A BIG BLACK SNAKE
Romans 8:31-39
“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? 32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. 34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord”
Suppose you woke up in the midnight and there was light out. By the time you managed to put on the light, and about to visit the loo, you discovered that A BIG BLACK SNAKE had been lying on the same bed with you all along. What would you do?
I have had to put this question to some Christians.
Surprisingly, almost all of them had similar responses.
For example, somebody said, she would be very afraid, and start to pray that God should render the snake harmless, send help to get rid of the snake and deliver her unhurt.
Another woman said that she would just faint at the sight of the snake.
A man responded that he would first of all fret but later he would burst into speaking in tongues, binding and casting the snake out in Jesus name.
Someone said he would call the name of Jesus seven times, blood of Jesus seven times, fire of the Holy Ghost seven times, and by then the snake would disappear.
Yet another person said she would pick race, run out of the room and never come back to sleep there again.
Somebody again said he would search for a cutlass or a weapon to cut off the head of the snake.
When the same question was asked in a particular Church, one woman started to shiver, shake herself and expressed shock at just the mention of a big black snake even without seeing the snake at all!
Of course, you too can add your own response here!
If you woke up to see that a snake had been lying with you on the same bed, what would you do?
Let’s analyse the scene:
1
Obviously all responses as stated above seemed impulsive, emotional and unpremeditated, coming at the discovery of a life-threatening danger in a lonely and light-out midnight!
2
Evidently, too, all such responses were made out of fear. And in any case, whatever your responses are, they just show who you are, and of what sort you are made of!
3
You would love to ask me too, if I were, if I woke up at midnight and suddenly found a snake on my bed, what would I do in such circumstance?
4
This is my answer: if I were, I would just look down on the big black snake, hissed on it profusely, put off the light, tell the snake to shift a little to one side of the bed so as to give me enough space to sleep, get back to sleep on the same bed, wrap myself with the night gown, and finally holler on the snake that if he were so powerful he should try to stay there till the morning, and that by then, he would be in hot soup!
5
You wonder if such an answer could ever come? Am I an angel or am I from the moon? Have I become a friend of snakes? Do I have some supernatural snake-immunizations? What, on earth, could have made me to be so bold to want to sleep with a live snake?
6
I reasoned that, if at the sight of the snake you begin to pray, shout the name and blood of Jesus, call down the fire of the Holy Ghost, shiver, or pick race, you are only demonstrating the fear in you! Is it the present prayer you are just offering that would deliver you? Can your shaking, fretting or fainting kill the snake? Does it mean that Jesus had travelled, hence, the snake came in, and you have to call on Him to quickly come for your rescue? Could the snake not have harmed you before you locate the cutlass or axe?
7
One thing is sure; the snake must have crept in through your house roof, door or window when you were fast asleep. You could have even been snoring when the snake climbed up and stretched itself on your bed and laid there with you. The snake could have been sleeping with you for up to three hours before you instinctively woke up.
8
Perhaps, too, while you were deep in the sleep, you had laid your hands or legs or both on the snake unawares. Who even know if the snake had put its head or tail on your chest while you were still sleeping?
9
The truth is this, in our side of the world (Africa); a snake cannot just come into one’s bedroom. It is believed that some enemies must have sent it for a very deadly, harmful and devilish assignment. The snake must have furiously sneaked into the house only to search out your room out of all other rooms in the house.
10
But now that you’ve finally woken up, don’t you think that if the snake had not been incapacitated by God, you would have died in your dreamland? Again, if the snake was still potent at the time it laid on your bed, it could have crept through your anus and into your stomach and continue to live there forever!
11
Now, if the snake could not carry out any of these or whatever evil work it was sent and you could wake up to see the live snake on your bed, then, it means, the snake had failed on whatever mission it was sent. If the snake had not killed you up till when you woke up, then it means it can never kill you again! Why and how am I so sure that the snake can never harm you again?
Before I answer this question, you need to know this:
There are two types of deliverance. External and internal. These two types can be likened to what happens to a monkey when it is taken out of the forest. External deliverance can be compared to taking a monkey out of the forest as a pet into the house. But no matter how beautiful the cage you put or keep a monkey, it will still continue to behave like monkeys in the forest, jumping here and there!
You will need to de-forest the MIND of the caged-monkey in order for it to be cultured and behave more like humans. This is internal deliverance. This is the process of getting rid of all animalistc behaviors of the monkey!!
The Israelites were delivered out of Egypt. But it is a pity, Egypt was not taken out of their MINDS, hence they all suffered for forty years and perished in the wilderness, except for Caleb and Joshua whose MINDS were off Egypt. Those who perished got external deliverance but lacked internal deliverance. Numbers 13 and 14.
In other words, it is one thing to take out the monkey out of the forest, it is yet another thing to take the forest out of the monkey. For a complete freedom, the external deliverance must be complemented by internal deliverance!
Each one of us is like the monkey. We all had external deliverance when we got born again. We were delivered from the world, from sin and from Satan. This is our salvation. But there’s yet the need for internal deliverance. This is the process of getting rid of the world, sin and FEAR out of us. It is a process. And it is by deliberately and intentionally using the Word of God to constantly purge our MINDS off whatever negative things that have been there. It is as tough as getting the forest out of the MIND of the monkey!
HOW TO RECEIVE INTERNAL DELIVERANCE AND GET RID OF THE BIG BLACK SNAKE LYING ON YOUR BED
1
The Bible says in Genesis 1:1 that “in the beginning God..…” The emphasis here is that in the beginning, it was God and God alone. It did not say
“In the beginning Satan…” or
“In the beginning Snake…” or
“In the beginning God and Satan…” or
“In the beginning Snake and God…”
Rather, the Bible says,
“In the beginning God …”
It was God and God only.
It was God and God alone.
And
If God begun it,
If God started it all,
If God begun your life in the beginning,
Then it follows that God will continue and
God alone will conclude it all. Not Snake! Not Satan!! Not Enemy!!!
If the snake had been there in the beginning, then it would have been written:
“in the beginning snake…” or
“in the beginning God and snake….”
And then there would have been a legal right for the snake to be there now.
But since it was not there in the beginning, then there is no foundation for it being there now.
So, if suddenly, the snake sneaked in, then, it must be an aberration, a nuisance, a misnomer, an uninvited visitor and a stranger; and therefire, suddenly, it must go out!
This means, if the snake was not there in the beginning, it came in as a tenant and not the landlord. The snake should then know that his tenancy agreement has expired. No more extension or renewal of tenancy! So, the Snake is a stranger, and a visitor.
And according to 2Samuel 22:45-46, the Bible says,
“Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me. Strangers shall fade away, and they shall be afraid out of their close places.”
2
This same God that begun your life in the beginning said in Psalm 121:3-8
“He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.”
If the Lord had promised never to allow the “moon” to smite you at the night time, then, the snake that came in the night can never harm you! The snake that came by night must also go by night. Since you are not a child of the night but of the day, the snake can never prevail over you!
3
The infallible Word of this same God that begun your life in the beginning says in Psalm 91:1-16
“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust. 3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. 4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. 5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; 6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. 7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee. 8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked. 9 Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; 10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. 11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. 12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. 14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. 15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.n.”
I would love you to read this passage over and over again. Personalise it as you read on.
“…The Lord is my refuge…”
“He will not suffer me to be moved…”
“He shall deliver me from the snare of the fowler and from every noisome pestilence…”
Read on until you learn it by heart. They are meant to immunize you against any such things as snake harm.
4
You should note that the power of God must have kept you through all the night otherwise, if you ever woke up at all, you would have woken up inside the snake. But now that you are still alive, you are not to exercise fear at all.
The Bible in King James Version admonished us in about sixty-three times to ”fear not”
An example of this is as written in the Book of Isaiah 43:1-2
“But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.”
5
Again, the Lord Jesus Christ had given you power to tread upon scorpions and serpents in the book of Luke 10:19
“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall by any means hurt you”
Why then should you run away from just one big black snake that sneaked in by night, which was unable to harm you while you were sleeping?
Is it now that you woke up that it would harm you?
6
The Bible says in 2Kings 6:16,
“…and he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them”
Matthew 28:20 also says,
“…I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”
Romans 8:31-37 declares,
“…What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us….
Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.”
7
The Lord equally promised in Psalm 125:1-3,
“They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever. For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.”
In other words, no rod of any snake can come upon you because the Lord Himself had already surrounded you.
8
Moreover, the Bible says in 1Chronicles 16:22 and Psalm 105:15,
“…..touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm”
Psalm 17:8 also expounds,
…keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings
Deuteronomy 32:10 reiterates,
“..…he found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.”
So if you are the apple of God’s eye, which really you are, what or which kind of snake can touch the apple of God’s eye? It must be ready to roast immediately.
9
Also, the bible says in Isaiah 49:24-26, that
“shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the LORD, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the LORD am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.”
10
According to the parable of the kingdom Jesus told us in Matthew 13:24-28
“…the kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way…
…then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, an enemy hath done this…”
The question here is that if the enemy has enough power why couldn’t he uproot the good seed that the good man had planted instead of merely sowing tares among the wheat?
The truth is that, you are the good seed and millions of enemies (or snakes) combined had no power to uproot the smallest of the hair on your head!
According to Matt. 10:28-31
“And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows”
Another poser for the enemy, (that snake), is that, why did he come around in the night while men had slept? If he had not been a coward, why did he not come during the day when men had not slept?
So, if the snake was bold enough and sure of itself, why did he use darkness to cover itself like cloth? Why didn’t it show up while everybody was awake? Then with clubs, stones, pebbles and cutlass, it would have learnt its last lesson!
Moreover, according to Deuteronomy 28:7, the Bible did not say enemies (snakes) would not come but that when they come, their coming shall not be for you; and peradventure, they come for you by accident they will equally fall down because of you by accident in seven ways. In other words, any snake that comes by accident will go accident. And if they come in one way, they shall flee in seven ways.
After all, according to Ephesians 2:6, you have been made to sit together with Christ in heavenly places, far above all principalities, powers rulers of darkness of this world, and all spiritual wickedness in high places. So, having been given dominion over them, you are to exercise it to the fullest.
We can go on and on recapitulating the precious promises of God. But the few mentioned above are more than enough to silence any type of snake. Even one of these Bible-based promises is more than sufficient for you to rely on, have a deep serenity, and never be worried, fearful, or fidget at all.
You are therefore to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on courage and do away with fear once and for all.
In Colossians 3:3, the Bible says your life is hid in Christ and that of Christ is hid in God.
Thus, any snake attempting to terminate your life must first of all kill the Almighty God. After the burial ceremony of God, the snake would kill Jesus Christ and the enemy will conduct the burial service of Gid abd Jesus Chrust. It is only after all these, that the snake could raise itself against you.
But then which snake can kill the Almighty God and Jesus Christ? With only a breathe, the snake would roast.
If you don’t mind I would just ask you to imagine that the snake is beside you right now.
Look down on the snake now for the last time because thus says the Lord, whatever snake you see today, you shall see it no more again forever.
This is clearly what God said in Exodus 14:13-14
“And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.”
Not only should you look down on the snake, I want you to hiss on it profusely and provocatively.
The lesson here will be better understood if you recall how, in the days of old, young boys go about wooing young girls. At first, when the boy approaches the girl and made advances, the girl would, normally and as usual, looked down on the boy, hissed on him and snobbed him.
At this juncture, all that the girl meant and was saying to the boy is that, he is a nonentity, a dwarf and a good-for-nothing imbecile. So with the winkling of her eyes, without saying a word, the girl had concluded the case of the boy as inferior to herself.
The boy would feel very ashamed and humiliated, having been disgraced and reduced to nothing in the public. The next thing would be for the boy to walk away from the girl having his head bowed down like that of a cow.
With the same method, why not winkle your eyes, hiss and look down on whatever snake that had been lying on your bed all this while? This would make it to develop migraine as it walks away from your sight into an uninhabited wilderness where eventually, it will give up the ghost.
Finally, all that have been said about the big black snake here, could be better described as a parable.
The truth is that everyone at one time or the other has a particular snake always lying with him or her on the same bed.
What is this snake?
Simple! It is the problem of your life. The sickness that has refused all entreaties; the heavy burden you are carrying all about; the seeming impossibility and the “no-go area” of your life; or the demon saying he would not let you go!
It could even be the very “darkness that thrives in the midst of your light”. It could be the “darkness that sits” at the entrance of your God-given treasures.
It is that which has reduced you to a little other than what and who God meant you to be. You have been sleeping and waking up together on the same bed.
Every day, week, month and year, you kept praying, fasting and doing all sorts to get rid of this “big black snake” but it has refused to let you alone.
Now, hear the good news: if this your “snake” had not killed you up till today, if you are still alive, reading or hearing this sermon, then, the snake can never kill you anymore; The time has come for you to look down on the snake-problem, hiss on it, winkle your eyes on it and ignore if forever. As you do this, it would get out of its own accord.
Don’t fret. Stop fidgeting. Stop running helter-skelter because of a snake that had been incapacitated, and a snake whose head has been cut off, and only swirling its body!
If you keep running, then ut means you’re turning your back at your enemy. No, dont turn your back to that snake. Face the enemy and the enemy will phase out!
Read Ephesians 6:10-18 where the Bible talks about the weapons of our warfare, you would notice that the only part of your body which has no covering is your back parts.
“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.a For we wrestle not against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in…”
What this means is that God did not expect you to turn your back at your enemies because you’re not expected to run away from them. You are to face them squarely and you will overcome in Jesus name.
The problem of Job was that he was always afraid that sudden calamity could happen to his children. And that was the main reason he normally offer sacrifices to God. This was to appease God on behalf of his children if they have erred in any way so that evils will not come on them. And then, that which he was afraid of, eventually overtook him.
The Bible says in Job 3:25
“For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me.”
If the snake had enough power, it would have made a pepper soup out of your life and your skull would have become a mortar on which it would pound its yam while yiu wete sleeping!
But thank God, you have woken up now, alive and lively, no more fear to the glory of God and our Lord Jesus Christ! Your light has come and the darkness is over!
Arise and shine for your light is come; and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you!
You have been telling God about your problems all these years.
The time has come for you to tell your problems about your God.
Let the big black snake know Who your God really is instead of telling God about the snake.
Tell that darkness about the Light that shinneth in the darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not!
As you do this, you begin to experience your desired all-round changes.
You will move from glory to glory!
