ONE MORE NIGHT WITH THE FROGS
TEXT: Exodus 8:1-15
INTRODUCTION:
I. BACKGROUND.
A. Joseph’s family had gone into Egypt because of famine.
B. Several hundred years had passed, the Pharaoh that knew Joseph was dead.
C. A new dynasty had enslaved the Israelites.
D. God sent the plague of frogs on Egypt.
E. Describe the plague of frogs and dramatize.
F. The Pharaoh summoned Moses and asked him to end the plague of frogs.
G. "When", said Moses.
H. Then one of the most amazing lines in the Bible is uttered. The Pharaoh could have this terrible plague removed any time he chose; and he said, "TOMORROW."
I. So, the Pharaoh chose ONE MORE NIGHT WITH THE FROGS.
II. Why did he choose one more night with the frogs?
A. Describe the terrible situation again.
B. He probably refused to believe the God of Moses had actually caused the plague. He probably thought the situation had been caused by natural phenomena and wanted one more night for the situation to improve, without God’s help.
C. He was warned the frogs would come, and they did. The remedy was standing right in front of him. And yet, because of his unbelief, he spent one more night with the frogs.
D. The Pharaoh’s actions may seem absurd to us. But many are acting the same way now because of their unbelief (Acts 17:30-31).
E. It is foolish to put off obeying the gospel and spend one more night with the frogs for many reasons.
DISCUSSION:
I. Because the day could come when God would give you up.
A. The people of Noah’s time.
1. The very thoughts of men were continually evil (Gen. 6:3,5,6).
2. God gave them 120 years and then he sealed the door of the ark and no man could open it.
3. They had spent one night too many with the frogs and God gave them up.
B. Ephraim is joined to idols let her alone (Hos. 4:17).
C. After the Pharaoh had closed his ears to the pleading of the Israelite slaves and to the pleading of God’s servant, God hardened his heart.
D. "Lo the Harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved from our sins" (Jer. 8:20).
E. God gave up the gentiles (Rom. 1:24-28).
F. God gives one up when his heart becomes so depraved by repeated rebellion to God that his conscience is no longer open to the word of God (I Tim. 4:1-2; II Thess. 2:10-12).
II. It is folly to spend one more night with the frogs because the conscience may become hardened (I Tim. 4:1-2; Heb. 3:13).
A. Every drunkard was once an innocent child, every thief, murderer, rapist, etc.
B. 5 of every 6 conversions in the Church of the Brethren took place before the age of 20.
C. 11 of 12 before the age of 25.
D. 1 of 1,000 after the age of 30.
III. It is folly to spend one more night with the frogs because of the uncertainty of death (Jas. 4:13-14).
A. Just like the policeman in Columbus Ohio who played Russian roulette with his father’s gun, at a party and killed himself, you are playing Russian roulette with your soul if you choose to leave this building without Christ.
B. "As for man, his days are as grass, as the flower of the field; the wind passeth over it and it is gone (Ps. 103:14).
C. Read the ages of the characters in Genesis 5 and emphasize the age and the phrase "AND HE DIED" with each one.
D. The boy who actually stepped out in the isle the next-to-the-last night of a meeting, and stepped back into his seat. We watched for him the last night of the meeting, but he was not in his seat. We were informed after services that he had died in an accident with some of his friends on the way home the night before.
IV. It is folly to spend one more night with the frogs because we do not know when the Lord is coming again.
A. In 1936, they waited in the trees and on the hill tops dressed in white sheets. They were so sure of the date that many gave away everything they had.
B. Garner Ted Armstrong said he was coming Jan. 2, 1972.
C. Pat Boone said Jesus would come before 1980.
D. I received a letter from one preacher who said Jesus was coming in 1981.
E. Then came a book teaching that the Lord was coming in 1988.
F. All of these people think they know more than Christ knew (Mark 13:32).
G. The day of the Lord will come as a thief (II Pet. 3:1-10; I Thess. 4:16-17).
V. If you choose to spend one more night with the frogs (this last night of the meeting) you may think that it would be unfair of God to bring down the curtain and close the door of opportunity for you. But, if you turn your back on the invitation of Christ tonight you are be turning your back on:
A. God’s love (Rom 5:8).
B. The Pleading of the prophets (II Pet. 1:19; Heb. 11:37-38).
C. The invitation Christ (Matt. 11:28-30).
D. The power of the Gospel (Romans 1:16-17).
E. Prayers of loved ones.
F. The exhortations of evangelists.
CONCLUSION:
I. Read Rev. 20:11-21:8.
II. What will your answer be??? Will you accept God’s deliverance from the sin that plagues your life tonight??? Or, . . . will you spend . . . ONE MORE NIGHT WITH THE FROGS.
