John Wesley na Historia ya Umethodisti — Sehemu ya 3: Georgia, Wamoravia na Aldersgate (1738)John Wesley and the History of Methodism — Unit 3: Georgia, the Moravians, and Aldersgate (1738)

Mstari MkuuKey Verse

"Basi tukiisha kuhesabiwa haki kwa imani, na tuwe na amani kwa Mungu kwa njia ya Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo." (Warumi 5:1, SUV)"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1, NKJV)

Malengo ya KujifunzaLearning Objectives

Utakapomaliza kipindi hiki, unapaswa kuweza:When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Kueleza kwa nini John Wesley alikwenda Georgia mwaka 1735 na kueleza yaliyompata huko.1. Explain why John Wesley went to Georgia in 1735 and describe what happened to him there.

2. Kueleza ushawishi wa Wamoravia (Moravians) juu ya Wesley, ikiwemo Peter Böhler.2. Describe the influence of the Moravians on Wesley, including Peter Böhler.

3. Kusimulia habari ya Aldersgate Street tarehe 24 Mei 1738 na uzoefu wa uhakika wa wokovu ambao Wesley aliueleza.3. Tell the story of Aldersgate Street on 24 May 1738 and the experience of assurance that Wesley described.

4. Kutaja njia kuu ambazo wanahistoria na wanatheolojia hufasiri Aldersgate, na kusema mapokeo yetu yanaielewaje.4. State the main ways historians and theologians interpret Aldersgate, and say how our tradition understands it.

5. Kueleza kwa nini Wesley baadaye alijitenga na Wamoravia huko Fetter Lane, na hili linaonyesha nini kuhusu mafundisho yake.5. Explain why Wesley later separated from the Moravians at Fetter Lane, and what this shows about his teaching.

Sauti ya Kipindi HikiThe Voice of This Unit

Kipindi hiki kimeandikwa kutoka ndani ya mapokeo ya Wesley, kwa wanafunzi wa Wesley. Tunaamini matukio ya mwaka 1738 yalikuwa kipindi cha mabadiliko katika maisha ya Wesley na zawadi ya Mungu kwa kanisa. Pia tunajua kwamba Wakristo makini na wanahistoria husoma Aldersgate kwa njia tofauti. Tunaeleza usomaji huo kwa haki kisha tunajibu kutoka kwa Maandiko na kutoka kwa mafundisho ya Wesley mwenyewe.This unit is written from inside the Wesleyan tradition, for Wesleyan students. We believe the events of 1738 were a turning point in the life of Wesley and a gift of God to the church. We also know that careful Christians and historians read Aldersgate in different ways. We state those readings fairly and then answer from Scripture and from Wesley's own teaching.

Kwa Nini Georgia?Why Georgia?

Kufikia mwaka 1735 John Wesley alikuwa na umri wa miaka thelathini na miwili, mwanachama wa Lincoln College na kiongozi wa Holy Club. Baba yake alikuwa amefariki majira ya kuchipua mwaka huo. Katika mwaka huo huo Jenerali James Oglethorpe, mwanzilishi wa koloni la Georgia huko Amerika Kaskazini, alikuwa akitafuta makasisi. Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (Jumuiya ya Kueneza Injili), jumuiya ya kimisionari ya Kianglikana, iliunga mkono kazi hiyo. Malengo mawili yaliwekwa mbele ya Wesley: kuwahudumia walowezi Waingereza kama mhudumu, na kuwahubiria watu wa asili injili.By 1735 John Wesley was thirty-two years old, a fellow of Lincoln College and the leader of the Holy Club. His father had died that spring. In the same year General James Oglethorpe, the founder of the colony of Georgia in North America, was looking for clergy. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, an Anglican missionary society, supported the work. Two aims were set before Wesley: to serve the English settlers as a minister, and to preach the gospel to the native peoples.

Wesley alikubali. Alisafiri kwa meli Oktoba 1735 pamoja na ndugu yake Charles, aliyekwenda kama katibu wa Oglethorpe, na marafiki wawili kutoka Holy Club, Benjamin Ingham na Charles Delamotte. Meli iliitwa Simmonds. Safari ilidumu hadi mwanzoni mwa mwaka 1736, na ndani yake Wesley alikutana na watu ambao wangebadilisha maisha yake.Wesley accepted. He sailed in October 1735 with his brother Charles, who went as secretary to Oglethorpe, and with two friends from the Holy Club, Benjamin Ingham and Charles Delamotte. The ship was called the Simmonds. The voyage lasted until early 1736, and in it Wesley met a people who would change his life.

Wamoravia MeliniThe Moravians on the Ship

Miongoni mwa abiria alikuwa kundi la Wamoravia, Wakristo wa Kijerumani waliotokana na kanisa la zamani la Bohemia la Jan Hus na ambao walikuwa wamefanywa upya katika miaka ya 1720 kwenye shamba la Count Zinzendorf. Walikuwa watu rahisi, wanyenyekevu waliosali, kuimba na kusoma Biblia pamoja, na walichukua kazi za chini kabisa melini bila kulalamika.Among the passengers was a company of Moravians, German Christians who came out of the older Bohemian church of Jan Hus and who had been renewed in the 1720s on the estate of Count Zinzendorf. They were simple, humble people who prayed, sang and studied the Bible together, and they took the lowest jobs on board without complaint.

Mnamo Januari 1736 dhoruba kubwa ilipiga meli. Mawimbi yalivunja juu ya sitaha na abiria Waingereza waliogopa sana. Wesley naye aliogopa, na aliona aibu kugundua kuwa alikuwa anaogopa kufa. Wamoravia walikuwa wanaimba katika ibada yao, bila hofu. Baadaye Wesley alimwuliza mmoja wao kama wanawake na watoto wake hawakuogopa. Jibu lilikuwa kwamba hawakuogopa. Wesley aliona amani ambayo yeye hakuwa nayo. "Katika pendo hamna hofu; bali pendo lililo kamili hutoa nje hofu" (1 Yohana 4:18).In January 1736 a great storm struck the ship. The waves broke over the deck and the English passengers were terrified. Wesley was afraid as well, and he was ashamed to find that he feared to die. The Moravians were singing in their service, without fear. Afterward Wesley asked one of them whether his women and children were not afraid. The answer was that they were not. Wesley saw a peace he did not have. "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear" (1 John 4:18).

Wesley alipofika Savannah, mchungaji Mmoravia aitwaye August Spangenberg alimwuliza maswali kadhaa. Je, alikuwa na ushuhuda wa Roho wa Mungu ndani yake? Je, alimjua Yesu Kristo? Wesley alijibu kwa maneno, lakini baadaye aligundua kwamba alikuwa amesema bila kujua kwa kweli. Hakuweza kusema kwamba alikuwa na uhakika wa wokovu.When Wesley reached Savannah, a Moravian pastor named August Spangenberg asked him some questions. Did he have the witness of God's Spirit within him? Did he know Jesus Christ? Wesley answered with words, but he later recognized that he had spoken without really knowing. He could not say that he had the assurance of salvation.

Wesley huko GeorgiaWesley in Georgia

Wesley alifanya kazi kwa bidii huko Savannah. Alifanya sala za kila siku, aliwatembelea watu wake na kuwafundisha watoto. Alijifunza Kijerumani ili aweze kuzungumza na Wamoravia, na alitafsiri baadhi ya nyimbo zao. Mwaka 1737 alichapisha kitabu kidogo cha nyimbo, kilichokuwa kati ya vya kwanza kutumika katika makoloni. Lakini huduma haikuendelea vizuri.Wesley worked hard in Savannah. He held daily prayers, visited his people and taught the children. He studied German so that he could speak to the Moravians, and he translated some of their hymns. In 1737 he published a small hymn book, which was among the first used in the colonies. But the ministry did not go well.

Wesley alishikilia desturi kali ya "high church" (kanisa la juu). Alikataa kuwapa ushirika watu ambao hawakufikia viwango vyake na alisisitiza ubatizo kwa kuzamishwa kwa watoto wachanga. Walowezi wengi walimwona mgumu na asiyekaribisha. Pia alipata mafanikio madogo kwa watu wa asili. Huduma ilianguka mwishoni kwa sababu ya tukio chungu lililomhusisha msichana mmoja aitwaye Sophy Hopkey. Alipoolewa na mwanamume mwingine, Wesley alimzuia kushiriki Meza ya Bwana, na familia yake ikamfikisha mahakamani. Aliondoka Georgia Desemba 1737 na kufika Uingereza mwanzoni mwa 1738.Wesley held to strict high church practice. He refused to give communion to people who did not meet his standards and he insisted on baptism by immersion for infants. Many of the colonists found him rigid and unwelcoming. He also had little success with the native peoples. The ministry fell apart in the end because of a painful episode involving a young woman named Sophy Hopkey. When she married another man, Wesley turned her away from the Lord's Table, and her family took him to court. He left Georgia in December 1737 and reached England at the start of 1738.

Wanahistoria wanabishana jinsi ya kusoma kipindi hiki. Wengine wanakiita kushindwa, na kwa hali ya kidunia kilikuwa hivyo. Wengine wanasema kilikuwa wakati wa kujaribiwa ambapo Wesley aligundua hitaji lake. Wesley mwenyewe alitazama nyuma na kusema kwamba alikwenda Amerika kuwaongoa wengine, lakini yeye mwenyewe hakuwa ameongolewa. Tunashikilia kwamba yote mawili ni kweli. Utume ulishindwa, na kushindwa huko kulikuwa mojawapo ya njia ambazo Mungu alimwandaa. "Kabla sijateswa nalipotea, Lakini sasa nimelishika neno lako" (Zaburi 119:67).Historians debate how to read this period. Some call it a failure, and in worldly terms it was. Others say it was a time of testing in which Wesley discovered his need. Wesley himself looked back and said that he had gone to America to convert others, but had not been converted himself. We hold that both are true. The mission failed, and the failure was one of the means God used to prepare him. "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep Your word" (Psalm 119:67).

Peter Böhler na Kutafuta ImaniPeter Böhler and the Search for Faith

Aliporudi London, Wesley alikutana na Mmoravia kijana aitwaye Peter Böhler mnamo Februari 1738. Böhler alizungumza naye mara nyingi. Alimwambia Wesley kwamba alihitaji imani, na kwamba imani hutolewa bure, kwa papo hapo, na huleta pamoja nayo msamaha na moyo uliobadilishwa. Wesley alipinga. Aligeukia Maandiko na ushuhuda wa kanisa la kwanza, na akagundua kwamba Böhler alikuwa sahihi. Wesley pia alishawishiwa na ushuhuda wa watu kadhaa walio hai waliosema walikuwa wamebadilishwa kwa papo hapo.Back in London, Wesley met a young Moravian named Peter Böhler in February 1738. Böhler spoke with him often. He told Wesley that he needed faith, and that faith is given freely, in an instant, and brings with it forgiveness and a changed heart. Wesley objected. He turned to the Scriptures and the testimony of the early church, and found that Böhler was right. Wesley was also persuaded by the testimony of several living people who said they had been changed in a moment.

Ushauri wa Böhler ulikuwa wa vitendo. Kama Wesley bado hakuwa na imani, aendelee kuhubiri imani hadi aipate. Wesley alifuata ushauri huu. Hakungoja. Alihubiri asiyoyapata bado na aliendelea kutafuta.Böhler's counsel was practical. If Wesley did not yet have faith, he should keep preaching faith until he had it. Wesley followed this advice. He did not wait. He preached what he had not yet experienced and he continued to seek.

Tarehe 21 Mei 1738, siku ya Pentekoste, Charles Wesley, ambaye alikuwa mgonjwa, alipelekwa kwenye amani na uhakika wa wokovu katika nyumba moja London. Siku tatu baadaye ilikuwa zamu ya John.On 21 May 1738, the day of Pentecost, Charles Wesley, who had been ill, was brought to peace and assurance in a house in London. Three days later it was John's turn.

Aldersgate Street, 24 Mei 1738Aldersgate Street, 24 May 1738

Asubuhi ya tarehe 24 Mei, Wesley alifungua Biblia yake na kusoma vifungu vilivyozungumzia ahadi za Mungu, na mchana alikwenda Kanisa Kuu la St. Paul kusikia wimbo wa kwaya. Jioni alikwenda, kwa kusitasita kiasi, kwenye mkutano wa jumuiya huko Aldersgate Street, London. Huko mtu mmoja alikuwa anasoma dibaji ya Martin Luther kwa Waraka kwa Warumi, inayoeleza mabadiliko ambayo Mungu hufanya moyoni kwa imani katika Kristo.On the morning of 24 May, Wesley opened his Bible and read passages that spoke of the promises of God, and in the afternoon he went to St. Paul's Cathedral to hear the anthem. In the evening he went, with some reluctance, to a society meeting on Aldersgate Street in London. There someone was reading from Martin Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans, which describes the change God works in the heart through faith in Christ.

Saa tatu kasoro robo usiku hivi, wakati msomaji akieleza mabadiliko hayo, Wesley alihisi, kwa maneno yake mwenyewe, moyo wake "ukipata joto la ajabu" (strangely warmed). Aliandika kwamba alimwamini Kristo, Kristo peke yake, kwa wokovu wake, na kwamba alipewa uhakika kwamba Kristo ameziondoa dhambi zake, hata zake yeye, na amemwokoa kutoka sheria ya dhambi na mauti. Huu ndio ulikuwa moyo wa mafundisho ya Böhler.At about a quarter before nine, while the reader was describing that change, Wesley felt, in his own words, that his heart was "strangely warmed." He wrote that he trusted in Christ, in Christ alone, for his salvation, and that he was given an assurance that Christ had taken away his sins, even his, and had saved him from the law of sin and death. This was the very heart of Böhler's teaching.

Zingatia kile ambacho simulizi linasema. Kiini chake si hisia ya joto bali ni kumwamini Kristo. Joto lilikuwa athari, na kumwamini Kristo peke yake ndilo jambo lenyewe. "Basi tukiisha kuhesabiwa haki kwa imani, na tuwe na amani kwa Mungu kwa njia ya Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo" (Warumi 5:1). Ushuhuda wa Roho uliikamilisha: "Maana hamkupokea roho ya utumwa iwarejeshe tena kwenye hofu; bali mlipokea roho ya kufanywa wana, ambayo kwa hiyo twaita, Aba, yaani, Baba. Roho mwenyewe hushuhudia pamoja na roho zetu, ya kuwa sisi tu watoto wa Mungu" (Warumi 8:15-16).Notice what the account says. The center of it is not the warm feeling but the trust. The warmth was the effect, and the trust in Christ alone was the thing itself. "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). The Spirit's witness completed it: "For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God" (Romans 8:15-16).

Mashaka ya Wesley hayakutoweka mara moja. Aliandika kwamba adui alimshambulia usiku huo huo, naye aliwaombea wale waliomkosea. Pia alijifunza kwamba kuwa na amani ni jambo moja na kuwa na furaha ya kudumu ni jambo jingine. Lakini kujiamini kwa kipya kulionekana katika maisha yake na mahubiri yake tangu hapo.Wesley's doubts did not vanish immediately. He wrote that the enemy attacked him that same night, and he prayed for those who had wronged him. He also learned that it is one thing to have peace and another to have constant joy. But a new confidence marked his life and preaching from then on.

Herrnhut na Uhusiano na WamoraviaHerrnhut and the Moravian Connection

Katika majira ya joto ya mwaka 1738 Wesley alisafiri hadi Ujerumani na kutembelea jumuiya ya Wamoravia huko Herrnhut. Alikutana na viongozi, akiwemo Count Zinzendorf, na alivutiwa na upendo wao kwa wao na maisha yao ya pamoja yaliyopangwa vizuri. Alirudi Uingereza majira ya kupukutika majani akiwa ameazimia kuhubiri imani katika Kristo kwa wote.In the summer of 1738 Wesley traveled to Germany and visited the Moravian community at Herrnhut. He met leaders, including Count Zinzendorf, and was impressed by their love for one another and their ordered common life. He returned to England in the autumn determined to preach faith in Christ to all.

Aliporudi London alishiriki katika jumuiya ya Fetter Lane iliyojumuisha Wamoravia na Waanglikana. Wesley aliwadai sana marafiki hawa. Wazo la vikundi vidogo vinavyokutana kuungama makosa na kuomba linatokana sana nao. Lakini mwaka 1740 aliiacha jumuiya ya Fetter Lane baada ya mzozo. Baadhi ya walimu Wamoravia huko Fetter Lane walisema kwamba waumini wapya wanapaswa kuwa "wastaarabu" (still), yaani wasubiri na kujiepusha na njia za kawaida za neema kama Meza ya Bwana, sala na kusoma Maandiko hadi wapate imani kamili. Wesley alishikilia kwamba Kristo anaamuru mazoea haya na kwamba ndiyo njia ambayo Mungu hukutana nayo na wale wanaomtafuta. Wesley aliondoka na kundi la wafuasi, waliokutana kwenye Foundery, kiwanda cha zamani cha mizinga huko London. Hii ndiyo ilikuwa asili ya jumuiya ya Kimethodisti ya London.Back in London he took part in a society at Fetter Lane that included Moravians and Anglicans. Wesley owed much to these friends. The idea of small groups meeting to confess faults and to pray owes much to them. But in 1740 he left the Fetter Lane society after a dispute. Some of the Moravian teachers at Fetter Lane said that new believers should be "still," that is, they should wait and refrain from the ordinary means of grace such as the Lord's Supper, prayer and Scripture reading until they had full faith. Wesley held that Christ commands these practices and that they are the way God meets those who seek Him. Wesley left with a group of followers, who met at the Foundery, a former cannon factory in London. This was the origin of the London Methodist society.

Tunausomaje Aldersgate?How Do We Read Aldersgate?

Huu ni mojawapo ya mijadala maarufu zaidi katika historia ya Umethodisti. Una majibu kadhaa.This is one of the best-known debates in Methodist history. It has several answers.

Aldersgate kama uongofu. Wamethodisti wengi wameisimulia hadithi hii kama uongofu wa Wesley, wakati alipokuwa Mkristo. Mtazamo huu ni rahisi kueleweka na umekuwa maarufu katika mahubiri na nyimbo.Aldersgate as conversion. Many Methodists have told the story as Wesley's conversion, the moment he became a Christian. This view is easy to understand and has been popular in sermons and hymns.

Aldersgate kama uhakika wa wokovu. Baadhi ya wanahistoria wanaonyesha kwamba Wesley, muda mrefu kabla, alikuwa mwamini wa dhati na kasisi, na kwamba alichopokea tarehe 24 Mei kilikuwa uhakika wa wokovu. Katika miaka ya baadaye Wesley mwenyewe alizungumza juu ya tofauti kati ya imani ya mtumishi wa Mungu na imani ya mwana. Kwa usomaji huu alitoka kwenye imani ya mtumishi kwenda kwenye imani ya mwana.Aldersgate as assurance. Some historians point out that Wesley, long before, was a sincere believer and a priest, and that what he received on 24 May was assurance. In later years Wesley himself spoke of the difference between the faith of a servant of God and the faith of a son. In this reading he went from a servant's faith to a son's faith.

Aldersgate kama baraka ya pili. Baadhi ya waandishi katika vuguvugu la Utakatifu wameisoma kama utakaso kamili. Ugumu ni kwamba Wesley aliieleza kwa maneno ya imani na uhakika wa wokovu na msamaha wa dhambi, na yeye mwenyewe hakuieleza kama kufanywa mkamilifu katika upendo.Aldersgate as the second blessing. Some writers in the Holiness movement have read it as entire sanctification. The difficulty is that Wesley described it in terms of faith and assurance and the forgiveness of sins, and he himself did not describe it as being made perfect in love.

Aldersgate kama hatua moja kati ya nyingi. Msomi Albert Outler na wengine wamesema kwamba maisha ya Wesley yalikuwa mchakato mrefu ambapo Aldersgate ilikuwa muhimu lakini si wakati pekee. Wanaonyesha kwamba Wesley mwenyewe mara chache aliifanya kuwa kiini cha mafundisho yake ya baadaye.Aldersgate as one step among many. The scholar Albert Outler and others have argued that Wesley's life was a long process in which Aldersgate was important but not the only moment. They note that Wesley himself rarely made it the center of his later teaching.

Jibu letu. Tunaamini usomaji bora unachukulia kwa uzito yale Wesley aliyoandika na aliyosema baadaye. Aldersgate, angalau, ulikuwa wakati ambapo Wesley alipokea uhakika kamili kwamba Kristo amemsamehe dhambi zake. Tuuite uongofu au wakati wa mtumishi kuwa mwana, hatuhitaji kumaliza mjadala ili kujifunza kutoka kwake. Mafundisho ya Wesley mwenyewe ni wazi: msamaha na ushuhuda wa Roho ni kwa kila mwamini. "Haya nimewaandikia ninyi, mpate kujua ya kuwa mna uzima wa milele, ninyi mnaoamini jina la Mwana wa Mungu" (1 Yohana 5:13). Lakini pia tunasema kwamba Aldersgate haukukusudiwa kuwa kielelezo chenye tarehe na saa maalum. Wakristo wengi hawawezi kutaja siku. Cha muhimu ni kwamba mtu amwamini Kristo peke yake na kuujua ushuhuda wa Roho.Our answer. We believe the best reading takes seriously what Wesley wrote and what he later said. Aldersgate was, at the least, the moment when Wesley received a full assurance that Christ had forgiven his sins. Whether we call that conversion or the moment of a servant becoming a son, we do not need to settle the argument to learn from it. Wesley's own teaching is plain: forgiveness and the Spirit's witness are for every believer. "These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). But we also say that Aldersgate was not meant to be a pattern with a fixed date and hour. Many Christians cannot name the day. What matters is that a person trusts Christ alone and knows the witness of the Spirit.

Pingamizi na MajibuObjections and Answers

Pingamizi la 1: Wesley alikuwa Mkristo tayari, kwa hiyo Umethodisti unategemea kosa.Objection 1: Wesley was already a Christian, so Methodism rests on a mistake.

Wakosoaji wanasema kwamba kama Wesley alikuwa mwamini kabla ya 1738, basi madai yake kwamba aliokolewa wakati huo ni ya uongo, na hivyo ujumbe wote wa Kimethodisti si thabiti.Critics say that if Wesley was a believer before 1738, then his claim to have been saved then is false, and so the whole Methodist message is unsound.

Jibu letu. Ujumbe wa Kimethodisti hautegemei tarehe katika maisha ya Wesley. Unategemea Maandiko. Wesley mwenyewe alikiri kwamba uelewa wake ulikua kwa muda. Aliendelea kujifunza na wakati mwingine alijirekebisha. Alichokipata mwaka 1738 kilikuwa kweli ya Warumi, kwamba tunakubaliwa kwa imani katika Kristo peke yake na kwamba Roho wa Mungu hutupa uhakika wake. Kweli hiyo inasimama bila kujali tunasema nini kuhusu hali ya roho yake kabla.Our answer. The Methodist message does not rest on a date in Wesley's life. It rests on Scripture. Wesley himself admitted that his understanding grew over time. He kept learning and sometimes corrected himself. What he found in 1738 was the truth of Romans, that we are accepted by faith in Christ alone and that God's Spirit gives us assurance of it. That truth stands whatever we say about the state of his soul before.

Pingamizi la 2: Uhakika wa wokovu kwa ushuhuda wa Roho huleta kujiamini kupita kiasi au kutegemea hisia.Objection 2: Assurance by the Spirit's witness leads to presumption or to dependence on feelings.

Walimu wa Reformed wanashikilia kwamba uhakika hutokana hasa na kuziamini ahadi za Maandiko na kuona tunda la Roho katika maisha ya mtu, nao wanaogopa kwamba msisitizo juu ya ushuhuda wa ndani huchochea hisia kupita kiasi.Reformed teachers hold that assurance comes mainly from believing the promises of Scripture and from seeing the fruit of the Spirit in one's life, and they fear that stress on inner witness feeds emotionalism.

Jibu letu. Tunakubaliana na mengi ya haya. Ahadi za Maandiko na tunda la Roho ni vipimo vya kweli, na Wesley alivitumia. Lakini Warumi 8:16 husema Roho hushuhudia pamoja na roho zetu, na Wesley aliamini kwamba ushuhuda wa Roho na tunda la Roho hufanya kazi pamoja. Ushuhuda bila tunda haukubaliwi, na tunda bila ushuhuda linaweza kumwacha mwamini katika hofu.Our answer. We agree with much of this. The promises of Scripture and the fruit of the Spirit are real tests, and Wesley used them. But Romans 8:16 speaks of the Spirit bearing witness with our spirit, and Wesley believed that the Spirit's witness and the fruit of the Spirit work together. A witness without fruit is not trusted, and fruit without a witness may leave a believer in fear.

Matumizi ya KichungajiPastoral Application

Mwanamume mmoja katika kanisa lenu amehudhuria kanisani kwa miaka arobaini. Baada ya ibada ya Jumapili anasema kwa upole, "Mchungaji, ninafanya kila kitu Mkristo anachopaswa kufanya, lakini sina uhakika kama nimeokoka. Sihisi chochote."A man in your congregation has attended church for forty years. After a Sunday service he says quietly, "Pastor, I do everything a Christian should, but I'm not sure I'm saved. I don't feel anything."

Kwanza, humkemei wala kumpa jibu la haraka. Kama Böhler kwa Wesley, unamchukulia kwa uzito.First, you do not rebuke him or give him a quick answer. Like Böhler with Wesley, you take him seriously.

Pili, mnasoma pamoja Warumi 5:1 na 1 Yohana 5:13, na unamwonyesha kwamba ahadi inatolewa kwa wale wanaomwamini Kristo.Second, you read with him Romans 5:1 and 1 John 5:13 and show him that the promise is made to those who trust Christ.

Tatu, unamweleza habari za Wesley, mshiriki wa kanisa mwenye bidii ambaye hakuwa na uhakika wa wokovu na ambaye alipata amani alipomwamini Kristo peke yake. Unamwomba amwamini Kristo kwa ajili yake mwenyewe.Third, you tell him the story of Wesley, an earnest churchman who did not have assurance and who found peace when he trusted Christ alone. You ask him to trust Christ for himself.

Nne, unamwambia asisubiri hisia. Imani hutangulia, na ushuhuda wa Roho hufuata. Unajitolea kuomba naye wiki hii na kukutana tena.Fourth, you tell him not to wait for a feeling. Faith comes first, and the witness of the Spirit follows. You offer to pray with him this week and to meet again.

MuhtasariSummary

Mwaka 1735 John Wesley alisafiri kwa meli kwenda Georgia pamoja na Charles, Ingham na Delamotte, na melini aliona amani ya Wamoravia katika dhoruba. Huduma yake huko Savannah ilishindwa kwa sababu ya desturi ngumu na tukio la Sophy Hopkey, naye alirudi mwanzoni mwa 1738 akijua hitaji lake. Peter Böhler alimfundisha kwamba imani ya kuokoa ni zawadi inayopokelewa sasa, na Wesley aliitafuta. Tarehe 24 Mei 1738, katika mkutano wa Aldersgate Street, wakati dibaji ya Luther kwa Warumi ikisomwa, alimwamini Kristo peke yake na kuhisi moyo wake ukipata joto la ajabu. Wanahistoria wanalisoma hili kama uongofu, kama uhakika wa wokovu, kama baraka ya pili, au kama hatua moja kati ya nyingi. Tunashikilia kwamba lilimpa Wesley uhakika kamili wa msamaha, ambao kila mwamini anaweza kuwa nao, ingawa hakuna tarehe inayohitajika kwa kila mtu. Mwaka 1740 Wesley aliiacha jumuiya ya Wamoravia huko Fetter Lane kwa sababu ya fundisho la utulivu (stillness), na Foundery ikawa nyumba ya Umethodisti wa London.In 1735 John Wesley sailed for Georgia with Charles, Ingham and Delamotte, and on the ship he saw the peace of the Moravians in a storm. His ministry in Savannah failed through rigid practice and the Sophy Hopkey affair, and he returned in early 1738 aware of his need. Peter Böhler taught him that saving faith is a gift received now, and Wesley sought it. On 24 May 1738, in a meeting on Aldersgate Street, while Luther's preface to Romans was read, he trusted Christ alone and felt his heart strangely warmed. Historians read this as conversion, as assurance, as a second blessing, or as one step among many. We hold that it brought Wesley a full assurance of forgiveness, which every believer may have, though no date is required of everyone. In 1740 Wesley left the Moravian society at Fetter Lane over the doctrine of stillness, and the Foundery became the home of London Methodism.

Usomaji ZaidiFurther Reading

• John Wesley, The Journal of John Wesley (Shajara ya John Wesley), juzuu za 1735-1738.• John Wesley, The Journal of John Wesley, the volumes for 1735-1738.

• John Wesley, Mahubiri "The Witness of the Spirit" (Ushuhuda wa Roho) (mahubiri mawili), "Salvation by Faith" (Wokovu kwa Imani) na "Justification by Faith" (Kuhesabiwa Haki kwa Imani).• John Wesley, Sermons "The Witness of the Spirit" (two sermons), "Salvation by Faith" and "Justification by Faith."

• Martin Luther, Dibaji ya Waraka kwa Warumi.• Martin Luther, Preface to the Epistle to the Romans.

• Charles Wesley, nyimbo, katika A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists (Mkusanyiko wa Nyimbo kwa Matumizi ya Watu Wanaoitwa Wamethodisti) (1780).• Charles Wesley, hymns, in A Collection of Hymns for the Use of the People Called Methodists (1780).

• Holiness Through the Ages (Utakatifu Katika Karne Zote) (Coleman, Danielson na Parry), kitabu cha kiada cha CTS.• Holiness Through the Ages (Coleman, Danielson and Parry), the CTS textbook.

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