De Superville

The impatient voyager who complains of the length of its course, never thinks of the many cities and inhabitants, who, situated on the borders of this river, derive benefit from that which is tedious to him. The man who complains that God hides himself and retards his promises, overlooks the beneficial consequences of these delays of providence which often promote the good of the human race. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, (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.” While the, providence of God is sketching out his great designs, and proceeding slowly to the accomplishment of his general promises; it executes, in the course of its arch, numberless particular designs of immense advantage. He assembles the number of the elect, conducts every one of them gradually forwards to perfection, completes the church, and displays his mercy and patience towards all mankind.

Daniel de Superville, Sermons, (London: Printed for Burton and Briggs, 1816), 20.

Credit to Tony.

Now, to remove these misconstructions, end account for the slow method of providence, I offer these considerations.

Fist, This method is taken to bring sinners to repentance, and prevent their ruin , 2 Pet. iii. 9.; and it is becoming the perfections of a merciful God, therefore to me it. By this means sinners,

1. Have time and space to repent given them, Rev. ii. 21. Were they always taken away just in the heat of their unmortified lusts, we world be ready to cry out of severity, Num. xvii. 12. But God
gives them leave to cool ordinarily, if so they will bethink themselves, and turn to the Lord, and so prevent their own ruin.

2. They are invited to repentance, and drawn towards it with the softest methods. Rom. ii. 2. Every sparing preventing, bounteous mercy the impenitent meets with, calls aloud to him to repent. It says to him, “Do thyself no harm :”it upbraids him with willfulness for his own ruin, why will ye die? with ingratitude, In this thy kindness to thy friend? And so hereby,

lst, God has the glory of some perfections, which otherwise would not shine forth so illustriously.

(1.) He has the glory of his long-suffering and patience: 2 Pet.iii. 9. The Lord is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that my should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” Grave observers of the method of providence must cry out, O wonderful long-suffering of o God 1 The patience of the meekest man on earth, would be quite worn out with less than the half of what a God bears with.

(2.) He has the glory of his universal good-will to poor sinners of mankind, 2 Pet. iii. 9. forecited. 1 Tim. ii. 4. “Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth!”

Justice is his act, his strange act; but mercy is what he has a peculiar delight in. He is slow to anger, but ready to forgive. This is written in very legible characters n this method.

(3.) He has the glory of his overcoming goodness. To do evil for good, is devilish ; to do good for good, is human: but to do good for ill is divine. Here shines forth the glory of the divine goodness, overcoming evil with good, Luke vi. 36. This is goodness becoming a God!

Thomas Boston, “God’s Delay of Executing the Sentence of Condemnation,” in Works, 6:500.

Diodati:

V.9 His promise] viz. By which he promised to come, to accomplish the deliverance of those who are is, and the punishment of the wicked. As some men] viz. The scoffers and contemners of God, which have been spoken of, ver. 3. Long-suffering] that is to say, if there be any manner of stay in his coming, as the flesh false conceives, that is not through forgetfulness or slowness, but through patience and to give his Elect time to be converted, and so to make up the number. Not willing] he does not speak of God’s secret and everlasting decree, by which he chooses whom he thinks good, but of the preaching of the Gospel by which all men are invited. The number therefore of the Elect must be made full, before judgement comes. That any] namely of us, or of the Elect, who are is, as we are.

John Diodati, Pious and Learned Annotations upon the Holy Bible: Plainly Expounding the most difficult places thereof, 2^nd edition (London: Printed by Miles Flesher, for Nicolas Fussels, 1648), 2 Peter 3:9, p., 426.

[For the Harvest] This is the second reason, from the next cause, or order of nature requiring harvest when the corn is white, John. 4:35. “Lift up your eyes,” says Christ, and look on the fields, “for they are already white to harvest.” Therefore being ripe, the time of the harvest is at hand. This “ripeness” signifies that the measure of the Church’s calamities, Anti-Christ’s tyranny, and the inequity of the wicked was now full, as God in Gen. 18:21. says touching the sins of the Sodomites: that he was come to see whither they were come to the full height or not: And Christ of the Pharisees: Matt. 23:32. Full yee up the measure of your fathers.” This also commends both the patience and justice of God: The Lord is not slack in his judgement, but is patient towards us, not willing that any should perish: but by longsuffering leads us to repentance. So then he will execute judgement most justly, because he will do it, till there be no hope of the world’s recovery, and that the sins of men are come to that height as none shall have cause to complain either of the overmuch haste or severity of the Judge.

David Pareus, A Commentary Upon the Divine Revelation of the Apostle and Evangelist, John (Amsterdam: Printed by C.P. Anno, 1644), 361.