Bella Vista Church of Christ Randall Caselman June 10, 2001 P.M.
End of Time Living
Reading - 1 Peter 4.1-11
The best selling books today is a series by Tim LaHaye and Hale Linsey... entitled... LEFT BEHIND. Each book in the series has sold in the millions within just a few weeks of their release. People are interested in the END OF TIME LIVING.... But then they always have been.
Eschatology... A study of the end of things... was an Old Testament subject. The Old Testament was written... Looking forward to the End of Time dispensation... And... And our Christian era had its beginning with eschatology.
Peter opened the Christian church era by saying... This is that which was spoken of by Joel the prophet... In the last days... God will pour out His Spirit upon all flesh. The Book of Revelation was written to encourage the early church and us tonight to remind faithful... For the end is coming.
You see... We are living in the END OF TIME in two ways... Death and the end of time.
Even though we do not agree with the theology of the books... Left Behind... We do agree that we are living in the last dispensation... That we are living in the END OF TIME era. You see... The Bible teaches that nothing... No-thing has to happen for Jesus to come tonight. All the prophecies have been fulfilled... He could come anytime... -Perhaps tonight... -Perhaps before these notes are preached. We just do not know when. In fact, Jesus Himself said... It is not within our power to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. Indeed...We are all living in the end of time.
The Christians of the first century expected Jesus to return during their lifetime. They wanted... waited... anticipated His return. Maranatha was the word on their lips... Lord come quickly or Come O Lord. Maranatha is a New Testament word... Found in I Corinthians 16.22. The end of time is a Biblical concept.
The writers of the New Testament use the word PAROUSIA in reference to the second coming of Jesus. Parosea... Speaks to us of a: -For sure... -Soon to be... -You can count on it event. In our text Peter says... The end of ALL things is near. Indeed... We are living on the edge of eternity.
There is another way in which we're living on the edge of eternity... That is by our own death. Not one of us in the audience is promised one more hour... The only moment that we can lay claim to is this one. -James speaks of the brevity of life... He says... Life is lake a vapor... A mist... The fog... It is here, and then, just that quick, it is gone. -Job says... Life is like a weaver shuttle... It moves faster that the eye can see. -Jesus says... Life is like the flower... Here today and gone tomorrow. -The Hebrews writer tells us... It is appointed to all men once to die... And then face the judgement. -Billy Graham... In his book Facing Death... Says the statistics on death are impressive. Ten out of ten will die. And it may be closer than we think.
In November 1975... The huge freighter... the Edmond Fitzgerald... Sank in the cold icy waters of Lake Superior. The 28 men on the Edward Fitzgerald were living on the edge of eternity. Timothy McVay will die tomorrow for killing 169 people in Oklahoma City. That dreadful morning... They were walking on the edge of eternity. We have experienced this sobering fact right here in our church family. One day a brother or sister is here... The next day they are gone.
The clock of life is wound but once, And no one has the power, To tell when the hand may stop At late or early hour. So... Let us live and love And toil with a will. Place no trust in the morrow For the hand may then be still.
Paul told those of the Areopagus that... God has set the limits of our habitation. God knows both the end of time... And the end of our lives individually. Anyone or all of us could be living our last day today!! You see... Being sensitive to this fact... -Will change the way we think... and What we think about... -How we live...How we act and react to people... to circumstances and situations.
It did for the early church... and it will to us. I believe the most needed attitude that we must restore in the church today is that we are living at the end of time... -Either personally... As in our own mortality -Or universally... As in the second coming.
Our text says... The end of all things is near. With this statement of truth firmly fixed in our minds... How are we to live? Peter gives us five Biblical principles.
We must maintain sound judgement. Peter uses two Greek words that are important to our study. The first is SO-SEN... Which means to keep clear and clean. The second is FRO-NICESSES... Which is the Greek word for the mind. Peter is saying... The end of all things is near... So keep a clear mind. The King James says... Be sober and watch... The NIV says... Be clear minded. This is what Christianity is all about isn't it?... Being right minded?
Being right minded... Clear minded is understanding what is important and what is not. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 4.18... Fix your eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. We must know tonight... That what we see is not important... But what we cannot see. -All that we CAN SEE cannot be taken with us in death. -All that is seen will ultimately be destroyed at His coming.
Those living at the end of time need to focus on the unseen things of this world... Things like... Love... Joy... Peace... Patience... Gentleness... Goodness... and Faith. Things that are unseen. Can I ask you a sobering question tonight? What is the focus of your life and mine? Are we spending our time, talent, energy and treasure pursuing the seen or the unseen?
Secondly... Spiritual Sound judgement is: -Knowing what is right and wrong, -And then choosing to do what's right. James says... We must not be hearers only... But doers of the word. James also tells us that... When we know to do right and don't that we sin. Sound judgement... Being right minded, is knowing the word of truth and doing what it says... Not violating our Biblically educated conscience.
Peter says... We must maintain a sober spirit... Practice self control. Again the Greek word Peter uses here is important. It means to be whole... heartedly... versus being drunk. Thayers Greek Lexicon points out that this word... As used in New Testament times meant total abstinence. Josephus in his writing... The Antiquities... Uses this word to describe those who abstained totally.
Turn back one page in your Bibles to 1 Peter 2.11 and note what it says... Abstain... Abstain... Fleshly lust that war against the soul. Peter is saying that we... As people living in the end of time... Are to stay away from all and any kind of inebriation... drunkenness... That would keep us from exercising proper judgement and self-control... Be it: -Alcohol, -Sensual pleasure, -Materialism, -Intellectualism.
Peter is saying we ought to be free from every form of: Mental... Physical... Emotional... And spiritual intoxication.... We are to Be self-controlled. First Peter 5.8 tells us why... Be self-controlled and alert. Because your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Thirdly... We must have an active prayer life. Peter says we must maintain a sound mind... A sober spirit... WHY??... For the purpose of prayer. Church... Do you know what happens when you disconnect tomorrow from today? It throws mankind to his knees in prayer. When we can't see tomorrow... We get upset. You see... The closer we get to eternity, the more important prayer becomes.
In hospice work... I am asked to pray for people that have never asked others to pray for them before... NEVER!!... Why?... Because they realize that the end is near. Folk... Living at the end of time calls for prayer and lots of it. Look at your New Testament. -Luke 18.1... Jesus taught persistence prayer. -Luke 21.36 says... Pray always. -Ephesians 6.18... Pray on all occasions. -1 Thessalonians 5.17... Pray without ceasing. Church... The Books of Thessalonians were written to correct the Thessalonians theology of the Second Coming... and the conclusion... Pray always!! -Romans 12.12... Be constant in prayer. -James 5.13-18 says, If you are in trouble pray... If you are happy pray... If you are sick pray... If you are caught up in sin pray... For all who live near the end... Prayer is a must.
Number four... We must maintain a fervent love of the brethren. The NIV says... Love one another deeply. The Greek is EXTEN'DEES. Extended in the English... Extendees in the Greek. Extended in English means stretched out... A STRETCHED OUT LOVE!! In classical Greek... This word was used to describe an athlete... As a runner he strains every muscle... Uses all his ability to reach the finish line. One commentator said... It is a love that takes effort, fervent love then... is a love of effort... a love of the will.
Now, that is a good definition for the AGAPE love of the New Testament. -A disciplined love... -An extended love. Christian love is: -Not some warm fuzzy feeling... -Not a sentimental reaction... -Or sensual emotion... It is an extended love... A love of effort. Such AGAPE LOVE... Allows us to even love our enemies... If we have any. -It allowed Jesus to forgive the Roman solders... And the thief on the cross. -It allowed Stephen to say... Father forgive those stoning me. -It allowed Paul to say... I would lose my soul if it would save Israel. -It allows God to love Paul and me the chief of sinners. Peter says this kind of LOVE covers a multitude of sins.
Now Peter sort of stops here as if to give us an example of what he means. He says... You demonstrate this kind of love in various ways... HOW? By practicing hospitality. Hospitality is almost a forgotten commandment of the Bible. Hospitality may be the most neglected Christian virtue of our generation. We must never get too busy to practice this New Testament virtue. We also demonstrate New Testament love when we don't grumble. Show me someone who is always... -Grumbling... -Complaining... -Stirring the pot with a divisive... MEAN spirit... -Being judgmental... Finding fault with others... And I'll show you an individual without AGAPE love.
We demonstrate this Biblical love by using our God given gifts to serve one another. Loving is serving. Jesus said it is... If you love me... You will keep my commandment. In John chapter 13... The NIV says... Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love... Then he proceeds to wash feet. FOLK... EXTENDED LOVE IS WASHING FEET!!... ARE WE WILLING?
Then finally... Peter concludes by saying... We must maintain sound doctrine. The King James says... If any man speaks... Let him speak as the oracles of God. Folk... In matters of religion... We don't have the right to speak anything else. We don't have the right to teach for doctrine... The commands of men. We don't have the option to teach... -Our private opinions... -Or the opinions of others... Regardless of who they may be.
Listen to these warnings... -For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. -We must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. -Dear friends... I had to write and urge you to contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.
What sobering challenges for elders... preachers... and Bible teachers. What a challenge for all of us who live at the end of time.
In light of this lesson... What do we need to do to be ready for death or His coming?
Perhaps you need to become a child of God by Faith... Repentance... and New Testament Baptism... Immersion in water for the forgiveness of sin.
Maybe we need to make something right with God... or with others.
Perhaps we would like to have the prayers of the church to help us in our daily walk.
Whatever your needs... We are ready to assist... Come as we stand and sing.
