Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / Going from Bad to Worse Msg 920 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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Going from Bad to Worse Msg 920 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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  Speaker 1: Never had one of those days that started bad and
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  Speaker 1: got worse as the day went on. Yeah, some of
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  Speaker 1: you are saying, Oh, if you had a month, I
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  Speaker 1: could tell you about one day last week. Missus Monroe
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  Speaker 1: of Darlington, Maryland has a story to tell about a
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  Speaker 1: life like that. In fact, the day like that. John
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  Speaker 1: Haggie on his fine book How to Win Over Worry
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  Speaker 1: tells the story, and it's true. Miss Monroe has eight children.
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  Speaker 1: It's bad enough to start with, but that's not the story.
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  Speaker 1: She came home one day with armload full of groceries,
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  Speaker 1: and she bumped the front door open, and before she
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  Speaker 1: set the groceries down, she saw five of her little
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  Speaker 1: darlings sitting right in the middle of the living room floor,
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  Speaker 1: intensely interested in something. They were, as every parent could understand,
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  Speaker 1: unusually quiet, sitting in that little circle. And so she
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  Speaker 1: set the groceries down, and she leaned over and she
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  Speaker 1: saw five of the cutest little skunks you could imagine,
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  Speaker 1: right in that circle, and they were playing with them.
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  Speaker 1: And she said to the children, children, run, and each
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  Speaker 1: kid grabbed a skunk and ran. She was frantic. She
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  Speaker 1: was frantic, and she carried on in such a way
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  Speaker 1: that she scared each child so much he squeezed his skunk.
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  Speaker 1: Oh man, yeah, it's uh as Haggie, I says, And
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  Speaker 1: skunks don't like to be squats. You feel sort of
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  Speaker 1: like the fighter who, after getting the pulp beat out
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  Speaker 1: of him, said he should have stood in bed that day,
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  Speaker 1: you know, he should have stayed home altogether. Or like
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  Speaker 1: the sign I saw in an office, the faster I go,
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  Speaker 1: the behind her, I get. You've had a day like
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  Speaker 1: that lately. Maybe it helps a little bit to know
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  Speaker 1: you're not alone. It really does. As a matter of fact,
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  Speaker 1: a man as mighty and as impressive as Moses had
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  Speaker 1: a day like that. Our feeling about Moses is that
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  Speaker 1: he is some sort of stone saint, sort of a
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  Speaker 1: marble statue. Our concept, thanks to Michelangelo and other great men,
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  Speaker 1: has twisted our minds. I want you to know that
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  Speaker 1: he is merely a man just like you and me,
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  Speaker 1: with drives and impulses and feelings and highs and lows,
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  Speaker 1: just like us. A lady who's been listening to the
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  Speaker 1: tapes lately in an area where they don't have a church,
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  Speaker 1: or apparently she's not able to find something better to do,
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  Speaker 1: so she's listening to the tapes, and she's began to
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  Speaker 1: listen to those. On Moses. She took the time to
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  Speaker 1: write me a nice note, and I've lifted a line
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  Speaker 1: from the note she sent because it is so typical.
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  Speaker 1: She says, you know, I'm beginning to know Moses so well.
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  Speaker 1: He no longer looks like Charlton Heston. That's good. That's good.
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  Speaker 1: Moses doesn't look like Charlton Heston. Cecil B. DeMille did
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  Speaker 1: not call the shots in Moses' life. He did not
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  Speaker 1: design that man. And I have a feeling that Moses
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  Speaker 1: is so far removed from the concept of Charlton Heston
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  Speaker 1: that we cannot even draw any similarity between the two.
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  Speaker 1: He was a man's man, but he had weaknesses. And
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  Speaker 1: we're going to look at one of those days that
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  Speaker 1: he probably wished could have been erased from his memory,
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  Speaker 1: one of the days like Msmon experienced, a day like
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  Speaker 1: you've had lately, where looking back, you sort of wish
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  Speaker 1: somehow it could be erased. And I hope in the
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  Speaker 1: process of this analysis you'll find some encouragement. Turn to
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  Speaker 1: Exodus chapter five. We're going to look at two chapters
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  Speaker 1: five and six in the Book of Exodus, and I
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  Speaker 1: hope that we get from these two chapters a realistic
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  Speaker 1: appraisal of a man who was real, but a man
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  Speaker 1: who had a hard day when things went from bad
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  Speaker 1: to worse. Now woven into the fabric of these two
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  Speaker 1: chapters are three major personalities. There is Pharaoh, there is Moses,
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  Speaker 1: and of course there is Jehovah himself. All three are
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  Speaker 1: seen in these two chapters. The predominant personality, of course,
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  Speaker 1: is the Lord, the predominant, and a human personality is Moses.
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  Speaker 1: But the catalyst in the midst of these two chapters
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  Speaker 1: is Jehovah. He or I should say, is Pharaoh. He
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  Speaker 1: is the reason things got bent out of shape for Moses.
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  Speaker 1: I find in the fifth chapter, especially, a cycle of
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  Speaker 1: events that repeats itself several times. There is an announcement
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  Speaker 1: followed by a reaction leading to anger, resulting in blame,
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  Speaker 1: followed by an announcement leading to a reaction that turns
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  Speaker 1: to anger and results in blame, followed by an announcement.
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  Speaker 1: In other words, it is flowing all the way through
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  Speaker 1: the chapter. Now the announcement to begin with is found
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  Speaker 1: in verse one. Remember, now Moses and Aaron are off
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  Speaker 1: a spiritual high. They have just had a tremendous Bible
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  Speaker 1: conference with the peace people of Israel, and they have
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  Speaker 1: assembled together according to the last three verses of chapter four,
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  Speaker 1: and the people have said, we believe in you. Moses
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  Speaker 1: will stand behind you. We're trusting God to work through
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  Speaker 1: your leadership to get us out of the land of Egypt. Now,
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  Speaker 1: of course they had one mindset, and God had another.
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  Speaker 1: God had told Moses it wouldn't be without its difficulties.
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  Speaker 1: But you know how we are. We don't want to
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  Speaker 1: think about that part of the plan. We just want
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  Speaker 1: to think about deliverance. And so, fresh off that marvelous
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  Speaker 1: experience of loyalty and devotion, that crest of emotion, Moses
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  Speaker 1: and Aaron Chapter five, verse one appear before the God
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  Speaker 1: of the land, Pharaoh. Afterward, Moses and Aaron came and
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  Speaker 1: said to Pharaoh, Thus says Jehovah, the God of Israel,
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  Speaker 1: let my people go, that they may celebrate a feast
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  Speaker 1: to me in the wilderness. Now that's a good direct mandate.
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  Speaker 1: It wasn't a request, it was a declaration. It was
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  Speaker 1: a command. Pharaoh, let the Hebrews go. Now you've got
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  Speaker 1: to appreciate even though you cannot possibly enter into it,
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  Speaker 1: nor can I the impact of a man like Pharaoh.
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  Speaker 1: He was the god of Egypt. He was worshiped, There
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  Speaker 1: were built in his honor, the spaints there were exalted
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  Speaker 1: in the land, gods that carried his name. What he
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  Speaker 1: said occurred, and through the movement of magic and the
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  Speaker 1: incredible demonic powers that he carried with him. He was
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  Speaker 1: an impressive personality, as were all of those in the
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  Speaker 1: line of Pharaoh. Moses and Aaron, fresh off a desert experience,
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  Speaker 1: stood before the Majesty of the land, and they commanded
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  Speaker 1: him to let the Hebrews go. I'm sure in moses
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  Speaker 1: mind he thought, now it's going to happen. Oh, but
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  Speaker 1: it didn't. Look at Pharaoh's response, who is the lord?
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  Speaker 1: Who is this Jehovah that I should obey his voice
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  Speaker 1: to let Israel go? I don't know, Jehovah, And besides,
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  Speaker 1: I will not let Israel go. Wow, that's bad news,
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  Speaker 1: isn't he. Here's Moses expecting a response, a positive agreement,
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  Speaker 1: and Pharaoh says, no way. Ever had your hopes built up?
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  Speaker 1: And you plan your wording just right, plan your timing
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  Speaker 1: just so it falls together in just the right way.
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  Speaker 1: And then that moment comes and you express it, and
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  Speaker 1: the person hears it and says, no way, I am
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  Speaker 1: not interested. That's discouraging, isn't it. Well, Moses tightened a
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  Speaker 1: notch in his belt, and he came back to Pharaoh
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  Speaker 1: with a pleading remark, Please, verse three, Please let us
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  Speaker 1: go a three days journey into the wilderness, that we
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  Speaker 1: may sacrifice to the Lord, our God, lest he fall
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  Speaker 1: upon us with pestilence or with the sword. Hey, Pharaoh,
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  Speaker 1: if you won't let us all go, give us a
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  Speaker 1: three days journey so we can get our heads together
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  Speaker 1: around the Lord and worship him. Give us at least
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  Speaker 1: a time of retreat. If you won't release us, let
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  Speaker 1: us get away for a few days. You see, that's
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  Speaker 1: exactly what God had told Moses to say. Let me
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  Speaker 1: show you this chapter three, verse eighteen. Now he's doing
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  Speaker 1: exactly what the Lord told him to say verse eighteen.
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  Speaker 1: And they will pay heed to what you say, meaning
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  Speaker 1: the Hebrews they have and you, with the elders of Israel,
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  Speaker 1: will come to the King of Egypt, and you will
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  Speaker 1: say to him, the Lord, the God of the Hebrews,
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  Speaker 1: has met with us. So now please let us go
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  Speaker 1: a three days journey into the wilderness that we may
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  Speaker 1: sacrifice to the Lord, our God. Go back to chapter five,
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  Speaker 1: verse three. That's exactly what he said. He was God's
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  Speaker 1: man with God's message in God's time, pleading before Pharaoh.
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  Speaker 1: Pharaoh said, no. Think At verse four. The king of
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  Speaker 1: Egypt said to them, Moses and Aaron, why do you
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  Speaker 1: draw the people away from their work? Get back to
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  Speaker 1: your labors. Sounds like your boss, doesn't it. Oh this
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  Speaker 1: religious stuff. Look, do your job, get back to work. Now.
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  Speaker 1: Notice after that reaction and anger, here's the cycle it's starting.
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  Speaker 1: Pharaoh said, Look, the people of the land are now many,
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  Speaker 1: and you would have them cease from their labors the
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  Speaker 1: same day verse six. Don't miss that the very day,
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  Speaker 1: the day that Moses had wished it had never been born.
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  Speaker 1: The same day Pharaoh commanded the task masters over the
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  Speaker 1: people and their foreman. By the way, the task masters
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  Speaker 1: were Egyptians, the foreman were the Hebrews. The task masters
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  Speaker 1: were the superintendents of the work who served on the
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  Speaker 1: force of the Egyptians. The foreman were people who were
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  Speaker 1: pulled and out of the Hebrew ranks, and they served
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  Speaker 1: as leaders over the people. So Pharaoh called before them
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  Speaker 1: both groups. He said, verse seven, you're no longer to
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  Speaker 1: give the people straw to make brick as previously. Let
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  Speaker 1: them go and gather straw for themselves. But the quota
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  Speaker 1: of bricks which they were making previously you shall impose
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  Speaker 1: on them. You are not to reduce any of it
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  Speaker 1: because they are lazy. Therefore they cry out, let us
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  Speaker 1: go and sacrifice to our God. Look that's a cop out.
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  Speaker 1: Don't listen to them. In fact, you increase the labor.
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  Speaker 1: Don't you haul the straw in and dump it on
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  Speaker 1: their backyard so they'll have it available. You make them
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  Speaker 1: find their own straw. But we're not going to reduce
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  Speaker 1: the quota for the bricks. And that's a hard word.
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  Speaker 1: Verse nine. Let the labor be heavier on the men
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  Speaker 1: and let them work at it. That they may pay
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  Speaker 1: no attention to false words. They're dreamers. They got this
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  Speaker 1: Moses and Aaron walking around talking about some deliverance. No way,
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  Speaker 1: you make that work harder. And so they did. Boy,
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  Speaker 1: that was a task. Verse ten. Task masters of the
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  Speaker 1: people and their foreman went out and spoke to the people.
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  Speaker 1: Now here are the workmen standing there? You know, ankle
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  Speaker 1: deep in the mortar, pressing it out, walking it out,
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  Speaker 1: preparing the bricks. And look at what they had to
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  Speaker 1: say to the people. Thus, as Pharaoh, I'm not going
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  Speaker 1: to give you any straw. You go and get straw
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  Speaker 1: for yourselves wherever you can find it, but none of
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  Speaker 1: your labor will be reduced. The people scattered through all
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  Speaker 1: the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw, and
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  Speaker 1: the task masters pressed them, saying, complete your work, quota
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  Speaker 1: your daily amount, just as when you had straw. Now
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  Speaker 1: you know what. They weren't able to do it. They
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  Speaker 1: weren't able to make as many bricks, obviously they couldn't.
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  Speaker 1: They were now looking for straw and bringing it back
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  Speaker 1: and working it into the mortar and making those bricks.
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  Speaker 1: But they couldn't make as many, and as a result
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  Speaker 1: they were beaten. Verse fourteen. The foreman of the Sons
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  Speaker 1: of Israel, whom Pharaoh's task masters had set over them,
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  Speaker 1: were beaten. They were asked, why have you not completed
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  Speaker 1: your required amount either yesterday or today in making brick
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  Speaker 1: as previously. Then the foreman of the Sons of Israel
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  Speaker 1: came and cried out to Pharaoh the cycle starts over.
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  Speaker 1: They were given the announcement out of anger and blame
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  Speaker 1: and bitterness. They were told what to do, and they
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  Speaker 1: couldn't do it. So they came as if in a union,
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  Speaker 1: pleading their cause before the administration. So they stood before
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  Speaker 1: Pharaoh said we can't do it. Look at how they
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  Speaker 1: worded it. Fifteen. Why do you deal this way with
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  Speaker 1: your servants. There's no straw, yet they keep saying to us,
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  Speaker 1: make bricks. Behold, your servants are being beaten. But it's
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  Speaker 1: the fault of your own people. You see, these men
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  Speaker 1: didn't know why they had no straw. They hadn't put
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  Speaker 1: it together yet until Pharaoh told him why. He said,
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  Speaker 1: verse seventeen, you're lazy, very lazy. That's why you said,
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  Speaker 1: let us go and sacrifice to Jehovah. Seems to be
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  Speaker 1: with a curled lip of defiance. He says this to them,
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  Speaker 1: and now they put it together in their mind. Ah,
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  Speaker 1: it's Moses, it's Aaron. It's because they went to Pharaoh,
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  Speaker 1: and out of a spin off of that reaction is
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  Speaker 1: this problem we're facing. So what did they do? Verse twenty.
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  Speaker 1: When they left Pharaoh's presence, they met Moses and Aaron
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  Speaker 1: as they were waiting for them. Look at that. Well,
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  Speaker 1: they were ready, and they said to them, look now,
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  Speaker 1: may the Lord look upon you and judge you, for
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  Speaker 1: you have made us odious in Pharaoh's sight and in
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  Speaker 1: the sight of his servants, to put a sword in
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  Speaker 1: his hand to kill us. Ah Man, that's pain. Here's Moses.
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  Speaker 1: He took God at his word. He stood before Pharaoh
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  Speaker 1: and he said almost word perfect, what God had told
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  Speaker 1: him to say. He said it in the right way,
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  Speaker 1: he said it in faith, and Pharaoh said no. And
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  Speaker 1: as a result the people were beaten. And a byproduct
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  Speaker 1: of that is a group of people that stood before
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  Speaker 1: Moses and said, may God judge you. You know, we
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  Speaker 1: were bad enough until you came, but now it's worse.
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  Speaker 1: You know. One of the greatest problems that the Christian
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  Speaker 1: must endure is the problem of being misunderstood. That's where
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  Speaker 1: some of you are tonight. You have done the right thing,
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  Speaker 1: the right way, but someone has misjudged you and read
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  Speaker 1: into your act something that is not true, and you're
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  Speaker 1: living under the blow of that. There's not a leader
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  Speaker 1: in this world that leads very long without having to
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  Speaker 1: stand alone, and there is created for him. What one
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  Speaker 1: writer calls those hours of lonely anguish. Some of you
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  Speaker 1: parents are there tonight. Some of you that work for
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  Speaker 1: a boss have been misunderstood and you've had those lonely
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  Speaker 1: hours of anguish. Some of you mates are living with
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  Speaker 1: that with your mate. Jay Oswald Sanders writes in his
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  Speaker 1: book Spiritual Leadership these words. The leader must be one who,
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  Speaker 1: while welcoming the friendship and support of all who can
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  Speaker 1: offer it, has sufficient inner resources to stand alone even
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  Speaker 1: in the face of fierce opposition. Listen to that. A
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  Speaker 1: real leader is one who is able to stand alone
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  Speaker 1: even in the face of fierce opposition. In the discharge
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  Speaker 1: of his responsibilities. He or she must be prepared to
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  Speaker 1: have no one but God. It's all moses head. And
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  Speaker 1: so Moses turned. Suddenly the text changes here. Here we
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  Speaker 1: have these people attacking Moses, and as a result, Moses
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  Speaker 1: has no one to turn to. He hasn't his wife,
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  Speaker 1: he hasn't a close personal friend that can meet his needs.
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  Speaker 1: So he has no one else to turn But who
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  Speaker 1: the Lord? So what does he do? Verse twenty two.
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  Speaker 1: I love the way it begins. Moses returned to the
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  Speaker 1: Lord and he says, Oh Lord, why hast thou brought
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  Speaker 1: harm to this people? Why Didst Thou ever send me
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  Speaker 1: sound familiar? I told you back at the bush that
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  Speaker 1: I'm not the guy for the job, and you kept saying, Moses,
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  Speaker 1: you're the man, and I kept saying, no, I'm not.
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  Speaker 1: You kept saying, yes, you are. I finally gave in
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  Speaker 1: and here I am Lord, and they're saying no. You see,
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  Speaker 1: I told you I'm not the fellow for the job. Yet,
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  Speaker 1: will the real God of Egypt our Israel please stand up?
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  Speaker 1: It's the way he feels. Pharaoh's calling the shots. Look,
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  Speaker 1: I did exactly what you wanted me to do in
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  Speaker 1: your way, with your words, and Pharaoh's kicking sand in
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  Speaker 1: my face. I don't have any answer. As a matter
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  Speaker 1: of fact, I feel guilty because so many people are
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  Speaker 1: being beaten as a result of my attempts to do
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  Speaker 1: what is right. Well. Moses, when he comes before the Lord,
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  Speaker 1: asks those two questions that inevitably we ask when we're
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  Speaker 1: under pressure. Tension always causes us, well, almost always causes
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  Speaker 1: us to say why and then how? The first question
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  Speaker 1: we ask is why why this? Why me? Why now?
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  Speaker 1: And then the next question we ask is how in
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  Speaker 1: the world am I going to get out of this.
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  Speaker 1: Some of you are nodding with your eyeballs as you
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  Speaker 1: look at me, saying you have indeed been looking in
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  Speaker 1: my window. That's where I've been. I have been saying
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  Speaker 1: to the Lord for the last several days. Why how well?
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  Speaker 1: Look at what God says back to Moses. Well, verse
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  Speaker 1: chapter six, verse one. The Lord said to Moses, you
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  Speaker 1: ought to be ashamed of yourself. No, he doesn't say that.
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  Speaker 1: Some of you are looking through your Where does that
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  Speaker 1: say you ought to be ashamed of yourself? Where? That's
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  Speaker 1: not there? No, he never says that to his children.
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  Speaker 1: God doesn't backhand you across the cheek, even when you
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  Speaker 1: come and say, why remember what you heard tonight. Jesus
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  Speaker 1: loves me, Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me. So,
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  Speaker 1: you don't backhand someone you love. There may be discipline,
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  Speaker 1: but oh it's much deeper than that. God never slaps
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  Speaker 1: you when you come even with an aching question that
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  Speaker 1: doesn't get answered. The Lord said to Moses, now you
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  Speaker 1: shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. I love that.
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  Speaker 1: Let me tell you, Moses, I'm the God. I'm calling
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  Speaker 1: the shots. Maybe for a brief period you think he's
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  Speaker 1: in charge. Don't kid yourself, Moses, I'm Jehovah. Under compulsion
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  Speaker 1: he shall let them go, and under compulsion he shall
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  Speaker 1: drive them out of his land. Look at that, Moses,
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  Speaker 1: that's my promise. I promise you this will happen well.
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  Speaker 1: In the fresh blush of that tremendous message, Moses took
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  Speaker 1: the word to the people of Israel verse nine. Look
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  Speaker 1: down there, Moses spoke thus to the sons of Israel.
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  Speaker 1: But they did not listen to Moses. You see, things
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  Speaker 1: went from bad to worse. He already blew it. He
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  Speaker 1: felt before Pharaoh, and now before the people. When he
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  Speaker 1: finally got him together and had his meeting, they didn't
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  Speaker 1: listen to him. Why two reasons are told us in
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  Speaker 1: verse nine. On account of their despondency. The word means
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: shortness of spirit. They were irritated, They were impatient, They
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: were filled with resentment. You don't listen to the counsel
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: of someone you resent when you're mad at the preacher.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: You don't enjoy the message when you're irritated with the
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: counselor you don't get anything out of the session. They
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: didn't want to listen to the man that had caused
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: them not to have any straw. Moses stood up there
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: and he began to talk about these good things, and
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: hang it on your beak. Moses, we're not listening. We
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: don't care. They also we are also told that they
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: didn't listen because of the cruel bondage. You see, they
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: held him responsible. Man, it was bad enough before you
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: ever showed up, But since you've come, great good, it's terrible.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: Well what did Moses do? At least? Zued got a
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: letter this past week from a dear fellow's raising our
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: church and I he's off at college, and he said,
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: I'll tell you fourteen years I was in that church. Now, God,
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: I can't get it together. He I kind of know
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: what you're gonna write me back, so I want you
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: to know that just a verse or two is what
• 24:29
  Speaker 1: I need. It's interesting how people think that the only
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: thing creatures ever write back is verses. He's in for
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: a surprise. I got a neat little message for him,
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: has nothing to do with a verse of scripture or
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: some sermon. I'm probably gonna say something like welcome to
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: the club. A lot of us are trying to get
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: it together. And then once I get a chance to
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: identify with his difficulty. We'll talk about some wise approach
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: in handling it. God never gives us a sermon, does
• 24:59
  Speaker 1: He doesn't drop a cheap, little shallow bit of counsel
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: on us. Moses came before the people, and they walked
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: away from him, and look at what he did. Verse twelve.
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: He came back before the Lord and he said, behold,
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: the sons of Israel have not listened to me. How
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: then will Pharaoh listen to me? I am unskilled in speech,
• 25:22
  Speaker 1: The Hebrew says, I am uncircumcised in my lips. I
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: can't even speak before them. I'm tongue tied. I once
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: was able, and now I'm not. Lord, I've lost whatever
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: I had to begin with. I don't have it. This fellow,
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: as he wrote me this past week, says, I feel
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: like a yo yo up and down, up and down,
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: or feel like that, especially the down part. Huh. Moses
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: is down. He's so low, like a whale's belly, right
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: at the bottom, way way down there. And he finally
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: just says, Lord, I just uncircumcised of lips even speak.
• 26:01
  Speaker 1: That's the way the chapter ends. Chapter six, Verse thirty,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: Moses said before the Lord. I am unskilled in speech.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: How then will Pharaoh listen to me? You know what
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: the Lord told him? Hey, listen, Moses, here's a better plan.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: Go to Pharaoh again. Go to Pharaoh. That was just
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: before the Hebrews and they bought me a one way
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: ticket out of town. And you want me to go
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: to Pharaoh. That's a great idea. Remember me. I can't talk,
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: my Lord, I can't get it out. Listen to me.
• 26:34
  Speaker 1: That's the way I see Moses doing it. Wow, he says,
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: you're not hearing me mess up a rock fight. I
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: can't get it together. I'm at the end. Okay, bless
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: his heart. How in the world are you going to
• 26:53
  Speaker 1: pull it off? That's his second question before I go
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: any further. I want to make something very clear to you.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: That is true, but I don't understand it. Okay. I
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: want to tell you the best framework in which God
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: does his ideal work, but I can't explain it. I
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: can only tell it to you when things are absolutely
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: impossible and you feel totally unqualified to handle it. That's
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: his favorite circumstance. You say, explain it. I told you
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: I couldn't explain it. All I can do is tell
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: you God does his most magnificent things when it is
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: totally impossible humanly speaking, and I feel absolutely disqualified. That's
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: when God rolls up his sleeves and says, swind'll get
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: out of the way and watch me work. He brings
• 27:55
  Speaker 1: us to our absolute end that he proves himself faithful.
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: You know what, something, you know something. It's at that
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: moment where we usually take a carnal alternative. Listen to that.
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: At that juncture when it is so painful, the enemy
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: of our souls come and says, look, this is easier
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: if you do that. Come this way, Leave her if
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: you can't get along with her, fight back if you
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: don't like the way he's handling it. And in that
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: weak moment, there we go. And you know what, after
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: a temporary relief, the pits deeper than it was before,
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: because Satan leaves you in the lurch every time. Can't
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: hell the pressure. Man, there's a drug you can take. Man,
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: I'll get you over the hump. And there are kids
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: in this very service tonight that could stand up here
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: in my place and say, hey, don't believe it. It's
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: not true. After a temporary reprieve, oh it's hell on earth.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: Let me show you something. Let me show you in
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Job chapter sixteen. Oh it's so good. God just gave
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: it to me this last week. I've never seen it before,
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: I wondered when I read it. Where have you been
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: all my life? Job sixteen verse twelve twelve through seventeen.
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: Now I want you to read into this passage Job
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: sixteen twelve through seventeen your circumstance, Job sixteen twelve. Ready,
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: I was at ease, but he shattered me. Got that.
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: Here's your biography ends. I was at ease and the
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: he is God. He shattered me. He has grasped me
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: by the neck and shaken me to pieces. He has
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: also set me up as his target. His arrows surround
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: me without mercy. He splits my kidneys open. That's pretty vivid,
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: isn't it. He pours out my gall on the ground.
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: He breaks through me with breach after breach. It's relentless.
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: He runs at me like a warrior. I have sewed
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: sackcloth over my skin. The word sackcloth suggests the idea
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: of being totally bankrupt. He said, I'm not just wearing it, man,
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: I've sowed it onto my skin. It's my skin. That's
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: the condition I'm in. I've thrust my horn in the dust.
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: My face is flushed from weeping. Deep darkness is on
• 30:56
  Speaker 1: my eyelids. Now look, although there is no violence in
• 31:01
  Speaker 1: my hands and my prayer is pure. Wow exclamation point.
• 31:12
  Speaker 1: You see the last verse. I'm innocent, but I'm a target.
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: That's the way Moses felt. Oh it was bad to
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: start with when Pharaoh said no, But now there's no straw.
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: Now the people are rising up and mutiny against me.
• 31:29
  Speaker 1: And God tells me to go back to Pharaoh and
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: tell him to let the people go. Oh, set me free.
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: Enough thought on Pharaoh, and enough thought on Moses. Let
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: me show you how God handled him. Chapter six of Exodus.
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: Let's wrap it up. God came back to Moses, and
• 31:52
  Speaker 1: he gave him two pieces of counsel, one related to
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: his person, the other related to his work. It always does,
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: That's God's style. The first thing God told Moses is
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: who he was, and the next thing God told Moses
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: is what he was gonna do. But the order is
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: as important as the facts. First, he said I am
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: five different times. If you got a pencil, handy, just
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: put a line under it. Verse two God spoke further
• 32:23
  Speaker 1: to Moses and said, I am the Lord. Verse six.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: Say therefore, to the sons of Israel, I am the Lord.
• 32:33
  Speaker 1: Verse seven. I will take you for my people, and
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: I will be your God, and you shall know that
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: I am the Lord. Verse eight closes with the words
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: I am the Lord. And then way down in verse
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: twenty nine, look at verse twenty nine, the Lord spoke
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: to Moses, saying I am the Lord. There's the fifth time.
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: Time after time after time he punctuates the message. Look, Moses,
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: get your eyes on me. Who is the Lord. That's who.
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: That's who Isaiah saw. He was so disturbed over the
• 33:08
  Speaker 1: condition of the people. Isaiah saw the Lord high and
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: lifted up. And that's all I needed to see Hebrews twelve, one,
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: two and three. He fixed his eyes on the Lord.
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: I know you've heard it until it's almost a cliche.
• 33:22
  Speaker 1: But not until your eyes are fixed on the Lord
• 33:24
  Speaker 1: will you be able to endure those days that go
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: from bad to worse. Not until there is no other therapy.
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: There's no gimmick, there's no neat, little clever poem that
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: you can memorize. There's not a better verse of scripture.
• 33:38
  Speaker 1: Fix your eyes on the Lord. Your job is unbearable,
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: Look at the Lord. Your schedule is drastic, Look at
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: the Lord. Your domestic situation is threatening. Get your eyes
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: on the Lord. Who is he? Well, he is Jehovah.
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: He cannot do what is on just it's against his nature.
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: He hasn't lost control. He's sovereign. As a matter of fact,
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: he is faithful. If he does something unjust to you,
• 34:14
  Speaker 1: he's not the Lord. So that means there's a perspective problem.
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: It's not unjust at all. It's for your good. He's changeless,
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: he's all powerful, he's all knowing. He's goodness, he's compassion,
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: he's grace, he's wise, he's love. I am the Lord.
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: Sitting around my kitchen table where a couple just broken
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: in tears, Synth and I were talking to them the
• 34:45
  Speaker 1: other night. They just poured out their hearts, just at
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: their end, and she said, what do you say? What
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: do you say to a person that just comes and
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: just doesn't know where to turn? I answered, it's not
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: an easy answer. I'll tell you one thing I try
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: to do. I try to remind them of who's in
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: charge of their lives. I try to remind them that
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: Gods calling the shots. He's in control. It's not out
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: of control. He's the Lord that helped her just to
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: know that she wasn't trying to put together a massive
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: puzzle that had no matching parts. It all fits, but
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: we can't always get it together. And then the Lord
• 35:33
  Speaker 1: said to his servant, I will he says, it's seven
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: times eight if you count verse one, but seven times
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: in verses six, seven and eight. I've got them circle.
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: I won't read them to you. I will bring, I
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: will give, I will take, I will be. You know
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: what this tells me? Because I am who I am,
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: I will do what is best for you. I want
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: you to write that down if you're taking notes. That's
• 36:02
  Speaker 1: the theme. That's the great idea of God's message to Moses. Moses,
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: because I am who I am, I will do what
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: is best for you. The day I really believe that
• 36:17
  Speaker 1: is the day my time goes from bad to worse
• 36:22
  Speaker 1: to better. That's a change, my yo yo yo's I
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: go back up. It helps I actually say to myself,
• 36:33
  Speaker 1: even though it may sound oversimplified. Here, I am a
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: seminary graduate pastor of a church talking to myself, and
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: I do, I say to myself, Chuck, I say it
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: loud so I'll be sure and hear what I'm saying.
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: God knows what he's doing. It isn't a mistake. He
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: is able to do anything he wants to do, and
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: he wants to do this right now. And because he
• 37:03
  Speaker 1: is who he is, he does what is best for you.
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: I advise you to live with that basic theme, and
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: it'll help you get better when things get worse. Right
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: after he told Moses what he would do, he said
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: to Moses, you must believe it. Verse thirteen. The Lord
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: said to Moses and to Aaron, I give them a
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: charge to the sons of Israel and to Pharaoh, to
• 37:39
  Speaker 1: bring the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt.
• 37:42
  Speaker 1: I charge them verse thirteen. You know why I'm emphasizing it,
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: and why I've got an underline in my Bible with
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: a little wavy line, because the thing that attacks the
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: believer at our weakest point is unbelief. We know in
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: our heads what God said, we claim we have received him,
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: but it takes faith to put it into practice. Lord,
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: I will believe you, even though all hell has broken loose.
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: I will believe you even though it seems long overdue
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: that you carry out your promise. I will believe you,
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: even though I've come to the end of my strength.
• 38:24
  Speaker 1: I will not take a carnal option. I'll believe you. Now.
• 38:28
  Speaker 1: To wrap it all up, I find three very timely
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: and timeless principles about circumstances. And now get these, and
• 38:38
  Speaker 1: we're going to go home. One, two, three, First, and
• 38:42
  Speaker 1: they're like little dominoes that you stand up on the
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: end and push one which bumps the other one and
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: yet attacks the third one. You know what I mean.
• 38:49
  Speaker 1: One affects the second, and the second the third. Here's
• 38:52
  Speaker 1: the first one. Circumstances that turn against us force dependents.
• 39:02
  Speaker 1: When you are in a circumstance that turns against you,
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: you are forced to be dependent. That's where God wants you.
• 39:13
  Speaker 1: That's his approach in making us dependent. Now here's the second.
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: Circumstances that force dependence teaches patience. That's the second one.
• 39:31
  Speaker 1: When the first one has begun to work, we are dependent.
• 39:34
  Speaker 1: Then we become patient. Circumstances that force dependence teaches patience.
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: Now here's the third. Circumstances that teach us patience make
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: us wise. That's the crowning, ultimate experience, wisdom, circumstances that
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: teach us patience make us wise. William Cowper such a
• 40:06
  Speaker 1: testimony to me every time I think of his incredible life,
• 40:10
  Speaker 1: especially during a time of deep despondency, when there was
• 40:13
  Speaker 1: one thing in his mind suicide. Now listen to this
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: true account. William Cowper got so deep in discouragement and
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: despair he tried to put an end to it all
• 40:24
  Speaker 1: by drinking poison. God graciously led somebody to find him
• 40:31
  Speaker 1: and relieve him. His stomach was pumped out, apparently, and
• 40:35
  Speaker 1: he was delivered as soon as he recovered and got
• 40:38
  Speaker 1: back into his home. He hired a coach to take
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: him down to the Thames River, and he planned to jump,
• 40:45
  Speaker 1: and the driver of the coach held him back. Frustrated
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: that evening, he went home and fell on a knife
• 40:51
  Speaker 1: and the blade broke. That's the truth. What do you
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: do when your blade breaks? You know? So he put
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: up a rope in the basement, put his neck in
• 41:02
  Speaker 1: the noose and jumped. Somebody found him before he strangled
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: to death and got him down. And he couldn't even
• 41:09
  Speaker 1: die as hard as he tried. And in the depth
• 41:13
  Speaker 1: of sorrow, he drove himself to Romans, and he found
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: in the Book of Romans an incredible passage of scripture,
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: which brought him to his knees, and he gave himself
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: to Jesus Christ years later a man of God, he wrote,
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: God moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: He plants his footstep in the sea and rides upon
• 41:39
  Speaker 1: the storm deep deep in unfathomable minds of never failing skill.
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: He treasures up his bright design and works his sovereign will.
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: With all kinds of trials. Crowd into your lives, my brothers.
• 42:01
  Speaker 1: Don't resist them as intruders, but welcome them as friends.
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: Realize that they come to test your faith and to
• 42:13
  Speaker 1: produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: you will find you have become men and women of
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: mature character, with the right sort of independence. And if
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: in the process any of you does not know how
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: to meet any particular problem, he has only to ask God,
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: who gives generously to all men, without making them feel
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: foolish or guilty, and he may be quite sure that
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: the necessary wisdom will be given him. James chapter one
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: in the Phillips paraphrase, Okay, let's pray. Oh what a day. Uh,
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: what a needed reminder from God. Because I am who
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: I am, I will do what is best for you.
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: And about time you let him take over the controls,
• 43:33
  Speaker 1: not to get an emotional high Sunday night only to
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: fall flat Monday morning. Just in the depths of your heart.
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: Just say, Lord, all right where I'm sitting, I ask
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: you to take the controls that I've been trying to
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: take away from you and just make me into your man,
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: your woman, and by your power. I won't try to
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: grab the controls back to nice the night to make
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: that decision. God wanted you here because you needed that
• 44:18
  Speaker 1: message from him.
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: Let's about together right now. If you've never met Jesus
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: the Lord Christ, do not leave in that condition. Please
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: receive him now, right now, in such simple words as Lord, today,
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: I confess I'm a sinner. I'm lost, I don't have forgiveness,
• 44:52
  Speaker 2: I don't have hope. Come into my life. I receive
• 44:58
  Speaker 2: you now. Come in now. If you're not sure of
• 45:05
  Speaker 2: pray that prayer so you can have assurance. If He
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: heard you once, he'll hear you again. Loving Lord, thank
• 45:21
  Speaker 2: you that when the truth is declared, there's a there's
• 45:24
  Speaker 2: a ring about it that fits, and it says in effect,
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: that is from God. I give you praise, immeasurable praise
• 45:40
  Speaker 2: for your word that points us to Christ. Thank you
• 45:45
  Speaker 2: for that. Thank you for the man who gave their
• 45:49
  Speaker 2: lives that we might have it, for Christ who died
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: that we might understand it. We worship you, We adore
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: you today, Lord Jesus Amen.
• 46:07
  Speaker 3: The preceding message, going from Bad to Worse was copyrighted
• 46:12
  Speaker 3: in nineteen seventy five, nineteen seventy eight, nineteen eighty one,
• 46:16
  Speaker 3: nineteen eighty five, nineteen ninety eight, and twenty twenty four,
• 46:21
  Speaker 3: and the sound recording was copyrighted in twenty twenty four
• 46:24
  Speaker 3: by Charles R. Swindahl, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.
• 46:30
  Speaker 3: Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited