Ex 8:8, Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, "Entreat the Lord that He remove the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord." 
	As we read about the plagues that the Lord brought on the Egyptians in order to show Himself as the Lord God Almighty, Ruler of heaven and earth, please be aware of something that may be very much a part of our hearts and thoughts. It is an element of how we respond to God as He is at work in our lives. It presents itself when we are facing a difficult or trying time and turn to God and ask Him to alleviate our distress. We may do so with the very best intention to follow through with a renewed attitude and commitment to be more honoring to God in the life that we live. However, once we are delivered from the heat of the moment and our distress, we may tend to slip back into old habits, or explain away the reason of our deliverance through some more human ideological stance. We return to the manner in which we were always living our lives without any more regard for God or His place in our hearts and minds.  
	Even those who do not know God in the manner of our upbringing within His Church will make a jail house confession, in their distress, often with no real intent on serving God once they are released from their torment or tribulation. This is what we see in this morning’s passage as Pharaoh called upon Moses to intercede for him before the Lord in the removal of the frogs and insects from the land of Egypt. His may have made a very well intentioned request with the promise of letting the people go until the pests were gone. Then, once the vermin were no longer an issue, Pharaoh reneged on his promise and continued to keep the people of God in slavery. 
	This seems to be an attitude within humanity in terms of trying to make deals with God in order to avoid consequences. We see God as an entity with Whom we can bargain and negotiate in order to make the best possible deal that will serve our purposes and our interests in the defilement of our own hearts. Pharaoh embodied the very core of this mentality as he assured Moses, over and over again, that he would honor the command of God to release the people if God would remove the elements of His plagues. 
Ex 8:28+29, And Pharaoh said, "I will let you go, that you may sacrifice to the Lord your God in the wilderness; only you shall not go very far away. Make supplication for me." Then Moses said, "Behold, I am going out from you, and I shall make supplication to the Lord that the swarms of insects may depart from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people tomorrow; only do not let Pharaoh deal deceitfully again in not letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord." Yet, every time the plague was removed, Pharaoh refused to honor his pledge which only served to bring another, more devastating disaster in its place. 
Each time we hear him plead with Moses to intercede as in Ex 9:28, Make supplication to the Lord, for there has been enough of God's thunder and hail; and I will let you go, and you shall stay no longer." And again in Ex 10:16+17, Then Pharaoh hurriedly called for Moses and Aaron, and he said, "I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Now therefore, please forgive my sin only this once, and make supplication to the Lord your God, that He would only remove this death from me." 
As each plague got more severe, to the point of the ruination of the crops and livestock of Egypt, Pharaoh continually divested himself of his promise and chose rather to keep the Children of Israel as His slaves. 
God was never fooled. He knew the very essence of the man’s heart and made each succeeding plague a further demonstration that He, God, is the Sovereign and Almighty, Who rules and overrules in all the affairs of mankind. He is not a bargainer, but rather used the very deceitful heart of Pharaoh to make absolutely clear to both the Egyptians and the Hebrews that God Almighty would deliver His people through the might of His own right hand.
There is no bargaining with God for preferential treatment or for a better situation. With Him it is all or nothing based on the working might of His Holiness, His Righteousness, His Grace, His Mercy, His Justice, and His Sovereignty. While man may delude himself with the making of a corrupt bargain in his heart, God will have none of it! He will answer those who call upon Him in sincerity of heart and mind, but will never compromise Who He is and What He has done in the giving forth of His Only Begotten Son! It is always mankind who must adjust and change in order to honor and to receive the full blessing of God. 
Consider that especially with His people, God uses whatever means to bring forth true and honest repentance and a sincere desire to seek His way and His forgiveness and His salvation. When men see themselves as they really are, lost in their sin and trespasses and call upon God to earnestly save them through the grace and the mercy and the love of God, in Jesus Christ, His Holiness and His Righteousness and His Perfection will be established day by day by day unto the eternal completion that is ours in Jesus Christ. This is not something that we can shun when we don’t like the means that God uses. It will be done and it will be done absolutely and it will be done consistently to show forth His glory in our lives. 
The Apostle Paul encourages us in this truth in Phil 1:3-6. Phil 1:3-6, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. 
	The Children of Israel were constantly learning and relearning this reality as they wandered in the wilderness and as they inhabited the land. After they had turned away from God and sought after the things of the surrounding peoples, God would work to the point that His people would once again call out to Him and seek for Him to forgive and to heal. Num 21:5, So the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us." And Moses interceded for the people. 
	Despite all the mercy and the grace of God going before them, they would get sidetracked into those elements of this age that would only serve to bring forth destruction and disease and pestilence upon themselves. These were the things that God was warning them about in terms of obeying Him and counting on Him and trusting in Him with all their heart and mind and being. 
Please consider what we read in 1 Sam 12:18-21. Please turn to it so we can read it together. 1 Sam 12:18-21, So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. Then all the people said to Samuel, "Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king." And Samuel said to the people, "Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. And you must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile. 
	The awesome splendor of the Lord God Almighty is heralded over and over again in scripture, especially in the Psalms. It is there that, in line with our current consideration, we have a very telling scripture detailing that even the enemies of God will be forced to give Him obedience against their own will. 
Please turn to Ps 66:1-4. Ps 66:1-4, Shout joyfully to God, all the earth; Sing the glory of His name; Make His praise glorious. Say to God, "How awesome are Thy works! Because of the greatness of Thy power Thine enemies will give feigned obedience to Thee. "All the earth will worship Thee, And will sing praises to Thee; They will sing praises to Thy name." Selah. 
	The Lord God Almighty is so splendid and so powerful and so overwhelming and so tremendous that even those who oppose Him will have no option but to begrudgingly give Him their submission and their homage. They will accede to the fact that the greatness and the majesty of the Lord God is beyond their capability to oppose so they will have to do all that He declares for them in subjection to the Omnipotence of God. Whether by choice or by overwhelming force, all will obey the every command of God, now and for all of eternity!   
	This is something that we best learn early in our walk on this earth. We need to set aside any thought or deliberation that we can bargain our position with God and make Him change to suit our thoughts and our concepts and our ideology. Many throughout history have tried to bend God to their will and their purposes, and none have ever been successful. 
Even Nebuchadnezzar, one of the arguably most powerful sovereigns to ever reign on earth was brought to this recognition as we read in Dan 4:34+35, "But at the end of that period I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. "And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, 'What hast Thou done?' 
	Even kings of the people of God tried to get the Lord to work according to their plans and their schemes, and they each failed miserably. As one example, please turn to Jer 37:1-8 where we have the Lord’s response to Zedekiah who placed his reliance, not on the Sovereignty of God, but on the power of the army of Egypt to save his kingdom. Jer 37:1-8, Now Zedekiah the son of Josiah whom Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had made king in the land of Judah, reigned as king in place of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim. But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to the words of the Lord which He spoke through Jeremiah the prophet. Yet King Zedekiah sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah, the priest, to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "Please pray to the Lord our God on our behalf." Now Jeremiah was still coming in and going out among the people, for they had not yet put him in the prison. Meanwhile, Pharaoh's army had set out from Egypt; and when the Chaldeans who had been besieging Jerusalem heard the report about them, they lifted the siege from Jerusalem. Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the prophet, saying, "Thus says the Lord God of Israel, 'Thus you are to say to the king of Judah, who sent you to Me to inquire of Me:" Behold, Pharaoh's army which has come out for your assistance is going to return to its own land of Egypt. "The Chaldeans will also return and fight against this city, and they will capture it and burn it with fire."' 
	Jerusalem would be sacked and pillaged as a result of not seeking after the will of God and coming unto Him in humbleness and submission to His guidance. Man will never devise a means of getting around all that God makes very clear in the manifestation of His plan and His purpose. 
The Lord cannot be manipulated, nor can He be plied with mental manipulations, and neither can He be bought off, as detailed in the following passage in Acts Chapter 8, verses 18-24. Acts 8:18-24, Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, "Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit." But Peter said to him, "May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! "You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. "Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. "For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity." But Simon answered and said, "Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me." 
	All the efforts of men to make God their servant, their butler, their equal in trying to negotiate bargains and deals will be utterly frustrated. It makes no difference how much effort we put into our reasoning capabilities and logistical endeavors, God is Who He is and He will do only that which will accomplish His perfect and eternal plan. 
Too many people fail to recognize this as they feel that God cannot possibly be true to His declared Word that salvation is only through the death and resurrection of His Only Begotten Son. They feel that God would never cause them to suffer the anguish of eternal damnation because they are basically good people just trying to make it through the rigors of life. They attempt to make themselves worthy of heaven through the works and the deeds that they accomplish while despising the thought that they would have to be covered by the blood of Jesus Christ. 
The bargain they put forth with God is foolishness and folly in the reality that all that God desires is that we hear the Good News of Jesus Christ and turn our hearts over to Him for His life to become our life. No bargains, no deals, no other way of it. Call upon the name of Jesus and live. That is the only means by which we will come into the eternal life that God has created for those who will respond to His call. So be it.  
Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, "Entreat the Lord that He remove the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord." Amen.

	This morning’s benediction is Neh 8:6. Then Ezra blessed the Lord the great God. And all the people answered, "Amen, Amen!" while lifting up their hands; then they bowed low and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. Amen.