Scriptures
1 Peter 4:7-11
Introduction
I have just a little message tonight. And the title of my message today is Stewards of Grace. I have been talking to brother Jesse earlier this week and mentioned that I was going to take this for my next subject. And I actually had a specific verse in mind I wanted to use as a text. And then when we went to do our Bible study this week, the grace of God was the subject of the Bible study, and they even used the same verse.
So that went along very well, And I thought that was a good confirmation to go ahead with this little subject.
And I’d like to start by reading my key passage tonight from 1st Peter, starting in verse 7
7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
8 And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.
9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
11 If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
1 Peter 4 KJV
Prayer
Let us pray.
Lord God, you have been so good to us . Where would be today, if it was not for your love and compassion and mercy and grace.
Lord in the days of our deepest sorrows, you were there
In the days of our pain and our agony, you were there
In days that we cried out for deliverance, you heard our cry
And Lord, before the foundation of the world, you knew us, and you loved us
And for such a time as this we are come into the kingdom
To do your will, and to do your work
And this is the work of God, to believe on Jesus Christ
And Lord Jesus, we believe
As we look tonight at these few verses of scripture, Lord I pray you just give us little glimpse and deeper understanding and closer connection with you
May we come just a little closer to you
Lord the longing of our our hearts is to see you as you are
Open the eyes of our hearts
And let us fasten our eyes upon Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith
Help us now in Jesus name
Amen
I am so happy to see so many out tonight
And I am excited that we can start having Sunday morning services next week
I want you all to know that you are loved and you are appreciated
I truly believe we each have a desire in our heart to walk close to Christ
And to be witnesses of the gospel
And over the past week, I was thinking about the subject of showing the grace of God
And as I thought about, I don’t that is something perhaps most of us have ever actually heard anything about
Showing grace to others
I will tell you the truth, I never once in my life remember hearing about showing grace to others until maybe two or three years ago
And I think that is just awful
Now maybe you already know all about showing grace to others, and if so that is good!
But for me, this is something I learned not all that very long ago in my life
I honestly had never even heard about it before
And let that be a condemnation to the preachers I listened to for 35 years of my life, how in the world do you go 35 years and never teach people about showing the grace of God to others?
I have no idea
But they did
And that is probably why so few people we know practice showing grace
Because no one ever told them about showing grace
And this is a topic I wanted to preach back then, but I never really got around to it
So, maybe I Lord willing, I can just share a little bit of how this is in my heart today
And before maybe I really get to the main points I want to convey, let me just dive into these verse a bit to get the context of what Peter is saying
First, remember who Peter is
Peter was an apostle who walked the earth with Jesus
When Jesus shared all the parables in the gospels, when he told his stories with their hidden meanings
Peter was one of the men that Jesus whispered to
He said to Peter, it is hidden from the world what these parables mean
But unto you, it is given to understand the mysteries of the kingdom
The pharisees and lawyers and scribes heard the parables of Jesus, and they didn’t understand
You and I could even read the parables of Jesus and not understand
But Peter he did understand
So did the other apostles
Jesus said so
And as I read these few words here of Peter, certain things just jump out to me
Cross references you might say, back to things that Jesus said
And let me maybe explain that a bit
The End Comes
Notice there how Peter begins this section of his letter in verse 7
He starts there saying, the end is it hand
The end is coming
And that is a true saying
The end is coming
We don’t really know when
Some people tell you they know when, and they set their dates
And after they get it wrong two or three times, you need to get away from them
Those are false teachers, false prophets, the kind the bible warns you to get away from
But truly, Jesus is coming back
The end is coming, just like Peter said
And he said that about 2000 years ago now
The end was coming 2000 years ago
The end is still coming today
I don’t think Peter thought time would go another 2000 years when he said this
But it did
But the thing is, Peter never set a date down, like so very many other people have done
There is a right way to talk about the end coming
And there is a very wrong way to talk about
And Peter shows us that way
Paul does too
And the thing is, the way Peter and Paul talk about the coming end is very different than the way you have I heard the end talked about most of our lives
But catch the rest of verse 7
7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
Now, don’t answer this, but I want to ask a question
Does anyone recognize what the second half of verse 7 is?
Peter right there is quoting Jesus, something he said in one of his parables
And this gives us a very good clue that Peter was inspired by one of Jesus parables to say these things
And you know, when it comes to interpreting the parables
I trust Peter
Because Jesus told me that Peter understood the mysteries of the kingdom
There is a bunch of people, told me a bunch of things about those parables
But Jesus never told me that they understood
But he did tell me Peter understood
So lets read what Peter understood about Jesus parables about the end
Above All Things, Have Love
7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober (be serious about this), and watch unto prayer. (You will find that saying of Jesus using those words in the parable of the talents, as recorded in the book of Mark)
8 And above all things have fervent charity (love) among yourselves: for charity (love) shall cover the multitude of sins.
Now notice there Peter’s choice of words in verse 8, I think that is very important how he phrases that
He says, above all things
Above all things
That is like saying, most importantly
Or, as your top priority
Have charity, love
The end of all things is coming, be sober and watch and prayer, quoting Jesus
And above all, most importantly, make your highest goal to have fervent love
And the way Peter says that, above all
I want us to realize this is not just an accidental phrasing
Peter wants us to understand the most important thing to take away, from our knowledge that the end is coming
In light of the knowledge that the end will come one day, there is something as Christians we need to be sure we have above all else
We need, above all, to have fervent love
Not more that money, not more than land, not more than knowledge, not more than understanding of mysteries
If we truly believe the end is coming, the most important thing we need to have is fervent love
And Peter is not the only one to preach this to us
Let me just cross reference this with some other verses
Turn over to Colossians 3, lets read what Paul said
Colossians 3:14
King James Version
14 And above all these things put on charity (love), which is the bond of perfectness.
Its interesting, Paul pretty well worded that the same way Peter did
Above all, most importantly, have love
This love is the most important thing
Turn over to 1st Corinthians 13, let see just how important this love is.
1 Corinthians 13
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.
2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.
3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
Knowing all the mysteries
Having all the gifts
Doing the greatest of works
Unless we have love, it is all worthless
Above all, put on love
Above all things have fervent love
A heart full of God’s love will cover a multitude of sins
A heart full of God’s love is the fruit he is looking for
Above all, we need that love
And I cannot look into someone’s heart and know whether there is genuine love there or not
But there are certainly things I can look at, and say, those things are really strong indications there is no love there
And when we look at people who have destroyed their own homes
Destroyed their own families
Destroyed their relationships
And not just their own, but worked overtime to spread their own miserable ways to others
When they show no respect, no kindness, no mercy
Even to the extent they drive people to suicide
Sit by and watch people be killed, and do nothing about
Abuse and harass people
They involve themselves with and support all manner of cruelties
When you see someone doing all those things
Rest assured, that person has no love
Because if we read on here more of what Paul says in chapter 13, none of those things are compatible with kind of love God is looking for
They will say they have love, but they will say we have a corrective love
And you know, it is true that love can be corrective
But the thing of it is, when you read what Paul says here, he lets us know pretty clearly God is not looking for us to have just corrective love
In fact, Paul does not even mention corrective love in his list here
So I will say this, if all you have is corrective love
You are in serious trouble, because that is not good enough
And though they have lots of so called “corrective” love
And although they have all the knowledge, and all the mysteries, and all the gifts, and all the rest
Their utter lack of godly love that Paul is talking about here
Which is why they destroyed their homes, and their families, and other people’s homes, and other people’s familes
and have perpetrated all manners of cruel abuses
They are fruitless
Turn with me back to 1st Peter, chapter 4
Let me go back to the text
7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
8 And above all things have fervent charity (love) among yourselves:
So let me maybe paraphrase Peter here
The end of the world is coming, so love each other
The end of the world is coming, so make sure you got lots of love in your hearts
Because when Jesus comes back, that is what he is going to be looking for in our lives
That is the great commandment
Have you ever heard any of the doomsday preachers ever tell you that was the appropriate response to the end of the world?
Love one another?
Maybe go over with me to 2nd Peter, and we will read a little more what Peter has to say about love in chapter 1
Here in chapter 1, Peter will tell us that if we have love, we are fruitful and will have an entrance into heaven
Let me go read that, second Peter, chapter 1, let me just read that, verse 5
2 Peter 1
King James Version
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith (faith to the saving of your soul) virtue (virtue is high moral standards. If someone tells you that word virtue means something else, you go get a dictionary and see for yourselves what is means); and to virtue knowledge (the knowledge of him that called us, you see that in verse 3. The knowledge of Jesus. He is the truth.);
6 And to knowledge temperance (that is self control); and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity (which is love).
Now what did Peter describe here?
Peter has described the way the fruit of the spirit grows in our life
And then look what he says in verse 8
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If we have those things, we are not unfruitful
If we have those things in our lives, then we have exactly what Jesus is looking for
We have exactly what he wants us to have
And just notice how it all climaxed again with charity – which is love, there in verse 7
If we have all these other things, and it never climaxed to produce in our hearts
We are nothing
Read verse 9
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
So if we lack what Peter described, we end up just a blind person
But if we actually do have what Peter is describing
If we our lives have been fruitful, and we have of faith towards God that is virtuous and loving, like Peter is talking about
Then verse 10 tells us what we can expect
10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
What things? Love, brotherly kindness, patience, temperance, godliness, faith towards God, the knowledge of Jesus Christ
The things he just told us about
The things he just told us mean we are not unfruitful
And if we do that, we will never fall
You will never fall
If we are fruitful, if we have those characteristics of godliness in our lives, we will never fall
Do you believe the bible?
I do!
I believe this bible
If I have that kind of fruit, I can be assured, I will never fall
I believe Peter knew what he was talking about
Read verse 11
11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
I believe Peter knew what he was talking about
Peter understood the mysteries of the kingdom
He knew what it took to make it
He knew what it took to be fruitful
And if we have what Peter was talking about, he it is going to be an abundant entrance
It’s a big wide entrance, we can’t miss it
Of course, I know people who will tell you that’s good enough
We know people who will say if all you have is what Peter talked about, you won’t make it
But at the end of the day, I have to conclude they don’t know what they are talking about
Let me go back to my text in 1st Peter, chapter 4
7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.
8 And above all things have fervent charity (love) among yourselves:
I hope reading those other verses can help us understand why peter would say in verse 8 above all, have love
That is really the truth, above all, have love
And the people who tell you above all, have some other thing
They are deceivers
Run away from them
And as we read on into these next verses, Peter is going to explain to us a few of the ways this love will manifest in the lives of Christians
And he says
for charity (love) shall cover the multitude of sins.
That covering there, that is the same word as being covered by the blood of Christ
Its talking about a forgiveness
But is not talking about Christ showing love to us, and Christ forgiving us
But its talking about us having love among ourselves, and forgiving each other
Love will cover a multitude of sins
And that is so true isn’t it?
You know I have children, and sometimes, children will do things they shouldn’t do
But love covers a multitude of sins
I remember one time, one of my kids got a sharpie marker
And they drew all over the couch
And there was no getting it out
You might be a little upset at first
But love covers a multitude of sins
You know, my wife and I, we get along so good
I am so thankful for that
There is a love there
She is not afraid to say, Charles, I put another dent in the car
Because she knows I love her, and I forgave the last five dents
I don’t think I ever raised my voice
And if there gets to be one more dent, well I can forgive one more time
Because I love her, and fussing over a dent in the car is not worth anything
And my goodness, I could stand here for hours and tell you about the love that has covered a multitude of my sins
My wife is a saint
All those times I was not all I should have been
Love covered a multitude of sins
And it is how are relationships should be
Let there be love
Above all, let there be love
I have more to say on this, but I will go a little further
9 Use hospitality one to another without grudging.
This is another thing this love will do
Hospitality, there is a freindliness, a welcoming, a kindess
Hospitality sets people at ease
I been down to visit Bro. Tim Humes a couple times
And let me tell you, I don’t think I ever knew what hospitality was until I met Bro. Tim
Oh my goodness
I think if you looked up hospitality in the dictionary, you might see a picture of Bro. Tim next to it
And I am not talking about giving me a nice meal or anything like that
But when someone can set you at ease
That is a big part of showing hospitality
And we show that one to another
When we are together, when we meet people,
That ability to show hospitality and set other people at ease
That is one of the ways our love shows
Jesus was a very easy person to be around, he was meek and lowly
People were at ease in his company
And it goes on to say, without grudging
Which means willingly, because we want to, because we love to
And that brings us to verse 10
And this is the main verse that drew me here tonight
10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
I want to take a little time to unpack this verse, and analyze it
And lets start by looking at the first word in this verse
As – verse 10 starts out with the word as
So this verse is further explaining what came before
What Peter was describing in verses 8 and 9, he is explaining the same thing in verse 10
He is just using different language to explain the same thing
That is what the word AS indicates
And what really jumps out to me in this verse is the very last part
Peter says, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God
That is where I draw my title, stewards of grace
And Peter here tells us something really important
You and I are stewards of the grace of God
there’s something we are responsible for, as children of God, a servants of God,
We are stewards of this grace
Stewards are caretakers, they have oversight of things that have been entrusted to them
And in that way a steward is empowered both to protect and to put into use whatever has been entrusted to them
And you and I, we are stewards of the manifold grace of God
The manifold grace of God has been entrusted to us
Stewardship has different areas of responsibility
One area would be to protect and preserve what is in your care
to guard it like a valuable treasure
To ensure its not lost, not diminished,
But stewardship entrails more than just protecting something, a steward is also responsible for taking that asset and putting it to good use
And we can go back to the parables where Jesus talks about being a steward, and compare it to what Peter is saying here
And this again, gives us a solid indication of what parable Peter is thinking of when he says these things
Because it’s the same parable where he says watch and pray and be sober (You will find it in Mark 13, but also in even more detail in Matthew 24 and Matthew 25)
And Peter here, is telling us one of the most important things that stewards of God are responsible for
And it is the manifold grace of God
If we diminish the grace of God, we are not a good steward
If we fail to protect the grace of God, when others try to diminish it, we are not a good steward
If we fail to employ the grace of God, share it, and keep its understanding alive, we have failed as stewards
if we fail to employ and put the use the grace of God, if we fail to serve it due season, when it is called for
Then we have failed as stewards
If we fail to model the grace of God for others to see
Then we have failed as stewards
Because ss stewards, we have to model the grace of God for others to see
We have to put in on display
We have to put it to use
As steward we are empowered to use and share that grace
not take what the Lord has given us, and bury in the ground
But actually to put it to use
That is it responsibility that belongs to the true servants of God, the true stewards of God
But it is a responsibility that will be neglected by the bad servants and the bad stewards
Manifold Grace
Now notice there that Peter uses a word to describe this grace of God that we are stewards of
The word he uses to describe it is, manifold
it’s not simply the grace of God, we are the stewards of
But the manifold grace of God
The many folded layers of the grace of God, it’s full depth it’s full richness
the grace of God in its totality
that is what we are stewards of
And the very word manifold, means all the different aspects
that lets us know that Grace is not a narrow thing
it is not a narrow topic
But it’s deep, it’s multifaceted
it’s aspects are manifold
And if we take a narrow view of the grace of God, that by itself makes us a bad stewards of it
because the grace of God has many aspects. Many aspects that we’re responsible for as stewards
And I want to remind My listeners tonight of just a few of those areas, and a few of the different aspects of God’s grace
because we’ve come from places where the grace of God that was shared with us was not manifold, but it was narrow
Places where the grace of God does not have broad application, but narrow application
where we come from, you’re saved by grace, if you were predestined
But that is where grace ends, it was narrow
But I am not a steward of a narrow limited grace, I am a steward of a manifold grace
I could tell you and teach you that you were saved by grace, and that is true
But if that’s as far as I go with God’s grace, then I have left out a whole lot of it
But God’s grace will take you farther just the immediate salvation of your soul
The saving grace is not limited to our immediate salvation, that is just one of its manifold aspects
And I’m a steward not just of God’s grace for salvation, but I’m a steward of all the manifold aspects of God’s grace
And if I deny or diminish or limit any of those other aspects, I’m not a good steward
And We certainly don’t have time this evening to deep dive into the other aspects of The manifold grace of God, But I want to mention tonight just a few highlights
Sustaining Grace
God’s grace does not just save us
But is also sustains us once we are saved
His sustaining grace preserves us and keeps us
In Romans 5 Paul explained that we stand in God’s grace
It’s a place where we stay
You don’t get saved by grace, and you stay saved by your works or your knowledge or your performance
The grace by which we are saved is also sufficient to keep us through whatever comes our way in in life
In this life, we strive to do our best
To live for the lord as best we can, but when we come up short, his grace is there
When God looks at us, he see Jesus
When God looks at us, he sees our perfect savior
We are perfect in the eyes of God, because our heart is right with him
And Jesus has reconciled us
But in practice, we are still growing in grace
We are growing to become more like Jesus every day
And we all got a ways to go
And every day we are hear, is an opportunity to grow a little more
But until we are changed to be like him, we are bound to have some shortcomings at times
But that sustaining grace, that sufficient grace, its enough for those shortcomings
I can do my best, and let God’s grace of what is beyond my best
Until I am changed, and have my glorified body, I will never be as perfect as Jesus
But I don’t have to be as perfect as Jesus today, because Jesus is perfect
If I could be as perfect as Jesus today, I wouldn’t need Jesus
I could just save myself
But I have shortcomings, and God knows I do
That is why he sent Jesus
That’s why I need Jesus
And that’s why I am thankful for his sustaining grace
When we are saved, we are perfect, in the sense that God sees us a completed work
But we are not perfect in the sense that we already are that completed work
That is coming, when we are changed
When we see him, then we shall be life him
But are not yet what we will be
But his grace is there, not just to save us, but to look beyond our definicies, until that day comes when we are like him
So God’s grace overlooks our shortcoming
And God’s grace help us to grow to overcome them
And God himself, is personally showing that kind of grace to us
And that is one more aspect of this manifold grace
And there are plenty more aspects we could talk about
But I am going to just stop with these two aspects tonight
His saving grace
And his sustaining grace
And he shows us both of those in our lives
Showing grace
But here is the thing, we are stewards of that manifold grace of God
We ourselves have been entrusted with that very grace
And as stewards, we have to put that grace to use
And one important way we do is by showing that grace to other people, just like God shows it to us
Which brings me to the last part of verse 10 to look at
Let me read it again
10 As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
This grace is a gift from God
And we are called to minister this grace to one another
Grace is kind, it is merciful, it is willing to overlook shortcomings
Grace is understanding, it is compassionate, looks beyond what we are today and see us for what we will be in the future
That is grace
And we are called to minister grace to each other
We are called to show each other this grace, and be good stewards of it
We can’t withhold it
We can’t be stingy with grace
But as we have received the gift, we need to minister that gift to each other
Let us show each other grace
And you know, we have come from different places, different walks
We have had different experiences
We have been through different trials and tribulations
We are not yet what we are going to be
But one thing is for sure, we are all God’s children
We have all found his saving grace
And if we can find it within ourselves, to be good stewards of God’s grace, and minister that to each other
I believe it will heal our wounds
Like a good healing salve
If we can show each other a little grace, a little understanding, a little mercy
If we can model that grace to each other, and to whoever the Lord sends our way
I think God will be very pleased with us, as the good stewards of his grace
And those around us, maybe they can get a little taste of what God’s grace is like, when they see us model it to them
We have been called to be like Jesus
And Jesus showed a lot of grace to people, didn’t he?
We are empowered to be stewards of that same grace
We are empowered to show that same grace to other people
We are empowered to overlook the shortcomings of others, and to see them as what they will be one day
And as a good steward of God’s grace, that is exactly what I want to do.
Think back to the old testament, when the temple in Jersualem had been destroyed
And Zerubabel had come back to Jersualem to rebuild the temple
And they had to dig and dig and dig
It was not easy for them, but they had to dig and dig to find that corner stone of the temple
It had been buried under so much rubble, they had to dig to find it
And you know, Jesus, my precious Jesus, he has been buried under so much rubble where we come from
We have had to dig and dig to find him
We have had to dig to find that chief corner stone of our faith
But thanks be to God that we discovered the foundation stone
And when Zerubbabel and finally found the cornerstone buried under all the rubble
He cried out, grace grace grace grace!
He cried out Grace as he uncovered the corner stone
Because it was grace that let him find it
And grace was the great revelation of finding the cornerstone
Today, as we go forward, as we uncover that cornerstone, and as we set to work building the temple of the Lord
Let us cry out grace, grace
What was buried has been uncovered
What was hidden has been found
What was covered over with debris has been made clear
And here we are today, rejoicing over the goodness of the Lord
And we are stewards of the manifold grace of God
We have been empowered to put it to good use
Let us not simply pay grace lip service as some people do
But let us actually practice Grace, let us actually put it into action
Let us actually obey the Bible
because remember how Peter opened this, the end is at hand
a proper response to the end of being at hand, is being good stewards of the grace of God
And those who Tell you the end is upon us, yet fail to be good stewards of the grace of God, are people who are in rebellion against the commandment of the scripture.
But as for me, I’ve chosen to be a good steward.
And I pray that is the desire of all of our hearts
And in Jesus name, let us do that
Let me closing in prayer
Lord I thank you that you have been so wonderful to us
As we look and see the turmoil, the confusion, the perplexity of many
In you we find peace
In you we find rest for our souls
In you we find confidence
In you we find understanding
You have delivered us from great turmoil
Truly you have proven to us that you are a deliverer
And we thank you and worship you for it
Thank for you saving grace
Thank you for your sustaining grace
In Jesus name we pray
Amen