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Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Hi, this is Robert Jeffers, and I'm glad to study God's Word with you every day on this Bible teaching program. On today's edition, a Pathway to Victory, probably the single best illustration. I call it a case study in forgiveness. is found in the Old Testament story of Joseph.
Let me share with you the four principles of forgiveness that you find in Joseph's story. Four steps. to releasing yourself from the prison of bitterness. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor Dr. Robert Jeffers.
You know, at some point in life, we're going to be hurt by another person. We simply cannot control what other people do to us. But we can control how we respond to those hurts in life. Today, on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffers urges us to let go of bitterness.
and forgive those who offend us. But first, let's take a moment to hear some important ministry updates. Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. For 30 years, Pathway to Victory has been delivering biblical truth to millions around the world. and that's thanks in part to our faithful Pathway partners.
A pathway partner agrees to give a recurring monthly gift. And by making this commitment, you're building a spiritual legacy in real time. You're equipping us to proclaim the gospel without compromise or apology. And to welcome you into our Pathway Partner family, I want to place David Green's powerful book, The Legacy Life, in your hands. David is the founder of Hobby Lobby, and his book will transform how you understand generosity not as mere giving, but as kingdom investment with eternal ripple effects.
Plus, in addition to David Green's book, The Legacy Life, I'm going to send you my best-selling book for this teaching series as well. It's called Choose Your Attitudes, Change Your Life. I'll share more details right after today's teaching. But for now, let's get started in Ephesians chapter 4. I titled my message, Choosing Forgiveness Over Bitterness.
Turn to Matthew chapter 18 as we look at, first of all, forgiveness illustrated. Let me tell you a story, Jesus said. The kingdom of heaven can be compared to a certain king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. And when he had begun to settle them, there was brought to him one who owed him 10,000 talents. Verse 25, since the slave did not have the means to repay, The king commanded him to be sold along with his wife and children and all that he had and repayment to be made.
The slave, therefore, falling down, prostrated himself before the king, saying, have patience with me. and I will repay you everything.
Now how was he going to do that? It was impossible for him to repay the debt. But the Lord, verse 27, the king of that slave felt compassion, and he released him and he forgave him the debt. There is the meaning of forgiveness. It's a financial term, it means to release someone of a debt.
Then this is where the story takes a twist. But the slave, the one who had just been forgiven the $16 billion, went out and found his fellow slave who owed him 100 denarii. That would be about $16. And he seized him. And he began to choke him, saying, pay back what you owe.
So his fellow slave fell down and began to entreat him, saying, Have patience with me. I will repay you.
Sound familiar? It's exactly what the first slave had said to the king: Have patience with me, and I will repay you. But unlike the king, This first slave was unwilling, verse 30 says. And he went and he threw his fellow slave into prison until he should pay back what was owed.
So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, They were deeply grieved and came and reported to their Lord all that had happened. Then summoning him, the king said to him, You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you entreated me. Should ye not have also had mercy on your fellow slave? Even as I had mercy, On you? And the king, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him.
And then Jesus adds the zinger in verse 35: So shall my heavenly Father also do to you. If each of you does not forgive his brother. From your heart.
Now, Jesus is saying, you and I are to forgive others just as God has forgiven us. Listen to this. First of all, we're to forgive those who don't deserve to be forgiven. We're to forgive those who don't deserve to be forgiven. And secondly, we forgive on the basis of grace, not works.
We refuse to require somebody to earn our forgiveness. We grant it as a gift, just as it was granted to us. Since the moment I begin this sermon, There's a name, a picture that has come in some of your minds of somebody you need to forgive. You know what Jesus is saying right now where you are in that pew? You've got the ability to let go.
to release that hurt. It doesn't matter if the other person is in the next city, the next state, or the cemetery. It doesn't matter whether that person knows he's wronged you, cares that he's wronged you. It doesn't matter. Right now, you have the ability to forgive, Jesus says.
Conditional forgiveness misinterprets scripture. Secondly, conditional forgiveness makes us a prisoner of our offender. It makes us a prisoner of our offender. When you say, I'm not going to forgive until this person does this or this or this or this. You are binding yourself to that other person emotionally.
That means you can go no further in your Christian experience than that person is willing to let you go. You become their prisoner.
Okay. I've used this illustration before, but it's such a good one, I'm going to use it again. You've been to those. three-legged races they used to have at old-fashioned picnics. You know what I'm talking about, the three-legged races.
And if you've ever been in that situation, you know the first thought that goes through your mind is: if I could just get rid of this idiot, I could go a lot further. But you see Three-legged races don't allow for solo contenders. You are bound to that person. You can go no faster. Or farther.
then your partner is willing to go.
Now listen. When you say, I'm not going to forgive so-and-so until they do this, this, and this, you are just wrapping yourself around that other person. You're tying to yourself emotionally to that other person. You can't go any farther or faster than he or she is willing to let you go. But forgiveness is the process by which I separate myself from my offender.
It's when I say, what this person did to me is wrong. They deserve to pay for it, but you know what? I'm going to leave that up to God. I'm going to free myself of this person. I'm going to give up my right to hurt them for hurting me.
I'm going to let go so I can be free to move forward in the life God has for me. That's the freedom that comes from forgiveness. You say, how do I do that? Probably the single best illustration. I call it a case study in forgiveness.
is found in the Old Testament story of Joseph. Turn over to Genesis chapter 50 for the climax of Joseph's story. You remember the story, don't you? Joseph was one of 12 sons of Jacob. He was the favored son.
And because of his favored son's status, his brothers were jealous of him and decided to get rid of him at their first opportunity. One day the opportunity came, and they threw him in a pit, left him to be sold into slavery, told their father that Joseph was dead. But through a series of miraculous circumstances, God took Joseph out of that pit. And put him into Pharaoh's palace in Egypt. He was Pharaoh's right hand man.
Suddenly, there was a great famine that engulfed the land, not just of Israel, but of Egypt as well. and the remaining eleven brothers and their father Jacob. When they heard that there was food that could be purchased in Egypt, they made the decision to send the brothers to Egypt to try to buy grain for their starving family. Little did they know that the man to whom they would be making their appeal to for food was in fact their own brother Joseph, whom they presumed was dead by this time. And of course in the great climactic scene, Joseph calls for his brothers to come near.
And when they realize who it is. You can feel the sweat. coming down off their face and dripping onto your Bible as you read that saying. And then you remember the great climactic scene, Genesis 50:20. Joseph said, As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good.
To bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive. He goes on to say, It was not you who sent me here, it was God. And the Bible says, And he spoke kindly to his brothers. In closing today. Let me share with you the four principles of forgiveness that you find in Joseph's story.
Four steps. To releasing yourself from the prison of bitterness. First of all, acknowledge that you have been wronged. You know, forgiveness. Be mistaken about this.
Forgiveness is not denial. It's not sweeping under the rug something bad that has happened to you. It's not like it never happened before. Joseph was very honest. He said to his brothers, you meant it for evil.
Somebody has said you cannot forgive those you're not willing to, first of all, blame. You have to blame people before you can forgive people. Remember, forgiveness is about a debt, releasing a debt.
Something somebody owes you, literally or figuratively, for what they've done to you. But for you to release that debt, You've got to acknowledge that that exists.
Sometimes you even have to calculate what that person might owe you for what they've done to you. It might be a divorce. They may deserve prison. They may deserve the death penalty. You need to acknowledge a debt, even calculate the debt, before you can release the debt.
You know, doctors Minerith and Meyer suggest that you do an inventory of your own life. About those who may have wronged you, who need your forgiveness. They suggest, and I put it on your allying, your parents. Maybe yourself.
Now, I always have a little trouble with that. You can't forgive yourself. Trying to forgive yourself is like trying to play solo tennis. You can't be on the serving and the receiving end of the court at the same time. You can't forgive yourself.
Only God can forgive, or others you've wronged can forgive. But You can receive God's forgiveness. That's what we need to receive God's forgiveness, not grant it to ourselves. Maybe a spouse. who needs your forgiveness.
Authority figures in your life. Other people.
Some people talk about forgiving God. Again, that Technically, it is wrong. You can't forgive God because God can't do anything wrong. but at least looking at your hurt from God's perspective. And that is the second step of forgiveness.
Once you've acknowledged the offense that has occurred, view your hurt from God's perspective. Instead of asking the question, why did this person do this to me? ask, what is God trying to do in my life? What is he trying to do in my life? That's what Joseph did.
He said to his brothers, You meant it for evil. But he goes on to say, But God, Used it for good. To bring about this present circumstance, to preserve many people alive. You know what Joseph was saying to his brothers? He said, What you did was rotten.
It was wrong. But thankfully, I serve a God who is bigger than you are. God was able to take your worst motivations, your worst intentions, and use them for my good and for his glory. Do you believe in a God that powerful? A God who is so big, so wise, so powerful that He can take the worst things that happen to you and use them for good.
Joseph got to see the result of that hurt and how God used it for good. Because Joseph was sold into slavery, because he was in Egypt, because he was Pharaoh's right-hand man, he was in a position of influence. It was Joseph who suggested that Pharaoh store up the grain for the time of famine that was coming. It was Joseph who was in a place of privilege to be able to sell food to his brother and keep his whole family alive. He believed in a God who was bigger than his offenders.
Now, sometimes God allows us to see the good that comes from our hurt. But sometimes we go to our grave without ever seeing it. We have to wait until heaven to see how it all worked together. But we can claim that great promise of Romans 8, 28. And we know that God causes all things.
to work together for good. to those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Paul's not saying all things are good. There's nothing good about abuse. There's nothing good about divorce.
There's nothing good about adultery. There's nothing good about murder. There's nothing good about any of those things. But God is so powerful, He can take. The worst things people want to do and use them for his good and his glory.
Isn't that what Peter said in Acts chapter 2? He said, This man, Jesus. was delivered up. By the predetermined plan of God, and you nailed him to the cross. He said, what you, and he was talking to the people who had crucified Christ just 50 days earlier.
He said, you did it for evil. You were angry. You nailed him to the cross. But it was all according to the predetermined plan of God. That's the kind of God we serve.
A God who can take the worst things that happen to you and use them for good. Romans 8:29 says, For whom God foreknew he predestined to be conformed to the image of his will. Even if you go your entire life without seeing the good that comes, you can know that that heartache you've experienced. Is making you more and more like Jesus Christ. Hebrews 5:8 says, Although Jesus was the Son, He learned obedience by the things that he suffered.
God is at work. Try to see what it is God is doing in your life. View your hurt from God's perspective. Thirdly, acknowledge your failure and receive God's forgiveness. Acknowledge your failure and receive God's forgiveness.
I don't want you to misunderstand this. I'm not engaging in victim blaming here. But what I am saying is this. You can never truly forgive other people. until you have received God's forgiveness.
And you will never receive God's forgiveness until you understand. How desperately you need it. You and I have done things that are wrong for which we need forgiveness. And you and I will never be in a position. To grant forgiveness to others until we realize the forgiveness we need from God.
I found that those people who have a hard time forgiving really have an inflated view of their own righteousness. They really don't understand. In God's eyes, what sinners they are and how much they need His grace and His mercy. And that's why it's important if you're ever going to forgive others, you receive God's forgiveness in your life. Trying to forgive somebody without receiving forgiveness is like.
trying to write a check on an account for which you have no money. I mean, it just bounces from here to the moon, the check does. Same thing if you try to forgive somebody without. Having received God's forgiveness, we forgive because we have been forgiven. Fourth.
Finally, There comes a time when we actually have to choose forgiveness over bitterness. We can't choose what other people do to us, but we can make the choice of letting go, forgiving. or holding on. and being destroyed. Just think for a moment.
What would have happened if Joseph, instead of forgiving, would have held on to that bitterness? What if he had said, here those brothers are, this is my chance to get even with them. I'm not going to sell them any grain, or I'm going to. Execute them right here on the spot. Just think about it.
If they had done that. That would have wiped out not just Joseph's family, but those 12 sons were the nucleus, the 12 tribes of Israel. There would not only have been no family, there would have been no Israel. And if there had been no Israel. There would have been no Messiah.
And if there had been no Messiah, You and I would still be left in the consequences of our sin for all eternity. One man's decision to choose forgiveness over bitterness still reverberates today to your life and my life. Why should I forgive?
Well, there's certainly some great spiritual reasons to forgive. The best one is what Jesus talked about in this parable we looked at. He said, So shall my heavenly Father do to you if you do not forgive his brother from your heart. Justice That slave was thrown into the prison and tortured day and night.
So shall my heavenly Father do to you. If you're not sure what he's talking about there, Listen to his words in Matthew 6, 14 and 15. Jesus said, For if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But, If you do not forgive others, then your Father. will not forgive.
your transgressions. You know, I hear people all the time trying to explain away those verses.
Well, what Jesus meant was, what Jesus meant was what Jesus said. If you do not forgive other people, God will not forgive you, and you will die in your sins. Pastor, are you saying I'm going to lose my salvation? No, I'm not saying you lose your salvation. What I'm saying is, if you find yourself Saying over and over again, like I hear some people say, I will not forgive.
I will not forgive. I will not forgive this person. It's not that you lose your salvation. It means you never had it to begin with. Because when you truly understand the great debt.
from which God has forgiven you. It's only natural that you would extend. that forgiveness to somebody else. Forgiveness is the obligation of those who have been forgiven. That's the spiritual reason for forgiving.
But there's a practical reason that affects our life right now. The fact is forgiveness leads to life. Bitterness leads to emotional and sometimes even physical death. It is a poison. that will destroy you and everyone around you.
The great theologian Frederick Beechner. once wrote with tongue firmly in cheek Of the seven deadly sins, anger is perhaps the most fun. To lick your wounds, to smack your lips over grievances long past. To roll over your tongue the prospect of bitter confrontation to come. to savour to the last toothsome morsel both the pain you're giving others And the pain you're receiving in return, why, in many ways, it's a feast fit for a king.
The chief drawback Is that what you are woofing down? is yourself. The skeleton at the feast. Is you? Are there offenses in your life?
that you need to acknowledge. Are there hurts in your life? that you need to release. Go ahead and acknowledge that hurt. Mm.
Release it. and begin today to experience the freedom that comes from choosing forgiveness. Over dinner, yes. If someone has popped into your mind today and God's Spirit is prompting you, Please respond to his call. Don't allow the day to pass by without reaching out to extend a hand of forgiveness.
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Join us again Friday for the next attitude choice: choosing productivity over laziness, right here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. Alaska's pristine wilderness showcases God's glory like nowhere else on earth, and you're invited to experience it firsthand on the Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska. Set sail with Amy and me June 13, 2026, for seven unforgettable days.
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