WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.120 --> 00:00:03.600 Hi, this is Rick Warren, Bible teacher the Daily Hope Broadcast. 2 00:00:03.799 --> 00:00:06.240 Did you know that because of Easter, your past can 3 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:08.839 be forgiven, you get a purpose for living, and you 4 00:00:08.839 --> 00:00:11.359 can have a home in heaven. That's good news. Where 5 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:14.039 else can you get that kind of news? Nowhere else? 6 00:00:14.320 --> 00:00:17.079 And did you know that at Easter, studies have shown 7 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:19.679 people are more open to an invitation to go to 8 00:00:19.800 --> 00:00:22.719 church than at any other time of the year. Don't 9 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:25.760 go to church by yourself, but bring somebody who doesn't 10 00:00:25.800 --> 00:00:29.600 know Jesus Christ, a family member, a friend, a coworker, 11 00:00:29.679 --> 00:00:32.600 a neighbor, a relative. And if you bring them to 12 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:35.079 that church service and they come to know Christ, You're 13 00:00:35.119 --> 00:00:37.560 going to be making a friend for eternity. It'll be 14 00:00:37.640 --> 00:00:41.399 the most important investment you can ever make in their lives. 15 00:00:41.560 --> 00:00:43.520 And by the way, if they come to Christ, would 16 00:00:43.520 --> 00:00:45.200 you let me know about it. I'd love to hear 17 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:47.840 that story that you brought somebody to Easter and they 18 00:00:47.880 --> 00:00:51.600 found Jesus. You can write to me Rick at Pastorrick 19 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:55.920 dot com. That's rickat Pastorrick dot com. I would love 20 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:58.479 to hear from you. God bless you and happy Easter. 21 00:01:02.359 --> 00:01:04.920 You know, none of us can earn our way into 22 00:01:04.959 --> 00:01:08.560 heaven because eternal life is a free gift when you 23 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:12.439 accept Jesus as the Lord of your life. Hey, everybody, 24 00:01:12.640 --> 00:01:16.359 this is Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. And today Rick Warren 25 00:01:16.480 --> 00:01:20.920 continues a series called Good News about Grace. You can't 26 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:25.719 truly understand the Christian life until you understand grace. It's 27 00:01:25.760 --> 00:01:29.159 at the heart of your faith and your relationship with God. 28 00:01:29.480 --> 00:01:32.840 And in this series you're going to discover how not 29 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:36.920 to only understand grace, but how to experience it and 30 00:01:36.959 --> 00:01:40.079 the joy that it brings. And now here's part one 31 00:01:40.120 --> 00:01:42.319 of a message called Offering Grace. 32 00:01:43.599 --> 00:01:47.000 Today, I want us to look at offering grace because 33 00:01:47.000 --> 00:01:49.120 the Bible says that God didn't just intend for you 34 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:49.799 to receive it. 35 00:01:50.920 --> 00:01:52.159 He wants you to pass it on. 36 00:01:53.480 --> 00:01:55.840 If you have been blessed by God, he wants you 37 00:01:55.959 --> 00:01:59.480 to bless others. If you have been cared for by 38 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:03.159 God wants you to care for others. If you've been 39 00:02:03.200 --> 00:02:07.920 forgiven by God, he wants you to forgive others. Jesus 40 00:02:07.959 --> 00:02:10.639 said it like this, they're on the top of your outline. 41 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:14.759 In Matthew ten, verse eight, he says, give as freely 42 00:02:14.759 --> 00:02:18.759 as you have received whatever you've been given by God, 43 00:02:19.080 --> 00:02:22.439 you are to offer to others. Now this morning, I 44 00:02:22.439 --> 00:02:25.759 want us to think in particular about forgiveness, because we've 45 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:27.479 received that more than anything else. 46 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:31.960 How do we give forgiveness to other people? Now? 47 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:35.120 We live in a society today where this theme of 48 00:02:35.120 --> 00:02:39.120 forgiveness is frequently in the headlines. There's a lot of 49 00:02:39.199 --> 00:02:43.599 shoddy thinking today about forgiveness. There are a lot of myths, 50 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:47.759 There are a lot of misconceptions when it comes to forgiveness. 51 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:50.919 Some people water it down. In fact, in our society 52 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:54.039 we're seeing an epidemic of this. It's cheap grace, it's 53 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:58.199 an abuse of grace, and it's making a forgiveness apply 54 00:02:58.280 --> 00:03:01.400 to anything and everything so much that forgiveness means nothing. 55 00:03:01.560 --> 00:03:04.879 It's almost as if we're afraid that somebody somewhere might 56 00:03:04.919 --> 00:03:08.759 feel guilty for one second, so we just go around saying, well, 57 00:03:08.759 --> 00:03:13.719 everybody's forgiven all the time, anywhere and everywhere. So today 58 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:17.639 I want us to look at what is really forgiveness. 59 00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:18.879 What is it? 60 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:21.479 Before we do that, I want us to take a 61 00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:24.520 little test. So if you'll take out your outline here, 62 00:03:24.520 --> 00:03:26.599 here's a little quiz that I'd like for you to 63 00:03:27.159 --> 00:03:31.400 look at five questions right or wrong, true or false. 64 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:33.479 This is not a thing you're going to be graded on. 65 00:03:33.520 --> 00:03:35.039 And if you get the wrong answer, I gave you 66 00:03:35.080 --> 00:03:37.400 permission to cross out yours and put in the right answer. 67 00:03:38.199 --> 00:03:40.759 Nobody's going to look at your little quiz. So you 68 00:03:41.000 --> 00:03:43.639 just write down true or false what you believe about 69 00:03:43.639 --> 00:03:47.199 these statements, and don't say him aloud because you might 70 00:03:47.240 --> 00:03:52.560 be embarrassed. Number one, A person should not be forgiven 71 00:03:52.919 --> 00:03:55.639 until he asks for it. Now, I want you to 72 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:58.240 circle true or false what you believe about that. A 73 00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:01.080 person should not be forgiven until he asks for it, 74 00:04:01.159 --> 00:04:07.919 true or false. Number two, Forgiveness includes minimizing the offense 75 00:04:09.120 --> 00:04:11.319 and minimizing the pain caused. 76 00:04:11.639 --> 00:04:12.680 True or false. 77 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:17.199 Forgiveness includes minimizing the offense and the pain cause. Number three, 78 00:04:17.759 --> 00:04:25.519 forgiveness includes restoring trust and reuniting a relationship. Restoring trust 79 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:28.319 and reuniting a relationship true or false? 80 00:04:28.360 --> 00:04:29.639 Is that a part of forgiveness? 81 00:04:30.439 --> 00:04:36.480 Number four, you haven't really forgiven until you've forgotten the offense. 82 00:04:37.639 --> 00:04:39.199 True or false. 83 00:04:39.680 --> 00:04:43.160 You haven't really forgiven until you've forgotten the offense. And 84 00:04:43.160 --> 00:04:47.959 then number five, when I see someone else hurt, it 85 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:53.680 is my duty to forgive that offender. I see someone 86 00:04:53.720 --> 00:04:57.399 else hurt, it's my duty to forgive that offender. 87 00:04:57.519 --> 00:04:59.000 True or false. 88 00:05:00.199 --> 00:05:02.279 Now, if you were to take the word of God, 89 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:05.319 and you were to particularly read through the Gospels and 90 00:05:05.360 --> 00:05:08.720 to read what Jesus said about forgiveness, you would come 91 00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:12.079 to the conclusion that all five of those statements are false. 92 00:05:14.160 --> 00:05:16.839 All five of them are false. Now, do I have 93 00:05:16.920 --> 00:05:22.600 your attention. We're going to look today in what forgiveness 94 00:05:22.680 --> 00:05:24.680 really is. But before we can look at that, we 95 00:05:24.800 --> 00:05:28.120 need to look at what it isn't. And the Bible 96 00:05:28.160 --> 00:05:30.639 says that there are five things that forgiveness is not. 97 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:34.519 Would you write these down? Number one, forgiveness is not conditional. 98 00:05:35.959 --> 00:05:39.079 It's not conditional, in other words, based on some kind 99 00:05:39.120 --> 00:05:41.720 of condition. In fact, the Bible says the exact opposite. 100 00:05:41.720 --> 00:05:45.600 The Bible says that real forgiveness, jenuine forgiveness is unconditional. 101 00:05:46.439 --> 00:05:49.480 It is not something you earn. It is not something 102 00:05:49.560 --> 00:05:53.240 you deserve. It is not something you buy or bargain for. 103 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:55.439 It is not something that you get as part of 104 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:57.680 a bargain if you promise to never do it again. 105 00:05:58.839 --> 00:06:02.759 It is unconditioned. When you tell a person I will 106 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:08.959 forgive you. If that's not forgiveness, you're bargaining. You're not forgiving, 107 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:14.759 you're bargaining. Because genuine forgiveness is unconditional. It's offered even 108 00:06:14.879 --> 00:06:18.319 if it's not asked for. When Jesus hung on the 109 00:06:18.319 --> 00:06:22.720 cross and he said he prayed Father, forgive them, for 110 00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:26.800 they know not what they do, at that point, nobody 111 00:06:26.800 --> 00:06:31.000 had asked for the forgiveness. Certainly nobody deserved it. Nobody 112 00:06:31.079 --> 00:06:34.480 had bargained or bartered for it. It was an unconditional 113 00:06:34.600 --> 00:06:39.480 offer of pardon, Father, forgive them, for they know not 114 00:06:39.600 --> 00:06:43.879 what they do. Genuine forgiveness is unconditional. Number two, it 115 00:06:44.040 --> 00:06:51.480 isn't minimizing the seriousness of the offense. Real forgiveness is 116 00:06:51.519 --> 00:06:53.959 not minimizing the seriousness of the offense. In other words, 117 00:06:54.000 --> 00:06:56.319 it's not saying, well, you know, it's no big deal, 118 00:06:56.360 --> 00:06:59.680 it really didn't hurt don't worry about it. It didn't 119 00:06:59.720 --> 00:07:02.920 hurt me that bad. Because the truth is, if it's 120 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:06.399 worth forgiving, it did hurt you, It did cause pain, 121 00:07:06.439 --> 00:07:08.120 and you don't need to minimize it because that's not 122 00:07:08.160 --> 00:07:12.439 a part of forgiveness. Forgiveness is saying yes, it did hurt, Yes, 123 00:07:12.519 --> 00:07:15.360 it did cause pain in my life, but I'm gonna 124 00:07:15.439 --> 00:07:17.759 let you go. I'm not gonna hold it against you. 125 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:20.920 Yesterday in the paper there was a story of a 126 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:26.720 man who killed both his father, his mother, and his brother. Now, 127 00:07:26.720 --> 00:07:28.279 if I were to go to that man and I say, 128 00:07:29.240 --> 00:07:34.959 I'd proclaim you forgiven. It's no big deal. It's not 129 00:07:35.079 --> 00:07:37.720 a big issue. It wasn't such a bad thing, and 130 00:07:37.800 --> 00:07:43.319 I minimize it. That is not forgiveness. That's insanity. It 131 00:07:43.439 --> 00:07:47.680 was a big deal, and so forgiving is not test 132 00:07:47.680 --> 00:07:49.560 saying oh, it didn't really hurt when it did, or 133 00:07:49.720 --> 00:07:51.680 oh it's no big deal when it was a big deal. 134 00:07:53.160 --> 00:07:55.480 Now you need to understand there's a difference between being 135 00:07:56.040 --> 00:08:02.639 wronged and being wounded. Wounds are unin intentional. Wrongs are intentional. 136 00:08:03.399 --> 00:08:06.439 You're wounded all the time by people accidentally. Do people 137 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:08.319 say things that hurt you that they didn't mean to say? 138 00:08:08.639 --> 00:08:11.160 Sure? Do people do things that hurt you that they 139 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:15.560 didn't mean to do. Sure? Those do not require forgiveness. 140 00:08:16.120 --> 00:08:20.040 What they require is acceptance recognizing that we live in 141 00:08:20.040 --> 00:08:22.879 a fallen world, imperfect environment. People going to hurt you 142 00:08:22.920 --> 00:08:26.839 many times unintentionally. Forgiveness needs to be reserved for the 143 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:30.920 big stuff for the serious things, For the things that 144 00:08:30.959 --> 00:08:35.120 are intentionally hurtful. People mean you harm, That's what you 145 00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:38.159 reserve forgiveness for. You see, for instance, let's say you 146 00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:44.840 don't like the way I dress, and and you know, 147 00:08:44.919 --> 00:08:50.080 maybe you know, the way I dress offends your fashion sensibilities. 148 00:08:52.480 --> 00:08:57.799 I don't need your forgiveness, I need your acceptance. On 149 00:08:57.879 --> 00:09:00.879 the other hand, if someone hurts you in intentionally you've 150 00:09:00.919 --> 00:09:05.639 been seriously wrong, that's what you need to forgive. Now, 151 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:08.879 whenever you minimize a wrong and you say, oh, it's 152 00:09:08.879 --> 00:09:10.879 no big deal, you cheapen forgiveness. 153 00:09:11.480 --> 00:09:13.799 Reserve forgiveness for the serious things. 154 00:09:14.679 --> 00:09:20.320 Number three, Forgiveness is not resuming a relationship without change. 155 00:09:21.320 --> 00:09:26.159 Forgiveness is not resuming a relationship without change. What I'm 156 00:09:26.200 --> 00:09:28.799 saying here is that forgiveness is not the same thing 157 00:09:29.039 --> 00:09:33.000 as reconciliation. They're two different issues. Forgiveness is not the 158 00:09:33.039 --> 00:09:35.279 same thing as rebuilding a restoring relationship. 159 00:09:35.480 --> 00:09:36.120 Look up here. 160 00:09:37.240 --> 00:09:42.080 Forgiveness is instant, but trust has to be rebuilt over time. 161 00:09:43.039 --> 00:09:46.559 Does that make sense? And there's a big difference between 162 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:51.039 forgiving a person and trusting a person. Forgiveness simply takes 163 00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:54.039 care of the damage. It is letting the person off 164 00:09:54.039 --> 00:09:57.600 the hook, but it does not guarantee that the future 165 00:09:57.639 --> 00:10:01.000 relationship is going to be right. Those are other It 166 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:05.600 takes more than forgiveness for reconciliation, it takes three other things. 167 00:10:05.639 --> 00:10:06.720 You might write these down. 168 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:09.360 If you want to have a restored relationship with some 169 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:12.120 first comes forgiveness. That's your part if you've been hurt, 170 00:10:12.639 --> 00:10:15.080 But on their part, it takes three other things. It 171 00:10:15.159 --> 00:10:22.279 takes repentance, demonstrating genuine repentance. Number two, it takes restitution. 172 00:10:23.279 --> 00:10:27.000 They need to make restitution where possible and when possible. 173 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:32.960 And number three, it takes rebuilding trust. And rebuilding trust 174 00:10:33.279 --> 00:10:38.759 takes time now again, in a relationship that's been harmed 175 00:10:38.840 --> 00:10:42.120 or damaged, if you've been hurt, forgiveness is the part 176 00:10:42.200 --> 00:10:45.399 you do, but they have to show some other things 177 00:10:45.600 --> 00:10:49.279 to show that repentance and restoration has taken place. For instance, 178 00:10:50.440 --> 00:10:53.600 if you have been in a relationship where you were 179 00:10:53.639 --> 00:10:59.399 married to an alcoholic and abusive spouse and they really 180 00:10:59.480 --> 00:11:02.960 hurt you repeatedly, over and over, and that person comes 181 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:05.200 home and says, I'm. 182 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:06.200 Sorry, Will you forgive me? 183 00:11:07.879 --> 00:11:10.360 You say yes, I forgive you, because God commands you 184 00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:12.279 to forgive forgiveness is instant. 185 00:11:13.200 --> 00:11:14.720 But I say, now, will you let me back in 186 00:11:14.720 --> 00:11:15.000 the house? 187 00:11:15.039 --> 00:11:18.840 You say no, that's a different issue. 188 00:11:19.000 --> 00:11:20.960 We need to have some progress here. First. 189 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:24.000 You need to get some counseling. You need to sign 190 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:26.879 up for Celebrate Recovery. You need to develop a track 191 00:11:27.360 --> 00:11:30.879 record that shows there's some genuine change. Because while forgiveness 192 00:11:30.919 --> 00:11:35.480 is based on grace, trust is earned. It's a big difference. 193 00:11:35.480 --> 00:11:40.840 So that makes sense. If somebody offends you over and 194 00:11:40.919 --> 00:11:43.399 over and over and over and repeatedly in the same 195 00:11:43.399 --> 00:11:44.759 way continues. 196 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:46.720 To hurt you, you are called by God to. 197 00:11:46.720 --> 00:11:50.279 Repeatedly forgive them over and over and over and over. 198 00:11:50.679 --> 00:11:54.399 But you are not obligated to instantly trust them and 199 00:11:54.480 --> 00:11:57.679 act as if everything's fine and they can come home 200 00:11:57.720 --> 00:12:00.120 and just keep on. Things need to be keeping, you know, 201 00:12:00.399 --> 00:12:03.399 going on as they have been in the past. It 202 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:08.759 isn't resuming a relationship without change. Number four, Real forgiveness isn't. 203 00:12:08.960 --> 00:12:14.799 It is not forgetting what happened. See, some of you 204 00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:16.399 have a hard time with this. You've been have a 205 00:12:16.399 --> 00:12:18.679 hard time forgiving because you think I can never forget it, 206 00:12:18.679 --> 00:12:21.039 and if I forgive them, I'll have to start the 207 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:25.679 relationship again. No, that's not true. Forgiveness is not forgetting 208 00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:28.240 what happened. Now, I know you've heard this cliche because 209 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:32.960 it's very popular in America, and that is forgive and forget. 210 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:40.720 That's so sweet, that's so nice. Forgive and forget, forgive 211 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:44.039 and forget. There's only one problem with that, folks. 212 00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:48.240 You can't do it. Yea, it doesn't work. 213 00:12:49.080 --> 00:12:53.000 In fact, it's impossible for you to forget everything that happened. 214 00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:55.080 In fact, the more painful something is, the less likely 215 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:58.840 you're going to forget it. In fact, think about the 216 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:03.240 logic of it. It is impossible to try to forget something. 217 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:10.720 Have you forgotten it? Oh, I'm trying. I'm trying to 218 00:13:10.759 --> 00:13:13.720 forget it. I'm trying, trying, trying. The whole time you're trying, 219 00:13:13.759 --> 00:13:17.080 what are you focusing on? What you can't forget? You 220 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:20.039 cannot forget something by trying to forget it. It doesn't 221 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:22.799 work that way. The only way you forget something is 222 00:13:22.840 --> 00:13:28.840 by replacing it with something else. Now, scientists have proven 223 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:33.039 that your brain is like a giant warehouse filled with 224 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:37.320 thousands and thousands of file cabinets, and you never really 225 00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:41.080 forget anything. And the more important an event is in 226 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:42.759 your life, the more likely you to remember it. Now, 227 00:13:42.840 --> 00:13:45.559 you may block some things out, and trauma may cause 228 00:13:45.600 --> 00:13:49.360 you to erase some recall of events, but they're there, 229 00:13:50.320 --> 00:13:52.279 and as surgeons we're able to take a probe and 230 00:13:52.320 --> 00:13:54.799 open up your brain and stimulate certain parts of your brain. 231 00:13:55.000 --> 00:13:57.519 They can bring back the color, the memories, the smells, 232 00:13:57.559 --> 00:13:58.519 and everything. 233 00:13:58.360 --> 00:13:58.879 That you had. 234 00:13:58.879 --> 00:14:01.720 In that instance, you don't really forget anything. 235 00:14:02.320 --> 00:14:02.879 It's there. 236 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:07.399 Some of you think that that's the ultimate and Christian maturity. 237 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:09.159 When am I going to get to the point that 238 00:14:09.200 --> 00:14:13.639 I'm so grown up in Christ that I forget the 239 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:16.799 painful things in my life? When am I going to 240 00:14:16.879 --> 00:14:19.879 be so mature that I forget the things I feel 241 00:14:19.879 --> 00:14:22.120 guilty over and the things that other people have done 242 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:27.679 to me? Well, the truth is you may never forget them. 243 00:14:27.720 --> 00:14:29.519 You may never forget those things. 244 00:14:30.039 --> 00:14:35.360 But there's something better than forgetting, they said, What's better 245 00:14:35.399 --> 00:14:42.879 than forgetting remembering but not feeling the pain, remembering but 246 00:14:43.000 --> 00:14:47.639 seeing how God worked in it anyway, Remembering and seeing 247 00:14:47.639 --> 00:14:52.159 how God brought good out of bad, how you grew 248 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:54.559 in character, how it made you sensitive to the hurts 249 00:14:54.600 --> 00:14:57.240 and needs of other people, how it changed the direction 250 00:14:57.320 --> 00:14:59.840 at a crucial point in your life, how things that 251 00:14:59.879 --> 00:15:01.759 you you have today would have not happened if it 252 00:15:01.799 --> 00:15:06.600 hadn't been for that event. There's something far better than forgetting. 253 00:15:06.720 --> 00:15:10.559 It's remembering and realizing the sovereign grace of God is working, 254 00:15:11.000 --> 00:15:13.480 as in Romans eight twenty eight says all things. 255 00:15:13.200 --> 00:15:14.480 Together for good. 256 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:19.399 That's even better because when I forget something, I don't 257 00:15:19.399 --> 00:15:22.919 thank God or praise God. But when I remember something 258 00:15:23.159 --> 00:15:25.440 and I remember what God has done in spite of that, 259 00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:30.080 then I really thank God and I praise God. So 260 00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:34.360 forgiveness is not forgetting because you probably never will forget it. 261 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:41.320 Then number five, forgiveness isn't my right. You know, we 262 00:15:41.320 --> 00:15:43.679 talk so much about my rights today. I have my rights. 263 00:15:43.759 --> 00:15:47.519 Forgiveness isn't my right when I wasn't the one who 264 00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:52.320 was hurt. Now, this is the exact opposite of what 265 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:56.159 culture teaches, because everything in culture today says, just run 266 00:15:56.200 --> 00:15:58.879 around forgiven everybody. As I said, because we're afraid somebody 267 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:01.720 might somewhere feel guilt, So let's get out rid of 268 00:16:01.720 --> 00:16:04.200 the guilt as quickly as possible by just offering a 269 00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:08.399 blanket forgiveness. And we offer forgiveness for things we didn't 270 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:09.519 do to people we don't even know. 271 00:16:11.399 --> 00:16:12.600 Only a victim. 272 00:16:12.759 --> 00:16:16.399 Only the victim can pronounce forgiveness to the person who 273 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:20.720 has offended them. If you weren't hurt, it's not your 274 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:27.799 place to proclaim the forgiveness. For instance, do you remember 275 00:16:27.840 --> 00:16:30.399 the story of the fourteen year old boy who walked 276 00:16:30.399 --> 00:16:33.919 into a high school prayer meeting in Paducah, Kentucky and 277 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:41.320 killed three teenage girls, shot them dead the next morning 278 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:45.000 on that campus, the girls had not been buried, their 279 00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:49.639 bodies weren't even cold yet, and some students had put 280 00:16:49.720 --> 00:16:52.919 up signs around the campus telling the killer, we forgive 281 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:58.600 you Mike. Now, I know those kids meant well, and 282 00:16:58.679 --> 00:17:00.799 I know those kids probably thought they were doing the 283 00:17:00.879 --> 00:17:05.160 Christian thing, but it wasn't their right to forgive that 284 00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:10.079 man who had been offended the most. How do you 285 00:17:10.119 --> 00:17:12.759 think the parents felt about that? They hadn't even worked 286 00:17:12.799 --> 00:17:15.559 through their grief yet. Sure they were going to come 287 00:17:15.599 --> 00:17:16.920 to forgiveness, but they hadn't even worked. 288 00:17:16.759 --> 00:17:18.920 Through their own grief yet. How about the. 289 00:17:18.920 --> 00:17:21.599 Younger brothers and sisters of those three teenage girls who 290 00:17:21.599 --> 00:17:27.559 were killed. It wasn't their place to pardon somebody because 291 00:17:27.599 --> 00:17:31.920 they weren't the one who had been sinned against. Recently, 292 00:17:31.960 --> 00:17:35.200 in Washington, d CE, a leader held up a picture 293 00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:39.640 Timothy McVeigh and said, I have forgiven this man, and 294 00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:42.839 you need to too. The only problem was he didn't 295 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:46.200 have the right to do that because Timothy McVey had 296 00:17:46.200 --> 00:17:49.960 not offended him. It was the parents and the relatives 297 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:51.799 of the people who were killed in the Oklahoma bomb 298 00:17:51.799 --> 00:17:57.480 explosion that have the place to offer forgiveness to that offender. 299 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:01.480 If I were to take all all the war criminals 300 00:18:01.519 --> 00:18:04.039 of World War two, all the Nazis, and line them 301 00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:06.839 out and say, oh, by the way, Hitler aikman, all 302 00:18:06.880 --> 00:18:11.079 you guys, you're all forgiven. I forgive you all. Is 303 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:16.559 that short circuiting anything. It's not my place to forgive 304 00:18:16.559 --> 00:18:20.759 those people. It was the people who had relatives killed 305 00:18:20.759 --> 00:18:26.200 in the Holocaust. If you had a daughter who was kidnapped, 306 00:18:26.319 --> 00:18:29.039 raped and killed, and I went before you even had 307 00:18:29.079 --> 00:18:31.279 time to grieve about it, and when the person said, oh, 308 00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:35.440 by the way, you're all forgiven, somebody has short circuited 309 00:18:35.440 --> 00:18:40.400 a process. You see, if anybody could just forgive anybody, 310 00:18:40.480 --> 00:18:45.119 there's no reason for jails, folks, because somebody's going to say, oh, 311 00:18:45.160 --> 00:18:47.279 you're all forgiven. So you don't need to serve any time. 312 00:18:49.799 --> 00:18:53.640 There's a big difference. Forgiveness is not my right when 313 00:18:53.680 --> 00:18:57.640 I wasn't the one hurt. See, many people don't understand 314 00:18:57.640 --> 00:19:03.240 that forgiveness does not remove the consequences of sin. When 315 00:19:03.319 --> 00:19:07.599 Carla fay Tucker, who had killed people with an axe, 316 00:19:07.880 --> 00:19:10.799 gave her life to Christ in prison and asked Jesus 317 00:19:10.880 --> 00:19:13.519 Christ to forgive her, I believe she was truly born again, 318 00:19:14.920 --> 00:19:18.279 and she even asked the people to forgive her who 319 00:19:18.440 --> 00:19:22.400 she had hurt through those murders. But that did not 320 00:19:22.519 --> 00:19:26.880 let her out of prison. There were still consequences. When 321 00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:30.759 a woman takes drugs all of her life and then 322 00:19:30.839 --> 00:19:32.720 she gets pregnant and she has a baby, and that 323 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:37.359 baby is addicted to crack cocaine. The mother may say, 324 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:40.079 dear Jesus, would you please forgive me for my sins? 325 00:19:40.359 --> 00:19:43.200 And she is instantly forgiven, but the baby's still a 326 00:19:43.240 --> 00:19:43.920 crack addict. 327 00:19:46.200 --> 00:19:48.359 Or the person who goes out and says, I'm going 328 00:19:48.440 --> 00:19:50.039 to live life anyway, I want to go to bed 329 00:19:50.119 --> 00:19:53.519 with anybody, want to live a totally promiscuous life. And 330 00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:56.079 then they come and they find Christ and they say, 331 00:19:56.160 --> 00:19:58.319 Jesus Christ would you please forgive me and cleanse me 332 00:19:58.359 --> 00:20:04.039 of all my immorality instantly. They are forgiven instantly, but 333 00:20:04.119 --> 00:20:07.519 they still might carry a sexually transmitted disease, or they 334 00:20:07.519 --> 00:20:13.079 still might die of aides. A person who leaves his 335 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:16.839 wife and children or her husband and children and has 336 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:19.960 an affair and breaks up a marriage, and then later 337 00:20:20.039 --> 00:20:21.960 comes and says, oh God, please forgive me. I know 338 00:20:22.000 --> 00:20:25.000 that was stupid, it was selfish. I shouldn't have done it. 339 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:27.960 It was wrong. Please forgive me. They are instantly forgiven 340 00:20:28.000 --> 00:20:32.039 by Jesus Christ, but that does not remove the scars 341 00:20:32.519 --> 00:20:35.400 that come from breaking up a home, the scars on 342 00:20:35.440 --> 00:20:39.319 the children, the scars on both spouses, and all the others. 343 00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:45.200 There are consequences, you see. Real forgiveness is not some 344 00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:49.119 cheap term that you just throw out and instantly everybody 345 00:20:49.119 --> 00:20:55.079 feels better. It is reserved for serious sins and is 346 00:20:55.160 --> 00:20:58.640 reserved for the person who of whom they were committed against. 347 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:03.880 Now that's not real forgiveness. What is real forgiveness? Well, 348 00:21:03.960 --> 00:21:09.079 the Bible says, real forgiveness is four things. Number one, First, 349 00:21:09.160 --> 00:21:15.759 real forgiveness starts with remembering, remembering how much I've been forgiven, 350 00:21:17.039 --> 00:21:20.160 remembering how much I have already been forgiven, how much 351 00:21:20.200 --> 00:21:22.519 grace I've already received from Christ. 352 00:21:22.880 --> 00:21:24.960 Ephesians four thirty two. Read this verse with me. 353 00:21:26.279 --> 00:21:30.920 Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, 354 00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:35.160 just as in Christ. God forgave you and circle the 355 00:21:35.160 --> 00:21:39.119 phrase in Christ. Because you're not forgiven because you earned it. 356 00:21:39.559 --> 00:21:42.599 You're not forgiven because you deserve it. You're not forgiven 357 00:21:42.640 --> 00:21:46.079 because you've promised to never sin again. Thank God, that's 358 00:21:46.079 --> 00:21:50.359 not the requirement. But you're forgiven because you put your 359 00:21:50.400 --> 00:21:54.000 faith in Christ. Now this is the starting point for 360 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:58.000 genuine forgiveness. You must feel grateful for how you've been forgiven. 361 00:21:59.279 --> 00:22:02.119 You see, some of you have a hard time forgiving 362 00:22:02.160 --> 00:22:04.559 other people, and the reason why is because you don't 363 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:08.039 feel forgiven yourself. And if you don't feel forgiven, you 364 00:22:08.039 --> 00:22:11.200 don't want to forgive anybody else. You don't want them 365 00:22:11.240 --> 00:22:13.599 to feel that, that's for sure, because if you're hard 366 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:16.680 on yourself, you're going to be hard on others. But 367 00:22:16.759 --> 00:22:20.039 the more grace you receive from God, the more gracious 368 00:22:20.039 --> 00:22:23.000 you're going to be to others. The more forgiven you 369 00:22:23.079 --> 00:22:26.400 feel by God, the more forgiving you're going to tend. 370 00:22:26.160 --> 00:22:30.599 To be toward others. Jesus said this, He pointed it out. 371 00:22:30.720 --> 00:22:34.440 One day a street walker came to Jesus and in 372 00:22:34.440 --> 00:22:36.839 front of a bunch of other leaders, she took a 373 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:42.079 very expensive alabaster box of perfume and she broke it 374 00:22:42.359 --> 00:22:45.480 and she washed Jesus' feet with this very expensive perfume, 375 00:22:45.720 --> 00:22:47.839 his dirty feet that you know, they wore sandals those days. 376 00:22:48.640 --> 00:22:53.440 And the religious leaders were incensed by this. They said, first, 377 00:22:53.920 --> 00:22:56.319 look who's doing this. The kind of woman, this woman 378 00:22:56.359 --> 00:23:00.519 of ill repute. Look who's doing this. And number two, 379 00:23:00.519 --> 00:23:03.559 they said, she could have taken that box, sold the 380 00:23:03.599 --> 00:23:05.799 perfume for money and given them money to the poor 381 00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:09.119 and be a whole lot better. And Jesus rebuked the 382 00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:14.480 religious leaders. He said, lighten up. Basically, he said, she 383 00:23:14.640 --> 00:23:17.599 has been forgiven much and so she's giving the most love. 384 00:23:19.319 --> 00:23:21.759 And he said she'll be remembered from this day forward 385 00:23:21.799 --> 00:23:24.599 because of her action. It was an act of worship, 386 00:23:25.519 --> 00:23:31.640 because she felt so graced by Christ. She was being gracious, 387 00:23:32.640 --> 00:23:37.799 she was being giving herself. It starts with remembering how 388 00:23:37.880 --> 00:23:40.240 much I've been forgiven, and all of us have. 389 00:23:40.279 --> 00:23:41.160 Been forgiven a lot. 390 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:49.519 Hey, thanks so much for being with us today. And 391 00:23:49.559 --> 00:23:52.480 listening to Pastor Rick's Daily Hope. I hope that you 392 00:23:52.559 --> 00:23:55.920 were just as blessed as I was. From today's broadcast, 393 00:23:56.240 --> 00:23:58.759 here's Pastor Rick and his wife Kay to tell you 394 00:23:58.799 --> 00:23:59.880 about today's off. 395 00:24:00.480 --> 00:24:02.839 Today on Daily Hope, we're talking about happiness. 396 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:03.440 Now. 397 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:05.720 I know we all have times when we think, what 398 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:07.960 have I got to be happy about? And you may 399 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:09.880 be looking at your life right now and you see 400 00:24:09.920 --> 00:24:12.960 nothing but bad. The truth is, most people tend to 401 00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:15.119