The Sounds Of Pentecost Series

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.