The End of All Things

The end of all things is near. This isn’t as doomsday as it sounds. But it is true. The end of all things is near.

Peter has just written about Jesus’ suffering, His death, His resurrection, and His ascension. It makes sense now for Peter to talk about the end.

The end of all things is near. This doesn’t mean that Peter was expecting Christ to return in a few weeks or months from the time he was writing.

“The reason the end is near is that the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ have inaugurated the last days.” - Tom Schreiner

All the major events in God’s great salvation plan had already occured.

Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension.

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

Everything except the return of Jesus.

Everything on the end-times calendar has been crossed off. Everything BUT Jesus coming back.

Therefore, Jesus’ return could happen at anytime.

The end of all things is near.

It was “near” or “at hand” in Peter’s day. It still is today.

There are people in movies and in real life, sporting “long hair and dirty sandals,” standing on street corners holding up signs that say this same thing: The end of all things is near.

But the biblical teaching is not one of fear for the Christian. Nor is this truth—the end of all things is near—an excuse to sit around, doing nothing, looking into heaven waiting for Jesus’ return.

The end of all things is near is a summons. A call to action. A reminder of who the church is supposed to be. Of what the church is supposed to do.

If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to 1 Peter. If you are able and willing, please stand for the reading of God’s Holy Word.

1 Peter 4:7–11 NIV

7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may 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 of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so 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.

May God add His blessing to the reading of His Holy Word!

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The opening phrase of verse 7—The end of all things is near—is not meant to make us stockpile dry goods in our basements. It’s not written here so we all go dig fallout shelters in our backyards.

This is a summons. A call to the church. A mobilization of Christ’s people.

A mobilization of Christ’s people, not to some superhuman feat, but to the ordinary, everyday means of grace and service toward one another. And all this that God would be glorified through Jesus Christ.

The end of all things is near. Therefore...

Be Alert & Sober-Minded

Nowhere in the NT are we encouraged to set dates for the coming of Jesus. Nowhere in the NT are we prompted to idle speculation. All the teaching about the end times (eschatology) is used to encourage believers to live in a godly way.

The knowledge that as Christians (as Christ-followers) we are sojourners and exiles here; the knowledge that our time here on earth is short should motivate us to make our lives count now.

Again, this is not a call for extraordinary behavior. It’s not an expectation of superhuman activity. Rather, Peter exhorts his readers with rather common virtues. Stuff that is a normal part of NT counsel.

Be alert and of sober mind, says Peter.

These two verbs mean virtually the same thing. These two verbs should be understood together.

In light of the end of all things being near, some believers lose their heads and start to act irrationally.

But that behavior belongs to the Christian’s former life.

Edmund Clowney marks the contrast like this: “[It’s] not drunken debauchery and licence (doing whatever one wants), but sober clear-headedness [that] marks the Christian. Love, not lust, fills the heart. The Christian home is open for hospitality, not wild parties. Ministry replaces exploitation.”

To be alert and sober-minded is a watchful waiting for the LORD. It describes the practical wisdom that comes from the knowledge of the LORD.

These two terms—alert and sober-minded—are what Peter calls his readers to. These two terms are the opposite of mania.

Think about the demon-possessed man of Mark 5 (my favorite Bible story). The demon-possessed man was “a maniac, maniac, on the floor, dancing like he never danced before.”

He’s out of his mind, crazy, chaotic, uncontrollable. No one was able to chain him or restrain him. But Jesus, with a word, healed him and freed him.

This is what the crowd saw:

Mark 5:15 (NIV)

15… they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind;

This is the difference Jesus makes. This is the difference Jesus made in the man who had been possessed by demons. This is the difference Jesus makes in the life of every Christian.

By grace, the Holy Spirit invades our lives and makes us sober-minded and alert.

Even faced by the any-moment-now end of all things, the Christian community can’t join in with those who are all worked up into a frenzy.

Jesus describes the faithful servant as dressed ready for service and busy as he waited for the return of Jesus.

Christian, clothe yourself with an alert and sober mind.

Be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray…

“Sobriety and a clear mind have one value above others. They equip us for prayer. Prayer [is] sober, direct, profoundly thoughtful communication with the LORD.” -Edmund Clowney

As the end of all things draws ever nearer, the priority for Christians is prayer.

The context seems to envision prayer for one’s fellow believers. Prayer as we gather together in worship. Prayers that build up. Prayers for one another’s relationship with Christ.

Prayer for one another in these times requires right thinking. Lord, make us alert and sober-minded.

The end of all things is near, therefore…

Keep Loving One Another Deeply

The nearness of the end should provoke Christ’s people to love. But it’s not just because the end is near. Peter writes that his readers (these early Christians and us here today) should love above all.

Love is above all in the sense that it is of supreme importance; love is the controlling factor in all relationships in the church.

The word translated deeply can also mean “constant”. Keep love constant would be a good translation.

“At full stretch” gets at the sense of the Greek word. Our love will be stretched to the limit by the demands made on it.

Peter says “love covers over a multitude of sins.”

Unless love can stretch to forgive many sins, it will not avail among us sinners.

Peter had asked Jesus how many times he must forgive his brother. Peter proposed a generous answer: seven times!

But Jesus was unimpressed. He replied, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.”

Love doesn’t keep score, but grants forgiveness freely to every brother or sister who seeks it; deserving forgiveness doesn’t factor in.

1 Peter 4:8 The Amplified Bible reads like this: “Above all, have fervent and unfailing love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins [it overlooks unkindness and unselfishly seeks the best for others].”

Our love, modeled, of course, on Jesus’ love can’t pay the price of sin. Jesus did that (fully, completely, alone, once-for-all). But our love can imitate the mercy of God; love can forgive, and forgiveness always pays a price.

At great cost to ourselves, love overlooks the sins of others. We must remember, I must remember, you must remember, whatever our love costs us, it’s but a shadow of Jesus’ love and what His love for us cost Him.

When believers think about how to spend their lives in light of the Lord’s return; when you think about how to spend your life here and now, in these few days you have as exiles and strangers here; you should remind yourselves of the priority of love.

Keep on loving one another deeply, Peter says.

But Peter doesn’t stop there. He keeps going. Just as Jesus took a towel and a basin to wash His disciples’ feet, so our love should motivate service.

Love for one another—for our Christian brothers and sisters—love for them moves us to serve them. To show them, tangibly, how much we love them.

Peter says we should:

Offer Hospitality to One Another

The theme of love for one another continues here into verse 9. This is also shaped by the nearness of the end.

Peter urges us to offer hospitality to one another, to open our home to one another.

Eugene Peterson translated this verse: “Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully.”

Hospitality was one of the marks of the Christian community. It was especially important for the mission of Christianity in a day when lodging wasn’t affordable. Missionaries traveling around proclaiming the Good News about Jesus couldn’t easily pay for a night’s stay at the Best Western.

If the church wasn’t hospitable, if Christians weren’t hospitable, it would have made for an incredible hardship for those on mission for the early church.

Jesus told His disciples to proclaim the message that the kingdom of heaven had come near. And as they did so, whatever town or village they entered, they were to find someone to stay with until they left that place (Matt. 10)

Lydia, a convert in the book of Acts, offered her home to Paul and Silas and Luke (and whoever else was with them). “Come and stay at my house,” she said, persuading them to do so (Acts 16:15).

The fact that Peter writes here offer hospitality to one another causes me to think this is primarily speaking about Christians showing fellow Christians hospitality. Christians having one another in their homes for meals and fellowship.

Randy Gariss, the longtime pastor of College Heights Christian Church in Joplin, has preached here several times and has offered counsel and advice to us over the years. One of the things he said has stuck with me: “Start at your dinner table. Simple hospitality builds those relationships.”

I’m not great at this, though I’m working on it. Meghann’s much more hospitable and does a really good job inviting people over.

Terry Heuser came over just Thursday for dinner. I’ve got pictures! This is a fruit roll-up with a temporary tongue tattoo. Fun at the Case house.

There’s nothing quite like sharing a meal together. And having a fruit roll-up held on your tongue (though that part is optional).

Within the Christian community, hospitality is to be given high priority. It can be one of the most effective ministries there is.

Jon Dennis writes this:

The key with hospitality is to begin. It doesn’t matter if you live in an apartment, a dorm, or a house. Once a week opening our home, baking a few cookies, saying “hello” [as you pass someone in the store], checking up on an older neighbor, and borrowing sugar from next door… it may be that through our doors all kinds will come, one who is hungry, an intellectual questioning, a colleague in crisis, a student from a far-off land.

It may be that God’s new people from the nations will sit around our table. It may be that having shared a meal, and having tasted of Christ, their own table will be open for the gospel in a country we would never reach.

Hospitality is not something we do overly pragmatically. We do not practice hospitality “to get conversions.” We practice hospitality because it is right. We practice hospitality because we are God’s people. We share God’s goodness through our home because God has shown his goodness to us. His grace overflows the threshold of our homes.

The end of all things is near, so then offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

Offer hospitality with joy and grace and thankfulness. Open your home. Put on a pot of coffee and share a conversation. Break bread in your homes and eat together with glad and sincere hearts.

The end of all things is near, so then, Christians ought to

Serve One Another

Each of you, says Peter, should use whatever gift you have received to serve others.

The word gift here implies that whatever gift(s) you have are the result of God’s grace. Elsewhere (Romans, 1 Corinthians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy) Paul uses this same word to designate spiritual gifts.

There’s no boasting or bragging about the gifts you have. Whatever gift you possess is the result of God’s grace in its various forms. It’s the varied grace of God.

The point of the gift is not self-congratulation. They are given so that each person serves others. You’ve been gifted to serve.

This is the teaching of the Bible all the way through. The OT people of God were blessed so that they would be a blessing. We, the church, are blessed to be a blessing to one another and to those outside the walls of this building.

You are blessed to be a blessing. You have been gifted so that you can serve others.

As we await the return of Christ, we don’t just sit around scanning the skies for Him. We serve. Serve one another.

Throughout the NT, the term for “serving” is used to describe providing meals, visiting those in prison, providing financial support, and in many other every day ways.

Christians are those who serve one another. As those who carry Christ’s name with us, we serve because He served.

Mark 10:45 NIV

45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Jesus came to serve. To serve, not to be served, even though He was/is certainly worthy of being served by everyone. He is our model in serving.

Most see the first half of verse 11 as a division of gifts. The gifts are divided into two categories: speaking gifts and serving gifts.

All the gifts involve serving others. All the gifts exist to build up one another.

It’s simply that some gifts involve speaking (teaching, preaching, exhortation) and others in various acts of service (giving, leading, helping, showing mercy).

There’s no listing out of gifts here; that’s not Peter’s point. He’s speaking in general categories.

The point is service for one another. All of the gifts God has given are for others. And all the gifts and the expression of those gifts is bound by the Word of God.

Those who speak are dependent upon the words of God that He has given.

How easy it is to think we can assist others with our own wisdom! Those who are entrusted with the ministry of speaking should be careful to speak God’s words. Those who speak should be faithful to the gospel.

Those who serve others and minister to others can’t do so in their own strength. Your strength and ability will take you only so far. You’ll tire. You’ll get fed up. You’ll come to the end of your rope.

But with the strength God provides, there’s no end to service. Rely on God’s power for service, and you’ll be able to serve others through His strength until Jesus returns.

We do these things (we’re alert and sober-minded, we love one another, we show hospitality to one another, we serve one another) SO THAT in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.

In All Things, Praise God

As we serve and love and show hospitality, God receives the glory because He is the One who have provided the wisdom and the strength and the resources that make all that possible.

We praise the Provider.

Tom Schreiner: “If you are the source of the wisdom and the strength for ministry, you deserve to be complimented. If you think you’re the source of wisdom or strength or effectiveness, you need to think again. If understanding and energy come from the LORD, He gets the glory and the praise.”

The glory God receives comes through Jesus Christ. God is praised for what He has done through Jesus—through the gospel Peter’s audience received.

This section ends with a doxology; with praise. Peter can’t help but interject praise here. When speaking about God and what God has done through Jesus Christ, Peter jots down this short sentence of praise:

1 Peter 4:11 (NIV)

To Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

This is not a wish or a command. This is a statement of fact. To Him belong all glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.

In all things, we owe God the praise, the glory and the honor and the power.

Peter, it seems, has been struck by the wonder of God’s grace expressed to us in Jesus Christ. And so, it’s perfectly natural here for him to pause and declare God’s glory.

To give God praise is the natural act of the Christian. As the end of all things comes ever-closer, all praise and glory belong to Him.

>The end of all things is near. This is the thought anchoring everything we read today. In light of the end of all things, what do we do?

What would I do if I learned that all of human history was drifting toward an unavoidable end? What would you do?

How does a person live when then end, the very end, is said to be at hand? The end is near.

What would you do with the time you had left?

Peter has given us God’s answer for His people.

Christ’s people have been mobilized, not to some superhuman feats, but to the ordinary, everyday means of grace and service toward one another.

Be alert and sober-minded so that you can pray for one another.

Love one another deeply.

Be hospitable toward one another.

Serve one another with the gifts God has given you. And give Him all praise. Him and Him alone.

That’s the best plan, the only worthwhile plan, for the end of the world.