THE NEED FOR ACCORD

  Don’t be frightened by the subject about Pentecost. This commentary is not about speaking in tongues, so read on.

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. (Acts 2:1-2)

  Pentecost is on the fiftieth day after the Passover. Pentecost is “feast of first fruits.” Not only does it follow the Passover when the Jews were saved from Pharaoh in Egypt, but it was fifty days after Jesus translated to heaven. Jesus is the Father’s “First Fruit.” Pentecost, therefore, celebrates Jesus, salvation, and the resurrection.
  Jesus ascended to Heaven and fifty days later His Holy Ghost descended to Comfort mankind. On the day of Pentecost, Jesus’s Ghost appeared from heaven; not the place “Heaven” but from the unseen realm. He was always there in the proximity of the Jews, but on this specific day, He showed Himself. As is the custom, I write personal pronounces referencing the Holy Ghost, but Jesus is His “Person.” The Holy Ghost is the invisible Presence of the Lord. Christians know Him through His Power. In the case of Pentecost, His Power was evidenced by a Jewish group that had a certain characteristic (Acts 2:3).
  Focus on one key phrase from the key verses: “They were all with one accord in one place.” “They” are the disciples, mostly Jews, but foremost they were all God’s peculiar and chosen people from many nations (Deut 14:2), and as disciples of God, the Gentiles who trust in Jesus are God’s chosen and peculiar people. (1 Peter 2:9) that were not born into the Promise but were persuaded and reborn to be God’s adopted children. Although those at Jerusalem were mostly Jews, Pentecost is also a celebration for Christians of all races.
  There were people there from many nations. That is known because they all understood each other in their own language.
  Pentecost eliminated division. All those from different nationalities were able to see and hear Jesus coming back to Comfort them. They were no longer alone!
  Jesus said that He would cause division between family members and not peace (Luke 12:51). Here we have a gathering of the nations, and there was not only peace but accordance — they were with like mind and in harmony. When would that ever happen again, but that one time when celebrating Jesus’s victory over death and the world?
  “Of one accord” (accordance) does not mean that they were all of the same mindset, culture, language, rituals or anything, but that they loved one another as Christ loves the world. When Jesus’s Holy Ghost returned, He turned discord into accord. As such the decryption of the Divine language encrypted at the Tower of Babel was enabled.
  When building things, humans inevitably disagree as to purpose and even structure. The people’s focus was on themselves — each and everyone of them — “to make a name for themselves” (As peculiar and chosen people; Gen 11:4).
  At Pentecost, God built the Church and at that time, the Jews and Gentiles together made a name for themselves, but the Name was not for them alone but Jesus Christ. The focus at Babel was on the people, but the focus at Pentecost was on Jesus and the Comforter! The Church is God’s chosen and peculiar people that the Holy Ghost persuades to be part of the invisible universal Church. There was no argument about the purpose of God’s Temple or its design because the Holy Ghost of Jesus would reside in their Temple, or soul.
  With that background, Pentecost is not about speaking in tongues. It is about a new generation of people all in accord with God. Discord was finally put aside after thousands of years, and the Church was built. Of course, the “foundation” was the prophets and apostles with Jesus as the Cornerstone and the Cross pointing to Heaven at the precipice.
  Babel was where the first pass at temple-building failed because it was for men. Pentecost was when the True Temple was built, one that required no materials, walls, nor stone foundation for it had already been laid well to the stone that the builder’s rejected.
  Confused and dissenting people endeavored to build the temple at Babel for their own sakes. There was discord among them and God. They were not truly even building for themselves as a group, but themselves as persons. That was the discord at Babel and God confused the language of a confused and discordant group. At Pentecost, God’s Plan was used for the building of the Church and willing workers built it in agreement and harmony. Everyone who were willing workers there in Jerusalem where the Church as built.
  The Tower of Babel was not even built at the right location. Its foundation was at harlot Babylon. God’s Temple was meant to at the “foundation of peace” in Jerusalem. Jesus Himself revealed that in seventy years Herod’s Temple, not His, would be destroyed, and consequently God, never requiring structures, built His own Church starting at Pentecost. It was His Church, for Him the Groom married to His Bride, and not for those who would have self-love.
  Returning to the key words in the key verses now; “of one accord.” They loved God because He showed Himself to them, and they loved each other! That is the Greatest Commandment. The True Church’s “mortar” was love and was exhibited by mutual understanding and kindness toward each other and God in the Language of God.
  Remember that Jesus would not even bring peace to the family but discord? But He could with multitudes of people in the Family of God. Pentecost was the event spoken of when He was born — Peace on Earth, goodwill toward men, but it only lasted for a short time. Peace will finally come when Jesus returns to reign for a thousand years.
  The point to this commentary is that accord among people is when God’s Holy Spirit reveals Himself. Why don’t we see Jesus very often? Because of discord in the world, and especially among family and church members. Satan has captured the traditional family and they now belong to him. He is in the process of kidnapping the entire Church that God built, and when that happens, the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord is at hand. Are we there yet? No, but the world is headed to destruction at an extremely rapid pace as people, even God’s chosen ones, walk the way of the world. Satan smiles because we have been “had” by his cunning.
  If you died right now, are there those who you should honor and love who you do not? Nobody can see Jesus unless they are in accord with Him and others. If you have not reconciled with your parents, brothers, sisters, and even your enemies, you shall never see God on His throne in His Temple. Now is the time that your salvation is at hand; not cheap grace without accordance, but costly grace because Jesus loved you, and that you must love others. The best feeling you will ever have is when you forgive and forget. I have done that with my personal enemies and with family members who seemed to have done me wrong. Reconciliation is doing what is right regardless of who is wrong (Mat 5:23-24). That is Christ’s Will for His chosen people!

(picture credit: UMC)