📖 Matendo ya Mitume — Somo la Kina — Sehemu ya 5: Mkono wa Bwana huko Antiokia (Matendo 9:32–12:24)📖 Acts Intensive — Unit 5: The Hand of the Lord at Antioch (Acts 9:32–12:24)

I. Petro SafariniI. Peter on the Move

Mara ya mwisho tulipomwona Petro katika tukio refu alikuwa akihubiri siku ya Pentekoste. Kisha Stefano akafa, kanisa likatawanyika, Sauli akaokoka, na Luka akaielekeza kamera yake kwa yule aliyeokoka karibuni. Sasa Luka anaigeuza tena kwa Petro, aliye safarini. Matendo 9:32 inasema kwa urahisi, "Ikawa Petro alipokuwa akizungukazunguka pande zote, akawatelemkia na watakatifu waliokaa Lida."The last time we saw Peter in any extended scene he was preaching at Pentecost. Then Stephen died, the church was scattered, Saul was converted, and Luke turned the camera on the new convert. Now Luke turns it back to Peter, who is on the road. Acts 9:32 says simply, "Now it came to pass, as Peter went through all parts of the country, that he also came down to the saints who dwelt in Lydda."

Huko Lida, katika uwanda wa pwani, Petro alimkuta mtu mmoja aitwaye Ainea aliyekuwa amelala kitandani kwa miaka minane, mwenye kupooza. Miaka minane ya kubebwa kutoka pembe moja ya chumba hadi nyingine. Miaka minane ya wanafamilia kumbeba hadi chooni. Miaka minane ya mtu yeyote kutomwuliza maoni yake kwa sababu jibu lingekuwa lile lile siku zote. Petro aliingia katika chumba kile akasema, "Ainea, Yesu Kristo akuponya; ondoka ujitandikie" (Matendo 9:34, SUV). Angalia wakati wa kitenzi. Si atakuponya. Si anaweza kukuponya ukiwa na imani ya kutosha. Yesu Kristo akuponya, wakati uliopo, jambo lililokwisha kutimizwa. Mtu yule akaondoka. Hakuhitaji muda mrefu wa mazoezi ya tiba ya viungo ili kuifundisha miguu yake kutembea tena. Bwana aliyeiumba miguu tumboni mwa mama anaweza kuitengeneza kitandani pa ugonjwa kwa sekunde mbili. Luka anaeleza kwamba wakazi wa Lida na wa uwanda wa Sharoni ulioizunguka, walipomwona, walimgeukia Bwana. Uponyaji mmoja uliugeuza mkoa mzima.At Lydda, on the coastal plain, Peter found a man named Aeneas who had been bedridden with paralysis for eight years. Eight years of being lifted from one corner of the room to another. Eight years of family members carrying him to the privy. Eight years of nobody asking his opinion because the answer was always going to be the same. Peter walked into that room and said, "Aeneas, Jesus the Christ heals you. Arise and make your bed" (Acts 9:34, NKJV). Notice the verb tense. Not will heal you. Not can heal you if you have enough faith. Jesus the Christ heals you, present tense, fact already accomplished. The man got up. He did not need a long course of physical therapy to teach his legs how to walk again. The Lord who made the legs in the womb can repair them in a sickbed in two seconds. Luke notes that the inhabitants of Lydda and the surrounding plain of Sharon, seeing him, turned to the Lord. One healing converted a region.

Kisha habari zikaja kutoka mji wa pwani wa Yafa, kama maili kumi na mbili upande wa magharibi. Mwanafunzi mmoja aitwaye Tabitha — jina lake la Kiyunani lilikuwa Dorkasi, na yote mawili yana maana ya "swala" — alikuwa amekufa. Luka anasimama kidogo kutueleza kwamba mwanamke huyu "alikuwa amejaa matendo mema na sadaka alizokuwa akizitoa" (Matendo 9:36, SUV). Petro alipofika, wajane wa mji ule walikuwa wakilia katika chumba cha juu, wakimwonyesha kanzu na mavazi aliyokuwa amewashonea alipokuwa pamoja nao. Soma maelezo hayo. Wajane hawakumsifu Tabitha kwa orodha ya mafanikio yake. Waliinua nguo zake. Watakatifu wengine huacha nyuma nguo ambazo watu wengine wanazivaa. Watakatifu wengine huacha nyuma kitu kimoja tu, fomu ya kodi ya mapato. Bwana na atujalie tuwe wa aina ile ya kwanza.Then word came from the seacoast town of Joppa, a dozen miles to the west. A disciple named Tabitha — her Greek name was Dorcas, both meaning "gazelle" — had died. Luke pauses to tell us that this woman "was full of good works and charitable deeds" (Acts 9:36, NKJV). When Peter arrived, the widows of the town were weeping in the upper room and showing him the tunics and garments she had sewn for them while she was alive. Read that detail. The widows did not eulogize Tabitha with a list of her accomplishments. They held up her clothes. Some saints leave behind clothes that other people are wearing. Some saints leave behind nothing but a tax return. May the Lord let us be the first kind.

Petro akawatoa wote nje, akapiga magoti, akaomba, akaugeukia mwili akasema, "Tabitha, ondoka" (Matendo 9:40, SUV). Kwa Kiaramu cha asili ingekuwa Tabitha kumi — tofauti ya silabi mbili tu na maneno ya Bwana wake, Talitha kumi, katika Marko 5:41. Petro hakuwa akibuni jambo lake mwenyewe. Alikuwa amemwona Kristo akimfufua msichana kutoka kwa wafu, naye alikuwa akirudia, karibu silabi kwa silabi, kile alichokiona kikifanyika. Tabitha akafumbua macho yake. Akaketi. Petro akampa mkono wake naye akasimama. Wajane wakampata tena mshonaji wao, na wengi huko Yafa wakamwamini Bwana.Peter put them all out, knelt down, prayed, turned to the body and said, "Tabitha, arise" (Acts 9:40, NKJV). The Aramaic original would have been Tabitha cumi — two syllables off from his Master's Talitha cumi in Mark 5:41. Peter was not freelancing. He had watched Christ raise a girl from the dead and he was repeating, almost syllable for syllable, what he had seen done. She opened her eyes. She sat up. He gave her his hand and she stood. The widows got their seamstress back, and many in Joppa believed on the Lord.

II. Akida huko KaisariaII. The Centurion in Caesarea

Petro alipokuwa bado huko Yafa, akikaa nyumbani kwa mtu mmoja Simoni mtengenezaji wa ngozi — mtu ambaye kazi yake ilimfanya kuwa najisi kwa taratibu za ibada kwa vipimo vya kimapokeo vya Kiyahudi, na huu ni mmojawapo wa maandalizi madogo ya kimya ya Luka — Mungu alikuwa tayari kazini maili thelathini juu ya pwani huko Kaisaria. Mtu mmoja aitwaye Kornelio, akida wa kikosi kiitwacho Kiitalia, alikuwa akiomba nyumbani kwake saa tisa alasiri. Luka anatueleza mambo manne kuhusu mtu huyu kabla hajakutana na Petro. Alikuwa "mtu mtauwa, mchaji wa Mungu, yeye na nyumba yake yote, naye alikuwa akiwapa watu sadaka nyingi, na kumwomba Mungu daima" (Matendo 10:2, SUV). Mtauwa. Mchaji wa Mungu. Mkarimu. Mwombaji. Alikuwa mtu wa Mataifa katika kila chembe ya damu yake, lakini alikuwa mtu wa Mataifa aliyemtafuta Mungu wa Israeli kadiri mtu wa Mataifa angeweza bila kutahiriwa.While Peter was still in Joppa, lodging at the house of one Simon a tanner — a man whose trade kept him ceremonially unclean by traditional Jewish standards, which is one of Luke's quiet little setups — God was already at work thirty miles up the coast in Caesarea. A man named Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, was praying in his house at three o'clock in the afternoon. Luke tells us four things about this man before he ever meets Peter. He was "a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always" (Acts 10:2, NKJV). Devout. God-fearing. Generous. Prayerful. He was a Gentile in every blood-cell, but he was a Gentile who had sought after the God of Israel as far as a Gentile could without circumcision.

Malaika akamtokea nyumbani mwake akamwita kwa jina lake. "Sala zako na sadaka zako zimefika juu mbele za Mungu kwa ukumbusho" (Matendo 10:4, SUV). Ni sentensi iliyoje! Kornelio alikuwa akiomba katika jumba lake huko Kaisaria, pengine kwa miaka mingi, akijiuliza kama kuna mtu yeyote mbinguni aliyekuwa akisikiliza. Mbingu ilikuwa ikisikiliza. Mbingu ilijua anwani ya mtaa wake. Malaika akamtuma Yafa kumwita mtu mmoja aitwaye Simoni Petro, aliyekuwa akikaa kando ya bahari nyumbani kwa Simoni mtengenezaji wa ngozi. Afisa yule Mrumi akawatuma watumishi wake wawili na askari mmoja mtauwa miongoni mwa wale waliomhudumia. Walikuwa njiani kufikia asubuhi.An angel appeared in his house and called him by name. "Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before God" (Acts 10:4, NKJV). What a sentence. Cornelius had been praying in his villa in Caesarea, perhaps for years, wondering if anyone in heaven was listening. Heaven was listening. Heaven knew his street address. The angel sent him to Joppa to fetch a man named Simon Peter, lodging by the seaside at the home of Simon the tanner. The Roman officer dispatched two of his servants and a devout soldier from his personal staff. They were on the road by morning.

III. Darini huko YafaIII. The Rooftop in Joppa

Karibu adhuhuri siku iliyofuata, wajumbe kutoka Kaisaria walipokuwa bado njiani, Petro alipanda juu ya dari bapa ya nyumba ya Simoni mtengenezaji wa ngozi ili kuomba. Alikuwa na njaa. Chakula kilipokuwa kikiandaliwa, alipitwa na usingizi wa njozi akaona nguo kubwa ya kitani ikishushwa kutoka mbinguni kwa pembe zake nne, imejaa kila aina ya wanyama wenye miguu minne, wadudu watambaao, na ndege ambao sheria za vyakula za Musa zilikuwa zimetumia karne kumi na tano kuwakataza. Sauti ikasema, "Ondoka, Petro, uchinje ule" (Matendo 10:13, SUV). Petro akarudi nyuma. "Hasha, Bwana; kwa maana sijakula kamwe kitu kilicho kichafu au najisi" (Matendo 10:14, SUV). Sauti ikajibu, "Vilivyotakaswa na Mungu, usiviite wewe najisi" (Matendo 10:15, SUV). Njozi ikaja mara tatu. Mara tatu ile orodha ya vyakula najisi ilishushwa. Mara tatu sauti ilimrekebisha. Mara tatu ile nguo ilirudishwa juu. Petro alipokuwa bado akijaribu kuelewa njozi ile ilimaanisha nini hasa, watu kutoka Kaisaria wakabisha hodi kwenye lango la mbele.About noon the next day, while the messengers from Caesarea were still on the road, Peter went up to the flat roof of Simon the tanner's house to pray. He was hungry. While dinner was being prepared, he fell into a trance and saw a sheet let down from heaven by its four corners, full of every kind of four-footed beast, reptile, and bird the Mosaic dietary laws had spent fifteen centuries forbidding. A voice said, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat" (Acts 10:13, NKJV). Peter recoiled. "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean" (Acts 10:14, NKJV). The voice answered, "What God has cleansed you must not call common" (Acts 10:15, NKJV). The vision came three times. Three times the unclean menu was lowered. Three times the voice corrected him. Three times the sheet went back up. While Peter was still trying to figure out what on earth the vision meant, the men from Caesarea knocked on the front gate.

Roho Mtakatifu akamwambia waziwazi: nenda pamoja na watu hawa, usione shaka, kwa maana mimi nimewatuma. Asubuhi iliyofuata Petro na ndugu sita kutoka Yafa walisafiri hadi Kaisaria. Kornelio alikuwa ameijaza nyumba yake jamaa zake na marafiki zake wa karibu. Alimpokea Petro mlangoni, akaanguka miguuni pake kumsujudia, na Petro akamwinua kwa maneno ambayo kila mhubiri mgeni anapaswa kuyaweka ndani ya ukosi wa shati lake: "Simama; mimi nami ni binadamu" (Matendo 10:26, SUV). Kisha Petro akaingia katika chumba kilichojaa watu wa Mataifa akasema maneno yaliyovunja miaka mia tano ya utengano: "Ninyi wenyewe mnajua ya kuwa si halali kwa mtu aliye Myahudi kuambatana na mtu wa taifa lingine wala kumwendea; lakini Mungu amenionya nisimwite mtu awaye yote mchafu wala najisi" (Matendo 10:28, SUV). Njozi ile haikuhusu chakula. Ilihusu watu. Sheria za vyakula zilikuwa ua uliowalinda watu watakatifu wawe safi kwa ajili ya Masihi. Sasa Masihi alikuwa amekuja, na ua ulikuwa ukiondolewa.The Holy Spirit told him plainly: go with these men, doubting nothing, for I have sent them. The next morning Peter and six brothers from Joppa traveled to Caesarea. Cornelius had filled his house with relatives and close friends. He met Peter at the door, fell down at his feet to worship him, and Peter pulled him up with the line every visiting preacher should keep on the inside of his collar: "Stand up; I myself am also a man" (Acts 10:26, NKJV). Then Peter walked into the room of Gentiles and said the line that broke five hundred years of separation: "You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean" (Acts 10:28, NKJV). The vision had not been about food. It had been about people. The dietary code had been a fence keeping the holy people pure for the Messiah. Now the Messiah had come, and the fence was being taken down.

IV. Mungu Hana UpendeleoIV. God Shows No Partiality

Petro akaanza kuhubiri. Mstari wa kwanza wa mahubiri yake ni mojawapo ya sentensi muhimu kuliko zote ambazo mhubiri yeyote amewahi kutamka. "Hakika natambua ya kuwa Mungu hana upendeleo; bali katika kila taifa mtu amchaye na kutenda haki hukubaliwa na yeye" (Matendo 10:34–35, SUV). Maneno ya Kiyunani yaliyotafsiriwa "hana upendeleo" kwa kweli yana maana ya Mungu si mpokeaji wa nyuso. Hachagui vipenzi kwa kabila, pasipoti, au ukoo. Injili ile ile inatolewa kwa masharti yale yale kwa kila mtu katika kila bara. Myahudi hana faida ya kinasaba juu ya mtu wa Mataifa chini ya msalaba. Myunani hana nafuu ya kifalsafa juu ya Mwebrania chini ya msalaba. Sote tunakuja kwa njia ile ile na sote tunaondoka kwa njia ile ile.Peter began to preach. The opening line of his sermon is one of the most important sentences any preacher has ever spoken. "In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him" (Acts 10:34–35, NKJV). The Greek phrase translated "shows no partiality" literally means God is not a face-receiver. He does not pick favorites by ethnicity, passport, or pedigree. The same gospel is offered on the same terms to every person on every continent. The Jew has no genetic advantage over the Gentile at the foot of the cross. The Greek has no philosophical leg up over the Hebrew at the foot of the cross. We all come the same way and we all leave the same way.

Petro alimhubiri Kristo — ubatizo wake, huduma yake, kifo chake, ufufuo wake, agizo lake la kuhubiri msamaha kwa jina lake. Hakuwa amemaliza mahubiri yake. Luka anasema, "Petro alipokuwa akisema maneno hayo, Roho Mtakatifu aliwashukia wote waliolisikia lile neno" (Matendo 10:44, SUV). Ndugu Wayahudi waliokuja pamoja na Petro walishangaa — hilo ndilo neno la Luka — kwamba Roho Mtakatifu alikuwa amemwagwa juu ya watu wa Mataifa pia. Waliwasikia wakinena kwa lugha na kumwadhimisha Mungu. Petro akasema jambo pekee lililobaki kusemwa. "Ni nani awezaye kuzuia maji, hawa wasibatizwe, watu waliompokea Roho Mtakatifu vile vile kama sisi?" (Matendo 10:47, SUV). Akaamuru wabatizwe kwa jina la Bwana. Kuokoka kwa wingi kwa kwanza kwa watu wa Mataifa katika historia ya kanisa kulitokea sebuleni mwa afisa Mrumi, na nyumba nzima ya afisa huyo Mrumi iliokolewa pamoja naye. Kanuni ya Andrea iko kazini huko Kaisaria: mtu anayefikia imani sebuleni mwake huileta sebule yake pamoja naye.Peter preached Christ — His baptism, His ministry, His death, His resurrection, His command to preach forgiveness in His name. He had not finished his sermon. Luke says, "While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word" (Acts 10:44, NKJV). The Jewish brothers who had come with Peter were astonished — Luke's word — that the Holy Spirit had been poured out on Gentiles too. They heard them speaking in tongues and magnifying God. Peter said the only thing left to say. "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" (Acts 10:47, NKJV). And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. The first wholesale Gentile conversion in church history happened in the living room of a Roman officer, and the Roman officer's whole household was saved with him. The Andrew Principle is loose in Caesarea: the man who comes to faith in his living room brings his living room with him.

Petro akarudi Yerusalemu. Ndugu wa huko walikuwa wakimngoja wamekunja mikono. "Uliingia kwa watu wasiotahiriwa, ukala nao!" (Matendo 11:3, SUV). Petro akawaeleza jambo lote kwa utaratibu. Ile njozi, ile nguo ya kitani, wale wajumbe, yale mahubiri, kushuka kwa Roho. Akahitimisha maelezo yake kwa sentensi ambayo inapaswa kunyamazisha kila mabishano ya kitheolojia yanayojifanya kujua zaidi kuliko Mungu. "Basi ikiwa Mungu amewapa wao karama ile ile aliyotupa sisi tulipomwamini Bwana Yesu Kristo, mimi ni nani niweze kumpinga Mungu?" (Matendo 11:17, SUV). Ndugu wa Yerusalemu hawakuwa na jibu. "Waliposikia hayo wakanyamaza, wakamtukuza Mungu, wakisema, 'Basi Mungu amewapa hata watu wa Mataifa toba iletayo uzima'" (Matendo 11:18, SUV). Maili ngumu kuliko zote ya kitheolojia katika historia ya kanisa ilikuwa imekwisha kutembewa.Peter went back to Jerusalem. The brothers there were waiting for him with their arms folded. "You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!" (Acts 11:3, NKJV). Peter explained the whole thing in order. The trance, the sheet, the messengers, the sermon, the falling of the Spirit. He closed his explanation with a sentence that should silence every theological argument that pretends to know better than God. "If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?" (Acts 11:17, NKJV). The Jerusalem brethren had no answer. "They became silent; and they glorified God, saying, 'Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life'" (Acts 11:18, NKJV). The hardest theological mile in church history was just walked.

V. Mkono wa Bwana huko AntiokiaV. The Hand of the Lord at Antioch

Sasa Luka anarudisha kamera nyuma ili kuonyesha picha pana zaidi. Unawakumbuka wale waamini waliotawanyika katika Matendo 8 — wale ambao mateso yaliyofuata kifo cha Stefano yaliwatupa nje ya Yerusalemu? Baadhi yao walikuwa wamekimbia hadi Antiokia ya Shamu, maili mia tatu upande wa kaskazini, mji wa tatu kwa ukubwa katika Dola ya Kirumi baada ya Rumi na Iskanderia. Mwanzoni waamini hawa Wayahudi waliotawanyika walikuwa wakinena na Wayahudi peke yao. Lakini baadhi yao, watu wa Kipro na Kirene, wakaanza kunena na Wayunani pia. Na Luka anaandika mstari ambao umeanzisha uamsho elfu: "Mkono wa Bwana ulikuwa pamoja nao; watu wengi wakaamini, wakamgeukia Bwana" (Matendo 11:21, SUV).Now Luke pulls back to a wider angle. Remember those scattered believers from Acts 8 — the ones the Stephen-persecution flung out of Jerusalem? Some of them had run all the way to Antioch in Syria, three hundred miles to the north, the third largest city of the Roman Empire after Rome and Alexandria. At first these scattered Jewish believers had only spoken to Jews. But some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, started speaking to the Greeks too. And Luke writes the verse that has launched a thousand revivals: "And the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord" (Acts 11:21, NKJV).

Mkono wa Bwana. Huo ni mtindo wa zamani wa Kiebrania wa kumweleza Mungu kwa sura ya kibinadamu — mkono unasimama badala ya uweza na nguvu. Mkono unatenda. Mkono unapiga. Mkono unaponya. Mkono ulikuwa umetenda katika Matendo 4 kuwaongezea mitume ujasiri, na sasa mkono ulikuwa ukitenda huko Antiokia kuwaokoa Wayunani. Popote mkono wa Bwana unapotokea, mambo matatu hutokea pamoja nao. Yalitokea huko Antiokia mwaka 42 B.K., yalitokea huko Wales mwaka 1904 B.K., na yatatokea katika mji wowote katika karne yoyote ambapo Bwana anachagua kuweka mkono wake.The hand of the Lord. That is an old Hebrew anthropomorphism — the hand stands for power and might. The hand acts. The hand strikes. The hand heals. The hand had moved in Acts 4 to extend the apostles' boldness, and now the hand was moving in Antioch to convert Greeks. Wherever the hand of the Lord shows up, three things show up with it. They showed up in Antioch in AD 42, they showed up in Wales in AD 1904, and they will show up in any town in any century where the Lord chooses to put His hand.

Kwanza: mkono wa Bwana huleta watu kuokoka. Watu wengi waliamini wakamgeukia Bwana. C. H. Spurgeon alikuwa akisema kwamba wale wasiopenda hesabu kwa kawaida hawana hesabu yoyote ya kuripoti. Luka alihesabu. Luka alitaja elfu tatu siku ya Pentekoste, kisha elfu tano, na sasa "watu wengi" huko Antiokia. Hesabu si alama pekee ya uamsho, na kanisa dogo laweza kujaa Roho wakati kanisa kubwa laweza kuwa tupu kama kaburi. Lakini mahali mkono wa Bwana unapotenda, chumba hujaa watu.One: the hand of the Lord produces conversions. A great number believed and turned to the Lord. C. H. Spurgeon used to say that those who do not like numbers usually have none to report. Luke counted. Luke noted three thousand at Pentecost, then five thousand, and now "a great number" at Antioch. Numbers are not the only mark of revival, and a small church can be full of the Spirit while a large church can be empty as a tomb. But where the hand of the Lord is moving, the room fills up.

Pili: mkono wa Bwana huleta watu kutumwa. Kanisa la Yerusalemu liliposikia habari za Antiokia, walimtuma Barnaba — Mwana wa Faraja, yule Mlawi wa Kipro, Barnaba yule yule aliyemthibitisha Sauli. Barnaba aliingia Antiokia, "akaiona neema ya Mungu, akafurahi; akawaonya wote wadumu katika Bwana kwa kusudi la moyo" (Matendo 11:23, SUV). Kisha akafanya jambo linalostahili kukumbukwa kwa picha katika madirisha ya vioo vya rangi. Alitambua kwamba uamsho huu ulikuwa umemzidi mhubiri mmoja, akaenda kutafuta msaada. Akaishika njia ndefu ya kaskazini hadi Tarso, akamtafuta Sauli, akamleta Antiokia. Kwa mwaka mzima watu hawa wawili waliwafundisha umati mkubwa. Kutoka katika umati ule uliofundishwa ilitoka juhudi ya kwanza iliyopangwa ya umisheni wa kuvuka tamaduni katika historia ya kanisa. Antiokia ilimtuma Paulo. Mkono wa Bwana unaoleta watu kuokoka pia huleta watu kutumwa.Two: the hand of the Lord produces commissions. When the Jerusalem church heard about Antioch, they sent Barnabas — the Son of Encouragement, the Cyprus levite, the same Barnabas who had vouched for Saul. Barnabas walked into Antioch, "saw the grace of God, and was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord" (Acts 11:23, NKJV). Then he did a thing that ought to be commemorated in stained glass. He realized this revival had outgrown one preacher and went to find help. He took the long road north to Tarsus, hunted up Saul, and brought him back to Antioch. For an entire year these two men taught a multitude. From that taught multitude went out the first organized cross-cultural missionary effort in the history of the church. Antioch sent Paul. The hand of the Lord that produces conversions also produces commissions.

Tatu: mkono wa Bwana huleta sherehe za furaha. Barnaba, akiwatazama Wayunani wakitubu, alifurahi. Mbingu, ikiwatazama Wayunani wakitubu, ilifurahi. Malaika walikuwa wakikimbia huku na huko katika barabara za dhahabu juu ya Antiokia. Mahali mkono wa Bwana unapotenda, kuna shangwe. Makusanyiko yenye uchungu si makusanyiko yaliyojaa Roho. Makanisa yenye huzuni si makanisa yaliyoamshwa. Mkono wa Bwana huleta furaha pamoja nao kwa uhakika kama moto unavyoleta mwanga.Three: the hand of the Lord produces celebrations. Barnabas, watching Greeks repent, was glad. Heaven, watching Greeks repent, was glad. The angels were running up and down the streets of gold over Antioch. Where the hand of the Lord is moving, there is rejoicing. Sour congregations are not Spirit-filled congregations. Glum churches are not awakened churches. The hand of the Lord brings joy with it as surely as fire brings light.

VI. Wales, 1904, na Mfumo UnaojirudiaVI. Wales, 1904, and the Pattern That Repeats

Soma yaliyotokea huko Antiokia na utakuwa umesoma yaliyotokea huko Wales. Mnamo Februari 1904 mchungaji mmoja aitwaye Joseph Jenkins alisimama mbele ya chama cha vijana wake katika kijiji cha New Quay. Aliwauliza swali moja. Yesu Kristo ana maana gani kwako? Kimya cha aibu. Walikuwa vijana wazuri. Walifungua kwa sala. Waliimba nyimbo. Walikuwa wamechukulia mkutano ule kama aina fulani ya klabu ya kijamii ya kanisa. Kijana mmoja jasiri, ili kujaza kimya kile, alisema, "Yeye ni tumaini la ulimwengu." Jenkins akasema, "Sivyo nilivyomaanisha. Ana maana gani kwako?" Kimya kikuu tena. Na kisha msichana mmoja mwenye haya aitwaye Flory Evans, aliyeokoka wiki tatu tu kabla, alisimama akasema sentensi moja. "Ninampenda Bwana Yesu kwa moyo wangu wote." Akaketi. Katika wiki chache kijiji kilikuwa kimewaka moto. Kufikia wakati ulipoenea hadi kwa mchimba makaa ya mawe kijana aitwaye Evan Roberts — mwenye umri wa miaka ishirini na sita, mlei aliyekuwa ameomba kwa miaka kumi na moja kwa ajili ya uamsho — makanisa ya Wales yalijaa usiku na mchana. Watu laki moja walimjia Kristo katika miezi mitano.Read what happened at Antioch and you have read what happened in Wales. In February 1904 a pastor named Joseph Jenkins stood up in front of his young people's society in the village of New Quay. He asked them one question. What does Jesus Christ mean to you? Embarrassed silence. They were nice young people. They opened in prayer. They sang hymns. They had treated the meeting as a kind of church social club. One brave boy, to fill the silence, said, "He is the hope of the world." Jenkins said, "That is not what I meant. What does He mean to you?" Dead silence again. And then a timid girl named Flory Evans, three weeks converted, stood up and said one sentence. "I love the Lord Jesus with all my heart." She sat down. Within weeks the village was on fire. By the time it had spread to a young coal miner named Evan Roberts — twenty-six years old, a layman who had been praying eleven years for revival — the Welsh churches were filled night and day. One hundred thousand people came to Christ in five months.

Watu kuokoka, watu kutumwa, sherehe za furaha. Mahakimu wa Wales walipewa glavu nyeupe — desturi ya zamani kwa kikao cha mahakama kisicho na kesi yoyote ya kusikiliza. Ulevi ulipungua kwa nusu. Uhalifu ulipungua kiasi kwamba polisi hawakuwa na kazi ya kufanya, kwa hiyo askari walijipanga katika vikundi vya waimbaji wanne wa Injili wakazunguka wakiimba makanisani. Kulikuwa na upungufu wa nishati katika migodi ya makaa ya mawe kwa sababu wachimba migodi waliookoka waliacha kuwatukana farasi wao wadogo wa migodini, na farasi hao — waliozoea amri za matusi peke yake — hawakuweza tena kuelewa walichokuwa wakiombwa kufanya. Watoto waliozaliwa nje ya ndoa walipungua kwa asilimia arobaini na nne katika kaunti kadhaa za Wales. Uamsho ule ule ulienea Korea mwaka 1907 ukiwa na waliookoka elfu sabini na tisa katika mwaka mmoja. Mkono wa Bwana ni mkono ule ule katika kila karne. Hajabadilika. Hajastaafu. Hangoji mikutano ya kamati zetu. Anatenda mahali anapokaribishwa.Conversions, commissions, celebrations. The Welsh judges were presented with white gloves — the old custom for a court session with no cases to try. Drunkenness was cut in half. Crime fell so far the police had nothing to do, so the constables organized themselves into Gospel quartets and went around singing in the churches. There was an energy shortage in the coal mines because the converted miners stopped cursing at their pit ponies, and the ponies — accustomed only to obscene commands — could no longer understand what was being asked of them. Illegitimate births dropped forty-four percent in several Welsh counties. The same revival swept Korea in 1907 with seventy-nine thousand converts in one year. The hand of the Lord is the same hand in every century. He has not changed. He has not retired. He is not waiting for our committee meetings. He moves where He is welcomed.

VII. Wakristo kwa Mara ya Kwanza, na Mfalme Aliyeliwa na ChangoVII. Christians for the First Time, and a King Eaten by Worms

Luka anaweka mojawapo ya maelezo ya pembeni yenye matokeo makubwa kuliko yote katika Agano Jipya. "Wanafunzi waliitwa Wakristo kwanza hapo Antiokia" (Matendo 11:26, SUV). Neno la Kiyunani Christianoi inaonekana mwanzoni lilikuwa na dharau kidogo — vi-Kristo vidogo, watu wa Kristo, kama vile mtu angewaita wafuasi wa Lincoln "Walinkoni." Wapagani wa Antiokia, wakiwatazama waamini hawa wakizunguka mjini, waligundua kwamba daima walikuwa wakimzungumzia Kristo, wakivaa kama Kristo, wakinukia Kristo, wakisikika kama Kristo. Kwa hiyo mji ukawabandika jina hilo. Walilivaa milele. Watu wanaotutazama wewe na mimi na wajisikie haja ya kutuita kwa jina hilo.Luke drops one of the most consequential parentheses in the New Testament. "And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch" (Acts 11:26, NKJV). The Greek Christianoi originally seems to have been a slight bit derisive — little Christs, Christ's people, the way you might call Lincoln's followers Lincolnites. The pagans of Antioch, watching these believers go about town, noticed that they kept talking about, dressing in, smelling like, sounding like Christ. So the city stuck the label on them. They wore it forever. May people who watch you and me ever feel the need for that label.

Matendo 12 inaendeleza hadithi kwa sauti ya giza zaidi. Mfalme Herode Agripa I — mjukuu wa Herode Mkuu, mpwa wa Herode aliyemkata kichwa Yohana Mbatizaji — aliamua kujipatia umaarufu wa kisiasa kwa wakuu wa Wayahudi kwa kulishambulia kanisa. Alimwua kwa upanga Yakobo ndugu yake Yohana, mtume wa kwanza kufa shahidi. Yakobo, mwana wa Zebedayo, mtu ambaye Yesu alimpa jina la utani Boanerge pamoja na ndugu yake Yohana, mwana wa ngurumo. Wa kwanza kufuata anaweza pia kuwa wa kwanza kuanguka. Herode alipoona kwamba jambo hilo liliwapendeza Wayahudi, akamkamata Petro pia, akikusudia kumtoa mbele ya watu baada ya Pasaka.Acts 12 picks up the story in a darker key. King Herod Agrippa I — the grandson of Herod the Great, the nephew of the Herod who beheaded John the Baptist — decided to score political points with the Jewish authorities by going after the church. He killed James the brother of John, the first apostle to be martyred, with the sword. James, son of Zebedee, the man Jesus had nicknamed Boanerges along with his brother John, son of Thunder. The first to follow may also be the first to fall. When Herod saw it pleased the Jews, he arrested Peter too, intending to bring him out to the people after Passover.

Kanisa lilikuwa likimwombea Petro bila kukoma. Malaika alimwamsha Petro katika chumba cha gereza, akaifungua minyororo yake, akampitisha kupita vituo viwili vya walinzi na kupitia lango la chuma lililojifungua lenyewe, akamwacha amesimama katika barabara moja ya Yerusalemu usiku wa manane. Petro, akidhani bado anaona njozi, alipata fahamu akaenda nyumbani kwa Mariamu mama yake Yohana aitwaye Marko, ambako mkutano wa maombi ulikuwa bado unaendelea. Akabisha lango. Kijakazi mmoja aitwaye Roda akaja mlangoni, akaitambua sauti yake, akafurahi kiasi kwamba alisahau kulifungua lango, akakimbia ndani kutangaza, "Petro amesimama mbele ya mlango!" Waamini waliokuwa wakiomba wakamwambia ana wazimu. Wakasema lazima ni malaika wake. Petro akaendelea kubisha nje barabarani. (Wahubiri waaminifu hukiri ukweli: wengi wetu huomba mambo kisha hukataa kuamini Mungu anapojibu.) Mwishowe wakafungua mlango wakashangaa. Mtume mmoja ameuawa, mtume mmoja amewekwa huru, katika sura moja. Luka hatuambii kwa nini; Bwana ndiye mwenye enzi juu ya yote mawili, na kanisa liliendelea kuomba.The church was praying for Peter without ceasing. An angel woke Peter in the prison cell, knocked off his chains, walked him past two guard posts and through an iron gate that opened by itself, and left him standing on a Jerusalem street in the small hours of the morning. Peter, thinking he was still seeing a vision, came to himself and went to the house of Mary the mother of John Mark, where the prayer meeting was still going on. He knocked at the gate. A servant girl named Rhoda came to the door, recognized his voice, was so overjoyed she forgot to actually open the gate, and ran back inside to announce, "Peter is standing at the gate!" The praying believers told her she was crazy. They said it must be his angel. Peter kept knocking outside on the street. (Honest preachers admit the truth: many of us pray for things and then refuse to believe it when God answers.) Finally they opened the door and were astonished. One apostle killed, one apostle freed, in the same chapter. Luke does not tell us why; the Lord is sovereign over both, and the church kept praying.

Herode alikuwa hajamaliza. Alishuka hadi Kaisaria, akatoa hotuba ya hadhara amevaa mavazi ya kifalme, na umati uliokusanyika ukapiga kelele, "Ni sauti ya mungu, wala si ya mwanadamu!" (Matendo 12:22, SUV). Kitabu cha Matendo kinatuambia kilichotokea baadaye, na kwa nini. Yosefo, mwanahistoria Myahudi, anaandika kifo hicho hicho kwa mtazamo wa nje; Luka anakiandika kwa mtazamo wa mbinguni. "Mara malaika wa Bwana akampiga, kwa sababu hakumpa Mungu utukufu; akaliwa na chango, akafa" (Matendo 12:23, SUV). Mteule wa Kirumi aliyekuwa amemwua mtume kwa upanga sasa yeye mwenyewe aliliwa na chango. "Neno la Mungu likazidi na kuenea" (Matendo 12:24, SUV). Herode amekufa. Kanisa liko hai. Huo ndio uamuzi.Herod was not done. He went down to Caesarea, gave a public oration in royal robes, and the assembled crowd shouted, "The voice of a god and not of a man!" (Acts 12:22, NKJV). Acts tells us what happened next, and why. Josephus the Jewish historian records the same death from the outside; Luke records it from heaven's side. "Then immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died" (Acts 12:23, NKJV). The Roman appointee who had killed an apostle with the sword was now himself eaten by worms. "But the word of God grew and multiplied" (Acts 12:24, NKJV). Herod is dead. The church is alive. That is the verdict.

VIII. Chukua Masomo Haya Matatu NyumbaniVIII. Take These Three Lessons Home

Kwanza, Mungu si mpokeaji wa nyuso. Kristo yule yule alikufa kwa ajili ya akida huko Kaisaria na mvuvi huko Galilaya na mama wa nyumbani huko Chapala. Toba iletayo uzima imetolewa kwa kila taifa. Acha kuwapanga wenye dhambi kwa kipimo cha jinsi ambavyo ingepaswa kuwa rahisi kuwaokoa. Kornelio alikuwa rahisi kuliko Sauli, Sauli alikuwa rahisi kuliko wale waliomwua Stefano, na bado Bwana aliwaokoa wote.First, God is not a face-receiver. The same Christ died for the centurion in Caesarea and the fisherman in Galilee and the housewife in Chapala. Repentance unto life has been granted to every nation. Stop ranking sinners on the scale of how easy they ought to be to convert. Cornelius was easier than Saul, Saul was easier than Stephen's executioners, and yet the Lord saved them all.

Pili, mahali mkono wa Bwana unapotenda, watu kuokoka, watu kutumwa, na sherehe za furaha hufuata. Yatazame katika huduma yako mwenyewe. Ikiwa kanisa lako halina hata moja kati ya hayo matatu, jiulize kama unategemea mbinu wakati ungepaswa kumtegemea Bwana. Uamsho wa Wales haukuanza na kampeni ya matangazo. Ulianza na msichana mmoja mwenye haya akisema kwamba anampenda Bwana Yesu kwa moyo wake wote.Second, where the hand of the Lord moves, conversions, commissions, and celebrations follow. Watch for them in your own ministry. If your church has none of the three, ask whether you are leaning on a method when you should be leaning on the Lord. Wales did not begin with a marketing campaign. It began with one timid girl saying she loved the Lord Jesus with all her heart.

Tatu, wafalme hufa na neno hukua. Matendo 12 inamalizika kwa mojawapo ya tofauti kuu katika Maandiko: dhalimu aliyeliwa na chango huko Kaisaria na injili inayoongezeka kutoka mwisho mmoja wa dola hadi mwisho mwingine. Wakati mwingine habari za televisheni zinapokuvunja moyo, soma Matendo 12:23–24 kwa mfululizo. Akina Herode wa kila kizazi huanguka. Neno la Mungu hukua daima. Yeye huwazika wale wanaotaka kumzika.Third, kings die and the word grows. Acts 12 ends with one of the great contrasts in Scripture: a worm-eaten despot at Caesarea and a multiplying gospel from one end of the empire to the other. The next time the cable news depresses you, read Acts 12:23–24 in succession. The Herods of every age go down. The word of God always grows. He buries His undertakers.

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