This morning we are going to be in the book of 1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 4. And we're going to be focusing on verses 7 through 12. But as we begin this morning, I just want to read verse 7. But the end of all things is at hand. Be you therefore sober and watch unto prayer. Back in verse 2, you'll notice that Peter writes about the rest of his time. He says that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the lust of man. And then he will mention in verse 3, for the time passed of our life. So what he's doing is he is looking at time in regard to what he's going to do in the future and time in regard to what has happened in the past. Peter is very much aware of time and the importance of time. He knew that his time here on earth was soon going to end and he wanted to make the most of the time that he had left and he certainly didn't want to waste any time. Before his conversion, Peter, like all of us, lived to fulfill the lust of the flesh, to live for the world and all the world had to offer. Then after his conversion, well, he wanted to live the rest of his time doing the will of God, faithfully living for and serving his master. And certainly I hope we would all agree that that's the attitude that we all need to have if we are saved and we are followers of Christ. Paul, not Peter, wrote in Ephesians chapter five and verse 16 that we need to redeem the time. Now I believe that what Paul said just in that brief sentence, those brief words, I think really would be a summary of what Peter is writing in the first 11 verses of chapter 4. If you want to summarize this passage that we're looking at, which is verses 1 through 12, it would be, we need to redeem the time because the days are evil. The word redeem there simply means to buy back, to take advantage of, to take advantage of an opportunity that you have while you have the opportunity to do something. When it comes to serving the Lord, we're given opportunities, but those opportunities are always gonna last. And so we need to take advantage of the time we have, and we need to faithfully serve the Lord. I've titled this message, and this will be part two of a message that I started a couple weeks ago, and that is the rest of our time, which again, I base on what Peter writes there in verse two. How much time do we have? How much time when we talk about the rest of our time? Well, that's something that we don't know. Only the Lord knows how much time we have. So as we think about this idea of the rest of our time, I want us to look at this phrase in regard to five, or I should say four areas of life where we need to have the right perspective if we're gonna make the best use of the rest of our time. Now, the first perspective, which we looked at a couple weeks ago, is in regard to suffering. And you see that back in verse one. Christ is our example, our example when it comes to suffering. And just as he suffered, we are going to suffer as well. And we need to suffer in the same way that he did to follow his example. And how did he suffer? Well, he suffered, first of all, he was innocent. and also he was silent. So you could say innocently and silently is the way, the pattern that we are to follow, to follow the way of Lord Jesus Christ. Keep in mind that Peter is writing this letter to a group of Christians scattered about through part of Asia Minor who are about to undergo some severe persecution and suffering. So he's writing this letter mostly to prepare them for when that happens. Well, to help prepare us, we need to have the right perspective when it comes to suffering and why we are suffering and how we are to endure our suffering. And then secondly, we need the right perspective when it comes to sin. And we see that in verses two through six, the really close connection between the suffering and sin. As we look at our lives before we were saved, before our conversion, we realize how much time we've wasted. How much time we've wasted fulfilling the, well, the lust of the flesh, as Peter writes. We have just lived for the world and just to enjoy all the world has to offer us without thinking about eternity and thinking about heaven. Well, after Peter's conversion, he had a desire to live a completely opposite life. And that was to live a holy life, to live not for this world, but for the world to come, to be obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's what we looked at a couple of weeks ago. And so what I want to do this morning is I want to finish up this passage, verses one through 12, by looking at two other perspectives that we need to have if we're going to make the best use of the rest of our time. The third one is is we need to have the right perspective in regard to the second coming See that in verse 7 which I read as we began Where Peter writes But the end of all things is at hand. Be therefore sober and watch into prayer. Notice he starts out with the conjunction but. Means there's going to be a connection with what he's about to say with what he's just said in the previous verses. In the previous six verses, but I think especially in verses five and six. There he writes about the fact that God is going to judge one day. He's going to judge the, Peter says, the living and the dead. Or we could say those who were in the past and those who are at the present, live at the present time. He's talking about all. all believers and unbelievers, but especially he's speaking to those of us who are believers. And so why do we need to be prepared for this time of judgment? Well, he says it quite clearly there in verse seven, but the end of all things is at hand. Now, what exactly does this mean? One thing is, is this another way of saying, Folks, Jesus is coming again. He's coming a second and a final time, and you need to be ready. Now, Peter doesn't go into any detail. No, you just notice he makes a very clear and a very simple statement. Now, when it comes to the doctrine of the second coming, when we talk about end time events, There's a few important facts that we need to always keep in mind. One is, no one knows the day or the hour of His coming. Whenever anybody tries to determine the time of Christ's return or if they set dates or whatever, they're being, well, they're being foolish. They're not being biblical because the Bible tells us that we're not to know the day or the hour. Secondly, just as Jesus came physically and literally the first time he was here, he's going to come physically and literally the second time. And just as he came the first time to a physical, literal earth, he'll come the second time and set up a physical and a literal kingdom. That's important that we keep that in mind because many people don't believe that. Number three, His coming ends the history of fallen mankind. We call it the times of the Gentiles. Man's day is soon going to come to an end. Right now, man seems to do what he wants to do and he lives in rebellion against God. Well, God is still in control and his time of rebellion is going to come to an end when Christ returns. And then fourthly, we should always be prepared for Christ return. Now, Peter, this isn't the first time that he's spoken about the. glorious return of Christ. Back in chapter 1 and verse 7, that the trial of your faith being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found in a praise and honor and glory. Now notice, at the appearing of Jesus Christ at the second coming of Christ. So he writes there about the second coming in verse 13 of that same chapter. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind and be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. The word revelation just means the appearing, the second coming of Christ. So Christ is gonna come. He's gonna come to a world that's gonna be different than the world which we know at the present time. So Peter, well, Peter's concerned with how we live in view of this glorious truth of the second coming. And when we deal with prophecy, when we deal with the return of Christ, I fear that people often go to one or two extremes. You have some who simply ignore the subject. It's difficult. There's so many different interpretations that it just confuses me. I don't know what to believe, so I'm just not even gonna deal with it. I'm not even gonna try to figure it out. So they just completely ignore it. And then you have others who spend the majority of their time just trying to figure out future in-time events, things that have to do with the second coming. Who's gonna be the Antichrist? Where's he gonna come from? How are we gonna recognize him? How long is the Tribulation actually gonna be, the Great Tribulation? What's gonna happen to the United States? How does the United States figure into prophecy? And even some, again, try to begin to set days or time, saying, I believe it's gonna happen here in the next little bit. Well, I think both of these extremes are wrong. So in response to this, I just would say, I think we need to study prophecy. We need to study the second coming, just as we study all the Bible. Because as we go through the Bible, we preach and teach and study that which we are reading. When I preach, if I'm preaching a passage through a book that deals with prophecy or the second coming, then I'll deal with that. But I'm gonna spend all my time or the majority of my time just trying to deal with and figure out how things are gonna unfold in the days ahead. And we know a lot of this is simply out of curiosity. People are just curious about what's gonna happen in the future. It's like they just wanna know what's gonna happen, how everything's gonna be in the future. There's a curiosity involved. Well, we're not to study these things out of curiosity, but we are to study them for encouragement. See, the bottom line is, with however you want to try to figure out the book of Revelation or prophecy, end time events, the second coming, the bottom line is you come to this one truth, this reality, this encouragement. Friends, Jesus is coming again. He is going to return. That's why Peter says the end of all things is at hand. The word in there doesn't mean to terminate. It means to consummate, to fulfill. We talk about the second coming being imminent. By that we mean that it could come at any time, at any moment. It is going to happen, it could happen at any time. Peter watched the Lord in Acts chapter one. He watched him ascend back into heaven. He heard the angel promise that this Jesus that you see leave is going to also come in like manner. So he knew he had the promise that Jesus was going to return one day. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in first Thessalonians chapter four. He says, for if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also would sleep, and Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we, which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words." Here, Peter writes about the fact that there are those who are going to be alive at Christ's coming and those who have already died, but they're all going to be joined together and they're going to be with the Lord. That's why Paul says, comfort one another, encourage one another with these words. The writer of Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 25, a verse that we usually associate with the importance of church attendance, because it talks about not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together as a manner of some is, But he goes on and talks about how we are to encourage each other as the day is approaching. And what day is the writer talking about there? I think he's talking about the day of Christ's return, the second coming. So we gather each week to worship the Lord, to praise Him for all the great things that He has done for us, most importantly, for salvation. But we also, in our worship and praise, we also are here to encourage one another. to take our minds off of this troubled world and realize Jesus is coming again and we need to encourage each other with that truth. Though God wants his children to focus on the hope of Christ's return, he's chosen not to reveal the exact time of his appearing. And I think it's wise and it's good that he doesn't. You know, a thief doesn't call you on the telephone and say, I just wanted to let you know that at 11 o'clock tonight, I'm going to break into your house and I'm going to rob you. I thought you need to know that, I wanted to let you know that, and see you later. A thief's not going to do that. He's not going to announce that he's going to come, because if he does, then you'll make sure you're ready and you won't let him rob you. No. Well, Jesus hasn't shown us. He hasn't revealed to us when he is going to come. We just need to be ready for his appearing. And when he does return, our salvation will be consummated. It will be completed. So if you want to make the best use of the rest of your time, then Peter says, live in light of the second coming. So go on, he says, but the end of all things is at hand. Be ye therefore. That means, in light of this fact, you need to be, as he says, sober, means clear-headed, under control. Now, the King James just says sober. Now, many translations kind of elaborate on that and give it a little bit more meaning, meaning it means self-controlled, sober-minded. You see, the idea that Christ is gonna come again, well, that truth should have an effect upon the way that we think and the way that we live. As we live in this world that's full of trouble, when we see sin and depravity sweeping across our land, a lot of times we'd like to just go out and find a cave and just live in a cave until Christ returns again. We don't have that option. You know, we are to be in the world, but not of the world. We are called to go forth and to spread the gospel. We have a work that we are called to do. We are to go forth and to help rescue those who are in sin. But as we think about the second coming, as we think about these things in the state of our world today, We can remain calm and self-controlled and level-headed because we know that the end of all things is at hand. We know that God's in control. He's working all things after the counsel of His will, working all things for His glory and for the good of His people. So we need to have the right perspective when it comes to the way we live and the fact that we're looking for Christ's return. And he ends the verse there by saying that we need to watch into prayer. We need to pray. We need to pray for guidance. We need to think correctly. We need to realize that we only have so much time and we need to make sure we're serving the Lord until Christ return. We need to be prepared. Someone asked Luther one time what he would do if he knew the world was gonna end today. And Luther said, I would plant a tree and I would do my taxes. You say, what? Well, he just meant that I'm just going to do what I plan to do that day. Because I just make plans every day. I do what I'm going to do every day, but always in light of the fact this might be the day when Christ returns. But you just go around business as usual and you live each day as if that's the day that Christ is going to return. So we need the right perspective when it comes to the second coming. And then fourth and lastly, we need the right perspective when it comes to stewardship. If you look at verse eight, it says, and above all things have fervent charity among yourselves for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. Use hospitality one to another without grudging. As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. If any man minister, let him do it of the ability which God giveth, that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen. If we truly believe that Christ is going to return at any time, and I hope that we do, then the way we relate to others, and when it comes to serving the Lord, well, that's gonna have a drastic impact upon what we do. He mentions in verse 10 about being good stewards. That's why I've looked at this last perspective as a stewardship. A steward is someone who, well, was an overseer. He took care of what belonged to somebody else, something that was entrusted to him that belonged to another. Well, you find here in these verses that we are given something by the Lord, by the master, and that is we're given spiritual gifts. They're given to us. They're given us so that we can serve him while he is gone until he returns once again. We use these gifts for His honor and His glory. He calls us stewards of grace. That means these are gifts that are freely given. We don't earn them, they're given graciously to us by God. Now, if you look at verse eight, as we begin to look at this, you'll notice the motivation behind this, the fuel that drives us as we use our spiritual gifts, is love, look at verse eight. And above all things have fervent charity or love among yourselves, for love shall cover the multitude of sins. Peter here talks about the primacy of love. That love is fervent, that means it's stretched to the limit. This love he talks about is a sacrificial, a selfless, a giving love. See, remember Peter's writing to a people who are suffering and living in a hostile, wicked world. And even though the world is going to persecute them and the world is going to oppose them, as they relate to one another, they need to make sure that they love and share with each other. That's why it says there, love covers a multitude of sins. We don't love each other if we're continually finding fault with one another and even the delighting in those faults. Love doesn't expose or harshly condemn sin. No, it bears others' burdens. It forgives and forgets past offenses, just as the Holy Spirit works in us. So Peter's not saying that we are to condone or approve of sin. No, never. Just as the Spirit of God has grieved over our sin, we're to grieve over the sin that we commit and others commit. So when it comes to sin, we can't hide our sin from God, nor are we expected to even try. We're foolish if we do so. We're to confront our own sin. We're to face our sin and deal with our sin. But when it comes to the sin of others, We don't hide it in the sense that we try to keep it a secret, but we're not going to be ready to go forth and publish the sins of other people, especially to an unsaved world. We will deal with the sin. We're not going to try to say that it didn't happen. but we're gonna be very careful in how we deal with it. And this love starts with the love of God. See, our love is modeled by Christ's love, just as our suffering is modeled by Christ's suffering. And when you think of love, our love cannot atone for even one sin, ours or somebody else's. We can't atone for other people's sin. Only Christ can do that, but we can imitate his love And that is by the way that we forgive others. See, His atoning our sin was a way that He's able to forgive us of our sins. Well, we can't do that, but we can follow Him in our forgiving one another. See, that's where it all starts. We need to have a right perspective when it comes to the way we deal with each other, and especially the way we use these spiritual gifts, and we're to do so in a spirit of love. And then verses 9 through 11, he begins to talk about spiritual gifts. These gifts are given in order for us to serve. That's why we are to be stewards. We're to make. The most of our time that we have to use these gifts, we're going to have to give an account of how we use them. So I says for the rest of our time, may we use these gifts, especially in light of the second coming. Spiritual gifts fall into three categories, sign gifts, speaking gifts, and serving gifts. I believe the sign gifts have already fulfilled their purpose, miraculous gifts. But speaking gifts and serving gifts are both mentioned in verse 11, and they're both for today. Speaking gifts would be those who pastor, those who teach, those who are gifted to speak. And what is it there to speak? Well, They're to speak the oracles of God, not their own thoughts, not their own opinions, but we speak the word of God. And then we are to serve. They're serving gifts. Verse nine talks about hospitality. That's a love of stranger. That's a care for others. See, back then, traveling preachers depended on hospitality, food and shelter. There wasn't a Texas Roadhouse to go eat at or a Holiday Inn to stay in. No, they needed someone to show hospitality. Those who were being persecuted, a lot of them were losing their jobs and their homes, and they needed the help and care of other Christians, so that's what they would do. And he says there that we're to do all of this, in verse 11, in the strength that the Lord gives. That's important that we understand that. So often we try to use these gifts that have been given to us, and we try to use them in our own strength, in our own power. Well, when we do that, we're not going to be very effective. And he says the reason behind all this is that we're to do it for the honor and glory of God. He says that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen. So as we close, How do we rightly use the rest of our time? That's what we're talking about here in these two messages. How to use the rest of our time. Well, we use that time wisely by having the right perspective when it comes to our suffering, to sin, to, as we look this morning, at the second coming, and stewardship. Friends, may we live in light of the second coming. May we serve the Lord with the gifts that he has graciously given us. And remember, we serve, we use these gifts always fueled by love. So, the phrase that sums up this passage is, redeem the time for the days are evil. In Philippians chapter one, verse 21, Paul writes, for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. He says to live is Christ. Can you say that today? To you, say to live is to watch football, to go shopping, play video games, to hunt, to fish, to travel. Is that what it is for you to live? Or can you say, no, for me to live is Christ? That's what's most important. See, that's how we make the best use of the rest of our time, by living to Christ. Now, if you're listening to this and you're not saved, then it's time for you to be saved. It's time for you to look to Christ because you're gonna stand before him one day, either as your savior or as your judge. My friend, may you today look to him, put your faith and trust in him. Then when he comes again, you'll stand before him, but he won't stand to judge you. You'll stand, well, to be welcomed into the eternal home that he has prepared for his children. Today's the day to look to Christ and to believe upon him as your Lord and as your savior.