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Dr. Tony Evans

Tony Evans - Releasing God's Forgiveness

June 28, 2026 | 27:29

Tony Evans - Releasing God's Forgiveness
Dr. Tony Evans is known as a relevant expositor and is a pastor of pastors and a father in the faith.
#Revenge #Relationships #Fear #Healing #Theology #Miracles #Forgiveness #Choices #Perseverance #TonyEvans

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Dr. Tony Evans | Tony Evans - Releasing God's Forgiveness | June 28, 2026
  • ...
  • 00:00:00.633 --> 00:00:01.317
  • Tony evans: the beauty of repentance
  • 00:00:01.751 --> 00:00:02.986
  • Is it gives god the option of lessening or canceling
  • 00:00:03.119 --> 00:00:06.856
  • The consequences.
  • 00:00:06.990 --> 00:00:07.290
  • But forgiveness is important so that you
  • 00:00:08.324 --> 00:00:10.560
  • Don't carry the weight
  • 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:11.961
  • And live with the toxicity of the infraction.
  • 00:00:11.961 --> 00:00:16.399
  • He had a biblical view of not excusing wrong
  • 00:00:16.399 --> 00:00:20.303
  • But of the biblical principle of forgiveness.
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  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:00:24.707 --> 00:00:36.019
  • Tony: if there's any theme in the bible
  • 00:00:31.714 --> 00:00:37.720
  • That is replicated over and over and over again,
  • 00:00:37.720 --> 00:00:43.626
  • It's the biblical theology and doctrine of forgiveness.
  • 00:00:43.626 --> 00:00:48.798
  • Greatly understood, often misdefined or abused,
  • 00:00:48.798 --> 00:00:55.171
  • It causes us to live with the toxic ash
  • 00:00:55.171 --> 00:01:02.612
  • That will not let us loose, and we just keep searching
  • 00:01:02.612 --> 00:01:08.485
  • For a place to dock.
  • 00:01:08.485 --> 00:01:12.255
  • The leash of unforgiveness will only let you go so far
  • 00:01:12.255 --> 00:01:17.594
  • Until it yanks you back
  • 00:01:17.594 --> 00:01:20.530
  • And reminds you you're not going anywhere.
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  • Now, we must understand
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  • That forgiveness happens on two levels.
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  • There is judicial forgiveness and relational forgiveness.
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  • Judicial forgiveness, or legal forgiveness,
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  • Is what god grants us when we come to christ,
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  • Not counting our sins against us.
  • 00:01:48.424 --> 00:01:51.494
  • That's legal forgiveness, where god declares us acquitted
  • 00:01:51.494 --> 00:01:56.966
  • Because of the sacrifice of jesus christ,
  • 00:01:56.966 --> 00:02:00.069
  • When we get saved.
  • 00:02:00.069 --> 00:02:03.973
  • But once you become a christian,
  • 00:02:03.973 --> 00:02:06.776
  • You need relational forgiveness.
  • 00:02:06.776 --> 00:02:10.813
  • Sin does not cancel our judicial acquittal,
  • 00:02:10.813 --> 00:02:15.151
  • But it can affect our parental relationship.
  • 00:02:15.151 --> 00:02:20.490
  • So it is understanding this distinction
  • 00:02:20.490 --> 00:02:25.328
  • That sets the foundation for the focus today,
  • 00:02:25.328 --> 00:02:29.966
  • Which is on the relational.
  • 00:02:29.966 --> 00:02:32.602
  • If you do not have the judicial, that is, acquitted from heaven
  • 00:02:32.602 --> 00:02:37.941
  • Because you've come to christ, that's a salvation issue.
  • 00:02:37.941 --> 00:02:42.278
  • But as we live as christians, it's a relational issue.
  • 00:02:42.278 --> 00:02:48.585
  • In matthew chapter 18, peter has a question.
  • 00:02:48.585 --> 00:02:53.223
  • Peter's question in verse 21, "then peter came
  • 00:02:53.223 --> 00:02:56.326
  • And said to him, 'lord, how often shall my brother
  • 00:02:56.326 --> 00:03:00.463
  • Sin against me and i forgive him?
  • 00:03:00.463 --> 00:03:04.534
  • Up to seven times?'"
  • 00:03:04.534 --> 00:03:07.537
  • Jesus said to him, in verse 22, "i do not say to you
  • 00:03:07.537 --> 00:03:10.940
  • Up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven."
  • 00:03:10.940 --> 00:03:17.046
  • Biblical forgiveness does not mean that something
  • 00:03:17.046 --> 00:03:24.921
  • Is skipped, ignored, pretended that it did not happen,
  • 00:03:24.921 --> 00:03:29.759
  • For then that would be a lie.
  • 00:03:29.759 --> 00:03:32.695
  • If you were hurt, if you were offended,
  • 00:03:32.695 --> 00:03:34.831
  • If you were betrayed, that's a fact.
  • 00:03:34.831 --> 00:03:39.435
  • You don't skip the truth in the name of forgiveness.
  • 00:03:39.435 --> 00:03:43.706
  • But what forgiveness does mean is that forgiveness means
  • 00:03:43.706 --> 00:03:50.647
  • That you are no longer seeking
  • 00:03:50.647 --> 00:03:54.684
  • Personal revenge for the offense.
  • 00:03:54.684 --> 00:03:58.554
  • It means that you have not decided
  • 00:03:58.554 --> 00:04:03.926
  • To personally retaliate.
  • 00:04:03.926 --> 00:04:07.297
  • You're not ignoring the wrong,
  • 00:04:07.297 --> 00:04:08.998
  • But you're neither crediting the offense
  • 00:04:08.998 --> 00:04:14.003
  • To personal retaliation.
  • 00:04:14.003 --> 00:04:17.607
  • The moment-- you don't skip the offense.
  • 00:04:17.607 --> 00:04:21.044
  • But the moment you credit the offense
  • 00:04:21.044 --> 00:04:24.013
  • To personal retaliation, you're no longer
  • 00:04:24.013 --> 00:04:27.383
  • In the realm of biblical forgiveness.
  • 00:04:27.383 --> 00:04:31.120
  • Biblical forgiveness is the decision,
  • 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:34.357
  • Whether or not it is accompanied by the emotion,
  • 00:04:34.357 --> 00:04:38.561
  • To release a debt that has been incurred.
  • 00:04:38.561 --> 00:04:45.668
  • 1 corinthians chapter 13 verse 5 says that
  • 00:04:45.668 --> 00:04:49.172
  • "to forgive is not to keep a record."
  • 00:04:49.172 --> 00:04:52.575
  • And some of us have books of records
  • 00:04:52.575 --> 00:04:58.481
  • Of what was done, when it was done,
  • 00:04:58.481 --> 00:05:00.283
  • How it was done, how long it was done,
  • 00:05:00.283 --> 00:05:02.752
  • Because we want to accumulate it
  • 00:05:02.752 --> 00:05:04.087
  • So we can decide how much we're gonna get back.
  • 00:05:04.087 --> 00:05:08.958
  • And that means forgiveness has not occurred yet.
  • 00:05:08.958 --> 00:05:14.163
  • So forgiveness is a decision.
  • 00:05:14.163 --> 00:05:16.032
  • It's something that you decide to do,
  • 00:05:16.032 --> 00:05:19.702
  • Because often you have to go against your emotions to do it.
  • 00:05:19.702 --> 00:05:26.008
  • The bible connects forgiveness to having been forgiven.
  • 00:05:26.008 --> 00:05:31.981
  • Colossians 3:13 says that, "we are to forgive
  • 00:05:31.981 --> 00:05:36.085
  • Because we have been forgiven."
  • 00:05:36.085 --> 00:05:40.289
  • So, forgiveness, that decision
  • 00:05:40.289 --> 00:05:44.227
  • To release a person from a debt
  • 00:05:44.227 --> 00:05:48.765
  • That was wrongly committed without a view
  • 00:05:48.765 --> 00:05:52.301
  • To personal retaliation.
  • 00:05:52.301 --> 00:05:55.938
  • That's why the bible says, "'vengeance is mine,'
  • 00:05:55.938 --> 00:05:57.807
  • Sayeth the lord, 'i will repay,'"
  • 00:05:57.807 --> 00:06:00.076
  • Because he's saying, "i don't want you
  • 00:06:00.076 --> 00:06:03.146
  • Personally seeking retaliation," okay?
  • 00:06:03.146 --> 00:06:07.617
  • So that's the biblical concept of forgiveness.
  • 00:06:07.617 --> 00:06:13.489
  • Now, having established that, i want to now walk you
  • 00:06:13.489 --> 00:06:18.828
  • Through the three categories of forgiveness in scripture.
  • 00:06:18.828 --> 00:06:25.234
  • First of all, there is personal forgiveness.
  • 00:06:25.234 --> 00:06:29.806
  • Personal forgiveness is when you have to forgive yourself.
  • 00:06:29.806 --> 00:06:35.945
  • There's probably very few people here
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  • Who don't have to forgive yourself for something.
  • 00:06:39.182 --> 00:06:43.352
  • Personal forgiveness has to do with regret,
  • 00:06:43.352 --> 00:06:50.493
  • That when you think back on it, you feel the weight of it.
  • 00:06:50.493 --> 00:06:55.465
  • It occupies your mind, your thought,
  • 00:06:55.465 --> 00:06:58.768
  • Or the consequences or the repercussions of it.
  • 00:06:58.768 --> 00:07:02.305
  • A scar that you see
  • 00:07:02.305 --> 00:07:04.507
  • Because you went where you shouldn't have gone
  • 00:07:04.507 --> 00:07:06.075
  • And did what you shouldn't have done,
  • 00:07:06.075 --> 00:07:08.010
  • And the scar is there to remind you
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  • That you personally need to set yourself free.
  • 00:07:12.682 --> 00:07:18.120
  • When paul talks about his own testimony
  • 00:07:18.120 --> 00:07:21.457
  • In 1 timothy chapter 1, verses 12 and 13,
  • 00:07:21.457 --> 00:07:25.628
  • He remembers what he did.
  • 00:07:25.628 --> 00:07:29.565
  • Says, "i blasphemed.
  • 00:07:29.565 --> 00:07:31.734
  • I killed christians.
  • 00:07:31.734 --> 00:07:34.036
  • I did all that stuff."
  • 00:07:34.036 --> 00:07:35.505
  • So even as an apostle, a church planter,
  • 00:07:35.505 --> 00:07:38.875
  • He never forgot what god forgave him for,
  • 00:07:38.875 --> 00:07:45.548
  • Because he had done some dastardly things.
  • 00:07:45.548 --> 00:07:50.786
  • So forgiveness starts personally, that is,
  • 00:07:50.786 --> 00:07:55.358
  • The need to release yourself.
  • 00:07:55.358 --> 00:08:00.029
  • Peter, when he denied the lord,
  • 00:08:00.029 --> 00:08:01.864
  • One of the great sins of the bible is apostasy,
  • 00:08:01.864 --> 00:08:04.867
  • The public denial of the faith.
  • 00:08:04.867 --> 00:08:07.069
  • He denied christ in front of people
  • 00:08:07.069 --> 00:08:09.105
  • Who were gonna kill him, kill christ,
  • 00:08:09.105 --> 00:08:12.041
  • Because he didn't want to suffer the same consequence.
  • 00:08:12.041 --> 00:08:14.810
  • And so he said, "i don't know the man.
  • 00:08:14.810 --> 00:08:16.679
  • I don't know the man."
  • 00:08:16.679 --> 00:08:18.014
  • Third time, "i don't blankety-blankety-blank
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  • Know the man.
  • 00:08:19.582 --> 00:08:21.317
  • I don't know him."
  • 00:08:21.317 --> 00:08:24.320
  • And guilt just consumed him, and jesus had to meet him
  • 00:08:24.320 --> 00:08:29.926
  • At the sea of galilee and help him forgive himself.
  • 00:08:29.926 --> 00:08:35.698
  • A second category of forgiveness is unilateral forgiveness.
  • 00:08:35.698 --> 00:08:44.707
  • Unilateral forgiveness is forgiving somebody else
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  • Who has not repented of what they did to you.
  • 00:08:49.745 --> 00:08:53.816
  • Unilaterally means singularly.
  • 00:08:53.816 --> 00:08:55.718
  • In other words,
  • 00:08:55.718 --> 00:08:57.053
  • The person hasn't said, "i'm sorry,"
  • 00:08:57.053 --> 00:08:59.021
  • The person hasn't said, "it's my fault,"
  • 00:08:59.021 --> 00:09:01.057
  • The person hasn't said, "my bad."
  • 00:09:01.057 --> 00:09:03.225
  • The person hasn't said anything that shows penitence
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  • For what they did to hurt you.
  • 00:09:07.396 --> 00:09:11.767
  • And you're carrying the wound
  • 00:09:11.767 --> 00:09:14.236
  • And the weight of what they did
  • 00:09:14.236 --> 00:09:19.675
  • That was destructive to some area of your life.
  • 00:09:19.675 --> 00:09:25.514
  • The reason why unilateral forgiveness
  • 00:09:25.514 --> 00:09:28.751
  • Is critical is because you are still carrying
  • 00:09:28.751 --> 00:09:34.023
  • The trash of what they did.
  • 00:09:34.023 --> 00:09:39.128
  • And because you're still carrying it,
  • 00:09:39.128 --> 00:09:41.797
  • You know that unilateral forgiveness
  • 00:09:41.797 --> 00:09:44.400
  • Has not occurred,
  • 00:09:44.400 --> 00:09:45.735
  • Because bitterness is dominating.
  • 00:09:45.735 --> 00:09:49.405
  • Unilateral forgiveness is absolutely critical,
  • 00:09:49.405 --> 00:09:54.644
  • Even when and because nobody is accepting responsibility.
  • 00:09:54.644 --> 00:09:59.915
  • It is absolutely critical
  • 00:09:59.915 --> 00:10:01.917
  • Because if you do not unilaterally forgive,
  • 00:10:01.917 --> 00:10:06.889
  • You will not be able to function at maximum level,
  • 00:10:06.889 --> 00:10:14.397
  • Because bitterness, anger, resentment is going to dominate.
  • 00:10:14.397 --> 00:10:21.570
  • We see unilateral forgiveness in acts chapter 7, verse 60.
  • 00:10:21.570 --> 00:10:25.274
  • In acts chapter 7, verse 60,
  • 00:10:25.274 --> 00:10:27.276
  • Stephen is being stoned to death.
  • 00:10:27.276 --> 00:10:29.578
  • They're throwing rocks at him to kill him.
  • 00:10:29.578 --> 00:10:32.615
  • And stephen, while being stoned to death,
  • 00:10:32.615 --> 00:10:35.451
  • Looks up to heaven and says, "forgive them."
  • 00:10:35.451 --> 00:10:39.522
  • He's being stoned to death, and he says, "god,
  • 00:10:39.522 --> 00:10:43.025
  • Forgive them."
  • 00:10:43.025 --> 00:10:45.761
  • Of course, the greatest unilateral forgiveness
  • 00:10:45.761 --> 00:10:50.733
  • Is jesus on the cross.
  • 00:10:50.733 --> 00:10:54.670
  • "father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
  • 00:10:54.670 --> 00:10:58.307
  • That was unilateral forgiveness.
  • 00:10:58.307 --> 00:10:59.742
  • You're doing that for you, so that you don't drown
  • 00:10:59.742 --> 00:11:02.878
  • In bitterness.
  • 00:11:02.878 --> 00:11:07.349
  • There's a third category of forgiveness,
  • 00:11:07.349 --> 00:11:11.620
  • Transactional forgiveness.
  • 00:11:11.620 --> 00:11:14.423
  • Transactional forgiveness is forgiveness
  • 00:11:14.423 --> 00:11:17.293
  • Where the person repents of what they did
  • 00:11:17.293 --> 00:11:22.898
  • To hurt or wound you.
  • 00:11:22.898 --> 00:11:25.401
  • They haven't hidden it, they're not running away.
  • 00:11:25.401 --> 00:11:27.937
  • They are acknowledging.
  • 00:11:27.937 --> 00:11:31.907
  • Repentance involves three things.
  • 00:11:31.907 --> 00:11:35.311
  • First of all, the recognition of a sin or an infraction.
  • 00:11:35.311 --> 00:11:38.714
  • You must recognize that i did you wrong,
  • 00:11:38.714 --> 00:11:42.151
  • You did me wrong.
  • 00:11:42.151 --> 00:11:43.486
  • It recognizes, "that was wrong."
  • 00:11:43.486 --> 00:11:48.557
  • Second aspect of forgiveness
  • 00:11:48.557 --> 00:11:50.259
  • Is remorse about the recognition.
  • 00:11:50.259 --> 00:11:53.829
  • So i recognize it and i'm not happy about it,
  • 00:11:53.829 --> 00:11:57.466
  • Because some people can recognize it
  • 00:11:57.466 --> 00:11:59.201
  • But not be remorseful of it.
  • 00:11:59.201 --> 00:12:04.106
  • "yeah, it happened. what you gonna do?"
  • 00:12:04.106 --> 00:12:08.744
  • Or, "yeah, it happened, but that's just how i am."
  • 00:12:08.744 --> 00:12:11.480
  • In other words, they don't take accountability
  • 00:12:11.480 --> 00:12:13.549
  • And responsibility, but they recognize it.
  • 00:12:13.549 --> 00:12:17.720
  • So there's recognition, there's remorse,
  • 00:12:17.720 --> 00:12:21.857
  • Then there's recompense,
  • 00:12:21.857 --> 00:12:23.759
  • That i want to bring help or healing to the situation.
  • 00:12:23.759 --> 00:12:31.400
  • I want to do whatever level of mending i can do.
  • 00:12:31.400 --> 00:12:38.107
  • So that is the heart of repentance.
  • 00:12:38.107 --> 00:12:42.111
  • So in transactional repentance, or forgiving,
  • 00:12:42.111 --> 00:12:48.951
  • You are forgiving the other person,
  • 00:12:48.951 --> 00:12:52.254
  • Which opens the door for reconciliation.
  • 00:12:52.254 --> 00:12:56.725
  • The door has been opened for a healing to occur.
  • 00:12:56.725 --> 00:13:05.334
  • Without repentance, there may not be a healing
  • 00:13:05.334 --> 00:13:09.772
  • Because the person is not taking responsibility.
  • 00:13:09.772 --> 00:13:13.542
  • But when there is repentance, it doesn't equal reconciliation,
  • 00:13:13.542 --> 00:13:19.114
  • Because you can repent as an act,
  • 00:13:19.114 --> 00:13:21.016
  • But reconciliation often takes time,
  • 00:13:21.016 --> 00:13:23.719
  • Building a relationship, building trust, all of that.
  • 00:13:23.719 --> 00:13:26.255
  • So reconciliation may be a process,
  • 00:13:26.255 --> 00:13:29.091
  • But the forgiveness, based on repentance,
  • 00:13:29.091 --> 00:13:32.595
  • Can be an act.
  • 00:13:32.595 --> 00:13:34.463
  • So when it comes to transactional forgiveness,
  • 00:13:34.463 --> 00:13:40.269
  • There is the recognition of the wrong
  • 00:13:40.269 --> 00:13:42.972
  • And the releasing of the person on the level of forgiveness,
  • 00:13:42.972 --> 00:13:47.877
  • Opening the door
  • 00:13:47.877 --> 00:13:49.211
  • For the possibility of reconciliation.
  • 00:13:49.211 --> 00:13:52.715
  • The greatest illustration, there's so many of them
  • 00:13:52.715 --> 00:13:54.817
  • In the bible, but the greatest illustration
  • 00:13:54.817 --> 00:13:57.987
  • Of transactional repentance and forgiveness is
  • 00:13:57.987 --> 00:14:04.460
  • In the story of joseph.
  • 00:14:04.460 --> 00:14:08.097
  • Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery,
  • 00:14:08.097 --> 00:14:13.769
  • But 22 years later,
  • 00:14:13.769 --> 00:14:15.704
  • Joseph is now the second in command in egypt.
  • 00:14:15.704 --> 00:14:19.375
  • There's a famine in the land,
  • 00:14:19.375 --> 00:14:21.243
  • And if you wanna eat, you gotta get a sign-off
  • 00:14:21.243 --> 00:14:24.113
  • From joseph.
  • 00:14:24.113 --> 00:14:27.082
  • So the brothers, not knowing that joseph
  • 00:14:27.082 --> 00:14:29.118
  • Is even still alive, make their way
  • 00:14:29.118 --> 00:14:31.720
  • To get a sign-off so that they can feed their families.
  • 00:14:31.720 --> 00:14:37.826
  • And to make a long story short, they come for this sign-off
  • 00:14:37.826 --> 00:14:44.199
  • So that they can eat,
  • 00:14:44.199 --> 00:14:48.037
  • And joseph finds out that his brothers have shown up.
  • 00:14:48.037 --> 00:14:53.509
  • Oh, he remembers.
  • 00:14:53.509 --> 00:14:56.145
  • I'm gonna talk about forgetting in just a moment,
  • 00:14:56.145 --> 00:14:57.780
  • But he remembers.
  • 00:14:57.780 --> 00:15:05.120
  • Chapter 45 gives us some of the highlights
  • 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:11.093
  • Of when they now connect with each other again.
  • 00:15:11.093 --> 00:15:15.497
  • The brothers want this sign-off for food.
  • 00:15:15.497 --> 00:15:19.501
  • In genesis chapter 45, verse 1,
  • 00:15:19.501 --> 00:15:22.071
  • "then joseph could not control himself
  • 00:15:22.071 --> 00:15:25.541
  • Before all those who stood by him.
  • 00:15:25.541 --> 00:15:28.877
  • And he cried, 'have everyone go out for me,'
  • 00:15:28.877 --> 00:15:34.216
  • So there was no man with him
  • 00:15:34.216 --> 00:15:36.585
  • When joseph made himself known to his brothers."
  • 00:15:36.585 --> 00:15:40.889
  • So they didn't know joe was now big man in charge.
  • 00:15:40.889 --> 00:15:49.098
  • It's a perfect opportunity for revenge.
  • 00:15:49.098 --> 00:15:52.167
  • This is when you say, "what goes around comes around."
  • 00:15:52.167 --> 00:15:58.574
  • They don't know it's joseph.
  • 00:16:02.211 --> 00:16:05.514
  • Joseph can't contain himself.
  • 00:16:05.514 --> 00:16:09.184
  • He tells them in verse 3 of genesis 45,
  • 00:16:09.184 --> 00:16:12.554
  • "i'm joseph.
  • 00:16:12.554 --> 00:16:14.757
  • Is my daddy still alive?"
  • 00:16:14.757 --> 00:16:18.660
  • Joseph then does something else to the people who did him wrong,
  • 00:16:18.660 --> 00:16:22.531
  • In verse 4, "then joseph said to his brothers,
  • 00:16:22.531 --> 00:16:26.668
  • 'come near to me.'"
  • 00:16:26.668 --> 00:16:29.304
  • Because, see, they were standing off,
  • 00:16:29.304 --> 00:16:30.639
  • Because they're scared.
  • 00:16:30.639 --> 00:16:31.974
  • Joseph could get them killed, joseph could get them killed.
  • 00:16:31.974 --> 00:16:34.543
  • He says, "come near to me.
  • 00:16:34.543 --> 00:16:38.247
  • I don't want this estranged relationship now.
  • 00:16:38.247 --> 00:16:41.517
  • You come close to me."
  • 00:16:41.517 --> 00:16:43.285
  • Twenty-two years, yeah.
  • 00:16:43.285 --> 00:16:46.989
  • And then he does something else
  • 00:16:46.989 --> 00:16:48.323
  • In verse 5 of chapter 45, he says, "now do not grieve
  • 00:16:48.323 --> 00:16:52.027
  • Or be angry with yourselves."
  • 00:16:52.027 --> 00:16:57.866
  • He helps them heal themselves.
  • 00:16:57.866 --> 00:17:00.836
  • He says, "don't be angry with you."
  • 00:17:00.836 --> 00:17:03.205
  • That takes us back to the personal.
  • 00:17:03.205 --> 00:17:06.041
  • "i know you're feeling bad.
  • 00:17:06.041 --> 00:17:07.376
  • I know you're feeling scared right now.
  • 00:17:07.376 --> 00:17:10.012
  • You come close to me, and don't be angry
  • 00:17:10.012 --> 00:17:13.048
  • With yourself anymore."
  • 00:17:13.048 --> 00:17:15.284
  • How can joseph say that, with what they did to him?
  • 00:17:15.284 --> 00:17:23.192
  • Because joseph had what we often lose,
  • 00:17:23.192 --> 00:17:26.695
  • And that's a biblical theology.
  • 00:17:26.695 --> 00:17:29.465
  • Look at what joseph says in verse 7 of chapter 45.
  • 00:17:29.465 --> 00:17:32.568
  • "god sent me here before you to preserve you
  • 00:17:32.568 --> 00:17:36.071
  • For a remnant in the earth and to keep you alive
  • 00:17:36.071 --> 00:17:39.908
  • By a great distance."
  • 00:17:39.908 --> 00:17:41.243
  • Wait a minute, wait a minute.
  • 00:17:41.243 --> 00:17:42.845
  • "you put me in jail," joseph says,
  • 00:17:42.845 --> 00:17:45.814
  • "but god sent me here."
  • 00:17:45.814 --> 00:17:48.984
  • See, you have to have a big enough view of god
  • 00:17:48.984 --> 00:17:52.688
  • That even when done wrong,
  • 00:17:52.688 --> 00:17:55.524
  • God can use mess to create miracle.
  • 00:17:55.524 --> 00:17:58.827
  • You have to have a big enough view of god
  • 00:17:58.827 --> 00:18:01.563
  • That does not justify the wrong.
  • 00:18:01.563 --> 00:18:04.366
  • He had a biblical view of not excusing wrong
  • 00:18:04.366 --> 00:18:09.204
  • But of the biblical principle of forgiveness.
  • 00:18:09.204 --> 00:18:14.209
  • I love the way chapter 50 ends, when he is giving
  • 00:18:14.209 --> 00:18:20.582
  • His theological status.
  • 00:18:20.582 --> 00:18:26.555
  • "please forgive," verse 17 says, "i beg you,
  • 00:18:26.555 --> 00:18:30.893
  • The transgression of your brothers,"
  • 00:18:30.893 --> 00:18:32.861
  • It's his father talking, "and their sin,
  • 00:18:32.861 --> 00:18:36.565
  • For they did you wrong.
  • 00:18:36.565 --> 00:18:39.701
  • And now please forgive the transgression
  • 00:18:39.701 --> 00:18:42.738
  • Of the servants of the god of your father,"
  • 00:18:42.738 --> 00:18:46.241
  • And joseph wept when they spoke to him,
  • 00:18:46.241 --> 00:18:52.014
  • Because sometimes forgiveness and reconciliation
  • 00:18:52.014 --> 00:18:57.219
  • Makes you weep.
  • 00:18:57.219 --> 00:19:00.856
  • "then his brothers also came and fell down before him
  • 00:19:00.856 --> 00:19:04.927
  • And said, 'behold, we are your servants.'
  • 00:19:04.927 --> 00:19:09.865
  • But joseph said to them, 'do not be afraid,
  • 00:19:09.865 --> 00:19:12.467
  • For i am in god's place.
  • 00:19:12.467 --> 00:19:16.872
  • You meant it for evil, but god meant it for good.'"
  • 00:19:16.872 --> 00:19:23.545
  • Please do not misunderstand me.
  • 00:19:23.545 --> 00:19:26.615
  • Please don't misquote me.
  • 00:19:26.615 --> 00:19:30.686
  • When you have had an infraction,
  • 00:19:30.686 --> 00:19:33.255
  • A sin committed against you, it is just that.
  • 00:19:33.255 --> 00:19:38.060
  • You don't excuse it, wash it away.
  • 00:19:38.060 --> 00:19:40.028
  • You don't act like it never happened.
  • 00:19:40.028 --> 00:19:43.865
  • But neither are you to be held hostage to it.
  • 00:19:43.865 --> 00:19:49.905
  • Because if you're held hostage to it,
  • 00:19:49.905 --> 00:19:53.642
  • You are destroying you.
  • 00:19:53.642 --> 00:19:57.012
  • You're hurting you.
  • 00:19:57.012 --> 00:19:59.948
  • You say, "but i still feel it."
  • 00:19:59.948 --> 00:20:02.584
  • Yes, but have you first made the decision about it?
  • 00:20:02.584 --> 00:20:09.424
  • Now let me tell you why it's important.
  • 00:20:09.424 --> 00:20:12.327
  • Back to matthew 18.
  • 00:20:12.327 --> 00:20:15.163
  • In matthew 18, i'll summarize the story.
  • 00:20:15.163 --> 00:20:19.334
  • After peter asked how many times should he
  • 00:20:19.334 --> 00:20:20.836
  • Forgive his brother, there's a king,
  • 00:20:20.836 --> 00:20:23.272
  • Beginning in verse 23.
  • 00:20:23.272 --> 00:20:25.173
  • He calls this the kingdom of heaven.
  • 00:20:25.173 --> 00:20:26.975
  • Here's how heaven operates.
  • 00:20:26.975 --> 00:20:28.577
  • He says, "there's a king who had a slave
  • 00:20:28.577 --> 00:20:31.680
  • Who owed him millions of dollars.
  • 00:20:31.680 --> 00:20:36.818
  • The king said, 'well, where's my money?
  • 00:20:36.818 --> 00:20:38.587
  • Pay up.'
  • 00:20:38.587 --> 00:20:41.757
  • The servant who owed him all his money,"
  • 00:20:41.757 --> 00:20:45.027
  • Verse 26, "fell to the ground
  • 00:20:45.027 --> 00:20:48.630
  • And prostrated himself before this king and said,
  • 00:20:48.630 --> 00:20:52.034
  • 'have patience with me and i will repay you everything.
  • 00:20:52.034 --> 00:20:56.738
  • But i need more time, i need more time.'
  • 00:20:56.738 --> 00:21:01.009
  • The lord of the slaves said-- he felt compassion on him
  • 00:21:01.009 --> 00:21:07.983
  • And released him and forgave his debt."
  • 00:21:07.983 --> 00:21:12.087
  • He says, "i'm not gonna give you more time,
  • 00:21:12.087 --> 00:21:15.023
  • I'm gonna cancel your bill."
  • 00:21:15.023 --> 00:21:16.892
  • But the slave went out,
  • 00:21:16.892 --> 00:21:18.927
  • After his debt has been canceled,
  • 00:21:18.927 --> 00:21:21.330
  • And found one of his fellow slaves,
  • 00:21:21.330 --> 00:21:24.733
  • One of his posse, who owed him a couple of hundred dollars.
  • 00:21:24.733 --> 00:21:30.806
  • It says 100 denarii.
  • 00:21:30.806 --> 00:21:33.842
  • "and he seized him and began to choke him,
  • 00:21:33.842 --> 00:21:37.913
  • Saying, 'pay back what you owe me.'
  • 00:21:37.913 --> 00:21:43.452
  • His fellow slave fell to the ground,"
  • 00:21:43.452 --> 00:21:46.221
  • Verse 29, "and pleaded, 'have patience with me
  • 00:21:46.221 --> 00:21:50.192
  • And i'll repay you.'"
  • 00:21:50.192 --> 00:21:51.526
  • Well, that's what the slave said to the king.
  • 00:21:51.526 --> 00:21:54.062
  • He says, like, "give me some time."
  • 00:21:54.062 --> 00:21:57.933
  • "but he was unwilling and went and threw him in prison
  • 00:21:57.933 --> 00:22:02.637
  • Until he should pay back what he was owed."
  • 00:22:02.637 --> 00:22:10.345
  • The other slaves tell the king
  • 00:22:10.345 --> 00:22:13.749
  • What the first slave did to the second slave.
  • 00:22:13.749 --> 00:22:17.886
  • "guess what homeboy did?
  • 00:22:17.886 --> 00:22:20.689
  • He put this guy, fellow slave, in prison,
  • 00:22:20.689 --> 00:22:24.092
  • Because he couldn't pay right then."
  • 00:22:24.092 --> 00:22:29.664
  • When the king heard it, when the lord heard it,
  • 00:22:29.664 --> 00:22:35.670
  • He summoned him, in verse 32, and said to him,
  • 00:22:35.670 --> 00:22:39.641
  • "you wicked slave.
  • 00:22:39.641 --> 00:22:42.277
  • I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me.
  • 00:22:42.277 --> 00:22:48.316
  • Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave
  • 00:22:48.316 --> 00:22:54.556
  • In the same way i had mercy on you?"
  • 00:22:54.556 --> 00:22:58.293
  • In other words, "you are unwilling
  • 00:22:58.293 --> 00:23:00.529
  • To give somebody else what i gave you."
  • 00:23:00.529 --> 00:23:02.964
  • What's the principle here?
  • 00:23:02.964 --> 00:23:04.366
  • He tells you in verse 35.
  • 00:23:04.366 --> 00:23:08.670
  • Jesus says, "here's my point.
  • 00:23:08.670 --> 00:23:10.772
  • My heavenly father will also do the same to you,
  • 00:23:10.772 --> 00:23:15.544
  • If each of you does not forgive his brother
  • 00:23:15.544 --> 00:23:17.779
  • From your heart."
  • 00:23:17.779 --> 00:23:20.015
  • So, many christians have continual broken fellowship
  • 00:23:20.015 --> 00:23:23.919
  • With god because they're carrying unforgiveness
  • 00:23:23.919 --> 00:23:27.022
  • With others.
  • 00:23:27.022 --> 00:23:28.423
  • We may be stopping what god wants to do.
  • 00:23:28.423 --> 00:23:31.560
  • In fact, matthew chapter 11, verses 20 to 26 says,
  • 00:23:31.560 --> 00:23:36.465
  • "if you have a mountain,"
  • 00:23:36.465 --> 00:23:37.866
  • That is, an impossible situation,
  • 00:23:37.866 --> 00:23:40.035
  • "that you can't get rid of," he says "i want you
  • 00:23:40.035 --> 00:23:42.370
  • To talk to god, and i want you to tell god by faith
  • 00:23:42.370 --> 00:23:46.174
  • To remove this impossible situation."
  • 00:23:46.174 --> 00:23:48.944
  • Anybody got any impossible situations
  • 00:23:48.944 --> 00:23:50.545
  • That you have to deal with in life?
  • 00:23:50.545 --> 00:23:52.080
  • We all do from time to time.
  • 00:23:52.080 --> 00:23:53.715
  • It's an impossible situation, and he says,
  • 00:23:53.715 --> 00:23:56.251
  • "it's this mountain."
  • 00:23:56.251 --> 00:23:57.586
  • So you gotta have faith in god,
  • 00:23:57.586 --> 00:23:59.154
  • And you've gotta ask god to move the mountain.
  • 00:23:59.154 --> 00:24:02.724
  • Now, most people stop there, but when it says,
  • 00:24:02.724 --> 00:24:05.994
  • "have faith in god to move the mountain,"
  • 00:24:05.994 --> 00:24:09.431
  • God then says in matthew 11, but make sure you're forgiving,"
  • 00:24:09.431 --> 00:24:15.570
  • Because if you're not forgiving, you're stopping god
  • 00:24:15.570 --> 00:24:18.974
  • From moving your mountain.
  • 00:24:18.974 --> 00:24:21.009
  • So we could have impossible situations
  • 00:24:21.009 --> 00:24:23.512
  • That we are stuck in because we're stuck
  • 00:24:23.512 --> 00:24:26.281
  • In unforgiveness.
  • 00:24:26.281 --> 00:24:29.651
  • So over and over again, he says
  • 00:24:29.651 --> 00:24:31.052
  • In matthew chapter 6, verse 14 and 15,
  • 00:24:31.052 --> 00:24:34.723
  • "if you don't forgive others, i won't forgive you."
  • 00:24:34.723 --> 00:24:37.359
  • He says in ephesians chapter 4, verse 30 to 32,
  • 00:24:37.359 --> 00:24:41.129
  • "unforgiveness grieves the holy spirit,
  • 00:24:41.129 --> 00:24:43.164
  • So the holy spirit can't work with you."
  • 00:24:43.164 --> 00:24:45.133
  • He says in proverbs chapter 19, verse 11,
  • 00:24:45.133 --> 00:24:47.736
  • "it is to a man's glory to overlook a fault.
  • 00:24:47.736 --> 00:24:51.573
  • Not to excuse it, but to not seek
  • 00:24:51.573 --> 00:24:54.776
  • Personal retaliation."
  • 00:24:54.776 --> 00:24:56.645
  • That's why i love chapter 41 of joseph's story,
  • 00:24:56.645 --> 00:25:05.020
  • 'cause in chapter 41 of joseph's story,
  • 00:25:05.020 --> 00:25:08.323
  • We're told something.
  • 00:25:08.323 --> 00:25:11.059
  • Because of these 22 years of mistreatment,
  • 00:25:11.059 --> 00:25:17.832
  • Because of these years of abandonment,
  • 00:25:17.832 --> 00:25:23.939
  • He says in verse 51, "joseph named his firstborn manasseh,"
  • 00:25:23.939 --> 00:25:30.845
  • Because names in the bible have meaning.
  • 00:25:30.845 --> 00:25:33.214
  • He says, "the firstborn manasseh,
  • 00:25:33.214 --> 00:25:35.650
  • For he said, 'god has made me
  • 00:25:35.650 --> 00:25:38.987
  • Forget all my trouble and all my father's household.'"
  • 00:25:38.987 --> 00:25:44.926
  • Ooh, god has helped me to forget.
  • 00:25:44.926 --> 00:25:51.766
  • "and so i'm gonna name my boy, my firstborn son,
  • 00:25:51.766 --> 00:25:56.004
  • Manasseh, so that every time i call his name,
  • 00:25:56.004 --> 00:25:59.274
  • I'm gonna be reminded of my victory.
  • 00:25:59.274 --> 00:26:02.310
  • Every time i see my boy in the morning, manasseh,
  • 00:26:02.310 --> 00:26:04.713
  • Manasseh, manasseh, manasseh, manasseh,
  • 00:26:04.713 --> 00:26:06.715
  • God has caused you to forget, forget, forget, forget, forget."
  • 00:26:06.715 --> 00:26:09.484
  • To forget does not mean there is not intellectual memory.
  • 00:26:09.484 --> 00:26:13.822
  • To forget means
  • 00:26:13.822 --> 00:26:15.156
  • It's not intellectual control of memory.
  • 00:26:15.156 --> 00:26:19.027
  • God doesn't forget anything,
  • 00:26:19.027 --> 00:26:20.362
  • Or else he wouldn't be omniscient.
  • 00:26:20.362 --> 00:26:22.163
  • But he says he's forgotten our sins,
  • 00:26:22.163 --> 00:26:23.965
  • Which means he no longer-- we're no longer
  • 00:26:23.965 --> 00:26:27.302
  • Controlling his thinking about us
  • 00:26:27.302 --> 00:26:29.337
  • Because of those sins.
  • 00:26:29.337 --> 00:26:31.006
  • So forgetting means you have a manasseh.
  • 00:26:31.006 --> 00:26:34.109
  • When you forgive biblically, then god is free
  • 00:26:34.109 --> 00:26:38.580
  • To give you a new birth called a manasseh,
  • 00:26:38.580 --> 00:26:41.516
  • Where he helps what you do remember
  • 00:26:41.516 --> 00:26:43.685
  • Not to control your mind anymore,
  • 00:26:43.685 --> 00:26:46.187
  • So you're not held hostage to it.
  • 00:26:46.187 --> 00:26:49.591
  • So some of us, when we leave today,
  • 00:26:49.591 --> 00:26:51.993
  • Need to write a notecard, need to write a letter,
  • 00:26:51.993 --> 00:26:55.130
  • Need to send a post, need to pick up the phone call
  • 00:26:55.130 --> 00:26:58.133
  • And say, "i release you.
  • 00:26:58.133 --> 00:27:00.402
  • Even if you didn't say i'm sorry, i release you
  • 00:27:00.402 --> 00:27:03.538
  • So that i can be released, so that i can have
  • 00:27:03.538 --> 00:27:06.041
  • God move mountains, so that i can see
  • 00:27:06.041 --> 00:27:07.876
  • God move in my life.
  • 00:27:07.876 --> 00:27:09.577
  • Yes, some things gotta be rectified,
  • 00:27:09.577 --> 00:27:11.680
  • Some things need to be dealt with,
  • 00:27:11.680 --> 00:27:13.248
  • But i release you from personal retaliation
  • 00:27:13.248 --> 00:27:16.317
  • Because i need god still to deal with some mountains in my life."
  • 00:27:16.317 --> 00:27:21.289
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:21.289 --> 00:27:21.289