WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:00.640 Well good morning. 00:00:00.719 --> 00:00:03.040 I'm Forrest, lead pastor here at Multiply. 00:00:03.120 --> 00:00:07.839 If I haven't met you, it's great to meet you today and have you here in the house. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:16.480 And uh my family, along with many other families a year and a half ago, um began and launched Multiply Church, and we're glad that you are here. 00:00:16.559 --> 00:00:28.960 And we're in this series Fix Your Upper that coincides with the fact that um just now a couple of weeks ago now construction has begun at the future home of Multiply. 00:00:29.359 --> 00:00:30.960 And um I've got a picture here. 00:00:31.039 --> 00:00:36.799 This is uh I took it after hours of that's the studs going up for this this the worship center there. 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:46.079 Um and so walls are on the way, and um during the day uh I try to stay out of the way there because it's a hard hat environment in there. 00:00:46.320 --> 00:00:57.280 Um there's all kinds of different contractors and folks who are coming in and out and doing different work and uh doing uh electrical work and uh hard hats like these, or some in the room that you're here today. 00:00:57.359 --> 00:00:59.759 You wear one of these every single day when you go to work. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:09.200 And um I I'll say this I think for all of us, um in some ways, when we step out our front door, it can be a hard hat environment in our life. 00:01:10.000 --> 00:01:41.280 That when you walk out your front door, you know that there's going to be uh people and difficulties and challenges, folks who are going to try to hurt you, offend you, take things out on you, whether you're workplace or family dynamics, and sometimes you have an experience where really we have an active enemy in our life, the devil Satan, who wants to steal, kill, and destroy us, and he wants to mess with our head. 00:01:42.000 --> 00:02:01.359 And he does that in several different ways, and in so many ways, we have a God who loves us and protects us, and I know this that there's something even worse than the offenses that come, and that the hardship that happens and that you need protection from, there's something worse than that. 00:02:01.680 --> 00:02:07.760 And the worst thing is being stuck in unforgiveness to those that are around us. 00:02:08.000 --> 00:02:09.360 Let me just put it to you like this. 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:28.800 I I used to live down in the Somerset area of Kentucky, down in south uh central Kentucky, and I had this experience multiple times as I was down there in south central Kentucky, driving around, I had to go to different events, a pastor on staff at a church there, and so there were different times I was going to these churches or in the backwoods or going to visit people's homes. 00:02:28.960 --> 00:02:38.240 And I still think today there are areas down there in that part of Kentucky that still have never experienced or seen cell reception, even right now. 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:50.319 And uh I made this error more than one time as I was using the GPS on my phone as I was going down that way, and that on accident, and maybe you've done this before, I've done it a time or two. 00:02:50.400 --> 00:02:57.199 I closed out my GPS app without having enough reception to be able to open it back up. 00:02:57.439 --> 00:02:58.719 Anyone ever done this before? 00:02:59.680 --> 00:03:00.639 Oh my goodness. 00:03:00.719 --> 00:03:13.199 I have done it a time or two, and every time, you know, I'm like trying to change music or what whatever, and I accidentally close the app out and and then I'm trying to pull it back up, and all of a sudden I don't know where I am, what's gonna happen, where what do I need to do? 00:03:13.360 --> 00:03:20.080 And so then I end up driving around aimlessly until I can finally get cell reception to then get back to where I'm going. 00:03:20.319 --> 00:03:33.280 And I'll tell you this as we're walking in our journey with Jesus, and in our life, our spiritual life, there's there's nothing that will get us stuck more than for us to be stuck in unforgiveness. 00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:58.479 And God's destination and his destiny that he's called each one of us in our life, that we can get arrested and stopped in our tracks from growing in Christ and growing to be the person that God's called us to be, and be stuck, have an inability to grow because we're being held back. 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:11.599 And I'll just say this today that there's probably all across the room, there's somebody in your life that there may be someone that has hurt you that comes to mind every so often. 00:04:11.759 --> 00:04:15.199 Isn't it interesting that it's the people who hurt us that come to mind? 00:04:17.040 --> 00:04:30.319 And when those people come to mind where our heart is and where our heart posture is, there may be some of us in the room today, and I'm gonna say, including myself, I'm sure that in one way or another, that all of us have a heart that needs renovation. 00:04:32.000 --> 00:04:38.399 Well, I'll put it to you like Jesus put it to you in Matthew 6, 14. 00:04:38.560 --> 00:04:42.720 He said, If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:47.920 But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins. 00:04:48.240 --> 00:04:49.279 What's he saying there? 00:04:49.360 --> 00:04:54.079 Is he saying that the cross was not complete, that if Jesus hasn't fully forgiven us? 00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:55.040 No, that's not what he's saying. 00:04:55.199 --> 00:05:04.560 What he's saying to us today is that if we're following in Jesus and we've been forgiven by Jesus, what should pour out from us is the forgiveness that we've received. 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:25.120 As I was preparing for this series a few weeks ago and for this message in particular, I knew that there was going to be some construction that would be done on this Sunday because ultimately, and you all know that there's some of us who have come into the room who have been hurt deeply by others. 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:45.839 Some of the most painful things that have gone on and have happened in our life that so oftentimes the enemy wants to steal, kill, and destroy us by way of keeping us trapped in unforgiveness for something that may have happened even years ago. 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:51.839 And so it's important to know this. 00:05:52.480 --> 00:06:03.600 Then we talk about forgiveness and we speak about forgiveness today, I want you to know that I am in no way minimizing how challenging it can be to forgive someone who's hurt you. 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:08.000 I'm not making it a small deal. 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:11.920 I'm not saying, hey, this is just something you just need to get over. 00:06:12.480 --> 00:06:22.560 But instead, what I'm telling you, and I've heard it said before, is that forgiveness it's not a destination, but it's a decision to get on the journey of forgiveness. 00:06:23.680 --> 00:06:37.759 The things that have happened to you or offenses that have happened in your life, that it's not just something that you arrive at, but instead something that you are working sometimes daily at to forgive someone. 00:06:38.319 --> 00:06:53.120 And Jesus is gonna give us some instructions today about what it looks like to forgive and to forgive offenses and to walk in the light and in unity and harmony with others, as he does for us in Matthew 18. 00:06:53.199 --> 00:07:05.680 And before we get into the passage, in Matthew 18, Jesus starts out this chapter and he's comparing the kingdom of God to being like a little child, the innocent of children coming to him. 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:27.759 And then he goes farther and he talks about the forgiveness and going after people who have fallen away by saying that the good shepherd will leave 99, the 99 sheep, and will go after the one sheep that's gone astray, will chase after the one sheep and find it, and there'll be much rejoicing because of it. 00:07:28.560 --> 00:07:34.160 And then ultimately, he goes into the topic of how to forgive someone who sinned against you. 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:44.560 Now, as we read this portion of Matthew 18, it's important to know that what Jesus is giving us instructions to. 00:07:44.720 --> 00:07:48.800 One is how we forgive and interact with other believers. 00:07:49.839 --> 00:08:07.199 This is instruction not for how you should interact with maybe somebody who's not a part of the faith or not a part of a church, but instead, the instructions that Jesus gives us is so that people of God will be in harmony together. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:09.040 Let me put it to you like this. 00:08:11.519 --> 00:08:16.959 Satan knows that he cannot defeat the church of God. 00:08:18.160 --> 00:08:25.120 Satan knows that the gates of hell will not prevail against the gospel. 00:08:25.680 --> 00:08:29.199 So if he can't defeat us, he'll try to divide us. 00:08:32.399 --> 00:08:43.039 And so Jesus gives specific instructions for how we should handle offenses, conflicts, challenges within the body of Christ. 00:08:43.519 --> 00:08:49.919 And now again, this isn't instructions for somebody who's done something illegal to you, go to the authorities. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:55.679 But this is instructions for the body itself and what we should do as believers. 00:08:55.840 --> 00:08:57.519 Look at verse 15. 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:04.639 Jesus says, If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:09.360 If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:16.480 But if you're unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again. 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:23.919 So that everything you may that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:28.399 If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. 00:09:29.360 --> 00:09:38.320 Then if he or she won't accept the church's decision, treat that person as a pager, as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector. 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:40.879 Jesus gives three steps. 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:45.200 He says, somebody's hurt you, somebody's offended you, somebody's done something to you. 00:09:45.440 --> 00:09:50.240 Step number one is to go directly to that person and to have a conversation. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:56.799 And as challenging as that may be, it may sound, this is Jesus' instruction to us. 00:09:56.879 --> 00:10:10.240 And I think it's on purpose that 2,000 years ago, Jesus anticipated the fact that as believers in Jesus, that there are going to be plenty of times that we step on each other's toes and on each other's hearts. 00:10:12.879 --> 00:10:17.759 And the first step in the process is for you to go directly to that person. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:30.480 And notice that Jesus says if somebody sinned against you, so so this is somebody who's offended you, but instead Jesus says not just to wait for them to figure it out, but to go directly to. 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:35.600 To leave the 99 and go after the one. 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:41.840 Are there reasons that people may need to get out of our life and move on? 00:13:42.000 --> 00:13:42.879 Absolutely. 00:13:44.799 --> 00:13:49.120 But what Jesus is calling us to is for us to step forward and love. 00:13:49.200 --> 00:13:53.120 And what's the purpose of this three steps? 00:13:54.159 --> 00:13:56.320 Well, it's protection through a process. 00:13:57.919 --> 00:13:59.919 It's protection through a process. 00:14:01.039 --> 00:14:03.919 See, forgiveness, it's it's it's unearned. 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:08.639 It's something that the person on their side, they they don't deserve it. 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:22.720 And hence the fact that they're going to receive forgiveness and mercy is something that you're choosing to give as an overflow of your experience with God and to move forward with the Lord. 00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:34.799 That you, in so many ways, when you make that decision to forgive, you as a believer, you're letting your past be your past. 00:14:35.519 --> 00:14:40.000 And you're leaving your past in the past so that you can walk forward with God. 00:14:40.399 --> 00:14:49.519 Now I know as I talk about this, I talk about that process that Jesus lines out for us, that there's some circumstances that don't necessarily fit into the mold. 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:55.279 Maybe somebody hurt you, somebody has offended you, and now they are no longer with us, they've passed away. 00:14:55.679 --> 00:15:00.960 You don't have the opportunity to go and to speak to them any longer. 00:15:02.399 --> 00:15:10.000 But here's the thing forgiveness is not dependent on the other person. 00:15:10.080 --> 00:15:12.799 It's the decision that you make between you and God. 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:22.720 Someone who hurts you, who may not be around or may not be alive anymore, you can still choose to forgive that person even though they can no longer say, I'm sorry. 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:46.240 And the reason why you would make a choice like that is so that you would be unstuck, so that you would be free, so that you would be able to get past your past, so that you wouldn't be held back and in bondage to what's happened before in your life, but instead that your heart would be made whole through the forgiveness and love of God. 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:56.480 Matthew goes on to tell about Peter, the disciple, the apostle. 00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:03.039 He after Jesus gives this instructions, Peter wants to know, how do we do this? 00:16:03.759 --> 00:16:05.200 What's the deal? 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:08.720 What does this actually look like practically? 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:15.200 And so in verse 21, then Peter came to him and asked, Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sinned against me? 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:16.480 Seven times? 00:16:18.960 --> 00:16:22.000 No, not seven times, Jesus replied. 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:24.480 But seventy times seven. 00:16:26.399 --> 00:16:32.399 Peter goes to Jesus and he says that, I want to know how to do this. 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:36.320 How many times should I forgive somebody who hurts me? 00:16:36.639 --> 00:16:50.960 And what Peter's doing by asking this is that he's trying to figure out what Jesus is truly saying and what really the way to work it out, because what he had learned in the rabbis of the day, what they would teach is that they would teach that you would only forgive somebody three times. 00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:55.360 And that after that that there was revenge that would happen. 00:16:55.440 --> 00:17:07.839 And so Peter goes to Jesus trying to be more generous and says, Jesus, should should should we forgive somebody now not just three times, but should we could forgive them seven times? 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:10.880 What's Jesus' response? 00:17:12.319 --> 00:17:15.119 He says, No, not just seven times. 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:18.720 But seventy times seven. 00:17:20.240 --> 00:17:23.599 Which turns out to be 490 times. 00:17:25.599 --> 00:17:32.559 Now we know that Jesus is using this number of seven, which is the perfect number, that it's the the number seven all throughout the Bible. 00:17:32.640 --> 00:17:36.799 It's it's significant of heaven and it's symbolic of perfection. 00:17:36.880 --> 00:17:43.680 And Jesus is basically saying to them that you don't need to keep track of how many times you forgive somebody else. 00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:48.720 Boy, that's challenging. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:52.319 Jesus says, don't keep a log. 00:17:53.759 --> 00:17:56.240 Be willing to forgive somebody 490 times? 00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:57.359 Are you serious? 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:00.079 Are you serious, Jesus? 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:10.640 This person who keeps doing this offense to me, you think I should really apologize or I should really receive that apology? 00:18:15.440 --> 00:18:24.400 A few years ago, when Emily and I moved to Charleston, South Carolina, we were part of a church there the year just previous in 2010, a young man by the name of Dylan Roof. 00:18:25.200 --> 00:18:30.559 Dylan Roof carried guns into a house of worship, Mother Emmanuel A.M.E. 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:35.599 in downtown Charleston and took the lives of nine worshipers on a Wednesday night. 00:18:37.359 --> 00:18:39.599 Tragedy swept the city. 00:18:41.359 --> 00:18:48.240 How could someone come and gun down people in an act of worship? 00:18:50.079 --> 00:18:54.799 And one of those who were gunned who was gunned down that night was Sharonda Singleton Coleman. 00:18:55.839 --> 00:19:04.559 And her son, Chris, at the time, was a college student at Charleston Southern University and was a baseball player. 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:18.480 And after this tragedy had occurred, the news outlets were interviewing the families of the victims. 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:37.119 And Chris, her son, on live television shocked the nation by forgiving Dylan Roof on national TV for the murder of his mother just a short time earlier. 00:19:39.039 --> 00:19:41.839 No one knew really how to receive it. 00:19:42.319 --> 00:19:53.519 It was a backlash towards him, and then also a public outpour of support for him to make a decision, like forgiving the person who had murdered his mom. 00:19:54.960 --> 00:20:01.039 Chris and his family attended a church that Emily and I were a part of for years after that. 00:20:01.200 --> 00:20:12.240 And what I saw in Chris's life is that that moment, that defining moment where he was willing to forgive, maybe one of the most unthinkable things that someone could go through. 00:20:12.559 --> 00:20:14.799 A murder of their mother. 00:20:16.559 --> 00:20:24.640 I saw his life, Chris's life, flourish, his family grow, beautiful home, thriving career. 00:20:24.799 --> 00:20:46.160 And I wonder what would have happened to Chris if instead of at that moment in his life, for him choosing to forgive such a heinous and horrible, tragic scenario, where would his life have ended up if he had gotten stuck in unforgiveness from that moment? 00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:51.839 I dare to say that it probably wouldn't look exactly like it looks like now. 00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:04.960 After Jesus tells Peter not to keep track of the offenses, he g goes on, Jesus goes on and tells a parable. 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:09.440 And what a parable is, is it's it's a small story with a big truth. 00:21:10.000 --> 00:21:13.599 And Jesus uses parables all throughout his teaching in the New Testament. 00:21:13.680 --> 00:21:21.839 This is a small story, and it's it's it's made up, so to speak, but it's it's made up by Jesus so that he can communicate something that was true. 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:42.720 Jesus looks at the disciples and Peter and he, just after Peter asking him how much he should forgive someone, Jesus makes a comparison and he says, he says, the kingdom of heaven that it he compares it to a king who has a servant that has borrowed money from him. 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:50.880 And in the process, this servant who's borrowed money, this debtor, owes him at this point millions of dollars. 00:21:52.640 --> 00:21:55.279 Millions of dollars that he cannot pay. 00:21:55.599 --> 00:22:05.519 And so the master, the king, orders for Him to be sold, his wife, his children, all of his possessions to pay off the debt. 00:22:05.680 --> 00:22:09.039 Which would not have been something that was uncommon in the day. 00:22:09.279 --> 00:22:17.200 That if you had a debt that you couldn't pay, that you and your family would be sold into slavery or indentured servanthood until you could pay off this debt. 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:30.720 Obviously, Jesus gives an astronomical amount of money of years' wages to the tune of millions of dollars of our today current money, denoting the fact this was a debt that this man could not pay. 00:22:31.599 --> 00:22:33.359 He couldn't get out of it. 00:22:34.960 --> 00:22:44.799 Jesus goes on to say in verse 26 and telling the story, but the man fell down before his master and begged him, please be patient with me, and I will pay it all. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:49.839 Then his master was filled with pity for him, and he released him and forgave his debt. 00:22:51.519 --> 00:23:00.240 But when the man left the king, he went to a fellow servant who owed him a few thousand dollars. 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:04.880 He grabbed him by the throat and demanded instant payment. 00:23:05.759 --> 00:23:11.039 His fellow servant fell down before him and begged him for a little more time. 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:14.240 Be patient with me and I will pay it, he pleaded. 00:23:14.559 --> 00:23:16.559 But his creditor wouldn't wait. 00:23:16.799 --> 00:23:21.839 He had the man arrested and put in prison until the debt could be paid in full. 00:23:24.799 --> 00:23:28.160 When some of the other servants saw this, they were very upset. 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:30.960 They went to the king and told him everything that had happened. 00:23:31.200 --> 00:23:32.960 Then the king called the man. 00:23:33.279 --> 00:23:39.440 He had forgiven and said, You evil servant, I forgave you a tremendous debt because you pled with me. 00:23:40.079 --> 00:23:44.000 Shouldn't you have mercy on your fellow servant just as I have mercy on you? 00:23:44.799 --> 00:23:51.039 Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt. 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:57.279 And then Jesus says, That's what my heavenly father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart. 00:24:12.160 --> 00:24:29.599 No, Jesus, his death on the cross, it is complete, but he's telling us today the fact that we should recognize the debt that has been paid for us that we could not repay in the separation and the debt that we're in because of our sin. 00:24:31.279 --> 00:24:32.720 Here's the thing. 00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:58.079 Jesus went to the cross 2,000 years ago, and he paid our debt in full on the cross and paved the way that the debt that we had through sin, that we're separated from God, that we've done messed up things, that we've hurt others, that others have hurt us, what things that we've been involved in, that we can be saved, restored, forgiven, and our debt be paid. 00:24:58.319 --> 00:25:03.440 And Jesus on the cross paid your debt in full, but you have to withdraw it. 00:25:05.200 --> 00:25:07.039 You have to withdraw it. 00:25:07.680 --> 00:25:14.880 Jesus forgave completely on the cross, but you've got to receive it from him. 00:25:15.759 --> 00:25:24.240 And that receiving it from him will then pour over in your life in forgiveness to those that are around you. 00:25:26.079 --> 00:25:33.759 Over my years in ministry, I have seen people go through some of the most tragic and challenging and terrible times. 00:25:36.799 --> 00:25:50.880 I remember there's a there was a couple in our church that were in Somerset, and they went through a time early in their marriage when the husband, Chad, he went out and uh and cheated on his wife, Christy. 00:25:54.079 --> 00:25:59.279 Broke their vows, broke their home, broke their marriage. 00:26:00.240 --> 00:26:10.559 And just a few years after that, Emily and I met them and became friends with them, and they began to talk with us about how they went through a process of forgiveness and restoration. 00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:22.160 That's not everybody's story, and especially when it comes to marriage, that ultimately that if that has happened, that a separation, divorce is what is needed. 00:26:22.400 --> 00:26:33.519 But what I saw through Chad and Christie is that restoration, it can happen through the powerful work of Jesus and him alone. 00:26:37.920 --> 00:27:07.680 I tell the story today, these extreme examples, because I've seen God work powerfully in people's lives, and things that could have destroyed them, taken them off course, hurt them, broken their relationship with other believers, the church, that instead that they received and saw the forgiveness that Jesus had for them. 00:27:09.519 --> 00:27:23.519 And in the same way, Jesus gives this story of this man who owed this astronomical debt and then his unwillingness to forgive someone who just owed him a small amount of it. 00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:29.920 To teach us that our aim as believers should be restoration and not revenge. 00:27:35.039 --> 00:27:43.279 That our faith in God should trust the fact that the scripture tells us that vengeance is the Lord's. 00:27:44.000 --> 00:27:45.119 God is just. 00:27:46.559 --> 00:27:54.319 And the things that happen to you and things that people have done to you and the offenses that have happened, they are not unseen by God. 00:27:54.559 --> 00:27:59.119 And He is just and will repay those in the way that He deems fit. 00:27:59.200 --> 00:28:05.920 And we believe and have faith in the fact that God will do that and we don't need to take revenge in our own hands. 00:28:07.839 --> 00:28:12.079 That we want to be about relationship over resentment. 00:28:15.599 --> 00:28:22.000 That we want to be about victory in Jesus over vengeance when it comes to our brothers and sisters in Christ. 00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:23.519 And why do we do it? 00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:31.200 We forgive those around us because we forgive for the future that God has called us to. 00:28:32.400 --> 00:28:50.960 When you forgive someone who's hurt you, who's abandoned, who's broken promises, who's said things about you that aren't true. 00:28:51.359 --> 00:28:54.240 When you forgive, you forgive for your future. 00:28:57.599 --> 00:29:10.160 You forgive for your future in Christ, your future that God has called you through to, that God has more and has a purpose and he has a plan for you. 00:29:10.400 --> 00:29:18.880 And he doesn't want you to get stuck or held back, but instead he wants you to be able to walk in forgiveness. 00:29:19.680 --> 00:29:36.880 Forgiveness that we can forgive for the faith that we have in God and forgive for the Father and His love for us, and also that we would forgive from the Father's forgiveness and love for us poured out through us. 00:29:41.519 --> 00:29:47.519 Earlier this year, I read a book by a man named Victor Frankel. 00:29:47.839 --> 00:29:49.839 The book is Man's Search for Meaning. 00:29:49.920 --> 00:29:54.000 This book is a bestseller and was a bestseller for many, many years. 00:29:54.319 --> 00:30:05.519 Victor Frankel was a psychologist that was uh from Jewish descent, and during World War II, he and his family and many of his friends were rounded up and were taken to concentration camps. 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:15.599 Victor was at some of the most gruesome and most heinous camps, including Auschwitz. 00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:19.119 His wife died in the concentration camps. 00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:24.640 His parents, his family, all of his family members died in concentration camps, but he did not. 00:30:25.279 --> 00:30:27.440 He made it through as a survivor. 00:30:28.000 --> 00:30:38.160 And on the other side of him having this unbelievably horrific and tragic experience, he wrote the book, Man Search for Meaning, and it's very powerful. 00:30:39.599 --> 00:30:49.119 But not only did he write a book about meaning and purpose coming through suffering, that our meaning in life is to help others find the meaning of their life. 00:30:50.319 --> 00:31:12.559 But it was his relationship and connection with his faith that led him that after the fact, after the war had been over, the death camps had been closed, there was a Nazi officer named Hoffman who had been put on trial. 00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:30.480 This Nazi officer, uh, there were two Jewish women who were survivors who hid this officer after the camp was liberated and agreed to hand him over to the Americans only on the condition that he not be harmed. 00:31:33.599 --> 00:31:41.839 Victor Frankel ended up going and testifying on his behalf at a trial for this Nazi officer. 00:31:43.680 --> 00:31:47.119 And after the trial, he corresponded. 00:31:47.279 --> 00:31:49.440 This officer and him corresponded. 00:31:50.160 --> 00:31:59.920 And Victor Frankel even comforted this Nazi officer who at one point had kept him in prison and tortured him. 00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:03.599 His people. 00:32:20.319 --> 00:32:34.160 Jesus is inviting us into a life of harmony and of love, of forgiveness, so that we don't remain trapped and hard-hearted. 00:32:36.160 --> 00:32:37.839 Can I tell you this today? 00:32:38.720 --> 00:32:42.960 Men across the room specifically, give the grudge to God. 00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:57.920 The grudge that you've been holding, the grudge that's so firmly in that corner of your heart, today, give it to Him. 00:33:03.839 --> 00:33:06.960 To say, God, I'm gonna believe in faith. 00:33:09.599 --> 00:33:14.400 God, in the end, that Lord, it's your justice that will prevail. 00:33:15.440 --> 00:33:20.880 And right now, that I need to flow out the forgiveness that I've received. 00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:45.039 Ultimately, when we think about the fact of all the things that we have been forgiven of from God, every single thing that in our lives, that when we believe in Jesus and received his salvation, all of that that's wiped away, that Jesus forgives completely and washes and forgives. 00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:54.160 That in the forgiveness that we've received, that out of that forgiveness from God, that pouring out from us should be forgiveness to others. 00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:55.519 Will you pray with me? 00:33:55.759 --> 00:34:08.320 Father, all across the room today, Lord, there are more scenarios and offenses and challenges that I could count probably just represented in this room. 00:34:08.880 --> 00:34:12.880 So, Father, today, God, I pray, Lord, for faith among your people. 00:34:14.320 --> 00:34:16.880 That, Lord, restoration would come today. 00:34:18.079 --> 00:34:26.079 God, even in circumstances, Lord, where the offender is gone or is no longer here. 00:34:26.719 --> 00:34:32.480 God, I pray, Lord, that forgiveness would come today, God, so that freedom would follow. 00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:42.239 God, we want to take it into our hands so much, but God, I pray, Lord, that you would work powerfully in this room right now, God. 00:34:44.639 --> 00:34:49.599 To set hearts free, set minds free. 00:34:51.519 --> 00:34:53.119 For your loving kindness. 00:34:53.679 --> 00:35:04.400 God, I pray all across the room today, God, for anybody who's in this place that has not yet had their debt paid by your finished work on the cross. 00:35:05.199 --> 00:35:09.920 King Jesus, that today would be the day of salvation. 00:35:10.800 --> 00:35:21.039 King Jesus, that today that someone would draw it, would take it, would receive the free gift of salvation that you gave and supplied on the cross. 00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:27.599 So, God, all across the room today, God, I pray if there's anybody in this place who's not received you as their Savior. 00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:34.159 God, that's not asked for forgiveness for their sins. 00:35:34.400 --> 00:35:38.000 It's not giving their heart and their life over to you, that today would be the day of salvation. 00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:40.400 God, that they would pray to you, Jesus, save me. 00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:43.760 They pray to their heart and mind, Jesus, save me. 00:35:44.239 --> 00:35:46.320 I believe that you're the Son of God. 00:35:46.800 --> 00:35:49.679 That you died on the cross for me. 00:35:50.800 --> 00:35:52.000 Forgive me. 00:35:54.800 --> 00:35:59.519 Wash me so that I can be in heaven with you one day. 00:36:03.360 --> 00:36:05.199 I give you my life. 00:36:06.079 --> 00:36:07.280 You gave your life for me. 00:36:08.400 --> 00:36:10.079 In Jesus' name. 00:36:10.880 --> 00:36:11.519 Amen.