Bible Text: 1 Peter 4:7-11 | Preacher: Pastor Joe Ricchuiti | Series: 1 Peter, While We Wait

God is moving history toward a purposeful conclusion. The Christian view of life and history is linear, progressing toward a predicted end, not circular as in New Age and Easter religion.
The Christian is looking for the return of Jesus Christ.
The doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ should not be a source for fanciful speculation, prognostication, or inactivity on the part of the believer, rather Peter introduces six implications for the believer’s life. The first three are:

-We must clear-minded–acting purposefully , not impulsively, seeing things through the Word of God, not chasing after novel or out-of-context applications of the Word.

-We must be under control—free from mental and spiritual drunkenness, fully alert.

-We must be active in prayer—especially because of the uncertainties of life in a hostile culture.

Principles for Bible interpretation

-Interpret literally, plainly, allowing for figures of speech. “When the plain sense [of Scripture] makes good sense seek no other sense.” (Dr. David Cooper)

-Observe the context; use it to find the passage’s primary meaning. “A text without a context is a pretext.”

-Interpret Scripture by Scripture; cross-reference the thought not just the word.

-Understand the historical situation (A Bible dictionary, and Atlas, commentaries can help)

-Observe the progress of revelation; distinguish God’s dealings with different people.

-Interpret grammatically (observe the relationships of words with each other)

-Question every interpretation, check it against the interpretations of others (if you come up with a novel interpretation, it’s probably wrong!)

-Guard against reading into a passage that which is not there, let it speak for itself.