2Pet 3:3

“The all-merciful and beneficent Father has bowels [of compassion] towards those that fear Him, and kindly and lovingly bestows His favours upon those who come to Him with a simple mind. Wherefore let us not be double-minded; neither let our soul be lifted up on account of His exceedingly great and glorious gifts. Far from us be that which is written, "Wretched are they who are of a double mind, and of a doubting heart; who say, These things we have heard even in the times of our fathers; but, behold, we have grown old, and none of them has happened unto us." Ye foolish ones! compare yourselves to a tree: take [for instance] the vine. First of all, it sheds its leaves, then it buds, next it puts forth leaves, and then it flowers; after that comes the sour grape, and then follows the ripened fruit. Ye perceive how in a little time the fruit of a tree comes to maturity. Of a truth, soon and suddenly shall His will be accomplished, as the Scripture also bears witness, saying, "Speedily will He come, and will not tarry;" and, "The Lord shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Holy One, for whom ye look."”

“Walking according to their own desires, etc. The Apostle Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, says, "I beseech you, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of the Lord is at hand" (II Thess. II). Therefore, blessed Peter reproves and calls mockers those who assert that the coming of the Lord and His promises are delayed; Paul restrains those who believe that the day of the Lord is imminent. Hence, it is clear to all who love His coming that they should temper their mind in this opinion, so as not to suspect either that the same day of the Lord is near and will come sooner, nor again that it will come later, but we should only diligently ensure that, whether He comes sooner or later, He may find us prepared when He comes.”

“Because the coming of the Lord does not immediately follow upon His words, for the salvation of many who are written in the book of the living, insolent people attack the faithful with mockery and say: "Where is the promise of His coming?" But because one promise has not yet been fulfilled, for the aforementioned reason, it is unjust to disbelieve the other saving commandments of the Lord as well, as malicious people wish and strive to do. Thus babbled the Gnostics of that time, namely: the Naassenes, the Lampetians, and the Euchites. All of them, he says, are ignorant; for they willingly shut their eyes before the truth. Of what then are they ignorant? Of the fact that the heavens, according to the book of Genesis of Moses, were made from water — for, in his words, God Himself commanded "let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters" (Gen. 1:6) — and likewise the earth by His command appeared from the waters in which it had previously been submerged; that since heaven and earth consist of waters, the flood came unexpectedly; and that just as during the flood destruction followed through water, so now all things are destined to be destroyed through fire, and together with this the ungodly shall also perish. The two principal elements of the universe are water and fire, from which two further elements receive their existence: air from the evaporation of waters, and earth from the condensation of waters; and this evaporation and condensation are produced by fire, which anyone possessing reason will believe, for such power the nature of fire received from the Creator God Himself. Therefore, if there are only two elements, and the first destruction of the ungodly was through water, then it is absolutely necessary, he says, that the second destruction of the ungodly be accomplished through fire.”

“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying: Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. Where is the promise of his coming? For this one, who is not yet complete due to a certain arrangement, they also distort the other beneficial teachings of the Lord, so that faith is not held by them. However, in those times, the Gnostics or Naassenes were indeed quiet, as were the Lampetians and Euchites. All of whom, Peter says, willingly do not know. For they voluntarily close their eyes to the truth, as we have said before.”