1 Peter 4:7(NKJV) 7But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.
Yesterday we talked about the need for the church of Jesus Christ to rise up and take the dominant spiritual role in the earth today. Both Jesus and Paul described Satan as the god of this. Between the sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden and the birth of Jesus, God’s ability to influence the world was limited by his desire to save humanity. Satan was the dominant spiritual influence in the world system because he stole the authority given to Adam by God. Adam transferred that authority to the devil in the fall.
When Jesus came, he was both God and man. He had the authority of Adam but not Adam’s sin nature. This enabled him to override the authority gained by Satan in the fall. However, that only applied for the one man, Jesus. When he ascended after the resurrection, he made a bold statement. “All authority has been given unto me both in heaven and in earth.” Jesus effectively took back the authority ceded to Satan in the fall. Jesus reunited the authority of heaven and the authority of earth and became the “new” God of this world. Then he told the church to go into the world as his representatives and extend that authority.
With this commission, the church becomes the vehicle for Jesus to reign as the supreme spiritual authority in the earth. He calls them to occupy this place of authority, doing the business of the Kingdom of God until Jesus comes. Their job is to preach the Gospel and make disciples from ever nation. They are to be “salt and light” in the world. This refers to the church’s role as a moderating influence. We should stand for righteousness in our culture. We should speak out for godly standards. More important, we should live those standards in the world. Finally, we should become the dominant influence in the spiritual atmosphere on the earth.
Peter’s words in today’s verse highlight why this is so important right now. The end of all things is at hand. This is not a new idea. Sometimes those of us who were born again in the Charismatic movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s think we invented the term “maranatha.” We did not. Paul used this Greek term as a greeting. It means the Lord is coming soon. We can see that Peter thought that as well. The end times really refers to the last phase of God’s dealing with the sin of man on the earth. They began with the day of Pentecost and will end with the bodily return of Jesus to the earth.
There have been far too many attempts to determine exactly when Jesus will return and the end of this age will come, but one thing we can be absolutely certain of is that it is closer now than when Peter wrote these words. We live in a very important and perilous time. In many ways our day is similar to the day in which Peter lived. The next phase of human history is being determined as we go about our daily lives. It is imperative that the church have the role God intends it to have right now. We must occupy. We have always been called to occupy, but this day demands it.
In Peter’s letter, he gives an exhortation to the church of his day. It is an exhortation we should take no less seriously. We must be serious, or sober and watchful in our prayers. Let us examine this exhortation a little more closely.
The King James Version of the bible uses the word “sober.” What does this word mean? First, it means to be of sound mind or in our right mind. The world is looking for someone who can “think straight.” The world needs a people who see things clearly and are not influenced by the insanity around them. It is hard to find this in the political arena today. The business and entertainment fields are also shrill with voices that have no real answers. The church should be the one place the world can look to for sanity.
Sober also means to exercise self-control. We should not think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. The definition says, “to put a moderate estimate upon one’s self.” A sober person is not proud or arrogant. He is not so opinionated he cannot learn. He is confident in his position with the Lord and God’s ability to solve any problem.
A sober person is one who can curb his passions. The flesh does not rule him. He knows how to maintain the proper balance between pleasure and responsibility. He can choose to deny his own desires when necessary for the good of others.
In these days, the church must become this kind of voice. We must learn to be sober. We must get serious about the Kingdom of God. The days when we could just “play religious or spiritual games” is over. We must get serious about the Word of God. We must get serious about yielding to the spirit. We must get serious about obeying God. That does not mean that we are to become somber. The joy of the Lord is a very important part of a sober person’s life. However, it is time to get to work.
Next, he tells us to be watchful in our prayers. To be watchful in prayer means we need to do more in our prayer time than ask for God’s blessing on “us four and no more.” Our prayer should include making our own requests to God but there should be more to it than that. We need to be watchful, discerning what is happening around us and being able to speak the Word of God strategically into situations. We should be what the Bible calls “watchmen on the walls” sounding the alarm when the enemy mounts an attack. God will reveal these things to us as we pray.
More important we need to be watchful so we may hear the voice of the Lord in critical times. In Habakkuk 2:1 we find another group of people in a critical time of history. Sin is abounding in his day and the city of Jerusalem s facing destruction. Israel is about to enter and age of judgment that would change everything. I the midst of this, the prophet cries out to God.
Habakkuk 2:1(NKJV) 1 I will stand my watch And set myself on the rampart, And watch to see what He will say to me, And what I will answer when I am corrected.
He is not just going to pray. He is going to stand his watch. He is taking this time very seriously. What is he watching for? He wants to know what the Lord will say to him. He wants to prepare for how he will respond to correction.
This is an interesting thing to say. I would expect him to say he wants to hear direction from the Lord. I might think he would be looking for “intelligence” on the plans of the enemy from the Lord. Instead, he is ready to be corrected. I believe this is a very crucial thing in our day.
We must understand that we are not perfect. We need adjustments. What will you do when God says, “That is not right. I want you to change in that area.” Well we become offended? Will we feel like a failure, throw up our hands and give up? If we do, we will never be able to occupy. We must be ready to say, “Yes sir, I will take care of that.” On the other hand, we might have to say, “I am sorry Lord. Please help me overcome that in my life.”
Correction is one of the necessary things for anyone who wants to occupy. We must be ready to hear how we can do better. God is not condemning us. He is building us into a force that can influence the direction of history in our day.
Be sober, serious in our approach to the things of God. Be watchful in prayer. Expect to hear from the Lord. Expect to hear both direction and correction. He is preparing us for great things.
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