[Gary Petty] Communication. You and I communicate with each other all the time through what? Through language. Without language we would be very limited in how we could communicate, how we could share life with each other. But sometimes language can be a barrier. Try to have a conversation with someone who speaks a different language, and you might be able to communicate a little bit, get a few things across, but you're never going to have a deep meaningful relationship.

You know there was a time when language was a barrier for the preaching of the gospel because the world was filled with different languages, but the Bible, what we call the Old Testament, those scriptures were basically in Hebrew. And in the first century, the first followers of Jesus Christ for the most part spoke Aramaic. But you had a whole world that He told them to go to.

In Acts chapter 2 we have the case where on the day of Pentecost God poured out the gift of languages, the gift of tongues (Acts 2:1-12). And it says people from all over the world heard the wondrous words of God in their own languages.

Now, many people look at this and really zero in on, oh, the gift of tongues, and how that's just the power of God. But you know, God doesn't do miracles just to show off. When God does things He has a reason. The real important part of this passage is why He gave them this gift of languages. He gave it to them so that they could take His words, His message, and they could take it to the world. All these different languages.

You and I live in the benefit of that time, and it's so easy to not recognize what God is doing. We can pick up this book. We can read it in almost every language on the face of the earth. We can talk to each other and find somebody, someplace who knows our languages and can translate. We're able to partake of the gospel because there was a point in time when the gospel was held back because of language, and the Almighty God stepped in and gave the gift of tongues.

That's BT Daily. Join us next time.