Bullinger:

To the former errors and sins of Jezebel he adds another sin nothing light, to wit, the abuse, yea, and the contempt of God’s long-suffering. God does not by and by and out of hand destroy such as be in error, yea, or in most grievous sins. But sinners are wont for the most part to abuse that long-sufferance of God, unto the occasion and pretense of sinning more impudently, saying: “If God abhorred these offences so greatly, he would have destroyed us long ere this: But now he nourishes us gently, and therefore does not so greatly mislike it.” But this is an abuse of God’s long-suffering. For the Lord says at this present, “I have given Jezebel a time to repent her, and to leave her fornication, & to turn to the Lord: Howbeit she has not converted, which thing the Lord takes in most evil part, that his grace should be despised and set to nought. Wherefore S. Paul to the Romans, “Does thou contemn the riches of God’s goodness, long-suffering and mildness? knowing not that the goodness of God provokes thee to repentance.” &c. Then if the lord has not suddenly oppressed us in our sins: let us not thereof take unto us a liberty to sin, but let us rather amend, S. Peter says, “The Lord is patient toward us, whilst he will destroy none, but receive all to repentance,” 2 Pet 3. Certain Jezebel herself, when after the death of her husband Ahab, and the mortal fall of her son Ahaziah she did not amend (nor with the 12 years of her son Johoram, wherein he is read to have reigned) did repent her: felt the wrath of God so much more grievous, for that it was long or it came.

Henry Bullinger, A Hundred Sermons Vpon the Apocalipse of Iesu Christ (London: Printed by Iohn Daye, dwellying ouer Aldersgate, 1573), 43[B]. [Note: I have modernized the spelling and the personal names, and inserted some commas for better reading.]

Swinnock:

12. He is thus patient towards men, who did not wait at all on angels. The angels were more noble creatures, and able to hare done him more and better service than man; yet, when they sinned, he did not wait a moment for their repentance; but he stretches out his hand all the day long to man. He that would not wait upon disloyal courtiers, waits upon rebellious beggars. Consider the causes of it.

The moving cause is his own gracious nature. Men forbear punishing malefactors, sometimes because they are related to them, sometimes from hope of advantage by them, sometimes because they are afraid of them; but God forbears none upon any such grounds. His goodness is the only string that ties his hand from striking ; ‘Yea, many years did thou forbear them, for thou art a gracious and a merciful God,’ Neh. ix. 30, 31.

The final cause is manifold.

1. That he might exalt his great name. It is light straw that upon the least spark takes fire. The discretion of a man defers his anger, and it is his glory to pass by infirmities; mean and low spirits are most peevish and passionate; sickly and weak persons are observed to be the most impatient. God makes his power known, when he endures with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction. He intends the advancement of his praise in the lengthening of his patience: ‘For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger; for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off,’ Isa, xlviii, 9.

2. That sinners might amend, He is patient, that men might not perish, ‘The Lord is not slack, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’ He defers their execution, that they might sue out their pardon. The Lord waits, not that he might be blessed in himself, but that he may be gracious to sinners.

3, That impenitent sinners might be left without excuse. I sinners that are turned out of the womb into hell, will justify God, surely those upon whom he waited twenty, or thirty, or forty, or fifty years for their conversion, will condemn themselves. If all forbearing mercy may well be silent. Oh, how little will they have to say for themselves upon whom grace waited so many years, knocking hard at the door of their hearts for acceptance, and they refused to open to it, or bid it come in. How justly will they suffer long in the other world, to whom God was so long-suffering to no purpose in this world, Rom. iv. 2.

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The Long-Suffering of God with Individuals

ECCLESIASTES viii. 11, 12.

Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. For the sinner doth evil a hundred times, and God prolongeth his days.

THE Wise Man points out, in the words of the text, one general cause of the impenitence of mankind. The disposition to which he attributes it, I own, seems shocking and almost incredible; but if we examine our “deceitful and desperately wicked hearts,” Jer. xvii. 9; we shall find, that this disposition, which, at first sight, seems so shocking, is one of those, with which we are too well acquainted. “The heart of the sons of men is fully set to do evil.” Why? “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily.”

This shameful, but too common, inclination, we will endeavor to expose, and to show you that the long-suffering, which the mercy of God grants to sinners, may be abused either in the disposition of a devil, or in that of a beast, or in that of a philosopher, or in that of a man. He who devotes his health, his prosperity, and his youth, to offend God, and, while his punishment is deferred, to invent new ways of blaspheming him; he, who follows such a shameful course of life, abuses the patience of God in the disposition of a devil. He, who enervates and impairs his reason, either by excessive debauchery, or by worldly dissipations, by an effeminate luxury, or by an inactive stupidity, and pays no regard to the great end for which God permits him to live in this world, abuses the patience of God in the disposition of a beast.

He who from the long-suffering of God infers consequences against his providence, and against his hatred of sin, is in the disposition, of which my text speaks, as a philosopher. He, who concludes because the patience of God has continued to this day that it will always continue, and makes such a hope a motive to persist in sin, without repentance or remorse, abuses the patience of God in the dis position of a man. As I shall point out these principles to you, I shall show you the injustice and extravagance of them.

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The Long-suffering of God

This is an essential attribute of God whereby He refrains Him- Self from initially pouring out His full wrath upon the sinner, thus postponing his punishment–meanwhile bestowing benefits upon him. It is God’s character to be long-suffering (Exo. 34:6). The Lord is long-suffering towards sinners in a general sense. “Or despise thou the riches of His goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leades thee to repentance?” (Rom. 2:4). “What if God…endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?” (Rom. 9:22).

God is long-suffering towards the elect prior to their conversion. “The Lord…is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9); “To declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God” (Rom. 3:25). God is long-suffering towards His children, as considered in their regenerate state, by not always chastising them for their sins (it being understood that the elect are not punished in the definitive sense of the word), but rather overlooking their failures and having much patience with them. “I will spare them, as a man spares his own son that serves him” (Mal. 3:17); “Like as a father pities his children, so the LORD pities them that fear Him” (Psa. 103:13). Such is the character of God, as we have extensively demonstrated to you. His character is holy, good, loving, gracious, merciful, and long-suffering.

You who are convinced of your miserable condition and are desirous to be reconciled with God, be not discouraged from coming to God. You need not be discouraged if your desire is to approach unto Him in truth, with sincerity, and in the right way, that is, only through Christ. Simply come: the Lord is not merciless, cruel, or pitiless. On the contrary, He is as He declares Himself to be in His Name: “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth” (Exo. 34:6)! Just as the father of the prodigal son, the Lord runs to meet all who turn to Him from afar. He calls you, manifests Himself to you, and promises not to cast anyone out that comes to Him. Do not let fear restrain you from doing so, but come boldly to the Lord and His goodness.

And believers, how you do injustice towards the Lord when you view Him as cruel, merciless, pitiless, and always angry, because He neither immediately delivers you from your threatening and pressing circumstances, nor grants you your desires, nor answers your prayers. You dishonor God with such thoughts. You imagine things about God that are unbecoming of Him. Humble yourself for entertaining such sinful and God dishonoring conceptions. Refrain yourself from and be fearful of such thoughts. How detrimental it is to you when you dwell upon such thoughts. It will prevent you from praying believingly. You will rob yourself of a quiet confidence in God, frustrate the expression of your love towards God, and bring upon yourself darkness, restlessness, the hiding of God’s countenance, and a vulnerability towards sin.

Please conduct yourself no longer thus, but condition yourself to view God always in such a fashion as we have described Him to be on the basis of His Word. Acknowledge Him to be such and magnify Him in these perfections. If you have sinned or are in the way of affliction, believe firmly and seek to maintain a lively impression that God’s character is truly of such a nature. Therefore frequently humble yourself before Him as a child and be at liberty to go to God believing Him to be such, not only as far as His character is concerned but also that He is such a God in regard to you. Rejoice in this and without fear commit both yourself and your case to Him. You will experience that it will be to your comfort and joy as well as promote intimate communion with Him, strengthen your faith, and result in progress in the way of sanctification. Then the holiness of God will not discourage you but generate a childlike reverence in you; and it will become your delight to be holy, since He is holy.

Wihlemus a’ Brakel, The Christian’s Reasonable Service, trans., by Bartel Elshout, (Ligonier, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publ., 1992), 1:126-127.