HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF 11TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME. (1)

HOMILY FOR THURSDAY OF 11TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME.

THEME: BEWARE OF PREACHING ANOTHER JESUS & RECEIVING ANOTHER SPIRIT!

BY: Benedict Agbo (Rev Fr).

* 2 Cor 11: 1 – 11, Matt 6: 7 – 15.

Be you not ignorant of what the devil does among children of God especially during prayer. Many do not believe this, but it is gradually becoming clear that it is not every manifestation of the spirit that we witness in the prayer gatherings of the Children of God (our Pentecost and Crusade ministrations) that is from the Holy Spirit. All the tonguing, wriggling and falling are not of God. All the revelations, dreams and visions are not from God. The simple reason is that the devil is a liar, Jn 8: 44 and his stock in trade is deceiving the children of God, especially the ones with a gullible mind. In today’s gospel, Jesus identifies one of the sources of this demonic deceit: heaping up empty phrases in prayer. Empty phrases in prayer is a habit of Gentiles which have permeated the Church today through the forces of Pentecostalism and Charismatic renewal. Think of the prayer of the prophets of baal and how some of them were shouting, wriggling on the floor and wounding themselves, 1Kg 18: 28 then you will understand exactly what Jesus was warning against. Heaping up empty phrases in prayer causes what Watchman Nee calls ‘passivity of the mind’ and this is one of the 6 grounds for the taking over of evil spirits and demons; (i) The unrenewed mind, (ii) Improper thoughts, (iii) Misunderstanding God’s truth, (iv) Receiving suggestions from evil spirits (psychologists call this schizophrenia) in form of prophesy /fortune telling, (v) Emptiness of the mind and (vi) Passivity of the will.(cf. Spiritual Man, p. 514).

St Paul warned the Corinthians quite pathetically (as a ‘Charismatic Bishop’ himself – remember, he also spoke in tongues and understood the Charismatic gifts) about the danger of the unrenewed mind in community prayer. Anytime believers get fixated with the idea of speaking /praying in tongues as the major sign of spiritual arrival, it makes them infested with another spirit that works against community prayer /fellowship. He concluded by recommending serious discipline /self control during community prayer: ‘I pray with my spirit and pray with my mind also’, 1 Cor 14: 15. In today’s 1st reading, he now warns the Corinthians again (they were the most turbulent Charismatic Church that Paul encountered) to beware of being affected by another spirit not of Christ, not of the Holy Spirit. This is the greatest disaster in present day Christianity. When we see Brother this, Sister that, Father this, Pastor that doing very weird things in the name of Jesus, we should pick up our scriptures and watch out for the signs and the fruits of the Holy Spirit, Matt 7: 24. Don’t be carried away by the signs and wonders you see!

Following the prayer guide of OUR LORD’S PRAYER, it is easy to decipher those who preach another Jesus;
*1. Their prayer is exclusive* -They do not address God as OUR FATHER.
*2. Their worship is a deflated worship* – They do not sufficiently hallow the name of God.
*3. They are distracted believers* – They do not concentrate on the coming of HIS KINGDOM.
*4. They are over ambitious believers* – They do not pray for OUR DAILY BREAD but for unnecessary wealth.
*5. They are unloving Christians* – They do not forgive the trespasses of their neighbour.
*6. They are demonized believers* – They are often LED INTO TEMPTATION by the devil.
May God bless you today!

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