1

Wednesday, March 11, 2020 – First Baptist Church Buda

Midweek Prayer Meeting & Bible Study

WHY DOESN’T CHRIST RETURN?

2 Peter 3:8-9
8
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a
thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness,
but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to
repentance. – 2 Peter 3:8-9 (NKJV)

DAILY HEADLINES
Coronavirus Outbreak and African Locust Plague Spark “Biblical Apocalypse” Fears
Febrary 14, 2020 / The Daily Experss / Callum Hoare

OPINION (Express) – The end of the World is upon us, as Coronavirus, an apocalyptic locust plague
and the conflict between Iran and the US fulfill the prophecy for Jesus’ Second Coming, according to
some claims among Biblical scholars. The deadly disease has now claimed the lives of more than
1,300 people in China and is threatening to become a global pandemic, while the conflict in Iran and
the African locust invasion have the Middle East on high alert. But, Biblical scholar Melvin Sandelin,
has urged viewers on his “Christian Life” YouTube channel not to fear, claiming it is just part of the
process for the return of Jesus Christ. Mr. Sandellin wildly suggested coronavirus is “just one of the
examples” that the End Times prophecy is “being fulfilled” and he is not alone in his thinking. He
said last week: “We know that the end results of the Bible prophecies are that the world is going to
come to an end when Jesus comes back. “As we see these signs increase, we know that we are getting
closer to that moment. “But notice that one of the signs that Jesus gives us for the end of the world is
in Matthew 23, verse six and seven.” The Gospel passage reads: “And you will hear of wars and
rumors of wars.
 2
DAILY HEADLINES
Christian Pastor Claims Coronavirus is God’s ‘Death Angel,’ Blames Parents ‘Transgendering
Little Children’ - January 28, 2020 / Newsweek / Jason Lemon
Pastor Rick Wiles claimed that the coronavirus is God's "death angel" on his Monday evening
program, blaming parents "transgendering little children" and "the filth on our TVs and our movies"
for what he views as divine judgment. Wiles is the senior pastor at the non-denominational Flowing
Streams Church in Florida as well as the creator of the TruNews streaming channel. He has previously
called former President Barack Obama a "demon from Hell" and warned in October that "there's
gonna be violence" if President Donald Trump is removed from office. His latest comments about the
deadly coronavirus were first reported by Right Wing Watch.

The Christian pastor described China as having a "godless communist government," and claimed that
"plagues are one of the last steps of judgment." But he also had a warning for Americans. "Look at the
spiritual rebellion that is in this country, the hatred of God, the hatred of the Bible, the hatred of
righteousness," he said. "Just vile, disgusting people in this country now, transgendering little children,
perverting them. Look at the rapes, and the sexual immorality, and the filth on our TVs and our
movies." "Folks, the Death Angel may be moving right now across the planet," Wiles continued. "This
is the time to get right with God."

The coronavirus originated in China, where the government has fully or partially locked down
multiple cities, directly impacting tens of millions of people. Meanwhile, the virus has spread to more
than a dozen countries. China's death toll has risen to at least 106, with more than 4,500 cases of the
virus reported thus far. Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak occurred, is still hosting citizens
of the U.S., the United Kingdom, South Korea, France and other countries, which are working to
develop an evacuation plan. Five people have been confirmed to have the virus in the United States.
All of those individuals had recently returned from Wuhan, meaning the infection is not yet known to
have spread within the country. "At this point, Americans should not worry for their own safety," Alex
Azar, health and human services secretary, told reporters gathered for a Tuesday press briefing.
Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has expanded health screenings for
the virus to 20 airports across the country. These include San Francisco International Airport, John F.
Kennedy International Airport in New York, Los Angeles International Airport, Chicago O'Hare
International Airport and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta

“4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come
in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. 6 And you will hear of wars and rumors
of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
7
For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines
(Coronavirus), pestilences (African Locust Plague), and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are
the beginning of sorrows.” – Matthew 24:4-8

A HEALTHY AND BALANCED CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

Christians need a calm and reassured perspective given the day’s headlines. How do we respond to
scare-tactics and over sensationalized headlines. We aren’t to respond like the rest of the world how
have not hope. Rather Jesus said that we are to be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Mt.
10:16). We are to have “knee-jerk” reactions to very natural disaster, and catastrophe, and media-
hyped world event of our day. Christians/believes, must be better than that and speak hope, and peace,
and discernment, and salvation into the chaos and despair of our world.

When you listen to the news and see the tensions and troubles in today’s world, keep in mind the
warnings that the Lord gave.
 3

Pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Ministries says, “In some ways the viral fear can be worse than the virus
itself. There seems to be a lot of fear in America right now. Especially in light of COVID-19. Listen, the
promises of God are still true! God is bigger than the Conoravirus! I believe the Christians is
indestructible until God is done with them. Listen to the medical experts and take appropriate measures
(wash your hands, etc.) But we need to replace our fear with faith and pray for our nation, that God
would protect us. Philippians 4 reminds us, ‘Don’t worry about anything and pray about everything.”

5 Reminders of the Healthy/Balanced Christian Perspective for Today:

(1) Do not be deceived – “4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives
you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” People
will make grandiose claims, sensationalist reports, and over hyped prediction of gloom, despair
and agony. You have the Word of God to enlighten you (Isaiah 8:20) and the Holy Spirit to teach
you (John 16:13-15), so you should not go astray (1 John 2:18-29).
(2) Do not be discouraged – “6 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not
troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation will rise
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines (Coronavirus),
pestilences (African Locust Plague), and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the
beginning of sorrows.” Political and natural disturbances, the spread of disease and life impacting
world events have always been a part of world history, so do not allow them to discourage you,
and don’t overreact to them. They are “the beginning of sorrows” (v.8). The word “sorrows”
means “birth-pangs.” The world’s troubles are pregnant with possibilities! God is still on his
throne!
(3) Do not be defeated - Verse 13 says, “13 But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” This has
to do with faithfulness, steadfastness, standing firm and strong under the testing until the Lord
returns. Do not let the lawlessness around you rob you of your fervor (v.12) nor your peace and
hope. A lost world around you needs to hear the gospel, so get busy! We mustn’t be sitting around
ringing our hand. We have work to do!
(4) Do not be doubtful – Verse 4 reminds us, “4 And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed
that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will
deceive many.” Religious leaders will come and go, stand and fall; but the Word will not change.
Believe it, obey it, and hold to it… no matter what others may say or do. Your Bible is God’s light
in this dark world as Peter would tell us in 2 Peter 1:19-21, “19 And so we have the prophetic word
confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns
and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of
any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God
spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
(5) Do not be distracted – We “watch” when we stay alert and remind ourselves that our Lord may
come at any time. Interestingly, on down in verses 48-50 of Jesus end times talk He would say,
“48 But if that evil servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying [j]his coming,’ 49 and begins to
beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, 50 the master of that servant will
come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of.” When in
your heart you delay His coming (v.48)… that is actually evil and wrong, because you start lose
your effectiveness and witness, you stop doing the things you ought be doing as a believer and get
distracted by the world, and stop reaching others for Christ. Keep watching and working!
Remember, the time is short… we already now that!

Pastor, Brian Tome of Crossroads Church in Cincinnati, OH says, "Hundreds of times in the Bible,
God tells his people to not worry; to stop their fears; to be brave and courageous," Tome
said. "When everyone else is running for cover, we choose to follow God into the fire. Jesus told his
followers not to worry about tomorrow, but to focus their mental energy on the problems of today.
Do you currently have coronavirus? Probably not. Do you know anyone with coronavirus? Me
 4

neither. We’re following the command of Jesus and choosing not to engage in fear. Instead, we
choose to worship, to give time, attention, and gratitude back to God."

ON THE LIGHTER SIDE

An atheist farmer often ridiculed those who believe in God. He wrote a letter to the local newspaper in
which he scoffed, “I plowed on Sunday, planted on Sunday, cultivated on Sunday, and hauled in my
crops on Sunday; but I never went to church on Sunday. Yet I harvested more bushels per acre than
anyone else, even those who are God-fearing and never miss a service.”

The editor printed the man’s letter and then added this remark: “God doesn’t always settle His
accounts in October.” (Taken from “Our Daily Bread,” date unknown.)

Do you ever wonder why God delays judgment on this wicked world? Why doesn’t Christ return to
judge the world as He promised? But then you realize, “What if He had returned to judge the world
while I was still an unbeliever? I would have been lost!” And so while we join millions of believers
down through the centuries in praying, “Your kingdom come,” we have to be content to leave the
timing in God’s hands.

Synopsis of 2 Peter 3: (outline, rundown, summary, summation)

 Peter wrote this letter to churches where false teachers were scoffing at the promise of Christ’s
coming again to judge the world.
 Their theological error stemmed from their greedy, lustful lifestyles.
 Although they claimed to believe in Christ, they did not submit to Him as Lord.
 Their evil views were snaring some who professed to be Christians.
 So Peter wrote to refute their errors by showing that if Jesus Christ is returning to judge the living
and the dead, then you must live in submission to His lordship.
 Thus in chapter 3:1-7, Peter shows how God’s day of judgment is certain in spite of the mockery
of certain men.
8
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a
thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness,
but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to
repentance. – 2 Peter 3:8-9 (NKJV)

KEY THOUGHT: Christ’s return in judgment seems delayed because God has a different
perspective on time and because He patiently waits for all to come to repentance.

REASONS FOR THE DIVINE DELAY

In verses 8-9, Peter gives two truths to help explain why God seems to delay the return of Christ to
judge the world.

2 Biblical Truths Concering Divine Delays in Return of Christ:

1. Christ’s return seems delayed because God’s perspective on time is radically different than
our perspective (3:8) - “8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is
as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” Peter again addresses his readers as
“beloved” (see 3:1, 14, 17). Again, a reminder that He is addressing Christians here… giving us a
right perspective of this life and even world events and His soon pending return.
 As a gentle shepherd, He wants them to know that He cares for them.
 5

 He wants them not to miss this one fact which is of vital importance to their spiritual health.

Some key thoughts on why is it important for us to understand the difference between God
perspective of time and ours:
(1) If you do not understand this truth of how God’s perspective of time differs from our
perspective, you will not be able to endure trials well – Why? Because you will focus on the
trial at hand, rather than the reward that awaits you. Remember the trial of this life are
temporary, seasonal and short-lived in comparison to eternity.
(2) If you do not understand this truth of how God’s perspective of time differs from our
perspective, you will not understand why the wicked seem to prosper, while the godly
suffer – How? The wicked do really prosper. It may seem like so in this life, but remember
that life is but a vapor. If they only prosper in this life that is miserable. Remember Christians
win in the end, and ultimately prosper with Heaven as our inheritance.
(3) If you do not understand this truth of how God’s perspective of time differs from our
perspective, you will not live in light of the coming judgment – Why? You may take for
granted that you can live anyway you want to, doing whatever you want to, because He delays
is coming and you have lots of time to make things right.

Peter draws this truth from Moses’ profound Psalm 90, which grapples with the shortness of life
and the eternality of God. Look at this Psalm of Moses in Psalm 90:1-4,

“1Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2Before the mountains were brought
forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You
are God. 3You turn man to destruction, and say, ‘Return, O children of men.’ 4For a thousand
years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night.”

He goes on to compare our lives to grass that sprouts in the morning and withers by evening. Our
lives are short and feeble, but God is eternal!

Time greatly affects us, but it does not affect God.

Personal Illustration: Here is a picture of Nancy and 36 years ago. You can probably perceive a
few changes in our appearance! She’s still beautiful, but I don’t look anything like I did 36
years go. I am 40 pounds lighter there (I weighed 145 pounds then… nearly 80 lighter pre-
diabetic, before I started losing some weight). If we live another twenty years, you will see even
more changes, and they won’t be in our favor. Look at Hymn #53, “In His Time” – sung at our
Wedding and at my ordination to the ministry, and at other timely moments in our lives. What
does it mean?

 But God never changes!

 He is the same now as He was at the beginning of time.
 All of time is equally present with God. He sees the past, the present, and the future with equal
vividness.
 We remember a few things from the past, but forget a lot. We’re limited by our finite
perspective in perceiving the present, whereas God can see everything happening everywhere
all at once.
 And we have no knowledge of the future, except for our clouded view of biblical prophecy, but
God sees it all in great detail.

God’s view of the length of time differs from our view… how did Peter put it, “With the Lord one
 6

day is like a thousand years.” What does that mean? I think Charles Spurgeon is correct when he
observes that “God can make a single day as useful in His purpose as it would take us a thousand
years to produce.”

2 Examples:
 When God sends revival, for example, thousands may be converted in a short time, whereas
under more normal conditions, it would take many years.
 The day that God converted the apostle Paul was just like any other day, but that one day
resulted in more than a thousand years’ of influence through Paul’s ministry and his inspired
writings.

Also, Peter said, with the Lord “a thousand years [are] like one day.” Since the late second
century, some (Irenaeus and The Epistle of Barnabas, cited by Thomas Schreiner, The New
American Commentary, 1, 2 Peter, Jude [Broadman Publishers], p. 380) have speculated that since
God created the world in six days and rested the seventh, it follows that creation would last for six
thousand years, followed by the millennium. If you add up the genealogies in Genesis with no
gaps, creation was about 4,000 B.C. Thus the “six days” should be up any time now! But, as
interesting as that speculation may be, Peter does not say that a thousand years equal one day, but
rather are like (or as) one day. In other words, he is making an analogy, not a literal equation.

Most of us can’t conceive of what the world was like a thousand years ago. But that was like
yesterday to God! Although the gap between our view of time and God’s view is far greater, we
might compare it to a child’s view of time versus an adult’s view. When you tell a young child that
his birthday is just one month away, he doesn’t get it. Every day he will ask, “Is it my birthday
yet?” Or, when you get in the car to make a long trip, you tell the kids that it will take twelve hours
to get there, but 30 minutes into it, you will hear, “Are we almost there yet?”

In the same way, we can’t conceive of a thousand years. But that is only like one day to God. This
is a very practical truth to understand. It helps you endure suffering.

Many years ago, I was reading through Genesis when the Lord startled me with Genesis 42:1,
“Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream ….” You can read that
phrase in a second, but I stopped to think about it. It occurs in the context of Joseph being in
prison. He had correctly interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s baker and the cupbearer. As the
cupbearer went out the prison door, Joseph pled with him to remember him before Pharaoh, so that
he could get out of prison. But the cupbearer forgot! Joseph was probably in his twenties. An
Egyptian dungeon isn’t a pleasant place to be at any point in life, but especially not when you’re
young, healthy, and desiring to get a wife, children, and a career. I’m sure that Joseph must have
prayed fervently each day, “Lord, get me out of here! I’m here because I obeyed You and resisted
Potiphar’s wife’s advances. How long, O Lord?” “Now it happened at the end of two full years that
Pharaoh had a dream ….”

Why couldn’t God have given Pharaoh that dream after two weeks or two months? Why did God
wait two full years? We don’t know God’s reasons, but Joseph trusted in God’s sovereign control
of all that had happened to him, so that later he could affirm to his brothers, “you meant evil
against me, but God meant it for good” (Gen. 50:20).

God also had a sovereign purpose when He kept Jacob’s descendants as slaves in Egypt for 400
years (Gen. 15:13; Exod. 12:40). Four hundred years is an awfully long time to be slaves making
bricks in the hot Egyptian sun! But from God’s perspective, it’s less than half a day! It was also
 7

four hundred years from the last of the prophets to the birth of the Messiah, but as Paul wrote (Gal.
4:4), “When the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son ….” He was right on God’s
schedule! Peter is applying this truth to us as we await the return of Christ, when He will judge all
the wicked and reign in righteousness. It seems as if He never will come. But it’s only been two
days that He has been gone! (See, also, my sermon, “The Inefficiency of God,” 1/16/00, on the
church web site.) So Peter’s point is that Christ’s return seems delayed, but only because God’s
perspective on time is radically different than our perspective.

This is important because sometimes we keep praying and praying and praying and God’s doesn’t
“seem” to be answering… oh yes He is. God always answers prayer and always keeps His
promises in His time and in his purpose.

2. Christ’s return is delayed because the Lord is patient, not wanting any to perish, but all to
come to repentance (3:9) - “9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count
slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should
come to repentance.” This is a wonderful verse with great practical application that we can easily
miss, because it plunges us into some deep theological controversies!

Some things this verse is telling us:

(1) If the Lord has promised something, it will happen in His ordained time, not on our
schedule - Peter seems to be alluding to the charges of the false teachers when he says, “The
Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness ….” They were saying that
because Jesus had not returned yet (by the mid-sixties!), His promise to return must not be
valid at all! The irony was that they were using the Lord’s patience, which was giving them
time to repent, against Him! They wrongly presumed that because God wasn’t acting according
to their timetable, they could sit in judgment on Him!

But the fact is, although we often will have times when we do not understand the Lord’s ways
or His timing, we never have the right to pronounce judgment on Him and say that His ways or
His timing are wrong! In 1 Peter 3:20, Peter refers to God’s patience during the days of Noah’s
building of the ark. For at least 100 years, God waited while Noah built the ark and preached
righteousness to those evil people. But none responded, except for Noah’s family.

Even so, now God waits patiently while evil abounds, before He brings judgment. But at some
point known only to God, judgment will fall. He is not slow about His promise, which refers to
the promise of Christ’s coming (3:4), which will bring judgment. When that judgment comes,
all who have not responded to Christ’s call to repentance will be excluded from “the ark.” They
ignored the warnings. It will be too late!

(2) God’s seeming delay in Christ’s return in judgment is not due to indifference or inability,
but rather to His patience and compassion for sinners - Here is where we encounter a
wonderful truth, but one which plunges us into theological controversy! “9 The Lord is not
slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward [a]us, not
willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

There are at least two ways to “fall off this horse”!

2 Faulty Views of This Verse:

(1) God wringing His hands - Some emphasize God’s heart for the lost to the degree that they
picture Him as pining away in heaven, wringing His hands in despair because these
 8

stubborn sinners won’t exercise their free will and come to Christ. He has done everything
that He can do to save them. Now all He can do is to sit in heaven and be heartsick over
their sinful refusal to repent and believe. The problem with this view: The first view is
out of balance because it pictures God as restricted and unable to save anyone because of
so-called “free will.” But the Bible is clear that fallen man’s will is not free, but rather,
“fast bound in sin and nature’s night,” to use Charles Wesley’s phrase. To use Paul’s
words (Rom. 3:10-11), “There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who
understands, there is none who seeks for God.” He also described the human race
outside of Christ as dead in their sins (Eph. 2:1-3), blinded by Satan (2 Cor. 4:4),
darkened in their understanding and excluded from the life of God because of the
hardness of their heart (Eph. 4:19). So if it is up to the will of man to choose salvation,
no one could or would be saved. The first view errs by picturing God as unable to save
anyone.
(2) God only cares and waits for the elect - Others argue that God could not wish for all
people not to perish because He has not chosen all for salvation. So they say that the only
ones God does not wish to perish are the elect. The implication is that He really doesn’t
care about the non-elect. The problem with this view: But the second view errs by
picturing God as uncaring or unloving towards the lost (except for the elect lost, who
have not yet come to salvation). It correctly affirms God’s will of decree, which assures
us that the Father has given a certain number of people to the Son, and that of that
number, He will not lose any, but raise them up at the last day (John 6:37-40). Both
Jesus and Paul referred to “the elect” or “the chosen” (Matt. 24:22, 24, 31; Luke 18:7;
Rom. 8:33; 2 Tim. 2:10), which does not refer to man’s choice of God, but rather to
God’s sovereign choice of man. God chooses sinners in spite of themselves, so that none
can boast before Him (1 Cor. 1:26-31). But the second view does not properly affirm
God’s will of desire, which expresses His compassion for all the lost. We see God’s desire
that the lost would come to Him and be saved in Ezekiel 18:23, “‘Do I have any pleasure
in the death of the wicked,’ declares the Lord God, ‘rather than that he should turn from
his ways and live?’” (See, also, Ezek. 18:32; 33:11; Jonah 4:11.) In the New Testament,
we see God’s patience and compassion for the lost when Jesus weeps over Jerusalem in
light of the people’s rejection of Him and the inevitable judgment that will result (Luke
19:41-44). We see it in Paul’s sorrow and unceasing grief for the hardened Jews. He
even wishes that he could be accursed and separated from Christ, if it would mean the
salvation of the Jews (Rom. 9:1-3; 10:1)! Paul also said, in similar fashion to Peter here,
that God our Savior “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth” (1 Tim. 2:3b-4).

*It seems to me that both of these views are faulty and are out of balance with what Peter is
saying here.

In line with this, even John Calvin comments on 2 Peter 3:9 (Calvin’s Commentaries [Baker],
p. 419), “So wonderful is his love towards mankind, that he would have them all to be saved,
and is of his own self prepared to bestow salvation on the lost.” So, how do we explain the
tension between God’s desire that all would come to repentance and be saved and the clear
truth that He only chose some (not all) for salvation? Calvin goes on to explain that in the
gospel, God with compassion stretches out His hand to all, but because of His hidden purpose,
He only lays hold of those whom He has chosen before the foundation of the world. I also refer
you to John Piper’s helpful discussion, “Are There Two Wills in God?” (found on
www.desiringgod.org; also in Still Sovereign [Baker], ed. by Thomas Schreiner & Bruce Ware,
pp. 107-131; and in Piper, The Pleasures of God, revised and expanded [Multnomah], pp. 313-
 9

340). But the short answer is, the Bible clearly teaches that God decrees some things which He
does not desire. The clearest example is the death of Christ, which required the evil deeds of
evil men to accomplish. God does not desire evil and He does not in any direct sense cause
evil, but His decree permits that evil will happen for a higher purpose or good. When evil
people do their evil deeds, which are decreed by God, the evil people are fully responsible and
cannot blame God. We see this in Acts 2:23, where Peter proclaims, “This Man, delivered over
by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of
godless men and put Him to death.” Also, in Acts 4:27-28, the disciples pray, “For truly in this
city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both
Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever
Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.” There are many other examples of this in
the Bible (see Piper, ibid.). But the truth that we must hold in tension is, God decrees the
salvation only of His elect, but He desires the salvation of all. When Peter states that the Lord
“is patient toward you” (italics mine), he may mean towards any from the churches who had
followed the false teachers. God desires each of them to repent, but He did not necessarily
decree that all of them actually would repent (Schreiner, p. 382). But we can extend this to all
people everywhere (in line with the other Scriptures mentioned earlier): God is patient towards
all sinners, “not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” This leads to a
final point of application:
(3) If God desires all to come to repentance, we must preach the gospel of repentance to all -
Again, there is a tension here that we must maintain: on the one hand we know that God has
not chosen all to salvation. But, on the other hand, He desires that all would be saved. We
don’t know in advance who His chosen ones are. So we proclaim the good news, that God
wants to save you from judgment. He doesn’t want to condemn you. He went to great sacrifice
to provide salvation, namely, He sent His own Son to die on the cross and pay the penalty for
all who will repent and believe. So we can plead with people to turn from their sin and trust in
Christ, assuring them of God’s genuine concern and compassion for them. But, we must also
warn them that God’s patience will not last forever. They may die at any time and face His
judgment. Christ may return and when He does, it will be too late to repent. As Peter goes on
to say (3:10), “the day of the Lord will come like a thief….” Now is the day of salvation. Don’t
presume on God’s patience! Also, to preach the gospel truthfully, we must preach repentance.
Repentance is an essential part of saving faith. Mark 1:15 summarizes Jesus’ message, “The
time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” The
risen Lord Jesus told the disciples (Luke 24:46-47), “Thus it is written, that the Christ would
suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins
would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” To repent
means to turn from our sins. If you are driving to Phoenix and you repent, it means you turn
around and drive back to Flagstaff. You cannot do both at the same time. And you cannot truly
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior without turning from your sins. We do not truly
present the good news about Jesus Christ if we do not call sinners to repentance and faith.

CONCLUSION
The recent massive recall of Toyotas reminds me of a blurb I read years ago (“Our Daily Bread,”
11/81) about a Christian woman who held a high position in General Motors. On her office door was a
sign: “One Maker ultimately recalls all His products.”

We’re all going to stand before God to give an account. Don’t let the delay in the recall lull you into
thinking that it won’t happen. It only seems delayed because God’s perspective of time is radically
different than our perspective. And, because of His patience, He waits for all to come to repentance.
But, as Peter goes on to say, “The day of the Lord will come like a thief….” Don’t be caught off
guard. Repent of your sins and come to Christ while you may.
 10

Application Questions
1. What are some practical applications that stem from understanding God’s perspective on
time?
2. Some say that to talk about God’s will of decree and His will of desire is nonsense. How
would you respond? Why is this distinction vital to understanding Scripture correctly?
3. Some argue that if God’s decree permits evil, then He is responsible for it. Why is this view
wrong? What is the only alternative?
4. Some argue that to preach repentance for salvation is to preach works. Why is this view in
error? Why is repentance a necessary part of saving faith?