The Pardon Test

Welcome to Worship in the Word with Pastor Robert Morris. We've been making our way through Pastor Roberts' From Dream to Destiny series, where he's been sharing about 10 character-building tests that Joseph and Genesis had to endure on the way to his God-ordained destiny. Today, we're going to discuss the pardon test, which is about forgiveness. This is one of the most important tests we will ever take. So let's jump in with Pastor Robert now.

This week is the pardon test. I want you to remember that Joseph's brothers sold him as a slave when he was a teenager. Could you forgive your own brothers for selling you, and they were going to kill him, they were going to kill him, for selling you as a slave as far as Joseph knew for the rest of his life into slavery as a teenager? And so in Genesis chapter 50, I want us to read it carefully. I almost wanted to tell you what I'm going to talk about a little bit later in this message, so you'd see it when we read it.

So just read it very carefully with me and see if you see something in here as we read this. All right, Genesis 50, verse 15. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, when his brother saw their father was dead, they said, perhaps Joseph will hate us and may actually repay us for all the evil which we did to him. So they sent messengers to Joseph, saying, before your father died, he commanded, saying, Thus you shall say to Joseph, I beg you, please forgive the trespass of your brothers and their sin, for they did evil to you. Now please forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of your father.

I hope you remember that because we're going to come back to their exact wording. And Joseph wept when they spoke to him. I believe he wept because he was hearing his father died.

He didn't know that. Then his brothers also went and fell down before his face, and they said, Behold, we are your servants. Joseph said to them, Do not be afraid, for am I in the place of God. But as for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. In order to bring it about, as it is this day, to save many people alive. Now, therefore, do not be afraid.

I will provide for you and your little ones. And he comforted them and spoke kindly to them. Now, the only way he could have spoken kindly to them was if he had already dealt with this issue in his heart. And I think he dealt with it a long, long time ago. I want you to know that this is the first time the word forgive is in the Bible.

You just read it. It's not in the first 49 chapters of the Bible. It's in Genesis 50 for the first time. It means to absolve fully or to release from penalty. It also means though, and most of the time when this Hebrew word is translated, it's translated actually this other meaning, to lift up or to bear. And that is exactly what Jesus did for us. He lifted off our sin, our transgression off of us. He bore it himself, thereby releasing us from the penalty and absolving us fully.

So how in the world can we do this? Please hear me. I know I've said this every test. I know that. But if you don't pass this test, you can't fulfill your destiny. If you can't learn to pardon people or forgive people, you will not fulfill the destiny God has for your life. And I believe that God's given me a key to learning how to do it because so many people say, well, I try, but it's so hard, Pastor, because you don't understand what was done to me.

I understand sometimes it is hard to forgive people for a tremendous wrong or harm that they've done to us. But I really believe I have a key to doing that. And I'm gonna give you three words to remember, all right? So here's the first one. Number one, release.

Release. That's what it means. Now, let me show you something I told you I wanted you to remember. When Joseph's brothers saw that his father had died, they said, perhaps Joseph will be angry with us, hate us, and repay us for the evil we did. So they sent messengers to him saying, now we're gonna get in that a little more, but listen very carefully to me. I believe with all of my heart that this was a lie. We had no record in the Bible of Jacob saying this on his deathbed. What we had that we just read was, when Joseph saw that Jacob, their father, had died, they said, okay, he's already dead, and they concocted this plan. And they sent messengers saying, listen to their wording, your father commanded, not asked. See, I see them coming up with this saying, oh no, no, don't say your father asked, say your father commanded. Your father commanded, saying please forgive your brother, stated evil. And then it says this, it's just so amazing to me that they even said this, then it said, before your father died. Okay, it's like, Joseph, this is his dying wish. Please forgive the servants of your God.

Let's put God in there, put God in there. They worked on this message completely. By the way, it says, for they did evil to you. Now here's what gets me, there was never a we. We did evil. If you notice, the brothers never repented. They never said we did, or we asked.

When they came and met with them, they said, we are your servants. Well, that's obvious. That's not repentance. We understand that you have authority. We understand that. Well, that's not repentance.

They never said, we do this. Okay, I want to ask you something. Can you forgive someone who lies and manipulates and never asks for forgiveness?

That's the part in test. And if you don't forgive, here's what Joseph said, he said, am I in the place of God? Listen carefully, if you don't forgive, you put yourself in the place of God. This is why the Bible says, Leviticus 19, 18, you shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

I am the Lord. And then Romans 12, 19 in the New Living Translation says, dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God, for it is written, I will take vengeance, I will repay those who deserve it, says the Lord. Now let me tell you why we are commanded not to take vengeance, because the word vengeance means to bring justice to an unjust situation. That's what it means, to bring justice to an unjust situation.

Let me tell you why God tells us not to take vengeance, because it is impossible for us to do that. We cannot bring justice to an unjust situation. Let me tell you why, because we're not just.

And some of you might think, no, no, yes we are. No, no, no, no, there's a big difference in being just and being justified. We've been made justified by the only one just. The Bible says God's the only one just.

So we can't bring vengeance. And here's what happens, if you live your life with unforgiveness, you will always be trying to avenge yourself. You'll always be trying to vindicate yourself, and you'll always be looking in every situation you'll want to say, did you see that? You see what I did there? And you'll spend your life trying to prove something, listen carefully, rather than please someone. Let me say it another way, I have nothing to prove, I have someone to please.

And that's what vengeance does. I remember, I had a difficult time forgiving this guy one time, and I kept rehearsing it in my mind. Have you ever done that? You just continue to tell him off in your mind. And you continue to have these conversations with no one.

And many of them are late at night. So this one was late at night, it was about two in the morning, and I'm going through all the reasons why he's wrong, and I'm right, and I'm finally telling him off. And all of a sudden, it's like the Lord had just had enough, like he needed to get some sleep too. He just, all of a sudden, the Lord just said to me, forgive him. Just like that, forgive him.

I mean, like he was upset about it. And so I said, because sometimes God is not aware of all the facts, you know. And so I said to him, but Lord, he was wrong. He was wrong.

Now listen, this is the most amazing truth I've just, I think I've ever heard in my life. Listen, the Lord said, of course he was wrong. He said, you don't forgive people who are right.

Yes, he was wrong. That's why you forgive him. You release them. That's what forgives me. Now listen to me. If you're going through it in your mind, listen, I don't care what you tell me with your mouth, you haven't forgiven. Because God is not going through your sins in his mind.

You haven't forgiven. And that is where it brings us to the next word, is receive. Now the first word is release.

The second word, receive. Matthew 6, this is, and you may have turned to it, the Lord's Prayer, we call it. And forgive us, verse 12, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Now here, I've got some bad news for you, all right? You've prayed this prayer. How many of you, all the campuses, how many of you have ever prayed the Lord's Prayer at some point? Can I see your hand? Okay.

The word as means in the same way. Here's what you prayed. Lord, forgive me in the same way I forgive others.

That would have been helpful information before you prayed that prayer, wouldn't it? You've been asking God to forgive you. Lord, will you forgive me the same way that I forgive other people?

Now, let me explain this to you. This is the way we're to forgive. We're to forgive in the same way. So if you keep bringing it up, you haven't forgiven in the same way God's forgiven you.

Because God doesn't keep bringing it up. And here's the way that we actually forgive. The Bible says, freely you have received, freely give. Freely you have received, freely give.

All right, think about this. We have freely received forgiveness. Therefore, we can freely give forgiveness. Now, listen to me very carefully though. If you have a problem forgiving people, it's actually because you have a problem receiving forgiveness. If you feel in any way that you are paying for your sins, are earning forgiveness, you will make others pay for what they do, and you'll make others earn your forgiveness. It's very important.

Listen, I'm telling you, when we freely receive, then we can freely give. Years and years ago, with this little bitty house, we had a bathroom that was about the size of this pulpit. It was about this big, all right. And one sink, toilet right there. And so we're getting ready for church one Sunday. And I've already gotten dressed, and Debbie's still in her, she's in her bathrobe, and she's doing makeup and all. So I'm saying that because I want you to understand, she had no shoe zone, and I had dress shoes on. I reached to grab something, and my heel, while I'm leaning forward with all of my weight, landed on her little toe.

And I weigh some pounds. I'm sorry, I think the mic cut out. But anyway, that's not the point, all right. So anyway, she starts screaming. You know, first she screamed without a sound, you know, and then she's beginning to scream. And I immediately said, oh, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. She says, okay, it's okay. She kind of limped to the bedroom, sat down on the bed. She just, you know, it's hurting so badly. I said, I'm so sorry.

I got down on my knees in front of her. I said, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. She said, it's okay, it's okay.

I think she said something like, go away, I don't want to see you again. You know, leave me alone. I'm hurting, leave me alone. I said, no, no, no, I feel so bad. And again, the reason I told you this years ago is because I've matured since then, because I said something really foolish.

But this is where I was. I said to her, I said, Debbie, I feel so bad, I want you to do something. And she said, what do you want me to do right now? I said, I want you to hit me. She said, I don't want to hit you. I said, yeah, but, but I want you to hit me. I feel so bad, I'll feel better if you hit me. Now, listen to me. Many believers, many believers live with a hit me mentality.

A hit me mentality. And this is the way we feel. Something bad happens to us and we think, yes, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. I knew when I only had $500 left for another week that I shouldn't have bought a $400 barbecue grill. Now I can't pay this other bill that came in, and yes, thank you, Lord, you're getting me back. Now we're even. No, it's just, it's just math.

You don't spend $400 when you only got $500 left for another week. It's just, but it's not God getting you back. But that's the way we feel. We look at every bad thing in our life as God getting even with us. Now listen to me very carefully. Listen, God is never going to get even with you because He already got even with Jesus.

You have to hear that. Don't live with this hit me. But here's the problem. Listen, if you have that tendency at all, then you have a difficulty receiving forgiveness. And if you have a difficulty receiving forgiveness, you'll have a difficulty giving forgiveness. So as I went through this message, I thought, well, how can I help? If someone has a difficulty receiving forgiveness, how can I help? And here's the third word, belief.

Belief. Now I'm going to read you some scripture, and then I'm going to tie it together, all right? So just stay with me on these, all right? Psalm 103 verse 12 says, As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. By the way, that would be that He obliterated them, because that's infinity, okay? Isaiah 53 6, All we like sheep have gone astray, we've turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him, lifted off of us and laid on Him, the iniquity of us all.

Now I'm going to read a few more, but just two questions, so we make sure we get that. How far has God removed our iniquity from us? How far does it say, literally?

From the east to the west, right? And what did He do with the iniquity of us all? Laid it on Jesus, right? All right, let me say it one more time.

I want everyone to answer, all right? How far has God removed our iniquity from us? And what did He do with the iniquity of us all? Okay, remember those two, all right?

Let me read you just a few more. Habakkuk 1 13, You are of purer eyes than to behold evil. This is the same word for sin. And cannot look on wickedness, or pardon me, that's the word for sin. You can't look on wickedness, you can't look on sin, your eyes are too pure. Now Job 36 7 says, He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous. So He can't look on wickedness, evil, or sin, but He never withdraws His eyes. Never, ever, ever does He take His eyes off the righteous. 1 Peter 3 12, For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to the prayers. Now God can't look on wickedness, He can't look on sin, but He never withdraws His eyes from the righteous.

Okay, you know what I think about that? I think, well, I wish I was righteous. Sure wish I was righteous. According to this, God can't even look at me, but He never takes His eyes off the righteous. Okay, let me read you one more scripture. 2 Corinthians 5 21, For He made Him, Jesus, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Okay, listen to me very carefully. We were born sinful, so sinful, God is so pure, He can't even look at sin, but His eyes are on the righteous every day. So God took all of my sin, He lifted it off of me, He bored Himself, that I could become the righteousness of God, and now His eyes are on the righteous every day. You have to hear this, something had to be done with your sin, just so God could look at you. Just so He could look at you. But He did such a wonderful job, laying my iniquity on His Son, and removing it from me as far as the east is from the west.

Not only can He look at me, He can walk with me, He can talk with me, He can put His arm around me, and He can have a relationship with me. He has completely, totally removed my sin from me. Because I believe that, because I really understand that, I can forgive you.

Because I've received that forgiveness fully and freely, fully and freely, I can give you full and free forgiveness. I have a friend of mine, I was having lunch with him one time, and I said, Marty, tell me your story. I'd like to hear your story. He said, well, my grandparents were in Auschwitz. And one day, my grandparents on both sides, father and mother's side, with some other men and women, gathered together about 20 young people, teenagers, and said, we don't think we're gonna make it out of here.

You guys need to try to escape, because we're not gonna make it. And they took Marty's mother, who was then a teenager, long before Marty was born, she wasn't even a married time, just a teenage girl, and they sewed money in her coat. And this money was for all of them. And they, one night, they took off running. Well, the guards opened fire, and they shot Marty's mother's sister. She ran back, and Marty's mother's sister died in her arms. And while she was trying to save her sister's life, she was shot in both legs. Two of the boys came back out of the woods then, and drug her to safety. They took her to a German family, and because she was wounded, and could not run, couldn't get away, and because she had money in her coat, they said, we don't want any of it, we'll give it all to this family if you guys will take care of her. And they agreed to take care of her, and they nursed her back to health, and raised her as their own daughter. That's how she survived the war, Marty's mother.

Marty's father, who was also in that group, and already had seen Marty's mother, and was attracted to her, you know. He then, with about ten of the guys, they went into the woods, and they dug a pit, and they lived in the pit for over a year. They would come out at night, and go into this town to forage for food, but during the day they had to stay in the pit.

After about a year, they were discovered, and the Nazi soldiers came and said, come out of the pit, or we're gonna kill all of you. And so they came out of the pit, they took them back to a prison camp, and the commandant came out and said, are any of you boys a tailor? And Marty's father was a tailor. And he said, I'm a tailor.

They said, we need someone to fix our uniforms, you come over here. That's how Marty's father's life was spared. Marty said one of the hardest, the most difficult things of his childhood, was that Waldman is a very common name. And people would always say, when they knew his last name was Waldman, they'd say, oh, are you related to these Waldman's?

And Marty always had to say, no, I'm not related to anyone. Because all of his uncles and aunts, his grandparents all died in the Holocaust. A few years ago, Marty went back to Auschwitz for the first time to see where his family had died.

But he asked someone to go with him. Marty, being the grandson of Holocaust victims, had met a man who was a believer, who was the grandson of an Auschwitz prison guard. And they stood in Auschwitz, and the grandson of the prison camp guard prayed for the Jewish people. And Marty prayed for the German people. And I said to him, when he told me this, Marty, how could you forgive the German people for what they did to your family? And he just smiled and said, because Jesus forgave me. Jesus forgave me. Listen, if you'll receive his forgiveness freely, you can give his forgiveness freely. And please hear me, if you hold on to bitterness, it will destroy your life. Bitterness is like drinking poison, hoping that it kills the other person.

But it only hurts you. We want you to take a moment to think about what Pastor Robert shared today and listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you. If you want to connect with us or check out some of Pastor Robert's other messages, visit pastorrobert.com. And if you haven't already, go follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, so we can be a part of your community. We hope you found today's word inspiring and encouraging. Next time, Pastor Robert is going to conclude this series with a message about God's purposes for us. Be blessed this week.