You Will Never Fall
By Rev. Mario Gonzalez
I. Scripture Reading: 2 Peter 1:3-4, 10
“3. His divine power has given us everything we need for life and
godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own
glory and goodness (KJV: virtue (arête; are-tay) meaning: power
or excellence). 4. Through these (His glory and power) he has
given us his very great and precious promises, so that through
them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the
corruption in the world caused by evil desires…10. Therefore, my
brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election
sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall…” (NIV)
II. Text
As of late I have been drawn to apocalyptic scriptures such as Matthew 24,
where Jesus himself speaks of his own return. He speaks of a time of
unparalleled suffering and the appearances of many “false” Christs that will
apparently be performing seemingly convincing lying miracles and wonders
deceiving many. He says,
Matt. 24:24
24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great
signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible. 25
See, I have told you ahead of time.
Following this passage, he speaks of his return when he says,
Matthew 24:30-35
30 “At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all
the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming
on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. 31 And he will
send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect
from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. 32 “Now
learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its
leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you
see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 I tell
you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these
things have happened.
Considering the fact that most theologians consider the fig tree referenced here
to represent the formation of national Israel in 1948, it would stand to reason
that the return of our Lord is much sooner than many of us might imagine.
Notwithstanding, at the end of this incredibly important passage, Jesus says in
Matt. 24:35,
“35. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass
away.” (KJV)
People change. God doesnʼt. James, the brother of Jesus, tells us,
James 1:17
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down
from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow
of turning.
George Barna did some interesting research a few years ago that essentially
found that there was no substantive difference between self-professed
believers and unbelievers when it came to believing that there is an absolute
truth. A majority of people in the survey professed to believe in Christ, yet did
not believe that there was an absolute standard of truth against which other
things could be judged. As such, the group considered all things “relative to
experience,” and as such, subject to personal interpretation.
Remember, weʼre talking about “the church” here.
Like unbelievers, professed Christians followed their carnal consciences and
felt that they weʼre absolutely in the right when doing so. The problem with this
thinking, of course, is that the Bible reveals to us that our consciences are
jacked up.
The apostle Paul had a few things to say about our consciences to both of his
spiritual sons Titus and Timothy. To Titus, he says,
Titus 1:15-16
“15. To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and
do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and
consciences are corrupted. 16. They claim to know God, but by
their actions, they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and
unfit for doing anything good.” (NIV)
He goes on to warn Timothy,
1 Tim 4:1-2
“1. The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith
and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2. Such
teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have
been seared (branded) as with a hot iron.” (NIV)
The scary part of all of this, which we canʼt afford to overlook, is that in both
instances mentioned by Paul to his two protégés, the individuals involved
believe that they are Christians!!! So what can we conclude? We can conclude that, as Christians, our consciences are no guide. Itʼs either Godʼs word or nothing. His word is true, all else is relative. My opinion, your opinion, what the person next to you thinks, everyone of us needs to be subject to Godʼs authority. This, of course, is the problem.
Many of us in todayʼs world have little respect for authority. We operate as if
rules should be changed to fit our personal ego needs and desires. We have
lost the fear of God, and along with it weʼve have lost our minds. The Bible
clearly teaches in Proverbs 9:10,
Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the LORD is THE BEGINNING OF WISDOM: AND THE
KNOWLEDGE OF THE HOLY IS understanding.
• Talk about the mistaken dichotomy between loving God and fearing him.
I love my wife, but I also fear her. Why? Because I fear hurting or
disappointing her.
• Mention that it is the “beginning” of wisdom. In other words, wisdom
starts here.
I once told a story of a fella that played chicken with a lighthouse thinking that it
was another ship. We do the same thing with Godʼs word.
Godʼs truth, His word, is like a lighthouse. The Psalmist said it best in Ps
119:105, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Itʼs not
going to change to accommodate us. We are the ones who must change to
conform our lives to what God wants for us.
Jesus is the living word, presented as both the incarnation of the word, and
Godʼs divine light in John chapter one. He says,
John 1:1-5
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all
things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in
the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
As such, Jesus is also like a lighthouse.
Firstly, He is light…
1 John 1:5-7
“5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God
is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship
with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
Secondly, He is immutable…The Bible teaches that
Heb. 13:8
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever”
As such, He is always there for us. He is dependable.
So, whatʼs our problem? How can we come to church and be filled with his
Spirit, feel a tingling all over our body, cry like babies at the altar, and then
leave here continuing to think and rationalize our lives by the same rules that
we had before we even came to Jesus in the first place. How is that that we
continue to fall into the same sin traps that Jesus set us free from?
Jesus gave an interesting story that I feel addresses this issue…
Matt 7:22-24
“22. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many
miracles?' 23. Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from
me, you evildoers!' 24. "Therefore everyone who hears these words
of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his
house on the rock.
He goes on to explain this spiritual truth through a story…
Matt 7:25-27
“25. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and
beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation
on the rock. 26. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does
not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on
sand. 27. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew
and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."” (NIV)
My friend, many whom you would never in a million years imagine would be
fooled, will be deceived in the final days and will begin to follow and promote
false teachers who will present false doctrines of salvation, or “false Christs,” if
you will. The term Christ is defined as both, “the anointed one,” or the Messiah
or savior. For these, the proof will be in the pudding, and they will see sufficient
proof of the anointing through the display of lying miracles.
We need to be doubly careful folks. Many in our charismatic or Pentecostal
circles operate under “the anointing” and have a tendency of excusing
everything that they do.
God often mercifully uses us, and then we somehow feel that it is some sort of
blanket approval of all the foolishness we observe in ourselves alongside the
supposed “anointing.”
Principle: Misusing your anointing has generational consequences. You
will see the consequences in your offspring, both natural and spiritual.
Godʼs faithfulness is great. He gives us of his Spirit in abundant supply. Godʼs
not a cheapskate. He is a God of abundance. The Psalmist put it this way in
Psalm 23:5,
Psalm 23:5
5. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
He gives us the anointing so that we can share it.
• And so, we receive his anointing (into dirty glass)
• And then we share the anointing (along with contamination) with others
• But we still have issues in our life that havenʼt been dealt with.
1. A gossiping spirit,
2. A lustful eye (weʼre still looking at the women, women are still looking
at the men),
3. Spiritual arrogance (weʼre not going to break or fess up to our issues
because we might look bad or loose our ministry position.)
4. Greed (Iʼll give you everything Lord!!, except my time or money…)
Not only do we have these issues, but we pass them onto those to whom we
minister. Let me tell you something this morning. God will use anyone he
desires; however, he wants to use them. He used the devil to get Job life in
order! None of us are especially qualified for anything but hell. So, itʼs never
about what you can do. Itʼs all about your character. Write this down:
Principle: Ministry will carry you out only as far as your character can
support you.
God is not impressed when youʼre the competent captain of your ship. Heʼs
impressed when you have the strength to recognize the weaknesses in your life, and the moral fortitude to surrender them to his will.
Itʼs about shutting up long enough to let God get the junk out of our lives. Itʼs
about genuine spiritual growth. The problem with this process is that it takes
time. As a result, we can be in ministry for years before we grow up enough to
realize that thereʼs an awful lot of junk in our lives that we ACTUALLY NEVER
DEALT WITH.
I know that what Iʼve said here this morning might actually frustrate some of us
here today. You donʼt have the time to wait to mature. You need to do it now.
But hereʼs the truth: We need to patiently allow for God to mature us. If weʼre
seeking God, weʼre growing everyday, albeit in a mental vacuum as far as
weʼre concerned.
• Talk about children growing and looking at the floor.
• Everybody else notices that weʼve grown before we do. The only
reason we know that weʼre bigger is because the hem of our pants
seems so far from the top of our shoe.
Itʼs the same with spiritual growth. Youʼre reading the Bible, praying, or fasting
and the Devil is telling you,
“Youʼre not learning anything!”
“Why are you starving yourself?”
“Whoʼs listening to you anyway?” “Youʼre talking to yourself!”
The truth is that youʼre getting bigger and stronger on the inside. And pretty
soon, youʼre going to know it.
Iʼm going to give you a truth this morning. If you are not constantly praying,
fasting and living in the Word, you are actively practicing sin. Youʼre not
thinking about it, youʼre not contemplating it, youʼre doing it. It may not have
manifested itself physically yet, but absent a surrendering of your mind and you
will, its only a matter of time. You see, we donʼt just fall into sin. Sin is a
process that we must first entertain. It is willful.
James put it this way,
James 1:14-15
“14. but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged
away and enticed. 15. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to
sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” (NIV)
Letʼs go back to 2 Peter 1:3-10
2 Peter 1:3
“3. His divine power has given us everything we need”
God does not skimp out on you. He jus doesnʼt put a little bit on your plate. He
gives you everything you need!!! Given us everything we need for what?
To get rich? To get prideful?
The Bible says that Heʼs given us everything we need…
2 Peter 1:3b
““for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by
his own glory and goodness (KJV: virtue (arête; are-tay) meaning: power
or excellence).”
Living a godly life of power is about standing on his word. Itʼs about grabbing
hold of the knowledge of his word and receiving what God has already given
you. The prophet Hosea says,
Hosea 4:6
“6. my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.”
Youʼve got to know that Heʼs called you by his glory and power…Heʼs given
you the power! That I might know Him, in the fellowship of his suffering and the
power of his resurrection!!
2 Peter 1:4
“ 4. Through these (His glory and power) he has given us his very great
and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in
the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by
evil desires.”
Heʼs given you a way out!!! We escape the corruption in the world caused by
our own evil desires by becoming a participant in his divine nature.
He goes on to say in verse 10,
2 Peter 1:10
10. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling
and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall.”
(NIV)
