Our God Is A Patient God Series

Our God is a Patient God

II Peter 3:1-9

I. He Patiently Stirs Us With His Word (v. 1-2)

A. His Word Stirs a New Devotion

“Behold, I long for Your precepts; Revive me in Your righteousness.” – Psalm 119:40

1. A new devotion to our commitment to Christ

2. A new devotion to the church

3. A new devotion to our service

B. His Word Stirs a Deep Longing

1. A longing for His return

2. A longing for eternity

“For to me to live is Christ, but to die is gain.” – Phil 1:21

C. His Word Stirs a Greater Urgency

1. An urgency to worship faithfully

“..not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” – Hebrews 10:25

2. An urgency to pray regularly

“Pray without ceasing.” – I Thes. 5:17

3. An urgency to witness unashamedly

II. He Patiently Abides With the Ungodly (v. 3-7)

“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.” – II Cor. 4:3-4

A. The ungodly laugh due to their condition (v. 3)

1. They are blinded by their condition

2. They are misguided by their “theology”

“..for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation…” – v. 4b

B. The ungodly laugh due to their ignorance (v. 4-6)

1. They are biblically ignorant

2. They are willfully ignorant

C. The ungodly laugh in spite of their fate

1. They will endure God’s trial

2. They will endure God’s judgment

III. He Patiently Deals With Our Forgetting (v. 8)

“For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night” – Psalm 90:4

A. Our forgetting that He is in control

B. Our forgetting that He is on the throne

C. Our forgetting that He is not contained

IV. He Patiently Waits Out of Grace

A. His Return is Certain (v. 9a)

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise…” – v. 9a

1. His return is imminent

“:..Behold I stand at the door and knock..” – Rev. 3:20

2. His return will be quick

a. as a thief in the night

b. as lightning across the sky

c. in the twinkling of an eye

3. His return will be final

B. His return is delayed by His grace

“…but is longsuffering toward us (you)…” – v. 9b

1. He showed grace in the Garden of Eden

2. He showed grace in the days of Noah

3. He showed grace in send His Son

C. His return may be delayed for you

“….not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” – v. 9c