Joseph - A Type of Christ

Thank you so much, Choir. You know, it's a wonderful opportunity for us to look at the coming promises and prophecies surrounding our Messiah.

You know, every year, now that we've started doing this Jesse Tree devotional book, you're going to know what I'm going to preach on every Sunday if you follow through with us every week. We do this because we want our church family to be on the same page throughout the month of December. And we found this to be a great tool for us as families to be able to spend time throughout the week studying the same thing and then coming together on Sunday to summarize what we learned that past week, plus learn about the prophecy of that day.

And so as we study these, we'll do this Jesse Tree thing for I don't know how long because we want to be able to preach on every single promise throughout our time together. So that you'll be able to gather all those CDs or tapes so that when you sit down with your family, you can go into greater detail concerning that specific promise about the coming of Messiah and the symbol that is used to portray the arrival of Jesus Christ our Lord. Today our topic is about Joseph and a lot of us know the story of Joseph.

If you were with us in our study of Genesis, we spent many, many months talking about Joseph and his great ministry. He becomes for us a great type of Christ or a great picture of the Messiah. Unlike any other Old Testament character, Joseph becomes to us the individual who typifies for us what the Messiah will do when he arrives. And we understand that Joseph receives this coat. This coat of many colors. And like I told the children earlier, it's not because he was the favored child that his father loved him more because he was a special child because he was really, really old when he had him.

No, because they were all born within the same six year time frame. If you study the book of Genesis, it was Benjamin who was born last. He would be the son of his old age if you want to look at it that way.

But in Hebrew it means the son of wisdom, the son of character. Joseph had a unique character about him that was different than his brothers. And that's why he received the coat of blessing. That's why he received the coat of honor. It was because of his character. And he becomes a symbol of what it means to be cloaked with the honor of God in the family of God. Because we too receive a robe. It's called the robe of righteousness according to Isaiah 61. It's a robe that God can give us and no one else can because of his love for us.

And because of that robe of righteousness, then we can have a character that brings glory and honor to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And Joseph, as you read through his story, you begin to see how it is he exemplifies to us, he mirrors to us the life of Christ. The Bible says that if we abide in Christ, then we ought to walk as he himself walked.

That's 1 John chapter 2, verse number 6. And so all of us should live our lives after a pattern of Jesus Christ our Lord. Ephesians 5, 1 and 2 says that we are to be imitators of God. Well Joseph was that clear imitator of God. A number of years ago, somebody gave me a book about Joseph. And I began reading that book. And in that book, they have 101 different ways that Joseph was a type of Christ. And out of those 101 different ways, it did not exhaust all the ways that Joseph was a type of Christ.

Let me give you a few, which this author states. He says Joseph was a shepherd in Genesis 37, feeding his flock. Jesus is the chief shepherd, the guardian of our souls. Joseph was opposed to evil in Genesis 37 too, in Genesis chapter 39. The writer of Hebrews says that Jesus, thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Joseph was the beloved son of his father, Genesis 37, verse number 3. Jesus is the beloved son of his father. For God said in Matthew chapter 3, this is my beloved son. Joseph was esteemed superior and was therefore set apart by his father with the coat of many colors in Genesis 37, verse number 3, and given a double portion of blessing in Genesis chapter 48, verse number 22.

Jesus was set above his fellows by his father in Hebrews chapter 1, verse number 9. Joseph was hated by his brothers in Genesis 37, verses 4, 5, and 8. Jesus was hated by his brethren in Luke 19, 14. In fact, all hated him, John 7, verse number 7. Joseph was hated without a cause. He was hated for what he was, that is righteous, and for what he said, he spoke the truth, Genesis 37, 5, Genesis 37, 8. Jesus was hated also without a cause, John 15, 25. Now, that's just a few, and that's just in Genesis chapter 37, but if you go through the story of Joseph, you begin to realize how he mirrors to us Jesus Christ.

And most of all, in Genesis 47, Joseph was a savior of the world. Joseph saved the nation of Israel. He saved Egypt. He was a savior of man. He saved man from physical death. He portrays to us how it is Jesus Christ himself would save us from spiritual death. How he would save us from our sins, ultimately, because that's what Jesus Christ himself did. And in doing that, listen, in doing that, Joseph was the great forgiver of man. Unlike anybody else in Scripture, Joseph exemplifies to us the forgiveness of Christ.

Jesus Christ is able to save us from our sin because he's the only one who can forgive us of our sins. And you know the story about Joseph and his brothers, and the whole, if you were here with us when we went through Genesis, I'd encourage you to get the tapes and the CDs because it exemplifies to us a man of great compassion, great mercy, great love for those who wronged him tremendously, yet he forgave them. And that's the topic of our discussion this morning about Joseph and how he is that perfect type of Christ because he was a forgiver of man.

Jesus is the forgiver of man. Jesus is the one who forgives us of our sins. And so we want to look at that whole essence of forgiveness because as you think about Christmas we're going to get together with families, you know, that for the most part there are so many struggles within families.

So many issues that need to be forgiven. So many issues that need to be dealt with that we just would rather push under the rug and not even deal with them. It wouldn't be great that at this Christmas holiday season you purpose in your heart to be one who would forgive those in your family. You would reach out with a forgiving spirit, a forgiving attitude that would not hold the charge against those who sinned against you. Would it be that this Christmas holiday season you exemplified to your family Christ as Joseph exemplified him to his brothers?

So I want to talk to you about forgiveness this morning. I want to give you seven principles about forgiveness that will help you this holiday season to be a person who forgives. To understand what that means and how it is you actually go about doing that. Seven principles that Lord willing will help you understand what it is you ought to do with your family, with your friends as you encounter them this holiday season. Number one is this.

If I'm going to walk as Christ himself walked, 1 John 2.6, if I'm going to be an imitator of Christ, if I'm going to portray to my friends and family what Joseph portrayed to his friends and family, that is about a God who forgives. Number one, I must understand that forgiveness is the pattern that I am commanded to follow.

Forgiveness is the pattern that I am commanded in scripture to follow. The text, Ephesians chapter 4. Ephesians chapter 4 verses 31 and 32. The Bible says, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you along with all malice and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Listen, we never forgive somebody because we feel like forgiving them. If you waited to forgive someone when you felt like it, you'd never forgive them. Forgiveness is not about feelings. Forgiveness is about obedience to God. Forgiveness, listen, cares less about how you feel. Forgiveness is only concerned about imitating Christ and honoring God above all else. We're to be imitators of God. We're to lay aside all bitterness, all wrath, all malice, evil speaking, all those things that we like to do when we get back at people and say nasty things about them.

Oh yeah, you're going to go to mom and dad's house this week. Well, let me tell you what they did to me last year at Christmas.

I mean, that's us. But we're to lay all that stuff aside and we are to be tenderhearted, compassionate and forgiving. The Bible says in Exodus 34 verse number six, God says, I am compassionate, slow to anger, a forgiving God.

Nehemiah 9, 17 says, thou art a forgiving God. Daniel said, forgiveness belongs to God. First John 1, 9 says, if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us our sins.

Psalm 103 says, we're not to forget the Lord and all of his benefits, especially because he has pardoned all our iniquities. This is a pattern that we are commanded to follow. Listen, forgiveness is not optional. Forgiveness is essential. It's essential. It's no wonder when we put this series on the radio, the series we did a number of years ago called Forgiving and Forgetting, it is the number one seller on the radio that we put on every year.

People want to buy that tape series because there is so much bitterness and so much anger and so much malice and so much envy and strife that people want to know, how do I forgive? And can you really forget when you forgive? Joseph, by the way, becomes an illustration of what it means to not only forgive, but to forget. And so we understand that forgiveness is a pattern that I am commanded to follow. You might not want to forgive your loved ones. You might want to hold something over them. You want to hold a grudge against them or keep them in check because you want to hold something that is significant against them to make them pay for what they did to you.

But we love to get back at people. We love to be vengeful. We love to be that kind of person. But the Bible says that vengeance belongs to the Lord, not to us.

We're to model Christ. We are commanded to forgive. It's a pattern we are commanded to follow. Number two, it's a picture of Christ to the world.

It's a picture of Christ to the world. Colossians 3 verse number 12 says this, and so as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience, bearing with one another and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone, just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Forgiveness becomes a picture of Christ to the world. Listen, you want to show the world Christ, then you need to be a person who easily forgives when offended.

Remember over in Matthew chapter 9, the story of Matthew or Levi, he never is mentioned in any other situation. He never says a word, never asks a question, never makes a comment. Matthew is the silent apostle until he picks up his pen and he writes about the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And in Matthew chapter 9 verse number 9, we have the only account that is specifically about Matthew in scripture, and it says this. And as Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting in the tax office and he said to him, follow me, and he rose and followed him.

And it happened that as he was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax gatherers and sinners came and were dining with Jesus and his disciples and the Pharisees. And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, why is your teacher eating with the tax gatherers and sinners? But when he heard this, he said, it is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means. I desire compassion and not sacrifice for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.

Christ quotes Hosea 6 verse number 6 about his desire to show compassion. Why? Because Hosea is about a man who had a wife named Gomer who was unfaithful to him. And God told Hosea, you cannot divorce your wife. Oh, legally you can divorce her because the law of God allows you to divorce her because of her unfaithfulness. But you can't do it because you, Hosea, are going to picture to my people my commitment and my love for them. And I want you to pursue your wife. I want you to pay her bills. I want you to seek her down and I want you to buy her off of the slave market as I would buy others off the slave market of sin.

And I want you to take her back. And Hosea was obedient to his God. He followed Hosea around. He paid all of her bills no matter where she was. And one day when she was stripped naked on that slave block, he purchased her back. He bought her back. Filthy, defiled, unfaithful, he bought her back. Why? Because his whole ministry was to picture to a nation the love of God for them. This is a picture of Christ's love for you and me. That's why we tell people when they get married, your marriage primarily is a picture of Christ to a lost world.

Your marriage is not about you. Your marriage is not about meeting your needs. Your marriage is a picture of Christ and his sacrificial love for the world. And as you in your marriage remember that, you then will have an effective marriage for your children to model and follow and for the world to see and follow because you were designed to make sure you show the world unconditional love. You will show the world forgiveness. You will show the world compassion. You will show the world kindness and tender heartedness because your marriage is primarily a picture of Christ's love for the church.

And if you remember that in your marriage, you have a great marriage no matter what your spouse does. Why? Because you are committed to be obedient to God primarily. You see, we must remember that everything is more than just about us in our own little world, in our own little home, in our own little family. It's about the world. It's a bigger picture than that. And forgiveness is a picture of Christ to the world. Do you want to picture Christ the world this Christmas holiday season? You want to show the world Christ?

Be tender hearted. Be forgiving toward those in your family, to those who offend you because you want them to see Christ in you more than anything else. Forgiveness is a pattern we are commanded to follow. It's a picture of Christ to the world. And number three, it's the priority in caring for others.

It is the priority in caring for others. The text is Matthew chapter 18 verses 21 to 35 about what it means to forgive. Remember in verse 21, then Peter came and said to him, Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times? Why would Peter request seven times? Well because earlier in Luke chapter 17, Christ says when your brother offends you seven times in a day, and he comes and he asks for forgiveness, you forgive him seven times.

And the disciples said, oh Lord, increase our faith, we can't handle that. You mean to tell us that when our brother sins against us seven times in a day, does the same offense to us seven times in a day, we are to forgive him seven times? Now in a normal 24 hour period, if you sleep eight hours a day, that means your brother sins against you every two hours and 15 minutes. Every two hours and 15 minutes your brother does something against you and you say, he comes to you and says, oh man, I'm sorry, please forgive me, you say, you're forgiven.

Two hours and 15 minutes later, he comes and does the same thing again. He says, oh, would you forgive me, you say, you're forgiven. Two hours and 15 minutes later, he does the same thing again. He says, oh brother, please forgive me, you say, you're forgiven. Seven times in a day. And the disciples said, we can't do that, increase our faith. And Christ says, it's not about faith, it's about obedience to me.

It's all about obedience. You can read about it in Luke 17. We'll get there in our study in Sunday morning, about four years from now.

But it's a great study. But you see, so Peter says, so Lord, when someone sins against me, do I forgive them just seven times? Is that it? Is there a limit on forgiveness? You see, that's the question. We always want to know what the limits are. Is there a limit on forgiveness? Is there a time when I can say, okay, it's over, no more forgiveness for you. It's been seven times today. And on the eighth time, cut off forgiveness. No more. Nada. I'm fluent in Spanish. No more forgiveness for you. And Christ says these words, I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to 70 times seven.

What? Say in 24 hour period, you sleep eight hours. That means someone sins against you every 1.9 minutes. Every 1.9 minutes. He sins against you. He comes back and asks forgiveness and you are to forgive him. Does that mean that after 490 times you can stop forgiving somebody? No. It speaks about the limitlessness of forgiveness. Because forgiveness is characteristic of the believer. It's our lifestyle. Do you ever think God says to you, you know, stop confessing your sin, I'm not forgiving you anymore.

Does Jesus say that to you? He says no. If you confess your sins, he's faithful and just to forgive you your sins and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness. He didn't say, well, if you, if you sin this sin, I'm not going to forgive you. Or if you sin this many times, I'm not going to forgive you. No. He says, if you confess your sins, I forgive you. You see, and then Christ goes into a parable, a whole story about a king who forgave one of his slaves, someone who owed him so much, he couldn't repay it back.

Even if he lived for another hundred years, he couldn't pay it back. And the king graciously forgave him. But that same slave went out and a man who owed him very little and couldn't pay him, that slave threw him in the prison. The king heard about it, brought him back in, says, you wicked slave. How is that I could forgive you all your debt and yet this person who just has a little bit of debt against you, you throw in the prison. How can you do that? And he turned him over to the torturers so he could repay it all.

It's a sad story, but you see, you must remember that forgiveness is the priority in caring about other people. It is a priority. You can read about it in the first shame of 24 with David and had the opportunity to seek vengeance on Saul.

Remember when Saul went into the back, into a, not the bathroom, but the cave to relieve himself. Sort of like a bathroom, I guess in those days. But you know, we go to in getting when we go to Israel and we go up into these different, you can see these different caves, uh, where we don't know which one it was, but, but Saul went up to relieve himself in this little cave and David and his men were hiding in the cave. I mean, can you imagine what having to go up to go to the restroom someplace and everybody else is hiding in the bathroom?

I mean, what an embarrassing thing. And so Saul went in to relieve himself and his men said, David's men said to him, Oh, look, Saul, now's your chance. Speak about a vulnerable position when you're about to use the restroom and you were there in that vulnerable position. If you want to kill somebody, now's your chance. And the men say, well, don't get him David. God has delivered him into your hands. Remember David snuck up behind him and just lit a piece of his robe off. Boy, David was cut to the quick, his heart.

He knew he had sinned against his God and the whole story about how Saul left the cave and David cried out to Saul across the Canyon and spoke to him and Saul realized that David did something that Saul would never do and that was forgive him and let him go. And Saul realized at that moment that David was a greater man than he, and that's the essence of what it means to be a man after God's own heart, by the way. It means that you never seek vengeance on someone when you have the opportunity because vengeance is mine, says the Lord.

Vengeance is mine, says the Lord. Romans 12 says that we are to repay evil with what? Good. We're to overcome evil with good. Can you imagine this Christmas, listen carefully, this Christmas, you are not going to give any gifts to those you love. The only gifts you give this Christmas are to those who hate you, despise you, and disrespect you. And you're going to go home and you're going to buy gifts and you're going to wrap them up and you're going to give them to all those people who hate you because you're going to return good for all the evil they have done to you.

Can you imagine the impact? Can you imagine the impact of Christianity if we decided, you know what, we are going to give to all those who are evil, to those who have bestowed evil upon us, we're going to return good to them. We're going to lavish them with love, we're going to kill them with kindness, we're going to give them all the gifts they could possibly have. The Bible says if you love those who love you, what good is that?

Everybody does that, right? The world does that. The world gives gifts to those who love them and they expect gifts in return. We all do that. Jesus says that's not a virtue.

What a virtue is, is that when you pray for those who persecute you, when you do good to those who abuse you and mistreat you, now you prove yourself to be sons of your Father who is in heaven because that's the way God operates. See it's a whole different perspective. It's a pattern we're commanded to follow. It's a picture of Christ of the world. It's our priority in caring for others and it is a prerequisite to communion with God. It is a prerequisite to communion with God. Text Matthew chapter 6 verses 14 and 16.

You know the disciples' prayer and in verse number 12 it says, forgive us our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors. And then Christ at the end of the Lord's prayer makes a comment of all the petitions that are in the Lord's prayer. He only comments on one of them. He only gives a commentary on one aspect of the Lord's prayer and it says in verse number 14, for if you forgive men for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.

The question comes, how is it a believer can have unforgiven sins? If God is a great forgiver of man and God forgives us all of our sins and separates our sins as far as the east as from the west, as Psalm 103 says, then how is it a Christian can have unforgiven sins? Christ says, if you forgive your brother his trespasses, your heavenly Father will forgive you your trespasses, but if you do not forgive your brother, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive you of your trespasses.

Well, how can that be? It cannot be in a judicial or a positional sense because positionally we are forgiven in Christ. We have been forgiven all of our sins, but in a relational sense, in a parental sense, we can have unforgiven sins. That is, there is a breach in the communion with me and my God. Let me give you an example.

My son sins against me. I forgive my son because he sinned against me, but until my son comes and asks forgiveness, the relationship is not restored, right? Why? Because there is something that has broken the relationship. It's called sin. That's what the Bible says in Psalm 66, 18, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not what?

Hear me. Well, God can't hear me now because I've sinned? No. No, it's not that he can't hear you. He won't respond to your prayers because that communion has been broken. That fellowship has been broken. That's why the Bible says over in Proverbs 28, verse number 13, if you confess your sins, you will have mercy.

If you forsake your sins, you will find compassion. But if you don't do that, then there is no forgiveness. The Bible also says in John 13, verses 1 to 17, the whole story about the cleansing of Peter in the foot washing. There's that need for daily cleansing. The whole point being is that we can have unforgiven sins in this sense, that the relationship between me and my God is marred. There's a brokenness in it. There's a brokenness in the communion, in the fellowship I have with my God because I harbor bitterness and resentment in my heart.

I have sin in my heart against my brother because I will not forgive them of their sin. And as long as I harbor sin in my heart, God will not hear me because God wants me to represent him to that person who has sinned against me. He wants me to be a forgiving person. And like Matthew chapter 18, when God has forgiven me oh so much for so many sins, I can't forgive my brother for the one little thing he's done against me in comparison to all the sins I've committed against my father who was in heaven.

And that's the whole point of the parable of Matthew 18. It is a prerequisite to communion with God. There are so many people I know who have asked God for things and asked God to heal their marriages or asked God to help them with their finances or asked God to help them in so many situations and there seems to be no change. And I ask them, have you bitterness in your heart against someone? Is there jealousy in your heart against someone? Is there bitterness and anger and malice in your heart against someone?

Is there someone that you have not forgiven because they've sinned against you? Because it will hinder your communion with your father in heaven. You see, we forget, love is unconditional. Forgiveness is conditional. Forgiveness is conditioned on what? Repentance. If forgiveness was unconditional, everybody would go to heaven, right? Think about it. If God's forgiveness was unconditional, you wouldn't have to do anything to get to heaven. You could just go because God loves everybody and God forgives everybody.

But he doesn't do that. He only forgives the repentant. His love is unconditional and because it is, he offers forgiveness to those who repent. We know that repentance is a gift from God, 2 Timothy 2, 24 and 25. And so we realize that there is a sense in my relationship with others that I forgive them in a judicial sense because I am a forgiving person, but my relationship with them is marred because the relationship is not restored because there hasn't been the asking of forgiveness. And so we realize that a Christian can have unforgiven sins in this sense, in a parental, in a relational sense with his God.

There is broken communion with God and therefore forgiveness becomes the prerequisite for communion with my Father who is in heaven. Principle number five. It is the process that clears my guilty conscience. Forgiveness is the process that clears my guilty conscience. Psalm 32, verse number one.

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. How blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. David says, When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away, through my groaning all day long, for day and night thy hand was heavy upon me. My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. I acknowledged my sin to thee, and my iniquity I did not hide. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin.

David, after he had sinned with Bathsheba, he tried to hide everything from everyone to make sure that no one would know about his adulterous affair with Bathsheba. He says in Psalm 32 upon his confession, I would lay on my couch and I would drench my couch with tears. And the hand of God was heavy upon me. It pressed down upon me. And I was sweating as if I had a fever in the midst of a hot summer's day. I was just under all kinds of inner turmoil. And then I confessed my sin to God. I asked Him to forgive me of my iniquity.

And all of a sudden the guilt was removed from my life. Because that's what God does. He just doesn't forgive the sin. He forgives the guilt that associates with the sin. That's what God does. And that's why we understand that forgiveness is the process that clears my guilty conscience. I need to ask forgiveness from my God. And I need to go to the one whom I've offended and ask forgiveness from them. Can you imagine this Christmas time going to someone in your family and saying, You know, I've been burdened in my heart that I've sinned against you because of my bitter spirit and my anger.

And it's hindered our communication. It's hindered our relationship. And I need to ask your forgiveness for the way I have treated you. Would you please forgive me? Can you imagine doing that? After they pick themselves up off the floor and after you have revived them because they've almost died, then there could be a whole healing process in the relationship. But to clear your guilty conscience, you need to ask forgiveness. Remember what it says in 2 Corinthians, I believe it is 2 Corinthians 2, verses 10 and 11, that Paul says, you know, there's a man in your assembly.

In 1 Corinthians 5, remember there was a man who had committed incest with his mother-in-law. And they had to put him out of the church. They did. Well, the man had repented. And Paul says, you've got to take him back and you've got to forgive the man. You've got to forgive him. He's repented of his sin. You need to forgive him of his sin. And if you don't do that, guess what? Satan then will have an inroad to your life. We can't be ignorant of the schemes of the devil. You see, if you're unwilling to forgive the person who has sinned against you and they come repenting of that sin and you don't forgive them, you leave room for Satan to have activity in your life.

That's why it says in Ephesians 4, verses 26 and 27, let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Don't go to bed angry. You ever go to bed angry with your wife? You ever go to bed angry with your husband or with your children? You ever go to bed angry with your parents? The Bible says don't go to bed angry.

Why? If you do, let me read to you exactly. Ephesians chapter 4, it says this. And do not give the devil an opportunity. If you let the sun go down upon your anger, you have given the devil one more opportunity to wreak havoc in your soul, in your home, in your family, in your personal life. That's why you can't go to bed angry. You need to deal with sin. It's a process that clears my guilty conscience. Number six, it's the practice that's characteristic of the Christian and the Christian alone. It's the practice that's characteristic of the Christian.

Matthew chapter 5, verses 43 and 44, state this. You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I say to you, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you, in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. In other words, you prove yourself to be a son of your Father in heaven, because you do good to those who persecute you. You pray for your enemy. Wow. This whole forgiveness is the practice that is characteristic of the believer. Remember Acts 7, when Stephen was being stoned outside the city gates?

Remember that? He looked up into heaven, and what did he say? Father, hold not this charge against them. He was willing to forgive those who persecuted him. How about Paul in 2 Timothy chapter 4? At my first offense, everyone deserted me.

May it not be charged to their account. Paul was a forgiving man. Why? It's the practice that's characteristic of the believer. Forgiveness is that practice that characterizes you and me as believers. It sets us apart from the world, because the world doesn't naturally forgive. It doesn't want to forgive. It wants to seek vengeance upon those who've offended me. But the believer? No, he wants to forgive. Because you see, that's the pattern that he's been commanded to follow. And the believer wants to be obedient to his God, even if he doesn't feel like being obedient.

Isn't that true? With most of us as Christians, we realize that God asks us to do things we don't feel like doing it. When I tell my kids to do something, they say, I don't want to. Does it make a difference whether you want to or not? I'm the king of this domain, and if my dad says, don't you got to do it? Then they might not feel like doing it. But out of obedience to their father, they obey. And with the obedience always comes a blessing. Always. We might not feel like forgiving our brethren, but when God says you forgive, you do that out of obedience to God more so than anything else.

And watch how God blesses your life. Because of your obedience to Him. God says, you honor me, I will honor you.

If you dishonor me though, I will honor you. If you honor God out of obedience to Him, He will honor your life because you have shown the world who He is. He is a forgiving God. He is a Redeemer of man. He is a Savior of the world. He does that because He forgives man their sins. And lastly, number seven, forgiveness predicates your comprehension of God's sovereignty. Forgiveness is that which predicates your comprehension of God's sovereignty. The word predicate means to affirm or to declare. But I had to use the P word because it rhymes with all the other P words.

So, it predicates your comprehension. It affirms that you understand that God is in control. And that takes us back to our man Joseph way back in Genesis 50 verse number 20. You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good. He was a forgiver of His brethren. He forgave them because He understood the sovereign control of Almighty God in life's events. You see, when you forgive your brother of his offense towards you. When you reach out with a forgiving attitude and a forgiving spirit. You're doing that because you understand the sovereign control, the sovereign purposes of Almighty God.

That life is bigger than you. That the events in life are more about God than they are about you. And that God is to be put on display. And that you know God's in control. And so when you go to your brother who has sinned against you, you say, You know what, Lord, I know that you're bigger than this. I know that you're bigger than me. And I know you have a purpose on all that's taken place. I know that you have a purpose on all the sin that's been caused, that's come upon me. I know that, Lord. All the turmoil that's come upon my life.

You have a bigger purpose. And, Lord, I want to rise above that purpose. And I want to be what you want me to be. I want to honor you with my life. I want to serve you. I want to be obedient to your commands. And, Lord, I will forgive my brother his sins. Because, Father, you've forgiven me my sins. Now, for some of you, that's harder than others. Because of all the abuse you've had for years. But with the grace of Almighty God, you can accomplish His purpose for your life. God doesn't say, you know, there are some of you who can forgive better than others can.

He doesn't say that. He doesn't say that it will be easier for some of you than for others. He doesn't say that either. Because the comparison is not among ourselves. The comparison is how God's forgiven you of all your sins. So, when we go to our brother, our sister, those in our family, those who are friends of ours, those who are enemies. And we go and we offer forgiveness. When we repay evil with good. Because we want to overcome evil with good. When we do what God has asked us to do, commended us to do.

We honor Him. He will ultimately honor us. Joseph was a man who would forgive his brothers. Because of what they did to him. They hated him. They hated him. They made fun of him. They mocked him. They threw him in a pit. And they sold him to the Ishmaelites. They got rid of their brother because he spoke the truth. You can read about it in Genesis chapter 37. He spoke the truth. He obeyed his father. He spoke the truth. And they hated him because of it. Sold to the Ishmaelites. He was sold then to the Egyptians.

And Potiphar took him in. And he became an honored man in Potiphar's house. Until Potiphar's wife lied about him. He was thrown into prison. Unjustly. He didn't do anything wrong. He did all right. He did what was right before God. He obeyed God. He would flee from sin. He would flee from the immoral woman. He would do what God says.

And he still got thrown into prison. Obedience to God sometimes puts you in prison. Puts you in situations that you don't like to be in. Because God is doing a greater work through you. And God would use Joseph in prison. You see, the one thing about Joseph is that he understood that no matter where he was. Whether he was in the pit, the palace or the prison. That works. God was going to use him. And he was committed to being used by God no matter where he was. And he honored his God in every situation.

He wasn't a perfect man. He wasn't a sinless man. He did hate evil. He did love his God. He wanted to serve his God. He didn't understand all that God was doing. But he knew that God was in control. He knew that. And when God raised him to a level of greatness in Egypt. It was because he honored his God. And he would be used by God to save a nation. To save a people from death. Because he became the portrait of Christ. Way back in the book of Genesis. Think of it this way. Christ wants to use you this Christmas season to portray him effectively to the world.

And your world could be just your family. It could be your school. It could be your workplace. It could be a very small world. But it's where Christ wants to use you. And only you. To show the world the forgiveness of God. Will you do that? Will you accept that responsibility? Will you be obedient to God? And honor him? I trust that you will. Let's pray together. Father we thank you for today. What a joy it is to study your word. To realize Lord that you came to this world to save us from our sin.

And the way you would do that is that you would offer a way that we could be forgiven of all our sins. Thank you Lord Jesus. I pray today for every person in this room. That Lord you do a mighty work in their hearts. There could be somebody here harboring great resentment and bitterness and anger in their soul. Who bristles inside at even mentioning the forgiveness. I pray Father for them today that you would give them the grace and mercy. They need to reach out to those who have offended them and to forgive them.

To show them Christ. To explain to them in a very practical way. The forgiveness of God. May we all exemplify you Lord. May we all seek to be like Joseph. See you in every situation and every circumstance knowing you're in control. We are obedient to you and following you. May this Christmas be the best Christmas ever. Because we would effectively represent Jesus Christ our Lord. To those who have done evil against us. Pray in Jesus name. Amen.