1 Peter 4:11

Peter has just urged his readers to take Christ’s mind toward suffering, to cease from sin and to live for the will of God, and he has reminded them of the judgment that awaits those who speak evil of them (1 Peter 4:1–6). With verse 7 he turns to how they are to live together, and he gives the reason first: “the end of all things is at hand.” Everything in these five verses hangs on that sentence. The word “therefore”, oûn, marks the commands that follow as its consequence. Because the end is near, believers are to be sober, to pray, to love, to welcome and to serve.

The word for end, télos, comes from a root meaning to set out for a definite point or goal. It means the point aimed at, the end of something, its result or its purpose. “The end of all things” is the close of history that God has appointed, the goal his saving plan has been moving toward. The verb engízō means to come near or approach, so “is at hand” speaks of that end as drawing close.

Peter wrote to believers scattered as strangers through the provinces of Asia Minor (1 Peter 1:1). Rome made room for many religions, but it eyed the Christians with suspicion because they claimed one Lord and kept away from emperor worship and pagan rites, and that brought slander and steady social pressure. Peter tells them that their trials are refining their faith (1 Peter 1:6–7), and a few verses on he speaks of the fiery trial they face (1 Peter 4:12–19). For people like these, a clear mind and steady prayer were how they would stay faithful under pressure from outside and temptation from within. The early church lived keenly aware that Christ would return and that history would reach its close, and that awareness shaped how they lived and how they endured.

In Scripture the end is always a reason to live well now. Jesus said, “But of that day and hour knoweth no man,” and so he told his disciples to watch and be ready (Matthew 24:36–44). Paul tells the Romans to wake out of sleep and put on the Lord Jesus Christ, because the night is far spent and the day is at hand (Romans 13:11–14). Jesus promised, “I will come again, and receive you unto myself” (John 14:3), and the grace of God teaches us to live soberly, righteously and godly while we look for his glorious appearing (Titus 2:11–14). Paul prays that believers may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ (Philippians 1:9–10). Peter has already given the same call in other words: “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:15–16).

Peter’s first command is “be ye therefore sober”. The verb, sōphronéō, means to be of sound mind, in one’s right mind, moderate. It calls for clear thinking, self-control and sound judgment, a mind kept free of worldly anxieties, sinful desires and spiritual drowsiness, so that it can discern what God wants and do it.

The second command, “watch”, is nḗphō. Its plain meaning is to abstain from wine and keep sober, and from there it came to mean being alert and discreet, which is why the KJV can render it “watch”. The two commands lie close together. Both describe a mind that is awake, and the second points that wakefulness toward prayer: “watch unto prayer”. The preposition eis, “unto”, marks purpose here, so believers keep a clear head for the sake of praying. The word for prayer, proseuchḗ, is the ordinary word for prayer to God, speaking to him and making requests of him.

So the nearness of the end is meant to make believers steady and prayerful, and to keep them from both fear and idleness. Paul writes in the same vein: “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance” (Ephesians 6:18), and “Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2). He also puts prayer in the place where anxiety would be, and promises that the peace of God shall keep the hearts and minds of those who bring everything to God (Philippians 4:6–7).

Jesus lived this way himself. He kept his Father’s will before him, saying, “My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work” (John 4:34), and he rose a great while before day and went to a solitary place to pray (Mark 1:35). When we keep our minds clear and give ourselves to prayer, we are following him.

“Above all things” puts love at the top of Peter’s list. The love is to be “fervent”, ektenḗs, a word from a root meaning stretched out. It describes love that is earnest and intense, active and persistent, held at full stretch. The word for love, agápē, which the KJV renders “charity”, is love that seeks the good of others whatever they deserve and however one feels, the love God has shown us and commands us to show. Peter directs it “among yourselves”, to fellow believers. A church under pressure from outside holds together when its members love one another like this, and its unity is part of its witness to a watching world.

Paul also sets love above the rest: “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness” (Colossians 3:14). He tells us to be followers of God as dear children and to walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us (Ephesians 5:1–2), and John writes, “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God” (1 John 4:7–12).

Peter’s word in verse 9 is philóxenos, made from philos, friend or loving, and xenos, stranger or guest. It means fond of guests, a lover of strangers. In Greek it describes a person, “be hospitable”, and the KJV gives the sense as a command, “Use hospitality”. It means welcoming and providing for people beyond one’s own family, usually by opening one’s home and sharing one’s food and goods.

In the Roman world of the apostles, public lodging was scarce and often disreputable. Travellers, missionaries and believers driven from home by persecution depended on private homes, and Peter’s readers were themselves “strangers scattered” through five provinces. An open door meant shelter and safety. It helped the gospel spread, gave refuge to persecuted believers, and showed the new family bond in Christ across lines of race and rank.

Hospitality is the love of verse 8 made concrete. “One to another”, allḗlōn, marks it as something believers do for each other. It is to be done “without grudging”. The word gongysmós comes from a verb meaning to grumble or murmur, and it means muttering, complaint and reluctance. The manner matters as much as the act. Hospitality given with a grumble is duty without love, and Peter asks for a glad welcome from a willing heart, for “God loveth a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7).

Paul tells the Romans to be “given to hospitality” (Romans 12:13) and to receive one another as Christ received us (Romans 15:7). Hebrews says, “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2), and John commends Gaius for faithfully helping the brethren and strangers who travelled for the sake of Christ’s name (3 John 1:5–8). Today the same love opens a home for a meal, draws in the newcomer at church, gives a single person or a family a place at the table, and offers practical help to someone going through hardship.

Christ is the great host. Though he was God, he “made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7). He ate with publicans and sinners (Mark 2:15–17), and by his cross he brought into God’s family people who had been “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise” (Ephesians 2:12). He counts a welcome given to the least of his brethren as given to him: “I was a stranger, and ye took me in” (Matthew 25:35–40). Every meal shared in his name looks ahead to the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9).

Verse 10 says that every believer has a gift from God for the good of others. “Every man”, hékastos, means each one. “Hath received”, lambánō, here has the sense of receiving something where the initiative rests with the giver, and “the gift”, chárisma, means a gift of grace, given freely and unearned. So each believer has some gift, and has it because God chose to give it.

The command follows: “even so minister the same one to another”. The words “even so”, kathṓs, mean just as or according as, and they tie the use to the gift, so that as each has received, each is to serve. The verb diakonéō means to serve, wait upon, care for or supply. It is formed from diákonos, the word behind our “deacon”, and its picture is a servant attending to the needs of others. “One to another” here uses the pronoun heautoû, which means “themselves” and can also mean “one another”. A gift is given for the good of the whole body of believers.

Believers do this “as good stewards”. The steward, oikonómos, from the word for house and the root of the word for law, was a household manager. Greeks and Romans knew him well: a trusted servant who ran a house or estate for its owner, oversaw its resources, handed out provisions and answered to his master for all of it. The gifts of God belong to God, and we manage them for him and will give him account, as Jesus taught in the parable of the talents (Matthew 25:14–30). The steward is to be good, kalós, faithful and responsible in what he does with his trust. In a society ordered by rank and self-interest, Peter’s call to mutual service and humility stood out sharply.

What the steward manages is “the manifold grace of God”. The word for manifold, poikílos, means varied or diverse, and grace, cháris, is God’s free favour. God, theós, gives his grace in many forms, so the church receives many kinds of gift and many kinds of service, all flowing from the same favour. Grace is the source of each gift and also the strength to use it.

Paul describes the same body of many members with different gifts (Romans 12:4–8) and says, “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal” (1 Corinthians 12:7). He tells the Galatians, “by love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13), and he says the risen Christ gave gifts to his church for the perfecting of the saints and the work of the ministry (Ephesians 4:11–12).

Verse 11 takes two broad kinds of gift, speaking and serving, and gives a standard for each. “If any man speak” uses laléō, the general verb for talking and uttering words. Whoever speaks, in teaching, preaching, exhortation or sharing the gospel, is to speak “as the oracles of God”. The phrase, logia theou, means the utterances of God, and it is used of the Old Testament Scriptures. So a believer who speaks of God’s truth is to say what agrees with God’s revealed word, with care and humility, letting that word carry its own authority. That calls for diligent study of the Scriptures, which are given by inspiration of God (2 Timothy 3:16), careful interpretation, and truth spoken in love. The message is God’s, and we are stewards of it.

Jesus spoke this way perfectly. He said, “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak” (John 12:49), and, “the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself” (John 14:10).

“If any man minister”, diakonéō again, “let him do it as of the ability which God giveth”. The word for ability, ischýs, means strength. Practical service of every kind, from hospitality and care for the needy to administration and leading, is to be done in the strength God supplies. That keeps the servant humble, sustains him through demanding work, and gives God the credit for what is done. Paul says of himself, “our sufficiency is of God” (2 Corinthians 3:5), and Jesus did his works by the power of the Spirit his Father gave him (John 3:34).

Speaking and serving have one purpose: “that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” The verb doxázō means to render or esteem glorious, to give God honour and make his glory known and acknowledged. “In all things”, pâs, takes in every part of life and service. All of it happens “through Jesus Christ”, the one through whom God’s glory is made known, through whom we come to God, and through whom we are enabled to serve. Paul writes, “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31), and Jesus said to his Father, “I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do” (John 17:4). Aiming at God’s glory keeps us from pride and the hunger for applause, and it draws others to worship him.

The verse closes in praise: “to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” The nearest name is Jesus Christ, and the praise is given to him. “Praise” is dóxa, glory or honour, and “dominion” is krátos, power and rule. “For ever and ever” renders eis aiōnas tōn aiōnōn, and “Amen” seals the praise as true and sure. Heaven gives the same praise to the Lamb: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing” (Revelation 5:12–13). Paul ends a prayer the same way, “Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen” (Ephesians 3:20–21), and the first chapter of Colossians sets out Christ’s place over salvation and all creation (Colossians 1).

Peter answers the nearness of the end with ordinary, daily faithfulness: a clear mind, steady prayer, a love that forgives, an open door, a gift put to work, words that agree with Scripture, and service done in God’s strength. Each of these is something you can do this week. You can ask God what gift he has given you and where it can serve someone. You can let a fellow believer’s offence go, and open your table gladly. And when any good comes of it, the praise goes where Peter sends it, to God through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever.