Attributes of God - Charnock - LVI - Chapter 14 (God's patience) concluded

Required reading
Attributes of God by Charnock (Available from Amazon or free on the internet, here for example) - Conclude Chapter 14 (A discourse upon God's patience).

My summary
Today we finish looking at the patience of God by reading Charnock's fourth main point.

Firstly by considering God's patience we are instructed about:
(i) how greatly the patience of God is abused;
(ii) why God lets the enemies of his church oppress it and defers his promise of the deliverance of it;
(iii) the reason why sin is suffered to remain in the regenerate.

Secondly Charnock teaches us about the comfort that comes from the doctrine of God's patience.  It is:
(i) an argument of his grace to his people;
(ii) a ground to trust in his promise;
(iii) helpful in infirmities.

Thirdly we are given exhortations in light of God's patience to:
(i) meditate often on the patience of God;
(ii) admire and stand astonished at his patience and bless him for it;
(iii) not presume upon his patience;
(iv) imitate God's patience in our own to others.

What grabbed me
I appreciated the exhortation to not presume upon God's patience: 'Therefore presume not upon his patience. The exercise of it is not eternal; you are at present under his patience; yet, while you are unconverted, you are also under his anger (Ps. vii. 11), 'God is angry with the wicked every day.' You know not how soon his anger may turn his patience aside, and step before it. It may be his sword is drawn out of his scabbard, his arrows may be settled in his bow; and perhaps there is but a little time before you may feel the edge of the one or the point of the other: and then there will be no more time for patience in God to us, or petition from us to him. If we repent here he will pardon us. If we defer repentance, and die without it, he will have no longer mercy to pardon, nor patience to bear.'

Don't take God's patience for granted.  Repent of your sinfulness before God's patience ends and his wrath is unleashed.

One sentence final verdict
This is THE book on the attributes of God - no other work so carefully examines and applies the truth we know about our God from the Holy Scriptures.

Next week's reading
Commence The Fundamentals edited by R. A. Torrey (Available from Amazon or free here) by beginning Chapter 1 'The history of higher criticism' and reading up to the heading 'A discredited Old Testament'.

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.