1 Peter 4:7-11
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
the end of all things is coming
we have hope in Christ even when the world is being destroyed
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
even when there is nothing left, after civilization is totally destroyed, when there is no gas station, electricity, water, when everything is gone, we still have Christ
the dedication, the love, the care, and it’s only right of us to do our best to love Him back
the witnessing perspective - the end of all things is at hand, it could be any time
37 But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 38 For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, 39 And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. 40 Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 41 Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left. 42 Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
not only is the harvest great and the workers few, but we’re here on borrowed time, we need to work quickly and fervently, we need to care
witnessing to them is the best way we could ever care for someone or love them, their soul for eternity is on the line, the changed life they could have through Christ, the work that they could potentially do for Christ
every great soul winner in history started by having someone witness to him
people like george whitfield - open air preached in the 1700’s for hours a day every day while traveling a circuit
11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
sober minded - “to be able to think in a sound or sane manner, to be prudent, with focus on self-control”
this certainly encompasses drugs/drinking
these things not only numb us or make us focus on other things, but it interrupts our connection with God
think about praying in an altered state of mind, it just doesn’t seem right, does it?
aside from this, these things make us act different as well, certainly not a good testimony
these are some of the people who most need witnessing the most, most are doing drugs because they’re suffering and trying to fill a void, although many are not and are just wound up that way because they were having “fun” at first
beyond drinking/drugs, there are other things that can warp ones mind, false belief “rabbit holes” you can get lost in
you can get obsessed with something, greed or a person is an easy example
how can we avoid things like this?
we stay in the Word to keep ourselves grounded, we pray and stay close to God
when we read the Word, it gives us a foundation. it instructs us as to how to act, what and how to believe
God is our rock, our foundation, and this is one of the many ways in which that is true
41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.
we see “watch and pray” said together in all 3 of these verses, obviously there is an association
all 3 verses also draw the association about “watching” and “sin”
we need to watch ourselves, be vigilant over ourselves, making sure we’re in a good spiritual states
because the better spiritual state we’re in, the closer to God we can be
should this not be the ultimate goal of our life, taking priority over everything?
so it’s not just good enough to be sober minded, that’s kind of a passive thing
yes, we resist any temptation, but we’re not really actively doing anything when we stay sober
it’s necessary that we not just stay sober and rational minded, but but that we actively watch ourselves
it’s an action we take, we put in effort into this
we need to keep tabs on our mind, on our temptations, and put in effort to become better and better with each passing day
there will always be room for us to improve, there will never not be a time, every single person on earth can improve
no one is “peak Christian”
8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
ABOVE ALL THINGS - when we take notice of every word, this tells us we need to stop and think and pay special attention to this instead of just reading on past
fervent - “eager, earnest”
so Peter’s telling us that what we’ve seen before, like in John, that love is the highest calling we’re commanded to, it’s the standard that we need to meet
love for God - we love God by keeping His commandments
Biblical commandments are based on love - think about it when you get the time and try to find one that isn’t
so when we love God, not only do we keep His commandments, but we try our best to know Him
to read His Word, to cherish it, to pray, to stay close to Him spiritually
personal relationship
“we love Him because He first loved us”
how many ways have we seen His love demonstrated toward us
He died for us, forgives us, prepares a place for us, answers prayers, leads us along through life, etc
love for people - first, we’re commanded to do this
but we should want to do this, ideally, we’d just want to love one another because we’re new people in Christ
the love of God should be “leaking” out of us
it helps the person, could possibly make their day if we do something nice for them
you never know what the person’s going through
when we let God’s love shine through us, people get a glimpse of what God’s love could be like
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
it brings glory to God
it’s a good testimony
“covers a multitude of sin” - what’s being talked about is the fact that when we love, it’s going to reduce the amount of sin that we commit
for instance, say a a person way about to lie to someone else, if the person decides to be loving instead, he will not lie
or if a person was going to steal from someone, if he decides to love, he will not steal
or if a person was going to talk maliciously about someone else, and they don’t, that would be loving toward that person, even if they aren’t around
remember how dangerous James told us the tongue is?
where we talked about the commandments being based upon love, if we love, we will not be sinning by breaking the commandments
quotes before we move on
“Love cuts out the desire to sin, and since it also casts out fear, it is obviously full of perfect faith.”
“Nothing is stronger against the wiles of the devil, dearly beloved, than the kindness, mercy and generosity of love, through which every sin is either avoided or conquered”
9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. 41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
not only should we be hospitable, but we should be very hospitable
Peter tells us to do so without grudging
if we do something grudgingly, it means that in our heart, we really don’t want to do it
we would either be doing it for the image to other people
we know how much Jesus talked about doing things for the sake of our image, He talked about it a lot
worshipping in Spirit and truth involves being sincere in our heart in wanting to do the commandments, not just being like the Pharisees about it or doing it for the praise of men
Leads us into the next poing - not doing it sincerely
again, the Pharisees had gotten to a point where they followed their regulations but had no heart in it, they had no soul
a person has to ask at that point, what’s the use?
it’s kind of like you’re doing it all in vain
for God, our heart must be in it, and if our heart is not in it, it’s meaningless
shouldn’t we be happy to serve others? to make them feel better? to help them out on a bad day?
all people are made in the image of God, God loves them and wants them to come to Him, and just like anything else, we should be following His example
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
we can certainly murmur in our hearts, it’s a very human thing to do
we are to love people as God loved us, and God certainly doesn’t just love us for show, or love us because He has to, He does it because He wants to - and what a blessing that is
10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
we have all received the gift of salvation
we all also have our various talents that God has given us, whether it be a talent for speaking, a talent for music, a talent for writing, a talent for teaching, or various other talents
Peter tells us that we shouldn’t just use these for ourselves, we should use these to build one another up and to further the gospel
just how Paul told us we are each a member of the body of Christ, we’re each different members, with our individual talents and abilities
ideally, a church would be a well-oiled machine, with different members using their talents coordinated together to build a greater whole
good stewards - we want to do as good as we can with God’s grace! we want to make hay while the sun shines.
manifold - varied, diverse
with such a wonderful gift we’ve been given by God, with the love He has for us, and knowing what He wants us to do with it, it’s only right, it’s only just that we be good stewards with it
we all have the ability to further the gospel in one way or another
some may be better with one on one, others with groups, some may even do good with videos - but we all have the ability
11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
when we go about living our life, it’s a lifetime commitment
not only is it lifelong, but priority
when God is the top priority in our life, it will shines through everything we do
and when we succeed in some way, we should glorify Him, because it’s really only through Him and because of Him that we’ve succeeded
31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
17 And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.
God is why we live, why we breathe, why we have the strength to go on, why we won’t end up justly going to hell for our sins, He has infinite love toward us
if we go back to what Peter was saying, this should take over us and our mind so much that it should just be beaming out of us
in everything God will be glorified
letting your light shine so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven
witnessing to others, growing the church so that it can spread God’s glory even more
doing our part for the church, since it’s a primary way that God is glorified, through the things that the church does
we want to always be building the things of God on earth, we are kind of God’s agents down here, and it’s our job to be bringing God’s plan into fruition
God has asked that we glorify Him, yes we thank Him and we praise Him for what He’s done for us, but there are also the bigger picture things that we can do for Him
“to Him be praise and dominion forever. amen.”
we have all the reason in the world to praise Christ
the love He has for us, the things He’s suffered through for us and done for us
many times praise is kind of a quick thing, we thank Him in our prayers and in church
but we can live a lifestyle of praising Him and honoring Him by keeping His commands, by letting our light shine, and by having a good testimony
in this way we glorify Him and show our thanks and praise to HIm not only with our lips, but with our life
He has the dominion - He is who He says He is and He’s done what He said He’d do for us
He is at the right hand of the Father in heaven
He’s defeated evil and not just for Himself, but we get to share in it
36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.
to Him - next verse
19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; 20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
ALL things will be reconciled to Him, this is true dominion, and how things are “of Him, through Him, and to Him”
this world is His, and you can either go with Him or rebel against Him
rebelling against Him is destructive to life itself, on a personal level, on a bigger level, sin IS destructive and against the creator of this world’s plans for it
on His dominion -
1 Timothy 6:15–16 (KJV 1900) The King of kings, and Lord of lords; 16 Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
We see here the true glory of Christ illustrated greatly
when we glorify ourselves, Christ is really the one who ought to be glorified, because He gives us our life, He created us, He gives us our abilities
so really, the glory is His, and we ought not rob Him of the glory He so much deserves