WEBVTT - When I’m Sorry Isn’t Enough, Part 1 0:00:00.590 --> 0:00:05.390 Forgiveness is a dialogue and sorry is a monologue. In 0:00:05.390 --> 0:00:08.119 other words, I'm sorry. There's nothing else to say about 0:00:08.119 --> 0:00:11.780 this thing, but forgive me. Now I've included you, and 0:00:11.780 --> 0:00:14.150 now it's going to take a dialogue for us to 0:00:14.180 --> 0:00:17.420 deal with what the issue is. 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:27.800 You're listening to Treasure Truth with pastor and author James 0:00:27.800 --> 0:00:30.860 Ford Jr. Senior pastor of the Christ Bible Church in Chicago. 0:00:30.890 --> 0:00:33.650 I'm Steve Hillard. Glad you're with us today. We're going 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:36.409 to double back to a topic of forgiveness. If you're 0:00:36.409 --> 0:00:38.810 a regular listener of this program, you might remember a 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:41.540 couple of months ago we had a series on Joseph, 0:00:41.540 --> 0:00:44.150 and we got into the topic of forgiveness. And today, 0:00:44.150 --> 0:00:48.290 pastor kind of boomeranging back to Genesis 50 and dealing 0:00:48.290 --> 0:00:52.250 with this topic of forgiveness. You said that it's far 0:00:52.250 --> 0:00:55.370 better to say, forgive me than I'm sorry. Why is that? 0:00:55.400 --> 0:01:01.140 Well, basically, because I'm sorry. Isn't that biblical? Okay. 0:01:01.410 --> 0:01:04.500 Forgiveness isn't saying I'm sorry. 0:01:04.530 --> 0:01:05.160 Emotion. 0:01:05.190 --> 0:01:05.759 Okay. 0:01:06.030 --> 0:01:12.240 Forgiveness is more volitional. Forgiveness is a dialogue. Sorry is 0:01:12.240 --> 0:01:16.020 a monologue. What do you say after sorry. Yeah. You know, 0:01:16.020 --> 0:01:18.150 there's nothing to be said. But if you said, forgive 0:01:18.150 --> 0:01:24.750 me now you've integrated that person into the dialogue. You see, 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:27.959 you know. And the reason we come back to this theme, 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:32.550 it's one of the hardest things for any believer to do. 0:01:32.580 --> 0:01:34.230 As a matter of fact, I'm going to go on 0:01:34.230 --> 0:01:36.899 record as saying there are some things that people do 0:01:36.900 --> 0:01:40.590 to us that's impossible for us to forgive. So then 0:01:40.590 --> 0:01:43.800 how do we forgive? Well, just like anything else, we 0:01:43.800 --> 0:01:48.779 need to understand that the power to perform is in 0:01:48.780 --> 0:01:52.830 the precept pontificated say, huh? What did you just say? 0:01:52.860 --> 0:01:53.640 A lot of big words. 0:01:53.670 --> 0:01:58.590 Peter says, Lord, if that's you, let me play. So, 0:01:58.620 --> 0:02:00.970 you know, he's saying, you name it, I'll claim it. 0:02:01.450 --> 0:02:06.580 Jesus says, Come, Peter, who did not have the power 0:02:06.580 --> 0:02:10.419 to walk on water, walked on water by the power 0:02:10.419 --> 0:02:14.320 of one word from Jesus Christ. Yeah. In other words, 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:17.380 what I'm trying to say is this it is his 0:02:17.380 --> 0:02:22.060 word that comes. The Bible is called a seed. Seed 0:02:22.060 --> 0:02:25.840 has power to germinate within itself, so that when I 0:02:25.840 --> 0:02:29.170 want to walk in obedience to God, the things that 0:02:29.169 --> 0:02:34.810 are impossible for me are possible with him, because I 0:02:34.810 --> 0:02:38.020 use my faith to activate. So I don't know how 0:02:38.020 --> 0:02:40.750 many times I've said, Lord, I just don't have the 0:02:40.750 --> 0:02:45.459 capacity to forgive for this. But you told me in 0:02:45.460 --> 0:02:49.390 Ephesians chapter four verse 32, you said, forgive one another, 0:02:49.389 --> 0:02:53.230 even as God, for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Now 0:02:53.230 --> 0:02:56.710 I need you to activate that in my life. Empower 0:02:56.740 --> 0:02:58.270 me to forgive. 0:02:58.780 --> 0:03:02.919 And that's a process that depending on what that wound is, 0:03:02.919 --> 0:03:04.900 you may need to go through time and time and 0:03:04.900 --> 0:03:05.680 time again. 0:03:05.710 --> 0:03:11.260 Of course. Well, here's what you realize. Forgiveness is volitional. 0:03:11.290 --> 0:03:16.149 Healing is emotional. So forgiveness is punctilio. What does that mean? 0:03:16.180 --> 0:03:19.600 Point in time, I make a decision. But the healing 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:24.639 process is ongoing. And so I may have forgiven you. 0:03:24.669 --> 0:03:29.530 Maybe I just haven't been totally healed emotionally. Even when 0:03:29.530 --> 0:03:31.060 I've forgiven you. Volitionally. 0:03:31.090 --> 0:03:33.100 Well, that's part of what we're going to be looking 0:03:33.100 --> 0:03:35.860 at in today's broadcast. If you can join us in 0:03:35.860 --> 0:03:38.530 the book of Genesis, we're in chapter 50 as we 0:03:38.530 --> 0:03:42.640 begin a message that's entitled When I'm Sorry Isn't Enough. 0:03:42.670 --> 0:03:44.140 Here is Pastor Ford. 0:03:44.860 --> 0:03:50.110 Jesus Christ's first words, father, forgive them, for they know 0:03:50.110 --> 0:03:53.350 not what they do. And we said he is the 0:03:53.350 --> 0:03:59.050 model for us. Why? Because He is God in the 0:03:59.050 --> 0:04:03.200 flesh who died and was buried and rose again the 0:04:03.200 --> 0:04:08.930 third day according to the scriptures. And so Jesus died 0:04:08.930 --> 0:04:14.839 so that we could get to heaven. And Jesus lives 0:04:14.840 --> 0:04:19.039 to get heaven in us, because quite frankly, there's too 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:22.970 much hell in too many now, not at this service, 0:04:22.970 --> 0:04:27.740 but at that early service. There's some folk that are 0:04:27.740 --> 0:04:31.490 believers that got too much of that other person in them, 0:04:31.490 --> 0:04:38.120 rather than Jesus Christ. Nobody in here. Uh, so how 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:41.090 do we deal with this? Because often we don't want 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:44.210 to do things God's way. I mean, he's a God 0:04:44.210 --> 0:04:47.750 of order. And do you know that people get upset 0:04:47.750 --> 0:04:51.620 about rules and regulations when they are guiding you and 0:04:51.620 --> 0:04:55.789 guarding you and gracing you and growing you? That you know, 0:04:55.790 --> 0:04:58.910 the difference between a river and a swamp is that 0:04:58.910 --> 0:05:06.330 a river has Boundaries and a swamp does not. So now. Now, 0:05:06.330 --> 0:05:09.660 here's the last thing we covered when we said this 0:05:09.660 --> 0:05:12.870 is what we do. If we want to see the 0:05:12.870 --> 0:05:15.960 divine model, we see the Lord Jesus Christ. But come on, 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:18.480 let's get real. I mean, He's God in the flesh. 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:21.630 He could do it. You know, uh, I do have 0:05:21.750 --> 0:05:26.010 God in me, but I just don't have enough of him. Well, 0:05:26.010 --> 0:05:29.550 then we have the human example is Joseph. Let's walk through, 0:05:29.550 --> 0:05:33.630 because the the dominant theme of the text is really 0:05:33.630 --> 0:05:40.140 how to forgive people like Jesus. And so we said 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:43.049 that Joseph teaches us how to forgive. What's the first 0:05:43.050 --> 0:05:48.150 thing he did? He released them from their guilt. Now, see, 0:05:48.150 --> 0:05:51.539 when we've done something against somebody, we ought to feel guilty. 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:55.229 But long after we have been forgiven. The devil likes 0:05:55.230 --> 0:05:59.909 to use guilt so that we don't forgive ourselves. And 0:05:59.910 --> 0:06:04.000 so Joseph released them from their guilt. We ain't got 0:06:04.000 --> 0:06:05.529 time to go over everything because I want to make 0:06:05.560 --> 0:06:11.140 sure I finish everything tonight. Pray for a brother. Then secondly, 0:06:11.140 --> 0:06:15.070 he refused to get even. Who is he now? He's 0:06:15.070 --> 0:06:18.040 big baller, shot caller. He's the one that's in charge. 0:06:18.040 --> 0:06:21.369 He got the. He has Pharaoh's signet ring. Do you 0:06:21.370 --> 0:06:25.090 know what that means? That. That he can sign some things. 0:06:25.089 --> 0:06:29.800 And it's seen as if Pharaoh did it. Same power, 0:06:29.800 --> 0:06:32.200 even though he's second in command and I. It's not 0:06:32.230 --> 0:06:33.910 on my notes. But I tell you what's hard to 0:06:33.940 --> 0:06:38.770 find in a church, a good second. Everybody want to 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:43.510 be first, a good second. And you look at, you 0:06:43.510 --> 0:06:45.940 look at, look at some of the greatest seconds in 0:06:45.940 --> 0:06:50.050 the Bible, Joseph a great second. And remember, it was 0:06:50.050 --> 0:06:53.380 his destiny to be second. And then who was another one? 0:06:53.380 --> 0:06:57.789 Tell me another one, Daniel. Joshua. You know, and so 0:06:57.790 --> 0:06:59.620 let me just say it. I don't know why, because 0:06:59.620 --> 0:07:01.490 it ain't even on my notes. I didn't intend to 0:07:01.490 --> 0:07:04.010 say it, but you can't be over who you're supposed 0:07:04.010 --> 0:07:06.289 to be over until you get under who you're supposed 0:07:06.290 --> 0:07:09.080 to be under. If you ain't fit, if you don't 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:11.210 know how to follow, you aren't fit to lead. I 0:07:11.210 --> 0:07:18.170 know you heard it before. I just need to remind you. Amen. Amen. 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:27.350 Follow your leader. They're taking directions as God is leading them. Amen. 0:07:27.350 --> 0:07:29.660 I'm talking about the other leaders. Because I ain't worried 0:07:29.660 --> 0:07:31.430 about you following me. Because I'm gonna knock you out 0:07:31.430 --> 0:07:38.300 if you don't. Just kidding. Just kidding, just kidding. Yeah. 0:07:38.330 --> 0:07:40.310 And so he refused to get even. He could have, 0:07:40.340 --> 0:07:42.770 but he didn't. Third thing he did, he reminded them 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:46.340 of God's sovereignty in their life. You meant it for evil. 0:07:46.370 --> 0:07:49.430 God meant it for good. You always have to have 0:07:49.430 --> 0:07:54.110 on the glasses. That gives you God's perspective, and that 0:07:54.110 --> 0:07:57.110 is with the Word of God. The trouble I'm going 0:07:57.110 --> 0:08:00.110 through is for the future. I'm going to that I 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:04.680 always have to remember that God is sovereign and that 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:10.230 it's either God authorized or God allowed. Which means then 0:08:10.230 --> 0:08:13.500 I'm going to benefit from this or oh, I'm in pain. 0:08:13.500 --> 0:08:15.900 I don't like this, but I'm going to grow from 0:08:15.900 --> 0:08:20.100 this because if I go in it with the mentality 0:08:20.130 --> 0:08:22.440 of what are you trying to teach me, God, what 0:08:22.440 --> 0:08:24.600 are you trying to show me? How are you trying 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:28.230 to grow me? And if it's nothing else, because some 0:08:28.230 --> 0:08:30.930 of y'all know what I'm talking about. There's people who 0:08:30.930 --> 0:08:33.780 did things to you before you got saved, and people 0:08:33.780 --> 0:08:35.729 did it after you got saved. If they didn't met 0:08:35.730 --> 0:08:38.099 you before you got saved, you'd have slapped the black 0:08:38.100 --> 0:08:43.079 off of them. You discussed them until their ears bleed. 0:08:43.110 --> 0:08:47.550 Now you just say, well, praise the Lord. God is 0:08:47.550 --> 0:08:54.240 good and vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord. Uh, 0:08:54.240 --> 0:08:59.429 number four, he reaffirmed his care for them. You have 0:08:59.429 --> 0:09:01.750 to look in the text. you'll find it. He reaffirmed 0:09:01.750 --> 0:09:05.829 his care for them. Then number five, he restored his 0:09:05.830 --> 0:09:10.120 relationship with them. Now remember our message out of acts 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:13.240 15 and we talked about what you lose when you 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:16.720 don't forgive. And we looked at Paul and Barnabas and 0:09:16.720 --> 0:09:19.060 their separation and all those things. You got to get 0:09:19.059 --> 0:09:20.110 the tape on it. I ain't got time to go 0:09:20.110 --> 0:09:24.429 back on that. And then lastly, we saw he refused 0:09:24.429 --> 0:09:29.590 to dwell upon their past offenses. If they hadn't have 0:09:29.590 --> 0:09:32.830 brought it up, it would have never came up, because 0:09:32.830 --> 0:09:37.569 Joseph wasn't that kind of believer in Yahweh. We don't 0:09:37.570 --> 0:09:42.520 always let somebody know you hurt me before. Oh, I remember, 0:09:42.520 --> 0:09:48.820 I remember. Mhm. Just like it was yesterday. Mhm. Get 0:09:48.850 --> 0:09:52.540 me once it's on you get me twice. It's on me. 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:57.190 Mm mm. And so we want to move on and 0:09:57.190 --> 0:10:00.500 we want to talk about when I'm sorry is not 0:10:00.500 --> 0:10:04.699 good enough. Let's pray. Father, we thank you. And we 0:10:04.700 --> 0:10:07.610 ask that you'll teach us what Joseph's brothers teach us 0:10:07.610 --> 0:10:13.430 how to get forgiveness. Amen. There was a woman with 0:10:13.429 --> 0:10:21.140 14 children, ages one through 14, and she went to 0:10:21.170 --> 0:10:23.540 the judge. She said, I want to sue my husband 0:10:23.540 --> 0:10:29.390 for divorce. He said, on what grounds? She said desertion. 0:10:29.420 --> 0:10:32.660 Judge said, wait a minute. Desertion? How long ago did 0:10:32.660 --> 0:10:36.680 he desert you? She said 14 years ago. She said, 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:38.360 wait a minute, wait a minute. You came in here 0:10:38.360 --> 0:10:42.860 with 14 children. He deserted you 14 years ago. How 0:10:42.860 --> 0:10:46.250 did you get the 14 children? She said, well, every 0:10:46.250 --> 0:10:53.150 year he come back and say he was sorry. See, 0:10:53.179 --> 0:10:58.819 in that case, saying sorry wasn't good enough. 0:11:00.890 --> 0:11:04.160 You're listening to Treasure Truth, and that is the title 0:11:04.160 --> 0:11:07.520 of this message. When sorry isn't enough. Really. Look at 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:10.100 Genesis chapter 50 today, and we're going to get back 0:11:10.100 --> 0:11:13.970 to this teaching from Pastor Ford in just one moment. Hey, 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:17.090 if his teaching has ever helped you with something specific 0:11:17.090 --> 0:11:20.600 in your life, like maybe your marriage, your finances, or salvation, 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:22.939 would you let us know your story? You can visit 0:11:22.940 --> 0:11:25.610 the contact page of our website and let us know 0:11:25.610 --> 0:11:28.160 how the Lord has used this program to bless your life. 0:11:28.190 --> 0:11:32.000 Just come to our website. It's Treasure Truth radio.org. Another 0:11:32.000 --> 0:11:34.130 way to give us some feedback is through social media. 0:11:34.130 --> 0:11:35.810 When you stop by the website and go to the 0:11:35.809 --> 0:11:39.110 Stay Connected bar, you'll find links there to our Facebook page, 0:11:39.110 --> 0:11:41.540 our Twitter feed, and a link that will allow you 0:11:41.540 --> 0:11:44.330 to download the Moody Radio app. Again, just come to 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:49.250 Treasure Truth radio.org and look for Stay Connected. Let's get 0:11:49.250 --> 0:11:52.010 back to the message again. Here's Pastor Ford. 0:11:52.460 --> 0:11:55.190 One of the most humbling and one of the most 0:11:55.309 --> 0:11:59.750 heartbreaking experiences I've ever had in counseling is talking to 0:11:59.790 --> 0:12:04.199 battered women. Now, I can't do a dissertation of it, 0:12:04.200 --> 0:12:07.380 but I mention it because I heard these two words 0:12:07.380 --> 0:12:11.040 more than anything. When I say, why do you subject 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:13.500 yourself to that? Now, there's all kinds of reasons. There's 0:12:13.500 --> 0:12:16.740 financial reasons, there's children involved, there's all these kind of things. 0:12:16.740 --> 0:12:22.020 But I say when it first happened, when it first happened, 0:12:22.140 --> 0:12:24.840 and you should have been prepared for it because physical 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:30.450 abuse is never first. It's always emotional, social, financial, etc.. 0:12:31.590 --> 0:12:33.720 So that should have told you it was on the way. 0:12:33.750 --> 0:12:35.880 And I say when it first happened, why didn't you 0:12:35.910 --> 0:12:38.040 saturate the place with your absence? Why didn't you get 0:12:38.040 --> 0:12:41.280 up out of there? Because the next day he brought 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:46.560 me flowers and he said, I'm sorry. I heard that 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:50.640 so often. I started crying before I even hear the words. 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:53.730 He said he was sorry. And many of us, uh, 0:12:53.730 --> 0:12:57.540 if we understand the Bible, we know that sorry isn't 0:12:57.540 --> 0:12:59.790 good enough. What's the difference? Let me give you as 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:03.160 much as I can. A distinction because sometimes we use 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:07.569 them and give them the same meaning. Sometimes we use 0:13:07.570 --> 0:13:10.990 them in tandem. I'm sorry. Forgive me, but technically, can 0:13:11.020 --> 0:13:13.210 we get technical for a minute? Technically, let me tell 0:13:13.210 --> 0:13:16.510 you what's going on. When you say I'm sorry, it 0:13:16.510 --> 0:13:20.770 has to do with human emotion. When you say please 0:13:20.770 --> 0:13:25.990 forgive me. It has to do with volition. When you 0:13:25.990 --> 0:13:30.820 say I'm sorry, you make it personal. It's isolated just 0:13:30.820 --> 0:13:35.920 to you. I'm sorry. But when you say, please forgive me, 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:41.380 you have now included that person that fills the offense 0:13:41.380 --> 0:13:44.560 in it and now you have set up. There has 0:13:44.559 --> 0:13:49.030 to be some kind of dialogue because forgiveness is a 0:13:49.030 --> 0:13:53.620 dialogue and sorry is a monologue. In other words, I'm sorry. 0:13:53.620 --> 0:13:56.830 There's nothing else to say about this thing, but forgive me. 0:13:56.860 --> 0:13:59.800 Now I've included you and now it's going to take 0:13:59.809 --> 0:14:04.370 a dialogue for us to deal with what the issue is. 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:08.570 And so I'm sorry it's emotional all about you. But 0:14:08.570 --> 0:14:14.690 forgive me is volitional all about us. So then when 0:14:14.690 --> 0:14:19.670 you say please forgive me, you are taking responsibility for 0:14:19.670 --> 0:14:25.250 the action. Non-action or trans action. Let me say that again. 0:14:25.250 --> 0:14:29.450 When you say forgive me, you are taking responsibility for 0:14:29.450 --> 0:14:36.920 the action or non-action or trans action that caused an offense. Now, 0:14:36.920 --> 0:14:38.750 keep in mind, because I know what you're thinking. I'm 0:14:38.750 --> 0:14:42.740 reading your mind. Remember what I said to you a 0:14:42.740 --> 0:14:47.030 couple of times already? Why is it when someone does 0:14:47.030 --> 0:14:51.020 something to us, we focus on their actions, but when 0:14:51.020 --> 0:14:55.730 we do something to somebody else, we focus on our intentions. 0:14:55.970 --> 0:14:59.420 So that when somebody says when we say to somebody, 0:14:59.450 --> 0:15:04.130 you know you hurt me. Well, I didn't mean to. 0:15:04.160 --> 0:15:09.500 You hurt me. Don't tell me you didn't mean to. 0:15:09.530 --> 0:15:12.620 It hurt. But when somebody says you hurt me, it 0:15:12.620 --> 0:15:17.600 wasn't intentional. Oh, that's supposed to be okay. When it's 0:15:17.630 --> 0:15:22.550 with me. And so. No. No. See? I'm sorry. And 0:15:22.550 --> 0:15:26.600 may even deal with intention. But please forgive me. Says 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:31.700 something I did, whether right or wrong, offended you. I 0:15:31.700 --> 0:15:34.340 need to get that cleared up. I may not see 0:15:34.340 --> 0:15:37.190 it the way you see it, because we don't all 0:15:37.190 --> 0:15:40.670 see things the same way. What's important to you may 0:15:40.670 --> 0:15:45.050 not be important to me, but because it's important to you, 0:15:45.050 --> 0:15:49.130 if I violate it, I've offended you. And so I 0:15:49.130 --> 0:15:55.280 need to ask for forgiveness. So sorry is a monologue. 0:15:55.280 --> 0:16:01.080 Forgiveness necessitates a dialogue. Now, now, let me give you 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:03.270 this quote. I forgot to write down his name because 0:16:03.270 --> 0:16:05.700 I was just writing it so fast. But it's a quote. 0:16:05.820 --> 0:16:08.130 I didn't say this. It's a quote, but I love it. 0:16:08.160 --> 0:16:11.310 It summarizes what I just told you. Quote. When you 0:16:11.310 --> 0:16:14.550 say forgive me, you acknowledge that what you did was 0:16:14.550 --> 0:16:19.530 wrong and you regret it. But sorry is a casual 0:16:19.530 --> 0:16:25.470 way of saying what you did was not intentional. Example. 0:16:25.620 --> 0:16:30.270 I'm texting and walking and bump into you. Sorry. My bad. 0:16:31.410 --> 0:16:33.600 In other words, it wasn't intentional. Don't get all upset 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:40.620 about this. It wasn't nothing important. But if I stole 0:16:40.650 --> 0:16:45.990 your smartphone and you caught me and I said, please 0:16:45.990 --> 0:16:49.710 forgive me, then what I'm saying is, what I did 0:16:49.710 --> 0:16:55.470 was intentional. What I did was purposeful. And that's what 0:16:55.500 --> 0:16:58.020 forgiveness is all about. And remember what the word forgiveness means. 0:16:58.020 --> 0:17:02.620 What does it mean? Let it go. Let it go. 0:17:03.220 --> 0:17:07.780 Let it go. And so then that cross over there 0:17:07.780 --> 0:17:14.740 is filled with offenses that people did against us. I 0:17:14.740 --> 0:17:17.230 read them all. I read them all. There are over 0:17:17.260 --> 0:17:23.170 altogether 600 of those little notes. Do you know how 0:17:23.170 --> 0:17:27.490 many people asked for power to ask somebody to forgive 0:17:27.490 --> 0:17:32.890 them what they did to them? Two people. You mean 0:17:32.890 --> 0:17:37.240 to tell me in a congregation with 600 sticky notes 0:17:37.240 --> 0:17:40.030 on it, about $800 together, if you could get them 0:17:40.030 --> 0:17:44.290 all there on one Sunday, which will never happen. Only 0:17:44.290 --> 0:17:50.170 two people have ever offended somebody, I guess, like me 0:17:50.170 --> 0:17:54.220 and you. Everybody else ain't never offended anybody. But listen, 0:17:54.250 --> 0:17:59.440 just like you need to forgive people, you going to 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:04.609 need somebody to forgive you. And that's why Jesus said, 0:18:04.609 --> 0:18:11.419 when you pray, pray, father, forgive our trespasses as as 0:18:11.450 --> 0:18:16.070 is a simile, like an as in proportion to, in 0:18:16.070 --> 0:18:19.490 direct relationship to. In other words, if I don't learn 0:18:19.490 --> 0:18:23.330 how to forgive people, Lord, don't you forgive me? And 0:18:23.330 --> 0:18:24.920 that's the one we're going to talk about next week, 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:28.250 Micah seven, where God says what he did with our 0:18:28.250 --> 0:18:33.380 sins and how he forgave us. And so what did 0:18:33.380 --> 0:18:36.290 these brothers do now? Look at Genesis. Genesis 50. Let 0:18:36.290 --> 0:18:39.229 me read, beginning at verse 14. And after he had 0:18:39.260 --> 0:18:42.530 buried his father, Joseph returned to Egypt, he and his 0:18:42.530 --> 0:18:44.960 brothers and all who went up with him to bury 0:18:44.990 --> 0:18:48.679 his fathers. When Joseph's brothers saw that their father was dead, 0:18:48.680 --> 0:18:52.520 they said, Perhaps Joseph will hate us, and may actually 0:18:52.520 --> 0:18:55.550 repay us for all the evil we did to him. 0:18:55.550 --> 0:19:01.470 Now get this, get this now here's the first step. Uh, 0:19:01.470 --> 0:19:04.230 it is deep. This deep. Don't miss this. Here's the 0:19:04.230 --> 0:19:09.359 catalyst for acknowledging. So what's the first step? Acknowledge that 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:14.460 you wronged the person. Acknowledge that you wronged the person. Now. Now, 0:19:14.460 --> 0:19:17.850 what's the catalyst for acknowledge the the person. Why is this? 0:19:17.850 --> 0:19:21.389 Some people won't ask for forgiveness. Now remember, think about this. 0:19:21.750 --> 0:19:26.310 The first step in acknowledgment took them. How many years? 0:19:26.310 --> 0:19:31.560 Anybody remember? Holler it out. Right. 17 years. So then 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:34.169 they put them in the pit at 17. And then 0:19:34.170 --> 0:19:40.619 he's 34 sitting in power second in Pharaoh's court, which 0:19:40.650 --> 0:19:44.760 of course, Egypt was a world power, which means he's 0:19:44.760 --> 0:19:49.110 the second, not just in Egypt in all the world. 0:19:50.040 --> 0:19:53.970 Look at that. Just let me throw that out to 0:19:54.000 --> 0:19:57.510 some of you who've been dogged out and hated. Maybe 0:19:57.540 --> 0:20:02.260 God will use their hater ration for your elevation. That's 0:20:02.260 --> 0:20:04.929 what he did for Joseph. And so here. Now what happened? 0:20:04.960 --> 0:20:08.410 17 years to admit to each other. Write it down. 0:20:08.440 --> 0:20:12.129 I don't have time to go through it. Genesis 4213 0:20:12.160 --> 0:20:17.500 through 24. And in verse 21, after, after Joseph begins 0:20:17.500 --> 0:20:20.530 to try to test them, to see if the relationship 0:20:20.530 --> 0:20:24.880 can be restored. Because remember, it only takes one to forgive, 0:20:24.910 --> 0:20:27.939 but it takes two to restore the relationship. Let me 0:20:27.970 --> 0:20:31.090 say it again. It only takes one to forgive. It 0:20:31.090 --> 0:20:33.640 takes two to restore the relationship. What do you mean 0:20:33.640 --> 0:20:37.330 by that, Pastor Ford? Once you've been forgiven, people say, well, 0:20:37.330 --> 0:20:39.040 you know, we ain't going to never be the same. Well, 0:20:39.040 --> 0:20:41.770 that's not true. Biblical forgiveness. Can I get an amen? 0:20:41.800 --> 0:20:45.220 Deacon Thomas, am I right about it? True biblical forgiveness 0:20:45.250 --> 0:20:47.950 is what God did for us. He didn't say, okay, 0:20:47.980 --> 0:20:49.359 now I'm going to forgive your sin, but I ain't 0:20:49.359 --> 0:20:53.860 going to have nothing to do with you no more. No, 0:20:53.859 --> 0:20:57.100 he got more to do with us after he forgives 0:20:57.100 --> 0:21:00.189 us of our sins than he did before he forgave 0:21:00.220 --> 0:21:03.820 us of our sins. And so, no, I don't want 0:21:03.850 --> 0:21:06.910 to hear that. And even preachers say it, you know. Well, 0:21:06.910 --> 0:21:08.740 it doesn't mean you're going to be restored. Relationship. I 0:21:08.740 --> 0:21:13.660 don't want to hear that. That ain't biblical. Restoration is 0:21:13.660 --> 0:21:16.750 always the goal. And so then what do you. What 0:21:16.750 --> 0:21:20.050 do you mean, Pastor Ford? That is if if you 0:21:20.050 --> 0:21:25.270 forgive me. And unlike Joseph's brothers, I don't do what 0:21:25.270 --> 0:21:29.710 I'm supposed to do to get forgiveness. You're straight and 0:21:29.710 --> 0:21:33.369 I'm not. And there will be no restoration of the 0:21:33.369 --> 0:21:40.659 relationship until I have the biblical response to the act 0:21:40.660 --> 0:21:45.520 of forgiveness. Everybody's been forgiven their sin. Amen. Then did 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:48.010 Jesus die for everybody? Then how come everybody ain't saved? 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:54.490 Because everybody doesn't accept it. That's why. So a pardon 0:21:54.490 --> 0:21:57.280 is not a pardon unless you accept it. And if 0:21:57.280 --> 0:21:59.750 I accept it, it means there are elements of things 0:21:59.750 --> 0:22:01.909 I must do well when he forgives you. Is it 0:22:01.910 --> 0:22:04.550 a work? No. The Bible tells me. For by grace 0:22:04.550 --> 0:22:06.230 you have been saved through faith. And that is a 0:22:06.260 --> 0:22:08.300 gift of God, not a result of works, lest any 0:22:08.300 --> 0:22:10.340 man should boast. In other words, now what I have 0:22:10.340 --> 0:22:14.270 to do put faith in the forgiveness that's based on 0:22:14.270 --> 0:22:17.210 the finished work of Jesus Christ on Calvary. 0:22:19.100 --> 0:22:22.429 You're listening to Treasure Truth with Pastor Ford. A message 0:22:22.430 --> 0:22:26.120 called When I'm Sorry Isn't Enough. Really? Look at Genesis 0:22:26.119 --> 0:22:29.149 chapter 50 and Joseph and his brothers, and we're going 0:22:29.180 --> 0:22:32.540 to continue this message on our next broadcast. But if 0:22:32.540 --> 0:22:34.340 you want to make sure that you're not missing Pastor 0:22:34.340 --> 0:22:36.560 Ford's teaching each day, you can always come to our 0:22:36.560 --> 0:22:40.760 website and listen online. Simply stop by Treasure Truth radio.org. 0:22:40.790 --> 0:22:44.119 There you can stream programs, download mp3's, or order copies 0:22:44.119 --> 0:22:47.030 of this broadcast on CD. Another way to listen. 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Treasure truth is a production of Moody Radio, 0:23:48.090 --> 0:23:50.730 a ministry of Moody Bible Institute.