Welcome to the 10-Minute Bible, where we look at one book of the Bible in 10 minutes. Well, give or take 10 minutes. In this session, we're going to look at the book of 2 Peter. Now, as I have said in this series repeatedly, in order to understand any book, you need to understand three things, especially if it's a book in the Bible. The first thing you need to understand is what is the subject? And I mean by that, what is the overall subject the author is dealing with? Now, as any author knows, there may be minor subjects, but there's one overarching subject. That's the thing I'm after. What is the major subject of the book? The second thing you need to know is what is the structure of the book, which is simply the answer to the question, how does the author deal with that subject? Now, in a secular book, you can determine that by simply looking at the table of contents, and that will give you some idea of how the author is developing the subject. In the case of the Bible, those don't exist, But if you have a study Bible, there will be an outline, and that outline will give you the structure of the book. The third thing you need to understand, the first is the subject, the second is the structure, the third I call the situation. Now, that's not always true with secular books, but it's virtually true with every book in the Bible. There are one or two exceptions. But here's what I mean. There was a situation. that provoked that author to write on that subject to the original audience. And if you know that, you go a long way down the road to understanding what that book is about. Now, the situation is broken down into three parts. There's the author, and then there is the original recipients, and then there is Why did he speak on that subject, which really amounts to the purpose. Now, in order to understand any book of the Bible, I suggest you start with those three things. What is the subject? How does the author develop that subject, the structure? And what is the situation that provoked him to write on that subject to that audience? Now, with that in mind, in this session, we're going to look at 2 Peter. So, let's talk about the subject, the structure, and the situation in 2 Peter. The subject is the second coming of Christ. The structure is of an ancient letter. Now, as you've heard me say, when you get to the epistles of the New Testament, Most of them follow the structure of a personal letter of the first century, which consisted of a salutation and then a thanksgiving, a prayer, the body of the book, and it ended with a personal greetings and a benediction. Well, 1 Peter follows that format except, I keep saying 1 Peter, we're talking about 2 Peter. Second Peter follows that format, except it doesn't have a prayer or a thanksgiving. But other than that, the basic format is of an epistle or a better word would be an ancient letter. Now, let me talk about the body outline. It starts with a salutation. And in 2 Peter, there is a prologue that goes from verse 3 to verse 11 of the first chapter. Then the body of the book starts. Now, in those opening verses, he talks about a promise, and it becomes apparent toward the end of the book that it's the promise of his coming. That's why I'm saying the subject of the book is the second coming of Christ. Now, that is broken down into basically three parts. I'm talking about the body of the book, which starts in chapter one, verse 12. The first is the fact that he says the promise of prophecies are sure. So it's one of the first things he established. You can be sure the prophecies are confirmed and they're going to happen. He deals with that in chapter one, verse 12, down through the end of the chapter. The second thing he does is he talks about the fact that false teachers will be judged. That's basically chapter two. And the third thing he does is he says that scoffers are wrong. And he's talking about the scoffers who are scoffing the second coming. Where is his promise of his coming? You'll recall that phrase. Then there is a conclusion that ends the book. Now, I want to talk about the situation. The author, of course, is Peter. He identifies himself twice, and maybe in a couple of other times, but he calls himself by that name. It's probably written just before his death, which was probably in 64 AD, so that means that he wrote this book in 64 AD. The recipients were readers in Asia Minor, were the readers of 1 Peter. And the occasion seems to be that false teachers were coming. They weren't here yet, but he says, as there have been false prophets, so there's going to be false teachers coming in the future. So he's warning them about these false teachers. and scoffers who are scoffing at the second coming of Christ. They're just outright denying it. Furthermore, these false teachers and scoffers are living lustful lives and they're leading others astray, even some believers astray. So, the purpose of the book. is to warn against those false teachers and scoffers and to remind them what they knew and exhort them to take heed so that they would grow. Remember the most famous passage in the Bible on growth is in second Peter. It ends with, but grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. So that is what he's really trying to do. If I were going to summarize the whole book in one short, simple sentence, I would say, the Lord is coming back. That's the subject of the book. So avoid Balt's teachers that are coming and scoffers. and concentrate on growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. Now, I usually end these little sessions by saying, so what is the takeaway for us? What would you take away as a result of reading this book? And I would say it like this. In light of the return of the Lord, Believers should avoid false teachers and scoffers, and they should live godly lives. Now, I want to end by reminding you of that passage in chapter 3, where he says, Beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you fall from your own steadfastness, being led astray with the error of the wicked, but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen. Now I'm quoting 2 Peter 3 17 and 18, but notice how it puts everything together that I've mentioned. It says, since you know beforehand, beware lest you fall from your steadfastness, being led astray by the error of the wicked." That's those false teachers and scoffers. And then he adds, but grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. So in this case, chapter three, verses 17 and 18 really sums up the book. Beware of false teaching and you grow in grace.