God’s Patience (Part 2 of 2)

Patience is a willingness to hang the weight a long time. Thankfully it is one of God's attributes, but it can be easy to mistake his patients for tolerance is in action can be seen as disinterest. After all, people think what's he waiting for today on Truth for Life Alastair big explains that God's patience as a purpose, but it will not last forever were in second Peter three. I'm not is been a long time on this, but I want to look at it from three perspectives. The patience of God. If you like. Historically, the patience of God viewed doctrinally in the patience of God viewed personally from historical perspective from a doctrinal perspective and from a personal perspective. Okay, and I'm giving you if you like a thumbnail sketch. This is not the finished outline to Exodus and Moses and the incident with the golden calf. Exodus chapter 31 if you want to follow along and in verse 10, Exodus 32 I should say the Lord said to Moses, I this verse nine of 32 I've seen this people. Behold, it is a stiffnecked people.

Now therefore let me alone in my Rodney Barnhart against them, and I may consume them in order that I may make a great nation of you, but Moses implored the Lord his God and he pleaded and invest 14 were to be read in the Lord relented from the disaster that he had spoken of bringing on his people and why is that you go to chapter 34 and two verse six and the Lord passed before Moses and proclaimed the Lord, the Lord our God, what is he like merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness bring steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty so you remember the story of Jonah.

We don't need to get into it. He was in a whale of a problem right from the get-go and Jonah gets the assignment, go here. He does not own fancy that I go over there that he, God saves in in the whale and then he goes on his assignment and then usually take because now these people are actually responding to the good news that he's telling the music he's telling that salvation is from the Lord. Salvation belongs to the Lord. That's what he's telling them now and then we read verse one of chapter 4 in displeased Jonah exceedingly and he was angry and he prayed to the Lord and said, Lord, business what I said when I was yet in my country. That's why I was running away to Tarsus because I know that you are a gracious God and merciful and slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and relenting from disaster. In other words, I knew that you would be patient God was in the God that he is. We can even be around here to take us out and go do something. The answers God has done something and he's about to do something, but if he does this something is about to do tonight really left and the reason he doesn't is because of who he is because he is a patient God. He is a long-suffering God.

He made you made stuff when you're small. Taken a knife taken a little bit of wood made a boats are made. I can new or done something like that, taken it and sealed it around if you lost it. Imagine you made your boat you were sailing it and Lake you lost, you go to that Crazy Pl. in Arizona yeah that would be at Sedona perfect healer Sedona the crazy high Street with the impersonal and the personal guard opportunities and you look in the window and your boats in their pillowcases. My boat that I made and I lost so you going hey Sir, that's my boat in the window as that is my boat. I made that so if you want a boat like you have to buy so you know what I will buy back teachers in one area poking you pay for you but it out and you walk down the street in Sedona and you held your hand. You said you twice my I made you and I lost you and I but you back is that the message of the gospel. I made you I lost you I came and purchased you hold a lot of the true salvation's plan or the grace that brought it down to man or the mighty God's plan at Calvary Mercy, patience, Grace was there and grade 3 and pardon. There was multiplied to me that's the story you get all the way through the history of the people of God throughout the entire Old Testament is a soul trial to the patience of God.

It's the story of God's grace towards them. Their rebellion then there get in deep water, then the repentance never do that again I'll never do again. Then the restoration then a few years, then right back into the same rebellion once again you fast-forward into the New Testament God comes in the person of his son, invades our time and our space reaches out his hands if you like stretches out his hands to a disobedient people is the picture of the prophet in the Old Testament.

I know Christ who is the great prophet reaches out his hands to the disobedient people of his day, and he cries over Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent.

How often would I have gathered you and your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you wouldn't wings, love is this kind of success. Patience that pursues humanity in its rebellion grade into the darkness of Gethsemane grade until all of the incarnation man and all that it meant for him to make that purchase, Christ died for sins once for all the righteous for the unrighteous to bring us to God will be relieved to know that we really moved into the doctrinal dimension on it so were actually advancing out because in writing to the scattered believers of his day teachers reminding these readers that there is no reason for them to be unsettled by the folks who are coming to them and say you know Jesus is not going to come back again there scoffing at the idea that he will return because they're saying to the people. Everything is just the way it always warrants and Peter says you don't need to worry about that are tall listen. He says and understand the reason for the delay, and he puts it in a phrase count the patience of our Lord as salvation. Why then does God delay a day with the Lord as a thousand years a thousand years as a day. People ask me all the time away in the last days of course were in the last days the last days are the days that I began to feel like with the incarnation work with the resurrection and will end with the return of Jesus.

So we been in the last days for about 2000 years right. That's quite a long time for the last days to go on and we may be in the last days for another 2000 years. For all we know.

Why would God wait so long see your good class to see you got it. Now I can pretty well stop you got it absolutely perfectly.

The reason why the promise return of Christ to judgment hasn't happened is because of his patients because of his patients. Verse nine states and clearly the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise, as some count slowness, but he is patient toward you know wishing that any should perish but that all should reach dependence.

Now there's a verse to stay up with half the night arguing back and forth from here and there and entering the on but I'll tell you what it's tells me God loves saving people.

God loves saving people and God's patience is in order that men and women might come to faith in his son, then surely we are then to be keenly engaged in the task of evangelism going to people and telling them that God is patient, but that is patients one last forever, but that today is the day of salvation so historically his patients as they are throughout the history of his dealings with humanity doctrinally and this is not all of it. But, in part, his patients is in order that he may give opportunity for men and women to come to trust in him and then finally just awarded to about it personally in terms of application to ourselves once again. I wanted to set this in a context in his enrollments to and at the beginning of Romans two at the end of Romans one. Paul is been addressing those who do what they know is wrong and approve of those who do those very things you see that in verse 22 of chapter 1 chapter verse 32 of Romans one, though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. So chapter 1 ends he's addressing those who do what they know is wrong and to approve of others who do the same into chapter 2. He then talks to those who do what they know is wrong and condemn others who do the same thing as them. Therefore verse one of chapter 2.

You have no excuse or man. Every one of you who judges for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because this is hypocrisy.

He says that these people in the culture who do these things they normally do wrong things. The approve of everybody who does the wrong things they don't care they go to the burning Man festival and in and in the middle of the desert and engage in all that craziness, volatile. They know there's there's that's wrong, but to give approval to everybody who doesn't.

Now he says one of the people who do was wrong and then actually judge the people who doing was wrong. Who do the same things they are doing.

He says that's actually hypocrisy the preacher preaches against immorality and respectable prostitutes really you are all man. Every one of you who judges stands up there your big paper and holds off about immorality in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge you practicing the very same things is partly why James is dull and many of you become teachers. For those of you teach will be judged with greater strictness you can use this as a mechanism for safe just because I said it. I did know you said it, but do you believe it, and do you limit and do you do it the hypocrisy that is represented in the verses of chapter 2 are there in order to recognize borders. This that we will not escape the judgment of God is verse five. You've got a hard and impenitent heart storing up for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed. Do you simply verses 1 to 3 verse four and in verse five.

What is Paul saying here is what he said every time I condemn someone else for doing the same things I am doing.

I condemn myself before God.

And most trivial level just to make a point. You driving down the freeway you're cutting people off like crazy. For whatever reason it's not good and then just you know when you're close to Pasadena. Somebody gives you one big one in a big cut off just like your wife's in a car that idiot to believe that people doing that I can leave people doing that your wife doesn't said she just goes every time I condemn my judge somebody else for doing what I'm doing. I condemn myself. God verse four. Every time I'm not punished immediately. Every time I'm not punished immediately.

God is giving me time to repent is not what verse four is saying right.

Do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, you realize that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance, so one every time I condemn someone else for doing what I'm doing.

I condemn myself before God. Every time I'm not punished immediately. God is giving me time to repent and three if I persisted in refusing to repent. I store more of God's righteous anger for the last day. Here's the bottom line fellas and I'm going to draw this to a close. God's patience with us when we sin must not be mistaken for his permission for us to sin is not granting us permission. The fact that he is patient with us is not any permits he opposes it, he will judge it and the only reason that he's patient with this is so that we can face up to him and say you know I am a hypocrite. I am condemning my brother.

I'm doing the very same thing myself. I am unprepared to face up to the sermon on the mount when it turns the issues of hatred wait inside when the transitions of immorality right inside. I want to be able to take the high ground and judge everybody else for their actions. The only difference between some of us and then is a lien on the guts to follow through on. Otherwise we be in the same predicament.

No, God's patience in this kindness is intended to give is the space to repent. Not to give as an excuse for setting so think about it, think, think about is what I wrote in my notes for myself considered in his patients with us when we resisted his claims and when we spurned his love how patient he was with us. You remember before you became a Christian retailer. Personally your work or your girlfriend was hello freeze over before ever I get into that garbage is an amazing God just didn't strike you is an amazing when you fell out of the car is an amazing, when you came skating on your backside down the road when you came off your motorbike.

Isn't it amazing isn't it amazing isn't it incredible that anyone is actually in this room because of God's patience with us. He was patient with us. Patient class I found a friend of such a friend he love me air. I knew and he drew me with the cords of love and thus he bothering me to consider his patients that consider his patients with us today when even on our best. They were unprofitable servants think of the times when we thought we would just jump outside the boundaries that we would go away somewhere else and do something else and when we had spent it all and we found ourselves in the equivalent of a Jewish boy feeding pigs always in the broadest back on the road today will bring you back on the road notify that you knew you were in a mass but the reason you came back on the road was because you had an inkling that God is a patient caught that when you go back of the end of the street he wouldn't give you the hell you deserve, but he would give you heaven that you have never any asking rate for the forcefully and the only person that doesn't get that is the pharisaical older brother was out there playing the same old game judge in those for doing the very same things he's doing himself.

Where did he come up with a prostitutes. There was no mention of prostitutes. The prostitutes came out of his own filthy mind, but that son of viewers. While he was down there doing all that stuff with plastic don't even mention prostitutes no Woody, but that it came out with your own filthy + what an amazing gospel… In my congregation when I preach and people reject the gospel every single Sunday.

Some some except by God's grace. But when people rejected the do for one of two reasons.

Largely there are people there who are saying you know what I'm really doing pretty good here and I don't have any need of salvation and there are others who are in there going. I have made such a royal dog's breakfast of this that that that that I have no prospect of salvation and the answer to both is found in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ because it is the cross which humbles the pride of the person who says I have no need, and it is across which pours out his gracious blood freely on the lives of those who are saying, I have no hope this is an inkling of what it means to think about a God who is patient. Some of us have kids who don't believe some of us may have spouses who don't believe some of us are folks that we've been praying for for a long time. Some of us may be within earshot of me right now, and you've just been presuming on the patience and kindness of God and you've got 1 foot on a banana skin and the other food in your grave and God has been patient with you, right up until tonight. Not giving you permission to continue clowning around the way you are because he's patient patient enough to send another funny voice comes out of another funny face to say again hey here is God. Trust is for us to realize that God is patient with us listing to Truth for Life of Alister Briggs message titled God's patience. Alister will close with prayer in just a minute, so please keep list every day on Truth for Life. We teach directly from the Bible, we know that when Scripture is proclaimed God's Spirit works to transform the lives of those who listen when you give to Truth for Life to come alongside this ministry to help bring God's word to listers all around the world. If you been strengthened and encouraged by the teaching on this program we want to invite you to join the team of monthly crude partners today, so more people can benefit from Alister's teaching when you become a true partner or when you make a one-time donation. We want to say thank you by sending you a book called with all your heart. When we see the way the word heart is used in Scripture. What we find is it describes the very center of our existence who we are, how we think about things.

What motivates us to act. These are matters of the heart and the book with all your heart, unpacks this topic with a fresh perspective, inviting us to discover how God sees us and how he works in our hearts. Be sure to request a copy of with all your heart when you sign up to be a true partner or when you give a gift to Truth for Life. Visit us the Truth for Life.org/donate or click the image you see in the mobile app or you can call us at 888-588-7884.

Now here's Alister with the closing prayer father, thank you for the Bible. Thank you that we can go away and read the Bible and see if this stuff is actually in there so that we can examine the Scriptures to see if these things are so all we thank you tonight for your disclosure of yourself and as we scratch the surface of what it means for an immutable God to be patient with his bow before your greatness. We thank you for your steadfast love and we pray for some for whom we have continued to pray for a long time, you will still be patient with them because we know your spirit will not always strive there will be a time for the last time someone hears and has the opportunity to repent and to believe.

So we pray that we might with a measure of sincerity and urgency in Christlike love, say to people God is a patient God's patience has limits and today is the day of salvation, hear our prayer. So God forgive our sins that are Christ come unto you, for Jesus sake on Bob Lapine wonderful weekend. Hope you join us Monday as we go from learning about God's patience.

Learning about his Bible teaching of Alistair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life.

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