Preparing for End Times, Part 1

If you have your Bible, 1 Peter chapter 4 is where we are this evening, preparing for end times, verses 7 to 11. Tonight, we're going to talk about what it means to prepare for the end times. Peter is speaking to people who need to find comfort when facing chaos. That's most people, right? When you face chaos, you're looking for comfort. And so Peter begins his epistle in chapter one, verse number one, all the way through chapter two, verse number twelve, saying, Look, if you want to find comfort when facing chaos, You need to be able to rejoice in what God has done.

We've already covered that. Number two, he picks up in verse number 13 of chapter 2, runs all the way through chapter 4, verse number 6, and says, Listen.

If you want to find comfort when facing chaos, not only do you need to rejoice in what God has already done, you need to be able to respond the way God Himself Responds in difficult times. And then you'll learn to find comfort when facing chaos. And now, when you come to verse number 7 of chapter 4, Peter emphasizes the fact that, listen, if you want to find comfort when facing chaos, then you need to remember that God is coming again. He's coming back. And that's where Peter picks up the narrative in verse number 7.

This is what he says: 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 for ever and ever. Amen. Peter is looking to help you understand how you might experience some kind of rel. When facing many, many troubles. And the people Peter was writing to faced all kinds. difficulties. So he introduces a thought and we want to look at three points with you this evening.

We want to look number one at the pers for in time exist. Number two, we're going to look at the preparation, the preparation for end-time end.

And then we're going to look at the purpose. for in time enlightenment. That's where we're going. Number one, the pers of in time or for in time existence.

Peter says, The end of all things is at hand. Now you know as well as I do that when you find yourself in a difficult situation, you always like to know when it's going to end. When it's going to be over. Because you see, if you know when it's going to be over, you can make it to the end. If you know that for one week, this is how it's going to be. If you know that your flu is going to be the 24-hour flu, then at the 25th hour you can begin to look better than you did at the first hour of the 24-hour flu, right?

If you know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel that's becoming more and more bright, then you can begin to get excited about the end of the tunnel. Well, Peter says, listen, knowing what you're going through, knowing that suffering is imminent in all of your lives, and it was for those in whom Peter was writing. He says, listen, the end of all things is at hand. Now that's important. Because Peter says, you need to understand that the cons of the age is upon you. He's not talking about the end of your suffering.

He doesn't say the end of all of your suffering is going to come to an end. He says the end of all things. is at hand. Peter's speaking about the consummation of the age. Peter's speaking about the return of Christ. Peter's speaking about the time that Christ him Is going to return, and it's all going to be Over. Now, this isn the first time Peter has addressed this.

Go back to chapter one, verse number five. Peter says this. That we are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. We are protected. In our salvation, when the culmination of that salvation will reach its climax in the last time. He says over in verse number 7, these words. You would go through all kinds of 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.

The revelation of Jesus Christ. That is the time when Jesus Christ reveals Himself. Up in chapter 1, verse number 13: Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit. Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. He says that again over in chapter 2, verse number. 12. These words: keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evild, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, Glorify God when?

In the day of visitation. That is the day in which God deals out blessing for those who are His children and retribution to those who are unbelievers. Now, Peter says in chapter 4, verse number 7: the end is near. The end. Is at hand. The revelation of Christ, the last time, is right around the corner. The consummation of all things is upon you. Now that would give them some kind of relief, some kind of expect, some kind of h. Because the hope of the believer is the coming of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Notice what he says: the end of all things is what? Is at hand. Now that's a very important phrase. Go with me to Revelation chapter 1 for a moment. Revelation chapter 1. John says this, verse number 1: the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his bonds the things which must Shortly take place. That word shortly is used seven times in the book of Revelation. Every other time it's used, it's translated quickly. It speaks of the suddenness of the return of Christ. Down in verse number three: Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the word of the prophecy.

and heed the things which are written in it, for the time is near. In other words, the time is at hand. You can translate it this way: the time is next. It's the next time. What's the next time? In the prophetic calendar, the next time is the return of Christ. That which is at hand, that which is near, is that which is next. And that which is next is the return of Jesus Christ our Lord. Turn over to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 10. Verse number 25, it says that we're not to forsake our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.

All the more as you see the day drawing near, or the day drawing next, or the day that's coming to be at hand. The reason we gather together, and the reason we encourage one another, and the reason we stimulate one another to love and good deeds, is because the day of Christ's return is the next thing on the prophetic calendar. Turn over the book of Philippians, the fourth chapter. Philippians chapter 4. It says this in verse number 4. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say, rejoice. Let your forbearing spirit be known to all men.

The Lord is what? At hand. The Lord is near. In other words, the Lord is next. He's coming. And then he says, be anxious for nothing. The reason we are not to be anxious, the reason we are not to worry, is because the Lord is near. His coming is imminent. He's right around the corner. Paul understood what Peter understood: that the end of all things is at hand. The most encouraging thing that you and I can ever read or know is that Jesus Christ is going to return. He's coming again. It's of utmost import.

The return of Christ. Is next, it's imminent, it can happen at any time. To speak of the imminent return of Christ means to say that nothing has to happen in the prophetic calendar for Christ to return. That is the imminent return of Jesus Christ our Lord. One author has said this: Our Lord's return is one of the cardinal teachings of the Bible. Of the 260 chapters in the New Testament, 21 of them make reference to Christ's coming again. No less than one of every 30 verses, 23 of the 27 New Testament books, and all nine authors herald the thrilling and tumultuous truth.

of Christ's return. Fifty times in Paul's thirteen epistles he speaks of the grand climax of all history. Its sheer frequency in the New Testament underscores it as the paramount proclamation. All nine authors of the 27 books in the New Testament all believed in the imminent return of Christ. He could come at any moment. His return is next. His return is near. It is soon. To happen. In fact, over in the book of First Thessalonians chapter 1.

Paul says this about those in Thessalonic. Verse number 9: He says, For they themselves rep about us what kind of reception we had with you. How you turn to God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, that is, Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. What was it about the Thessalonian believers that caused them to live a righteous and holy life? There was a certain expectation that they had. They waited expectantly. They waited knowing that Jesus Christ was going to come and He could come at any moment.

The end of all things is at hand. The end of all things is next for Jesus Christ. Is coming quickly. Remember, over in First Timothy chapter 6, verse number 12, Paul says these to young Timothy: these words.

He says this, but flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life. In other words, He says the man of God is the kind of man that gets a grip on eternity, take hold of eternal life, get an understanding of the fact that eternity is of utmost importance. Paul was helping Timothy to understand that the most important things center around those things that have eternal value.

And Jesus Christ was soon to come back. The man of God puts his focus not on the present, but always on the future. That's what Peter says. The consummation of all things is at hand. Remember Job? Job chapter 19? What did he say? Verse 25, and as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will take his stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God, whom I myself shall behold, and whom my eyes shall see, and not another. Job was one who believed in the resurrection of his body.

He believed that one day he would once again see his Redeemer. And listen to how he closes in verse number 27. My heart. Faints within me. To know that my Redeemer lives, to know that my flesh will one day see him, I will behold him face to face, causes my flesh to faint. It's Overwhelming. It's beyond me. I cannot comprehend it. It just encompasses me. For the most part, we're not like that. But remember, Job 1, verse 1. Job was a righteous man. He was a blameless man. He was a God-fearing man. He was the most righteous man.

On the earth, there was nobody at that time more righteous than Job. So much so that God says to Satan, Have you considered tempting my servant Job?

Try him. He's a righteous man. And the reason God could say that is because God knew the heart of Job. He knew that Job was overwhelmed with the coming of his Redeemer. He knew that Job's heart. Was so overwhelmed with the fact that one day he would see his Maker that it caused him to be preoccupied with eternity. I wonder if God knows that about your heart. If that's the way you are. Here's the point. And it's a principle that I've coined for many years. I've said it many occasions. Let me give it to you one more time.

His eminency creates in me an expect that I might fulfill my ministry. The imminent return of Christ. That is, he could come at any moment, at any time, before we finish the sermon this evening, before I wake up tomorrow, before I go to bed tonight, before I get my next paycheck. Before, yes, you even get married, or before you have your first child, he could come again.

And the imminency of his return creates in me an expectancy. An excitement, an anticipation that help me fulfill my ministry today. Show me a man. Show me a woman who's so concerned about the return of Christ, and I'll show you a man or woman who can serve effectively in the church. Show me a man, show me a woman, on the other hand, who could care less about the return of Christ, and I'll show you someone who's very ineffective in their ministry in the church. See, those people are motivated. They're excited because they don't know how much time they have.

And they want to take people to heaven with them. So they want to share Jesus Christ. They want people to grow in their walk with the Lord. You say, but wait a minute. Peter wrote this some 2,000 years ago. He was a little off on his assessment of the return of Christ, don't you think? If he believed that the consummation of the age was at hand, it was next, that Jesus Christ could come at any moment, and he was anticipating the revelation of Jesus Christ, then why is it? Jesus didn't come back. It's been 2,000 years.

So where is he? Remember what Jesus said in Acts chapter 1, verse number 7? When in verse number 6, the disciples said, Lord, this is after the 40 days of spending with him after his resurrection and before his ascension. And the Bible says they spoke things to them concerning the kingdom of God.

Now we don't know what it is he said necessarily. But we can kind of get an idea that they were so excited about it that they said, Is this the time that you're going to restore the kingdom to Israel? And Christ said in verse number 7, Acts 1: It is not for you to know the times or the epochs of the return of Christ. It's not for you to know the time. But you will receive power. And the Holy Spirit will come upon you. And you shall be my witnesses, both in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the utter parts of the earth.

The point being is that you can't. Know the time of my return. There is a reason for that. You know why Jesus didn't tell you when he was coming back, don't you? You know why he didn't. Because if you knew when he was coming back, you would wait to the very last minute to give your life to Christ, and you'd live in sin for as long as you could. Don't act pious. Of course you would. We all would. If we knew when he was going to return, we'd do whatever we want to do to the last minute and then give our life to Christ.

Just so that we can get into heaven at the last minute. The Lord knows that. And He also knows that the greatest motivation for the believer. It is to know that Jesus could come back at any moment. And one of the greatest aspects of purity in the life of the believer is to know that Jesus could return. At any moment. Right? See, not knowing when my folks would return when I was at home by myself. Kept me purer than when I knew the time of their arrival. Right? If you don't know when they're going to return, you want to make sure that what you watch on television is always the right thing, not the wrong thing.

Because you don't want your folks walking in when you're watching something on TV you shouldn't be watching, or listening to something on the radio you shouldn't be listening to, or doing something on the computer you shouldn be doing, right? So, the imminency of the return of Christ, knowing they can come back at any moment, is a purifying thing. That's why John says, What? He who has this hope in him. Purifies him even as he is pure. It 's a motivation to live a pure and holy life. So Peter begins with the end of all things is at hand.

And now it gives us the preparation, that's point number two, for end-time endurance. What do I do in the meantime? Knowing that Jesus could come back at any moment, what it is that I'm supposed to be doing? Let me give you five principles.

They're not. Deep theological truths. You're not going to leave here tonight thinking, oh, wow, I've never heard anything like that before in my entire life. That was amazing, Pastor. That was the greatest sermon, the most incredible thing I'd ever heard. I've never heard anything like that ever before. Because these things are just really basic. Issues of Christianity. And there are five of them, and Peter gives them to you. Listen to what he says. He says, the end of all things is at hand. Therefore, because Jesus could come back next, his time is near.

You need to be of sound judgment and sober sp. You need to be able to guard your mind. Saf ne'o is a word that means to be in your own right mind. Need to guard the mind. You need to keep the mind clear. You need to keep the mind fixed on spiritual priorities and holy living. You need to think properly. Here's the point. You need to think biblically. If you're going to keep your mind clear, if you're going to keep your mind holy, if you're going to guard your mind, if you're going to guard your heart, you need to think biblically.

You need to think serious. You need to think scripturally. You need to think righteously. You need to think properly. And the only way that happens is when I am just com embalmed with the truth. The word of the Lord. You see, because Jesus could come back at any moment, I don't have time to think any other way than God's way. I don't have time to think ridiculously. I must think righteously. I don't have time to think logically. I must think. Theolog. I don't have time to think humanly. I must think divinely.

I don't have time to think. Sinfully, I must think scripturally. Why? Because the end of all things is at hand. And I've got to keep a sober mind. I've got to make sure I can make wise decisions in the meantime. And I got to keep sober. That's important. I got to be in my right mind. It's interesting that this phrase is used of the man in Mark 5 who was. Who was completely filled with demons? And when Christ cast out legion from him, he was in his right mind. He had sound judgment. And that's what Jesus Christ says needs to be happening to all of us.

We need to think. Biblically, we need to make sure that our thoughts are being capt by Christ. 2 Corinthians 10, verse number 5 talks about bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. We also need to have a sober spirit. In other words, we need to be spiritually alert. How else can you be spiritually alert unless you think biblically or think scripturally, right? You need to have the Word of God in your mind. How can a man's way be pure unless he takes it according to the Word of God and obeys the Word of God?

You see, we spend all of our time trying to think like the world, trying to act like the world. When Jesus Christ could come back at any time, and the way He wants us to think is to be of sound judgment and sober in spirit.