1 Peter 4.7-11 part 2
What’s an End-Time Church to Do?
Part 2
1/31/99
1 Peter 4:8-11
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Introduction:
This morning we asked the question, are we living in the end times. And our answer was yes, we are living in one of the last segments of God’s plan and program.
This question is on the minds of many people these days. To illustrate, one pastor received a letter from a man in recently, which said, “I’m writing now to ask, how do we know if this is the end.”
This morning we established the fact that we know we are living in the last days, because several passages in the Bible say so. These passages were written two-thousand years ago. We know we are certainly closer now than they were when those Scriptures were penned.
Some people mock because of this. It’s what Peter talked about when he said in 2 Peter 3:3
“. . .there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
Peter’s response to this charge is, “But, beloved be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
(2 Peter 3:8, 9)
People say, “Oh, Christ isn’t coming back! Look at it, The Christians in Paul’s day thought He was coming then, and now look at us! Christ still hasn’t come. He isn’t coming! Everything in this old world keeps happening as it always has been!”
You want to know why Christ hasn’t come yet? According to 2 Peter 3:9, Christ hasn’t come because He is kind. He’s waiting to bring men to Himself so they won’t suffer His wrath.
Don’t lose your faith brothers and sisters! Christ will come like He said. His clock is ticking away the history of man. He’s the only One Who sees that clock, and not a single moment has slipped by that wasn’t in His plan.
So with this knowledge that we are living in the last days, and that Christ could come at any moment, how do we live?
This morning we mentioned that according to 1 Peter 4:7 we should first and foremost develop stable thinking. Don’t allow ourselves to be bound up with fear of the end. Don’t allow ourselves to be dragged along by every sensational prophetic teacher that comes along. An outcome of stable thinking is that we will prepare in one of the best ways possible: pray.
Tonight we want to look at the remaining two items: two ways that we can be ready the coming of Christ.
II. Have hearts that are ready to love (vs. 8, 9)
III. Have hands that are ready to serve. (vs. 10, 11)
II. Have hearts that are ready to love (vs. 8, 9)
A. The command (vs. 8a)
1. Above all- He is stating, in preparation for the end-time events, immediately after thinking clearly and praying, you want to begin with love. You want to be sure that love is your starting place
2. He calls it “fervent” love- The idea here is energetic, ardent activity. That is taxing oneself in the area of love. Please remember that there is a balance.
This doesn’t mean that we kill ourselves, it doesn’t mean that we wear ourselves out to the point we cannot do anything. It does mean though that we work at it. That we don’t ignore it. It takes learning, it takes nurturing, cultivation.
3. Peter also says two words that speak volumes- He says, “among yourselves.”
a. He also uses the phrase “one to another in verses 9, 10.
b. Every church has its dynamics. That is, those things (often unspoken or written) that drive the relationships of the members in that church.
c. Peter then is giving us what might be called, “end time church dynamics.” That is, how we, as Christians in this church, living in these last days, ought to interact with other Christians in this church.
d. Peter says, let the first dynamic be love. Make sure it’s at the top of the list!
Paul says much the same thing as Peter says, yet in a different way, he says in
Romans 13:8--- “Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”
There is one debt that will never be fully paid in the Christians life, and that is the debt of love he owes to other Christians. We are obligated one to another!
Now I realize that this takes work. I realize that everyone of us is far from perfect in this area. After all, we are sinful. It is only natural that we want to do what is least difficult for self. But the issue is, where is the heart. Yes we fail, but where is the heart. Deep down do we want to love the people of God in this church?
That’s the first dynamic! Without it, we will be ill-prepared for the day when Christ calls His church home in the rapture.
B. The outcome of obedience (8b)
1. How do we know if we are really loving others in the church like Peter is here talking? The greatest proof is whether we overlook the offenses of others. We will overlook the fault that is bothering us. If we really love someone, we will let that love cover the thing which bothers us.
2. I really believe the cure for many church difficulties is found in this verse.
“Love covers a multitude of sins”
3. The word “cover” here means literally “to hide.” In Matthew 8:28 it is used to speak of a boat being covered with waves. The idea then is to hide from view.
4. What Peter is talking about then is hiding minor problems. Not broadcasting them to other members, but showing love by forgiving. Maybe a word that was spoken which offended us. Maybe we wouldn’t do something the way another person does it, whether it’s in the church or in their own personal life.
But love chooses to move on, and not make it an issue.
Illustration:
There was once a father who was reading in his study when he heard some racket outside the window. His daughter was playing with some friends and the din got louder and louder, and more and more heated and more and more upset. After a while, he got up opened the window and told his daughter to stop it. The girl responded, “But Daddy, we were just playing church.”
One things for sure, she was not playing a church that was founded on Peter’s dynamic of letting love cover a multitude of sin.
It’s possible this evening that there is a need for us to practice this principle of love toward someone. Someone who has done something that bothers us, some ill-feeling. Remember, this love is a continual thing. It’s a constant debt we owe to one another. And it makes for a healthy, end-time church.
C. An example of where this love works (vs. 9)
1. Hospitality
2. The historical situation for a statement such as this helps us understand it’s importance. In the day that this was written, when Christians would travel from one place to another, there were few reputable places to stay. They didn’t have the hotels and so on that we have. So they were dependent upon other Christians to house them.
3. Can you see how that at times was difficult? You find yourself entertaining someone for a period of time that you may not even know? But it’s not just one person, but their family. And over a period of time you have several of these types of situations.
4. This could get expensive. This could cut into the time-schedule. Now we see why Peter says, that we need to love each other fervently (strenuously). It wasn’t always easy.
5. Peter says, don’t do it grudgingly. It’s one thing to do it, but it’s another thing to do it with the right heart attitude. Not complaining about it, not sighing or feeling abused. True hospitality starts with the heart.
So if Christ returned today, would He find that we have love for each other? Would He find that we let love cover over a multitude of small offenses? This is one of the ways we prepare for His coming.
Let’s move on to the final item which Peter mentions that will prepare us for Christ’s coming.
III. Hands that are ready to serve. (vs. 10, 11)
A. The concept of spiritual gifts- It can be very confusing these days to understand the biblical concept of a spiritual gift. We could get into a whole series on gifts, but Peter does not do that in our present passage. So for the moment, we will give a general overview. What it is, how to use it, and so on. Let’s begin with some of the biblical information.
1. 1 Corinthians 12:4-6-
a. Gifts are given by the Holy Spirit- Since we receive the Holy Spirit at the time of salvation, then the gifts come either at the time of salvation, or sometime thereafter.
b. Notice the parallels in this passage that help us define what a gift is- “gifts” (vs. 4), “administrations” (vs. 5- has been translated ministries), and “operations” (vs. 6) all seem to be parallel or synonymous.
2. A gift then is a God-given ability to perform a specific function within the church. It came at the time of or after we were saved.
B. Five principles that help us properly exercise our gifts
1. Every believer receives a gift-
a. vs. 10 “As every man hath received the gift. . .”
b. Not one of us can claim that we have no gift
2. Every gift is given to serve others in the church--
a. vs. 10 “minister the same one to another” In other words, the gift which the Spirit has given you? That same gift? Use it to help others in the church.
b. The issuing of gifts is not for selfish purposes. It was given for the good of others.
c. Notice how this fits in with our first major point this evening that we are to have fervent love for one another.
d. Fervent love covers a lot of sins, and it also uses it’s gifts to help other people. Using our gifts is a way of loving the people of God.
3. Every believer is responsible to use his/her gift.
Illustration: We just got finished with Christmas didn’t we? Now suppose for the sake of illustration I were to go out and bought my wife a bread maker (she has no need of one by the way, she makes excellent bread as it is). I wrap it up, put it under the tree and think, boy is she ever gonna’ love this one. She’s going to use this thing till it wears out. She’ll be so happy! It’s the biggest item under the tree. Christmas comes, and we go to open presents and she sees her gift, all wrapped up, and then says, you know, I don’t think I want to open that right now. I’ll open it later. I don’t have time. I need to fix supper. So I’m a little disappointed and think, well, I suppose that’s okay. But you know, for the next six months I can’t get her to open that gift and use it! By now I’m pretty frustrated. It’s sitting in the corner, gathering dust. She hasn’t even opened it!
I have to think that maybe that’s how God must feel. It’s possible for people to be Christians for decades, without ever using their gift.
a. God will call us to give account of how we’ve used our spiritual gifts.
b. The end of verse ten says that we are “stewards of the manifold grace of God.” In other words, we are stewards of His gifts. A steward is someone who has been entrusted with an important responsibility. One for which he will one day be held accountable.
c. Every person has abilities which God has given to be used in the church. It doesn’t mean that we have to over commit ourselves. What it means is that each Christian should have a significant area in which he or she exercises their gift.
3. Each person can use their gift with supernatural confidence. Tied up with the gift is Divine empowerment.
a. Notice the two categories of gifts (vs. 11) (these are just general categories or types here, not exhaustive lists)
aa. speaking
bb. ministering- or serving
b. These can be done with confidence of Divine enablement
aa. The one who speaks, let him do it as if he is speaking the words of God. Do it with confidence and earnestness. Notice, that what is spoken in the classroom here at church and what is spoken from the pulpit are not things that are infallible.
bb. The one who ministers or serves can do it knowing he has the ability of God behind him.
cc. This gives us a humble confidence
4. Gifts are given so that God, not man, gets the glory (vs. 11b)
a. Some gifts are more prominent than others, therefore we must remember Who gave the gifts.
b. They are just what they say they are---gifts. We didn’t earn them. They were given to us. The Giver gets the glory.
Application: So are we using our gifts? Do we have a specific area over which we exercise our gifts in this local church?
Conclusion:
So today we have seen that we are indeed an end-time church.
We have seen three ways that we can prepare for the coming of Christ:
A. Minds that are stable
B. Hearts that are ready to love
C. Hands that are ready to serve.
Are we ready for Christ’s return?
Are we fearful of the future, or are we sound-mindedly praying?
Is there anyone in the church in regards to whom we need to exercise the love that covers a multitude of sins?
Are we exercising our gift? “Well, I don’t know what it is?” The best way to find out is to pray that God will bring opportunities. When God gives those opportunities to serve in the church, take them. By taking those opportunities, God can steer you into the area of your gift.