Please turn with me in your Bibles to 2 Timothy. This morning we began to look at the “faithful sayings” the Apostle Paul shared with two young men, Timothy (a Jewish Greek) and Titus (a Gentile). Paul left these men in Ephesus and Crete to establish local Churches in those areas. We see Paul repeating a phrase:

“This is a faithful saying”
the Greek pistos logos, or literally
“Faithful is the Word”

In these phrases the Apostle is emphasizing the faithfulness of God in saving souls. This morning we saw that (1) God came to this earth the save sinners, and (2)God has given us a Faithful Word, the Holy Scripture, to grow us in our salvation.

The Lord Who Saved Us, Owns Us, And Will Keep Us

2 Timothy 2:11-13 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: 12 if we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13 if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

This “faithful is the Word” is tied together with FOUR Ifs. We’ll look at these in order.

• The first IF deals with the death of the WILL of the believer. Let’s look at the first IF: “if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with him”. The phrase “we be dead with” is the Greek συναποθνήσκω synapothnḗskō, {pronounced soon-ap-oth-nace’-ko}, and that’s what it means. It means to be bound to Jesus unto the death!

The day that every Christian is saved, that believer surrenders his or her life – our WILL – to God, in exchange for the life of Christ. Christianity is an unconditional surrender to God. We believe that He died for us. Repenting of our sin and self service, we bow the knee to Calvary. We give our lives over to Jesus. The Bible says:

Galatians 2:20-21 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. 21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

My righteousness is based on my surrender to Jesus, not to an animal sacrifice, nor to the keeping of a feast of a festival. Jesus is my entire Hope. My righteous standing before God does not come because of any good works that I do, but based on the good work of Christ on the cross.

The old me died on the day I received Jesus as Lord and Savior. I now belong to Jesus. The old David is dead, thank God! The Christian is the property of Jesus, the property of God. I hate to infuse myself into a message, but I do have to give my testimony. The devil is only overcome by “the Blood of the Lamb, and the word of our testimony” (Revelation 12:11). If you are saved, you will identify with this:

ONE DAVID went to Church and heard the Gospel,
ONE DAVID that owned himself. But hearing the Gospel,
ONE DAVID was killed at the altar by the Spirit of God
ONE DAVID died with Jesus that day, but
ANOTHER DAVID was raised up with Christ.

This is the testimony of every saved person. You died at the altar, and rose from the grave of your life on the day you met Jesus. The Apostle says in another place:

Colossians 3:1-3 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Christ did not RISE until Christ DIED. Christ have His life to the Father, and to us. He DIED, and ROSE AGAIN. I am dead with Christ, and so are you, if you are saved. I no longer own me. Jesus owns me. He is in charge of my life. He is in charge of my frame, my diseases, my weaknesses, my everything. I am His son and His servant. He will keep what He owns unto eternity!

The Apostle told the Corinthian believers:

1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

You do not belong to yourself anymore, dear Christian. You belonbg to Jesus. You belong to God. You are to walk in the light of eternity. You are to walk glorifying the Lord Who loved you, and gave Himself for you. The Apostle continues …

1 Corinthians 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.

You belong body, soul, and spirit to God. Thus you are to “glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s”. We are to live to please Him Who owns us. We are Children of the Most High, and God is our Father. Live to make Him happy. Live to be like Jesus in all you do. Do not live to please this world. Do not live for a large social media following. Live for Him Who died for you, Who rose again for you, and Who will be with you throughout all eternity.

1 Corinthians 7:23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

You cannot please the world, and should not please the world. The flashlight does not please the darkness. The lighthouse does not please the night. We are to live pleasing our God, our Jesus, being more like Him every day. We have a destiny. We will never be famous, adored by millions. But we have a beautiful place we are headed. Let’s live like children of that Place we call “Heaven”.

• The second IF deals with the suffering of the believer. We read:

2 Timothy 2:11 It is a faithful saying …. 12 if we suffer, we shall also reign with him:

In this fallen world, all suffer.
Christians often suffer greater than others.

Christians are martyred for their faith. We are targeted with slurs: “racist”, “homophobe”, “transphobe”, “haters”. Our Lord Jesus Himself was persecuted, and then executed by those who were supposedly “religious”. Our Jesus said:

John 15:18-21 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. 20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.

We will suffer. We suffer less in America than in other nations, but I expect that to increase rather than decrease. With the widespread acceptance of what the Bible calls abnormal (such as homosexual and heterosexual love, Critical Race Theory, White fragility, heretical marriage contracts), we will face a choice as to whether we will stand with the Scripture or stand with the world. Beloved, we must stand with the Scripture. We have the promise of God that “if we suffer, we shall also reign with him”. As the Psalmist said:

Psalm 30:5 … weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

• The third IF deals with DENIAL of Christ. We read:

2 Timothy 2:11-13 It is a faithful saying… 12 if we deny him, he also will deny us: 13 if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.

Word Study: Verses 12 & 13 seem to be contradictory, but they are not. There is a difference between denying Jesus and in having a crisis of faith. We read “if we deny him, he also will deny us”. The word “” is the Greek ἀρνέομαι arnéomai, {pronounced ar-neh’-om-ahee} means “to contradict, to reject or disavow, to refuse”. This means to say of Jesus, “I know not the Man – I am not one of His people”. Jesus told us:

Matthew 10:32-33 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.

Jesus used a different word in …

Mark 8:38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Word Study: The word translated “ashamed” is the Greek ἐπαισχύνομαι epaischýnomai, {ep-ahee-skhoo’-nom-ahee}, which means “to feel shame for someone you are associated with”. If you deny knowing Jesus, Jesus will deny knowing you. If you are ashamed of your relationship to Jesus, Jesus will be ashamed of you.

Let’s look at two well known people to explain this text. Let’s consider first the Apostle Peter. As Jesus headed toward the Cross, He told His disciples:

Matthew 26:31 … All ye shall be offended because of me this night: for it is written, I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.

Peter heard this, and quickly replied:

Matthew 26:33 … Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.

Jesus told Peter, “Verily I say unto thee, That this night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice”. But Peter was unwavering. “Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee. Likewise also said all the disciples”.

We all know the story. When Jesus was captured, the disciples scattered. But Peter followed the bound Jesus from a distance. The Bible tells us:

Matthew 26:69-74 … Peter sat without in the palace: and a damsel came unto him, saying, Thou also wast with Jesus of Galilee. 70 But he denied before them all, saying, I know not what thou sayest. 71 And when he was gone out into the porch, another maid saw him, and said unto them that were there, This fellow was also with Jesus of Nazareth. 72 And again he denied with an oath, I do not know the man. 73 And after a while came unto him they that stood by, and said to Peter, Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee. 74 Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.

Peter “denied” (arnéomai, {pronounced ar-neh’-om-ahee}) Jesus. This is the same word we see in our 2 Timothy chapter 2 text. Peter denied Jesus three times – and Jesus knew that he was going to do so. But what happened after Peter denied Jesus the third time, and “the cock crowed”?

Matthew 26:75 … Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And he went out, and wept bitterly.

“Peter remembered the word of Jesus”. Jesus was impressed on Peter’s soul. Peter gave up everything to follow Jesus, and he was saved. On denying Jesus that third time, Peter remembered what Jesus said, and “went out, and wept bitterly”. Peter’s faith was genuine.

There was another Apostle, one who followed Jesus as long as Peter did, but who never loved Jesus. He is like so many fake Christians we see in the world today. Outwardly he looks good – but inwardly he is a recepticle for Satan. Who is this person? The Apostle Judas Iscariot.

Jesus knew who Judas was when He chose him. Jesus asked His disciples one day:

John 6:67-71 Will ye also go away? 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. 70 Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? 71 He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve.

The testimony of the genuine Christian is that “we believe and are sure that {Jesus is the} Christ, the Son of the living God”. But there was one in the midst that – though he looked good outwardly – he was not a believer in anyone other that himself. Jesus said of Judas, “one of you is a devil”. Why did Jesus choose Judas? I believe it served two purposes.

1. It was prophesied that a betrayer would sell Jesus for thirty pieces of silver (Zechariah 11:12-13). This same person would be a “friend” of Jesus, someone whom Jesus loved and cared for. The Psalmist prophesied:

Psalm 41:9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath lifted up his heel against me. And again,

Psalm 55:12-14 For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: 13 But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. 14 We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.

Jesus knew that Judas was going to betray Him.

2. I think Jesus also chose Judas to show us what a false Christian looks like. The true Christian is impressed by Jesus. The false Christian is an empty vessel, waiting for the devil.

John 13:1-2 Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. 2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him;

The devil is communing with Judas. “The devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot”. Judas is not having a crisis of faith. He has followed Jesus for as many years as the other eleven have. Yet Judas is not serving Jesus, but himself. The Scripture tells us that “Judas Iscariot was a THIEF, and had the {treasury} bag, and bare what was put therein”. Somehow Judas got elected keeper of the treasury of the disciples. He had a habit of skimming a little “off the top”, hoping no one would notice. The disciples may not have noticed, but Jesus did, and so did Satan.

After Jesus ministered to all twelve disciples, the Bible tells us:

John 13:21 {Jesus} was troubled in spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me.

Jesus’ heart was breaking. He had given everything to these twelve men, but one was yet a betrayer. When the disciples asked, “Lord, who is it?”, Jesus said:

John 13: 26-27 … He it is, to whom I shall give a sop, when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. 27 And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly.

Judas was indwelt by Satan. His false faith made him a willing recepticle for the master of darkness – and Judas went band sold the Lord Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.

What was the difference between Peter’s denial of Christ, and Judas’ denial of Christ? It is in what they did afterwards. When Peter realized what he had done, he “wept bitterly”. What did Judas do after he realized what he had done?

Matthew 27:3-5 … Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, 4 Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that. 5 And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.

Peter repented, but Judas “repented HIMSELF”. The genuine believer cannot continue to deny the Savior. The false believer will “deconstruct” their faith because they never believed in Jesus – but only in themselves!

• The fourth IF deals with our humanity, and when we have a crisis of faith.

2 Timothy 2:11-13 It is a faithful saying … if we believe not, yet He abideth faithful: He cannot deny himself.

Every Christian will, at times, have a crisis of faith like Peter had. The Scripture says:

2 Timothy 2:19 (ESV) But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

There are all times when we have momentary doubts, or wonder if God our Father has forgotten us. Yet God has promised never to leave us. Jesus Christ is impressed on the soul of the believer, and God the Holy Spirit indwells us. Though we may stumble, we will never absolutely fall – for our Jesus is faithful!

2 Timothy 1:12 … I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.

As one pastor put it, “Christ did the most for us at salvation. Will He abandon us now that we have been purchased by his blood? No!”. Our Lord is faithful.

Finally, turn with me in your Bibles to Titus, just one book over. Our final point is …

Christians Are Not Saved By Works,

But If Saved, Will Do Good For God

Titus 3:4-8 But after that the kindness and love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior; 7 that being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men.

No Christian is saved by works. But once we are saved, we WILL work for God. We WILL be good citizens of the Kingdom of Light. The Apostle said in another place:

Ephesians 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 not of works, lest any man should boast.

Salvation is an entirely free gift from God. But note the very next verse in Ephesians:

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Saved by faith, the Christian is a new creature in Christ: old things are passed away, behold, all things are new (2 Corinthians 5:17). The person who says “I am saved” but walks as an unbeliever walks IS A LIAR. These are not my words, but Scripture’s words. The Apostle said:

1 John 2:3-5 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

Jesus said, “he that follows Me shall NOT walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). The Apostle said, “you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord: walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8). And John again said:

1 John 1:5-7 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: 7 but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

You cannot be saved, and be the same as you were before. Jesus changes you. If you know Him,you know these five sayings to be true. And if you do not know Him, today would be a great day to call upon the name of the Lord.

For whosoever calls upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved! May God touch your hearts with His blessed Spirit this very day. Amen and Amen!