Although I’m sure there are exceptions, it has been apparent at least in my own personal observations, that people need to see things through to a finish.
Just a few years ago a man named Vernon Howell and his deluded followers attacked ATF agents. Then they barricaded themselves against the world, there in Waco, Texas, and the world watched.
One morning in mid 1994 newscasters announced that Los Angeles Police were looking for OJ Simpson in connection with the murder of his wife, Nicole, and her friend, Ron Goldman. As his trial went on, and on, and on, the world watched.
As technology grows and improves, even the small, relatively insignificant events of our world that transpire, sometimes in very out-of-the-way places, are more widely reported through the internet, television and the printed word.
A child is kidnapped, terrorists hold captives, countries that have long been at war with one another meet year after year for peace talks, and the world watches.
Why? Because we need to know the end.
If the TV goes on the blink ten minutes after the beginning of the Monday night movie, we’re disappointed. If it goes on the blink ten minutes before the end, we’re livid!
The time when we’re least likely to lay a good book down is when we’re in the last two or three chapters. We’ve just GOT to know how it ends.
There are times when we truly need to see an end. Emotionally, psychologically, we need an end. When a loved one dies it is for the family - the loved ones - that we hold a funeral service. Even the graveside service has a very real purpose in the grieving process. People need to say good-bye. There needs to be closure.
All of us feel grief in our heart when we hear of someone whose child was kidnapped and never found. When they are interviewed on television, what do they always say? “I’ve just got to know. One way or the other, I’ve got to know where my child is”.
There are parents whose sons never returned from Viet Nam and were never accounted for, and the families just went on for years and years, never knowing. We can almost feel the pain with them, because that’s our nature...the need to know the end.
Well on the night of the arrest of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter ran away into the woods with the rest of the followers. But even in the face of those obviously dangerous circumstances, he couldn’t stay away entirely. He had to know the end.
Let’s read Matthew 26, verses 57 and 58.
Had fear and confusion not clouded Peter’s thinking, he may have found comfort in the words he had heard only hours before. While celebrating the Passover feast with His disciples, the Lord had said clearly, “This is My blood of the covenant which is poured out for many, for forgiveness of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
If Peter had remembered those words and their meaning, maybe they would have given him the encouragement that was so sorely needed; the faith that was so sorely lacking.
Even in the Garden, at the time of the arrest, (right there in verse 56) Jesus had said, “...all this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets may be fulfilled.’
Well we know now, of course, that the only thing that came to an end that night was the physical, earthly ministry of Christ.
Happily for Peter, it was not his end either. The events of this night would become, not only for Peter but for all who believe, the power of God for salvation.
Judas thought it was the end of his hopes that this Jesus, the Messiah, would conquer Israel’s enemies and establish His kingdom on earth.
Pilate thought it was the end of yet another rebel against Rome’s rule; whose followers would scatter and go back to their homes.
The religious leaders thought it was the end of the one whose words had held such searing rebuke for their hypocrisy.
Everyone thought it was the end, for one reason or another.
They didn’t understand that His crucifixion was only the physical manifestation of something that had been a settled fact since before the beginning of time.
The Lamb, slain before the foundation of the world, was being led from His garden of prayer, to His great victory.
They tied his hands, and He took captivity captive.
They were bruising His face in hatred, but He was being crushed for our iniquities.
They thought the whip against His back was punishment for His supposed crime, but He was providing healing for our sin-sick souls.
They thought they were stopping Him forever with spikes, but He was nailing our debt to the tree.
It was not the end, but the beginning of beginnings.
Now, I owe something to the Apostle Peter. In so many of my sermons of the past - and probably in the majority of sermons centering on Peter by other preachers - Peter has been used as an example of dullness of understanding, being too quick to speak and too slow to listen; and indeed he does give us some marvelous examples of those things.
But the post-Pentecost Peter does have some things to say about the topic of today’s sermon. So although I could have drawn very strongly from Paul in some of the things I want to say, I decided to go with Peter, since we’re talking about him anyway.
We’re talking about ends; outcomes. Our time wouldn’t be complete without talking about some of the ends, the purposes of Christ’s atoning work. For salvation, you know, is not an end in itself.
Turn to I Peter 1 for a moment and read verses 6-9
“In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”
First, Peter speaks here about our relationship with God, made possible through Christ’s sufferings.
Notice that Peter begins the section with our rejoicing in the midst of tribulation. In the gospels, Peter rebuked his Lord for even suggesting going to a criminal’s cross. When the time came, he even ran away himself.
But now he has the mind of Christ, Who promised us that we would have tribulation, and Peter says that “in this you greatly rejoice”.
How could Peter assume that we can rejoice in trials? because he had learned that the proof of our faith, which is more precious than perishing gold, even through tested by fire, will be found to result in praise and glory and honor, AT THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. - THE END!
Are you hearing the underlying, but all important message here? We spend so much time fretting about today or the immediate tomorrow; or quilt-ridden over long forgotten yesterdays.
That’s what the old Peter used to do. But the mind of Christ is one that sees the only ‘end’, as the final revelation of the Lord’s Messiah and the close of the age.
Everything between now and then is only preparation. EVERYTHING.
Then he goes on, “...and though you have not seen Him,” now keep in mind that Peter was writing to a new generation of people by this time; only the oldest of whom could possibly have seen Jesus, “...though you have not seen Him you love Him and believe in Him,” then again he says, “...you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome, the salvation of your souls.”
Did you hear it again? He’s writing to believers. So when he refers to the salvation of their souls he’s not talking about the initial coming to the Lord and believing in Him for salvation.
He’s talking about the end; when God makes His salvation complete. When we’re glorified.
Now if you turn over to the fourth chapter of I Peter, you’ll see that whereas in chapter one he was talking about our relationship to Christ and our sufferings for Him, in chapter four he’s talking about Godly living and our interpersonal relationships.
Starting at verse seven: “The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment 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 complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
“Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
Ok, let’s just break these verses down into an itemized list so we can get the whole picture here.
What does Peter exhort us to do in this passage? First, approach your prayer time with sound judgment and sober spirit.
Notice that he doesn’t say to pray. It’s assumed.
Translation: don’t pray frivolously.
Go to prayer with the mind of Christ, seeking God’s will, the good of others, and wisdom for yourself.
Secondly, he says to be fervent in your love for one another. Fervent! What a word, when used in reference to our relationship to one another. We who gossip behind one another’s backs. We who become offended if some insensitive dolt plants his career on OUR pew.
We who sometimes have to have a gripe come back to us third party, before it dawns on us that we’ve acted like a self-righteous prig and offended our brother.
WE - fervent in our love.
Must we have the mind of Christ and the love of Christ, Who gave Himself for us in order to obey that exhortation? Of course.
Third, he says to be hospitable to one another without complaint. I guess if we’re fervent in our love for one another, that one’s going to kind of fall into place.
Four, use the special gifts that God has imparted to us; how? In serving one another. Not to get attention or reward, or to ‘stay in good with God’, but toward this end; that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.
Why will God be glorified through Christ if we do these things?
Because people will look at our good works, and our love for each other, and see Jesus. Whatever brings praise to Jesus, brings glory to God.
Now look back at the phrase upon which Peter based this set of exhortations, in verse seven:
“THE END OF ALL THINGS IS AT HAND”
See the pattern? Even though 20 centuries have passed since Peter penned those words, they remain true, and truer, in the sense that it’s closer now. That day is closer now than it was then, and closer as each day passes.
It does not become less sure, as the world thinks, by virtue of its seeming delay. “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”
Do you know that I have heard people say that to me? Not always in those exact words, but they’ve spoken in the same spirit of unbelief. When they do, I almost jump up and shout ‘GLORY!’ Because Bible writers said thousands of years ago that they would say these things, and now they’re saying them in my hearing.
Nope, it’s a day that’s fixed. It is coming; it is a day that God sees as already done; it is more ‘at hand’ than it was the day Peter wrote about it.
So do you see the pattern? It is not only through Peter, but all through the epistles to the churches that we see exhortations to Godly living, brotherly love, to all that our Christian experience is, with this as our incentive, this as our inspiration, this as our great and sure hope; THE END.
How zealous would we be for prayer, at the beginning and the end of every day; or service toward tour brethren throughout every day for good works in the name of and with the mind of our crucified Savior, if we lived constantly with the conviction that His return is imminent?
This message of Christ’s return needs to be preached from the pulpit far more often than it is.
Any pastor who deserves to stand before the people would agree that no sermon is complete without the gospel message being given at some point. But I believe the truth of His second coming should not be filed away, only to be referred to when doing a study of the prophetical books.
It should be preached as often as the gospel message itself.
I believe we should remind each other often.
I believe we should tell the world around us at every opportunity. The play is almost over; the Author is getting ready to step out onto the stage.
If we got people thinking about that more often, if they could see our conviction that we really believe it’s true, expecting it to happen, I believe we’d have more people wanting to hear the gospel.
We must stop being like Lot, whose life was such a contradiction that even his own sons-in-law, when he warned them of the coming disaster, thought he was joking.
We need to be more like Abraham, and have his sincere heart. Abraham, who bargained with the Lord to save whatever souls could be saved before the destruction came.
If people see that sincerity in us, they’re going to want to know more about what it is we believe.
We must begin to live as though we really believe ourselves, that Christ is coming soon.
Hear A.W. Tozer:
“Christians are so comfortable in this world, that they have no desire to leave it. History reveals that times of suffering for the church have also been times of looking upward. Tribulation has always sobered God’s people, and encouraged them to look for and yearn after the return of their Lord. Our present preoccupation with this world may be a warning of bitter days to come. God will wean us away from the earth some way; the easy way if possible, the hard way if necessary. It’s up to us.”
Well tribulation is coming to us, American believer. I am convinced of that, and I’m not talking about the ‘great tribulation’ of the Bible. I am convinced that this nation has wagged its tongue and scoffed at God long enough. It can fall, just like every earthly kingdom in history that has turned its back on God.
Are you ready, Christian? Really ready to suffer for the Lord’s name?
Because you can rest assured that when tribulation comes, when this nation falls or real tribulation comes to it, true believers are going to be the hardest hit. The main target.
Have you watched talk shows? Perused the periodicals on the grocery store shelves? Have you heard the bold, brazen criticisms of God and His people that folks in our country are making publicly and more and more often as time goes by? Tribulation is coming, and it is having our eyes on Him that will give us strength through these times, and nothing else.
Read Peter’s admonition in II Peter 3 sometime. It ends like this:
“...BE ON YOUR GUARD LEST, BEING CARRIED AWAY BY THE ERROR OF UNPRINCIPLED MEN, YOU FALL FROM YOUR OWN STEADFASTNESS, BUT GROW IN THE GRACE AND KNOWLEDGE OF OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.”
And let me add, ...keeping one eye on the plow, and one eye on the Eastern sky. Because He’s coming, it’s imminent, it’s unavoidable, and it will be the end for many, and the beginning for the rest.
In C.S. Lewis’ series on the Chronicles of Narnia, the final book of that set is called “The Last Battle”. The entire series is an analogy of the Christian life. Aslan, a lion who is the main character and symbolic of Christ, brings the children of the stories into this parallel world of Narnia where they grow up and rule as Kings and Queens.
The battles have all been fought, their adventures are over, and at the end Aslan is ushering them through a door into a land that is symbolic of Heaven.
When they ask why he isn’t sending them back to their own world (this earth) as usual, he tells them that in that world, what he refers to as the Shadowlands, they’ve died and won’t be going back.
The narration of the book says that suddenly he didn’t look like a lion anymore, indicating that now, at the culmination of all things, they were seeing him as Jesus.
Aslan says to them, “The term is over, the holidays have begun. The dream is ended, this is the morning”.
That’s the end I’m looking for...anxious for. It makes this book (The Bible) difficult to put down.
That’s the outcome that is promised to me, and all that happens in the meantime is just preparation.
It is that hope that sets my heart in tune with Charles Wesley’s, when he wrote:
“Finish then, Thy new creation,
Pure and spotless let us be;
Let us see Thy great salvation,
Perfectly restored in Thee.
Changed from glory into glory
Til in Heav’n we take our place;
Til we cast our crowns before Thee,
Lost in wonder, love and praise!”
What Peter thought was the end, was really the ushering in of God’s economy of salvation and forgiveness and assurance of eternal fellowship with Himself.
Peter followed at a distance to see the outcome, thinking that the outcome was simply the end of the trial, and either the acquittal of his Rabbi, or a tragic, heart-rending finish to all the hopes of Israel.
But the outcome was really the grand beginning of the glorious reality that will finally come to all who believe when this dream is ended, and Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, takes His throne in the New Jerusalem.
Have you ever heard it said that when someone is dying they say what is really important to them? In a court of law, a dead man’s final words are accepted as fact, not hearsay.
This is also generally true of someone going away from loved ones for a long time, isn’t it? They don’t waste words; they express their love and tell them the important things that are on their mind, and they promise to come back as soon as possible.
Listen to the last words the Lord gave to John in His revelation:
“Behold, I am coming quickly,
and my reward is with me’
to render to every man according
to what he has done.
I am the Alpha and the Omega,
The first and the last,
The beginning, and THE END.”
Amen, come Lord Jesus.
