DAILY HOMILIES #Pentecost

Blasphemy is a term used to describe speech or actions that show disrespect, contempt, or irreverence toward God, sacred things or religious beliefs. For instance, cursing God, mocking God’s existence, spreading false teachings about God, desecrating sacred spaces, objects or texts, engaging in sinful or obscene acts, damaging religious symbols or property, etc. To blaspheme against the Holy Spirit is to attribute the works of the Holy Spirit to Satan. As Jesus warns, anyone who commits such a sin will not be forgiven. Do not joke with the Holy Spirit.

As the church was gathered in one place, praying and worshipping God, we are gathered today, and we all ask God for another outpouring of the Holy Spirit. More than ever before, the church today is in dire need of the Holy Spirit.

These were the last words of Jesus before His Ascension - “Go into all the world and preach the gospel.” (Mark 16:15). This is an all-important task. If we fail to preach the gospel, we have failed God

As the children of Israel received the tablet of the Law on Mount Sinai, marking a new dispensation for them – freedom from the captivity of the Egyptians, the coming of the Holy Spirit became the beginning of a new era for God’s children; the birth of the Church and the writing of the Law in our hearts. “A new spirit I will put within you, and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and carefully observe My ordinances.” (Ezekiel 36:26-27)

What is the essence of speaking in tongues if there is no love in our hearts? What is the essence of shouting and jumping in the church if upon going back to our homes, we bear grudges, think evil thoughts, and allow sin dominate our lives? If the gift of speaking in tongues was necessary on the day of Pentecost to aid the spread of the Gospel to the ends of the earth, I believe that what we need most today in Nigeria, (a country at the brink of destruction because of corruption at all levels) is the gift of telling the truth and acting according to our conscience. Elections are just around the corner again and so many lies are flying about. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to work in us and through us to avoid making the same mistakes over again.

Let us open our hearts today for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. As we remember that day that the church was born; that day that all timidity and fear was wiped out of the believers; that day that the church received fire and utterance to spread the message across the world; we sincerely pray that God may find us worthy again to receive that fire and begin a new era of Christianity. Amen