I.        INTRODUCTION

A.      In 2Peter 3, the apostle Peter answered the charges of those who mocked the promises of God.

                                                             1.      These mockers denied that the Lord would come again because everything remained the same as it has been since the creation (v. 4).

                                                             2.      Peter pointed out that these mockers overlooked the fact that everything had not remained the same since creation, for the world was once destroyed by a flood of water during the days of Noah (vv. 5-6).

                                                             3.      The apostle said that just as the world was then destroyed by water, it is now reserved for destruction by fire (v. 7).  The mockers should have learned their lesson from the flood.

B.      Similar mockers of God still exist today, and the crux of their arguments against God is still the same.  Essentially, they are derisively asking, “If Christ is coming again, why is He waiting so long?”

                                                             1.      The ascension of Christ had occurred at most 34 years before Peter wrote his epistle, and the mockers were already saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?”  Therefore, it is no surprise that after nearly two-thousand years mockers are still asking the same questions.

                                                             2.      The implication of their argument is that if Christ has not come by now, then He is not coming at all.  Therefore, time is everything to them, and they will deny the promises of God because they simply will not wait for Him.

C.      Such impatient mockers are not new in our time, nor were they new in Peter’s time.  In fact, similar mockers existed during the days of Moses.

                                                             1.      God through miracles and displays of power brought Israel out of the bondage of Egypt.  He provided for them in the wilderness of Sinai, and His presence was before them on Mount Sinai.  There the seventy elders of Israel were told to wait with Aaron and Hur until Moses returned from the mountain (Ex. 24:12-17).

                                                             2.      Yet when Moses had been gone on the mountain for forty days to receive the two tablets of the testimony (Ex. 24:18), the people became impatient.  They said to Aaron, “Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him” (Ex. 32:1).

                                                             3.      Because the people of Israel would not wait for Moses, they forsook God and worshipped the golden calf (Ex. 32:2-6).  Because of their impatience, they were nearly destroyed by God (Ex. 32:7-14).

D.      The irony for those who mock the promises of God is that God’s patience with them provokes their impatience with Him.  They foolishly regard the patience of God as an evil thing rather than the very good thing that it is.

II.      GOD’S PATIENCE IS OUR SALVATION

A.      Peter explained that time is irrelevant to the Lord.

                                                             1.      In 2Peter 3:8, Peter stated that “with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”  Time has no effect upon God because He is not subject to it.  He is eternal, without beginning or end.

                                                             2.      This means to us that God’s promises are not affected by a span of time from the giving of the promise until the promise is fulfilled.

a.       God is not less faithful if man has to wait a longer period of time to receive the fulfillment of His promise.

b.       Also, it should not be assumed that God has changed His mind simply because man has to wait for the fulfillment His promise.

c.        Consider Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob, who all “died in faith without receiving the promises” (Heb. 11:13).  The fact that their lifetimes did not last to see the promises fulfilled did not nullify God’s faithfulness.

B.      Although time has no effect on the Lord, it is extremely important to man.

                                                             1.      Time is opportunity.  The Lord told His disciples, “We must work the works of Him who sent Me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work” (John 9:4).  We have opportunity only while we have time, and time will come to an end for everyone.

                                                             2.      The time that a person has on earth will determine his eternal destination.  God will reward us if we use our time wisely in His service, but He will condemn us if we spend our time in the pursuit of selfish, worldly, and evil endeavors.  Paul wrote, “Therefore, be careful how you walk, not as unwise men, but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Eph. 5:15-16).

                                                             3.      The time we have is because of God’s good will toward man (2Pet. 3:9).

a.       All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), and the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23a).  This is the dreary truth of our existence.

b.       However, God does not want any of us to perish.  Therefore, He gives all of us time and opportunity to repent and obtain His free gift through Christ (Rom. 6:23b) before Christ returns.

                                                             4.      Truly, the time that we have on earth is reflective of the patience that God has with us.  When we consider the sin and rebellion of men against God from the beginning of the world, it is a testimony to the longsuffering of God that we still are allowed to exist.

C.      Peter declared that the proper perspective for man regarding this time of waiting for the Lord’s coming is this: “Regard the patience of our Lord to be salvation” (2Pet. 3:15).

                                                             1.      Paul wrote, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” (Rom. 2:4)

                                                             2.      Paul knew this truth personally, for his conversion was an example of Christ’s perfect patience that leads to salvation (1Tim. 1:12-16).

                                                             3.      Without God’s kindness, tolerance, and patience, we would never have the opportunity to repent and be saved.  Therefore, the patience of our Lord is salvation for us.

D.      Yet, many do not regard time and God’s patience as an opportunity or a blessing, but instead consider it an inconvenience that they are unwilling to endure.

                                                             1.      Following the verse cited above, Paul wrote, “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Rom. 2:5).

                                                             2.      Rather than seizing the opportunity for repentance, many further provoke God by rejecting His merciful offer of grace through Christ, mocking the promise of His coming.

III.   “THEY WHO WAIT FOR THE LORD”

A.      Patience requires that we wait for something or someone.  Waiting is not something that most people do well.  We prefer “instant gratification”.  We would rather have our desires now.

B.      In Isaiah 40:31, the prophet wrote, “They who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

                                                             1.      When Isaiah wrote this, he was living in a time of crisis.  Judah was threatened by Assyria, and Isaiah could see by inspiration the coming threat of Babylon.

                                                             2.      Yet Isaiah preached patience to the Jews.  He told them to trust God, and they would be delivered.  The impatient thing to do would have been for Judah to make alliances with Egypt and other nations to protect themselves.  Isaiah pleaded with them to wait on the Lord instead and place their faith in His ability to save them.

C.      To “wait for the Lord” is more than just standing by idly until the Lord does something.  It is to continue to work for the Lord in anticipation of the reward.

                                                             1.      “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1Cor. 15:58)  We know our labor is not in vain because we trust and anticipate that God will keep His promise to reward those who wait for Him.

                                                             2.      Paul noted three steps in the course of a Christian’s conversion as exemplified in the Christians at Thessalonica: (1) Turn to God; (2) Serve a living and true God; (3) Wait for His Son from heaven whom He raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. (1Thess. 1:9-10)  Notice again the element of anticipation in this third step.  A Christian is to wait for the Lord and eagerly anticipate His coming.

                                                             3.      Unfortunately, what happens many times is that people turn to God and serve Him for a time, but waiting for the reward becomes too much for their patience.  Things of the world that offer immediate gratification draw them away from the Lord, and they go astray.

D.      Waiting for the Lord requires faith.  It requires one to allow other things to pass by while looking ahead to eternity.  Waiting for a lifetime may seem like a burden until you weigh it against being with the Lord for eternity.  “Be patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the Lord.  Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it until it receives the early and the late rain.  You also be patient.  Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.” (Jas. 5:7-8)