The Reaction to Sanctification, 1 Peter 4:12-19

The theme of Peter’s epistle is our sanctification.  He stated his thesis in chapter one, quoting the Lord who said, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”  Sanctification is being set apart by salvation for holiness.  By justification we are reckoned as holy by what Christ did for us on the cross.  In sanctification we live out that holiness as Christ lives in us.  It’s living holy, because He is holy, and He is Lord of our lives and lives in us and through us.  So sanctification is submitting first of all to the Lord in doing His will.  It’s being conformed to the image of Jesus Christ who is holy and blameless. 

Now this is the  goal of our sanctification.  Now that we are justified by the blood of Jesus Christ shed on our behalf, we are set apart for holy living, to be ambassadors for the Kingdom of God. And as we live sanctified lives under the authority and leading of the Holy Spirit, even as Christ lived during His time upon the earth, then we are going to experience suffering that comes from this world in response to our life, even as Christ suffered for righteousness sake.

So in that regard, Peter continues in his letter to the church writing to prepare them in regards to the suffering that will be a  part of the process of sanctification.  He wants them to know what the reaction of the world will be in regards to living a sanctified life. 

First of all, he says we should expect suffering.  Vs.12, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you.”   The irony should be obvious.  Living righteously, living holy lives, ends up bringing on trials.  You would think that living as Christians, living as Christ lived when He was on the earth, would cause people to love us.  After all, we should be prime examples of good citizens.  We should be pillars of the community, doing good to the poor, compassionate to  others and helping those who are misfortunate.  We should be paying our bills and paying our taxes, and submitting to the governing authorities.  We should be the kind of neighbors that every one would wish for.  The kind of employees that every company looks for.  We should be loved by the world.  

But Peter, as well as many of the other gospel writers, tells us that is not going to be the world’s response.  Instead they are going to hate us.  Jesus Himself said in John 15:18-19  "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before [it hated] you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”

So don’t be surprised.  Expect it.  The world loves those who love sin, who love pride, who love sexual immorality, who love money, who love fame.  They love the Bonnie’s and Clydes of this world.  And they despise those who live holy lives. 

That’s the problem with the “relevant church” strategy prevalent today by which some churches are trying to get the world endeared with Christianity.  They try to lower their standards and mimic the world’s practices hoping that the world will like them and want to become Christians like them.  That doesn’t work.  You just end up with a worldly church. 

On my way back from Virginia Beach the other day I saw a billboard by a church that said something to the effect, “No perfect people allowed!”  I told my wife that I guess they don’t allow Jesus in their church then.  Because He was perfect. And while I’m not about to claim I’m perfect by any means, yet that doesn’t diminish the fact that Jesus told us in Matthew 5:48 that we are to be perfect, even as God is perfect.

That’s the problem with trying to soften the offense of the gospel message.  Take out sin and don’t speak of hell or judgment, and just tell the unsaved how much God loves them just the way they are.  That is the strategy of many churches today in hopes of getting the lost to like us and want to become a Christian.  But it’s not going to work, because they are not going to be saved unless they first realize that they are sinners and hopelessly lost and condemned to die in their sins.  And that’s an unpopular, offensive message.

So when we are living out our Christianity as Christ lived in the world, then we can expect that the world will treat us the way Christ was treated.  Notice also that Peter calls this suffering a “fiery ordeal.” Some commentators have said that this was a veiled reference to the burning of Rome which may have happened shortly before Peter wrote this letter.  You will recall that Nero intentionally set Rome ablaze, and then blamed it on the Christians and began a time of severe persecution of the church.  That may or not be what Peter had in mind.

Personally, I think it echoes chapter one vs 7 in which Peter talks about the proof of our faith, even though tested by fire.  It’s a refiner’s fire that Peter has in mind, I believe.  It’s a trial by fire in which that which is unholy is burned up, so that which is left is pure.  Fire in the Bible is usually associated with the holiness of God.  Moses saw a burning bush from which God spoke telling him to take off his shoes for it was holy ground.  Fire was on Mt. Sinai, so that the mountain was enveloped with fire and smoke and the people trembled at the sight and could not approach it lest they be burned up.  Fire is associated with the burnt sacrifices which were offered for sin.  The law is full of references to the requirement for an offering by fire.  And so just in those references to fire, we can assume that the trials and ordeals which the Lord leads us through are meant to cleanse us, to refine us, to purify us so that we might be sanctified for holy purposes.

There are a number of references in scripture regarding a refiner’s fire being used of God.  Let me share a few. Job 23:10  "But He knows the way I take; [When] He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

Pro 17:3 The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, But the LORD tests hearts.

Isa 48:10 "Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

Zec 13:9 "And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, 'They are My people,' And they will say, 'The LORD is my God.'"

Mal 3:3  "He will sit as a smelter and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness.”

Notice also Peter says these fiery trials come upon you for your testing.  Again, that testing correlates to the proof of your faith mentioned by in chapter one.  Let me read that for you again, in chapter 1:6-7  “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,  so 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.”

So trials are not just a situation in which the world or the devil persecutes a Christian and God is helplessly standing by saying “just hang on till it’s over.”  But what this indicates is that God is using even the ungodly who persecute you, He is using the various trials which come upon you that make take all sorts of forms such as poverty or hunger, or imprisonment, or bad health, whatever form it takes, God is using it and superintending it, to use it for good.  

Now that’s hard to fathom, especially when you are suffering in a major way and you don’t think you deserve it or you don’t understand why God would allow you to suffer in this way.  Our prayers are usually “Lord get me out of this situation quick!” But what we have to remember and even find the means of rejoicing in, is that God uses the suffering which we experience to form us into the character and image of Jesus Christ and as such His will is often to let us go through it that it might conform us to Christ.  A good illustration of that is when Joseph was unjustly incarcerated and mistreated in prison for 13 years.  When he finally was released, and he saw his brothers who had sold him into slavery many years before, he said, “you meant it for evil, but God used it for good.”  

And that’s what Peter is saying here.  God will use the trial by fire to conform you into the image of His Son.  And don’t forget, that it pleased the Father to crush Jesus, putting Him to grief. God chose suffering as the path for His beloved Son.  And He often choses suffering for us as well that we  might be like Christ.  So, Peter says, don’t think it’s strange when suffering happens to you.  It’s to be expected.  

Unfortunately, a lot of Christians fall from the faith because they don’t expect suffering to be a part of their Christian experience.  They were expecting to live their best life now. They were expecting a life of blessing. Instead, they got suffering.  Peter says, don’t be surprised.  Don’t think it strange.  It’s par for the course.

Instead, we are to rejoice, Peter says.  Funny thing, James said to rejoice in suffering as well. James 1:2-3 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.”  The question though is how can we rejoice in suffering?  It’s painful.  It’s stressful.  It’s not an experience that we want to go through.  How can we rejoice in it?  

The answer is that we rejoice by looking beyond the temporary suffering to the eternal reward. That’s how.  It is said of Jesus in Heb. 12:2  “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  We don’t fixate on our circumstances, on how bad we have it, on how bad we are being treated or how bad we feel, but like Jesus we fix our eyes on the joy set before us.  The joy that is ultimately our reward when Christ returns. 

2Cor. 4:17-18 says,  “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison,  while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”  Paul says compared to the glory in eternity that will be ours, the present suffering is temporary, momentary and light in comparison.

So as Jesus looked beyond the suffering of the cross, He considered the joy set before Him.  In the same way, we look beyond the suffering we experience in trials, and consider that glory which is far beyond all comparison. 

The next point that Peter makes is that there are two types of suffering.  There is the suffering for righteousness, and the suffering for unrighteousness.  First the righteous suffering  is stated this way; vs 14, “If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.”   This is the type of suffering that will come upon a person who is living righteously, who is walking in the way that Jesus walked, who is conformed to the image of Christ.  Such a person even though they are reviled for the sake of Christ, they will be blessed, because they are living a Spirit led life.  They are filled with the Spirit, and thus they will enjoy the spiritual blessings of such a life.

But then Peter contrasts that with the person who is suffering as the wages of unrighteousness. He says in vs 15, “Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler.”  In other words, there are consequences to sin not only at the judgment, but in this life as well. God has appointed government to wield the sword of justice, and there are punishments that will be exacted by those governments for such offenses.  When we studied the ten commandments on Wednesday night recently we commented that all civilizations legislate much of the second table of laws.  Murder and stealing are pretty much illegal in every society and every civilization and the punishments for such are usually quite severe.  

Peter includes in that list an evildoer.  I suppose that covers everything else not covered by murder and stealing. It means a lawbreaker.  One who does evil. And there are laws and punishments for evildoers.  There is one other word though that bears mentioning, and that is translated as “troublesome meddler.” That’s an unusual term.  It has in mind an overseer, but not in a good way.  It’s someone who gets involved in things that they shouldn’t be involved in.  Someone who is stirring up trouble, looking for trouble. Trouble is one thing that if you look for it you will find.  I’m always looking for things I have misplaced somewhere.  Usually I’m looking for things because my wife has decided to straighten up my desk or something. I know where all my junk is and I can’t find it when my wife cleans up.  But you know,  if you look for trouble, you will usually find it. If you’re trying to find fault, you will find it.

Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:11  “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands just as we commanded you.”  In other words you’re not to be a troublesome meddler.  You’re not to look for faults in others. As much as it is possible with you be at peace with all men.  You’re not to stir up trouble in your society.  You’re to lead a quiet life.  You are to attend to your own business and to work with your own hands.  Stay out of other people’s business.  In 2 Thessalonians 3:11 Paul says, “For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all but acting like busybodies.”  Don’t stir up trouble by being a busybody.

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, Matt. 7:3-5  "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye?  You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.”  So there you go.  Don’t be a troublesome meddler.  It will cause suffering not only for others, but it will also cause suffering for you as well.

There are inherent consequences to sin.  Ultimately, there is an eternal consequence to all sin, but even in the world there are consequences for sin. And as Christians, you get no exemption from the temptations to sin, no barrier to keep you from sin.  Though Christ will forgive you for your sin if you repent, you may still have to pay the consequences of your sin here in this world.  And that is a shameful and tragic consequence for a Christian to have to face.

However, Peter assures us that as a Christian who suffers for righteousness there is no shame in that.  Vs. 16, “but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.”

I am told that in the beginning when they were first called Christians, it was intended as a slur.  But in time the early church began to glory in that name.  And what Peter is saying there is that they are not to be ashamed of being called Christians, but to glorify God in the name of Christians.  That means that they have to act like Christ, since they take the name of Christ.  And that is precisely what being sanctified indicates; that we are like Christ, thus Christians.

The next point that Peter makes is that this is the appointed time for suffering.  We should expect it, we should not be surprised by it, we should not be ashamed of it, and it is the appointed time for it. Vs. 17, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? AND IF IT IS WITH DIFFICULTY THAT THE RIGHTEOUS IS SAVED, WHAT WILL BECOME OF THE GODLESS MAN AND THE SINNER?”

We notice first of all that suffering is a measure of God’s judgment.  As Christians, we sometimes think that we are not going to deal with any sort of judgment.  But in actuality, Peter is saying that judgment begins with the house of God.   A faithful Father disciplines His children, does He not?  Heb 12:6-11 says “FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom [his] father does not discipline?  But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.  Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?  For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He [disciplines us] for [our] good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.”  

There’s so much in that passage, but notice that the results of the Father’s discipline it says is holiness and the fruit of righteousness.  That’s our sanctification.  That’s what the Father is achieving in our lives by allowing suffering.  As I keep saying, the goal is not suffering, but sanctification.  Suffering is the means, not the goal.  The goal is that you have all the dross, all the sin, all the world, all the pride, all the ego burned away, that Christ might shine in you.

And this time we spend in this world is the time for such suffering to begin.  It is necessary to begin with us, that we might share His holiness and be His ambassadors to the world.  But woe to the world.  The man of the world thinks his sin is unseen, he thinks he has gotten away with it.  He thinks that he can live any way he wants and there are not going to be consequences.  But the fact is that God sees, and has appointed a time for all men to die and to face the judgment.  And at the judgment, there will be a terrible price to pay, an eternal price to pay.

Peter says it is with difficulty that the righteous are saved.  That speaks to the fact that we have been saved by the suffering of Christ on our behalf. Christ took upon Himself the judgement that was due to us. But those that reject Christ must pay their own penalty.  And what a terrible penalty it is.

The blessing that the righteous has though is that they belong to a faithful Creator.  We are as Peter says, the house of God.  We are the children of God.  And even if we die in this body, yet we live in the Spirit.  Peter uses the title “faithful Creator” I believe in order to emphasize the faithfulness of God to keep His promise to us of eternal life, and to remind us that as Creator God He made life, and all life has it’s being through Him.  And so we can entrust our eternal soul to a faithful Creator who will raise us up on the last day, and change this corruptible body into an incorruptible body, so that we may share in His glory for eternity.

There is an eternal reward for those that belong to Christ.  In this world we will have tribulation.  But Peter encourages us to rejoice in it, knowing that God will use it to refine us so that we might share in HIs holiness.  I encourage you to look beyond the present circumstances to the glory set before us and keep on keeping on, having as your commitment to be found pleasing to God.  May the grace of our Lord enable you to do so and may you be found faithful when He comes.  

The Consummation of our Sanctification, 1 Peter 4:7-11

I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the term “preppers.”  Preppers are people that are waiting, planning, and preparing for the apocalypse or something like the end of civilization as we know it.   These folks are convinced that the world cannot keep going like it is without imploding or exploding, and what life is left after the fallout will be forced to make do without all the luxuries and amusements and technology that we are now using.  And so they are prepping for this coming time by storing up weapons, ammunition, food, water, batteries and things like that.  These people are pretty serious about it.  Some have built underground bunkers out of storage containers in which they have stored a year or two of supplies.  And they have weapons because they want to make sure that their neighbors who didn’t prepare, who perhaps made fun of their preparations, do not end up banging on their door after the proverbial dung hits the fan trying to get their food.

Oddly enough, a fair number of Christians seem to embrace this apocalyptic view and have become preppers  as well. I say it’s odd because I find it ironic that those of us who claim to want to go to heaven, sometimes live like that’s the last place we want to go.  There seems to be a popular view among Christians that we need to do everything we can to hold on to this body, to this life, for as long as possible.  That’s quite a contrast to Christians of the first century.  They were practically volunteering for martyrdom in the belief that it not only hastened their communication to God, but that it ensured them a greater reward in heaven.

I don’t know if you recognize this or not, but Peter might be characterized as a prepper as well.  He talked quite a bit about the last days and what our attitude should be as we approach the end of the age.  In fact, in our text today, Peter says that “the end of all things is near.”  He is saying that they were living in the last days, or the last age.  In chapter 1 vs 20 he said something else about it; “For He [that is Christ] was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you.”  So it’s a parallel statement to our text.  The end of all things, or the end of the times is near.

Now if that was true in Peter’s day, and that sentiment is echoed by other gospel writers such as Paul and the Apostle John, then how much more so is it true for us today?  But how can it be true then and yet still be true today?  

The explanation is that the end of the times, or the last times, is speaking of the end of the age, particularly the age or period of time which commenced at the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ, and will be consummated at the second coming of Christ.  Some have referred to this as the church age, or the age of grace, or the age of the new covenant.  I’m not sure that those are the best titles, nor if there is a single title that best describes this age.  Perhaps it should be referenced in view of the kingdom of God.  It being the age of invitation, of salvation, in the greater realm of the kingdom of God.  It’s the age between His first coming and His second coming. And the first coming resulted in salvation, in a universal invitation to repent, to believe in Jesus Christ, to be transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light.  And Peter is saying that this present age is coming to it’s conclusion, to it’s consummation, when Christ shall come again and claim His bride which is the church.

That consummation of the kingdom results in the fulfillment of vs 11 in our text, which says, “that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”  Everything in history has been heading to this future glory, when Christ shall reappear in the clouds, the second time not with an invitation, but in judgment, to rule and reign not just spiritually but visibly and physically in a glorified kingdom with His church in a new heaven and new earth.

Since then we are living in the last days, perhaps metaphorically in the last hours, how should we live? What should be our focus?  The early church definitely lived as if the Lord could return at any second.  And the fact that it’s been 2000 years since then should not dull our sense of expectation.  Peter says in 2 Peter 3:3 “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with [their] mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? For [ever] since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation."  For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God [the] heavens existed long ago and [the] earth was formed out of water and by water,  through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.  But by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.  But do not let this one [fact] escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.  Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”

Now I am going to save the exegesis of that passage for a few weeks from now when we come to it, but it’s pretty self explanatory, I think, indicating that what seems like a thousand years to us is but a day in God’s reckoning. So it is proper for Peter to say it is the last days, and for us to be still living in the last days. Also, when you consider that the people who lived before the flood lived almost to the age of 1000 years, then it is entirely appropriate to think of the present age in terms of the last days.  

But the conclusion of Peter’s argument is what I want to focus on at the moment.  Since all these things are coming at the end of the age, and we are living in the end of the age, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? Peter is urging us to make the most of our time because the end of time is near. All that we know of this world is temporary and will be destroyed by fire.  So how should we live then in light of this?

Paul makes a very similar point in Romans 13:12-14 saying, “The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.  Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to [its] lusts.”

It’s interesting to notice that Peter has just given a similar list of behavior that we should put away in these last days.  In vs 3 Peter said, “For the time already past is sufficient [for you] to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries.”  This is the lifestyle of those who don’t know the Lord, who have the mantra “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.” But Peter now gives the characteristics of those who are sanctified, who are holy, who are living in expectation of the immanent return of Christ and looking forward to it eagerly.

Peter gives us four things, four characteristics which should mark our lives as we live in these last days.  He says, be sober, show love, show hospitality, and serve one another.  Let’s look at each of these briefly.  We who are saved, who are living sanctified lives with Christ already reigning in our hearts will exhibit these four characteristics in the last days.

First we are to be sober.  Someone has well said, “The difference between a Christian and a non-Christian is that the Christian controls his temperament, whereas the non-Christian is controlled by it.” The Christian should live in control of his passions, exhibiting self control and sound judgment in his life and dealings with others.  Thus Peter says in vs7, “be of sound judgment and sober spirit.” To be sober is not only to be not drunk or involved in drinking parties and carousing like the unbelievers mentioned in vs 3, but it also refers to being serious minded.  Clear headed. We are to have our wits about us at all times.  We are to be of sound judgment.  

The present culture has a unhealthy interest in entertainment and escapism.  Much of our modern inventions like television or the internet, or sports or even music serve to be a distraction from reality, or even an attempt to provide an alternate reality.  And it’s difficult in light of the popularity of such things to be immune to those temptations.  I’m not suggesting that as Christians we cannot be entertained, or see a movie or listen to music.  But I am suggesting that it’s a dangerous thing to be consumed with, to have your head constantly filled with frivolous things, which can keep you from thinking about more serious and important things.  I know some people who have to have a television on 24 hours a day, sometimes in every room of the house. They can’t drive without the radio on.  They can’t work out, or even take a walk without headphones in their ears.  It’s as if they don’t want to have an opportunity to think about the reality of their life.

So Peter attaches to this exhortation to be sober minded, that it is for the sake of your prayers.  Our sober mindedness is for the sake of our prayers.  Now what kind of prayers specifically is Peter referring to?  Is it prayers for other’s salvation?  I’m sure that is something we are supposed to be praying for, especially in light of the last days.  Is it prayers for health, or blessings or things that might help us or make us more comfortable?  Well, the Bible tells us to pray at all times, so those things are certainly included, though not all things are necessarily promised nor profitable.  However, I suggest that there is a more probable cause for prayer which Peter has in mind here.   And for that we might look back at another event in which Peter was with the Lord, of which it was said that the hour was at hand.

In Matthew 26 we read the account of Peter and the disciples who were supposed to have gone with Christ further into the Garden of Gethsemane in order to pray with Him.  And they ended up falling asleep while Jesus went on further to pray alone. And in vs 40 it says Jesus came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "So, you [men] could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

I think that Peter sees the correlation of those last hours with Jesus, when they thought things would just continue along as they had been, when they did not discern the signs of the times, and unbeknownst to them it was the last days of Jesus’ time on earth.  And the hour of tribulation came and they were sleeping, they were taking their rest.  Jesus rebuked them saying, watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation for the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

I think that event in the garden in many respects parallels these last days of which Peter is referring. We do not know the day or the hour when Jesus is returning.  And there is a real danger that we become complacent, that we become tired, weary in well doing, and we let our vigilance wane.  We need some rest, we think. Church is too early.   We are too tired to pray.  We are too concerned with the present reality of our comforts to be much concerned about the things of the kingdom, or the time of the end.  And so we don’t watch for His coming.  We don’t pray that God would deliver us from temptation.  We don’t keep a serious outlook and a prayerful attitude and as such we risk being found unfaithful when He returns.  

Or even worse, we find ourselves having fallen into temptation to sin, thinking that it will be a long time before the Master returns.  There will be plenty of time to get serious about the things of God later, down the road.  I think that’s the kind of attitude that Peter said we are to be careful about as we see the day fast approaching.  Stay sober minded, for the sake of your prayers, that you do not fall into temptation in these last days.  Don’t lose sight of the eternal for the sake of the temporal. It’s hard to fall into temptation if you are in prayer.  So pray without ceasing.

The second characteristic we should exhibit as we are in the last days Peter says is show love for one another.  Vs 8, “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another.” Fervency in love is a love that is not complacent.  It’s a love that is reaching out, seeking the well being of others.  If you love Christ, then it’s presumed that you will love His body.  You will love the church, love one other.  But what does that mean?  Does that speak of warm, fuzzy feelings?  Of some sort of emotional attachment, of some sort of sentimentality that occurs when we are together?  

Well, the word love there is agape.  And that word should need little explanation.  Suffice it to say that agape love is a sacrificial love for another.  It’s love that is orientated towards others benefit, and not self orientated. Agape love is the antithesis of sinning against your neighbor.  Love is the opposite of selfishness.  Love is the opposite of pride.  Jesus said this attribute was the premier attribute of his disciples: you will be known as My disciples by your love for one another.

Paul speaks of this in Colossians 3, saying in vs 12, “So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;  bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. Beyond all these things [put on] love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”  In other words, love is what binds together all these attributes Paul lists there.  Sacrificial love is what holds the church together.  

And there is an additional benefit which Peter mentions there in vs 8, we should love one another, “because love covers a multitude of sins.”  Peter isn’t saying that you can do a loving deed and have your sins wiped out.  Only the blood of Jesus Christ can atone for sins.  But what he is referring to is that love forgives injuries against us.  Love forgives sins against us. That’s what Christ’s love is like, forgiving us when we sinned against Him, even if it meant suffering death to accomplish that forgiveness, for our sakes.  Love is other’s orientated.  Love is wanting to see others benefitted, to see others helped, to see others have enough.  Agape love is not a reciprocal arrangement, and by the way, neither is your marriage. Love one another fervently, and forgive one another from the heart.

The third characteristic of sanctified saints living in the last days is they are showing hospitality.  Vs.9, “Be hospitable to one another without complaint.”  Hospitality was a very necessary trait in the early church as there were not many Holiday Inn’s around in those days.  And so travelers were dependent upon the kindness of others in order to find a place to rest or to find safety on the road.

But I think that hospitality has a much broader context in Peter’s mind, and especially in our culture today.  I think hospitality is simply love in action.  I believe hospitality is sharing what you have with those who are in need.  God has given you resources to use not just for selfish reasons, but for building up the body of Christ. 

We share a meal with the church today in order to illustrate this principle in a practical way.  It’s  not to show off our culinary skills, or to try to get people to respond in some way.  We share because we have the opportunity to do something for others that expresses the love of Christ for the church.  You might say that hospitality is the cost of love.  In other words, it’s not just a sentiment, but an action, an action that sometimes costs you something, even to the point of sacrifice, in order to bless someone else.

The final characteristic Peter gives as a principle to live by in the last days, is serving one another.  Vs 10, “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”  It’s interesting that Peter doesn’t give us some long list of spiritual gifts which we can take a test for to see which we might qualify for.  I believe there are a variety of spiritual gifts, taking on a variety of forms.  But as Paul said when speaking of spiritual gifts, he said if they aren’t accompanied by love then they are a clanging gong.  They are just a loud noise to draw attention to yourself.  

Please understand the purpose of spiritual gifts.  Spiritual gifts are not given for your edification but for the edification of the church.  Paul says in 1Cor. 14:12 “So also you, since you are zealous of spiritual [gifts,] seek to abound for the edification of the church.”  Edification by the way, means to build up, not to break down.  You haven’t been given a spiritual gift to bust people’s chops.  You haven’t been given spiritual gifts to show off your superior spirituality.  Whatever gift you have been given is to be used to build up others, not to tear down.

I’ll never forget  one fellow that came to our church a few times, and I suppose he fancied himself someone that the Lord had blessed with the spiritual gift of discernment.  And so one day he invited me to breakfast because he said he had some things he said he wanted to share with me.  I thought that he must have needed some counsel and so I agreed and met him in a nearby diner. In fact, he had something else in mind.  He pulled out a yellow legal pad, and proceeded to read about 10 pages of notes that he had made concerning the style and substance and mannerisms and so forth in my preaching.  At first I tried to humbly accept his criticisms about the way I stood, or how I looked or sounded, but after a while I have to admit I had enough. He managed to completely demoralize me and discourage me in about 30 minutes.  And all the time he kept assuring me that the Lord had shown him all my faults and he was just trying to do the will of the Lord in setting me straight.  Listen, that’s not building up the body, folks.  That’s just a critical spirit. I think sometimes the devil does more disservice to the church using so called Christians than he does with unbelievers and atheists.  Seek to abound for the edification of the church.  That’s what we should be about.  

That’s what Peter is saying, “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.”   Another point that should be made, is Peter says that you have received at least one spiritual gift; “As each one has received a special gift.”  Probably many gifts but at least one.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking you don’t have a spiritual gift.  The only way that happens is if you aren’t saved.  But if you’re saved, then God has given you a special gift that you are to use.  Peter says, put it to use in serving one another as a good steward of the grace of God.

Many years ago I used to be a fine dining restaurant manager in a 5 star hotel.  And I had a couple of wine stewards who worked for us.  They were in charge of storing, and caring for and dispensing the wine from the wine cellar.  They did not own the wine, they were just to care for the serving of it in the proper way. And in like manner, we do not own our gifts, they are given to us to use, to dispense, to serve others.

Now Peter breaks down this characteristic into two divisions. First are those who serve the church by speaking or teaching.  Peter says that they are to speak  as one who is speaking the oracles of God.  The description of a steward is very apt when it comes to preachers and teachers in the church.  It’s important that we speak what God has spoken.  It’s important that we carefully and properly dispense the word of God. That is our job.  Not to entertain, not to tell sentimental stories, not to tickle your ears, but to faithfully transmit the word of God and exhort you to listen and obey it.

Paul used this same terminology to describe his own ministry in 1Cor. 4:1-2 saying, “Let a man regard us in this manner, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.  In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.”  Our trustworthiness comes from accurately and carefully studying the word of God, and then serving it to our congregations without contrivance or addition. 

The second division Peter relates to those who serve.  Vs 11, “whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies.”  This illustrates an important aspect in regards to spiritual gifts.  He’s not talking about talents.  A lot of people confuse natural talents with spiritual gifts.  They are not necessarily the same.  God gives you a spiritual gift to give you the ability or strength to do something that you could not do in the flesh.  People hear someone sing who has a beautiful voice for instance, and they say what a tremendous gift God has given them.  That’s not a spiritual gift, that’s a talent.  It’s possible to give your talent to the Lord to serve Him.  And that’s appropriate.  But it’s difficult when it’s a talent to not have pride get involved.  

The key is, according to Peter, to serve by the strength which God supplies, so that He might get the glory.  Serve “by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”   The same thought is expressed in Heb. 13:20-21 “Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, [even] Jesus our Lord,  equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom [be] the glory forever and ever. Amen.” 

So our gifts, and our strength and our sufficiency comes from God, that we might do His will, and be pleasing in His sight.  What a contrast to the way of the world Peter has put forth in these few verses.  As we see the end drawing near, let us show self control and soberness, praying at all times lest we fall into temptation.  And let us show sincere love for one another, even as Christ loved the church and laid down His life for her. And let us show hospitality, sharing with one another, acting out love in practical ways for the sake of others even when it costs us.  And let us serve one another, either by sharing God’s word, or by serving one another through the gifts which God has given us for the building up of the body of Christ.  And may we be found holy and blameless when He comes. He is coming soon.  The time is at hand.  

And it’s important that we recognize the signs of the end of the age. Jesus said in Luke 21, ”Behold the fig tree and all the trees;  as soon as they put forth [leaves,] you see it and know for yourselves that summer is now near. "So you also, when you see these things happening, recognize that the kingdom of God is near.  "Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all things take place. "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.  "Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap;  for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. "But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man."