Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / God’s Will, My Way Msg 320 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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God’s Will, My Way Msg 320 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: I want to dedicate the message this evening to those
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  Speaker 1: who have little difficulty knowing the will of God, but
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  Speaker 1: a lot of difficulty getting out of the way of
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  Speaker 1: God that He might do His will through you. It
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  Speaker 1: is one thing to know and do the will of God.
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  Speaker 1: It's another thing entirely to do it God's way. For example,
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  Speaker 1: he tells parents, train up a child in the way
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  Speaker 1: he should go. And every Christian parent knows that God
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  Speaker 1: wants trained children. And in our mind is the goal
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  Speaker 1: to train our children so that we might present to
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  Speaker 1: the world not savages, but controlled adults. However, he has
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  Speaker 1: mapped out the way children are to be trained. But
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  Speaker 1: we ignore that. With that goal in mind to train
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  Speaker 1: our children, we roll up our sleeves and we take
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  Speaker 1: it on, and we usually train as we were trained.
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  Speaker 1: We usually rear our children the way we were reared.
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  Speaker 1: And in the process of doing the will of God,
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  Speaker 1: we get in God's way. We do it our way,
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  Speaker 1: not God's way. There's another illustration. God calls some of
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  Speaker 1: you into vocational Christian service. You know that it is
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  Speaker 1: His plan that you be in some phase of the
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  Speaker 1: ministry full time. And if you don't watch it, you
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  Speaker 1: begin to pull strings and compete for the top spot.
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  Speaker 1: You begin to push and shove and manipulate until in
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  Speaker 1: a process of time, in a procedure, you actually... prostitute
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  Speaker 1: the calling that you have received from God. You're wanting
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  Speaker 1: to do the will of God, but you're carrying out
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  Speaker 1: the plan your way. There's an illustration even more personal
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  Speaker 1: than that. God makes it clear to some of you
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  Speaker 1: that he does not want you to remain single. He
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  Speaker 1: wants you to get married. You know you don't have
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  Speaker 1: the gift of celibacy. You know that you're very lonely.
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  Speaker 1: You know that as your life continues, you become increasingly
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  Speaker 1: more lonely. You know that God would have you be married.
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  Speaker 1: You say in effect to God, okay, Lord, I know
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  Speaker 1: your plan. Please get out of the way. When I
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  Speaker 1: get to the altar, I'll whistle. You come back and
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  Speaker 1: you bless the union and we'll make it under your
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  Speaker 1: plan or under your will. Now you're wanting to do
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  Speaker 1: the will of God, but you, through a process of manipulation, compromise, matchmaking,
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  Speaker 1: game playing, you get the one of your choice. And
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  Speaker 1: then you whistle as if to say, now God, you
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  Speaker 1: bless this union and you make it strong and you
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  Speaker 1: make it great. Because as you have led me, I
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  Speaker 1: am getting married today. Now, it may bring a little
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  Speaker 1: bit of comfort to you to know that this is
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  Speaker 1: nothing new. It goes as far back as a man
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  Speaker 1: who became highly qualified in his field of endeavor, but
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  Speaker 1: proved himself completely useless, even though he was a polished, capable,
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  Speaker 1: well-educated leader of men. I'm referring to Moses, and I
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  Speaker 1: want to have you mark two parts of your Bibles. First,
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  Speaker 1: I want you to put something over in Acts chapter 7,
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  Speaker 1: and then I want you to put a marker in
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  Speaker 1: Exodus chapter 2, because we're going to be going from
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  Speaker 1: one to the other several times, and you'll be spending
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  Speaker 1: your time finding those two passages if you don't mark
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  Speaker 1: them now. Acts chapter 7 and Exodus chapter 2. I
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  Speaker 1: want to read two sections of Scripture here, to fill
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  Speaker 1: you in on where we're going as we talk about
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  Speaker 1: this practical problem of doing God's will our way. First
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  Speaker 1: of all, let me read Exodus 2, beginning at verse 11,
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  Speaker 1: down through 15. And then I want to read over
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  Speaker 1: in Acts 7, beginning toward the middle of the chapter.
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  Speaker 1: We'll give you the verse in a moment. Exodus 2, 11.
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  Speaker 1: Now it came about in those days when Moses had
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  Speaker 1: grown up that he went out to his brethren and
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  Speaker 1: looked on their hard labors and he saw an Egyptian
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  Speaker 1: beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. So he looked
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  Speaker 1: this way and that. And when he saw there was
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  Speaker 1: no one around, he struck down the Egyptian and hid
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  Speaker 1: him in the sand. And he went out the next
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  Speaker 1: day and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other.
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  Speaker 1: And he said to the offender, why are you striking
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  Speaker 1: your companion? But he said, who made you a prince
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  Speaker 1: or a judge over us? Are you intending to kill
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  Speaker 1: me as you kill the Egyptian? Then Moses was afraid
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  Speaker 1: and said, surely the matter has become known. When Pharaoh
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  Speaker 1: heard this matter, he tried to kill Moses. But Moses
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  Speaker 1: fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the
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  Speaker 1: land of Midian, and he sat down by a well.
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  Speaker 1: Mark that passage and let me read Acts 7, beginning
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  Speaker 1: at verse 20. And it was at this time that
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  Speaker 1: Moses was born. And he was lovely in the sight
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  Speaker 1: of God. And he was nurtured three months in his
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  Speaker 1: father's house, father's home. And after he had been exposed,
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  Speaker 1: Pharaoh's daughter took him away and nurtured him as her
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  Speaker 1: own son. And Moses was educated in all the learning
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  Speaker 1: of the Egyptians. And he was a man of power
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  Speaker 1: in words and deeds. But when he was approaching the
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  Speaker 1: age of 40, it entered his mind to visit his brethren,
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  Speaker 1: the sons of Israel. And when he saw one of
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  Speaker 1: them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance
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  Speaker 1: for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. And he
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  Speaker 1: supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them
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  Speaker 1: deliverance through him. but they did not understand. And on
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  Speaker 1: the following day, he appeared to them as they were
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  Speaker 1: fighting together, and he tried to reconcile them in peace, saying, Men,
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  Speaker 1: you are brethren. Why do you injure one another? But
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  Speaker 1: the one who was injuring his neighbor pushed him away, saying,
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  Speaker 1: Who made you a ruler and judge over us? You
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  Speaker 1: do not mean to kill me as you killed the
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  Speaker 1: Egyptian yesterday, do you? And at this remark, Moses fled
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  Speaker 1: and became an alien in the land of Midian. Let's
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  Speaker 1: stop the reading right there. Last Sunday evening, we began
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  Speaker 1: the study of Moses. We discovered that he was a
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  Speaker 1: remarkable child. He was beautiful from birth. He was protected
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  Speaker 1: through an incredible chain of events provided by his mother, father,
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  Speaker 1: and the Lord God. When it came to pass that
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  Speaker 1: he could no longer be hidden from the Egyptian sword,
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  Speaker 1: he was placed in a little wicker basket and put
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  Speaker 1: in the reeds among the Nile. And then he was
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  Speaker 1: later found by the daughter of Pharaoh. And at the
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  Speaker 1: suggestion of Moses' sister, Miriam, he was allowed by the
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  Speaker 1: daughter of Pharaoh to be nursed by his own mother.
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  Speaker 1: And we concluded last week's message by pointing out that
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  Speaker 1: Moses was given a few years of training in his
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  Speaker 1: own home. And we thrilled with the thought of that
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  Speaker 1: investment of time. We even emphasized the importance of mothers
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  Speaker 1: spending time with preschoolers so that God might work through
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  Speaker 1: your capable hands and your knowledgeable heart to invest into
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  Speaker 1: that child, deposit into that child, godly guidance and care
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  Speaker 1: because in time to come the boy or the girl
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  Speaker 1: would be ushered into society to live his own life.
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  Speaker 1: Now we left it at that, but tonight we pick
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  Speaker 1: up where we left off. We noticed this evening as
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  Speaker 1: we read in Exodus chapter 2 that Moses was in
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  Speaker 1: fact adopted by Pharaoh's daughter. Go back to Exodus and
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  Speaker 1: hold that Acts passage available. We'll be back to it
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  Speaker 1: in just a minute. You will notice the very first
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  Speaker 1: thing the Pharaoh's daughter did after taking the child to herself.
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  Speaker 1: And we don't know his name. That is, we don't
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  Speaker 1: know his age. But she named him Moses. She gave
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  Speaker 1: him a new name right away. Verse 10 tells us,
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  Speaker 1: she named him Moses because I drew him out of
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  Speaker 1: the water. She gave him a name that depicted his
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  Speaker 1: being found. And secondly, she began to prepare him for
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  Speaker 1: the court. Josephus in his antiquities tells us that Pharaoh
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  Speaker 1: at that time had no son. And Moses was being
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  Speaker 1: nurtured for the throne. Partly I believe that. Historians bear
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  Speaker 1: this out. Moses was being nurtured quite possibly to take
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  Speaker 1: the place of Pharaoh when he died. Now you can
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  Speaker 1: imagine the change in Moses' life when he began to
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  Speaker 1: be nurtured by this woman in the Egyptian court. Turn
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  Speaker 1: from Exodus to Acts again and look at verse 21
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  Speaker 1: of verse 20. He was born, he was nurtured three
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  Speaker 1: months in his father's home, and then 21 says, after
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  Speaker 1: he was exposed, the daughter took him away, Pharaoh's daughter,
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  Speaker 1: and nurtured him as her own son. The word nurture
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  Speaker 1: means to rear, to educate, to train. She put him
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  Speaker 1: through the training of the Egyptian home. It was a
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  Speaker 1: lot different from the Hebrew home. He moved from a
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  Speaker 1: little humble home in the Hamlet area of Goshen, where
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  Speaker 1: his mom and dad lived. He moved to the very
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  Speaker 1: court of the king. Now, it doesn't take a lot
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  Speaker 1: of imagination to picture the contrast. Probably given not a
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  Speaker 1: little room, but a suite of rooms. No longer given
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  Speaker 1: the tutored care of a mother, he was given to
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  Speaker 1: the hands of polished men teachers in the Egyptian court.
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  Speaker 1: They began to tutor him in the protocol and the
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  Speaker 1: lifestyle and the culture of Egyptian living. He went through
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  Speaker 1: the whole process of a reorientation. He was being designed
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  Speaker 1: for the throne. The next verse tells us he was
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  Speaker 1: educated in all the learning of the Egyptians. The original
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  Speaker 1: text says, all the wisdom of the Egyptians. That was
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  Speaker 1: a colloquialism of that day. When a person was brilliant,
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  Speaker 1: he was referred to as having the wisdom of the Egyptians.
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  Speaker 1: Let me tell you why. One who was reared in
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  Speaker 1: Egypt with a silver spoon in his mouth had the
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  Speaker 1: benefit of attending the temple of the sun. Archaeologists have
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  Speaker 1: done a great service to us today as well as
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  Speaker 1: historians in unearthing and bringing to our attention some things
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  Speaker 1: about this educational area of Egypt. This Temple of the
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  Speaker 1: Sun was a remarkable place to study. It has been
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  Speaker 1: called by some the Oxford of the ancient world. The
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  Speaker 1: course of study that he carried out was as follows.
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  Speaker 1: First of all, he began to learn the mysterious hieroglyph.
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  Speaker 1: If you know much about languages, you know that of
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  Speaker 1: all the languages that have ever been put into writing
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  Speaker 1: or onto pieces of paper for people to study, this
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  Speaker 1: is perhaps the most difficult. It is not a language
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  Speaker 1: of characters. It is a language of symbols, pictorial symbols.
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  Speaker 1: I looked just this week into my books and found
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  Speaker 1: a series of hieroglyphic writings. It's a remarkable thing. There
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  Speaker 1: are little pelican looking creatures and then it's followed by
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  Speaker 1: a crow's foot and then three dashes and then a head.
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  Speaker 1: And it's supposed to say something, you know, as you
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  Speaker 1: read it. In fact, one scholar says it took some
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  Speaker 1: people a lifetime to master the hieroglyphics. Moses began to
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  Speaker 1: learn the language of the Egyptians. He began to study
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  Speaker 1: at great length the sciences, medicine, astronomy, Chemistry, theology, philosophy.
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  Speaker 1: He gained a knowledge of law. And then he learned
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  Speaker 1: the arts, sculpture, music, painting. And the whole world of
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  Speaker 1: Egyptian literature was opened to Moses. And he became a
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  Speaker 1: student in the schools of the Egyptians. He imbibed all
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  Speaker 1: of that knowledge and it became a part of his life.
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  Speaker 1: I'll pause here and add that even though it isn't
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  Speaker 1: verified in Scripture, there are historians that tell us Moses
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  Speaker 1: was a fast learner, and it didn't take him long
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  Speaker 1: to grasp the languages and the sciences and these heavy courses.
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  Speaker 1: It's a lot different from schooling today, isn't it? Aren't
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  Speaker 1: you glad you're not going to the Temple of the Sun?
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  Speaker 1: No football scholarships? In those days, no basket weaving majors,
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  Speaker 1: you know. It was different then. They studied then. They
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  Speaker 1: really got the subjects down. And Moses became a keen
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  Speaker 1: thinking man. This is the only verse in all the
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  Speaker 1: Bible that tells us he learned the wisdom of the Egyptians.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, it tells us the results. He was respected
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  Speaker 1: in the land. He was mighty in words and deeds.
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  Speaker 1: He was a man of power and influence. By the
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  Speaker 1: time he reached 30, extra-biblical historians tell us he had
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  Speaker 1: already led the Egyptian army to a smashing victory over
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  Speaker 1: the Ethiopians. He was a military strategist. He was respected,
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  Speaker 1: bronzed from the sun, scarred from battle Wise in a
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  Speaker 1: worldly sense. And handsome. He was highly qualified, but he
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  Speaker 1: was vulnerable. Which is the whole point of what I
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  Speaker 1: want to talk about this evening. When it says that
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  Speaker 1: he was a man of power in words and deeds,
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  Speaker 1: it means that he was able in himself to sway
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  Speaker 1: the masses and And he was more than just an
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  Speaker 1: intellectual genius. He could speak with ease and he could
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  Speaker 1: back up his talking with courageous heroism. He was a
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  Speaker 1: man of great deeds. He was prime for the throne.
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  Speaker 1: He was the pride of Egypt. And then something happened.
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  Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, it is what I have
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  Speaker 1: called in the outline you received, Operation Self-Will. I'm glad
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  Speaker 1: we're still in the Acts passage because it's the place
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  Speaker 1: to start in sharing with you four steps that invariably
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  Speaker 1: occur when the flesh takes over. But just before I
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  Speaker 1: give you those four, let me add a thought that
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  Speaker 1: is not recorded specifically in Scripture. Some people believe that
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  Speaker 1: Moses did not know the will of God for his
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  Speaker 1: life until the burning bush when he was 80 years old.
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  Speaker 1: I was taught that when I was growing up. That
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  Speaker 1: the first time he knew he was to be the
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  Speaker 1: deliverer was when he was in the desert and he
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  Speaker 1: saw the bush burning and God spoke to him and said,
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  Speaker 1: I want you to be my spokesman. I want you
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  Speaker 1: to redeem the people of Israel from the land of bondage.
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  Speaker 1: I'm now convinced that's not true. I don't have a
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  Speaker 1: verse to show you otherwise, but I have some implications
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  Speaker 1: that I want to point out this evening. I think
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  Speaker 1: Moses knew while he was still in the Egyptian court
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  Speaker 1: that God wanted him to be the deliverer. It is
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  Speaker 1: not recorded in a verse of Scripture, but it is
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  Speaker 1: implied in Scripture. I believe that before he reached the
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  Speaker 1: age of 40, God put it in his mind that
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  Speaker 1: he was to be the one to lead the people
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  Speaker 1: out of bondage. And having made that statement, I want
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  Speaker 1: to build my case on it because Moses, knowing the
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  Speaker 1: will of God, began to carry it out Moses' way.
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  Speaker 1: Here are the steps. First of all, verse 23. When
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  Speaker 1: he was approaching the age of 40, it entered his
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  Speaker 1: mind to visit his brethren, the sons of Israel. Now
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  Speaker 1: he's visited them before. He's seen the Hebrews. You couldn't
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  Speaker 1: go outside the court without seeing Hebrews. They were all
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  Speaker 1: over the place. They were the slaves of Egypt. But
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  Speaker 1: in his mind was a plan. First step. The idea
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  Speaker 1: was initiated by Moses, not God. When you know the
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  Speaker 1: will of God for your life, and you become anxious
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  Speaker 1: to carry it out, then you prompt the initial ideas
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  Speaker 1: to get it started. You will not read in Acts
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  Speaker 1: or Exodus or any other section of Scripture where God lives.
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  Speaker 1: Moses to do what he did in the killing of
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  Speaker 1: this Egyptian. It says in verse 23, it entered his
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  Speaker 1: mind to visit the brethren, the sons of Israel. Hold
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  Speaker 1: your place and go back to Exodus. Look at the
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  Speaker 1: parallel passage. When Moses had grown up, he went out
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  Speaker 1: to his brethren and looked on their hard labors. He
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  Speaker 1: saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren.
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  Speaker 1: Now he was in a vulnerable position. I'm convinced in
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  Speaker 1: my heart that he knew he was to redeem Israel.
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  Speaker 1: But I'm convinced also he became antsy. He became anxious.
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  Speaker 1: He prompted a premature plan that resulted in disaster. So
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  Speaker 1: desirous of carrying out the will of God, doing great
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  Speaker 1: things for God, he forced a situation which led to murder.
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  Speaker 1: You'll notice that it says in verse 11, he saw
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  Speaker 1: this Egyptian man beating this Hebrew who was a brethren,
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  Speaker 1: one of his brethren. He a Hebrew, this fellow who
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  Speaker 1: was being beaten was a Hebrew, and Moses' heart went
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  Speaker 1: out to him. Then it happened. Verse 12. He looked
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  Speaker 1: this way and that. I want you to picture that
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  Speaker 1: in your mind. Just stop and think about that for
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  Speaker 1: a minute. He was man-conscious. He saw this going on
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  Speaker 1: and he realized in his own mind, now's my chance
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  Speaker 1: to make my move. And so he, as it were,
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  Speaker 1: rolled up his sleeves and took on this inequity, this
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  Speaker 1: unfair treatment. It says in the verse, after he looked
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  Speaker 1: this way and that and saw there was no one around,
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  Speaker 1: he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.
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  Speaker 1: Point number two, the procedure was energized by the flesh.
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  Speaker 1: The first point was the idea was initiated by Moses.
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  Speaker 1: The second, the procedure was energized by the flesh. You
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  Speaker 1: do not read where God said to Moses, move into
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  Speaker 1: this situation and make it right. Moses made that decision
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  Speaker 1: on his own two feet. He looked this way and
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  Speaker 1: he looked that way. Now be careful here. Let's not
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  Speaker 1: be too critical of him as far as motive is concerned.
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  Speaker 1: I'm convinced he was absolutely sincere. I don't think there
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  Speaker 1: was an illicit thought in his mind. I really believe
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  Speaker 1: that he had at his heart the desire to do
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  Speaker 1: something right. The problem was he was dedicated to the
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  Speaker 1: will of God. but not dedicated to the God whose
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  Speaker 1: will it was. Now pause and let that sink in
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  Speaker 1: a minute. You can become so dedicated to the will
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  Speaker 1: of God in seeing yourself as a capable and gifted individual,
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  Speaker 1: you can be driven by a false sense of dedication. Dedication.
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  Speaker 1: Driven by a false sense of dedication. Certainly that taskmaster
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  Speaker 1: needed to be dealt with. Certainly it was wrong what
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  Speaker 1: he did to that Hebrew. But the point is, Moses
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  Speaker 1: stepped in and began a procedure energized by the flesh.
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  Speaker 1: You're highly qualified. You're gifted as a teacher. You want
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  Speaker 1: terribly to be involved in teaching and all of a sudden...
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  Speaker 1: An opportunity presents itself, and if you don't watch it,
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  Speaker 1: driven by a sense of dedication to the task of
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  Speaker 1: getting out the word, you'll move right in and become
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  Speaker 1: the teacher. And all the while, God waits for his
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  Speaker 1: counsel to be asked. And in the process of time,
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  Speaker 1: he puts no blessing on the activity. You're an individual
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  Speaker 1: that senses God has something for you to do in
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  Speaker 1: a certain area, and if you don't watch it, you
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  Speaker 1: will push and shove and force your way, looking this
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  Speaker 1: way and that, being man conscious all the time. The
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  Speaker 1: problem was he didn't look that way, did he? He
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  Speaker 1: never did look up. He looked both ways on a horizontal,
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  Speaker 1: and he saw nobody. And then what did he do?
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: with the leftovers? Well, it says that he hid the
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: Egyptian in the sand. May I add a spiritual application
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: to that? Invariably, when you act in the flesh, you
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: will have to cover up something. Have you ever had
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: that experience? You'll have to cover up your motive. You
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: will have to cover up a contact you made to
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: manipulate the plan. You will have to cover up the
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: corpse that you have created in the fleshly activity of
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: the procedure. It's just a matter of time before that
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: catches up with you. This is a good time also
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: to emphasize that those who are exceedingly capable and gifted
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: are also cursed with vulnerabilities. You that are highly qualified
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: live on the cutting edge of the enemy's attack. He
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: wants you to act in the flesh. You will be
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: driven with a sense of need and a false dedication.
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: Not asking God's counsel, you'll step in and by and
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: by you'll find yourself with a corpse on your hands
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: and you'll start digging graves to cover it up. It's
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: amazing to me that Moses couldn't even bury an Egyptian right.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: Isn't that interesting? I bet he left his toes sticking
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: out of the sand. He couldn't even cover the Egyptian up.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: You know, when God took over in Moses' life, was
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: he able to cover up the Egyptians? Why, the entire
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: army walking through the Red Sea, chariots and all, was
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: buried by God. When God's in it, there's no failure.
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: But when the flesh is in it, you can't even
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: bury the consequences. They haunt you. They dog your steps.
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: That's why he looked this way and that way. He
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: was operating in the flesh. So we had to make
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: sure the coast was clear before he pulled it off. Oh,
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: but it caught up with him. Step number three. The
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: act led to confusion and failure. Don't miss that one.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: That's where misery starts. Up till now, it looks like success.
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: Prompted by yourself, energized by the flesh. Well, you've got
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: a good thing going. You're getting your act together. And
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: all of a sudden, because you're trying to do God's
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: will your way, you discover that confusion and failure... Mark
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: your steps. Go back to Acts chapter 7 for a moment.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: Look at verse 24. When he saw one of them
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. And he supposed.
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: That's why I'm saying he was sincere. He was sincere.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: He supposed his brethren understood that God was granting deliverance.
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: That's why I'm saying he knew he was to be
• 28:34
  Speaker 1: the deliverer before the burning bush. He thought what God
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: had told him, he'd informed everybody. And he thought when
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: he did the job of murdering the Egyptian, there would
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: be those rallying around him and saying, Oh Moses, let's
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: do it now. But you know what that verse says?
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: It says they did not understand. They were confused. He
• 29:03
  Speaker 1: was confused. His plan was marked by failure and confusion.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: He knew that it was God's desire to use him mightily.
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: And he set out to do it his own way.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: And it didn't work. The verse goes on to say,
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: or the passage goes on to say, the following day
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: he appeared to them. and they were fighting. Now why
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: did he go back the next day? I hope I'm
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: not reading into it what I shouldn't. But I'm convinced
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: he went back to carry out his plan. He had
• 29:54
  Speaker 1: gotten plan A taken care of. Now he went back
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: to gather his group together. And he found them fighting.
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: Fighting.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: And when he began to take charge and rebuke one
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: for fighting the other, they didn't listen to his counsel,
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: did they? Remember what they said? Verse 27, who made
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: you a ruler and judge over me? Meaning, you're not
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: our leader. Who do you think you are? J. Oswald
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Sanders does a beautiful job in his book, Spiritual Clinic,
• 30:30
  Speaker 1: talking about Spiritual leadership. He said, I suppose if you
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: really want to know who is a spiritual leader, you
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: ought to look around and see how many who are
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: spiritual are following him. It's a pretty simple plan, isn't it?
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: Sort of a meat and potatoes answer. If you're a
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: spiritual leader, spiritual people follow your leadership. That's true of
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: any leader. If you're a leader, people follow. But they
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: didn't follow Moses. Hey, let's level with each other. Ever
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: had an experience like this? You just get all jacked
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: up in your heart, making plans, you know, planning great
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: things for God. Somebody talks about setting goals. You know,
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: you sit home and you set goals and you write
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: them down. Nothing wrong with setting goals. But goals that
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: are not brought before the Lord for His counsel are
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: useless and worthless. And they'll lead you to confusion and defeat.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: And then you begin to put into operation that plan. Oh,
• 31:37
  Speaker 1: it looks great. You make plans for a Bible class
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: in your home, or you and your wife, you and
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: your husband work together, get it all ready, provide delicious refreshments,
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: and 7.30 comes, and there's silence. 8 o'clock? Silence. 8.30?
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: A film forms over... The refreshments. Coffee gets cold. I
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: had a fellow tell me some time ago he planned
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: a real big rally with a group of collegians. Man,
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: he said, we planned all sorts of arrangements and all
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: neat little things and we had the perfect place to meet.
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: We publicized it. We got it going. Eight people showed up.
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: We had a room that could have seated.
• 32:27
  Speaker 2: Why, 250.
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: Nobody came. Confusion. I'll tell you, that'll confuse you. It's
• 32:41
  Speaker 1: at that time you need to back off right then
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: and analyze, was God in this? Let me give you
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: a motto to live by. I try. I fail. I trust.
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: He succeeds. He succeeds. You remember that. If it's an
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: energy of the flesh, it's doomed to failure. It's just
• 33:12
  Speaker 1: a matter of time before they'll dig up the corpse.
• 33:17
  Speaker 1: But when you simply trust him to give you the
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: next step, he'll open doors or close them, and you'll
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: rest and relax. Now we're ready for the fourth. Turn
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: to Exodus chapter 2, please. Exodus 2, finally. The plan
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: created unbearable conditions. That's the fourth step. It was initiated
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: in your own mind. It was energized by your own flesh.
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: It resulted in confusion and failure. And it finally led
• 34:03
  Speaker 1: or will lead to unbearable conditions. Let me show you why.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: Verse 14, Moses was afraid. You see, when he was
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: found out, when his well-kept secret became scandalous knowledge, he
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: was afraid. And acting on fear, Verse 15 tells us
• 34:34
  Speaker 1: he fled from the presence of Pharaoh. Why? Well, because
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: verse 15 adds Pharaoh tried to kill Moses. It was
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: an unbearable situation. Pharaoh could no longer bear having a
• 34:57
  Speaker 1: man like that around. It led to awful It is
• 35:05
  Speaker 1: very possible that some of you are living with those
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: kind of consequences. Your life has a track record, perhaps,
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: of having a great deal of zeal, but little knowledge.
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: A great deal of desire, but little discernment. A great
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: deal of knowledge, but little wisdom. And so you have
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: run the rabbit trails right to the dead end street.
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: One after another. You've run faster each time. But none
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: of them have succeeded. You have come to an unbearable situation.
• 35:46
  Speaker 1: And I think there's something a lot worse than being
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: at the end of a self-life. And that's still being
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: in the middle of it. Frankly. Frankly. You say, well,
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: I'm 35 years old. I ought to know better. Moses
• 36:05
  Speaker 1: was 40. You say, well, man, you should see. I've
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: got the training like you can't believe. Better than Moses? See,
• 36:15
  Speaker 1: that's part of the problem. We know more than we're
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: safe to handle. You don't need more schooling. You don't
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: need more education. You need wisdom. And that takes time.
• 36:34
  Speaker 1: That takes failure. Next week, I want to talk about
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: lessons learned from failure. And it's right along that very
• 36:43
  Speaker 1: line I want to bear these thoughts upon you. Now,
• 36:48
  Speaker 1: after finding himself completely useless, he fled from the presence
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: of Egypt and And it tells us in verse 15,
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: he settled in the land of Midian and sat down
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: by a well. You take the time to picture that
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: in your mind. Moses, highly qualified to be completely useless.
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: He wrapped his robes of royalty around him and he
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: struck out running. My sister gave me a book years
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: ago entitled God's Wilderness. It's a beautiful piece. It's a
• 37:29
  Speaker 1: series of pictures from the Sinai Desert, from Midian all
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: the way up to the other side of that great mountain.
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: And I looked through that this last Friday afternoon. I
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: just thumbed through and read a few sketches here and there,
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: but I looked at the pictures to get in my
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: mind's eye the desert that Moses lived Set down in. Oh, man.
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: It'll make Palm Springs area just look like a Sunday
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: school class. It's really barren. Hot, arid sand mixed with
• 38:14
  Speaker 1: chunks of rock and little old scraggly bushes. Barren, parched, arid.
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: And you can see Moses stumbling through that area with
• 38:26
  Speaker 1: his sandals on and his robes and tearing himself in
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: those bushes and the thickets, getting away from Pharaoh, running
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: as fast as he could run. His education now meant
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: nothing to him. His life was at stake. That's the
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: awful consequence of being driven by the flesh. And all
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: the way to the end of that running, he was
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: probably just guilty and eating his heart out. feeling like
• 38:54
  Speaker 1: God can never use me. Maybe it's where you are tonight. Oh,
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: Pastor Chuck, I've tried this, I've tried that, I've tried this,
• 39:06
  Speaker 1: I've tried that. It doesn't work. I'm saying to you,
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: you're probably getting your very best level of education right now.
• 39:19
  Speaker 1: I want to point out two final thoughts from verse 15.
• 39:23
  Speaker 1: The first is this. When the self life has run
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: its course we settle in a desert that's first when
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: the self life has run its course we settle in
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: a desert you won't quit running in the flesh until
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: you get to the desert when you get there you'll
• 39:49
  Speaker 1: stop And the feeling will be, oh, will God ever,
• 39:55
  Speaker 1: ever use me? There you sit. But will you notice
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: that he sat down by a well? That's beautiful, isn't it?
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: Point number two. When the self-life sits down, the well
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: of a new life is near. When will we ever
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: learn that? Highly qualified, capable people seldom sit down. The
• 40:40
  Speaker 1: roots grow deep when the winds are strong and we
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: are still. He sat down by the well at the
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: end of a self-driven life and there was fresh, cool
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: water to drink right next to him. Will you listen
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: carefully to this? These are not my words. Moses was
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: out of touch with God, so he fled. He crossed
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: the desert and threaded the mountain passes of the Sinai
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: Peninsula through which in after years he was to lead
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: his people Such experiences come to us all. We rush forward,
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: thinking to carry everyone with us. We strike a few
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: blows in vain, and we are staggered with disappointment. We
• 41:44
  Speaker 1: reel back. We are afraid. We flee from the scene
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: to hide ourselves in chagrin. then we are hidden in
• 41:58
  Speaker 1: the secret of God's presence, broken and bruised. The silt
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: drops from the current of our life. Our self-life dies down.
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: Our spirit drinks from the well of God, which is
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: full of fresh water. our faith begins to grasp his
• 42:31
  Speaker 1: arm to be the channel for the manifestation of his power.
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: And at last, we emerge to be his hand to
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: lead an exodus. It's a strange request, but what I
• 42:55
  Speaker 1: am closing with is to ask you to sit down.
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: Sit down. Many of you have stood long enough. You
• 43:13
  Speaker 1: have fought and pushed and manipulated your way long enough.
• 43:18
  Speaker 1: And God is saying, quit. Let me handle it. Sit
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: in the hot sands of the desert where you have
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: brought yourself and realize right next to you is the
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: well full of water. And it's God's delight to just
• 43:42
  Speaker 1: bring that bucket up anytime you need it and refresh
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: your soul. Sit down. May we bow together. The message
• 43:59
  Speaker 1: this evening is appealing to only a select group of
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: people here tonight. That's why I dedicated it to them.
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: You might be in the center of God's will and
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: enjoying the majesty of his best blessings and I say
• 44:15
  Speaker 1: praise God. No reason to feel you're acting in the
• 44:19
  Speaker 1: flesh if he's blessing. But I address you that have
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: pushed and tried and forced and planned and Ached. Acted
• 44:32
  Speaker 1: with a false sense of dedication. I charge you to
• 44:39
  Speaker 1: stop trying to do God's will your way. In the
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: closing moments of this service, it might be a perfect
• 44:52
  Speaker 1: occasion for you to counsel with God about your your past.
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: Ask him to help you know what it means to
• 45:05
  Speaker 1: be still and know that he is God. Thank him
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: for his patience. Thank him for the deep, hot sand
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: that has brought you to the realization that that in
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: your flesh you have no good thing. Give yourself to
• 45:39
  Speaker 1: him afresh and anew. I think I'll ask Ed Neuenschwander
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: to step up to the pulpit and dismiss us with prayer.
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: He's going to pray, but you may wish to pray
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: on your behalf where you're sitting. So let's just worship
• 46:01
  Speaker 1: in these few moments as we have in these previous moments.
• 46:09
  Speaker 2: Father, the self seems to be such a strong instrument.
• 46:16
  Speaker 2: It seems that we center so much of our lives
• 46:18
  Speaker 2: around just what we want. We choose friends because They
• 46:26
  Speaker 2: satisfy us in certain ways. Seldom do we think of
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: how we might satisfy them. We get bored with our
• 46:37
  Speaker 2: jobs because they don't provide us the challenge we think
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: we need. Dads like certain kinds of recreation to do
• 46:49
  Speaker 2: with their kids if it brings challenge to them, those
• 46:53
  Speaker 2: less challenging jobs. may fall to the mom. Maybe we
• 47:01
  Speaker 2: don't want to serve in a particular area of instruction
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: with junior age children. It isn't exciting enough for us.
• 47:14
  Speaker 2: And Lord, all of our lives we seem to wrestle
• 47:17
  Speaker 2: with this because of the battle that goes on between
• 47:20
  Speaker 2: the spiritual man and the natural man. Probably the rest
• 47:30
  Speaker 2: of the evening, different ones could give very vivid testimonies
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: of what it is to have set out to do
• 47:41
  Speaker 2: good things in the flesh to have the most barren
• 47:45
  Speaker 2: results occur. And for some, Father, it's probably very painful
• 47:53
  Speaker 2: to look back. And not only painful, probably very embarrassing
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: I know in my own life, Father, such would be
• 48:02
  Speaker 2: the case. Lord, I know you wouldn't have had us
• 48:10
  Speaker 2: come tonight to be impressed with a message that has
• 48:15
  Speaker 2: contained a great deal of content. You would only wish
• 48:21
  Speaker 2: for us to come tonight to have a behavior change
• 48:26
  Speaker 2: result that is significant Father, may we just sit down.
• 48:39
  Speaker 2: Cease the activity and simply sit down. I guess that's
• 48:48
  Speaker 2: our homework, Lord. We realize that we could not sit
• 48:53
  Speaker 2: down in our own power. It takes more effort to
• 48:58
  Speaker 2: sit down than that for us. Thank you that the
• 49:03
  Speaker 2: power of your spirit is available to help us remove
• 49:09
  Speaker 2: ourselves from our feet.
• 49:12
  Speaker 1: May we do it.
• 49:13
  Speaker 2: May we simply do it.
• 49:17
  Speaker 1: In Jesus' name, we pray.
• 49:20
  Speaker 3: Amen the preceding message God's will my way was copyrighted
• 49:27
  Speaker 3: in 1975 1978 1981 1985 1998 and 2024 and the
• 49:28
  Speaker 3: sound recording was copyrighted in 2024 and.
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: By Charles R.
• 49:40
  Speaker 3: Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted
• 49:46
  Speaker 3: material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.