Sermon Tone Analysis

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*Contents*

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*Point One                                                                                                                               Page 1*

*Point Two                                                                                                                               Page 2*

*Point Three                                                                                                                            Page 4*

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\\ *DOCTRINE OF FORGIVENESS*

 

                        We begin our study of this important doctrine with a definition.

Forgiveness means to give up resentment, excuse a guilty party, to release from payment, to forget an offense never bringing it up again not even to discuss it.

The principle of a legal pardon is no different from the principle of a personal pardon and forgiveness.

This means that if someone asks for your forgiveness, and in honor you forgive them, then integrity and loyalty to doctrine demands that you */forget/* whatever was done against you.

It also means that you never again recall what the individual has done to you or penalize the individual for doing so.

*Remember the principle: Arrogance has no ability to forgive.*

If you desire to know how many times you should forgive someone, Luke 17:4 says *"If someone sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' forgive him."*

*So Point One is our definition of forgiveness.*

\\ *Point 2.  The ultimate expression of forgiveness was the Cross of Christ.*

The greatest illustration of forgiveness is the cross itself, where all the personal sins of the human race were imputed to our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.

God the Father judged every one of those sins in Christ.

This was why our Lord cried out, *"My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"*

By His work on the cross, The Lord Jesus Christ opened up the way for God the Father to forgive us.

Ephesians 1:7.

*"In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace,"*

The principle here is the fact that our sins have been paid for so we must respect the "payment" i.e. the blood or the saving work of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Therefore, "ultimately" when people sin, they sin against God.

This is why David said in Psalm 51:4, after he sinned with Bathshiba and later murdered Uriah,  *"Against Thee, Thee only I have sinned, and done what is evil in Thy sight,"*

We do not have the right to remain angry or bitter toward someone who has legitimately wronged us or hurt us because Christ paid for that sin and they really have sinned against God even though it may have been directed toward us.

And this is why not forgiving others is actually to sin against God.

\\ *Point 3, Scripture Passages on Forgiveness.*

The pattern for such pardon and forgiveness is found in Isaiah 43:25.

*"I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake *(because of My honor and integrity).

*Furthermore, I will not remember your sin."*

This pattern of forgiveness is applied to the believer as part of the Royal Family Honor Code*[1], Colossians 3:13.

*"Bearing one another and forgiving each other.

Whoever has a complaint against anyone else, just as the Lord forgave you, so also you should forgive others."*

Now bear in mind, you do this because it's to *your own benefit!*

When you can bear with people, put up with them, tolerate them,

and have patience with them, this may not benefit them at all however, it will benefit you tremendously.

How?

You will not let them get to you.

Therefore, no mental attitude sins.

No sins of the tongue.*[2]

No overt sins.

Ephesians 4:32.

*"Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other just as God in Christ has also forgiven you."*

This command is for the believer who has attained spiritual self-esteem, spiritual autonomy, and spiritual maturity.

\\ This describes the spiritual winner.

He is tender-hearted and forgives others on the basis of the fact that God has forgiven him.

Mark 11:25  *"And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your transgressions."*

Colossians 2:13.

*"And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions,"*

1John 2:12.

*"I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for His name's sake."*

Notice that it is for His name sake that our sins have been forgiven.

*Point 4, An example of forgiveness; The story of Joseph.*

Joseph was thrown into the pit by his brothers because his brothers were jealous of him.

Joseph was a victim of great injustice but it became a part of God's perfect plan for his life.

He was thrown into a pit, and sold as a slave.

The world is filled with acts of injustice and only the grace of God and understanding our subject of forgiveness can get you through.

Joseph had a change of circumstances but not a change of God's grace support.

Let me give you a quick summary of what happened to Joseph.

 

1.

Joseph was thrown into the pit by his brothers which was a part of God's plan for his life, which he failed to recognize, Genesis 37:1-24.

\\ 2. Joseph was sold to a caravan, which just so happened to be coming by, and the caravan took Joseph to Egypt, God's geographical will for Joseph, Genesis 37:25-36.

He had a change of environment and circumstances but it did not hinder his spiritual growth.

3. Joseph then became a servant to Potiphar, who was an officer of Pharaoh, and Joseph learned that God can provide prosperity in any situation, Genesis 39:2-6.

Joseph was totally prosperous while a slave.

That's because God can bless you in one geographical area as much as in another geographical area.

4. Joseph was then tempted many times by his Potiphar's wife to have sex with her, and he passed the test magnificently, Genesis 39:7-10.

5. Potiphar's wife reacted against the rejection by Joseph and falsely accused Joseph of trying to seduce her, and this was a total act of injustice, Genesis 39:11-18.

6. Potiphar believed his wife and threw Joseph into the dungeon for his second "pit" experience, Genesis 39:19-20.

7.

In Genesis 40:1-4, Potiphar abuses his authority and gives Joseph double duties as a slave to two aristocrats in the Egyptian prison.

The normal Egyptian policy was to give each aristocrat his own slave.

And if you are ever going to grow up spiritually, you must learn how to handle being mistreated by others.

8.

However, in Genesis 40:14-15, Joseph fails again by relying on man rather than the Lord and the two men both forget to help Joseph in his prison experience.

Now, all of this is the background to our subject of one of the greatest illustrations of forgiveness in the Bible.

\\ In Genesis 45:1, Joseph's brothers, unknowingly, are begging Joseph for some help and food for the famine.

After putting his brothers through certain tests, Joseph discovered that their attitude toward each other had changed.

He saw that the brothers finally had love for each other and love for their father.

So notice Joseph's attitude in Genesis 45:1, *"Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried, "have everyone go out from me." so there was no man with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers."

*

Genesis 45:2-3  "And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard of it.

*Then Joseph said to his brothers, "I am Joseph!

Is my father still alive?"

but his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence.

*

They were totally shocked.

Genesis 45:4   *"Then Joseph said to his brothers, "please come closer to me." and they came closer.

And he said, "I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt."

*

Notice his humility and his gentleness after being so mistreated.

This is truly an act of graciously forgiving each other.

He brings their fears and worries right to the surface by stating what they lived in fear of, the fact that they sold him into slavery.

Genesis 45:5.

*"And now do not be grieved or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life."

*

Notice, no bitterness, no resentment, no anger, no spite.

Just unconditional love and total forgiveness.

And this is why Joseph has been promoted by God.

 

\\ So in Genesis 45:6-7, Joseph goes on to say,  *"For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are still five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvesting.

And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the earth, and to keep you alive by a great deliverance."

*

Genesis 45:8.

*"Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and he has made me a father to Pharaoh and Lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt."

*

Don't blame yourself, God has turned the curse into a blessing!

Gen 45:9  "Hurry and go up to my father, and say to him, 'thus says your son Joseph," God has made me Lord of all Egypt; come down to me, do not delay.

Gen 45:10  "And you shall live in the land of Goshen, and you shall be near me, you and your children and your children's children and your flocks and your herds and all that you have.

Gen 45:11  "There I will also provide for you, for there are still five years of famine to come, lest you and your household and all that you have be impoverished."

Gen 45:12  "And behold, your eyes see, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin see, that it is my mouth which is speaking to you.