2 Timothy chapter 2 verses 11 through 13. The title of the message today is a faithful saying which will be obvious once we read our text. Just a comment that I was thinking about before we get started in our text this morning as Brother Nathan was talking about the discouragement of the ministry. I know a lot of people have been talking about that and speaking together about it and praying about it, and one of the things that came up in one of my discussions with another minister about it I thought was really insightful was that a lot of times when we feel that way, God is telling us that there's work to be done, that there's things that need to be resolved, that there are things that we need to be honest about and about the truth about where we are and so many times you know you just look at the old testament how many times that happened when god made israel uncomfortable there was a reason for it and so may we make that part of our prayer that god would show us those things that we need to to change and to move through all the times of revival. There was time there was change that happened during times of revival and almost every major revival. So that's what we want to see. And may God give us that. May God grant us that. Second Timothy 2 beginning in verse 11 says it is a faithful saying for if we be dead with him we shall also live with him. If we suffer we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us. If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful. He cannot deny himself. So it's a very short passage of scripture, and I don't wanna give this message the kiss of death from the beginning and say it's gonna be a short message, but it probably will be. I don't I really what I want to do this morning is just for us very simply To understand this this text is small, but it's packed with a lot of truth, and I just want us to see What it is that this text is teaching us? From the Word of God in verses 11 through 13, so this is a faithful saying Paul says that and and There's some commentators believe this little passage, just these three verses, could be taken from a hymn that they sang at this time. It's in the original language, it looks that way, and very well could have been that. So this is Paul giving us some truth here that he says applies to what he's teaching in the greater context of chapter two. So just to refresh our memories about chapter two, you remember this is, Paul's letter to Timothy that he's encouraging him in the faith to endure trials and go back to verse 3, thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier. Then he talks about the three different examples there, the soldier, the husbandman. As he's teaching that, he gets to this place and he's gonna kind of give some backup for that. So this is gonna be some truth that goes along with this context of us enduring suffering in our lives and being good soldiers of Jesus Christ. So our first point out of this text comes from verse 11, where it says, it's a faithful saying, for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. So point number one is the hope of resurrection, the hope of resurrection. So the declaration of truth back in verse eight that Paul had written where he says back in verse eight, remember that Jesus Christ, the seed of David, was raised from the dead according to my gospel. That truth Paul is going to make a statement about that truth applied to his life. Okay, so he's not just speaking about the resurrection as a fact or a truth or a statement. He's already done that in verse 8. Now he is applying that to his own life. For if we be dead with him, we also shall live with him. So this is making application of the resurrection. He's speaking about the consequences, the significant, the effects, the results of the resurrection in our lives as Christians today. And so that's gonna be our first point. And we're actually gonna go into, on this first point, that first phrase in verse 12 too, if we suffer we shall also reign with him. I'm gonna combine those two together. But the hope of resurrection. So in this, like we said, possibly came from a hymn Paul is saying that hardship and suffering and trial in this life is the actual essence of discipleship. It's not an accidental thing that creeps in from time to time. It's the essence of what we go through. So that is different from a lot of the things that are preached today. In other words, it's preached today that the more you live for Christ, the better your life will be. You will have less trials. You will have less tribulation. You will have less trouble. All of those things in your life will diminish. And what Paul teaches is almost exactly the opposite of that. It's not that we don't have good times as Christians, it's just that if we are faithful to Christ and we have union with Christ, which we're going to talk about in just a minute, then our life is going to be like Christ's. Does that make sense? So if we are in Christ, then our life is going to be like his. So what was Christ's life like? He never sinned. He never had a bad thought. He never did anything wrong. All of those things in his life were perfect and yet He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. So our life, we should not expect different than that. So that's kind of the premise of what Paul is doing here. And here we find Paul. Remember where he's at when he's writing this. So Paul is in prison. He's bound with chains. He's awaiting execution. And what's on his mind? I think this makes sense. What is it that is on his mind? The resurrection is on his mind. Because in this life, from his perspective, it doesn't look like there's a lot left. From his perspective, he's not able to freely move about. He can't go and go to other churches and serve as he would want to do. A lot of that has been taken from him. He's bound in chains. He knows that his execution is coming. I think at this point he knows that. So he's a man awaiting an unjust sentence to be carried out on him, and yet what's on his mind is the resurrection. So how does he face those trials? He's looking at the resurrection and its application in his life. Because to Paul, and we've already mentioned this, so now let's unpack it a little bit, the resurrection's more than a fact. It is a fact. It's a historical fact. But it's more than that. For us as Christians, if you're a true believer, it's not just that you believe that the resurrection is a fact. It's that you believe that it applies to you. And there's a difference in those two things. So we could look in a history book and say, OK, well, this history book says that there was a man named Jesus Christ and he rose from the dead at this time and just believe that as a historical fact. But that's not the only claim of Christianity. The claim of Christianity is that Christ rose from the dead, and because he rose, we also shall rise. That there is life after death. So it is, it's not just simply a historical fact, but it is that. The founder of no other world religion claims to have been raised from the dead. That's unique with Christianity. that a fact that attests to and witnesses to and corroborates all the claims that Christianity made about who Jesus Christ is and what he has done and that he will come again is a historical fact, but it's much more than that. So the resurrection for us is a transforming reality that the believer participates in. Okay, so this is not something we just look back on and say, okay, that's what happened to Jesus, and it really has nothing to do with me. It's a transforming reality, and this is the really interesting part. It's not just about the end of our lives, it's also about the middle of our lives, and the beginning of our lives, and the last days of our lives, and that time that comes after death. So the resurrection affects all of those things, and he's applying that truth here as he begins to give support to his word to Timothy about his present sufferings in this passage. So our privilege as believers is to take whatever suffering we experience in this life and to look at that through the light of the resurrection. So that changes things. You know, it's almost sad to think about those who are atheists or who are agnostic, who don't believe that there's a God. If that's true, then this is it. This is all there is. And I mean, you better make the most of it. It's a drop in the bucket. Young people don't believe that. The older you get, the more you see that life goes by quickly. And so if this is all there is, that to me is really sad. That's not a good thing. I know humanists wouldn't say that. They would say, oh, look at the glory of mankind and look at all that man has accomplished. Drop in the bucket drop in the bucket. So if that's true, and there is no resurrection that changes a lot But we believe in the resurrection so it not only changes the end it changes the now Because this is not all that there is so that's our privilege as believers to see that the resurrection of Jesus Christ changed everything for us and so Paul lives and ministers and views his sufferings and views his life in light of the resurrection. And he's telling Timothy, I expect you to do the same thing. And he's telling us by proxy that he expects us to do the same thing as well. So he gives us a picture of a Christ-centered approach to personal adversity through the resurrection. And the first thing he says is this, if we died with him, we will live with him. So that's a unique statement. He says, if we be dead with him, with Christ, we also shall live with him. So it's not just about the resurrection. There's another part of that statement, right? That means for us to live with Christ, we must also be dead with Christ. So what does that mean? Well, Galatians 2, let's turn there. You probably, many of you can quote the passage. Galatians 2, verse 19 and 20. For I through the law am dead to the law that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live In the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. That is a great verse to kind of tie together what Paul is teaching us all the way over here in 2 Timothy chapter 2. So you see, we are dead in Christ because we have union with Christ. When Christ went to the cross, you were there. And if not, then you are in your sins. Because we were tied with him in his death, we therefore are tied with him in his life. If we were not tied with him in his death or unified to him in his death, then we are not unified with him in his life. So we are crucified with Christ in the sense that we were in union with him as he took our sins to the cross. So, the Apostle Paul is really saying here, if you've died with Jesus Christ, then you will also live with him. That you will experience the life of Jesus Christ, and that's here and now, as well as in the life to come. That's, I think, one of the hard parts to understand about this. So, when we start talking about the resurrection, everybody starts thinking about, when I die, then that means I'll be raised again. The resurrection affects more than that. It affects the here and now, right now, the decisions that you make on a daily basis, how you go through trials, how you process the things in your life. All of that is changed by the fact of the resurrection. Because I have died with Jesus Christ, I will also live with Jesus Christ. So if we've died with him, we shall live with him. in union with him. Now, how are we unified to Jesus Christ? How are we in union with him? Well, we're going to get to that in just a minute, but I want to go ahead and kind of introduce the rest of the passage here. We're going to go on into verse 12. It says, and I think these things go together so well, I didn't want to separate them. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. So if we are dead with him, we shall live with him. And if we suffer, we also shall reign with him. So the Apostle Paul says, this is why you endure the trials, because at the end of that endurance comes a reign. That word reign is a military term. It means to endure or to remain, to stand fast. So it would be the idea of a soldier standing in a line. You remember, we don't fight this way anymore. It's hard for us to even know what these analogies are like anymore because it's all done by airplane and distance and all that now. But in the old days, I mean, it's hard for me to imagine the amount of bravery it took. These guys lined up, just two lines. I mean, you see the other guy standing right there. either the swords or the bows and arrows or whatever age you're in, their weapons are aimed at you and then it's, here we go. And so this is kinda when the military commanders would come and say, hold your ground. You see the enemy, you see all the stuff coming at you, but hold your ground because there's gonna be a rain that's coming after this. There's a purpose in what you're doing. There's something that is coming after. So it's an encouragement to bravery and to in the sense of the word, it's just a order to stay, to remain, to stand fast, to endure, not to retreat, but to go forward. All of those things are implied in that term. So he is prepping us for the onslaught that he knows is coming, and he's reminding you that those who stand, those who remain, those who keep trusting in Christ, there's a rain that is coming. Now that changes life. You know, if we have those who are against us and those who are working against the cause of Jesus Christ, that can be very discouraging. It's just interesting to me that that was brought up, you know, right before our message this morning. There's a lot of discouragement. And so when we get that way, what we have to focus on is the resurrection and the rain that is coming. In this life, this is not all that there is, and there's more coming. And so that is what Paul is doing. He's telling Timothy, when you get too focused on those things around you, refocus and remember that you're enduring these things for the rain that is to come and you're enduring these things for the life that is to come in another. That really changes your perspective. So Paul, as an example, Paul has died with Christ and he sees his suffering because of that in a very different light. Now, this whole concept of death and rising to new life, what does that bring up to your mind? This is the one kind of real sidetrack I'm gonna take this morning. I hope I don't get too far off the track on it. But it's just such a easy comparison to make that I think we must make it. When you first believe in Jesus Christ, what is the first act of obedience that you do when you submit to the Lord Jesus Christ and you say, I want to follow Him and I want to be a follower of Jesus Christ and I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and I want to repent of my sins and follow Christ? What's the first thing you do? Brother Nathan already said it, it's baptism. Baptism is a picture of us being buried with Christ and risen in newness of life. There is a new life. So when I say that the resurrection is not just about what happens at the end of your life, it's what happens now, that's what we mean. That you are risen in newness of life now. That that can affect your life now. It's not just at the end. Our faith in Christ is much more than a fire insurance policy. or a get out of nothingness ticket. There's those who believe that when you die, that's it. You don't have a consciousness. You're just gone. You're annihilated is really the right word for it. It's just annihilation. You cease to exist and there's nothing. Well, our faith in Jesus Christ says that's not true. There is something that comes after. And so we focus on that a lot when we talk about the resurrection. But what we need to understand is the resurrection is for here and now as well. So when you join yourself to Jesus Christ through faith, now, do we do that of our own? I don't think I have to go through all of this in this church. Is it that we submit to Christ and that we by our own will join ourselves to him? No. It's through a process that he is in control of. He elected, he draws, He gives you spiritual life, you're born again, and then you come to faith and repentance. So when that happens, then you are joined to Jesus Christ in a real way, it's real. And it's now, it's not just in the world to come. So baptism then, what does baptism symbolize? That's what baptism is about. Baptism is about your joining to Jesus Christ and your saying that I identify with Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. That's what it's all about and it's a beautiful picture of us being raised in newness of life to live a different kind of life because we are identifying with Christ in his death and in his life. So, this is really extraordinary that Paul is showing us what it means to experience the newness of life in Christ, even in the midst of our adversity here. It changes the way that we see our suffering. So, do you remember how Paul explains in some other places in scripture, Philippians 1, 28-30, I'm not going to take the time to turn there. Basically, I'll kind of paraphrase it, it says it's given, it's not only given to us to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. That's something that we're given in Christ Jesus, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. So Paul is teaching that the death of Christ fully satisfies the sins of all those who rest and trust in him alone for salvation. And that because of that, they are going to live with him. In his death, he paid the price for us. We were joined to him in that. Our sins were imputed to him. He took our sins to the cross. That is the very heart of the gospel. That because of our union with him, my sins were nailed to that cross. He took my sins, and it says he nailed them to the cross. And he removed them from me as far away as the east is from the west. And because of that, because of my identifying with him there, I also identify with him in his resurrection. There is union with Christ. Now, how does that union take place? We've already mentioned this a little bit. It's by faith. We are united to Jesus Christ and made one with him through faith. So that comes by the power of God. That is a gift to us as well. That's not something we come up with on our own. kind of summing up that message, if you're going to go the way of glory, and this is a quote, if you're going to go the way of glory with Jesus Christ, then you're going to go that way via the way of death, self-denial, and suffering. Now, that's a hard statement to swallow, okay? So here's what he's saying, just sum it up in our terms for today. He's saying, if you want the glory that's to come, then you're gonna identify with Christ also in the suffering now. So there's not a bed of roses. There's not an easy path. So in other words, you could go back to scriptures that say, is it broad, the path that leads to heaven, or is it narrow, the gate? It's narrow. So he's saying there is a cost. When Christ lived in this world, he experienced suffering. So that transforms then the way that we look at our personal adversity. We realize the power of the resurrection transforms the way that we see those things in our life, even in this day. The whole time I was studying this, I couldn't get off my mind Jonathan Poe's testimony. You want to know somebody who the resurrection became real in their life? It became real to him in a real way. Now, it shouldn't take a terminal diagnosis for that to happen to us, but yet in his case, I think, you know, just his testimony was so powerful because God made it so real to him that I've blessed you with a good life." When he said that, you know, I think everybody at camp kind of took a deep breath like, man, I've blessed you so much in your life already that you weren't even worthy of that, and yet, you know, all of us see it as a life cut way too short, and that's our perspective. But from Johnson's perspective, it was God's been really good to me. He's blessed me, and now I get to go to heaven. What an amazing change in mindset, and if we could grasp that and live that on a daily basis, it really changed the way that we live. So, the resurrection of Jesus Christ transforms every experience, every trial and suffering so that, you know, whether we've lost a job, been betrayed by a friend, you know, enduring family turmoil maybe, just being persecuted for Christ in any way, being laughed at by your friends because you trust in Jesus. Listen, young people, I'm going to tell you something. I think, and I believe this is really true, if you're really living for Jesus Christ right now, you're sticking out more than you ever have. I think you're probably having more persecution than there's ever been for that. Just to give you one little example, we talked about this in my administrative meeting at school one day. We had a group come in to TCPS and do a praise and worship session. I mean, it was beautiful. The music was just unbelievable. It was the gospel message. Some of the songs, just the lyrics. I felt the spirit of God in there. Some of our students did as well. So we had a group of girls sitting on the front row in chapel, and they're weeping. I mean, the music's playing. It's about the gospel. And so they're weeping. And they got made fun of, I mean mercilessly, at a Christian school for that. Well, you don't worry about that. That's what Paul is saying. There's a rain that's coming. There's a life that's coming that's better than anything in this world. So you endure those things for the rain that is to come. You look at the life that is to come and the life that you have now, and those things become irrelevant to you. So all the trials that we face, we have to put them in light of a coming resurrection and a resurrection that is true in our life now. So whatever your hardship is, and I don't know what everybody in here is going through, I think we know some, but the truth is we really don't know all the things that are going through people's mind, the sufferings, the trials, the thoughts that they're having, the adversity that they're facing. All of those things, the encouragement from Paul to Timothy is, place all of those things in light of the resurrected Jesus Christ and the power of that resurrection in your life right now and it will change your life. So if we are united with Christ in his death then we can look beyond our trials to the hope of resurrection and the trials themselves and our perseverance through those trials is just evidence that we will reign with Christ. So last thing before we move on to the next part of the text he says I'm just gonna read the text one more time. Faithful saying, for if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him. That second phrase also has a lot to do with perseverance. So that word means those who endure, those who, when it says if we suffer, we shall reign with him, there's a sense in that that it's an endurance. So I believe in the perseverance of the saints. I believe that God is going to hold our faith. It's going to be weak at times. It's going to be assaulted on many occasions. And you look at the life of Peter. Peter didn't have a perfect track record, did he? I'm so glad that's in the Bible. Because if you've ever had doubts, like I've had doubts, then you might begin to doubt too much. But we have a record right there that shows Peter denied Christ three times. And yet Christ's message to him before it ever happened was, Peter, when thou art converted, strengthen your brethren. there's going to be a conversion that's going to take place. I'm going to draw you back. I'm going to continue to do that work in you. So Philippians 1.6, He that hath begun a good work in you will perform it to the day of Jesus Christ. That's what I believe. I believe that the Holy Spirit's going to hold us. So when we talk about this, about living our life in the light of the resurrection, that means that we endure. So we go through things and we We have these trials, we have these assaults on our faith, but we can trust in the fact that he's not gonna let our faith fail. It will not totally and finally fail. And I believe that. And that gives me confidence and hope as we look at just the world that we have to live in and the trials that we're going to face. So that's number one, the hope of resurrection. Secondly, our second point is the doom of denial. The doom of denial. Now, it's a pretty tough text here in verse 12. He says, if we suffer, we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us. If we deny him, he also will deny us. So that's a warning. You can kind of see from that text, that's a warning. If we deny Christ, he also will deny us. Now, was that mentioned anywhere else in The scriptures. Who said it? Anybody know? Jesus himself said it, right? Jesus said, if you do not confess me, I will not confess you before my father. Now, as Calvinists sometimes, we take that and we twist it and turn it and try not to pay attention to it. And we try to pretend like it's not in there. Sometimes, some people do. Some hyper-Calvinists do. But guess what? It's part of the Bible. And I believe it. Those who deny Jesus Christ, who say, I do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I don't believe in Jesus. I have no biblical mandate to give you any hope or comfort at all that you are saved. All that I have biblical mandate to do is tell you that unless God intervenes, and there is belief in Christ, and you do confess Christ, then your eternity is gonna be spent apart from God. That's the only biblical mandate that I have. I cannot give you hope that in some way you are saved, but there's just this problem, and this problem, and this problem, and this problem. Christ is very clear. Those who deny him, he will deny them before his Father. And that's hard. It's a hard saying. So if you think there's another way into fellowship with God apart from Jesus Christ or if you think there's another way of salvation and you seek that way and you turn your back on Christ or you deny Christ, then the Apostle Paul says it's a fact that he will deny you because he's the only name given among men whereby we must be saved. So why is this so important? There are some that teach a gospel that is a false gospel that goes something like this. Faith and repentance really have nothing to do with eternal salvation. Nothing. Completely separate from eternal salvation. And they only affect your life here and now, in time. Therefore, some of the elect will never come to faith and repentance in this life. But rather, they may even profess or serve a false god through a false religion. But nevertheless, they are saved. Some of the elect will profess faith in Christ and they will experience not only eternal salvation, but a timely salvation in this life as well. Well, that doesn't fit this text. It doesn't fit that Jesus himself says, if you do not confess me, then I will not confess you before my father. There is no such thing as implicit faith in Jesus Christ. In other words, God doesn't say, there's nowhere in the Bible that teaches that God says, well, I know you profess faith in a false God, but I'm going to kind of take that on credit as that you're really serving me. You're just serving me in ignorance. That's also, in my view, that's blasphemous towards God. Because that's saying that God can't get His message to you. He's allowing you to live in ignorance. And I don't believe in a God whose arm is short. I believe if God wants you to know Jesus Christ, He has every means. He created everything that there is. He has all knowledge. He controls all things. He would get you the message, if you're one of His. If you were given to Christ, so we go back to that union with Christ, if you were given to Christ, then He would get that message to you. So John 6, 37, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. He that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. So if you were given to Christ by the Father, then at some point you're going to come to faith in Jesus Christ. I can't, there are all kinds of exceptions. There's all kinds of things that people bring up. Well, what about infants and what about this and what about that? I just believe that God's able. That's the easiest answer. I think there's a lot of answers to that really, but I think the easiest one is that God's able to do that. God is able to get his message to those who need to hear it and to those he intends to hear it and those he's planning to give spiritual life so they can respond to it. So I believe the Bible is very, very clear on that matter. So Matthew 10, I actually want to turn there. We've kind of mentioned it that Christ said this, so let's go back and read the whole context of that in Matthew chapter 10, verse 32. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me. And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it, and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. Now those last two verses there, that ties in so closely with what we just talked about in the previous verses. He said, if you don't take up your cross, you're not worthy of me. That's suffering. He said, if you don't lose your life, you're not worthy of the life that I can give. And so that's almost exactly the passage that we just read. But those, once again, you know, there's things in the Bible, there's things that we love to read. We love to read 1 Corinthians 15. We love to read about the resurrection. We love to read about the forgiveness of sins. We love to read about the love that Christ has for his people. But there's also parts of the Bible that are hard, and that's a hard saying. Jesus here is saying very plainly that those who deny me, there's an eternal destiny for them as well, and it's not that they're gonna spend eternity with him in heaven. They're gonna be cast away from him, cast in cast away. And so if we read that, we have to take it for what it says. So this is no doubt the thought of the Apostle Paul is drawn from this passage. That's where he's, that's what he's thinking. That's where he's getting this idea is from that passage. The ones who are faithful to confess, he will confess. The ones who are unfaithful and deny, he will also deny. They are, you remember Demas, who says he having loved this world, he forsook Christ, turned aside. You remember in John 6, at the end of that passage that I just read from, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. He that cometh to me on no wise cast out. John 6, 44, no man cometh to me except my Father. Draw him. Then at the end of that passage, what happened? There were some hard things that Jesus said in that passage. It said, then many of the disciples who had been following, what happened? They followed him no more. They went away. They were not true believers. So, to say that, you know, well, this person had faith and then they fell away and they never came back to faith, that's probably evidence that they never were his children. That's probably evidence that that was probably a false profession. Happens in many different places in scripture. And so, those who deny him, whether that's in the beginning or the, but it has to be something that has A lifelong commitment to Christ. And that's where perseverance comes in. Has to be a lifelong commitment. And also in that passage in John 6, the very end of that text is also important. He that cometh to me, what does he say about him? I will in no wise cast out. I will, it's a really interesting linguistic there in the Greek. He basically says, I will not never cast out. I will, it's a very emphatic, it will not happen. They will not be cast out. So those who truly believe will be with Him in glory. So another couple of places that this word deny is used in Acts 3.13. It's used there as the rejection of the Jews against Jesus Christ when they took Him to Pilate. They disowned Him. They denounced Him. They rejected Him. So they basically are telling Pilate, we don't believe this man. We don't believe that he is who he says he is. In Titus 1.16, the same word is used in reference to rejection. Some people who profess but then reject, that's used in Titus 1.16. So that's some places where you see that same concept and that same word used. So we do not believe that you have a big decision to make. We don't believe that. We don't believe that there comes a point in your life when you're presented with the gospel and it's all up to you and either you deny Christ or you accept Christ and that your eternal destiny hinges on that. We do not believe that. However, we do believe that those who believe in Christ are saved and those who do not believe in Christ are not saved. But we know all the background to that. Our faith comes from Him. He must act on us before we can come to Him. So our will is not free, it's bound. We are dead in trespasses and in sins, and yet then He gives us life, and so there is a high consequence in what you believe about Jesus Christ. But we know the background story of that. Now, the third and the last thing is our last verse, and this one can be very confusing. 2 Timothy 2 verse 13, if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful, he cannot deny himself. So I'm gonna kinda show you, there's really two ways that I think, and commentators are split, and most of them don't even make a decision, they just tell you kinda, well here's one way that you can understand this, here's another way you can understand this, and so, I think both could be true, and both are kinda different ways of looking at it, but, And I think that happens plenty of times in the scriptures. So he says that if we are unbelieving, so if you come to a place of faithlessness and unbelief, and that's a continual state, that Christ himself will remain faithful. He cannot deny himself. So if you've named the name of Christ, but now you've become disbelieving or you're unbelieving, then what does that mean? You may have been unfaithful, your faith may not have been real, but what the text is telling us there, in one interpretation of it, is that even if that be the case, Christ's promise is still going to stand. Well, what is Christ's promise? He just said it. If you deny me, I will deny you. Those who have not faith, it says Christ will be faithful. What he has said will happen, so you can count on it. So it's kind of a backup to the warning that he just gave. That's one way we can view this passage. If we are unfaithful, if we do not believe, if we deny, yet Christ will remain faithful. What he has said will happen. Those who deny, he will deny. Those who believe, he will confess before his father. So that's kind of one way we could see it. You might not have been faithful to your promise to Christ, but Christ will be faithful in all of his promises, and what his promise was is that those who deny, he will deny. So when it says he remains faithful, he cannot deny himself, it means that you will come under the judgment that a just God has said will take place. He will keep his word. Now another possible interpretation of this could be, and I think probably if I'm leaning one way or the other, this is probably more the way that I would go. It says, if we believe not. So some might say, well, that's the Apostle Paul including himself in this statement, and we know the Apostle Paul was a true believer. So if we believe not, then that kind of changes it. If you believe that that changes the text a little bit, then how could this be true? So we see the example of Peter in the Gospel of John that we just talked about. Peter had a temporary lapse of faith and denied the Lord Jesus Christ three times, but he was restored. So Jesus said, when thou art converted, strengthen the brethren, not if you get converted. So the interpretation would be this. If we have lapses or weak moments in our walk of faith, the Lord will continue to draw us and build up our faith. He will be faithful. Now, that doesn't mean that somebody you know, makes an initial profession of faith and then they deny Christ and they stay in that denial for the rest of their life. We've already kind of addressed that. I don't believe that's what this is talking about. This is saying that those who are true believers, if you really are a believer in Jesus Christ and you have episodes where that faith is challenged and that faith is weak and it becomes very weak. I love the way John Gill said it. He said, it is obvious to us all that our faith has trials and weak moments and times of doubt. And it says, so basically what this would be saying is that Christ remains faithful to us and he will restore our faith. But the truth is, And this is the key. He will restore our faith. It doesn't say that you just remain faithless and he's just going to be OK with that. And what it means is he's going to be faithful to us and he's going to restore our faith. So that faith will return. It doesn't mean that someone lives a life, a faithless life for the rest of their life and God is faithful so they're saved anyway. That wouldn't be the interpretation. So like we said, the example of Peter is a good one. I believe Peter was a true believer, 100%. I believe that when he said, when Jesus said, who do they say that I, the son of man, am? You remember that in the scriptures? When Jesus is talking and he says, who do they say that I am? Well, they said, well, some say you're Isaiah, some say you're, you know, Elijah, some say you're this prophet or that prophet. And then he narrowed it down. He said, okay, well, who do you say that I am? Well, who was the one that spoke up? Peter, right, Peter the bold one, he said, thou art the Christ, thou art the Son of God. And then what did Jesus say? Good that you figured that out, Peter. I'm glad you made the right choice. I'm glad that you chose me. I'm glad that you used your free will to accept me as Lord and Savior. Is that what he said? He said, no, he said, Peter, flesh and blood has not revealed that to you. It wasn't because you heard it from Thomas, or you heard it from Andrew. It's because I revealed that to you. I, the Lord, had to reveal that to you. Flesh and blood did not reveal that to you. So, in the same way we are saved, that is, that's really about the, you know, so Peter's a true believer. I believe that fully. And yet, then we find just a little bit later, he denies Christ three times. Just completely denies that he even knows who he is. But the most important part of that is that wasn't the end of Peter's story. Christ restored him. And so once again, you know, people come up with all these hypotheticals. Well, what about if, you know, at that moment, that's when you die in a car wreck or, you know, something, and there's not time for you to be restored. Is God in control or is God in control? I mean, you just got to come to the place where you say God's sovereign. He knows all things. He controls all things. So I believe that God will restore us to faith in Jesus Christ. Once again, he that hath begun a good work in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. So in this last little section of the scripture, the interpretation would be this. If we have lapses or weak moments in our walk of faith, the Lord will be faithful to continue to draw us and continue to build up our faith and continue to conform us to the image of Jesus Christ. So wrapping up the whole message, I told you to be sure. This is really, really important because this is a faithful saying. That's where we started, right? This whole concept going from the beginning to the end. Life, if you live, if you die with Christ, you live with Christ. If you suffer with Christ, you'll reign with Christ, right? All of these, if and then if we suffer, we shall also reign. If we deny him, he will deny us. If we have lapses in faith, yet he remains faithful. That's the faithful saying that we studied this morning. So, what does that faithful saying mean to you? Where do you find yourself in this passage? It's a really important question. Where do you find yourself in this passage? Have you died with Jesus Christ? Have you been crucified with Christ? Have you put to death the old man? Are you in a battle every day for that? Do you suffer for Christ? Where do you see suffering in your life for your belief that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior? Do you deny him? Now, after you've heard this morning, you understand there's a significance to that. Are you still a denier in Jesus Christ? Or have you professed that you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God? He is who he said he was. He's the Messiah. As Peter said, thou art the Christ or the Messiah, the Son of God. Have you made profession of faith? Those are all very important questions. And so, If you've been crucified with Christ, died to self, you're willing to suffer for the belief that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, then a life of rain and a life of future life and the joys of heaven await you. But if you deny Christ, that's evidence of your lost state. And if you remain unfaithful, then your future is apart from God, apart from the joys of heaven. That's what the scripture tells us. So I hope we find ourself in that first group, those who have died with Jesus Christ, those who have suffered with Jesus Christ, and those who are seeking a reign and a life and the joys of heaven that await us and that we're enduring those sufferings now. So as you do that, if you're in that camp, the message this morning is, There's good things to come. The hope of the resurrection is to come. Continue, continue, continue. Endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ, and these things await. The message to those who have not professed Christ is pray that the Lord would change your heart. We will pray that the Lord would change your heart so that you can come to a place of faith and trust in Jesus Christ, which is the only way of salvation.