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1 PETER 4:7-11
But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.
And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.
As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God.
If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
War erupting in Gaza has brought the idea of the end of all things to the forefront of our minds, coming as it does, hot on the heels of the Russian war in Ukraine. We stand horrified as our world seems to crumble about us. Surely we are in ‘the end times’ and yet the apostle Peter stated 2000 years ago that the end of all things is at hand!
The ‘End Times’ and the ‘End of All Things’ is an oft repeated concept in Scripture, and furthermore, one whose meaning fluctuates depending on the context. In 1 Peter 4, the apostle uses the word ‘all’ to mean ‘all, any, every and the whole thing’ — which can be taken to refer to us either individually or collectively. We understand, of course, that God is in control…
The ‘End Times’ and the ‘End of All Things’ is an oft repeated concept in Scripture, and furthermore, one whose meaning fluctuates depending on the context. In 1 Peter 4, the apostle uses the word ‘all’ to mean ‘all, any, every and the whole thing’ — which can be taken to refer to us either individually or collectively. We understand, of course, that God is in control…
The Portion of Jacob is not like them,
For He is the Maker of all things,
And Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;
The LORD of hosts is His name.
JEREMIAH 10:16
Jeremiah’s verse tells us that Our God is the Maker of all things, and thus all things are His to dispose as He wills, indeed that we are all His inheritance. Everything is under His hand. It is therefore our expectation that this end of all things is either more ‘at hand’ than ever before, or that maybe this is an exaggeration for effect. Certainly we are beset by life-threatening events at every turn, so that if it is not climate change, or war, or the rise in charismatic (to some) world leaders, bent on crazy agendas, or the spread of civil discontent and disorder across the earth, then it is the besetting sin of humanity that is pulling the rug out from under itself.
The truth is that the end of all things is an ever present state of affairs. We neither know nor can ever know when that moment will finally dawn, even though we may think that we discern the signs. Only God knows, thus as believers with the hope of glory deep in us, we should turn our eyes from the Satanic work, focussing instead on The Lord. Look to the light is the only way.
JOB 37:21 says Even now men cannot look at the light when it is bright in the skies, when the wind has passed and cleared them, but Matthew Henry makes this observation…
The truth is that the end of all things is an ever present state of affairs. We neither know nor can ever know when that moment will finally dawn, even though we may think that we discern the signs. Only God knows, thus as believers with the hope of glory deep in us, we should turn our eyes from the Satanic work, focussing instead on The Lord. Look to the light is the only way.
JOB 37:21 says Even now men cannot look at the light when it is bright in the skies, when the wind has passed and cleared them, but Matthew Henry makes this observation…
And in all the duties and services of life, we should aim at the glory of God as our chief end. He is a miserable, unsettled wretch, who cleaves to himself, and forgets God; is only perplexed about his credit, and gain, and base ends, which are often broken, and which, when he attains, both he and they must shortly perish together. But he who has given up himself and his all to God, may say confidently that the Lord is his portion; and nothing but glory through Christ Jesus, is solid and lasting; that abideth for ever.
MATTHEW HENRY
MEDITATE ON THESE THINGS…
... "the whole world has gone after him" Did all the world go after Christ? "then went all Judea, and were baptized of him in Jordan."
Was all Judea, or all Jerusalem, baptized in Jordan? "Ye are of God, little children", and the whole world lieth in the wicked one".
Does the whole world there mean everybody? The words "world" and "all" are used in some seven or eight senses in Scripture, and it is very rarely the "all" means all persons, taken individually.
The words are generally used to signify that Christ has redeemed some of all sorts -- some Jews, some Gentiles, some rich, some poor, and has not restricted His redemption to either Jew or Gentile ...
C.H. SPURGEON considers ‘all things’, from a sermon on ‘Particular Redemption’
ALL THINGS — David and Nicole Binion
PRAYER REQUIRES WORSHIP...
PRAYER IS THE instrument of the life of worship, it is not worship itself.
[from ‘Christian Discipline Volume 2’ by Oswald Chambers]
LISTEN TO THIS MEDITATION HERE…
COMING NEXT… #331 I WILL LIFT UP MY EYES
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