Vazquez Counseling

In 1 Peter 4:7-11, the Apostle Peter wrote:

“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.” (New King James Version)

As I meditated on these Bible verses tonight, several things came to mind. First, at the very beginning of the passage, the Apostle Peter stated that the “end of all things is at hand.” At first glance, it seems to me that Peter believed that the end of the world was very close. Well, here we are over 2000 years later, and the world is still spinning. Many non-Christians point to the fact that Jesus has not returned as proof positive that He will not return.

However, after a few hundred years, it must have become obvious to Christians that while the Apostles seemed to believe that our LORD would return in their lifetimes, it did not happen and might not happen for some time. So, what are we to do with this realization? We must look at the rest of the passage above to determine how we are to conduct ourselves while we wait for the return of the King. Notice that Peter says first that we are to be serious and watchful in our prayers while we wait. Yes, keep praying and praying and praying. Pray that the peace of God will be with us as we wait for the Glorious Appearing of our Savior. Pray that our LORD would reveal Himself to our loved ones who are without Christ.

In his second epistle, the Apostle Peter wrote something that should fill us with hope when it comes to our unsaved loved ones:

“But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:8-9 NKJV)

The reason our LORD has not returned, as Peter points out, is that He is patiently waiting until that last person who is going to be saved enters into His Kingdom, and then the end will come. It has taken over 2000 years for the Gospel to spread across the world, and I submit to you that we are still not done preaching and teaching the Gospel everywhere. With the advent of the internet and other tools, we are much closer than we ever were to the Gospel reaching everyone. There are still languages in the world, however, that the Bible has not been translated into. We are slowly gaining ground in this endeavor, but the sin that so easily entangles slows us down tremendously.

The Gospel is the only means to salvation, which the Scriptures plainly teach. And the only way for the Gospel to get out into the world is by the hands and feet of God’s people. Is it not wonderful that our Blessed LORD uses flawed people like us to reach the world for him? Let me be perfectly clear, we cannot save anyone; only God can. But He uses His people to share His Gospel with loved ones, and then He works in the hearts of those people to save them.

The rest of the passage from 1 Peter above gives us clear instructions on how we are to conduct ourselves while we wait for our LORD. We are to love one another, and we are to share the message of the Bible with others; in other words, we should be oracles of God. We are to depend on God for everything. Above all, we are to serve Christ and others, always recognizing that He is above all things. This is how we are live in anticipation of the 2nd Coming of our LORD. The Apostles may have believed that Jesus was coming in their lifetimes, but haven’t Christians believed that same thing in every generation? We are to live in anticipation of our LORD’s Coming because that way, we will be ready when He arrives. We need to comfort each other continuously with the knowledge that our LORD is not slow in coming, but that He wants all of our loved ones to come to a saving knowledge of Him. And that is something that is definitely worth waiting for, don’t you think?