How Should We Live in the End Time?

Well, brethren, only 20 more shopping days till the end of the world. Remember, December 21st is the end of the world. See, you've got to get out and get that shopping done before the world ends. It seems like people are frenetic out there, aren't they, as they begin to prepare for bail mass, which is going to be upon the world very, very soon. I know I probably shouldn't say bail mass, because I'm sure that irritates people. I don't mean to do that, but I guess it's just enmity to do that.

But, you know, maybe I need to be nicer about it. But, yes, December 21st is the time when many say that it's all going to be over for everyone. Interestingly, Belgium is one of those countries where there's a goodly number of people who think that the world is going to come to an end at that time. Many people were preparing. Some are digging holes in the ground, putting places to survive, spending a lot of money for it. It reminds me of the year 2000, when everybody thought the world was going to fall apart.

People were drilling wells in their backyards. People were laying up food for 10 years, because everything was going to shut down. Except this is more expensive. People are doing much more expensive things. Now, it is true that when the end of the age comes, we read in the book of Revelation, that people will hide in the rocks among the rocks of the earth for fear of the things that are going to come. But as we know, there are many things that have to come before the end of the world is going to come.

And let's understand that the end of the world, as people perhaps think of it, is not what's going to happen. Because the world, when we see that in the Bible, refers to the age or the time when this cosmos, this society, this world is going to come to an end. We know the world itself, the earth, the terra firma is not going to disappear, because we know Christ is going to set up his throne in Jerusalem.

And I like that song that talks about how imagine things are going to be done when there's peace and calm, when the world begins to witness this. We see the world, though, is in very much turmoil now in the world, and events are speeding up. And Jesus warned this. He said, when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies. Then he said, no, that is near. I don't think we're quite at that point now, but we're not too far away from it. We'll see again how quickly those things come to pass.

But, you know, the Bible does talk about that, in fact, the time is going to come when the cities of Israel, and we are modern Israel in the United States and Britain, we're the modern peoples of Israel today, that the cities are going to be laid waste. That's what it says over in Ezekiel chapter 6, you know, in verse 1 and 2 there and down in verse 6, if you want to check that out. You want to read that. But the cities are going to be laid waste.

And so we are living in a time where we're quickly coming up to the end of this age, the end of this society, this cosmos that we are living in. And, you know, we need to be more aware of the times that we're living in.

And one of the things that Jesus Christ himself said, he said that we need to be praying on a regular basis as God's people that we are accounted worthy to escape the things that are going to come to pass. That the earth is going to go through so many problems in the future, you won't be able to hide from it. That the world is going to go through such convulsions. He said you need to pray always that you're counted worthy to escape and to stand before the Son of Man.

So, Reverend, are you praying about that in your life or have you forgotten, you know, to pray about that each day? Have you forgotten what's coming, what's going to happen in the world? Is it possible that we would not escape because we did not pray to escape the things that were going to come?

Maybe perhaps we didn't believe it was going to happen. It's like in Pompeii, you know, they didn't believe the volcano was going to erupt, but go over to Italy, to Pompeii, and look what happened to people who didn't believe it was going to happen. So Christ said, pray always that you're counted worthy to escape and to stand before the Son of Man, to stand before Jesus Christ. And, brethren, I hope that we can do both.

We can escape and we can stand before Christ, and Christ will be able to say to us, well done, thou good and faithful servant. You know, the Apostle Peter wrote that once we are called out of this world in society, that we should not, once we're called, live the rest of our time in the flesh. But he said, following the will of God, that once we break free from this world, that we should live according to the will of God, not according to the fleshly desires that we have.

And as an impetus to follow the way of God, Peter said to the church in the first century, he said, the end of all things is at hand. The end of all things is at hand. In other words, we're living, Peter was telling them, in the end of the age. And so you better take stock of that. He was telling them, well, of course, perhaps he was talking about the fact that Jerusalem was going to be destroyed by the Romans. He had, of course, the insight as to what was going to happen in 68 A.D. when the Roman legions came marching down into Jerusalem and destroyed Jerusalem. Remember the church fled to Pella at that time.

There was a voice that they heard. The earthquake, the earth shook, it said, and the voice said, remove you, hence. And the church fled to Pella, according to history. But Jesus warned, remember his disciples, that Jerusalem was going to fall. Remember right there in Matthew 24. They would have probably looked at it that way. They wouldn't see the end time fulfillment of some of those things. And they were warned to be prepared for his return, when he would return.

Well, brethren, our salvation is now nearer than in the days of Peter, nearly 2,000 years ago, when he said, the end of all things is at hand. We're closer now than we ever have been. And, you know, we can't afford, quite frankly, to say, oh, it's a long way off. Isn't there, in fact, a Bible scripture that tells us about that in the book of Peter? They put off the day. They think it's going to never come. And, of course, like in the days of Noah, people didn't believe Noah.

And they only believed Noah when the door was shut and the rain started falling, and it got deep enough. And then they were beaten on the door to get in. Well, brethren, let's not let that happen to us, lest we be in that situation.

So our salvation, again, is much closer than the days of Peter, nearly 2,000 years ago. My question for you, brethren, is then, how should we be living out the rest of our lives in this time, since we're living in the end times? That was uppermost in Peter's mind. What should you be doing? What should I be doing right now? You know, Peter gives us some interesting insight, and that's what I want to talk to you about here in the remainder of the time for the sermon. I'm going to focus on what Peter said. The end of all things is at hand, he said, and as a result of that, this is what you ought to be doing. Now, brethren, those upon whom the ends of the world are coming, and we are closer again to it, ought to pay heed to what Peter the apostle said. Remember, Peter himself did not see the demise of Jerusalem. He died, we think, around 64 AD, although it's hard to pinpoint exactly when, but Jerusalem fell in 68 AD. But let's go to 1 Peter, chapter 4. He thought he might be there, obviously. He was warning the brethren about it. He didn't know what was going to happen, how it was going to happen, but he certainly believed it was going to happen. But 1 Peter, chapter 4, and verse 1, let's begin there. Peter says, therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind. For he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin. Certainly true, isn't it? I think I understand that a lot better now than I used to understand it.

I mean, when you get close to death's door, walking through the valley of the shadow of death, you understand that a little bit more. You know, realize that your time could be over.

Like the Scripture says, there's no more reward in the grave where you go. But going on, he says that he no longer should live in the rest of his life or time in the flesh for the lusts of men—no, we shouldn't live that way—but for the will of God. For the will of God. You know, since you've been called, since your mind's been opened, for we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles, the will of the nations out there, the world, when we walked in lewdness, lust, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.

In regard to these, they think it's strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. The world doesn't really care for you because you don't live that way of life. I remember when I started living God's way of life, first time, I had buddies that used to come by Friday night—we'd all go out on Friday night and do something when I was younger, I think about 16 or so. All of us basically were beginning to spread our wings. We were driving. We had the ability to drive. I went out, I remember that first time, it was dark, Friday night, and a lot of the buddies said, hey, let's go do this, let's go do that. And I told them, I said, I'm sorry, I can't go with you. And they said, why? Well, because I'm keeping the Sabbath. That's the first time I ever told anybody I was keeping the Sabbath, except my parents. And they said, oh, come on, let's go, let's go anyway. I'm sorry. I told them, I just can't do that. All those friends, by the way, drifted away from me right away, right away.

And so what he says here is true. I don't know that they condemn me for it. They probably thought I was goody-two-chus. I thought it was better than they were. I didn't feel that way, certainly. But going on, it says, they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this reason, the gospel was preached also to those who were dead, dead spiritually, he's saying, that they might be judged according to men. God is indeed going to judge people according to men. In other words, what did you know and when did you know it? It doesn't matter if you convert it. Young people, be aware of the fact. You're going to be judged whether you want to or not. You're going to be judged according to men. What did you know, when did you know it, and what did you do about it? It's what God's going to want to know. And believe me, you don't want to appear before God and not have an answer.

At least I wouldn't want to appear before God. Somebody might say, well, I just want to make it through it. Maybe God will give me another chance, an opportunity. Well, I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to go through the experience of being chewed out by God, you know, whatever He does. It says that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but it says, but live according to God and the Spirit. But the end of all things, He says, is at hand. Here again Peter is saying, the end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be serious, 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. What does that mean? Love covers a multitude of sins. It means, brethren, we should not try to get our brother in trouble. We should try to help our brother. Now, obviously, once you've done those things to help your brother, and those things don't work, you may need to again employ going to the ministry about something. But love will cover a multitude of sins. And if the church can't help, obviously, then certain decisions, depending upon the sin it is involved, might have to be made. Verse 9, though, He says, be hospitable to one another without grumbling. And as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good servants 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, whom be long the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Or so be it, Peter says. So here he says, the end of all things is at hand. Peter says, the end of all things is at hand, and what does he stress, brethren? What does he stress that we ought to be doing? Since the end of all things is at hand. He says we need to be serious and sober as God's people.

You know, right there in the scriptures we just read.

We need to be sober and we need to be serious. That's what that means, by the way. There in verse 7 he says that we need to be serious.

That word, I think you have a King James, does it say sober? There, I can't remember. Okay, it may say sober. The Greek word, by the way, for sober, serious here is sa-phranil. S-a-franil. That's with a P-H, by the way. S-O-P-H-R-O-N-E-O, which means from a strong to be in the right mind to exercise self-control.

This means to have a moderate estimation of yourself and think in a balanced way, soberly, in other words, about yourself. Do you understand who and what you are?

Or do you have a distorted view of who you are?

You know, some people, it seems, they grow up in their lives and they have this Messiah complex.

You ever known people like that? That's unbalanced. That's not godly, brethren, and it's not what Peter wants us to have. It means, brethren, to curb your personal passions, to be curbing, controlling, have self-control over yourself.

It's okay to drink, you know, a glass of wine. It's not okay to drink a jug of wine. It's okay to have an occasional drink. It's not okay to get drunk, so that, again, you lose control of your mental faculties. It's okay to enjoy a nice steak, a nice meal. It is not okay to overdo it, you know, to overeat, as many Americans do, as you well know. Probably we do, too. We probably eat far too much, you know, as Americans. We tend to do that. You learn that when you go to Africa, how much we eat in this country. You know, when you go to Africa, they give you one chicken leg. We usually bring out the whole chicken. You may go to a chicken place here, buy a bucket of chicken, and eat half of it.

No wonder we've got problems in this country. But it means, brethren, to be balanced, to exercise health control. And so, be serious and be sober, Peter says.

And let's go over to 1 Peter 1, just over from where you are there. 1 Peter 1 in verse 13. Here he says, therefore, he says, gird up the loins of your mind. Be sober. This is, by the way, a different Greek word than we referred to earlier. He says, be sober and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. It's what should render there, but it says, be brought to you being brought. It's the process of being brought to us. We're learning more about it every single day. But the word sober, here comes from the Greek word nepho, napho, I'm sorry, nepho, spelled N-E-P-H-O. It means being discreet, being discreet.

It means also to abstain from wine. In other words, be moderate. And it means to watch, as well. Keep watch.

And there is another word here. The word loins comes from the Greek word ospous, ospous, spelled O-S-P-H-U-S. And I like the meaning of this word loins in the Greek. It means internal procreative power, your internal procreative power, what we may call willpower. You know, what some might refer to pulling yourself up by your own bootstraps, kind of. In other words, stand up and act like a man.

Exercise some willpower. You know, have some willpower rather than wishbone. Have some backbone rather than wishbone. But internal procreative power.

So this is what we have to do as God's people. This is what Peter is saying. Be sober, be serious. This is not the time to, you know, to forget about our calling. It's not the time to take a break from our calling, take a vacation from our calling. It's the time to really hunker down, as they say. Let's go to chapter 5. Chapter 5 in 1 Peter, in verse 8, you're very familiar with this verse. It says, Be sober, be sober. Be vigilant. Be diligent. In other words, be serious and be diligent. That word, vigilant, by the way, means to keep awake, to keep awake and watch. Watch. You need to watch not only yourself, but watch world events.

Unfortunately, what happens to people when they drift away from God, and you find this is true nearly 100% of the time, and it may have been the reason they drifted away from God to begin with, is they forget about what's going on in the world. They forget about the Holy Days. They forget about all the things that they learned, and sometimes very quickly they do. They don't watch events, but you know if you talk to a lot of those people, if you said, How are you doing spiritually?

You know, they'll come back and say, Oh, I am just having the most wonderful spiritual life that I've ever had before. And I think when that is the case, they may be having a spiritual life, but it's not the kind of life that God wants us to have. You know, a lot of people who have the new or involved in the New Age movement feel exactly the same way, but they're often to things that are, quite frankly, demonic. And they think they're having a spiritual experience. So be sober, Peter says, and be serious. Then he says in verse 7 there in chapter 4, he says that we need to be watchful in prayer.

Watchful in prayer. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 6. You know, here over here in Ephesians 6, you know, Peter or Paul mentions, I should say, different apostle. Ephesians 6 in verse 8, he talks about the armor of God, as you know, down here. As a part of that armor of God, he says in verse 18, he says in verse, let's see, I'm chapter 6 and down in verse 18, I think, is where in verse 18, he says, and we'll break into the thought, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, being watchful, watchful to the end, Peter says, with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.

So we need to be praying and we need to be watching. To be watching what's going on with, in our lives, spiritually speaking, we need to be watching, brethren, world events, and we need to be watching our brethren, to be praying for our brethren through their trials, through their difficulties, asking God's help to be with them in the things that they must go through, that they must endure.

You know, after Jesus Christ spoke in the Olivet prophecy, let's go over in Luke 21, if you would, Luke chapter 21, Luke 21, and verse 34. 34 here, we see where Jesus himself, after he had spoken about all of the end-time things that we're going to be needing to watch. He talked about, again, when you see the armies around Jerusalem, he says, he says, know that it is near even at the door. So things are getting nearer, in other words, and Jesus said, and take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighted down with carousing.

Now, it may not be carousing. It could be something else, too, that your heart is weighted down about. But he talks about carousing, drunkenness, and the cares of this life. I think very often God's people may not have a drinking problem, may not have drug problems, but they just get weighted down with the cares of this life. But we've got to be aware of that, not to let that happen to us and become weary and well-doing.

And that day comes on you, unexpectedly. In other words, you're not paying attention to that. You're paying attention to the bills that need to be paid, the boss, maybe, that you're not getting along with. You're paying attention to, you know, things that are more on the physical, mundane level, not the spiritual level. And Satan loves to distract us on those things, and he does a good job with it.

It says, for it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Many will have heard the message, and they're going to be caught, like Mr. Armstrong used to say, like rats in a trap when it happens. And they're going to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. He says, watch therefore, verse 36. And so here we are commanded to watch therefore, and pray always that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things.

And it says that will come to pass and do stand before the Son of Man. And hopefully, brethren, again, we're praying that every day of our lives.

So we are to be serious, sober, and then watchful in prayer as God's people. Are we watchful, brethren? Let's go back to 1 Peter chapter 4, because then Peter says other things.

Now, maybe this is not all that interesting to you, but to me it is very interesting.

Maybe you're thinking, well, you know, I don't know. I don't want to watch these things. I want to watch prophecy. You know, I want to look at prophecy and what's happened with a beast over there, and maybe not watch necessarily our spiritual lives, not be watching, in other words, the things we need to be watching. But, brethren, that's what happens. Sometimes people get their focus wrong, and Peter's saying, no, you bring it back to this. You've got to be serious. You've got to be sober about your calling and be watchful in your prayer. But in verse 8, notice here, it says, And above all things have fervent love, for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins. So, fervent love, here, we're told to have. The word fervent here, by the way, is constant, or earnest love, constant love. Brethren, have we always loved God's people?

There have been times when we went into a spell where we didn't love God's people so much. And how is it right now, brethren? Are we constant, consistent in our love for one another?

And, you know, the Bible talks about how we need to have a pure heart. You know what pure heart means, brethren? When it comes to love, a pure heart means that we love without respect of persons. We love all of the brethren, not some of the brethren, but all of the brethren. When we go to the feast, who do we spend our time with? Do we spend time with others that we don't know so well? That maybe we don't get along with as well? Or do we always run in the same circles, the same people? When we have people over our house, is it generally the same people? Or do we have others that maybe we don't know so well? Do we try to get along with even some that may be froward, hard to get along with? You know, so do we have constant love for others? Do we forgive others? Or do we carry grudges against people?

Through the years, unfortunately, I've seen in God's church where people do carry grudges for years and years. Now, I don't know how you justify that, quite frankly. But I think we quite frankly. I'm not saying I don't understand it, because I know some people can rub you the wrong way. They really can. But nonetheless, the Bible says we have to forgive others. Because, in fact, when Christ talked about prayer, what did He say? That we should ask for God's forgiveness, that God will forgive us as long as we forgive others. And He will. God will forgive us as long as we're forgiving other people. So, pure heart means you're forgiving others, and you have that constant fervent love for everyone. Pure love, brethren, is to love someone who spitefully uses you. Pure love is to love someone that maybe hates you.

And pure love, brethren, will be to love someone who might even kill you and think they do God a service. And pure love is what Jesus Christ himself had when He looked down from the stake. And He said, Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing.

They do not know what they're doing. And so, brethren, we need to, again, develop that love. And Peter says the end of all things is at hand. This is the kind of love, brethren, that's going to make the world go around when Jesus Christ sets up His kingdom.

We're not going to start the world tomorrow the same way that this world's been going. I mean, we've got enough of that, I believe, and we don't need any more of that.

And when people get into a wrong frame of mind, they begin to hate, brethren, they develop a root of bitterness. You know, that bitterness can affect everybody in the congregation. And so, you know, as I've said many times through the years, we are a church that believes anybody can meet with us as long as they do in peace, as long as they respect our doctrinal beliefs. In other words, not going around criticizing us for what we believe in the United Church of God. And as long as they do not bear grudges and are not bitter toward others, that is what it means to meet in peace, brethren, as God's people. And, you know, we want anyone to attend with us as long as they can abide by that. They can show love and meet with us in peace. You know, those are things that are so important. I could spend a lot of time talking about each one of these, but, you know, I'll just briefly give you a thumbnail on each of them. You know, I've got to be careful because sometimes I digress and pretty soon the time is gone. But, you know, Jesus Christ wants us, brethren, to be the type of people that forgive one another, that, you know, we don't have a thin skin. You know, we don't wear emotions on our cuffs.

You know, I remember when I was in high school. There was a—at that time there were racial problems.

We had a fellow that moved in from, I believe he was from Chicago. This was in—let's see, it would have been 1967, I think, in that neighborhood, 66, 67. And we had, in the school, we had mixed races. The races got along fairly well. In—anyway, one of our African American men, he probably himself had some attitude problems, but he brushed against this kid from Chicago. Just brushed against them. They were going down the stairs and both of them had broad shoulders. It's kind of hard not to, isn't it? Sometimes you've broad shoulders, you're going to bump somebody's elbow or whatever. Well, the Chicago kid got mad at the other and he pulled out his knife. And there was a knife fight. They were right there in high school. And I remember seeing that and I thought to myself, you know, at the time, how terrible, how terrible. You know, obviously the one kid had a wrong attitude toward, you know, races. And maybe the other didn't as well. But, you know, we, as God's people, cannot carry those kinds of feelings. I hope that goes without saying. We should not be racist as God's people. None of us never. You know, we really have to, again, be people that can love, you know, everyone and show them new concern and love as a brother. And not only in the church, but outside, outside the church.

God's people should not be racist. We shouldn't be a judgmental type people, either. Judging people. Though God is not judging the world now, why should we be judging the world? That doesn't mean, brethren, that we don't judge what is wrong and right and live our lives personally differently than a world. But we shouldn't be judging, particularly people that quite frankly hadn't had their minds open to see the truth yet. And we shouldn't be judging one another in the church. Quite frankly, sometimes people in the church may learn things at different speeds. They may have blind spots, things that they don't see, that we have to be patient with them. You know, I know sometimes people become judgmental toward others. And unless you have been the brunt of somebody judging you, you don't understand that. But I would hope everybody in this room knows what that's like. But unless you've been in that situation where somebody's judged you unfairly, you wouldn't understand what I'm talking about here. But if you have been, for whatever reason—it doesn't have to be a race—it may be you as a person. You know, there's some people that are so judgmental.

They can look at somebody and say, you know, I once knew someone that looked like you and acted like you that I did not like, therefore I do not like you.

That's how judgmental people can be. And we shouldn't be that way. Sorry, the light went on up here. But thankfully, I did not need it to see. But 1 Peter 4—let's go back to 1 Peter 4 in verse 10. Like I said, I could go on—or verse 9, I'm sorry, not verse 10. But verse 9, after he said that we should be loving one another, he said this, that this is what we ought to be doing, brethren, in the end of the age. You want to know what to do?

Don't go out and dig a bomb shelter. Don't go out, brethren, and save up and store food that'll last you for a year, 10 years. But Peter says, do this. Do this. He didn't mention about, by the way, the bomb shelters and all that. I did. But Peter said, do this, because the end of all things is near. But verse 9, notice he says, be hospitable to one another without grumbling.

So be hospitable to one another. You know what this word hospitable means in the Greek? The Greek word is phaloxenos.

And the word phaloxenos means literally to love strangers. Now, and is normally, as Strong says, used in reference to kindness to those that we do not know.

And so here Peter applies it to our love towards the brethren and others as well. We've got to, we show it not only to the brethren, but others as well. The love of strangers.

You know, it's interesting, the world really, even though we are, the world is a dog-eat-dog world. It's like sometimes people don't care about each other. But it's like people are longing. They're longing for this love, this love that to be shown, to be demonstrated. Maybe they don't show a lot of love because they haven't been shown a lot of love. And I say that, brethren, because I usually tune into the news before I go to church because I want to make sure if there's something major that's happened that I'm not caught flat-footed, you know, that I'm aware of what's going on in the news. But usually I only watch it a couple of minutes because if it's not on in a couple of minutes, it's not big enough. Well, this morning I watch the news. And as usually, there's a lot of flim-flam on the news, a lot of puffy things that are not very important. But they had a police officer in New York who had come up and he saw someone who was homeless laying on the side of the street. You know, in New York it gets cold in the winter. But this homeless man did not have shoes on.

And anyway, somebody filmed this. And the officer came up and asked him if he could help. And the man said, no, you don't need to help me. Well, the officer went to the first place he could find, and he bought the man some shoes. He asked him first if he wanted socks. But he went and he bought him some shoes. And they put it on, I guess they put it on the internet and it went viral.

But I thought about that when I saw that. I thought, you know, people want to see acts of kindness. They really do. Imagine what the world is going to be like, brethren, when the whole world is that way. Here's a man, as far as I know, who's not. God's servant here, like you and I, are called to this time. Although by creation we're all God's servants. He set a good example and it went viral. Well, brethren, I think we need to show that love, that kindness, that gentleness, that tenderness for other people. And I do believe that the world wants to see that. They really want to see that. But we need to see, God, what Peter is saying here, that we need to have a love for the stranger. Somebody comes in new into the church. We should latch on to them. And we should try to be hospitable to them. And, you know, try to have them over our homes if we can do that. Some are not able to do that, maybe because of the fact they don't have a situation where they could. But I think most of us could do something, you know, with someone to help someone, to encourage someone. But Peter says, you know, here at the end of the age, we need to do this more and more. You know, remember, also, you know, we need to be aware of the fact that sometimes Paul says, you've got to be kind to strangers. He says, because sometimes people have entertained angels and have not known it, have not been aware of it. You know, maybe we've had angels come right through here, through the congregation.

And I pray that they don't go back and report to the Father and to the head of the church, Jesus Christ. I pray that they go back and they say, you know, this was a delightful church to be in. Man, I couldn't get out of there. Everybody wanted to talk to me. Everybody wanted to spend time with me.

I would hope they would not go back to Jesus Christ and say, boy, I'm not a solitary person. He said anything high to me.

You know, maybe say, well, I tried to engage other people, but, you know, to talk, but he would even talk to me. Again, I hope God's kind of report from an angel would be different. And I have to believe, brother, we have had angels here in our midst and we did not know it. I have to believe that. And if that was not enough, we got them here every Sabbath. Maybe sitting right back there, some of these benches that are empty. Maybe this is a full house today. In fact, you know, maybe that's the situation. It's possible this could be a full house.

Wouldn't it be incredible if we had our eyes open and we could see exactly how many are here? Well, you know, all of us are supposed to have two angels, right? A couple of angels. How many people are here? What does your angel do on the Sabbath? He's got nothing else to do, is he? He comes here and he keeps the Sabbath. He's got a lot to learn himself. Not that we don't, but I mean, they know a lot, but, you know, they are intrigued to hear the things that are being talked about and the things that are being done. So Peter says, be hospitable. Next, let's go on down here to verse 10. Then he says, he says in verse 10, as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. In other words, that we need to be servants of God. We need to be a service to God. In verse 11, if anyone speaks, in other words, if this is your gift, let him speak as the oracles of God. In other words, according to the word of God, according to the laws of God, if somebody stands up here behind this very pulpit, you know, this lectern, let it be according to the oracles and the laws of God. If anyone ministers, anyone serves, let him do it with the ability which God supplies. Let's not bite off more than we can chew, not try to do things that we cannot do.

That in all things, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. So our service to God, if we boil this down, brethren, is we need to be true servants of God and do all things to God's glory. All things to God's glory.

And whatever God blesses you with, you know, should be used for God's glory. You know, you use it, for instance, if God's blessed you materially, some are blessed more than others materially, you certainly take care of your family. If we don't take care of our family, what does the Bible say? We're worse than an infidel. But we not only take care of our family, but we take care of other people. We try to help other people within our spiritual family. In other words, our gifts and our blessings, brethren, are intended to serve God and man.

And you've been served, brethren, in a multitude of ways. Because, as you notice here, Peter says that we should be good stewards of the manifold grace of God. God has blessed you in many, many different ways. So many ways. Think about this. He's giving you good health.

You know, the health you have, I guarantee you, comes from God, whatever it is you have.

He has given you the ability to take care of your family. You may think it's hard to do. It's difficult. It's a lot of work, but without his help, you'd have nothing. You know, God is the one that lifts us up. God promotes us. He helps us in multifaceted ways, what the word manifold means. And so, all of us should do what we do according to the oracles of God, or else it makes null and void the things that we've been blessed with. So Peter qualifies it here that let's do everything according to the oracles of God, and Paul elsewhere does the same thing. I won't take the time to go and show you that. Well, we do have time. Let's go to Romans. Romans 12. These will be the final scriptures here. I hope that's not the favorite thing for you to hear. Final scriptures.

Romans 12 in verse 3.

It says, For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought. We've already covered that, haven't we? It says, But to think soberly, we've already covered that, as God has dealt to each a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function. We all have something to do, something to offer. So we, being many, are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. Let us use them. What our gifts have been sent your way if prophecy that is prophesied proportion to our faith. And prophecy here means inspired speaking, inspired speaking. Or ministry, let us use it in our ministering. He who teaches and teaching use the gift as it is as severally given to you. He who exhorts in exhortation, some people are very good encouragers, use that gift to encourage. He who gives with liberality, he who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness. And it says, let love be without hypocrisy. Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good, and be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love in honor, giving preference to one another. In other words, we should get to the point where we prefer one, you know, others over ourselves. We prefer, in fact, the brethren and over others in the world. We prefer them. We prefer, frankly, sometimes, you know, others in the church, even sometimes more than we would our own physical brothers and sisters, you know. And I'll say this, brethren, I get a lot—I get along better with people in the church than sometimes I get along with my own brothers and sisters. And we get along pretty well, by the way. But the relationship with brethren is special. I think you all know that and believe it as well. But it says in verse 11, not. It says, lagging in diligence. And it says, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. You know, so in serving God, we ought to do these things. And Peter, again, tells us we should do things, number one, you know, to accord the laws of God. As God has blessed you, you should administer whatever gifts have been sent your way. And I think one thing we can all do, brethren, according to the laws of God, is have sound speech. Sound speech according to the Scriptures, that cannot be condemned. Now, it doesn't mean people will not try to condemn you, but I'm talking about when it comes to truth, you're speaking the truth, and you're doing so in love. And number two, we serve to God's glory. So, brethren, these are the things that Peter said that we ought to be working on right now. The end of the age, brethren, is coming upon us. And who's to say? In fact, we're not at the very cusp of it right now. Who's to say that? I don't know that. You know, I couldn't say absolutely. We're not right at the very beginning. You know, maybe things have already happened that you don't know about, and I don't know about, where we're right at the very cusp, brethren, of the beginning of the Tribulation.

Next year is the year 2013. You know, I thought about that last night. The number 13, traditionally, has not been a very good one. The last time we had a 2013 was in 1913.

But, you know, again, not that we ought to be afraid of numbers, but I'd be a whole lot more concerned about 2013. I would be of December 21st, 2012. But I'm not concerned about either, ultimately. So, brethren, we're living in the end of the age, and Peter says that we need to have a recognition of what we ought to be developing as God's people. We ought to be serious and sober. We ought to be watching and prayerful. We ought to have a fervent love for others and be forgiving of others. We ought to be hospitable as God's people in growing in that hospitality. And we ought to serve God in whatever we do, brethren. We serve God. In the process, we serve man, too. But in everything we do, we should be serving God and to His glory. Because, as Peter says, that God is going to be glorified forever and ever. And then he says, Amen. So, brethren, how are you living now in the end of all things as it is coming here ahead of us? How are you living? I hope, brethren, we will give some thought to what Peter has said here. And if we need to make some adjustments in our lives, it will do so because we are that generation that Paul described upon whom the ends of the world have come.