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Well, we come to the pinnacle of our worship service, when we have the joy and the privilege to humble ourselves before the preaching of God's word. And I would encourage you to take your Bibles this morning and turn to First Peter, chapter four.

We've been making our way verse by verse through this epistle, and we come now to verses seven through 11. Follow along as I read First Peter four.

"The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.

"Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.

"Be hospitable to one another without complaint.

"As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

"Whoever speaks, let him speak as it were the utterances of God; whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

As we look around at the landscape of the church today, whether it be in the United States or anywhere in the world, I think it becomes apparent to any honest observer that the church is suffering from a problem; it has an invisible enemy that I would call indifference. The church, for the most part, is uninterested in the holiness of God. There is a disinterest for the transcendence and the utter moral purity of God. The church is calloused towards the issue of sin, which is the defining characteristic of our nature. People resent even the notion that because of our sin nature, all that we are and all that we do is fundamentally offensive to God, and that our sin nature causes us to be unable to conform to the moral character and desires of God. Therefore, there is a huge chasm between God's holiness and man's sinfulness; but even the church, for the most part, doesn't want to talk about those things, rather indifferent, apathetic, and when you do bring it up, there's a sense of, ooh, let's don't get off on that.

The church is also indifferent towards the issue of truth, especially the distinguishing characteristics of truth versus error, because after all, we know in our postmodern day the truth is whatever you want it to be. The final standard for truth is not what God has revealed in his word, but what your opinion is, and your opinion, and somebody else's opinion. Therefore, what may be true for you might not be true for me. So you live your truth and I'll live my truth, and let's just be tolerant of one another, and the absurdity of that can be seen in every aspect of our society.

As we look around, we see marriages that don't work, we see children that don't obey, we see families that don't love, we see schools that don't educate, we see pastors that don't warn, we see churches that don't equip, we see communities that don't worship, and we look around and we see nations that don't care; absolutely indifferent to the things of God, an utter disregard and disdain for His word. And friends, if you don't believe that, try some time asking people on the street if they believe that the Lord Jesus Christ could return again at any moment, and see what type of reaction you get, and if they do say yes, then ask them the next question, "Well, does that impact your life in any way?" And the answer will basically be not really. Either they really don't believe it, or they're so in love with the world that they don't think about that very much. Well, that is not the perspective that God would have us have, and certainly that's not the perspective, therefore, that we see in the text before us.

Remember now, the context of our passage. Peter has been offering encouragement to the beleaguered saints that were suffering in the first century. He has first stirred their spiritual affections by reminding them of the glorious nature and benefits of their salvation. He's called them to the importance of nourishing themselves on the word of God. He's taught them the importance of submission. He's given them practical ways of avoiding unnecessary persecution.

He has even reminded them of the Lord's attitude when he suffered, so that they could have the same attitude in that day that they might be called upon to suffer. And, of course, many of them, even by now, when Peter has written this, were beginning to be martyred for the cause of Christ, and it was only going to escalate. And now the passionate apostle, knowing that even he himself would soon be stretched out upon a Roman cross - as well as knowing that many of them would be martyred - instructs these dear saints, and therefore all of us from that day till today by reminding them of five essential attitudes that should motivate all that they do. And therefore, we're going to look at today the same five attitudes that should drive each of us, five driving consuming priorities.

Let me give them to you, and then I will elaborate on them. First, we must have a vigilance for the Lord's return. Secondly, a passion for holiness. Thirdly, a love for fellow Christians. Fourthly, a love for the church, and finally, a zeal for God's glory. And I would submit to you that these are evident in every faithful and mature believer. Therefore, I've entitled my discourse to you this morning "Five Priorities of Mature Saints," and I would challenge you this morning to measure your life against these.

First of all, we are to have the priority of a vigilance for the Lord's return. Notice what Peter says in verse seven, "The end of all things is at hand..." or it could be translated, "The end of all things is near." Now some would say, "My, my, the apostle missed it by about 2000 years and counting." Well, there's where the failure of the English language can sometimes confuse you, but in fact, in the original language, the word "end," "telos" in Greek, does not mean the end or cessation of chronological time. It's not referring to the completion or the discontinuation or the termination of a period of time, but rather it's referring to the fulfillment or the achievement or the completion of a plan, or of a program. It's speaking of a consummation of an objective; when an objective will be attained, when a purpose will be fulfilled, a goal reached, and, of course, in this context, he's referring to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ.

"It is at hand," he says. The idea "at hand" is referring to the idea, something that is impending. It is forthcoming. It's on its way, we might say.  So, he's saying the end here is on its way. The consummation of God's plan is approaching, and grammatically, we see that it's in the perfect tense. Therefore, it could be translated, the fulfillment or consummation of an objective is approaching. It is the idea of imminence that it could happen at any time. So, we could paraphrase verse seven and say, "The completion of the church age is on its way." That glorious time when the Lord Jesus Christ will return for his own.

You will recall that John the Baptist preached in the wilderness, and we read in Matthew three, in verses one and two, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," he said. Now, in one sense, it was already a present reality with the Lord coming, but the full expression of that kingdom, the full reality of that, awaits yet a future consummation. Likewise, Jesus sent out the disciples in Matthew 10 and verse seven, and he told them to say, "Preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

Now it's important for we as believers to understand technically that the end actually began with the first coming of the Lord. In fact, we can read in First Corinthians 10 verse 11, the apostle Paul says, "Now these things happen to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." So the end came when Jesus came, but it hasn't reached its full completion as yet, but it's approaching.

In fact, the Old Testament prophets looked ahead in the prophecies that the Spirit of God gave them, and they saw two mountain peaks in close proximity. If you're ever out on the plains and you look across to the mountains, you might see one peak and then see another peak, and you may not realize that there's a great distance between the two. They look like they're together. Likewise, the Old Testament prophets didn't realize that the first coming of the Lord and his ultimate appearing with the kingdom had a distance between them; a distance we would call the church age, that is now about 2000 years. They didn't know that there would be a 2000-year distance between those comings. They saw it all as the end of the age, the completion of God's plan of redemption.

In fact, the writer of Hebrews said in Hebrews chapter one, beginning in verse one, "God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son." So the "last days" there again we see it included the time when Jesus was on earth.

So the point with all of this is that Peter lived with a sense of divine urgency, and he's calling his readers to live with that same urgency, he knew that the Lord's return was imminent, that two-phase return that we know to be true as we look at scripture, the rapture of the church, when he comes to snatch away his own, and then seven years later, approximately, his final glorious appearing in what is called the second coming.

Now you will also recall that years earlier in Matthew 24, Peter had asked the Lord, "What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age?" What will be the parisia? What will be the sign of your appearance? So Peter lived with eager anticipation for the ultimate consummation of redemptive history to come to fruition. He thought, frankly, that he might live to see it happen. He didn't know. Realize that the Apostle Paul felt the same way we read in First Corinthians 15, beginning in verse 51, as Paul speaks of the rapture of the church, he says, "Behold, I tell you a mystery..." and notice that he says "we," not "they," not "they" in the future, but "we" - I might be included - "...we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality."

Likewise, Paul said the same in light of the rapture in First Thessalonians four, beginning in verse 15. He says, "We who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not precede those who have fallen asleep, for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord."

So Peter began this section by challenging his readers to share his vigilance. The end of all things is approaching. Christ's spiritual reign in the hearts of men will sometime soon be transformed into a physical reign upon the earth for 1000 years, when after his snatching away of his bride and his fulfillment of all of his judgments against Israel in Daniel's 70th week, known as the time of the tribulation, when he will finally come in power and great glory and establish his millennial kingdom. So what we see as we look at this text is that Peter is saying, be careful, be aware, be vigilant. What God is up to is going to come to an end, and it's coming towards us. It is approaching. We don't know the time, we don't know the exact date, but it's imminent. It could happen at any time.

I was doing a little research not too long ago, and I discovered an international polling firm that polled 1000 adults in the United States, and it revealed that only one in 4, 25% of the people they polled anticipates that the Lord Jesus Christ will come again the second time. That means that 75% of the people don't believe that, and my friends, they didn't believe Noah either. But my friend, I want to say to you, if you are here and you do not believe that, and you do not believe Christ, if you have not placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, and you think that all of this is utter foolishness, I would humbly say to you that unless you embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ with repentant faith, there will be a day when you will stand before Christ, not as Savior, but as judge. And for all of the saints, we know that we will be able to stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with great joy, but you will stand in the presence of God, not blameless, but guilty with great fear, and that that time the penetrating gaze of his holiness will peer into your soul, into your very heart, and you will stand in the presence of his glory exposed for who you are, a sinner in need of salvation, but it will be too late, and so I humbly warn you: repent, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ before it's too late. And may it never be said in life or in death that you were not warned, because today you have been warned.

But, oh child of God, what inconceivable joy awaits those of us who know and love Christ, who had been called according to his purpose by his mercy and by his grace. And I want to ask you, how will he find you when he comes? Will he find you watching? Will he find you waiting, will he find you unashamed and vigilant in service, looking for his appearance. To say it a little bit differently, are you ready to stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account for your life? Because all of us as believers will have to do that someday.

Now, may I remind you that judgment will not be for your sins, that was already taken care of. Christ has paid for that on the cross of Calvary, but rather we will be judged for our faithfulness and service. Are you ready? And it's tragic to think how many Christians are indifferent about the disciplines of the Christian life, and therefore they're not looking for these glorious truths of which we speak, and therefore they forfeit blessing in this life and even loss of reward in the next. So, beloved, I would stand before you this morning, and plead with you, those of you who know Christ, get serious about your walk with Christ, because the end is coming.

So, a mature Christian will be driven, first of all, by a vigilance for the Lord's return, but, secondly, they will have a passion for holiness. Notice what he says at the end of verse seven. Therefore, because you are aware the end of all things is at hand, "Therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.' Sound judgment - we don't hear that phrase used very often in the original language. It means to be of sound mind, or literally to be in your right mind. It's the idea of having a proper perspective of yourself, of having balanced thinking, so that you can exercise self-control and moderation. That's the idea. It's the opposite, frankly, of being ruled, like so many people are, by their emotions or having unbridled passions, but rather than that being ruled by a careful reasoning wise mind that is informed by divine truth. Therefore, exercising discernment here in this passage, as well as in many others, we see that this phrase gives us the idea of a mind that maintains spiritual priorities, a mind that is committed to obedience and righteous living. We could put it this way: it's having a biblical worldview, a mind that refuses to be distracted by worldly pleasures and all of the man-centered philosophies and psychologies of our day. This is one who lives his life for the future, not just for the present.

So we are to be people of sound judgment, but also he says, sober spirit. This is very similar. It has the idea of having a clear head, being self-controlled, being free from spiritual drunkenness. It's the idea of being serious-minded, being spiritually alert, being observant of all that's going around you in light of the coming glory, being vigilant, being watchful. In fact, in First Peter, chapter one, in verse 13, you will recall, he says, "Prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." And Jesus also warned in Matthew 24:42, "Be on the alert, you do not know which day your Lord is coming." And sadly, most people, most Christian people, are not alert, they're more concerned with their favorite television program, or the next football game, or the next new model of car or truck that they can buy, and on and on it goes, but the Christian who is sober in spirit will be one who has his or her priorities straight, and they will not be seduced by the fleeting pleasures of this world. Instead, they will understand what it means to live a life that is separate from the world, because they're living their life in light of eternity. And when you live that way, real practically, you're going to begin to love the things that God loves and hate what he hates. To put it even more practically, the music of the world will become abhorrent to you. Hollywood will be something that repulses you. Politics will be, frankly, irrelevant, because we're citizens of another kingdom. We're citizens of a place where God lives. So because they are watching for the Lord's return, because they long to see him face to face, the mature Christian will be of sound judgment and sober spirit. They will therefore have a passion for holiness. They will be separated from sin unto God. Remember, God said in Leviticus 11:44, "I am the Lord your God, consecrate yourselves therefore..." in other words, set yourself apart, "...and be holy, for I am holy." And he went on to add in verse 45, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."

I was reading a survey the other day, one of the George Barna surveys, and I found something very interesting, without getting into all the all of the statistics. It basically demonstrated that the vast majority of professing Christians are ignorant, as well as indifferent to the issue of holiness, and in light of that, here's what they had to say, and I quote, "Realize that the results portray a body of Christians who attend church and read the Bible, but do not understand the concept or significance of holiness, do not personally desire to be holy, and therefore do little, if anything, to pursue it. However, the data identify a remnant that understands holiness, wants to live a holy life, and is engaged in its pursuit. The challenge to the nation's Christian ministries," he goes on to say, "...is to foster a genuine hunger for holiness among the masses who claim they love God, but who are ignorant about biblical teachings regarding holiness."

Friends, let me digress for just a moment. Remember that holiness is the all-encompassing attribute of God, and believers must grasp this. You must realize that the concept of holiness portrays not only his transcendence but also his moral purity. Holiness is a term that portrays the consummate perfection of his person, and like no other attribute that he uses of himself in scripture, his holiness stands alone as the defining characteristic of his person. It is the quintessential summation of all of his attributes. God is holy, and we are not. He is completely other.

Now, here's why this is so important, friends. If you don't see the holiness of God, you'll never see your own sinfulness. That's the point. We will only be able to see our sin in proportion to our willingness to see the holiness of God. You see, the Apostle Paul attested to this when he proclaimed in Romans 7:22, "I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man." I can identify with that, don't you? You know, when I read scripture and I know what God wants me to do, I mean, there's no sense of "I don't want to do that." No, my heart leaps at that. That's what I want to do. Why? Because, like the Apostle Paul, we have an acknowledgement of God's holiness, we love his word, we love him for who he is; and certainly what Paul was saying here is a resounding acknowledgement of his deep love and respect for the holiness of God manifested in his law; yet because of his knowledge of the Holy One, the corrupting presence and power of indwelling sin was made even more apparent to him, and therefore he went on to say, in verses 23 and 24, "...but I see a different law in the members of my body; waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin, which is in my members." Then he went on, you will call, to lament, "O wretched man that I am. Who will set me free from the body of this death?"

So I would challenge you to ask God to help you comprehend the holiness of God. Study that, think about that, so that you might grasp the sinfulness of your own sin, and therefore rejoice even more fully in the grace that has been extended to you. Learn to see it, learn to see his holiness, so that you will see your sin and starve your sin; mortify your flesh. Hebrews 3:13 says, "Beware, lest any one of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of your sin." You might recall the great danger in sin is its ability to somehow deceive you, to camouflage itself in you, to make you think that you're so much better than you are. And when you think about it, we all have 1000 justifications for the sins that we commit, and those are but the tip of the iceberg. Those are the only the ones that we see that we're aware of. You see, we can justify our lack of prayer and Bible study by convincing ourselves that we're too busy, we can justify our failure to be the spiritual leaders in our homes, men, by saying, "Well, you know, I'm just not that kind of a guy." We can justify our poor stewardship of our time and money by saying, "Well, you know what, I've got so many other priorities, and I have to spend so much time at work, and frankly, I just don't have the finances to worship God in my giving." We can justify things like even not coming to church by saying, "My back, oh, I've worked so hard this week, got a little bit of a sore throat." Folks, sin has a way of convincing us of so many things.

We can justify our gossip, our slander, our pride, our gluttony, our drunkenness, you name it. We can justify it, because sin is ingenious in its ability to convince us that what we're doing is really okay. In his classic work, "The Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalency of Indwelling Sin," 17th century Puritan theologian John Owen addressed the powerful principle of indwelling sin in the believer, and here's what he had to say, and I quote, "Sin always abides in the soul. It is never absent. The apostle twice uses that expression, 'It dwells in me.' There is its constant residence and habitation. If it came upon the soul only at certain seasons, much obedience might be perfectly accomplished in its absence. Yea, and as they deal with usurping tyrants, whom they intend to thrust out of a city, the gates might be sometimes shut against it, that it might not return. The soul might fortify itself against it, but the soul is its home. There it dwells and is no wanderer. Wherever you are, whatever you are about, this law of sin is always in you. In the best that you do, and in the worst." He went on to say, "Men little consider what a dangerous companion is always at home with them, when they are in company, when alone, by night or by day, all is one. Sin is with them. There is a living coal continually in their houses, which, if it be not looked unto, will fire them, and it may consume them. Oh, the woeful security of poor souls. How little do the most of men think of this inbred enemy that is never from home. How little, for the most part, does the watchfulness of any professors answer the danger of their state and condition." End quote.

But friends, for the mature saint whose spiritual eyes are constantly straining to see the appearing of their Savior; for a person who has a passion for holiness, who is committed to a secret devotion to God, who is one of sound judgment and a sober spirit for the purpose of prayer, this person will be aware of his or her sin. And why is it so important? Well, it says at the end of verse seven, Peter says, "...be of sound judgment, sober spirit, for the purpose of prayer." You see, my friends, holy living not only requires prayer, but longs for it. Holy living longs to be in the presence and in the fellowship of the one to whom they've been separated unto you. See, prayer is to the Christian what air is to the body. We cannot live without it, and so our hearts long to be in the presence of the lover of our souls, and the closest we can get this side of glory to the one we love is really in two places. One would be in the sanctuary of corporate worship. We're here today, we're assembled here today. And you think about this, that this is the closest thing to heaven that we can find, because here we have the presence of many gifts that God has given, all for the purpose of glorifying himself and equipping and edifying the saints. We're in a place where the preaching of the word can be heard, where we can pray together, and the voices of God's people can be heard together, where saints can corporately offer their praise to God, but friends, the next best place to that is in our secret closet of prayer, but this requires sound judgment and a sober spirit. John MacArthur has wisely said, and I quote, "Godly thinking and spiritual alertness are crucial for the purpose of prayer. Prayer is the access to all spiritual resources, but believers cannot pray properly if their minds are unstable due to worldly pursuits, ignorance of divine truth, or indifference to divine purposes. Saints who seriously study scripture and discover its profound truths about God experience rich communion with Him." End quote. How true that is.

Often I will hear people say to me, "Pastor, I just can't seem to develop a disciplined prayer life. I just really struggled with that." And you know why, and I say this kindly and with love, but quite frankly, whenever I hear that, I immediately know that that person is not driven by a vigilance for the Lord's return. That is not a priority for them. That person does not understand, and therefore does not have a passion for holiness, and frankly, if you look closely, you will see that they really have no sacrificial love for other Christians. They really don't even have a real love for the church, and all that that means, and they certainly have no zeal for God's glory. Instead, they've been sucked into the world. My friends, I'll tell you, when you roll up your sleeves and you really get about the Lord's business, and you begin to suffer for the cause of Christ, you will not be able to run fast enough into your closet of prayer.

So the Apostle Peter encourages the saints, encourages all of us to have a vigilance for the Lord's return and a passion for holiness, and then, thirdly, a love for fellow Christians. Notice in verses eight and nine, "Above all," he says, "keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins. Be hospitable to one another without complaint." "Keep fervent," he says. Well, what's that? Well, it's an interesting phrase in the original language. It's the idea of doing something that is strenuous, that is intense. It has the idea of being zealous, even the idea of being fanatical about something. It was used, for example, to describe an Olympic runner that is straining at the finish line. You've seen that before, where every fiber in their body is reaching out with all of their might to be the first one across that line to achieve that objective, exactly. Hurting every muscle to do your very best, that's the idea of keeping fervent.

Well, friends, what he's saying here is this is how we ought to love one another with all of our being, with all of our might, with every fiber in our body. Now, this is not, and hear this, this is not the schmaltzy sentimental love of tea parties and wedding receptions. It's not some fair-weather, convenient love that only loves when everything is kind of going good and someone is reciprocating, but instead this is agape love. This is the love of choice. This is the love that is self-sacrificial, that demands no reciprocation, that loves despite how the object of that love responds. It's the love that God has for us. This is the kind of love that Paul speaks of in First Corinthians 13, that bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. It is that love that never fails. It is a love that, therefore, in verse eight covers a multitude of sins. In Proverbs 19:11 God says that it is a man's discretion to be slow to anger, and that it is his glory to overlook a transgression. You see, friends, Peter understood, and I think we all understand this, that we're all sinners. We're all going to let each other down. We're all going to hurt each other's feelings from time to time. We're all going to say things that we wish we wouldn't have said. And so this requires forgiveness. It requires love. If my dear wife divorced me every time I hurt her, I can't imagine how many times we would have had to have remarried. That's the point here. Love covers the multitude of sins.

You know, Peter had been a recipient of that love, remember? He had rejected the Lord, he had stuck his foot in his mouth many times, and certainly he had rejected the Lord three times before the Lord was crucified. You remember that story? And yet Jesus still loved him, even to the point of dying for him and for all of us. You see, Peter knew that bond of love firsthand, but he also knew, in the midst of the persecution that he was enduring. And his dear wife, and others in the Christian community, and the saints scattered abroad, that the bond of love was going to be crucial as persecution continued to mount, as the end of the age draws near, as Satan knows his time is short.

You see, my friends, the battle for the truth is intense, and we need each other, so we've got to love each other. Paul said that love in Colossians 3:14 is the perfect bond of unity. We cannot do battle with the enemy if we're fighting amongst ourselves. Jesus said in John 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are my disciples," if what? "If you have love for one another." And friends, may I pause for a moment, perhaps there's someone in your family, perhaps there's someone in your church family that you're not loving, that you have not forgiven, that you need to be reconciled unto. May I encourage you to examine your heart in that regard. This should be a priority.

And he goes on to add, in verse nine, "Be hospitable to one another without complaint." Being hospitable, it literally, in the original language, has the idea of loving someone that you don't know, loving a stranger, and so here he expands his admonition to exceed the boundaries of just loving other fellow Christians, but loving other people in your community as well, though Christians should always be the priority.

So Peter tells us to have a vigilant watch for the Lord's return, a passion for holiness, a love for fellow Christians, and then fourthly the fourth priority of a mature saint will be a love for the church, verses 10 and 11. "As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking to utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which which God supplies." This must have been so encouraging to those beleaguered saints. That each one of you has received a gift from the Spirit of God, and sometimes more than one gift.

Now let me digress for a moment and remind you about this idea of spiritual gifts. And if you want great detail in it, there is a 10-part series that I did several years ago that is soon to be made available, a 10-part series that does an exegetical study of First Corinthians, chapters 12,13, and 14 on the issue of spiritual gifts. But in First Corinthians 12 and verse four the apostle Paul says, "Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same spirit." And varieties there means distributions or allotments, apportionments. There is varieties of gifts, of charisma, plural of gifts. In other words, there is a multiplicity of divine gifts. These are supernatural abilities that are distributed at salvation by the Holy Spirit to believers to equip each one of us to minister supernaturally to others, primarily in the body of Christ. These are, if you will, supernatural endowments that God has given us to ensure that this divine organism, the body of Christ, will function effectively and efficiently.

And by way of brief review, there are 18 general categories of spiritual gifts that are found in the New Testament, and you could divide these into four groups. And in these four groups, there are two that would fall under the heading of gifts that are not operative today; and then there are two more groups that would fall under the heading of gifts that are in operation today.

First of all, group one and the gifts that are not operative today would be what we would call the revelatory gifts. These are our were gifts that were provided to the Christians of the early day that provided for them revelation of previously unrevealed truths, where they could understand previously unrevealed truths, and then give them the ability to communicate them in inspired messages; and there were five in that category: apostleship, prophecy, distinguishing spirits, word of wisdom, word of knowledge. So those were revelatory gifts of the early days, and again, those are not operative today. There might be some variation, possibly still in effect, of prophecy, distinguishing spirits, word of wisdom, word of knowledge, but for the most part they are not operative today.

And then there's a second group that are not operative today that aren't revelatory. They were not revelatory, but confirmatory gifts. In other words, those gifts provided confirmation of divinely inspired messages during the first century. Those were the gifts of faith, healing, affecting miracles, tongues, and interpretation of tongues. Now, by the way, tongues in that day, the biblical concept of tongues, was that of foreign languages, not the ecstatic gibberish found in some evangelical and pseudo-evangelical groups today, as well as many cults and pagan religions; that was always a counterfeit.

But then there are also groups of gifts that are operative today. This would be that third group and fourth group, which, by the way, could be divided this way: there are speaking gifts and serving gifts that are operative today. The speaking gifts were given to the early church and also to us today to help us continue in our growth until the Lord returns. They are the gift of evangelism, the gift of teaching, the gift of pastor, teacher, and the gift of exhortation. Those are the speaking gifts.

And then you have group four, the serving gifts, which provide support for the speaking gifts to make them more effective, and they are the gift of helps, or ministry, that of showing mercy, giving, and governing, or ruling. Now, all of these gifts were given to manifest the Spirit of God, to glorify Him, not to glorify us, not to put us on display, but to put Him on display, and we must see these gifts as the primary colors that an artist might put on his palette, and an artist would then take various colors and mix them together to make a myriad of different colors, likewise the gifts, where the master artist takes these general categories of giftedness and he uses them to paint a masterpiece of Christ and his character on the canvas of the church.

So Peter is saying in verses 10 and 11, "As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold..." which means literally many colored or multifaceted, "...grace of God."

You see, we all have a responsibility to discover and develop our spiritual gift, or gifts, as the case may be, and you do this by getting involved in the church, where people can witness the gift, or maybe the lack thereof, and then affirm what is true about you, so that you can begin to be used in a way that will not only bring great fulfillment to you, but bring great glory to God. That's the idea.

And he goes on, he says, "Whoever speaks..." you see, here's a reference to the speaking categories, "...is to do so as one who is speaking to utterances of God." In other words, you with the speaking gifts, we don't want to hear man's wisdom, we don't want to hear book reports, we don't want to hear political commentary, we don't want to hear man's philosophies, we don't want to hear man's ideas found in psychology. We want to hear the word of God; preach the word, the utterances of God. And he says, "Whoever serves is to do so is one who is serving by the strength which God supplies." In other words, one who is empowered by the Holy Spirit. If you're serving, we don't want you to serve if you're serving in the flesh, but only if you're serving in the spirit. And those who understand this will use these gifts because they love the Lord and they love His church.

So, mature Christians will discover and develop their spiritual gifts, they will use them in the body of Christ, because they are driven by the divine priorities. They have a vigilance for the Lord's return. They have a passion for holiness. They love their fellow Christians. They love the church, and finally they have a zeal for God's glory. Notice there in verse 11, here's why we do it all, "...so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

Oh, child of God, this is our reason for living this doxology that we just read. This is the supreme goal of all that we think and all that we do. This is the doxology, the song that flows from our heart. Remember what the Apostle Paul said in First Corinthians 10, "Whatever then you do, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all for the glory of God." This should be our zeal; and I ask you, is that the passion of your life? Is that the center of gravity around which all that you do orbits? Are you living for the glory of God, or are you living for the glory of self?

But my friends, Peter's doxology will be little more than a hollow sanctimonious platitude, unless you are absolutely driven by the first four priorities. Unless you're driven by a vigilance for the Lord's return, unless you're driven by a passion for holiness and a love for Christians and a love for the church, you'll not have a zeal for God's glory. So get your priorities right. I challenge you to that end, and I leave you with this summary of thoughts put to meter and rhyme.

Oh, the joy within my soul that soars above life's woes. Oh, the peace that fills my heart when anxious billows roll, all because his mercy shown my guilt, my only plea. Yea, all because of grace alone, my soul has been set free. Oh, the hope of future bliss that only saints can know, that blessed hope all fears dismiss that sets our hearts aglow. For soon our ears will hear the sound of Michael's silver trump. Then, in the twinkling of an eye, his bride will be snatched up. Oh, may we ever watchful be, consumed with holy zeal, with love for all, yet warriors brave, his church that never yields. Then on that day of judgment sweet, when we receive our crowns, we'll cast them at the Savior's feet, our praise for air resound. May that be the passion of our hearts. Let's pray together.

Father, I would ask, as your servant, that you will take these eternal truths and brand them onto our hearts and our minds, that we may be forever reminded of our rightful obligations before you. May we live these truths out for our joy and for your glory; and Lord, for those who mock the words that have been spoken today, I pray that you will consume them with such conviction and overwhelm them with such guilt that their lives will be a living hell, that they will be miserable until they run to the foot of the cross and cry out for your mercy and for your grace, and Lord, would that even today be the day that they come to you in repentant faith and experience the miracle of the new birth. Lord, thank you for meeting with us. Take us and use us for your glory. We ask in Jesus' name and for His sake. Amen.