WEBVTT 00:00:07.690 --> 00:00:10.169 Thank you for listening to this message from 00:00:10.169 --> 00:00:18.429 Lifehouse Church. Come on, let's give Jesus a 00:00:18.429 --> 00:00:25.769 hand. Can we do that? Nothing better than Baptism 00:00:25.769 --> 00:00:29.530 Sunday. Just celebrating. People who have gone 00:00:29.530 --> 00:00:31.870 from death to life, and that's what Jesus does. 00:00:32.149 --> 00:00:34.369 Everything that he touches, everything he speaks 00:00:34.369 --> 00:00:37.390 a word over, everything that's in his word moves 00:00:37.390 --> 00:00:40.969 us towards life. And everything, do you know 00:00:40.969 --> 00:00:42.950 that everything else in your life is moving from 00:00:42.950 --> 00:00:45.310 life to death? Except anything that God's in 00:00:45.310 --> 00:00:47.939 the middle of, right? He's going to death to 00:00:47.939 --> 00:00:51.020 life. So it's awesome stuff. I love Baptism Sunday. 00:00:51.159 --> 00:00:53.820 We rejoice every time it happens. We kind of 00:00:53.820 --> 00:00:55.740 love Sundays in general, though, so we say that 00:00:55.740 --> 00:00:58.079 about every Sunday. But it's good to have you 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:01.539 here this morning. I want to start off just really 00:01:01.539 --> 00:01:04.239 kind of praying over our ears and our hearts 00:01:04.239 --> 00:01:06.579 as we get ready to dive into God's Word. If you 00:01:06.579 --> 00:01:08.900 would, just bow your heads and your hearts. Father, 00:01:09.000 --> 00:01:10.859 thank you for this day. God, we thank you for 00:01:10.859 --> 00:01:14.000 life. We thank you, God, for the love that you 00:01:14.000 --> 00:01:16.299 give us. We thank you for those who have publicly 00:01:16.299 --> 00:01:19.859 declared today that they are rock life people. 00:01:19.959 --> 00:01:22.819 They are people who follow Jesus on the rock. 00:01:22.900 --> 00:01:24.939 And we just give you praise. We give you glory 00:01:24.939 --> 00:01:28.019 and honor in Jesus' name. And everybody say it 00:01:28.019 --> 00:01:31.409 together. Amen, amen. Well, I want to continue 00:01:31.409 --> 00:01:34.469 on. Last week, I preached the message on forgiveness, 00:01:34.629 --> 00:01:36.989 and I didn't get to finish everything I wanted 00:01:36.989 --> 00:01:39.489 to talk about, so I really kind of want to bounce 00:01:39.489 --> 00:01:41.989 off of last week and dive right into something 00:01:41.989 --> 00:01:45.090 that I believe is incredibly important about 00:01:45.090 --> 00:01:49.689 life on the rock, Jesus Christ, and that is forgiveness. 00:01:49.909 --> 00:01:52.790 Say forgiveness. Forgiveness. Turn to somebody 00:01:52.790 --> 00:01:54.849 right now. Pinch them on the arm. Only do this 00:01:54.849 --> 00:01:56.489 if you know them, though. Pinch them on the arm 00:01:56.489 --> 00:01:57.810 and say, we're going to talk forgiveness now. 00:01:57.969 --> 00:01:59.590 It's been awesome so far, but we're going to 00:01:59.590 --> 00:02:01.750 talk forgiveness, all right? It's been awesome. 00:02:01.989 --> 00:02:04.170 Come on, some of you jumped right out of your 00:02:04.170 --> 00:02:06.790 seats when you did that. Forgiveness can be one 00:02:06.790 --> 00:02:10.469 of the most challenging mandates. that Jesus 00:02:10.469 --> 00:02:13.449 has taught his followers. It really can be. And 00:02:13.449 --> 00:02:16.330 forgiveness is one of those things that can be 00:02:16.330 --> 00:02:20.349 hard. It's beautiful, but it's difficult. And 00:02:20.349 --> 00:02:24.810 as I want to, I want to set the stage from last 00:02:24.810 --> 00:02:27.689 week to this week by repeating a verse of scripture 00:02:27.689 --> 00:02:30.469 that I read last week so that we start to understand 00:02:30.469 --> 00:02:32.729 and we continue to understand what forgiveness 00:02:32.729 --> 00:02:35.979 is all about. Matthew 6, 7 says this. And when 00:02:35.979 --> 00:02:39.500 you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the 00:02:39.500 --> 00:02:41.659 Gentiles do, for they think that they will be 00:02:41.659 --> 00:02:44.300 heard for their many words. Do not be like them, 00:02:44.340 --> 00:02:47.219 for your Father knows what you have need of before 00:02:47.219 --> 00:02:50.840 you ask him. Pray then like this, our Father 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:53.469 in heaven. Hallowed be your name, your kingdom 00:02:53.469 --> 00:02:56.110 come, your will be done on earth as it is in 00:02:56.110 --> 00:02:58.729 heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and 00:02:58.729 --> 00:03:01.349 forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven 00:03:01.349 --> 00:03:04.210 our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, 00:03:04.530 --> 00:03:08.430 but deliver us from the evil. For if you forgive 00:03:08.430 --> 00:03:11.569 others their trespasses, your heavenly Father 00:03:11.569 --> 00:03:14.969 will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive 00:03:14.969 --> 00:03:17.870 others of their trespasses, neither will your 00:03:17.870 --> 00:03:21.930 Father forgive your trespasses. Forgiveness is 00:03:21.930 --> 00:03:24.710 not optional for a follower of Jesus Christ. 00:03:25.229 --> 00:03:27.949 Forgiveness is not optional if you live on the 00:03:27.949 --> 00:03:31.949 rock, Jesus Christ. Matthew, it's recorded right 00:03:31.949 --> 00:03:35.030 here in Matthew. It's Jesus' words. And in Mark 00:03:35.030 --> 00:03:37.229 and Luke, I'm going to read them as well. Jesus 00:03:37.229 --> 00:03:39.389 says something similar on different occasions. 00:03:39.629 --> 00:03:42.729 In Mark 11, 25, it says, Whenever you stand praying, 00:03:43.189 --> 00:03:46.949 forgive. For if you have anything against anyone, 00:03:47.210 --> 00:03:50.229 say anyone. How many know that's everybody, right? 00:03:50.650 --> 00:03:53.330 Anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven 00:03:53.330 --> 00:03:56.930 may forgive your trespasses. Luke 6, 37, Jesus 00:03:56.930 --> 00:03:59.469 was speaking again. It says, judge not, and you 00:03:59.469 --> 00:04:01.349 will not be judged. Condemn not, and you will 00:04:01.349 --> 00:04:05.449 not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 00:04:05.849 --> 00:04:08.270 And if that's not enough, I could run you back 00:04:08.270 --> 00:04:11.050 over to Matthew chapter 18, where Jesus begins 00:04:11.050 --> 00:04:14.969 to tell a story. about a master who forgives 00:04:14.969 --> 00:04:17.910 one of his servants of an enormous debt. As a 00:04:17.910 --> 00:04:19.730 matter of fact, if you would translate the amount 00:04:19.730 --> 00:04:22.870 of money, it would be about $18 billion, with 00:04:22.870 --> 00:04:25.889 a B, right? There's this master who forgives 00:04:25.889 --> 00:04:28.899 his servant of this enormous debt. And in turn, 00:04:29.060 --> 00:04:32.399 this servant who's been forgiven of so much will 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:35.040 not forgive somebody that only owes him about 00:04:35.040 --> 00:04:39.420 $12 ,000. And the master finds this guy who was 00:04:39.420 --> 00:04:41.819 forgiven of so much, this servant, and listen 00:04:41.819 --> 00:04:44.779 to what he says in Matthew 18, 32. And this, 00:04:44.779 --> 00:04:47.819 his master summoned him and he said to him, you 00:04:47.819 --> 00:04:51.300 wicked servant, I forgave you all that debt because 00:04:51.300 --> 00:05:10.400 you pleaded with me. And should not you? You've 00:05:10.400 --> 00:05:14.839 got to forgive. Forgiveness is not optional. 00:05:15.199 --> 00:05:18.079 We must forgive. We've got to forgive when I 00:05:18.079 --> 00:05:21.060 really don't want to, right, or when I do want 00:05:21.060 --> 00:05:25.209 to. I've got to forgive when it feels good. And 00:05:25.209 --> 00:05:27.529 when it doesn't feel good, I got to forgive. 00:05:27.769 --> 00:05:30.509 When I can engage in the process of forgiving, 00:05:30.649 --> 00:05:32.629 what I talk about in Scripture and Jesus talked 00:05:32.629 --> 00:05:35.569 about in Matthew 18, when I can create an environment 00:05:35.569 --> 00:05:38.930 where there's exposure or accountability or confrontation, 00:05:39.329 --> 00:05:42.329 I forgive when that happens. And I'm supposed 00:05:42.329 --> 00:05:45.430 to forgive even if I'm not able to confront, 00:05:45.709 --> 00:05:48.569 if I'm not able to hold somebody accountable, 00:05:48.750 --> 00:05:52.750 if I don't have the opportunity to seek justice 00:05:52.750 --> 00:05:58.740 or expose. I forgive in the good, the bad, and 00:05:58.740 --> 00:06:04.060 the ugly. Rock Life people, we forgive. And maybe 00:06:04.060 --> 00:06:09.000 for you, somewhere along the way, there's a person 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:11.319 that has sinned against you. There's a person 00:06:11.319 --> 00:06:14.279 that violated you in some way. There's somebody 00:06:14.279 --> 00:06:18.300 that did you wrong, and you can't confront them. 00:06:18.699 --> 00:06:20.939 You can't go to them. Maybe they passed away. 00:06:21.360 --> 00:06:24.180 Maybe they have died and you've never had the 00:06:24.180 --> 00:06:27.759 chance to go confront or try to reconcile with 00:06:27.759 --> 00:06:30.079 them or try to work it out or tell them their 00:06:30.079 --> 00:06:33.879 sin or whatever violation happened to you from 00:06:33.879 --> 00:06:37.920 them. You have no way to go and take a path of 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:41.540 forgiveness, right? You can't get there. There's 00:06:41.540 --> 00:06:45.060 no path to closure in the relationship, no path 00:06:45.060 --> 00:06:49.779 to justice. It just feels kind of, Ugly, right? 00:06:50.420 --> 00:06:54.379 But you got to forgive. And I believe that God's 00:06:54.379 --> 00:06:57.639 word gives us some deep lessons from a person 00:06:57.639 --> 00:07:01.660 who went through this very same thing. A young 00:07:01.660 --> 00:07:05.180 man named Joseph went through this very thing 00:07:05.180 --> 00:07:07.160 where he didn't have the opportunity. So if you 00:07:07.160 --> 00:07:09.019 got your Bibles this morning, I want you just 00:07:09.019 --> 00:07:10.800 to flip backwards. You might've jumped in the 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:13.060 New Testament. We're going back to Genesis, the 00:07:13.060 --> 00:07:17.129 first book in the Bible. Genesis 37, two. And 00:07:17.129 --> 00:07:20.509 I want everyone to say Joseph. Yeah, Joseph. 00:07:20.949 --> 00:07:22.709 Joseph is who we're going to talk about as some 00:07:22.709 --> 00:07:24.050 of you are turning, and it'll come up on the 00:07:24.050 --> 00:07:26.509 screens as well. Joseph, just to give you a little 00:07:26.509 --> 00:07:29.689 background, is the 11th son of a man named Jacob, 00:07:29.810 --> 00:07:32.509 and he is the first son of one of Jacob's wives 00:07:32.509 --> 00:07:36.329 named Rachel. Now, Jacob has two wives, Rachel 00:07:36.329 --> 00:07:39.910 and Leah, and he also has two concubines, Billa 00:07:39.910 --> 00:07:45.120 and Zilpah. And to these four women, now back 00:07:45.120 --> 00:07:47.220 in the day, you could marry four women. Amen. 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:50.500 Thank God we can't do that now, right? That all 00:07:50.500 --> 00:07:53.819 changed in the New Testament. But back then they 00:07:53.819 --> 00:07:57.660 could. And Jacob had two wives. He had two concubines. 00:07:57.740 --> 00:08:01.519 And they had 12 sons between these four women. 00:08:01.920 --> 00:08:06.439 And Joseph's dad, Jacob, right? Joseph is the 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:10.180 11th son of these women. And if I can give you, 00:08:10.199 --> 00:08:11.939 just take you back just a little bit further. 00:08:13.139 --> 00:08:17.839 Joseph's dad, Jacob, is the son of Isaac. Isaac 00:08:17.839 --> 00:08:21.379 is the son of Abraham. And Abraham is significant. 00:08:21.930 --> 00:08:24.990 scripture because it is Abraham that God promises. 00:08:25.209 --> 00:08:27.629 He comes to Abraham, makes a promise that he's 00:08:27.629 --> 00:08:29.509 going to make a mighty nation out of him. That 00:08:29.509 --> 00:08:31.870 from his seed, the nations of the earth are going 00:08:31.870 --> 00:08:35.389 to be blessed. And God follows through with this. 00:08:35.450 --> 00:08:38.070 And it's actually Jacob that God changes his 00:08:38.070 --> 00:08:41.970 name to Israel. And the nation of Israel is birthed. 00:08:41.990 --> 00:08:46.850 And these 12 sons to Jacob are the 12 tribes, 00:08:46.909 --> 00:08:50.730 the original tribes of Israel. And Joseph is 00:08:50.730 --> 00:08:55.269 the 11th. of the 12. Genesis 37 .2 says this, 00:08:55.350 --> 00:08:58.590 these are the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being 00:08:58.590 --> 00:09:01.830 17 years old, was pastoring the flock with his 00:09:01.830 --> 00:09:04.490 brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Billa 00:09:04.490 --> 00:09:08.429 and Zilpah, his father's wives, and Joseph brought 00:09:08.429 --> 00:09:12.519 a bad report of them to their father. Now, Israel, 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:15.100 which is another name for Jacob, loved Joseph 00:09:15.100 --> 00:09:17.639 more than any of his sons because he was the 00:09:17.639 --> 00:09:20.019 son of his old age. And he made him a robe of 00:09:20.019 --> 00:09:22.679 many colors. But when his brothers saw that their 00:09:22.679 --> 00:09:24.580 father loved him more than all the other his 00:09:24.580 --> 00:09:27.700 brothers, they hated him and could not speak 00:09:27.700 --> 00:09:30.759 peaceably to him. Now, a couple problems with 00:09:30.759 --> 00:09:34.639 this family right off the bat, right? Dad has 00:09:34.639 --> 00:09:39.559 12 sons and his next youngest son, Joseph, first 00:09:39.559 --> 00:09:42.059 of all, is a tattletale. All right, that's what 00:09:42.059 --> 00:09:43.679 it says at the beginning of Scripture. He goes 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:46.320 and tells on his way. He's 17 years old, and 00:09:46.320 --> 00:09:48.620 he runs to his dad, and he gives a bad report 00:09:48.620 --> 00:09:52.730 about his brothers. sons to the concubines and 00:09:52.730 --> 00:09:56.210 starts to stir up trouble. And it becomes very 00:09:56.210 --> 00:09:58.909 obvious, very quick to all these boys that Joseph 00:09:58.909 --> 00:10:01.450 is actually the favorite son. He's the golden 00:10:01.450 --> 00:10:04.049 child. Any golden child in the house? Come on, 00:10:04.070 --> 00:10:06.409 raise your hand. Be proud. All right. Any babies 00:10:06.409 --> 00:10:09.350 in the family? Come on. There we go. All right. 00:10:09.409 --> 00:10:11.549 You know, you're the golden child of the family. 00:10:11.710 --> 00:10:16.649 In Jacob's old age, he made it obvious. And Jacob 00:10:16.649 --> 00:10:19.570 kind of confirms this in the family because he 00:10:19.570 --> 00:10:22.759 makes Joseph, a special gift. He makes him a 00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:25.960 coat of many colors just so Joseph can wear it 00:10:25.960 --> 00:10:29.700 and rub it in his brother's faces, right? This 00:10:29.700 --> 00:10:33.500 is not a great family dynamic here. There's jealousy, 00:10:33.759 --> 00:10:36.460 there's favoritism, there's division, there's 00:10:36.460 --> 00:10:39.600 strife all threaded through this family. And 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:43.600 Joseph's brothers hate him for the favoritism. 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:46.820 They hate him. And it gets worse. Verse 5 says 00:10:46.820 --> 00:10:49.159 this, now Joseph had a dream. And when he told 00:10:49.159 --> 00:10:52.139 his brothers, they hated him even more. He said 00:10:52.139 --> 00:10:54.019 to him, hear this dream that I have dreamed. 00:10:54.500 --> 00:10:56.460 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field. 00:10:56.500 --> 00:10:59.539 And behold, my sheaves arose and stood upright. 00:10:59.740 --> 00:11:02.360 And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and 00:11:02.360 --> 00:11:05.320 bowed down to my sheaves. His brothers said to 00:11:05.320 --> 00:11:08.240 him, are you indeed to reign over us? So they 00:11:08.240 --> 00:11:11.409 hated him. even more, for this dreams and for 00:11:11.409 --> 00:11:14.169 his words. Then he dreamed another dream. This 00:11:14.169 --> 00:11:16.610 is Joseph dreaming again. And he told it to his 00:11:16.610 --> 00:11:18.590 brothers and said, behold, I've dreamed another 00:11:18.590 --> 00:11:21.110 dream. Behold, the sun and the moon and even 00:11:21.110 --> 00:11:25.840 stars, 11 stars were bowing down to me. But when 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:28.539 he told it to his father and his brothers, his 00:11:28.539 --> 00:11:31.519 father rebuked. Even his father's upset with 00:11:31.519 --> 00:11:34.120 him now. Rebuked him and said to him, what is 00:11:34.120 --> 00:11:36.899 this dream that you've dreamed? Shall I and your 00:11:36.899 --> 00:11:39.440 mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves 00:11:39.440 --> 00:11:42.379 to the ground before you? And his brothers were 00:11:42.379 --> 00:11:45.080 jealous of him. But his father kept the saying 00:11:45.080 --> 00:11:49.409 in mind. The hatred birthed in the hearts of 00:11:49.409 --> 00:11:53.070 these brothers begins to set a perfect storm 00:11:53.070 --> 00:11:58.269 of betrayal and harm to Joseph. In his youthful 00:11:58.269 --> 00:12:01.850 lack of wisdom, in sharing his prophetic dreams 00:12:01.850 --> 00:12:04.509 with his brothers, they begin to hate him more 00:12:04.509 --> 00:12:07.789 and deeper all along the way. And the circumstances 00:12:07.789 --> 00:12:11.009 that I'm about to read to you set up this scene 00:12:11.009 --> 00:12:16.190 for the brothers to plan and plot his murder. 00:12:16.669 --> 00:12:18.909 Now, they don't get to the murder, but they plot 00:12:18.909 --> 00:12:21.389 it. 37 .12 says this. Now, his brothers went 00:12:21.389 --> 00:12:24.269 to pastor their father's flock near Shechem. 00:12:24.330 --> 00:12:26.590 Say Shechem. Shechem. I was just making sure 00:12:26.590 --> 00:12:28.669 one of you were with me. Say Shechem. Shechem. 00:12:28.789 --> 00:12:30.409 Got to know where they're going, all right? Their 00:12:30.409 --> 00:12:32.549 brothers are pastoring the flock, and they head 00:12:32.549 --> 00:12:34.830 to Shechem. And Israel said to Joseph, are not 00:12:34.830 --> 00:12:36.549 your brothers pastoring the flock at Shechem? 00:12:36.809 --> 00:12:39.509 Come, I will send you to them. And he said to 00:12:39.509 --> 00:12:42.149 him, here am I. So he said to him, go now, see 00:12:42.149 --> 00:12:44.409 if it is well with your brothers, with the flock, 00:12:44.549 --> 00:12:47.230 and bring me word. So he sent him from the valley 00:12:47.230 --> 00:12:49.610 of Hebron, this is Jacob sent, and his son Joseph. 00:12:50.070 --> 00:12:53.710 And he came to Shechem, and a man found him wandering 00:12:53.710 --> 00:12:56.570 in the fields, and the man asked him, what are 00:12:56.570 --> 00:12:59.049 you seeking? And he says, I'm seeking my brothers. 00:12:59.169 --> 00:13:01.570 He said, tell me, please, where they're pastoring 00:13:01.570 --> 00:13:03.789 the flock. And the man said, they've gone away, 00:13:03.990 --> 00:13:07.279 for I heard them say, let's go to Dothan. So 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:09.500 Joseph went after his brothers and found them 00:13:09.500 --> 00:13:13.899 at Dotham. Dad sends Joseph from the Valley of 00:13:13.899 --> 00:13:17.700 Hebron to Shechem, which is about 50 -ish miles 00:13:17.700 --> 00:13:21.259 away, to check on his brothers, to check on the 00:13:21.259 --> 00:13:25.000 flock, to bring word back. And Joe doesn't find 00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:26.960 him there. Can I use Joe for short this morning, 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:29.620 all right? Joe doesn't find him there. He goes 00:13:29.620 --> 00:13:32.100 and finds a gentleman in a field. He says, oh, 00:13:32.139 --> 00:13:34.279 no, no, no. They moved on. They went on to Dotham, 00:13:34.299 --> 00:13:36.870 which was about another 15 miles journey. So 00:13:36.870 --> 00:13:39.409 now they're about 50, right? They're somewhere 00:13:39.409 --> 00:13:46.490 around 65 to 75 miles away from home. And Joseph 00:13:46.490 --> 00:13:48.990 is heading towards these brothers who hate him. 00:13:49.549 --> 00:13:52.549 They're in a land where nobody recognizes. They're 00:13:52.549 --> 00:13:55.289 kind of in a remote place where nobody knows 00:13:55.289 --> 00:13:58.309 where they are. And this is where it gets ugly 00:13:58.309 --> 00:14:02.610 with this family, really ugly. 18 says this, 00:14:02.710 --> 00:14:05.779 and they saw him from afar. And before he came 00:14:05.779 --> 00:14:08.500 near to them, they conspired against him to kill 00:14:08.500 --> 00:14:10.899 him. They said to one another, here comes this 00:14:10.899 --> 00:14:14.440 dreamer. Come on now, let us kill him and throw 00:14:14.440 --> 00:14:17.639 him into one of the empty pits. In the area that 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:19.779 they were, there were empty cisterns of water. 00:14:20.159 --> 00:14:21.860 I don't know if you know what a cistern is, but 00:14:21.860 --> 00:14:23.299 it's kind of like a well and there were empty 00:14:23.299 --> 00:14:26.879 wells around where they were at with these flocks. 00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:29.759 Then we will say that a fierce animal has devoured 00:14:29.759 --> 00:14:33.139 him and we will see what will become of his dreams. 00:14:33.799 --> 00:14:35.960 But when Reuben, Reuben's the oldest brother, 00:14:36.159 --> 00:14:39.039 heard it, he rescued him out of their hand saying, 00:14:39.179 --> 00:14:41.940 let's not take his life. And Reuben said to them, 00:14:42.019 --> 00:14:45.220 shed no blood, throw him into this pit here in 00:14:45.220 --> 00:14:47.500 the wilderness, but do not lay a hand on him 00:14:47.500 --> 00:14:50.139 that he might rescue him out of their hand to 00:14:50.139 --> 00:14:53.399 restore him to his father. So when Joseph came 00:14:53.399 --> 00:14:56.019 to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe 00:14:56.019 --> 00:14:58.460 and of the robe of many colors that he wore, 00:14:58.600 --> 00:15:01.399 and they took him and they threw him into a pit. 00:15:01.740 --> 00:15:04.490 And the pit was empty. There was no water in 00:15:04.490 --> 00:15:08.950 it. I'm not sure if Joseph knew what was going 00:15:08.950 --> 00:15:12.259 down at this point in time. As he approached 00:15:12.259 --> 00:15:14.740 his brothers, and they strip him of this coat 00:15:14.740 --> 00:15:17.240 of many colors, and they throw him into an empty 00:15:17.240 --> 00:15:19.320 pit. I don't know if Joseph realized that his 00:15:19.320 --> 00:15:22.340 whole life was about to change. In an instant, 00:15:22.440 --> 00:15:25.759 in a moment, betrayal, murder plots taking place 00:15:25.759 --> 00:15:28.620 behind the scenes, lies and covers -ups being 00:15:28.620 --> 00:15:31.500 plotted about what happened to him. And in a 00:15:31.500 --> 00:15:34.659 moment, he goes from free, he goes from a place 00:15:34.659 --> 00:15:37.639 of familiarity, he goes from being part of a 00:15:37.639 --> 00:15:41.190 family. Soon, he's going to be alone. going to 00:15:41.190 --> 00:15:46.149 be lost, and he's going to be enslaved. Enslaved. 00:15:46.690 --> 00:15:50.269 35, 25 says this, and they sat down to eat, and 00:15:50.269 --> 00:15:52.450 looking up, they saw a certain caravan of Ishmaelites 00:15:52.450 --> 00:15:55.370 coming from Gilead. With their camels bearing 00:15:55.370 --> 00:15:57.669 gum, balm, and myrrh, and on their way, they 00:15:57.669 --> 00:16:00.149 carry it down to Egypt. Then Judah said to his 00:16:00.149 --> 00:16:02.350 brothers, what profit is it if we kill our brother 00:16:02.350 --> 00:16:05.610 and conceal his blood? Come, let us sell him 00:16:05.610 --> 00:16:08.919 to the Ishmaelites. And let not our hand be upon 00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:12.179 him, for he is our brother, our own flesh. Isn't 00:16:12.179 --> 00:16:13.820 it so nice of him just to sell him instead of 00:16:13.820 --> 00:16:17.159 killing him? Come on, right? And his brother 00:16:17.159 --> 00:16:20.360 listened to him. And the Midianite traders passed 00:16:20.360 --> 00:16:23.559 by, and they drew Joseph up and lifted him out 00:16:23.559 --> 00:16:26.059 of the pit and sold him to the Ishmaelites for 00:16:26.059 --> 00:16:30.340 20 shekels of silver, and they took Joseph to 00:16:30.340 --> 00:16:34.190 Egypt. Instead of killing their brother, and 00:16:34.190 --> 00:16:37.090 putting together a lot of covered up, they pull 00:16:37.090 --> 00:16:39.529 them out of the pit and they slave trade them. 00:16:39.570 --> 00:16:43.049 They sell them into slavery and then come up 00:16:43.049 --> 00:16:45.289 with a lot of covered up. Their own brother. 00:16:46.710 --> 00:16:50.590 Joseph is carried away from his family, his life, 00:16:50.789 --> 00:16:54.049 his home, and he's taken to the land of Egypt 00:16:54.049 --> 00:16:57.669 to be sold to a man named Potiphar as a slave. 00:16:58.889 --> 00:17:02.289 Now, I got to ask you, if there's any reason 00:17:02.809 --> 00:17:05.569 maybe not to forgive somebody, wouldn't you say 00:17:05.569 --> 00:17:08.890 he might have a reason? I had to read you this 00:17:08.890 --> 00:17:12.410 story. If we're going to kind of excuse somebody 00:17:12.410 --> 00:17:15.089 from not forgiving somebody, I'd be like looking 00:17:15.089 --> 00:17:17.750 at him and thinking, you know, I kind of get 00:17:17.750 --> 00:17:21.230 it, right? I kind of see it. I kind of understand, 00:17:21.289 --> 00:17:24.049 like, why Joseph wouldn't want to forgive his 00:17:24.049 --> 00:17:27.519 brothers. Why would he? You know, why would he? 00:17:27.559 --> 00:17:29.819 We kind of get it. We understand it makes sense. 00:17:29.980 --> 00:17:32.759 You know, I can see him just like maybe his new 00:17:32.759 --> 00:17:34.759 life mission would be, you know what, I'm going 00:17:34.759 --> 00:17:36.839 to go ahead and put me in slavery, but I'm going 00:17:36.839 --> 00:17:38.819 to get out of here. One of these days I'm going 00:17:38.819 --> 00:17:41.799 to escape and I'm going to go back, right? And 00:17:41.799 --> 00:17:45.480 I'm going to get justice. I'm going to make it 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:47.059 happen. I'm going to make sure my brothers are 00:17:47.059 --> 00:17:50.059 exposed. I'm going to make them pay, right? And 00:17:50.059 --> 00:17:51.720 some of us would be like, we'd be cheering them 00:17:51.720 --> 00:17:54.259 on. Yeah, go get out, right? Take them down. 00:17:55.019 --> 00:18:00.160 Make him pay. I get where he's at. Because I'm 00:18:00.160 --> 00:18:01.880 thinking, what? What was going through these 00:18:01.880 --> 00:18:05.119 brothers' heads with this much hate? I mean, 00:18:05.140 --> 00:18:07.559 if you don't like your brother, right, and you're 00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:09.940 in a family, what do you do? You give him a pink 00:18:09.940 --> 00:18:13.400 belly. How many know what a pink belly is? Anybody? 00:18:13.539 --> 00:18:14.720 Raise your hand if you know what a pink belly 00:18:14.720 --> 00:18:17.079 is. I'm all alone in this, all right? Let me 00:18:17.079 --> 00:18:18.400 tell you, let me explain the pink belly, all 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:21.059 right? If you got a brother, you can do this. 00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:22.819 That's the only place you can do it. But you 00:18:22.819 --> 00:18:24.460 tackle them, you get them down on the ground, 00:18:24.539 --> 00:18:26.420 you pull up their shirt, and you smack their 00:18:26.420 --> 00:18:28.779 belly till it turns pink, okay? That's a pink 00:18:28.779 --> 00:18:31.519 belly. That's acceptable to do to your brother, 00:18:31.640 --> 00:18:33.900 right? You can walk by and flick him in the forehead 00:18:33.900 --> 00:18:36.319 every time you go by, right? If it's that bad, 00:18:36.380 --> 00:18:38.200 just flick him in the forehead. It's going to 00:18:38.200 --> 00:18:41.000 start a war, but go ahead and do it, right? But 00:18:41.000 --> 00:18:44.759 throw him in a pit and sell him into slavery? 00:18:45.900 --> 00:18:50.599 Come on. We almost understand why Joseph could 00:18:50.599 --> 00:18:54.740 become bitter, angry, revengeful, right? Want 00:18:54.740 --> 00:18:57.440 to confront, man, his life mission to go back 00:18:57.440 --> 00:19:01.839 and take him out. But here's the thing. Joseph 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:06.039 couldn't get free. He couldn't confront. He couldn't 00:19:06.039 --> 00:19:08.819 go hold his brothers responsible. He was enslaved. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:13.180 He could not expose the abuse. He couldn't tell 00:19:13.180 --> 00:19:16.200 mom or dad, right? As a matter of fact, they 00:19:16.200 --> 00:19:17.660 were going to go back and tell his mom and dad 00:19:17.660 --> 00:19:19.059 that he was killed by a beast. They wouldn't 00:19:19.059 --> 00:19:21.519 even come looking for him. They wouldn't even 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:24.579 know he's, there would be no reason to even come 00:19:24.579 --> 00:19:29.099 search for him. He's just gone, thrust into slavery 00:19:29.099 --> 00:19:35.640 in an Egyptian home. 39 once says this. Now Joseph 00:19:35.640 --> 00:19:38.920 had been brought down to Egypt and Potiphar. 00:19:39.279 --> 00:19:41.960 An officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard, 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:45.440 an Egyptian had bought him from the Ishmaelites 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:50.359 who had brought him down there. Now look at this 00:19:50.359 --> 00:19:55.240 next verse. The Lord was with Joseph and he became 00:19:55.240 --> 00:19:58.539 a successful man. And he was in the house of 00:19:58.539 --> 00:20:02.000 the Egyptian master, which was Potiphar. Verse 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:05.900 39 tells me something about Joseph. Tells me 00:20:05.900 --> 00:20:09.190 a little bit who Joseph is anchored upon. It 00:20:09.190 --> 00:20:12.069 says the Lord was with Joseph and he became a 00:20:12.069 --> 00:20:14.630 successful man and was in the house of the Egyptian 00:20:14.630 --> 00:20:18.549 slave. The Lord was with Joseph. The Lord was 00:20:18.549 --> 00:20:21.309 with him. The Lord was giving Joseph favor and 00:20:21.309 --> 00:20:24.130 making him successful while he's enslaved. The 00:20:24.130 --> 00:20:29.420 Lord... put this slave inside the house and is 00:20:29.420 --> 00:20:32.359 beginning to give him favor. Can I remind you 00:20:32.359 --> 00:20:34.660 of a scripture that I read earlier? For if you 00:20:34.660 --> 00:20:36.440 forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly 00:20:36.440 --> 00:20:38.619 father will also forgive you. But if you do not 00:20:38.619 --> 00:20:40.259 forgive others trespasses, neither will your 00:20:40.259 --> 00:20:43.099 heavenly father forgive your trespasses. And 00:20:43.099 --> 00:20:45.500 Mark has said, whenever you stand praying, forgive, 00:20:45.779 --> 00:20:49.339 for if you have anything against anyone, so that 00:20:49.339 --> 00:20:51.160 your Father also who's in heaven will forgive 00:20:51.160 --> 00:20:53.240 your trespasses. And let me give you one more 00:20:53.240 --> 00:20:57.160 verse, Psalm 66, 18, a new one. If I had cherished 00:20:57.160 --> 00:21:00.079 iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:05.099 listened. Your prayers are blocked when you got 00:21:05.099 --> 00:21:07.619 iniquity in your heart. Your prayers are blocked 00:21:07.619 --> 00:21:09.400 when you don't have forgiveness in your heart. 00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:13.160 Joseph's life is not revolving around retaliation, 00:21:13.220 --> 00:21:18.640 bitterness, anger, frustration, revenge. His 00:21:18.640 --> 00:21:21.420 prayers are not blocked because of unforgiveness 00:21:21.420 --> 00:21:25.119 in his heart. He has forgiven, and he is walking 00:21:25.119 --> 00:21:29.339 in God's favor in the middle of the mess that 00:21:29.339 --> 00:21:33.009 his brothers created. The Lord was with Joseph 00:21:33.009 --> 00:21:35.730 in the middle of his slavery. He becomes a successful 00:21:35.730 --> 00:21:39.369 man in the middle of being physically enslaved. 00:21:39.910 --> 00:21:43.789 God's hand is all over his life, and everybody 00:21:43.789 --> 00:21:47.029 around him sees it. And you might land somewhere 00:21:47.029 --> 00:21:49.430 where you don't want to. You might be in some 00:21:49.430 --> 00:21:51.930 spot in your life because of somebody else's 00:21:51.930 --> 00:21:54.309 mess, because of somebody else's sin. But I'm 00:21:54.309 --> 00:21:57.369 here to tell you that it's important that you 00:21:57.369 --> 00:21:59.410 forgive. I'm here to tell you just keep your 00:21:59.410 --> 00:22:02.230 eyes fixed on the Lord. And it may not be your 00:22:02.230 --> 00:22:05.470 fault what took place. not deserve what happened, 00:22:05.549 --> 00:22:08.950 but I'm here to let you know that Jesus can make 00:22:08.950 --> 00:22:12.769 you successful, man or woman, right? No matter 00:22:12.769 --> 00:22:15.569 the mess that you were placed in the middle of 00:22:15.569 --> 00:22:19.309 by someone else. If we want God's favor and his 00:22:19.309 --> 00:22:23.670 hand on us, just keep forgiving. Say forgiving. 00:22:24.630 --> 00:22:29.470 Forgiving. 39 .3 says this, his master saw that 00:22:29.470 --> 00:22:31.849 the Lord was with him. This is Potiphar watching 00:22:31.849 --> 00:22:35.589 Joseph who's enslaved. And his master saw that 00:22:35.589 --> 00:22:37.369 the Lord was with him and the Lord caused all 00:22:37.369 --> 00:22:39.849 that he did to succeed in his hands. So Joseph 00:22:39.849 --> 00:22:42.230 found favor in his sight and attended him. And 00:22:42.230 --> 00:22:44.950 he made him overseer of his house and put him 00:22:44.950 --> 00:22:47.230 in charge over all that he had for the time that 00:22:47.230 --> 00:22:49.529 he had made him overseer in his house and over 00:22:49.529 --> 00:22:51.509 all that he had, the Lord blessed the Egyptian's 00:22:51.509 --> 00:22:54.480 house for Joseph's sake. The blessing of the 00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:57.500 Lord was on all that he had in the house and 00:22:57.500 --> 00:23:00.500 in the field. So he left all that he had in Joseph's 00:23:00.500 --> 00:23:02.900 charge. Because of him, he had no concern about 00:23:02.900 --> 00:23:07.319 anything but the food that he ate. God's favor 00:23:07.319 --> 00:23:10.900 so rested on Joseph so strongly that Potiphar, 00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:14.700 a heathen, saw it. And Potiphar ends up becoming 00:23:14.700 --> 00:23:18.240 the recipient of God's blessing because of Joseph. 00:23:18.599 --> 00:23:23.230 And the slave becomes second in command. in this 00:23:23.230 --> 00:23:25.930 household. Potiphar didn't worry about a thing. 00:23:26.029 --> 00:23:30.190 He placed everything into Joseph's hand. And 00:23:30.190 --> 00:23:32.930 here's the choice, right? Here's the choice. 00:23:33.029 --> 00:23:35.849 When you've been wronged, when you've been sinned, 00:23:35.869 --> 00:23:38.849 when you've been violated, we can't confront, 00:23:38.990 --> 00:23:41.710 and we should if we can. But if you can't confront, 00:23:42.029 --> 00:23:46.200 we can... forgive and we can begin to walk in 00:23:46.200 --> 00:23:49.079 God's favor, or we can park ourselves in the 00:23:49.079 --> 00:23:51.759 middle of unforgiveness. We can lock ourselves 00:23:51.759 --> 00:23:55.039 up in rage and anger and frustration and stay 00:23:55.039 --> 00:24:00.660 enslaved where we're at. Joe is a slave living 00:24:00.660 --> 00:24:03.940 like a free man, or you can be a free man living 00:24:03.940 --> 00:24:08.779 like a slave in unforgiveness. It's true. Forgiveness 00:24:08.779 --> 00:24:11.880 is the key. It's key. It's one of the keys to 00:24:11.880 --> 00:24:16.960 God's favor. Somewhere, somewhere between the 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:21.079 pit and Potiphar's house, Joe figured out it 00:24:21.079 --> 00:24:23.339 was far better to have the favor of the Father, 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:26.539 the Heavenly Father upon him. than to hang out 00:24:26.539 --> 00:24:29.799 in the parking lot of revenge. Somewhere between 00:24:29.799 --> 00:24:32.740 the pit and Potiphar's house, Joseph realized 00:24:32.740 --> 00:24:36.299 that it's God that's for him. So if it's God's 00:24:36.299 --> 00:24:38.960 for him, who can be against him? Somewhere between 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:42.220 the pit and Potiphar's house, right? He began 00:24:42.220 --> 00:24:45.380 to forgive his brothers of the abuse. Somewhere 00:24:45.380 --> 00:24:48.440 along the way, he began to let it go. And he 00:24:48.440 --> 00:24:51.220 began to walk in God's destiny. When I prefer 00:24:51.220 --> 00:24:55.660 the favor of the Lord over all else, I will forgive 00:24:55.660 --> 00:25:01.640 even when I cannot confront. Amen? It's true. 00:25:02.339 --> 00:25:05.319 When I prefer the favor of the Lord over all 00:25:05.319 --> 00:25:08.359 else, I will forgive even when I cannot confront. 00:25:09.359 --> 00:25:13.019 I'll forgive if I believe that the favor of the 00:25:13.019 --> 00:25:17.480 Lord is far more satisfying and gratifying than 00:25:17.480 --> 00:25:21.460 revenge. I'll forgive if I believe that the favor 00:25:21.460 --> 00:25:24.039 of the Lord will bring far more increase to my 00:25:24.039 --> 00:25:27.240 life then maybe even justice will. I forgive 00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:31.160 when I realize that I'm living for an audience 00:25:31.160 --> 00:25:34.240 of one and not all the other eyes that are on 00:25:34.240 --> 00:25:37.599 me. How many times have we watched something 00:25:37.599 --> 00:25:40.819 on TV, and it may be even a true story, where 00:25:40.819 --> 00:25:44.140 you see a family who was horribly wronged in 00:25:44.140 --> 00:25:46.700 some way by somebody, and you see the courtroom 00:25:46.700 --> 00:25:50.599 scene, and the judge pronounces the person who 00:25:50.599 --> 00:25:53.039 did the horrible crime guilty, and the person 00:25:53.039 --> 00:25:56.599 is put away for 20, 30, 40 years, maybe consecutive 00:25:56.599 --> 00:25:59.519 life sentences, and the family's interviewed 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:02.119 afterwards, and all of them kind of say the same 00:26:02.119 --> 00:26:04.000 thing a lot of times. A lot of them say, man, 00:26:04.079 --> 00:26:05.940 man, I thought there'd be more peace with this, 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:08.339 right, when I get justice. I thought somehow 00:26:08.339 --> 00:26:11.220 this would make me feel a whole lot better, or 00:26:11.220 --> 00:26:13.539 somehow this would take away the sting of the 00:26:13.539 --> 00:26:18.759 loss and the abuse in our lives. Somehow I thought 00:26:18.759 --> 00:26:23.400 this would do more. Am I saying not hold people 00:26:23.400 --> 00:26:25.990 accountable? Absolutely not. If you have the 00:26:25.990 --> 00:26:28.349 opportunity, you hold somebody accountable for 00:26:28.349 --> 00:26:31.269 what they've done. You call them out. You seek 00:26:31.269 --> 00:26:37.630 justice. But when you can't, right, justice will 00:26:37.630 --> 00:26:42.009 bring about truth in a matter, but it won't necessarily 00:26:42.009 --> 00:26:46.130 heal your heart. in a matter. Confronting might 00:26:46.130 --> 00:26:49.269 not satisfy your soul as much as you think it's 00:26:49.269 --> 00:26:51.769 going to be. Accountability will not necessarily 00:26:51.769 --> 00:26:55.009 help you sleep at night. It really won't. And 00:26:55.009 --> 00:26:57.730 sometimes it's impossible to confront, but it 00:26:57.730 --> 00:27:02.349 is forgiveness that sets me free when you cannot 00:27:02.349 --> 00:27:08.990 seek justice, when you can't get there. Do I 00:27:08.990 --> 00:27:14.559 want, do I desire God's favor? even more than 00:27:14.559 --> 00:27:18.599 I desire justice, accountability, retaliation, 00:27:18.700 --> 00:27:24.440 retribution. If I do, I forgive. I forgive. Well, 00:27:24.480 --> 00:27:26.839 the story doesn't end there. Even though Joseph 00:27:26.839 --> 00:27:29.400 is under God's favor, it does not mean that he 00:27:29.400 --> 00:27:32.650 is on easy street. It doesn't mean... that he's 00:27:32.650 --> 00:27:34.950 got more trouble along the way. As a matter of 00:27:34.950 --> 00:27:36.670 fact, it's all good at Potiphar's house, and 00:27:36.670 --> 00:27:39.390 he's in second in command until it isn't. How 00:27:39.390 --> 00:27:41.230 many know sometimes we go through seasons in 00:27:41.230 --> 00:27:44.690 life? He has a season of favor, and Joseph ends 00:27:44.690 --> 00:27:46.910 up in the middle of a mess again, and a mess 00:27:46.910 --> 00:27:50.190 not of his making. Apparently, Joseph was a really 00:27:50.190 --> 00:27:52.470 good -looking guy, all right? He was kind of 00:27:52.470 --> 00:27:55.769 a GQ, kind of a man of his day, a stud, so to 00:27:55.769 --> 00:27:58.569 speak, right? At least Potiphar's wife thinks 00:27:58.569 --> 00:28:01.849 so, because she thinks he's hot stuff. And she 00:28:01.849 --> 00:28:04.849 wants the stuff is what happens, all right? She 00:28:04.849 --> 00:28:08.390 tries to seduce Joseph repeatedly. And when he 00:28:08.390 --> 00:28:11.849 refuses her advancements, she accuses Joseph 00:28:11.849 --> 00:28:15.609 of molesting her, coming after her. And Joe finds 00:28:15.609 --> 00:28:19.490 himself falsely accused and sitting in an Egyptian 00:28:19.490 --> 00:28:23.769 prison. Now, I had to be thinking, if I was Joseph, 00:28:24.349 --> 00:28:27.809 I got to imagine he's sitting in his cell thinking, 00:28:27.990 --> 00:28:32.109 how in the world did I get here again? I was 00:28:32.109 --> 00:28:35.390 in a pit, now I'm in a prison. And I didn't do 00:28:35.390 --> 00:28:38.109 any of it. What in the world's going on, God? 00:28:39.170 --> 00:28:42.710 But again, he doesn't get bitter. It's not unforgiving 00:28:42.710 --> 00:28:46.289 because even in the prison, God's with him. Genesis 00:28:46.289 --> 00:28:48.710 39, 23, it says, the keeper of the prison paid 00:28:48.710 --> 00:28:51.069 no attention to anything that was in Joseph's 00:28:51.069 --> 00:28:53.690 charge because the Lord was with him. And whatever 00:28:53.690 --> 00:29:00.569 he did, the Lord made it succeed. Favor of God. 00:29:01.079 --> 00:29:06.299 on his life. Favor of God on your life. If God's 00:29:06.299 --> 00:29:09.319 favor is on your life, there's not a box that 00:29:09.319 --> 00:29:12.400 they can shove you in that will hold you. There 00:29:12.400 --> 00:29:15.660 is not a shackle strong enough to keep you bound 00:29:15.660 --> 00:29:19.480 up and fast. There's not an environment that 00:29:19.480 --> 00:29:21.859 can withstand the power of God working in your 00:29:21.859 --> 00:29:25.000 life. There really isn't. Jesus' words hanging 00:29:25.000 --> 00:29:27.559 on a cross stretched between heaven and earth. 00:29:27.700 --> 00:29:29.859 Father, forgive them, for they know not what 00:29:29.859 --> 00:29:33.380 they do. And death, hell, and the grave could 00:29:33.380 --> 00:29:36.759 not hold them. Amen? We got to forgive, church. 00:29:37.140 --> 00:29:40.440 We got to forgive. Prefer the favor of the Lord 00:29:40.440 --> 00:29:44.680 and forgive. Forgive. When you can, confront. 00:29:44.920 --> 00:29:49.420 But when you can't, forgive anyway. And watch 00:29:49.420 --> 00:29:52.880 how forgiveness carries Joseph even to greater 00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:56.599 heights. If the worship team would come, I'm 00:29:56.599 --> 00:29:59.200 going to finish this story out as much as I can. 00:29:59.259 --> 00:30:01.799 It's a long story. I'm giving you the super short 00:30:01.799 --> 00:30:04.420 version of it. But Joe is in a physical prison. 00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:07.220 but not in a prison of unforgiveness. And while 00:30:07.220 --> 00:30:10.859 Joe is doing time, God brings something back 00:30:10.859 --> 00:30:13.900 from his former days, something from his youth, 00:30:14.019 --> 00:30:18.500 something from his teens, and it's dreams. Say 00:30:18.500 --> 00:30:23.680 dreams. And for lack of more time, in an incredible 00:30:23.680 --> 00:30:26.700 twist of circumstances, the Lord moves Joseph 00:30:26.700 --> 00:30:30.200 from the prison to second in command of all of 00:30:30.200 --> 00:30:33.359 Egypt. And how he does this is through dreams. 00:30:33.849 --> 00:30:37.549 Pharaoh's baker and his cupbearer end up in the 00:30:37.549 --> 00:30:40.809 same cell block as Joseph. And while they're 00:30:40.809 --> 00:30:43.990 there, Joseph interprets dreams that they both 00:30:43.990 --> 00:30:46.490 have. They both come to him and say, hey, Joseph, 00:30:46.609 --> 00:30:48.390 we had these dreams. They're talking with him 00:30:48.390 --> 00:30:50.430 in a cell block, right? And we had these dreams. 00:30:50.730 --> 00:30:54.069 Pharaoh's butler and baker, his cupbearer and 00:30:54.069 --> 00:30:56.750 baker come along, and we had these dreams. And 00:30:56.750 --> 00:30:59.710 they're prophetic dreams that Joseph realizes. 00:30:59.930 --> 00:31:02.670 And God gives Joseph the interpretation of those 00:31:02.670 --> 00:31:07.170 dreams. And what he speaks comes to pass. And 00:31:07.170 --> 00:31:10.410 one of those servants gets out of jail and ends 00:31:10.410 --> 00:31:13.809 up back in Pharaoh's palace before Pharaoh, and 00:31:13.809 --> 00:31:17.349 God gives Pharaoh a dream. The king of Egypt 00:31:17.349 --> 00:31:20.230 gives him a dream that nobody can seem to interpret. 00:31:20.410 --> 00:31:23.690 And the servant says, you know, I knew this guy 00:31:23.690 --> 00:31:27.630 back in prison. We had these dreams, and he interpreted 00:31:27.630 --> 00:31:29.750 both of them, and both of them came to pass. 00:31:29.910 --> 00:31:32.230 And Pharaoh's like, go get him. Go get him now. 00:31:32.990 --> 00:31:36.410 And they bring Joseph before Pharaoh. And Pharaoh 00:31:36.410 --> 00:31:39.890 is so impressed because Joseph comes and not 00:31:39.890 --> 00:31:42.130 only interprets the dream, but tells him what 00:31:42.130 --> 00:31:44.789 his dream was. He tells the king what his dream 00:31:44.789 --> 00:31:47.970 was, and he tells him the interpretation. And 00:31:47.970 --> 00:31:50.829 the king is so impressed with Joseph that he 00:31:50.829 --> 00:31:53.789 says, is there anyone else that has God's hand 00:31:53.789 --> 00:31:56.470 and God's favor and God's ear on his life like 00:31:56.470 --> 00:32:00.789 Joseph? He puts him second in command in Egypt. 00:32:01.549 --> 00:32:05.390 He goes from the pit to Potiphar's house to the 00:32:05.390 --> 00:32:10.029 prison to the palace because he wasn't stuck 00:32:10.029 --> 00:32:14.650 in unforgiveness. Forgiveness positions you to 00:32:14.650 --> 00:32:17.589 move forward in God. It really does. Forgiveness 00:32:17.589 --> 00:32:20.289 opens the door for me to go forward. Sometimes 00:32:20.289 --> 00:32:24.130 God will leapfrog you just like he did. With 00:32:24.130 --> 00:32:26.049 Joseph, sometimes he'll move you in baby steps, 00:32:26.170 --> 00:32:28.589 and other times he'll leap you in front, and 00:32:28.589 --> 00:32:30.750 he'll move you forward. But you cannot stay locked 00:32:30.750 --> 00:32:33.650 up in unforgiveness. I believe if Joseph would 00:32:33.650 --> 00:32:35.829 have stayed in unforgiveness in his heart, if 00:32:35.829 --> 00:32:38.150 he would have done that in the prison, think 00:32:38.150 --> 00:32:40.150 about this for one minute. Say he got to that 00:32:40.150 --> 00:32:41.970 prison. He's like, I don't even believe this. 00:32:41.990 --> 00:32:44.109 This is the second time around. I've been falsely 00:32:44.109 --> 00:32:47.069 accused. I'm in this jail. I'm sitting here. 00:32:47.150 --> 00:32:50.250 I've had it. I'm done. And he locked up in revenge, 00:32:50.430 --> 00:32:53.579 right, and hate and frustration. He would have 00:32:53.579 --> 00:32:56.160 never heard God's voice. He would have never 00:32:56.160 --> 00:32:58.079 been able to interpret the dreams. He'd have 00:32:58.079 --> 00:32:59.920 never made it to the palace because he would 00:32:59.920 --> 00:33:01.799 have never started interpreting dreams there. 00:33:01.900 --> 00:33:06.920 He would have just been locked up forever. Unforgiveness 00:33:06.920 --> 00:33:11.819 will lock you down. It'll lock you down. I'm 00:33:11.819 --> 00:33:16.920 going to ask you to stand. Let me give you a 00:33:16.920 --> 00:33:22.960 health plan on the rock. Forgive. Because Jesus 00:33:22.960 --> 00:33:27.819 forgave first. Forgive because he does not want 00:33:27.819 --> 00:33:32.039 you to be shackled. Forgive because he sets me 00:33:32.039 --> 00:33:36.559 free because he forgave me. Forgive so his favor 00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:40.779 will rest upon your life. Forgive if justice 00:33:40.779 --> 00:33:45.440 can be served and if it cannot be served. Forgive 00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:50.339 daily. I'd love to tell you forgiveness is a 00:33:50.339 --> 00:33:53.130 one -shot deal. You're going to have that person 00:33:53.130 --> 00:33:55.190 defending you, and you're just going to let it 00:33:55.190 --> 00:33:58.849 go. That's not how it works. You might get back 00:33:58.849 --> 00:34:01.609 up tomorrow, and the same feelings of anger and 00:34:01.609 --> 00:34:05.150 frustration and hatred and revenge will pop back 00:34:05.150 --> 00:34:06.650 into your heart, and you're going to have to 00:34:06.650 --> 00:34:09.289 go all over again and say, Lord, help me to forgive. 00:34:09.530 --> 00:34:12.070 Help me to let this go. Help me to get unshackled 00:34:12.070 --> 00:34:14.150 from this thing. Help me to get your favor on 00:34:14.150 --> 00:34:16.130 my life. And it might be the next day you get 00:34:16.130 --> 00:34:18.170 up again, but you know what? The day after that, 00:34:18.230 --> 00:34:20.130 it might skip a day. And then all of a sudden, 00:34:20.150 --> 00:34:22.650 it's a week goes by, and you're walking in forgiveness. 00:34:22.829 --> 00:34:25.210 You're giving forgiveness. And all of a sudden, 00:34:25.250 --> 00:34:27.980 you begin to walk in this freedom. rock life, 00:34:28.059 --> 00:34:31.679 people. This is what Jesus said to do. We forgive. 00:34:32.179 --> 00:34:36.980 He forgave us. Jesus does not have us forgive 00:34:36.980 --> 00:34:39.460 others so they can avoid carrying the weight 00:34:39.460 --> 00:34:42.519 of their sin. Jesus has us forgive others so 00:34:42.519 --> 00:34:45.679 we don't carry the weight of their sin. Did you 00:34:45.679 --> 00:34:49.119 hear that? Amen? It's true. Jesus does not have 00:34:49.119 --> 00:34:51.480 us forgive others so they can avoid carrying 00:34:51.480 --> 00:34:53.960 the weight of their sin. Jesus has us forgive 00:34:53.960 --> 00:34:57.760 others so we don't carry the weight of their 00:34:57.760 --> 00:35:02.900 sin. He's the judge. If they don't serve justice 00:35:02.900 --> 00:35:04.980 in this, I guarantee you, God will get them in 00:35:04.980 --> 00:35:08.159 the next life. Just hand it over to Him. Give 00:35:08.159 --> 00:35:11.260 it over to Him. Forgive when you can confront. 00:35:11.480 --> 00:35:16.219 Forgive when you can't. Let God's favor flow 00:35:16.219 --> 00:35:20.699 in your life. And I know these two messages were 00:35:20.699 --> 00:35:23.659 kind of heavy messages, because forgiveness is 00:35:23.659 --> 00:35:30.300 a hard thing. But I want to see you free. He 00:35:30.300 --> 00:35:36.239 who the Son sets free is free indeed. We forgive 00:35:36.239 --> 00:35:39.579 because He has forgiven. I'm the one in that 00:35:39.579 --> 00:35:43.579 story that Jesus told. I'm the servant that owed 00:35:43.579 --> 00:35:48.519 $18 billion for my sin. I have no right not to 00:35:48.519 --> 00:35:50.920 forgive somebody that owes me $12 ,000. I have 00:35:50.920 --> 00:35:55.400 no right. He forgave me of all of it. I want 00:35:55.400 --> 00:36:02.159 you to bow your heads. Maybe you're thinking 00:36:02.159 --> 00:36:06.480 back. You've got somebody in your life that you 00:36:06.480 --> 00:36:10.219 can't do the confrontation process. You can't 00:36:10.219 --> 00:36:12.260 do the forgiveness of process where you go and 00:36:12.260 --> 00:36:13.880 meet with them alone and then you take somebody 00:36:13.880 --> 00:36:16.000 with you. And if you need to, you bring it before 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:18.059 the church. You can't do that process because 00:36:18.059 --> 00:36:21.960 they're gone. They're not here. And maybe... 00:36:22.329 --> 00:36:24.829 They may be such a long distance, or maybe they 00:36:24.829 --> 00:36:31.130 died, and you can't do it. You need to walk to 00:36:31.130 --> 00:36:33.889 a place of forgiveness. God does not want you 00:36:33.889 --> 00:36:36.590 shackled. So here's what I'm going to ask you. 00:36:36.650 --> 00:36:39.230 Every head bowed, every eye closed. And I'm not 00:36:39.230 --> 00:36:40.690 going to ask you to step out. I'm not going to 00:36:40.690 --> 00:36:42.389 ask you to do anything. But sometimes it's good 00:36:42.389 --> 00:36:44.610 to raise your hand and recognize if you got out 00:36:44.610 --> 00:36:46.469 of forgiveness in your life, just so God sees 00:36:46.469 --> 00:36:49.010 it. I'm the only one looking that I can tell. 00:36:49.269 --> 00:36:53.400 It would just be me and you. Me and Jesus. And 00:36:53.400 --> 00:36:54.739 you can put your hand up and put it right back 00:36:54.739 --> 00:36:57.800 down. Sometimes we need to acknowledge. If you're 00:36:57.800 --> 00:36:59.460 hanging on to unforgiveness about something, 00:36:59.519 --> 00:37:00.940 just raise your hand up, put it up, put it right 00:37:00.940 --> 00:37:02.920 back down. Put it up and right back. Thank you. 00:37:02.940 --> 00:37:05.059 Thank you for the honesty. Thank you for the 00:37:05.059 --> 00:37:09.699 honesty. Seek God's favor more than the revenge. 00:37:10.260 --> 00:37:14.420 Seek God's favor more than the frustration and 00:37:14.420 --> 00:37:17.980 release it to him. Give it over to him. You might 00:37:17.980 --> 00:37:19.760 not be able to do anything about the justice, 00:37:19.860 --> 00:37:23.400 but he can. Lay it in his hands. Father, I just 00:37:23.400 --> 00:37:25.840 come before you. God, you saw all the hands in 00:37:25.840 --> 00:37:28.820 the house. Lord, you know the ones, Lord, they're 00:37:28.820 --> 00:37:31.059 in need to forgive. And Lord, I just pray right 00:37:31.059 --> 00:37:33.619 now. God, in this moment, this becomes the time 00:37:33.619 --> 00:37:35.780 where they begin to release. This becomes the 00:37:35.780 --> 00:37:37.480 time when they begin to step forward and say, 00:37:37.519 --> 00:37:39.840 I want God's favor in my life. I want God's hand 00:37:39.840 --> 00:37:42.139 in my life. I want God's protection in my life. 00:37:42.239 --> 00:37:44.739 I want God to do for me like he did for Joseph, 00:37:44.820 --> 00:37:51.920 just to keep moving me forward. in anger and 00:37:51.920 --> 00:37:56.199 frustration and locked up within myself. Lord, 00:37:56.280 --> 00:37:59.679 I want your favor in my life. God, I give it 00:37:59.679 --> 00:38:02.539 over to you right now. I confess it. I confess 00:38:02.539 --> 00:38:06.219 I have not forgiven. And Lord, I ask you right 00:38:06.219 --> 00:38:10.519 now to forgive me as I forgive somebody else. 00:38:11.460 --> 00:38:15.679 Lord, I put them in your hands. If I can, I'll 00:38:15.679 --> 00:38:17.659 hold them accountable. But if not, I lay them 00:38:17.659 --> 00:38:20.219 into your hands. I give it over to you in Jesus' 00:38:20.380 --> 00:38:31.760 name. In Jesus' name. And amen. Freedom. Freedom. 00:38:32.480 --> 00:38:36.920 Jesus died on a cross so you could be free. Free. 00:38:49.289 --> 00:38:53.289 We pray that you were impacted powerfully by 00:38:53.289 --> 00:38:56.130 this message. If you have been personally affected 00:38:56.130 --> 00:38:58.670 by our ministry and you would like to partner 00:38:58.670 --> 00:39:01.929 with us as we love God, love people every day, 00:39:02.070 --> 00:39:03.610 visit our website at