WE CANNOT KEEP SILENT
Opening Prayer
Holy Spirit, fill me today with Your powerful presence.
Read Acts 2:1–13
The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost
2 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken. 7 Utterly amazed, they asked: “Aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 Then how is it that each of us hears them in our native language? 9 Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome 11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!” 12 Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, “What does this mean?”
13 Some, however, made fun of them and said, “They have had too much wine.”
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Have you ever studied another language? Did you find the learning process difficult?One day, more people than we can imagine from “every nation, tribe, people and language” will stand before the throne of God and worship with unbridled joy (Rev. 7:9–11). This will be a great reversal of God’s judgment on humanity at Babel, when God confused their languages because they united in rebellion against him (Gen. 11:1–9).
The reunifying of the nations in worship was a key theme for the prophets (Isa. 60), and here, at Pentecost, we see the first fulfillment of their visions—God beginning to break down these barriers through the outpouring of the Spirit. Note that it was not “angelic tongues” being spoken but the languages of the known world. The Holy Spirit came on the believers, and people from all over the world heard worship to God in their own language. God is on a mission: to unite people from every nation in worship forever!
Are we so filled with God’s Spirit that we, too, cannot but speak of him to our neighbors? Are we willing to go to other lands to declare in other cultures the wonders of God, if he calls us?
Apply
Whom has God put on your heart to share the Gospel with? How can you share the good news of what Christ has done in your life with them this week?
Closing prayer
God, I am open to anything You want to do in my life—I just want more of You.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.