1 Peter 4:7

4:7-11 The destruction of the Jewish church and nation, foretold by our Saviour, was very near. And the speedy approach of death and judgment concerns all, to which these words naturally lead our minds. Our approaching end, is a powerful argument to make us sober in all worldly matters, and earnest in religion. There are so many things amiss in all, that unless love covers, excuses, and forgives in others, the mistakes and faults for which every one needs the forbearance of others, Satan will prevail to stir up divisions and discords. But we are not to suppose that charity will cover or make amends for the sins of those who exercise it, so as to induce God to forgive them. The nature of a Christian's work, which is high work and hard work, the goodness of the Master, and the excellence of the reward, all require that our endeavours should be serious and earnest. And in all the duties and services of life, we should aim at the glory of God as our chief end. He is a miserable, unsettled wretch, who cleaves to himself, and forgets God; is only perplexed about his credit, and gain, and base ends, which are often broken, and which, when he attains, both he and they must shortly perish together. But he who has given up himself and his all to God, may say confidently that the Lord is his portion; and nothing but glory through Christ Jesus, is solid and lasting; that abideth for ever.

{5} But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer. (5) He returns to his purpose, using an argument taken from the circumstance of the time. Because the last end is at hand, and therefore we must much more diligently watch and pray, with true sobriety of mind.

1 Peter 4:7 . The end of all things is at hand — Of our mortal lives, and of all the joys and sorrows, goods and evils connected therewith, and so of all your wrongs and sufferings. Many commentators indeed understand St. Peter as speaking only of the end of the Jewish commonwealth, city, temple, and worship. Thus Whitby understands him: “This phrase, and the advice upon it, so exactly parallel to what our Lord had spoken, will not suffer us to doubt that the apostle is here speaking, not of the end of the world, or of all things in general, which was not then, and seems not yet to be at hand, but only of the end of the Jewish state.” Thus also Macknight: “This epistle being written about a year after the war with the Romans began, which ended in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish state, Peter, who had heard his Master’s prophecy concerning these events, and the signs of their approach, had good reason to say that they had approached.” But, as Dr. Doddridge justly observes, this was an event in which most of those, to whom the apostle wrote, were comparatively but little concerned. It is probable, therefore, that the apostle either referred to death, which may be considered as the end of the whole world to every particular person; or the consummation of all things, which may be said to be at hand in the sense in which our Lord, long after the destruction of Jerusalem: says to the church, ( Revelation 22:7 ; Revelation 22:20 ,) Behold I come quickly.

To the same purpose is Mr. Scott’s interpretation: “All Christians must expect tribulations in the world, but these would soon terminate; for the end of all things was at hand, and death was about to close their course of trials or services; nay, judgment would not be so long delayed, as that the intervening space should, in the estimation of faith, be at all compared with eternity.” Be ye therefore sober — Temperate in all things, and moderate in all earthly cares and pursuits; remembering their end approaches, and the fashion of this world passeth away. Or, be prudent and considerate, as σωφρονησατε also signifies. Look before you, and provide for eternity. And watch unto prayer — To which temperance, moderation in worldly desires and cares, prudence, and consideration, are great helps, tending to produce a wakeful state of mind, and guarding against all temptations to sin and folly. And this watchfulness is so connected with prayer, that the one cannot exist without the other. See on 1 Thessalonians 5:6-9 .

Is at hand (ἤγγικεν) Lit., has come near. The word constantly used of the coming of Christ and his kingdom. See Matthew 3:2; Mark 1:15; Luke 10:9; Hebrews 10:25. Be ye sober (σωφρονήσατε) The word is froth σῶς, sound, and φρήν, the mind. Therefore, as Rev., be ye of sound mind. Compare Mark 5:15. Watch (νήψατε) See on 1 Peter 1:13. The A. V. has followed the Vulgate, vigilate (watch). Rev. is better: be sober. Unto prayer (εἰς προσευχάς) Lit., prayers. The plural is used designedly: prayers of all kinds, private or public. Tynd. renders, Be ye discreet and sober, that ye may be apt to prayers. Compare Ephesians 6:18, "with every kind of prayer, and watching thereunto."

1 Peter 4:7 . Πάντων ) of all things ; and therefore also of the arrogance of the wicked, and of the sufferings of the righteous.— τέλος , the end ) when the number of the dead and living shall be complete: [in the last judgment.—V. g.]— οὖν , therefore ) He returns to exhortation; and in 1 Peter 4:7-11 duties are opposed to the sins enumerated in 1 Peter 4:3 . For luxuries are opposed to the being sober and watchful; desires (“lusts”), to love; excesses in wine, revellings, banquetings , to hospitality; abominable idolatries, to the lawful ministering of heavenly gifts to the glory of the true God.— καὶ νήψατε , and watch ) Temperance assists watchfulness, and each of them assists prayers: they who are removed from temperance are sleepy; and the sleepy are slothful as to prayer, even on this account, that they do not willingly take any time from their labour and the ordinary pursuits of life.— προσευχὰς , prayers ) which are necessary at the last time.

But the end of all things: the last judgment, which will put an end to all the evils as well as good things of this world. Is at hand: see Jam 5:8,9 . Be ye therefore sober; both in mind, prudent, moderate, 2 Corinthians 5:13 Titus 2:6 ; and in body, temperate in meats and drinks, &c. And watch: the word signifies both sobriety, in opposition to drunkenness, 1 Thessalonians 5:6,8 , and watchfulness, 2 Timothy 4:5 , and this signification agrees best with this place, the former being implied in the word sober. Unto prayer; the end for which they should be sober and vigilant, viz. that they might observe every season fit for prayer, and might still keep themselves in a praying frame.

1 Peter 4:7 . But the end of all things and men has drawn nigh; Christians also must be ready, watch and pray , as Jesus taught in the parable of Mark 13:34-37 ( cf. Mark 14:38 ).— σωφρονήσατε parallels ἀσελγ . ἐπιθυμίαις ( 1 Peter 4:3 ) cf. 4Ma 1:31, temperance is restraint of lust . In Romans 12:3 St. Paul plays on the meaning of the component parts of σω - φρονεῖν , cf. εἰς σωτηρίαν ψυχῶν above.— νήψατε , corresponds to οἰνοφλυγίαις κώμοις πότοις ( 1 Peter 4:3 ); cf. 1 Peter 1:13 , 1 Peter 5:8 . St. Paul also depends on parable of Luke 12:42-46 in 1 Thessalonians 5:6 ff.— εἰς προσευχάς , the paramount duty of Christians is prayer especially for the coming of the Lord ( Revelation 22:20 ; Luke 11:2 ; cf. Luke 3:7 ).

7. Resuming the idea in 1Pe 4:5. the end of all things—and therefore also of the wantonness (1Pe 4:3, 4) of the wicked, and of the sufferings of the righteous [Bengel]. The nearness meant is not that of mere "time," but that before the Lord; as he explains to guard against misapprehension, and defends God from the charge of procrastination: We live in the last dispensation, not like the Jews under the Old Testament. The Lord will come as a thief; He is "ready" (1Pe 4:5) to judge the world at any moment; it is only God's long-suffering and His will that the Gospel should be preached as a witness to all nations, that induces Him to lengthen out the time which is with Him still as nothing. sober—"self-restrained." The opposite duties to the sins in 1Pe 4:3 are here inculcated. Thus "sober" is the opposite of "lasciviousness" (1Pe 4:3). watch—Greek, "be soberly vigilant"; not intoxicated with worldly cares and pleasures. Temperance promotes wakefulness or watchfulness, and both promote prayer. Drink makes drowsy, and drowsiness prevents prayer. prayer—Greek, "prayers"; the end for which we should exercise vigilance.

7 . But the end of all things is at hand ] The words are spoken, as are nearly all the eschatological utterances of the New Testament, within the horizon of the Apostle’s knowledge, and it had not been given to him to know the “times and the seasons” ( Acts 1:7 ). His language was the natural inference from our Lord’s words, “then shall the end be” ( Matthew 24:6-14 ). The times in which the disciples lived were to them the “last times” ( 1 Timothy 4:1 ; 1 John 2:18 ). They looked for the coming of the Lord as not far off ( Romans 13:12 ; James 5:8 ). They expected to be among those who should be living when He came ( 1 Corinthians 15:51 ), who should be caught up to meet Him in the air ( 1 Thessalonians 4:17 ). A few years—we might almost say, looking to 2 Peter 3:8 , a few months—sufficed to shew that the divine plan extended over a wider range than their thoughts and expectations. And yet, in one very real sense, they were not altogether mistaken. The end of all that they had known and lived in, the end of one great æon, or dispensation, was indeed nigh at hand. The old order was changing and giving place to the new. There was to be a great removal of the things that were shaken, that had decayed and waxed old, that the things that could not be shaken might remain ( Hebrews 12:27 ). be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer ] The first of the two verbs is defined by Greek ethical writers (Aristotle, Eth.

Nicom . ii. 2) as implying the harmony of affections and desires with reason. Of the two English words “sober” or temperate , by which it is commonly rendered, the latter, as expressing the due control of passions, is the more adequate. The Vulgate gives “ Estote prudentes ,” but that adjective belongs to another Greek ethical term. Mark 5:15 , Romans 12:3 , 2 Corinthians 5:13 , may be noticed as among the other passages in which the same verb occurs. Strictly speaking, indeed, the word “sober” is wanted instead of “watch” for the second verb, which implies in the strictest sense “abstinence from wine and strong drink.” The word commonly translated “watch” ( Matthew 24:42-43 ; Matthew 26:38-41 ) is altogether different. It may be noticed that the tense of the two verbs in the original implies not a general precept, but a call to an immediate act. The words of St Peter present a singular contrast to the effect that has commonly been produced in later ages by the belief that the end of the world was near. Terror and alarm, the abandonment of earthly callings and social duties accompanied that belief in the tenth century, when kings left their thrones and sought the seclusion of the monastery, “ appropinquante fine saeculi ,” and a like agitation has accompanied it since. To the Apostle’s mind the approach of the end of all things is a motive for calmness and self-control.