• Title Page
• Pentateuch
• History
• Poetry
• Prophets
• Post Captivity Prophets
• Gospels, Acts
• Pauline Epistles
• General Epistles
  • Lesson 56: Hebrews
  • Lesson 57: James
  • Lesson 58: I Peter
  • Lesson 59: II Peter
  • Lesson 60: I John
  • Lesson 61: II and III John
  • Lesson 62: Jude
  • Lesson 63: The Revelation

In the first place, in passing, notice the teaching of the second verse concerning the authority of the New Testament as compared with the Old, and how the apostle places his own writings on a par with those of the prophets.

What period of time is being referred to (II Peter 3:3)? Remember that “the last days” here means, as uniformly, the last days of the present age, not the end of the world. What is the subject of the scoffing marking the period spoken of (II Peter 3:4)? Of what dreadful fact do the scoffers seem to be in practical ignorance (II Peter 3:5-6)? How will the next cosmic catastrophe differ from the last (II Peter 3:7)? The reference in II Peter 3:7, of course, is to the end of the world, but this will not be reached, according to other Scriptures, Revelation for example, till a thousand years after the coming of the Lord.

How does this fact seem to be alluded to in II Peter 3:8? For what merciful reason is the coming of the Lord delayed (II Peter 3:9)? To what notable period does II Peter 3:10 refer? We have already seen (II Thessalonians) the distinction between the coming of Christ for His church, and the introduction of “The Day of the Lord” which follows. This “day” begins and ends with judgment as Revelation more fully reveals, although between the two series of judgments the millennium intervenes. We have already been taught that the prophets see events in space rather than in time, often overlooking intervening occurrences between the great objective points. In this way the church period is not alluded to at all in the Old Testament, while in the present instance Peter says nothing about the millennium. What solemn application does he make of these words (II Peter 3:11-12)? What hope is set before the believer (II Peter 3:13)? With what warning and exhortation does he dose (II Peter 3:17-18)?

I John

The first epistle of John is addressed to no particular church or individual, but it is the thought of some that the apostle had in mind a cycle of churches like perhaps the seven churches of Asia (Revelation 1). It is quite likely that the Christians to whom he wrote were mostly of Gentile rather than Jewish origin, as judged by the few references to the Old Testament, and also by such allusions as that in I John 5:21.

It is thought, too, that the epistle was written later than the Gospel by the same author, as gathered from the circumstances