CHAPTER III. _The apostle shows his design in writing this and the preceding_ _epistle_, 1, 2. _Describes the nature of the heresies which should take place in_ _the last times_, 3-8. _A thousand years with the Lord are but as a day_, 9. _He will come and judge the world as he has promised, an... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Peter 3:3. _KNOWING THIS FIRST_] Considering this in an _especial_ manner, that those prophets predicted the coming of false teachers: and their being now in the Church proved how clearly they were known to God, and showed the Christians at Pontus the necessity of having no intercourse or co... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 4. _WHERE IS THE PROMISE OF HIS COMING?_] Perhaps the false teachers here referred to were such as believed in the _eternity of the world_: the prophets and the apostles had foretold its destruction, and they took it for granted, if this were true, that the terrestrial machine would have begu... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 5. _FOR THIS THEY WILLINGLY ARE IGNORANT OF_] They shut their eyes against the light, and refuse all evidence; what does not answer their purpose _they will not know_. And the apostle refers to a _fact_ that militates against their hypothesis, with which they refused to acquaint themselves; an... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 7. _BUT THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH, WHICH ARE NOW_] The present earth and its atmosphere, which are liable to the same destruction, because the same _means_ still exist, (for there is still _water_ enough to drown the earth, and there is _iniquity_ enough to induce God to destroy it and its inh... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 8. _BE NOT IGNORANT_] Though _they_ are wilfully ignorant, neglect not _ye_ the means of instruction. _ONE DAY_ IS _WITH THE LORD AS A THOUSAND YEARS_] That is: All time is as nothing before him, because in the _presence_ as in the _nature_ of God all is _eternity_; therefore nothing is _lon... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 9. _THE LORD IS NOT SLACK_] They probably in their _mocking_ said, "Either God had made no such promise to judge the world, destroy the earth, and send ungodly men to perdition; or if he had, he had forgotten to fulfil it, or had not convenient time or leisure." To some such _mocking_ the apos... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 10. _THE DAY OF THE LORD WILL COME_] See Matthew 24:43, to which the apostle seems to allude. _THE HEAVENS SHALL PASS AWAY WITH A GREAT NOISE_] As the _heavens_ mean here, and in the passages above, the whole _atmosphere_, in which all the terrestrial vapours are lodged; and as _water_ itsel... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 11. _ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE DISSOLVED_] They will all be _separated_, all _decomposed_; but none of them _destroyed_. And as they are the original matter out of which God formed the terraqueous globe, consequently they may enter again into the _composition_ of a _new system_; and therefore... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 12. _THE HEAVENS BEING ON FIRE_] 2 Peter 3:10. It was an ancient opinion among the heathens that the earth should be burnt up with fire; so OVID, _Met_., lib. i. v. 256. _Esse quoque in fatis reminiscitur, adfore tempus,_ _Quo mare, quo tellus_, correptaque _regia coeli_ Ardeat; _et mundi m... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 13. _WE, ACCORDING TO HIS PROMISE, LOOK FOR NEW HEAVENS_] The promise to which it is supposed the apostle alludes, is found Isaiah 65:17: _Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall_ _not be remembered, nor come into mind_; and Isaiah 66:22: _For as the new heavens and... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 14. _SEEING THAT YE LOOK FOR SUCH THINGS_] As ye profess that such a state of things shall take place, and have the expectation of enjoying the blessedness of it, _be diligent_ in the use of every means and influence of grace, _that ye may be found of_ _him_-the Lord Jesus, the Judge of quick... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 15. _AND ACCOUNT_ THAT _THE LONG-SUFFERING OF OUR LORD_] Conclude that God's long-suffering with the world is a proof that he designs men to be saved; _even as our beloved brother Paul_. "This epistle being written to those to whom the _first epistle_ was sent, the persons to whom the Apostle... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 16. _AS ALSO IN ALL_ his _epistles, speaking in them of_ _these things_] Paul, in all his epistles, says Dr. _Macknight_, has spoken of the things written by Peter in this letter. For example, he has spoken of _Christ's coming to judgment_; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:14; 2 Thessa... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 17. _SEEING YE KNOW - BEFORE_] Seeing that by prophets and apostles you have been thus forewarned, _beware_, φυλασσεσθε, _keep_ _watch_, be on _your guard_; cleave to God and the word of his grace, _lest ye be led away_ from the truth delivered by the prophets and apostles, _by the error of th... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse 2 Peter 3:18. _BUT GROW IN GRACE_] Increase in the image and favour of God; every grace and Divine influence which ye have received is a seed, a heavenly seed, which, if it be watered with the dew of heaven from above, will endlessly increase and multiply itself. He who continues to _believe,... [ Continue Reading ]