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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