What does it mean to “glorify God?” There are a number of ways God is glorified, but what exactly does that mean, to “glorify God?” It seems to me the idea has much to do with pointing to God, pointing to Him as the One worthy of all praise, honor, and worship.
I don’t mean to sound overly simplistic with this idea of pointing but it just seems to me this may be the best way to think of glorifying God–our lives point to Him as the grandest and greatest and most wonderful being in existence Who alone deserves our worship, our praise, our dependence, our trust, and our obedience.
Our lives point to Him when we seek to show others the bigness of our God, and the goodness of our God. We mirror our Creator, reflecting His attributes such as love, mercy, goodness, and forgiveness. And when we rightly reflect God, we glorify God; our lives ever pointing to Him.
We pick up in our series of posts on 1 Peter in Chapter 4 at verse 7:
7 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.
8 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.
10 As each one has a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
11 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. (1 Peter 4:7-11)
There’s one goal in this text and it’s found at the end of the passage in the middle of verse 11: “so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever.”
Peter gives four main points that act like darts thrown at one bullseye on a target. The bullseye is that phrase in verse 11: “that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” The bullseye of the passage is to glorify God. So that’s where our arrows go as we study the passage.
Were we to ask Peter: “What does a church look like that glorifies God?” This text gives the answer in four main actions. We’ll study just the first two in today’s post.
Endeavor to Pray Carefully
But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. (verse 7)
This phrase “the end of all things is at hand,” is probably not a reference to Christ’s soon return as if Peter thought Christ might return in a few days, a few weeks, or even in his own lifetime. After all, Jesus had told Peter how he would die (John 21:19), so Peter was not likely expecting Christ to return before his death. And it’s also Peter who said in his second letter, “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day (2 Peter 3:8).” So it’s not very likely that Peter used this phrase to indicate Christ would be returning within his own lifetime.
The phrase “the end of all things is at hand,” is more likely a general way of saying, “Look, everything necessary to accomplish God’s salvation plan has occurred: Christ has come, He has died, He has risen, He has ascended to the right hand of the Father, and the Holy Spirit has been poured out at Pentecost. We’re now in the last days. We’re in the final chapter. We now await Christ’s return and the final judgment because the end of all things is at hand.”
When I am asked whether I believe we are “in the last days” I will usually say something like, “Yes, we have been in the last days since Christ rose from the grave and ascended up to the right hand of the Father.”
So, with Peter, we too may say, “the end of all things is at hand.” There’s no other necessary component of God’s redemptive plan for the church and for the spread of the gospel. Everything has been accomplished. We’re in the last days now. And with each passing day, Christ’s return is nearer and the final judgment more immanent. The curtain could fall at any moment.
So how are we to live in these last days? Are we simply to stand outside and gaze up into heaven, looking for Christ’s return? Should we gather together our maps, charts, and diagrams of “the last things” we bought from some guy on eBay and spend all our time speculating on the exact moment? No, the New Testament never leaves us to wonder what we’re to do with our time in light of the coming judgment.
Again verse 7: “But the end of all things is at hand; therefore; be serious (be sane; think clearly; have a sound mind) and watchful (be awake; be sober) in your prayers (that is, “Be sane and sober so you may pray more effectively”).”
The words “serious” and “watchful” are essentially synonymous in the original. It is especially helpful to contrast these terms “be serious” and “be watchful” with the sins of non-Christians we studied in our previous post: “For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries (1 Peter 4:3).”
Rather than living that way, live in light of the truth that the final judgment is nearer today than it was yesterday. Rather–verse 7–“Be serious and watchful in your prayers.” Be sane and sober; think clearly so you may pray more clearly and more carefully.
Instead of allowing the tug of the world to cloud our thinking; plunging us into the sins of non-Christians such as those mentioned back in verse 3–“lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties”–Christians will be sane and sober; thinking clearly that they may pray carefully and effectively.
Perhaps many of our prayers have more to do with the things of the world than the things of the Lord. Maybe our prayers are more about personal comfort in this world; safety, status, job success, popularity, money, stuff, and so on. Perhaps our prayers need to be more God-centered: “God, grant me wisdom to glorify You today at work; to share the gospel today at school; to see Your hand in creation this week; to worship You in song; to live for You as a finger pointing to the only One deserving all praise, honor, and glory.”
God-glorifying Christians endeavor to pray carefully. Secondly, God-glorifying Christians:
Continue to Love Earnestly
And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” (verse 8)
That last phrase, “love will cover a multitude of sins,” is from Proverbs 10:12. Peter wasn’t a trained theologian; he was a fisherman, but he spent time in the Word. He knew Scripture, memorized Scripture, and meditated upon Scripture. He’s a good model for us.
Verse 8 begins: “Above all things.” It seems Peter is saying, “Here is the most important thing you’ll do to glorify God: have fervent love for one another.”
The grammar suggests continual action: “keep on loving one another earnestly.” That may be a better translation: “Above all things, keep on loving one another earnestly.”
The command to love one another assumes, of course, that the church is regularly gathering together for worship and encouragement. You’ll see that phrase “one another” three times in the passage:
“have fervent love for one another” (1 Peter 4:8)
“be hospitable to one another” (1 Peter 4:9)
“minister…to one another.” (1 Peter 4:10)
Make no mistake: the Christian faith is a “one another” faith. We live it out not in isolation, but with others. We do not stay home because we’ve given up on finding the perfect church but, as imperfect persons ourselves, we gather together with other imperfect people to worship our perfect Lord.
I’ve often joked: “If you think you’ve found the perfect church, don’t dare join it–because the moment you do, it will cease being perfect!”
The church is composed of imperfect persons. That’s what makes the church so wonderful–we’re all a bit nutty! Remember: the church isn’t full of hypocrites; we always have room for more.
“And above all things have fervent love for one another.”
If we’re going to love one another then we’ve got to be open to one another. We’ve got to gather together with one another and risk having our heart broken, at times. Here’s CS Lewis from his book, The Four Loves:
“…To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket–safe, dark, motionless, airless–it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable…The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and (distresses) of love is Hell.”
CS LEwis, “Charity,” the four loves
Loving one another is risky, but it’s what Christians do. We glorify God when we love one another the way He loves us. Remember Ephesians 4:32: “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ Jesus forgave you.”
Where love abounds it’s easy to overlook offenses. If I know you love me, I am more inclined to dismiss a hurtful comment you shared that could have been stated better. If you know I love you, it’s equally easier for you to overlook my mistake. But where love does not abound, there is suspicion in every word spoken, a lens of bitterness through which every action is viewed, and a foundation of mistrust upon which we’ll allow nothing to be built. But that’s not how Christians love.
Keep on loving one another earnestly.
Remember the context because it’s easier to love people when you know that “the end of all things is at hand.” Right? If you knew Christ were returning this evening, would you waste any time feeling animosity toward another believer? Probably not. So Peter says, “Live that way all the time.”
Love covers a multitude of sins. That doesn’t mean we’ll sweep sin under the rug and cover it up or or ignore it. God always calls upon as the one sinning to confess his sin and repent of his or her sin. If we have sinned against another person, we must go to that person and make it right.
Peter’s use of the phrase “love will cover a multitude of sins” has to do with a personal sin against you that you may–in love–forgive rather than becoming bitter or insisting your offender apologize. The full quote from Proverbs 10:12 is: “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.”
God-glorifying Christians endeavor to pray carefully and continue to love earnestly. There are two more actions which we’ll address them next time. For now, let’s apply this last point about loving earnestly by reviewing a familiar passage often recited only at weddings. As you relate to others this week, consider:
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Follow Preaching Truth on WordPress.com
1 Pingback