The Expositor's Bible: Ephesians Part 30

What avails Michael's sword, if the hand that holds it is slack and listless? what the panoply of G.o.d, if behind it beats a craven heart? He is but a soldier in semblance who wears arms without the courage and the strength to use them. The life that is to animate that armed figure, to beat with high resolve beneath the corslet, to nerve the arm as it lifts the strong s.h.i.+eld and plies the sharp sword, to set the swift feet moving on their gospel errands, to weld the Church together into one army of the living G.o.d, comes from the inspiration of G.o.d's Spirit received in answer to believing prayer. So the apostle adds: "With all prayer and supplication praying at every time in the Spirit."

There is here no needless repet.i.tion. "Prayer" is the universal word for reverent address to G.o.d; and "supplication" the entreaty for such help as "on every occasion"--at each turn of the battle, in each emergency of life--we find ourselves to need. And Christian prayer is always "in the Spirit,"--being offered in the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, who is the element of the believer's life in Christ, who helps our infirmities and, virtually, intercedes for us (Rom. viii. 26, 27). When the apostle continues, "_watching_ [or _keeping awake_] thereunto," he reminds us, as perhaps he was thinking himself, of our Lord's warning to the disciples sleeping in Gethsemane: "Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation." The "perseverance" he requires in this wakeful attention to prayer, is the resolute persistence of the suppliant, who will neither be daunted by opposition nor wearied by delay.[175]

The word "supplication" is resumed at the end of verse 18, in order to enlist the prayers of the readers for the service of the Church at large: "with wakeful heed thereto, in all persistence and _supplication for all the saints_." Prayer for ourselves must broaden out into a catholic intercession for all the servants of our Master, for all the children of the household of faith. By the bands of prayer we are knit together,--a vast mult.i.tude of saints throughout the earth, unknown by face or name to our fellows, but one in the love of Christ and in our heavenly calling, and all engaged in the same perilous conflict.

"All the saints," St Paul said (i. 15), were interested in the faith of the Asian believers; they were called "with all the saints" to share in the comprehension of the immense designs of G.o.d's kingdom (iii. 18).

The dangers and temptations of the Church are equally far-reaching; they have a common origin and character in all Christian communities. Let our prayers, at least, be catholic. At the throne of grace, let us forget our sectarian divisions. Having access in one Spirit to the Father, let us realize in His presence our communion with all His children.

FOOTNOTES:

[168] Comp. Rom. viii. 37, xvi. 20. _To bring down_, _overpower_, _conquer_ is the military sense of ?ate?????a?,--not found elsewhere in the New Testament, but, as it seems to us, unmistakable here. It occurs in Ezek. x.x.xiv. 4 (LXX), and 1 Esdr. iv. 4.

[169] Col. i. 23, ii. 5; Phil. i. 27-30, iv. 1: comp. 1 Thess. v. 8; Rom. xiii. 11-14; 1 Cor. xvi. 13; 2 Cor. x. 3-6.

[170] 2 Thess. ii. 3; Acts xx. 29, 30; 1 Tim. iv. 1; 2 Tim. iii. 1.

[171] Ch. 1. 17-23, iii. 16-19, iv. 13-15, 20-24.

[172] ?t??as?a is adopted by the Greek translators as the equivalent of the Hebrew word for _foundation_, or _base_, in Ps. lx.x.xix. 14; Ezra ii.

68, iii. 3; Dan. xi. 7, 20, 21. See, however, the note of Meyer, who thinks that they misunderstood the Hebrew.

[173] T??e??: Latin _scutum_; only here in N.T.

[174] Rev. i. 16, ii. 12, xix. 13-15.

[175] ?? p?s? p??s?a?te??se?: _in every kind of persistence_,--a perseverance that tries all arts and holds its ground at every point.

The verb p??s?a?te??? appears in the parallel pa.s.sages: Col. iv. 2; Rom.

xii. 12; also in Acts i. 14.

THE CONCLUSION.

CHAPTER vi. 19-24.

??pe?sa? ??? ?t? ??te ???at?? ??te ??? ??te ???e??? ??te ???a? ??te ??est?ta ??te ?????ta ??te d???e?? ??te ???a ??te ???? ??te t??

?t?s?? ?t??a d???seta? ??? ????sa? ?p? t?? ???p?? t?? Te?? t?? ??

???st? ??s?? t? ????? ???--ROM. viii. 38, 39.

"Love for Christ is immortal."--R. W. DALE.

CHAPTER x.x.x.

_REQUEST: COMMENDATION: BENEDICTION._

"And [pray] on my behalf, that the word may be given unto me in opening my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an amba.s.sador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

"But that ye also may know my affairs, how I do, Tychicus, the beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things: whom I have sent unto you for this very purpose, that ye may know our state, and that he may comfort your hearts."--EPH. vi. 19-22.

The apostle has bidden his readers apply themselves with wakeful and incessant earnestness to prayer (ver. 18). For this is, after all, the chief arm of the spiritual combat. By this means the soul draws reinforcements of mercy and hope from the eternal sources (ver. 10). By this means the Asian Christians will be able not only to carry on their own conflict with vigour, but to help all the saints (ver. 18); and through their aid the whole Church of G.o.d will be sustained in its war with the prince of this world.

The apostle Paul himself stood in the forefront of this battle. He was suffering for the cause of common Christendom; he was a mark for the attack of the enemies of the gospel.[176] On him, more than on any other man, the safety and progress of the Church depended (Phil. i. 25). In this position he naturally says: "Watching unto prayer in all perseverance and supplication for all the saints--_and for me_." If his heart should fail him, or his mouth be closed, if the word of inspiration ceased to be given him and the great teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth no longer spoke as he ought to speak, it would be a heavy blow and sore discouragement to the friends of Christ throughout the world. "My afflictions are your glory (iii. 13). My unworthy testimony to Christ is showing forth His praise to all men and angels.[177] Pray for me then, that I may speak and act in this hour of trial in a manner worthy of the dispensation given to me."

Strong and confident as the apostle Paul was, he felt himself to be nothing without prayer. It is his habit to expect the support of the intercessions of all who love him in Christ.[178] He knew that he was helped by this means, on numberless occasions and in wonderful ways. He asks his present readers to entreat that "the word[179] may be given me when I open my mouth, so that I may freely make known the mystery of the gospel, on which behalf I serve as amba.s.sador in bonds, that in it I may speak freely, as I ought to speak." This sentence hangs upon the verb "may-be-given." Jesus said to His apostles: "It shall be _given_ you in that hour what you shall speak, when brought before rulers and kings"

(Matt x. 18-20). The apostle stands now before the Roman world. He has appealed to Caesar, and awaits his trial. If he has not yet appeared at the Emperor's tribunal, he will shortly have to do so. Christ's amba.s.sador is about to plead in chains before the highest of human courts. It is not his own life or freedom that he is concerned about; the amba.s.sador has only to consider how he shall represent his Sovereign's interests. The importance which Paul attached to this occasion, is manifest from the words written to Timothy (2 Ep. iv. 17) referring to his later trial. St Paul has this special need in his thoughts, in addition to the help from above continually required in the discharge of his ministry, under the hampering conditions of his imprisonment (comp. Col. iv. 3, 4).

The Church must entreat on Paul's behalf that the word he utters may be G.o.d's, and not his own. It is in vain to "open the mouth," unless there is this higher prompting and through the gates of speech there issues a Divine message, unless the speaker is the mouthpiece of the Holy Spirit rather than of his individual thought and will. "The words that I speak unto you," Jesus said, "I speak not of myself." The bold apostle intends to open his mouth; but he must have the true "word given" him to say. We should pray for Christ's amba.s.sadors, and especially for the more public and eloquent pleaders of the Christian cause, that it may be thus with them. Rash and vain words, that bear the stamp of the mere man who utters them and not of the Spirit of his Master, do a hurt to the cause of the gospel proportioned to the blessing that comes from such lips when they speak the word given to them.

Such inspiration would enable the apostle to "make known the mystery of the gospel _with freedom and confidence of speech_": the expression rendered "with boldness"[180] means all this. Before the emperor Nero, or the slave Onesimus, he will be able with the same aptness and dignity and self-command to declare his message and to vindicate his Master's name. "The mystery of the gospel" is no other secret than that which this epistle unfolds (iii. 3-9), the great fact that Jesus Christ is the Saviour and the Lord of the whole world. Jesus proclaimed Himself to Pilate, who represented at Jerusalem the imperial rule, as the King of all who are of the truth; and the apostle Paul has the like message to convey to the head of the Empire. It needed the greatest boldness and the greatest wisdom in the amba.s.sador of the Messianic King to play his part at Rome; an unwise word might make his own life forfeit, and bring incalculable dangers on the Church.

St Paul's trial, we suppose, pa.s.sed off successfully, as he at this time antic.i.p.ated.[181] The Roman government was perfectly aware that the political charge against their prisoner was frivolous; and Nero, if he personally gave Paul a hearing on this earlier trial, in all probability viewed his spiritual pretensions on his Master's behalf with contemptuous tolerance. If he did so, the toleration was not due to any want of courage or clearness on the defendant's part. It is possible even that the courage and address of the advocate of the "new superst.i.tion" pleased the tyrant, who was not without his moments of good humour nor without the instincts of a man of taste. The apostle, we may well believe, made an impression on the supreme court at Rome similar to that made on his judges in Caesarea.

St Paul's bonds in Christ have now become widely "manifest" in Rome (Phil. i. 13). He pleads in circ.u.mstances of disgrace. But G.o.d brings good for His servants out of evil. As he said at a later time, so he could say now: "They have bound me; but they cannot bind the word of G.o.d."[182] He was "not ashamed of the gospel" in the prospect of coming to Rome years before (Rom. i. 16); and he is not ashamed now, though he has come in chains as an evil-doer. Through the intercessions of Christ's people all these injuries of Satan are turning to his salvation and to the "furtherance of the gospel"; and Paul rejoices and triumphs in them, well a.s.sured that Christ will be magnified whether by his life or death, whether by his freedom or his chains (Phil. i. 12-26). The prayers which the imprisoned apostle asks from the Church were fulfilled. For we read in the last verses of the Acts of the Apostles, which put into a sentence the history of this period: "He received all that came to him, preaching the kingdom and teaching the things concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, _with all boldness_, none forbidding him."

The paragraph relating to Tychicus is almost identical with that of Colossians iv. 7, 8. It begins with a "But" connecting what follows with the statement the apostle has just made respecting his position at Rome.

As much as to say: "I want your prayers, set as I am for the defence of the gospel and in circ.u.mstances of difficulty and peril. But Tychicus will tell you more about me than I can convey by letter. I am sending him, in fact, for this very purpose."

St Paul knew the great anxiety of the Christians of Asia on his account.

Epaphras of Colossae had "shown him the love in the Spirit" that was felt towards him even by those in this region who had never seen him in the flesh (Col. i. 8). The tender heart of the apostle is touched by this a.s.surance. So he sends Tychicus to visit as many of the Asian Churches as he may be able to reach, bringing news that will cheer their hearts and relieve their discouragement (iii. 13).[183] The note sent at this time to Philemon indicates the hopeful tidings that Tychicus was able to convey to Paul's friends in the East: "I trust that through your prayers I shall be given to you" (Philem. 22). To the Philippians he writes, perhaps a little later, in the same strain: "I trust in the Lord that I myself shall come shortly" (Phil. ii. 24). He antic.i.p.ates, with some confidence, his speedy acquital and release: it is not likely that this expectation, on the part of such a man as St Paul, was disappointed. The good news went round the Asian and Macedonian Churches: "Paul is likely soon to be free, and we shall see and hear him again!"

In the parallel epistle he writes, "that you may know" (Col. iv. 8); here it is, "that you _also_ may know my affairs." The added word is significant. The writer is imagining his letter read in the various a.s.semblies which it will reach. He has the other epistle in his mind, and remembering that he there introduced Tychicus in similar terms, he says to this wider circle of Asian disciples: "That you also, as well as the Churches of the Lycus valley, may know how things are with me, I send Tychicus to give you a full report." It is not necessary, however, to look beyond the last two verses for the reference of the _also_ of verse 21: "I have asked your prayers on my behalf; and I wish you in turn to know how things go with me." Possibly, there were some matters connected with St Paul's trial at Rome that could not be fitly or safely communicated by letter. Hence he adds: "He shall make known unto you all things." When he writes "that ye may know my affairs, how I do," we gather that Tychicus was to communicate to those he visited everything about the beloved apostle that would be of interest to his Asian brethren.

The apostle commends Tychicus in language identical in the two letters, except that in Colossians "fellow-servant" is added to the honourable designations of "beloved brother and faithful minister," under which he is here introduced. We find him first a.s.sociated with St Paul in Acts xx. 4, where "Tychicus and Trophimus" represent Asia in the number of those who accompanied the apostle on his voyage to Jerusalem, when he carried the contributions of his Gentile Churches to the relief of the Christian poor in Jerusalem. Trophimus, his companion, is called a "Greek" and an "Ephesian" (Acts xxi. 28, 29). Whether Tychicus belonged to the same city or not, we cannot tell. He was almost certainly a Greek. The Pastoral epistles show Tychicus still in the apostle's service in his last years. He appears to have joined St Paul's staff and remained with him from the time that he accompanied him to Jerusalem in the year 59. From 2 Timothy iv 9-12 we gather that Tychicus was sent to Ephesus to relieve Timothy, when St Paul desired the presence of the latter at Rome. It is evident that he was a man greatly valued by the apostle and endeared to him.

Tychicus was well known in the Asian Churches, and suitable therefore to be sent upon this errand. And the commendation given to him would be very welcome to the circle to which he belonged. The apostle has great tact in these personal matters, the tact which belongs to delicate feeling and a generous mind. He calls his messenger "the beloved brother" in his relation to the Church in general, and "faithful minister in the Lord" in his special relation to himself. So he describes Epaphroditus to the Philippians as "your apostle and minister of my need." In conveying these letters and messages, this worthy man was Paul's apostle and minister of his need in regard to the Asian Churches. He is a "_minister in the Lord_," inasmuch as this office lies within the range of his service to the Lord Christ.

We observe that in writing to the Colossians the apostle applies to Onesimus, the converted slave, the honourable epithets applied here to this long-tried friend: "the faithful and beloved brother" (Col. iv. 9).

Every Christian believer should be in the eyes of his fellows a "beloved brother." And every true servant of Christ and His people is a "faithful minister in the Lord," be his rank high or low, and whether official hands have been laid upon his head or not. We are apt, by a trick of words, to limit to the order which we suitably call "the ministry"

expressions that the New Testament applies to the common ministry of Christ's saints (comp. iv. 12). This devoted servant of Christ is employed just now as a newsman and letter-carrier. But what a high responsibility it was, to be the bearer to the Asian cities, and to the Church for all time, of the epistles of Paul the apostle to the Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon. Had Tychicus been careless or dishonest, had he lost these precious doc.u.ments or tampered with them, how great the loss to mankind! We cannot read them without feeling our debt to this beloved brother and faithful servant of the Church. Those who travel upon Christ's business, who link distant communities to each other and convey from one to another the Holy Spirit's fellows.h.i.+p and grace, are "the messengers of the Churches and the glory of Christ" (2 Cor. viii. 23).

THE BENEDICTION.

"Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, From G.o.d the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ In incorruption" (vv. 23, 24).

Grace and Peace were the first words of the epistle,--the apostle's salutation to all his Churches. In _Peace and Grace_ he breathes out his final blessing. The benediction is fuller than in most of the epistles, and exhibits several peculiar features.

To the Thessalonians (2 Ep. iii. 16) St Paul wished: "Peace continually, in all ways, from the Lord of peace Himself"; and he commends the Romans twice to "the G.o.d of peace" (ch. xv. 33, xvi. 20): the Corinthians he bids to "live in peace," so that "the G.o.d of love and peace" may be with them (2 Cor. xiii. 11). There is nothing in the least degree strange or un-Pauline in the wishes here expressed, except the fact that they are put in the third person--"_Peace to the brethren_," etc.--instead of being addressed directly to the readers in the second person, as in all other of the apostle's extant closing benedictions. This peculiarity, as we observed in the first Chapter, is in accordance with the encyclical and impersonal stamp of the epistle.[184] It is Paul's most catholic benediction, his blessing upon "all the Israel of G.o.d" (comp. Gal. vi.

16).

"With faith," that "love" is desired whereby, according to the Pauline ethics of salvation, faith works (Gal. v. 6), the love which as a vitalizing organic force creates the new man, formed in all his doings and dispositions after the image of Jesus Christ. From chapter iv. 1-3 we have learnt how "peace" and "love" attend each other. Love is the source of the forbearance, the mutual consideration and self-sacrifice, without which there is no peace within the Church. Peace springs from love: love waits on faith. Amongst brethren in Christ, members of the same household of faith, peace and love have their home. These are the sons of peace: with good will and good hope, entering or quitting their abode, we say, "Peace be to this house!"