James Nisbet Commentary - 1 Peter 4:7 - 4:7

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James Nisbet Commentary - 1 Peter 4:7 - 4:7


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PREPARING FOR THE END

‘The end of all things is at hand; be se therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.’

1Pe_4:7

As men advance upon the path of life, they find that one thing after another comes to an end. But this apostolic message warns us that the end not only of this thing and of that, but the end of all things, is at hand.

I. Let us first consider the import of the declaration here made.—St. Peter, writing to the Jews of the dispersion, might well remind them that the end of the old dispensation, the end of the Jewish nationality, was near. But in his teaching, as in that of his Master, there was a commingling of that ‘end’ which came to pass in the destruction of Jerusalem with the vaster end which religion bids us anticipate. And this involves with it the end—

(a) Of earthly honours, emoluments, and pleasures;

(b) Of human relationships, which endure for a season and then cease;

(c) Of the Gospel-day, the day of visitation;

(d) Of opportunities of Christian service here upon earth;

(e) Of all unbelief.

II. Now what are the admonitions here founded upon this declaration?

(a) The first call is to sobriety, i.e. moderation, self-restraint, and temperance. This has reference to earthly associations, interests, and enjoyments, which are likely to become too absorbing to many minds.

(b) Then we are called to watchfulness, i.e. against slothfulness, against temptation to sin. The uncertainty of the time of ‘the end’ is an especial motive to this exercise. We know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh, therefore we well may watch.

(c) Once more we are called to prayer, for this will be the means of sustaining us in present duty and of preparing us for what shall follow the approaching end.

Are professing Christians looking forward mournfully to the end of earthly pleasures, or joyfully to the end of their temptations and the beginning of heavenly service?

Illustration

‘There is hardly any passage of Scripture which has given rise to more frequent cavils than this simple assurance. Some persons are fond of asserting that the Apostles were mistaken in this belief; that when they wrote the end of all things was not at hand. But the answer is, that the Apostles warned the men of their own age, and through them the men of every age, that by remembering the uncertainty of the world’s duration they should assign to temporal things their true value and see that the true safety of a Christian consists in a life of prayer, and love, and active duty. But there are some who object altogether to the hope of heavenly reward as a motive of action. Christ Himself, however, encouraged His disciples by such promises. St. Paul was stirred up by them to ever-increasing diligence and greater eagerness in pressing towards the mark.’

(SECOND OUTLINE)

PRAYER AND SOBER-MINDEDNESS

To each of us ‘the end is at hand.’ It will not be long before we go away into that other world. Let us therefore ‘be sober and watch unto prayer,’ for in prayer we are really improving our acquaintance with our Lord.

I. Prayer is intercourse.—It is not mere begging. People who never pray unless they want to get something can hardly be said to know what prayer really means. What prayer really is, is conversing with Christ, speaking with Him and He with us. If we love any one we enjoy speaking with him and being in his company. Now prayer and worship are being in Christ’s company and speaking with Him. Did it never occur to you how little there is of mere begging in our Church Service? We speak to Christ in psalms and hymns, we praise Him, we worship Him, we come into His very Presence in Holy Communion, and we feel quite sure that thus being His friends and rejoicing in His Presence, He is sure to grant us all we need, whether we have asked for the particular thing or not. We may leave that to Him. So this teaches us what prayer really is. It is intercourse, it is reverent conversation with Him Whom we have come to know through reading about Him in the Gospels, and so it is getting to know Him for ourselves in addition to merely reading about Him. For somehow Christ does make Himself known to people who do thus ‘watch unto prayer.’ He is not so far away after all, and He does work upon your hearts and make you understand how He feels towards you. Things are not such a puzzle to people who pray as they are to people who don’t pray. You do not find persons who pray making such difficulties about things in the Bible as some others do. Why not? It is not that they can explain them any better. But it is that they feel Christ to be a friend to them and the rest does not signify. If you know a man means to do his best by you, you do not care even if you cannot understand all his ways of doing it. Now if people pray in thorough earnest, Christ does make them feel He is a true friend to them, and so they are happy and at peace.

II. Sobriety of mind.—‘Be sober, then, brethren, and watch unto prayer,’ and keep your minds fixed upon that unseen world where Christ is. The thought of that world will help to keep you sober-minded. It is not for nothing that St. Peter says ‘be sober,’ as well as ‘watch unto prayer.’ No man can be prayerful who is not sober-minded. What does this mean? It means that you must not be given to the love of excitement or overmuch pleasure-seeking, or over-anxiety about business. All these things go against that quietness and sobriety of temper which makes us fit for intercourse with Christ. How can any one be fit for quiet converse with the Lord who is all on fire from morning to night about some business speculation, or about some party of pleasure? No. If you want to be making sure of being such a one as can meet your Lord in the other world with the gladness of meeting a friend you have long known, you must live soberly now, so as to be even now living in continual converse (i.e. prayer) with Him. Keep your thoughts often, and always, upon that world where He is. Often and often through the day say to yourselves, Christ is now thinking about me. In that other world He is thinking about me. What is He thinking about me? Let me ask Him to put some good thoughts about Him into my heart. Do this especially if you are going into company, or into any anxious business among other people. It will keep you sober. It will keep you out of sin. It will, by God’s grace, keep you such that if God were to call you away into the other world in the midst of your occupation, you would only feel as if you were taken suddenly to a friend you were thinking about all the time. And you know not how soon this may come.

Illustration

‘ “We do not indeed care to inquire,” as Bishop Westcott so beautifully says, “how prayer affects the will of God. It is enough for us to know that our God is a God Who, seen under the conditions of human life, answers prayer. This is the testimony of the Mission Field. Our prayers then will carry there not only the deep and prevailing assurance of natural sympathy, but the pledge of Divine help. It is not for us to prescribe—it is not for us to know the seasons which answer to the fitting accomplishment of the Father’s purpose. We pray according to our most imperfect sight. We trust our prayers to the absolute love of God, sure at least of this, that no effort will be lost which is consecrated to Him, sure that the good seed which is watered with tears will hereafter bring gladness to the reaper’s heart, sure that if we pray to Him, and as we pray to Him, the Lord of the Harvest will send forth His labourers; some, as it must be, for the toil of patient waiting, and some for the toil of thankful ingathering, but all alike sobered and strengthened by the burden of His Cross, all alike crowned with the undying wreath of His victory.’



CHRISTIAN EXPECTATION*

‘Watch unto prayer.’

1Pe_4:7

Of old, certain Sundays in the Church’s year were known by particular names or titles, and in some measure this practice is still kept up. The ancient title by which the Sunday after Ascension Day was known was Expectation Sunday, and the title gradually extended itself to the whole week, and even sometimes the concluding days of the previous one, so that the whole interval between Ascension Day and Whit-Sunday was stamped with this mark of expectation or waiting. That this idea is prominent in the passage selected as the Epistle is evident from the opening words of the text, ‘The end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer,’ or, as the Revised Version has it, ‘Be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer.’ No doubt the thought that was prominent in the Apostle’s mind when he penned these words was, the second coming of his ascended Lord. That was the end of all things, and was the daily expectation of the primitive Church. Nor ought it to be otherwise with the faithful Christian to-day. The one chief delight of his heart should be the prospect of meeting the Lord Who has loved him and given Himself for him. For that great event he should be waiting with hope, with joy, with sober joy watching thereunto with prayer.

I. The expectation of the Power.—But the choice of this passage for the Epistle at this season transfers the idea of watching and waiting for the Christ’s second coming, to the similar attitude which the Apostles must have adopted at this time in expectation of the fulfilment of our Lord’s promise that He would send the Comforter to them. His instruction to them was, that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father. We are not left in doubt as to how they carried out that instruction. St. Luke, both in his Gospel and in the Acts of the Apostles, tells us this specifically. In the one he tells us that they were continually in the Temple praising and blessing God, in the other that they continued with one accord in prayer and supplication. Two points are specially observable here, the union and peace that reigned in the body of early believers and the manifestation of their unity of purpose in joining in devotions, whether in public or private. They watched unto prayer and they did this with one accord. They watched and prayed, their waiting was thus consecrated by prayer, and so when He did come He found them in a state of fitness to welcome Him.

II. God’s promises not unconditional.—Our Lord, Who by His death hath led captivity captive, and by His ascension hath given gifts to men, has promised them unto us in fullest measure, if we are ready to receive them, for we must not forget that God’s promises are not unconditional. He will not help those who do not feel the need of His assistance. He will not bless those who care not for His blessing. They are to hunger and thirst after righteousness who are to be filled. The rich, self-satisfied, who are conscious of no need and are quite content with their condition, these are sent empty away, and so there must be this strong and fervent desire for something better and higher than ourselves. We must realise what we mean by the spiritual life, and what is implied in spiritual gifts. We are apt to use these expressions without due consideration or sufficient thought. There is a great danger of unreality in our language as also in our conceptions. The great majority of men seem disposed to ignore the very existence of the spiritual world, the presence and actions of the Holy Ghost upon the souls of men. They are engrossed with earthly matters. If we pause and reflect and prove our own hearts and endeavour to find out the truth of the matter, we shall be obliged to confess that it is not so much the time for the highest pursuits that is wanting as the inclination.

III. This desire after spiritual growth will not come naturally and unsought for.—We shall have to get our hearts into a receptive frame for the gifts. We cannot expect that they will be thrust upon us without our being ready, willing, and able, and anxious to receive them. Here we may learn from the example of the Apostles already alluded to. Their watching unto prayer fitted them in a remarkable degree for the coming of the Holy Spirit when He came. They were setting their affections on things above. Their treasure was in heaven, for their Lord had ascended thither and their heart was there also. And so when the Comforter came He found a ready access. We may say, then, without hesitation that if we are to have any full measure of spiritual gifts, if there is to be any real growth of spiritual life within us, we must watch and pray, we must be men of prayer.

IV. The greatest hindrance to spiritual life is scantiness of devotion.—Prayer is the great spiritual act of our life. It is spirit communing with spirit. The spiritual life can no more grow without devotion than the bodily life can exist without breathing. So we have always found that the most spiritually minded men were the most devotional. We have known this possibly in our own experience. We certainly may see it in the lives of those worthies of former generations. Those who were most saintly in their lives, most fully endowed with all spiritual gifts, were those who in public and private were most earnest, most regular, most persevering, in their prayers and devotion. Would you have their graces, their gifts? Would you grow in the spiritual life as they did, would you advance in personal holiness day by day to this excellence which would make your character more like your Divine Master, and more meet for the inheritance of the saints in light, then you must watch unto prayer. You must be men of prayer.

—
Archdeacon Barber.

Illustration

‘To him that believeth all things are possible. But to make this possibility a fact, we need, and we all know sadly that we need, the fresh conviction of a Spiritual Presence in our troubled world, and spiritual fellowship with the unseen realised through the fulness of our humanity. Many seek it in strange, unhallowed ways, and all the while the blessing is offered to us by the Spirit sent in Christ’s name.’