1 Peter 4:7

‘But the end of all things is at hand. Be you therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer,'

However, not only did the dead need to be prepared for that future judgment, but so also did the living. For that judgment, which would bring in the end of all things, could come at any time. It was ‘at hand'. For some it could come through death, as it had for those described in 1 Peter 4:5. But for all it was imminent. None knew or can know when it might come. Prophecy having reached its fulfilment in Jesus Christ, all that now awaits is the final summing up. As Peter tells us in 2 Peter 3:9, it is only the longsuffering patience of God that holds it back. Just as the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, so does His longsuffering wait even now, until the number of His elect are gathered in. Christians are thus ever to live in the light of His coming (see Matthew 13:29; Matthew 13:39; Matthew 24:42; Luke 12:35; Rom 13:12; 1 Corinthians 7:29; Philippians 4:5; Hebrews 1:2; Hebrews 10:25; Jas 5:8-9; 1 John 2:18; Revelation 22:20).

This sense of imminence pervades the New Testament, which does, however, also emphasise what is to be done before His coming. Not only had Jerusalem to be destroyed (Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21), but also the Gospel was to reach out ‘to all nations' (Mark 13:10; Matthew 24:14), and the Jews were to face their great tribulation which would sactter them among the nations after the destruction of Jerusalem (Luke 21:24). Thus there was urgency combined with the recognition of a task to be done.

In view of this it was now necessary for them to live lives of obedience, in contrast with those who do not obey the Gospel of God (1 Peter 4:17). And to this end they needed to be of sound mind, (‘God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind' - 2 Timothy 1:7), and be sober in their thinking and their lives, in such a way that they would continue in prayer. In other words they were to think sensibly, and behave sensibly in the light of His coming.

‘Soundness of the mind' is seen as of great importance in the New Testament. Christians were to have the mind which was in Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5). It is with the mind that we serve the Law of God (Romans 7:25). Thus we are to set our minds upon things above (Colossians 3:2). The mind thus indicates the direction in which the heart is going. And it goes along with sobriety of living.

‘Unto prayer.' They had after all much to pray for. ‘Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest that He send forth labourers into His harvest' (Matthew 9:38 '). ‘In this way pray you, “Let your name be made holy, let your kingly rule come, let your will be done, on earth as in Heaven” ' (Matthew 6:9). ‘How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him' (Luke 11:13). ‘Men ought always to pray and not to faint' (Luke 18:1). ‘Will not God avenge His elect who cry to Him day and night, and He is longsuffering over them?' (Luke 18:7). ‘Pray for those who use you badly' (Matthew 5:44). ‘This kind goes out only through prayer (i.e. a life of continuing prayer)' (Matthew 17:21). ‘Take heed, watch and pray, for you do not know when the time is' (Mark 13:33). All these are injunctions by our Lord to pray, which are later further emphasised in Acts and the following letters. Prayer is to be the very centre of the Christian life.