…In Light of His Coming
1 Peter • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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TEXT: 1 PETER 4.7-11, 5:1-5
7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 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.
1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
INTRODUCTION
Have you ever noticed how we circle the important dates on our calendar?
Birthdays, anniversaries, graduations - these are the milestones we celebrate.
Appointments, Gatherings, Tasks.
It’s important to track this. A wasted life consists of wasted days.
But even with a calendar, we can get distracted.
Looking forward so much to that next big event… That we accidentally missed some little things along the way.
Fixating so much on a missed opportunity in the past, that we miss divine appointments in front of us.
In C.S. Lewis’s Screwtape Letters, Screwtape (the fictional demon) agrees with “the Enemy’s” (God’s) priority of the present. He writes to his nephew Wormwood,
The humans live in time but our Enemy (God) destines them to eternity. He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend chiefly to two things, to eternity itself, and to that point of time which they call the Present. (75)
Knowing this, the senior demon advises his young nephew to tempt humans with the past and the future as a way to keep them from the present — this day.
Whether you keep a rigid calendar or not, we live in busy times.
Martin Luther (the German Reformer) kept a “special calendar” before him at all times. It’s fitting of our text today and our lives.
He wrote simply, “I have two days on my calendar: today and that Great Day.”
That Day = The BEMA seat / the Judgment of Christ
This is for Christians - not to determine whether or not we are saved, but to determine the measure of our rewards in Heaven.
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
“BEMA” SEAT / Judgment Seat of Christ / NOTES:
It will be a time of individual evaluation for every believer in the body of Christ (the church, cf. 2 Cor. 5:9, 10).
What will be evaluated will be one’s works and motives (cf. Matt. 6:1, 2, 3; 1 Cor. 4:4, 5).
The BEMA will be based upon the individual believer’s management of God-entrusted opportunities, abilities and resources.
The purpose of the Judgment Seat is to reward faithful service to/for Christ.
Because of its purpose (rewards for service) there is the very real possibility of loss of rewards that could have been gained (cf. 2 John 7, 8).
The Judgment Seat will result in 3 options, a full reward, apartial reward, or no reward.
Some have concluded all believers will get at least a partial reward (cf. 1 Cor. 4:5).
The implications/results of the judgment seat are eternal, not just for a brief moment in time (cf. 1 Cor 9:25; Rev. 22:5).
SO ONE DAY, we will stand before God and give an account of the deeds that we’ve done FOR HIM as children of God (this is the saved!)
What we did & the Heart behind why we did it!
It’s a big deal.
It caused Martin Luther to hold it close on his calendar.
It should bring a healthy fear of God, but it should also bring an overwhelming sense of HUMILITY and STEADFASTNESS.
Humility - that we might please the LORD and be rewarded for it…for HIs glory.
Steadfastness - that we would redeem the time, knowing that what we do, how we do it, and why we do it MATTERS TO GOD!
WITH THAT IN MIND, Peter writes to that persecuted church, “the end of all things is near…” then gives some great guidance following.
As we begin to live in the light of His coming, we’ll cultivate…
1. Prayerful & Hospitable Hearts
1. Prayerful & Hospitable Hearts
WE ARE TO BE STEADFAST/SOBER-MINDED in view of That Day…resulting in effective and fruitful prayer and hospitable living.
= to pray well
7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.
the end of all things
in view of that day, be self-controlled today
in view of that day, be sober-minded today
for the sake of your prayers
in view of that day, (don’t stop) Love one another (earnestly)
helps your heart and theirs when a brother / sister sins
in view of that day, show hospitality
to one another
without grumbling
As we begin to live in the light of His coming, we will want to be a part of…
2. Purposeful and Empowered Service
2. Purposeful and Empowered Service
There is a sincerity in our motives as we serve one another in the power of the Spirit, for God’s Glory!
10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 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.
1 Peter for You Love Serves
So, because “each has received a gift,” the church needs every member in order to function properly as the body. There is no Christian who cannot contribute to the body of Christ or who is not needed by the body of Christ; everyone plays a part: whether it is an evident ministry (preaching/teaching) or a not-so-evident one (service).
in view of that day, for His glory now
discover your gift from God
use it to serve one another
whether a LEADERSHIP gift or a SUPPORT gift
DOES A PEAR TREE EAT PEARS?
DOES AN APPLE TREE EAT APPLES?
The fruit is produced for someone else to be nourished by.
= to love well
How are you gifted?
How has the LORD gifted you?
Has anyone ever said, “I see in you…” and named some of the incredible gifts from the LORD to the church?
We glorify God by living a normal, ordinary Christian life,
which is the life of a believer who knows the end is near,
who keep his or her head,
who prays hard, loves well,
welcomes much and uses their gifts for the church.
If we dare to live like that, God is glorified in us - because that is evidence of Christ’s work in and through us.
As we love one another, those around us will come to realize now, or to confess on the last day,
that the Father has sent Jesus to be the Savior of the world and that we belong to him. “To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
As we begin to live in the light of His coming, we will want to grow
a healthy local church with
3. Passionate Servant Leadership
3. Passionate Servant Leadership
1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
Let’s take this in pieces:
Elders should shepherd well
willingly, eagerly leading where they need to
NOT out of Pressure, not for personal gain (shameful)
live, love, and lead as examples NOT LORDS
OT rebuke of bad shepherds/leaders
4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them.
Jesus’ call to lead DISTINCTLY from EVERY OTHER POSITION/RELIGION
25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
When we talk about roadblocks to relationships, I think they’re also roadblocks to a Healthy Culture within the local church.
Demanding
Domineering
Demeaning
Dogmatic
These are NOT the characteristics of:
the people we want to be
the people we want to be around
the people we want to work for
the Holy Spirit
of the leaders in a Healthy Church.
people living in the light of Christ’s Coming
When Elders lead that way…when they wear the towel of service instead of making much of their TITLE (UNPACK - Jesus wore the towel in John 13 to wash His disciples feet).
a couple of things happen when Elders do their job well…
there is a reward for the Elders….
Christ, the Chief Shepherd (archipoimenos), is “the True Shepherd” (Ezek. 34:11–16), “the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11, 14), and “the Great Shepherd” (Heb. 13:20). When Christ returns, His faithful undershepherds will share in His glory (1 Peter 5:1) and receive unfading crowns (cf. 1:4).
not only do the ELDERS receive an eternal reward, but the people of God get the earthly blessing of being served well by brothers in Christ.
We all will willingly follow God’s men. HOW?
we’ll be clothed in humility toward one another
experiencing the grace of God within our church
not having to work it up ourselves…not working against GOD or setting ourselves up for GOD to resist us in our pride.
——
That’s the kind of church I want to be a part of.
That’s the kind of family I want to claim.
CONCLUSION:
So, If YOU knew that the end of all things was at hand, what would you do?
This is what drives the ending of Peter’s letter, when he places us at the judgment seat of God.
The Bible tells us what God has done…even as we’ve covered this letter of Peter, we see what God has done:
how he was willing to die for us as a man
how he was willing to go to the deepest darkness to proclaim the good news of salvation—
how Jesus is now our risen Lord.
Peter has laid out for us to see what it means to follow Jesus despite persecution and difficulty.
With this big picture in mind…with the judgement seat of Christ on our minds,
we see some HEART POSTURES and some BEHAVIORS in this very personal advice from the LORD through Peter on how to live as a believer in Jesus…in light of His return.
in view of His coming WE CULTIVATE PRAYERFUL & HOSPITABLE HEARTS
in view of His coming SERVE PURPOSEFULLY and EMPOWERED BY GOD’S SPIRIT - using the gifts that He gives
in view of His soon return WE ARE PASSIONATE SERVANT LEADERS as a part of HEALTHY CHURCH!
—-
Pray that Jesus’ forthcoming return would be real to you.
If you were to mark this moment…this moment of prayer,
this moment of reflection
with THAT GREAT DAY
