The End of the World As We Know It

In AD 66 (that’s only a few years after 1 Peter was written) a Jewish man by the name of Simon bar Giora believed that revolting against Rome would usher in an end-time battle that would cause the Messiah to come. The end is at hand—grab a sword, fight the Romans.

In 1000 Pope Sylvester II…this isn’t the same guy who played Rocky Balboa…predicted the end as well. Riots and mass chaos ensued as pilgrims flooded to Jerusalem. The end is at hand—run to Jerusalem no matter who you have to trample upon to get there.

In 1533 a German monk and mathematician (is that a common combination?) predicted that the year would end in 1533. October 19th to be exact. A group of people ended up following him as they sold their homes and farms and lived on top of a hill to wait out the end. The end is at hand—sell all your stuff, live on a hill, wait it out.

In 1843 William Miller claimed to receive a revelation from God about the end. Thousands of Millerites quit their jobs, sold their homes, and prepared for the second coming. When it didn’t happen in 1843 he changed the date to 1844. It didn’t happen again. And has been dubbed the Great disappointment. The end is at hand—quit your job.

In 2000 Y2K predicted that computers all around the world would crash and it would spark end times catastrophe. I worked at a grocery store then and remember folks buying lots of beans and toilet paper. The end is at hand—stock up on toilet paper.

Doesn’t 2020 feel a little like the end? So what has been our response? We’ve seen the TP stockpiling again, some are bunkering down, there has been riots, there has been fighting, there has been disengagment. I guess all those things that have happened in the past are happening today.

Does the Bible give us a different option?

READ 1 Peter 4:7-11

The end is at hand…keep your head so you can pray well and deepen your love for one another. That is a MUCH different response than what we tend to see with end times hysteria.

And I’m really feeling this text, friends. 2020 is weighing on me. If I’m just being honest it’s really difficult and it can be deeply discouraging right now. Back in February we were seeing people coming to know Jesus, folks joining our church, our attendance was pushing 200, we were growing, I was headed on a mission trip to Mexico, we had some great plans for engaging our community through the summer. Lots of healing was happening in my heart and I was deeply encouraged. And then just like that it all came to a screeching halt.

We go through a season where we don’t meet in person at all. And then we come back to half way open and half way not. Our attendance is cut in half. And we all feel pretty disconnected. It pains us. We aren’t quite sure how to exercise our spiritual gifts. If you’re someone who lives to teach Sunday school but we aren’t meeting for Sunday school…what do you do? I think many of us just feel like we’re put on hold. We could handle that for a season but we’re getting tired. And it’s having an impact on us mentally.

And it’s not just that things came to a halt and we have this massive vacuum. No, as our ability to do discipleship has lessened—and we are trying to figure this stuff out and how to engage people and stay connected and all of this—as we are scrambling to learn about cameras and facebook live and feeling out relationships and trying to navigate all of this....talk radio discipleship has increased. People aren’t engaging as deeply with fellow believers, they aren’t hearing the Word preached as much, they aren’t going to their weekly bible studies or seek groups, or deepening those relationships. But time spent on social media, listening to talk radio, and so many other things which perpetuate fear and present themselves under the guise of showing you “what’s really going on” are discipling you.

And so you know what that does? If I’m not careful that can generate fear in my heart. When things like wearing a mask or not wearing a mask are politicized. It’s difficult. Because for one segment somehow it’s gotten to the spot where if you wear a mask you are communicating that you are a liberal who hates America and you’ve been duped by the one world government…or something like that. And for another slice of our population if you don’t wear a mask you are communicating that you hate humanity and would like to see everyone around you die a horrible death.

I know I’m being a tad ridiculous here but that is the climate with which we live in. And we’re being discipled in this way of thinking almost every day at the exact same time when some of the disciplines which would shape a biblical worldview are being slowed down.

Now please, don’t hear me wrong. God is still working. God is still growing us. We still have people joining. There is one way in which we are able to impact more people. There are good things that God is doing through this as well. But I’m just sharing my heart with you. I’m sharing some of the rougher edges, I guess. I’m not deeply discouraged or anything like that. So don’t take anything I’m saying darker or more foreboding than I mean it.

I am sharing all of this to say that when I read “the end of all things is at hand” I feel that even more deeply than I might have a few months ago. I posted at one point this week that it feels a little like what CS Lewis wrote in his Chronicles of Narnia when the Jadis the White Witch ruled…always winter and never Christmas.

But you know what. “The end of all things is at hand...” was written some 2000 years ago. It’s always been true that “the end of all things is at hand.” Look at Mark 1:15 where we see that the summary of Jesus’ message was that “the kingdom of God is at hand.” Same word. What does that mean? It means it is in your face.

Have you ever heard a sermon preached where they talk about the word that Jesus cried from the cross, “It is finished!” That word is tetelestai. It means paid in full. Come to a completion. Over. Finished. Done. The word here for “the end” is telos. It’s the same root word. And so it’s a similar sense here. What he’s saying then is that the goal to which the saving purpose of God is directed is “at hand”. This isn’t him saying, “get out your end times charts and check off all the stuff.” It’s him saying, in the grand scheme of things “you standing before God and experiencing salvation through judgment is so close that you can taste it”.

So yeah…the end is near. You might feel even more conscious of that these days than in days past…you’ve got a guy holding up a sign that says, “The end is near...” so how do you respond? What does that mean for you? If it’s true. If “the world is going to end” is something that’s going to happen tomorrow what do you do....how do you respond....how now shall we live in light of this.

Peter gives three things I believe. Pray sensibly, love earnestly, and serve passionately. We will look at these three this morning.

And can I just say that unless we are intentional about heeding this we are going to drift into thinking the way the world does. I was sharing a bit earlier about what I wrestle with at times. But that isn’t the predominate message of my heart. The bigger message is one of hope. But if I’m not careful…if I don’t apply this word of God to my own heart you know what’s going to happen?

At the very moment when I could be used by God to speak the gospel in gentleness and respect I’m not going to speak kingdom of God words. I’m going to follow the path of the world and speak fallen kingdom words. I’ll give the speech of pundits instead of prophets. I’ll measure my speech by party lines instead of by a biblical worldview. And I’ll merge those and won’t even notice. The end is near…and if I’m found at home in the world that doesn’t bid well for me. I think Piper does a good job of showing the seriousness of this:

When professing Christian aliens are absorbed into the world and give up walking by the constitution of the kingdom and give up loving the King and give up pursuing the cravings of the kingdom, then they have no warrant for thinking that they will inherit the kingdom. "They went out from us," John said (1 John 2:19), "but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us."

Living as aliens in the world is the only pathway to heaven. If you choose to be at home in the world and love the things of the world, you will perish with the world. John said, "The world is passing away and its desires, but the one who does the will of God abides for ever" (1 John 2:17).

Because the end is near we must pray sensibly.

therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded…To be self-controlled means to reign it in, get your stuff together, be clear-headed. And to be sober-minded literally means don’t be a drunk. Don’t cloud your mind with the numbing intoxicants. Be sensible. That’s what this is saying. And then he says, “for the sake of your prayers.”

Does this mean, “make sure your emotions are right and that you aren’t drinking because God doesn’t hear the prayers of someone who is in an emotional frenzy, who isn’t thinking clearly, or who has been drinking.” No, that’s not what that means. What he’s saying when he says, “for the sake of your prayers” is that by keeping your mind focused on the end—focused on standing before God—this is going to cause you to think and see things rightly.

Look at it this way. For the past 15-20 years or so folks have at various time hypothesized that Planet X is going to collide with earth and kill us all. Now let’s imagine that this becomes an all consuming passion for you. This becomes THE thing. What does your prayer life look like?

Lord, keep Planet X from wiping us out. Lord, help the scientist to protect us from Planet X. Lord, give me boldness to warn more and more people about Planet X.

You can replace Planet X with politics or whatever you think the “real problem” in our world is. If ____ would just happen then everything would be okay. But do you remember a few weeks ago when we looked at 1 Peter 2:11 and noted what the real war is?

I said then:

The two things that Peter is concerned with in this passage is the salvation of our souls and the glory of God. That’s the war. That’s the battle. And that shows how much it is true believers in Jesus are aliens and exiles, because these two things are most certainly not on our news stations. This does not dominate the national conversation. It’s not even mentioned. And friends, I would argue that even if it is mentioned it’s likely not driven by the same motivation as the Bible. It’s often more driven by the fear of losing a particular way of life. When was the last time you heard someone say, “We need X to happen because the glory of God is being defamed?”

Peter is saying something similar here. He’s saying we need to keep our heads about us because if we don’t then “the end is near” is going to cause us to fall into the ways of the world. And if we do that. If we aren’t self-controlled and sober-minded then it’s going to shape our prayers. In fact it’s likely going to put a halt to our prayer life. Again I think Piper is correct:

Only one thing will make you a person of prayer—a person connected with reality—namely, sobering up from the addictive, inebriating power of worldliness. If you are drunk with worldliness, and can only think of the pleasures of the world, then you will have no taste for heaven and no desire for prayer.

But there is something which is even greater than this Peter says. And that’s the second thing.

Because the end is near we must love earnestly

Above all. Do you know what that means? It means if you miss this…then you’re missing the greatest thing. Love one another earnestly. This is talking about one another in the body of Christ. Keep loving one another. Keep. That means to diligently guard. To fight for it. To be intentional about it. And earnestly—that not only means with intentionality but it also means with passion, with fervency, like getting excited for a touchdown or a home run.

Then he says, “since love covers over a multitude of sins.” Now what does that mean? Whose sins are covered? Is he saying that if I love you then my sin is going to be covered? Is he saying if I love you then I’m going to cover your sins? Is it talking about both of us? Is it saying that love will produce repentance and thus forgiveness?

Really all of those are at least somewhat plausible. But let’s think about the context a little here. You’ve been living through COVID-19 for a few months now. How short is your fuse these days? Notice family, business, and social relationships getting a bit frayed as difficulties arise? What happens when we start getting persecuted and stress levels rise up. What tends to happen?

Do you notice all those little things. Those small offenses do they get magnified? Yep—when stress starts to push out an earnest love that’s what happens. But what happens in a relationship when you really and truly love another person and you are living in that love. You overlook those things. You cover them with love.

“Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses” is what Proverbs 10:12 says. You want to know why whenever you read something online or hear a conspiracy theory that you’re quick to jump on it and assume it’s true? You want to know why we are prone to stir up strife and not give leaders on the other side of the aisle a benefit of the doubt. Hatred.

One commentator is correct:

Where love abounds in a fellowship of Christians, many small offences, and even some large ones, are readily overlooked and forgotten. But where love is lacking, every word is viewed with suspicion, every action is liable to misunderstanding, and conflicts abound—to Satan’s perverse delight.

This is why we must be very intentional about loving one another. Especially those that we might find ourselves prone to disagree with. If I am viewing another person with suspicion and I’m prone to misunderstanding If I am constantly taking offense at another person…it might not be that other person. It might be me. It might be that I don’t love them as I ought. If I’m constantly noticing those little things there has been a break in that relationship—and it’s MY responsibility to mend that.

Because the end is near we must serve passionately.

Verse 9 could really fit with verse 8 or with verse 10. But this call to show hospitality was absolutely vital in the early church. And to do it without grumbling is showing something about the heart. Opening our homes, and opening our lives is both a reflection of love AND a reflection of serving others passionately.

Notice any thread with the illustration earlier of what tends to happen with end times hysteria? It’s often anger, conspiracy theories, suspicion, etc.—that’s remedied with love. And the other path is total disengagement. I’m just going to go up on a mountain and wait this one out. But notice what Peter calls them to. He calls them to actually dig in and serve passionately.

God has given you a gift. It’s a gift of grace.

Eugene Peterson…FOR OTHERS

He breaks all spiritual gifts down into two. Speaking and serving. I think you could spend a good amount of time here—and others have—but for our time just notice what connects both of these. It’s serving others for the glory of God. If I’m speaking then I’m speaking for God for the good of others. If I’m serving then I’m serving God for the good of others. It isn’t about me. It isn’t about the exercise of my gifts, its not about me getting praise—but it’s to focus on others.

The end is near has a tendency to turn us inward. But what Peter is saying here is that we ought to have it turn us outward to others for the glory of God.

Why the difference? What causes someone in the midst of “the end of all things is at hand” what causes someone to pray sensibly, love earnestly, and serve passionately?

It goes all the way back to 1 Peter 1:3, “According to his great mercy he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading kept in heaven for you....ready to be revealed in the last time.

What that means is that I can pray sensibly because it doesn’t really matter what the headline of the day reads—Planet X coming to destroy world, THIS ELECTION IS THE BIGGEST IN THE HISTORY OF MANKIND AND IF YOU DON’T VOTE A CERTAIN WAY WE ARE ALL DOOMED, The end is nigh—everything is going to burn and explode....no matter what that headline reads you KNOW in Christ the story.

God created us to enjoy His grace and extend his glory. We made shipwreck of that great calling. Rather than life and love and joy and all those things your heart longs for we inherit by our own works death, pain, suffering, guilt, shame all those things you’re trying to avoid. But thankfully “While we were yet sinners Christ died for the ungodly.” God sent his son—who lived a perfect life—who perfectly represented us. He sent his son to a rescue a people for his own possession. That by grace through faith in Christ Jesus we once again enter into a relationship with God. And through this union this “inheritance” which can never spoil and is the greatest inheritance ever; namely God Himself…this inheritance is ours. And someday Christ is returning to judge the living and the dead…he will make all things right.

And so we can pray sensibly because we know that no matter what the headline reads for today Jesus Christ is in control…he is what history is about.

And we can love earnestly because we know it is by grace…through faith…that we were drawn into this union. Love covers over a multitude of sins. Feast on this. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son....” Out of his love he gave his son. Love covers.

Horrible illustration of the girl with the balloon.

We can also serve passionately because we know that nothing we do is in vain. Ever bit of sweat in the Lord is building His kingdom. It means something. It matters. And so we use our gifts to serve…we give…because we are reflecting Christ in this.

So, yeah, the gospel changes everything. So which way are you living? Two ways to live. Are you living in Christ?