1Corinthians 1:10, “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment”
In Acts 8, Phillip goes down to Samaria to preach Christ. Peter and John upon hearing that the Samaritans had received the word came to witness. When they got there, through their laying on of hands, the people who had received the gospel message from Phillip received the Holy Spirit. Next in Acts 10, tongues are given to a particular group of God fearing Gentiles (Cornelius) with the unambiguous reason being to serve as a sign to the Jews that the Samaritans and the Gentiles are included in God’s plan of salvation. This fact is spelled out in Acts 11 when Peter is confronted by the Jews for having gone to the Gentiles. When he tells them of how tongues externally signaled the salvation of Cornelius and his household, “they [the Jews] fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life’“, Acts 11:18.
Coming to Acts 19, Paul meets some Jews who were only acquainted with John the Baptist’s preaching. After Paul teaches them about Jesus, they are saved and manifest the gift of tongues. “The author of Acts showcases this sign to his readers to demonstrate how salvation in the new age is only possible through Christ, and that religious Jews as well as non-religious Gentiles have but one way to God, which is via Jesus, and not through their prior Old Testament ways.”
This gift that had divided and scattered a people group in Genesis 11, indeed God used it to bring His people scattered together that with one mind, one purpose, one mouth they would be unified in glorifying His name as the gospel spread. To quote John Gill, “These cloven tongues cannot but bring to mind the division and confusion of the tongues or languages at Babel; which gave rise to different nations, and different religions; but these divided tongues gave rise to the spreading of the Gospel, and settling the true religion among the nations of the world.”
Here then comes Paul to remind us of what is written, Romans 15:4, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope”. Why is this important, because this is where we are instructed, this is where we get our identify and this is where our unity lies. This is also where we pray for one another Romans 15:5-7, “5 Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus 6 that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 7 Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God”.
Again Paul pleads with believers in 1Corinthians 1:10, “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment”
By one miracle of tongues men were dispersed and gradually fell from true religion. By another, national barriers were broken down–that all men might be brought back to the family of God and speak the same language in glorifying God. Blessings Ev
He Has Magnified His Word 