Lesson 456 - Senior
Memory Verse
"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful" (Psalm 1:1).
Cross References
I The Coming of the Lord Denied by Scoffers
1. Peter's purpose was to stir up the minds of Christians by way of remembrance, [2PE:3:1-2]; [2PE:1:12].
2. Scoffers, walking in their own lusts, say, "Where is the promise of his coming?" [2PE:3:3-4]; [PS:73:11];
I Corinthians 1:21.
3. They are willingly ignorant of the world's creation and destruction in the Flood by the Word of God, [2PE:3:5-6]; [HEB:11:3].
II The Present World Now Kept in Store for Judgment
1. The earth that perished in the Flood by His Word, is to perish in a fire by the same Word, [2PE:3:7]; [2PE:2:5].
2. His promises are to stand, to whom a thousand years are as one day, [2PE:3:8-9]; [PS:90:4]; [ISA:40:8].
3. The Day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night when the heavens and the earth are destroyed, [2PE:3:10]; [1TS:5:2-3]; [REV:6:14]; [REV:16:15].
III The Necessity of Being Ready for the Day of the Lord
1. Believers, knowing that these things shall come to pass should walk in holiness, [2PE:3:11-12]; [MAT:24:35].
2. Looking forward to new heavens and a new earth should inspire diligence, [2PE:3:13-14]; [ISA:65:17]; [ISA:66:22]; [REV:21:1].
3. It is necessary to understand the things of God and grow in grace, [2PE:3:15-18]; [2PE:1:10-11]; [2TM:2:15].
Notes
Stirring Up Their Minds
In Peter's second Epistle he contrasts the pure minds of believers with the corrupt minds portrayed in the last chapter. He was bringing to their remembrance the prophecies by the holy prophets in the Old Testament, to explain and apply them. To these he was adding the commandment of the Apostles of the Lord and Saviour.
Scoffers in the Last Days
The last days of which Peter spoke point to the closing time of this present age or dispensation. Scoffers, with their own pleasure being their only law, are unrestrained by God's Word and the prophecies contained therein. As the Apostle prophesied, there exists today a large class of people with "scientific" minds, falsely so called. In their intelligence and worldly wisdom, they have asked the very question that Peter attributed to them, "Where is the promise of His coming?" They rationalize that earthly pursuits and natural happenings have continued from the time of the fathers. Summer and winter come and go; families are born and die; and time continues on.
Men of presumptuous skepticism and lawless lust set nature and its so-called laws above the God of nature and His revelation. Sinful man knows that the Scripture teaches Christ's return; but his argument is that past continuity of time and events rule out any interruption in the future.
They believe that all things have existed as they were from the beginning, and this world will continue indefinitely, perhaps for millions of years, as it is today. And there is no room in this philosophy for the teachings and promises found in the Word of God. Such unbelief might well have been the sin of the people in the days of Noah. This attitude is foretold in this chapter.
Willingly Ignorant
Peter tells us they are willingly ignorant. There is none so blind as one who does not want to see. We who believe read in the Word, "Through faith [not science] we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God" [HEB:11:3]). "God said, Let there be light: and there was light." By His Word again that same world which God created perished in the Flood. It is possible that the people of Noah's day felt that since there never had been a flood before, and things had continued the same in their day, Noah's warning to them, as he built the ark, was a matter for their scorn. In like manner the world that now is, is "reserved unto fire against the day of judgment" [2PE:3:7]). It is true that this destruction by fire will not happen for more than a thousand years, because it occurs at the close of the Millennium.
p>God's Time Versus Man's
Peter tells us in the eighth verse that with God a thousand years are as a day and a day as a thousand years. The believer is enjoined to flee the ignorance of applying man's measurements to the things of God. This is the mistake the scoffers of the last days make. The Lord's time for the keeping of His appointments is not slow or running behind schedule. Man is too often late or slow. What appears to man to be delay is really longsuffering and mercy. He is not willing that any should perish, but wants all to come to repentance. He has spared a sinful world to give it opportunity to repent. No wonder the Psalmist said, "His mercy endureth for ever" [PS:106:1]).
The Day of the Lord
The Day of the Lord is coming as a surprise to the scoffers. They will be completely disarmed of their argument that since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. The Day of the Lord is spoken of in [ISA:2:10-22] and [REV:19:11-21]. This day is not confined to a 24-hour day, but is indicated to be that time in which the Lord judges the world and its peoples. At God's appointed times these judgments will take place. At the culmination the heavens shall pass away with a great noise; being on fire they shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. This earth that has been so much polluted by sin shall pass away. (See also [MAT:24:35].)
Responsibility of Knowledge
With this knowledge of the things which are coming to pass, the Apostle asks the question, "What manner of persons ought ye to be" in all holy living with a continual sense of God's presence and trust in Him? With a constant' watching and waiting for the coming of the day of God, we live not in fear, but in the hope of the Christian. We are not saying, "How can these things be?" Since the explosion of atomic blasts, this generation can very well see and understand how simply God could bring this word of prophecy to pass. The elements have already melted with fervent heat in the areas of this type of explosion. The fire and noise have been most terrifying to those in the vicinity, and the shock waves have laid everything low that was in its path.
New Heavens and a New Earth
As an encouragement to those who live godly, we have the promise of new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. (see [ISA:65:17];[ISA:66:22];; [REV:21:1]). Why should it seem strange or difficult for God to create new heavens and a new earth when He created the ones that now are? [REV:21:5] tells us, "Behold, I make all things new." This should inspire every Christian to walk before the Lord in holiness and righteousness all the days of his life, and be diligent that he may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless. This is not only that he might have part in that great Millennial Reign with Jesus, but also that he may be given an abundant entrance into that "New Jerusalem" at the end of the Millennium, and walk the streets of gold as the Apostle John of old.
Paul's Epistles Substantiated
The long-suffering of the Lord, is designed for the salvation of those yet to be gathered into the Church. However, the number of souls coming into the world so far exceeds the souls coming to Christ that a delay of any appreciable time would mean that many more souls will be lost than saved. Therefore, let us work, for the night is surely coming.
Peter here substantiates the words of the Apostle Paul as being divinely inspired by wisdom from God. He tells us that he is in complete agreement with Paul's writing on the subject of the coming of the Lord. Peter says that Paul's writings have some things hard to be understood. The prophets and writers of the Scriptures saw events in space rather than time and sometimes looked over intervening occurrences between the objective points. This gives us foundation for the basic rule of Scriptural interpretation, which is the explaining of Scripture by Scripture; and we must take the whole and entire revelation of God's will and plan, to rightly divide the Word of Truth. Peter tells us that the unlearned or spiritually blind, and the unstable or changeable, wrest -- literally distort out of shape -- the Scriptures which would bring about their salvation if obeyed. By their distortion they bring about their own destruction. This is a solemn warning. When he speaks of the other Scriptures that they treat in like manner, he is classing Paul's writings as already accepted New Testament Scripture in the church of these Hebrews.
Growth in Grace
To sum up the pointed meaning of this discourse on the danger of unbelief in regard to Christ's coming, Peter appeals to the believers with their knowledge of the things of God to beware lest they be led away by these reasonings of men (which he calls the error of the wicked) and they fall from their state of grace. This would be sinning against light.
On the contrary, he admonished them to grow or increase in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This is the opposite of apostatising. The knowledge of God is the opposite of unbelief. A minister of another day said that in old age, grace brings maturity, not decay; advance, not decline; perfection, not carelessness. We go from strength to strength. Without grace, there can be no saving knowledge. Man is inclined to glory in his own worldly wisdom, but Peter ascribes all glory to Christ, both now and forever.
Questions
1. What period is being referred to in the third verse?
2. What is the subject of the scoffing?
3. Of what fact do the scoffers seem to be in ignorance?
4. For what reason is the coming of the Lord delayed?
5. Name some of the happenings during the Day of the Lord.
6. What should be the manner of believers with the knowledge of the Day of the Lord?
7. What hope is set before the believer?
8. With what warning and exhortation does Peter close this Epistle?