The SOUNDS of Pentecost
Acts: 2: 1-13
Dr. Wiley Hughes
Summary: On the Day of Pentecost the people of God were united by the Supernatural even though there were some natural barriers that could have divided them. To promote Christian unity and ministry, and to experience God more fully as a body and individually, we should remember that God speaks to each of us in different ways. Therefore, we should be tolerant of one another’s spiritual experiences and be supportive of our fellow Christians.
Just to give some background to the passage we are about to read, let me remind you
that Jesus had been crucified, buried, risen, and finally ascended. Before He went back
to heaven, however, He gave His disciples instructions to stay in Jerusalem and wait for
“What the Father has promised.” The promise He told them was a supernatural baptism,
unlike the water baptism of John, the Baptist. The disciples knew what Pentecost was and they knew what Baptism was but they were about to experience something brand new, something which the Lord had told them they would experience previously in Acts 1:8. He said; “but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”
So, what is about to happen, here in Acts 2, is the fulfillment of
what Jesus promised in Acts 1: 8. Let’s look at what happened…
“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. 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. They were amazed and astonished, saying, “Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we each hear them in our own language to which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans, and Arabs—we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God.” And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others were mocking and saying, “They are full of sweet wine.” (NASB)
When I was young my father would whistle loud when he wanted me or my brother to come home. We would either be playing in the back yard or down the street at a neighbor’s house but whenever we heard that whistle we knew to come home because dad wanted us. I remember once when dad wanted us to come and whistled loud for us to come home, he didn’t know that my friend and I were standing right around the corner from the back door where he was standing. My first response when I heard my dad whistle was to step around the corner and see what he wanted. My friend, on the other hand, was startled and his first response was to move away from the sound that was so loud it startled him. You see, both my friend and I heard the same whistle, but it meant something different to each of us. That is what we see here on the Day of Pentecost, and it is what we need to remember about our fellow Christians whenever God is speaking.
There are quite a few references in this passage to “sound” and “noise.” “Suddenly
there came from heaven a noise….. 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… how is it that we each hear them in our own language… we hear them in our own tongues speaking of the mighty deeds of God…
Quora.com says; “Nearly all species of animals can communicate with each other through some means, be it body language or some form of vocal communication,” but language is one of the things that divides human beings around the world. Here in Acts 2 everyone was hearing the same sound and it brought them together. Since Romans 10:17 reminds us that, “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ,” it may be that what we say can divide us but what we listen to from God will unite us. That is the power of the sound of Pentecost.
The people on the Day of Pentecost were united by a sound and we have a good description of that sound. Verse 6 says, “…when this sound occurred, the crowd came together.” There are 4 things we are told by the writer about this sound, (1). It came from heaven (2). It came suddenly (3). It was like a violent rushing wind (4). It filled the whole house where they were sitting.
Growing up in a Classical Pentecostal church and denomination, I heard a lot about tongues, but it is interesting how little we heard about this “sound.” What is this sound…this sound of Pentecost? It was the sound of unity. I want to share with you about these 4 things we are told by the writer about unity.
(1). Unity Comes from Heaven
Unity is not a natural occurrence. Unity in the Spirit comes through Christ and we all must work at it right?
Ephesians 4: 1-6 says, Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.
That’s a lot of “ones” isn’t it? The things of Christ exist in unity. This sound of Pentecost was a sound from heaven and the sound brought the people together.
(2). Unity often comes suddenly
Nothing works quite like tragedy to unite us, and tragedy often comes sudden, doesn’t it? “Every so often, amidst the frequent incivility and conflict in society, we notice reductions in the angry “noise” emanating from the media and politics. For a while at least, sounds of animosity diminish, and people are, well, "nicer" to each other. Ironically, these temporary respites occur during times of major tragedies.” (Saul Levine, MD psychologytoday.com)
Where is the tragedy in Acts 2 you ask? The tragedy, at least for many of the followers of Jesus, happened 50 days earlier when they were surprised to see their master, their leader, their Lord crucified and buried. The followers of Christ were unified by the tragedy of the crucifixion but, more specifically, by the complete destruction of their plans. The death of Jesus had left his followers dumbfounded, scattered, and scared. After seeing Him alive again, the disciples were busy trying to make sense of all that had happened. They surely must have been asking themselves, “What do we do now?” The question to which Jesus gave them a clear answer in Acts 1…
(Stay in Jerusalem and wait for “What the Father has promised.”)
Perhaps Unity often comes suddenly because the tragedies we face cause us to stop prioritizing our agenda and slow down and listen to what God is saying for us to do. When we stop to listen to what God is saying and doing some pretty amazing things can happen.
(3). Unity is like a violent rushing wind
One part of this phrase is the word “Phero,” (fer’-o) which means to carry. “Biaios” (Bee-ah-yos) is another word in this phrase which means forcibly. Finally, “Pnoe” (Nah -A) is a word used for “respiration, a breeze – breath/wind.” (Blueletterbible.com) It can make a big difference when people unite with a common goal. I have seen our church feed hundreds in ministry events and minister to thousands during our evangelistic efforts all because we came together with a common goal. I would like to think as Christians, we can take any mountain or whether any storm or accomplish any task when we work together. This is why we do missions, and it is why we do outreach, and it is why we do evangelism. That is the sound of Pentecost…the unity of the body of Christ working together to violently interrupt the plans of the enemy to keep people down and discouraged. Remember Matthew 11:12? “From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force.”
(4). Unity will fill the whole house
I like how the writer says, “and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.” This “noise,” this sound filled the whole house. It takes unity to fill anything doesn’t it? It takes more than a drop of milk to fill a gallon container. It takes more than a single brick to make a wall. It takes more than one single voice to make a choir. This sound was able to fill the house because it was being heard in unity. That is the most important part of this event in Acts 2. The sound itself wasn’t the most important because we aren’t even told what the sound was, we are just told what it was like. The most important thing here is that everyone was listening to it and because everyone was in unity in the hearing of this sound it was able to fill the house.
In conclusion, we look at what the benefit of unity is. As we see in Acts, when God’s people unite, despite our differences, we can accomplish much. To reach people around the world and around the corner we will have to start wanting to listen to what God is saying and doing more than we want what we are saying and doing to be heard. If you want to begin this powerful journey of unity, a journey that will include a mighty move of God like we see here in Acts 2, let’s start by asking God together to help us accept one another, love one another, and support one another like never before. Let us ask God’s forgiveness for feelings of hatred in our heart for others we don’t agree with and pray that he will replace hatred with hearing. Wonder what God will say to us this week? I can hardly wait to find out. See you next week!
