The Vital Concern of all, God's Longsuffering will not always wait.

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WE read, that as far back as the days of Noah the “longsuffering of God waited”. But Jehovah has said, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years” (Gen. 6:33And the Lord said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. (Genesis 6:3)). And even after that, before the bringing in of the flood upon the world of the ungodly, He said, “Yet seven days”― that is seven days of waiting (Gen. 7:44For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights; and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. (Genesis 7:4)). Oh, how beautifully expressive this is of the character of God, from first to last ― so “slow to anger, and of great kindness” (Neh. 9:1717And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage: but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not. (Nehemiah 9:17)).
Then when speaking to Abraham in connection with the promised seed and the land of Canaan, He said, “In the fourth generation they shall come hither again. “For the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full” (Gen. 15:1616But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (Genesis 15:16)).
How He lingers in mercy over the careless and indifferent to give them space for repentance! This is how He acted toward Nineveh in the days of Jonah. Though their daring wickedness had come up before Him, He said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (Jonah 1:2; 3:42Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me. (Jonah 1:2)
4And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. (Jonah 3:4)). And when they turned to God from their wicked way, He repented of the evil He had said He would do unto them” (vs. 10). For He ever gives warning of coming judgment, and ample space for man’s repentance.
At the present-day God is again patiently waiting. Not only has He waited 120 years, with an additional seven days, or an additional forty days; He has been waiting in patient longsuffering for more than nineteen centuries. Ever since the murder of His Own beloved Son on the Cross of Calvary where He died for the worst of sinners, has God been waiting; not willing that any convicted sinner should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:99The 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. (2 Peter 3:9)).
Perhaps a practical and vital question would not be out of place here. We refer to the question asked by the Spirit of God in Romans 2:4,4Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? (Romans 2:4) “Despisest thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?” Think of His daily mercies. Think of His continued offers of salvation through faith in the precious blood of Christ, which was shed for the remission of sins.
In Psalms 136, it seems that the Psalmist can contemplate nothing but what is the outcome of Jehovah’s mercy; he breaks forth with, “His mercy endureth forever”. But remember, dear reader, this may be your last opportunity of accepting God’s gracious invitation! O think, then, of the consequences of missing such tender mercy, and willfully going on without it!
It is certain that judgment will soon overtake the world in which we live. Being heartily desirous of our salvation, God still lingers in grace; but He gives the world no guarantee for the future. “The accepted time”, He declares, “is Now” (1 Tim. 2:44Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4); 2 Cor. 6:22(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2)).’
E. A. H.