IN TOUCH DAILY DEVOTIONAL 18 MAY 2024 BY DR. CHARLES STANLEY, FRIDAY MESSAGE
TOPIC: Many Languages, One God
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: Acts 2:1-11
1 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them.
4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
5 Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven.
6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.
7 They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
8 “And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born?
9 “Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
11 Cretans and Arabs–we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.”
TODAY’S MESSAGE
Pentecost is most often associated with the Holy Spirit’s arrival. But it also demonstrates God’s remarkable ability to redeem.
To understand just how amazing Pentecost was, we need to go all the way back to Genesis 11, when everyone “used the same language” and were “one people” (Genesis 11:1; Genesis 11:6). Their problem wasn’t unity—it was self-idolatry. God had said to fill the earth, but they instead built a city and tower to “make a name” for themselves and prevent being scattered (Genesis 11:4). Only after God confused their languages at Babel did they disperse as He had ordered.
Pentecost offers an amazing contrast. The disciples waited in Jerusalem, as Jesus commanded. (Acts 1:4-5). The crowd was “amazed and astonished” to hear their different languages united in meaning (2:6-7). “We hear them,” they said to one another, “speaking in our own tongues of the mighty deeds of God” (v. 11).
That harmony of praise in Jerusalem redeemed the confusion at Babel. And while the church was also “scattered” after that, believers took persecution as an opportunity to sow seeds for the gospel (Acts 8:1; Acts 8:4; Acts 11:19). Their obedience made it possible for us today to declare “the mighty deeds of God.” And one day people “from every nation and all the tribes, peoples, and languages” will sing of the salvation of God and the Lamb (Revelation 7:9-10).
Bible in One Year: 2 Chronicles 24-25
Thought for Today: Our God is a powerful Redeemer—He transforms our failures into testimonies of His grace.
For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.