7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.
—The words of the Apostle Peter from 1 Peter 4:7-11
“I’m sorry to have to tell you this. But, you have just about four months to live.”
Any reasonable person would hope against all hope not to ever hear anyone say such words to him or her. The truth remains. At some point, we will all die. If we don’t, it will be because the end of the age has come.
The Apostle Peter, in the Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, felt strongly that “the end of all things is near.” Looking at his statement, from our perspective nearly 2,000 years later, was Peter wrong?
Imagine how Peter’s first letter must have been received. “The end is near? Yeah, right!”
Peter addresses this very concern in his second letter, when he writes in 2 Peter 3:3-10:
3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
So, Peter understood that people would scoff at the idea that the end times were near. And, some still scoff today. The fact that some sadly misguided individuals have predicted a certain date for the end of the world that passes without incident has fed those same scoffers. Yet what should believers in the Lord Jesus do?
Peter asserts that we should:
- Be clear minded. Do not let anything cloud our thinking, so that we will turn away from God’s truth as revealed in His Word.
- Be self-controlled. Keep a grip. Stay focused. Don’t let the emotions of the moment tear us away from what we know is true.
- Love each other deeply. Peter uses the Greek word “philadelphoi” or “loving the brothers” (and sisters). This word—one of four words for “love” in biblical Greek—expresses a love like the love within a family unit. The love of a father and mother for their children. The love that a sibling has for his or her other siblings.
- Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Willingly and generously welcome your brothers and sisters in Christ into your homes in order to fellowship with one another.
- Use whatever God-given gift you’ve received to serve others in order to faithfully administer God’s grace.
- If you speak, speak in such a way that it would mirror what God might speak. Thus, guard your tongue and let your words be godly words.
- If you serve, rely on the strength that God provides. Don’t try to do acts of service in your own strength. Rely on God-given strength to perform works in His behalf.
- Do all these things for one purpose: so that God, alone, will receive the praise. Never seek praise for yourself. If anyone gives you praise, acknowledge that what you have done, you have done to the glory of God. Let all the praise flow to Him.
Once we realize that, in these last days, the task that stretches out before us gives us an opportunity to faithfully do God’s work in this world in His strength and for His praise and glory, it greatly simplifies our motivation and shapes the way we will operate in our “doing.”
Will you pray with me?
Thank You, God, for loving us. Thank You for sending Jesus to be our Savior. Thank You for sending us Your Holy Spirit to dwell within us.
Continue to remind us that whatever we do in this world, we must do it relying on Your strength and in such a way that it brings glory and praise only to You. Keep us from seeking praise for ourselves. Help us to step out of the spotlight and remain in the shadows. Help us to do Your work without calling attention to ourselves.
More than anything, we acknowledge that we need You to continue to teach us how to obediently follow Your will. We need You to make Your Word come alive in our hearts and minds, as we read it each day. We need the intervention of Your Holy Spirit in our daily lives to enable us to follow the pathway You have set out before us.
Thank You, dear Father, for hearing our prayer in and through the precious Name of Your Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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