THE
ATTRIBUTES OF GOD
Lesson #15
The
Longsuffering of God 2 Peter 3:9
There
was a day when the depravity of the human race had plunged to such depths of
corruption that “every imagination of the
thoughts of (man’s) heart was only
evil continually.” So great was the wickedness of man that when God saw it,
“It repented the LORD that he had made
man on the earth, and grieved him at his heart. And the LORD said, I will
destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth” (Gen. 6:5-7).
And at the appointed time the wrath of God swept across the earth in a great,
universal flood, destroying every soul, except Noah and his family who were
saved in the ark God had provided.
Once
there was a pair of twin cities, rich, populace, and influential, perhaps the
most wealthy and influential cities in the world. But the wickedness of those
cities was great. Not only had the vile, disgusting practice of homosexuality
become an acceptable lifestyle, it had become the predominate and preferred
lifestyle! In those twin cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, homosexuals were no
longer queer people They were normal! Sexual perverts were in the majority. It
appears that there was only one man in that vast metropolis who neither
practiced nor condoned the wicked practice of homosexuality. Righteous Lot
vexed his soul from day to day with the deeds of those godless people. And
Lot’s God was vexed too. One morning, as the inhabitants of the city awoke and
began the day, God rained fire and brimstone out of heaven, scorching every
man, woman, and child to death in his hot anger, except Lot and two of his
daughters who were delivered by the hand of his grace.
If
God destroyed the world with a flood because of the wickedness of Noah’s
generation, and if God rained fire from heaven upon the cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah because of their crimes against nature, why has he not yet sent his
Son in judgment to destroy this world? In Noah’s generation, men and women were
no different than they are now. And the moral debauchery of Sodom was nothing
compared to the perversion of our society. At least in that day homosexuality
was confined to two totally godless cities. Today the perversion is worldwide,
openly promoted by men and women who claim to worship and serve God! Why then
is the world still standing? Has God changed? Has he altered his law? Has the
Holy One become tolerant of man’s sin? Will God no longer punish the wicked?
Let none be so foolish as to imagine such things. God never changes. His law
still stands. He must and shall punish sin.
Why
does God tolerate this world and the wickedness of men and women who openly
defy his holiness and blaspheme his name? The answer to that question is found
in 2 Peter 3:9. “The Lord is not slack
concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to
us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance.” It is the longsuffering of God toward his elect that prevents
him from destroying the world in his wrath at this hour.
Perhaps
some who read these lines are yet without Christ. If so, I want you to
understand that the only thing that keeps you out of hell at this moment is the
longsuffering of almighty God. If I had nothing else to say, that ought to
cause you to fall down before him and sue for mercy through the Lord Jesus
Christ. God waits to be gracious to sinners for Christ’s sake. Today is the day
of salvation. But there is a day coming when he will reserve mercy no longer.
The day is coming when he will no longer restrain his wrath. He has said, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man”
(Gen. 6:3). The days of God’s patience with man are numbered. Then you will
know the terror of his fierce anger and inflexible justice. What will become of
your soul in that day no tongue can describe. God help you now to trust his
Son.
In this study I want to raise and
answer four questions which, I trust, will help us to understand something
about the longsuffering of God.
I. HOW DOES THE BIBLE DESCRIBE GOD’S
LONGSUFFERING? Whenever we think of God’s longsuffering, we must not
suppose that it is a mere passion or weakness of nature with him. Longsuffering
is an attribute of God’s nature. It arises from the goodness of his Being. It
is the patience and forbearance of God.
When
God revealed his glory to Moses, he said, “The
LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, the LORD, the LORD God, merciful and
gracious, longsuffering and abundant in goodness and truth” (Ex. 34:6).
That great prophet used God’s longsuffering as an argument with him in prayer,
making it the grounds of his intercession for Israel. “The LORD is longsuffering and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and
transgression...Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according
to the greatness of thy mercy” (Num. 14:18-19). David wrote, “The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to
anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep
his anger forever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us
according to our iniquities” (Psa. 103:8-10). God, speaking by the mouth of
Isaiah, said, “For my name’s sake will I
defer mine anger, for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not
off” (Isa. 48:9). The Apostle Paul reasoned with the unbeliever, who vainly
imagines that he shall escape the judgment of God, saying, “despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and
longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to
repentance?” (Rom. 2:4). In Romans 3:25 he tells us that God has set forth
the Lord Jesus Christ “to be a
propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the
remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” And Peter
tells us that we are to “account that the
longsuffering of our Lord is salvation”(II Pet. 3:15). These seven passages
that we have read in the book of God teach us five things about God’s
longsuffering.
1.
It is the glory of God to be longsuffering toward sinful
men.
2.
God’s longsuffering arises from the goodness of his Being.
God is longsuffering because he is good. Longsuffering is the exercise of his
mercy and kindness. It is a part of his purpose and grace in salvation. God’s
longsuffering encourages faith and hope in him. And the design, purpose, and
intent of God’s longsuffering is to bring chosen sinners to repentance (II Pet.
3:9).
3.
The longsuffering of God is the moderation and restraint of
his anger.
4.
The longsuffering of God is an extension of his mercy to men
and women who deserve his wrath.[1]
5.
The longsuffering of God is the deferred execution of his
justice for a season.
The
Scriptures abound with illustrations of God’s longsuffering. For 120 years God
warned the old world of his sure judgment and called them to repentance by the
mouth of his servant Noah (Gen. 6:3). For many years God allowed the Sodomites
to persist in their sins. He warned them of his sure judgment. But they would
not heed his warnings (Gen. 18). The Lord showed great longsuffering with
Pharaoh. But Pharaoh hardened his heart and defied God (Ex. 5). God was
longsuffering with Israel for 2000 years. And the Lord God has been very
longsuffering with those living in this world who yet refuse to trust his dear
Son. Like the barren fig tree, they cumber the ground (Lk. 13:6-9).
II. WHY IS GOD LONGSUFFERING WITH
SINNERS? If
God does not immediately execute his wrath and justice upon those who break his
law and despise his gospel, there must be some reason for it. He must have some
purpose and motive for deferring his anger. What is it? Why is God
longsuffering with wicked men?
God is longsuffering with wicked men and
women for Christ’s sake. Every blessing of grace comes to sinners through
the hands of Christ, the Mediator between God and men. Were it not for the
mediation of Christ, every sinner would perish immediately. God bore with the
sins of his people in the Old Testament, with great patience and forbearance,
not imputing their trespasses unto them, in anticipation of Christ’s sacrifice
(Rom. 3:25; Heb. 9:15). God is longsuffering with sinners today for the same
reason. There stands between us and God the God-man Mediator; and our names are
written upon his heart. Between God’s elect and the law of God stands the cross
of Christ. For Christ’s sake God was and is longsuffering to us. He has put up
with our sins, borne our insults, and been patient with our unbelief because
Christ died for us; and he must have us!
But
I want you to see this too - God is
longsuffering with sinners for their sake. It is the good pleasure of God
to show mercy to sinners upon the earth. God allows the wicked to live that he
may give them space for repentance. If you are yet living in enmity against
God, do not despise his goodness and forbearance. You deserve to be in hell
right now! But God has put off the execution of his wrath for a season. He has
done so because he is willing to be gracious - God is willing to save sinners
(Isa. 30:18; Ezek. 18:23, 33; 33:11).
Let
us be precise in our theology. But do not let your understanding of God’s
sovereignty, predestination, election, effectual redemption, and irresistible
grace become twisted and perverted, causing you to imagine that God is hard. He
is not. Our God delights in mercy (Mic. 7:17). He commands the guilty to repent
and believe on his Son. He promises salvation to all who believe. He has given
you the means of grace. It is through the preaching of the gospel (written as
well as oral) that God saves chosen, redeemed sinners (Rom. 10:13-17). He has
given you opportunity to repent. He has warned you of wrath to come. God is
longsuffering to sinners, not because he is unable or unwilling to punish, but
because “he delighteth in mercy!” Judgment
is his strange work.
God is longsuffering with men for the sake
of his own glory. By his longsuffering and willingness to save, the Lord
God vindicates himself from all charges of unrighteousness, cruelty, and
injustice. If you die in your sins, your guilt is inexcusable. Your damnation
is just and righteous. God has given you light. But you despise the light. God
has shown you Christ by the gospel. But you despise his Son. You are without
excuse (Rom. 2:1, 4, 5; 3:9-19). In the day of judgment, no one will charge God
with injustice. He will stop your mouth!
And God is longsuffering with sinners for
the elect’s sake (II Pet. 3:9). You will notice that Peter makes a clear
and deliberate distinction between “us” who believe and the scoffers who
believe not. God is longsuffering with them. But his longsuffering is “to us-ward,” his own elect. He is not
willing that any of his elect should perish, but that they all repent and
obtain salvation by Christ. Therefore, he is longsuffering with all men. Just
as God would not destroy Sodom until Lot was delivered from it, so he will not
destroy this world until the last of his elect has been regenerated and
effectually called to Christ in faith by the irresistible grace and power of
his Holy Spirit. God is not willing for one soul to perish whom he has chosen
to save (John 10:16). He is not willing for any to perish for whom Christ died
(Isa. 53:10-11). The Lord God is not willing that any perish to whom he has
promised eternal life (2 Tim. 1:9). To us the longsuffering of God is salvation
(II Pet. 3:15). Because God is not willing for us to perish, we shall not
perish!
III. WHAT HAS GOD PROMISED TO
PERFORM? Peter
says, “The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise.” That is to say, What God has promised he will do. And the
promise here spoken of is the glorious second advent of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christ will come again, the second time, without sin, unto salvation. This is
the blessed hope of God’s saints (Tit. 2:13). We sometimes grow weary of
waiting; but we should not. Let us wait patiently for our Redeemer (Hab. 2:3;
Heb. 10:37). Christ will come again at the hour appointed from eternity to
gather his elect from the earth. He will come in power and great glory to judge
the world in his wrath (Rev. 1:7).
This
is also promised - Christ will not come to destroy this world until all of
God’s elect have been brought to repentance by his almighty grace. We sometimes
get into a hurry. God never does. He will not send his Son to judge the world
until the time appointed (v. 8). When
will Christ come again? I can tell you
exactly when he will come. Christ will come again when the last sheep has
been brought into his fold, when the last stone is place in his holy temple,
when the last member has been united to his body, when the number of those who
believe tallies exactly with the names registered in the Lamb’s Book of Life,
and the last jewel has been placed in the King’s crown. Until then we will
patiently wait, for God is not willing that any perish, and neither are we! God
would not send the flood until Noah was safely in the ark. He would not destroy
Sodom until Lot was safely out of the city. He would not allow the Red Sea to
close until every Israelite was safe on the distant shore. And God will not
destroy this world until everyone of his elect have been saved by his grace.
IV. WHAT SHALL BECOME OF THOSE WHO
DESPISE THE GOODNESS AND FORBEARANCE OF GOD? (Prov. 1:23-33). It is written, “He that being often reproved hardeneth his
neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy” (Prov. 29:1).
If you are in such a state of rebellion and unbelief, unless you flee to Christ
for refuge, I warn you now that the day will come when you will seek mercy, but
none shall be found (Lk. 13:24-25). In the day of judgment everything and
everyone will proclaim the justice of God in your eternal damnation. The law of
God will condemn you. The gospel of God will condemn you. The Son of God will
condemn you. The servants of God will condemn you. The people of God will
condemn you. Believing parents will condemn their unbelieving children.
Believing children will condemn their unbelieving parents. The angels of God
will condemn you. In that day there will be no mercy, not even a shred of
sympathy for your soul anywhere! Even your own conscience will say “Amen” to
your condemnation! In that great day everyone shall “sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb,
saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true
are thy ways, thou King of saints" (Rev. 15:3). If there is one place
in hell hotter than another, the hottest place in hell shall be reserved for
those who have heard but refused to believe the gospel of the grace of God.
Today is the day of salvation. Come to Christ now, before you lay this study
down, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; and join God’s saints in giving thanks
to him for his longsuffering, by which we are saved!
[1] Grace is extended and given to God’s elect alone. Mercy is
extended to all while they live in this world. Grace is salvation. Mercy is the
postponement of wrath.