If you would, the 2 Peter 3,
2 Peter 3, the name of the message is the longsuffering of the Lord
toward us. The longsuffering of the Lord
toward us. Last week we looked at this verse
in light of 2 Peter 1. But now let's read this verse,
and we'll consider this verse today. 2 Peter 3, verse 9. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promises. Some men count slackness, but
as longsuffering to us word, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3, 9. Now we know from
last week's study that Peter's been writing again to God's suffering
saints. And we see here before us that
God is not willing that any of his people should perish, that
none of his sheep for whom he died for will perish, none of
them. They will not die in their sins,
but they will all come to repentance. They all believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. And again, Peter's addressing
suffering saints. Now in this portion, he's addressing
suffering saints, we'll see about the second coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ in the event that all Christians wait for Believers
in the past waited for this and future believers will wait for
this as long as the Lord tarries and until his return. This event
is prophesied in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Let's
look at what the apostle calls it here in verse 10. Look at
2 Peter 3, verse 10. But the day of the Lord, this
is the second coming of Christ, will come as a thief in the night.
in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the
elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up. So here it's called
the second coming of Christ is called the day of the Lord. the
day of the Lord. So we know we tie that in with
second Peter three, nine, that that Peter is bringing forth
that the Lord does not want any of his people to perish and they
will not perish, that they all come to repentance. And then
the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. And
note again, it's called the day of the Lord, the day of God.
Look at verse 12, looking for and hastening unto the coming
of the day of God, where in the heavens being on fire shall be
dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Same
day, now it's called the day of God. Well, the Lord is God,
so we understand from verse 10, verse 12 is speaking of the same
event. Now turn, if you would, to Philippians
chapter one, Philippians chapter one, where we see it called the day
of Christ. Philippians chapter one verses
Verse 10, verse 10. That she may approve things that
are excellent, that she may be sincere without offense till
the day of Christ. Here we see the second coming
of Christ called the day of Christ. And then over in chapter two
in verse 16, it says, holding forth the word of life, that
I may rejoice in the day of Christ, again, that I have not run in
vain, nor labored in vain. And then over in 2 Thessalonians
2, I'll read this one, verse 2 of chapter 2, it says that
ye be not soon shaken in mind, nor be troubled neither by spirit,
nor by word, nor by letter from us, as that the day of Christ
is at hand. So again, speaking of the second
coming of Christ. Now think upon this, these identifying
names for that day declare the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Have you ever thought of that too? Just in the fact that it's
called the day of Christ, the day of God, and the day of the
Lord? What does it do? It identifies that our King,
our Savior, is God. He's God. His deity is therefore
identified right here before us. Now let's go back to 2 Peter
chapter 3, and now let's look at verse 3. It says, And note here that Peter warns
believers that there will be scoffers about this great day.
And we know that there's been scoffers from the beginning.
There's been scoffers from the beginning. And there's scoffers
in our day. Remember in Noah's day there
were scoffers in his day. There's always been scoffers. People who say, what do you do
and believe in that stuff? What do you do and believe in?
that Christ was God, because he is God. He is. Look at verse
three, knowing this first, that there shall come in the last
day scoffers walking after their own loss. And then look at verse
four and saying, where is the promise of his coming? They say,
well, where is he? You've been telling us for years he's going
to come. Where is he? Where is he? That's what scoffers
do. I used to be one of them. Praise
God, he saved me by his grace and revealed himself to me, and
now I await my Lord's return. I wait for him. And I'm either
going to see him when he comes, if I'm alive at that time, or
I'm going to see him the day I breathe my last breath and
I'll be with him. But I'm going to see him. And so are you, if
you're one of his people. So are you. Where's the promise
of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.
Peter then gives a threefold response regarding the scoffers,
that we can also use today, even today, because we have scoffers
in our day. We've seen them, we've talked
to them, right? Now first, time is not consequential to Jehovah.
Look at verse eight. But beloved, be not ignorant
of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand
years, and a thousand years is one day. So people say, well,
where is he? He's, you know, since the beginning
of creation, Time is not consequential to
our king. Not at all. Remember where he dwells. Remember
where our God dwells. He dwells in eternity. He dwells
outside of time and space, beloved. So one day to him is like a thousand,
or a thousand years to him is like one day. And the Old Testament
proclaims this. It says this in Psalm 90, verse
four, for a thousand years in thy sight are as but yesterday. Psalm 90, verse four. For one
day in the sight of God, or a thousand years, I'm sorry,
a thousand years in the sight of God are like yesterday for
you and I. When it is passed and is a watch
in the night, Jehovah 57, or Isaiah, boy, I am all over the
board today, I apologize. Isaiah chapter 57 verse 15 speaks
of Jehovah, the high and lawfully one who inhabits eternity. Remember
again, he's outside of time and space. Beloved, he's not constrained
like we are by time and space. And so this is why one day to
him is a thousand years is like one day to him. He's not constrained
like we are. Look at this in Isaiah 57 15.
For this, say it, the high and lawfully one, the one that that
inhabited eternity whose name is holy. I dwell in the high
and holy place with him also that is of a contrite and humble
spirit to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the
heart of the contrite ones. Now look what Isaiah 57, 15 proclaims. It proclaims that our Lord inhabits
eternity. Eternity. So again, he's not
constrained like we are by time. He made time. He made time and
space. He's not constrained by it. He's
the creator of it. So the second response we can
give to Scoffers, let's go back to 2 Peter 3.9, is the fact that
Jehovah always keeps his word. He always keeps his word, no
matter what. So he's not constrained. Time
is not consequential to Jehovah. And the other thing is, is that
our Lord always keeps his word, always. Look at verse 9 of 2
Peter 3. The Lord is not slack concerning
this promise, as some men count slackness. So he's not like some
men who say, well, I'm going to do this, but don't ever do
it. No. When our Lord promises to do
something, it shall come to pass. It shall. It shall. But his long-suffering
to us word. Now look at that. Again, to the
S word, to God's people, to his elect. Remember, we're born dead
in trespasses and sins, aren't we? With no ability to save ourselves. Look at that, not willing that
any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Again,
note the words, the Lord is not slack concerning his promises,
some count slackness. Scoffers mock Noah's prophecy
of coming judgment against them. They said, oh, it's not going
to come, but what happened? It came at the appointed time,
didn't it? Much to their surprise. It came. And that wrath fell
upon them. That wrath fell upon them. Scoffers mocked the prophets
and prophecies of coming judgment against them. And what happened
to them? That judgment fell upon them.
Let him make speed and hasten his work that we may see it.
And let the counsel of the Holy One draw nigh and come, that
we may know it. They have belied the Lord and
said, is it not He? Neither shall evil come upon
us, neither shall we see sword nor famine. Jeremiah 5.2 and
Isaiah 5.19. So they say, nothing's going
to happen to us. We're fine. And then what happens? Sudden
destruction comes upon them, doesn't it? whether it be they
breathe their last breath or whether they're alive when the
Lord comes. Oh my. They'd be crying then
for the mountains to fall upon them. And scoffers, even though scoffers
mocked, the judgment still came, and they came at the appointed
time. Know that the Lord has an appointed time for his return.
None of us know it. No one knows it. Someone says
they know it, they're lying. No one knows it but God. No one. You can be as sure as the sun
rising if the Lord wills tomorrow, that if someone says the world's
going to end on a certain day, the sun's going to rise. It's
not going to happen on that day. You can be sure of that. I remember
Brother Milton Howard bringing that up one time with, we was
talking, him and I, and a couple other preachers, and he said,
yeah, whenever you hear someone, he goes, whenever I hear someone
say, oh, this is the day, I know that's not the day. That's not
the day, beloved. Not at all. Oh, my. And note in verse nine, we see
the vital reason why Christ has not yet returned. We see it right
here. Look at this. The Lord is not slack concerning
this promise, as some count slackness, but as longsuffering to usward,
not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And again, the long suffering
towards his people, the us word, our God's elect, those who adhere to a universal
or freewill scheme of salvation, that being those who are called
Pelagians and Armenians, speak of something that Peter never
spoke of. He never spoke of this. But they
take this verse and they say these things that Christ died
for every member of humanity. This is one of the verses that
they use to say that. Oh, he's not willing that anybody
should perish. So they therefore teach that
this verse declares again that God's not willing that any member
of mankind should perish and that he wills all members of
mankind that they should come to repentance and be saved. And
then they teach that every member of mankind is capable of coming
to salvation of his own free will. Well, we already know what
the scripture says about our will, don't we? We're dead in
trespasses and sins, and our will is governed by our nature.
So if our nature's dead, then our will is governed by a dead
nature. We're always sin. We're always sin. And they teach that God has long
suffered every member of mankind universally in the hope that
by their free will, they'll come to him. They'll permit him to save them. and they believe that he is helpless
to do so unless they let him. That is not the God of the Bible,
beloved. We know that from our studies,
don't we? That is not the God of the Bible. And this is a grievous error.
It's a damnable heresy. And we know that from our studies
in Peter, that Peter's writing in 1 Peter, that Peter's writing
to God-suffering saints, and he continues here to write to
God-suffering saints. Note how Peter clearly distinguishes
us from them in the fact that he identifies them as scoffers
walking according to their own lusts in verse 3, and ungodly
men in verse 7. And those who will be destroyed
in the day of the Lord, in verse 10, there's a separation between
them and the us-worth. And let us remember that them,
in the greater context, includes false teachers and many who will
follow the destructive ways. Look over in chapter 2, verses
1 and 2, It says here, but there were
false prophets who among also among the people and there is
today, even as there shall be false teachers among you who
privately shall bring in damnable heresies. Just make a decision. It's all
up to you. That's not what the scripture
says, is it? The scripture says God saves whom he wills when
he wills whenever whenever he wills. It's it's it's God that
does the saving salvations of the Lord, even denying the Lord
that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
And many shall follow their pernicious ways by reason of whom the way
of truth shall be evil spoken of. They speak evil when we say
salvations of the Lord plus nothing. You know what they say? because
I was one of them. They say what I said when somebody
presented an election to me and I said, I don't believe that. That's crazy. That's truth. Salvation is of the Lord, beloved. If you're not saved by the Lord
and only by the Lord, you're not saved at all. Salvation's
of the Lord. He is the one who does the saving.
It's not a decision we made. It's not an aisle we walked.
It's not getting baptized. It's not joining the church.
Salvation's of the Lord. It's His doing. You must be born
again. You must be. It's a work of God, beloved.
Remember last week we looked again at how Peter identifies
who the us are in verse, in the first part of this epistle as
God's people. Turn if you would to chapter
one, let's read that again and look at whom Peter addresses.
Who are the us word again? Look at this, 2 Peter 1.1. Simon Peter, a servant and an
apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious
faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ. Who are the ones who have obtained
like precious faith? Those who are born again of the
Holy Spirit of God. Those who are trusted and rested
in Christ and Christ alone. Remember what we looked at last
week, too, in Sunday morning. You must be born again. That's
the words of the Master. You must be born again. You must be. So those to whom this
letter is addressed are described as being recipients of God's
grace and peace and knowledge. and partakers of the divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in this world through
lust. Let's look at verses 2 and 4 in light of that. Grace and
peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God
and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given
unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through
the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue,
whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises but
that by these ye might be partakers of divine nature, having escaped
the corruption that is in the world through lust." So those
spoken of in 2 Peter 3.9, that God's not willing
that any of them should perish, they are the object of God's
call and election. They're His people. Look at verse
10 of chapter 1. And then look at verse 12. I will not be negligent to put
you always in remembrance of these things, though you know
them and be established in the present truth." God's people
are established in the present truth. We believe what the Scriptures
say. We believe what they say. Let's
go back to chapter 3 again. They are characterized by holy
conduct, beloved, and godliness. They look for the hastening and
coming of the day of God. They look for the new heavens
and the new earth, wherein dwells righteousness. Look at verses
11 to 13. Seeing then that all these things
should be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in
all holy conversation and godliness? looking for the hastening and
coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens, being on fire, shall
be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
Nevertheless, we, according to the promise, look for new heavens
and a new earth, wherein dwells righteousness. So Peter, in the
immediate context of this chapter, addresses all such persons as
beloved. Look at verses 1, 8, 14, and 17. They're also called beloved,
beloved. And they are exhorted to beware
lest you fall from your own steadfastness and grow in the grace and knowledge
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in verse 17. And unless
these qualifications apply to us, you are not included in the
us. To whom the Lord is here long
suffering, long suffering. As someone said, If these qualifications
are not for us, then you're reading someone else's mail. Because
this is a letter to God's people, isn't it? This is an epistle
to God's people. It's written to God's elect.
It's written to his elect. Now what is the long-suffering
cited here? Look at verse nine. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promises. Some man counts slackness, but
is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. Note here again, Peter speaks
of the long-suffering of the Lord, our great God and King. Here
we read the long-suffering of the Lord, and the Lord is Jehovah,
the God of His covenant people. And the long-suffering of God
is patient. He endures the fact that His
people are born dead in trespasses and sins. He's not willing that
any of them should perish, and He will bring them to Christ. They will be born again. God
is indeed long-suffering to every sinner, those who are His people. And He's even long-suffering,
think of this, to those who despise the riches of His goodness. He has endured, think of this,
he has endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared
for destruction that he might make known. Now think of this
too. These scoffers and these other
folks are, they're vessels of wrath, right? And we were just
like them before we were born again. He has endured with much
longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. Why? That he might make known
the riches of his glory. on the vessels of mercy which
he had prepared beforehand for his glory. For his glory. So he's long-suffering with the
vessels of wrath that his mercy might be poured out upon the
vessels of mercy. And you can bring that home,
beloved. You can bring that home right in your own life. How long-suffering
was God with you before he saved you? When we were dead in trespasses
and sins, when if not by our actions, by our thoughts, we
were shaking our fist at God. How longsuffering. Aren't you
glad He was longsuffering to you? I am. Oh, I am. Oh, I'm
thankful He didn't let me perish in my sins. And I did not know
I was one of his sheep, and you did not know you were one of
his sheep. But we know, looking back on our lives, he preserved
us, didn't he? He kept us. I think every one of us, I know
I can look two or three times back to places where I should
have died. I think I should have been dead. The Lord preserves his people.
He keeps his people, beloved. He's long-suffering to them. Peter here specifically speaks
of the Lord's long-suffering to his people, though, as distinct
from the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction. And he teaches us to consider
that the long-suffering of our Lord is the salvation. Look at verse 15, an account
that the long-suffering of the Lord is salvation. Even as our
beloved brother Paul, also according to the wisdom given unto him,
hath written unto you." Peter here cites an example with the
divine longsuffering, waited in the days of Noah while the
ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is eight souls, were
saved through water. Look at verse 20, which sometime
were disobedient. When once the long-suffering
of God waited in days of Noah, while the ark was a-preparing,
wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water." Think of
that. God could have just wiped them all out, but no. No. No. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. He couldn't perish. Remember,
that ark was a picture of Christ. That ark was a picture of Christ.
And God endured the mocking provokers, because he would not destroy
the world until the ark was finished and all the objects of his salvation
were safe therein. It's wonderful, beloved. God
will not destroy this world until all his people are saved. And
when they are, when that last sheep is saved, then sudden destruction
will come. And the destruction came upon
the provokers, what, as a thief in the night? They weren't even
expecting it, were they? When that rain started falling,
they didn't believe it was gonna happen. Peter also cites the salvation
of Lot over in 2 Peter, here in chapter 2, verse 6, look at
that. Look at verses 6 to 9, chapter 2, verses 6 to 9. When
God destroyed wicked Sodom, And turning the cities of Sodom
and Gomorrah into ashes, he condemned them with an overthrow, making
an example unto those that after should live ungodly. And delivered
just Lot, vexed with filthy conversation of the wicked. For that righteous
man dwelling among them, and seeing and hearing, vexed his
righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds. The
Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and
to preserve the unjust into the day of judgment to be punished.
Here again we see the long-suffering of the Lord. The long-suffering
of the Lord. He didn't destroy Sodom until
Lot was out of there. And then the wrath of God fell
upon Sodom and Gomorrah. The divine long-suffering of
God. Again, as soon as Lot was out
of Sodom and in his city of refuge, the divine destruction came upon
the Sodomite provokers like a thief in the night. They didn't even
expect it. And the same will be true in
the last day. People will scoff, but sudden
destruction will come upon them. The Lord will not destroy this
world with fire until every one of his elect are in Christ, the
ark of safety, the city of refuge. Look at 2 Peter 3.10 again. And I'll read 1 Thessalonians
5, which says, For yourselves know perfectly that the day of
the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. Look at this in
2 Peter 3.10. But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night. No one will expect it. No one
will expect it. People are scoffing right now,
just like they didn't know it was time, aren't they? And they
say the same thing as they said to the saints, well, where's
the Lord? When's He coming? He's coming. Sure as that sun's
gonna rise, if the Lord wills tomorrow, He's coming. He's coming. In which the heavens shall pass
away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat, and the earth also, and the works that are therein
shall be burned up. Now let us consider why the Lord
is long-suffering. quickly to his people. Peter
cites here a two-fold reason. The Lord is not willing that
any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Look
at verse 9 again. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promises. Some men count slackness, but
is long-suffering to us who are not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. Now false religions proclaim
that God does not desire that any one of mankind should perish. That's what they say. They say,
oh, God desires everyone to be saved. Well, if God desired that,
everyone would be saved. That's the bottom line. That's the bottom line. So who's
sovereign in that situation that they present? God or man? Well, man is. But no, the God
of the Bible is absolutely sovereign and he saves whom he wills, when
he wills. And we who are the recipients
of that grace just marvel in the fact that we are even the
recipients of that grace, don't we? It's incredible. So they
prove themselves untaught and unstable. They twist the scripture
to their own destruction. Look at 2 Peter 3.16. It's also
in all his epistles speaking in them of these things. in which
something's hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned
in unstable rest, as they do also the scriptures unto their
own destruction. Salvations of the Lord, period. So the reason the Lord's Second
coming is deferred is the long suffering of God towards his
elect who are named in verse nine as us were us were. He is unwilling that any one
of them should perish. Why? Because he purchased every
single one of them with his own precious blood on Calvary's cross.
And he will not. What did he tell us in John?
He says, I'll not lose one of them. Not one, not one. This is comforting for God's
people. And take note here how sweetly
the Apostle turns from scoffers in answering them in order to
comfort the faithful by bringing Christ before them and His second
coming before them in this passage here. And think also that the
comparative statement of a thousand years being as one day in the
Lord unto the Lord is chosen to manifest to his people that
in relation to his being, his existence, he who habits eternity
in light of who he is, all calculations of time lose their very meaning. In the name he gave Moses at
the burning bush, I am, which is the Lord's distinguishing
name. It renders past, present, and future to him and him alone.
Brother John often says, I follow I am, I like that. I follow the
great I am, and people ask him. That's a good thing to say to
people. We worship the great I am, the one who inhabits eternity,
the one who ever was and is and shall be for eternity, the king,
the sovereign God. Therefore, let us always remember
that he who guides us and directs us is the eternal one. And let
us consider the unchangeableness of his purpose, his counsel,
his will, his pleasure. What he says shall come to pass.
No matter what man says, it shall come to pass. No one will thwart
it. Now think of that in light of
the verse here. Not one of God's people will be lost, not one. Think of that, if you are one
of his blood, I'll never be lost. because I'm in His hands. What
comfort that would give God's suffering saints as they're being
hammered for their faith by all different sides. What comfort
for us. My eternal soul is in the hands
of the Eternal One. And he will never lose here,
not let me hear not here, not lose one of his people. And then
what does he say in John? No one will pluck him out of
his hand. God's people are safe in the
hands of the everlasting one, the great I am, the great I am. That's where we are. We're safe
in him. And God will save His people,
here save His sheep, His lost sheep, in His time. And He'll
return, beloved, in His time. In His time. He's God. And we can be sure of His return
as the sun rises. We can be sure of that. If God
wills the sun to rise, it'll rise. And we can be sure of His
return because He's God. And we can live among the scoffers
of this world knowing that our great God is coming. He's coming. He's going to return. And what
rests in assurance, the people of God have in Christ Jesus our
Lord. His second coming will be sudden.
And we who are His blood-bought people know it is sure. On that
great day or night, depending on which side of the earth you
live on, The second coming of Christ will
be unlooked for and unexpected by the world, and it will come
upon them as a thief in the night, just as Peter wrote. But praise
God, we're in Christ. We're in him. We're in his hands.
And Peter here declares the long-suffering of the Lord to his people is
because he's not willing that any of them should perish, but
that all should come to repentance. My, this council shall stand
and He'll do whatever He pleases. And no one will change that.
No one will change that. But rest assured that if we're
alive in that day, oh, what a great day that'll be. But rest assured,
too, the day we breathe our last breath, we'll see Him face to
face. What a great day that'll be.
Either way. Oh, my beloved. Heavenly Father,
we thank Thee for Your goodness and mercy and grace towards us
in Christ Jesus our Lord. Pray that You'd be glorified
and magnified the preaching of your word. Oh, and that you'd
be with us for the rest of the service and be with us as we
fellowship with lunch. And we love you. We thank you
that you've saved us and called us and redeemed us. So we pray you'd be glorified
and magnified in the morning message. In Jesus' name, amen.