The End Is Near Series

1 Peter 4:7-11. 7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (ESV)

Search-and-rescue efforts continue at the site of a collapsed Florida condominium complex where at least 24 people died and 124 more remained missing amid fading hopes of finding anyone else alive. Think about the nature of this search-and-rescue work. Could we say that the action of the rescuers is foolish? Could you see yourself taking the risk? Is there anything that you would risk all for? How far would you go for a stranger? How far would you go for a loved one? How far would you go for yourself? (https://www.reuters.com/world/us/hopes-fade-scores-missing-under-florida-condo-rubble-search-enters-6th-day-2021-06-29/?s=09)

John Piper stated: “Risk is woven into the fabric of our finite lives. We cannot avoid risk even if we want to. Every direction you turn there are unknowns and things beyond your control. The tragic hypocrisy is that the enchantment of security lets us take risks every day for ourselves but paralyzes us from taking risks for others on the Calvary road of Love. We are deluded and think that it may jeopardize a security that in fact does not even exist”. (Don’t Waste your life: 2003. Crossway Books. p.81).

About this, the Apostle Paul said in Acts 21:13b For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." (ESV). Paul had two choices: he could waste his life or live with risk. He answered this choice clearly in Acts 20:24 [24] But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (ESV)

When something great may be achieved for the cause of Christ and for the good of others, it is right to risk. Christ is returning and the End is Near. When He returns will He find you faithfully doing your duty or have you abdicated the role to someone else? In 1 Peter 4:7-11 the apostle Peter in this passage instructs Christians concerning three very basic aspects of our duty. Since The End is Near we should be: 1) Self-Controlled (1 Peter 4:7), demonstrating 2) Sincere Love (1 Peter 4:8-9), and faithfully 3) Serving One-Another (1 Peter 4:10-11). First Peter 4:7–11 echoes the themes in 2:11–12 of abstention from evil and an exemplary way of life that results in glory to God in view of the end. (Jobes, K. H. (2005). 1 Peter (p. 275). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.)

Since The End is Near we should be:

1) Self-Controlled (1 Peter 4:7)

1 Peter 4:7. 7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. (ESV)

The time period referred to here as the “end” (telos) does not necessarily indicate cessation, termination, or chronological conclusion. Rather here it means “consummation,” “fulfillment,” “a purpose attained,” or “a goal achieved.” In this context, it refers to Christ’s second coming. His reference to the fulfillment of all things indicates he is speaking of the Lord’s return (Acts 3:21; Col. 3:4; 2 Thess. 1:10; 2 Tim. 4:1, 8; Heb. 9:28; Rev. 20:11–13). We are living in the final age of redemption. Peter is saying that because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, his readers are living in the last stage of God’s great redemptive plan, and the goal of that plan is being realized… The consummation of the kingdom of God will involve the return of Christ and the end of history as we know it because those events are necessary for God to achieve his telos, the redemption of (His people). (Jobes, K. H. (2005). 1 Peter (pp. 275–276). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.)

The end of all things “is at hand/near” (eggiken) which means “approaching.” The perfect tense indicates a consummated process with a resulting nearness —the event (Christ’s return) is imminent; it could occur at any moment (cf. Matt. 24:37–39; Rom. 13:12; 1 Thess. 5:2; Rev. 16:15; 22:20). Therefore, believers are to live with an ongoing attitude of anticipation or expectancy, as a mark of faithfulness. The early church was already in the last days (1 John 2:18), which had begun with Christ’s first coming (Heb. 1:1–2). This is what Jesus meant when he said, “Watch and pray” (Matt. 24:41–42; Mark 13:35, 38; cf. Acts 20:31; 1 Cor. 16:13; Col. 4:2), for proper prayer is not an “opiate” or escape, but rather a function of clear vision and a seeking of even clearer vision from God. It is only through clear communication with headquarters that a soldier can effectively stand guard. (Davids, P. H. (1990). The First Epistle of Peter (p. 157). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)