Living in Christ, in Light of the End

Sermon transcript

Please stand for the reading of God’s word as we turn our attention to our sermon text for this Lord’s Day evening we continue our consideration of 1st Peter and this evening we’re in 1st Peter chapter 4 and we will consider verses 7 through 11 1st Peter chapter 4 verses 7 through 11 you’ll find that on page 1206 in your pew Bible. Dear friends let us hear with reverence and awe the word of our God. The end of all things is at hand therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all keep loving one another earnestly since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace. Whoever speaks as one who speaks oracles of God.

Whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies. In order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. The grass withers and the flower fades but the word of our God endures forever. Let’s pray for the blessing of God upon the preaching of his word. Heavenly Father once again we ask that that same Holy Spirit who breathed forth and inspired the scriptures would illuminate the word to our hearts and minds and would implant the word within our souls this evening. We ask Lord that your spirit would bless the proclamation of your word. Jesus son of God be present by your spirit in the preaching of your word this evening and build us up we pray in our most holy faith.

We ask these things oh God in Jesus name amen. You may be seated. The title of my sermon this Lord’s Day evening is living in Christ in light of the end and just there are four words that the children can be listening for in my sermon this evening those are the words prayer, love, forgiveness, and hospitality. Well dear friends as we’ve seen throughout our study of 1st Peter one of the major themes in this epistle is the theme of suffering for righteousness sake. Now we know that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ himself as the messianic suffering servant of God he was a man of sorrows he was acquainted with grief. He suffered the punishment for the sins of God’s elect people when he bled and died upon the cross of Calvary and during our Lord’s earthly ministry he had told his disciples that they would face suffering if they followed him faithfully.

Now here in chapter 4 in verses 1 through 6 as well as later on in verses 12 through 19 Peter’s overall focus in these in those sections of this chapter is the theme of suffering abuse and persecution for our faith at the hands of unbelievers. However friends here in verses 7 through 11 of this chapter Peter briefly breaks from this theme of suffering in order to direct his readers to those things which are necessary to maintain the strength and the vitality of the church even in the face of such persecution. It’s one thing to be ready for persecution or to have this mind among us that was in Christ that he suffered and we are to follow him in his sufferings but it’s another thing to equip ourselves and be ready to face that. We would do well by the way to notice the corporate covenantal and churchly or ecclesiastical focus of this passage with its emphasis on one another exhortations and serving one another in the church.

For example look at verse 8 it says above all keep loving whom? Keep loving one another earnestly or look at verse 9 show hospitality to whom? To one another without grumbling and then in verse 10 as each has received a gift use it to do what? To serve one another. See there’s that that emphasis on serving others and the assumption here is that this is to be done in the context of the body of Christ in the context of the church. This passage is a good reminder to us that the primary focus of 1st Peter as indeed the primary focus of most of the rest of the New Testament epistles and most of the scriptures as a whole the primary focus is corporate, communal, and covenantal not primarily individualistic and private. The scriptures were written to build up the body of Christ and brothers and sisters we are in we are meant to live out our faith and discipleship together as brothers and sisters in Christ and we are to draw strength from our communion with other one another in the body of Christ we are to draw strength from that as we face a hostile world that seeks to persecute us for our faith.

Here the importance of the church as a body of believers who live out their discipleship together in a covenant community shines forth and in these verses the Holy Spirit through his inspired Apostle Peter calls us as God’s people he calls us here to sober living to fervent love and to good stewardship of the gifts of grace which we have received in Christ and so as we turn our attention to our passage for this evening let’s focus on the opening verse of our passage verse 7 and in this passage we have an exhortation to end times living Church of God heed the call to end times living heed the call to end times living the Apostle Peter writes the end of all things is at hand therefore therefore in view of this fact how are we to respond to that fact how are we to react to that fact well therefore be self-controlled and sober minded for the sake of your prayers he doesn’t say the end is all the end is at hand and therefore sell everything you have and go up on a mountain and wait for Jesus to return just kind of sit back and wait for him to return well that’s not what he says he says in view of the fact that the end of all things is at hand time to get busy time to live responsible lives lives characterized by self-control and sober mindedness why for the sake of your prayers in this verse we as God’s people are called to live lives of self-control and earnest prayer and what is presented as our motivation for such self-control what is our motivation for engaging as individual believers but especially as the body of Christ in earnest prayer what is our motivation well the answer is very clear Peter writes the end or the telos of all things is at hand or some translations translated as near it’s at hand it’s near means the same basic thing now in verses five and six Peter had reminded his readers that the unbelievers who slander and persecute them will have to give an account of themselves to God on the day of judgment and it reminds us that God will vindicate his people in the end and this is why verse seven is linked in the Greek with the previous verses with the connective word day which is translated in some versions like the New King James version as but the NKGV translates it as but the end of all things is at hand indicating that there’s a connection between verse seven and the verses that preceded and we should keep that in mind now what this is saying friends is that in light of the coming judgment day we believers ought to live sober and self-controlled lives and we ought to engage in earnest prayer notice that Peter says that the end again the end is at hand it is near the sense is that the end has drawn near and my friends from an overall overarching perspective on redemptive history the end indeed the eschatological end has drawn near in the person and saving work of the Lord Jesus Christ God in Christ has drawn near to us he has redeemed us through Christ and in Christ the end has drawn near the consummated end has not yet come but it has drawn near in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ and so what Peter is basically seems to be saying here friends is this he basically seems to be saying look God is ready to judge the end is near therefore oh church live responsible lives and be active in prayer be ready for the end by living responsible lives in Christ here in the present in the here and now now what does again what does Peter mean when he talks about the end what is this end this tell us of which he speaks now some commentators have suggested that Peter is here referring prophetically to the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and its temple which took place in 70 AD and that indeed was a judgment against faithless Israel for rejecting Jesus the Messiah it’s a judgment which our Lord had predicted in his Olivet discourse of course the events of 70 AD brought a final end to the old covenant sacrificial system and therefore demonstrated with utter and absolute finality that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross of Calvary had ended the old covenant age of shadows and types once and for all and forever the judgment events of 70 AD also pointed forward to the greater judgment event that will occur when our Lord returns in glory at the end of this present new covenant age of redemptive history however friends I would tend to agree with most biblical commentators that within the context of this passage the end the tell us to which Peter refers is nothing less than the absolute end the glorious future return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at the end of this age which will usher in the final judgment day this interpretation makes the most sense in the context of this particular passage especially since Peter had just referred in verse five to the general judgment of the living and the dead and when we compare scripture with scripture we learn that this general judgment of the living and the dead certainly did not take place in 70 AD no the general judgment of the living and the dead will take place at the end of this age when Jesus returns in glory and when the final judgment day is upon humanity in any case our passage for this evening situates the time of redemptive history in which the suffering church lives as the end times the last days these end times extending from the resurrection of Christ and the day of Pentecost all the way to our Lord’s future glorious return at his second Advent I know I say this often but there seems to be controversy sometimes among fellow Christians about the question are we in the end times sometimes we hear our brothers and sisters in Christ ask questions like I wonder if we’re in the last days or in the end times well the New Testament answer to that question is that we have been at in the end times we have been in the last times the last days ever since Jesus rose from the dead and ever since the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out upon the church and the church went out in fulfillment of the Great Commission to take the gospel to all the nations why then if that is the case if we’re still in the last times if we are still in this time of the end that Peter is referring to as he writes this in the first century if that’s the case you know is Peter mistaken I mean Peter wrote this 2,000 years ago right about 2,000 years ago he says the end of all things is at hand and certainly you know 2,000 years is a long time to go by without with Jesus not returning yet so what does he mean when he says the end of all things is at hand well the focus here friends is on the imminence of Christ’s return this means that our Lord’s return is imminent meaning that he could return at any time the next major event on the schedule of redemptive history is the glorious second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ and Jesus himself remember Jesus said no man knows the day or the hour if you ever come across a preacher or Bible teacher who claims to know when Jesus is gonna gonna return run don’t trust such a one Jesus is very clear no man knows the day or the hour he could return at any time however he could return today he could return tomorrow or next week or next month or next year or in a hundred years or he could tarry for another hundred thousand years or more we simply do not know but the nearness of his return to judge the living and the dead should motivate us as his people to be self-controlled and sober minded for the sake of our prayers his return is imminent it could happen at any moment moments and therefore we are to live our lives in light of that we are to the Christian life is an eschatological life it is a life lived in light of the return of Christ history is climaxing towards the goal and the goal is the return of Christ and the summing up of all things in the Lord Jesus Christ and we are to live in the present in light of that future we are to be self-controlled and sober minded now what in particular does Peter mean when he calls us to live self-controlled lives the term self-controlled has also been translated for example the NIV translates it as clear minded the idea here is that of maintaining a sense of proportion and keeping one’s head despite the dangers and fears of the time as dr.

Marshall describes it and the term sober minded if of course it it does speak about being sober instead of being intoxicated but this has to do the idea has to do with exercising self-restraint living a life of self-restraint controlling yourself and your passions keeping yourself in check dear friends there’s not a lot of self-restraint in our culture today is there there’s not a lot of self-control even among professing Christians there’s far too much frivolity in our world unsaved people are constantly seeking to drown out the voice of their consciences with loud partying and frivolous entertainments but life is not a frivolous thing life is serious business judgment day is coming and the souls of the lost are in grave danger and we must have a burden for them and seek to reach them with the good news and this is why we Christians need to be characterized by a sober and a sensible attitude of course don’t misunderstand this this does not mean Peter is not saying that we should be morose or that we should be gloomy or joyless on the contrary we have much in which to rejoice we have received every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus right and so we have much to rejoice in in fact the scriptures describe Christian joy as joy inexpressible and filled with glory as we think about who we are in Christ and all that Christ has done for us in dying for our sins and rising from the dead for our justification granting us the gift of eternal life and promise giving us this the the earnest of his spirit which is a guarantee of our eternal inheritance the fact that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus indeed these are great reasons to rejoice in the Lord but what this does mean what this call to sober mindedness and self-control does mean my friends what it does mean is that we always need to be responsible and sensible it does mean that even in the midst of rejoicing in the Lord and even in the midst of enjoying the good things of this life that God in his providence provides for us to enjoy and it’s certainly legitimate to enjoy those things nevertheless we are always to keep our priorities straight and we are always to keep an eternal perspective we are to live our lives in the light of eternity only as we walk consistently in union with Christ our Savior both as individuals and together as a church only then will we be able to heed this call to end times living with self-control and sober mindedness and one of the manifestations of this is constancy in prayer we see here in this verse the importance of constancy in prayer Peter writes the end of all things is at hand therefore be self-controlled and sober minded for the sake of your prayers for the sake of your prayers now notice that the word prayers of course is in the plural he doesn’t say for the sake of prayer but for the sake of your prayers and again remember he’s addressing the church as the church as the body of Christ personal private prayer is very important it is it is a practice that I hope you are committed to and and seek to engage in but the focus here is on the prayers of the church we are to be a praying people we are to pray individually in our private prayer closets yes but we are especially to devote ourselves and be constant in prayer as the body of Christ and so it seems that Peter is indicating that prayer must be a constant and a persistent activity in the life of the church of Jesus Christ a dear ones prayer you know the the unbeliever looks at us and and looks at the at Christians and in praying and they say all those silly Christians they’re talking to their invisible friend again right I remember when I was a child I used to have you know invisible friends when I was a young child and and they seemed very real to me at the time and sometimes the skeptics and unbelievers will say well that’s just what you Christians believe in you believe in this invisible friend that doesn’t really exist but no our God is the true and living God and he is omniscient he knows all things and he hears our prayers at this very moment think about how many folks throughout the face of the planet how many of our brothers and sisters are even now engaged in prayer and the Lord is able to hear all of those prayers and to answer them your ones prayer is important prayer is simply talking to God expressing to him our desires and also our needs bringing our needs to him and praising him for who he is prayer is one of the most important activities to which we as God’s people are called prayer is not only the spiritual lifeline for the individual believer it is also the lifeline of the church and in order to engage in prayer as a church and as individuals we need to be sober minded and self-controlled brothers and sisters in Christ are we as a church and are we as individual disciples truly devoted to constant persistent prayer so this is a call to end times living but we also see here in the remainder of this passage that God’s people are called to fervently love and sacrificially serve their fellow believers God’s people are called to fervently love and to sacrificially serve their fellow believers of course God in his word calls upon us in many places of scripture to love all people we are to love our neighbor as we love ourselves right we are even to love unbelievers in fact Jesus calls us to love our enemies and I read a passage from Romans 12 earlier in the in the service this evening where Paul calls upon us to bless those who curse us and and to overcome evil with good and if your enemy is hungry give him something to eat if he’s thirsty give him a drink we are to actively love even our enemies but while scripture commands us to love all people in this particular passage the focus is on the special love that we believers are to have for one another as brothers and sisters in the church and so he says keep loving one another earnestly the Greek word that is here translated as love is that familiar word agape agape love of course is the kind of sacrificial self-giving love that Christ himself demonstrated when he died on the cross for our sins when he laid down his life for us on the cross of Calvary that is the kind of love that we are to exhibit one to another as brothers and sisters in Christ we see here that love is in one sense love is the church’s highest priority notice that Peter writes in verse 8 above all keep loving one another earnestly the reason that Peter can say this is because love for God and love for neighbor is the essence of God’s moral law and I’m reminded of what the Apostle Paul writes in that famous chapter on 1st Corinthians 13 that passage that is often read at weddings in 1st Corinthians 13 verse 13 Paul summarizes that chapter by saying so now faith hope and love abide these three but which is the greatest of them but now faith so now faith hope and love abide these three but the greatest of these is love now what are some of the ways that we are to demonstrate Christian love well Peter mentions a few here in this passage we are first of all we show Christian love by forgiving each other by forgiving others love covers a multitude of sins we are told in verse 8 and this is a quotation from Proverbs chapter 10 verse 12 so we love one another by forgiving one another and that assumes that there will be something to forgive and the more you get to know someone the more that we are involved in each other’s lives the more opportunities there are to step on each other’s toes or to offend one another in one form or another instead of being hardened and bittered by offenses we are to extend forgiveness to one another so we love one another by forgiving each other we also show Christian love by offering hospitality without grumbling as it says in verse 9 show hospitality to one another without grumbling and in that context hospitality meant invite people into your homes and and especially traveling missionaries and evangelists they needed a place to stay so open your home to them don’t just show a welcoming attitude towards them that’s that’s the heart and foundation of Christian hospitality but actually show hospitality welcoming even the stranger into your home as as you have opportunity the commentator William Barclay writes that without hospitality the early church could not have existed the traveling missionaries who spread the good news of the gospel had to find somewhere to stay and there was no place for them to stay except in the homes of Christians and you might say well wait a minute why couldn’t they just stay in the local Motel 6 because there were no such things back then there were ins but as Barclay goes on to say such ins as there were were impossibly dear meaning they were few and far between they were impossibly filthy and notoriously immoral if you lived in the first century Roman Empire you did not want to stay in a in an inn especially if you wanted to maintain your good name and reputation and if you had concern for your own safety he says many a nameless one in the early church made Christian missionary work possible by opening the doors of his house and home even though most ins and motels and hotels today are far cleaner far safer far more comfortable than they their equivalents were in the first century there is still a great need even today for Christians to practice the grace of hospitality our hospitality to others is to be motivated or to be motivated by and modeled on God’s hospitality toward us in the Lord Jesus Christ and that doesn’t necessarily mean you know that you have to have people staying in your house but it does mean having an open heart a welcoming spirit that manifests itself in in acts of welcoming behavior towards others again the perfect model of hospitality is God himself in the Lord Jesus Christ you see even when we were aliens and strangers to the kingdom of God the father sent his son into this world to accomplish and to secure our salvation and he did so so that his mansions in heaven could be opened up wide to us through Jesus Christ the father has welcomed us into his family room and he has invited us into his dining room where we may enjoy the feast of his banquet table the feast of eternal salvation since our Lord has been so welcoming to us in Christ let us welcome one another with open hearts and open homes so we love one another by forgiving each other by having a stance a welcoming stance of hospitality toward one another we also show Christian love by using our spiritual gifts to serve one another look at verses 10 and 11 it says this as each has received a gift now that’s significant each has received a gift as that is the case use it when God grants a gift he grants it with the intention that it be used to serve others in the body of Christ as each has received a gift use it to serve one another there’s that one another emphasis once again that communal covenantal emphasis once again as each has received a gift use it to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied or manifold grace and then he gives some examples of these various gifts and he focuses especially on speaking gifts as well as serving gifts he says whoever speaks as one who speaks the oracles of God this would be an example pastors and evangelists and so forth whoever serves as one who serves by the strength that God supplies in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ God is glorified brothers and sisters when we use the gifts that he has given to us to serve one another and then what an appropriate end to this verse verse 11 to him belong glory and dominion forever and ever amen now the term that is translated in verse 10 as gift is the Greek term charisma we get the term charismatic from that and Peter is not telling us that that we Presbyterian should become charismatics what he is saying here is the charisma’s these are gifts of grace that God gives to us these are grace gifts granted by God and intended to be used to serve the body of Christ and we are to be good stewards of God’s varied or manifold grace and again what is the goal of this good stewardship of the of the gifts that God has given to us the goal is service to one another in the body of Christ beloved in Christ as we seek to live in the light of the end let us serve one another in love and let us devote ourselves to prayer amen let us pray heavenly father we thank you and praise you that in Christ the end has indeed drawn nigh we thank you Lord Jesus that we look forward we can look forward to your return and we do pray Lord Jesus with your church in all ages come Lord Jesus come quickly come quickly Lord and while we await for you Lord while you Terry grant us the grace to live sober-minded and self-controlled lives in light of the end we pray these things heavenly father in Jesus name and all of God’s people said amen as we close our time this evening let’s sing as our closing hymn number 500 father I know that all my life 500 will rise and sing together

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