God Is Waiting - Pastor Stacey Shiflett
God Is Waiting
1 Peter 3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
Intro: One of my biggest pet peeves is for someone to keep me waiting.
I know patience is a sign of spiritual maturity, but I hate it when I am kept waiting.
I’m ready to go, and I have to sit in the truck and wait for someone to finish doing what they’re doing.
My time is of no concern.
My schedule is of no importance.
I have lost track of the times I’ve walked back in the house to ask, “What in the world are we waiting on??”
Reading these verses, I realized just how many people God is waiting on.
Imagine – keeping the Creator of the universe waiting.
Imagine – living your life while Almighty God is watching, patient and longsuffering; waiting for you to get your act together.
Of the most wonderful character traits of the Lord is his patience and His longsuffering.
In Exodus 34, God described Himself:
· 5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
· 6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
· 7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin,
The Psalmist said it like this:
· Psalms 86:15 But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth.
This morning, we will take time to see why God is waiting, and who He is waiting on, and what He is waiting for.
God Is Waiting…
I. For Sinners to get Saved
· 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
· Romans 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
The Flood: SEE TEXT
For 120 years, Noah preached that the flood was coming.
Furthermore, God left the door open for seven days.
Saul of Tarsus:
I Timothy 1
· 13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
· 14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
· 15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
· 16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
God acknowledged that Saul had been kicking against the pricks.
· Acts 9:5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
Judas Iscariot
You’ve got to ask yourself – what did he need to hear to be convinced?
If faith cometh by hearing, how much more did he need to hear?
· How many more parables and sermons did he need to hear to believe?
· How much more did he need to witness?
· How much of God’s power to change lives did he need to see to be convinced?
· How many more miles with Jesus did he need to walk?
God Is Waiting…
II. For Saints to get Serious
A. About the Proclamations of God
Lot needed to get serious about heeding the warnings of God
Genesis 19
· 15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
· 16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
There was absolutely no confusion in what God told him.
God had told Lot:
What was going to happen — Sodom would be destroyed.
Who was in danger — Lot and his family.
What he needed to do — Arise…
When he needed to do it — NOW!
Several things are crystal clear about this example of God waiting.
· Judgment was coming.
· The warning had been given.
· The way of escape had been provided.
· Time was running out.
And Lot lingered!
What in the world was wrong with this man??
Lingered: the idea of hesitating, delaying, tarrying.
This action describes most Christians today.
· Lot wasn't arguing with the angels.
· He didn’t call God a liar and refuse to believe Him.
· He wasn't denying that judgment was coming.
· He didn’t even rebelliously refuse to leave.
He just wasn't moving!
And sometimes that is our problem.
We don't reject what God says; we simply delay in our response to what God says.
· God had said more than enough.
· Lot had heard more than he deserved.
· Lot did not need another message.
· He didn't need another warning.
· He didn't need another sign.
· He didn't need more information.
· He didn’t need more angels to confirm the proclamation.
He just needed to act on what God had already told him.
At some point, God expects us to get serious about what He has already said.
· How many sermons do we need to hear about prayer before we start praying?
· How many sermons about witnessing before we start witnessing?
· How many sermons about holiness before we clean some things up?
· How many sermons about faithfulness before we become faithful?
· How many sermons about surrender before we surrender?
Part 2
B. About the Possessions of God
The Children of Israel needed to get serious about possessing what God had given to them.
· Joshua 18:3 And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long are ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?
There were still seven tribes of Israel that were making no effort to go possess their portion!
· Joshua 18:2 And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance.
SLACK: to be idle, sluggish, negligent, to delay
· They were God's people and had been miraculously delivered from Egypt.
· They had crossed the Red Sea and seen Pharoah and his armies destroyed.
· They had experienced God's provision for forty years.
· They had eaten the manna, drank the water out of the rock; eaten the quail.
· They had followed the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
· They had crossed Jordan.
· They were in the Promised Land.
God desired to give them an inheritance flowing with milk and honey.
Their parents had deprived them of this inheritance for forty years, now it was within reach, but they were still slack!
God had already given them the land, but they were dragging their feet about possessing it.
God had already done His part. He was waiting on them to do theirs.
Some Christians keep asking God to do something, when God is waiting on them to do something.
· How long are you going to be saved and still be slack?
· How long before you possess what God has made available to you?
· How long before you become the Christian you know you ought to be?
· How long will you live the Christian life OUTSIDE of the perfect will of God?
C. About the Priorities of God
Haggai 1
· 2 Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the LORD S house should be built.
· 3 Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying,
· 4 Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste?
· 5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
· 6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.
· 7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.
· 8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.
It is important to notice that they weren't doing nothing.
They were doing everything except what God wanted them to do.
· They had time for their houses.
· They had time for their careers.
· They had time for their personal interests.
· They had time for their own priorities.
But when it came to God's house, their answer was: The time is not come.
That sounds just like God’s people today.
People have time for vacations, hobbies, sports, entertainment, social media, projects, overtime—but spiritual things keep getting pushed down the road.
God was waiting for His people to get serious about what mattered to Him!
God’s answer in verse 8 is clear – Go up to the mountain, bring wood, AND BUILD THE HOUSE!!
D. About our Progress for God
· Hebrews 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
Notice those words: For when for the time ye ought to be…
· There were things they should have learned by now.
· There were people they should have been teaching by now.
· There was something they should have become by now.
· There was somewhere they should have been serving by now.
· There were positions they should have been filling by now.
That's a sobering thought.
There are places in our Christian lives where God is waiting for us to grow and mature.
By now...
· You ought to know your Bible better.
· You ought to have a prayer life.
· You ought to be faithful.
· You ought to be serving.
· You ought to be able to handle adversity.
· You ought to be able to help somebody else.
· You ought to have conquered some of those old habits.
· You ought to have grown up spiritually.
God has been patiently waiting for some Christians to become what they should have become a long time ago.
Conclusion: There is a parable in Matthew 25.that highlights this waiting period.
· Matthew 25:5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept.
The bridegroom's delay exposed the spiritual condition and preparedness of those who were waiting for him.
There is a danger that when God doesn't move according to our timetable, we begin to lose our sense of urgency.
We get comfortable because judgment hasn't come.
We get careless because the Lord hasn't returned.
We get complacent because nothing seems to be changing.
We get cold because we've been waiting so long.
The longer the Bridegroom tarried, the easier it became to sleep.
Notice the end of the waiting.
· Matthew 25:6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.
God's delay does not mean God's does not have a deadline and a limit to his longsuffering.
The fact that God is waiting on you does not mean He will wait forever.
At the beginning of this message, we saw God stopped waiting and shut the door.
We find this again in Matthew 25:10.
· Matthew 25:10 …and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut.
In Noah's day, God waited, then the door was shut.In Matthew 25, the Bridegroom tarried, then the door was shut.
God will wait, but not forever.
