Participants: Pr. C.A. Murray
Series Code: HHR
Program Code: HHR000012
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00:24 Are you ready for the Word? Yes.
00:27 The title of our lesson today - our subject - 00:30 is: One More Night With The Frogs. 00:34 One More Night With The Frogs. 00:39 Going to ask you to turn with me if you will 00:41 to the book of Exodus 00:45 and we'll consider a verse in chapter 4. 00:49 Exodus chapter 4 and the verse will be 21. 00:54 And we'll read that after we have talked to the Lord 00:58 in prayer. Exodus chapter 4 verse 21. 01:02 Shall we pray. 01:03 Heavenly Father, again we are so thankful for 01:06 the power of Your Word. 01:08 We are thankful for Jesus. 01:10 We are thankful for what that Word does for our lives. 01:15 Father, we want to serve You. 01:18 We don't want to be caught unawares and unprepared 01:22 when Jesus comes. 01:25 And so we beg you, Lord, please... hear us. 01:31 Teach us. 01:34 Fill us with Your Spirit. 01:37 And we thank you for Your promise 01:41 to answer the prayer of faith. In Jesus' name, Amen. 01:46 One More Night With The Frogs. 01:53 I'm in the book of Exodus. What book did I say? 01:55 Exodus chapter 4 and we want to read 02:01 verse 21. Exodus the 4th chapter 02:05 21st verse. The Word of God says: 02:35 This statement about God hardening Pharaoh's heart 02:40 appears 18 times in the Word of God. 02:46 At first glance, God's actions may seem 02:52 a little unfair or arbitrary 02:56 and maybe even a little mean-spirited. 03:01 When you read the Bible on the surface 03:05 these passages might drive us to think 03:11 or have the impression that God is sometimes 03:16 less than fair when dealing with humanity. 03:22 It seems as though 03:24 God is a little biased sometimes... 03:29 and Satan would have us think that way. 03:32 I mean, you give a guy 03:38 a hard heart and then you punish him 03:43 for having a hard heart. 03:46 It just seems a little unfair. 03:50 Why would you punish Pharaoh for having a hard heart 03:55 when it was God who gave him the hard heart? 04:01 Does that seem fair? 04:04 As a young Christian, I used to wrestle with this. 04:08 It bothered me. It irritated and confused me. 04:11 I didn't like the idea that God would harden a person's heart 04:15 and then punish him for having a hard heart. 04:18 And I said to myself as a young child: 04:20 "Why would I want to be serving a God 04:24 who may just wake up one day and decide that He doesn't like me 04:27 and give me a hard heart and then punish me 04:31 for having a hard heart? " 04:34 Didn't seem fair to me. Didn't seem just or right. 04:39 Seemed just a little biased to me. 04:43 And I said as a child... I remember saying: 04:46 "Hey God... not cool! " 04:51 I heard someone make a similar statement about Judas. 04:54 The statement was: "Somebody had to betray Christ. 05:00 It just happened to be Judas. " 05:03 If it wasn't Judas, it would have been somebody else... 05:07 so why are we so hard on Judas? " 05:12 And I would like to answer that question. In fact, I've 05:15 got a sermon that answers that question. 05:17 Can't blame the Lord... can't blame Judas... 05:20 but you really can. 05:23 We don't have time to go into that today, 05:25 but God has an answer for all of these questions I assure you. 05:30 In Exodus chapter 7 verse 3 05:33 we see this statement again. 05:36 I'm in Exodus chapter 7 and verse 3. 05:39 Same statement: 05:52 So how do you harmonize this hardening of Pharaoh's heart 05:58 with the God of love that we know He is? 06:05 First off, ladies and gentlemen, 06:07 when you are dealing with someone who has an 06:10 extraordinarily high opinion of themselves, 06:14 when their senses are so overcrowded 06:17 with their own sense of self-worth, 06:20 many times you have to resort to spectacular measures 06:25 and methodologies in order to get their attention. 06:30 When you are dealing with people who think a lot of themselves - 06:35 who are in love with themselves - 06:37 who spend a lot of time thinking about themselves 06:41 and doing favors for themselves 06:43 and who really love themselves - 06:46 in order to get their minds off of themselves and onto God 06:51 you have to resort sometimes to really drastic measures 06:56 to get them to hear you. Are you listening to me? 07:00 When a person is stuck on themselves, 07:03 it is difficult to get them free. 07:07 The ancient kings... the Pharaohs included... 07:11 thought of themselves as gods. 07:13 They held in their hands the fates, the fortunes, 07:17 the futures of entire empires. 07:19 It was interesting that these ancient kings 07:21 could control vast portions of the then-known world 07:25 but many times could not control their own passions. 07:29 There are so many people like that today. 07:32 They have control of million dollar corporations and empires 07:36 but cannot control their own lives, 07:38 their own loves, their own passions. 07:40 They stand as much in need of a word from the Lord 07:44 as did the ancient kings. 07:45 So let's peek at some of the personal correspondence 07:49 at one of these ancient kings to get the mindset 07:53 of how these guys thought. 07:55 I'm in the book of II Kings. What book did I say? 07:57 II Kings chapter 18. We begin at verse 32. 08:02 I'm going to pick it up mid-way through the verse. 08:10 This is a letter that a certain king 08:13 wrote to king Hezekiah. 08:20 In fact, not only did he write this to Hezekiah, 08:23 he published it throughout the nation. 09:00 And so this particular king is writing to Hezekiah 09:05 and all of God's people 09:08 and he is saying simply this: 09:10 "I go where I want to go. 09:12 I do what I want to do. 09:15 I take what I want to take. 09:17 No god has ever stopped me from doing whatever I please 09:23 or purposed in my mind to do, 09:25 and your God will not stop me either. 09:29 And don't believe anybody including your king 09:33 who tells you that your God can stop me 09:36 because no god ever has. " 09:39 "Now I don't know who your God is, " he says, 09:42 "but if He's like all of the other gods, 09:45 He's not going to stop me either. " 09:47 Now what he didn't know is that the God of Israel 09:50 was not like all of the other gods. 09:52 You see, when you wave and wag your finger in God's face 09:57 like that, you are forcing God to respond. 10:01 You understand that? 10:02 When you make a bold statement like that, 10:05 you are forcing God to respond to you. 10:07 And so Hezekiah opened that letter and he laid it out 10:10 before the Lord and Hezekiah prayed. 10:12 And the priests prayed. 10:14 And they called on God to protect them. 10:17 And God sent one angel... how many angels? 10:21 One angel! 10:22 God sent one angel 10:24 and slew 185,000 of Sennacherib's troops 10:29 in one night. 10:31 So he came in with a big army 10:33 and he left by himself. 10:36 Are you listening to me? 10:37 When you shake your finger in the face of God, 10:42 you are forcing God to respond... 10:45 and you are forcing God to respond in a way 10:49 that gets your attention. 10:51 And so he came in with an army of 185,000 10:55 and he left alone. 10:58 Sennacherib returned to his house, 11:00 and while he was praying in the temple of his heathen god 11:05 his own sons came in and slew him... took his life. 11:09 Now God didn't make those boys kill their father... 11:13 but He didn't stop it either. 11:16 You see, when you ask for God to introduce Himself to you, 11:21 be prepared for the introduction. 11:26 Well, Pharaoh was cut from the same cloth 11:31 as Sennacherib. 11:33 Willful, belligerent, impudent, 11:37 proud, self-centered. 11:41 And James and Peter - both in the New Testament - say 11:44 "God resisteth the proud. " 11:47 So when Moses said: "Let my people go, " 11:51 we find Pharaoh's response in Exodus chapter 5 11:56 and verse 2. What book did I say? 11:58 Exodus chapter 5 and verse 2. 12:00 Let's look at Pharaoh's response. 12:08 Um-hmm... 12:22 That, ladies and gentlemen, is tough talk. 12:26 Amen? 12:28 Pharaoh sat on his throne and said: 12:31 "Who is He? " 12:33 "Who is this God that I should do what He says? " 12:37 "I don't know this God, 12:38 and I'm not going to let the people go. " 12:40 Now you see, when you stand in opposition to God, 12:43 when you put your hand on your hip and say 12:46 "Who is God? " 12:47 God, then, has to introduce Himself to you. 12:51 Are you listening to me? 12:53 He's got to insert Himself into your life. 12:57 Pharaoh asked: "Who is God? " 13:00 And God at that moment said: "You know, 13:02 I think I'd better go down and introduce Myself to him. " 13:06 So you kind of put God on notice. 13:09 You're kind of, as the young people say, calling God out 13:13 when you say "Who is God? " 13:16 "Well, Pharaoh, I want you to know who I am. " 13:20 The Bible says: "I AM that I AM. " 13:24 That's who God is. 13:25 He is the almighty, all powerful, everlasting, 13:28 eternal God who sets up kings and takes them down. 13:35 Don't ask God for an introduction, I say again, 13:37 unless you are ready for the handshake. 13:40 And so, to really understand what the hardening of 13:45 Pharaoh's heart is, we've got to look at the nature of God 13:49 and the nature of Pharaoh. 13:51 Now I want you to stick with me on this. 13:52 What is God like? 13:55 I John chapter 4 verse 8. 13:57 We've used that text from night to night. 13:59 It's a good, strong text. What is God like? 14:02 I John chapter 4 verse 8: let's read it from the Word of God. 14:05 The Bible says: 14:12 Now it doesn't say God HAS love, 14:15 God SHOWS love, God GIVES love, 14:17 God DISPENSES love. 14:19 The Bible says "God IS love. " 14:25 Not God HAS love... "God IS love. " 14:28 The only weapon that God has in His arsenal for you and me 14:33 is love. That's all He has. 14:35 He has no other weapon to fight with. 14:37 He has no other tricks up His sleeve. 14:40 He has nothing else in His bag. 14:42 The only thing God has is love. 14:44 Malachi says: "He cannot lie. " 14:47 Titus says: "He does not change. " 14:51 So God - when He says He loves you - 14:54 He is telling the truth, ladies and gentlemen. 14:56 When He says He loves you, He cannot change. 14:59 It means He's always loved you. 15:01 He loves you now and He always will love you. 15:04 God does not change. 15:06 I mean, being able to lie 15:11 is a pretty handy trick 15:14 if you want to deceive somebody. 15:17 Isn't it? 15:19 If I want to lead you down the wrong path 15:21 and lead you astray, 15:23 the ability to lie is a very useful weapon. 15:28 You know, look like a dove when you're really a hawk. 15:33 Look like a sheep when you're really a wolf. 15:36 Look like a goldfish when you're really a piranha. 15:40 Pretty handy when you want to suck somebody in... 15:43 being able to lie. 15:45 Satan has all of those weapons. 15:47 Satan can lie, cheat, steal, embezzle, 15:50 coerce, subvert, pervert, 15:52 ridicule. Use hate, malice, jealousy, 15:55 envy, revenge, selfishness, racism, sexism. 15:58 Peer pressure, classism, nationalism, 16:01 coercion, embezzlement, and even death. 16:04 Satan has all of those, and he uses all of them. 16:08 But all the Lord has is love. 16:13 He always has loved. 16:14 He loves us now; He always will love. 16:18 The Bible says: "I have loved you with an everlasting love 16:22 and with lovingkindness I have drawn you. " 16:26 So in this corner we've got someone like David. 16:31 Born in sin, shaped in iniquity... 16:34 and yet God loved him. 16:37 Jeremiah chapter 17 verse 9 says: 16:49 "Who can know it? " 16:52 So then when we come to God we find that we're dealing with 16:55 a God of love. Regardless of how we are, God still loves us. 17:01 Jehovah God, in dealing with man 17:04 has a tough time many times. 17:07 It's hard dealing with us. 17:09 But it's worse when you're dealing with a king 17:13 who thinks he is your equal. 17:16 As Pharaoh sat on that throne, 17:20 in his mind Pharaoh was equal to God. 17:27 Before God said: "I will harden his heart, " 17:30 let's look at the kind of heart Pharaoh already possessed. 17:35 When we read Exodus chapter 3 and verse 19 17:41 we find out something very, very interesting. 17:56 Now before God sent Moses to Pharaoh 18:00 He told Moses this: 18:03 "I am sure that regardless of what I do 18:07 and regardless of what you say 18:10 Pharaoh is not going to let the people go 18:14 even by a mighty hand. 18:17 Even if I do great and mighty wonders, 18:20 he's not going to let them go. " 18:21 And here's why God knew that. 18:23 The first time we meet Pharaoh 18:27 in Exodus chapter 1 verse 22... 18:29 you can just write that down, we won't take time to read it... 18:31 the first time we meet him he is sending an order 18:37 to kill all of the male Hebrew children. 18:40 That's how we are introduced to Pharaoh. 18:42 Pharaoh is writing an edict 18:44 and the edict says: "Drown all of the male Hebrew babies 18:48 in the sea. " 18:50 Followed by an order that says: 18:52 "they're not going to get the Sabbath off from work. " 18:55 So really what God is saying is that Pharaoh's heart 19:01 is already hard. 19:03 For a person to pass an order 19:05 to take every male child and drown them in the sea, 19:07 his heart is already hardened. God had nothing to do with that. 19:10 That's the condition of Pharaoh's heart. 19:12 God says: "I know this guy... 19:15 He's not going to do it because his heart is hardened. " 19:19 And remember I said all God has is love. 19:22 All God has is love. 19:24 And if love makes you hard, 19:28 then you're going to be hard 19:31 because all God has is love. 19:35 God can't deal with us any other way than to love us. 19:39 And if loving us makes us mad, 19:42 makes you hard, well then God's going to harden your heart 19:45 because God can't change who He is. 19:47 Do you understand that? 19:48 If you don't like being loved, 19:50 then God's love is going to harden you 19:53 because God can't do anything but love. 19:57 Amen? That's all He can do! 19:59 That's all He can do is love you. 20:01 It's determined by the condition of your heart. 20:05 One sun in the sky. 20:07 You put a piece of ice out in that sun 20:10 the ice melts. 20:11 You put a piece of mud out in that sun 20:13 the mud hardens. 20:15 Is the sun the same? 20:17 Yes, the sun doesn't change. What's the difference? 20:19 The material! 20:22 The same sun hardens mud... melts ice. 20:26 Same sun. 20:28 It's that way with God and Pharaoh. 20:31 All God did is love him. 20:33 But he didn't want to be loved; he didn't want God... 20:36 so he hardened his own heart. 20:38 And God couldn't stop loving him because all God can do is... 20:42 love. So to resist the love of God 20:45 you've got to harden yourself. Do you understand that? 20:48 And so every time God came to him 20:50 closer to him with an arm of love 20:52 all he did was harden his heart. 20:55 And God could only love him. 20:58 God can only love us. 20:59 And if love makes you hard, then God is guilty 21:03 because all God can do is love you. 21:05 So the problem is not love... the problem is the heart. 21:11 And the text says: "The heart is deceitful 21:13 and desperately wicked. Who can know it? " 21:16 So depending on how entrenched you are 21:18 on the throne of your own life, 21:20 that determines the volume God has to use 21:23 to get your attention. 21:24 And in the life of Pharaoh God had to speak very loud 21:30 to get his attention. 21:31 And so He began to send the ten plagues. You know the story. 21:35 These ten plagues were targeted to the gods of the Egyptians. 21:39 These weren't just random acts that came from heaven. 21:42 God looked at the... 21:43 the God of heaven looked at the gods - small g - 21:46 of the Egyptians, and He targeted the plagues 21:50 toward those gods of the Egyptians. 21:52 God not only wanted to dismantle the Egyptian economy 21:57 He wanted them to understand ten important lessons 22:01 that we need to understand today. 22:02 First lesson: there is only one God. 22:07 How many? One God. 22:09 That's a lesson we need to know. 22:11 You can't make a god of your car, your wife, 22:14 your husband, your job or anything else. 22:17 There's only one God, and He deserves your worship. 22:21 Amen? And Amen. 22:22 Lesson number 2: that one God has no equal 22:27 and certainly no superior. 22:29 Can you say Amen? 22:30 There is nothing like the God we serve. 22:32 Amen? We serve a good God. 22:35 A great God, a glorious God, a loving God. 22:38 And God has no equal and no superior. 22:41 Number 3: that one God who has no equal 22:46 demands and deserves our worship. 22:51 Amen. 22:53 God demands and God deserves our worship. 22:58 "It is a good thing, " the Bible says, "to praise the Lord. " 23:03 "Blessed is he who praises the Lord. " 23:06 Let me give you a secret for healthy living. 23:08 When you get depressed, 23:11 you can praise your way out of depression. 23:14 Amen? We are told by inspired counsel 23:18 when you're feeling down and sad 23:20 and you think nobody knows the trouble I've seen 23:22 and nobody loves me and nobody cares 23:25 and I think I'm just going to die, 23:30 that comes from Satan. 23:34 Ellen White, my favorite author, says this: 23:37 "God never sends depression. " 23:41 Did you hear me? 23:43 "God never sends depression. " 23:48 Depression is not in God's arsenal. 23:52 Depression is Satan's ultimate weapon 23:56 to get you to turn your back on God. 23:59 It is his atomic bomb. 24:02 If he can't wear you out, if he can't rust you out, 24:06 if he can't gossip you out, 24:08 he will just depress you out. 24:11 Um-hmm. So on Sabbath morning instead of getting up 24:14 and going to church you lay there in bed 24:17 and you say: "You know what? 24:19 I don't feel like going to church. " 24:23 And then you get a little urging from the Holy Spirit 24:26 "you need to get up and get dressed. " 24:28 And then depression will say: "Nah. I'm going back to bed. " 24:32 And you stay depressed till about 1 o'clock. 24:40 And at 1 o'clock the depression leaves... 24:42 now you're up and ready to run! 24:44 But guess what? Church is over 24:48 and your blessing is gone. 24:52 Huh? So now what do you do? 24:55 You've got a whole Sabbath day. 24:56 You've got all this energy 'cause you've been in bed 24:58 missing your blessing, so you say: "Well, 25:00 maybe I'll go to a restaurant and eat. " 25:05 Depression is Satan's ultimate weapon 25:10 and it never comes from God. Never! 25:12 So the moment you say: "Nobody knows the trouble 25:14 I've seen, I'm the only one left in Israel, 25:18 nobody's serving the Lord but me, " 25:20 that is the devil speaking... not the voice of God. 25:24 Amen? So you've got to fight it. 25:26 And she says: "Fight depression like the plague. " 25:29 And one good way to do it is to sing a hymn. 25:32 Find a hymn and sing your way out of depression. 25:36 And if you can't sing, 25:38 go in the car where nobody can hear you 25:41 or go in the shower and close the bathroom door 25:44 and sing to Jesus. 25:45 And the Holy Spirit will take your bad voice 25:47 and turn it into Nadia. 25:53 Amen? 25:55 Sing your way out of depression. 25:57 Lift up the name of Jesus 26:00 because God deserves to be worshiped. 26:02 And listen, when you worship God 26:04 as you send it up, God turns around and 26:07 sends it right back down to you 26:09 in the form of a blessing. 26:12 Number 4: this God has all power. 26:17 This is something that they needed to know, we need to know. 26:19 This God has all power. Now that's important 26:22 because when you get in a fix 26:24 it's good to remember 26:25 God has all power. 26:27 His arm is not short 26:28 nor His ear heavy. 26:30 Any problem you have 26:31 God can handle it. Amen? Any problem 26:34 and every problem you have God can handle it. 26:37 Now, He is not necessarily an instant-cocoa God. 26:41 You don't just mix it up and have instant cocoa. 26:43 Sometimes you've got to pray through and press through 26:46 and stay on it. You may not get the answer 26:48 the first time you pray or the second time you pray. 26:50 'Cause we're so accustomed to instant... you know, 26:53 fast food. 26:57 Can I have fries with that? 27:00 No. 27:02 Sometimes you've got to wait on God. Amen? 27:04 And persevere with God and abide with Him. 27:07 But God has an answer to every question that you ask! 27:11 So if you don't get it the first time, 27:14 keep on asking - Amen? - 27:16 'cause the answer is coming. 27:18 Now, God has... this God has all power. 27:21 Number 5: He was trying to tell Pharaoh 27:24 "Your gods are not gods. 27:26 Those snakes and reptile and things that you're praying to... 27:27 those are not God... those are just creatures. 27:33 So, God has all power. Your gods are not gods. 27:37 Number 6: your gods have no power. 27:40 Praying to that snake or praying to that alligator 27:44 or praying to that fly is not going to save you. 27:48 You need to get your eyes off the creatures 27:51 and on the Creator. 27:54 Number 7: when God speaks 27:58 we must obey. 28:01 Amen. 28:03 When God speaks, His creatures must obey. 28:07 Ten things He wanted them to know. 28:10 Number 8: when you obey things go good. 28:15 Amen. Very simple: when you obey, stuff goes good. 28:21 Praise the Lord. 28:23 When you do what God says do things go well. 28:27 Amen. 28:29 Now they don't always go easy but they do go well. 28:32 That's why God said: "Prove me now herewith 28:34 saith the Lord of Hosts. " When you obey things go well. 28:37 Number 9: when you disobey things go bad. 28:41 Make sense? Yeah. 28:44 Obey and live... disobey and die. 28:48 When you obey God things go good. 28:52 When you disobey God things go bad. 28:56 And number 10: God takes care of His own. 29:03 Come on say Amen. 29:05 God takes care of His own. 29:07 You know, it's not in my notes. 29:08 Let me tell you a quick story. 29:09 I've got two but I'll tell you one. Which one should I say? 29:11 I'll tell you this one. I had a lady... her name 29:14 was Sister Miriam Inch. 29:15 Sr. Inch was in her 70s. She's from Jamaica. 29:19 Sweet little lady... a member of my church. 29:21 She said: "When I lived in Jamaica, I always slept 29:24 with my windows open because I like a lot of fresh air 29:26 in my house. So when I came to New York, 29:29 I like to have my windows open so I asked for an apartment 29:32 on the top floor of my building so I could sleep every night 29:34 with my windows open. " 29:36 She said: "When I go to sleep at night, I'm the kind of person 29:38 that doesn't wake up to go to the restroom or anything. 29:40 When I go to sleep I stay asleep until that alarm clock 29:43 wakes me up in the morning and I sleep very sound. " 29:45 She said: "One night I got up in the middle of the night 29:50 and something said 'close the window. ' " 29:55 She said: "I was asleep and you know how you get up and 29:57 you're half asleep. Your eyes are kind of closed 29:59 and you're walking through the room. You're kind of, 30:00 you know, you know where the room is so you're not really 30:02 looking... you're just kind of walking through the room. " 30:03 She said: "I went to the windowsill 30:05 and the voice said 'close the window now. ' " 30:08 "So, " she said, "I put my hands and I brought the window 30:12 down. " She said, "as I brought the window down 30:15 I heard someone go AAH! " 30:20 She said: "A man was climbing in my window. " 30:25 He had climbed up the fire escape and was getting ready 30:28 to come into my bedroom. " 30:29 "And, " she said, "when I heard him scream 30:31 I really just jammed the window down. " 30:34 She said: "And he pulled his hands out and he fell down 30:36 the fire escape and he ran down the alley. " 30:38 And she told that story in prayer meeting. 30:41 And people said: "Boy, you sure were lucky! " 30:47 And I'm saying luck had nothing to do with that. 30:52 That, ladies and gentlemen, was a gift from God 30:57 because God takes care of His own. 31:01 Amen? 31:03 Now let me tell you this story. This is the last one. 31:05 I can tell it really fast. 31:07 I had a lady in my church Sister Ina Richard. 31:12 She was 105 years old 31:13 and so she couldn't come out to church so we 31:15 went to her house and had a 105-year-old birthday party 31:18 for her. We had a cake with 105 candles on it. 31:21 Almost set the place on fire! 31:25 And she told me this story. She said: "Pastor, 31:27 55 years ago we were poor and broke and we had no 31:30 money. None. Apartment broke. No food, nothing. " 31:33 She said: "I had just joined the Adventist church. 31:36 I lost my job; husband lost his job 31:38 and we had no food and we were worried 31:41 because nothing to eat. And so she said: "I opened up 31:43 the window and I sat myself in my rocking chair 31:46 and I just rocked and I said 'Lord, you're going to have to 31:49 do something because we have no money 31:50 and we have no resources. " 31:52 Said: "I just rocked and prayed. Just in the rocking chair. 31:55 Just rocking and praying. " 31:56 She said: "Pastor, this is the truth. 31:58 There floated through my window just as pretty as you please 32:01 a one dollar bill 32:04 that came down and floated, landed right on the floor 32:06 in front of me. " That's what she told me. 32:09 She said: "Now my husband went upstairs on the roof 32:11 to find out who lost a dollar. " 32:14 She said: "While my husband was on the roof 32:16 trying to find out who lost a dollar, 32:17 I was heading to the grocery store. " 32:20 She said: "Back in the 1940s, 32:23 1930s, a dollar could buy you a lot. " 32:25 She said: "You could get milk and bread 32:27 and some other things. " And she said: "I came home 32:29 with an armful of stuff. My husband was still up on the roof 32:31 trying to find out who lost a dollar. " I said: 32:32 "That dollar came from Jesus. " 32:38 She said: "Don't look, because it came from the Lord. " 32:43 My point is: God takes care of His own. 32:47 Amen? Yes He does! 32:50 He does take care of His own. Now those two stories 32:51 are not in my sermon, so I've got to go a lot faster. 32:54 So these are the same lessons that God is trying to teach us. 32:57 Ten very important lessons God was trying to show Pharaoh. 33:00 There is one God. God has no equal. 33:02 God has no superior. God demands worship. 33:04 God has all power. Your gods are not gods. 33:06 Your gods have no power. 33:08 When God speaks we must obey. 33:09 To obey means things will go good. 33:11 To disobey means things will go bad. 33:13 And God will take care of His own. Can you say Amen? 33:18 These are the same lessons that God would have us learn 33:21 3,300 years later... things have not changed. 33:24 I Samuel chapter 15 verse 22. 33:26 Let's go to the Word of God. 33:28 I Samuel 15 is the book I said and verse 22. 33:46 God wants us to know that we have to listen, 33:49 we have to obey. It is crucial to our walk 33:53 on this road to glory. And so Pharaoh said: 33:56 "No! I don't care who your God is. 34:01 I don't care what He said. 34:03 I, Pharaoh, a living god... 34:06 I'm saying no. 34:07 You're not going to get any days off. 34:10 You're not going to be allowed to go into the desert 34:12 and worship on Sabbath. 34:14 You're not going to get three days of vacation. 34:17 You are not leaving the country. 34:19 Moreover, you are not going to be allowed 34:22 to stop making bricks. In fact, 34:24 you're going to make your bricks from now on without straw 34:28 and you'd better not come short one brick. " 34:31 And God said: "I have heard the cry of My people. " 34:37 And so God - through Moses and Aaron - 34:41 began to dismantle the Egyptian economy 34:44 and also to tear down their idolatrous religion. 34:50 The plagues, I say again, were aimed at 34:52 the things they prized and worshiped. 34:56 They worshiped the Nile river, 34:58 and so God turned the Nile to blood 35:00 and choked it with fish. 35:02 They worshiped lice, interestingly enough, 35:05 and most scholars really think that these were a kind of 35:09 stinging gnat or tick 35:12 that crept into the eyes and ears. 35:14 Sometimes, you know, you get ticks on you or gnats on you. 35:17 They had billions of these things. 35:19 They worshiped those, oddly enough. 35:21 There are some scholars who say that this was really 35:24 the Egyptian dog fly. They had this plague of flies. 35:30 And I did some study on the Egyptian dog fly. 35:32 The Egyptian dog fly, they say, is the most aggressive 35:36 and evil fly in the world. 35:37 You know, you have flies and just kind of swat them 35:39 they run away. Not the Egyptian dog fly. 35:41 The Egyptian dog fly when you disturb it 35:44 acts like a bee... it tries to bite you. 35:47 And interestingly enough it goes for the eye. 35:49 This kind of fly... it always aims for the eyes. 35:53 If you've ever seen Egyptian art, 35:55 you'll notice that Egyptian art 35:58 there is a large mascara line on the bottom and the top lid. 36:02 It's characteristic of Egyptian art. 36:04 Those who are Egyptian scholars notice that. 36:06 If you're looking at a painting on a wall, 36:08 if it's Egyptian there's going to be a heavy black outline 36:11 on the top of the eye and the bottom of the eye. 36:13 That's characteristic of Egyptian art. 36:14 Well most scholars think that that was not decorative. 36:18 It was a protection of tar and some other 36:23 sort of thing they put there to keep the Egyptian dog fly away 36:27 because the Egyptian dog fly always attacked the eyelid. 36:31 And so we see this in Egyptian art. 36:34 Ezekiel chapter 18 verse 1 says this: 36:37 "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, " 36:39 it says. "Therefore, that you turn and live. " 36:44 And so God is attacking the Egyptian economy. 36:48 He is also attacking the Egyptian gods 36:50 trying to let them know that God is a God 36:54 who needs to be obeyed and followed. 36:56 And so Egypt absorbed this unprecedented series 37:00 of catastrophes that we call the ten plagues 37:03 because of their cosmic insubordination. 37:07 And so it seems rather strange 37:09 in view of all of this 37:12 that the response we find in Exodus chapter 8 37:16 verse 8 is given. I want you to turn with me 37:19 because this is where the title of the message comes from. 37:21 Exodus chapter 8 and verse 8. 37:26 The book is Exodus chapter 8 verse 8. 37:30 We'll read down to verse 10. 37:52 Now Rodney come back to me and we'll hold on that one. 37:54 Come back to me if you will. Thank you. 37:57 This plague of frogs was unprecedented and unknown. 38:02 We're not talking about a couple of frogs. 38:06 Ladies and gentlemen, we are talking about frogs. 38:10 Frogs in your bed. 38:13 Frogs in your cabinet. 38:15 Frogs in your closet. 38:18 Frogs in your bathroom. 38:20 Frogs in your kitchen. 38:23 Frogs in your shoes. 38:26 Frogs in your clothes. 38:28 You turn down the covers at night to get in bed 38:31 the bed is crawling with frogs. 38:32 Open up your pantry to get a little flour to make 38:35 bread... flour crawling with frogs. 38:38 Everywhere you turn... frogs, frogs, frogs. 38:44 Put your shoes on in the morning... frogs. 38:49 Put your jacket on... frogs. 38:52 Big frogs, little frogs, slimy frogs. 38:56 Croaking frogs... frogs everywhere. 39:00 Sticky, gooey, ooey, slimy frogs. 39:08 You go to sit down in a chair to read the word... 39:11 chair crawling with frogs. 39:13 Nowhere you can go, nowhere you can move 39:17 but that there are frogs everywhere. 39:20 And even if you like frogs, 39:22 if you think one little frog is cute, 39:25 one billion are not! 39:30 And this is the plague: frogs in the dining room. 39:34 Frogs in your sugar. 39:36 Frogs in your french fries. 39:43 Frogs in the shower. 39:47 Surrounded by frogs. 39:50 Croaking frogs, hopping frogs, big frogs, little frogs, 39:55 stinging frogs, deadly dangerous frogs. 39:59 Everywhere you turn... frogs in your vegemeat. 40:11 So Pharaoh's answer... he's not interested. 40:15 Let's go back to the Word of God. 40:16 Rodney let's pick it back up. Thank you. 40:34 Now let's stop right there. Bring it back, Rodney, 40:36 if you will. Thank you. 40:39 Moses said to Pharaoh: "God wants to show you 40:44 His love. He's going to give you a little break. 40:49 You name the hour that the frogs leave. 40:55 God is going to show you His power and His love. 41:00 You pick the time. " 41:02 Sound fair? 41:04 "God loves you. Pick the time that you want the frogs to go, 41:08 and the moment you say so they'll go. " 41:12 "If you say 'I want them gone now, ' 41:17 they'll be gone now. " 41:18 Now if your house was crawling with frogs, 41:21 what would you say? 41:22 "I want them gone yesterday. " 41:26 So let's look at Pharaoh's answer. 41:28 Let's look at it again. 41:36 Pharaoh said: "Tomorrow. " 41:46 So you want them tomorrow? They'll be gone tomorrow. 41:51 But saying tomorrow means you've got to spend 41:56 one more night with the frogs. 42:02 Huh? That's where the title comes from. 42:05 One More Night With The Frogs. 42:08 Why would you say tomorrow? 42:11 Why not right now? 42:15 Well, there's a lot of... there are many reasons 42:18 why he said tomorrow... 42:19 none the least of was he was hoping that his magicians 42:23 could get rid of them today. 42:24 But they couldn't and God saw that they couldn't. 42:29 So Pharaoh had to spend one more night with the frogs. 42:36 I don't know what was going on in his heart 42:40 but even to the very end he refused 42:45 to acknowledge God. 42:47 He'd rather spend one more night with the frogs 42:51 than accept God as God 42:55 and bow down to God. 42:58 Back in the spring of 1974 43:02 a 19-year-old heiress by the name of Patty Hearst - 43:08 you may remember that name - 43:10 a self-styled millionairess 43:15 kind of a dilettante, 43:18 she was kidnapped by field marshal Cinque Mtume 43:24 and members of what was then called 43:27 the Symbionese Liberation Army. 43:31 She was taken from the campus of the University of California 43:34 at Berkeley and a series of famous 43:39 negotiations ensued. 43:43 Her family said that they would pay $4,000,000 43:47 for her return. 43:50 And the Symbionese Liberation Army said 43:54 if this money was not paid she would be killed. 43:58 And for two months nothing was heard 44:03 from or about Patty Hearst. 44:08 They money was not paid; communication was cut off. 44:13 In April of that same year 44:17 the Symbionese Liberation Army struck again. 44:21 They robbed a bank called the Hibernia Bank 44:26 in San Francisco, California. 44:29 They shot two of the customers 44:34 and injured several others. 44:36 Caught on the bank's video surveillance tape 44:41 was the image of a young woman 44:45 holding a rifle, and she was part of the stick-up. 44:50 That young lady holding the gun 44:55 turned out to be the same Patty Hearst 45:00 who had after two months allegedly stopped being 45:06 a captive or a victim 45:08 and who actually had joined 45:11 the Symbionese Liberation Army 45:14 and was now calling herself not Patty but Tania. 45:19 At her subsequent trial, 45:22 psychologists said that she was suffering from a classic case 45:28 of what was being called Stockholm syndrome. 45:32 Stockholm syndrome. 45:36 Stockholm syndrome is a phenomenon that takes place 45:40 when a hostage spends a lot of time 45:44 in close contact with the person who has kidnapped her. 45:50 Through manipulation and surrender of the will 45:54 this hostage so identifies with the goals, aims, 46:01 and aspirations of her captors 46:04 that she adopts them and becomes one with them. 46:09 In other words, Stockholm syndrome is that thing 46:13 that when a person gets kidnapped 46:16 and stays with the kidnapper long enough 46:19 they become one with the kidnapper. 46:23 Are you following me? 46:24 That's what Stockholm syndrome is. 46:26 The captive convinces him or herself 46:30 that the captor's cause is right 46:34 and should be joined. 46:36 So they embrace and align themselves 46:40 with their captor. In other words, they change ranks. 46:45 They become one with the captor. 46:47 My point is that we can live 46:53 in sin so long 46:56 that sin begins to lose 47:00 its sinful nature. 47:02 And we can suffer a sort of spiritual 47:08 Stockholm syndrome 47:10 to the point that we become so comfortable in sin, 47:15 so accustomed to sin, 47:18 so at peace with sin 47:20 that not only do we not hate sin 47:24 sin actually loses its sinfulness. 47:28 Not only do we desire it, 47:31 it actually becomes something that we cannot live without. 47:36 That's how dangerous saying no to Jesus is 47:42 because we become so at home with sin 47:46 that we develop a taste for it 47:49 and we cannot see ourselves living without it. 47:53 When I first... my wife and I first got married 47:56 she used to watch me put in my contact lenses. 47:58 And she would say: "Ooh, how can you do that? 48:01 How can you take your hand and put your finger right 48:03 in your eye and do that? " 48:05 And it seems very natural to me. 48:07 When I first did it, it seemed very odd 48:10 taking a little piece of plastic or gel 48:12 and putting it in your eye. 48:14 Now after having done it - oh, my goodness - 48:16 thirty years, no problem... you just do it. 48:20 Natural. 48:21 That's the way sin is. 48:23 You do it enough you develop Stockholm syndrome. 48:27 You get to where you like it 48:29 and then you get to the point 48:31 where you cannot live without it. 48:33 I... I've never smoked. 48:36 The smell of cigarette smoke just turns me off. 48:40 But I've had people that I've wanted to baptize 48:44 who just couldn't see giving up the cigarette. 48:47 And cigarette smoking is an awful, ugly, evil habit to me. 48:51 But to those who are addicted to it 48:54 it's part of their life. 48:56 It's tough giving up cigarette smoking. 49:00 I've baptized drunks who said one of the hardest things 49:04 for me was to put down the wine bottle 49:07 and grab a hold of Jesus. 49:09 Now I've never had an alcohol problem. 49:11 Only tasted liquor once in my life as a child. 49:14 As a child snuck into my father's closet and saw a little 49:16 vial of something and took a big swig and... 49:18 threw up and said: "not for me! " 49:20 Never did it again. 49:23 But there are those who have problems with alcohol. 49:26 And it didn't start out that way. 49:28 They started out with a little sip or a little smoke. 49:30 They began to like it, they began to love it, 49:33 they became addicted to it. 49:35 In my book - those of you who read my book 49:37 I Will Fear No Evil - young lady 49:40 went to a party. Fellow gave her a little rock. 49:45 He said "smoke this. " 49:48 She had never smoked crack before. 49:50 One time... she was addicted. 49:53 One time. 49:55 And so one night - it's Friday night, 49:58 she's going to church - and she's out in an alley 50:02 trying to find drugs. And she said: "I'm looking 50:04 into my life... I'm going to church in about 3-4 hours 50:06 and here I am in an alley trying to find drugs 50:10 to take care of a crack habit that I shouldn't have 50:12 because I took one little chance. " 50:15 You see how dangerous it is to turn your back on Jesus 50:20 and to say "no" when Christ is calling you? 50:23 You develop Stockholm syndrome with sin. 50:26 You become accustomed to sin. 50:28 You get to like sin. You get to love sin. 50:31 And sometimes even as you are praying for the Lord to 50:33 deliver you you're not even sure He can. 50:38 We become that accustomed to sin. 50:43 People like Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Idi Amin, Mussolini: 50:47 these people who slaughtered millions of people... 50:50 these were somebody's child at one time. 50:54 Hitler didn't start out being a murderer of 6,000,000 Jews. 50:57 He started out as somebody's child. 50:59 Mussolini started out as somebody's child. 51:03 Idi Amin... somebody's little boy. 51:05 Pol Pot... somebody's little boy. 51:08 But when the call for sin came, they didn't say "no. " 51:12 They turned their back on Jesus 51:14 and opened their heart to sin. 51:16 And sin, ladies and gentlemen, will take you further 51:18 than you want to go and keep you longer 51:20 than you are prepared to stay. 51:22 It will destroy your life 51:24 if you make a habit of saying "no" to Jesus. 51:27 Sin is not cute; sin is not hip; 51:30 sin is not sexy; sin is not chic; 51:32 sin is not cool; sin is not something to be desired. 51:38 Sin is a destroyer. 51:39 Sin, the Bible says, is death. 51:42 Why would anyone want to spend even one more night 51:47 in sin when God is saying you can be free 51:50 right now? 51:53 Why wait till tomorrow when you can freedom right now? 51:59 When you can have love right now? 52:02 When you can have joy right now? 52:05 Why would anybody want to spend one more night 52:08 with the frogs when you can be frog-free, 52:10 sin-free, right here and right now? 52:14 All you've got to do is ask Him. 52:17 All you've got to do is want it. 52:19 All you've got to do is open your arms 52:22 and accept the love of Christ 52:24 and the frogs of sin can be out of your life this very second. 52:32 Ask God for deliverance... deliverance is yours. 52:36 Ask God for victory... victory is yours. 52:40 Ask God for joy... joy is yours. 52:44 Ask God for peace... peace is yours. 52:48 Ask God for deliverance from your past... 52:51 deliverance is yours. 52:53 You know, I am so strong on the Lord. 52:58 I've seen the Lord do so much 53:00 with so little for so long 53:03 that I am convinced that God can do anything with nothing 53:06 if you give your life to Him. 53:09 If you give Him what He needs, what He wants. 53:12 And all He wants is you. 53:15 I had a fellow come to my church 53:18 wanting to serve the Lord, hooked on smoke, 53:22 smoking three packs of cigarettes a day. 53:25 I don't even know how many cigarettes are in a pack. 53:27 Twenty? Twenty-one? How many? 53:29 He's smoking 60 cigarettes a day. 53:31 Through the power of God he put the cigarette pack down. 53:35 Took a hold of Jesus; became a deacon in the church. 53:40 Became an elder; preached a meeting. 53:43 Baptized 20 people. 53:45 Led 20 people to the Lord. 53:46 Put down the smoke... picked up Jesus. 53:51 I had a young lady come to my church. 53:56 She was a prostitute, 54:01 a crack smoker, 54:04 and a heroin addict. 54:06 She was down to about 100 pounds. 54:11 She looked like walking death. 54:17 When she got a hold of Jesus... 54:19 or better yet, Jesus got a hold of her... 54:22 she stood up in prayer meeting and she said: 54:28 "I'm 24 years of age 54:32 and I've slept with 5,000 men. " 54:35 And my church did just what you're doing. 54:41 She said: "But I'm new in Christ. " 54:46 She gave up crack, she gave up heroin. 54:51 She did! 54:53 Tell you what Jesus did for her. 54:56 She began studying with a fellow that she knew. 55:03 She led him to the Lord. 55:05 I baptized him. 55:08 I baptized them both. 55:11 She went from 100 pounds... 55:16 she put on a lot of weight 55:20 eating vegetarian food. 55:22 Went up to about 140. 55:25 Got pregnant. I blessed their first child. 55:29 Um-hmm. Blessed their second child. 55:33 Blessed their third child. 55:36 I blessed their fourth child, 55:38 and she was pregnant when I left New York. 55:43 Five. 55:46 She put on weight, she got a husband, 55:49 she got five children, and she got Jesus. 55:52 Huh. Doesn't matter what your past is. 55:56 Doesn't matter what you've done. 55:58 Doesn't matter how long you did it. 56:00 When you come to the Lord, sin has no hold over you 56:04 any more. Your past gets washed in the blood of Christ 56:08 and all you've got is a bright and glorious future. 56:12 And you can have it right now! 56:14 Why would anyone spend even one more night with the frogs 56:19 when you can have Jesus now? 56:22 John 3:19. Let's go to John 3:19. The book is John 56:26 chapter 3 verse 19: 56:38 Some people like living with the frogs. 56:41 They like living in sin. 56:43 But that's not us, brothers and sisters. 56:46 Our call is to be children of light. 56:50 I want to ask you a question. 56:52 How many love Jesus? 56:56 You know, there's one thing I've found about Satan. 56:59 Unless you keep your home real tight, 57:04 sealed, he'll get in the cracks. 57:07 Have you noticed that? 57:08 Unless you try to keep him out 57:10 and make sure that you are armored with Christ 57:13 Satan will get in the cracks. 57:14 And even those of us who have walked with the Lord 57:16 for a long period of time sometimes get a little lazy. 57:19 Huh? 57:21 So I want to talk to you first. 57:23 I want to talk to those of us who are in the church... 57:26 who are members of the church. 57:27 Maybe you see areas of your life where you need to 57:30 as they say in the Army tidy up a little bit. 57:33 Police those areas. 57:35 Maybe you see areas where you need to really stand strong 57:39 for the Lord, where you need to make sure that everything 57:42 is as it should be so that when Christ comes 57:44 you're ready for Him. 57:46 And if you want to stand with me and say: "Lord, 57:48 please take care of those areas of my life that sometimes 57:51 get a little dusty. I want to sweep in the corners 57:53 of my life. I want to make sure that everything is perfect 57:55 for the Lord. " If that's your call, 57:58 then I want you to stand with me. 57:59 Because I've got a second call. 58:01 I've got a second call because there may be those of us here 58:04 today who have never really given their heart to Jesus. 58:07 Who never really have. 58:09 And if you haven't, if you are not a member of the church 58:13 and you want to give your life to Jesus, 58:16 I'm going to ask you to do something very special. 58:18 I'm going to ask you to come down here and take my hand. 58:20 I'm going to step down on the floor in just a minute. 58:22 I want you to do that. Now, I want those who are standing 58:24 I want you to pray with me. Just bow your heads and pray. 58:26 Want you just to pray. 58:28 And I want you to ask God if there's somebody here 58:30 who needs to give their life to the Lord 58:32 I want you to ask God to give that person the courage 58:35 to come down here and take my hand. 58:36 You're praying; you're closing your eyes. 58:38 You're bowing your heads and you're talking to Jesus. 58:40 Lord, please. It's quiet. There's no music. 58:44 There's nothing being said. It's God's call to you, 58:47 and if you feel God calling you to give your life to Him, 58:51 just come on down here and take my hand. 58:52 God bless you. |
Revised 2014-12-17