Slow to Act: The Richness of God's Patience

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Tonight, we come back to the Person of God. We come back to looking, taking a long, slow look, at who God is. We really only have a couple of more attributes that we'll be looking at by the time we get to about the second week in January. I'm sad to say it, but I think we'll be moving on. But it's been a rich time to look at who God is. And tonight, we come to the richness of God's patience.

We live in a culture that is always in a hurry, always impatient. Have you ever watched people in the grocery store push their carts around, especially about 5:00 in the afternoon as they're on their way home from work? They sort of bump and weave their carts, like they're on the NASCAR circuit, through the grocery store aisles. We want our fast food in three minutes, our eyeglasses in about an hour, and recovery from major surgery in about three days. People used to wait until they were 50 to write their autobiographies. Now they write them when they're in their 20s. We want instant Jello, instant pudding, and, heaven forbid, instant grits. We even want instant patience. It's like the cartoon I saw with the preacher praying, "Lord, I need patience, and I want it now!" 

But have you ever noticed that in spite of all of our hurry, in spite of all of our impatience, that God marches to the beat of a different drummer? In fact, God marches to the beat of His own drum. God is never in a hurry, and Scripture is forever calling us to remember our God as a patient God. As we unfold the pages of Scripture, we get the opportunity to see God slowly, methodically working out His sovereign plan. It's a powerful reminder to us that God has a plan, but He plans to use our entire lifetime to work it out.

This whole issue of impatience is endemic to fallen man. We want it, and we want it now. And sometimes the impatience even moves to violence. You probably read, as I did in the newspaper over the last couple of weeks, about that road rage incident during the middle of the night on the freeways between Dallas and Fort Worth where someone got cut off, and because of that, someone ended up being killed. Anger [and] impatience [are] part of the human condition. But all of the impatience of man, from its harmless expressions to murder, are absolutely contradictory to the character of God. They are to God what light is to dark. Our God is a God of patience. 

I have to tell you that I've enjoyed looking at all of the attributes of God. But I found my own soul, in some ways, most deeply encouraged about this attribute. I want us to look at it together. What does it mean that God is patient? Well, there are several ways we could define it.

Louis Berkhof in his Systematic Theology said, "It's that aspect of goodness, or the love of God, in virtue of which He bears with the froward and evil in spite of their long continued disobedience." Hermann Bavinck, a German theologian, in his [systematic theology] says, "It's God's goodness manifested toward those who are deserving of punishment." But I think I like A.W. Pink's definition the best: "It is that power of control which God exercises over Himself, causing Him to bear with the wicked and forbear so long in punishing them." It is God's self-restraint. 

Turn with me to Nahum, the little prophet of Nahum, chapter 1. Nahum writes about the city of Nineveh; we'll talk about that a little bit more later. But he says something very interesting in the first verses of his book. He begins by laying out the character of God as it pertains to the wicked people of Nineveh. And he says this, verse 2: "A jealous and avenging God is Yahweh; Yahweh is avenging and wrathful. Yahweh takes vengeance on His adversaries, [and] He reserves wrath for His enemies."  That last phrase is one of the most comforting verses in all of Scripture, "He reserves wrath for His enemies." But as Nahum lays out the fact that the Ninevites can expect God's coming wrath, he says something interesting in verse 3. He says, in spite of all of that, "Yahweh is slow to anger and great in power."

Isn't it interesting that Nahum would combine the concept of God's power with that of His patience? What does God's power have to do with his patience? Well, Stephen Charnock, in his classic The Existence and Attributes of God, says this:

Men that are great in the world are quick in passion and are not so ready to forgive an injury or bear with an offender as one of a meaner rank. It is a lack of power over that man's self that makes him do unbecoming things upon a provocation. A prince that can bridle his passions is a king over himself as well as his subjects. God is slow to anger because He is great in power. He has no less power over Himself than over His creatures. 

You see, what Nahum is saying, and what Charnock is commenting on here, is that because God is powerful, He is patient, because He is so offended at the sin of mankind that if He did not exercise the power of self-restraint, all of us would be instantly annihilated the first time we sin. But God's power, His power and control over Himself, is what assures us of His patience. 

When I read an article like the one that I mentioned this morning about Peter Singer, the Princeton professor of ethics, several of you commented that you were as deeply concerned about, and frightened about that, as I was. But when I read an article like that, I often find myself thinking that if I were God, I would strike that man down where he stands. And then I'm grateful that He doesn't, because I benefit from the same quality of patience that Peter Singer does. 

When I was in seminary, I remember reading a quote by Charles Spurgeon, and it's always stuck with me. He said something like this. He said, "O, sinner, when you were sinning with a high hand and an uplifted arm against God Almighty, is it not a wonder that He did not cut you down and end your insolence?" That is the patience of God. And whether it's Peter Singer, or whether it's me, or whether it's you, we all benefit from the patience of God. The patience of God is that excellency which causes Him to sustain great injuries to Himself and His person without immediately avenging Himself. God is patient. Let's look at what the Scriptures have to say about it.

I've mentioned to you already, and so I won't dwell on it, that when you look at the word in Hebrew for patience, it's always, every time you see the phrase slow to anger, sometimes it's translated otherwise, it's always the Hebrew expression long of nose. It simply means it takes God a long time to get hot. As I've mentioned before, the nose is often an expression of anger. You see it even in cartoons. If they want to picture a bull that's angry, you see something coming out of its nostrils. It pictures that anger, that pent-up anger. And when it says, God is long of nose, the Scripture is saying that it takes Him a long time to get hot. The Greek expression, the noun, is makrothumia, which is translated patience, primarily the verb to be patient, same verb. Let's look at a few of the texts that drive home this whole issue of God's patience. 

First of all, in the Old Testament, I want you to turn to Exodus 34. This is the first, and I should say the clearest, expression of God's patience. There are indications of it before this, but this is the clearest first expression of it. Exodus 34. And again, remember the scene: God's people have just sinned greatly against Him. And God's first response was to say, "Moses, get out of the way. I'm going to destroy them, and I'm going to build a nation from you." But that wasn't God's intention. He knew what Moses would do, and He had ordained to use Moses' prayer for the deliverance of the people, to deliver His people. And so, He does as He had committed to do. He does allow them to live. He restrains Himself. And on the heels of that amazing act of restraint, God tells Moses this about Himself, Exodus 34:5: "The Lord descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord. [Then] the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger.'" God says, "When you think about Me, Moses, this is how I want you to think of Me. It takes Me a long time to get hot." As you go through the Old Testament, that same phrase is repeated, in context of this self-revelation, in a number of passages. 

But I want you to turn to Jeremiah, because Jeremiah's use of God's patience doesn't stem from Exodus 34. But it's fascinating, because you remember the story of Jeremiah? You remember that Jeremiah prophesied that God was going to bring judgment on His people, and he wasn't treated very well for it? In fact, he was persecuted because of it. And so, he begins to talk to God about his problems. In Jeremiah 15:15, he says, "You who know, O Lord, remember me, take notice of me, and take vengeance for me on my persecutors." He's saying, "God, you understand what I'm going through. I'm simply your prophet. I'm simply speaking your Word. And yet, Your people hate me for it because I keep telling them You're going to bring judgment on them because of their sin."  And then he says something very interesting to God. Notice the next phrase: "Do not," God, "in view of Your patience, take me away. Know that for Your sake I endure reproach." What is Jeremiah saying? He's saying, "God, I'm praying that You would avenge me on those who are persecuting me. And I realize that because You are patient, because it takes You a long time to get hot, that You may wait so long that I'm carried away, that my persecutors take my life." And he says, "God, don't let that happen." You see, Jeremiah understood something about the character of God. God is, by nature, patient. And he said, "God, you're so patient that if you don't act soon, my life may be taken." 

Joel 2:13 also borrows from Exodus 34. Jonah 4:2, we looked at that a couple of weeks ago in the context of a different aspect of God's self-revelation. And we've looked at Nahum 1:3. Let's look at a couple in the New Testament. 

Turn to Romans, chapter 2. And let's begin at verse 1. We've already heard that God has revealed, [Romans] 1:18, His wrath from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. And [Paul] lays out this indictment of man. He lays out this incredible indictment of mankind. He begins with mankind not acknowledging God as God, even though he knows God, and not thanking God. And then he lays out this dark history of the human race. But notice how he ends. He ends in verses 28 to 32 with sort of a litany of sins that mankind commits. And in verse 32 he says this: "[And] although they" — that is, mankind — "know the ordinance of God" — how do they know it? Well, in chapter 2, he explains, they know it because of the conscience. They know it because God has written the substance of His law on their hearts. That "although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them." Boy, that is right off of the front page of the newspaper. "Therefore," [Romans] 2:1, "you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things." He says, "Listen, we're all in this together. We're all guilty. You may judge someone for a particular sin, and yet you're guilty of another." Or it may even be that he intends to say here that we tend to see in others the sins which we are most guilty of ourselves.

Verse 2: "[And] we know the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things." It's coming. Judgment is coming, he says, "But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?" See, religious man becomes sort of smug in passing judgment on other people's sins and not passing it on himself. So, notice what he says in verse 4: "[Or] do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience?" Do you take it lightly, "not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?" He says, "Listen, you are experiencing the patience of God. God isn't overlooking your sin. He's not going to tolerate it forever. He is going to come in judgment just as it deserves. So, don't imagine that because it hasn't fallen already that you're going to get by with it. It's coming. All you're experiencing is God's patience."

In Romans 9:22, in this passage about God's divine election, he says, "What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?" You say, "How can God put up with the machinations of someone like Peter Singer?" Well, it's possible that God and His grace will draw him to Himself. If not, then this verse is the reason God, willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endures with much patience: "Vessels of wrath," prepared beforehand, "for destruction."

Notice [in] 1 Timothy, Paul tells us that he is a great example of God's patience. First Timothy 1:16, he says, "Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life." What's Paul saying? He's saying, "I'm an example of God's patience for those who will eventually believe." Feinberg, in his book No One Like Him — A Doctrine of God, says, "Any who think they have remained in sin too long, and strayed from God too far for God ever to save them, need only reflect on the example of Paul." That's what Paul's saying. He's saying, "Look at me. Look at God's patience with me. Look at who I was and what I was doing. And let anybody who wants to come to Christ in the future take heart. God is a God of patience."

First Peter, chapter 3, we'll look at that in a few minutes, and 2 Peter 3:15, both of those passages we'll look at in a different context in a few minutes. But those are some of the texts that lay out the patience of God. But I want us to look at some illustrations that sort of put it in perspective for us so you can see God's patience in living color. 

The first is Adam and Eve. You remember, in Genesis 2:17, God says to Adam, "But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it" — what? — you shall surely die." Well, certainly we all agree that spiritually, the moment they ate, they died. But God meant more than that. He meant physical death as well. Physical death eventually comes. And yet did Adam die that day? No. God kept His word, he died spiritually, but he didn't die physically that day. In fact, we know from the genealogy recorded in Genesis 5 that Adam lived at least 800 years after his sin. That's a demonstration of God's patience and grace. 

Another example is the antediluvian people. That is, those people who lived before the flood. Notice Genesis 6:5: "[Then] the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart." Verse 13, "[Then] God said to Noah, 'The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth.'" And yet, what did God do? Turn to 1 Peter 3:20. He says that during the days of Noah, the patience of God kept waiting "during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water." You know what he's saying? For about 120 years, as the ark was being built, God waited. He exercised patience in spite of the conclusions that He'd reached about the world and its need to be destroyed. One hundred twenty years he waited. That wasn't merely for Noah to build the ark, by the way. Second Peter 2:5 says that during that period of time, Noah was what? "A preacher of righteousness." God not only had Noah building, but He had him preaching. He had him preaching repentance and righteousness because God is patient. One hundred twenty years He waited. 

But one of my favorite examples is in Genesis, chapter 15. Perhaps you've never seen this, but in Genesis 15, God is making promises to Abraham, and He's telling him about the future. In verse 12, "When the sun was going down," it says, "a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, terror and great darkness fell upon him." God is in a ceremony ratifying the covenant He's made with Abraham. Verse 13: "God said to Abram, 'Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.'" This is a prediction of the Egyptian captivity. Four hundred years, by the way, is a round number. That was four generations, about their lifespan at that time. Exodus tells us it was actually 430 years. But verse 16 is one of the most significant verses in the Old Testament. Verse 16 says, "[Then] in the fourth generation they will return here" — and then He gives the reason for all of this — "for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete." 

The Amorites were one of the peoples that lived in the land of Israel. Their worship was polytheistic and included child sacrifice, idolatry, religious prostitution and divination, according to Deuteronomy 18. So, God says, "I'm going to send your descendants, Abraham, into Egypt, where they're going to be enslaved for 400 years, and then they're going to come out. And the reason it's going to work that way is because the iniquity of the Amorite isn't yet full and complete." Derek Kidner, in his commentary, says, "Until it was right to invade, God's people must wait, even if it cost them four centuries of hardship." So, God lets His own people suffer 430 years of hardship, in slavery, in Egypt. And one of His purposes was His patience with the Amorites. 

But really, it's longer than that, because when God speaks this to Abraham, it's during Abraham's life period, of course. And Abraham lived around 2100 BC. The children of Israel leave Egypt, in the exodus, in about 1445 BC. So, God waits and lets the Amorites live in their land for 600 years. Over 600 years, God is patient with a pagan people that He eventually intends to destroy. Amazing.

Look at the northern tribes of Israel. You remember that when Solomon died, the kingdom was immediately split into two. His son Rehoboam took the southern two tribes, called Judah, and Jeroboam took the northern ten tribes. That was in 931 BC. And God begins, because of the sins of Jeroboam, and He constantly says this through the prophets, He says that this next king, whoever it was, made the people to sin the same way as Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. He always goes back to Jeroboam, the very first king of the northern ten tribes, as the epitome of evil. And He says, I'm going to destroy this people. But when does God lead captive Israel, the northern ten tribes? 722 BC. So, from 931 to 722, He's patient. He's patient with these northern tribes. The southern kingdom: He gives them many, many years of warning. Nineveh, as we looked at a couple of weeks ago, God was patient with Nineveh for almost 200 years until He destroyed it in 612 BC, in spite of the amazing cruelty of the Assyrians.

But I want you to see the destruction of Jerusalem. Turn to Luke 19:41: 

When [He] approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, "If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side, and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another."

He's prophesying, of course, the destruction of the city of Jerusalem. And notice why, the end of verse 44: "Because you did not recognize the time of your visitation." In other words, they didn't acknowledge and receive their Messiah. When did that happen? Well, it happened in the lifetime of Christ. Christ is speaking these words probably in about 30 AD. When did the destruction of Jerusalem occur? 70 AD. Forty years, God is patient with His people in spite of the way they treated His own Son. Picture after picture in the Bible portrays our God as slow to act because He is, in His character, patient. 

So, what are some of the expressions of God's patience? When we say, "God is patient," what are we really saying He does or doesn't do? Well, first of all, He restrains His divine wrath. And I want you to turn, I think maybe the clearest illustration of this is in Romans, chapter 3. Buried in this section of justification, Paul makes a very interesting comment. In verse 25, he says, "God displayed publicly" — God made this grand, public demonstration, and here he's referring not to Christ's coming, but to the cross — God publicly displayed Christ "as a propitiation in His blood through faith." And he says this grand demonstration that God did, when God publicly displayed His wrath on Christ, He intended to demonstrate two things, and both of these two things have to do with His character. Notice, the first thing God wanted to do was to demonstrate His justice. Or could we say it this way? God, in the cross, wanted to vindicate His justice. Notice what he says in verse 25: "This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed." God wanted the cross to give evidence of, or to prove, His justice. Paul says because of God's forbearance, God passed over sins. Passing over here, by the way, is not the same as forgiveness. Passing over refers to letting something go unpunished. It's not forgiving, but merely not punishing at this time. 

If you have children, you know all about this. You know all about this word. Have you ever heard yourself saying, "You really deserve a spanking," just before you don't spank them? The difference is, human parents usually forego dealing with their children's disobedience because they're too tired, they're too distracted, they're too busy. But with God, it was an expression of His patience, giving sinners time to repent. Notice Paul says, "He passed over the sins previously committed." What are those sins previously committed? Well, it could refer to sins committed by people before Christ came. Or it may be, as Martin Luther held, that it refers to the sins that you and I have done in the past before we were converted. But either way, the point's the same. You see, God has every right, and not just the right, but in a sense, He's obligated because He's just to destroy sinners the moment they sin. His justice says the soul that sins — as he says in Ezekiel 18, shall what? — shall die. The soul that sins shall die. 

Paul's point is this: Even the grace that God shows sinners, in sparing their lives and in providing them with temporal blessings, could undermine His justice. So, at Calvary, God vindicated His character. Let me wrap it all up for you: Christ's death makes it possible for God to show unbelieving sinners what theologians call common grace without staining His reputation as righteous, without staining His justice. So, there's a sense in which the cross of Christ, one purpose of the cross of Christ, was to vindicate God's justice in letting a sinner live a moment longer than his sin.

Ever thought about that? At the cross of Christ, the fact that God let you live a moment longer than your first sin, God made that possible by the death of Christ. He vindicated His justice in letting you live by pouring out His wrath on Christ. This is not the primary purpose of the death of Christ, but it's certainly an important one. God's patience is restraining His divine wrath, and that was made possible by the death of Jesus Christ. 

Another demonstration or expression of God's patience is His forgiveness. He forgives sins. It's interesting, in Exodus 34[:6], the verse we looked at before, he mentions the longsuffering of God, or that God is slow to anger. And the next verse he says, and He "forgives iniquity." Many theologians and commentators make the point that those two are connected, that it's the fact that God is patient that allows Him to forgive sins, because if He unleashed His fury and wrath, there would be no forgiveness. And another expression is that God's patience means He bears, this is now us as believers, He bears with our repeated needs and requests. This is what we think of as God's patience. 

Notice Psalm 86, David says something very interesting. Psalms 86:15, he says, "[But] You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth." He quotes that self-revelation of God. But what's the context? Well, the context, notice in verse 15, he mentions God's character, including His patience, and then in verse 16, in light of these qualities of God, he pleads for God's help with his enemies. He says, "God, you are merciful, you're gracious, you're slow to anger, you're abundant and loving, kindness and truth. So, because you are those things, turn to me, be gracious to me, grant me your strength and save me." He's not talking here about spiritual salvation. He's talking about physical deliverance. David has undoubtedly asked for God's intervention before. And so, here he mentions God's long suffering or God's being slow to anger. And he says, "God, because You are patient, You will hear me and respond yet again. Here I am again asking for the same thing." God's patience means that we can come to Him again and again with the same issues, the same request. You ever found yourself doing that? "Lord, it's me again, and I'm here for the same reason. I'm going to ask Your forgiveness for the same thing." God hears, He responds, because He's patient.

Our God is a God who waits. Frame, in his book On the Nature of God, says, 

God can accomplish His will instantly. He can bring final judgment on the wicked immediately, but He chooses not to do so. God's decision to wait is not arbitrary, nor is it mainly in the interest of creating a more interesting story. Rather, it's the function of His love and His grace. 

Why? [Have] you ever asked that question, "Why is God patient?" Obviously, it's His character.

But it's interesting, because the Bible gives us several reasons that God is patient. But why does man think God is patient? What does man see in the patience of God? Unregenerate man: How does he perceive God's patience? He usually sees one of three things. He sees God's nonexistence. He says, "If God isn't acting, if God isn't punishing sin, if God isn't dealing with evil in the world, then what must that mean? There is no God. He would deal with it. If there were a righteous God, He wouldn't let this go on." It's interesting, that article I mentioned this morning in World magazine about Peter Singer. It mentions that his relatives were imprisoned as part of the Holocaust, and part of the reason that, early on, his family, and he in turn, rejected the whole issue and reality of God, was because they said, "If there is a God, He wouldn't have let that happen." You see, that's what men do. They mistake God's patience for His nonexistence.

Another thing they do, when they see God being patient, is they assume that He has a lack of power: "Well, I'm going to get away with it. Nothing's going to happen to me. Nothing's happened to the guy down the street, and he's worse than I am." They assume God's patience means a lack of power, or they assume God's patience means a lack of interest. "God just doesn't care. He's off doing His own thing, and He's letting me do my thing, and we'll both get along." Well, that's what people think, when God is patient, when He waits 40 years, 120 years, 600 years. 

But why is God patient? What does the Bible teach? First of all, and primarily, it's to provide an opportunity for men to repent. You saw this in Romans 2:4 that we looked at before, but I want you to turn to 2 Peter 3:8. He says, "But do not let this [one fact] escape your notice, [beloved,] that with the Lord one day is [like] a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness." What's he talking about? Well, he begins the chapter, or particularly in verse 3, by saying that mockers are going to come: Mockers will come in their mocking, and they'll follow their own lust, and they'll say, "Where is the promise of [His] coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation." This is the human theory of uniformitarianism. Essentially, everything's always been the same. Nothing dramatic has ever happened. So, God's not going to come back and do something catastrophic. The world just kind of keeps going along uniformly, and it will, like it always has. Verse 5, when they argue this, when they come up with this uniformitarianism, Peter says, "It escapes their notice that by the word of God, the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water." He says, "Uh oh, uniformitarians forgot one very important event, the flood." No, everything hasn't continued as it did from the beginning. God interacted, He intervened, in human history with an incredible cataclysmic catastrophe. And so don't think it's not going to happen again. That's where he's going, verse 7: "[But] by His word the present heavens and earth are being reserved" — not for water, but — "for fire." So therefore, he says, verse 8, don't let this escape your notice. Verse 9: "The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some men count slowness." In other words, don't assume, as they are assuming, as these mockers are assuming, that God's never going to act, [that] it's not going to happen. "But He is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance."

There's the reason God delays acting. There's the reason this world hasn't been burned up with fire already, just as it was flooded before, because God wants to provide an opportunity for men to repent. That's his patience. Feinberg says, "God is slow to judge sinners, not because He doesn't care about their sin or because He isn't powerful enough to judge. He's patient in order to give them a chance to repent."

There's another reason the Scripture gives us, and that is, God is patient to make it clear, when judgment does come, that that judgment is deserved. We saw that back in Genesis, chapter 15. We won't turn there again. But He says, "I'm going to send my people into Egypt for 400 years of slavery because I want the iniquity of the Amorite to be full. I want it to be obvious to everyone that they deserve what they get, even to them." We saw the same principle in Romans 9:22. God is patient, not only to provide an opportunity for people to repent, but to make it obvious, when He does act, that people get what they deserve. That's why in Romans 2:4-5, we didn't read the next verse, but Paul says those who are sort of thumbing their nose at the patience of God are storing up for themselves — what? — wrath. It's like they're accumulating wrath. 

Thirdly, God is patient to show those He saves how merciful He has been to them. Look at Romans, chapter 9. We looked at verse 22, but verse 23 adds, God does so, that is, He endures with much patience, "vessels of wrath," not only to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, but to "make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy." Part of God's reason for being patient, for withholding His wrath, is to show us how merciful He has been to us. You could see the same thing in 1 Peter 3:20. 

And finally, and this is an interesting one, God is patient to allow us the opportunity to share the gospel. Come to 2 Peter 3. We saw verse 9: God is patient, "not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance." But then he adds something interesting, down in verses 14 and 15. He says, "Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things," — now he's talking to us as believers — "be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation." Essentially, what he's saying is this: "You who are in Christ, I want you to think about God's patience in not coming back yet, in not punishing those who deserve it, in not destroying the world with fire, I want you to think about that as salvation. I want you to think of it as an opportunity to communicate the truth of the gospel so that it will issue forth in the salvation of those whom God doesn't wish to perish but to come to repentance." This is a call for us to evangelize. As long as God holds back, as long as God restrains His wrath in ultimate judgment, you and I who belong to Christ are called upon to seize that time of God's patience as a time of salvation, a time to tell others. 

You and I need to look at the people around us differently. We're sometimes pretty complacent. We live our lives. We go on about the activities of our work and our family and all the things in which we're involved, and we lose sight of eternal realities. God is being patient with that unsaved family member that you have. God is being patient with that neighbor down the street. God is being patient with that co-worker. But the time of God's patience will end, and you and I are responsible to seize the time of God's patience, to share with them the wonderful news, that God wishes none to perish but for all to come to repentance.

So, what are the ramifications for us? What do we learn from God's patience? What should we learn? Well, God's patience should be a model for our own. A. W. Pink writes, "When you're tempted to be disgusted at the dullness of another" — that is, their slowness to make progress in the Christian faith — "when you're tempted to be disgusted at the dullness of another or to avenge one who has wronged you, remember God's infinite patience with you." God's patience becomes a model for our own. 

What are the specific changes you and I should make in light of God's patience? This first one may be a bit surprising to you, but it's clearly taught in Scripture. It is, be patient with God. You don't hear much about patiently waiting for God in our culture, but Scripture has much to say about it. What does it mean, that biblical expression that occurs throughout the Old Testament, wait on God or wait for God? What does that mean? It means confidently expecting God to act, and waiting until He does. Now, let's be clear here. This isn't an excuse for laziness. You need a job? You need to go look for a job. If you need to pursue sanctification, as all of us do, then you need to get up and pursue sanctification. Use the tools that are at your disposal. But there are times when there's nothing else we can do. There are people and circumstances beyond our control. Or perhaps we have exhausted everything we can do. That's when it's appropriate to wait on God to act, to wait for Him to take you through whatever trial you've encountered. 

Wait on God. That is such a clear-cut biblical concept. Look at Psalm 52. He begins by talking about the evil, the evil man who prospers. Verse 1: "Why do you boast in evil, O mighty man?" And he goes on to talk about this person: You have a tongue "like a sharp razor." You're deceitful. "You love evil more than good, falsehood more than speaking what is right. You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue. [But] God will break you down forever." And he goes on to proclaim what God will do, verse 8: 

But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever. I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it. [And] I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of Your godly ones.

What is David doing here? David is saying, essentially, "I'm in this struggle. There are evil people who are afflicting me, and God's people. And I know that God's going to act." He says, in verse 5, "God will break you down forever." That's going to come. But what do I do in the meantime? Verse 9: "[And] I will wait on Your name, for it is good." He says, "I'm going to wait for God to act. I do everything I can do, and then I expect God to act, and I wait on him to do it."

My favorite expression of waiting on God is in Isaiah 40. You're familiar with it, verse 31. Let's start in verse 27. He says, "Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, 'My way is hidden from the Lord, and the justice due me escapes the notice of my God?'" You ever felt that way? "God, you don't understand. Can't you see what's happening to me? Can't you see what I'm facing, what I'm enduring, how I'm being treated, the difficulties I find myself in?" And then Isaiah rehearses the character of God, and then he ends with verse 31: "Those who wait for the Lord." In other words, those who do everything they can do, and then they expect God to act, and they patiently wait for Him to do it. Those who wait for the Lord, like that, will gain new strength. In one of my early Hebrew classes, I was struck with what this verse actually says, because the word for gain new strength can actually be translated this way: They will exchange their strength, my strength, for God's strength. If you will simply wait on God, if you will do what you can do, and then sit back and expect God to act and wait until He does, you will exchange your weak strength for God's. 

You find yourself tonight in a very difficult place? There are a lot of different kinds of trials and difficulties in our congregation. You find yourself in that kind of place, do everything the Scripture urges you to do, and then like David, and like Isaiah urges the people of God, go to God and tell Him, "God, I expect You to act, and I'm going to wait on You to act." Be patient with God and you will renew your strength. Be patient with God. Let me make one more comment about this before I go on. When we talk about waiting for God, it really is remembering [to] let God, who never moves in a hurry, work out His plan. That's what we're really talking about when we talk about waiting on God. Let God, who never hurries, work out His plan. He will act in His time, according to His purpose. So don't get in a hurry. Don't be impatient. God's patience means you should be patient with God, because God is patient. He is slow to act. And sometimes we want it to be today. You see, we think in seconds, minutes and hours. God thinks in eternity. Be patient with God. 

Secondly, be patient with the spiritual progress and development of others. Second Corinthians, chapter 12 is a verse we cite regarding the miraculous gifts. Verse 12 says, "The signs" of an apostle, "a true apostle were performed among you." The signs of a true apostle. I believe this references the miraculous gifts that accompanied the apostles and affirmed their message. But notice how they were performed, these signs of a true apostle: They "were performed among you with all perseverance." The expression really is patience: They were performed among you with all patience. You see, true apostles who could work miracles didn't expect instant results. They just kept doing what they needed to do. You and I should not expect instant results from our ministry. We shouldn't expect immediate response to our teaching. 

When I think about that, there are times, I'll be honest with you, as a pastor, I remember back in South Carolina, when I was in seminary, I pastored a little church on the weekends in Gaffney, South Carolina, small little town, and there were, I guess, about 65, 70 people there. And I remember preaching on a Wednesday night. I remember one particular one vividly, and I just poured out my heart about all that Scripture teaches, we're to pray for. All the spiritual things that consume our prayers and how we're not to get caught up with the physical, and we can pray for those things. But that's not the primary focus of our prayers. It's the prayers like Paul prayed, and I just poured out my heart as a young seminary student. And then we had a prayer meeting, and I asked for prayer requests. This dear lady raises her hand. She happened to work at the Tyson Foods processing plant in town, and there had been a horrific accident there that week, as there often was, unfortunately, and she was always the first to share that. Somebody had gotten their arm cut off in the meat grinder, and we needed to pray for that person. Well, there's nothing wrong with praying for that person, but it was pretty discouraging to me as a pastor. She didn't know the person. She wasn't connected to the person. It was just something that happened somewhere, and this was consuming her life. And it was easy for me to be impatient. God's patience with us means we should be patient with the spiritual progress and development of others. When I think of that, I think of Christ. I mean, think about it. Christ was the master Teacher. He was with His apostles for three years, day and night. And on the night of His crucifixion, the twelve are arguing about which of them is the greatest. Then He takes them out to the Garden of Gethsemane, and they can't stay awake for one hour to pray with Him. Be patient.

I was having lunch with John MacArthur one day, and we were talking about [how] I was supposed to teach a seminar at the Shepherd's Conference on the biggest mistake spiritual leaders make. And I hadn't yet decided on the text I was going to use. So, I just asked him, out of curiosity, I said, "What would you say is the greatest mistake spiritual leaders make?" And he didn't even hesitate. I mean, it's just like that. He didn't know I was going to ask. He didn't know what I was teaching, but he didn't hesitate. He immediately said, "Being impatient with people." You have to give people time to grow and develop. Just as we are with our children and their physical development, so we should be patient with the spiritual progress and development of others. 

Thirdly, be slow to anger when you are personally sinned against. There are so many passages that make this point. Ephesians 4:1, he says, I want you "to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called." And here's how you do that: "With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love." Be slow to anger when you're sinned against. Colossians 3:12 makes the same point: "So, as those who've been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." Choose to be patient with others. Second Timothy 3:10, he says, "Now you followed," Paul says to Timothy, "you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience." Paul says to Timothy "You saw how patient I was, and you've imitated it, and I want you to continue to imitate it." In 4:2, he tells Timothy, "Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort," — but here's how you do it — "with great patience." Yes, Timothy, preach the word, but be patient with people. [In] James 1:19, James says, "This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger." Be patient. First Peter 2:20: "[For] what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God." Anybody wronged you recently? Scripture says, be patient. 

Reflect God's patience by being quick to forgive. In the interest of time, I won't turn there, but you read the last parable that Christ tells in Matthew 18: We are to be patient, as God is patient, and therefore quick to forgive others in their sin. But there's also a warning here, and that is: Don't mistake God's patience for leniency or softness towards sin. That's what Peter said, isn't it? He said, don't confuse God's patience with a disinterest in sin. Pink writes this, he says, 

How wondrous God's patience is with the world today. On every side, people are sinning with a high hand. The divine law is trampled underfoot, and God Himself openly despised. It is truly amazing that He does not instantly strike dead those who so brazenly defy Him. Why does He not suddenly cut off the haughty, infidel and blatant blasphemer? Why does He not cause the earth to open and devour the persecutors of His people? And what of apostate Christendom, where every possible form of sin is now tolerated and practiced under the cover of the holy name of Christ? Why does not the righteous wrath of heaven make an end of such abominations? There's only one possible answer. It's the patience of God. 

But then he gets personal. He says, 

But what about the writer and the reader? Let us review our own lives. It is not long since we followed a multitude to do evil, had no concern for God's glory, and lived only to gratify self. How patiently God bore with our vile conduct. Now that grace has snatched us as brands from the burning, and given us a place in God's family, and begotten us unto an eternal inheritance and glory, how miserably we requite him or repay him.

Isn't that true? After all God has done for us, how miserably we repay Him. How shallow our gratitude, how tardy our obedience, how frequent our backslidings. We take joy in the knowledge of God's patience. Amen and amen. Let's pray together.

Father, we are so grateful that You are patient with us. Lord, thank You that when we were sinners, sinning against You with a high hand, You didn't strike us down and end our insolence. And Lord, thank You that now we belong to You. Even though we repay You so poorly, even though we respond so slowly to Your Word, even though we're so set in our ways and so slow to follow Yours, You are patient. Lord, help us to be patient with You, to wait for You to act, knowing that You're patient. Lord, help us to show the same patience You show to us, to others. And yet, Lord, at the same time, don't let us ever forget that Your patience doesn't mean tolerance. Lord, perhaps there's someone here tonight who has pursued a path of sin, who is living, even as they sit here tonight, in a life of unrepentant sin. Lord, help them to see Your patience as an opportunity for repentance. Lord, don't let them string Your patience out to its end and feel Your wrath. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.