![\"\"](\"\/Banner-MOG-60.gif\" "\\"Ministry")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
1 Peter 4:7<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers.<\/span><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n Truth to Learn<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The end is very near, so be serious about what you do and how you pray.<\/p>\n Behind the Words<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The word translated \u201cend<\/span>\u201d is telos<\/span><\/em>, which is derived from the verb tell\u014d<\/span><\/em>, meaning \u201cto set out for the goal or target.\u201d Hence, telos<\/span><\/em> refers to \u201cthe goal, the end, or the completion.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIs at hand<\/span>\u201d is from the Greek verb engidz\u014d<\/span><\/em>, which means \u201cto approach or to make near.\u201d It is expressed here in the perfect tense indicating past completed action with an ongoing effect, but the emphasis is on the effect. Hence, it means that the end has approached and, therefore, is now close at hand.<\/p>\n Meaning Explained<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n There is some disagreement as to what Peter means by \u201cthe end of all things is at hand.\u201d<\/span> There are three predominant views. The first is that Peter is referring to the end of the Jewish temple worship in Jerusalem. In Peter\u2019s mind, as in the minds of many early church believers, Christianity was simply an extension of the Jewish belief system. At the time of the writing of this epistle (around 65 AD), the Roman government was increasingly displeased with the Jewish resistance to Roman rule. As it turns out, not many years after the publication of this letter, the Jewish temple along with much of the city of Jerusalem was, in fact, destroyed by the Romans.<\/p>\n The second interpretation of this phrase is that it refers to the coming of the Messiah to judge the nations. It was the belief of the early church that the return of Christ was not a distant future event, rather something that could occur at any time.<\/p>\n The third interpretation is that Peter simply means the end of earthly life for the suffering believers to whom he is writing. This interpretation seems to lend itself to the subject matter that Peter has been talking about in the previous verses; although, any of the interpretations could be valid.<\/p>\n However you interpret the opening phrase of this verse, the message from Peter is that since time is running short we need to take some specific action. There is something sobering about believing the end is near that causes us to take stock of our lives, knowing how quickly life can end.<\/p>\n Peter is telling us to take stock now, since time is short. Be sober minded and let our sober attitude result in prayers. We Christians have a hope that the world doesn\u2019t understand. We know that existence doesn\u2019t end when we die. In fact, for a Christian, that is when it really begins. What we have here on this earth is simply the preliminary part of our lives when we will determine how the eternal part is spent.<\/p>\n Life on this earth is short; it can end quickly, and Jesus Christ could return at any moment. All the prophetic events that precede His return have occurred with the exception of the rapture of His church. Let us not waste our last remaining days on this earth with frivolous activities. Instead, let us be sober minded and spend our time in watchful prayer, especially for those who have not yet received the gift of salvation.<\/p>\n Application<\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n The end is near! Therefore, let us watch\u2026 and pray\u2026 and witness, with our lives as well as our mouths!<\/p>\n In God\u2019s service, for His glory,<\/strong><\/p>\n Copyright \u00a9 2009 <\/span>Will <\/span>Krause. All rights reserved.<\/span><\/p>\n – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –<\/p>\n <\/span>If this message or this link was forwarded to you by a friend and you wish to receive future verses directly to your inbox, you can call the church phone <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 1 Peter 4:7 But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. Truth to Learn The end is very near, so be serious about what you do and how you pray. Behind the Words The word translated \u201cend\u201d is telos, which is derived from the verb tell\u014d, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[122,123,124,125],"class_list":["post-717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-end-times","tag-pray","tag-watch","tag-witness"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd5geA-bz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ministryofgrace.org\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"signature\"](\"\/signature.gif\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"chrome:\/\/skype_ff_toolbar_win\/content\/cb_transparent_l.gif\"){kind=spacer}
<\/span>![\"\"](\"chrome:\/\/skype_ff_toolbar_win\/content\/famfamfam\/us.gif\")
![\"\"](\"chrome:\/\/skype_ff_toolbar_win\/content\/space.gif\")
![\"\"](\"chrome:\/\/skype_ff_toolbar_win\/content\/arrow.gif\"){kind=icon}
<\/span><\/span>(618) 614-3070<\/span>![\"\"](\"chrome:\/\/skype_ff_toolbar_win\/content\/cb_transparent_r.gif\"){kind=spacer}
<\/span><\/span><\/span> and leave a message telling us your name and e-mail address or you can send an e-mail to:![\"e-mail](\"\/Will_e-mail.gif\")
<\/div>\n