ListenDaily - 17 February 2009; He who has ears, let him hear!

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ListenDaily - 17 February 2009; He who has ears, let him hear!

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language? Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!" Acts 2: 5-11(find these or any other passages at www.Biblegateway.org)

Yesterday's passage in Mark, is the only mention of speaking in tongues in the Gospels. Moving forward through the New Testament, we come to the second chapter of Acts. As a reminder, I am not using any commentaries at this point, just reading the Scriptures and seeing what they say to us in our language. We will look at some other perspectives, and the Greek terms before we finish this study.

"All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them...there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language. Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?...we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"

What is the role of the speaker? The hearer? God?

God's role here, in he Holy Spirit, was to fill the apostles and allow this miracle to occur.

The speakers preached! The hearers heard the Gospel!

Now, was the miracle here a changing of the speakers' tongues, or of the hearers' ears? We really do not know...and I have to ask...does it matter? The important thing was that the Good News of Jesus Christ be understood, and that language not be a barrier.

As I have alluded to previously, this Pentecostal experience was not what we typically view as 'speaking in tongues', yet it is a passage often referred to in that subject.

What I do not want to miss here is that God made it important to cross over the human language barrier, once created by Him. Remember the Tower of Babel? At that time, God used language to scatter men; here He uses it to bring them together, and, more importantly, to Him.

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Questions:
1. What thoughts or feelings does this reading raise?
2. How do different languages help/hurt the spreading of the Gospel today?
3. How does God overcome language differences in and through the church today?


INTERESTING THOUGHTS:

"We are the Bibles the world is reading;
We are the creeds the world is needing;
We are the sermons the world is heeding."
Billy Graham

"Our seminaries today are turning out dead men."
Leonard Ravenhill

"Courage is contagious.
When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are stiffened."
Billy Graham