The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance.The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
7 sermons cite this verse
… And there are people in this room that think they've done too much. But I want to introduce you to 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9. It said the Lord isn't really being slow about his promise. As some people think. No. He is being patient for your sake. He does not want anybody to be destroyed. He does not want anybody to be whited out. He does not want it. But he wants everyone to repent. He wants us to turn. so disobedience disqualifies you from your mark but repentance remarks you I want to pray for everybody in this room but I need you to come to grips with where you're at if there's an area of your life that you know that looks like the characteristics of Saul I want you to stand to your feet right now. I want you to pray if you've been moving in pride You've been doing partial obedience. This is not for everybody. If you're watching online You don't got to stand up because of guilt, but there's some people in here that really need prayer right now Why don't you lift your hands all over this building father? Here we are father. We know we're marked by you But father, it's a fine line between david and saul Father, it's the same anointing. It's the same mantle It's the same calling but it's about how we steward what you have given us. …
… Now, one last thing before we dismiss, and it's this. 2 Peter 3, 9 says, God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Beloved, if you are headed to hell today, you are out of the will of God, because he's not willing that any should perish. He does not want you to die in your sins. And that's why Jesus died for you on the cross. But you can't very well walk with Christ if you haven't first received him. So today the invitation is to receive Christ Jesus as your Savior and Lord, to repent from your sins, to turn to him in faith, and to invite him to come into your heart and watch him heal you and begin to change you as you walk with him. Let's pray together. Bowing our heads, closing our eyes. All of us just take in a moment to consider where we're at with God. Perhaps for each of us, there's a different area where we need to get that G back on. …
… forget this one thing that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, a thousand years is as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise as some count slackness. I'm not tarrying the way you think that I'm tarrying, but it is long. He is long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. We can't lose sight of the realities that God is always working. He will often use unexpected means to accomplish his purposes. We also have to just accept that his timetable ain't mine and ain't yours. He's working on his own time, but you have to, in that moment, trust that there's something better that will happen. one of my favorite examples of God using unexpected means it's in Acts chapter 2 and also this is Peter's speech on Pentecost but he says this Jesus delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men God raised him up loosing the pains of death because it was not possible for him to be held by it the ultimate unexpected move of God is Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. Unexpected. Because the Messiah, that is not the Messiah that the Jews expected in that day. He did not fit their template for what the Messiah was going to do. He didn't do what they thought he was going to do. He did something far better, far more unexpected, salvation. Because we are not God, we do not …
… worship him in spirit and in truth luke chapter 19 verse 10 says you just came to seek and to save those who are lost second peter chapter 3 verse 9 says god desires that all would come to repentance, that none would perish. So we've got a God that we're worshiping in this room this morning who is longing to see people come to know his grace and his salvation, who has a zeal for people to come to know his grace and salvation that is greater than all of our zeal in this room combined. And I believe the Bible is teaching us in worship, if we will exalt his character and exalt his voice, then we can trust him to do the seeking after people. And if we exalt what he wants us to exalt, then he knows a lot better than we do how to reach people in 21st century culture. So let's take him at his word. Let's exalt his greatness, expose his voice, and let him do the seeking. And then guess what? He'll get the glory for what happens and not the seeker-sensitive worship service. I want to show you this in scripture. Let me show you this. I want you to turn to the right and look in 1 Corinthians chapter 14. This is such a great passage. This is in the middle of some of the disputes that were going on with the church at Corinth about prophecy and tongues. Keep in mind, prophecy, we've talked about it. Prophecy is …
… the Bible tells us. Remember that with the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3, verses 8 and 9. God in his patience makes space for us to turn back to him in faith before it's too late and so the Bible says in another place in James chapter 5 be patient therefore brothers and sisters until the coming of the Lord you see the farmer how he waits for the precious fruits of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the autumn and the spring rains. So also you be patient, stand firm, because the coming of the Lord is at hand. And James continues, Don't grumble against each other, brothers and sisters, so that you will not be judged. Look, the judge is standing at the door. …
… That's God's patience with evil. 2 Peter 3, 9, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness. But he's longsuffering toward us. Look at him, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Why doesn't God just come right now? Will you now restore the kingdom? Will you now root out the evil? Will you now deal with it? Because he knows there's still some more people he wants to reach. And the gospel of the kingdom's got to be preached to the ends of the earth. And then, and not sooner than that, will the end come. And if we get that, if we're a part of that program, our heart beats for that to be extended, while, of course, simultaneously grieving for the atrocities and the evil that are still in his kingdom, side by side with all the good. And also think about this. And I watched. I watched after the question was asked. And I prayerfully said the best thing I could, which for me, in the moment when the question was asked, was God, did God allow me to get raped? …
… Now listen to me. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Why has this world not yet suffered a baptism of fire and judgment? Because God's waiting for somebody in this building to be saved. God wants you saved. The Lord doesn't want you to perish. Did you know why Methuselah lived to be 969 years? Because God said when Methuselah dies, the flood will come. I can show you from the Word of God that the flood came exactly the day that Methuselah died. And the reason that Methuselah died was not that he had good genes, but that God had great mercy. God kept letting him live. God kept letting him live because God did not want anybody to die and perish in that flood. So God kept giving one more opportunity and one more chance. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise. …