Well, people of God in Christ, the title of this sermon is, Time to Repent. And I would just acknowledge, as you may notice, that that title is somewhat ambiguous, and I would say that it's intentionally ambiguous. The title is ambiguous because, on one hand, time to repent could mean it is time to repent. which is one way that we could summarize the message of the Apostle Peter in our text for this morning. It's time to repent. Now is the time to repent. And this is true no matter who you are or where you are in your relationship with Christ. If you already are a believer in Christ, then you, like all Christians, are called to live a full life of repentance. It's always time to repent for a Christian. And if you have yet to enter into a saving relationship with Jesus, then now is the time for you to repent. Now is the time, because you don't know when death might come for you. Prepare to meet your Maker. As the saying goes, repent and believe in Jesus Christ. On the other hand, the title, Time to Repent, might also mean that there is time yet to repent, which is also true. I hesitate to say that it's true because someone might take it as an excuse for putting off repentance and faith in Christ because there is yet time. There's plenty of time to do it later, someone might decide, but It is true that there is time to repent. In fact, according to the teaching of Peter in this passage, that's why Jesus has not yet returned, because He is giving you time to repent. And yet, that doesn't mean that anyone should, by any means, put it off. There is time. but no one knows exactly how much time. And Peter makes it clear that the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The coming of Christ will be unexpected and will catch all too many sinners off guard and ill-prepared for that last great day. Well, what's interesting is that the word time has, in a sense, two distinct meanings, or at least two different nuances. On one hand, time can mean a specific time, even a moment in time, like when we say, it's time for dinner. or the time has come to rethink our plan. But on the other hand, time can mean a span of time, a length of time, like how we talk about Israel's time in Egypt or their time in the wilderness. But the thing to see is that either way, these conceptions of time belong to us as finite, temporal human beings. Whether we are talking about a moment in time or a span of time, time itself is something Something that we are largely conscious of only because of sin. Only because we are fallen creatures destined to die when our time comes. But not so with God. In 2 Peter 3, verse 8, Peter writes that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. And as we pointed out last time, that's really even a bit of baby talk. It's a terrific understatement to say that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. because God is eternal, which is to say, He just is. From our perspective, our time-bound perspective, no, it's not wrong to say that God always has been and always will be. But when God was speaking to Moses in the burning bush, He said, I am who I am. Say this to the people of Israel, I am has sent me to you. And the declaration of God in Revelation 1 is that He is the God who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. Well, such was the lesson to learn last time as we camped out, as it were, on 2 Peter 3, verse 8. But as we continue on now this time, we need to keep all that in mind. Because the next thing that Peter does is to teach us the patience of God. This is a first point to this sermon, the patience of God. In verse 9, Peter writes, the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise, as some count slowness, but He is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish. And right away, we need to remember what we said last time. We need to remember not to project our humanness onto God. The point is not to say that God is just itching to pour out judgment upon the earth. The point is not to say that God is tapping His fingers in heaven, watching the clock, shifting nervously in His seat. That's what patience might look like in you and me. As long as we're not screaming at people in traffic, or rushing through a job just to get it done, or losing our temper at the family or co-workers, well then we count ourselves as being patient. Surely this is not what we mean when we say and know that God is patient. In fact, in one respect, we might even say that to speak of God or to speak of the patience of God is an anthropomorphism. In other words, to speak of God as patient is to speak of God in human terms. Just as the psalmist says of God in Psalm 89, you have a mighty arm, strong is your hand, high your right hand, So we speak of the patience of God. We know that God does not have an arm or a hand, being a God who is spirit. And yet it is a great comfort to us to hear that the arm of the Lord saves his people. We know what that means, even though we know that God does not have an arm like we do. And just so, we know that God is eternal. And we know, as Acts 17, verse 31 says, that He has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed, even Christ, upon His return. So what does it mean that God is patient? Well, it means that there is still time. It simply means that the appointed day has not yet come, and so it also means, ironically, that those who scoff at the promise of His coming are the very ones who ought to be thankful that He has not yet come, because there is still time for them to repent. It's not part of our text, but as we kind of treat this chapter of 2 Peter somewhat thematically, we can note that Peter again mentions the patience of God in verse 15. Again, we didn't read that far, but he writes, the patience of our Lord as salvation. So that's what we mean by the patience of God. Within the character of God, the character of an eternal God, His patience means salvation. His patience means that so far, at least, there is still time. still time to repent and to be saved by faith in Jesus Christ. In fact, we might even say that time itself was created by God for the sake of salvation. As we read in Genesis 3, in the Garden of Eden, Adam was told about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He was told, in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. And you may recall that this was the evil one's bold-faced lie told to Eve. Genesis 3, verse 4 says, but the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die. A straight contradiction of what God had actually said. And yet what happened? Did Adam and Eve die on the day that they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Well, on one hand, they did. They most certainly did. In a spiritual sense, they died. And this is the basis for what we call the doctrine of total depravity. Man in sin is not disabled. He is instead dead. And so sinners do not just need healing, nor do they just need assistance, nor do they just need any kind of stirring up of what is already in them, because there is nothing in them, certainly no life in them. So spiritually speaking, yes, Adam and Eve died on the day that they ate what was forbidden to them. On the other hand, physically speaking, they did not die. It's a pretty obvious point. Instead, God was patient with them. God did not demand from them and take from them their physical lives. He might have. He had given them due warning, but instead God was patient with them and he gave them the gift of time. Can you see it? There is a sense in which time began on that day. Time began on that day insofar as time is the span of time between a person's birth and a person's death. Because time is the opportunity to repent. We have a saying that time is money. You know it well, I'm sure. Time is money. But what we ought to say is that time is patience from God. How we ought to understand it is that time is the opportunity given to sinners by God to repent. So we come to a second point in this sermon, the call to repentance. Again, Peter writes in verse 9, the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. And in these words, do we not hear the call of God to repent? And by saying that all should reach repentance, does that not fit with what we've been saying? Time is the opportunity for sinners to reach repentance. That is to say, to reach in time the point of repentance. Most other versions of the Bible say that all should come to repentance. And what do you need to come to any given point or destination? You need time. Like we said, someone might want to say, oh, well, good. I've got time then. Yes, there is time, although it's not really your time, but God's time. It's not really your time, except that a patient God has given it to you. And the point is not that anyone should take their time, as we say. The point instead is that we should sense. I would have you to sense the urgency of our need to repent. Now, let's be clear what we mean by repent. If it's that urgent and that important, then we ought to be abundantly clear what we're talking about, what repentance is, what does it mean to repent. In the most literal sense, the word repent means to turn, even to turn back from the direction and the way we are going and to turn away from one thing and to turn toward another. There are actually two senses of repentance in Scripture. In one sense, the repentance to which we are called means to turn from unbelief and to turn toward God in faith. Our problem in sin is that we, one way to put it, is that we do not believe in God. Someone might believe in a God, they might believe in a God that they imagine for themselves, but we are not believing in the one true God until we have repented of our unbelief and received in faith the revelation that God has given of himself in Jesus Christ. Therefore, we do not truly believe in God, at least not in the sense of having a true saving faith in God, we do not truly believe in God until we have believed in Jesus Christ. So, this is the sense of repentance that we hear Peter using, for example, in Acts 2, verse 38. On the day of Pentecost, there was a great response to the preaching of the gospel, so that the people were cut to the heart, we're told, and they said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins." Repent and be baptized, said Peter. And we might want to ask, well, why did he say that? Why did he not speak about faith? Well, he actually did speak about faith. He was calling them to faith by calling them to repent. Because here, Peter is speaking of repentance in terms of turning away from unbelief and taking up faith in Jesus Christ. Remember that Peter had just told the story, so to speak, about how the people, the very people to whom he was preaching, how they had not received Jesus in faith, but had instead crucified him. And this is what cut them to the heart. The Spirit provided conviction that they had crucified their own Messiah. No wonder they said, brothers, what shall we do? What do we do now? You ever ask that question? What are we going to do now? It's a question of remorse. It's a question of dismay. What do we do now? And Peter's answer was, repent, turn from your previous unbelief. To this point, you have not received Christ, but instead you crucified him. But he has risen from the dead. So repent. And now instead of your unbelief by which you crucified him, believe in him and receive him as your Messiah. But there is another sense, that's the first sense of what repentance means in Scripture, and there's another sense of repentance in Scripture, and that's more just the idea of repenting of sin, that is, turning back from the path of sin and taking up obedience. And what we need to understand is that within this sense, repentance is not enough. In other words, it's not enough just to turn from sin, basically because We never really do that, do we? Someone might decide, well, I'm really going to respond to the sermon this time. I'm going to straighten up and fly right. I'm going to roll up my sleeves and work extra hard at being a better person. The problem is, how long does that really last? If we ever even do it in the first place, how long does it last? How long before we are right back to the sin that comes just so naturally to us. And this is really one of the central messages of the entire Old Testament, the message that repentance will not save us. straightening up our lives will not save us. Do you remember in Joshua 24 how Israel responded to Joshua as they were about to enter the promised land? Joshua said, choose this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And the people answered, far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods. You catch the irony of that, I hope. Really? Far be it from you. Joshua even told them straight out, you are not able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your transgressions and your sins. But the people responded again, no, but we will serve the Lord. Such commitment, such dedication, such determination, all followed up by such utter failure. Such bold rebellion and apostasy in the years and the generations that followed. So please, please don't go away from this message just saying, I'm going to repent, I'm going to do better. If you will indeed do better, then you must repent not just of your sin, but of your unbelief as well. If you will indeed do better, you must first admit to Jesus that you can't live for Him and you won't. I think we always know that we won't, but it's our pride that makes us think that this time it's gonna be different. Surely you've made enough New Year's resolutions to know the truth, to know what you're really made of. Christ is not looking for your dedication, your rededication. He is instead calling you to despair, to despair of yourself and to put your hope and confidence in Him. That's the repentance that we are called to. A repentance in which we are broken, not saying, I'm going to do it, but saying, I can't do it and I know that I won't. a repentance in which we turn from our pride and say, Lord, I want to, but I can't. I'm just like Israel of old. I'm just like the people who repented in the ministry of John the Baptist and later screamed, crucify him, crucify him. I'm just like the disciples falling asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane so that Jesus knew by way of finding them three times asleep, He knew beyond all doubt that He must go to the cross for them. He must do for them what they could not and would not do for themselves. That's you, they're asleep. in the garden. Yes, Peter, James, and John, but that's us. They're asleep in the garden. And by way of praying three times, Lord, let this pass from me, and yet going three times and finding them asleep, Jesus knew he had received his answer. He must do for you. what you could not and would not do for yourself. and then, having come to Jesus with this kind of repentance, then understand that we must live daily in repentance. Remember that the title of this sermon is Time to Repent, and remember that that means it's time to repent, and remember that that applies to those who have not yet repented at all, to those just coming to faith in Christ, and it applies to those who have already repented, which means that tomorrow morning it's going to be time to repent again. And again, the next day, and the next morning as well, each and every day, we are called to live in repentance, which means that we must get up every morning saying, Lord, here I am again at the start of another day. I want to live for you, but I know I can't. and I know that I won't unless you keep me." And Psalmist says, oh that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes. Psalm 23 talks about Christ leading us in paths of righteousness for His namesake. Psalm 141 says, Set a guard, O Lord, over my mouth. Keep watch over the door of my lips. Let not my heart incline to any evil, to busy myself with wicked deeds in the company of those who work iniquity. The Heidelberg Catechism puts it this way in question and answer 116, why do Christians need to pray? Because God gives His grace and Holy Spirit only to those who pray continually and groan inwardly, asking God for these gifts and thanking Him for them. And in question and answer 127, it says, what does it mean to pray and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one? And the answer, by ourselves we are too weak to hold our own even for a moment, says the catechism. And so, Lord, uphold us, uphold us, and make us strong with the strength of your Holy Spirit. Well, finally then, the day of the Lord. We are called to repentance now because of the coming of the day of the Lord. Peter writes now in verse 10, but the day of the Lord will come. like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done in it will be exposed." The Lord willing, we'll look next time at Peter's description of that last great day. There's obviously much to be discerned in the things that Peter foretells of that day, but now the point is simply to see that that day is coming. I would press this just a bit further upon you, to know that that day is coming. We already heard what Paul preaches in Acts 17, that God has fixed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed, he's referring to Christ, And so the teaching of God's Word is clear, whether it's from Peter or from Paul, yet by the Holy Spirit we know that the patience of the Lord will not continue forever. Because, you know, there is a point, a point at which patience is no longer a virtue. When is patience no longer a virtue? When it continues at the expense of justice. People are all the time trying to negate the justice of God by pitting one of His attributes against another. So they say, well, God's not going to judge sin because He's a God of love. Or God will not judge sin because He's a good God. And in the same way, we might think that because of the patience of God, His judgment will never come. But there comes a point at which patience is no longer a good thing. And there will come a day when the patience of God will end, and the judgment of God will come. Are you ready for that day?" Peter says that the day of the Lord will come like a thief. And I find that, if you're like me, you might find that rather alarming, at least somewhat surprising, to refer to the coming of Christ as a thief. It almost makes it sound like Christ is the thief, but it doesn't say that Christ will come like a thief. It says the day of the Lord will come like a thief. That day will come upon unsuspecting sinners, and the point is to see that it will be unexpected for them. Their lack of belief in the second coming of Christ does not prevent the second coming of Christ. So they won't be expecting it because they don't believe in it, but it will come, and they will be caught in their lack of faith. If you know when a thief is coming to steal from you, well, that's easy. You just wait for him, you turn on the lights, and you chase him away. Well, the problem is that you don't know when a thief is coming. And in the same way, the day of the Lord will come like a thief. And Peter is not taking this liberty upon himself to use this analogy. He's actually just repeating what he himself had heard Jesus say, because recorded in Matthew 24, Jesus said, but know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore, you also must be ready. For the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." Well, the point of being told that the day of the Lord will come like a thief is to urge us, brothers and sisters, to be ready. I ask again, are you ready? Yes, God is patient. He has given you time. To this point in your life, at least, He is still giving you time. But make no mistake, the time will come. In that other sense of time, the time will come. The day will arrive. The moment will come. And the day of the Lord will be here. How can we be ready? repent, and believe in Jesus Christ. Amen. Father in heaven, we pray that by your Word and Spirit at work within us, we will repent of our unbelief and of our sin, that we would turn to Christ in faith and receive Him gladly, honor Him as our King, and look forward with great eagerness and with great love for Him. Look forward to His coming again in glory. Work this faith in us. By the repentance of our unbelief, O Lord, work this faith within us that we might long for, live for, and love Jesus Christ. In His name we pray. Amen.