A Lesson in Forgiveness

Well, I want to say thank you for that sermonette. Very thoughtful and very interesting to see how God—Satan can sometimes be very subtle, you know, in changing focus or changing emphasis. Often, it's an imbalanced message that comes from Satan. It's not necessarily in direct opposition to God's message. Sometimes it is—don't get me wrong—but sometimes the message is slightly askewed just to get our focus off and really appreciate that.

Well, the title of our sermon today, A Lesson in Forgiveness. A Lesson in Forgiveness. I'd like to invite you to open your Bibles, and let's turn to Genesis chapter 45. Genesis chapter 45, as we begin our study today here in the life of Joseph. As we come to this most, really the most important and crucial matters of forgiveness, and forgiveness in the life of Joseph is one of the most dramatic elements which unfolds here in chapter 45. So let's break into this and begin reading together. This will be Genesis 45—let's just read verses 1 through 15.

Genesis 45, beginning in verse 1. Then Joseph could not restrain himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, Make everyone go out from me. So no one stood with him while Joseph made himself known to his brothers, and he wept aloud, and the Egyptians of the house of Pharaoh heard it. Then Joseph said to his brothers, I am Joseph, does my father still live? But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed in his presence.

Verse 4, And Joseph said to his brothers, Please come near to me. So they came near, and he said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt. But now do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. For these two years of famine have been in the land, and there are still five years which there will neither be plowing or harvesting. God sent me before you to preserve a posterity for you in the earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance.

So now it was not you who sent me here, but God. And he has made me a father to Pharaoh, Lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout the land of Egypt. Verse 9, Hurry and go up to my father and say to him, Thus says your son Joseph, God has made me Lord of all Egypt. Come down to me, do not tarry. You shall dwell in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near to me, you and your children, your children's children, your flocks and your herds, and all that you have.

There I will provide for you, lest you and your household and all that you have come to poverty. For there are still five years of famine. And behold, your eyes and the eyes of my brother Benjamin. See that it is my mouth that speaks to you. So you shall tell my father of all the glory in Egypt and all that you have seen. And you shall hurry and bring my father down here. Verse 14, Then he fell on his brother Benjamin's neck and wept.

Benjamin wept on his neck. Moreover, he kissed all his brothers, wept over them. And after that, his brothers talked with him. Let's stop there. So it's quite remarkable that this young man, Joseph, whom we can really approximate from the age of about 17 years old, sold by his brothers at that time, taken off into a foreign country to spend the next 22 some years of his life separated from all that he had known from such a young age. And with that, then, that he would respond in the way that he does to his deplorable brothers.

It's incredible. And we want to think about this this aspect this morning, particularly this whole matter of forgiveness. Because it has been said, and I think you may agree with this, that the unhappiness that is felt and that is experienced by countless men and women, that unhappiness can be traced back to a singular root, this issue of forgiveness and unforgiveness. And it can be assessed, confidently so, I believe, that such unhappy individuals, they've never experienced genuine and true forgiveness from others, or they in turn remain unwilling to extend forgiveness to those who seek it from them.

So, whether it's in the inability to receive it or the inability to grant it, men and women's lives are trapped in unhappiness because of this.

Forgiveness, it is said, is indispensable to life and the health of the soul as food is for the body. We need it. So, when we open Scripture, we realize that in the Christian's life, forgiveness is not just some little extra, or just, you know, it's just a it's not some kind of just little dimension of the Christian's life, but rather it is at the very heart of it. It's at the very heart of the Christian life. Matters of forgiveness as it relates to spiritual lives are some of the most difficult matters, and matters of forgiveness and unforgiveness can be the most damaging to us spiritually. If we were to test this fact, and we were to do a little exercise today, we won't do it, but you can think about it. If I were to ask you on the piece of paper in front of you to think about and to write down phrases, let's just keep it at three words each, phrases of three words each, which are some of the hardest phrases to express in our human existence, what would they be? Phrases, three words each. Well, we might get a variety of responses, of course, but I would suspect that there would be two reoccurring phrases that would be common amongst all our papers.

The expressions, I am sorry and I forgive you.

Three and three of the hardest expressions to get out of your mouth, and if you get them out of your mouth, it's very hard to actually mean them, you know, to actually mean them. Every honest man or woman listening today, myself included, has to acknowledge this because we know our pride can be sometimes so severe, our pride, that we're reluctant to ever admit being wrong, to say I'm sorry, or at the same time, perhaps even sadder, we're slow to grant forgiveness to others who seek it from us, to say I forgive you and to truly mean it, and rather choosing to hold on, you know, hold on to unforgiveness as some kind of mechanism, some kind of leverage to constantly be returning the individual to the unforgiven indebtedness which remains. You know, parents do this to siblings, I mean, parents do this to their children, siblings do it to their siblings, of course, you see it in all of society, even though it might be verbalized again, there's something there, though, that in the action or attitude, that the issue of unforgiveness is still apparent, and we deal with each other in these unforgiving ways. This is what we want to deal with today. There is the saying, to return evil for good is devilish, to return good for good is human, to return good for evil is divine. So to return good, return evil for good is devilish, good for good, well that's just human, good for evil, that's divine. And what we have in the 45th chapter of Genesis, I believe, is an expression of divinity. It's an expression of this wonderful divinity. Joseph stands at the forefront, gives us this expression of forgiveness toward his brothers. So I'd like to trace through a line here of this incredible act of forgiveness. We first want to set the context if you may, many of us are familiar with the story, if you're not, let's get familiar with this story for just a moment. Turn back to Genesis chapter 37, if you will. Back a few chapters, Genesis 37, we discover the jealousy of the brothers here, and this jealousy is being unleashed on their their young teenage sibling. Here in Genesis 37, 17 year old boy Joseph, he's dreaming. He's dreaming some pretty impressive dreams. He's wearing a pretty jazzy coat that his father gave him. Father didn't give the coat to the other sons. He's reporting to his dad whenever his brothers were up to dirty tricks, and all these things combined with other things creates in his brothers such a spirit of jealousy and hatred. They're determined that on the first opportunity, they're going to deal with their their young brother. Once such opportunity emerges, the father sends Joseph to check on the brothers and to give a report of their well-being.

So here in chapter 37, the second half of verse 17, Joseph went after his brothers. He found them in Dothan. But verse 18 of chapter 37, Now when they saw him afar off, even before he came near them, they conspired against him to kill him.

They'll let that phrase sink in. They see him from afar off. Before he gets there, they start talking about how they're going to kill him.

You may not have a very good family background. You may have animosity in your family. Just my family does. But I don't know if any of us here have ever stooped to this kind of depravity.

You're there with your siblings, and you see another sibling coming, and you start to conspire about getting rid of them. That's exactly what's happening here. Here comes the dreamer.

We're going to end those dreams. Let's kill him and tell you what, let's throw him into one of those cisterns, they say, one of those pits, and we'll say that an animal devoured him.

Then we'll take care of these dreams. Dead people don't dream.

Their plans to kill him in that way are altered, though, when a group of Midianites, they come, verse 28 here, verse 28, then Midianite traders pass by. So the brothers pulled Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, sold him to the Ishmaelites for 20 shekels of silver, and they took Joseph to Egypt. So, he digs him up out of the pit, 20 shekels. That's not a lot of money. He sold him to the Ishmaelites, who then in turn take him to Egypt. Joseph finds himself on the slave block. There, as previously mentioned, 22 years of his life, there he remained.

What happened to him from a human perspective can be traced back to jealousy of his brothers.

Now, if we had been on the receiving end of this, if you'd have been Joseph, and after 22 years, your brothers now come into your presence, how would you respond?

Let's turn back to chapter 45. This is what's so striking about the events that are before us here. Back to chapter 45.

Here, in the second half of chapter 45, we do see the actions and the response of Joseph.

So, as we go through this, let's think of the contrast of how the brothers treated Joseph versus how Joseph treats his brothers. Think of the contrast here. So, chapter 45 verse 22.

Joseph, he gave to all of them, to each man, changes of garments. And to Benjamin, he gave 300 pieces of silver and five changes of garments. So, his brothers, in contrast, tore his clothes off. He gives them clothes. His brothers sold him for money. He gives them money. Verse 23.

And he sent to his father these things, 10 donkeys loaded with the good things of Egypt, 10 female donkeys loaded with grain, bread, food for his father, and for the journey, for the brother's journey. So, his brothers took everything from him. He gives them carts, donkeys, and all these good things. He gives them provisions, clothes, cash. He even gives them counsel. Look at verse 24. Look at this tender counsel. Verse 24. So, he sent his brothers away, they departed, and he said to them, See that you do not become troubled along the way.

So, he doesn't want him to be troubled. Imagine. He doesn't, you know, don't be angry with yourself.

You know, as you're traveling back to father.

So, what's happening here? What's happening here?

It is an illustration of a forgiving heart. Admittedly, a dramatic illustration of a forgiving heart. It's dramatic because it's not too hard for us to conceive, again, putting ourselves in Joseph's position. And we would have really, if we would have responded this way, in our way, our human way, not in a divine way, it would have been justified for us to say, Listen, you stuck it to me for 22 years. You took me from my father. You took me from the very prime age of my father. Age of my life. You know, he probably had a girl he was interested in, you know? Who knows?

You took me from her. I wasn't even able to date. I wasn't able to be a normal teenager, right in the prime of my life. You took that from me. So, therefore, I'm justified now, and I'm going to take everything from you.

I'm going to take everything from you. That'd be fair, wouldn't it? You're going to know what it is to live in a pit. And some of you are going to know what it is to die in a pit, and I'm not even sure, but some of you might even know what it is to die before you get to the pit. I'm still making up my mind on that, you know? After all, you deserve it in the relation to how you treated me. But what you will find is you don't see any of that. None of that. None of that is here. In fact, if you allow your eyes to go up to verse four of chapter 45 here, you see a dramatic phrase. It reoccurs throughout the passage. Verse four, Joseph says to his brothers, Please come near to me. Please come near to me. Now, if I was one of the brothers, I would have stepped back, I think, at that moment. You know, Reuben, you get up there. You got us into this mess. You know, I'm not coming close. But he says, Please come close to me. You know, was he going to crack them on their jaw? You know, who knows? If you come close, would you be the first person that he's going to put on the chopping block? You know, all that going through their mind. They would have never anticipated in their wildest dreams what was about to unfold. Verse four and five again. Verse four and five again. And Joseph said to his brothers, Please come near to me. So they came near, and he said, I am Joseph your brother, whom you sold into Egypt, but now do not therefore be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here. For God sent me before you to preserve life.

It's quite a bit in that in those two verses. Can you imagine this?

He who was reviled by them, he says, Come close to me. Come get close. And I don't want you to be grieved with yourself, with what has happened.

Concerned about their thoughts. Here they are looking at themselves. You know, they're first mystified. You know, I can almost imagine Joseph in the revealing of himself. He maybe had on the royal Egyptian clothes and maybe had a hood on it. And when he revealed himself, he, you know, brings it back. And there their brother is. So they're mystified by that fact. And then they're mystified, you know, all these different emotions of just then he comes forward with just this tender words. These tender words here. Speaks with such tenderness. And then look at verse 15.

Amazing. Not only the tender words. Verse 15. He kissed all his brothers and he wept over them all.

Wept. This is dramatic. This is, think of this scene. And so, he revolutionizes their lives with forgiveness. And that is the example of Jesus Christ, right there. And when you begin to see, when you begin to read it with those lenses of Jesus Christ, oh, you see all, you begin to see all the parallels in this story. Jesus Christ, who has revolutioned our lives with his forgiveness.

Why? Why did Jesus Christ forgive us in this way?

Well, what we're going to see today and hopefully bring forth is that Christ revolutionizes our lives with his forgiveness in order that forgiven lives might be revolutionary in their impact. That's what we're going to try to bring forth today. Christ revolutionizes our lives with his forgiveness in order that forgiven lives might be revolutionary in their impact.

In this position of pastor, which I've had the privilege of having over the last few years, I've seen some family feuds. Some in my own family. None of us are exempt from it.

No one here, but I've seen some pretty dire circumstances, situations. But we're all touched by this. She did this. He did that. He took that. You know, she never paid back this.

If you've ever heard some of those words or even close to someone or it's happened in your family, you realize that you're dealing with some of the most embittered, sad, lonely, individuals, most dire circumstances, lonely people, some of the most lonely you've ever met, unhappy, hanging on to circumstances, finding themselves maybe refusing, they're hanging on, or just unable to forgive, and they're chained. They're enslaved, those individuals.

If you find yourself in an unforgiving position, I want to tell you lovingly that you're chained and you're enslaved. You're in a pit.

Not Joseph. And in fact, we won't turn there, but Joseph is living out all these years before the exact words that Jesus Christ spoke. We won't turn there, but it's in Romans 12. Very familiar verse. If your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. Romans 12 21. Again, you can look this up later. Very familiar. Romans 12 21. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. How do you overcome evil?

With good. That's how you fight it. That's how you overcome it. With good. Isn't that what we're seeing here with Joseph? It's revolutionary. It's a revolution. A major revolution in thinking, in an act.

It's a Jesus Christ revolution. It's a Joseph revolution. It's our revolution.

So you want to have a revolution. We all want to change the world.

That was John Lennon. Young folks might not know that. He wrote about it. He sung about it. He didn't know how to get it inside. He had no clue how to put it together, but really what he's expressing is what humanity is longing for. To be freed. They feel entrapped.

Many of us are longing for peace.

And this matter of forgiveness and unforgiveness is challenging that. But Jesus Christ came to bring a kind of revolution. Why? Again, in order that forgiven lives might be revolutionary in their impact. And this is the impact that the true church is supposed to make. We're supposed to be the forgiving gang, if you will. We're supposed to be the forgiving gang. That's exactly what we're seeing in Genesis chapter 45. The brothers see the carts. They see the clothes. They see the silver. They hear the tender counsel. They're mystified that they who has offended so greatly, their younger brother, should be on the receiving end of such a dramatic illustration. It's a tangible illustration of genuine forgiveness. And this is the illustration of the type of forgiveness that God's people are called to. A higher level, higher level, than we're supposed to achieve. A higher level of forgiveness. God's people are called to such a thing. And you see it throughout Scripture. Maybe one of the most direct examples of this calling can be found in Matthew 18. Let's turn there now, if you will, to the New Testament, Matthew 18. Here in Matthew 18, we have a wonderful calling, a wonderful explanation of this higher level of forgiveness that we're called to achieve in receiving and bestowing forgiveness. Look at Matthew 18. Let's begin in verse 21 here. So we are introduced to Peter. He's talking to Jesus Christ. Peter is, about this matter of forgiveness. Matthew 18 verse 21.

That Peter came to him, that's Jesus Christ. So Peter's talking to Jesus Christ, and said, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?

So Peter thought that was a good question. It is a good question. He sounds a little bit, maybe was a little bit proud of this question. Maybe wanting a pat on the back. You know, first of all, he's letting Jesus Christ know, just say, you know Jesus. I know we're supposed to forgive others. Okay, and I even know that we're supposed to forgive others multiple times. I don't know if these guys know it, you know, but I know that. And I was just wondering, you know, seven seems like a good number. How would seven be? Would that be okay? You know, so we can write on the top of our page the individual's name, you know, oh there they go. They've offended me. They've offended me. You know, benefit six, seven, and upon the eighth time, it's time, you know. You can take harsh action against them at that time. Would seven be okay? Verse 22, Jesus responds. Jesus said to him, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. Seventy times seven. In other words, it's not a matter of calculation, Peter. It's a matter of the heart.

So we don't deal with our husband, our wives, our kids, our parents in a calculation matter. We shouldn't. It should be based upon a matter of the heart here. You know, we've all been in that position. I'm about, I got about this much of battery left, you know, because for you, you know. You've offended me, and I got about this much left. Watch out. I'm about done with you. About done with you. That's not what Jesus Christ is saying. Not a matter of calculation. It's not seven. It's seventy times seven. So, someone says, oh good, because that's 490. I got a few people that are in the high 300s, you know, and they'll probably be at 490 by the end of the month. So, now I have a calculation, you know. Now, we know it's not 490. It's not even a thousand. Jesus Christ takes the perfect number seven in biblical terms, multiplies it by a number, another perfect number ten. You get seventy, multiplies that by seven. You get 490. So, it's a picture of forgiveness on an unlimited level. And what Jesus Christ is really saying to Peter is, if you understood that, you wouldn't even be asking me that question of seven. It's unlimited.

And then Jesus Christ goes into this parable of the unforgiving servant. You'll find that here in Matthew 18. It begins in verse 23. The kingdom of heaven, he says, is like a king who wanted to settle accounts. You have the story there. We're not going to go through the story here in an expository type of way, but it is a wonderful story. And I want to just give a summary of it for us, read a few of these verses. So, you have a servant here in this story. So, Peter just asked this question. Jesus Christ goes into this parable. You have a servant. The servant owes an insurmountable debt to his master. So, he throws himself at the mercy of his master. That's verse 26. Verse 26, The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, Master, have patience with me. I will pay you all. However, moved with compassion, the master releases him of the debt. So, the insurmountable debt is released. Verse 27. Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, releases him, and forgave him of the debt. Wonderful. However, then that forgiven servant then goes finds a fellow servant and begins to demand payment for what that person owes him for the few dollars. So, verse 28. Verse 28, But that servant, the one that was just forgiven, went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, lays hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, Pay me what you owe.

The guy says, I can't pay you. So, as the story goes, the forgiven man starts to choke him, give me my money, the one that was just forgiven. I guess figures that if he kills him, he's definitely not going to get his money back. So, instead, he throws him into jail, maybe with the hope to wait for his money. So, in summary, despite the fact that he had been forgiven, an insurmountable, unpayable debt, despite the fact, he goes and chokes the guy for a few bucks that he owes him. Unimaginable. Well, let's forget money for a moment here. Let's forget money. In Christ, we have been forgiven an insurmountable, unpayable debt. Right? In Christ, we've been forgiven an insurmountable, unpayable debt. So, the question is, with that, are you then going to choke a brother or sister for a few offenses? As you consider that, look at verse 32 and 33 here. Verse 32 and 33. Then, after seeing all of this, his master, after he had called him, said to him, this is the one that forgave him, is speaking, you wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?

So, that's the lesson of Matthew 18 here, and it's the lesson of Genesis 45. It's the illustration.

And it's this. Let me give it to you in as few words as I can here. I think it's this.

The forgiven sinner, prompted by gratitude, must always, in every case, do everything in their power to forgive the one who has offended them. So, the forgiven sinner, prompted by gratitude, must, in every case, do everything in their power to forgive the one who has an offense against them. In other words, we must do everything in our power to bring about reconciliation, just as Jesus Christ has brought us reconciliation. So, we must do everything in our power to bring about complete reconciliation with a brother or sister, just as Jesus Christ has brought us reconciliation. That might be the totality of it all. That might be the totality of it all.

So, in seeking to fully unpack this today, this principle, I want to give you five understandings to glean from Scripture regarding this whole matter of forgiveness and unforgiveness. Five understandings of the nature of forgiveness and unforgiveness.

Without these truths, you'll never know what it is to be forgiven or to forgive. And we're not going to work through this an exposition way. We're going to hit the major points.

Potluck is going to be calling soon, so we're going to go through these fairly quickly. But we'll notice that each one builds on the next. Five understandings regarding forgiveness.

Number one, we are all debtors to God. We are all debtors to God.

And the verse for number one is Romans 3.23. Let's turn there, if you will. Romans 3.23. This is the verse for our point number one.

We are all debtors to God. Romans 3 verse 23.

Very short Scripture, but it speaks this truth. Romans 3 verse 23. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

So this is what unifies every one of us here today. We're all debtors to God. We've all sinned, fallen short. We do not deserve access to God's glory. We have failed. We have missed the mark of His righteousness. We've stepped outside of the moral law.

If you doubt that, begin reading the Ten Commandments. If you're like me, you won't get past the first one. And you quickly realize how you've fallen short.

You've missed the mark. The wages of missing the mark is death. So we have this debt of death.

We are debtors to God. That's number one. Number two. None of us can pay our own debt.

That's number two. None of us can pay our own debt. We're unable to pay the debt.

That number two point is brought out in verse 20 here. So staying here in Romans 3, going up a few verses to verse 20, says, "'Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight.

For by the law is the knowledge of sin.'" In other words, no one has declared righteous in God's sight simply by deeds. So anything we could do, again, verse 20, the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight.

The law gives us knowledge of sin. So none of us can pay our own debt. There's nothing you can do to pay this debt. The law gives us knowledge of sin. The law helps us to understand what it is so we can walk in the way that the one we owe a debt to tells us to walk. The law is wonderful. It's needed. It's required. However, observing the law is not the ultimate means by which we're justified in God's eyes. Keeping the deeds of the law is a good indication you've been justified during that process. It's a good indication, but the law is not the justifier.

So that's number two. We can't pay our own debt.

That makes us grateful for number three. Number three comes on the heels of number two. Number three is, we are freely justified by his grace.

We are freely justified by his grace. So number two was, none of us can pay our own debt.

That's the bad news. You know, we're all in debt to God. Kind of have bad news.

Worse news. We can't pay our own debt. Number three, the good news is God in his love sent someone to pay the debt for us.

Remove that condemnation. Give us access to life. Make life available. Everlasting life to us. Someone paid the debt on our behalf. Making possible a radical transformation in our circumstances.

You know, I wonder what radical transformation we might make available to an individual by relieving them of their debt. You know, you might give someone an opportunity to have a radical transformation. The scripture reference for number three here is Romans 3, staying here in Romans 3, verse 24 through 26.

Romans 3, verse 24 through 26, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, who God sent forth as a propitiation by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness because in his forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. This is what occurred to us. He passed over our sins to demonstrate at the present time his righteousness that he might be the just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. He's the justifier. Okay, so verse 24 again, we are justified freely by his grace, the redemption that comes through Jesus Christ. So when you think about number three, it's important to get our minds around this. Number three, it's important to get your mind around what actually happened there on the stake when Jesus Christ was crucified on the stake. What was actually happening there? Why would a sinless man die upon the stake?

We, over the last weeks, would pass over the Days of Unleavened Bread. If you're like me, you know, you've teared up and even wept over recounting all the events surrounding Christ's crucifixion.

And we weep, but we don't solely weep because we felt sorry for Jesus Christ. There's an aspect there. Sinless man, good man, son of God. We do weep because it hurts, but we don't solely weep because we feel sorry for him. We don't solely weep for that.

We weep because of understanding. We weep because of the understanding of what Jesus Christ was doing up upon that stake. The message of what Jesus Christ was doing upon the stake was not in order just to solely make us feel sorry for him, but for us to truly understand what he was doing. What was he doing? He was bearing my debt. He was bearing your debt.

That's what he was doing. And when you get that, that's when the lights go on.

I am so in debt to God. I can't pay my debt, but I understand that Jesus Christ came and he paid that debt for me. And when you get that, it will fundamentally change a man or a woman. That knowledge. So what does fundamental change look like in the matter that's before us today?

I believe it's simply put, the fundamental change that needs to occur is the forgiven will forgive. The forgiven will forgive.

That brings us to number four. Number four. In knowing that our debts are canceled, we must cancel the debts of those who are indebted to us. Knowing that our he paid that penalty and our debt he took upon himself, we ought then to cancel the debts of those who are in debt to us.

In other words, if you've experienced the assuredness of being forgiven, if you've experienced the assurance of being forgiven, we ought to be eager to forgive the offenses of others. Eager to pass on that forgiveness.

This is seen in the model prayer. Let's turn there now this principle, this fourth principle. Matthew 6 in verse 12. Matthew 6 in verse 12. Very familiar, powerful statement here.

Matthew 6 verse 12. Again, just one verse. Matthew 6 verse 12. Simply put, forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And I don't know if it's solely, if we forgive others, God will forgive us. It is that, and we actually read that here in a moment, a few verses down, but I don't know if it's solely that. If we forgive others, then God will forgive us, you know, and that's the motivation. I don't know if that's the core motivation. I think it's deeper than that. I think it's in our forgiveness, it is in our forgiveness of other people's offenses against us, that we reveal the fact that we've been forgiven.

It gives evidence to the fact that we have been forgiven when we forgive others. Again, it's in our forgiveness of other people's offenses against us that we reveal the fact that we truly understand that we've been forgiven. In other words, if you're unforgiving, you call into question whether you understand or have accepted Christ's forgiveness for you.

If you're unforgiving, you call that into question whether you truly understand that Jesus Christ's blood has covered your offenses. So, you have to give evidence of our understanding that we've been forgiven. How do you give evidence? Well, thank you, Father, for forgiving my debt as I forgive my debtors. You know, that's verse 12 here. I want to show evidence that I get it. I want to show evidence and reveal Christ's forgiveness in my life. And once you get it, you get it. Because you realize we owe God infinitely more than what men or women owe us. You know, we owe God infinitely more than what a man or woman could ever owe us.

It's the fundamental principle. I understand myself to be bankrupt, and then I'm very willing to let go of debts of others. I know myself to be a wretched sinner, therefore that puts me in the proper posture to be forgiving of others. And that's very important because it brings us to number five. Number five understanding. Crucial. Number five is this. The unforgiving person will never come to their destiny of everlasting life with God. Number five, the unforgiving person will never come into their destiny of everlasting life with God.

That's a crucial thing to get. So allow your eyes to go down a few verses here in Matthew five.

I mean, excuse me, Matthew six, excuse me, verse 14 and 15. Matthew six, verse 14 and 15.

If you forgive men, their trespasses. Your heavenly Father will also forgive you.

Verse 15. But here it is. If you do not forgive men, their trespasses. Neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. So if you think this out, you know, what's being said here, you know, the truly forgiven person is the one who gives evidence that they've been forgiven.

And it's only the forgiven that will enter into the kingdom.

So if I'm unforgiving, in a sense, I'm revealing myself to be unforgiven. If I'm unforgiving, I'm revealing myself to be unforgiven. And we know that the unforgiven will not reach their destiny of joining God's family. So you see the seriousness that surrounds this matter of forgiveness and unforgiveness. Well, as we work to a conclusion here, one question to ask, I can't answer it for you, you can't answer it for me. But the question is this. Have we, in response to God's invitation through His Son, come to Him? He says, come close to Me. So God, through His Son, gives us the invitation. Come close to Me, just like Joseph. Have we then come close to Him with full acknowledgement of the offense that we've made? Just like his brothers, that they had to come to that acknowledgement.

Come close to Me. Where we have come, He said, God, I am bankrupt before you.

I acknowledge the fact, Father, that I'm totally in your debt and I can't get out.

So I want to ask, on the sacrifice of your Son, Jesus Christ, to forgive my debt. Father, please forgive my debt. So that's where it needs to start in this whole matter.

Come to God. He says, come to Me. Come to Him. Come to Him. Acknowledge your offense. Acknowledge you can't pay it. There's nothing I can do, Joseph, my brother, to give you back those 22 years. I can't repay that debt to you, you know. I'm just gonna have to ask for your unmerited forgiveness. Just, I need your forgiveness. That's what we do. We go and we say, please forgive my debt. And once we've come then, in that way, then and only then, will we be able to make progress in this challenge of the instruction today to truly go and say, I'm sorry, or to truly go and say, I forgive you. Then and only then can we be in the right posture for this kind of revolution.

We're the revolutionary party. We're not supposed to be known by the way we dress, by our songs. We're not necessarily supposed to be known even by our words. By this, all men will know that you're my disciples if you love one another. It doesn't say, by this, all men will know that you're my disciples if you love those who have no offenses against you. Or it isn't even say, by this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you love those who offended against you, but they've turned now and they're even acting differently. They're acting better, so you love them now. Now, it's present perfect tense. Love those. Love. You gotta love even in the midst of an offense. You gotta forgive even in the midst of an offense. Isn't that what Jesus Christ did? Just before they're about to stick a spear in his side. Forgive them. Even in the midst of the offense. Even before they change and understood. Because the change, the revolutionary impact in that individual's life might not happen until after you've forgiven them. See, we try to put the other way first sometimes. Change, and then I'll forgive you. No, the revolutionary impact happens the other way. You forgive them. That allows God to come into their lives. You're showing them Jesus Christ.

The challenge is, do you love a brother or sister who has made the offense against you? And I mean, truly love them. Well, it may begin with forgiveness, so I encourage you today, if you're in that position, come up out of the pit. You don't have to be enslaved to a chain to it. Chain to unforgiveness and forgive them today. There's the challenge. It's not skin deep. It's not a skin deep smile or a nice surface word. It's a genuine, soul-searching, gut-wrenching forgiveness.

It's a forgiveness that doesn't drag up old records. If God did that, none of us would be standing. Higher level of forgiveness. And if you truly want it, you can go to Him. Acknowledge. Start with yourself. I acknowledge myself to be in debt. I put you in a position that God will give you the ability to lift your heart to truly forgive others. Well, let's just read this passage. It's a good summary here. One chapter back. Matthew 5. Matthew 5. Let's begin in verse 43. Here's the higher level here. We're being perfected right now. Matthew 5. Let's read verses 43 through 48.

We're called to a challenging life. God can help us to accomplish all these things that we need to accomplish now in preparing for His return. Matthew 5 verse 43 through 48. You have heard it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies.

Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you.

Pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

That you may be sons and daughters of your Father in heaven, for He makes His Son rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. But God's very loving in that way. Verse 46. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Here it is. Therefore, you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. That's the challenge. Do you want to be perfect? You're going through a perfection process now, to that one day on the last day when you'll be made perfect. This is where it starts. Let me conclude with a part of a song. And we'll end with this song. It's a very part of it. It's a song written in the 1960s by Rosamond Herclots, Forgive Our Sins As We Forgive. It's its title. I think it captures our everything today. It's a good concluding statement with this. We'll end today's message.

Father, forgive our sins as we forgive. You taught us, Lord, to pray. But you alone can grant us grace to live the words we say. How can your pardon reach and bless the unforgiving heart that broods on wrong and will not let old bitterness depart? In blazing light, your cross reveals the truth we dimly knew. How small the debts of men owe to us. How great our debt to you! Lord, cleanse the depths within our souls and bid resentment cease. Then, reconcile to God and man, our lives will spread your peace.