1 Peter - Part 27 - 4:7-11 8-27-2017

We have a little bit longer section of text today to address than we normally do so let’s pray and dive right in. Father we pray that as we approach our text this morning that you will teach us to be the people you desire us to be. Show us the error of our own ways and reshape our desires that we may be a people self-controlled and sober-minded, loving, hospitable, and above all and through all our actions, words, and thoughts glorifying to you. We pray these things in Jesus name - Amen.

1 Peter 4:7–11 ESV

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.

In our passage today Peter declares that the end of all things is at hand. Now that’s an important phrase that we need to rightly understand. Some people, both inside the church and outside the church throughout history have tried to use this passage to speak of the imminent end of the world. Those inside the church have tried to determine exact dates and times, even predicting in their great folly, specific dates and times for when the end was coming. Those outside of the church, those far from God have tried to use this passage to dissuade people from believing the Bible because as they claim, Peter believed that the end of the world was imminently upon them. A couple of problems with these perspectives though. First Peter never claims a specific time or predicts a date. He says the end of all things is at hand. That’t an interesting phrase because it helps show us the larger perspective that we see throughout the New Testament and I would argue throughout the Bible, that there was a first time, a beginning period of history that was marked by a looking forward to a specific, important event - the coming of the Messiah. Now we can if we really want to divide up this beginning period into all kinds of subcategories and smaller periods of time, but for the sake of brevity we’ll leave it all together as the first time, the beginning time. But with Jesus incarnation, his ministry, his life, his death, his resurrection a new period of history is inaugurated. This new period of history is what we commonly refer to as the last days. Now if that sounds ominous to you, may I suggest that you have watched one too many doomsday movies, read one too many Left Behind books, or listened to one too many messages from John Hagee. While there is certainly some very interesting imagery associated with happenings during the last times throughout scripture we should not embrace the doomsday rhetoric of so called preachers who make predictions that have proven over and over again to be false. You know what scripture calls a person who makes a prediction of the future that doesn’t come true? A false prophet. My friends, John Hagee and others like him have made lots of predictions that have’t come true. Don’t trust the people that scripture defines as false prophets.

The last times, end times, final times are all references to the period of time that we live in now - the period that was inaugurated by coming of Christ and which will one day be ended with the return of Christ, his second coming. We have been in the end times, the final times, the last times for almost 2,000 years now. We may be in them for 2,000 more, 10,000 more for all we know. Scripture is clear that only God Himself knows the exact time of His return, He has not chosen to give that revelation to us. Peter didn’t know when the day of Christ’s return was coming. He never claimed to. He made very clear that we are living in the final days, the period when it will take place and then the judgment, but Peter never claimed that it would be within his own lifetime. Peter did however write to our brothers and sisters to be ready, to live as though that very day were upon us tomorrow. To walk in faithfulness and obedience as though tomorrow the very judgment of God was coming. That has nothing to do with predicting the future, it has everything to do with addressing how you will live today. The choices you will make today and if God grants you another day of life tomorrow, how you will live that day - and so on and so forth. It’s about the immediate importance of holy and faithful Christian belief and behavior. And notice that’s exactly what he talks about.

Peter continues by saying be self-controlled and sober-minded - we’ve already talked about those things in this series so we won’t linger on them. But Peter says something interesting worthy of note - he says that we should be so for the sake of our prayers. My friends if you are not self-controlled or sober-minded, not only will you not be able to pray in a meaningful way because of your self-indulgence and inebriation, but you also won’t have any desire to pray. If you are a slave to your sins, if you love your sin and indulge it rather than fight it and hate it, you will not have any desire to pray, to talk to the one who destroys the chains of sin that bind men’s souls. None. For the sake of your prayers, be self-controlled and sober-minded.

Peter continues saying above all, love one another. Keep loving one another. Not in a fake, cause I have to kind of way - love one another earnestly, genuinely, really! And if we love one another earnestly we will forgive one another and bear with one another. We will support each other and lift one another up. We will be one family, one clan, one tribe, bound together in Christ Jesus and beautiful things will happen.

Peter continues saying show hospitality to one another. It’s not enough that you say you love one another - show it. Be present in each other’s lives. Extend kindness and openness to one another. Invite one another in. Eat with one another. Enjoy recreation with one another. Study with one another. Grow with one another. Be involved in one another’s lives. Not in a nosy way trying to pry into every second and every space that belongs to others, but in a kind and gentle way that flows naturally from our mutual affections for one another as followers of Christ. And at times this may be very inconvenient. The house may not be as clean as you hope, the dishes may not all be done, the clothes may be in piles waiting to be folded - but you open your life and home to one another anyway. It may be inconvenient financially, but together we are to bear one another’s burdens and raise one another up, supporting each other as a community. This is not a license to be lazy, but rather a provision for times of genuine need in our community. Do not abuse one another’s hospitality because that is not loving and is indeed sin.

Peter continues saying as each has received a gift use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace. Each Christian receives both spiritual gifts and those natural gifts, the resources we have in order that we may glorify God and enjoy Him and edify the church. I see all these people claiming gifts in the “Christian” world, yet so few of them actually use the so called gifts that they have to glorify God or edify the church. They will build their own ministries and brands and fortunes upon their claimed giftedness, but they don’t glorify God or edify the church. That tells me that number one, you don’t actually have a legitimate gift or two, if you do have some type of legitimate power it’s not from God. Because the Holy Spirit will not give and maintain gifts that are not used to the glory of God and the good of the church. We see it happen in scripture, the Holy Spirit can and does depart even those who He has seen fit to work through before.

And it doesn’t matter what your gifts and resources are - there is a place for them in the church. Peter says if you have gifts of speaking, speak. If you have gifts of service, serve. Whatever your gift is, what ever your resources are - you use them to glorify God through Jesus Christ. You are to testify. You are to bear witness about what God has done in your life.

Why? Because as Peter makes abundantly clear at the end of our passage for today, to Him belong all glory and dominion forever and ever, Amen. Christ Jesus is worthy of all honor, all glory, all praise. We are to worship our God with the fullness of our being forever and even that won’t be enough. Even a chorus of everlasting praise will not be enough for our eternal and eternally worthy God. He deserves all adoration and glorification by His nature to such a degree that even if all of humanity suddenly stopped their worship of God, the very stones would begin crying out in song and praise. The universe, the material world would begin testifying to the greatness of its creator in words if we stopped because God deserves it, it belongs to Him by rights. And for us as Christians this should not be hard concept, this should not be something that we labor to do. It is something that comes naturally from who we are now as the elect people that God is remaking. Our praise will flow joyfully out of us because of who we are now in Christ Jesus. May we always and forever more praise and worship our great and mighty King. Let’s pray.

But maybe you don’t know this joy this morning

If you have yet to believe in and trust Jesus and to profess and confess faith in Him I encourage you to do so today. We’ll have a time of invitation right now for you to do so. Don’t wait - believe in the Lord Jesus Christ now. Won’t you come as we stand and sing together.

Related Media

Related Sermons