13^th of July 2025

　Title : Lord has mercy   Scripture: Mark 5 : 11 - 19

Mark 5 : 11 – 19

Hallelujah!

May the Lord's mercy be with you all abundantly.

Greetings. May the Lord's mercy abound."

Let us read again the words of verse 19 of today's Bible passage.

 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.

The event of the healing of a man who had been living in a graveyard, who had been possessed by unclean and evil spirits for many years, and who was in the worst time of suffering, so bad that he could not be seen as a human being, is described in today's scripture passage.

Healed by Jesus Christ, he is now able to live with others, and not allowing the desire of the person to follow Jesus, Jesus said, "Let many people know that the Lord has compassion on you and all that He has done for you.

What is the mercy of Jesus Christ?

What is the Lord's mercy that you have received today?

The Lord's mercy means the love that comes through His redeeming grace.

What is redemption? Redemptive forgiveness is not a verbal declaration of forgiveness, but love given by sacrificing oneself at a sure price for the forgiveness of sins and wrongs.

Jesus Christ paid the price of the lives of some 2,000 pigs to give this man redemption.

Jesus took a man who was possessed by an unclean spirit, who remained in the grave, who could not see a single human figure, who was abandoned by the people, who showed fear to everyone with such mysterious power that no one could help him, and at great cost, Jesus took him back and freed him from the unclean spirit so that he could spend time as a human being.

Question. Do you know the mercy that you have received from God?

What is the mercy that God has given you?

If this man did not have the mercy of Jesus, he would have had to live a miserable life around the grave as a slave of unclean spirits until his death.

He would have been abandoned by all people, unaccepted and afraid of people, and there would have been no hope for him. It was the worst kind of life, but because of the redemption of Jesus Christ, he became a man of witness and a servant of God.

What is God's mercy given to you?

1. The mercy that God has shown to you is that He gave His only begotten Son Jesus to the world.

John 3:16-17 "¹⁶ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

Do you remember the events of Christmas? Christmas is the event in which God the Father sent His only begotten Son into the world as the weakest infant in the world for our sake. This is the love of God's mercy that we have received.

We confess and praise the redeeming grace in hymn 21-475.

1. Love divine, all loves excelling, Joy of Heav'n to Earth come down,

Fix in us thy humble dwelling, All thy faithful mercies crown;

Jesus, thou art all compassion, Pure, unbounded love thou art;

Visit us with thy salvation, Enter every trembling heart.

This love of God is a great and wonderful grace that cannot be compared to any other. Do you believe that you have received this redeeming grace? Are you grateful for this love of God?

2. the sign of mercy that God has shown for you is the cross.

Ephesians 2:14-16 "¹⁴ For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, ¹⁵ by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, ¹⁶ and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility."

John 3:14-15 "¹⁴ Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,^{[f] 15} that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him."

The Lord sent a serpent of fire to the complaining Israelites in the wilderness, and those bitten by the serpent died. However, even though Those who were bitten by the serpent, but those who looked up to the bronze serpent that Moses had made were saved.

We, who would die for our sins even now, receive the grace of the atonement of the cross by looking up to the cross of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, and by believing in Him, we receive the grace of being raised from the dead and entrusted with eternal life.

God's love and mercy paid the price by hanging himself on the cross and laying down his life for us, and the light of hope of grace is our Lord Jesus Christ who gave us the grace of redemption.

Let us be thankful for the wonderful redeeming grace that walked the path of the cross for us as a sign of redemption, and let us believe and cherish, protect, and believe in the redeeming grace of the Lord Jesus Christ so that it will not be in vain.

3. the sign of mercy God showed for you is the resurrection of Jesus.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the firstfruits for us, and He gave us the grace of redemption to live even though we died.

This is the abundant grace of the Lord's redemption.

To those who have received the grace of redemption, the Lord Jesus gives the mission, “Tell people how much the Lord has done for you”.

Do you know the grace of redemption? Do you thank God through His Word of redeeming grace and mercy?

The Lord Jesus taught us to make the gospel known to Nishinasuno Church.

To make everything known means to evangelize.

This December, Nishinasuno Church is planning an exhibition of Dr. Tomihiro Hoshino.

Let us pray that God will use this exhibition as a tool for evangelism by informing as many people as possible. Let us lift up our voices in prayer, hoping that as many people as possible will be touched by the gospel and be saved.

Let us realize that we have been saved and have been entrusted with the wonderful grace of redemption, and let us certainly stand on faith and walk as people who serve God.

Through God's mercy, we who have many shortcomings will be resurrected as perfect persons without any defects, and we will receive wonderful redemptive grace.

Listen to the words of 1 Corinthians 15:50-54: "⁵⁰ I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory."

To those who have received the grace of redemption, the Lord Jesus gives the mission, “Tell people how much the Lord has done for you”.

Do you know what redeeming grace is? Do you thank God through His Word of redeeming grace and mercy?

The Lord Jesus taught us to make the gospel known to the Nishinasuno Church.

In verse 19,

"Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.

To let them know all things means to evangelize.

This December, Nishinasuno Church is planning an art exhibition of Mr. Tomihiro Hoshino.

Let us pray that God will use the exhibition as a tool for evangelism by informing as many people as possible. Let us lift up our voices in prayer, hoping that as many people as possible will be touched by the gospel and be saved.

Let us realize that we have been saved and have been entrusted with the wonderful grace of redemption, and let us certainly stand on faith and walk as people who serve God.