You know, that makes you just want to pause for a minute, doesn't it? And thank the Lord for the rest of soul. Do you have a restful soul? Jesus said come into me all you there are labor and heavy laden and I will give you rest and So grateful for it, and I hope you're learning this in your life I hope God is doing this in you by his spirit as he works in you well tonight, let me just ask you this question if you knew for a fact that that Jesus were coming back at 624 Eastern Time tomorrow evening, would it change your plans and would it change your life? If you knew tomorrow night, 624, a little over 24 hours, a little under 24 hours from now, over 24 hours, would it change the way that you lived tomorrow and would it change how you spent tonight? I would guess it would, and I know it is an unfair question because it's really an inaccurate question. We don't know when Jesus is coming, and if we did, certainly would change life. And so I'm very much aware of that, but it is something to think about. If I knew Jesus is coming, am I ready? And would it change my life? Well, We are in a series on Sunday nights in the book of 2 Peter, and the series is entitled Discerning the Truth in Turbulent Times. Remember, Peter is talking to people who are going through difficult days. He writes a letter to them, the first letter, five chapters, telling these people about suffering and how to stand true in turbulent times. And oh, they were faithful. And God was faithful to them and they stood true. But you know, if Satan cannot disrupt what God is doing through persecution and suffering, he will find other ways. And one of the ways that Satan works is he works within a body itself. He works within the people of that congregation, and as he works in them, he brings disruption. And one of the ways that he'll do that is he brings false teachers. So Peter is writing the second letter, remember, to help individuals knowing that there will come a time when teachers, false teachers, were going to creep in. In fact, they already were experiencing some of this. And he's preparing this church to be discerning so that they will not be caught off guard and they will be able to identify the falsehood and they will be able to stand true and discern what is true when these false teachers come. And so then he comes to the last chapter of this book. And it's interesting that in a book that he's telling about discernment, isn't it interesting that he helps them or encourages these believers and teaches them with the study of prophecy and the coming of the Lord? And so it is that the question that we're going to ask tonight is, how can I be certain, be discerning today? The last time we were together, we asked the question, how can I be discerning today? And the answer comes from the first eight verses of this third chapter. Live in the light of God's reliable promises. How can I be discerning today? Today you can be discerning and become discerning by living in light of what God has promised in His book. But then Peter goes on and he gives us a second truth, a second fact, a second answer to the question, how can I be discerning today? And here is the answer to the question found in verse 9, live in light of God's redemptive purpose. Verses 1 through 8, live in the light of God's reliable promises. But then verse 9, live in the light of God's redemptive purpose. Why has the Lord Jesus delayed His coming? He said that He would come. He couldn't come at any moment. Why has Jesus delayed His coming? Well, God the Father has delayed the return of God the Son, for He is working out His eternal purposes and fulfilling His redemptive plan. And that's what we're going to talk about tonight. Take your Bible, open with me to the book of 2 Peter chapter 3. You want to find verse 9. We will read one verse of Scripture and we'll address one verse of Scripture tonight. 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 9. Have you found it? Here we go. Let's read it aloud together as a congregation. 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9. Let's read the scriptures together. Here we go. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Now let's ask God to help us to learn to live in light of God's redemptive purposes. All right, Lord? Tonight we are asking We really, we don't know that you'll come back at 624 p.m. Eastern Time tomorrow. You could. You could come back before that. You could come back tonight. You could come back a thousand years from now and you would still be faithful to your promise. But since we do know it is a fact of prophecy, it is a fact of pre-written history that you will come again. How we ask that you would help us to be aware of this and trust that you are working out your eternal redemptive purposes in this world. And so we ask for you to guide us tonight and for the Holy Spirit to give us insight to be our teacher and our encourager as Jesus said he would be. And we'll trust you for it for we ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen. So why hasn't Jesus come back yet? Well, Jesus hasn't come back yet again, because God has delayed the return of God the Son, for He is working out His eternal purposes and redemptive plan. Now, here's the problem, though, we have. The problem is that we wait and we watch and we wonder if the Lord really will return. I mean, we talk about the Lord coming, and for all of your lifetime, maybe, since you came to the Lord, maybe if you had a background that you were aware of it, You've been waiting for the Lord to come, and Jesus said He would come, and you're watching for Him to come, and you're waiting for Him to come, but He has not yet come. And you can imagine that Peter's writing to some who were mocking and scoffing and doubting, as we learned in verse 3 of this chapter. He calls them scoffers and they're saying, how can you believe God? He's not coming through. I mean, Jesus was here. Oh, how many years ago? He hasn't come back yet. What do you think? Do you really think that he's coming back? And so in verse nine, Peter writes to them to speak to this subject and those who would scoff and wonder if he's coming and I'll read it again. And he reminds us as he reminds these that the Lord is not slack. concerning his promises. Some men count slackness, but it's long suffering toward us. We're not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. And in this verse, God, the spirit As he guides Peter to write, deals with two important issues. They're important issues that we need to understand about life every day. And in your life, you'll want to understand these. The first important issue that he addresses is the subject of God's delays. The subject of God's delays. And so we read in this beginning of this verse, that the Lord is not slack. And some people would say, no, say, oh, see, the Lord is slack, but he reminds us that the Lord is not slack. Now, here's what you need to know when you wonder about God's delays, because remember, God's time timetable is not our time timetable. Rarely is God's timetable our timetable. Rarely. I wish the Lord would get on my timetable. How many of you know what I'm talking about? Don't you wish the Lord would get on your timetable? But it rarely is that way. And so it is that you need to remember this. Don't let God's delays deceive you into thinking God is doing nothing. That's a great statement. Don't let God's delays deceive you into thinking that God is doing nothing. You see, by faith in God's promises, we align our lives and our thinking with God's purposes. And so we understand that a delay, from my perspective, is a divine purpose from God's perspective. Do you remember Abraham? God promised Abraham a son. He said, Abraham, you and Sarah don't have any children. And really, you're past that time, but I'm going to give you a son. Abraham, I'm going to give you a son. Sorry, it wasn't past the time yet. And you know, year after year after year passed, and God still didn't give Abraham and Isaac, Abraham and Sarah a son. year after year after year after year. And while they're waiting year after year, the biological clock is ticking. Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock. And I would imagine the longer it goes, the louder the clock is ticking in Sarah's mind. And year after year and year after year, ten years pass and the Lord hasn't come through. That's a long time to wait. Twenty years pass, the Lord hasn't come through. Tick-tock, tick-tock, the biological clock is ticking. And finally, it ticked its last tock. And God said, now, Abraham, go take care of it. Do you know how long Abraham and Sarah had to wait on God? Twenty-five years. In fact, Abraham couldn't hardly wait. He said, you know, God's not coming through. I've got to step out and do it on my own. Now, you better be careful. Whenever you say God's not coming through, I'm going to have to handle this on my own. How many of you know every time you do that, you regret it? Every time. And so he said, you know, I've got this handmaid over here, Hagar, and here comes Ishmael. And what a mess that was. What a mess that was. It's interesting, when we were in Israel just a few weeks ago, we were in, there are three different wildernesses in that southern part, and again, we were in the wilderness, we went through all of them, but we were in the wilderness of Peran, and I happened to be reading this, and I thought, when Abraham sent Hagar out in Ishmael because of the strife between she and Sarah, oh my goodness, what an amazing, what an amazing, fearful thing if you've been there. You just, it's unreal. It's unreal. It's unreal that Abraham would turn her out. It's unreal that she would have to face that alone with this young son. And yet it created all kinds of problems and it's still creating problems because Abraham didn't wait on God. See, Abraham learned the hard way that God's timetable is not my timetable and that my timetable is not God's timetable. And Abraham learned the hard way that God's delays do not mean that God is doing nothing. Do you think in 25 years of waiting that God was still working his eternal purposes in Abraham? Do you think God was still working those eternal purposes? He was, but Abraham didn't see it. And in your life, here's what you need to know. that when you're waiting, God is still working his eternal purposes, even though you don't see it. The Lord is not slack. Earlier in this chapter last week, we read about Jonah or excuse me, not Jonah, Noah. I was reading a book by Anthony Evans, and Anthony Evans illustrates it this way about Noah, and he's talking about how Noah is there to build this huge boat on dry land because God promised that he would destroy the world by flood. And if anybody you would think had reason to question God's work and what God was doing and God's purposes, it would be Noah. A gigantic boat, miles from the nearest body of water, made him look like a fool in the eyes of all of his neighbors. And you have to remember that when Noah built that boat, it had never rained on the earth. Now you think about it. Imagine if you're going to go out to our parking lot. Now, we've had rain and, of course, in this section of East Ridge, we've had flooding. And you're going to build a huge boat in the parking lot for all those years and tell people, there's going to be a big flood. We're going to float this thing out of here. So here's Noah. And Evans says, you know, it's like this. He goes down to the hardware store and he picks up a load of wood and it's a massive load of wood. And he says to the lady at the checkout counter, she says, what are you doing with all that wood? That's a lot of wood. And he said, I'm building a boat. Why are you building a boat? God said, it's going to rain. What's rain? Never heard of rain. All I know is God said to build a boat. It's going to rain. The world's going to be flooded. You better turn to God and get in my boat. And so it goes for him year after year after year after year. Let me ask you, do you remember how long Noah and his sons were building that boat, that ark? How long were they building it? Do you remember? 120 years. Now, you talk about a building program. That's a building program. 120 years. I'm worn out thinking about it. Can you imagine for 120 years The mockery and the ridicule. Noah was a preacher of righteousness and he's building and he's preaching. God is going to judge. God is going to judge. Get right with God. When God judges, get in the boat. Be saved from the wrath of God for 120 years. Everybody's mocking that crazy old preacher over there. Look at old Noah. That's one crazy preacher man over there. He's been preaching about something called rain and look at that big old boat. Look at that. What a fool he is! Do you think along the way Noah was wondering at times, am I being a fool here? Did God stop working his purposes for 120 years while Noah was building an ark and looking in the eyes of the world like a fool? No, God was still working his purposes. And after all those years, The first raindrop comes, and if you read the account of it, the waters break up. The world is flooded, and not one person other than Noah's family believed God and God in the safety of the ark. Not one! And they died in their sin as fools. And so it is that in life, Don't let God's delays deceive you into thinking that God is doing nothing, because God is doing something. God is working in you. Many times you have a conversation with somebody and you talk about what's happening in their life and they just feel like, boy, I'm just not going anywhere. Nothing's happening. And many times I've said, is God doing something in you? Not in your circumstances, not in what your desires are, but is he doing something in you? Oh yeah, the Lord's been teaching me this and this and that. And I say, wait a minute, that doesn't mean God's doing nothing. God is doing something. So God is doing something in you. God is doing something around you. Because as we've learned here many times, God is always at work around you, and God is working in the circumstances around you in ways that you do not see and may not understand. You may see them and may understand them. At times, most of the time, we don't see them or understand them. And understand that He is working beyond you, because we are all part of a vast puzzle of eternal proportion and scope. So God's delays for doing His work in us is that He is arranging the pieces, your piece, of this plan. He's arranging your piece of the plan. And with all the other pieces of his eternal purposes. So when all the pieces are brought together. All of his purposes are accomplished. And glory is brought to his name. That's what God is doing. Does it seem like God's working may not seem like God's working. But do not let God's delays deceive you into thinking that God is doing nothing. God is indeed working. You can keep your place in second. Peter, I want to read to you from the book of Ephesians chapter one. I begin reading in verse nine and I'll read your verse twelve Ephesians chapter one beginning in verse nine. I'll read your verse twelve. Listen to what God says to us here. Having made known unto us the mystery of his will. According to his good pleasure, which he has purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are in earth. Even in him, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according to the purposes of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will." Now, remember, when you read predestinated, that is not a term that has to do with your justification, your one-time salvation. That is a term that has to do with those who have come to Christ. And everybody that is one of Christ, God has a preordained plan for you. And He is working so that His plan for your life will work all things together so that His will can be accomplished. Don't let God's delays deceive you into thinking God is doing nothing. Now, there's a second very important issue that is being dealt with in 2 Peter 3, 9, in this one verse. So go back to it, if you will, 2 Peter 3, 9. Of course, we began, the Lord is not slack concerning His promises. Some men count slackness. But here's the second part, is longsuffering to us. We're not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. You see, first we learned the second important issue is God's desires. The first was God's delays. The second is God's desires. And this passage reminds us, this is what God desires. He desires that no man should perish. God desires that everybody who is ever born, everybody who is ever born could come to the knowledge of the truth and would turn from their sin and be saved. Everyone. Acts chapter 17, verse 30. But now God commanded all men everywhere to repent. First Timothy chapter two, verse four, who will have all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. John 3, 17, for God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Please understand that God is not a God that predestines some, or should I say, chooses some to go to hell and some to go to heaven. It is God's desire that all men are saved. Now, God is aware of everything. And I have not yet figured out the mind of God. Maybe you have. There are plenty out there who think they have. But God's desire is clear from these portions of the scripture that He wants all men to be saved. Here's what you need to know about God's desires. Don't let God's desires deceive you into thinking you can do nothing. Don't let God's desires deceive you into thinking you can do nothing. In fact, God is waiting for people outside of Christ to repent. That's the means that God is wanting people in Christ to do their part. It means that he wants them to do their part. He is calling all men to repent so that God's desires it for them to be saved. But yet he puts a responsibility. And do not think that because God desires to be saved, that now I will automatically be saved. You must make a choice. It is God Almighty who brings this together, where His will and my will are wed together. So ultimately, it is my responsibility and it is His working together. Only God can understand that. This is what is called an antinomy. There are things in the Bible that this is true and this is true. And in our mind, we can't put it together. It doesn't make sense. But they're equally true. In the mind of the all-wise, all-eternal God, it makes perfect sense to Him, though in our state we can't fully understand it. So, the desire and promise of God for Israel was to have Canaan, wasn't it? Wasn't that what God's desire was? It was His promise. This is the land that's yours. He made a Palestinian covenant. This is your land, ultimately. He promised them when they came out of Egypt a land flowing with milk and honey, Canaan land. So that was God's desire. But do you remember what happened when Israel came into the wilderness and they came to Kadesh Barnea? They sent the spies in and the spies came back and said, it's all God said it would be. But ten of them said, but we can't do it. Two said, we can. And who did the people believe, the ten or the two? Who did they believe, church? They believed the ten. God's desire was to go into Canaan. They would not believe God, and they faced His judgment. So all those 20 years old wandered in the wilderness, all those men, 20 years up and above, excuse me, until they died. Many years later, now they go into Canaan. And when they go into Canaan, is it a walk in the park? No. It was a battle. Battle after battle, conquering land. It was conquering one city in one place, another place in another place. And they're conquering, and they're building, and they're expanding and fulfilling God's will. So that God promised them the land, but He gave them the responsibility for their own faith's sake to prove them. to see if they would believe God and know and experience His power. And so it is that God gave them, God promised them this, it was His desire for them, but they had to take the responsibility. It's God's desire and was God's desire for the wicked people of Nineveh to repent. Until Jonah got in line with God's purposes, then the city repented. But you know, God wanted to be saved, but yet Jonah was a rebellious preacher. You know any rebellious preachers? I know some of you. Rebellious preacher. And God did not save Nineveh until this rebellious preacher got in line with God's purposes. See, you need to understand. And don't let God's desires deceive you into thinking you can do nothing because God's plan does not alleviate us of responsibility. In fact, God's plan motivates us to responsibility because God has a will and a plan for us. God has direction for us. God has another step for us. And it is this fact and this promise and this anticipation that says, Lord, because you're faithful, I want to be faithful to you so that I can share and partake in what you would have. So, how can I be discerning today? Well, you live in light of God's redemptive purposes. And here are these two truths, and I'm going to end right here tonight. Don't let God's delays deceive you into thinking God is doing nothing. Have you doubted the Lord? Have you doubted the Lord? You feel like, see, God's not really involved. You feel like, see, hey, I'm getting away with it. God's not aware of what's going on. Hey, man, I've got it all together. You're saying, Lord, how long? Oh, God is not doing nothing. God is working his purposes, even though he's delaying. Don't let God's desire deceive you into thinking you can do nothing. And tonight, it may be that for you, it is time by faith to take the responsibility, doing the will of God, what He has for you right now, and to step up to the plate. It's time for some of our men, I would say, it's time to step up. It's time for the kids, you young kids in your home. Mom and Dad are your service machine. You live for them to serve you, and maybe it's time for you to step up and start becoming a servant in your home. For you little ones, and even some of you big ones. Now that I think about it, time for some of us husbands to step up, huh? Oh, you're preaching now, preacher. You're preaching now. It's time to step up and take the responsibility. It's a matter of faith, and it's a matter of faithfulness. So what do you know? We know that God wants us to get involved in His redemptive purposes. Let's do it, alright? Let's do it! Stand together, please.