📖 Utangulizi wa Agano Jipya — Sehemu ya 11: Nyaraka za Jumla: Imani Inayojaribiwa Maishani📖 New Testament Survey — Unit 11: General Epistles: Faith Tested in Life

I. Nyaraka Zile NyingineI. The Other Letters

Hapa kuna ukweli wa kushangaza kuhusu Agano Jipya. Baada ya Mathayo, Marko, Luka, Yohana na Matendo, vitabu ishirini na moja vinavyofuata vyote ni barua. Kati ya hizo ishirini na moja, mtume Paulo aliandika kumi na tatu. Zile nane nyingine ziliandikwa na watu ambao, isipokuwa mmoja tu, walitembea pamoja na Yesu katika barabara zenye vumbi za Galilaya kabla Paulo hajawahi kulisikia jina la Kristo. Hizi ndizo Nyaraka za Jumla — Waebrania, Yakobo, 1 na 2 Petro, 1, 2 na 3 Yohana, na Yuda. Zinaitwa nyaraka za jumla kwa sababu nyingi kati yake hazikuandikiwa kusanyiko moja peke yake bali waumini waliotawanyika kote katika Dola la Kirumi. Ni barua za kifamilia za kanisa kutoka kwa ndugu zake wakubwa katika imani.Here is an arresting fact about the New Testament. After Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts, the next twenty-one books are all letters. Of those twenty-one, the apostle Paul wrote thirteen. The other eight were written by men who, with one exception, walked with Jesus on the dusty roads of Galilee before Paul ever heard the name of Christ. These are the General Epistles — Hebrews, James, 1 and 2 Peter, 1, 2, and 3 John, and Jude. They are called general because most of them are not addressed to a single congregation but to scattered believers across the Roman Empire. They are the church's family letters from her oldest brothers in the faith.

Kuna kitu kinachozipa nyaraka hizi nane ladha ya pekee ambayo nyaraka za Paulo hazina. Nyaraka za Paulo kwa kawaida huanza na mafundisho na kumalizia na wajibu. Nyaraka za Jumla zinageuza msisitizo huo. Zinaanza na maisha ya kila siku — jaribu lililo mbele yako asubuhi hii, ndugu aliye mbele yako kanisani, mwalimu wa uongo aliye mbele yako jukwaani, mateso yaliyo mbele yako ulimwenguni — kisha zinahoji kutoka kwenye maisha kurudi kwenye mafundisho. Paulo anaandika akiwa chumbani mwa kujisomea. Waandishi wa Nyaraka za Jumla wanaandika wakiwa sokoni. Paulo anaandika juu ya wokovu. Waandishi wa Nyaraka za Jumla wanaandika juu ya jinsi waliookolewa wanavyoishi. Nusu hizi mbili zinakamilishana. Paulo anakupa theolojia. Yakobo, Petro, Yohana na Yuda wanakupa jaribio. Imani isiyo na jaribio ni hisia tu. Jaribio lisilo na imani ni uchovu tu. Nyaraka za Jumla ndipo mahali hivyo viwili vinapokutana.Something gives these eight letters a particular flavor that the Pauline letters do not have. Paul's letters mostly start with doctrine and end with duty. The General Epistles flip the emphasis. They begin with daily life, the trial in front of you this morning, the brother in front of you in the pew, the false teacher in front of you on the platform, the suffering in front of you in the world — and they argue from the life back to the doctrine. Paul writes from the study. The General Epistle writers write from the marketplace. Paul writes about salvation. The General Epistle writers write about how the saved live. The two halves complete each other. Paul gives you the theology. James, Peter, John, and Jude give you the test. Faith without the test is just sentiment. The test without the faith is just exhaustion. The General Epistles are where the two meet.

II. Waebrania — Ukuu wa KristoII. Hebrews — The Supremacy of Christ

Waebrania kinasimama peke yake kati ya Nyaraka za Jumla. Ndicho kirefu kuliko vyote. Ndicho chenye theolojia nzito kuliko vyote. Na ndicho chenye fumbo kuliko vyote — hakuna mtu aliyewahi kujua kwa hakika ni nani aliyekiandika. Makisio kuhusu mwandishi katika kipindi cha miaka elfu mbili yamejumuisha Paulo, Apolo, Barnaba, Priskila, Luka, na Klementi wa Rumi. Kitabu chenyewe hakisemi. Kile kinachosema, kwa nguvu ya nyundo tangu mstari wa kwanza hadi wa mwisho, ni kwamba Yesu Kristo ndiye mkuu kuliko wote. Mkuu kuliko manabii. Mkuu kuliko malaika. Mkuu kuliko Musa. Mkuu kuliko ukuhani wa Walawi. Mkuu kuliko dhabihu za mafahali na mbuzi. Mkuu kuliko agano la kale kwa ujumla wake. Henrietta Mears alikuwa akisema kwamba ukiweka neno moja tu la Kiingereza kwenye jalada la Waebrania, neno hilo lingepaswa kuwa bora zaidi (kwa Kiingereza, "better"). Kristo ni bora zaidi. Neno hilo linaonekana mara kumi na tatu katika waraka huo, nalo ndilo uti wa mgongo wa kila hoja.Hebrews stands alone among the General Epistles. It is the longest. It is the most theological. And it is the most mysterious — no one has ever known for certain who wrote it. Authorship guesses across two thousand years have included Paul, Apollos, Barnabas, Priscilla, Luke, and Clement of Rome. The book itself does not say. What it does say, with hammering force from the first verse to the last, is that Jesus Christ is supreme. Supreme over the prophets. Supreme over the angels. Supreme over Moses. Supreme over the Levitical priesthood. Supreme over the sacrifices of bulls and goats. Supreme over the old covenant entirely. Henrietta Mears used to say that if you put a single English word on the cover of Hebrews, the word should be better. Christ is better. The word appears thirteen times across the letter, and it is the spine of every argument.

Waebrania kinaweza kupangwa kuzunguka huduma tatu za Masihi ambazo Agano la Kale lilikuwa limemkabidhi Yule Mpakwa Mafuta tangu zamani. Nabii. Kuhani. Mfalme. Katika Agano la Kale kila huduma ilishikwa na mtu. Hakuna hata mmoja wa watu hao aliyewahi kushika zaidi ya huduma moja kwa wakati mmoja. Mfalme Sauli alijaribu kuwa kuhani, na Mungu akamwondoa. Mfalme Uzia alijaribu kuingia hekaluni, na Mungu akampiga kwa ukoma. Huduma hizo tatu zilitenganishwa kwa amri ya Mungu. Lakini katika Kristo Yesu, zote tatu zinakutana katika nafsi moja. Na Waebrania kinazifunua huduma hizo moja baada ya nyingine.Hebrews can be organized around the three offices of the Messiah that the Old Testament had always assigned to the Anointed One. Prophet. Priest. King. Each office in the Old Testament was filled by a man. None of those men ever held more than one office at a time. King Saul tried to be a priest, and God removed him. King Uzziah tried to enter the temple, and God struck him with leprosy. The three offices were kept separate by divine command. But in Christ Jesus, all three meet in one person. And Hebrews unfolds each office in turn.

Kama Nabii (Waebrania 1). "Mungu, ambaye alisema zamani na baba zetu katika manabii kwa sehemu nyingi na kwa njia nyingi, mwisho wa siku hizi amesema na sisi katika Mwana" (Waebrania 1:1–2). Manabii walileta neno la sehemu; Mwana ndiye Neno kamili. Musa aliona kwa mbali upande wa nyuma alipokuwa mlimani; Mwana ndiye mng'ao wa utukufu wa Mungu na chapa halisi ya nafsi yake. Isaya alimwona Bwana ameketi juu ya kiti cha enzi kilicho juu, kilichoinuka; Mwana ameketi katika kiti cha enzi mkono wa kuume wa Ukuu huko juu. Kila nabii aliyewahi kusimama kati ya Mungu na Israeli alikuwa mshumaa unaoyumbayumba ukielekeza kwenye kuchomoza kwa Jua.As Prophet (Hebrews 1). "God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son" (Hebrews 1:1–2). The prophets brought a partial word; the Son is the complete Word. Moses got a glimpse from the back side of the mountain; the Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being. Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up; the Son sits enthroned at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Every prophet who ever stood between God and Israel was a flickering candle pointing to the rising of the Sun.

Kama Kuhani (Waebrania 4–10). Kuhani mkuu wa Israeli angeweza kuingia Patakatifu pa Patakatifu mara moja kwa mwaka, akiwa na damu ya mnyama, kwanza kwa ajili yake mwenyewe na kisha kwa ajili ya watu. Kristo Yesu ni kuhani bora zaidi. Aliingia mara moja tu kwa ajili ya wote. Aliingia na damu yake mwenyewe. Hakuingia katika hema iliyofanywa kwa mikono bali mbinguni kwenyewe. Anachukuana nasi katika udhaifu wetu kwa sababu alijaribiwa sawasawa na sisi katika mambo yote, bila kufanya dhambi. Yeye ni kuhani milele kwa mfano wa Melkizedeki — mtu pekee wa Agano la Kale aliyekuwa mfalme na kuhani kwa wakati mmoja, kivuli cha Kristo aliyekuwa akija.As Priest (Hebrews 4–10). The high priest of Israel could go into the Holy of Holies once a year, with the blood of an animal, for himself first and then for the people. Christ Jesus is a better priest. He went in once for all. He went in with His own blood. He went in not into a tabernacle made with hands but into heaven itself. He sympathizes with our weakness because He has been tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin. He is a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek — the only Old Testament figure who was both king and priest at once, the foreshadow of the Christ to come.

Na ukuhani wa Kristo unahusiana na dhabihu. Kuna kaburi la ajabu huko Arizona ambalo nyuma yake kuna hadithi ya kusikitisha. Miaka mingi iliyopita, kabila moja la Wahindi Wekundu wa Marekani lilikusanyika kwa baraza kubwa. Walihisi uzito wa dhambi yao na waliamini kwamba lazima damu imwagike ili wapate msamaha. Hawakuweza kujileta kuwatoa watoto wao wenyewe kuwa dhabihu, lakini waliamua kuwatoa yatima wanne wa kabila hilo — wale pekee wasio na wazazi wa kuwatetea. Yatima hao waliuawa na kuzikwa katika kaburi moja. Kabila hilo liliamini kwamba kifo cha wale wadogo wanne kiliwanunulia msamaha. Walikuwa wamesoma katika vumbi la dhamiri ya mwanadamu mstari ule ule ambao kitabu cha Waebrania kingeuandika baadaye kwa wino: "Pasipo kumwaga damu hakuna ondoleo" (Waebrania 9:22). Wasichojua ni kwamba damu ya Mwanakondoo wa Mungu Mwenyewe ilikuwa imekwisha kumwagika juu ya msalaba wa Kirumi, na kwamba hakuna yatima aliyehitaji kufa katika kijiji chochote tena. Kiini kizima cha Waebrania ni kwamba msalaba wa Kristo unafunga mlango kwa kila madhabahu nyingine.And the priesthood of Christ is connected to sacrifice. There is a peculiar grave in Arizona behind which lies a tragic story. Years ago, a tribe of Native Americans gathered for a great council. They felt the weight of their sin and believed that blood must be shed for forgiveness. They could not bring themselves to sacrifice their own children, but they decided to sacrifice four orphans from the tribe — the only ones with no parents to plead for them. The orphans were killed and buried in a single grave. The tribe believed that the death of those four little ones had bought their forgiveness. They had read in the dust of human conscience the same line that the book of Hebrews would later write in ink: "Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness" (Hebrews 9:22). What they did not know was that the blood of God's own Lamb had already been shed on a Roman cross, and that no orphan needed to die in any village ever again. The whole point of Hebrews is that the cross of Christ closes the door on every other altar.

Kama Mfalme (Waebrania 7, 12). Jina la Melkizedeki kwa Kiebrania linamaanisha mfalme wa haki. Alikuwa mfalme wa Salemu, maana yake amani — hivyo alikuwa pia mfalme wa amani. Mfalme wa haki na mfalme wa amani, vyote kwa pamoja. Huo ndio mfano ambao Kristo anautimiza. Kila mfalme mwingine katika historia ya wanadamu alishindwa mahali fulani. Daudi alikuwa mtu aupendezaye moyo wa Mungu na pia mwenye dhambi mkubwa. Sulemani alianza utawala wake akimwomba Mungu hekima na akamaliza maisha yake kama mpumbavu mwenye hekima aliyekuwa na wake mia saba. Farao, Aleksanda Mkuu, Julius Kaisari, Charlemagne, Napoleon — falme huinuka na kuporomoka. Waebrania kinawaambia Wakristo wa Kiebrania walioteswa kwamba "tunapokea ufalme usioweza kutikisika" (Waebrania 12:28). Kutikiswa kutakuja. Falme za ulimwengu huu zitatikiswa mpaka zianguke. Ufalme mmoja utakaobaki umesimama ni wake Yeye.As King (Hebrews 7, 12). Melchizedek's name in Hebrew means king of righteousness. He was king of Salem, which means peace — so he was also king of peace. King of righteousness and king of peace, both at once. That is the pattern Christ fulfills. Every other king in human history failed somewhere. David was a man after God's own heart and also a great sinner. Solomon began his rule asking God for wisdom and ended his life as a wise fool with seven hundred wives. Pharaoh, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, Napoleon — kingdoms rise and crumble. Hebrews tells the persecuted Hebrew Christians that "we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken" (Hebrews 12:28). The shaking will come. The kingdoms of this world will shake until they fall. The one kingdom left standing will be His.

III. Ukumbi wa ImaniIII. The Hall of Faith

Waebrania 11 kinaitwa Ukumbi wa Imani — jumba la picha ambamo mwandishi wa Waebrania anatundika picha moja baada ya nyingine za waumini wa Agano la Kale na kukueleza walichokuwa nacho kwa pamoja. "Basi imani ni kuwa na hakika ya mambo yatarajiwayo, ni bayana ya mambo yasiyoonekana" (Waebrania 11:1). Sura hii ni msafara. Kwa imani Habili. Kwa imani Henoko. Kwa imani Nuhu. Kwa imani Ibrahimu. Kwa imani Sara. Kwa imani Isaka, Yakobo, Yusufu, Musa. Kwa imani Rahabu. Kwa imani Gideoni, Baraka, Samsoni, Yeftha, Daudi, Samweli, na manabii. Baadhi yao walishinda milki za wafalme. Baadhi yao walikatwa kwa msumeno. Baadhi yao walifunga vinywa vya simba. Baadhi yao walizunguka-zunguka katika jangwa na milima, katika mapango na mashimo ya nchi — wahitaji, wakiteswa, wakidhulumiwa. Imani haihakikishi kwamba kinywa cha simba kitafungwa. Baadhi ya mashujaa walitupwa kwa simba. Imani inahakikisha kwamba lolote litakalotokea, Mungu ni mwaminifu, na maisha ya muumini yamefichwa katika Kristo.Hebrews 11 is called the Hall of Faith — the gallery in which the writer of Hebrews hangs portrait after portrait of Old Testament believers and tells you what they had in common. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1). The chapter is a procession. By faith Abel. By faith Enoch. By faith Noah. By faith Abraham. By faith Sarah. By faith Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses. By faith Rahab. By faith Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. Some of them conquered kingdoms. Some of them were sawn in two. Some of them stopped the mouths of lions. Some of them wandered in deserts and mountains, in caves and dens of the earth — destitute, afflicted, tormented. Faith does not guarantee that the lion's mouth will close. Some of the heroes were thrown to the lions. Faith guarantees that whatever happens, God is faithful, and the believer's life is hidden in Christ.

Na sura hii haiishii katika sura ya 11. Hoja inaendelea moja kwa moja hadi sura ya 12. "Basi na sisi pia, kwa kuwa tunazungukwa na wingu kubwa la mashahidi namna hii, na tuweke kando kila mzigo mzito, na dhambi ile ituzingayo kwa upesi; na tupige mbio kwa saburi katika yale mashindano yaliyowekwa mbele yetu, tukimtazama Yesu, mwenye kuanzisha imani yetu na kuitimiza" (Waebrania 12:1–2). Ukumbi wa Imani ni viti vya watazamaji uwanjani. Muumini yuko kwenye njia ya mashindano. Mashahidi walio kwenye viti vya watazamaji ni wale ambao tayari wamekwisha kupiga mbio na kuzimaliza vizuri. Hawatazami ili kuhukumu. Wanatazama ili kushangilia. Na muumini aliye kwenye njia ya mashindano anakimbia kuelekea uso mmoja tu — "tukimtazama Yesu."And the chapter does not end at chapter 11. The argument runs straight into chapter 12. "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:1–2). The Hall of Faith is the bleachers. The believer is on the track. The witnesses in the bleachers are the ones who have already run the race and finished it well. They are not watching to judge. They are watching to cheer. And the believer on the track is running toward only one face — "looking unto Jesus."

IV. Yakobo — Imani Inayojaribiwa MaishaniIV. James — Faith Tested in Life

Yakobo alikuwa ndugu wa kambo wa Bwana Yesu. Alikuwa amekulia katika nyumba ile ile, mezani pale pale, chini ya paa lile lile la Galilaya. Hakumwamini kaka yake mkubwa katika miaka ya huduma Yake ya hadharani (Yohana 7:5). Ilihitaji ufufuo — Kristo aliyefufuka alipomtokea Yakobo hasa (1 Wakorintho 15:7) — ili kumshawishi. Baada ya kuongoka huko, Yakobo akawa mchungaji kiongozi wa kanisa la Yerusalemu kwa miaka thelathini iliyofuata, akiongoza Baraza la Yerusalemu la Matendo 15. Aliuawa kwa ajili ya imani mwaka 62 B.K., akitupwa kutoka juu ya kinara cha hekalu na adui zake na kupigwa mpaka kufa kwa sababu alikataa kukana kwamba kaka yake mkubwa alikuwa Kristo. Mtu aliyeandika waraka wa Yakobo alijua sawasawa maana ya kujaribiwa.James was the half-brother of the Lord Jesus. He had grown up in the same house, at the same table, under the same Galilean roof. He did not believe in his elder brother during the years of His public ministry (John 7:5). It took the resurrection — when the risen Christ appeared specifically to James (1 Corinthians 15:7) — to convince him. After that conversion, James became the leading pastor of the Jerusalem church for the next thirty years, presiding over the Jerusalem Council of Acts 15. He was martyred in AD 62, thrown from the pinnacle of the temple by his enemies and beaten to death because he refused to deny that his elder brother was the Christ. The man who wrote the letter of James knew exactly what testing was.

Waraka wake ndicho kitabu chenye sura ya Kiyahudi zaidi katika Agano Jipya. Unasomeka karibu kama kitabu cha Mithali cha Agano Jipya. Umepangwa kuzunguka majaribu matano ya maisha ya muumini ambayo Yakobo anayataja katika sura zake tano. Sura ya 1 — jaribu la mateso. Sura ya 2 — jaribu la upendeleo. Sura ya 3 — jaribu la ulimi. Sura ya 4 — jaribu la kuipenda dunia. Sura ya 5 — jaribu la kukosa subira. Kila jaribu ni njia tofauti ambayo ulimwengu hujaribu kama imani ya muumini ni ya kweli.His letter is the most Jewish book in the New Testament. It reads almost like a New Testament book of Proverbs. It organizes around five trials of the believer's life that James names in his five chapters. Chapter 1 — the trial of suffering. Chapter 2 — the trial of partiality. Chapter 3 — the trial of the tongue. Chapter 4 — the trial of worldliness. Chapter 5 — the trial of impatience. Each trial is a different way the world tests whether the believer's faith is real.

Mstari wa ufunguzi wa waraka huu ni mojawapo ya sentensi zinazopingana na mawazo ya kawaida kuliko zote katika Biblia. "Ndugu zangu, hesabuni ya kuwa ni furaha tupu mkiangukia katika majaribu mbalimbali; mkijua ya kuwa kujaribiwa kwa imani yenu kwaleta saburi" (Yakobo 1:2–3). Hesabuni ya kuwa ni furaha tupu. Si kuvumilia tu. Si kunusurika tu. Si kupita tu. Hesabuni ni furaha tupu, kwa sababu jaribu linazalisha ndani yako kitu ambacho hakuna kingine kinachoweza kukizalisha. Yakobo anamwambia muumini kwamba kuna aina tatu za majaribu katika maisha ya Kikristo. Kwanza, majaribu ya kuvuna ulichopanda — matokeo ya maamuzi yetu wenyewe mabaya (Wagalatia 6:7). Pili, majaribu ya kiroho — majaribu ya moto yanayokuja kwa sababu tu sisi ni mali ya Kristo (1 Petro 4:12). Tatu, majaribu ya kifumbo — majaribu yasiyo na maelezo tunayoweza kuyataja, ya aina aliyoteseka nayo Ayubu. Yote matatu huzaa saburi tukiyaruhusu. Yote matatu huzaa uchungu tusipoyaruhusu.The opening verse of the letter is one of the most counterintuitive sentences in the Bible. "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience" (James 1:2–3). Count it all joy. Not endure it. Not survive it. Not get through it. Count it all joy, because the trial is producing something in you that nothing else can produce. James tells the believer that there are three varieties of trials in the Christian life. First, reap-what-you-sow trials — the consequences of our own bad choices (Galatians 6:7). Second, spiritual trials — the fiery testing that comes simply because we belong to Christ (1 Peter 4:12). Third, mysterious trials — the trials that have no explanation we can name, the kind Job suffered. All three produce patience if we let them. All three produce bitterness if we don't.

Kampuni ya piano ya Steinway imetengeneza vyombo vyake kwa njia ile ile kwa karibu miaka mia mbili. Tabaka kumi na nane za mbao za mti wa maple hupindwa kuzunguka mashine ya chuma ili kutengeneza ukingo wa piano kubwa. Tabaka tano za rangi-ng'aa hupakwa na kusuguliwa kwa mkono na mafundi stadi mpaka uso wake ung'ae. Kisha piano iliyokamilika hupelekwa kwenye chumba kimoja kiwandani kinachoitwa Chumba cha Kupiga-piga (Pounder Room). Huko, nyundo ya mashine hupiga kila kibonyezo mara elfu kumi mfululizo. Vipuri elfu kumi na mbili, mafundi mia mbili, na mapigo elfu kumi — hivyo ndivyo inavyotengenezwa Steinway. Jaribu la vibonyezo halivunji piano; linaithibitisha piano. Yakobo anamwandikia muumini anayeteseka jambo lile lile ambalo kiwanda kinaandika ubavuni mwa kila piano kubwa ya Steinway: mapigo haya yanakufanya uwe kitu kizuri.The Steinway piano company has built its instruments the same way for nearly two hundred years. Eighteen layers of maple are bent around an iron press to form the rim of the grand. Five coats of lacquer are applied and hand-rubbed by craftsmen until the surface glows. And then the finished piano is taken to a room in the factory called the Pounder Room. There, a mechanical hammer strikes each key ten thousand times in succession. Twelve thousand parts, two hundred craftsmen, and ten thousand poundings — that is what makes a Steinway. The trial of the keys does not break the piano; it certifies the piano. James writes to the suffering believer the same thing the factory writes on the side of every Steinway grand: this pounding is making something beautiful out of you.

Kusini mwa pwani ya California, huko Pebble Beach, Bahari ya Pasifiki imekuwa ikitupa mawimbi dhidi ya majabali kwa makumi ya maelfu ya miaka. Mapigo hayo yasiyokoma yanagonganisha mawe na kuyasaga dhidi ya majabali, na matokeo yake ni vijiwe laini, vya mviringo, vinavyong'aa ambavyo watalii huviokota na kuvibeba nyumbani. Karibu tu chini ya ufuo kuna ghuba iliyohifadhiwa ambayo mawimbi hayawezi kuifikia. Mawe yaliyo katika ghuba hiyo yamekingwa dhidi ya mapigo maisha yao yote. Nayo ni magumu na yenye kukwaruza, yasiyotakiwa, hayaokotwi na mtu yeyote. Muumini aliyepigwa-pigwa na majaribu ndiye muumini ambaye Bwana humwokota. Muumini aliyekwepa kila dhoruba ndiye muumini ambaye hang'ai kamwe.Down the coast of California, at Pebble Beach, the Pacific Ocean has been hurling waves against the cliffs for tens of thousands of years. The constant pounding tosses the stones together and grinds them against the cliffs, and the result is the polished, rounded, gleaming pebbles that tourists pick up and carry home. Just down the shore there is a sheltered cove that the waves cannot reach. The stones in the cove have been protected from the pounding all their lives. And they are rough and unwanted, never picked up by anyone. The believer who has been pounded by the trials is the believer the Lord picks up. The believer who has avoided every storm is the believer who never shines.

V. Yakobo — Imani Inayotenda KaziV. James — The Working Faith

Sura yenye utata zaidi katika waraka huu ni Yakobo 2 — kifungu maarufu kinachoonekana mwanzoni kana kwamba kinapingana na Paulo. "Ndugu zangu, yafaa nini mtu akisema kwamba ana imani, lakini hana matendo? Je! Ile imani yaweza kumwokoa?... Vivyo hivyo na imani, isipokuwa ina matendo, imekufa nafsi yake" (Yakobo 2:14, 17). Kwa miaka mia tano, wanatheolojia wamehangaika kuona jinsi Yakobo 2 inavyopatana na Waefeso 2:8–9 ya Paulo ("kwa maana mmeokolewa kwa neema, kwa njia ya imani… wala si kwa matendo"). Swali hili linatatuliwa kwa sentensi moja: Paulo anasema hatuokolewi kwa matendo; Yakobo anasema hatuokolewi kwa imani isiyotenda kazi. Injili ile ile. Pembe mbili. Imani inayookoa kamwe haiko peke yake — daima huleta matendo pamoja nayo, kama vile jua linalochomoza halitenganishwi kamwe na joto linalopanda pamoja nalo.The most controversial chapter in the letter is James 2 — the famous passage that sounds at first like it contradicts Paul. "What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?... Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead" (James 2:14, 17). For five hundred years, theologians have wrestled with how James 2 fits with Paul's Ephesians 2:8–9 ("by grace you have been saved through faith… not of works"). The question settles in one sentence: Paul says we are not saved by works; James says we are not saved by a faith that does not work. Same gospel. Two angles. The faith that saves is never alone — it always brings the works with it, the way the rising sun is never separated from the heat that rises with it.

Wakati mmoja palikuwa na mtu katika kijiji kidogo huko Marekani aliyewauzia jirani zake kuni na kuwadanganya kila mara — daima akikata magogo ya futi nne yakiwa mafupi kwa inchi chache. Siku moja uvumi ulienea kwamba mkata-kuni huyo alikuwa ameokoka katika mkutano wa uamsho. Hakuna mtu kijijini aliyeamini. Wote walisema hawezi kufikiwa. Kisha mmoja wa wanaume hao aliondoka kimya kimya dukani wakati mazungumzo yakiendelea, akaenda hadi kwenye uwanja wa mkata-kuni, na kupima kuni ambazo mtu huyo alikuwa amezikata punde. Alirudi dukani akikimbia na kuingia mlangoni kwa kishindo akipiga kelele, "Ni kweli! Ameokoka!" Wale wanaume wakasema, "Unajuaje?" Naye akasema, "Kwa sababu kuni alizokata jana zina urefu kamili wa futi nne." Hiyo ndiyo Yakobo 2. Uthibitisho wa kuokoka kwake haukuwa ushuhuda wake katika mkutano wa uamsho. Uthibitisho ulikuwa urefu wa magogo asubuhi iliyofuata. Imani isiyo na matendo imekufa.There was once a man in a small American village who sold firewood to his neighbors and consistently cheated them — always cutting the four-foot logs a few inches short. One day the rumor went around that the woodchopper had been converted at a revival meeting. Nobody in the village believed it. They all said he was beyond reach. Then one of the men quietly slipped out of the grocery store while the conversation was going on, walked over to the woodchopper's lot, and measured the wood the man had just cut. He came running back into the store and burst through the door shouting, "It's so! He has been!" The men said, "How do you know?" And he said, "Because the wood he cut yesterday is a full four feet long." That is James 2. The proof of the conversion was not the testimony at the revival. The proof was the length of the logs the next morning. Faith without works is dead.

Yakobo 3 inageukia jaribu la ulimi, naye hana huruma. Ulimi ni moto. Ulimi ni ulimwengu wa uovu. Ulimi huwashwa moto na jehanum. Ulimi ni usukani mdogo unaogeuza merikebu kubwa. Ulimi ni cheche ndogo inayoteketeza msitu. Katika kinywa kimoja hutoka baraka na laana — "Ndugu zangu, haifai mambo hayo kuwa hivyo" (Yakobo 3:10). Yakobo haamini kwamba kuna mafanikio yoyote ya kiroho kwa Mkristo asiyeweza kuuzuia usemi wake. "Mtu akidhani ya kuwa anayo dini, wala hauzuii ulimi wake, bali anaudanganya moyo wake, dini yake mtu huyo haifai" (Yakobo 1:26). Ulimi ndio mfunuaji wa kweli kabisa wa moyo, kwa sababu kilichojaa moyoni daima hufurika kutoka kinywani bila ruhusa.James 3 turns to the trial of the tongue, and he is merciless. The tongue is a fire. The tongue is a world of iniquity. The tongue is set on fire by hell. The tongue is a small rudder that turns a great ship. The tongue is a tiny spark that burns down a forest. Out of the same mouth come blessing and cursing — "My brethren, these things ought not to be so" (James 3:10). James does not believe there is any spiritual achievement in a Christian who cannot bridle his speech. "If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion is useless" (James 1:26). The tongue is the truest revealer of the heart, because what is in the heart in abundance always overflows out of the mouth without permission.

VI. 1 Petro — Mawe Yaliyo Hai, Tumaini Lililo HaiVI. 1 Peter — Living Stones, Living Hope

Mtume Petro aliandika waraka wake wa kwanza kutoka Rumi, mji anaouita "Babeli" (1 Petro 5:13) — jina la siri ambalo kanisa la kwanza lilitumia kwa mji wa Makaisari. Aliuandika wakati wa mateso makubwa yaliyozuka chini ya Nero katikati ya miaka ya 60, wakati Wakristo walipokuwa wakikamatwa, wakichomwa moto wakiwa hai katika bustani za Nero, na kuraruliwa na wanyama wakali uwanjani. Waraka mzima wa Petro ni mkono wa kichungaji unaowakumbatia waumini waliotawanyika kote Asia Ndogo, wanaosoma kwa mwanga wa mshumaa wakijiuliza kama wao ndio watakaofuata kukamatwa. Neno kuu la 1 Petro ni mateso. Neno hilo linaonekana mara nyingi zaidi katika 1 Petro kuliko katika kitabu kingine chochote cha Agano Jipya kwa kila sura.The apostle Peter wrote his first letter from Rome, which he calls "Babylon" (1 Peter 5:13) — the code name the early church used for the city of the Caesars. He wrote it during the great persecution that broke out under Nero in the mid-60s, when Christians were being arrested, burned alive in Nero's gardens, and torn apart by wild beasts in the arena. Peter's whole letter is a pastoral arm thrown around scattered believers across Asia Minor who are reading by candlelight wondering whether they will be the next ones rounded up. The key word of 1 Peter is suffering. The word appears more often in 1 Peter than in any other New Testament book per chapter.

Picha tatu zinatawala waraka huu. Kuzaliwa upya kwa tumaini lililo hai (1 Petro 1:3–9) — muumini amezaliwa mara ya pili apate urithi usioharibika, usio na uchafu, usionyauka, uliotunzwa mbinguni. Ukuhani wa kifalme na taifa takatifu (1 Petro 2:5–9) — sasa kanisa ndilo lile ambalo Israeli lilikusudiwa kuwa, ufalme wa makuhani wanaotoa dhabihu za roho kwa njia ya Kristo Yesu, jiwe kuu la pembeni. Jaribu la moto (1 Petro 4:12–13) — "Wapenzi, msione kuwa ni ajabu kwa ajili ya ule msiba wa moto ulio kati yenu, unaowajia ili kuwajaribu, kana kwamba ni kitu kigeni kimewapata; bali kwa kadiri mnavyoyashiriki mateso ya Kristo, furahini." Petro anaandikia kanisa linalowaka moto kutoka nje, naye anawaambia walitarajie, wafurahi katikati yake, na wajue kwamba utukufu utazidi mateso.Three images dominate the letter. The new birth into a living hope (1 Peter 1:3–9) — the believer has been begotten again to an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and does not fade away, reserved in heaven. The royal priesthood and the holy nation (1 Peter 2:5–9) — the church is now what Israel was meant to be, a kingdom of priests offering spiritual sacrifices through Christ Jesus the chief cornerstone. The fiery trial (1 Peter 4:12–13) — "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings." Peter writes to a church on fire from the outside, and he tells them to expect it, to rejoice in it, and to know that the glory will exceed the suffering.

Fikiria picha kuu ya 1 Petro 2 — mawe yaliyo hai. Petro, ambaye Yesu alimbadilisha jina kutoka Simoni kuwa Kefa, yaani mwamba, sasa anaandika kwamba kila muumini naye ni jiwe. Kanisa si jengo la mawe yaliyokufa yaliyochongwa mara moja na kupangwa juu ya mengine. Kanisa ni jengo la mawe yaliyo hai, kila moja likiwekwa ukutani na Fundi Mkuu wa Mawe, likikua kuwa hekalu takatifu katika Bwana. "Ninyi nanyi, kama mawe yaliyo hai, mmejengwa mwe nyumba ya Roho, ukuhani mtakatifu" (1 Petro 2:5). Jaribu la moto la sura ya 4 si shambulio dhidi ya jengo. Jaribu la moto ni tanuru ambamo mawe yaliyo hai huchomwa yakawa magumu.Consider the central image of 1 Peter 2 — living stones. Peter, who had been renamed by Jesus from Simon to Cephas, the rock, now writes that every believer is a rock too. The church is not a building of dead stones cut once and stacked. The church is a building of living stones, each one fitted into the wall by the Master Mason, growing into a holy temple in the Lord. "You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood" (1 Peter 2:5). The fiery trial of chapter 4 is not an attack on the building. The fiery trial is the kiln in which the living stones are baked hard.

VII. 2 Petro — Siku za Mwisho na Walimu wa UongoVII. 2 Peter — Last Days and False Teachers

2 Petro ni waraka wa pili kati ya zile mbili na uliandikwa mwaka mmoja au miwili baada ya ule wa kwanza, karibu sana na mwisho wa maisha ya Petro. Mtume huyo anajua kwamba atauawa kwa ajili ya imani hivi karibuni. Analiambia kanisa, "nikijua ya kuwa kuivua maskani yangu kutakuja upesi, kama vile Bwana wetu Yesu Kristo alivyonionyesha" (2 Petro 1:14) — akirejea unabii wa Yesu katika Yohana 21 kwamba Petro angesulubiwa. Kama Paulo alivyoandika 2 Timotheo akiwa gerezani chini ya ardhi, Petro anaandika 2 Petro akiwa katika kivuli cha mnyongaji.2 Peter is the second of the two letters and was written a year or two after the first, very near the end of Peter's life. The apostle knows he will be martyred soon. He tells the church, "I know that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me" (2 Peter 1:14) — a reference to Jesus' prophecy in John 21 that Peter would be crucified. Like Paul writing 2 Timothy from the dungeon, Peter writes 2 Peter from the shadow of the executioner.

Waraka huu una sura tatu na kila sura ina mada moja. Sura ya 1 — kumjua Kristo. Muumini anapaswa kuongeza katika imani yake wema, maarifa, kiasi, saburi, utauwa, upendano wa ndugu, na upendo (2 Petro 1:5–7). Sura ya 2 — walimu wa uongo. Petro anaonya kwamba mbwa-mwitu wanakuja ndani ya kundi ambao watapotosha imani kwa ajili ya faida. Sura ya 3 — Siku ya Bwana. Watu wenye dhihaka watakidhihaki kuja kwa mara ya pili, lakini Bwana "hakawii kuitimiza ahadi yake, kama wengine wanavyokudhani kukawia; bali huvumilia kwenu, maana hapendi mtu yeyote apotee, bali wote wafikilie toba" (2 Petro 3:9). Siku ya Bwana itakuja kama mwivi, mbingu zitatoweka kwa mshindo mkuu, viumbe vya asili vitaungua na kufumuliwa, nayo nchi na kazi zilizomo zitateketea. Mbingu mpya na nchi mpya zinakuja, ambazo haki yakaa ndani yake. Kazi ya muumini kwa wakati huu wa kungoja ni kukua katika neema na katika kumjua Bwana wetu na Mwokozi Yesu Kristo — sentensi ya mwisho ambayo Petro aliwahi kuandika kabla ya kuuawa kwake.The letter has three chapters and one theme per chapter. Chapter 1 — knowing Christ. The believer is to add to faith virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love (2 Peter 1:5–7). Chapter 2 — false teachers. Peter warns that wolves are coming into the flock who will twist the faith for gain. Chapter 3 — the Day of the Lord. Scoffers will mock the second coming, but the Lord "is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3:9). The Day of the Lord will come as a thief, the heavens will pass away with a great noise, the elements will melt with fervent heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. New heavens and a new earth are coming, in which righteousness dwells. The believer's job in the meanwhile is to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ — the last sentence Peter ever wrote before his execution.

VIII. 1 Yohana — Majaribio ya Uzima wa MileleVIII. 1 John — The Tests of Eternal Life

Mtume Yohana aliandika nyaraka zake tatu karibu na mwisho wa karne ya kwanza, baada ya kuishi kuliko mitume wengine wote, katika uzee wake katika mji wa Efeso ambako mapokeo yanasema hatimaye alikufa kwa utulivu kitandani mwake, mtume pekee aliyekufa hivyo. Kufikia wakati huo, walimu wa uongo — Wagnostiki wa mwanzo — walikuwa wameanza kufundisha kwamba Kristo hakuja kweli katika mwili, kwamba maada ni ovu, na kwamba maarifa ya siri ndiyo njia ya wokovu. Yohana anaandika waraka wake wa kwanza ili kuchora mstari thabiti. "Lile lililokuwako tangu mwanzo, tulilolisikia, tuliloliona kwa macho yetu, tuliloliona kwa makini, na mikono yetu ikalipapasa" (1 Yohana 1:1) — haya ni maneno ya kwanza ya waraka huo, na Yohana analundika vitenzi vya hisia za mwili kwa makusudi. Neno alifanyika mwili. Mwili huo ulikuwa halisi. Mikono ya mitume ilimgusa.The apostle John wrote his three letters near the end of the first century, after he had outlived every other apostle, from his old age in the city of Ephesus where tradition says he died at last quietly in his bed, the only apostle to do so. By then, false teachers — the early Gnostics — were beginning to teach that Christ had not really come in the flesh, that matter was evil, that secret knowledge was the way to salvation. John writes his first letter to draw a hard line. "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled" (1 John 1:1) — these are the first words of the letter, and John piles up the verbs of physical sense on purpose. The Word became flesh. The flesh was real. The hands of the apostles touched Him.

1 Yohana umejengwa kuzunguka majaribio matatu ambayo kwayo mtu anaweza kujua kama ukiri wake wa Ukristo ni wa kweli. Jaribio la kimafundisho — je, anakiri kwamba Yesu Kristo amekuja katika mwili (1 Yohana 4:2)? Jaribio la kimaadili — je, anaenenda nuruni wala si gizani (1 Yohana 1:7)? Jaribio la kimahusiano — je, anawapenda ndugu (1 Yohana 3:14)? Majaribio hayo matatu yanapita katika waraka wote kama nyuzi tatu za rangi. Si mafundisho matatu yaliyotengana. Ni pembe tatu za kuyatazama maisha moja ya Kristo ndani ya muumini. Na kusudi la waraka limetajwa katika 1 Yohana 5:13: "Nimewaandikia ninyi mambo hayo, ninyi mnaoliamini jina la Mwana wa Mungu, ili mjue ya kuwa mnao uzima wa milele." Yohana anaandika ili muumini ajue — si kutumaini tu, si kukisia, si kuhisi, bali ajue — kwamba anao uzima wa milele.1 John is built around three tests by which a person can know whether his profession of Christianity is real. The doctrinal test — does he confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh (1 John 4:2)? The moral test — does he walk in the light and not in the darkness (1 John 1:7)? The relational test — does he love the brethren (1 John 3:14)? The three tests run through the letter like three colored threads. They are not three separate doctrines. They are three angles on the one life of Christ in the believer. And the purpose of the letter is named in 1 John 5:13: "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." John writes so the believer will know — not hope, not guess, not feel, but know — that he has eternal life.

IX. 2 Yohana, 3 Yohana, na YudaIX. 2 John, 3 John, and Jude

2 Yohana ndicho kitabu kifupi kuliko vyote katika Agano Jipya — chenye mistari kumi na mitatu tu. Kimeandikiwa "bibi mteule na watoto wake," huenda ni mwanamke fulani Mkristo na familia yake, au huenda ni rejeo la mafumbo kwa kanisa fulani la mahali. Mada yake ni uhusiano kati ya kweli na upendo. Muumini anapaswa kuenenda katika upendo, lakini upendo kamwe usiikubalie kweli kupunguzwa. Walimu wa uongo walikuwa wakipita nyumba kwa nyumba katika karne ya kwanza, na 2 Yohana kinamwambia bibi huyo asiwakaribishe nyumbani mwake, kwa sababu ukarimu kwa mwalimu wa uongo humpa mwalimu huyo kituo cha kufanyia kazi yake.2 John is the shortest book in the New Testament — only thirteen verses long. It is addressed to "the elect lady and her children," probably a particular Christian woman and her family, possibly a coded reference to a particular local church. Its theme is the connection between truth and love. The believer is to walk in love, but love is never to compromise truth. False teachers were going door to door in the first century, and 2 John tells the lady not to receive them into her home, because hospitality to a false teacher gives the false teacher a base of operation.

3 Yohana kina mistari kumi na minne, kitabu cha pili kwa ufupi katika Biblia. Kimeandikiwa muumini aitwaye Gayo na kinamlinganisha na mtu aitwaye Diotrefe "apendaye kuwa wa kwanza" (3 Yohana 9). Diotrefe ndiye picha ya Agano Jipya ya mnyanyasaji wa kanisani — mtu ambaye lazima asimamie kila kitu, anayewazuia mitume, anayetishia kumtenga mshirika yeyote anayetofautiana naye. Gayo ni kinyume chake — muumini mwaminifu, mkarimu, mwenye moyo wa kutoa, anayewakaribisha wamisionari wasafiri na kuwasaidia katika safari yao. Kila kanisa la mahali katika kila karne lina aina zote mbili za watu hao, na kazi ya washirika wazee ni kumtia moyo Gayo na kumrudisha Diotrefe kwa upole hadi kwenye toba.3 John is fourteen verses long, the second-shortest book in the Bible. It is addressed to a believer named Gaius and contrasts him with a man named Diotrephes "who loves to have the preeminence" (3 John 9). Diotrephes is the New Testament's portrait of the church bully — the man who has to be in charge of everything, who blocks the apostles, who threatens to excommunicate any member who disagrees with him. Gaius is the opposite — a faithful, hospitable, generous believer who welcomes traveling missionaries and supports them on their way. Every local church in every century has both kinds of men in her, and the job of the older members is to encourage the Gaius and gently bring the Diotrephes to repentance.

Yuda alikuwa ndugu mwingine wa kambo wa Bwana Yesu na ndugu yake Yakobo. Waraka wake wa mistari ishirini na mitano ndio waraka mkuu wa Agano Jipya wa "kuishindania imani kwa bidii." "Wapenzi, nilipokuwa nikifanya bidii nyingi ili niwaandikie habari za wokovu wetu sisi sote, naliona imenilazimu kuwaandikia na kuwaonya kwamba mwishindanie imani waliyokabidhiwa watakatifu mara moja tu" (Yuda 3). Yuda alikuwa ametaka kuandika barua ya amani kuhusu furaha ya wokovu. Uasi wa imani ulikuwa ukiingia kanisani kwa kasi sana hivi kwamba hakuweza. Ilimlazimu kuweka kando barua ya wokovu na kuandika barua ya onyo badala yake. Yuda analundika mifano ya hukumu kutoka Agano la Kale — Waisraeli wasioamini jangwani, malaika walioanguka, Sodoma na Gomora, Kaini, Balaamu, Kora — na kuitumia kuonya kwamba Mungu hajabadilisha nia yake kuhusu uasi wa imani. Mungu yule yule aliyehukumu wakati uliopita atahukumu wakati wa sasa.Jude was another half-brother of the Lord Jesus and the brother of James. His twenty-five-verse letter is the great earnestly-contend letter of the New Testament. "Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints" (Jude 3). Jude had wanted to write a peaceful letter about the joy of salvation. Apostasy was creeping into the church so fast that he could not. He had to put the salvation letter aside and write the warning letter instead. Jude piles up Old Testament examples of judgment — the unbelieving Israelites in the wilderness, the fallen angels, Sodom and Gomorrah, Cain, Balaam, Korah — and uses them to warn that God has not changed His mind about apostasy. The same God who judged the past will judge the present.

Lakini Yuda haishii katika hukumu. Anaishia katika sifa kwa Mungu (doksolojia). "Basi, kwake yeye awezaye kuwalinda ninyi msijikwae, na kuwaweka mbele ya utukufu wake bila mawaa katika furaha kuu; Mungu pekee mwenye hekima, Mwokozi wetu, na awe na utukufu na ukuu, na uweza na mamlaka, sasa na hata milele. Amina" (Yuda 24–25). Hiyo ndiyo sentensi kamili ya mwisho kabla ya kitabu cha Ufunuo. Katika sehemu hii imani imejaribiwa kila upande — kwa mateso, kwa upendeleo, kwa ulimi, kwa kuipenda dunia, kwa kukosa subira, kwa jaribu la moto, kwa walimu wa uongo, kwa kuupenda ulimwengu, kwa mnyanyasaji kanisani, kwa uasi wa imani wenyewe. Na neno la kufunga la Nyaraka za Jumla ni kwamba Bwana anaweza. Anaweza kukulinda usijikwae. Anaweza kukuweka bila mawaa. Anaweza kukufikisha nyumbani kwa furaha kuu.But Jude does not end in judgment. He ends in doxology. "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen" (Jude 24–25). That is the perfect last sentence before the book of Revelation. Faith has been tested in this unit on every front — by suffering, by partiality, by the tongue, by worldliness, by impatience, by fiery trial, by false teachers, by the love of the world, by the bully in the church, by apostasy itself. And the closing word of the General Epistles is that the Lord is able. Able to keep you from stumbling. Able to present you faultless. Able to bring you home with exceeding joy.

Songa mbele, rafiki yangu, katika sehemu mbili za mwisho pamoja na Bwana yule yule aliye bora kuliko manabii, bora kuliko malaika, bora kuliko ukuhani, bora kuliko kila mfalme mwingine aliyewahi kuinuka na kuanguka. Songa mbele pamoja na Bwana yule yule ambaye damu yake ilifunga kaburi lile la Arizona na kila madhabahu nyingine. Songa mbele kwa imani ile ile inayotenda kazi, ulimi ule ule unaobariki, tumaini lile lile lililo hai, Roho yule yule anayejaribu kwa moto na kujenga mawe yaliyo hai. Nyaraka za Jumla zimekuwa barua za kifamilia za kanisa kwa miaka elfu mbili. Zisome kwa sauti jinsi zilivyosomwa katika karne ya kwanza, kwa mwanga wa mshumaa, upepo ukivuma nje ya mlango. Kisha geuza ukurasa. Kuna barua moja zaidi inakuja — ndefu, iliyojaa tarumbeta na mihuri na kiti kikubwa cheupe cha enzi. Amina.Press on, my friend, into the last two units with the same Lord who is better than the prophets, better than the angels, better than the priesthood, better than every other king who has ever risen and fallen. Press on with the same Lord whose blood closed the Arizona grave and every other altar. Press on with the same faith that does the work, the same tongue that blesses, the same hope that lives, the same Spirit that tests by fire and builds living stones. The General Epistles have been the church's family letters for two thousand years. Read them out loud the way they were read in the first century, by candlelight, with the wind moving outside the door. And then turn the page. There is one more letter coming — a long one, full of trumpets and seals and a great white throne. Amen.

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