📖 Matendo ya Mitume — Somo la Kina — Sehemu ya 1: Kutoka Yerusalemu Hadi Mwisho wa Nchi (Matendo 1–2)📖 Acts Intensive — Unit 1: From Jerusalem to the Uttermost Parts (Acts 1–2)

I. Juzuu ya Pili ya Hadithi Yenye Juzuu MbiliI. Volume Two of a Two-Volume Story

Fungua Biblia yako katika Matendo 1:1 na usome sentensi ya kwanza kwa makini. "Kitabu kile cha kwanza nalikiandika, Theofilo, katika habari ya mambo yote aliyoanza Yesu kufanya na kufundisha, hata siku ile alipochukuliwa juu" (Matendo 1:1–2, SUV). Angalia kitenzi. Luka hasemi kwamba Injili yake ilikuwa habari ya mambo yote ambayo Yesu alifanya. Anasema ilikuwa habari ya mambo yote ambayo Yesu alianza kufanya. Injili ya Luka inaishia na kupaa kwake, lakini kazi imeanza tu. Matendo ni juzuu ya pili — yale ambayo Bwana Yesu aliyefufuka na kupaa aliendelea kuyafanya na kuyafundisha kupitia Kanisa lake lililotiwa nguvu na Roho. Kwa njia, kitabu hiki hakina mwisho rasmi, kwa sababu kazi bado haijaisha. Sisi tunaishi ndani ya juzuu hiyo ndefu ya pili.Open your Bible to Acts 1:1 and read the first sentence carefully. "The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up" (Acts 1:1–2, NKJV). Notice the verb. Luke does not say his Gospel was the account of all that Jesus did. He says it was the account of all Jesus began to do. The Gospel of Luke ends with the ascension, but the work has barely started. Acts is volume two — what the risen, ascended Lord Jesus continued to do and teach through His Spirit-empowered Church. The book has no formal ending, by the way, because the work still isn't finished. We are living in the long second volume.

Luka aliandika juzuu zote mbili. Alikuwa tabibu, Mmataifa, mwanahistoria makini, na rafiki binafsi wa mtume Paulo. Kitabu hiki karibu hakika kiliandikwa takriban mwaka 62 au 63 B.K., wakati Paulo alipokuwa bado katika kifungo cha nyumbani huko Rumi. Tunajua hivyo kwa sababu ya mambo ambayo Luka hayataji — mateso ya Nero yaliyozuka mwaka 64 B.K., kifo cha Paulo takriban mwaka 68 B.K., na kuharibiwa kwa hekalu mwaka 70 B.K. Hakuna hata moja la matukio hayo makubwa yanayotikisa dunia linaloonekana katika Matendo. Kama yangekuwa yametokea, Luka angeyaandika. Kwa hiyo Matendo inahusu takriban miaka thelathini ya historia, kuanzia kupaa kwa Kristo takriban mwaka 33 B.K. hadi Paulo kuhubiri huko Rumi takriban mwaka 62 B.K.Luke wrote both volumes. He was a physician, a Gentile, a careful historian, and a personal friend of the apostle Paul. The book was almost certainly written around AD 62 or 63, while Paul was still in his Roman house arrest. We know that because of what Luke does not mention — Nero's persecution that broke out in AD 64, Paul's death around AD 68, and the destruction of the temple in AD 70. None of those earth-shaking events appears in Acts. If they had happened, Luke would have written about them. So Acts covers about thirty years of history, from the ascension of Christ around AD 33 to Paul preaching in Rome around AD 62.

Zifikirie Injili nne kama upande wa wima wa imani yetu — zinatuonyesha Utatu ukitenda kazi: Baba akimtuma Mwana, Mwana akitii hadi msalabani, Roho akishuka wakati wa ubatizo. Matendo ni upande wa mlalo. Kinaonyesha injili ikienea kwa nje kutoka katika vuguvugu la Kiyahudi lililojikita hekaluni huko Yerusalemu hadi kuwa jumuiya ya ulimwengu mzima ya kila taifa lililoko chini ya mbingu, ambalo ndani yake anakaa si jengo bali Roho Mtakatifu mwenyewe. Kanisa (kwa Kigiriki, ekklesia, "kusanyiko lililoitwa litoke") linazaliwa hapa kama mwili hai wa Kristo aliyepaa.Think of the four Gospels as the vertical dimension of our faith — they show us the Trinity at work, the Father sending the Son, the Son obeying to the cross, the Spirit descending at the baptism. Acts is the horizontal dimension. It shows the gospel running outward from a temple-centered Jewish movement in Jerusalem to a world-wide community of every nation under heaven, indwelt not by a building but by the Holy Spirit Himself. The Church (in the Greek, the ekklesia, "the called-out assembly") is born here as the living body of the ascended Christ.

II. Siku Arobaini na "Dalili Nyingi"II. Forty Days and "Many Infallible Proofs"

Baada ya ufufuo, Yesu hakuwakusanya wanafunzi na kuwaambia waende kuhubiri mara moja. Alikaa siku arobaini. Luka anasema alijidhihirisha kuwa hai "kwa dalili nyingi" (Matendo 1:3, SUV). Neno la Kigiriki hapo ni tekmeriois — ushahidi usiopingika, wa aina ile inayosimama imara katika mahakama ya sheria. Hapo ndipo mahali pekee katika Agano Jipya lote ambapo neno hili linatokea, na Luka mwanahistoria ndiye aliyelichagua.After the resurrection Jesus did not call the disciples together and tell them to go preach immediately. He stayed forty days. Luke says He showed Himself alive "by many infallible proofs" (Acts 1:3, NKJV). The Greek word there is tekmeriois — incontrovertible evidence, the kind that holds up in a court of law. It is the only place in the entire New Testament where this word appears, and Luke the historian is the man who chose it.

Huenda hulijui jina Frank Morison. Katika miaka ya 1920 alikuwa mtaalamu wa matangazo na mwandishi Mwingereza aliyeamua kuufanyia ulimwengu fadhila. Alikuwa na mashaka ya kifalsafa kuhusu Ukristo, naye aliamini kwamba ufufuo ndio jiwe la msingi la imani nzima. Kwa hiyo aliamua kuandika kitabu ambacho, mara moja na kwa wakati wote, kingeuweka wazi ufufuo kuwa mkusanyiko wa hekaya. Aliazimia kupima ushahidi kwa ukali kama mahakama ingefanya. Lakini alipokuwa akifanya utafiti wake, jambo la ajabu likatokea. Kesi haikuwa rahisi kama alivyodhani. Alipowachunguza mashahidi, kaburi tupu, wanafunzi waliobadilika, na kanuni za imani za mwanzo, alisadikishwa kinyume na matakwa yake juu ya ufufuo wa kimwili wa Kristo. Sura ya kwanza ya kitabu chake inaitwa "Kitabu Kilichokataa Kuandikwa." Kitabu chenyewe kinaitwa Who Moved the Stone? (Nani Aliyelivingirisha Jiwe?) — na karibu karne moja baadaye bado kinachapishwa, bado kinapewa wenye mashaka, bado kinafanya kile ambacho Morison hakukusudia kamwe kifanye. Matendo imejengwa juu ya ushahidi wa aina ile ile ambao hatimaye Morison aliuamini: siku arobaini za kutokea kwa Bwana aliyefufuka — kwa mwili, akila chakula, akiweza kuguswa, mara kwa mara, na hadharani.You probably don't recognize the name Frank Morison. In the 1920s he was a British advertising man and writer who set out to do the world a favor. He was philosophically skeptical toward Christianity, and he believed the resurrection was the foundation stone of the whole faith. So he decided to write a book that would, once and for all, expose the resurrection as a tissue of fable. He resolved to weigh the evidence as strictly as a courtroom would. But while he was doing his research, a remarkable thing happened. The case was not as easy as he had supposed. As he examined the witnesses, the empty tomb, the changed disciples, and the early creeds, he became persuaded against his will of the bodily resurrection of Christ. The first chapter of his book is titled "The Book That Refused to Be Written." The book itself is called Who Moved the Stone? — and nearly a century later it is still in print, still being handed to skeptics, still doing what Morison never intended it to do. Acts is built on the same kind of evidence Morison eventually trusted: forty days of physical, edible, touchable, repeated, public appearances of the risen Lord.

Mwishoni mwa siku hizo arobaini Yesu alitoa amri moja ya mwisho na ahadi moja ya mwisho. Amri: "msitoke Yerusalemu, bali mngoje ahadi ya Baba" (Matendo 1:4, SUV). Ahadi: "mtapokea nguvu, akiisha kuwajilia juu yenu Roho Mtakatifu; nanyi mtakuwa mashahidi wangu katika Yerusalemu, na katika Uyahudi wote, na Samaria, na hata mwisho wa nchi" (Matendo 1:8, SUV). Mstari huo mmoja ndio orodha ya yaliyomo ya kitabu kizima. Sura 1–7 — Yerusalemu. Sura 8–12 — Uyahudi na Samaria. Sura 13–28 — mwisho wa nchi. Kariri Matendo 1:8 na hutapotea kamwe katika kitabu hiki.At the end of those forty days Jesus gave one last command and one last promise. The command: "do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the Promise of the Father" (Acts 1:4, NKJV). The promise: "you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8, NKJV). That single verse is the table of contents of the whole book. Chapters 1–7 — Jerusalem. Chapters 8–12 — Judea and Samaria. Chapters 13–28 — the end of the earth. Memorize Acts 1:8 and you will never lose your place in this book.

III. Neno Gumu Kuliko Yote Katika Msamiati wa Kikristo: NgojaIII. The Hardest Word in the Christian Vocabulary: Wait

Inashangaza jinsi wanafunzi wanavyoitikia. Walikuwa wamepokea agizo la ulimwengu mzima, na Yesu anawaambia wafanye nini? Wakae kimya Yerusalemu. Neno moja gumu kuliko yote katika msamiati wa Kikristo ni ngoja. Sisi ni kizazi cha papo hapo. Tuna kahawa ya papo hapo, ujumbe wa papo hapo, na maoni ya papo hapo. Tunatarajia Mungu afanye kazi kwa kasi yetu na kwa ratiba yetu. Isaya 40:31 inasema, "wao wamngojeao BWANA watapata nguvu mpya." Lakini kungoja ni nidhamu ambayo karibu hakuna mtu anayeifurahia.It is striking how the disciples respond. They had just received a worldwide commission, and what does Jesus tell them to do? Sit still in Jerusalem. The hardest single word in the Christian vocabulary is wait. We are an instant generation. We have instant coffee, instant messaging, and instant opinions. We expect God to operate at our speed and on our schedule. Isaiah 40:31 says, "those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength." But waiting is a discipline almost nobody enjoys.

Marafiki katika huduma yetu waliwahi kuniambia habari ya mwana wao wa miaka miwili na sokwe wake wa kuchezea. Mvulana huyo alimburuta Rilla kila mahali. Siku moja mishono ya Rilla ikaachia na pamba ya ndani ikaanza kutoka. Mvulana mdogo alitembea kwa kuyumba hadi kwa mama yake, akamnyooshea sokwe na kusema, "Mama, Rilla amevunjika. Mtengeneze." Mama akasema, "Mpenzi, nitafurahi kumtengeneza — nipe." Lakini alipounyoosha mkono kuchukua kichezeo, alikuta mtoto wa miaka miwili amekishika kwa nguvu. Mama akavuta, mtoto akavuta, machozi yakaanza, na hatimaye mama akasema kwa uchungu, "Siwezi kumtengeneza mpaka umwachilie!" Na papo hapo, alisema, Roho Mtakatifu alimgusa begani na kumkumbusha mambo kama nusu dazeni katika maisha yake mwenyewe ambayo alikuwa ameyashikilia kwa ngumi zote mbili huku akimwomba Mungu ayatengeneze.Friends in our ministry once told me about their two-year-old son and his stuffed gorilla. The boy dragged Rilla everywhere. One day Rilla's seams gave out and the stuffing started leaking. The little boy waddled up to his mother and held out the gorilla and said, "Mommy, Rilla's broked. Fizzit." She said, "Honey, I'd be glad to fix him — give him to me." But when she reached for the toy, she found a two-year-old firmly attached to it. She tugged, he tugged, the tears started, and finally she said in exasperation, "I can't fix it until you let go of it!" And right at that moment, she said, the Holy Spirit tapped her on the shoulder and reminded her of about a half-dozen things in her own life that she had been holding onto with both fists while asking God to fix them.

Hapo ndipo hasa wanafunzi walipokuwa katika Siku ya Arobaini. Yesu alikuwa amewapa ulimwengu. Walikuwa na mambo ya kufanya. Lakini Yesu alisema, "Ngojeni. Msinitangulie. Mpaka Roho Mtakatifu aje, yote mtakayofanya kwa nguvu zenu wenyewe ni kukimbia bila nguvu na kupata matokeo mabaya kabisa." Kwa hiyo watu mia moja na ishirini kati yao, wakiwemo wanawake na Mariamu mama yake Yesu na ndugu zake, walipanda katika chumba cha juu na kuomba kwa siku kumi. Hawakujua wangengoja kwa muda gani. Hawakujua ni nini kilichokuwa kikija. Walitii tu.That is exactly where the disciples were on Day Forty. Jesus had given them the world. They had things to do. But Jesus said, "Wait. Don't run ahead of Me. Until the Holy Spirit comes, all you will do in your own strength is run with no power and disastrous results." So one hundred and twenty of them, including the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and His brothers, went up into the upper room and prayed for ten days. They did not know how long they would have to wait. They did not know what was coming. They simply obeyed.

Tanbihi moja ndogo hapa, nami nakiri kwamba ni mtazamo wa kwenda kinyume na wengi, lakini J. Vernon McGee mkuu aliushikilia, nami pia naushikilia. Katikati ya siku hizo kumi, Petro alisimama na kupendekeza wamchague mtu wa kuchukua nafasi ya Yuda kwa kura, na kura ikamwangukia Mathiya (Matendo 1:15–26). Mathiya hatajwi tena kamwe katika Biblia. Hata mara moja. Mungu alikuwa ameshamchagua Sauli wa Tarso kuwa mtume wa kumi na mbili, na Roho Mtakatifu alikuwa bado hajamwagwa ili kulifanya jambo hilo kuwa wazi. Nadhani Petro alikimbia yadi mia moja kabla ya mlio wa bunduki ya kuanzia mbio. Hata watu wema, hata mitume, wanaweza kutenda kabla Roho hajasema. Wakati mwingine jambo la kiroho zaidi tunaloweza kufanya ni kukaa kimya, mikono chini, na kuomba.One small footnote here, and I will admit it is a contrarian view, but the great J. Vernon McGee held it and so do I. In the middle of those ten days, Peter stood up and proposed that they replace Judas by lot, and the lot fell on Matthias (Acts 1:15–26). Matthias is never mentioned again in the Bible. Not once. God had already chosen Saul of Tarsus to be the twelfth apostle, and the Holy Spirit had not yet been poured out to make that clear. I think Peter ran a hundred yards ahead of the gun. Even good men, even apostles, can act before the Spirit has spoken. Sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is sit on our hands and pray.

IV. Siku ya Kuzaliwa kwa KanisaIV. The Birthday of the Church

Siku ya hamsini baada ya Pasaka, taifa la Kiyahudi liliadhimisha Sikukuu ya Pentekoste — ambayo pia iliitwa Sikukuu ya Majuma, au Sikukuu ya Malimbuko. Siku hiyo kila mwaka waabudu waliileta hekaluni mganda wa kwanza wa mavuno ya ngano. Ilikuwa sadaka ya shukrani kwa mazao mapya na tendo la imani kwamba mavuno yaliyosalia yangefuata. Siku hiyo hiyo, mwaka 33 B.K., Mungu aliingiza malimbuko yake mwenyewe — waamini wapya elfu tatu waliokusanywa kutoka kila taifa lililoko chini ya mbingu, arabuni ya mavuno ambayo hayajakoma tangu hapo.On the fiftieth day after Passover the Jewish nation kept the Feast of Pentecost — also called the Feast of Weeks, or the Feast of Firstfruits. On that day each year the worshipers brought to the temple the first sheaf of the wheat harvest. It was a thanksgiving offering for the new crop and an act of faith that the rest of the harvest would follow. On that very day, in AD 33, God brought in His own firstfruits — three thousand new believers gathered out of every nation under heaven, the down payment on a harvest that has not stopped since.

Luka anaueleza wakati huo kwa picha tatu. Kwanza, sauti: "ikaja sauti kutoka mbinguni kama uvumi wa upepo wa nguvu ukienda kasi, ikaijaza nyumba yote waliyokuwa wameketi" (Matendo 2:2, SUV). Neno la Kigiriki la upepo, pneuma, ni neno lile lile la roho; kwa Kiebrania, ruach, vivyo hivyo. Kuanzia Mwanzo 1, ambapo Roho wa Mungu anatulia juu ya maji, hadi Ezekieli 37, ambapo pumzi inaingia katika mifupa mikavu, upepo umekuwa daima alama ya Roho. Pili, kuona: "Kukawatokea ndimi zilizogawanyika, kama ndimi za moto, zikawakalia kila mmoja wao" (Matendo 2:3, SUV). Moto ni alama ya Agano la Kale ya uwepo wa Mungu — kichaka kilichowaka moto, nguzo ya moto, madhabahu huko Karmeli. Sasa moto unatua si juu ya jengo wala mlima bali juu ya wanaume na wanawake mmoja mmoja. Hekalu linahamishwa. Tatu, usemi: walianza kusema matendo makuu ya Mungu kwa lugha ambazo hawakuwahi kujifunza, na mahujaji Wayahudi kutoka nchi kumi na sita zilizotajwa kwa majina kila mmoja aliisikia injili kwa lugha yake ya kuzaliwa. Hii ilikuwa Babeli iliyogeuzwa. Huko Babeli Mungu alikuwa ametawanya lugha ili kuwachanganya wanadamu wenye kiburi; siku ya Pentekoste alizikusanya tena ili kuwaunganisha wanadamu wanyenyekevu.Luke describes the moment in three images. First, sound: "there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting" (Acts 2:2, NKJV). The Greek word for wind, pneuma, is the same word for spirit; in Hebrew, ruach, the same. From Genesis 1, where the Spirit of God hovers over the waters, to Ezekiel 37, where the breath enters the dry bones, the wind has always been the signature of the Spirit. Second, sight: "there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them" (Acts 2:3, NKJV). Fire is the Old Testament signature of God's presence — the burning bush, the pillar of fire, the altar at Carmel. Now the fire rests not on a building or a mountain but on individual men and women. The temple is being relocated. Third, speech: they began to speak the wonders of God in languages they had never learned, and Jewish pilgrims from sixteen named countries each heard the gospel in his own native dialect. This was Babel reversed. At Babel God had scattered the languages to confuse a proud humanity; at Pentecost He gathered them again to unite a humble one.

Baadhi ya watu katika umati walidhihaki: "Wamelewa kwa mvinyo mpya" (Matendo 2:13, SUV). Ni jambo la kusikitisha juu yetu kwamba itikio la kawaida la mwanadamu kwa tendo la Mungu ni kushuku ulevi. Petro alisimama pamoja na wale kumi na mmoja akahubiri mahubiri ya kwanza ya Kikristo. Alieleza kwamba ilikuwa saa tatu asubuhi, mapema mno kwa maelezo hayo, na badala yake akaonyesha kutoka kwa nabii Yoeli kwamba walichokuwa wakikiona ni kumwagwa kwa Roho juu ya wote wenye mwili, kulikoahidiwa tangu zamani. Kisha akamgeukia Yesu — aliyethibitishwa kwa miujiza, aliyesulibiwa kwa mpango wa makusudi wa Mungu, aliyefufuliwa kutoka kwa wafu kwa kutimiza maneno ya Daudi katika Zaburi 16, na sasa ametukuzwa kwenye mkono wa kuume wa Mungu. Alihitimisha mahubiri kwa pigo la nyundo: "Basi nyumba yote ya Israeli na wajue yakini ya kuwa Mungu amemfanya Yesu huyo mliyemsulibisha kuwa Bwana na Kristo" (Matendo 2:36, SUV).Some in the crowd jeered: "They are full of new wine" (Acts 2:13, NKJV). It is a sad commentary on us that the natural human reaction to a move of God is to suspect drunkenness. Peter stood up with the eleven and preached the first Christian sermon. He pointed out it was nine in the morning, far too early for that explanation, and he showed instead from the prophet Joel that what they were seeing was the long-promised pouring out of the Spirit on all flesh. Then he turned to Jesus — accredited by miracles, crucified by a deliberate plan of God, raised from the dead in fulfillment of David's words in Psalm 16, and now exalted at the right hand of God. He landed the sermon with a hammer: "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ" (Acts 2:36, NKJV).

Umati ukachomwa mioyo. "Ndugu zetu, tutendeje?" Jibu la Petro ni injili katika vifungu viwili: "Tubuni mkabatizwe kila mmoja kwa jina lake Yesu Kristo, mpate ondoleo la dhambi zenu, nanyi mtapokea kipawa cha Roho Mtakatifu" (Matendo 2:38, SUV). Watu wapata elfu tatu waliamini na kuongezwa siku ile. Kanisa lililoingia katika chumba cha juu likiwa na watu mia moja na ishirini lilitoka katika Pentekoste likiwa na watu zaidi ya elfu tatu.The crowd was cut to the heart. "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" Peter's reply is the gospel in two clauses: "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:38, NKJV). About three thousand believed and were added that day. The Church that had walked into the upper room one hundred and twenty strong walked out of Pentecost over three thousand strong.

V. Alama za Jumuiya Iliyojaa RohoV. The Marks of a Spirit-Filled Community

Luka anatupa maelezo mazuri kuliko yote ya kanisa la kwanza katika Matendo 2:42–47. "Wakawa wakidumu katika fundisho la mitume, na katika ushirika, na katika kuumega mkate, na katika kusali" (Matendo 2:42, SUV). Mambo manne — Neno, familia, meza, na chumba cha kiti cha enzi. Ondoa mojawapo ya hayo manne na hutakuwa tena na Kanisa la Agano Jipya; utakuwa na kitu kingine. Walikuwa na vitu vyote shirika, waliuza mali ilipohitajika, na walikutana kila siku — kila siku — katika nyua za hekalu na nyumba kwa nyumba, wakila chakula chao "kwa furaha na kwa moyo mweupe, wakimsifu Mungu, na kuwapendeza watu wote. Bwana akalizidisha kanisa kila siku kwa wale waliokuwa wakiokolewa" (Matendo 2:46–47, SUV). Bwana ndiye aliyeongeza. Kanisa lilifanya kukusanyika, kuomba, kuumega mkate, na kusifu. Yeye ndiye aliyeokoa.Luke gives us the most beautiful description of the early church in Acts 2:42–47. "And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers" (Acts 2:42, NKJV). Four things — the Word, the family, the table, and the throne room. Drop any one of those four and you do not have the New Testament Church anymore; you have something else. They held things in common, sold property when needed, and met daily — daily — in the temple courts and from house to house, eating their meals "with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:46–47, NKJV). The Lord did the adding. The Church did the gathering, the praying, the breaking of bread, the praising. He did the saving.

Roho yule yule bado anatenda kazi leo. Mwaka 1949 katika Kisiwa cha Lewis, katika Visiwa vya Hebridi vya Nje huko Uskoti, dada wawili wazee waliishi katika nyumba ndogo ya mawe katika kijiji cha Barvas. Peggy Smith alikuwa na umri wa miaka themanini na minne na kipofu. Dada yake Christine alikuwa na umri wa miaka themanini na miwili na kilema kwa sababu ya ugonjwa wa yabisi. Hawakuweza tena kutoka kwenda kuhudhuria ibada, lakini walilemewa kiasi cha kuvunjika moyo na ubaridi wa kiroho wa kisiwa chao. Kwa hiyo wakaanza kuomba. Walipiga magoti katika nyumba yao saa nne usiku na hawakuacha mpaka saa tisa au saa kumi alfajiri, mara mbili kwa wiki, kwa miezi kadhaa. Walimsihi Mungu awape uamsho. Usiku mmoja Mungu aliwapa ahadi kwamba uamsho unakuja na kwamba atamtuma mtu aitwaye Duncan Campbell. Walituma wamwite. Campbell alipofika, Roho akashuka. Makanisa yaliyokuwa karibu matupu yalijaa hadi kufurika katika usiku mmoja. Watu ambao hawakuwahi kukanyaga mlango wa kanisa walichomwa mioyo na kusadikishwa dhambi wakiwa mashambani na majumbani mwao. Baa zikawa tupu. Uhalifu karibu ukatoweka kabisa. Vijiji vizima vikabadilishwa. Duncan Campbell alisema kwamba mwamko wote ulizaliwa katika maombi ya kudumu ya wanawake wawili wazee katika nyumba ndogo huko Uskoti.That same Spirit is still at work today. In 1949 on the Isle of Lewis, in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, two elderly sisters lived in a stone cottage in the village of Barvas. Peggy Smith was eighty-four years old and blind. Her sister Christine was eighty-two years old and crippled with arthritis. They could not get out to attend the services anymore, but they were burdened to the point of breaking over the spiritual coldness of their island. So they began to pray. They knelt in their cottage at ten o'clock at night and they did not stop until three or four in the morning, twice a week, for months. They pleaded with God for a revival. One night God gave them the promise that revival was coming and that He would send a man named Duncan Campbell. They sent for him. When Campbell arrived, the Spirit fell. Churches that had been almost empty filled to overflowing in a single night. People who had never set foot in a church door fell under conviction in the fields and in their homes. Bars emptied. Crime virtually disappeared. Whole villages were transformed. Duncan Campbell said that the entire awakening was born in the persistent prayer of two elderly women in a Scottish cottage.

Na mwaka 1907, huko Pyongyang, Korea, wamisionari walihisi kwamba huenda uamsho unakuja. Walipanga wiki mbaya kuliko zote za majira ya baridi kuwa wakati wa shule ya Biblia. Kiongozi wa kikundi cha wanaume aliamua kufungua mkutano kwa muda mfupi wa maombi. Alisema, "Msichukue muda mrefu." Mtu wa kwanza aliomba; sita wakasimama ili waombe baadaye. Wa pili aliomba; wengine dazeni moja wakasimama. Kufikia wakati wa tano alipomaliza, kila mmoja wa wanaume elfu moja na mia tano waliokuwa chumbani alisimama kwa miguu yake wakati ule ule na kuanza kuomba kwa sauti, wote kwa pamoja, wakiwa wamezama ndani ya Mungu kiasi kwamba hawakutambuana. Mmisionari Mwingereza aliyekuwepo usiku huo aliandika barua nyumbani kwamba alisikia "sauti kama ya upepo wa nguvu ukienda kasi." Karibu Wakorea elfu themanini walimjia Kristo katika uamsho huo mmoja. Leo Korea Kusini ni mojawapo ya mataifa makuu duniani yanayotuma wamisionari, nayo inafuatilia ukoo wake wa kiroho moja kwa moja hadi Pentekoste — upepo, moto, na roho elfu tatu.And in 1907, in Pyongyang, Korea, missionaries felt revival might be coming. They scheduled the worst weeks of winter as a Bible school. The leader of a men's group decided to open the meeting with a brief prayer time. He said, "Don't take too long." The first man prayed; six stood up to pray next. The second prayed; a dozen more stood. By the time the fifth had finished, every one of the fifteen hundred men in the room rose to his feet at the same time and began to pray aloud, simultaneously, so absorbed in God that they did not notice each other. An English missionary present that night wrote home that he heard "a sound like a rushing wind." Almost eighty thousand Koreans came to Christ in that one revival. Today South Korea is one of the great missionary-sending nations on earth, and it traces its spiritual lineage straight back to Pentecost — wind, fire, and three thousand souls.

VI. Ahadi Ni kwa Ajili YakoVI. The Promise Is to You

Petro alihitimisha mahubiri yake ya Pentekoste kwa mstari huu: "Kwa kuwa ahadi hii ni kwa ajili yenu na watoto wenu, na kwa ajili yao walio mbali, na kwa ajili ya watu wote ambao Bwana Mungu wetu atawaita" (Matendo 2:39, SUV). Soma tena maneno hayo ya mwisho. Watu wote ambao Bwana Mungu wetu atawaita. Ahadi ya Roho haikuwa tu kwa ajili ya watu waliosimama mbele ya Petro. Haikuwa tu kwa ajili ya kipindi cha mitume. Ilikuwa kwa ajili ya "walio mbali" — yaani, kila Mmataifa katika kila karne katika kila nchi. Hilo linakujumuisha wewe. Roho Mtakatifu yule yule aliyeshuka juu ya chumba cha juu yupo ili amjaze Mkristo yeyote atakayengoja, atakayeomba, na atakayetii. Matendo 1:8 si historia tu. Ni maelezo ya kazi yako.Peter ended his Pentecost sermon with this line: "For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call" (Acts 2:39, NKJV). Read those last seven words again. As many as the Lord our God will call. The promise of the Spirit was not just for the people standing in front of Peter. It was not just for the apostolic age. It was for "all who are afar off" — that is, every Gentile in every century in every country. That includes you. The same Holy Spirit who fell on the upper room is available to fill any Christian who will wait, who will pray, and who will obey. Acts 1:8 is not just history. It is your job description.

Yerusalemu yako iko wapi? Uyahudi na Samaria yako? Mwisho wa nchi yako? Anza kuomba kuhusu duara hizo tatu zenye kitovu kimoja. Roho Mtakatifu aliyejenga Kanisa lake juu ya waamini wapya elfu tatu katika asubuhi moja hajapoteza hata chembe ya nguvu zake. Upepo bado unavuma. Moto bado unashuka. Ahadi bado ni halali. Ngoja, omba, tii — na utazame atakavyofanya.Where is your Jerusalem? Your Judea and Samaria? Your end of the earth? Begin praying about those three concentric circles. The Holy Spirit who built His Church on three thousand new believers in one morning has lost none of His power. The wind still blows. The fire still falls. The promise is still good. Wait, pray, obey — and watch what He will do.

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