Unlock Forgiveness | Dr. R.T. Kendall | Liberty Live Church

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. Good morning. Welcome to Liberty Live Church. We are so glad you decided to join us. Today's your first day at Liberty. We'd love to meet you. Please connect to 40371, tap the seat back in front of you, or visit us at one of our next step centers after the service today. We can't wait to meet you. Si hablas español, nos encantaría que nos acompañaras a nuestros servicios todos los domingos en nuestro campus de Hampton. Para más información, favor de mandar la palabra ESP al 40371. Te esperamos. Because of your generosity, lives are being changed right here in Hampton Roads and around the world. When you give, you partner with us to help change lives, communities, and the world for Jesus Christ. You can give through our website, tap the seat in front of you, or through an envelope at your campus today. Thank you for investing in all that God is doing through the work here at Liberty. You know, God is moving in so many incredible ways here at Liberty, from kids to students to young adults to senior adults. There are so many ways for you to find community, discover your purpose, and grow deeper in your relationship with Jesus. So right now, let's look at some exciting things coming up. Don't miss what's happening all throughout the week. So follow us on social media and connect with your campus Facebook group. Thanks again for being here today, where it's not just church, it's life. Good morning, Liberty. What a great day to be in the house of the Lord.

We are so glad you're joining us here for church this Sunday morning. It's going to be a fantastic time. You are not here by accident, no matter where you're at, where you're streaming from this morning. We love you and you're part of the Liberty family. That's right. My name is Kyle, I'm Jenny, and we would love to meet y'all. So drop your name in the chat, let us know where you're streaming from this morning. And if it's your first time ever, first-timers, at Liberty Live Online, text CONNECT or LIFE, either one will work, to 40371. That's right. Or just scan that QR code on the screen. We have some shout-outs. Oh, Jenny's always snooping in the chat, so if you're in the chat, you might get shouted out. Snooping is the word, but I'm in the chat. And if y'all let us know where you're streaming from, you might get a shout-out. Next week, we've got Julia in Woodbridge, Virginia. Thank you, Julia. Julia. The Hill family from Williamsville, New York. New Hills in New York. Is that supposed to be an ode to the sound of music? I don't know what that is. Oh. Oh, no. Now I'm really telling my age. All right. Claudette Smith from Fairfield, California. California.

We'd like to welcome y'all. And hey, Cynthia Bowman was watching last week before she went to work. She was watching in Chesapeake on her way to work. So we know many of y'all may be deployed, going to work, missionaries serving overseas. We're just grateful for you. Yeah. And if it's your first time, welcome. Let us know, scan that QR code, and we'll send you a free sack of merch. A free sack of merch. We'll send you a free Bible and a free piece of merch. I'm wearing it today. The prayer works shirt. Yeah. Yeah, so I don't know if you'll get this one or which one we'll send you, but we'll send you something. Yeah. So let us know if it's your first time. Put some praise hands in the chat for all the first time guests. It's gonna be an awesome day. Jenny, we've got something really exciting coming up before we take them to service. What is it? 21 days of prayer. What, what, what, what days of prayer? Y'all, it starts next Sunday, but the 6 a.m. Starts on Monday.

Starts on Monday. Not this Monday, the next one. August 3rd is our first 6 a.m. service, but 21 days of prayer, August 2 to 22, and every morning we are seeking the Lord through prayer, through worship, early mornings, Saturday mornings at 6 a.m., 9 a.m. Woo, y'all, don't come at 6 a.m. on Saturday. Don't come online at 6 a.m. on Saturday. We'll be here at 9 a.m. on Saturdays, but you can find all the info on our website. We've got downloadable prayer guides on the website, so y'all are not gonna wanna miss it. Online fam, I know you're there. You're usually there. You're always there. Online fam shows up. That's right, so we're looking forward to next week. Be preparing for it. Yeah, it's gonna be awesome, and today is gonna be awesome. We've got Dr. R.T. Kendall, who's gonna be preaching the word for us this morning. We're so glad you're here, and we'll see you after. Hey, are you joyful this morning? I said, are you joyful this morning? Come on, let's clap our hands this morning and sing to the Lord. Let's sing this one. ♪ I've got a river that's flowing inside ♪

♪ It's full of life, it's ever growing ♪ ♪ I've got a fire and it's always lit up ♪ ♪ It won't go out, it's always burning ♪ ♪ You've given me joy, come on, it's unspeakable joy ♪ ♪ Undeniable, unexplainable, I've got the joy of the Lord ♪ Come on. ♪ I've got a river that's flowing inside ♪ ♪ It's full of life, it's ever growing ♪ ♪ I've got a fire and it's always lit up ♪ ♪ It won't go out, it's always burning ♪ ♪ I've got a river that's flowing inside ♪ ♪ It's full of life, it's ever growing ♪ ♪ I've got a fire and it's always lit up ♪ ♪ Cause it won't go out, it's always burning ♪ Come on. ♪ You're giving me joy, it's unspeakable joy ♪ ♪ Undeniable, unexplainable, I've got the joy of the world ♪ ♪ Yes, I've got it down in my heart, deep down, deep down ♪ ♪ Down in my soul, yes Lord, uncontainable, it's unfavorable ♪ ♪ It's unfavorable, I've got the joy of the Lord ♪ Let's clap our hands this morning, come on. We sing out. ♪ Cause I've got a joy on the inside ♪ ♪ It feels like fire, can't keep it even ♪ ♪ Yes, I'll keep praising in the midnight ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength, it's mine, it's mine ♪ ♪ Cause I've got a joy on the inside, come on ♪ ♪ It feels like fire, can't keep it even, I can't, I can't ♪ ♪ I'll keep praising in the midnight ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength, it's mine, it's mine ♪

We sing out, come on. ♪ Cause I've got a joy on the inside, it feels like fire, it's mine ♪ ♪ Can't keep it even, can't keep it even, we sing it please ♪ ♪ I'll keep praising in the midnight ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength, cause I've got, we sing ♪ ♪ Cause I've got a joy on the inside, it feels like fire, it's mine, it's mine ♪ ♪ Can't keep it even, can't keep it even, we sing it please ♪ ♪ I'll keep praising in the midnight ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength, it's mine, it's mine ♪ ♪ It's the joy of the Lord is my strength, we sing it please ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength, it's mine, it's mine ♪ ♪ I'm stuck by the river and it's pouring its fire, it's full of life, it's ever growing ♪ ♪ I've got a fire and it's always lit, yes it'll go out, it's always burning ♪ ♪ It's giving me joy, it's giving me joy, it's unspeakable joy ♪ Undeniable, undeniable, unexplainable, I've got the joy of it all. There's joy, joy, joy, joy, down in my heart. Deep down in my soul, deep down in my soul. Uncontainable, uncontainable, uncontainable, I've got the joy of it all. There's joy in my insider, it feels like fire. They give me every stinger, it's all keep raising in the name. And the joy of the Lord, it's my, it's my strength. It's got joy on the inside, it feels like fire. There's joy in my insider, it's all keep raising in the name. And the joy of the Lord, it's my, it's my strength. In every hour I've seen Him be faithful. So He's my strength, He's my strength. The joy of the Lord is my strength. Come on! He's my strength and my soul. And in the darkness we were waiting

Without hope and without light Till from heaven You came running There was mercy in Your eyes To fulfill the law and prophets To a virgin gave the word From a throne of endless glory To a cradle in the dirt We sing and praise this God We praise the Father Praise the Son Praise the Spirit Three in one The God of glory Majesty We praise forever To the King of kings And we praise You forever To reveal the kingdom coming And to reconcile the lost To redeem the whole creation You did not despise the cross For even in Your suffering You saw to the other side Knowing this was our salvation Jesus for our sake You died So we praise the Father We praise the Son We praise the Spirit Three in one The God of glory

Majesty We praise forever To the King of kings You know, I grew up in a local church here And when I was a little girl, I got baptized But I'm not sure I really meant it And so, you know what? She means it today And she says, I am giving my life to Jesus So, Jacqueline, what a privilege To baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit Buried with Him, raised to walk with You And next, we have a whole family coming down And this is, this is mom. And you know what, her name is Toshua. You know what I love about Toshua? She said, her children are here with her. Her three kids are here to be baptized. She said, I did not want them to just come because of me. I told them it was their decision. And I went, yes, it is their decision to come, not just because mama said to, but you know what? I think it's because mama led to. So I think that's awesome. So Toshua says, she grew up in a local church and she gave her life to Christ a long time ago. And she said, you know what? I think it's time to be baptized by immersion. And so Toshua, it is my privilege after hearing your testimony to baptize you

in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried with Him, raised to walk in the newness of life. Good job. All right, next we have Brian and this is her son. He said, he also, they all grew up in the church and he said, you know, he kind of walked away from the Lord a little bit, had some struggles, but you know what? He's back. And he says, I am here and Jesus, I am fully committed. So Brian, what a privilege to baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried with Him, raised to walk in the newness of life. All right, and we have Gabby here. And Gabby's a similar story. You know, she gave her life to Christ. And she says, I stand before you saying, I wanna be a follower of Jesus for the rest of my life. And Gabby, what a privilege to baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried with Him, raised to walk. And then we have Taylor. Taylor went to camp this year and she said, you know, that just was a pivotal point in her life. And she stands before you saying, I know Jesus and I'm following Him all my life. So, Taylor, what a privilege to baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, buried with Him, raised to walk.

Come on. Come on. ♪ I put it all for the souls of all who come ♪ ♪ To the Father I'll restore ♪ ♪ And the Church of Christ was born ♪ ♪ Then the Spirit lit the flame ♪ ♪ Now this gospel truth of all ♪ ♪ Shall not kneel and shall not faint ♪ ♪ By His blood and in His name ♪ ♪ In His freedom I am free ♪ ♪ Lord, the love of Jesus Christ ♪ ♪ Who has resurrected me ♪ ♪ We praise the Father ♪ ♪ We praise the Father ♪ ♪ We praise the Son ♪ ♪ We praise the Spirit three in one ♪ ♪ You are God of glory and of peace ♪ ♪ We praise forever to the King of kings ♪ ♪ So we praise the Father ♪ ♪ We praise the Son ♪ ♪ We praise the Spirit three in one ♪ ♪ You are God of glory and of peace ♪ ♪ We praise forever to the King of kings ♪ Scripture says, he humbled himself and became obedient, even unto death, death on the cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and given him the name that is above every other name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue shall confess that he is Lord.

So we bless his name this morning. We sing. ♪ Blessing and honor and glory and power ♪ ♪ Opinion and wisdom belong to the only one ♪ ♪ The only King is worthy forever and ever ♪ ♪ Sing worthy is the Lord, worthy is the Lord ♪ ♪ Blessing and honor and glory and power ♪ ♪ Religion and long to the only King is worthy forever ♪ ♪ And ever sing worthy is the Lord we sing ♪ ♪ We sing blessing and honor and blessing and honor ♪ ♪ And glory and power to the end of ages ♪ ♪ Long to the only King is worthy forever and ever ♪ ♪ And ever and ever we sing worthy, worthy is the Lord ♪ ♪ You are holy, seated on the throne ♪ ♪ Reigning, King forevermore ♪ ♪ I am exhausted, worthy, worthy is the Lord ♪ ♪ You are holy, seated on the throne ♪ ♪ You are holy, seated on the throne ♪ ♪ You are reigning, King forevermore ♪ ♪ I am exhausted, worthy, worthy is the Lord ♪ ♪ We sing forever, you are high and exalted ♪ ♪ Worthy is the Lord ♪ I'm here, here we go. I want you to know he's worthy. Revelation chapter four, verse 11. Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power because you have created all things and by your will they exist and were created. Can I tell you this morning, you fit the category of created.

You fit the category of ordained by God. And I want you to know he wants you here this morning. He's excited to meet with you this morning. And as I was sitting down here before service and praying, God, what do you want your people to know? Two words came, fall fresh. I wanna fall fresh on them. I want them to experience me in a way they haven't experienced me in a long time. And for many of you, I believe God wants you to experience him in a way you've never experienced him before. Whether you're in the room, whether you're watching online, Jesus wants to meet with you this morning. Jesus has a fresh word for you this morning and he's inviting you to be a part of his kingdom. If you're not a part of his kingdom, he's inviting you there this morning. I'm so excited to hear from our guest speaker this morning. Dr. Tyndall is in the house and it's gonna be a phenomenal morning. Yes, I love that. Here's the kind of morning I think it's gonna be. I think it's gonna be the kind of morning where some of you leave this room and you go and you text your friends and your family and you say, hey, I was just in the first service and you need to come to the second service because God has a word for you. Don't miss the second service.

If you have friends, I believe you're gonna be on the verge of inviting them to be a part of what God's doing this morning. So I'm so excited. I want you to know it's not just about this morning though. We have a special season coming up in the life of our church, 21 days of prayer. Come on. If you have a mountain in your life and you wanna see it move, be in the room. Get on your face for these 21 days. I'm telling you, there's nothing like it. It's been one of my favorite things about becoming a part of this church that we have a body of people that would just go before the Lord and say, God, I don't have what I need, but you do. Will you step in? Will you interject? Will you move? Will you help me reorient myself? I'm telling you, there's nothing like these 21 days that we do twice a year. So I'm asking you to be in the room. If you can be in the room 6 a.m. every morning, except for Saturday. On Saturdays, you're gonna get to sleep in a little bit, but don't miss these stretches. Incredible things happen during these time periods. We could share story after story after story,

but I don't wanna share other people's stories. At the end of these 21 days, I wanna hear your story. I wanna hear how God moved in your life and how you started to trust him in a way you've never trusted him before. So be in the room for 21 days of prayer. I can't wait to dive in this morning. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to high five. Have a few people around you and then turn your attention to the screen He has gone around the world as a great theologian author and speaker He was raised right here in the United States. He went to Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky Then he received his PhD from Oxford and for 25 years He had an incredible ministry and the great city of London today He is 91 years young and he is still traveling the globe preaching the Word of God Jesus said when you welcome a prophet you receive a prophet's reward and the Bible says give honor to whom honor is due You will always remember the day that you heard. Dr. RT Kendall preach I want every campus up on your feet put your hands together and welcome the man of God. Dr RT Kendall Well, thank you pastor I'm honored to be here. I've never met your pastor until yesterday But we just bonded together in no time He didn't bring his wife When we had a meal, so he said he's gonna bring her today. I think you brought your sister. Isn't that right? You didn't that's not your wife. I mean, yeah, I look at you. I Look at her How did you get her? Thank you for inviting me I need to say a word about the chair a

Couple years ago, I developed vertigo and I thought it would be good to sit and in six weeks ago, I fell in the airport as I was coming out and I had a combustion and it's a Been difficult. So I've been Sitting in a chair If you have a problem with this get over it What oh no, I promise you I put it on silent I don't know. Maybe we have it. Honestly, I put it on the silent about five minutes ago. Jesus is calling First mistake I've ever made I Want to read to you from Genesis chapter Genesis chapter 45 now for those of you Who may not know the background of the story of Joseph? Let me just before I read I think I'll bring you up to date there may be some here that don't know about Joseph Who was the son of? Jacob Jacob Was not a good parent He showed favoritism He gave this coat of many colors To Joseph the only thing worse than giving it was wearing it Joseph wore didn't seem to bother him and it made his brothers so Jealous that they decided to kill him

They would have killed him except that Ishmaelites were on their way to Egypt and they said well, let's not shed blood So they sold him to the Ishmaelites never expecting to see him again So but the Bible says God was with him What happened that the Ishmaelites sold Joseph to an Egyptian officer by the name of Potiphar? and Joseph now has got a job. He's never worked a day in his life and he was made the head of part of his household But while he was there He Endured an unusual temptation, but it's not unusual. It's only a matter of time That every Christian will be faced with sexual temptation and Potiphar's wife began to flirt with Joseph's Bible says he was well-built and handsome and She said And he kept saying, no, go to bed with me, no. Most people I know who avoid having an affair do so because they are afraid that they might get caught. Well, now, Joseph had the perfect affair. She's not going to tell her husband. Nobody back in Canaan would know, and Joseph could have reasoned with himself, well, I deserve some fun. But he kept saying, no, and the reason he said no, he said, God knows. Most people avoid an affair because they think they'll get caught. Joseph said, God knows, and the angel said, yes. And he could not have known that he was being prepared for something great in the future. And I wonder if there's anyone here today, you're facing

sexual temptation. And I don't know this, but I'm going to ask the question, is it possible if someone here, as I speak, you are in the middle of an affair or thinking about having one. I have a word for you. It's a word from God. Stop it now. Break it off. It's only a matter of time. You'd give a thousand worlds to turn the clock back. The thanks Joseph got for resisting temptation is that Potiphar's wife accused him of raping her. And the next thing you know, Joseph is in a dungeon. He's in prison. He's there forever. He's a Hebrew. He's in Egypt. No future at all. And I wonder how he must have felt. He must have felt like, you know, I'm in this trouble. I've done this a lot, God. I do the right thing, and now I'm in this trouble. And could it be, is someone here, because you've done the right thing, instead of things getting better and God rewarding you, it's worse than ever? If that's the case, God has a plan for you. There is a future for you. God has a way of doing things. Well, I need to fast forward. But wonder isn't God, hope by fasting is not enough to

interpret dreams? Word says, Joseph understood that He's having a future. That would be beautiful for you. That one suffered. That one died. That one suffered. However, they found out to Pharaoh that Joseph had a prophetic gift, namely interpreting dreams. And so, what happens is that Pharaoh sent for Joseph. Now, remember, God's hand is on you. You have no chance of using your past. There's no chance of God using you. Listen, when God's hand is on you, it wouldn't matter what your past is. And Pharaoh didn't want to know anything about Joseph. Just wanted to know, can you interpret my dream? He did. And he gave an application. And the Pharaoh was so impressed that overnight, he asked him, do you want to experience the resurrection of Egypt? That's how quickly God can do things. Well, what happened? Joseph prophesied that there'll be seven years, you're going to have plenty, but it'd be followed by seven years of famine. And the result was, Joseph is made prime minister, but the famine is felt back in Canaan. And so, the sons come to Egypt, and they have to go to the prime minister.

They have no idea that the man they're looking at is their brother, and that's the part I'm going to read now. In Genesis chapter 45, now here's the thing, Joseph always knew this day would come. He knew one day that the brothers would bow down to him. He thought this would be the time that he could look at those brothers and say, gotcha, and throw the book at them, and he could have done that. But by the time the dreams are fulfilled, Joseph is a different man. He's a new man. Instead of saying, gotcha, and throwing the book at them, he breaks down and begins to cry. And so, we read in Genesis chapter 45 verse 1, Joseph could no longer keep his company, keep his composure in front of all his attendants. So, he called out, send everyone away. from me.' No one was with him when he revealed his identity to his brothers, but he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it. Joseph said to his brothers," he's speaking through an interpreter, "'I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?' But he could not answer him because they were terrified at his presence. Then Joseph said to his brothers, "'Please come close to me.' They came near. I am your brother, the one you sold into Egypt, and now don't be grieved or angry with yourselves for selling me here, because God sent me ahead of you to preserve life. For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there will be five more years without plowing or harvesting. God sent me ahead of you to establish you as a remnant within the land and to keep you alive by a great deliverance. Therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God.'" May God bless the reading of this, His most holy word, and grant us understanding. A brief word of prayer. Heavenly Father, I pray now for the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus by Your Spirit to rest upon every mind in this place in order that their perception

of what I will say will be received as You intend. Cleanse my tongue that I will be Your transparent instrument to say everything that needs to be said, nothing that doesn't need to be said. Help me to be very, very clear, very, very simple. And I ask, I dare ask that this will be a life-changing word that no one here will ever be the same again. And may this word bring great honor and glory to Your name. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen. The word that I believe I'm supposed to bring to you today was born in what was at the time the darkest hour that my wife Louise and I had ever gone through. It happened while I was the minister of Westminster Chapel. I was there 25 years. They were the best of times. They were the worst of times. And while we were there, we went through the greatest trial I'd ever gone through. What happened was unjust, unfair. It was devastating. I'd never been in anything like it. The future was bleak. I thought I was finished. I thought it was over. And I couldn't tell anybody. In the providence of God, an old friend from Romania, happened to be in London, and he came to see me. And I decided while he was there with me, his name's Joseph Tsohn, I would tell Joseph everything that happened. And if I'm honest, the reason I told Joseph is that he would look at me and say, RT, you ought to be angry. Get it out of your system. Well, I wasn't prepared for what he said. He looked at me. If I can narrow 25 years in London down to 15 minutes, it's when Joseph Tsohn looked at me and said, RT, you must totally forgive them. For until you totally forgive them, you will be in chains. Release them, and you will be released. Nobody had ever talked to me like that in my life. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. I said, Joseph, I can't. And he said, You can and you must. And then I said, Well, Joseph, I didn't tell you everything. There's more. He stopped me. And I can hear him now in his Romanian accent. RT, you must totally forgive them. For until you totally forgive them, you will be in chains. Release them, and you will be released. It was the hardest word I've ever received. I said, Joseph, I can't. He said, You can and you must. Hardest thing I've ever had to do in my life. Almost certainly the hardest thing you will ever have to do. That's when you go right against nature.

You see, the most natural thing in the world is when you've been hurt, lied about, mistreated, whatever. You want vengeance. You want your comeuppance. And if what I say today, I would get over to you, only God knows whether you can take it. But this will be a life-changing word. I wasn't prepared for what would happen. You see, total forgiveness includes you actually pray for your enemy, the one that hurt you. You pray for them. Now, you don't just bow your head and say, Heavenly Father, I just commit them to you, because you're hoping God will kill them. That's not what Jesus meant when he said, Pray for your enemy, bless your enemy. When you actually ask God to bless them. You say, RT, I can never do that. I understand that. It's the hardest thing you ever, ever have to do. That's when you pray for that person who has hurt you. Now, we've all got a story to tell. And here's the case, without exception. We all feel that in my case, what I have been through, God doesn't expect me to forgive that. And we all look for the loophole that in my case, maybe someone here, you were abused as a child. You were raped. Your husband was unfaithful to you. Your wife was unfaithful to you.

I could go on and on. And you say, well, RT, you have no idea what I've gone through. I know that. But here's the thing, we all look for the loophole. I'm going to tell you a story that will show, I guarantee that what I'm getting ready to tell you, you've never heard anything like it, I promise you. Ten years ago, I was famous in South Africa for one day. Here's the story. A black lady went to the prison to meet the man who had butchered her mom and dad. It was a well-known story all over South Africa. A white supremacist killed her mom and daddy before her eyes, butchered them, and then got away with it and was on the loose, but they found him. And he's in prison today in South Africa. As I speak to you right now, he's in prison. This black lady decided to go to the prison to meet the man. Well, the press heard about it and said, when she came out of the prison, what are you doing here? What's going on? And here was her story. She said, I read a book by RT Kendall called Total Forgiveness. It changed my life, and I wanted the man to know I had forgiven him for what he did to my mom and dad. Top that. I don't think you will. And you may say, well, what I've been through. Listen, if it could be shown that no one has suffered more

than you, no one in Hampton or Newport News or the state of Virginia has suffered more, even if that could be proved. See, would you know that if you have, and that person is here, I'm sure there's somebody here, you've suffered more than anybody else. The angels have a word for you. Really? Yeah. Oh, yeah. If you've suffered more than anybody else, you know what the angels have a word for you? Congratulations. What? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. If you've gone through that, the greater the suffering, the greater the anointing. You've got a blessing coming down from Him if you can forgive them. It's one thing to have suffered more, but it would come to nothing if you stay in bitterness and anger. But if you can forgive. What you've been through, the rewarder is greater than that which no one could conceive. To think that you can forgive that. And so, instead of being filled with self-pity and anger, you forgive them. And the blessing is incalculable. The worst thing that's ever happened to you could turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to you.

I can honestly say, you can put me under a lie detector. The worst thing that ever happened to me, and I've described it, I now say it was the best thing that ever happened to me. The day will come, you could say as Joseph would say to his brothers, God meant it for good. Well, now here's the question. I'm sure that there are people here, if I ask for a show of hands, have you forgiven? Hands would go up, I believe that. But here's the deal, I want to put a proposition. If I were to show in the next fifteen minutes or so, if I were to show that you haven't totally forgiven after all, would you then do it? That's the deal. And before the service is over, we'll have an opportunity, you can demonstrate whether you're prepared to forgive. All right, here's the question. How do you know you have totally forgiven? Proof number one, you don't tell anybody what they did. You see, this comes out of the text. What I'm doing today is known as expository preaching. This means that you get the truth from the Scripture. Rather than taking something to the Scripture, you let the Scripture speak. And so, what we have here is where Joseph says to his eleven brothers, I'm Joseph. And then he says to everybody in the room, interpreter, maybe members of the Egyptian cabinet, maybe aides. He says to them, everybody out.

He says, everyone out, out. Now, why would the prime minister of Egypt make everybody leave? The proof is he wanted to make sure that nobody in Egypt would know what those eleven brothers had done to him. You see, here was his strategy. He's going to get those eleven brothers to go back to Canaan and get old Jacob and bring the family and live in Egypt. Because it's going to be five more years of famine. And he wants to protect his family. He wants to make sure that nobody, nobody in Egypt would know what their brothers had done to their prime minister. You see, the Egyptians loved Joseph. He had saved them. He wants everybody to love his brothers. They're going to come and live in the land of Goshen. And to make sure nobody would ever know, he sends everybody out of the room, and behind closed doors, he talks to the eleven brothers. Interpreter has to leave. Joseph can speak to them in their language. Proof number one, you don't tell anybody what they did. You see, the most natural thing in the world when you've been hurt, you want to tell what they did. You can't bear the thought that people wouldn't know what you've been through and who did it. Proof number one, you tell nobody. Proof number two, you don't let them be afraid of you. You see, these brothers are now terrified. Sissel, they find that that's their brother.

They're scared to death. They know their brother now is in charge. He could do anything. He could put them in prison forever. Instead, he says, come close to me. Come close to me. You see, it's a new Joseph. Instead of wanting to punish them, he wanted to love on them. He said, come close to me. He didn't want them to be afraid. You see, when we have not forgiven, we want the people to be nervous around us. We want to make them feel uncomfortable. Joseph, no, he wanted to make them feel easy. By the way, husbands and wives who play this little game keep the other nervous. Says, I will remember that. You know what? This sermon today could save any marriage on the rocks in this room. Your marriage could be healed by sundown today if both of you will stop pointing the finger. You say, Well, I'll do it when he does it. He said, Well, I'll do it when she does it. No, you do it. You're doing it for Jesus. You see, the only hope I have that you would want to walk in the light today is if you maybe just want a greater anointing of the Holy Spirit.

Now, if you don't care for that, this sermon is going to bore you to tears. But if you want a greater anointing, you're in the right place. This is the only way forward. It won't be those 21 days of prayer. It won't be a 40-day fast. It's when you totally forgive them. Proof number one, you don't tell anybody what they did. Proof number two, you don't let them be nervous about you. Proof number three, you don't even want them to feel guilty. What? Oh yeah, Joseph said, Don't be angry with yourselves. You see, here's the thing that gets us. What gets our goat is that the person who has hurt us doesn't know how hurt we are. We can't bear the thought that they, if they could only know how they've hurt me. You know what, Joseph? He said, Don't even be angry with yourselves. You see, what gets our goat is when somebody's hurt us and they don't know they've hurt us. We can't bear the thought that they don't know. Oh, by the way, when this sermon is over, don't go across the auditorium or go and find somebody in the parking lot to say, In the light of R.T.'s sermon, I forgive you. They will say, For what? You know. No, I don't. Oh, you do.

I don't. You do. You should. Well, I don't. Now, you got to fight, which is what you wanted. You see, you can't bear the thought that they don't know how hurt you are. You see, here's where you make a decision. Do you want a greater anointing or to see that they're hurt? They hurt you. Come to the place. The people that I had to forgive, they're still alive. They have no idea that I pray for them every day. They don't even know that. Be willing for only God to know. This is where the anointing kicks in. They don't know how hurt you are, but God knows. Nobody knows the troubles I've seen. Nobody knows. But Jesus, that's the way God likes it. He is the only one that knows. When you tell ten others and then you tell God, you haven't confided in him. Proof number four, you let them save face. Do you know that expression? It's an oriental expression where you protect the person's ego instead of shouting to the world or rubbing their noses in it. You just not only let them off the hook, but give them a way out.

I don't know if you've ever read Dale Carnegie's book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. He's got a section in there, let the other person save face. Dale Carnegie says, you win a friend for life when you let them save face. Well, how did Joseph do it? This is amazing. There they are standing before him, scared to death. You know what he says to them? He said, it wasn't you that did it, God did it. It wasn't you that sent me here. You thought you did that? Oh no, God's at the bottom of it all. What? These brothers cannot believe their luck that the very man that they were going to kill, then sold to the Egyptians, is now saying this is what God did. You're talking about letting them save face. They can't believe their luck, but this is what has happened. And when you let a person save face, you're not only being Jesus, but you win a friend for life. Proof number five, you protect them from their darkest secret. What was the dark secret of those brothers? Well, it's when they yanked the coat of many colors off Joseph's back, dipped it in blood, lay it before old Jacob, who takes the bait and says, A wild beast has devoured my son. I will go to my grave in mourning. The brothers would rather die than to have to tell their dad what they did. Joseph knows that, and he won't let them tell it.

Read it when you get home. I didn't have time to read the whole passage. Joseph tells them what to say when they go back to Canaan and see the old man. He won't let them tell the truth of everything they did. They hold back some. You see, that's the way God is. He lets us save face. He protects them and protects us from our darkest secret. You've all got something in your closet that you don't want anybody to know about, and God protects you. Well, proof number six and seven to bring this message to a close, two things. You pray for them, which is a life sentence, and you bless them. And so, here's what happened. Seventeen years later, old Jacob dies, and the brothers come running to Joseph, and they are panicking. They can't believe that Joseph really forgave them, and they say they're waiting, Joseph's just waiting for dad to die. Then he's going to go for us. So, they come running to Joseph, and they make up a story. You read it in chapter 50. They make up a story and say, dad told us to tell you to forgive us for what we did. They make that up. No, you see, Joseph even says, I forgave you 17 years ago. I forgive you now. It was real. You blessed them, and so when you pray for them, you put them

on your prayer list, and you bless them. You bless them. You bless them. You see, do you want to know the brilliance of Joseph? It wasn't his ability as a diplomat or learning a new language. He really had forgiven them. It was real. And the question is, is the forgiveness from your heart? You do that because you want to honor God more than anything in the world. And so, when you see your enemy, and you can bless them. I'll tell you a story before I close. I was preaching at Westminster Chapel. In those days, the preacher led the worship. We were singing the great English hymn. Praise my soul, the King of Heaven. And in comes a woman who has done irreparable damage to one of our children. Emotional damage. Ruined the mind of one of our children. And here she came in the service, sitting on the fourth row from the back, and I lost it. I just had to mouth the words that I had to read the Scripture. I don't know how I did it. Another hymn, pastoral prayer, I don't know how I did it. But what saved me was at the end of the prayer, it's offering time, so I sit down at the pulpit, and a deacon comes, welcomes the visitors, and gives the notices, and I got about

five minutes just to sit there to collect my thoughts. Because I thought, how am I going to preach? When all of a sudden, this never happened before or since, the Holy Spirit entered into a conversation with me. I never had anything like it. And so, it was like this. I'm sitting here, and I could just sense that the Holy Spirit is speaking to me. Here's the audience. He says, RT, you want to see revival in Westminster Chapel. Is that true? I said, well, yes, Lord. Good. How much do you want to see revival? Oh, a lot. Really? Which would you rather have, for me to send revival to the chapel, or send judgment on that woman? Revival. Good. Pray for that woman. I prayed for that woman. He said, Ask me to bless her. Bless her. Say it again. Bless her. Say it again. Bless her. Do you mean that? Yep.

Yep. So if you meant it, what if I take your word seriously and I bless her? Lord, you wouldn't do that, would you? But that's the point. And I had to start praying bless her, bless her. It was killing me. Because I knew God was going to answer my prayer. And to prove that I meant it, I had to pray for her every day. And guess what? God answered my prayer. That woman is blessed. That woman lives in London. As I speak to you right now, she thrives. I don't know whether in heaven I can resist going up to her and say, Well, I know why God blessed you. But you know what? There was a fringe benefit that I wasn't expecting. The anointing that followed. You know, I've written a number of books. People think it's my education, but they think it's my brain. Not at all. It's the anointing. I began to get insight like I never had before. And all these books have come because thoughts that I wouldn't have ever come up with. You see, the anointing. God will do it for you. Doesn't mean you'll be an author, but you have a gift that nobody else has, and you have no idea how God will bless you if you actually forgive them totally.

Well, that's pretty much my sermon. But I haven't finished because I made a deal with you. I don't know if you accepted it, but here was the deal. Let me repeat it. If I were to show that you haven't totally forgiven, would you then do it? And so, I want you to know it's decision time. I'm going to ask you, if you are prepared to forgive totally, I'm going to ask you 60 seconds from now, not yet, I want you to stand if you've totally forgiven. You say, in front of all these people? Mm-hmm. Oh, well, they'll know I've had a problem. Well, you might be the only one that stands. You say, well, that would be embarrassing. Which means more to you, the anointing or what people think? Forty-five seconds from now, I'm going to ask you to stand. Don't stand unless by standing you're prepared to say, I won't tell what they did. You say, well, aren't you? I've already done it. Don't do it anymore. I won't let them be angry. I won't make them feel guilty. I will let them save face. I will protect them from their darkest secret. And I promise to pray for them. It's a life sentence. You don't pray for them just today. You do it again tomorrow.

You do it ten days from now. You do it with people I've prayed for. They don't know they're being prayed for. Five, four, three, two, one. If you're prepared to forgive, I want you to stand to your feet right now. I'll wait ten seconds. Don't miss this moment. Isaiah says, Seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He's near. He's near. Don't miss this moment. All right. If you really meant it, I'm going to ask you to do one more thing. You that are standing, I want you to go to the nearest aisle and come down to the front. I want to pray with you. Come quickly. Now, what you've just done is the easy part. The hard part follows. You say, R.T., why have you made us walk forward? Two reasons. One, I don't want you to forget this moment. I want this to be a life changing word that you never forget. Reason is we're going to pray and the prayer will make it very very serious Because we're going to be under a prayer covenant This makes it very serious. Did you know that every covenant in the Bible was ratified by?

The shedding of blood that's the way it was done Well now we're under a covenant. The blood was shed 2,000 years ago We're under the blood of Jesus, but so we're going to pray I Want you to pray out loud. I'm not gonna look and see who prays. This is not between you and me I may never see you again This is between you and God This is why I've called you forward. I want it to last Okay, if you're ready to pray I want you just to put your hands like this Say out loud these words you ready Lord Jesus, I need you. I Want you I Know I am a sinner I'm sorry for my sins I'm sorry for my unforgiveness Wash me by your blood I Forgive them You forgive them I Set them free I Set them free I Set them free Come Holy Spirit Thank you for your patience with me As best as I know how I give you my life In Jesus name Amen Now one last thing When you mess up and you will we're not perfect You will say something you shouldn't say you you break a rule the devil will say well You see you broke the Covenant. So forget it. Now. You're you know, don't let the do that's what the devil wants you to do you see I

Want this to last I want this to be a life-changing Never to be forgotten experience. And so when you mess up just say Lord, I'm sorry There's good old one John 1 9 if we confess our sins He's faithful and just to forgive our sins and it cleanses from all unrighteousness The moment you mess up just confess it right there that way you can have this relationship with God Never to be the same again I'm finished pastor. Where are you? I Said when we the service started that this would be a day that we would always remember You will long remember the day that you heard that message the Bible talks about prophets the Bible talks about elders the Bible even uses the word sage and I want you to know at 91 years young You have heard the man of God today bring a message to us that may be One of the most needed messages that the church needs to hear today and So in a moment campus pastors, I'm going to release this you to take the service But I want to pray for all of us right now Heavenly Father I Thank you for your servant RT Kendall And Lord you have used him mildly around the globe for the kingdom of God and the capital C Church but Lord we thank you that you've given him life to live another day and to minister life to us through your word and I pray that you'll keep him in good health and I pray that he'll continue To be able to preach the gospel and that you would keep your hand of both anointing and protection on his life And Lord, we want to keep that anointing that you've put on our lives today Thank you that you have forgiven us Thank you Jesus on the cross. You said father forgive them for they know not what they do. I

Thank you that every day you tell us to pray and as we pray the Lord's Prayer forgive us our debts as We forgive those who have trespassed against us And Lord, I pray the prayer in Ephesians That we would endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace being kind compassionate toward one another forgiving one another another, as God has forgiven us in Christ Jesus. Lord, thank you for victory, for strongholds that have been torn down, and for the filling of the Holy Spirit today, in Jesus' name, and everyone said, amen. Now that I am offline, I know that there may be some who want to speak to a pastor, you want to pray with someone, we'll be here at the altar and continue, even after this service is dismissed, but here at Hampton today, we have just a few of his newest books, and we don't have many, but we have one called Their Finest Hour, 30 Biblical Figures Who Pleased God at a Great Cost. He has a new book, I think this is the newest one, Doctrines of Demons from Angels of Light, Exposing Six Dangerous End Times Teachings That Threaten Your Soul. He's got a book called Pleasing God, The Greatest Joy and the Highest Honor. And I want to ask, can someone on our safety team right now just help Brother Artie, do you feel like going out there?

Sure. Okay, now be honest with me if you need to go rest. See, here's the thing. We'd get rid of them all if I signed them, so that. Oh, he didn't want to have to take them back, all right. So hey, safety team, can y'all help Brother Artie, and would you give it up one more time for the man of God? He's gonna escort you through the crowd before the crowd gets in front of you, all right? All right. And if y'all would, just let him move down the aisle. I'll finish reading these books here, okay? I told you, then he has the book, revised and updated. Watch this now, the message you just heard, total forgiveness, all right? So I encourage you to get them as long as they last, and I know that it'll be a blessing to you in time to come. Where's our worship team? Y'all don't want me to sing, and we're not gonna have a closing song, but we are gonna have some music if they'll come out. If not, I'll whistle, amen. But as you go out today, you have the opportunity to go by the book table. You wanna talk to somebody at the Next Step Center, we'll be there for you. You're ready to take that next step, and then we've got those on our staff who'll be here, and I'll be glad to pray with you at the close of the service.

All right, we got some music. Hey, we're gonna leave with joy in our heart. So I wanna send you out with blessing, and today, again, maybe there's somebody that needs to hear that sermon, and you can text them and say, come to the next service. You may just wanna pick up the book for them. Of course, they can go online and hear the message. If they don't live here in the area, you wanna send them to YouTube, let them watch that message. It will be on today and all of this week, and I just don't want us to miss what God is doing. I think too often, we don't live in the moment and really receive all that God has for us. What a powerful, powerful word today, and so I pray that you'll continue to walk in the spirit and live in the freedom of that forgiveness, and I do believe that this was the message we needed to hear before we start into 21 days of prayer next Sunday. All right, God's got more. Everybody say more. More that he wants to do in your life and in the life of our church. God bless you. You have a great day. If you want to come to the altar or continue, we wanna give you time and freedom to do that. We'll be here to receive you. God bless you.

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