SERIES: Faith Under Fire
First Priorities in the Last Days
If you knew a great disaster was coming how would you prepare for it? Our passage today talks about a coming disaster and tells us how to prepare:
(1 Peter 4:7‑11) “The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self‑controlled so that you can pray. {8} Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. {9} Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. {10} Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms. {11} If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
My first thought when reading this is that we are not encouraged to prepare for this coming disaster by hoarding food or storing supplies or hunkering down in self-protection. But then that wouldn’t make any sense, would it? Because if “the end of all things” is really around the corner, even a well-stocked bomb shelter won’t do any good. But what we are encouraged to do is instructive. Because the end is near, we must have clear minds, loving hearts, and open homes.
But we have to understand Peter’s opening statement before we can move on to the preparations he calls for. What does Peter mean when he says, “The end of all things is near”? If it means what it sounds like, then he must have been mistaken, for it has been 19 ½ centuries since he wrote these words, and that’s not “near” in anyone’s timetable, except maybe God’s. But I don’t think we should make that judgment so quickly, because the biblical writer viewed history very differently than we do. We tend to think linearly, chronologically, but they tended to think of history in terms of God’s intervention in major events to accomplish His purposes of calling out a people for Himself.
From the perspective of redemptive history all the major events have already happened, starting with …
the creation,
the fall,
the flood,
the scattering of the nations,
the call of Abraham,
the captivity in Egypt,
the Exodus,
the establishment of the kingdom of Israel in the Promised Land,
the exile to Babylon,
the subsequent return to the Land,
the birth of Christ,
His life, death and resurrection,
His ascension into heaven,
and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to establish the Church.
That’s it. That is salvation history. And as far as I can tell, no other major events are predicted in Scripture after the founding of the Church until the return of Christ. The discovery of America is not predicted, nor the Reformation, nor the Holocaust, nor the re-establishment of the nation of Israel, nor the European Union. From the standpoint of salvation history, the curtain has been ready to fall at any time since the first century. Bible teachers have always talked about the imminency of the return of Christ. While some have meant by “imminency” that His return will be “soon,” others have meant simply that there are “no other major events are pending.”
Now I am speaking of the Return of Christ as one event, though admittedly there are several aspects to it consuming approximately seven years. There will be a Great Apostasy, the appearance of Anti-Christ, the Great Tribulation, the Rapture of the Church, and the Revelation (Return) itself. There is dispute among Bible scholars as to the actual order of these events; in fact, there is dispute even in this church about the order. But for the sake of this discussion, let’s try to ignore the order of these aspects of the Second Coming and just consider how we should live in light of the fact that they are all going to occur within a relatively short period of time.
If the end is near, then those who are expecting it should live in a certain way in light of it. That’s Peter’s message to us this morning.
Because the end is near, we must have clear minds. (7)
“Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled . . . .” The term “clear minded” means “thinking about and evaluating situations maturely and correctly.” The term “self-controlled” is the familiar term “be sober”, and it forbids not only physical drunkenness but also letting the mind wander into any other kind of mental intoxication or addiction or even laziness which inhibits spiritual alertness. (This is not the first time Peter uses these terms, nor will it be the last. We saw them in chapter 1, verse 13, and we will see the same emphasis in chapter 5 and verse 8).
Now it’s probably good to be clear minded and self-controlled for a number of reasons, but the specific reason offered here is “so that you can pray.” Surely his point is so that you can pray more effectively, more appropriately, more intelligently. Christians should be alert to events and evaluate them correctly in order to be able to pray better.
Because the end is near, we must also have loving hearts. (8)
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” I have heard people argue against biblical standards and against church discipline on the basis of this verse. Some would argue that fornication may be sinful, but if you love the person you are involved with, then your love covers up the sin. Adultery may be sinful, but if you love the person, then your love covers up the sin. Abortion or euthanasia may be sinful, but if you do it out of love and compassion, then your love covers up the sin.
I want to say very clearly, that’s not what this verse is saying. The covering is not of the lover’s sinsbut rather the sins of the one loved. The point is that when love abounds in a fellowship of Christians, many small offences will be readily overlooked and forgotten. Even large sins can be forgiven and, when the person demonstrates true repentance, those sins will not be held against him.
Because the end is near, we must have open homes. (9)
Verse 9: “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” There is a tremendous emphasis on hospitality in the NT. But it’s important to understand that this is not the same as “entertaining,” as most of us know it. When you entertain you invite the right guests. You put out your best china and silver and crystal. You prepare your most tantalizing dishes. The goal of entertaining is to make sure everyone has a good time, to impress, and to make sure you receive an invitation to their house in return. But when you practice hospitality, the goal is to minister to the needs of others. You share your home and your life in an unpretentious way because you realize that you are just a steward, a manager of what God has given you.
The unique instruction about hospitality that is offered here in this passage is the qualifying phrase,“without grumbling.” Do you have any idea why that would be added? Well, sure. It’s easy to resent the time and effort true hospitality takes. It’s easy to complain about the loss of privacy and the financial cost. It’s easy to gripe about the clean-up afterwards. But author of Hebrews writes, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” (Hebrews 6:10)
Then in verses 10 & 11 Peter tells us that . . .
Because the end is near, we must use our spiritual gifts faithfully. (10-11)
“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” A spiritual gift is probably most simply defined as “any talent or ability which is empowered by the Holy Spirit and able to be used in the ministry of the church.” It may start out as a natural talent, for the God who saved us is also the God who created us, but a natural talent only becomes a spiritual gift when it is motivated by the Holy Spirit and used for God’s glory.
I want to point out four facts about spiritual gifts:
1. Every list of spiritual gifts in the New Testament is different. There are four such lists, and this one in 1 Peter 4 is the shortest. This one just speaks of two general categories: speaking gifts and serving gifts. But if you look at the other lists–Romans 12, 1 Cor. 12:8-10, 1 Cor. 12:28-30, and Ephesians 4:11, you find 20 or so different gifts of the Spirit, including apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor/teacher, teaching, leadership, wisdom, knowledge, faith, miracles, administration, giving, mercy, healings, tongues, interpretation of tongues, discernment of spirits, and exhortation.
The fact that no list contains all the gifts and no gift is on all the lists indicates to me that these are only representative of the gifts God gives people. There are a number of abilities not found on these lists which I believe can be spiritual gifts, like music, art, cooking, writing, construction, and probably many others.
2. Every believer is given at least one gift for service. Verse 10 says “each one.” God has granted to all of us at least one spiritual gift. If that is true, and I don’t know how one can dispute it biblically, why do so many Christians go year after year without a ministry? How is it that a born-again Christian can be satisfied to simply come to church, pray before meals, and do nothing by way of using the ability God has uniquely given him or her to serve the Body? Paul told young Timothy, “Do not neglect your gift.” Is not God saying the same to us?
But there’s another truth inherent in verse 10, namely that you shouldn’t try to use someone else’s gift; use your own. “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others.” Paul says the same thing in Romans 12: “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve, etc.” In other words, it is our responsibility to do our thing in the Church, not someone else’s thing.
Now there may be occasions when because other gifted people are unwilling, you have to step into the gap and do a job for which you are not fully qualified. But be sure to give it up as soon as a gifted person becomes available. I have often thought of the fact that when our church in St. Louis started a couple of women were willing to play the piano even though neither was a concert pianist. One was Eloise Brightup, whom some of you know. They didn’t seek the task but they graciously served until God brought others more gifted in that area.
Sometimes people say, “But I don’t know what my spiritual gift is.” OK, I can accept that, but have you tried to find out? I’m convinced that if you really want to serve God, He will show you what your capacity for spiritual service is. Someone has said that a proper search for one’s spiritual gift is initiated by prayer, enlightened by study, indicated by desire, confirmed by ability, and accompanied by blessing.
3. Every local church is given every gift. (1 Cor. 1:7, 12:18) I find this fact taught in 1 Cor. 1:7, where Paul says to the Corinthian church, “You do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.” He is not saying this to every individual Corinthian, for no one has all the gifts. Rather he is speaking to the whole church, for the “you” is plural in this verse. In 1 Cor. 12:18 he adds that “God has placed the members, each one of them, in the Body, just as Hedesired.”
You are not here at First Free by accident. Every need this Body has is able to be met by someone God has led here. If there are needs going begging, from children’s workers to ushers to finances, it’s not because the resources and gifts aren’t here. It’s because someone is failing to exercise the gifts God has given.
4. Every gift must be God-focused, not self-focused or audience-focused. Lots of people serve others. You see it in the Peace Corps, you see it in the Shriner’s Hospitals, in people picking up trash along the highway, and in men coaching Little League baseball. But the unique thing about a spiritual gift that sets it apart from other service is seen in the last part of verse 10: “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.” We are to serve others not to make ourselves feel good, not even just for their benefit; rather we are to do it as a way to administer God’s grace. We are to be God in the flesh, God with skin on, to people, if I can say that without taking anything away from the unique sense in which Jesus was God in the flesh.
The difference between the welfare office and Union Rescue Mission is that when the volunteers at Union Rescue Mission serve a meal they serve it in the name of Jesus, and the person receiving it sees a connection between the physical meal that will keep them going for one more day and the spiritual food that can keep them going for all of eternity.
Our service to one others must be God-focused in a second way. Peter adds that if you have one of the speaking gifts, you need to “do it as one speaking the very words of God.” Whether you are leading little children in AWANA to memorize Scripture or teaching Jr. High Sunday School or serving as a Pastor/Teacher or preaching to thousands, you must take the task seriously. You’re handling the Word of almighty God. Don’t teach without being prepared, don’t do it without prayer, don’t do it without study, and don’t do it without dependence upon the Holy Spirit.
And if you have one of the serving gifts, Peter says you should “do it with the strength God provides.” You can probably serve as an usher or in the church kitchen or in the nursery in your own strength. But you shouldn’t! A gift that comes from God needs to be used with God’s power if it is to accomplish all God intended.
There is a third sense in which our gifts must be God-focused, and that is seen in the middle of verse 11: “So that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.” We don’t serve to be noticed. We don’t serve to get attention. We don’t serve to avoid guilt. We serve so that God will get the glory.
I close this section on spiritual gifts with a quotation from Dr. F. B. Meyer:
It is urgently needful that the Christian people of our charge should come to understand that they are not a company of invalids, to be wheeled about, or fed by hand, nursed and comforted, but a garrison in an enemy’s country, every soul of which should have some post of duty, at which he should be prepared to make any sacrifice rather than quitting.
Now in verses 12-19 Peter returns to the topic of suffering, which he has addressed so many times already in this book.
As the end approaches we will face suffering. (12-19)
“Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. {13} But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. {14} If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. {15} If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. {16} However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. {17} For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? {18} And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”
{19} So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.”
Peter offers us here a biblical philosophy of suffering, answering some key questions about the trials all of us will face at one time or another.
What should be our attitude toward suffering? (12-13)
Not surprise but expectation. Pain and suffering and trials are part of the human condition. This is true for believers just as it is for unbelievers. In fact, it may be especially true for believers, for to the extent that suffering is disciplinary, not punitive, God brings it only on His children. That’s what Hebrews 12 says: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves.” Painful trials are not to be viewed as strange and unusual, but rather normal and expected.
Not sorrowful but rejoicing. Verse 13: “But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” Can he be serious? Is it really possible to rejoice at suffering? Yes, it’s possible. I love the story in Acts 5, where the early apostles, including Peter, the author of our epistle, were flogged and ordered to stop preaching about Jesus. But look what it says they did, while still bleeding from the beating:
(Acts 5:41‑42) “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. {42} Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.”
The rational basis for facing trials with joy is that they enable us to enter into a more intimate partnership with Christ as our faith grows. Andrae Crouch wrote the words, “If I’d never had a problem, I’d never know that He could solve them. I’d never know what faith in God could do.”
Peter’s focus is on the kind of trials in which we can be said to “participate in the sufferings of Christ.” What kind would that be? Probably situations in which we endure the same kind of rejection, persecution, insults, ridicule, and hatred He endured. If we rejoice at such suffering now, he says, we will be overjoyed when Jesus comes to receive us to Himself, probably because through the process we will have been drawn closer to Him.
What should be the manner in which we suffer? (14-16)
We are given a negative and then a positive answer. First, we should not suffer in shame as a criminal or a jerk.
Not in shame as a criminal or a jerk. “If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler.” He’s talking, of course, of deserved suffering. That kind is not praiseworthy, but rather blameworthy. God has built a law into this universe, namely, “Whatsoever a man sows, this he will also reap.” If we “sow the wind” we will “reap the whirlwind.” There’s no glory in that–only shame.
The mention of a meddler at the end of the list of dastardly crimes is curious, and probably importantfor us to consider. Relatively few Christians today suffer for being murderers and thieves, but there are not a few who might qualify as meddlers, busybodies, trouble-makers, antagonists, or just plain jerks. Sometimes these people play the martyr like an academy award winner. They are so persecuted, so rejected, so hurt, so offended, but what they fail to stop and consider is that they bring the vast majority of it on themselves. They talk too much, or they walk around with a chip on their shoulders, or they criticize others at the drop of a hat, or they are always butting into things that are none of their business. They really have no one to blame but themselves if they suffer for this behavior.
No, if we suffer, it should be proudly as a Christian.
But proudly as a Christian. “However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear the name.” When suffering is due to our faith, God puts that into a special category, and so should we. Reggie White, the perennial all-pro of the Green Bay Packers, and an evangelical preacher, was severely ridiculed for speaking out biblically on life-style issues. It affected his pocketbook too, because he lost a number of lucrative endorsements due to the opposition of the gay and lesbian lobby. Peter is saying there’s no reason whatever for Reggie to hang his head in shame, nor has he. He wears the name “Christian” proudly.
A third question which Peter seems to be answering is this:
What is the purpose of our suffering? (17-18)
When we think of God’s judgment, we generally think of the wicked. But the refining fire of God’s judgment leaves no one untouched. The difference, of course, is that Christians are being purified and strengthened by it, while the ungodly will be consumed by it. First, then, the purpose of suffering is …
Purification, maturation, and perseverance for the believer. Judgment doesn’t start with the wicked; it starts with the family of God. James has additional insight to offer on this point. He writes, “The testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:3-4) Too often, I fear, we short-circuit this process. We get angry with God for allowing the trial rather than accepting His sovereignty. We fight back against the suffering, marshaling our human resources to escape the pressure instead of standing up under it. Or we may just grit our teeth in a stoical way, our heads bloody but unbowed, rather than humbly submitting to God’s will.
If we are ever to become mature and complete, not lacking anything spiritually, we must learn to cooperate with God and persevere. Succumbing to trials can be as much sin as yielding to temptation. The reason it is sin is that we not only have a commandment to persevere, but we also have countless examples in the Bible of great men and women of faith who persevered and experienced great benefit in their lives. For example, we have Abraham’s trial on Mount Moriah, Job’s unprecedented suffering, Moses’ testing through forty years in the wilderness, Elijah’s trial by the brook, being fed by the ravens, Daniel’s testing in the Lion’s Den, Shadrach, Meshach and Obednego in the fiery furnace, and Paul’s thorn in the flesh. Why should we doubt that God still uses trials and troubles to purify us, mature us, and teach us perseverance? Some of us may need to repent for our lack of faith, our murmuring, and our negative attitudes.
But the second purpose in our suffering is not so positive.
Condemnation for the ungodly. “If judgment begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” A relationship is being drawn here between oursuffering and their suffering. I think he is saying that the people who cause our suffering will one day find it being used as evidence against them when they stand before God. You see, there’s no contradiction between God using some evil act of men to bring about good and yet holding them responsible for the act anyway. And those who do not obey the Gospel, the ungodly, the sinners, and particularly those who persecute God’s children, will someday pay for those actions.
Peter goes on to quote Proverbs 11:31: “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” The sense of “hard” is not that you have to work at it to be saved and only if you’re lucky will you make it. Rather the sense is that our ultimate salvation, our glorification in God’s presence, is brought to fruition only through a long and difficult road of suffering; if that’s true, what will be the destination of the ungodly and the sinner, some of whom may even have helped make the road hard for the righteous?
A fourth and final question addressed briefly in our text is this:
What should be the outcome of our suffering? (19)
Increased commitment to the Father. The Father is referred to as “their faithful Creator.” I like that. The One who allows trials is the same One who created us in the first place. He can be trusted. He has placed limits to the suffering, both in its intensity and in its duration.
Perseverance in right living. “And continue to do good.” The greatest danger when we suffer is that we will give up, retreat into a shell, become bitter, and end up totally self-focused. Not a good idea. It’s far better to reach out to others with the lessons learned through our suffering and with the strength God has given us.
Conclusion: In the northeastern U.S., codfish are a big commercial business. There’s a market for eastern cod all over, especially in sections of the country farthest removed from the coast. But the public demand posed a problem to the shippers. At first they froze the cod and then shipped them, but the freezing process took away much of the flavor. So they experimented with shipping them alive, in tanks of sea water, but not only was it more expensive, but the texture was adversely affected‑‑the meat became soft and mushy.
Finally some creative soul solved the problem in a most innovative manner. The codfish were placed in the tank of water along with their natural enemy‑‑the catfish. From the time the cod left the East Coast until it arrived at its westernmost destination, those ornery catfish chased the cod all over the tank! And you guessed it, when the cod arrived at the market, they were as fresh as when they were first caught, and there was no loss of flavor or texture. If anything, it was better than before.
Each of us is in a “tank” of peculiar, inescapable circumstances. Sometimes it’s painful enough just to be in the tank, but in addition, there are those God‑appointed “catfish”! Can you name some of the catfish swimming in your tank? Maybe you live with one of them. Or perhaps it’s somebody at work. Maybe it’s not even a person but an illness or bad habit or a painful memory or a financial reversal. Those catfish are there to keep you from getting soft, mushy, and tasteless, to keep you alive, alert, and fresh. Have you given thanks for them lately?
I close with these three truths to arm ourselves with as we face our trials:
God is Sovereign: He is free to do anything He wants.
God is omnipotent: He has the power to do anything He wants.
God is good: what He wants and what He does is for our best interest.
Prayer: Father, I pray today especially for those who find themselves in a dark place, who see no light on the horizon, who feel the hot blast from the fiery furnace and no relief is in sight. Change this painful place into their own personal hiding place where You are near, where You are real. Strengthen their faith, calm their fears, quiet their spirits. Remind them that trials are not an elective in the Christian-life curriculum; they are a required course. This I pray through Jesus, who was Himself, a Man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief . . . and who learned obedience through the things He suffered. Amen.[i]
DATE: January 7, 2018
Tags:
Hospitality
Spiritual gifts
Suffering
Rejoicing
Perseverance
[i] Charles Swindoll, Hope Again, 213.