What should Christians do while we wait for the end? Part one (1 Peter 4:7)

Jesus is coming

“7 The end of all things is at hand.” This is what Peter says, but what does he mean? He means Jesus is coming to end everything and start afresh. 

He is coming to end all pain and suffering, sin and the devil, sickness, poverty, crime, every trouble, and judge sinners. But for those who belong to him, faithful Christians, he is going to create a new heaven and earth, free of evil and its consequences. 

We know this because Peter alludes to it in Chapter 5:4 :

“4 And when the chief Shepherd appears.” Who is the Chief Shepherd? Jesus. Because he used this metaphor to describe himself in John 10, when he says, “I am the good Shepherd”.

So when Jesus, the shepherd appears, Peter says in 2 Peter 3 : 

“10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.” Including the ungodly. 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

So, Jesus is coming to end everything and start afresh.

His return will be sudden. 

Like a thief in the night. 

A thief doesn’t phone you, or leave a note telling you the day and time he or she is coming. So too the Lord's return. The trumpet will sound, the heavens will be ripped open, and Jesus will appear in all his splendour and glory.

Peter says this with confidence. “The end of all things is at hand.” He’s not saying, the end might happen. No! There is no hint of doubt in his mind that this will not happen.

IT IS GOING TO TAKE PLACE!

Therefore, how should we respond to this truth? 

We should change our lifestyle.

We should live out 4 virtues or characteristics. Today I am going to share one out of the four.

Look at v7 again, “The end of all things is at hand; therefore…

The first virtue is, PRAY!

“be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.”

In other words, be disciplined and serious so that you may pray. 

I’ve chosen to interpret “sober-minded” as serious, because when I think of a sober minded person, I think of someone who is not intoxicated with alcohol, therefore his or her behaviour is serious. 

My dad was an alcoholic, and when he got drunk and spoke to us, he was not serious about anything, always joking and speaking in a half-hearted manner. So a sober-minded person, in my mind, doesn’t behave like a drunk, but is serious. This is why I chose to go with this interpretation.

Be disciplined and serious so that you may pray. 

Peter is not concerned about when you pray. You can do it in the morning, just before work, college, school etc. You may speak to God during the day. You may speak to God at night after work or varsity. Nor is he concerned about how you pray. You can stand, sit, kneel, close your eyes, open your eyes, pray aloud or pray in your heart.

Peter is not concerned about when you pray and how you pray, neither should we. However, what matters to him is that you intentionally carve out time and really speak to God. 

Why? For two reasons.

Reason number 1 - so that you may resist the temptation to sin.

Listen to what Jesus said to his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane.

“36 Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”

39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

40 Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked Peter. 41 “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

So why should we intentionally carve out time to pray? 

So that we may not fall into sin.

Reason number 2 - so that other things may not pull you away from prayer. 

The other things are not sin, but good things. 

The things that pull me away from prayer is not sin but righteousness. 

Like checking and answering messages or watching a little bit of the news. I'm talking from experience. 

So, we need to set aside time to pray and be disciplined so that other things may not prevent us from praying and speaking to our heavenly Father.

Our Lord is coming, how will he find you?

Sleeping and falling into sin or intentionally making time to pray, so that we may not fall into sin and allow other things to pull us away from speaking to God. 

How will he find you?

God Bless,

Steven Gounder.