Lesson Seven
The Second Epistle of Peter
(Continued)

TEXT: II Peter Chapters 2 & 3.
False Teachers: (2 Peter 2:1-3)
•	Just as there were false teachers during the days of the prophets, there are false teachers who will come into the churches and introduce destructive heresies today.
•	 They will tell lies about God and deny the Lord who died for them upon the cross. 
•	Two main characteristics will be noted: immortality and greed. 
•	They will exploit the saints with false arguments. 
•	They will bring swift judgment upon themselves for God has already condemned them and their destruction is on the way.

The Judgment of False Teachers: (2 Peter 2:4-6)
•	Peter gave three examples out of the Old Testament to prove the certainty of judgment on these false teachers.
1.	The Angels That Sinned. 
•	If God had overlooked sin anywhere, it would have been with the angels. 
•	However, God did not spare them but cast them into hell and has kept them bound in the pits of darkness awaiting judgment.
2.	The People to Whom Noah Preached. 
•	God did not spare the ancient world of Noah's day. He brought a flood upon the ungodly and saved only eight people.
3.	Sodom and Gomorrah. 
•	He condemned these cities to extinction, reducing them to ashes, making them an example to all the ungodly.

Characteristics of False Teachers: (2 Peter 2:7-18)
1.	Walk after the lust of uncleanness (verse 10);
2.	Despise government (verse 10;
3.	Presumptuous (verse 10);
4.	Self willed (verse 10);
5.	Natural brute beasts (verse 12);
6.	Spots and blemishes (verse 13);
7.	Eyes full of adultery (verse 14);
8.	Cursed children (verse 14);
9.	Wells without water (verse 17);
10.	Clouds carried with a tempest (verse 17).
•	Peter's language is very vivid in describing these people.
•	 In comparison, Peter described Lot as being a just man who vexed his soul as he saw the awful wickedness around him.
•	There is a wonderful promise in verse 9. 
•	The Lord knows how to rescue the godly out of temptation and trials. 
•	This promise should always be remembered
•	In verse 10 these false teachers are described as despising government. 
•	This is a terrible sin and frequently is found in the church today.
•	Another phrase that we should note is found in verse 14, "beguiling unstable souls." 
•	It is a dangerous thing to be unsettled. 

The End of The Apostate: (2 Peter 2:19-22)
•	The person who is deceived and led astray by the false teacher becomes an apostate himself. 
•	His horrible end is described here. 
•	He is in a worse state than before he was saved. 
•	It would have been better for him to have never known the Lord as a Savior than to turn back into the pollution of the world.

Scoffers Concerning Our Lord's Return: (2 Peter 3:1-4)
•	The mocking inquiry of scoffers, "Where is the promise of His coming?" is a sign of the times. 
•	We should not be astonished but rather strengthened in our faith and our hope Christ's of return.
•	 Scoffers are only one more fulfilled prophecy of the near coming of the Lord.

Answer To The Scoffers: (2 Peter 3:5-9)
•	These scoffers are not only ignorant, but they are willingly ignorant. 
•	There is no excuse for this ignorance. 
•	There are many prophecies in the Scriptures relating to the return of our Lord in judgment.
•	 The fact of the flood destroying the world in Noah's day is well known.
•	 It is also a fact that this planet is reserved for judgment by fire. 
•	Even the scientists are fully persuaded that such a judgment will come.
•	The Lord is longsuffering. 
•	He does not desire that any should perish but that all should turn to repentance.
•	It is very significant to know that God is dealing with this world in a week of millennia. 
•	Each day is one thousand years long. 
•	The seventh day will be the millennium. 
•	We are now down at the close of the sixth millennia.

The Lord's Return to Be Catastrophic: (2 Peter 3:10-1 3)
•	Planet earth is a great time bomb. 
•	The chief chemicals, nitrogen, oxygen and carbon are all highly explosive. 
•	Apart from that, the earth's surface in comparison to an egg is as thin as the eggshell. 
•	However, it is a cracked shell, which is in constant motion. 
•	The day will come when the elements will melt and the heavens will be on fire. 
•	At that time, there will be a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1).

Concluding Exhortations: (Ii Peter 3:14-1 8)
1.	To live blamelessly in the light of their great hope (verse 14;
2.	To remember the reason for the Lord's delay is to give men an opportunity to repent (verse 15);
3.	To beware of being led astray by false doctrine (verse 17);
4.	 To grow in grace (verse 18).
•	Not only is it necessary to grow in grace but also in the knowledge of our Lord. There are two ways in which we may grow in this knowledge:
5.	By growing in the knowledge of the Word of God.
6.	By walking with the Lord and having constant fellowship with Him.
•	Peter referred to Paul as "our beloved brother." 
•	He endorsed his epistles as being part of the Scriptures (verse 16) although he did admit that there were some things hard to understand. 

Lesson Seven
Self Help Test
1.) State the THREE examples that Peter gave of God's judgment in the Old Testament.

2.) List FIVE of the characteristics of false teachers given by Peter.

3.) Why are the scoffers of our Lord's return ignorant?

4.) Describe the horrible condition of an apostate.

5.) In your own words explain what Peter wrote regarding Paul's writings.