5thly, After this, the patience of God was extended to those who endeavoured to pervert the gospel of Christ, namely, to false teachers and backsliding churches, to whom he gave space to repent, but repented not, Rev. ii. 21. And to this we may add, that he has not yet poured forth the vials of his wrath on the Antichristian powers, though he has threatened, that their plagues shall come in one day, chap. xviii. 1.
(3.) We are next to consider the method which God takes in glorifying this attribute. We have already observed that, with respect to believers, the patience of God is glorified in subserviency to their salvation; but, with respect to others, by whom it is abused, the patience of God discovers itself,
1st, In giving them warning of his judgments before he sends them. He speaketh once, yea twice, but man perceiveth it not, that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man, Job xxxiii. 14, 17. and, indeed, all the prophets were sent to the church of the Jews, not only to instruct them, but to warn them of approaching judgments, and they were faithful in the delivery of their message. In what moving terms doth the prophet Jeremiah lament the miseries, which were ready to befal them! And with what zeal doth he endeavour, in the whole course of his ministry, to bring them to repentance, that so the storm might blow over, or, if not, that their ruin might not come upon them altogether unexpected!
2dly, When the divine warnings are not regarded, but wrath must be poured forth on an obstinate and impenitent people, this is done by degrees. God first sends lesser judgments before greater, or inflicts his plagues, as he did upon Egypt, one after another, not all at once; and so he did upon Israel of old, as the prophet Joel observes, first the palmer-worm, then the locust; after that, the canker-worm, and then the caterpillar, devoured the fruits of the earth, one after another, Joel i. 4. So the prophet Amos observes, that God first sent a famine among them, which he calls cleanness of teeth in all their cities, and afterwards some of them were overthrown, as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, Amos iv. 8, 18. Some think, that the gradual approach of divine judgments is intended by what the prophet Hosea says, when the judgments of God are compared to the light that goeth forth, Hos. vi. 5. which implies more than is generally understood by it, as though the judgments of God should be rendered visible, as the light of the sun is; whereas the prophet seems hereby to intimate, that the judgments of God should proceed, like the light of the morning, that still increases unto a perfect day. And it is more than probable that this is intended by the same prophet, when he represents God as speaking concerning Ephraim, that he would be to them as a moth, which doth not consume the garment all at once, as when it is cast into the fire, but frets it by degrees, or like rottenness, which is of a spreading nature, chap. v. 12. Thus the judgments of God are poured forth by degrees, that, at the same time, there may be comparatively, at least, a display of divine patience.
3dly, When God sends his judgments abroad in the world, he often moderates them; none are proportionate to the demerit of sin; as it is said of him, that being full of compassion, he forgave the iniquity of a very rebellious people, that is, he did not punish them as their iniquity deserved, and therefore he destroyed them not, and did not stir up all his wrath, Psal. lxxviii. 38. so the prophet Isaiah says concerning Israel, that God hath not smitten him, as he had smote those that smote him; nor is he slain according to the slaughter of them that are slain by him; but that he would debate with them in measure, who stayeth his rough wind in the day of his east wind, Isa. xxvii. 7, 8.
4thly, When God cannot, in honour, defer his judgments any longer, he pours them forth, as it were, with reluctancy; as a judge, when he passeth sentence on a criminal, doth it with a kind of regret, not insulting, but rather pitying his misery, which is unavoidable, because the course of justice must not be stopped. Thus the prophet says, that God doth not afflict willingly, that is, with delight or pleasure, nor grieve the children of men, Lam. iii. 35. that is, he doth not punish them, because he delights to see them miserable; but to secure the rights of his own justice in the government of the world: so when Israel had been guilty of vile ingratitude and rebellion against him, and he threatens to turn his hand upon them, and destroy them, he expresseth himself in such terms, speaking after the manner of men, as imply a kind of uneasiness, when he says, Ah! I will ease me of mine adversaries, and avenge me of mine enemies, Isa. i. 24. and before God gave up Israel into the hands of the Assyrians, he seems, again speaking after the manner of men, to have an hesitation or debate in his own mind, whether he should do this or no, when he says, How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? Mine heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together, Hos. xi. 8. and when our Saviour could not prevail upon Jerusalem to repent of their sins, and embrace his doctrine, when he was obliged to pass a sentence upon them, and to tell them, that the things of their peace were hid from their eyes, and that their enemies should cast a trench about the city, and should lay it even with the ground, he could not speak of it without tears; when he beheld the city, he wept over it, Luke xix. 41, &c.
(4.) The next thing to be considered, concerning the patience of God, is, that the glory of it is consistent with that of his vindictive justice; or how he may be said to defer the punishment of sin, and yet appear to be a sin-hating God.
It is certain that the glory of one divine perfection cannot interfere with that of another; as justice and mercy meet together in the work of redemption, so justice and patience do not oppose each other, in any of the divine dispensations. It is true, their demands seem to be various; justice requires that the stroke should be immediately given; but patience insists on a delay hereof, inasmuch as without this it does not appear to be a divine perfection; if therefore patience be a divine attribute, and its glory as necessary to be displayed, as that of any of his other perfections, it must be glorified in this world, and that by delaying the present exercise of vindictive justice in the highest degree, or it cannot be glorified at all: justice will be glorified, throughout all the ages of eternity, in those who are the objects thereof; but patience can then have no glory, since (as has been observed) the greatest degree, either of happiness or misery, is inconsistent with the exercise thereof; therefore this being a perfection, which redounds so much to the divine honour, we must not suppose that there is no expedient for its being glorified, or that the glory of vindictive justice is inconsistent with it.
Now this harmony of these two perfections must be a little considered. Justice, it is true, obliges God to punish sin, yet it does not oblige him to do it immediately; but the time, as well as the way, is to be resolved into his sovereign will. In order to make this appear, let us consider, that the design of vindictive justice, in all the punishment it inflicts, is either to secure the glory of the holiness of God; or to assert his rights, as the governor of the world; now if the deferring of punishment doth not interfere with either of these, then the glory of God’s patience is not inconsistent with that of his vindictive justice. But more particularly,
First, The glory of his holiness is, notwithstanding this, sufficiently secured; for though he delays to punish sin, in the highest degree, yet, at the same time, he appears to hate it, by the threatenings which he hath denounced against sinners, which shall certainly have their accomplishment, if he says, that he is angry with the wicked every day, and that his soul hateth them, is there any reason to suppose the contrary? or if he has threatened that he will rain upon them snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest, which shall be the portion of their cup, and that because, as the righteous Lord, he loveth righteousness, Psal. vii. 11. and xi. 6, 7. is not this a sufficient security, for the glory of his holiness, to fence against any thing that might be alleged to detract from it? If threatened judgments be not sufficient, for the present, to evince the glory of this divine perfection; then it will follow, on the other hand, that the promises he has made of blessings not yet bestowed, are to be as little regarded for the encouraging our hope, and securing the glory of his other perfections; and then his holiness would be as much blemished in delaying to reward, as it can be supposed to be in delaying to punish.