Living at the End of the World Text: 1 Peter 4:7-11
Introduction: What Time Is It?
The apostle Peter, writing to scattered and persecuted Christians, does something that modern Christians often fail to do. He tells them what time it is. And the time, he says, is short. "The end of all things is at hand." This is not a call to panic, to sell all your belongings and head for the hills with a white robe. It is a call to a particular kind of living. How you live is determined by what you believe the time to be. If you think it is the top of the ninth with two outs, you will live differently than if you think it is still the first inning. Peter is telling us that history has reached its final chapter. The Messiah has come, He has died, He has risen, He has ascended, and He is reigning now. Therefore, the end is not just near; it has begun.
This is a profoundly clarifying doctrine. When you know the end of the story, the middle of the story makes sense. The persecution they were facing was not a sign that God had abandoned them, but rather that the kingdom of God was advancing and the kingdom of darkness was throwing a desperate tantrum. The pressure they felt was the pressure of childbirth, not the pressure of a tomb. The end of all things being "at hand" means that the new creation has broken into the old. The age to come is overlapping with this present evil age. This means our lives, right now, are to be lived on the frontier between two worlds.
Because this is the case, our lives must be characterized by a certain kind of radical, joyful, and disciplined seriousness. Peter does not say, "The end is near, so hunker down." He says, "The end is near, so get to work." This is not a time for sloppy thinking, for spiritual drunkenness, or for self-absorbed navel-gazing. This is a time for clear minds, sober spirits, and fervent love. This is a time to deploy the gifts God has given us for the good of His people and the glory of His name. Peter is giving us a field manual for living in the last days, which are all the days between Christ's first and second comings.
The Text
The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound thinking and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer. Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because LOVE COVERS A MULTITUDE OF SINS. Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God, whoever speaks, as one speaking the oracles of God; whoever serves,as one serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and might forever and ever. Amen.
(1 Peter 4:7-11 LSB)
Eschatological Sanity (v. 7)
We begin with the foundational premise and its immediate consequence.
"The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound thinking and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer." (1 Peter 4:7)
The "end of all things" refers to the consummation of the age, inaugurated by Christ's first coming. Because the climax of history has occurred, we are now in the final act. This reality should produce two things in us: sound thinking and a sober spirit. "Sound thinking" means to be clear-minded, to have your wits about you. It is the opposite of being flighty, distracted, or tossed about by every wind of doctrine or cultural fad. A Christian who understands the times is not easily panicked. He knows who wins in the end. "Sober spirit" is not primarily about abstaining from alcohol, though it certainly includes that. It means to be self-controlled, level-headed, and not intoxicated by the passions, ambitions, and anxieties of the world. The world is drunk on its own importance, its own crises, its own pleasures. We are to be sober.
And why this mental and spiritual sobriety? "For the purpose of prayer." A flighty, frantic, distracted mind cannot pray effectively. Prayer requires focus. It requires that we see the world as it truly is, under the sovereign hand of God, and not as the screaming headlines would have us see it. When you know the end is at hand, you know that prayer is not a desperate, last-ditch effort. It is participation in the final victory. It is calling down the realities of the coming age into the present. Sober, clear-headed saints are praying saints, because they know what time it is, and they know who is on the throne.
The Priority of Fervent Love (v. 8)
Given the nearness of the end, Peter points to the supreme ethical priority for the Christian community.
"Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because LOVE COVERS A MULTITUDE OF SINS." (1 Peter 4:8)
"Above all." This is the non-negotiable. If you get everything else right but fail at this, you have failed. The love he calls for is "fervent," which means strenuous, stretched-out, intense. This is not a sentimental, squishy feeling. This is a rugged, disciplined, covenantal commitment to the good of your brothers and sisters in Christ. In a world that is falling apart, the church must be a community that is holding together with the supernatural glue of divine love.
And the reason for this fervent love is profoundly practical: "because love covers a multitude of sins." This does not mean that our love for others earns our forgiveness from God. Christ's blood alone covers our sins before a holy God. What it means is that love is the ultimate shock absorber in the church. A community of redeemed sinners will necessarily be a community of sinning sinners. We are going to bump into each other. We will offend and be offended. Hatred and bitterness seize on these offenses, magnify them, and use them to tear the community apart. But fervent love does the opposite. It "covers" them. It forgives readily. It doesn't keep a detailed record of wrongs. It throws a blanket of grace over the failings of others, refusing to expose them for public ridicule. It absorbs the offense and swallows it in grace, for the sake of unity and peace. A church where love is fervent is a church where sin cannot get the upper hand.
Love in Shoe Leather (v. 9)
Peter then gives a very concrete, practical outworking of this fervent love.
"Be hospitable to one another without grumbling." (1 Peter 4:9)
Hospitality is not throwing a fancy dinner party to impress your friends. The word literally means "love of strangers." In the ancient world, where travel was dangerous and inns were often little more than brothels, the homes of Christians were vital outposts of the kingdom. Believers on the run from persecution or traveling missionaries depended on the open homes of their brethren. Hospitality is love with its doors unlocked. It is sharing your food, your space, and your life with others.
And the key qualifier is "without grumbling." Hospitality is costly. It costs time, money, and energy. It messes up your schedule and dirties your house. The temptation to do it with a resentful, martyred spirit is very real. But grumbling hospitality is not Christian hospitality at all. It is a noisy gong and a clanging cymbal. God loves a cheerful giver, and that includes the cheerful giving of your home and your resources. To be hospitable without grumbling is to recognize that nothing you have is truly yours anyway. It all belongs to God, and you are just a steward. This kills the root of grumbling, which is a sense of violated ownership.
Stewards of Grace (v. 10-11)
Peter broadens the principle from the specific gift of hospitality to all the gifts God has given His people.
"As each one has received a gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God, " (1 Peter 4:10)
Every single Christian has received a gift. There are no exceptions. These gifts are not natural talents, though God certainly uses those. They are supernatural empowerments by the Holy Spirit for the purpose of building up the body of Christ. And notice, you do not own your gift. You are a "steward." A steward is a manager of someone else's property. Your gifts are not for your own private enjoyment or self-aggrandizement. They are given to you to be given away in service to others. To sit on your gift is embezzlement. To use it for your own glory is theft.
The grace of God is "manifold," meaning many-colored, multi-faceted. God is not monotonous. He gives a wide diversity of gifts to His church, teaching, serving, encouraging, giving, leading, showing mercy, and so on. This diversity is intentional, so that we would be forced to depend on one another. The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you." A church where the members are employing their gifts is a beautiful, functioning body. A church where they are not is a collection of disconnected, self-serving spiritual amputees.
In verse 11, Peter gives two broad categories for these gifts and the manner in which they must be used.
"whoever speaks, as one speaking the oracles of God; whoever serves, as one serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and might forever and ever. Amen." (1 Peter 4:11)
If your gift is a speaking gift, whether preaching, teaching, or counseling, you must speak with the gravity of one handling the very words, the "oracles," of God. This is no place for your bright ideas, your clever opinions, or the latest psychological fluff. You are a herald, not an author. You are to deliver the mail, not write it. This requires faithfulness to the Scriptures and a humble dependence on the Spirit.
If your gift is a serving gift, a gift of doing, you are to do it "by the strength which God supplies." This is the antidote to burnout and to pride. If you serve in your own strength, you will either burn out from exhaustion or puff up with pride at your accomplishments. But if you recognize that the very energy you expend in service is itself a gift from God, then you can serve joyfully and tirelessly, knowing that He who called you will also sustain you. It is His power flowing through you.
And what is the ultimate goal of all this? "So that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ." This is the final test of all our activity in the church. Does this act of speaking, this act of serving, this act of hospitality, this act of love, bring glory to God? Is He made to look magnificent? Our lives are not about us. Our gifts are not about us. The church is not about us. It is all for Him. The final doxology says it all: "to whom belongs the glory and might forever and ever. Amen." He has the glory by right, and He has the might to bring it all to pass. Our job is to live in such a way that our lives reflect that ultimate reality.