Living Knowing the End is Near | 1 Peter 4:7-11 | Pastor Jason Hill | 03/08/2026

today. That's what I want to do.

We're not talking about missions. We're

talking about the word of God. We're

going to focus in on the book of First

Peter and continue on as we have done

week after week after week. Actually,

this is the you may not realize this,

the 29th message of us going through the

book of First Peter. And today I want to

talk to you about

living knowing the end is near.

Now think about that for a moment. If

you know that the end is near, how would

your life be different today?

Now I'm not talking about this. In our

bookstore, we have a book. It's really

uh an interesting title that says, "I'm

dead.

Now what?"

And that's what you give to your family

because you have made preparation for

them hopefully. If you haven't, go get

the book out of the bookstore. And this

is a book that you can give to them to

know, okay, once you've passed away,

what they are to do. Well, today we're

talking about that preparation side of

living and knowing that the end is near.

So, today I invite you to pull out your

sermon notes because it's going to be

helpful for you. Also, open up your word

of God to First Peter 4:es 7 through9

through 11, I should say. And let me

pray as we lead into the scriptures.

God, you tell us that your word is

living and active.

You tell us that your word is God

breathed.

That is profitable for us for teaching,

for reproof, for correction, and for

training in righteousness.

And so God, as we think today about

living

in a way, as we seek to glorify you,

knowing that the end is near,

Lord God, I pray that you would prick

our hearts. I pray that you would do

what a living and active word does, and

that is

really judge the thoughts and the

intentions of the heart.

And God, I pray that today as we study

your word that you would give us action

plans, steps on how we can live

in a way that gives you glory. God,

thank you for your great love for us.

It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Before we begin to read the scriptures,

I want to do what we do regularly, and

that is just to put us into context and

give a kind of overview of what First

Peter is all about.

Well, first Peter is clearly written by

Peter and he wrote to encourage

suffering Christians to live according

to the hope that they've received in

Christ as we've been going through this

journey of first Peter. And if anybody's

looking, 1 Peter 4 is right before 1

Peter 5, which is the last chapter of

the book, right? But we have been

journeying through this book together.

And so far, Peter has addressed

the privileges that we have in

salvation.

In the first chapter, he lays out for us

that we can have hope for the future

because of what God has done through

Christ.

We may face trials here in the present

time. And as I said, First Peter's

written to Christians who are suffering.

So, they're facing trials. But even

during the trials of the present, you

can have hope for the future by looking

to the past to see how God has provided

such a wonderful salvation.

Not only did we cover the privileges of

salvation, but also as we continued on

through the first chapter and into the

second chapter, we saw about living in

holiness.

There are commands all throughout this

section in the book of first Peter. The

call to be holy, the call to love

others,

the call to desire pure milk, milk of

the water of the word,

the call to offer up ourselves and to

abstain from fleshly desires.

And as we come out of that into chapter

2, in the middle part of chapter 2,

Peter reminds us that even though we are

enduring persecution or we are

suffering, we are to live in submission,

submission to our government,

submission in business, to our employer,

submission in marriage, and ultimately

submission in all of life. recognizing

that God is the one who's sovereignly in

control of all things. Well, currently

we find ourselves in this theology of

suffering

and helping us to understand that living

with the hope that Christ has given us.

So today, as we think about the theology

of suffering, and as we think about

living,

in a time when we know that the end is

near,

I want us to think and get our minds on

Christ and what God has done in Christ

for us. So as we think about this,

there is a central idea in this passage

and the central idea is this and this is

on your paper. With the end of all

things approaching, it says is at hand.

The verse says this, "Christians should

be vigilant to live to the glory of God

by thoughtfully praying,

fervently loving others,

and actively serving in the church."

Well, let's go back and let's look at

this passage of scripture and see what

Peter writes to us.

1 Peter chapter 4:7 says this,

"The end of all things is at hand."

That kind of frames everything.

So, the end of all things is at hand.

And then he says, "Therefore,

be self-controlled and soberminded

for the sake of your prayers.

Above all, keep loving one another

earnestly since love covers a multitude

of sins.

Show hospitality to one another without

grumbling.

And as each has received a gift, use it

to serve one another as good stewards of

God's varied grace.

Whoever speaks

as one who speaks oracles of God.

Whoever serves as one who serves by the

strength that God provides

in order that in everything

God may be glorified through Jesus

Christ. To him belong glory and dominion

forever and ever. And Peter says, "Amen.

May it be. Amen.

So this morning, my desire is to frame

this passage in with that first

statement that's there at the beginning.

The end of all things is at hand.

Therefore, how should we live? Now, let

me just say this.

The end of all things is at hand.

This causes me to think about the fact

that scripture reminds us over and over

and over again

that life is short.

Scripture speaks to the brevity of life.

And as we think about it says the end of

all things is hand. Our life is revealed

in many ways in scripture. First,

our life is revealed as a few hand

breaths and a breath. What is a breath?

Something that you don't even see.

Something that comes and goes. Something

that you don't even think about doing

it. Just you just do it automatically.

And a hand breath. I mean, some of you

have massive hands, but me, I have a

smaller hand. A hand breath is a short

distance.

Look at what Psalm 39:4 and5 says. Oh

Psalms 39:4

Lord, make me know my end and what is

the measure of my days.

Let me know how fleeting I am.

You see, David is asking for us to be

reminded, for him to be reminded how

fleeting life is. Look at what he says

in verse 5. Behold, you have made my

days a few hand breaths,

and my lifetime is as nothing before

you.

Surely all mankind

stands as a mere breath.

>> You see, life is short, as short as a

breath. But life is also compared to the

grass

or a flower which quickly fades.

Psalm 103 tells us this. As for a man,

his days are like grass and he

flourishes like a flower of the field.

For the wind passes over it, and it's

gone, and its place knows it no more.

Now, I don't know about you, but when I

think about grass withering, I think

about my yard.

I work hard to get my yard to be green.

My neighbors will say, "I need to work

harder."

But grass fades and flowers fade. The

beauty of flowers. You bring those

flowers in to your house, you cut them,

bring them in, they look beautiful for

some time, but yet the beauty fades.

I remind you of what Isaiah 40 says

though. The grass withers, the flowers

fade,

>> but the word of our God stands forever.

So our life is fleeting, but the word of

God stands.

Well, scripture also speaks to the

brevity of life and the fact that our

life is illustrated by a shadow that

quickly disappears.

Job 14:es

1 and 2 says this, "Man who is born of a

woman is few of days and full of

trouble."

Some of you are like, "Yeah, I agree

with Job in that."

Verse two, he comes out like a flower

and withers.

He flees like a shadow and continues

not.

And some of you are very familiar with

this passage. speaks about our life

being

brief.

Our life is considered or described as a

mist.

James 4:14 says, "Yet you do not know

James 4:14

what tomorrow will bring. What is your

life? For you are a mist that appears

for a little time and then vanishes."

So, as we think about the brevity of

life,

knowing that the end is near should

cause us to think about how we live.

Now, I know some of you are new here,

and some of you this may be shocking to

you,

but a little over

a year ago, almost a year and a half

now,

right outside those windows in the Oak

Grove,

I came to the realization that life is

brief. For those of you that don't know,

I had heart failure right outside in the

Oak Grove. I know you're thinking, I'm

fit. Thank you.

I'm handsome, too. Thank you for that.

But let me tell you,

that caused me to think about the

brevity of life and think about, am I

preparing my family for when I am gone?

This is me in the hospital.

This is my friend that I have right

here, my defibrill.

So that it doesn't happen again.

But when this happened, the outpouring

of the church,

you church family took care of my

family.

You brought food

and made sure they had what they needed.

I had a neighbor that came and cut my

weeds, okay, my grass

every single week while I was in the

hospital.

People pouring out service for my family

and for me.

Some of you

gave me things to remind me of this

time. I'm holding in that picture a

heart that Deacon D gave me

and the card there is from the Colona

family

to encourage me as I went through this

difficult time.

Not only did people give me cards and

give me a plant and give me this heart.

But people also came and visited me in

the hospital.

These are some of the guys that I've

been spending a lot of time with. And

it's a tremendous encouragement when

you're going through suffering that you

have some people that are willing to

walk with you through it. But as we

think specifically

about what Paul or what sorry what Peter

not Paul Peter is saying here

he is reminding us

how a Christian is to live knowing the

end is near. So on your outline, look

down at the bottom of the first page and

notice what he says. Number one, he

says, "Focus your mind

and attention on what God desires in

prayer." Specifically, he says,

"The end of all things is near."

Therefore, because the end of all things

is near, and he gives us two commands.

And by the way, these are the only two

commands in this entire passage.

He says,

"Be self-controlled

and be sober minded."

Be self-controlled

and be sober minded. To put this in

different ways saying it,

he says, "First and foremost, live

sensibly." Now, I'll encourage you to

the side of that, I want you to put

godly thinking. What does it mean to be

sensibly? Well, it's the same word. It's

the idea of being self-controlled. It's

being sane. It's being serious.

It's understanding about practical

matters and keeping cool throughout.

That's how you're self-controlled.

You're not given to extremes. Instead,

you stay in the middle in your lane.

It's not wild and acting wild because

you see what's happening. And it's not

also locking yourselves and saying, "I'm

not going anywhere and being

restrictive." No, it's being

levelheaded.

So, sens thinking or living sensibly is

thinking about yourself in a levelheaded

way. It's being calm.

It's not being shaken.

It's thinking about things in a way that

you go, "Okay, I understand, but I

understand who God is and that he is in

control."

It's controlling

and restraining your own personal

desires and appetites.

Self-control is not giving in excess or

giving into excess in any way.

But he says be self-controlled.

And in that idea of being

self-controlled,

it is focusing on God's purpose and

God's priorities.

Being serious about what God wants you

to do and being vigilant to do it. Now,

as I think about that and being vigilant

to do what God wants us to do,

my mind automatically goes to the

opposite of that, to the Thessalonians.

The Thessalonians that thought, okay,

Christ is going to return. It's

imminent, and we know we can rest and

trust in that, but as we know that it's

imminent, we're going to sit and do

nothing. That is not what Peter is

calling us to do here. Peter is calling

us to be self-controlled, to live

sensibly, to think with godly thinking.

Romans 12:3

Romans 12:3

says this, "For by the grace given to

me, I say to everyone among you, not to

think of himself more highly than he

ought to think,

but to think with sober judgment,

each according to the measure of faith

which God has assigned, thinking with

sober judgment, thinking and living with

your affairs in order that you could

pass away at any time or thinking or

living in such a way that you expect

Christ to come at any moment to watch

and pray and be ready.

Now if you look on the second page,

how is a Christian to live knowing the

end is near? Not just by focusing your

mind and attention by living sensibly or

thinking godly with godly thinking but

also by living alert.

Living alert. Look at what he says. He

says be sober minded. Not just

self-control but sober minded.

Living alert

is having spiritual attentiveness.

It's being attentive to what God is

doing in and around. Now, this word

carries with it the idea, this idea of

being soberminded carries with it the

idea of being in control of your

thoughts and not being irrational.

So to think about that is to think about

observations in a clearheaded

way. to be critical. And I'm not talking

about critical like, oh, I don't like

that.

I'm saying asking questions, seeking to

understand what's truly taking place. To

be critical and not to be aloof.

You know what aloof means? [snorts]

You have no clue what's going on around

you.

This passage calls us to be sober

minded, to be alert,

to be observant

and clearheaded, thinking in a clear

way. But it's also calling us as we

think about living alert. It's calling

us to

be careful to control and capture every

thought. Now 2 Corinthians 10:5

2 Corinthians 10:5

says that we are to take every thought

captive to the obedience of Christ,

not allowing our mind to wander,

but bringing it under the submission and

understanding of God.

And lastly, it's not just focusing on

God's priorities as living sensibly is

or God's purpose as living sensibly is.

Acting or living alert means that we are

focused on God's work. We do this by

being watchful,

being vigilant to correctly decipher his

plan. Now, this idea of being

soberminded or being watchful, being

vigilant is a picture that I hope that I

can paint for you. When you think about

the olden days and living in the city

walls, as I said, two weeks ago, we were

in the city of Cartahena.

Cartana has an old city, and the old

city has a wall around it. And all

around the city are various outposts

where a watchman would be looking out

>> to determine what is taking place going

on around, whether there's a threat,

whether there's aid,

whether there is a need to go out and

attack,

being watchful.

And this is what Peter calls us to do.

That's why we should focus our mind and

our attention on what God is doing and

what God's purpose and plans are as we

think specifically about prayer.

Well, why should we do this?

Why should we do this? You see from

Matthew 24 that we are called to stay

awake, to be watchful, to constantly be

aware of what's going because we do not

know on what day the Lord is coming. So

how should that then affect our prayers?

Well, we should be sensible and alert

with godly thinking and spiritual

attentiveness

because this will enable our prayer to

be focused on God's purpose,

God's plans, and God's work and what

God's doing. You see,

when we utilize these plans,

these commands that are given here, they

inform us on what we should include in

our prayer. You see, prayer that calls

upon and submits to God in light of what

is seen from God's perspective

gives the believer power and guidance in

whatever they're going through and in

how to pray.

We see also though utilizing these

commands to live sensibly and live alert

ensures our focus of our prayer is not

us.

The focus of our prayer is to be God.

And so as we think about praying, we

should pray God focused prayers. Praying

for his will to be done, not our desire

to be done, but his will to be done. for

his work to be accomplished, for his

work to be fulfilled.

And so as we pray, we should ensure we

are focused on God, but also utilizing

these commands leads to deciphering the

purpose and the plan of God.

Do you know Romans 12 1 and 2 says, "Do

not be conformed any longer to the

pattern of this world, but be

transformed by the renewing of your

mind."

so that you may be able to know what is

the will of God.

Well, the last thing I would say about

utilizing these commands is as we're

watchful, we're clearheaded and

levelheaded,

utilizing these commands keeps us from

getting distracted.

How many of you

get distracted when you pray?

Oh, I heard that.

Oh, I was just peeking

looking around

because you're distracted, right?

But if we're living sensibly and we're

striving to focus on God's thinking and

God's way

and we're spiritually attentive to

what's going on around us,

it is one thing for us to have all of

our thoughts and attention pointed to

God. Prayer is a function of clear

vision and seeking an even clearer

vision from God. For him to clear away

the distraction. For him to help us to

think clearly. For him to unclog the

mind and clear our mind. For us to be

focused on him.

But this passage continues in verse 8

and it tells us there above all keep

loving one another earnestly since love

covers a multitude of sin.

Peter is calling us not only to focus

our mind and attention on what God

desires in prayer. He's calling us to

stretch ourselves

so that we genuinely

love

others with zeal. The wording that he

uses here is keep loving one another

earnestly.

Now, I want to give you a picture of

that. Many of you have watched uh the

Winter Olympics as they were concluding.

And one of my favorite events in the

Winter Olympics is speed skating. those

guys, how fast they go on the ice, how

when they go around those corners,

they're like hugging the the ice and

many of them go spilling off off to the

side. You know what I'm talking about?

But when they get to the end and it's a

tight race, what usually happens? Well,

I don't know if you saw it,

but this is what happens. They're in

perfect form, but when they get to the

end, they stick their foot out to get

that extra little

jump to beat the clock.

That's the picture of what Peter is

telling us here when he's talking about

loving one another earnestly. Okay, I

get it. Some of you don't like winter

Olympics. How about the summer Olympics?

How about Usain Bolt?

And Usain Bolt running. And what is he

doing? Notice he's not the only one

that's doing it. Even those that are way

behind him are still stretching trying

to get as fast as they can. The idea of

what Peter is saying here is he's saying

stretch yourself genuinely with all that

is in you to strain to reach out to show

love to others.

Why should we do this? Well, notice he

says, "Keep loving one another

earnestly." Why? Since love covers a

multitude of sins.

Well, the first reason why we should do

this is because love covers a multitude

of sins. Peter is pulling this from

Proverbs 10:12. Look at what it says.

Proverbs 10:12

Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers

all offenses.

Even James helps us to understand this

because he says, "Let him

who

uh let him know that whoever brings back

a sinner from his wondering will save

his soul from death and will cover a

multitude of sins." Peter's actually

said this in a different way in 1 Peter

1 Peter 3:18

3:18. He says, "For Christ also suffered

once for sins. the righteous for the

unrighteous that he might bring us to

God being put to death in the flesh but

made alive in the spirit. You see, love

covers a multitude of sin. And I want

you to guys to clearly think about this

because often times when we think about

the idea of covering sin, we think about

covering it up, right? Oh yeah, we'll

just act like that never happened. we'll

just hide it and pretend like, oh, that

offense never took place or you never

offended God or you never rebelled

against God. But that is not the picture

here when we talk about love covering a

multitude of sins. Why not? Because love

does not overlook sin.

Think about it.

1 Peter 3:18.

1 Peter 3:18

Jesus died for your sin. He didn't

overlook it. He paid for it.

So love doesn't overlook sin. It

addresses it completely and decisively.

But also I want you to think about this

that love forgives the sinner instead of

holding grudges or broadcasting fault.

Love accepts

and forgives the sinner.

Love covering over sin is not about or

not by winning forgiveness. But in love

for others, we don't broadcast others

faults and are not so angry that we

refuse to accept or forgive them.

Instead, in love, thinking about what

God did in Christ through Christ for us.

That's how we are called to love one

another. It's an intentional love.

And an intentional love is the most

valuable virtue in a community that is

counterculture.

Countercultural.

Think about it. I said this earlier

today in my seminar.

Jesus said in John,

"They will know that you're my disciples

by what?"

by the love you have for one another.

It's love. It's love that covers a

multitude of sin.

Verse 8 points this out to us. It

reminds us of what Romans chapter 5 7

Romans 5 · chapter mention

and 8 have to say to us. For one will

scarcely die for a righteous man.

Though perhaps for a good man, one would

dare even die. But look at verse eight.

But God shows his love for us in that

while we are still sinners, Christ died

for us.

The New American Standard uses the word

demonstrates his love for us. It's on

display. God's love is on display that

even though we're sinners and rebelling

against God, he still loved us and sent

Christ to die for us. This is a love

that covers a multitude of sin.

But also, I want you to see this.

Stretching yourself to genuinely love

others with zeal

is showing up in joyful hospitality.

Now, you may say, "Well, wait a second.

Isn't that another command here that uh

Peter is telling us that we are to show

hospitality?" Well, actually that is an

adjective that he's describing the love

that he talked about in verse 8. So he

tells us

to show hospitality to one another in

verse 9 without grumbling.

Now showing hospitality is mentioned

five different times in scripture.

And hospitality

is defined in this way. Hospitality is

love for strangers and travelers who are

serving the Lord.

We are told to show hospitality to one

another in Hebrews because we may be

attending to angels unaware.

Those that are actively

serving the Lord. Well, let's be honest.

Hospitality involves sacrifice, doesn't

it?

sacrifice for the good of others

from a willing heart. Listen,

Peter's writing to Christians who are

suffering, those that are persecuted.

And often times, persecution

would have depraved Christians of the

necessities of life

and the community that they needed to

help them to remain strong throughout

the persecution.

Many believers were forced to flee from

their home because of persecution and

had nowhere to live. Do you know until

uh 200 years after Jesus ascended into

heaven,

believers were meeting in homes.

They weren't church buildings like the

one we have here. They were meeting in

homes.

And many that were traveling were

needing a place to stay that was not

immoral

because many of the ins that they would

go and stay in were dirty and immoral.

So they were needing somewhere to stay.

Well, showing hospitality was a way to

protect the community. It was it

involved sacrifice,

but it also involves practically the

opening of one's home to show love.

And scripture actually requires leaders

in the church to do this very thing.

So with hospitality,

you give a place for worship

and opening your home, a place where you

can worship the Lord.

You give a place for reprieve from

society as society continues to go crazy

around you.

Opening up your home

gives a little escape from the craziness

around.

And opening up your home opens up your

life.

And as we talked about when we talked

about biblical disciplehip,

opening up your life is doing life

together. It's being with others and

witness life on life, spending time with

one another.

Well, Romans tells us in Romans 12:13,

Romans 12:13

"Contribute to the needs of the saints

and seek to show hospitality."

We are to show hospitality is not a

preference.

It's not a suggestion.

It is essential for the community of

believers

to strengthen and to rely upon and to

build up one another and encourage one

another as we stand firm uh in this

culture that is adamantly against God.

I invite you to turn the page and look

at one more

point that uh Peter is making here in

thinking about how a Christian is to

live knowing the end is near.

He calls us to steward your grace gift

by serving others.

It says there in verse 10, "As each has

received a gift, use it to serve one

another as good stewards of God's varied

grace."

as good stewards of God's very grace.

What does it mean to be a steward? We're

going to talk about that. But what I

want you to see from the beginning of

this verse is that as he each has

received a gift, do you know God gives a

spiritual gift to everyone who trust in

Christ for salvation?

You might think, "I don't know what I

got to give."

Well, maybe you need to do some praying

and do some time spending time in God's

word to discover what gift God has given

you. There are no ungifted believers. It

says here at the beginning of this

verse, as each has received a gift, it's

not if you receive a gift, it's you have

received a gift. So, everyone has

received a gift. Everyone who's a

believer, all true believers are indwelt

by the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit

is the one who gives the spiritual gift

to his body or to believers.

Believers

may take time to identify your gift

that has been given to you. It's okay. I

mean, sometimes you don't know what the

gift is that God has gifted you with to

be able to serve others. Well, I want to

encourage you as a believer, study, show

God. As you study through scripture,

show ask God to show you

what is truly

his gifting for you that helps

the church because the purpose of a

spiritual gift is to build up the body

of Christ and that is the church. Notice

it says, "As each one has received a

gift, use it to serve one another as God

as good stewards of God's varied grace."

Another way to say it is right there on

your paper. Ephesians 4:es 11 through13.

Notice what it says. And he gave the

apostles and the prophets and the

evangelists and the shepherds and

teachers. Why? Verse 12. to equip the

saints for the work of the ministry, for

the building up of the body of Christ.

You see, your gift is not for you. It's

not to be in a medallion that you wear

around your neck to say, "Look at what

God has gifted me with." It's not to be

a trophy that you put on your shelf to

say, "Hey, yeah, man, God did a great

thing when he gave me this gift."

No, your gift is so that you can serve

others and build up the body of Christ.

>> Well, let me just remind you when you

think about your gift, God gives varied

gifts

to different believers. So, he gives a

gift to this believer, a different gift

to this believer, and a different gift

to this believer. And your role is to be

a good steward. Another way to say that

is to be a manager to to be managed and

used to benefit others. You see, what

you need to keep in mind is this. Your

spiritual gift isn't owned by you.

As the owner, God sovereignly chooses

which gift is to be given.

You may look at others and go, "Man, I

wish I had that gift."

But God in his wisdom has given you what

he wants you to have so that you

joining in with the community of the

church. You can build up the church.

You see as a manager the gift doesn't

belong to you. It's on loan from God to

you. Amen.

>> So don't think that this is me and this

is what I got and this is what I

deserve. This is what I've obtained

because it's not deserved. It's not

earned. It's not sain attained and it's

not secured by you.

It's secured by God. It's attained and

given to you from God. It is not

deserved. It is a grace gift to you and

each gift is varied

so that together we might use them as

one to glorify the Lord. Look at how

it's said here in Romans chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

For as in one body we have many members

and the members do not have the same

function.

So we though many are one body in Christ

and individual members

one of another. Look at what it says.

Having gifts that differ according to

the grace given to us. Let us use them.

So we have different gifts

to benefit the body

>> so that the body can mature and grow and

become more like Christ.

>> Amen.

>> And lastly, I want you to see this

should be number three. God gives a gift

to reveal himself

and show his provision in order to be

glorified.

Scripture says, "Whoever speaks as one

speaks oracles of God,

whoever serves as one who serves by the

strength that God provides." You see,

when speaking, we are to represent God

by speaking his words to people who need

to hear.

It's not you having your own words of

wisdom and well when I was a boy this is

what you need to do. No. Speaking this

gift that God has provided to you is

speaking God's words as you speak life

into people to whom you're speaking.

>> It's speaking his words, speaking his

message, speaking his truth.

And when serving,

it's God-given strength is available

to fulfill the task that's before you.

Isn't it good to know that when God

calls you to do something, he enables

you to be able to do it?

He doesn't call you to do something that

you can't do because the scripture says

we have when serving we have Godgiven

strength available to us to fulfill the

task. Now it says specifically strength

which God supplies. Now, this word

supply is only used in one other place

in scripture, and that's in 2

2 Corinthians 9:10

Corinthians 9:10.

And it talks about how God will supply

and multiply resources.

So, we can trust him that when we serve,

we can trust that he will give us what

we need to be able to fulfill the task

that is before us. And why? Why can we

look to him? Why can we trust in him?

Why will he provide? Well,

it's because spiritual gifts are for the

glory of God and for the good of the

church. Now, I know it's hard to read

there on the screen,

but I want you to see at the end of

verse 11, not the exact end, but in

after the dash, it says this,

"Whoever speaks as one who speaks

oracles of God. Whoever serves as one

who serves by the strength that God

supplies. Then he tells us why.

In order that in everything God may be

glorified through Jesus Christ. You see

spiritual gifts are so that we can

glorify God in our position in our

relationship with Jesus. Spiritual gifts

are given so that the church can be

unified. So the church can be cared for.

So the church can grow.

So the church can

grow and be sanctified to be all that

God desires the church to be. Well 1

Corinthians 12:es 4-7 say this. Now

there are varieties of gifts but the

same spirit.

And there are varieties of service but

the same Lord. And there are varieties

of activities

but it is the same God who empowers them

all in everyone. And then notice the

last verse.

To each is given the manifestation of

the spirit. Why? For the common good.

>> You see spiritual gifts are for the

glory of God. So we can praise God all

the more and we can show God to a people

and to a world that desperately needs

him.

But also spiritual gifts are given for

the good of the church for the common

good.

So lastly I have one last question. Why

is a Christian to live for God's glory

knowing the end is near?

While putting this all together, notice

the end of 1 Peter 4:10 and 11,

1 Peter 4:10

Peter ends in a doxology

giving praise to God and he says, "To

him belong glory and dominion forever

and ever. Amen."

to put it in light of what we talked

about here this morning because life is

short

and

we should live this way and our focus

should be on showing his greatness and

trusting his forever rule.

We should live for God's glory in order

that God may receive the glory and rule

that he is due. Did you catch that

wording?

To him belong glory and dominion forever

and ever.

That reminds me back to the very first

verse we looked at today, which is verse

seven,

which says, "The end of all things is at

hand." There's a full stop there, right?

There's a a significant point of time

where something's changing.

But in Peter's doxology here, that never

changes.

He has glory

and we are to glorify make much of him

but he also has dominion.

He has rule over our hearts and lives.

And we need to remember that that as

sovereign lord of the universe

as we seek to live for his glory

we can not be worried as the end is

coming

because we know

who lives forever and who is ruling and

reigning for all time.

So, as we think about this passage,

there are some application questions I'd

like to ask you. The first is this.

Is your life focused on the temporal or

is it focused on the eternal?

Are you more concerned

about what's going to happen in the next

few days?

or do you think about what's happening

for all of eternity?

Now, I

I agree that we need to take care of the

things that are going on around us,

but if that is our sole focus,

we'll end up being distressed.

We'll end up being disheartened

and not just distressed, but depressed.

Right? as we see how things continue to

unfold.

But if we continue to think about what

God is doing and his purposes and what

God is doing in his work,

we can be focused and encouraged even as

we deal with the mundane things of life.

Second question,

do you

pray God focused prayers? If someone was

listening to you pray, is your prayer

more focused on you and your family and

what you're doing, or is your focus on

God's desire, God's plans, God's

purposes for your life?

Think about that for a moment.

Reflect on that.

We are to be alert. We're to be

spiritually attentive to what's going on

around us. But we're also to live

sensibly with a godly thought

pattern, a godly way of thinking.

So our prayer should be God focused.

How about this? Do you earnestly

love others?

Do you love others just when it's

convenient?

Or do you earnestly, fervently

lay it all out? Do you stretch and

strain? Do you sacrifice

for others?

And lastly,

do you faithfully serve in the church?

>> God has gifted you.

How are you using your gift for the good

of the church? Are you using your gift

for the good of the church? If you don't

know or you're thinking, I I don't even

know what I'm to do or how to do this, I

want to encourage you to come and talk

to any one of the pastors.

And we would love to help you as you

determine decipher what God's plan is

for your life and as you determine and

decipher

how you can use your gifts for the

benefit and the good of the church. And

lastly, how does your life show the

greatness of God and that you trust in

his forever rule?

You see, living knowing that the end is

near is that you want to show the

greatness of God even as you live today

and that you are completely trusting in

him because you know he's in control.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer.

God, we thank you for what you've shown

us today in the book of First Peter. We

thank you for your great love for us and

that we can live for your glory.

Knowing that the end is near because we

know who holds the future. We know that

even when our life is gone,

>> that you remain.

And we thank you that as sovereign Lord,

we don't have to trust in ourselves. We

can trust in you.

And that you will bring glory to

yourself.

So God, I pray for all of us as we move

from this time of thinking about what

Peter has said here and move into a time

of remembering what Christ has done for

us and providing such a great salvation

through his death, burial, and

resurrection through the blood of Christ

and that we can be in new covenant with

you. God, thank you for your great love

for us. It's in Jesus name we pray.

Amen.