B2-devotions

1 Peter 4:7-11

Devotions for Monday 21st July

This is a powerful passage of scripture with a great deal of good advice. It is a little strange however because it reads like the end of a letter, finishing with words of blessing and grace, even though there is more than a whole chapter of the letter to go (4:11)! However, it is possible that this passage represents the end of the ‘baptismal sermon’ preached by Peter which has given a context for much of the letter (see previous studies). In addition, some people think that a different letter of Peter has been added at this point, but this is hard to maintain because it is not easy to see how the next verse (4:12) could be the beginning of a letter. It is most likely that this passage represents the end of Peter’s great sermon, and that the rest of the letter adds comments, greetings and advice which Peter felt he wished to add. Those who first read the letter would have understood this, but we are left trying to piece together the clues!

There are a number of significant themes to this conclusion of Peter’s sermon, but it begins with ‘the end of all things is near ...’ (4:7). As with many people of the day, Peter was convinced that the Lord’s coming was imminent, but this meant that there was a greater urgency for all to live a life that was honouring to God, and this is what shows through in what Peter says. He emphasises the importance of:

Prayer (4:7)
Love which ‘covers a multitude of sins’ (4:8)
Hospitality (4:9)
Christian service to one another according to God’s ‘gift’ (4:10)
Speaking – as if speaking God’s Words (4:11)
Service – as if serving with the strength of God (4:11)
Giving glory to God in everything (4:11)

As elsewhere in 1 Peter (see 4:3, 3:18,22 etc.), a list is used as an ‘aide memoir’ to enable the listener and reader to memorise the whole advice. The structure of the list is simple; it contains seven pieces of advice, the number seven being a ‘holy’ number of ancient times which would have caught people’s attention. To this day, the list stands as good Biblical advice about what Christians should ‘do’ in order to demonstrate their faith, and in several places it emphasises that these things cannot be done outside of the will and empowerment of God. It also stands in contrast to the list of six sinful occupations of those who are unsaved mentioned in the previous text (4:3), and it is possible that whereas ‘six’ implies ungodly incompleteness, the ‘seven’ items in our list is complete, and therefore ‘holy’.

There is much debate whether the words of advice in this passage are intended to be an expression of the life of the church, being a place where people pray together and love one another for the forgiveness of sins (4:8), offering generous hospitality and serving one another according to the gifts given to each according to God’s grace (4:10) etc. Some feel that this must all be demonstrated outside the church in order to witness to the saving work of God’s grace, given the evangelistic implications of verse 8 (‘love covers ... sins’), the prophetic ‘words of God’ mentioned and the glory and honour given to Christ (4:11). It is best to think of these words as the advice of the most senior apostle given to converts who had been baptised, appealing to them to live in a worthy manner. Each item on the list has consequences both for the life of the church and also for the witness of God’s people in the community.

This is a good reminder to us that we cannot simply separate how we behave in church from what we do in the world. All of it counts as our personal witness to the work of God; and if it does not, then the Gospel has not yet fully changed our lives.

7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be clear-minded and self-controlled in your prayers. 8 Above all, have a constant love for one another, for love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10 Each of you should serve one another using the gift you have received, as good guardians of the diverse grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, it should be done as if speaking the words of God, and whoever serves should do so as if with strength given by God, so that God may be glorified in everything through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen.

To read more about this passage of scripture: go to the Bible study page

To read the questions and discipleship challenges for this text: go to the discipleship page

All praise be to You for Your care of me, Jesus Christ my Lord.

Praise for the joy of my salvation and happiness of my soul;

Praise for the trials of life through which I learn to live for You;

Praise for all the people I know and love who make my life rich;

Praise for the work I do which sustains and enriches my life;

Praise for all leisure, rest and sleep which nourishes my body;

All praise be to You, Jesus Christ my Lord: AMEN

Have not babies always cried and kept their parents awake,

And yet made them more happy than anyone could ever be?

Have not neighbours and friends always been annoying,

And yet also been the source of the most wonderful help?

Have not children always resisted the wishes of their parents,

And yet embraced and flung their arms around them with love?

Have not the aged always wondered why things have turned out ‘this way’,

And yet been the source of amazing help and understanding?

Have not people always been sinful and rejected God’s ways,

And yet longed for His companionship, His healing and His love?

Has not God always seen what is happening on His earth, and smiled,

And sought to draw us near to him for one simple, straightforward reason -

He loves us!

Weekly Theme: World Politics

Pray today for the countries of southern America where vast numbers of people live in either wealth or great poverty. Pray for strong and godly leadership of these great nations.

On-going prayers

Pray about scientific work on the very edges of knowledge
Pray for people who live on the streets within your country
Give thanks for security in your home

Going Deeper: (what you will find on the Bible study page)

For the full Bible study, click link above,

or for a brief review, scroll page down.

It is surely apparent that in order to go deeper we must look at some of the items listed by Peter. Each of them compliments the other and all of them add up to a mature understanding of the church as the ‘body of Christ’. However, we must bear in mind that from Peter’s point of view, everything he said was made urgent because of the imminent coming of Christ. We will best understand all this if we consider our own response to what it might mean to us for the Lord to be coming in the course of the next few days!