“. . . that he may comfort your hearts”–Ephesians 6:22 (NASB)
My Dear Brothers and Sisters in the Lord Jesus,
Because all of the Word of God is equally inspired, every little fraction of it comes from the mouth of our Father.
In Paul’s prison letter, written to his Christian brethren in Ephesus, there is one of those little fractions of inspired truth that we should not overlook. It concerns a rather obscure man, one of the Apostle’s missionary associates, named “ Tychicus,” whom Paul affectionately regarded as “ the beloved brother and faithful minister of the Lord” (Eph. 6:21, NASB).
It was this man who personally delivered the Letter of Ephesians and likely read it aloud to the congregation of believers there. Tychicus had visited Paul in Rome where the Apostle was confined during the first of his two Roman imprisonments. Following his time with Paul, he was sent back to Ephesus with the Epistle and with an eye-witness report as to Paul’s well-being–“ so that you may know about us” (Eph. 6:22).
But there is another reason, a most vital one, that Paul was anxious for this dear and most faithful Christian brother to make it back to the Ephesian Church. Paul knew that the mere presence of Tychicus with the believers there in Ephesus would provide “ comfort” for their “ hearts.” Doubtless, this encouragement, or consolation, would result from the knowledge that Paul was healthy, although imprisoned for Christ. And, of course, there would be the power of the Epistle itself, the reading of which would result in the nourishment and edification of the Christian assembly.
But there is something else here that we need to see, and this will be the fount from which we draw today’s encouragement.
We’ve all heard it said, and correctly so, that we Christians have not been called to a life of ease and comfort, but to one of cross-bearing, suffering for our Lord, and patient endurance in times of hostility. In fact, in the sixth chapter of this very Epistle we find Paul’s most extensive treatment of the perilous warfare of the Christian life.
It is true, indeed, that we are in a fight, and that our calling is not to live comfortably in this world as if this is all there is. Rather, we are strangers in a world that hates us just as it hated our Savior before us. And we are also our Lord’s ambassadors, bearing the message of salvation that the devil despises and the lost mind-set finds utterly foolish.
And yet, in this one little portion of Holy Scripture we see something that our Father in heaven desires for each of us in the midst of this Christian struggle–that our hearts may find “ comfort.”
While we are not called to a life of coziness and ease, we are called to one of “ comfort.” In fact, we can put it this way: Our gracious Father desires that each of us who know His Son should ever experience true and lasting “ comfort,” even as we persistently “ struggle” against all the devil’s minions and strategies (Eph. 6:12). It is our Lord’s stated will that we find “ comfort” on the battlefield!
Well, this poses what might seem to be a contradiction of sorts. Have you ever encountered something so odd as this juxtaposition of warfare and comfort? They really don’t seem to go together at all. Either we have struggle, or we have comfort. But they appear to be mutually exclusive! Ask any of our veterans of war if they were ever ‘comfortable’ under fire. The answer will be “No” for sure!
So how does this work? What is this “ comfort” that Paul wanted so desperately for his beloved Christian brothers and sisters in Ephesus?
Perhaps the best and simplest way to get at the meaning of this word is to state what it is not:
It is not fear.
It is not anxiety, either more generalized or specific.
It is not a sense of foreboding or dread.
Rather, it is a calm assurance, a peace deep in the soul, which those who belong to Jesus can (and should) always have in all circumstances. And, above all, it is one of the blessed graces that the Holy Spirit provides us with. After all, our Lord taught that the Person of the Spirit is the great “ Comforter” (John 14:16, KJV).
This name suggests that the Spirit of God comes alongside each of us, stands with and in us, and constantly supplies strength and consolation for every moment of our lives, even when we are in the line of fire. With the “ Comforter” both with us and living in us, we have the peace and security that our Father, the “ God of all comfort” (2 Cor. 1:3), desires for us!
So, allow me to put it this way: What your Father, our Heavenly Father, wants for each of us today is for us to live a life of comfort! Not comfort as defined by the world, but as He defines it–a life of trust, peace, assurance, confidence, hope, and joy! In other words, a little bit of what we shall know perfectly in heaven for all eternity, present in our hearts even now–“ eternal comfort” (2 Thess. 2:16).
I love you all so much, and I always pray for your comfort as you serve our great King!
Mike