confidence: in the manmade banking and monetary systems that often do fail. But it is in God’s promises alone where we find utmost assurance, satisfaction and peace: He is the only entity and Being too big to ever fail! I am reminded of that lesson Christ gave in Matt. 10:29-31 that God’s people can rest confidently in His provision, care and grace for He who watches over sparrows surely and jealously watches over and guards the souls of His saints from cradle to grave and beyond. Praise His holy name!

Thank you for the true message of salvation by grace through faith in Christ thank you

Amen brother Tom. Jesus came not to destroy but to fulfill that holy law of God. And indeed He came even to magnify the law, meaning to expand, to clarify, to increase in scope. For what purpose? So that those who would seek to establish their own self righteousness under the law, which is rightly condemnable and an impossibility (Galatians 2:16; 3:11), would have their mouths silenced before God who alone is just, righteous and holy. See then how Christ magnified that law to shut all self righteous, self boasting mouths: for He declared adultery is not just a mere physical act, but even looking at others to whom we are not married with lust in our hearts is sinful (Matt. 5:27-28). Christ also said murder is not a mere physical act either, but even when we hate or are angry at others, even reviling them (“you fool!”) are under judgment and in sin’s grip (Matt. 5:21-22). God’s law is not simply about the letter to convict us, but God’s Spirit that exposes the depravity in our souls. I love how you put it Tom, the Blessed Man is he who has been awoken to the true nature of his state and flesh: that all we can produce by our own faculties is sin and sinful. Knowing and swing that should drive us to the throne of grace and cling to the only Savior of sinners, the Lord Jesus Christ

A very rare explanation of Election and "Whosoever Will".

Amen dear Pastor, amen! I greatly enjoyed your perspective in breaking down why we indeed have the 4 separate accounts from Christ’s Apostles of the Gospel chronicles. I had never heard it explained from those angles but now see them with even greater insight and appreciation. I’m also drawn back to the statement in Deuteronomy 19:15 which has to do with establishing matters of criminality or offense on the basis of 2-3 eyewitnesses. How much more glorious then the witness of 4 men inspired by the Holy Spirit to faithfully record what they saw, touched and heard. Moreover each man was skilled or trained in various professions, so knowing some of that background also helps us observe why certain events or details stood out more to one writer than the other, but all accounts are factually consistent. From fishermen to tax collectors and even a physician (doctor), Christ was well attested by all kinds of men who could not deny Jesus is the promised Messiah, who fulfilled all that was prophesied in His first advent for the salvation of His people.

Thank you Brother Tom for this powerful and beautiful sermon of our Savior’s divine estimation of His Bride, the Church, His elect saints whom He chose before the foundation of the world to be His peculiar people, His royal priesthood, His holy heritage. Brought me to tears and humble adoration of Christ, whose own precious blood was applied to our account for salvation and enjoy His eternal fellowship. Something I wanted to share may help others understand just how precious that blood truly is. Think about this: this world’s financiers and trade experts assign values to commodities and materials often and largely based around rarity and quality. Consider how much value is assigned to “precious metals”, jewels, etc. The more rare and higher quality, the more value it is given. Same can be said of certain currencies, this is why inflation soars when there is an excess of paper money flooding economies without a balance of products, materials or goods to back it up. How rare and of what quality should we therefore assign the blood of God’s only begotten Son? The most rare and of the utmost divine quality. What should that tell us then of how God esteems those for whom He gave His Only Son? We love because He first loved us, we are precious because He is most precious.

One of the greatest truths a Christian believer will ever come to recognize or truly grasp is that we are nothing more and nothing less than SAVED SINNERS. In other words, we are first Participants by our fallen nature into this sinful humanity deserving just punishment and yet an elect, chosen and undeserving group “set aside”, reserved, kept thru God’s choice, purpose, and grace to be Recipients of His mercy and love. This sermon also brings to mind that wondrous promise in 1 John 3:2 “ Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. ” Notice John identifies Christians in the Present tense as “children of God”, and Paul elsewhere calls us saints and “heirs with Christ”. But we do not understand what we “will be” (Future tense). There is an old adage often stated many different ways but I’ll rephrase it straightly which says, “It’s not where you start that’s important, but how you finish that counts.” Even as Hebrews 11 confesses OT patrons “died in faith”, finished their course in faith. We can’t fully know our final state from this flesh anymore than a caterpillar knows it will transform into a butterfly, but it is certain to keep growing til that Day come.