The Spirit of the Crab
The pages of the Bible leap with the use of symbolism. Symbols and types are used to convey very important truth to Bible readers.
It is quite unfortunate, that a lot of animal behaviour is found among human beings. There are intelligent, talented and experienced men and women whose behaviour can be linked to what is found among various species of animals in the animal kingdom.
Most of the people who put up these aberrant behaviours are not fully aware of what they are doing. Most of these animal-like behaviours have become compulsive habits because they were programmed into human behaviours from the spiritual realm. That is why people who put up abnormal behaviours are often helpless and they often find it difficult to change their situations.
And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and. his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into earth, and his angels were cast out with him (Rev. 12:7-9).
The passage which you have just read clearly explains the proliferation of evil in our world today.
These are the last days. The devil, the enemy of our soul, has changed his gear to the swiftest and the fastest. He had therefore, captured multitudes. He has unleashed all kinds of spirits upon mankind. These spirits are very wicked and clever. The spirit of the crab is one of such deadly spirits. This spirit has the appearance of a crab in the spiritual realm. The spirit of the crab is a powerful spirit that rules men and women these last days.
THE POWER OF EXAMPLE
Mother crab woke up one day, feeling very depressed. What was her problem? She noticed that all her children were walking sideways, like drunken people. The children promised to change on one condition; they all wanted crab to give them an example on how to walk properly. Mother crab told them to stand aside and watch. They did. Mother crab took a few steps but all her children discovered that she was walking sideways. That was how they discovered that it was impossible for them to do contrary to the pattern which their mother showed them.
What then are the characteristics of the spirit of the crab? How can we identify the qualities or the manifestation of the spirit of the crab?
BAD EXAMPLES
Examples constitute a very powerful force. Men can set others on fire through the power of examples. Examples are contagious, and they spread like diseases. The example which you lead others to copy or to emulate is proof of your loyalty, sincerity and commitment.
There are good examples and there are bad examples. Sad enough, there are many Christians today who are laying bad examples. We often try to say wonderful things in order to convey the truth of the gospel while the example which we give to the people of the world is a far cry from what we are telling them. Most of the time, people tell us: “Your actions are speaking with a loud voice that I cannot hear what you are trying to say.” I think the people of the world are right when they say actions speak louder than voice.
Therefore, people are no longer interested in high sounding scriptures which we try to quote. Rather, they want to follow your personal example. your life is writing a book. You write a new chapter each day. That is why you must be careful about what you write on the pages ofthe book of your life. We went to pray with a man and we met him beating up his son. The manner in which he was beating up the little boy made us to wonder about what the boy did. When we asked the boy’s father to stop flogging the little boy, he decided to tell us what the boy did. “This boy is becoming funny. He is a terribly bad boy. He is smoking the mat. He has converted pieces of the local Nigerian mat into cigarettes.” I called the man aside and told him that he really did not have the moral right to beat up the boy. The boy was only following his father’s example. He was both a cigarette addict and a chain smoker. Unknown to him, he had influenced the son to start smoking. He was a stumbling block to his son. A lot of believers will go to hell fire because they became stumbling blocks to others and because their lives failed to direct others toward heaven.
THE FORTY MARTYRS OF SEBASTE
The Test. Winter stays long among the hills of Armenia. Snow lies deep on the ground, the streams are icebound, and there are bitter winds until March has come and gone. In the year 316, a terrible persecution broke out against the Christians in that area, and the governor ordered that all who would not offer incense to Caesar as god were to be punished without mercy. The governor was determined that a Christian should not remain among the soldiers; therefore the men of the Thundering Legion, stationed at the capital, were paraded before an image of Caesar and tested one by one. When the test was made, forty of the soldiers refused to worship the emperor, and boldly confessed Jesus Christ as their Lord.
The governor was informed that these forty were the best men in the Legion. They were therefore given one more chance to recant; still, they stood firm to their faith. They were threatened with scourging, torture and death, but they still refused. At this very time, Attilus, the Roman legate, reached Sebaste, but the forty soldiers still refused to sacrifice to the Roman gods. Therefore, to prevent any of their comrades from becoming followers of the new faith, the forty soldiers were stripped of their armour and their garments, and ordered to march out to the centre of an icebound lake, and stay there until they either denied their Lord, or were frozen to death.
The Forty Wrestlers.
To his dismay, (for he had many friends among the forty) Sempronius the centurion was ordered to see that the sentence was carried out, it was the ninth day of March. The whole country was covered with snow and ice, and the wind blew down in bitter gusts from the hills. Yet the naked soldiers marched boldly out over the ice, singing: “Forty Wrestlers, wrestling for Thee, O Christ, Claimed for Thee the victory, And from Thee the crown at last.”
Upon the edge of the lake stood a temple to Mars, and the centurion was ordered to prepare a bed of furs in it, to light a roaring fire, and provide hot broth – all to tempt the forty Christians to leave the ice and worship the temple.
The wind blew stronger and colder. Surely, no one could resist the warmth and light of that temple. Any of the forty had to walk back across the ice, done their armour, and worship the emperor as a sign of their loyalty, and once more, they would be numbered amongst the soldiers of Rome. But on the ice, the forty soldiers turned their backs on the tempting light, moved up and down to keep some warmth in their bodies, and sang songs of victory and rejoicing to encourage one another. From within the light and warmth of the temple Sempronius, the centurion, heard their song coming through the darkness:
“Forty wretlers, wrestling for Thee, 0 Christ, Claiming for Thee the victory, And from Thee the crown at last.”
“What kind of men are these?, “the centurion thought, “who can sing so triumphantly in such cold and pain? Their Lord must indeed be worthy of service and worship.”
Slowly the hours went by, the men on the ice became too frozen to move about, and one by one they sank on the ice from cold and exhaustion. Their song grew weaker and fainter, but still its refrain came to the centurion’s ears:
“Forty wrestles, wrestling for Thee, 0 Christ, Claiming for Thee the victory, And from Thee the crown at last.”
The unbroken company. So far, not a man had left the frozen lake. The night became more bitterly cold, and the centurion drew nearer the fire. Some say that as he watched by the fire he drowsed, and a light brighter than the flames shone in the temple, and an angel, glorious and strong, laid crowns of gold on the floor. The centurion knew that they were for the soldiers freezing to death on the ice, and wonderingly he counted them. There were thirty -nine.
“Forty!” the centurion called out. “There should be forty.” Then he came to himself. At that moment a man came stumbling over the ice towards the warmth of the fire. It was Ouinitillus, the youngest soldier of the forty, who could no longer bear the suffering in the cold darkness. He had given up, and had rushed from the lake into the temple for food and warmth.
Quick as thought the centurion’s helmet and sword changed on the floor. Then he threw off his armour, and marched out over the frozen lake to take the deserter’s place. “Lo,” he cried, “I will claim the fortieth crown.” As he joined the company on the ice, a few feeble voices raised the song of triumph: “Forty wrestlers, wrestling for Thee, 0 Christ, Claiming for Thee the victory, And from Thee the crown at last.”
When the morning dawned, the Roman guards came to see what had happened. They found one armour-clad figure crouching by a dying fire in the temple, but out on the ice lay a frozen , unbroken company. Forty wrestles had won the crown! And among them was the Centurion, Sempronius.
what kind of examples are you laying for others to follow? Are you laying good examples? Are you laying bad examples? Are you living a disorderly life? What kind of life are you living? Can anyone decide to become a Christian by merely watching you?
Do you give a bad label to your church? Have you led people astray with your kind of life? Is your life a sweet-smelling savour to others who want to follow the Saviour? The Bible makes it clear that, it is better for a heavy stone to be tied to the neck of anyone who makes others to stumble, and thrown into the sea.
Can others look at your life and say: “If being a Christian means behaving like you I rather die an unbeliever?” if you behave in a particular way and someone tells you: “And you call yourself a Christian? Yours is a bad example. The people of the world do not need an angel to come down to preach the gospel to them. Your own example will lead them either to heaven or to hell. I know husbands who have been won for Christ through the good examples of their wives. I also know parents who embraced the gospel through the good examples of their children. When the example which your life is laying down contradicts the message you are trying to pass across, you will end up leading multitudes astray. If the trumpet of your life is giving an uncertain sound, you are laying a very bad example. A lot of actions which emanate from so-called Christians do not recommend others to Christ. Why must you decide to borrow a wedding gown, only to run into trouble later for staining it? If the owner of the gown ask you to replace it, how would you get the money? Why must you give 4 false picture of whom you are to other? If you fail to give people examples, then you are manifesting the attitude of the crab.
DISORDERLY WALK WITH THE LORD
Are you disorderly in your walk with God? Do you allow situations to make you inconsistent in your walk with God? Is your walk disorderly like that of the crab? A sister was planning for marriage, only to be embarrassed by a particular situation a week to the wedding. The man came back saying: “I’m sorry I’m no longer interested. Although we have done the engagement, I’m no longer interested in getting married to you.” He turned back without batting an eye. Unknown to the sister, her husband was snatched by the chief bridesmaid.
Surprisingly, the church which all of them were attending wedded the chief bridesmaid and the brother who wanted to marry the sister. The sister was so affected by that traumatic experience that she decided to kill herself. Those who were close to her advised her against taking such a foolish step. When all efforts to persuade her proved abortive, they decided to bring her to me: Then I told her that she had no reason to kill herself. It took several hours to persuade her to believe that she had a future.
She did not kill herself. Unfortunately for the chief bridesmaid, she lost her husband a few months later. The chief bridesmaid later came to do deliverance because she was not able to get another husband after she lost the man.
Disorderliness is a clog in the wheel of spiritual progress. A lot of people are disorderly in their prayer lives. Such people pray in a disorderly fashion.
The quite time of a lot of so-called Christians is disorderly. Many people have reduced the quite time to crash programines. Their quite time is excellent on Monday but terrible on Tuesday. Some people do not even observe quite time on some particular days of the week.
The Bible reading pattern of some people is also disorderly. The Bible reading culture of most Christians is highly undesirable.
Others are disorderly in their character. They put up various shades of character. They flaunt the good ones in the open and manifest the bad ones secretly. Do you know that your character is what you are in the dark? Your real character comes out when you think nobody will ever know what you are doing. Some others are disorderly in the area of holiness. There are many Christians who cannot maintain a life of holiness from morning till evening time. Such people try to cover up their secret sins. They cannot walk straight. That is an evidence of the presence of the spirit of the crab in that person’s life. The trumpet of the person’s life is giving out an uncertain sound. I want you to close your eyes and take this prayer point. Any crookedness in my walk with you, O Lord, straighten it, in the name of Jesus.
HYPOCRISY
The third characteristic of the spirit of the crab borders on the ability of the crab to live in two habitats. A crab can live both under the water and on a dry ground. That is a symbol of duplicity and hypocrisy. Those who have the spirit of the crab in their lives always live in hypocrisy wherever they find themselves.
Christians with dual nature have constituted the most serious problems to the body of Christ today. Those who possess this dual nature, operate as normal human beings while they also possess some hidden spiritual power.
There are people who are blind witches. Such people are completely ignorant about the fact that they have the spirit of witchcraft. These people can be found in many churches today. Their behaviour smacks off hypocrisy and deceit. You won’t know who you are, until you decide to own up to a definite cry unto the Lord to deliver you and make definite changes.
One of the early Pentecostal Fathers stated that, God gave him a, vision which throws a lot of light on our subject of discussion. According to him, he discovered that there were three classes of people in the church. The first group was planting yams, the second group was planting stones, while the third group was not planting anything at all. He asked the Lord to show him the meaning of the revelation.
The Lord told him that those who were planting yams are those who are serious with God and are heading towards heaven. Those who were planting stones were those who knew that they had demons in their lives but decide to cover it up. These people are going to hell fire. The third group consists of those who are completely blind. They come to the church without knowing what they are doing. Hypocrisy is a great problem.
HOLDING FIRM
The fourth characteristic is that the crab holds tenaciously to, and completely encircles what it is holding. Take a look at the crab and you will discover that the crab has two appendages for grasping or holding whatever it has captured. However, those possessive hands can be easily broken even by small children.
The possessive spirit is one of the characteristics of the spirit of the crab. I have often wondered why men and women have decided to be possessive. It is clear that nobody will ever take anything out of this world.
The Bible says that “We brought nothing into this world and that we shall take nothing out.” The Bible has concluded that vanity of vanity all is vanity. It is unfortunate that most of the things which men are struggling for today are raw materials for fire. All these things shall melt with fervent heat. You can decide to hold on to what you have today. One of these days those possessive hands shall be broken.
FEAR
The spirit of fear is another characteristic of the spirit of the crab. The crab is one of the most fearful creatures. It tries as much as possible to keep away from contact with whatever constitutes a threat or danger to it. Fear enslaves. The Bible clearly states that all those who are fearful will eventually spend eternity in hell fire.
A lot of Christians have become so confused that they do not know what they are afraid of. People fear so many things that they have no single rest in the day or in the night
GLUTTONYAND SEXUAL PERVERSION
The sixth characteristic of the crab is located in the claws. The crab uses the claws for a dual purpose: For eating and as sexual symbol. The male crab uses its claws to threaten its rivals. It also uses it to impress the female crab. One of the manifestations of the spirit of the crab is the presence of sexual sins in the lives of the people.
Sexual sins have stunted the spiritual growth of many believers. Sexual perversion is one of the important components of the spirit of the crab. As long as you continue to allow sexual sins to remain in your life you will continue to be amputated.
The easiest way of becoming demonized is through sex outside marriage. It doesn’t take a long time before those who indulge in sex outside marriage to become infested with lots of demons. The deliverance of those people is sometimes more difficult to conduct than even the deliverance of witches.
LIVING IN DARKNESS
Another characteristic of the crab comes out in its manner of living. Crabs dig holes in the ground and they live mostly in darkness. Those who are possessed by the spirit of the crab generally live their lives in darkness, you will surely stumble. You will make several mistakes without having a clear picture of what you are doing. One characteristic of those who live in darkness is that they have no sense of direction. They always stumble and make mistakes.
POOR MEMORY
Poor memory is another characteristic of the spirit of the crab. Although the head of the crab is so big, yet it has a very tiny brain. There are people whose lives are characterized by porous spiritual memory, short attention span, and inability to recall anything that is beneficial to them. A lot of people have got into trouble as a result of failure to remember things that are for their utmost good.
The Bible says, “Remember and forget not.” Spiritual memory is one of the most important grace given to man. Once that grace is lacking in your life, you may end up a failure. It is tragic if you do this.
Inability to retain spiritual materials in your life is also tragic. Ifyou cannot retain the word of God in your life, something is wrong somewhere. Ifyou find out that you are always forgetting your dreams, your visions, memory verses, the prophecies, the scriptures, and every other thing which God has given to you, you are under attack. Some people even forget their calling. Memory can be positive or negative. A lot of people have negative memory. They can only remember negative things. Their type of memory can only allow them to think about wickedness. They can only remember how to retaliate. Such people don’t have any positive memory. A positive memory leads to repentance. It helps you recall all the bad things you have done. When you remember how many homes, you have destroyed, how many innocent babies you have killed, how many times you have placed your head on the laps of Delilah and how many innocent young boys and girls you have messed up, you will want to cry unto God in repentance. When you recall how many souls have slipped into eternity because of your refusal to preach the gospel to them, how many times you have told lies in order to have your way, how many lies you have told your spouse, how many times you have disappointed God, how many times you have used evil wisdom to cover up your atrocities, you will cry to God for mercy. Why don’t you close your eyes right now and take this prayer point?
Lord, deliver me from the lies which I tell myself, in the name of Jesus.
The devil tries to make people not to remember what they are supposed to remember. He makes people to completely forget what will do them good. He also makes them to remember what they ought to forget. Let us examine a particular instance in the Scriptures: “Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh saying, I do remember my fault this day.” The man was bailed out by Joseph but he decided to forget his benefactor. He only remembered years later. Are you like the chief butler? Have you forgotten what you are supposed to remember?
You must remember the promises which you made unto the Lord some years ago. Did you tell the Lord when you were in trouble, “0 Lord, if you get me out of his problem, I shall forever roll on the ground in an attitude of worship?” Did you remember that promise? Did you also remember when you said, “0 Lord if you will bless me, I will honour you with my wealth?” “Lord, if you can help me this once, I will never make mistake again.” Did you remember these and other promises and vows? The Bible states that: “It is better not to make a vow than to make a vow only to fail to fulfill it.” You must remember that your forgetfulness has caused problems to others. Do you know that souls are perishing while you are still struggling to live a holy life? There are many people with the call of God upon their lives who are wasting their call. It is quite possible that you have succeeded in forgetting your call. As you read these pages, you must remember the call in your eyes, remember the call of God. It is unavoidable.
Remember what God told you. Remember what you also told God. Remember what you promised God before you became rich. Remember how hot you were before this time. Remember the vow you made with tears in your eyes. Remember! Have you forgotten the solemn promises which you made to God? Have you forgotten all the promises which you made to God in those good old days? The Bible says, “Remember and forget not how thou provokest the Lord thy God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day thou didst depart out of the land of Egypt until ye came unto this place. Ye have been rebellious against the Lord. Remember and forget not” (Deut. 9:7). Have you decided to follow the footsteps of the children of Israel who were forgetful hearers?
Do you still cherish sound doctrine which you were once taught?
Do you still stand on the truth which you were taught when youbelieved, or are you now a modern Christian? Why do you go about complaining, saying there is no love in this church? I have discovered that those who complain about lack of love in the church are the same people who have no lave. If your heart is filled with love, you will also see and experience love in the church. Have you broken your promises? Remember what you have passed through and all the pledges you have made. Why have you continued to do exactly what you promised not to do? Why have you chosen to forget what made you to fall? Have you forgotten what the devil has used, times without number, against you?
For how long will you allow your poor memory to continue to be used as a weapon against you?
The Bible says: “By the rivers of Babylon there sat down. We wept when we remembered Zion”. Did you take time to remember important experiences in life? You must remember and learn your lessons before it becomes too late. If you fail to remember when amendment can still be made, you will regret when things begin to get out of hand. It is highly unreasonable to begin to remember, after things have become irreparable. To allow your memory to begin to hurt you when you ought to have made an amends when things were still manageable, is to allow the spirit of the crab to affect you. A memory that brings tears to the eyes is not a good memory. Maybe you were one of the aggressive prayer warriors but now you have become a habitual fornicator. Remember. Maybe you were once an ardent Bible reader but now you have become a serious fighter. Remember. Maybe you were once hearing the voice of the Lord, but you no longer hear the voice of God. Remember. Maybe you were once on fire but you have become ice cold. Remember. Maybe you once walked in holiness but you have now become an enemy of God. Remember. You must do something about your departure from your first love. You must not allow the spirit of the age to capture your mind.
If you fail to remember what God wants you to lay in heart today you may end up remembering when it would have become too late. There was such a man in the Bible. He found out that it was too late by the time he discovered that he has missed out on what the Lord told him. “And the second time the cock crowed and Peter called to mind the word that Jesus spoke to him” (Mark 14:72)
Do you put the words of the Lord into your heart? Do you meditate upon the words of Jesus? If the word of God dwells richly in your heart, other things will have no place there. I don’t want you to remember the words of God when it would be too late to do anything. I don’t want you to remember the words of God when it will be too late to make amends or restitution. I don’t want you to remember the words of God after you entered the journey of no return.
The man who got to hell in Luke 16 was crying for water when there was no hope. But Abraham said. “Remember that thou in thy life time receiveth thy good things and likewise Lazarus, evil things, but now he is comforted and thou art tormented.” The memory of his experience on earth was brought to him when it was a source of torment. That was an evil memory.
God does not want you to have any evil memory. That is why he is appealing to you today, to “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works. Or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy candle sticks out of its place expect thou repent” (Rev. 2:5)
You must remember where you missed it. You must cry unto God like someone who is determined to get out of bondage. You must cry unto God today like a person who is being carried away by an evil river. You must cry unto the Lord today like a . person who is under a great pain. You must cry unto the Lord today with violent faith and determination. One day changed the course of Jeremiah’s life. He cried out his heart to God.
One day also changed Moses’ life. He had a decisive encounter with God at the burning bush and his life was never the same again. One day, David was looking after his father’s sheep. From that day, his life was never the same again. Isaiah was in the house of God. One day, after the death of – king Uzziah, he saw the Lord, and his life was no longer the same. That single day changed his life for good. One day, Gideon was hiding in fear because the Midianites were trying to destroy everything but the angel of the Lord brought a message of peace and courage. His life never remained the same.
One day, Paul was on his way to Damascus with a mission of death against the Christians. Suddenly, he heard a voice from heaven and he surrender his life to God in a once and for all encounter. That single day changed the course of Christians history. What God did for these people. He can do in your own life if you are willing to allow him do what he wants. The Lord can touch you today and your entire life will never remain the same. One day can turn your life upside down to the glory of God. This day can bring the change you have been looking for.
One day, Nehemiah heard some sad news concerning the temple of God. He responded. From that day his life was not the same again. Can you allow God to make you a modern day Nehemiah? Are you willing to build the broken walls of the church?
The voice that spoke to Samuel, Ananias and Sapphira no longer seem to exist in the church again. God needs people who can see a clear vision of what is happening in the church and rise up to build the broken walls.
The spirit of the crab has overshadowed the lives of so many people. Most churches are filled with believers who posses the characteristics of the crab. It would be very sad, if you go through all kinds of spiritual activities only to be told by the Lord “I never knew you ye that work iniquity” at the end of your life. We are in the last days.
A lot of people who think that they will be saved will be lost.
A lot of people who have been called by God will realize, at the end of the day, that they have spent their lives climbing the wrong ladder.
A lot of people who are supposed to be movers of the hand of God on earth will discover that they are running the spiritual race on the wrong track.
Are you chasing shadows, fighting a battle which God never commanded you to fight?Although the Bible has stated that the major characteristic of the last age is that the love of many shall wax cold. Will you allow your own love to wax cold? There are thousands of believers who are meant to be end-time apostle but are still busy warming themselves in the fire ofthe enemy.
A lot of pastors who are supposed to be moving mountains for God have been captured by Jezebel. These pastors can no longer fulfil their call. Many hands have been cut short by sin, and they can no longer hold the blessing of God. You must cry unto the Lord if you must save yourself from this wicked generation. You must wrestle against every power that tries to make your life a past tense. You must arise and shine. You must war against any power that tries to hinder you from shining for the Lord. Don’t be caged by this evil generation. Do not have any confidence in the flesh.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Oh Lord, deliver me from the spirit of this age, in Jesus’ name.
2. I refuse to perish with this world,. in the name of Jesus. 3. Holy Spirit, break me and remould me, in the name of Jesus.
4. Oh Lord, open the heavens and rain your power upon my life, in the name ofJesus..
5. Holy Spirit, come upon my life, in the name of Jesus.
Related Sermons:
