You Will Never Fall

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.