Dreams & Mysteries - The Mystery of Total Forgiveness

the talk I want to share with you today was born and what was at the time the darkest hour that my wife Louise and I ever went through it was while I was pastor of Westminster Chapel in London we were there 25 years what happened was unjust it was unfair I felt betrayed I was angry I was bitter I couldn't tell anybody what happened it just happened that an old friend from Romania happened to be in London his name is Joseph Shung I told him what they did and if I'm totally honest with you the reason I told Joseph I thought he would put his arm around me and say arty you ought to be angry who wouldn't be angry I wasn't prepared for what he said if I can narrow 25 years in London down to 15 minutes it's when Joseph so looked at me and said arty you must totally forgive them for until you totally forgive them you will be in Chains release them and you will be released nobody had ever talked to me like that in my life faithful of the wounds of a friend it was what I needed more than anything in the world but it was the last thing I wanted and I can't help but wonder if you are watching me by divine appointment I have a word for you I promise you will change your life as it did mine is his dreams and mysteries what I want to share with you today is actually seen in the life of Joseph in the Bible I don't know whether you've ever heard of the story of Joseph he was the favorite son of Jacob Jacob had twelve sons Joseph was his favorite Jacob was not a good parent the worst thing sometimes a parent can do is to show favoritism he was partial to Joseph he made this richly ornamented coat the King James Version calls it a coat of many colors the only thing worse than giving it was to wear it Joseph wore that around his eleven brothers and they were so jealous of him along with that Joseph had dreams they were from God prophetic dreams Joseph's mistake was telling the dreams to his brothers he should never have done that he said listen it is you eleven brothers are going to bow down to me one day because I had a dream the Sun and Moon and Eleven stars were bowing down to me well here's the thing the dream was of God and he had others you know I sometimes think God would show us things if we could keep quiet about it but we have to tell it and Joe's had to tell it and the brothers could take it no more they decided to kill him in fact they would have except that at the moment they were going to let him die Ishmaelites happen to show up and they decided not to kill him but to sell him to the Ishmaelites and they yanked that coat of many colors off his back dipped it in blood sent it to old Jacob they didn't take it to him they sent it I don't think they can face their father with that and they just sent the word see if you recognize this and of course Jacob took the bait he said a wild beast has devoured my son I will go to my grave in mourning the brothers tiptoed away and said well we got away with it the Bible says be sure your sin will find you out they never thought they would see Joseph again ever the issue might sold him to an Egyptian officer by the name of Potiphar Joseph had never worked a day in his life but he now was made the head of Potiphar's household and he did so well that part of her trusted him totally but one day Joseph had an unusual kind of experience Potiphar's wife began to flirt with Joseph and said go to bed with me and Joseph refused he said how can I do this thing and sin against God she kept flirting with him until one day he ran she grabbed a part of his clothing used it as evidence and when her husband came home she said this Hebrew slave has made fun of me and tried to rape me the next thing you know that Joseph is in prison some have said that if part of her really believed her he wouldn't have got away with just a prison sentence anyway Joseph is now in prison he's in a dungeon and while he's there he has two guests that is to say two people join him in prison they were employees of the King Pharaoh one was the cupbearer to the king the other was the baker and one day each of these men had dreams and Joseph interpreted them and they were so accurate that Joseph said to the cup bear to the king listen when you get out of prison which and you're going to get your job back in three days remember me to the Pharaoh I don't deserve to be here this is not right and he pleaded please don't forget me well the truth is the cup bearer to the King sometimes referred to as the butler completely for got about Joseph well some years later the Pharaoh had a dream and the Pharaoh had a dream that he could not figure out he had people on his staff that were paid to interpret dreams and do you know they could not interpret the Pharaohs dreams that his when the cupbearer to the king said I suddenly remember my faults and told the Pharaoh about Joseph here's the interesting thing Joseph had no credentials he had no recommendations uh he didn't have a pedigree perhaps you have a gift and you are afraid that that gift will never be discovered and or perhaps let's say you've got a past and because of that nobody will want you well Joseph as far as the government was concerned had been a rapist and that's not a very good recommendation but his gift was so extraordinary that when the Pharaoh told Joseph his dreams and Joseph interpreted perfectly God used Joseph the bottom line is that because of Joseph's interpreting the Pharaohs dreams the Pharaoh made Joseph the prime minister of Egypt all right sometime later these eleven brothers are having to come to Egypt to buy food and they have to go to the prime minister they do not have a clue that it's their brother Joseph first of all it's 22 years later Joseph is wearing Egyptian garb he has learned Egyptian and speaks to his eleven brothers through an interpreter he knows who they are they don't know who he is in fact he knows this is the moment that his dreams would actually be interpreted that those brothers come bowing down to the Prime Minister begging for food in fact it was a literal interpretation fulfillment of the dreams had given to his brothers years before 22 years before now here's what's interesting Joseph thought that God gave him those dreams so that one day he could look at those 11 brothers and say gotcha but guess what God postponed the fulfillment of those dreams until it was a new Joseph a different Joseph a changed Joseph a broken Joseph so when the dreams are now being fulfilled instead of saying gotcha to those 11 brothers and by the way he had the power he could have done anything to them he could have put them in prison he could have done anything instead of saying gotcha Joseph starts to cry and at the beginning of Genesis chapter 45 we have what happened Joseph could no longer control himself before all his attendants and he cried out have everyone leave my presence so there was no one with Joseph when he made himself known to his brothers he wept so loudly that the Egyptians hurt him and Pharaohs household heard about it and Joseph now said to his brothers I am Joseph is my father still living but his brothers were not able to answer him because they were terrified in his presence what we have here in the account of Joseph revealing his identity to his brothers is that he has toe forgiving those brothers for what they did here's the thing I doubt not that perhaps there's someone watching me right now you have forgiven those who have hurt you well done because Jesus said to do that in fact in the Lord's Prayer there's that petition forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us but what I want to show today in this talk is how to know you have totally forgiven is there way to know yes God has concealed messages and the dreams we dream and as we search them out we learn more about his ways decades of study and thousands of dream interpretations gave john paul jackson a unique perspective on understanding dreams with the beginner's dream kit you'll be taught to recognize the 20 most common dreams and what they are saying this kit includes the top 20 dreams book john paul's 2-cd set teaching the basics of dreams and visions the moments with God dream journal and to dream cards to help you understand your dreams for your gift of $75 or more we will send you these important tools designed to start your journey towards a greater understanding of the dreams you dream order your beginner's dream kit today visit dreams in mysteries.com or call one eight hundred five three eight five two eight five it's in the account that I've just read from the 45th chapter of Genesis how do we know we have totally forgiven those who have hurt us proof number one you don't tell anybody what they did to you you don't tell anybody this is why Joseph made everybody leave the room he wanted to make sure that only he as eleven brothers were there now there are two exceptions one you may need to tell one other person for therapeutic reasons for example you may have a minister church leader a friend that you can confide in you need to tell one person I told Joseph zone but you can only tell one not 10 not 501 there's another exception a lady come into the vestry Westminster Chapel and she said they found my rapist and they want me to testify in a court of law I said well you must all dr. Kendall you have taught me to forgive and I have forgiven him I said I believe you and it's wonderful I know you have forgiven him it's not personal now you need to answer their questions he's a danger to society so she did but what's the real reason we tell what they did somebody hurts us we get on the phone here's what they did to me do you know why we do that we don't want anybody to like them we don't want anybody to admire them we want to turn everybody against them let the world know what they did so nobody will admire them by the way how would you feel if God were to reveal to your friends what he knows about you would you like that probably not I wouldn't want you to know all that God has forgiven me of but I could say you will never know because as far as the east is from the west so far have my transgressions been removed from me the blood of Jesus Christ washes away all my sins and you will never know proof number two you won't let these people that have hurt you be afraid of you for example you might like to know what Joseph did next we're told the moment is I'm Joseph when says his brothers were terrified they were terrified this is the interesting thing there was a day when Joseph would have loved that scenario hoho he wanted them to be afraid of him but he see it's a new Joseph now and God postponed the fulfillment of Joseph's dreams until it was a new Joseph and so this time he says come close to me come close to me he felt such love for them he just wanted to love on them they were terrified he says come close to me how do you know you've totally forgiven proof number three you won't even let them feel guilty listen to this Joseph having said come close to me he says I am your brother and now do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves imagine that he wants them to forgive themselves don't even be angry with yourselves for doing this this means he is totally setting them free the people that have hurt us we're keen for them to know how hurt we are we can't bear the thought that they don't know they have hurt us and so sometimes want to go up to another and say I just want you to know I forgive you for what you've done and they'll look at you and say for what well I think you know what well no I don't what you do I'm sorry I don't well you should you get a fight going because you can't bear the thought they don't know how hurt you are listen to me it takes minimal grace to forgive them when they're sorry it takes a lot of grace to forgive them when they're not sorry they don't even know what they've done they don't even know and if you can forgive them when they don't know well what about if they do know still this is the way to get a major victory the people I had to forgive you could have put them under a lie-detector they didn't think they did anything wrong not for one minute I knew that I had to forgive them even for that but it changed my life and don't be surprised if the people you have to forgive are close to you don't be surprised if they're in the church or they're godly did you ever hear the poem living with the Saints above all that will be glory living with the saints below well that's another story alright proof number four that you've totally forgiven you let them save face do you know that expression in Kate Dale Carnegie's book how to win friends and influence people he's got a section there let the other person save face what does that mean you cover for them you act like you don't know what they did instead of rubbing their noses in it you protect their fragile ego and and instead of embarrassing them you give them a way out do you let him save face this is what Joseph said he said do not be angry with yourselves it was to save lives God sent me ahead of you in fact he said it was not you who sent me here it was God you see there's no self-righteousness here there's no pointing the finger because total forgiveness is when you stop rubbing their noses in it reminding them of what they did 1 Corinthians 13 says love keeps no record of wrongs why do we keep records well to prove we paid why do we keep a record of wrong oh so we can throw it up the next day or two weeks later well how do you know you've totally forgiven proof number one you don't tell anybody what they did to you you don't let them be afraid of you you don't rub their noses in it you let them save face you don't even let them feel guilty but there is a fifth evidence that you've totally forgiven and that is you protect them from their darkest secret what was the dark dark secret of these eleven brothers well when they yanked that coat of many colors off Joseph's back dipped it in blood they sent it they sent it to Jacob they didn't take it they sent it with a note do you recognize this well Jacob did recognize it they would rather die than have to go back to Canaan and tell their dad what they had done they would rather die Joseph knew that he actually writes the script for them word for what he tells him what to say he won't let them tell that chances are you know something about somebody if you were to tell it could destroy them don't let them worry for one second you know God has enough on all of us to bury us we've all got skeletons in the closet with fogot skeletons in the closet God not wanting to yank out that skeleton and embarrass you or me that stuff the way God is when everything in you wants to hold a grudge point a finger and remember the pain God wants you to lay it all aside is total forgiveness easy of course not but the total forgiveness trilogy can help give you a game plan providing the tools you need to experience the incredible freedom and peace that come when you put the past behind you to order visit us at dreams in mysteries.com or call us at one eight hundred five three eight five two eight five all right there are two more proofs that we've totally forgiven proof number six total forgiveness means you have to keep doing it this is so important in the fifteenth chapter of Genesis we find that the old man Jacob has died the brothers panic they're convinced that Joseph only forgave them for a while they think that Joseph has been waiting for Jacob to die and then Joseph prime minister of Egypt is going to go for them and they come running to Joseph begging and to Joseph please forgive us for what we're done we're so sorry dad told us to tell you they make up a story dad told us to tell you to forgive us for what we did Joseph starts to cry he can't believe it he said I told you seventeen years ago that I forgave you I forgave you that I forgive you now this is a wonderful thing seventeen years later he is still forgiving them total forgiveness is a life sentence I come now to the seventh point and that is this you pray for them and that's what we have in the 50th chapter of Genesis Joseph's blessing them he said don't worry look after you I will bless you I never will forget it as long as I live when I was minister of Westminster Chapel I came into the pulpit one Sunday I was leading the worship we were singing the great English him praise my soul the king of heaven out in the congregation was a person who has done irrevocable damage to one of our children emotional damage to one of our children that person was out there and I lost it I could I couldn't sing I just mouthed the words what saved me in that morning service was time to raise the lift the offering they can we come up to the pulpit give the announcements and say the morning offering will now be received that gave me about five minutes total to sit next to the pulpit and collect my thoughts something happened that morning it's only happened once in my 25 years in London while I'm there it was as though God entered into a conversation with me I don't say this is verbatim but it's pretty close it went something like this so RT you want to state revival in Westminster Chapel is that right yes good which would you rather have revival or for me to send judgment on that person out there whew revival good pray for that person I said I pray for that person he said that's not good enough ask me to bless them bless them say it again bless them and what if I take you seriously and answer your prayer and I bless them I said Lord you wouldn't do that would you but that's the whole point and I started to say bless them and it was killing me because I knew God was going to bless them and by the way he did that person flourishes today I meant it and you know something after that something happened in my case I I'll just say it this way I think at that time I'd written maybe three books try not to misunderstand this please don't but I can tell you that now I've written many many books I won't say more people think it's my brain my education no no it's what the Bible calls the anointing of the Holy Spirit after that event I began to get so many insights into the Bible that I just got thoughts I couldn't write them fast enough publishers come to me ask me for books it's not my brain it's not my education the Holy Spirit has opened his word to me listen he will do that for you does mean you'll be an author but you have a gift no one else has and that gift will not be tapped until you are set free and you forgive those who have hurt you well I'm going to lead us in a prayer right now there wherever you are if you would pray this prayer from your heart Lord Jesus I need you I want you I'm sorry for my sins wash my sins away by your blood I welcome your Holy Spirit into my heart I forgive that person call him by name I ask you to forgive them I ask you to bless them I set them free come Holy Spirit thank you for your patience with me as best as I know how I give you my life amen god bless you go in peace

Channel: Dreams & Mysteries

Views: 16,117

Rating: 4.9208789 out of 5

Keywords: Streams Ministries, R.T. Kendall, Dreams and Mysteries, Dreams & Mysteries, Forgiveness, Total Forgiveness, Season 4, Bible, Genesis 40, Joseph, Coat of many colors, Jacob

Id: L-KOuLpsfXs

Length: 28min 30sec (1710 seconds)

Published: Sat Oct 29 2016