God's Patience

Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church,

and it's my joy to bring God's Word to you today.

A special welcome if you're new or visiting with us. We're glad that you're here,

and we're glad that you're here not because we're trying to fill seats,

but because we're following Jesus together as one community, and as we follow Jesus together,

we become convinced there's no one so good they don't need God's grace,

and no one so bad they can't have it, which means that God has something to say to everyone in His Word.

He has something to say to people who have been Christians their entire lives.

He has something to say to those who have been Christians only for a short time,

and He has something to say to people who would not consider themselves Christians,

people who have doubts or questions or objections to Christianity,

and so it's for that reason that we turn every week to hear what God has to say to us in His Word.

We're continuing our series in 2 Peter, and you'll remember that 2 Peter is a letter written by a man named Peter.

He writes it to a church somewhere in the Roman Empire in the 60s A.D.,

and He writes it with one hope, one desire, that these people would grow.

We know that's His desire because that's how He both begins and ends the letter,

and He wants them to grow in two ways.

He wants them to grow in grace, and He wants them to grow in knowledge.

We've been discussing the false teachers since chapter 2 who are threatening both knowledge and grace,

and last week we looked at a question that we're going to continue this week.

It's the question that we receive in chapter 3, verses 3 and 4.

These false teachers, these scoffers, are asking,

why hasn't Jesus returned yet?

And since He hasn't returned yet, should we not doubt that He will ever return?

They're denying a variety of things in this book.

Remember, they deny the authority of the Bible.

They deny the reality that Jesus is coming again.

They use the denial of both of those to encourage people to live in sin, to celebrate sin.

And so last week we looked at that question,

why should we believe that Jesus is coming again?

And we believe it because of the signs.

And we had four signs.

The first and foundational one is that we believe in the Bible.

We believe that God's Word is our ultimate authority.

It is the match that lights.

And that was our foundation for the other signs.

The sign that God created the world.

He's so powerful.

And so, of course, He's going to be able to come back again.

The sign that He judged the world at the time of Noah.

And so, of course, He's going to be able to judge the world again.

And then finally, the fourth sign that He is, in fact, coming back.

We turn again to that question this week.

And Peter is going to give us some new answers to that question.

Some people believe the answers last week were answers directed to the scoffers, the false teachers.

And that these answers this week are directed to Christians, people who believe in the Bible,

but still need assurance that Jesus is, in fact, returning to this world.

Now, I'll warn you as we come to this passage.

We're in chapter 3, by the way, starting at verse 8.

We have some heavy sledding ahead of us.

So, there's some big theological topics we're going to have to cover.

To make sure we don't get off track, we're going to have a strategy heading in.

And our strategy is this.

We're going to focus primarily on verses 8 and 9,

because those are the verses that answer our question about Jesus' return.

We are going to touch on verse 10.

I am not going to talk about it in detail,

not because we're going to avoid it,

but because we want to do it full justice next week.

So, we'll look carefully at verses 8 and 9, a little bit at verse 10.

I haven't completely decided yet,

but I think we're probably going to spend two weeks in 10 through 14,

first focusing on Jesus' return,

and then second focusing on our lives of holiness.

With that, as we turn now together to God's word,

we are in 2 Peter chapter 3, starting at verse 8,

2 Peter 3 · chapter mention

and I invite you to turn with me.

You can turn in your worship guide, or in your Bible, or in your phone.

No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's word.

And Proverbs chapter 30, verse 5,

Proverbs 30:5

tells us that every word of God proves true.

He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.

And so, that's why we read now, starting at verse 8.

But do not overlook this one fact, beloved,

that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years,

and a thousand years as one day.

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.

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 on it will be exposed.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.

Our Father in heaven, we thank you again,

that you have given us your word as a gift,

that you are a good father,

and so you haven't left us alone as orphans in a merciless universe,

but instead you speak to us.

And so we simply ask this morning that you would do that,

you would speak to us in your word.

You'd speak us words of encouragement,

and you'd speak us words of challenge,

and most of all, you would remind us of the grace that you offer

in your Son and our Savior,

in whose name we pray, the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Growing up, I was a huge fan of the TV show The West Wing.

I grew up right outside Washington, D.C.,

and so I had a lot of exposure to politics,

and I loved the fun of the show,

the wonderful banter that they had,

and it was known for the camera angles,

the walk and talk that the show is famous for,

and of course now people look back to The West Wing with longing

because it was an idealistic show,

and it showed us what politics could potentially be,

and as our country becomes more and more divisive,

the world that The West Wing portrayed

seems farther and farther away.

If you're familiar with the show,

you know the character, Leo McGarry,

who for most of the show is the chief of staff to the president,

but when we get to season seven,

Leo actually has the chance to run for vice president,

and so as he's running,

he has a media consultant helping him to deal with the press,

and his consultant reminds him,

if you receive a question,

and you don't like the question,

one of your options is just to reject the premise of the question.

Just decide you disagree with everything they've assumed before they asked it.

And of course I could give you a few examples of that today.

I could walk up to you and I could ask you,

what did you eat for breakfast?

What's my premise?

My premise is that you ate breakfast.

You could tell me,

I didn't eat breakfast.

You've rejected the premise of my question.

I could ask you,

what is your favorite kind of bread?

My premise,

you eat bread.

You could tell me,

you know what,

I reject the premise of your question.

I'm gluten free.

That is what Peter does here for these people

as they ask about why Jesus has not come back.

Where is the promise of his coming?

Verses three and four,

Peter rejects the premise of his question.

Your premise is this,

it has been a long time since Jesus went up to heaven.

But you know what?

I reject the assumption that it's been a long time.

I reject your definition of long.

Why?

Because verse eight,

God has a different view and experience of time

than you do.

His relationship with time is very different.

Now this raises all kinds of philosophical,

theological questions about God and time.

We are not gonna resolve all of those this morning.

And in fact,

when we get to questions like this,

we are in very deep waters.

And so it's important that we're very careful

about the way we talk about it

and what we articulate.

We don't wanna say more than what the Bible says.

We don't wanna get ourselves tied up into knots

we can't untangle.

And so I'm gonna rely this morning on one theologian

who lists four different ways the Bible tells us

that God's relationship to time

is different than our relationship to time.

He tells us this,

God's relation to time is very different from our own.

For the biblical God transcends a number of limitations

associated with our experience of temporality.

Now I'm gonna give you all four.

You don't have to remember all of these

because this verse only focuses

on one of our differences with God.

First of all,

God does not experience what he calls

the limitation of beginning and end.

We have a beginning and an end,

God does not.

God does not experience the limitation of change.

As we experience time,

we change throughout it.

God does not.

God does not experience the limitation of ignorance.

God knows perfectly what to us are past,

present, and future,

seeing them in effect with equal vividness.

He does see all events laid out before him

as one can see an entire procession

from a high vantage point.

I'm gonna read that last part again.

He does see all events laid out before him

as one can see an entire procession

from a high vantage point.

So we get a sense of God's experience of time.

He can see past, present, and future all at once.

And then finally,

this is the difference we're talking about this morning,

the limitation of temporal frustration.

In other words,

as this theologian explains it,

things don't happen too quickly for God

and they don't happen too slowly for God.

They happen sometimes too quickly for us,

sometimes too slowly for us.

Everything happens perfectly for God

according to his plan.

And so we must recognize God as Lord in time

as well as Lord above time.

God's relationship to time is different than ours.

Peter rejects the premise of the question.

It has been a long time

only from your human, earthly perspective.

It has not been a long time

from God's perspective.

The point is this.

As we come to the Bible

with large and tough questions,

we have to remember

how finite and small and limited we are.

There are things that appear difficult

and challenging to us

because, as the Psalms tell us,

we are only dust.

And so we remember that

as we come up against

hard and difficult questions,

feeling like it has been too long

since Jesus left.

God and his purposes

are much greater than anything

we can understand and see.

He sees all of time.

We only see a portion.

And so it's this fact

that God is so much greater than us

that causes some of our frustrations.

The limitation is not God's but ours.

This is part of why we have trouble

talking about certain theological concepts.

Just think about this for a second.

The Bible doesn't answer

all of our questions.

And even when it does,

we have hard time understanding.

The Trinity, for example.

God is three persons in one.

Why is that so hard to understand?

Because there's nothing else

that we experience

that's three in one.

We don't have another point of reference.

Not because God is limited,

because we are limited.

So that's why all illustrations

about the Trinity fail.

The Trinity is not like an egg, okay?

The egg is not three in one.

There is no other thing

that is three persons in one,

so it's difficult for us to understand.

Eternity, challenging for us to understand.

Not because God is limited,

but because we are limited.

We have no frame of reference

for something that never ends

and doesn't have a beginning.

Why?

Because we have a beginning

and an end.

So the Bible does not tell us

everything that we want to know.

Even the things it tells us

are difficult to understand.

That is not God's fault.

God's purposes, His plan,

His designs are far greater

and more wonderful

than we can understand and imagine.

We have to remember

the greatness of God

and the smallness of man

when we come up

against questions like this.

Isaiah chapter 55

Isaiah 55 · chapter mention

spells it out for us clearly.

God tells them,

My thoughts are not your thoughts.

Neither are your ways my ways,

declares the Lord.

For as the heavens

are higher than the earth,

so are my ways higher than your ways

and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Deuteronomy 29, 29

tells us something similar.

It says,

The secret things belong to the Lord.

God doesn't choose

to reveal everything to us.

We shouldn't expect Him to, right?

You don't reveal everything

about yourself to everyone.

Why would you expect God

to be any different?

And so God is so great,

He has such a different perspective

on the world

that He does not see slowness

in the same way that we do.

Remember in the book of Job,

Job has all these complaints

against God,

and then in chapters 38 through 41,

God comes back

and in those three, four chapters,

He basically says,

I'm God, you're not.

Who do you think you are?

I am much higher than you are.

There are things

you cannot understand.

And so that's Peter's

first answer for us here

about why Jesus hasn't come back.

He says basically this,

You think it's been a long time.

From God's perspective,

it has not.

His ways are higher than your ways

as the heavens are above the earth.

Have some humility.

Now we could come back

at this point, right?

And we could say,

Okay, you've rejected

the premise of my question.

However you define slowness,

let's just take that word out,

there's still been

so many generations.

Let's talk in terms of generations, right?

So we won't argue about premises,

we'll just say a fact.

There's been a lot of generations

since Jesus has come.

Why has He taken

so many generations

to return?

This is where Peter

gives us our second answer.

It's not just that

God has a different relationship

with time.

He rejects the premise again

here in verse 9.

God is not slow,

He tells us,

but patient.

He's not slow,

He's patient.

And we see this

as a character of God

throughout the Bible.

It's often talked about

as His forbearance.

God takes a long time

before He brings judgment.

That is part of what it means

to be God.

God delays,

delays,

He waits

to give people

a chance to repent.

He waits

because He's patient.

It's not that He's inactive.

It's that His character

is such

that He wants people

to have a chance

to repent.

We're told this

both in the New Testament

and in the Old Testament.

In the New Testament,

in Romans chapter 2,

Romans 2:4

verse 4,

we're told this,

Do you presume

on the riches

of His kindness

and forbearance

and patience,

not knowing

that God's kindness

is meant to lead you

to repentance?

God is waiting

for Jesus to return

to allow people

to repent.

We're told this as well

in descriptions

of God's character

in the Old Testament.

Exodus 34,

Exodus 34:6

verse 6,

tells us

that God passed

before Him

and proclaimed,

The Lord,

the Lord,

a God merciful

and gracious,

slow to anger

and abounding

in steadfast love

and faithfulness.

And if you were

with us last spring,

near the end,

you'll remember

that we went

through the book

of Jonah.

Jonah has a complaint

against God.

Chapter 4,

verse 2,

O Lord,

is not this

what I said

when I was yet

in my country?

That is why

I made haste

to flee to Tarshish,

for I knew

that you are

a gracious God

and merciful,

slow to anger,

abounding

in steadfast love

and relenting

from disaster.

Jonah was angry

with God

because he held

back his judgment

on Nineveh

to give them

time to repent.

Now,

we've talked also

a lot about

the story of Noah,

both in 1 Peter

and in 2 Peter.

Remember,

Noah spent years

and years

and years

building the ark.

We found out

earlier in this book,

in chapter 2,

that he was a herald

of righteousness.

And so,

even as God

was bringing

the judgment

that we saw last week,

the judgment

of the flood,

he was slow

to anger.

He had forbearance.

He gave people

years to repent.

He was not slow,

he was patient.

And so,

once again,

Peter here

is rejecting

the premise

of the question.

Yes,

God brought judgment

in the days of Noah.

He was also patient.

He also waited.

He gave time

for people

to repent.

Now,

I told you

we had some

heavy sledding

theologically today.

One of them

is God's relationship

to time.

One of them

is this next portion

of verse 9,

which has caused

great controversy.

It tells us here

we're going to take

a little bit

of a detour here

to address this section.

Not wishing,

this is the end

of verse 9,

not wishing

that any should perish,

but that all

should reach repentance.

What do we do

with the fact

that we're told

that God wants

all to reach repentance?

And we know

that all

don't reach repentance.

Does God,

this is the question,

somehow lack power?

Is he somehow

unable to bring

about what he wishes?

And this is something

people have spilled

an enormous amount

of ink over

to try to resolve.

I'm going to explain

it to you this morning

what I hope

will make it simple,

which is by way

of an analogy,

because I think

what makes this difficult

is the fact

that it's related

to salvation.

salvation.

We understand

this intuitively,

actually,

when it comes

to other things

that God wishes.

So I want you

to think about

the Ten Commandments

with me.

We have the Sixth Commandment,

which is don't murder.

Does God wish

that no one

should murder?

Yeah, of course.

It's the Sixth Commandment.

He's commanded

don't murder.

Do people murder?

Yes, people sin.

We live in a sinful world.

People don't always

do what God commands.

No one's having

a debate about that.

We understand

that God commands

things on the one hand,

and people don't always

follow it on the other hand.

Take that understanding,

transfer it over

to salvation.

Jesus commands,

Mark chapter 1,

Mark 1:15

verse 15,

repent and believe

the gospel.

Not everyone repents

and believes the gospel.

Of course,

he wishes

that all repent.

That's his command.

He wishes

that all would repent

in the same way

that he's commanded

and wishes

there will be no murder.

It does not mean

that God lacks power.

It means

that God

has given commands,

and because of sin

in the world,

man often fails

to follow them.

God's commanded

people not murder,

people still murder.

God has commanded

everyone to repent,

not everyone repents.

And so it's not

a problem for us

that we're told

that God desires

everyone's salvation.

not wishing

that anyone

should perish.

In the same way,

he commands

no one should murder.

In the same way,

seventh commandment,

he commands

no one should

commit adultery.

In the same way,

the tenth commandment,

he commands

no one should covet.

This is how

the world works.

But when it comes

to salvation,

it becomes

this difficult issue.

We just need

to take our understanding

from everything else

in the world

when it comes

to God and his commands

and transfer it over.

That's something

I believe all sides

of this argument

can agree about, right?

We can all agree,

whether you're an Arminian

or a Calvinist,

whether you're a dispensationalist,

you believe in covenant theology,

you know how the world works.

You know God commands things.

Not everyone obeys them.

Same thing is going on here.

Okay?

That is our theological

heavy sledding for the day.

And I'll point out also

that Peter knows

this is true.

He's aware of this

when he says it

because he's already told us

multiple times

that God is going

to judge the wicked.

So he tells us

on the one hand

God wishes all

to be saved,

all to reach repentance,

and he knows

they're not going to.

So we see things

like 2 Peter 2, verse 1,

2 Peter 2:1

the false teachers

are bringing upon themselves

swift destruction.

They're not going to repent.

2 Peter 3, verse 7,

2 Peter 3:7

we know the day

of judgment is coming.

What will happen?

The destruction

of the ungodly.

This is often

what's talked about

in theology

as God's two wills.

He has his

variety of terms for it.

Some people call it

his decretive will

or his preceptive will,

what he's declared

like the Ten Commandments,

and his secret

or hidden will,

what he's actually

foreordained

to come to pass.

The purpose, however,

of all this

is not

that we would

untie theological knots

and have

a wonderful

intellectual exercise,

but instead

that we would know

God's heart.

God has not

yet returned,

not because

he is inactive,

but because

of his love.

God has not

returned

because,

as we're told

in Ezekiel chapter 18,

Ezekiel 18 · chapter mention

I have no pleasure

in the death

of anyone,

declares the Lord God.

So turn

and live.

you long,

Christian,

for people

and your family,

your friends

who don't know Christ

to come

and to know him.

How much

more

has Christ

suffered

for the sake

of the world?

How much

more

has he hurt

for people

to come to him?

He

is patient

because of his love.

It is not

that God

has forgotten

us,

that he does

not return,

quite the opposite.

We're told

in 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5

that he was

working to

reconcile

the world

to himself.

His patience

is part

of that.

In fact,

I want you

to think about

it in this way.

If you're

a Christian,

God's patience

has been

undoubtedly

for us.

Think about,

thought experiment,

if Jesus

had returned,

when the

recipients

of this

letter

wanted him

to.

What would

that mean

for you?

You

would not

be in

God's

kingdom

if he

had

returned

in 75

AD.

God's

patience

is good

news for

you if

you're

a Christian.

His

patience

means that

he brought

you into

his kingdom.

And so,

it is good

news.

If you

are not

a Christian,

perhaps

God's

patience

is for

you.

His

patience

is giving

you time

to repent.

If you

do not,

you will

not be able

to say

you didn't

have time.

If you

do not,

you will

not be able

to say

that no

one told

you.

We've

talked about

this a lot

in previous

chapters because

this is a

theme in

2 Peter.

no one

knows the

day or

the hour

of the

coming of

our Lord.

And so,

the time

to repent

is now.

If you're

a Christian,

God's

patience is

for you.

It has

allowed you

to be part

of his

kingdom.

If you

are not

a Christian,

you need

to wonder

and think

and consider

is God's

patience

for you

now allowing

you still

time to

repent and

to turn to

Jesus Christ

in faith.

I said

this a

couple weeks

ago.

Some of

you are

hanging around

the edges

of the

church.

Some of

you are

nibbling

around the

edges of

Christianity.

God is

patient with

you.

He will

not be

patient

forever.

The time

to repent

is now.

The time

to commit

is now.

Not only

do we not

know the

day and

the hour

of the

coming of

our Lord

Jesus Christ,

we do

not know

the day

and the

hour of

our own

end.

Do not

take

advantage

of God's

patience.

Let his

patience be

for you

now.

His

patience,

it tells us

here very

clearly,

is so that

all should

reach repentance.

That means

that everyone

would turn

away from

their sins

confessing

that they

have no

hope outside

of Jesus

Christ and

resting and

relying upon

him alone

for salvation.

That is

what God's

patience is

waiting for

from you

if you

are not

a Christian.

Waiting

for you

to repent

and trust

on Christ.

That leads

us to

Peter's

final point

here.

Remember

that the

point of

this passage

is to

answer the

question,

why has

Jesus not

come back?

Peter ends

by reminding

us he

has not

come back,

but he

will.

Verse

10.

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 on

it will

be exposed.

I told

you we're

not going

to focus

on everything

in verse

10,

but I

want to

highlight a

few things

for you

this morning.

First,

the main

point is

this,

Jesus is

coming back.

God may

be patient,

he's not

patient forever.

Jesus will

return to

this earth.

when he

does,

it will

be like a

thief in

the night.

He will

come when

you don't

expect him.

Not only

will he

come like

a thief in

the night,

but he's

going to

come,

verse 10,

on the

day of

the Lord.

Remember,

we've talked

about the

theology,

the meaning

behind the

day before

when we

were earlier

in 2 Peter.

The day

is an idea

in the Old

Testament,

in the New

Testament,

that refers

to when

God will

come back

to bring

both salvation

and judgment.

God is

patient,

he will

not be

patient

forever.

Jesus

will

return,

he is

coming

back,

he will

be like

a thief

in the

night,

we will

not know

or be

able to

predict,

we will

be surprised

by the

timing of

his second

coming.

And when

he does,

he will

be patient

no more,

he will

bring full

and final

judgment,

and he

will bring

full and

final salvation.

salvation.

And so,

do not

make the

mistake

that Paul

warns us

against in

Romans chapter

Romans 2 · chapter mention

2.

Do you

not know

that God's

kindness

is meant

to lead

you to

repentance?

For the

Christian,

then,

the encouragement

from Peter

is this,

take heart,

God has

not forgotten

you.

It may

seem like

a long

time,

and Jesus

is coming

back.

For the

non-Christian,

repent,

because God

has not

forgotten

you,

and he

is coming

back.

Just

because it

is delayed

does not

mean it

will not

happen.

And so,

for the

Christian,

live as if

Jesus is

coming back.

That is

your great

hope.

That is

what our

eyes are

focused

towards.

For the

non-Christian,

he will

come like

a thief

at a

time you

do not

expect.

Remember,

we talked

earlier about

the danger

of knowledge.

One of the

dangers is

that we

would become

numb.

Don't

allow the

knowledge of

Jesus'

return to

make you

numb.

Instead,

make it

move you

towards

repentance.

When the

day comes

like a

thief,

will you

be saved

or destroyed?

When the

day comes,

like a

thief,

will you

be saved

or destroyed?

Remember,

every sin,

not all

sins.

Every sin

deserves

God's

wrath

and

punishment.

Jesus

shows us

that this

is God's

will.

We talked

about that

God wishes

not that

any should

perish.

church.

I told

you in

Mark 1,

Mark 1:15

verse 15,

he commands

that we

repent and

believe in

the gospel.

And then

Jesus also

tells us a

story about

a thief in

the night.

Peter is

taking these

words from

Jesus who

taught him.

And Jesus

tells us in

that same

way about

his second

coming.

I'm looking

now at

Matthew 24,

starting at

verse 36.

This will

sound very

familiar to

what we've

just looked

at at

2 Peter.

Concerning

that day

and hour,

no one

knows,

not even

the angels

of heaven

nor the

Son,

but the

Father

only.

By the

way,

at times

like this

in our

world,

people like

to ask

pastors if

the second

coming is

soon.

The

appropriate

response is

not even

Jesus knows.

Verse 37,

for as were

the days of

Noah,

so will be

the coming

of the

Son of

Man.

Jesus,

like Peter,

focuses on

Noah.

For as

in those

days before

they were

the flood,

they were

eating and

drinking,

marrying and

giving in

marriage,

until the

day when

Noah entered

the ark,

and they

were unaware

until the

flood came

and swept

them away,

so will be

the coming

of the

Son of

Man.

God was

patient in

the times

of Noah.

He brought

judgment in

the time

of Noah.

Then two

men will be

in the field,

one will be

taken and

one left.

Two women

will be

grinding at

the mill,

one will be

taken and

one left.

Therefore,

stay awake,

for you do

not know on

what day

your Lord is

coming.

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,

verse 44,

you also must

be ready for

the Son of

Man is

coming at

an hour you

do not

expect.

Who then is

the faithful

and wise

servant whom

his master

has set over

his household

to give them

food at the

proper time?

What is that

servant whom

his master

will find so

doing when

he comes?

Truly I say

to you, he

will set him

over all his

possessions.

Now listen to

this, but if

that wicked

servant says

to himself,

my master

is delayed,

or it's

familiar for us,

right, from

2 Peter 3,

he's become

lulled into a

false sense of

security because

Jesus hasn't

come back yet.

My master is

delayed and

begins to beat

his fellow

servants and

eats and drinks

with drunkards.

The master of

that servant

will come on

a day when

he does not

expect him and

at an hour he

does not know

and will cut

him in pieces

and put him

with the

hypocrites.

In that

place there

will be

weeping and

gnashing of

teeth.

Why has

Jesus not

come back?

Christian,

Jesus has

not come back

so that you

could be a

part of his

kingdom.

If you are

not a

Christian, it

is God's

patience that

means that he

still offers

for you to

be a part

of his

kingdom.

Do not

let the

day and

the hour

surprise you

because it

will come

like a

thief in

the night.

Let's pray.

Our Father

in heaven,

we thank you

again for

your word,

even when it

speaks to us

words that

wake us up,

words that

are uncomfortable.

Ask for

these people

here that we

would be like

a wise and

faithful servant,

knowing that

your return

is sure,

and so that

we would live

in light of

that, live

looking forward

to your

coming, ready

for you to

return.

Father, ask

for those who

do not know

you, that you

would use your

patience this

morning to

bring them to

repentance, that

they would have

faith and trust

and hope in

Jesus Christ.

It's in his

name that we

ask these

things.

Amen.

Amen.