An overview for Sunday School and Bible study leaders of Lifeway’s “Explore the Bible” lesson of II Peter 3:8-18, with the title, “Be Encouraged,” for Sunday, May 25, 2025. A video version of this overview is available on YouTube at:

INTRODUCTION:

Lesley Gore is a pastor’s wife in Beggs, Oklahoma (she was in our children’s group when we pastored there in the 1990s.) Lesley recently shared this story about two of her young children:

“Jack, after dragging over a stool and teaching Bea to make toast, (said)” ’…and now we push it down like this, and now we wait. That’s the hardest part.’” (Lesley Gore Facebook post 5/05/25) 

Waiting really can be the hardest part, can’t it? Many of us know  from personal experience how difficult waiting can be!

(You might also consider sharing here or elsewhere in the lesson, the story I suggest near the end of this lesson for a closing illustration, about the Johnstown Flood, and how the people there acted like an impending tragedy would never happen to them.)

DISCUSSION:

??? Can you share something that you were tempted to be discouraged in waiting for, but which you finally received — or maybe you’re still waiting for it now???

(Many of your group members will probably have stories and examples to share: my wife Cheryl has a testimony that the Lord showed her that she would marry a preacher — and specifically me! — but for several years that appeared very unlikely. But after what seemed like very long years for her, we did begin dating and were married — 43 years this May 28th!

And right now Cheryl & I are learning more lessons on waiting. We are still waiting on the sale of our former home in Texas. It’s been on the market 4 months — seems like a long time — but we know the Lord will sell it in His time. Psalm 138:8 is our special promise for this time: “the LORD will accomplish what concerns me.” We do believe He will do it, in His time! 

Waiting can be difficult — and it’s usually not very enjoyable for us — but it seems to be an integral part of God’s plan for us that we learn to wait on Him and His timing. Our lesson from II Peter 3:8-18 today could be entitled, “Wait on the Lord” — particularly wait on His promised return.

CONTEXT:

This week we conclude our 3-week study of II Peter. Peter wrote in Chapter 1 about how God would help His people grow spiritually, especially by relying on His inspired word. Then in Chapter 2 he warns us to beware of the many false teachers in our world.

After that warning against false teachers, Peter now opens Chapter 3 by saying in :1 that this is “the second letter which I am writing to you” (I & II Peter!) and he admonishes them to remember the words of the prophets, and the command of the Lord Jesus, spoken by the apostles. 

What command was he talking about? From the verses that follow, he was evidently talking about the command to be ready for the coming of the Lord. Because he immediately starts talking in :3 about how “mockers will come with their mocking” and say “where is the promise of His coming?” (:4)  Jesus promised in Matthew 24 and other places that He would return to the world, but by the time this letter was written, some years had gone by. Some were saying, “He’s not coming!” (And of course how much more so today!) That’s the context of our lesson for today, which opens with the famous words of II Peter 3:8.

OUTLINE:

I. Waiting on the Lord’s Return (:8-9)

II. The Effect of the Lord’s Return (:10-13)

III. Our Conduct as we Await the Lord’s Return (:11, 14-18)

TEXT:    II Peter 3:8-18

I. Waiting on the Lord’s Return (:8-9)

8 “But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

As I mentioned in the introduction, :8 has become a very famous saying in Christianity, “with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.” 

Like much of what Peter and the Apostles wrote, this verse has its foundations in the Old Testament, this time from Psalm 90, which opens saying how “Before the mountains were born, before You gave birth to the earth and to the world, even from everlasting to everlasting You are God.” (:2) Then :4 says: “For a thousand years in Your sight, are like yesterday when it passes by, or as a watch in the night.”

Psalm 90 teaches the eternity of God. He existed before the mountains, before the earth. He is God before there was time. 

ILLUSTRATION

As A.W. Tozer wrote in his insightful little book, The Knowledge of the Holy, “God lives in an everlasting now.” (p. 39) I love the illustration by C.S. Lewis that Tozer quotes in his book:

“(Lewis) suggests that we think of sheet of paper infinitely extended. That would be eternity. Then on that paper draw a short line to represent time. As the line begins and ends on that infinite expanse, so time began in God and will end in Him.” (p. 40)

EXERCISE/ILLUSTRATION

A way I have used this in class is to say, “Imagine that this chalkboard/dry erase board is all eternity.” Then draw a line on it and say “This line represents all time, from creation to Revelation.” God is in eternity, outside of that line. He is not bound by time.

Psalm 90 and this exercise gives us a very necessary understanding of the doctrine of God, and you can see how this directly relates to :8 from our lesson for today: “… with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.” If you look at that line on the chalkboard, what is a thousand years on that line? It is nothing. Well that is how it appears to God. He said Jesus is coming “soon.” Well, that could be 1000 years. It could be 2000 years, which we are closing in on now, and maybe even more. But that is no reason to doubt God’s word. A thousand years is like one day to Him.

But of course, we are not God, and it does seem like a long time to US! Why is God taking so long? 

Verse 9 answers this question: “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

This is one of the great verses of scripture, and it is very instructive to us:

— it says God is not “slow” about His promise; instead He is being “patient.” He is giving us time. 

— WHY is He doing that? Because of His loving and merciful nature: “not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” God is being patient about the return of Christ, because He is giving more people time to repent of their sins and trust Jesus as their Lord & Savior.

Just like :8 reveals to us a lot about God’s nature in regard to time and eternity, this verse tells us a lot about His loving, merciful nature towards mankind.  It says God does not wish for anyone to perish. The word “wish” here is the Greek word “boulemai,” “will, wish, desire, intend.” It is not His will, His wish, His desire, or intention, for anyone to perish. The word “perish” here is “apollumi,” the same word used in John 3:16, “should not perish.” It is not God’s will, wish, or desire, for anyone to perish — to be separated from fellowship with Him in eternal punishment, which is exactly what John 3:16 is talking about. 

So why do some people go to hell? It’s not God’s will or desire — but He has given us a choice to accept or reject forgiveness and salvation in Christ. 

ILLUSTRATION

Joe McKeever is known across the SBC for his cartoons in Baptist papers. Recently he wrote on Facebook (5/05/25):

“Pastor Mike Burns once had a conversation with a police chief on why a loving God would send anyone to hell.  The chief said, ‘I never send anyone to prison.  I give them a ride based on the choices they have made.’”

I think that’s such an apt description of what the Bible teaches about God’s attitude towards us. As Peter makes very clear here,  it is NOT God’s will or desire for anyone to go to Hell. Jesus expressed that same attitude in Luke 23:37, ““Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.” Jesus said HE WANTED (“thelo”, another Greek word meaning “will, wish, desire, intend”) to gather Jerusalem to Him, but “you were unwilling.” They would make their own choice. 

We see in II Peter 3:9 and Luke 23:37 that the Lord doesn’t want anyone to perish; His desire is for them to repent and come back to Him. THAT is why He is delaying His return, according to II Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

DISCUSSION/APPLICATION:

You might even ask your group at this point:

??? How many of you have friends/loved ones, that you are waiting and praying for them to come to the Lord???

(Virtually all of us would say that we do.)

Then you can make the point that THESE VERY PEOPLE WE LOVE and care about, are the very reason that God is being patient! He is giving them time to come back to Him — and aren’t we glad that He is, even if it delays His coming for us a few more days or years! 

II. The Effect of the Lord’s Return (:10, 12-13)

10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.

12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”

So the Lord’s return seems to be delayed, but it is because of His patient desire to see more saved. 

Verse 10 does say, however, that He WILL come: “the day of the Lord will come like a thief.” 

DISCUSSION

You might ask your group: 

??? WHY do you think he used that expression here, “come like a thief”? 

(A thief comes unexpectedly, at a time and in a way that you probably did not expect. A thief does not want to be caught, so he sneaks in, often at night, unexpectedly.

And while Jesus will not “sneak in,” the Bible repeatedly asserts that His coming will be unexpected:

— In a very similar passage in I Thessalonians 5:1-3, the Apostle Paul writes:

“Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. 2 For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. 3 While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.”

— Jesus Himself said in Matthew 24: “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone. (:36-37) :42 “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.”

So His coming will be unexpected. And what will happen when He comes? The second part of :10, and :12b-13 tell us:

“the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.”

12b “… because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! 13 But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”

The Bible is very emphatic here on what will happen to the earth and everything in it. Note how many times it refers to its fiery end:

— “the elements will be destroyed with intense heat” (:10b)

— “the earth and its works will be burned up” (:10b)

— “the heavens will be destroyed by burning” (:12b)

— “the elements will melt with intense heat” (:12b)

So at least FOUR TIMES in this passage, the Bible refers to how the earth will be destroyed by fire.

ILLUSTRATION

After suffering 5 major fires during his lifetime which destroyed his exhibitions and circus animals, P.T. Barnum donated many of his exhibits to Tufts College.

“The building, the stuffed Jumbo (huge elephant which was famous circus draw) and the many other specimens Barnum collected for it served the college for nearly a hundred years until, almost inevitably, fire destroyed it all in 1975. It was his sixth and his very last great fire.” (Robert Wilson, Barnum: An American Life, p. 278)

Some of us have lost things in a fire, or hurricane, or other tragedy. But the Bible says there is coming a “very last great fire,” which will consume everything on earth, just like it did all of Barnum’s collection.

How should we live in light of that? How should we apply that truth? That the essence of what we find in our last point:

III. Our Conduct as we Await the Lord’s Return (:11, :14-18)

11 “Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness …

14 Therefore, beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from your own steadfastness, 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

Peter implies a kind of question there in :11. Let’s answer it:

??? What sort of people OUGHT we to be, in light of His return, and the temporary nature of everything here on earth???

We see several things in this last set of verses that describe how we should live in light of the Lord’s return:

— :14 says we should be “spotless and blameless” — in other words, live holy lives in light of His return and eternity.

— :17 says “Be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men.” This is what we talked about last week: be on guard against false teachers.

INTERESTINGLY, Peter makes an important point here, when he refers to Paul’s writings: 

“ … our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.”

It’s easy to see his point: false teachers are taking some of the things Paul wrote, and distort them. Ok. BUT NOTICE what he says at the end of :16. He says they distort “Paul’s letters” — like those we have in the New Testament today — “as they do also THE REST OF THE SCRIPTURES.” Do you see that? Peter calls those letters of Paul, “scriptures”! That is significant. 

Let me tell you a real story that I experienced. You can share it if you’re led to. When I was in seminary, they brought in some speakers from various backgrounds to expose us to some different viewpoints, not necessarily ones that we’d agree with. One was a woman who talked about how women should be able to be pastors. We had he opportunity to ask questions, and one of our men asked her, “What about Paul’s admonition in I Timothy 2 and 3 that the pastor should be a man?” Her response: “Everybody knows the Apostle Paul was a male chauvinist.” As if his writings were not the inspired word of God.

You may have heard others treat Paul’s letters as if they were “just one man’s opinion,” or something less than what Jesus said. This is where Peter’s words here are such a powerful witness. He calls those letters Paul wrote “scriptures.” They are NOT “one man’s opinion.” They were not written by a “male chauvinist.” They are not less authoritative than the “red letter” words of Jesus. “All scripture is inspired of God,” II Timothy 3:16 says — and Peter makes it very clear here: even at that early date in the church, Paul’s letters were considered by Peter and others as “scriptures.”  This comes near the end of the lesson, but do your best to save time to emphasize this to your class this Sunday. Make sure they know the witness Peter gives to Paul’s writings as inspired scripture. 

So how should we live in light of the Lord’s return?

— Live holy lives

— Don’t be deceived by false doctrines (or those who would denigrate Paul’s letters or any other portion of scripture) 

— and then :11 reminds us to treat worldly possessions as the temporary things they are. They will all be consumed by the fire. Everything. So don’t build your life around things. Live like your possessions are temporary. Invest your time and money in eternity, don’t spend it all on things that will burn up. 

CONCLUSION/ILLUSTRATION:

You might consider closing your lesson with this illustration from David McCullough’s book on the Johnstown Flood. McCullough wrote about how the people in Johnstown, just east of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania always talked about how “one day that dam will break” on the river just east of them:

“The dam was going to break that year, too, and every year except one or two, up until 1889. At George Heiser’s store, people would come in out of the rain to buy something or just to pass the time in a dry, warm place and nearly always someone said, “this is the day the old dam is going to break.” It was becoming something of a local joke. Many years later Victor Heiser would recall, “The townspeople, like those who live in the shadow of Vesuvius, grew calloused to the possibility of danger. ‘Sometime,’ they thought, ‘that dam will give way, but it won’t ever happen to us.’ 

When there were warnings of trouble up the mountain, few took them to heart. The dam always held despite the warnings. People got tired of hearing about a disaster that never happened. And after all, was not the dam owned by some of the most awesome men in the country? (Carnegie, Knox, Mellon, all the Pittsburgh money men, etc.) If there was anything to worry about certainly they would know about it.  The Tribune (newspaper) continued to imply that there was no cause for alarm.” (David McCullough, The Johnstown Flood, p. 66)

What a powerful illustration of the truth of II Peter Chapter 3: don’t let the return of the Lord and destruction of all things here on earth become “a local joke” to you and your loved ones. Jesus said He’s coming. His word says this world will end in fire. He always keeps His word. He’s coming. Everything here will be destroyed. So let’s live, and serve, and witness, like we really believe that! 

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