Jesus was willing that we reign with him

JESUS WAS WILLING THAT WE REIGN WITH HIM
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
2 Timothy 2:12 12if we endure, we will also reign with
him. If we disownhim, he will also disown us;
Suffering And Reigning With Jesus
BY SPURGEON
“If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will
deny us.”
2 Timothy 2:12
MY venerable friend who has up to now sent me a text for the New Year, still
ministers to his parish the Word of Life and has not forgottento furnish the
passageforour meditation today. Having preachedfrom one of a very similar
charactera short time ago, I have felt somewhatembarrassedin preparation.
But I will take courage and say with the Apostle, “To write the same things to
you, to me, indeed, is not grievous, but for you it is safe.” If I should bring
forth old things on this occasion, be you not unmindful that even the wise
householderdoes this at times. For oft-recurring sicknessthe same wine may
be prescribed by the most skillful physician without blame. No one scolds the
contractorfor mending rough roads againand againwith stones from the
same quarry. The wind which has borne us once into the haven is not despised
for blowing often from the same quarter, for it may do us goodservice yet
again. And therefore I am assuredthat you will endure my repetitions of the
same Truths of God, since they may assistyouto suffer with patience the same
trials.
You will observe that our text is a part of one of Paul’s faithful sayings. If I
remember rightly, Paul has four of these. The first occurs in 1 Timothy 1:8,
that famous, that chief of all faithful sayings, “This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save
sinners; of whom I am chief. "A golden saying, whose value Paul himself had

most marvelously proved. What shall I sayof this verse, but the same–the
lamp of a lighthouse, it has darted its ray of comfort through leagues of
darkness and guided millions of tempest-tossedspirits to the port of Peace.
The next faithful saying is in the same Epistle, at the fourth chapter and the
ninth verse. "Godliness is profitableunto all things, having the promise of the
life that now is and of that which is to come. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation.” This, too, the Apostle knew to be true, since he had
learned in whatsoeverstate he was in to be content. Our text is a portion of
the third faithful saying. And the last of the four you will find in Titus 3:8,
“This is a faithful saying and these things I will that you affirm constantly,
that they which have believed in God might be careful to maintain good
works. These things are goodand profitable unto men.” We may trace a
connectionbetweenthese faithful sayings.
The first one, which speaks ofJesus Christ coming into the world to save
sinners, lays the foundation of our eternalsalvationin the Free Grace of God,
as shown to us in the mission of the greatRedeemer. The next affirms the
double blessednesswhichwe obtain through this salvation–the blessings ofthe
upper and nether springs–oftime and of eternity. The third faithful saying
shows one of the duties to which the chosenpeople are called. We are
ordained to suffer for Christ with the promise that “if we suffer, we shall also
reign with Him.” The last faithful saying sets forth the active form of
Christian service, bidding us diligently to maintain goodworks.
Thus you have the root of salvationin Free Grace. You have next the
privileges of that salvation in the life which now is and in that which is to
come. And you have also the two greatbranches of suffering with Christ and
service of Christ loaded with the fruits of the Spirit of all Divine Grace.
Treasure up, dear Friends, those faithful sayings, “Layup these words in your
heart; bind them for a sign upon your hand that they may be as frontlets
betweenyour eyes.” Let these choice sayings be printed in letters of gold and
setup as tablets upon the doorposts of our house and upon our gates. Let
them be the guides of our life, our comfort and our instruction. The Apostle of
the Gentiles proved them to be faithful. They are faithful still, not one word
shall fall to the ground. They are worthy of all acceptation–letus acceptthem
now and prove their faithfulness–eachman for himself.
This morning’s meditation is to be derived from a part of that faithful saying
which deals with suffering. We will read the verse preceding our text. “It is a
faithful saying: Forif we are dead with Him, we shall also live with Him.” All
the electwere virtually dead with Christ when He died upon the tree–they
were on the Cross–crucifiedwith Him. In Him, as their representative, they

rose from the tomb and live in newness of life. BecauseHe lives, they shall live
also. In due time the chosenare slain by the Spirit of God and so made dead
with Christ to sin, to self-righteousness, to the world, the flesh and the powers
of darkness.
Then it is that they live with Jesus!His life becomes their life and as He was,
so are they also in this world. The Spirit of God breathes the quickening
Grace into those who were once dead in sin and thus they live in union with
Christ Jesus. WhenBelievers die, though they may be sawnin sunder, or
burnt at the stake, yet, since they sleepin Jesus, they are preservedfrom the
destruction of death by Him and are made partakers of His immortality. May
the Lord make us rooted and grounded in the mysterious but most
consolatorydoctrine of union with Christ Jesus.
We must at once advance to our text–“If we suffer, we shall also reign with
Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us.” The words naturally divide
themselves into two parts–suffering with Jesus and its reward–denying Jesus
and its penalty.
1. SUFFERING WITHJESUS AND ITS REWARD. To suffer is the
common lot of all men. It is not possible for us to escape fromit. We
come into this world through the gate of suffering and over death’s door
hangs the same escutcheon. We must suffer if we live, no matter in what
style we spend our existence. The wickedman may castoff all respect
for virtue and riot in excessofvice to the utmost degree, yet, let him not
expectto avoid the well-directedshafts of sorrow. No, ratherlet him
look for a tenfold share of pain of body and remorse of soul. “Many
sorrows shallbe to the wicked.”
Even if a man could so completelydegrade himself as to lose his intellectual
powers and become a brute, yet even then he could not escape fromsuffering.
For we know that the brute creationis the victim of pain as much as more
lordly man. Only, as Dr. Chalmers wellremarks, the brutes have the
additional misery that they have no mind endowedwith reasonand cheered
by hope to fortify them under their bodily affliction.
Understand, O Man, that however you may degrade yourself, you are still
under the yoke of suffering–the loftiestbow beneath it nor the meanestcan
avoid it. Every acre of humanity must be furrowed with this plow. There may
be a sea without a wave but never a man without sorrow. He who was God as
well as Man had His full measure presseddown and running over! Let us be
assuredthat if the Sinless One was not spared the rod, the sinful will not go

free. “Man that is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble.” “Man is
born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward.”
If then, a man has sorrow, it does not necessarilyfollow that he shall be
rewardedfor it since it is the common lot brought upon all by sin. You may
smart under the lashes of sorrow in this life but this shall not deliver you from
the wrath to come. Remember, you may live in poverty and drag along a
wearisome existenceofill-requited toil. You may be stretched upon a bed of
sicknessand be made to experience an agonyin every single member of your
body. And your mind, too, may be depressedwith fears, or plunged in the
depths of despair. And yet, by all this you may gainnothing of any value to
your immortal spirit, for, “Excepta man be born again, he cannot see the
kingdom of God.”
And no amount of affliction upon earth can alter that unchanging rule so as to
admit an unregenerate man into Heaven. To suffer is not peculiar to the
Christian–neither does suffering necessarilybring with it any recompense of
reward. The text implies most clearlythat we must suffer with Christ in order
to reign with Him. The structure of the preceding verse plainly requires such
a reading. The words, “with Him,” may be as accuratelysupplied at the close
of the one clause as the other. The suffering which brings the reigning with
Jesus must be a suffering with Jesus.
There is a very current error among those poor people who are ignorant of
true religion that all poor and afflicted people will be rewarded for it in the
next state. I have heard working men refer to the parable of the rich man and
Lazarus with a cruel sort of satisfactionatthe pains of Dives because they
have imagined that, in the same manner, all rich people would be castinto the
flames of Hell without a drop of waterto cooltheir tongue–while all poor
persons like Lazarus would be triumphantly carried into Abraham’s bosom.
A more fearful mistake could not be made! It was not the suffering of Lazarus
which entitled him to a place in Abraham’s bosom. He might have been licked
by all the dogs on earth and then have been draggedoff by the dogs of Hell!
Many a man goes to Hell from a dunghill. A drunkard’s hovel is very
wretched–is he to be rewardedfor bringing himself to rags? Very much of the
beggarywe see abroad is the result of vice, extravagance, orfolly–are these
things so meritorious as to be passports to Heaven?
Let no man deceive himself so grossly!On the other hand the rich man was
not castinto Hell because he was rich and fared sumptuously. Had he been
rich in faith, holy in life and renewedin heart, his purple and fine linen would
have done him no hurt. Lazarus was carriedabove by the angels becausehis

heart was in Heaven–andthe rich man lifted up his eyes in Hell, because he
had never lifted them up towards God and heavenly things. It is a work of
Free Grace in the heart and characterwhich shall decide the future–not
poverty or wealth. Let intelligent persons combatthis notion wheneverthey
meet with it.
Suffering here does not imply happiness hereafter. It is only a certain order of
suffering to which a reward is promised–the suffering which comes to us from
fellowship with the Lord Jesus and conformity to His image. A few words
here, by way of aiding you in making the distinction. We must not imagine
that we are suffering for Christ and with Christ if we are not in Christ. If a
man is not a branch of the Living Vine, you may prune and cut until the sap
flows and the branch bleeds but he will never bring forth heavenly fruit.
Prune the bramble as long as everyou like. Use the knife until the edge is
worn away–the brier will be as sharp and fruitless as ever!
You cannot by any process ofpruning translate it into one of the vines of
Eshcol. If a man remains in a state of nature, he is a member of the earthly
Adam–he will not, therefore, escape suffering–but ensure it. He must not,
however, dream that because he suffers he is suffering with Christ! He is
plagued with the old Adam. He is receiving with all the other heirs of wrath
the sure heritage of sin. Let him considerthese sufferings of his to be only the
first drops of the awful showerwhich will fall upon him forever–the first
tingling cuts of that terrible whip which will lacerate his soul forever.
If a man is in Christ, he may then claim fellowship with the secondMan, who
is the Lord from Heaven and he may expectto bear the image of the heavenly
in the Glory to be revealed. O my Hearers, are you in Christ by a living faith?
Are you trusting in Jesus only? If not, whateveryou may have to mourn over
on earth, you have no hope of reigning with Jesus in Heaven. Supposing a
man to be in Christ–it does not even follow, then, that all his sufferings are
sufferings with Christ. If a goodman were, out of mistaken views of
mortification and self-denial, to mutilate his body, or to flog his flesh as many
a sincere enthusiasthas done, I might admire the man’s fortitude, but I should
not allow for an instant that he was suffering with Christ!
Who calledmen to such austerities? Certainlynot the God of Love! If,
therefore, they torture themselves at the command of their own fancies, fancy
must reward them, for God will not. If I am rash and imprudent and run into
positions for which neither Providence nor Grace has fitted me, I ought to
question whether I am not rather sinning than communing with Christ. Peter
drew his swordand cut off the ear of Malchus. If somebody had cut his ear
off, what would you say? He took the sword and he feels the sword! He was

never commanded to cut off the ear of Malchus and it was his Master’s
gentleness whichsavedhim from the soldiers'rage.
If we let passiontake the place of judgment, and let self-will reign instead of
Scriptural authority, we shall fight the Lord’s battles with the devil’s
weapons!And if we cut our own fingers we must not be surprised. On several
occasions,excitedProtestants have rushed into Romish cathedrals, have
knockeddownthe priest and dashed the wafer upon the ground, trod upon it
and in other ways exhibited their hatred of idolatry. Now when the Law has
interposed to punish such outrages, the offenders are hardly to be considered
as suffering with Christ! This I give as one instance of a class ofactions to
which overheatedbrains sometimes leadmen under the supposition that they
will join the noble army of martyrs.
The martyrs were all chosento their honorable estate. And I may say of
martyrdom as of priesthood, “No man takes that honor upon himself but he
that is calledthereunto as was Aaron.” Let us mind we all make a distinction
betweenthings which differ and do not pull a house down on our heads and
then pray the Lord to console us under the trying Providence.
Again, in troubles which come upon us as the result of sin, we must not think
we are suffering with Christ. When Miriam spoke evil of Moses andthe
leprosy polluted her, she was not suffering for God. When Uzziah thrust
himself into the temple and became a leper all his days, he could not say that
he was afflicted for righteousness'sake.If you speculate and lose your
property, do not saythat you are losing all for Christ’s sake!When you unite
with bubble companies and are duped, do not whine about suffering for
Christ–callit the fruit of your own folly. If you will put your hand into the fire
and it gets burned, why, it is the nature of fire to burn you or anybody else!Be
not so silly as to boastas though you were a martyr.
If you do wrong and suffer for it, what thanks have you? Go behind the door
and weepfor your sin, but come not forth in public to claim a reward. Many a
hypocrite, when he has had his deserts and has been calledby his proper
name, has cried out, “Ah, I am persecuted!” It is not an infallible sign of
excellence to be in bad repute among men. Who feels any esteemfor a cold-
blooded murderer? Does notevery man reprobate the offender? Is he,
therefore, a Christian because he is spokenagainstand his name castout as
evil? Assuredly not! He is a heartless villain and nothing more. Brethren,
truthfulness and honesty should stop us from using expressions whichinvolve
a false claim. We must not talk as if we suffered nobly for Jesus whenwe are
only troubled as the result of sin. O, to be kept from transgression!Then it

matters not how rough the road of obedience may be–our journey shall be
pleasantbecause Jesus walkswith us.
Be it observed, moreover, that suffering such as God accepts andrewards for
Christ’s sake must have God’s Glory as its end. If I suffer that, I may earn a
name, or win applause among men. If I venture into trial merely that I may be
respectedfor it, I shall getmy reward–but it will be the reward of the
Pharisee and not the crown of the sincere servant of the Lord Jesus. I must
mind, too, that love to Christ and love to His electis ever the mainspring of all
my patience, remembering the Apostle’s words, “ThoughI give my body to be
burned and have not charity, it profits me nothing.”
If I suffer in bravado, filled with proud defiance of my fellow men. If I love
the dignity of singularity and out of doggedobstinacyhold to an opinion, not
because it is right–but because Ichoose to think as I like, then I suffer not
with Jesus. If there is no love to God in my soul. If I do not endure all things
for the elect’s sake,I may bear many a cuff and buffeting, but I miss the
fellowship of the Spirit and have no recompense.
I must not forget, also, that I must manifest the Spirit of Christ or I do not
suffer with Him. I have heard of a certain minister, who, having had a great
disagreementwith many members in his Church, preached from this text,
“And Aaron held his peace.” The sermonwas intended to portray himself as
an astonishing instance of meekness. Butas his previous words and actions
had been quite sufficiently violent, a witty hearer observedthat the only
likeness he could see betweenAaron and the preacher, was this, “Aaron held
his peace and the preacherdid not.”
It is easyenough to discoversome parallel betweenour casesand those of
departed saints, but not so easyto establishthe parallel by holy patience and
Christ-like forgiveness. IfI have, in the way of virtue, brought down upon
myself shame and rebuke. If I am hot to defend myself and punish the
slanderer. If I am irritated, unforgiving and proud–I have lost a noble
opportunity of fellowship with Jesus. I must have Christ’s Spirit in me, or I do
not suffer acceptably. If like a sheep before her shearers, Ican be dumb. If I
can bear insult and love the man who inflicts it. If I can pray with Christ,
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” If I submit all my
case to Him who judges righteously and count it evenmy joy to suffer
reproachfor the cause of Christ–then and only then, have I truly suffered
with Christ.
These remarks may seemvery cutting and may take awaymuch false but
highly-prized comfortfrom some of you. It is not my intention to take away

any true comfort from the most humble Believerwho really suffers with my
Lord. But Godgrant we may have honesty enough not to pluck flowers out of
other men’s gardens, or wearother men’s honors. Truth will only be desired
by true men.
I shall now very briefly show what are the forms of real suffering for Jesus in
these days. We have not now to rot in prisons, to wanderabout in sheepskins
and goatskins,to be stoned, or to be sawnin sunder–though we ought to be
ready to bear all this if God wills it. The days of Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace
are past, but the fire is still upon earth. Some suffer in their estates.I believe
that to many Christians it is rather a gain than a loss, so far as pecuniary
matters go, to be Believers in Christ. But I meet with many cases–caseswhich
I know to be genuine–where persons have had to suffer severelyfor
consciencesake.
There are those present who were once in very comfortable circumstances,
but they lived in a neighborhood where the majority of the business was done
on a Sunday. When Divine Grace shut up their shop, trade left them. And I
know some of them are working very hard for their bread, though once they
earned abundance without any greattoil. They do it cheerfully for Christ’s
sake, but the struggle is a hard one. I know other persons who were employed
as servants in lucrative positions involving sin, but upon their becoming
Christians they were obligedto resigntheir former post and are not at the
present moment in anything like such apparent prosperity as they were.
I could point to severalcases ofpersons who have really suffered to a very
high degree in pecuniary matters for the Cross of Christ. Brethren, you may
possessyour souls in patience and expectas a rewardof Grace that you shall
reign with Jesus your Beloved! Those feather-bedsoldiers who are broken-
hearted if fools laugh at them should blush when they think of those who
endure realhardship as goodsoldiers of Jesus Christ. Who canwaste his pity
over the small griefs of faint hearts when cold, hunger, and poverty are
cheerfully endured by the true and brave?
Cases ofpersecutionare by no means rare. In many a country village squires
and priests rule with a high hand and smite the godly villagers with a rod of
iron. “No blankets, no coals, no almshouse for you if you venture into the
Meeting House. You cannot live in my cottage if you have a PrayerMeeting in
it. I will have no religious people on my farm.” We who live in more
enlightened societylittle know the terrorism exercisedin some of the rural
districts over poor men and womenwho endeavor conscientiouslyto carry out
their convictions and walk with Christ.

True Christians of all denominations love eachother and hate persecution,
but nominal Christians and ungodly men would make our land as hot as in
the days of Mary if they dared. To all saints who are oppressed, this sweet
sentence is directed–“Ifwe suffer, we shall also reign with Him.” More
usually, however, the suffering takes the form of personalcontempt. It is not
pleasantto be pointed at in the streets and have opprobrious names shouted
after you by vulgar tongues. Noris it a small trial to be saluted in the
workshopby opprobrious epithets, or to be lookedupon as an idiot or a
madman.
And yet this is the lot of many of the people of God every day of the week.
Many of those who are of the humbler classeshave to endure constantand
open reproach. And those who are richer have to put up with the cold
shoulder and neglectand sneers as soonas they become true disciples of Jesus
Christ. There is more sting in this than some dream. And we have known
strong men who could have borne the lash brought down by jeers and
sarcasms,evenjust as the waspmay more thoroughly irritate and vex the lion
than if the noblestbeast of prey should attack him. Believers have also to
suffer slander and falsehood. It is not expedient for me, doubtless, to glory,
but I know a man who scarcelyever speaksa word which is not
misrepresentedand hardly performs an action which is not misconstrued.
The press at certain seasons, like a pack of hounds, will getupon his track and
worry him with the most bases and undeserved abuse. Publicly and privately
he is accustomedto be sneeredat. The world whispers, “Ah, he pretends to be
zealous for God, but he makes a fine thing of it!” Mark you, when the world
shall learn what he does make of it, maybe it will have to eat its words! But I
forbear such is the portion of every servant of God who has to bear public
testimony for the Truth of God.
Every motive but the right one will be imputed to him. His good will be evil
spokenof. His zeal will be calledimprudence–his courage, impertinence–his
modesty, cowardice.It is impossible for the true Believerin Christ who is
calledto any eminent service to do anything right. He had better at once learn
to say with Luther, “The world hates me and there is no love lostbetweenus,
for as much as it hates me, so heartily do I hate it.” He meant not the men in
the world, for never was there a more loving heart than Luther’s. But he
meant the fame, the opinion, the honor of the world he trod beneath his feet.
If in your measure you bear undeserved rebuke for Christ’s sake, comfort
yourselves with these words, “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we
deny Him, He also will deny us.”

Then again, if in your service for Christ you are enabled to sacrifice yourself–
bearing upon yourself inconvenience and pain, labor and loss–thenI think
you are suffering with Christ. The Missionarywho tempts the stormy deep–
the herald of the Cross who penetrates into unknown regions among savage
men–the tract distributor toiling up the mountainside–the teachergoing
wearily to the class–the village preacherwalking many toilsome miles–the
minister starving on a miserable pittance–the evangelistcontentto break
down in health–allthese and their like suffer with Christ.
We are all too much occupied with taking care of ourselves. We shun the
difficulties of excessivelabor. And frequently behind the entrenchments of
taking care of our constitution we do not half as much as we ought. A minister
of God is bound to spurn the suggestionsofignoble ease–itis his calling to
labor! And if he destroys his constitution, I for one, thank God that He
permits us the high privilege of so making ourselves living sacrifices.If
earnestministers should bring themselves to the grave, not by imprudence,
for that we would not advocate–butby honestlabor, such as their ministry
and their consciencesrequire of them–they will be better in their graves than
out of their graves if they come there for the cause ofChrist. What? Are we
never to suffer? Are we to be carpet-knights? Are God’s people to be put
awayin padding, perfumed with lavender and boxed up in quiet softness?No!
Not unless they would lose the reward of true saints!
Let us not forgetthat contentionwith inbred lusts, denials of proud self,
resistance ofsin and agonyagainstSatan are all forms of suffering with
Christ. We may, in the holy war within us, earn as bright a crown as in the
wider battlefield beyond us. O for Grace to be ever dressedin full armor,
fighting with principalities and powers and spiritual wickednessofevery sort!
There is one more class of suffering which I shall mention and that is, when
friends forsake,orbecome foes. Fatherand mother forsake sometimes.The
husband persecutes the wife. We have knowneven the children turn against
the parents. “A man’s foes are they of his own household.” This is one of the
devil’s bestinstruments for making Believers suffer. And those who have to
drain this cup for the Lord’s sake shallreign with Him.
Brethren, if you are thus called to suffer for Christ, will you quarrel with me
if I say, in adding all up, what a very little it is comparedwith reigning with
Jesus? “Forourlight affliction, which is but for a moment, works for us a far
more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory.” When I contrastour sufferings
of today with those of the reign of Mary, or the persecutions ofthe Albigenses
on the mountains, or the sufferings of Christians in PaganRome–whyours

are scarcelya pin’s prick–andyet what is the reward? We shall reign with
Christ!
There is no comparisonbetweenthe service and the reward. Therefore it is all
of Grace. We do but little and suffer but little–and even that little, Grace gives
us! And yet the Lord grants us, “A far more exceeding and eternalweight of
Glory.” We are not merely to sit with Christ, but we are to reign with Christ.
All that the pomp imperial of His Kingship means. All that the treasure of His
wide dominions canyield. All that the majesty of His everlasting powercan
bestow–allthis is to belong to you–givento you of His rich, Free Grace, as the
sweetrewardof having suffered for a little time with Him!
Who would draw back, then? Who among you will flinch? Young man, have
you thought of flying from the Cross? Young woman, has Satan whisperedto
you to shun the thorny pathway? Will you give up the crown? Will you miss
the Throne? O Beloved, it is so blessedto be in the furnace with Christ, and
such an honor to stand in the pillory with Him that if there were no reward,
we might count ourselves happy! But when the rewardis so rich, so super-
abundant, so eternal, so infinitely more than we had any right to expect–will
we not take up the Cross with songs and go on our way rejoicing in the Lord
our God?
II. DENYING CHRIST, AND ITS PENALTY. “If we deny Him, He also will
deny us.” Dreadful “if,” and yet an “if” which is applicable to every one of us.
If the Apostles, when they satat the Lord’s Supper, said, “Lord, is it I?”
surely we may sayas we sit here, “Lord, shall I ever deny You?” You who say
most loudly, “Though all men shall deny You, yet I will not”–youare the most
likely to do it!
In what way can we deny Christ? Some deny Him openly, as scoffers do,
whose tongue walks through the earth and defies Heaven. Others do this
willfully and wickedlyin a doctrinal way, as the Arians and Socinians do who
deny His deity–those who deny His Atonement, who rail againstthe
inspiration of His Word–these come under the condemnation of those who
deny Christ. There is a way of denying Christ without even speaking a word
and this is the more common.
In the day of blasphemy and rebuke, many hide their heads. They are in
company where they ought to speak up for Christ. But they put their hands
upon their mouths. They come not forward to profess their faith in Jesus.
They have a sort of faith, but it is one which yields no obedience. Jesusbids
eachBelieverto be baptized. They neglectHis ordinance. Neglecting that, they
also despise the weightiermatters of the Law. They will go up to the House of

God because it is fashionable to go there. But if it were a matter of
persecution, they would forsake the assembling of themselves together.
In the day of battle they are never on the Lord’s side. If there is a parade, and
the banners are flying and the trumpets are sounding, if there are decorations
and medals to be given away, there they are. But if the shots are flying, if
trenches have to be carriedand forts to be stormed, where are they? They
have gone back to their dens and there will they hide themselves till fair
weathershall return.
Mind, mind, mind, for I am giving a description, I am afraid, of some here.
Mind, I say, you silent ones, lestyou stand speechlessatthe bar of Judgment.
Some, after having been long silent and so practically denying Christ, go
farther and apostatize altogetherfrom the faith they once had. No man who
has a genuine faith in Christ will lose it, for the faith which God gives will live
forever. Hypocrites and formalists have a name to live while yet they are
dead–and after a while they return like the dog to its vomit and the sow which
was washedto her wallowing in the mire. Certainprofessors do not run this
length, yet practicallydeny Christ by their lives, though they make a
professionof faith in Him.
Are there not some here who hove been baptized and who come to the Lord’s
Table but what is their character? Follow them home. I would to God they
never had made a professionbecause in their own houses they deny what in
the House of God they have avowed. If I see a man drunk. If I know that a
professorindulges in lasciviousness.If I know a man to be harsh and
overbearing and tyrannical to his servants. If I know another who cheats in
his traffic and another who adulterates his goods. And if I know that such
men profess allegianceto Jesus–whichamI to believe–their words or their
deeds? I will believe that which speaks loudest!And as actions always speak
louder than words, I will believe their actions–Ibelieve that they are deceivers
whom Jesus will deny at the last.
Should we not find many present this morning belonging to one or other of
these grades? Doesnot this description suit at leastsome of you? If it should
do so, do not be angry with me but stand still and hear the Word of the Lord.
Know, O Man that you will not perish even if you have denied Christ, if now
you fly to Him for refuge. Peterdenied, but yet Peteris in Heaven. A transient
forsaking of Jesus under temptation will not bring on everlasting ruin, if faith
shall step in and the Grace of God shall intervene. But persevere in it–
continue still in a denial of the Savior and my terrible text will come upon
you–“He also will deny you.”

In musing over the very dreadful sentence whichcloses my text, “He also will
deny us,” I was led to think of various ways in which Jesus will deny us. He
does this sometimes on earth. You have read, I suppose, of the death of
Francis Spira. If you have ever read it, you never can forgetit to your dying
day. Francis Spira knew the Truth of God. He was a reformer of no mean
standing, but when brought to death, out of fear, he recanted. In a short time
he fell into despair and suffered Hell upon earth. His shrieks and exclamations
were so horrible that their record is almosttoo terrible for print. His doom
was a warning to the age in which he lived.
Another instance is narrated by my predecessor, Benjamin Keach, of one
whom, during Puritanical times, was very earnestfor Puritanism but
afterwards, when times of persecutionarose, forsookhis profession. The
scenes athis deathbed were thrilling amid terrible. He declaredthat though
he sought God, Heavenwas shut againsthim. Gates of brass seemedto be in
his way. He was given up to overwhelming despair. At intervals he cursed. At
other intervals he prayed and so perished without hope.
If we deny Christ, we may be delivered to such a fate. If we have stoodhighest
and foremostin God’s Church and yet have not been brought to Christ–if we
should become apostates–a highsoarwill bring a deep fall. High pretensions
bring down sure destruction when they come to nothing. Even upon earth
Christ will deny such. There are remarkable instances ofpersons who sought
to save their lives and lost them. One Richard Denton, who had been a very
zealous Lollard and was the means of the conversionof an eminent saint,
when he came to the stake, was so afraid of the fire that he renounced
everything he held and went into the Church of Rome.
A short time after, his own house took fire, and going into it to save some of
his money, he perished miserably, being utterly consumed by that fire which
he had denied Christ in order to escape.If I must be lost, let it be any way
rather than as an apostate. If there is any distinction among the damned,
those have it who are wandering stars, trees plucked up by the roots, twice
dead, for whom Jude tells us, is “reservedthe blackness ofdarkness forever.”
Reserved!As if nobody else were qualified to occupy that place but
themselves. They are to inhabit the darkest, hottestplace because they forsook
the Lord.
Let us, my dear Friends, rather lose everything than lose Christ. Let us sooner
suffer anything than lose our ease ofconscienceand our peace of mind. When
Marcus Arethusus was commandedby Julian the apostate to subscribe
towards the rebuilding of a heathen temple which his people had pulled down
upon their conversionto Christianity, he refused to obey. And though he was

an agedman, he was stripped naked and then pierced all over with lancets
and knives. The old man still was firm.
If he would give but one halfpenny towards the building of the temple, he
could be free–ifhe would castin but one grain of incense into the censer
devoted to the false gods, he might escape. He would not countenance idolatry
in any degree. He was smearedwith honey and while his innumerable wounds
were yet bleeding, the bees and wasps came upon him and stung him to death.
He could die, but he could not deny his Lord. Arethusus entered into the joy
of his Lord, for he nobly suffered with Him!
In the olden time when the Gospelwas preachedin Persia, one Hamedatha, a
courtier of the king, having embraced the faith, was stripped of all his offices,
driven from the palace and compelled to feed camels. This he did with great
content. The king, passing by one day, saw his former favorite at his ignoble
work, cleaning out the camel’s stables. Taking pity upon him he took him into
his palace, clothedhim with sumptuous apparel, restoredhim to all his former
honors and made him sit at the royal table. In the midst of the dainty feast, he
askedHamedatha to renounce his faith.
The courtier, rising from the table, took off his garments with haste, left all
the dainties behind him, and said, “Did you think that for such silly things as
these I would deny my Lord and Master?” And away he went to the stable to
his ignoble work. How honorable is all this! How shall I denounce the
meanness of the apostate–his detestable cowardice to forsake the bleeding
Savior of Calvary to return to the beggarlyelements of the world which he
once despisedand to bow his neck againto the yoke of bondage? Will you do
this, O followers ofthe Crucified?
You will not! You cannot! I know you cannot if the Spirit of the Lord dwells
in you and it must dwell in you if you are the children of God. What must be
the doom of those who deny Christ, when they reach another world? Perhaps
they will appearwith a sort of hope in their minds and they will come before
the Judge, with, “Lord, Lord, open to us.” Who are you? He says. “Lord, we
once took the Lord’s Supper–Lord, we were members of the Church, but
there came very hard times. My mother bade me give up religion. Father was
angry. Trade went bad. I was so mockedat, I could not stand it. Lord, I fell
among evil acquaintances and they tempted me–I could not resist. I was Your
servant–Idid love You–I always had love towards You in my heart, but I
could not help it–I denied You and went to the world again.”
What will Jesus say? I know you not! “But, Lord, I want You to be my
Advocate.” I know you not! “But, Lord, I cannotget into Heavenunless You

should open the gate–openit for me.” I do not know you! I do not know you!
“But, Lord, my name was in the Church Book.”I know you not–I deny you.
“But will You not hear my cries?” Youdid not hear Mine–youdid deny Me
and I deny you. “Lord, give me the lowestplace in Heaven, if I may but enter
and escape fromwrath to come.” No, you would not brook the lowestplace on
earth and you shall not enjoy the lowestplace here. You had your choice and
you did choose evil. Keep to your choice. You were filthy, be you filthy still.
You were unholy, be you unholy still.
O, Sirs, if you would not see the angry face of Jesus!O, Sirs, if you would not
behold the lightning flashing from His eyes and hear the thunder of His mouth
in the day when He judges the fearful and the unbelieving and the hypocrite.
If you would not have your portion in the lake which burns with fire and
brimstone, cry this day mightily unto God, “Lord, hold me fast, keepme, keep
me. Help me to suffer with You, that I may reign with You. But do not, do not
let me deny You, lest You also should deny me.”
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
A Faithful Saying For ConsolationAnd ForWarning
2 Timothy 2:11-13
T. Croskery
The apostle introduces the familiar formula, "This is a faithful saying," with
its rhythmical significance and arrangement, to emphasize the importance of
what is to follow.
I. FAMILIAR TRUTHS WITH A CONSOLATORYASPECT."If we died
with him, we shall also live with him; if we endure, we shall also reign with
him." There is here an expressive climax, setting forth two different aspects of
the union betweenChrist and his people.

1. Identification with Christ in his death. All believers died with him, as their
Head and Representative, andthus died to sin, through the efficacyof his
death, so as to be planted togetherin the likeness ofhis death; and thus, being
made conformable to his death, they have fellowship with him in his
sufferings.
2. But identification with Christ in his life follows as a consequenceofthis
identification in death, because we rose with him from the dead, to be planted
in the likeness ofhis resurrection, that we should walk in newness oflife; and
thus, being made alive unto God, we live a life of holiness and sanctification
with him (Romans 6:5-8).
3. Identification with Christ in endurance involves identification in his
reigning glory. Believers who suffer shame and loss and outrage for Christ's
sake shallreign with him in glory hereafter, as they reign in the kingdom of
grace with him now; for they are "a kingdom of priests," destined
foreverlasting glory (Revelation1:6).
II. FAMILIAR TRUTHS WITH A THREATENING ASPECT."If we deny
him, he also will deny us; if we believe not, yet he abideth faithful; for he
cannot deny himself."
1. The denial of Christ is fatal. It is to rejectthe only Saviour. Some deny his
Messiahship;some deny his Divinity; some deny him by their works, being
ashamedof him and refusing to confess him; some deny him by open
apostasy. In all these casesthe denial involves our Lord's denial of them
(Matthew 7:23; Matthew 10:23).
2. Our unbelief does not affectthe essentialfaithfulness of Christ. "If we
believe not, yet he abideth faithful."
1. This does not mean that he will save us whether we believe in him or not;
for he has just said that if we deny him he will also deny us, and faith is always
an essentialcondition of salvation.
3. It means that he will abide faithful to his word of threatening, as well as to
his nature and perfections;for he cannotfalsify his declarations that "he that
believeth not shall be condemned" (Mark 16:16). He will say to apostates in

the lastday, "I never knew you." It would be to deny himself to act otherwise.
He cannot consistentlywith his characterregardfaith and unbelief as the
same thing. Thus the apostle stimulates Timothy to fidelity by an exhibition at
once of the bright and the dark sides of Divine truth. - T.C.
Biblical Illustrator
If we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him.
2 Timothy 2:11, 12
Union with Christ in death and life
J. C. Philpot.
I. The first branch of this "faithful saying" is, "If we be dead with Him, we
shall also live with Him." There seemto be two ways chiefly in which the soul
"is dead with Christ." If we look at the operation of the law as a manifestation
of the justice of God, the law was the cause ofthe death of Christ — that is to
say, the law being broken by the Church in whose place Christ stood, He, as a

Substitute and a Surety, stoodunder its curse, and that curse was death. If,
then, we are to die with Christ, we must die under the law just as Jesus died
under the law, or else there is no union with Christ in His death. But further,
Christ died under the weight of sin and transgression. Everyliving soul then
that shall die with Christ spiritually and experimentally, must die too under
the weightof sin — that is, he must know what it is so to experience the power
and presence ofsin in his carnal mind, so to feel the burden of his iniquities
upon his guilty head, and to be so overcome and overpoweredby inward
transgression, as to be utterly helpless, and thoroughly unable to deliver
himself from the dominion and rule of it in his heart. But there is another way
in which the soul dies with Christ. Christ not only died under the law and died
under sin, but He died unto the law, and He died unto sin. But in living with
Christ, there will be, if I may use the expression, a dying life, or a living death,
running parallel with all the experience of a child of God, who is brought to
some acquaintance with the Lord Jesus. Forinstance, the apostle says, "I am
crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me."
II. But we go on to consideranother branch of this vital union with Christ. "If
we suffer, we shall also reign with Him." There can be no suffering with
Christ, until there is a vital union with Christ; and no realisationof it, until
the Holy Ghostmanifests this vital union by making Christ known, and
raising up faith in our hearts, whereby He is embracedand laid hold of. And
there is no "reigning with Christ," exceptthere first be a "suffering with
Christ." I believe that reigning not only signifies a reigning with Him in glory
hereafter, but also a measure of reigning with Him now, by His enthroning
Himself in our hearts.
III. "If we deny Him, He also will deny us," that is the next branch. The
words have a twofold meaning; they apply to professors, andthey apply to
possessors. There were those in the Church who would deny Him, for there
were those who never knew Him experimentally, and when the trial came,
they would act as Judas acted. And then there were those who were real
followers of Him, but when put to the test might act as Peteracted.
(J. C. Philpot.)

Christ and the Christian
J. Barlow, D. D.
In matters of great worth and difficulty prefaces are used: so here. Whence
observe we, that —
I.AFFLICTIONS ARE NOT EASY TO BE ENDURED,
II.GOD'S WORD IS FAITHFUL.
III.CHRIST AND A CHRISTIAN ARE FELLOW-SUFFERERS.
IV.CHRIST AND A CHRISTIAN SHALL LIVE TOGETHER.
(J. Barlow, D. D.)
Deadwith Christ
Christian Herald.
In the fourth century a young earnestdisciple sought an interview with the
greatand goodMacarius, and askedhim what was meant by being dead to
sin. He said, "You remember our brother who died and was buried a short
time since. Go to his grave, and tell him all the unkind things you ever heard
of him. Go, my son, and hear what he will answer." The young man doubted
whether he understood; but Macarius only said, "Do as I tell you, my son; and
come and tell me what he says." He went, and came back, saying, "I canget
He reply; he is dead." "Go again, and try him with flattering words — tell
him what a greatsaint he was, what noble work he did, and how we miss him;
and come againand tell me what he says." He did so, but on his return said,
"He answers nothing, father; he is dead and buried." "You know now, my
son," said the old father, "whatit is to be dead to sin, dead and buried with
Christ. Praise and blame are nothing to him who is really dead and buried
with Christ."
(Christian Herald.)

Deadwith Christ
F. D. Maurice to his sister.
"Believe, my dear Pris, what I am just beginning to learn, and you knew long
ago, that the death of Christ is far, very far, more than a mere peace-making,
though that view of it is the rootof every other. But it is actually and literally
the death of you and me and the whole human race;the absolute death and
extinction of all our selfishness andindividuality. So St. Paul describes it in
Romans 6. and in every one of his Epistles. Let us believe, then, what is the
truth and no lie — that we are dead, actually, absolutely dead; and let as
believe further that we are risen and that we have eacha life, our only life, a
life not of you nor me, but a universal life — in Him. He will live in us and
quicken us with all life and all love; will make us understand the possibility,
and, as I am well convinced, experience the reality, of loving God and loving
our brethren."
(F. D. Maurice to his sister.)
Suffering and reigning with Jesus
C. H. Spurgeon.
I. SUFFERING WITHJESUS, AND ITS REWARD. To suffer is the common
lot of all men. It is not possible for us to escapefrom it. We come into this
world through the gate of suffering, and over death's door hangs the same
escutcheon. If, then, a man hath sorrow, it doth not necessarilyfollow that he
shall be rewarded for it, since it is the common lot brought upon all by sin.
You may smart under the lashes of sorrow in this life, but this shall not
deliver you from the wrath to come. The text implies most clearlythat we
must suffer with Christ in order to reign with Him.
1. We must not imagine that we are suffering for Christ, and with Christ, if
we are not in Christ.

2. Supposing a man to be in Christ, yet it does not eventhen follow that all his
sufferings are sufferings with Christ, for it is essentialthat he be calledby
God to suffer. If a goodman were, out of mistakenviews of mortification and
self-denial, to mutilate his body, or to flog his flesh, aa many a sincere
enthusiast has done, I might admire the man's fortitude, but I should not
allow for an instant that he was suffering with Christ.
3. Again, in troubles which come upon us as the result of sin, we must not
think we are suffering with Christ. When Miriam spoke evil of Moses, andthe
himself into the temple, and became a leper all his days, he could not say that
he was afflicted for righteousness'sake.If you speculate and lose your
property, do not saythat you are losing all for Christ's sake;when you unite
Christ — call it the fruit of your own folly. If you will put your hand into the
fire and it gets burned, why, it is the nature of fire to burn you or anybody
else;but be not so silly as to boastas though you were a martyr.
4. Be it observed, moreover, that suffering such as Godaccepts and rewards
for Christ's sake, must have God's glory as its end.
5. I must mind, too, that love to Christ, and love to His elect, is ever the main-
spring of all my patience;remembering the apostle's words, "ThoughI give
my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing."
6. I must not forget also that I must manifest the spirit of Christ, or else I do
not suffer with Him. I have heard of a certain minister who, having had a
greatdisagreementwith many members in his church, preached from this
text, "And Aaron held his peace."The sermon was intended to pourtray
himself as an astonishing instance of meekness;but as his previous words and
actions had been quite sufficiently violent, a witty hearerobserved, that the
only likeness he could see betweenAaron and the preacherwas this, "Aaron
held his peace, and the preacherdid not." I shall now very briefly show what
are the forms of realsuffering for Jesus in these days.(1)Some suffer in their
estates. Ibelieve that to many Christians it is rather a gainthan a loss, so far
as pecuniary matters go, to be believers in Christ; but I meet with many cases

— cases whichI know to be genuine, where persons have had to suffer
severelyfor conscience'sake.(2)More usually, however, the suffering takes
the form of personalcontempt.(3) Believers have also to suffer slander and
falsehood.(4)Thenagain, if in your service for Christ you are enabled so to
sacrifice yourself, that you bring upon yourself inconvenience and pain,
labour and loss, then I think you are suffering with Christ.(5) Let us not
forgetthat contention with inbred lusts, denials of proud self, resistance ofsin,
and agonyagainstSatan, are all forms of suffering with Christ.(6) There is
one more class ofsuffering which I shall mention, and that is, when friends
forsake, orbecome foes. If you are thus called to suffer for Christ, will you
quarrel with me if I say, in adding all up, what a very little it is compared with
reigning with Jesus!"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment,
workethfor us a far more exceeding and eternalweight of glory." When I
contrastour sufferings of to-day with those of the reign of Mary, or the
persecutions ofthe Albigenses on the mountains, or the sufferings of
Christians in PaganRome, why, ours are scarcelya pin's prick: and yet what
is the reward? We shall reign with Christ. There is no comparisonbetween
the service and the reward. Therefore it is all of grace. We are not merely to
sit with Christ, but we are to reign with Christ.
II. DENYING CHRIST, AND ITS PENALTY. "If we deny Him, He also will
deny us," In what way canwe deny Christ? Some deny Him openly as scoffers
do, whose tongue walkeththrough the earth and defieth heaven. Others do
this wilfully and wickedly in a doctrinal way, as the and do, who deny His
deity: those who deny His atonement, who rail againstthe inspiration of His
Word, these come under the condemnation of those who deny Christ. There is
a way of denying Christ without even speaking a word, and this is the more
common. In the day of blasphemy and rebuke, many hide their heads. Are
there not here some who have been baptized, and who come to the Lord's
table, but what is their character? Followthem home. I would to God they
never had made a profession, because in their own houses they deny what in
the house of God they have avowed. In musing over the very dreadful
sentence whichcloses my text, "He also will deny us," I was led to think of
various ways in which Jesus will deny us. He does this sometimes on earth.
You have read, I Suppose, the death of Francis Spira. If you have ever read it,

you never can forgetit to your dying day. Francis Spira knew the truth; he
was a reformer of no mean standing; but when brought to death, out of fear,
he recanted. In a short time he fell into despair, and suffered hell upon earth.
His shrieks and exclamations were so horrible that their recordis almost too
terrible for print. His doom was a warning to the age in which he lived.
Another instance is narrated by my predecessor, Benjamin Keach, of one
who, during Puritanic times, was very earnestfor Puritanism; but afterwards,
when times of persecutionarose, forsook his profession. The scenes athis
deathbed were thrilling and terrible. He declaredthat though he sought God,
heaven was shut againsthim; gates ofbrass seemedto be in his way, he was
given up to overwhelming despair. At intervals he cursed, at other intervals he
prayed, and so perished without hope. If we deny Christ, we may be delivered
to such a fate.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Deniers of Christ
J. Barlow, D. D.
I. DIFFICULT DUTIES ARE GREATLY TO BE PRESSED.
II. TO CONCEIVE THE ESTATE OF A CHRISTIAN IS TO HAVE AN
EYE TO HIS LATTER END.
III. GOD'S METHOD AND THE DEVIL'S DIFFER. He begins with death,
ends with life: but Satan the contrary.
IV. CHRIST IS NOT TO BE DENIED.
V. THE DENIERS OF CHRIST SHALL DE DENIED. Helps againstthis sin
—
1. Deny thyself.
2. Neverdispute with flesh and blood.

3. Look not on death as death: but on God's power, which is manifest in our
weakness.
4. Considerthe examples of so many martyrs.
(J. Barlow, D. D.)
The encouragementto suffer for Christ
J. Tillotson, D. D.
"It is a faithful saying." This is a preface used by this apostle to introduce
some remarkable sentence ofmore than ordinary weightand concernment. I
shall begin with the first part of this remarkable saying:"If we be dead with
Him, we shall also live with Him; if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him."
1. What virtue there is in a firm belief and persuasionof a blessedimmortality
in another world, to support and bear up men's spirits under the greatest
sufferings for righteousness'sake;and even to animate them, if God shall call
them to it, to lay down their lives for their religion.
2. How it may be made out to be reasonable to embrace and voluntarily to
submit to present and grievous sufferings, in hopes of future happiness and
reward; concerning which we have not, nor perhaps are capable of having,
the same degree ofcertainty and assurance whichwe have of the evils and
sufferings of this present life. Now, granting that we have not the same degree
of certainty concerning our future happiness that we have of our present
sufferings, which we feel, or see just ready to come upon us; yet prudence
making it necessaryfor men to run this hazard does justify the reasonableness
of it. This I take to be a known and ruled case in the common affairs of life
and in matters of temporal concernment; and men actupon this principle
every day. The matter is now brought to this plain issue, that if it be
reasonable to believe there is a God, and that His providence considers the
actions of men; it is also reasonable to endure present sufferings, in hope of a
future reward: and there is certainly enoughin this case to governand
determine a prudent man that is in any good measure persuadedof another

life after this, and hath any tolerable considerationof, and regard to, his
eternal interest. In the virtue of this belief and persuasion, the primitive
Christians were fortified againstall that the malice and cruelty of the world
could do againstthem; and they thought they made a very wise bargain, if
through many tribulations they might at last enter into the kingdom of God;
because they believed that the joys of heaven would abundantly recompense
all their sorrows and sufferings upon earth. And so confident were they of
this, that they lookedupon it as a specialfavour and regard of God to them, to
call them to suffer for His name. So St. Paul speaks ofit (Philippians 1:29). If
we could compare things justly, and attentively regardand considerthe
invisible glories of another world, as well as the things which are seen, we
should easilyperceive that he who suffers for God and religion does not
renounce happiness; but puts it out to interestupon terms of the greatest
advantage. I shall now briefly speak to the secondpart of this remarkable
saying in the text. "If we deny Him, He also will deny us"; to which is
subjoined in the words following, "if we believe not; εἰ ἀπιστοῦμεν, if we deal
unfaithfully with Him; yet He abideth faithful, He cannot deny Himself"; that
is, He will be constantto His word, and make goodthat solemn threatening
which He hath denounced againstthose who, for fearof suffering, shall deny
Him and His truth before men (Matthew 10:33). If fearwill move us, then, in
all reason, that which is most terrible ought to prevail most with us, and the
greatestdangershould be most dreaded by us, according to our Saviour's
most friendly and reasonable advice (Luke 12:4, 5.)
(J. Tillotson, D. D.)
If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him
Suffering with Christ
C. H. Spurgeon.
In the olden time when the gospelwas preachedin Persia, one Hamedatha, a
courtier of the king, having embraced the faith, was stripped of all his offices,
driven from the palace, and compelled to feed camels. This he did with great

content. The king passing by one day, saw his former favourite at his ignoble
work, cleaning out the camel's stables. Taking pity upon him he took him into
his palace, clothedhim with sumptuous apparel, restoredhim to all his former
honours, and made him sit at the royal table. In the midst of the dainty feast,
he askedHamedatha to renounce his faith. The courtier, rising from the table,
tore off his garments with haste, left all the dainties behind him, and said,
"Didst thou think that for such silly things as these I would deny my Lord and
Master?" andawayhe went to the stable to his ignoble work. How
honourable is all this!
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Christ's martyrs
E. Thring.
Christ's true martyrs do not die, but live.
(E. Thring.)
Ennobled in death
S. Coley.
"Henry V. on the evening of Agincourt found the chivalric David Gamin still
grasping the banner which through the fight his strength had borne and his
right arm defended. Often had the monarch noticed that pennon waving in
the foremostvan of the men of England who that day pierced, broke, and
routed the proud ranks of France. The king knighted him as he lay. The hero
died, but dying was ennobled!"(S. Coley.)
Cyril, the boy martyr
Let me tell you of a young soldier of His, who bore much for his Lord. We
must go back to the early days of Christianity, and picture a martyr being led

to death in the city of Antioch. At the place of execution is the judge
surrounded by a guard of soldiers. The man about to die for his love to his
heavenly King says to the judge — "Ask any little child here whether we
ought to adore the many false gods whom you serve or the one living and true
God, the only Saviour of men, and that child will tell you." Close by there
stooda Christian mother and her boy of ten years old named Cyril. She had
brought her sonthere to see how a true servant of God could die for his Lord.
As the martyr spoke, the judge spied the lad, and askedhim a question. To the
surprise of all, Cyril answered — "There is but one God, and Jesus Christ is
one With Him." At these words the judge was very angry. "Wretched
Christian," he said, turning to the martyr, "it is thou who hast taught the boy
these words." Then more gently, he said to the child — "Tell me, who taught
thee this faith?" Little Cyril lookedlovingly up to his mother, and answered,
"The grace of God taught my mother, and she taught me." "Well, we will see
what this grace ofGod can do for thee," cried the judge. He signedto the
guards, who, according to the custom of the Romans, stoodwith their sheaves
of rods. They came near and seizedthe child. Passionatelythe mother pleaded
that she might give her life for that of her son. But none heeded her entreaties.
And all that she could do was to cheer her child, reminding him of the Lord
who loved him and died for him. Then cruel strokes fellupon the bare little
shoulders of Cyril. In a tone of mocking, the judge said — "What goodis the
grace ofGod to him now?... It canenable him to bear the same punishment
which his Saviour bore for him," answeredthe mother decidedly. One look
from the judge to ""he soldiers, and againthe cruel blows fell on the tender
flesh of the boy. "What can the grace of Goddo for him now?" againasked
the pitiless judge. Few of the spectators couldhear unmoved the mother, who,
with heart bleeding at the sight of her boy's sufferings, answered — "The
grace ofGod teaches him to forgive his persecutors." The child's eyes followed
the upward glance ofhis mother, as she raisedher pleading for him in earnest
prayer. And when his persecutors askedwhetherhe would not now worship
the gods they did, that young soldier answered — "No, there is no other God
but the Lord, and Jesus is the Redeemerofthe world. He loved me, and I love
Him, because He is my Saviour." Stroke afterstroke fell upon the boy, and at
last he fell fainting. Then he was handed to his mother, and the question was
once more repeated:"What can the grace of God do for him now?" Pressing

her dying child to her heart, she answered — "Now above all, the grace of
God will bring him gain and glory, for He will take him from the rage of his
persecutors to the peace ofHis own home in heaven." Once more the dying
boy lookedup and said, "There is only one God, and one Saviour, Jesus
Christ — who — loved — me." And then the Lord Jesus receivedhim in His
arms for evermore. The boy martyr went in to be with his King, that Saviour
"who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light
through the gospel."
Suffering for Christ rewarded
S. Coley.
Agrippa, grandsonof Herod the Great, once expresseda desire that his friend
Caligula might sooncome to the throne. Old Tiberius, the reigning monarch,
felt such a wish, howeverflattering to Caligula, to be so little kindly to himself,
that he threw the author of it into a loathsome dungeon. But the very day
Caligula reachedImperial power, Agrippa was released. The new emperor
gave him purple for his rags, tetrarchies for his narrow cell, and carefully
weighing the gyves that fettered him, for every link of iron bestowedon him
one of gold. Think you that day Agrippa wished his handcuffs and his leg-
locks had been lighter? Will Jesus forgetthe wellwishers ofHis kingdom, who,
for His sake, have borne the burden and worn the chain? His scales willbe
forthcoming, and assuredly those faithful in greattribulation shall be
beautified with greaterglory.
(S. Coley.)
Happy ending of a suffering life
Bp. Oxenden.
We have sometimes watcheda ship entering the harbour with masts sprung,
sails torn, seams yawning, bulwarks stove in — bearing all the marks of
having battled with the storms, and of having encounteredmany a peril. On

the deck is a crew of worn and weather-beatenmen, rejoicing that they have
reachedthe port in safety. Such was the plight in which many believers of old
reachedthe haven of rest. They met with dangers and encountereddifficulties.
But if their course was toilsome, their end was happy. It was their joy to
labour and suffer for their Lord's sake, andthey are now sharing His
kingdom and His glory.
(Bp. Oxenden.)
If we deny Him, He also will deny us
Denying Christ
H. R. Reynolds, D. D.
There are many ways of denying Christ, both by word and action. We may
take the part of His enemies, or ignore His supreme claim to our allegiance;
we may transform Him into a myth, a fairy tale, a subjective principle, or find
a substitute in our own life for His grace;and we may assume that He is not
the ground of our reconciliation, nor the giver of salvation, nor the sole Head
of His Church. If so, we may reasonablyfear, lest He should refuse to
acknowledge us when upon His approval our eternaldestiny will turn.
(H. R. Reynolds, D. D.)
COMMENTARIES
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers
(12) If we suffer, we shall also reign with him.—And the faithful saying went
on with this stirring declaration. How, it seems to ask, cana believer in Christ
shrink from suffering, when he knows what to him will be the glorious
consequencesofthis present suffering? The word rendered “suffer” would be
better translated, if we endure—that is, if we bravely bear up against

sufferings for His sake, andall the while work on with hand and brain for
Him and for our brother as best we can. If we do this in this life, we shall, in
the life to come, reign with Him—more than merely live with Him, as the last
verse told us: we shall even “be kings with Him.” (See Romans 5:17; Romans
8:17; and Revelation1:6, where Jesus Christ is especiallyspokenof as having
made us “kings.”)The promise thus woven into the faithful saying, and
repeatedin these severalpassages,ofthe “reignof the saints in Christ,” gives
us a strangely glorious hope—a marvellous on-look, concerning the active and
personalwork which Christ’s redeemedwill be intrusted with in the ages of
eternity.
If we deny him, he also will deny us.—But there is another side to the words of
the Blessed. While to the faithful and the believer He will grant to sit down
with Him on His throne, the faithless and unbeliever will have no share in the
glories of the life to come. These grave warnings are apparently addressed
rather to unfaithful members of the outward and visible Church, than to the
Paganworld who have never known Christ. The words, “He also will deny
us,” imply something of a recognitionon the part of us who are denied by
Him—something of an expectationon our part that He would recognise us as
friends. They are evidently an echo of the Lord’s own sad reply to those many
who will sayto Him in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy
name? . . . and then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from
Me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:22-23. See too Matthew 10:33 and
Mark 8:33.)
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
2:8-13 Let suffering saints remember, and look to Jesus, the Author and
Finisher of their faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the
cross, despisedthe shame, and is now set down at the right hand of the throne
of God. We must not think it strange if the best men meet with the worst
treatment; but this is cheering, that the word of God is not bound. Here we see
the realand true cause ofthe apostle's suffering trouble in, or for, the sake of
the gospel. If we are dead to this world, its pleasures, profits, and honours, we

shall be for ever with Christ in a better world. He is faithful to his
threatenings, and faithful to his promises. This truth makes sure the
unbeliever's condemnation, and the believer's salvation.
Barnes'Notes on the Bible
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him - The meaning is, that the members
will be treated as the Head is. We become united with him by faith, and, if we
share his treatment on earth, we shall share his triumphs in heaven; see the
notes at Romans 8:17.
If we deny him, he also will deny us; - see the notes at Matthew 10:32-33.
Jamieson-Fausset-BrownBible Commentary
12. suffer—rather, as the Greek is the same as in 2Ti 2:10, "If we endure
(with Him)" (Ro 8:17).
reign with him—The peculiar privilege of the electChurch now suffering with
Christ, then to reign with Him (see on [2497]1Co6:2). Reigning is something
more than mere salvation (Ro 5:17; Re 3:21; 5:10; 20:4, 5).
deny—with the mouth. As "believe" with the heart follows, 2Ti2:12.
Compare the opposite, "confesswith thy mouth" and "believe in thine heart"
(Ro 10:9, 10).
he also will deny us—(Mt 10:33).
Matthew Poole's Commentary
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him; that is, if we suffer for his name’s
sake, fora constantowning and adherence to his doctrine of faith, or
discharge of any trust he hath reposedin us, we shall reign with him in glory.
If we deny him, he also will deny us; but if we, upon prospectof danger, deny
his truth, or desertthe professionofhim, he in the day of judgment will not
own us before his Father and the holy angels, Matthew 10:33 Mark 8:38
Romans 8:17.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
If we suffer,.... With him, with Christ, as in Romans 8:17 all the electsuffered
with Christ when he suffered; they suffered in him the whole penalty of the
law, all the righteousness, strictness, andseverity of it; and they are partakers
of the benefits of his sufferings, as peace, pardon, righteousness, redemption,
and everlasting salvation. And such being calledby grace, and having made a
professionof Christ, they suffer shame and reproach, loss ofcredit and
reputation, and sometimes loss of goods, and corporealpunishment, and even
death itself: but though they do, and if they should, they may be satisfiedof
the truth of this,
we shall also reign with him; they reign with him now in the kingdom of
grace;grace reigns in their hearts, where Christ, the King of glory, has
entered, and has setup his throne, and where he dwells by faith, they being
made kings and priests unto God by him; and they shall reign with him in his
kingdom here on earth, for the space ofa thousand years; and they shall reign
with him in glory to all eternity: this is certain, for this kingdom is prepared
for them, it is given to them, they are called unto it, and have both a right
unto, and meetness for it; see Romans 8:17,
if we deny him, he also will deny us: there is a denying of Christ in words;so it
is denied by the Jews that Christ is come in the flesh, and that Jesus is the
Messiah;and some that have bore the Christian name, though very
unworthily, have denied his true deity, his real humanity, proper sonship, and
the efficacyof his blood, righteousness, andsacrifice, forpardon, justification,
and atonement: and there is a denying of him in works;so some that profess
to know him, and do own him in his personand offices, yet in works deny
him; their conversationis not becoming their professionofhim; they have the
form of godliness, but deny the powerof it: there is a secretand silent denying
of him, when men are ashamed of him, and do not confess him; and there is
an open denying of him, by such who set their mouth againstthe heavens, and
their tongue walkeththroughout the earth; there is a partial denying of
Christ, which was Peter's case, thoughhis faith in him, and love to him, were
not lost; and there is a total denying of him, a thorough apostasy, andfrom
which there is no recovery;and if there be any such apostates among those

who have named the name of Christ, he will deny them, he will not own them
for his another day; he will setthem at his left hand; he will declare he knows
them not, and will banish them from his presence for evermore. This is
another branch of the faithful saying; this will certainly be the case;Christ
himself has said it, Matthew 10:33.
Geneva Study Bible
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
EXEGETICAL(ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Expositor's Greek Testament
2 Timothy 2:12. εἰ ὑπομένομενκαὶ συνβασιλεύσομεν:See Matthew 25:34;
Luke 22:28-29;Acts 14:22; Romans 8:17; 2 Thessalonians1:5; Revelation1:6;
Revelation20:4.
εἰ ἀρνησόμεθα, κ.τ.λ.:An echo of our Lord’s teaching, Matthew 10:33. See
also 2 Peter2:1; Judges 1:4. “The future conveys the ethicalpossibility of the
action” (Ell.)
Cambridge Bible for Schools andColleges
12. if we suffer] Rather endure with brave and manly submission; 2 Timothy
2:10. The submission is followed by sovereignty, as death by life. Cf. Matthew
19:28 ‘ye which have followedme … shall sit on twelve thrones.’
if we deny him] The ms. authority requires the future if we shall deny him, cf.
Matthew 10:32-33. The future there and here indicates ‘ethical possibility,’ i.e.
what can and may take place, viewed speculatively. Is it not possible that this
very phrase of the ‘Oral Gospel’embodied in Matthew 10:33 may have
already found a place in this earliestof hymns?
Bengel's Gnomen

2 Timothy 2:12. Ὑπομένομεν, we endure) The present and something more
significant, and reaching further than to die; therefore also there is a further
rewrard than life, viz. the kingdom.—εἰ ἀρνούμεθα, if we deny) with the
mouth. If we do not believe, viz. with the heart, follows in the next verse. The
denial is put first, for it extinguishes the faith which had previously existed.—
κᾀκεῖνος, He also)Christ.
Pulpit Commentary
Verse 12. - Endure for suffer, A.V.; shall deny for deny, A.V. and T.R.
Endure; as ver. 10. Mark the present tense as distinguished from the aoristin
ἀπεθάνομεν, betokening patient continuance in suffering. If we shall deny him
(ἀρνησόμεθα);comp. Matthew 10:30; Luke 12:9; Acts 3:13, 14, etc.
Vincent's Word Studies
If we suffer we shall also reign with him (εἰ ὑπομένομεν, καὶ συνβασιλεύσομεν)
For suffer, rend. endure. Συνβασιλεύειν to reign with, only here and 1
Corinthians 4:8. Comp. Luke 19:17, Luke 19:19;Luke 22:29, Luke 22:30;
Romans 5:17; Revelation4:4; Revelation5:10; Revelation22:5.
If we deny him he also will deny us (εἰ ἀρνησόμεθα. κἀκεῖνος ἀρνήσεται ἡμᾶς)
The verb Po. Him must be supplied. The meaning of the lastclause is, will not
acknowledge us as his own. Comp. Luke 9:26; Matthew 10:33.
PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
BRUCE HURT MD

2 Timothy 2:12 If we endure), we will also reign with Him ; If we deny
(1PFMI)Him, He also will deny us; (NASB: Lockman)
Greek:ei hupomenomen, (1PPAI) kai sumbasileusomen;(1PFAI) ei
arnesometha, (1PFMI)kakeinosarnesetai(2SFMI)hemas
Amplified: If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny and disown
and rejectHim, He will also deny and disownand rejectus. (Amplified Bible -
Lockman)
KJV: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will
deny us:
Phillips: if we suffer with him we shall also reign with him. If we deny him he
will also deny us: (Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: If we are persevering, we shall also reign as kings with Him. If we
shall deny Him, that One also will deny us.
Young's Literal: if we do endure together -- we shall also reign together;if we
deny him, he also shall deny us;
IF WE ENDURE:ei hupomenomen (1PPAI):
Mt 19:28,29;Acts 14:22; Ro 8:17; Phil 1:28; 2Th 1:4, 5, 6, 7, 8; 1Pe 4:13-16
2 Timothy Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
2 Timothy 2:8-13 Endurance - Steven Cole
2 Timothy 2:10-14:Motives for SacrificialMinistry Part 2 - John MacArthur
(Matt 19:28) And Jesus saidto them, “Truly I say to you, that you who have
followedMe, in the regenerationwhen the Son of Man will sit on His glorious
throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of
Israel.
(Matt 19:29) “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or
father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive many
times as much, and will inherit eternallife.

PERSEVERANCE
CHARACTERIZES A SAINT
"If" means "If, as is the case,we are persevering..." In other words these were
persevering. (see notes on Conditional Clauses)
Endure (5278)(hupomeno from hupó = under + méno = abide or remain)
means literally to remain under but not simply with resignation, but with a
vibrant hope. Hupomeno was a military term used of an army’s holding a
vital position at all costs. Everyhardship and every suffering was to be
endured in order to hold fast, even as Paul was continually enduring "all
things for the sake ofthose who are chosenthat they also may obtain the
salvationwhich is in Christ Jesus."(2 Ti 2:12)
The present tense calls for continuous enduring. We keepon bearing up under
the load(Mt 24:13) in this life. We keeppersevering in and under trials and
hold to one’s faith in Christ. True faith always has the quality of permanence
and in this sense allbelievers continue to endure. We endure because the
Spirit enables us to endure and thus endurance is a sure sign that one has the
Spirit (Ro 8:9-note).
Hiebert explains that one's continued endurance "points to this continuing
experience of bravely bearing up under the hardships and afflictions heaped
upon the believer because ofhis relation to Christ. (Hiebert then adding) "By
contrast, the secondpair asserts the solemn warning that denial and
unfaithfulness just as surely separate men from Christ." (D. Edmond Hiebert:
2 Timothy).
Expositor's Bible Commentary adds that endure is in the present tense for "It
is only as we keepon enduring to the end that we will be saved in time of
persecution(Mt 10:22;cf. context.). (Gaebelein, F, Editor: Expositor's Bible
Commentary 6-Volume New Testament.)
Jesus declaredto His disciples in the context of the difficult events that would
accompanythe end of the "age" (believers todaystill live in the same "age" as
His disciples so the truth applies especiallyto us as we near the end of this
"age" whichprecedes 7 years of Daniel's Seventieth Week which in turn

precedes the next "age", the Messianic age whenall the promises to Israelin
the OT are literally fulfilled) that ""the one who endures (hupomeno) to the
end, he shall be saved." (Matthew 24:13)
Don't let this verse confuse you. Jesus is not saying we will "earn" our
salvationby our endurance. Endurance does not save anyone. Only saving
faith in Christ saves. Jesus'point is that the one who is genuine will endure to
the end not by gritting their teeth but because the Spirit of Christ indwells
them and empowers them and will never lose them. If someone turns their
back on Christ after first professing Him, and persists (not a momentary
event like Peter's three denials) in that apostasy, theydemonstrate by their
failure to endure to the end that they are not genuinely saved. The same idea
of the so-called"perseveranceofthe saints" is seenin numerous other NT
passages, especiallyin the epistle to the Hebrews, where we read
"Christ was faithful as a Son overHis house whose house we are, if we hold
fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end." (Hebrew
3:6-note)
"Therefore, do not throw awayyour confidence, which has a greatreward. 36
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God,
you may receive whatwas promised. 37 FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE
WHILE, HE WHO IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY.
38 BUT MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; AND IF HE
SHRINKS BACK, (which would equate with "not endure") MY SOUL HAS
NO PLEASURE IN HIM. 39 But we are not of those who shrink back to
destruction (note the end of those who do not endure is not loss of rewards at
the Judgment Seatof Christ, but loss their life eternally in the seconddeath -
some feel "destruction" should be interpreted as a "wasted"life but note
what the immediate following contextrefers to - preserving of the soul,
implying that destruction equates with failure to preserve one's soul, i.e., an
unbeliever and not just the wastedlife of a believer), but of those who have
faith to the preserving of the soul. (Hebrews 10:35, 36, 37, 38, 39-note)

The reward of enduring now is not only that we prove our salvationgenuine
but that we are also rewardedwith reigning as discussedin the coming
Messianic Age and then the New Heavenand New Earth..
Charles Ryrie writes that "If we endure in this life, we shall reign in our
glorified state" (The Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Translation:
1995. MoodyPublishers)
WE SHALL ALSO REIGN WITH HIM : kaisumbasileusomen(1PFAI):
Re 1:6,9; 5:10; 20:4,6
Reignwith (4821)(sumbasileuo from sun = togetherwith + basileúo = to reign
as king;cp basileia)means to be a coregent. Note that the preposition in this
compound (and also in "died with" and "live with" above)is sun which
conveys the sense of union with. It speaks of a more intimate associationthan
does another Greek preposition(meta) which also means with. In context sun
speaks ofour inseparable identification with Christ.
Paul is referring to the saints as reigning as kings with the King of kings in the
Messianic Kingdom.
Jesus promised that "he who overcomes (see explanationbelow as to the
identity of overcomers)and he who keeps My deeds until the end, TO HIM I
WILL GIVE AUTHORITY OVER THE NATIONS AND HE SHALL RULE
THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON, AS THE VESSELS OF THE POTTER
ARE BROKEN TO PIECES, as I also have receivedauthority from My
Father." (Rev 2:26-note, Rev2:27-note)
Jesus in another promise to the overcomers (Jesus gives promises to
overcomers in His address to eachof the 7 churches of Revelation2-3) at the
church in Laodicea says that "He who overcomes,I will grant to him to sit

down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father
on His throne." (Rev 3:21-note)
Overcomers are not some selectgroup of saints for John teaches us that
"whateveris born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has
overcome the world-- our faith. And who is the one who overcomes the world,
but he who believes that Jesus is the Sonof God? (1John5:4, 5)
The apostle John describes the future events in heavenin which the Lamb
Who was slain receivedthe sealedscroll(probably the "title deed" to the
earth) from the Father prompting those who witnessedthis event to sing a
new song saying which includes a promise describing where saints will reign
"Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals;for Thou wast
slain, and didst purchase (our Kinsman Redeemerpaid the purchase price in
full when He shed His precious blood like a lamb) for God with Thy blood
men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. And Thou hast made
them to be a kingdom ("kings" KJV) and priests to our God; and they will
reign upon the earth." (Rev 5:9-note, Rev 5:10-note)
John describing the glorious Millennial kingdom of Christ on the earth (with
the presentcurse removed, eg see Isa 11:6, 7, 8ff) writes "And I saw thrones,
and they satupon them, and judgment was given to them (in 1Cor6:2, 3 Paul
asks "do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world
is judged by you, are you not competentto constitute the smallestlaw courts?
Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, matters of this
life?"). And I saw the souls of those who had been beheadedbecause ofthe
testimony of Jesus and because ofthe word of God (during the great
tribulation, e.g. see Rev7:14-note), and those who had not worshiped the
beastor his image, and had not receivedthe mark upon their foreheadand
upon their hand; and they came to life (i.e., were resurrected)and reigned
with Christ for 1000 years ("Millennium"). The rest of the dead (all those of
all the ages who are still dead in their trespassesand sins) did not come to life
until the 1000 years were completed(at the Great White Throne judgment
where only spiritually dead will stand for sentencing to the Lake of fire). This
is the first resurrection(this reference is not to "the dead" but to those
beheadedwho were resurrectedand includes all believers of all ages who were

resurrectedat different "stages" ofthe "first resurrection, "but eachin his
own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ's at His
coming," 1Cor15:23). Blessedand holy is the one who has a part in the first
resurrection;over these the seconddeath has no power(thus this resurrection
includes all believers for over them the 2nd death has no power), but they will
be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a 1000 years."(Re
20:4-note Re 20:5-note, Re 20:6-note)
John describing the time of the New Heaven and New Earth (the "age"that
follows the Messianic Age or the 1000 yearreign of Christ on earth) declares
that "there shall no longerbe any night; and they shall not have need of the
light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine
them; and they shall reign forever and ever. (Rev 22:5-note)
The other side of that truth is that those who do not endure give evidence that
they do not belong to Christ and will not reign with Him.
Paul writes that we are "heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed
we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him." (Ro
8:17-note).
Morning and Evening (Spurgeon) - “If we suffer, we shall also reign with
him.” 2 Timothy 2:12 We must not imagine that we are suffering for Christ,
and with Christ, if we are not in Christ. Belovedfriend, are you trusting to
Jesus only? If not, whateveryou may have to mourn over on earth, you are
not “suffering with Christ,” and have no hope of reigning with him in heaven.
Neither are we to conclude that all a Christian’s sufferings are sufferings with
Christ, for it is essentialthat he be calledby God to suffer. If we are rash and
imprudent, and run into positions for which neither providence nor grace has
fitted us, we ought to question whether we are not rather sinning than
communing with Jesus. If we let passiontake the place of judgment, and self-
will reign instead of Scriptural authority, we shall fight the Lord’s battles with
the devil’s weapons, and if we cut our own fingers we must not be surprised.
Again, in troubles which come upon us as the result of sin, we must not dream
that we are suffering with Christ. When Miriam spoke evil of Moses,and the
leprosy polluted her, she was not suffering for God. Moreover, suffering

which God accepts must have God’s glory as its end. If I suffer that I may
earn a name, or win applause, I shall getno other reward than that of the
Pharisee. It is requisite also that love to Jesus, and love to his elect, be ever the
mainspring of all our patience. We must manifest the Spirit of Christ in
meekness,gentleness, andforgiveness. Letus searchand see if we truly suffer
with Jesus. And if we do thus suffer, what is our “light affliction” compared
with reigning with him? Oh it is so blessedto be in the furnace with Christ,
and such an honour to stand in the pillory with him, that if there were no
future reward, we might count ourselves happy in present honour; but when
the recompense is so eternal, so infinitely more than we had any right to
expect, shall we not take up the cross with alacrity, and go on our way
rejoicing?
Spurgeon-
Suffering and reigning with Jesus
I. Suffering with Jesus, and its reward. To suffer is the common lot of all men.
It is not possible for us to escape from it. We come into this world through the
gate of suffering, and over death’s door hangs the same escutcheon. If, then, a
man hath sorrow, it doth not necessarilyfollow that he shall be rewardedfor
it, since it is the common lot brought upon all by sin. You may smart under
the lashes ofsorrow in this life, but this shall not deliver you from the wrath to
come. The text implies most clearly that we must suffer with Christ in order to
reign with Him.
1. We must not imagine that we are suffering for Christ, and with Christ, if
we are not in Christ.
2. Supposing a man to be in Christ, yet it does not eventhen follow that all his
sufferings are sufferings with Christ, for it is essentialthat he be calledby
God to suffer. If a goodman were, out of mistakenviews of mortification and
self-denial, to mutilate his body, or to flog his flesh, aa many a sincere
enthusiast has done, I might admire the man’s fortitude, but I should not
allow for an instant that he was suffering with Christ.

3. Again, in troubles which come upon us as the result of sin, we must not
think we are suffering with Christ. When Miriam spoke evil of Moses, andthe
himself into the temple, and became a leper all his days, he could not say that
he was afflicted for righteousness’sake.If you speculate and lose your
property, do not saythat you are losing all for Christ’s sake;when you unite
Christ--call it the fruit of your own folly. If you will put your hand into the
fire and it gets burned, why, it is the nature of fire to burn you or anybody
else;but be not so silly as to boastas though you were a martyr.
4. Be it observed, moreover, that suffering such as Godaccepts and rewards
for Christ’s sake,must have God’s glory as its end.
5. I must mind, too, that love to Christ, and love to His elect, is ever the main-
spring of all my patience;remembering the apostle’s words, “ThoughI give
my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”
6. I must not forget also that I must manifest the spirit of Christ, or else I do
not suffer with Him. I have heard of a certain minister who, having had a
greatdisagreementwith many members in his church, preached from this
text, “And Aaron held his peace.”The sermonwas intended to pourtray
himself as an astonishing instance of meekness;but as his previous words and
actions had been quite sufficiently violent, a witty hearerobserved, that the
only likeness he could see betweenAaron and the preacherwas this, “Aaron
held his peace, and the preacherdid not.” I shall now very briefly show what
are the forms of realsuffering for Jesus in these days.
II. Denying Christ, and its penalty. “If we deny Him, He also will deny us,”
In what way can we deny Christ? Some deny Him openly as scoffers do, whose
tongue walkeththrough the earth and defieth heaven.
Others do this wilfully and wickedly in a doctrinal way, as the Arians and
Socinians do, who deny His deity: those who deny His atonement, who rail
againstthe inspiration of His Word, these come under the condemnation of
those who deny Christ.

There is a wayof denying Christ without even speaking a word, and this is the
more common. In the day of blasphemy and rebuke, many hide their heads.
Are there not here some who have been baptized, and who come to the Lord’s
table, but what is their character? Followthem home. I would to God they
never had made a profession, because in their own houses they deny what in
the house of God they have avowed.
In musing over the very dreadful sentence whichcloses my text, “He also will
deny us,” I was led to think of various ways in which Jesus will deny us. He
does this sometimes on earth. You have read, I Suppose, the death of Francis
Spira. If you have ever read it, you never can forgetit to your dying day.
Francis Spira knew the truth; he was a reformer of no mean standing; but
when brought to death, out of fear, he recanted. In a short time he fell into
despair, and suffered hell upon earth. His shrieks and exclamations were so
horrible that their recordis almosttoo terrible for print. His doom was a
warning to the age in which he lived. Another instance is narrated by my
predecessor, BenjaminKeach, of one who, during Puritanic times, was very
earnestfor Puritanism; but afterwards, when times of persecutionarose,
forsook his profession. The scenes athis deathbed were thrilling and terrible.
He declared that though he soughtGod, heavenwas shut againsthim; gates of
brass seemedto be in his way, he was given up to overwhelming despair. At
intervals he cursed, at other intervals he prayed, and so perished without
hope. If we deny Christ, we may be delivered to such a fate. ( Biblical
Illustrator)
H R Reynolds - There are many ways of denying Christ, both by word and
action. We may take the part of His enemies, or ignore His supreme claim to
our allegiance;we may transform Him into a myth, a fairy tale, a subjective
principle, or find a substitute in our ownlife for His grace;and we may
assume that He is not the ground of our reconciliation, nor the giver of
salvation, nor the sole Head of His Church. If so, we may reasonablyfear, lest
He should refuse to acknowledgeus when upon His approval our eternal
destiny will turn.
IF WE DENY HIM HE WILL ALSO DENYUS: ei arnesometha (1PFMI)
kakeinos arnesetai(2SFMI)hemas:

Pr 30:9; Mt 10:33;26:35,75;Mk 8:38; Mt 10:33;Lk 9:26; 12:9; 1Jn 2:22; 1Jn
2:23; Jude 1:4; Rev 2:13; 3:8
It is interesting that the NIV translators choose "disown"insteadof "deny":
."If we disownhim, he will also disownus"
Edwards comments on "why NIV changedthe familiar deny to disown. The
reasonis that deny means primarily "to declare untrue; assertthe contrary
of, contradict," whereas disownmeans "to refuse to acknowledge oracceptas
one's own" (American Heritage Dictionary). Thus, disownwas more accurate
when applied to persons as its object."
Disownis a strong word that leaves little doubt as to the intention of the NIV
translators. Websterdefines disown as "to refuse to acknowledgeas one’s
own, to repudiate any connectionor identification with" (Merriam-Webster's
Collegiate Dictionary)
The Amplified version renders this verse quite graphically "If we deny and
disown and rejectHim, He will also deny and disown and rejectus."
Note that the "If" (ei) means "If, as is the case,we are denying Him..." (see
the following note) In other words this is a true statement - some were denying
Him even in this letter to Timothy...
"You are aware ofthe fact that all who are in Asia turned awayfrom me,
among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes."(2Ti1:15-note)
"their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and
Philetus, men who have gone astray from the truth saying that the
resurrectionhas already takenplace, and thus they upset the faith of some."
(2Ti 2:17, 18-note)
holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power;and avoid
such men as these" (2Ti 3:5-note)

And just as Jannes and Jambres opposedMoses, so these men also oppose the
truth, men of depraved mind, rejectedas regards the faith." (2Ti 3:8-note)
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting
to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in
accordanceto their own desires;and will turn away their ears from the truth,
and will turn aside to myths." (2Ti 4:3, 4-note)
Demas, having loved this present world, has desertedme and gone to
Thessalonica;Crescenshas gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia." (2Ti4:10-
note)
At my first defense no one supported me, but all desertedme; may it not be
counted againstthem." (2Ti 4:16-note)
Now the question one might raise about all these "denials" in 2 Timothy is
whether they were of the "Petrine type" (transient) or the "Judas type" unto
perdition and frankly it is only God who knows the heart of eachof these
individuals or groups. We don't have enough information on most of them to
make a reasonedassessment. Certainlysome appearto be clearlyunbelievers,
but we will leave that with God.
Wuest notes that "The “if” with “deny” and “believe not” is ei, the particle of
a fulfilled condition. Some were denying Him and were unfaithful." (Wuest's
Word Studies from the Greek New Testament)(Bolding added)
O Jesus, I have promised To serve Thee to the end;
Be Thou forevernear me, My Masterand my Friend:
I shall not fearthe battle If Thou art by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway If Thou wilt be my Guide.
(Click hymn)
Deny (720)(arneomai from a = negation+ rheo = utter, speak orsay) literally
means "to say no", to say one does not know about or is in any way related to
some person or some thing. Arneomai means to refuse to agree orconsentto
something, to disclaim connectionwith or responsibility for, to sayone does

not know about or is in any wayrelated to a person or event. To deny carries
idea of conscious, purposefulactionof one's will.
Arneomai - 33x in 30v - NAS = denied(10), denies(5), deny(12), denying(2),
disowned(3), refused(1).
Matt 10:33; 26:70, 72;Mark 14:68, 70; Luke 8:45; 9:23; 12:9; 22:57; John
1:20; 13:38; 18:25, 27;Acts 3:13f; 4:16; 7:35; 1 Tim 5:8; 2 Tim 2:12f; 3:5;
Titus 1:16; 2:12; Heb 11:24; 2 Pet2:1; 1 John 2:22f; Jude 1:4; Rev 2:13; 3:8.
One can discerntwo "types of denial" as exemplified in the following
passages:
"TYPE 1"
A SETTLED
DENIAL
Paul describedsome evil men in Crete who manifest denial by their deeds,
writing that they "profess (present tense = continually) to know God, but by
their deeds (their actions speak louderthan their words) they deny (present
tense = habitually, continually disownand renounce) Him (by their actions),
being detestable (loathsome, rootword means to "stink"!) and disobedient,
and worthless (unable to do anything that pleases God)for any gooddeed.
(Titus 1:16-note)
Jude warns of a denial by one's lifestyle writing that "certainpersons have
crept in unnoticed (secretly, stealthily, subtly insinuating themselves), those
who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly
(corrupt in doctrine, depraved in conduct) persons who turn the grace of our
God into licentiousness (unrestrainedvice, gross immorality) and deny
(present tense = continually, habitually, what what they say and how they live)
our only Masterand Lord, Jesus Christ." (Jude 1:4, Jude 1:1, 2, 3)
Jesus seems to speak ofa denial by one's words declaring that "Everyone
therefore who shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My
Father who is in heaven. But whoevershall deny Me before men, I will also
deny him before My Father who is in heaven." (Mt 10:32, 33)

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