Time Is Short.

They say that time flies when you are having fun.

It seems as though time drags on when difficult seasons come, though, doesn’t it?

The days feel like they are never going to end. Days bleed into weeks which, in some seasons, turn into months and years.

To the suffering Christians Peter is writing to, it surely felt like their troubles would never end.

Can you imagine the weight of you would face if every day you were worried about when they were going to come trash your business or arrest you or an angry mob would show up to hurt your family, just because you follow Jesus?

There were no indications that the persecution they were enduring was going to get any better in their lifetime. It seemed like people would always be against Jesus and that things would never change.

How do you live in that kind of environment?

You live, by the grace of God, by zooming out a bit and recognizing that in light of God’s timeline, time is short.

Let’s see that as we look at 1 Peter 4:7-19.

As we do, we are going to spend some extra time on the first phrase in verse 7, and then we will see how to live in light of this truth in the verses that follow.

“The end of all things is near”…How many of you immediately got a picture in your head of something like this guy?

The kinda crazy looking guy on the street with a sign, probably yelling at people to repent while everyone avoids eye contact and tries to walk across to the other side of the street?

While I applaud their effort, I would question the effectiveness of this tactic.

If for no other reason, it’s because this statement is really ambiguous if you think about it.

If you come from a religious background, you probably think of the return of Jesus, the final judgment of the world, and the like.

However, if you aren’t, your mind may immediately go to a different kind of end.

Perhaps you are thinking that the economic system we live under is about to collapse.

More likely, you are hearing all the news about climate change and whether or not we have passed the point of no return, so for you, the end that is near is the end of life on this planet as we know it due to extreme weather conditions, famines, disease, and all that results from it.

So, what did Peter mean when he said the end of all things is near?

He wasn’t talking about climate change or simply the end of an economic system. Instead, he was pointing to the fact that Jesus is one day returning to bring an end to evil, pain, and suffering in the world.

There is coming a time when Jesus will come back and set up his kingdom fully on earth. At some point, all the injustices we see around us will cease. Corruption will be rooted out from every political institution, and eventually, every stain of sin will be erased from all of creation.

The end is nearer today than it was then.

What does that mean for the suffering Christians in Peter’s day and for us who suffer for Christ today?

The reality that time is short gives us two mindsets that undergird our lives while we wait. After we see these mindsets, we are going to look at four actions to take in light of the shortness of time.

First, the reality that Christ will come one day and bring and end to the suffering of this world gives us...

1) Hope

If the end of all things is near, that means there is actually an end to this.

For some of those who suffer for Christ, the end will come personally as they enter Christ’s presence through death.

For others, we may have the privilege of being alive to see his return.

Either way, the suffering we endure for Christ will not continue forever, even if it lasts for the remainder of our natural lives.

There is hope that one day, the corruption in this world will cease. It seems like the people in charge of the world are corrupt, and they always have been and they always will be.

While it is true that every structure on earth is stained by sin and has some level of corruption, they will not always be like that.

One day, Jesus will come back and set himself up as the king that he is, and every knee will bow to him.

The governments of North Korea, Afghanistan, Nigeria, and Pakistan, who are among the top 10 worst countries for persecuting Christians as of 2021[1], will one day be replaced by servants of Christ.

They won’t be able to get away with this forever; our king will bring an end to the suffering.

So, there is hope. Even if suffering for Christ continues for the remainder of our lives on earth, and even if we die before Jesus comes back, there will be an end.

That gives us hope: suffering will not last forever, and Jesus will make it right one day.

That has been a theme throughout the book.

There is another mindset this reality should give us, though, and that sets the tone for the rest of what we will see this morning.

Not only does the end give us hope, it also creates in us..

2) Urgency.

We don’t have long in this life.

I am not saying that I have some insight into the fact that Jesus is coming back tomorrow or anything like that; he could, or he could wait 1,000 more years.

What I do know is that life is shorter than you think.

One day, every single one of us will die.

Some of us are closer to that moment than others, and we may not be aware of it.

Some of us are aware of it simply because of our age. All things being equal, you are in your fourth quarter of life; you are rounding the final turn and entering the home stretch.

You know what you find when you talk with someone who is getting older?

Life went by faster than they could have imagined.

As someone has said, “The days are long, but the years are short.”

Older adults can look back over the time they wasted on things that ultimately didn’t matter.

Some can look back and see how they invested their lives for the kingdom and can be grateful for all God accomplished.

Either way, it went by faster than you could ever imagine.

You know what you can’t do in heaven?

Glorify Jesus by suffering well in front of a world that doesn’t know him or understand.

That won’t be an option in heaven because you will be free from sin and suffering there.

That’s what led the great missionary Robert Moffat to say,

“We shall have all eternity in which to celebrate our victories, but we have only one swift hour before the sunset in which to win them.”

It’s the time of year where we start losing daylight more quickly.

This afternoon, if the sun comes out, watch the shadows lengthen as the day passes.

The end of all things is near.

“Sean, I’m 19 years old. If everything works out, I have like 60 years left before I die.”

I hope that is true (although I would really love to see Jesus come back before then).

Can you imagine the impact you can have on the kingdom if you live the next 60 years with urgency in light of the fact that the end of all things is near?

Some of you are closer to the end of that swift hour before the sun sets on your life.

It may be tough for you because you know you don’t have long, but you don’t have the energy you once did, or your mind isn’t as sharp as it once was.

As we see how Peter calls us to live in light of the fact that the end is near, I hope you will be encouraged.

You see, the obedience God calls us to isn’t always going to be daring feats. Instead, it may look rather routine and mundane.

So, how do we live in light of the brevity of life and the reality of the end? Our hope and urgency leads us to at least four actions I want to highlight in this passage. There are more, but we don’t have time to cover them all.

Read verses 7-19 with me.

We don’t have a ton of time to cover these this morning, but know that we are going to come back to several of these in greater detail this fall.

First, with hope and urgency, God calls us to...

1) Pray.

I think this is one of the most interesting things Peter says.

Immediately following the reminder that time is short, Peter says we are supposed to be alert and sober-minded.

In 1:13, he said we were to be sober-minded right after we ready our minds for action. That makes sense, because we are looking out to avoid sin and honor God.

In 5:8, he says that we are supposed to be alert and sober-minded because Satan is looking to attack us. Alertness and sober-mindedness keeps us on the watch for potential attacks and ready to respond by obeying God instead of falling for Satan’s lies.

But I imagine for many of us, this command feels out of place here in chapter 4.

I mean, time is short. I need to get out and do something fast because we don’t know how long we have.

And the first thing you tell me is that I need to pray?

If you are action oriented, prayer may very well feel like a waste of your time. You could be out doing something, making a difference, not just sitting around talking with God and not really doing anything productive.

If that’s your view of prayer, can I gently tell you that you are totally mistaken?

Prayer is never a waste of time.

Remember last week we talked about Martin Luther? He was one of the biggest figures God used in the history of the church. I can’t imagine the weight of the responsibilities he had every day.

It has been reported that he once remarked this:

“I am so busy now that if I did not spend three hours each day in prayer, I could not get through the day.”

[2]

I am not saying that you need to spend three hours a day in prayer, but I would challenge you to recognize that a man as powerfully used of God and as busy as Martin Luther devoted significant time in his day to get alone with God and pray.

It is the epitome of pride for you and I to think that we don’t need to do the same.

You see, prayer isn’t just you sitting down and going through a laundry list of requests for you and others.

Instead, it is sitting in God’s presence, praising him and honoring him. Prayer is getting to know him as you ask him to show himself through his Word. It is getting quiet and still and simply being with God, listening for the Holy Spirit to guide your heart.

It isn’t about convincing God to do what you want or what you think is best. Rather, prayer is about bringing the concerns on your heart to him and letting him correct you and bring you into alignment with him.

Prayer is where we find strength to stand up to suffering. It is what God uses to draw our hearts back to hope and gives us the energy we need to live with urgency.

The rest of what Peter calls us to do can’t happen without us first communing with God in prayer.

This is where there is hope for those of us whose bodies are slowing down.

You can still devote yourself to praying with urgency and hope.

Not only that, but we see that we are also called to...

2) Love.

We talk about this a fair amount, so I don’t want to spend too much time here.

Again, love isn’t romantic feelings. Instead, it is sacrificing to meet the needs of another person for their good and God’s glory.

Here, Peter quotes from Proverbs 10:12, where we see that love is the shock absorber that allows us to respond gently even when someone acts wrongly towards us.

He isn’t saying that loving person means enabling them to continue to sin against God and you and others. Instead, God calls us to love in such a way that we extend grace and forgiveness instead of always reacting in anger and hurt, especially to the daily hurts that come from relating to other people.

You see here that loving others includes the idea of hospitality—welcoming people into your home and your life.

Following Jesus is hard, especially when you are persecuted for it. We need each other, so love folks enough to open your heart to them.

Moving on, we have a beautiful reminder that we are called to...

3) Serve.

Read verses 10-11.

Living life with a recognition that the time is short does call us to serve others.

This is an extension of the love we just talked about, but with a twist.

We are called to serve one another out of the spiritual gifts God gives us when we get saved.

You see, when God saved you, he gave you a number of gifts. Some of those gifts are special ways he has equipped you to serve him and the church.

We find sample lists of these in places like 1 Cor 12.

Again, we will return to this idea in the fall, but know that God has uniquely equipped you to serve others in a particular way.

Maybe it is something like teaching, or perhaps you are an extraordinary listener who can show compassion. Maybe you are a great encourager or organizer or servant behind the scenes.

If you have a passion for something, and God seems to have given you an ability and others see God working through you in it, then that is probably an area he has gifted you in.

Use that! Get involved and serve with the gifts God has given you.

I am not saying you should pull yourself up by your boot straps and muscle your way through something.

If God has called you to serve, do so with the strength he provides. If it is preaching and teaching, surrender that and let him speak through you.

The ultimate goal in serving others with the gifts he has given is for God to be glorified, not us.

There is a lot more we could say there, but let’s move on to the final action:

4) Rejoice.

Read verses 12-13 with me.

Peter has more to say about this than we have time to look at, but the simple principle is this: we can rejoice when suffering for Christ now because one day we will overflow with joy when we see him as he is.

Rejoicing in pain is hard. It is counter-intuitive.

By God’s grace, we need to lean in and let him develop the discipline of rejoicing in suffering.

Why? Because one day, joy is going to be so easy when we see Jesus as so good.

We aren’t there yet, and life is hard, but we live with the hope and urgency that it isn’t always going to be like this.

Listen: The end of all things is near. Time is short, whether it is the brevity of life or the return of Christ.

How is your hope today? There is going to be an end to the struggle, and what a glorious resolution it will be.

How urgently are you living? Are you coasting, doing what is comfortable, or are you challenging and stepping out to honor Christ with whatever time we have left?

What does that look like?

Praying with alertness and sobriety - how vibrant is your prayer life?

Loving - How loving have you been towards those who are irritating you? Who do you need to open your life or your home to in hospitality?

Serving - Are you using what God has given you, and if so, who do you hope gets the credit?

Rejoicing - Are you rejoicing in Christ, even as you suffer with him?

I want to finish with one last challenge to you.

In October 1941, Britain was in the middle of World War II. They had survived the blitz of London, but the US had not yet entered the war, and things had looked quite bleak for the future of the British Isles.

Winston Churchill, the famous British prime minister, returned to his alma mater and spoke these words:

Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy...

Britain, other nations thought, had drawn a sponge across her slate. But instead our country stood in the gap. There was no flinching and no thought of giving in...

...and by what seemed almost a miracle to those outside these Islands, though we ourselves never doubted it, we now find ourselves in a position where I say that we can be sure that we have only to persevere to conquer.

[2]

There are going to be days when the suffering you endure for Christ feels soul-crushing and beyond what you can bear.

Rejoice, serve, love, and pray because our victory is even more certain than England’s in WWII, and we have only to persevere to conquer.

Endnote:

[1] https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2021/january/christian-persecution-2021-countries-open-doors-watch-list.html. Accessed 13 August 2022.

[2] https://www.azquotes.com/quote/875556

[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/best-commencement-speeches-never-given/2012/05/18/gIQAvaRQZU_blog.html. Accessed 13 August 2022.