The End of All Things

1 Peter 4:7

Immanuel – 8/22/21

A pandemic has swept the globe. Afghanistan has been lost to Islamic militants and Christians are being slaughtered. There are other major conflicts in Sudan, Yemen, and Mexico. Haiti has been devastated by an earthquake. The globe is warming and forests are burning. It seems like the cultural revolution in western society is swallowing up any sense of Biblical morality.

Wars and rumors of wars. Earthquakes in various places. Plagues. Sons are turning against their fathers and fathers against their sons.

It is easy to look at our times and think we are in the end, that these are just the birth pains leading us into a tribulation like the world has never seen. It is easy to think that we are in the End Times.

Today, we talk about the End Times because Peter writes about the end of all things.

Purpose

Eschatology is important.

What is the time frame that Peter is working with?

What does Peter mean by the end of all things?

How should we live with these things in mind?

Read 1 Peter 4:1-11

After reading those eleven verses, and after working all the way through Peter’s letter these past five months, you know that Peter’s main focus is not the End Times. Peter’s main focus has been the hope we have while we live in a hostile world, and the ways in which we are to live in the midst of that hostility.

Even here, in 4:7, Peter’s focus is not the end of all things, but the ways in which we should conduct ourselves.

Read vs 7

Peter’s word about the nearness of the End Times serves as an exhortation to be self-controlled, sober-minded, and prayerful. Therefore, no matter what we think about the End Times, it should always be secondary to our pursuit of holiness, our pursuit of godly thinking, and being diligent in prayer. But more on all of that later.

Even though Peter is referencing the end of all things, it is as an aside, almost in passing. But I want to spend some time focusing on this today; partially because of the times in which we live and the fears that they produce, and partially because you cannot read the Bible and escape language about the End Times. And if the Bible speaks about something, especially if it is frequent, we should endeavor to understand it.

Eschatology

Eschatology is the study of the End Times/the last things. Eschatology looks at cosmic restoration, the new heavens and the new earth, Christ’s return, the resurrection of the dead, and the final judgement. What we are studying today, and what Peter writes about, is highly eschatological.

Most Christians don’t know what to make of eschatology, largely because there is a lot of debate over the End Times among followers of Jesus. As a result, it would seem that most Christians don’t place much importance on the study of eschatology, trusting that it will all pan out in the end.

But I think the Bible teaches us quite the opposite. The Bible is bursting with eschatological hopes. Every single New Testament writer has something to say about it. And these eschatological hopes are meant to inform the way followers of Christ are to live.

The writer of Hebrews says that as the end draws near, Christians are not to neglect going to church (Hebrews 10:25). James says patience should increase (James 5:7). Jude says it should build perseverance (Jude 17-21). And, of course, Peter tell us here that the nearness of the end should lead his readers to be self-controlled, sober-minded, and prayerful.

It would seem that in the mind of the New Testament writers, eschatology was very important; and eschatology was meant to effect the way followers of Jesus are meant to live. If it was true then, should it not be true now? Therefore, we should all be students of eschatology.

It is good for us to learn from pastors and teachers and scholars about the End Times, like you are doing now. But we shouldn’t settle merely for things that we have heard. Your personal study of Scripture should drive your eschatology, not someone else’s timeline or fictional book series. So after you hear my teaching today, go home and open your Bible, see if what I am saying accords with what you are reading.

Now just a disclaimer, it is also possible to become hyper-focused on eschatology. This we should also avoid. Here are some examples of what I mean. If you constantly see the anti-christ in the latest dynamic leader, you are hyper-focused. If the mark of the beast is in a vaccine, you are deceived. If you get excited when calamities afflict the world, hoping for the End Times, your focus is wrong. If those same calamities drive you to fear, your focus is wrong. If you think that you can speed Jesus’ return through a seven-mountain mandate, your focus is wrong.

Both Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses began out of a hyper-focused, false understanding of eschatology.

What we want to do, as lovers of Christ and students of the Bible, is strike the right balance. We want to rightly understand eschatological things without losing ourselves in it. We want to truly know what God says about the end, for our lives to be appropriately affected, and to avoid those voices and teachings that will lead us down the wrong path.

Back in 1 Peter 4:7, there are a number of things we can learn about the End Times. True things. Things that should inform our thinking and our behavior.

(Parenthesis)

I want to be clear that now we are going to into some hotly debated ideas. Many Christians think that the New Testament is pointing to a time still in the future. That we are still waiting for a seven-year tribulation, a beast and his mark, the abomination of desolations, and all the rest. That is not my perspective. When Peter writes that the end of all things is at hand, I do not think that he means 2000+ years in the future.

To be clear, I am coming from a Post-Millennial perspective. There are other believers that hold different perspectives: the Pre-Millennial or Amillennial perspectives. You don’t need to worry about those terms today. I will teach on them in the fall, before we get into the next sermon series on the book of Revelation. But know that Post-Mil, Pre-Mil, or Amil; all three camps are gospel loving, Bible believing, followers of Jesus. If you hold views different than mine, then I will still love you as a brother or sister in Christ!

None-the-less, I will try to persuade you that the Post-Millennial perspective is the most Biblically faithful perspective that exists. Just as the other two camps would do.

(Close Parenthesis)

Imminent

The first true thing that we can learn about the End Times from 1 Peter 4:7, is the nearness Peter has in mind. Look again at verse 7: The end of all things is at hand. The Greek word translated as “at hand” is eggizo. It means near, approaching, nigh. It has a sense of closeness, even immediacy.

An example:

Then [Jesus] came to the disciples and said to them, “Sleep and take your rest later on. See, the hour is at hand (eggizo), and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand (eggizo).”

-Matthew 26:45-46

Eggizo means nearness. Here in Matthew 26, when Jesus says His betrayer is at hand, He means He can see Judas and the crowd coming with him. They are not yet standing before Jesus, but there are very close.

You can see that eggizo means imminent, impending, near, on the verge. And without exception, this is how eggizo is used in Greek.

I labor over that single word to help you understand what Peter is saying. He is saying that the end of all things is imminent, almost upon him and his readers, exceedingly close.

And it’s not just Peter who says this. The New Testament speaks of the very near, and rapidly approaching, Day of the Lord.

Be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand….behold, the Judge is standing at the door. -James 5:8,9

It is so important to note that James says “the Judge” is standing at the door. He is linking the coming of the Lord with judgement. You’ll see what I mean as we continue.

Paul implies that the Day of the Lord is so near that it might be better not to marry.

I think that in view of the present distress it is good for a person to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be free. Are you free from a wife? Do not seek a wife.

Those who marry will have worldly troubles, and I would spare you of that. This is what I mean, brothers: the appointed time has grown very short.

For the present form of the world is passing away.

-1 Corinthians 7:26-27,28-29,31

These are just a few examples. The New Testament writers believed that the End Times were almost upon them. And why would they not think this? Jesus told them that within a generation, it would happen.

After telling the disciples about the end of the age, the abomination of desolations, and the coming of the Son of Man, Jesus tells this parable:

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that He is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” -Matthew 24:32-35

Less than 40 years later, those same disciples are writing the New Testament, remembering Jesus’ words. They can see that in their time the buds are bursting and fig leaves are growing. They know that Jesus is at the very gates, bringing with Him some dramatic ending; bringing with Him judgement and destruction.

Now, let’s bounce back to 1 Peter 4:7, where Peter says that the end of all things is at hand. At this point we should be able to see that Peter is talking about something that is very near, something about to happen.

The End

So the next question we should be asking is, “What does he mean by the end of all things?”

I admit, it sounds like he could be talking about the end of the world/the end of history. Indeed, you can draw the conclusion that everything is ending.

But I do not believe that is what Peter means. Because we can look 2,000 years back in time and see that the world did not end. So either Peter, and the other New Testament writers, did not actually mean that the time was near, or, they did not mean that the world was about to end.

I do believe the time was near to them, but I do not think they were talking about the end of the world. I believe that what was really being prophesied was the end of the Mosaic way of relating to God. A world governed by law was ending.

Remember, every New Testament writer, a huge portion of the first century Church, and Jesus Himself, were all Jewish. Their identity and culture and worship were all rooted in Judaism. It was a fundamental principle of their reality, of their world.

And under the Jewish/Mosaic covenant, there was a very specific way for humans to have a relationship with God. It required animal sacrifices, circumcision, kosher foods, and a temple. The temple, the dwelling place of God: it symbolized everything in Judaism. Unlike anything else, the temple in Jerusalem was the visual representation of God’s covenant with Israel. It was one of the wonders of the ancient world and the pride of the Jews.

To the Jews, a world without these things was absolutely inconceivable/unthinkable!

But Jesus changed everything. He abolished animal sacrifices by sacrificing Himself on the cross. He changed the way we look at food, saying, “It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person (Matthew 15:11).” Instead of circumcising our bodies, Christ circumcises our hearts with the Holy Spirit. And instead of a temple in Jerusalem, Jesus constructs a temple out of living stones.

Just as Peter said:

You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

-1 Peter 2:5

Jesus established a whole new order, a whole new way for the world to relate to God. As this new order – this new of relating to God – is absolutely a major focus in Peter’s letter!

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God. -1 Peter 3:18

We come to God through Jesus. We receive the blessings of God through Jesus. We find forgiveness, eternal life, and pleasure forevermore through Jesus. He is our sacrifice for sins. He cleanses us and makes us righteous. He brings us to God.

The old order is over. We live in a new covenant, written in the blood of Christ. No temple is needed. We are the temple.

But there was a time of overlap; a 40 year – one generation – period where vestiges of the Old Covenant and the growing kingdom of the New Covenant existed together. But those vestiges of the Old Covenant, including the Temple which symbolized it, were coming to an end. The writer of Hebrews talks about this.

In speaking of a new covenant, [God] makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. -Hebrews 8:13

The Old Covenant vanishing away was not going to be some small, quiet event. It would happen in destruction and fire. It would happen in judgement. God judged the Jews, and destroyed their temple, for their rejection of the Messiah.

In one week’s time Jesus overturned the tables in the temple, cursed the temple, proclaimed woes over its religious leaders, and mourned for Jerusalem. By the end of the week the Jews had their Messiah crucified. Yes, God would come in judgement.

At another time during that week Jesus walked through the temple with His disciples, and the disciples (Peter included) were marveling at it. Jesus said:

“Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Peter and James and John and Andrew asked Him privately, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” -Mark 13:2,3-4

Jesus then goes on to prophesy about wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, persecutions, false messiahs, and apocalyptic destructions. All the things He prophesied concerned the Jewish system, the Jewish people, and the Jewish temple. He was prophesying the end of their world as they understood it. For the Jew, it was the end of all things.

It happened in 70 AD, 40 years after Jesus prophesied it. And when Peter wrote this letter – between 62 and 64 AD – the end was very near. Many of the things that Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24 had already begun at the time of Peter’s writing. The buds had already burst.

In June of 2018 I preached through Jesus’ prophecies about the destruction of the temple, as they are found in Mark 13. Those sermons are available on the church website (ibcfamily.com/sermons). I went through each prophecy and showed how they were very specifically fulfilled, culminating in the temple’s destruction. If you are curious, I encourage you to go back and listen to them.

And when we come to Revelation this fall, we will see that much of Revelation also relates to the destruction of the temple in the first century.

Now, let us return to 1 Peter 4:7. I believe that Peter is talking about the end of the all things pertaining to the Jewish systems of relating to God, which was imminently upon Peter and his readers. Peter’s whole letter is proclaiming a new order, a new people, and a new world where Jesus – the Son of Man – sits upon the throne, at the right hand of the Father.

Read vs 7

Living Now

If the end of all things has already happened, then what does verse 7 mean for us? It means that we should be self-controlled, sober-minded, and prayerful. The impending judgement about to fall in Peter’s day added urgency to these things. But in no way does that mean we can leave holiness and prayerfulness behind! These are still our Christian mandates no matter when in history we live.

Be self-controlled, otherwise you will fall into the flood of debauchery that enemies of God love. Be self-controlled so that you can glorify God in your body! Be self-controlled, because that is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. And if you are the temple, and the Spirit lives within you, then you will be self-controlled.

Be sober-minded so that you can live in hostile times and walk in holiness and hope. That is what Peter taught us earlier in his letter.

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct. -1 Peter 1:13-15

So be sober-minded, pursuing the truth of God, thinking seriously about the world around you and the God that created it; and always setting your mind on the hope we have in Jesus Christ! And if you are going to be sober-minded, you are going to need to be in your Bible.

Be prayerful, because you have tremendous need. A person who doesn’t pray is a person that doesn’t know God. A self-controlled person prays; for when temptation arises, prayer is needed. A sober-minded person prays; so that when the world is filled with pain and confusion, God will grant wisdom when you ask Him for it.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach., and it will be given to him. -James 1:5

When Peter wrote, the world governed by Mosaic Law was ending. How they needed to be self-controlled, sober-minded, and prayerful. In our day, as the kingdom of Christ is expanding, how we need to be self-controlled, sober-minded, and prayerful!

For no matter where we are in history, and no matter how we interpret that history, Jesus has risen from the grave! His sacrifice is our forgiveness! His life is our hope!

And there will be a day that Jesus will return, and when we see Him, we will be like Him! This is our greatest eschatological hope! Indeed, eschatology is important.