God's Longsuffering: A Call to Repentance and Action
Summary
In 2 Peter 3, we are reminded of the transient nature of the world and the promise of a new heaven and earth where righteousness dwells. This passage calls us to live in holiness and godliness, eagerly anticipating the return of our Lord. Despite the long wait for His return, we are assured that God's delay is not a sign of forgetfulness or deception but rather an expression of His longsuffering and mercy. His patience is a testament to His desire for all to come to repentance and salvation.
The delay in Christ's return is often misunderstood. Some have tried to predict the exact time of His coming and have been disappointed when their predictions failed. However, this does not negate the certainty of His return. The delay is a manifestation of God's longsuffering, allowing more time for people to turn to Him. This patience can be puzzling, especially when we see the world filled with iniquity and suffering. Yet, it is a reflection of God's infinite mercy and His desire for none to perish.
We are called to admire God's longsuffering, recognizing it as an opportunity for salvation. This patience is evident in how God endures the sins of humanity, from idolatry to blasphemy, and yet continues to offer grace and forgiveness. It is a call for us to be patient and merciful, reflecting God's character in our interactions with others. The longsuffering of God is not just a delay but a purposeful extension of grace, giving us time to repent and be saved.
As believers, we are encouraged to see God's patience as a call to action, to spread the message of salvation and bring others to Christ. Each year that passes is another opportunity for salvation, a chance to reach out to those who have not yet turned to God. For those who are unconverted, God's patience is a personal invitation to salvation, a chance to turn to Him and receive His grace.
Key Takeaways:
1. God's Longsuffering as Mercy: God's delay in judgment is not a sign of forgetfulness but a profound expression of His mercy, allowing time for repentance and salvation. His patience is a testament to His desire for all to come to repentance. [03:00]
2. The Certainty of Christ's Return: Despite the long wait and failed predictions, the return of Christ is certain. The delay is a manifestation of God's longsuffering, allowing more time for people to turn to Him. [02:23]
3. Admiring God's Patience: We are called to admire God's longsuffering, recognizing it as an opportunity for salvation. His patience is evident in how He endures the sins of humanity and continues to offer grace. [08:47]
4. A Call to Action for Believers: God's patience is a call to action for believers to spread the message of salvation and bring others to Christ. Each year is another opportunity for salvation. [18:27]
5. Personal Invitation to Salvation: For those who are unconverted, God's patience is a personal invitation to salvation, a chance to turn to Him and receive His grace. [21:58]
Youtube Chapters:
- [00:00] - Welcome
- [00:11] - The Promise of a New Heaven and Earth
- [00:41] - God's Longsuffering and Salvation
- [01:19] - The Certainty of Christ's Return
- [02:23] - The Delay and Its Purpose
- [03:00] - Understanding God's Patience
- [04:15] - Our Impatience vs. God's Patience
- [05:34] - Misuse of God's Longsuffering
- [07:20] - The Purpose of God's Patience
- [08:47] - Admiring God's Longsuffering
- [10:34] - The Sins God Endures
- [13:25] - God's Patience with Individuals
- [17:23] - The Call to Salvation
- [19:32] - Personal Reflection on God's Patience
- [25:41] - Encouragement to Turn to God
Study Guide
### Bible Study Discussion Guide
#### Bible Reading
- 2 Peter 3:11-15
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#### Observation Questions
1. What does 2 Peter 3:11-12 say about the kind of lives we should lead in light of the world's transient nature?
2. How does the sermon describe the reason for God's delay in Christ's return? [03:00]
3. According to the sermon, what is the significance of God's longsuffering? [08:47]
4. What examples of human sinfulness does the sermon mention that God endures with patience? [09:20]
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#### Interpretation Questions
1. How does the sermon interpret God's delay in judgment as an expression of His mercy? [03:00]
2. In what ways does the sermon suggest that believers should respond to God's patience? [18:27]
3. How does the sermon explain the misuse of God's longsuffering by the ungodly? [05:34]
4. What does the sermon imply about the relationship between God's patience and the opportunity for salvation? [21:58]
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#### Application Questions
1. Reflect on a time when you were impatient with God's timing. How can you learn to trust in His perfect timing and patience? [03:00]
2. How can you actively participate in spreading the message of salvation, seeing each year as an opportunity for others to come to Christ? [18:27]
3. Think of someone in your life who has not yet turned to God. How can you be a reflection of God's patience and mercy to them this week? [21:58]
4. In what ways can you admire and emulate God's longsuffering in your interactions with others, especially those who test your patience? [08:47]
5. How can you ensure that you are living a life of holiness and godliness as you anticipate the return of Christ? [00:11]
6. Consider the sins that God endures with patience. How does this perspective change your view of His mercy and your own need for repentance? [09:20]
7. How can you use the understanding of God's patience as a personal invitation to deepen your relationship with Him and seek His grace? [21:58]
Devotional
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Quotes
"Jesus is well called our Lord let us at the commencement adore him let us each one cry to him my Lord and my God it is a long long time since our Lord went up to heaven and he said that he would come again evidently some of those who best understood him misunderstood him and thought that he would surely come again even in their lifetime." [00:01:11]
"Longsuffering is that which keeps him from coming he is bearing with men not yet the Thunderbolt not yet the Riven heavens and The Reeling Earth not yet the great white throne in the day of judgment for he is very pitiful and beareth long with men even to the cries of his own elect who cry day and night unto him he is not in haste to answer for he is very patient slow to anger and plenteous in Mercy." [00:03:00]
"We are in such a hurry we have not the Eternal Leisure of God we have but to live like ephemera our little day and therefore we are in hot haste to see all things accomplished a the sun goes down we are but leaves in the forest of existence and if something is not done soon and done quickly we shall fade and pass away amid unaccomplished hope." [00:04:36]
"God is not easily moved even by the blasphemies of the ungodly he may be provoked one of these days for longsuffering has its end but for a while the Lord path in pity not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance beloved Brethren God's longsuffering with a guilty world he may never explain to us there are many things which we must not ask to have explained." [00:07:11]
"Admire the longsuffering of God as to Peculiar sins look Brethren they make images of wood or stone and they say these are God and they set up these things in the place of him that made the heavens and the Earth how does he endure to see reasonable beings bowing down before Idols before fetishes before the basest objects how does he bear that men should even worship emblems of impurity and say that these are God." [00:09:00]
"Some men sin against God willfully when they have no temptation to it and compad no necessity if the poor man steals we half forgive him but some do so who have all that heart could wish when the man driven to extremity has said the thing that was not true we have half excused him but some are willful Liars with no gain or profit therein some sin for the sheer love of sin not for the pleasure they gain by it nor for the profit they hope from it but from Mere wanness." [00:14:12]
"Remember that it would be easy on God's part to be rid of you there is a text where he says Ah I will ease me of mine adversaries some men bear because they cannot help it they are obliged to submit but God is not in that condition one wish and The Sinner will never provoke him anymore nor refuse his Mercy again he will be gone out of the Land of Hope therefore I say the longsuffering of God is enhanced in its wonderfulness by the fact that he is under no necessity to exercise it except that which Springs out of his own love." [00:16:14]
"God calls upon us until the world is utterly destroyed with fire to go on saving men with all our might and man every year that passes is is meant to be a year of Salvation we rightly call each year the Year of Our Lord let us make it so by more and more Earnest efforts for the bringing of Sinners to the Cross of Christ I cannot think that the world is spared to increase its damnation Christ came not to destroy the world but that the world through him might be saved." [00:18:18]
"Some of you who are here tonight are wonders to yourselves that you are still in the land of the living I pray I pray you account the longsuffering of God to be salvation see salvation in it be incouraged to look to Christ and looking to him you shall find Salvation for there is life in a look at the crucified One account God's longsuffering to be salvation to you if to no one else God's longsuffering is one of the great means by which he works for the Salvation of his elect he will not let them die till first they live to God." [00:21:56]
"Brother you must learn to look upon that salvation I hear you say what mean you I mean this the very fact that you are made to groan and cry by reason of God's longsuffering to guilty men gives you sympathy with Christ and Union with Christ who endured such contradiction of Sinners against himself reckon that in being brought into harmony sympathy Oneness with Christ through enduring the results of the Divine longsuffering you find Salvation it is salvation to a man to be put side by side with Christ." [00:23:25]
"Remember too that when when the ungodly persecute the righteous they give them the mark of salvation for of old it was so he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit if you were never reviled if you were never slandered or traduced who would know that you are a Christian but when through the longsuffering of God with the ungodly you are made to suffer account it to be a mark of your salvation re joice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." [00:24:28]
"Wherefore Comfort one another dear children of God be not overcast down and troubled because of your Lord's delaying his coming for he will yet help you and you shall be delivered if the Lord is shown longsuffering to any of you and yet you have never repented or turned to him do so tonight the Harvest is passed the summer is ended and you are not saved but oh that you might be saved a this service ends the leaves are falling from the trees thick and fast and a you fall from the Tree of this Mortal life think of your God and turn to him and live." [00:25:41]
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