Please stand for the reading of God's word. And just as a reminder of what we are doing in God's service, he first calls us into his presence. We confess our sins. He graciously cleanses us by the blood of Jesus. And then when we come around the word, we are reminded that God is consecrating and sanctifying a people. that we might dwell with Him and have fellowship and communion with Him, that we as a burnt offering might be cut up by the Word of God and then ascend into His holy place. We turn now to the reading of God's Word, and in our Old Testament reading, we'll be reading from Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61, beginning in verse one. This is the Word of the Lord. The spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God. to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. And then turning in the New Testament to what will be our text this evening, and that is Mark 5, the gospel of Mark, chapter 5, beginning in verse 1 and reading through to verse 20. This too is the word of the Lord. Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. And when he had come out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs, and no one could bind him, not even with chains. Because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces, neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, what have I to do with you, Jesus, son of the most high God? I implore you by God that you do not torment me. For he said to him, come out of the man unclean spirit. Then he asked him, what is your name? and he answered saying, my name is Legion, for we are many. Also, he begged him earnestly that he would not send them out of the country. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains, so all the demons begged him saying, send us to the swine that we may enter them. And at once, Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine, there were about 2,000. And a herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea and drowned in the sea. So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country, and they went out to see what it was that had happened. Then they came to Jesus and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion sitting and clothed, and in his right mind. And they were afraid. And those who saw it told them how it had happened to him, who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. Then they began to plead with him to depart from their region. And when he got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged him that he might be with him. However, Jesus did not permit him but said to him, go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had compassion on you. And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him and all marveled. Thus ends the reading of God's inspired, inerrant, and infallible word. We'll now approach the Lord briefly in prayer before we turn to the exhortation of his word. Let us pray. Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus Christ, our faithful savior, and we ask that as we consider this passage of scripture that you would truly enlighten the eyes of our minds. We might behold wondrous things out of your words. And we ask in particular that we would be able to see afresh what great things you have done for us and how you've had compassion on us that we might be spurred on to a greater love of Jesus and a greater desire to share that love with everyone we meet. Help us to leave changed for Jesus' sake, amen. Have you ever met someone who was what you considered a hopeless case? A hopeless case. Someone who seemed so far gone that you didn't really know where to begin. Maybe it's a friend, maybe it's a family member, but it's somebody whom you've prayed for for years, you've pled with, you've worked with, and at the end of the day, doesn't seem to be, much fruit. And you're tempted to just sort of throw up your hands and say, this person, this situation is a hopeless case. Who in the world is able to help someone like this? Who would even be willing? And if it's not somebody else, maybe it's you. Maybe there have been times when you've thought to yourself, I'm a hopeless case. Maybe it's a particular sin that you find yourself committing again and again and again, or maybe it's a trial that you're in the midst of and it's already maxed out your patience. But whatever the situation, whatever the sin, I think we all know, living in a world of sin and misery, what it is like to get to that absolute zero point where you shout out, Lord, who is able to help me? Who is even willing to help me because right now I feel like a hopeless case? If that's a question that's been or is even now in your minds, on your lips, I encourage you to look at Mark 5 for some biblical answers. Just to put our passage in some context, in Mark 4, Jesus crosses over the sea, and he transitions his ministry from Galilee to Gentile regions. And on the way, he encounters a storm, and in that storm, he displays something of his power, prompting the disciples to say, who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Well, here in chapter five, Jesus faces an even more difficult challenge. Chapter 4, he was dealing with the impersonal forces of nature, or what seemed to be more impersonal. But here in chapter 5, Jesus comes face-to-face, toe-to-toe, with demonic forces in man. What you could truly say seems like a hopeless, a hapless, a helpless case. And even here, he demonstrates his power. Who is able to help you? Who is willing to help you? Mark 5 has the answer, and we could sum it up like this. The Lord commissions you to tell the good news of His power and His mercy. The Lord commissions you as His people to tell the good news of His power and His mercy. Jesus really is able and willing to save. So this evening, we're gonna explore this theme under three heads. First, we'll see the power of the gospel in verses one to 13, and then we'll see the mercy of the gospel in verses 14 to 17, and finally, the commission of the gospel in verses 18 to 20. Power, mercy, commission. Let's look at the first, the power of the gospel. In the opening verses, we'll see that Jesus faces a powerful challenge and he engages in an even more powerful confrontation. First, note the powerful challenge. And that's evident from the very place in which this event occurs. Look at verse one of chapter five, it says, then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. Jesus has been ministering in Galilee, primarily to a Jewish audience, but here he moves into. It's literally a dark place because we know from chapter four that he comes here by night. It's a place that's filled with unclean animals, pigs, unclean spirits. Demons, it's littered with tombs. It's a place of death, of darkness, of decay, of disorder. And just as a side note, it's located geographically on the eastern side of the sea. If you ever read through the book of Genesis, you'll realize that any time the narrative takes you to the east, takes you eastward, it's a move into exile. It's a powerful challenge in the very place in which Jesus comes. But it's also a powerful challenge because of the person whom he meets. Look at verses two to five. When he had come out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs, and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces, neither could anyone tame him, and always, night, day, he was in the mountains, in the tombs, crying out, cutting himself with stones. This person, this demon-possessed man, this demonized man, this demoniac of Gedera is truly a chilling reminder of what Satan would love to do with every creature of God if the Lord He's a microcosm of hell. The commentator William Lane says, the function of demonic possession is to distort and destroy the image of God in man. And is that not what we see in this passage? That's what this man is all about. This man dwells in tombs. So he lives in the midst of death. He's possessed by unclean spirits. So the temple of his body is utterly defiled. He's running around naked. because he's been stripped of all his dignity, all his honor, and he's cutting himself with stones, hurting himself because he's bent on his own self-destruction. Death, disorder, madness, mayhem. Who is able to bind this man? Who is strong enough to subdue him? Who? Both the place and the person present a powerful challenge. And yet, Jesus engages in an even more powerful confrontation. You might think at first blush that Jesus is on the defensive. He comes here and this man runs right at him. But if you look at the text very closely and carefully, we'll see that Jesus is in total control. And not only that, but this is the perfect opportunity for him to display His power, the power of the gospel. Look at verse six. When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped him. Or perhaps better, he ran and bowed down before him. And this is a clue to us that from the very beginning, Jesus is the superior. Jesus is in control. Jesus is the all-powerful one because this demon-possessed man runs up to him, and what's he do? Falls down. And he doesn't just fall down. but he recognizes who he's dealing with. This is the Jesus of all power. And we'll see through this conversation that ensues that Jesus uses the power of his word to master the situation with three sets of dialogue. First, there is command and then a protest. That's the first pair. Then there's a question and an answer. And finally, a request and the granting of permission. These three sets. of dialogue, and it all starts, but it's not the first in sequence, but it's clear from the context, this is the very first words uttered in verse eight, where it says, for he said to him, the very first words of the conversation, come out of the man unclean spirits. The very first part of this dialogue is a command issued by Jesus, come out of the man unclean spirit, and with this command, Jesus is really setting the agenda. He's initiating the conversation. He's writing the rules of engagement. And notice how the demon-possessed man responds. He responds with a protest. In verse seven, it says, what have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God that you do not torment me. Literally, what to me and to you? What do we have in common? Mind your own business. It's a hostile, harsh, almost fearful response. And yet he also, even in this harsh response, recognizes, again, the powerful person he's dealing with. He calls him Jesus, Yahweh saves. He calls him Son of the Most High God. So even here, this demon who's antagonistic to him recognizes This is the eternal Son of God. He sees his deity. He sees his mission. And isn't it interesting, if you read through Mark, up until you get to that centurion at the very end, up until that point, the only people who seem to really know who Jesus is, of course, is God the Father, his Son in whom he's well-pleased. But the demons who hate him over and over again know who he is, and they're fearful and afraid of him, which, again, demonstrates Jesus' power. that he begs Jesus not to torment him. He begs him, a posture of weakness, a posture of defeat, do not torment me. Don't judge me before the time, he's fearful. This son of man has come to judge him before that great judgment day has even happened. And Jesus could keep pressing this command, but in total control, he instead shifts his ground and skillfully issues questions. the question we find in verse nine. Then he asked him, what is your name? What is your name? You can't help but think of the power of this question. Reminds me of God in the garden saying, Adam, where are you? Where are you? What is your name? And the demon-possessed man responds in the same verse, and he answered saying, my name is Legion, for we are many. And when you look at this, a legion in this first century context could be 6,000, could be many thousands. If you look at the number of pigs later on in the narrative, it's probably at least 2,000. But a vast number, a multitude of demons inside this one tormented, maddened human being. And you might think this is, and it is, a great display of dark, satanic, demonic power. We must remember that Jesus, as the Son of God has at his beck and call 12 legions of angels to use whenever he wants. Jesus is not frightened. And the demon knows this. The demons know this and the man knows this and so there is finally a request in verse 10. Also, he begged him, again that posture of weakness, he begged him earnestly that he would not send them out of the country. Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains So all the demons, again, begged him, saying, send us to the swine that we may enter them. There's 2,000 demons. There's this army of darkness, and yet, in weakness, in defeat, begging Jesus, send us into the swine. Don't destroy us. Don't torment us before the time. And Jesus, remarkably, grants them sovereign permission in verse 13, and at once, Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine. There were about 2,000, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea and drowned in the sea. Jesus, in total control, grants permission. In Matthew's account, he literally just says, go. And they enter the swine, drive them into the sea, and drown. I don't know about most of you, but when I first read this passage, when I first remember reading it or hearing it preached, I was a little puzzled. Why does Jesus do this? It's a rather startling scene. The demons enter these swine. They plunge headlong into the water and drown. Why does this happen? Why does Jesus do this? Well, commentators have suggested a number of different explanations. On the one hand, this clearly reveals the demons' destructive purpose. If anyone has any doubts about Satan's intentions for God's created order, he wants to destroy, he wants to distort, and that's exactly what this reveals. The very thing they did to the swine is what these demons were trying to do to this man, utterly destroy him. But it's more than that. And this gets to the very heart of the power of the gospel, especially when we read this passage in light of the Old Testament. What other Old Testament narrative speaks of a great water and of a vast horde of enemies being drowned in it? We have to go back to the book of Exodus and see this imagery picked up here in the gospel account. But in the book of Exodus, what happens? God's people delivered out of slavery. They're at the Red Sea, and behind them are the chariots of Pharaoh. And God, in his mercy, opens that sea. They pass through the water. They get to the other side. When the last Israelite passes through, the Lord, who had held the waters back as an act of salvation, brings those waters together, and they destroy, they drown, they utterly defeat Pharaoh and his armies. And the Israelites look back. They see the dead bodies of the Egyptians on the side of the sea, and they know that those people who once enslaved them, they will never see again. Their enemies will never enslave them again. And here, what does Jesus do? Jesus, as a new Moses, executes a new Exodus, and he takes all of these swine that are possessed by demons, and they drown. They are destroyed in the waters as a picture. of the triumph of God over his enemies. And when that man looked out and he saw the carcasses of those pigs, it was a reminder to him that those unclean spirits that tormented him for so long will never torment him again, that God is greater than the powers of darkness, that God drowns, destroys, and defeats his enemies. Even if you think of it that Jesus is letting them live to die another judgment day, that Jesus here As a foretaste of water judgment, someday we'll execute fire judgment against all his enemies, and those very same unclean spirits will be plunged headlong into the lake of fire. This is the power of the gospel. Powerful challenge in the place, in the person himself, a more powerful confrontation by our Lord that ends in the defeat the drowning and the destruction of his enemies. I love the way Dr. Shaw puts it. Jesus is cleaning house. He's bound the strong man and he's plundering him. He's casting out devils. He's dispelling darkness. He's plunging his enemies into defeat. This is the power of the good news we love and we know. A few practical points on this truth. One. Beware the self-destructive nature of sin. Beware the self-destructive nature of sin. Sin dehumanizes. Sin distorts. Sin defaces the image of God. And we're reminded of this when we think of people who literally, just as this man did, cut themselves. Maybe as a coping mechanism, maybe to have a sense of control, but they cut themselves, they inflict pain on themselves, and they hurt their bodies. We think of destructive behavior like anorexia or bulimia. And in all these things, drug usage, whatever sinful impulse might be motivating these activities, they're destroying themselves, they're hurting themselves. We need to realize, people of God, is that every sin does this. Sin distorts, destroys, defaces, dehumanizes us as creatures. Beware its self-destructive power. Be killing sin, lest it be killing you. Second practical point, be alert to the reality of spiritual warfare. If you get nothing else out of this passage, it's pretty clear there is a war on. There are forces of good, and there are forces of evil. There are fallen angels, and there are angels who are elect angels. There is the Son of God. only begotten of the Father, and there is the created and rebellious Satan. Christianity is not a game. It's a war. We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. And this passage is a clear example of this. There's a spiritual war going on, even here as we sit. We're engaged in a battle. And in that battle, third practical point, we've got to tap into the power of the gospel. In this spiritual warfare, we need to tap into the power that only Jesus has. And of course, we can do that in all the means of grace he's given us, in the word of God, in the fellowship of the saints, and in particular, one that we often miss in our current day and age. We need to tap into the power of prayer. When we realize we're in a spiritual battle, a spiritual war, we need to tap into the prayer of the prayer meeting, Come and join with God's people and do battle against the forces of darkness in the public gathering of God's people. Do it daily in your private worship, but tap into the power that God has given us as we pray, even as we confess that Satan's kingdom might be destroyed, that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it and kept in it, that the kingdom of glory might be hastened. keep praying, even for what seem like hopeless cases. That's the power of the gospel. But in seeing that, what about the man? We've seen the destruction of these swine. We've seen the defeats of the unclean spirits. But what about the human being in the midst of this story? And that takes us to our second point, the mercy of the gospel, the mercy of the gospel. And in some ways, these bleed into each other. Because with Jesus, it's always merciful power, powerful mercy. But in particular, the Holy Spirit wants to put the spotlight in this second section on Christ's mercy toward this man. And we'll see two things about God's mercy here. First, we see a picture of mercy in verses 14 and 15. After everything kind of simpers out and everyone looks around and sees what's happening, in verse 14 it says, so those who fed the swine fled and told it in the city and in the country, and they went out to see what it was that had happened. Then they came to Jesus and saw what? The one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion sitting and clothed in his right mind, and they were afraid." It's almost a three-dimensional picture of mercy here. Before, what was this man doing? He was running around frantically in the tombs. He's sitting. He's sitting at peace and he's calm. Before, this man was naked and he was bleeding. Now, he's clothed and he's cleaned. Before, he was cutting himself. He was crying out in the mountains. Now, he's in his right mind. In the words of 2 Timothy 1.7, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love. and of a sound mind. Before, he was this. Now, he's this. He's sitting. He's clothed. He's in his right mind. Before, this man was a microcosm of hell. Now, this picture of mercy is a portrait of heaven. It's an image of shalom, of health, of holiness, of wholeness. And I love that almost throwaway line in verse 18 where it says, he who had been demon-possessed. In other words, He used to be, but he's not anymore. He's been changed. He's been transformed by the mercy of God. And such were some of you, but not anymore. This grace of God that gives us forgiveness also gives us power and enabling and transformation and changes us from the inside out. And so we have great instruction for us when we think about life-dominating sins, and besetting sins and addictions and enslaving practices. We have what we've called hopeless cases. Well, when we look at a passage like this, we realize hopeless cases aren't hopeless with Jesus Christ because this mercy and this power transforms, changes, sets captives free, takes shackles and breaks them. There's always the hope of transformation. with Jesus. We have this picture of mercy, and then briefly we see a response to this picture, a response to the mercy Jesus has done, and we see that in verses 14 to 17. You read part of this before, I'll read it again. So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country, and they went out to see what it was that had happened. Then they see this three-dimensional portrait of mercy, and what do they do? It says, and they were afraid. And those who saw it told them how it had happened to him, who had been demon possessed, and about the swine. Then they began to plead with him to depart from their region." What would you expect people to do if they'd seen a man whose mind was fried, who was crazy, who was chained, who for years had dwelt in tombs, screaming and cutting himself, And now they see him sitting, clothed, right mind. What would you expect to be the response to that kind of mercy? I would expect joy. This man's been set free. Let's celebrate. Let's kill the fatted calf. Let's throw a party. Let's praise the Lord. Let's have a worship service. And not only joy, but faith. This would increase your faith in the one who saves, in Jesus. But what happens? This happens so many times in our fallen, sin-cursed world. The response to mercy by the world is not joy and not faith. It is fear, unbelief, and even anger. Even anger. And they have a request, and it's the same word that's used by the demons when they say, please send us into the swine. These people have a request. They say, in verse 17, they began to plead, beg with him, depart from our region. On the one hand, they're afraid of this man. Who is he? He's mysterious. He comes in and does miraculous things. But there's also, I think, a materialistic motive here. From the herdsmen perspectives, when they see those swine go into the water, that's a lot of pork, ham, and bacon going right down the drain. We don't really care about the man. But our livelihood, our business, our culture, our success is going right down the drain. And maybe things weren't ideal, but we had things under control. This man was crazy, but we had him shackled. We had him chained. We had him confined somewhat. And Jesus has come in and messed things up. He's disrupted the status quo. I can't help thinking of a rather fascinating conversation I had with a man named Will. He doesn't live here. And Will had been in prison for doing drugs and for selling drugs for a number of years. And he finally got out. And he wasn't a Christian, but he was interested in cleaning up his life, getting a job, doing the right thing. And you'd expect that the people in his life would be excited about that. They would be happy and joyful that he was trying to turn a corner. And yet he was telling me, my friends and my family say, where's the old Will? Where's the will that wanted to have fun and do drugs, and why can't you be the way you used to be? Isn't that the response of unbelief? Not joy, not faith, but fear, unbelief, even anger. And remarkably, Jesus gives an answer in verse 18. It's not spoken, but it's implied. And when he got into the boat, Jesus says, yes, I'll leave. I'll go. A couple of points of application, one, Take heart that the mercy of God transforms, and that life-dominating sins don't have to dominate, and that hopeless cases aren't hopeless. And second, rejoice in the conversion of sinners. When you see God's grace and mercy at work in another person's life, use it as an occasion for worship and joy. Now here at this point, we've seen the power of the gospel. We've seen the mercy of the gospel. And in Matthew's account of this same story, he stops right here. Matthew focuses on two people, not one. And also in his account, he stops right at this point. Display of power, display of mercy. But Mark has something else that Holy Spirit wants to bring to our attention. Another component that he wants to record, and that is finally the commission of the gospel. The commission of the gospel, and we see this set up for us in verse 18. And when he got into the boat, that is Jesus, he who had been demon-possessed begged him that he might be with him. You're keeping track. This is the fourth time this word has been used. It's the third overall request. The demon said, please send us into the swine. And Jesus says, yes, go. The people say, Jesus, please leave our region. You're messing things up. And Jesus says, yes, I'll leave. Third request, the most sincere, the most genuine, the most godly request yet. He's pleading, Jesus, please let me be with you. Is there any better desire, any better request than that? Please let me be where you are. I want to be with my Savior. And for the first time in the story, what does Jesus do? He says no. Ironically, Jesus says no, but if we keep reading, we find out why. It says in verse 19, however, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had compassion on you. Jesus turns this negative response into an opportunity to commission this man to go and tell what great things and what mercy he's had upon him. And really what this becomes is an anticipation, a foretaste for that great commission in chapter 16 of Mark's gospel. Here, Jesus has gone into a Gentile region And for the first time in Mark's gospel, he tells someone for whom he's done a great work, I don't want you to be silent, I want you to tell people. And in this moment, with all the nations in his scope, Jesus says, go and tell a foretaste, an anticipation for that great commission that will come in chapter 16. Go home, tell what great things, that's his power. Tell what compassion, that's his mercy. This is the commission of the gospel. And you notice that the man receives it. Jesus says, go. This man departs. Jesus says, tell. This man proclaims. This is the word that actually means herald, proclaim, preach, a word that's often used of public, verbal, authoritative proclamation. He does this in the Decapolis, and what's he proclaiming? He's proclaiming what things Jesus has done, his power, and what kind of compassion he's had on him, his mercy. And this time, there's a response. And it's not the fear, the unbelief, and the anger that we saw earlier, but a response of marveling. And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him, and all marveled. And perhaps some marveling in unbelief, but surely some marveling in faith. at what God is doing and has done through this man. In effect, this narrative anticipates the power, the mercy, and the commission of the gospel that runs through the book of Mark. As we think about it, in some ways there is a gap. Look at Mark 5, this passage, and we look at Mark 16. On the other side, the Great Commission to the disciples. How do we get from point A to point B? How do we get from Mark 5, the demon-possessed man, to Mark 16, the Great Commission, where everything is unleashed? And to get there, we have to look at the cross. We need to read this account in light of the cross, because the cross of Christ casts a penumbra back upon this narrative, showing us how it is possible for this to happen. Let's think about it. In Mark chapter five, this man was naked. On the cross, Jesus was stripped naked. This man was bound with chains and shackles. At the cross, Jesus was nailed down, nailed down to a tree. This man, this demoniac, dwelled in tombs, while Jesus was obedient unto death, even the death on the cross, and he was buried and continued under the power of death for a time. This man, this demoniac, was literally insane. While Jesus, we learn in chapter three, was considered beside himself, out of his mind, by his own family. This man, this demoniac, cut himself with stones at the cross, Jesus for this man. was pierced by others. This man dwelt in darkness, a natural darkness. But on the cross, Jesus hung there in the midst of a supernatural hour of darkness. This man cried out night and day in the tombs, screaming. On the cross, Jesus, for you, for me, for this man, cried out a loud cry of dereliction. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? This demoniac, this man confessed early on, this is Jesus, Son of the Most High God, who at the cross, what happens? The centurion sees Jesus breathe his last, offer up his spirit to the Father, and he says, truly, truly this was the Son of God. When we look at this picture, this narrative, in light of the cross, we realize how it is possible for demoniacs and for sinners to be saved. It's the power, it's the mercy, it's the commission of the cross of Jesus Christ. So this testimony of this man becomes our testimony. And as Wesley put it, long my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin in nature's night. Thine eye diffused a quickening ray. I woke, the dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off. My heart was free. I rose, I went forth, and I followed Thee. This isn't just a radical example. This is all our testimony. So tonight, whether it's a friend or a family member that you look at and you've prayed for and you think, this person's a hopeless case, or it's yourself, you feel it. I'm a hopeless case. I feel helpless. Who is able to help me? Who is willing to help me? Remember the truth. of Mark 5, that the Lord commissions you to tell the good news of His power and His mercy. The Lord commissions you that out of your own experience, that when you lay hold of Jesus Christ, when you receive and rest in Him, what do you find? You find the power, you find the mercy of the Son of God. And then out of that experience of God's grace, you can't help but share it with others. to tell it to yourself, to preach it to yourself, to tell your children, to tell your family, to tell your coworkers, to tell your neighbors, as you have opportunity, to tell anyone and everyone what great things God has done for you and how Jesus has had compassion on you. This is the marching order of the church, to tell the good news of Jesus' power and Jesus' mercy. Because child of God, congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is able and he is willing to save. Let's tell the world about him. Let us pray. Father, We come to you through your son and by your spirit. And we acknowledge that apart from your power and apart from your mercy, we are absolutely hopeless. We are finite creatures. We are fallen creatures. We are distorted and defaced by sin. And so, Lord, we pray. That even tonight, you would, in our lives, show yourself mighty to save. You would demonstrate your power and your compassion and your tender mercy upon us. And that out of that experience, we might be emboldened and encouraged to tell even one other person about this. And then not content with one other person, we would tell it to everyone with whom we have opportunity to share something of the power and mercy of Jesus. God, we pray you would do this in our midst for the sake of Christ's glory and by his grace. We ask this in his name, amen.