The opening question of the Heidelberg Catechism asks, “What is your only comfort in life and in death?” How would you personally answer that question? What is your only comfort in life and in death?
Here’s the answer that follows Question 1. Our only comfort, indeed our ultimate hope, in both life and death is this:
That I am not my own but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.
He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood, and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil. He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven; in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.
Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.
That response is one on which I could never improve. And I think as we hear that gloriously gospel-rich answer, we see that our comfort in life and in death is ultimately Christ himself!
Christ Himself Is Our Comfort and Hope
The Lord Jesus Christ—his person, his work, all he’s done for us, and all he is to us—is indeed our only comfort and our ultimate hope as we follow him by faith in this fallen world. When we face the trials and tribulation of this present evil age, or wage the good warfare against the world, the flesh, and the devil, as “the time of [our] departure come[s]” (2 Tim. 4:6), even as we take our final steps and final breaths on this side of eternity, through it all, Christ himself must be our only comfort and our ultimate hope.1
In 2 Timothy 4, the apostle Paul, Christ’s apostle to the Gentiles, has reached the end of his earthly life. At this point in his ministry, he’s been the Lord’s chosen instrument to take the gospel to the ends of the earth, to proclaim the good news of Christ’s sin-atoning death, death-defeating resurrection, triumphant exaltation, and sovereign reign from Jerusalem all the way to Rome, the very center of known world as it were. The one who once afflicted Christians and brought great suffering upon them has now reached the climax of his own suffering for the sake of Christ and his kingdom.
He endured hard labor, several imprisonments, countless beatings, and was often near death. Five times at the hands of the Jews he received the punishment of 39 lashes for preaching the gospel. Three times he was beaten with rods. He was stoned once and left for dead. He was shipwrecked three times and spent a night and a day adrift at sea. He made many journeys during which he was in constant danger from rivers, robbers, Jews, and Gentiles. He faced the dangers of the city, the wilderness, the sea, and false teachers, often going without food and sleep. He endured hunger and thirst, as well as cold and exposure. And all of his suffering for the sake of Christ and his kingdom culminated with him sitting in a cold, damp, Roman prison cell awaiting execution at the hands Nero.
But in 2 Timothy 4:9–18, we learn that the apostle Paul dealt with more than physical pain during the final days of his earthly life. This climactic season of suffering for Christ included not only imprisonment and impending execution but also isolation. Some of Paul’s companions in ministry such as Crescens, Titus, and Tychichus were serving the church and laboring for the gospel while Paul endured his trial and awaited sentencing. But others, such as Demas, “deserted [Paul],” and he did so because he was “in love with this present world” (2 Tim. 4:10). And still others, like Alexander the coppersmith, a vicious opponent of God’s truth, sought to harm Paul, perhaps even testifying against him or at least working to ensure Paul’s arrest and execution.
We read of Paul’s suffering for the sake of Christ and his kingdom—his imprisonment and impending execution, his experience of being deserted and isolated in his hour of greatest need—and we wonder to ourselves, How did he do it? How did he faithfully endure such hardship? How did he persevere through such tribulation? How was his soul comforted and his hope sustained in such severe suffering?
The answer is simply this: He had Christ! And I assure you that the ultimate comfort and hope Paul had then is also your ultimate comfort and hope now—if you’re truly united to Jesus by grace through faith. Whether you’re striving to faithfully follow Christ in the face of persecution or Parkinson’s, through calamity or cancer, when your soul is downcast and in the depths of despair, as you strive to live well and to die well, the only comfort Paul had in life and in death remains the only source of true comfort for you today.
The Lord Jesus Christ is indeed our only comfort and our ultimate hope, and in 2 Timothy 4:16–18, we find four particular ways in which Christ comforts his redeemed people as we follow in his footsteps.
Christ’s Presence with Us
First of all, Christ comforts his people in life and in death by his presence with us. In v. 16 the apostle Paul writes, “At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!” Paul had already gone through his preliminary hearing so to speak, and he recalls how “no one came to stand by [him]” or testify on his behalf, how “all deserted [him].” But in the midst of abandonment and desertion, in the midst of disappointment and isolation, we see Paul describe something wonderfully encouraging at the beginning of v. 17: “But the Lord stood by me.”
In the midst of his sorrow and pain, Paul experienced something supernatural. He experienced something that can and will be experienced by all who truly belong to the Lord Jesus. In his hour of greatest need, Paul writes, “the Lord stood by me.” You see that this glorious experience of the Lord’s presence is in contrast to those who fled during his first hearing in Rome: “All deserted me…But the Lord stood by me” (vv. 16–17a).
There will be times in our lives when even other believers don’t stand with us when we need them. Perhaps you’ve already had this experience. People will fail us. People will let us down. There is only one person who won’t fail you, only one who will never let you down or disappoint you, and his name is Jesus.
He stands by us in our hour of greatest need, even when no one else does, even when no one else can. Christ comforts us by his presence with us. The one who is the same yesterday, today, and forever promises, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Heb. 13:5).
Christ’s Power in Us
Secondly, Christ comforts his people in life and in death by his power in us. Paul was deserted by all. “But,” as he writes in v. 17, the Lord Jesus not only stood by Paul but Jesus also “strengthened [him].” Because Christ is present with his people, we can be confident that his power is also at work in his people.
There are times when we wonder if we’d be able to join Paul in saying, “Jesus is Lord,” when our suffering seems insurmountable. When the sword is against our necks, when the symptoms keep getting worse, when we’re surrounded by darkness and it seems as though won’t ever lift, we ask ourselves, How did Paul muster up the courage and strength to face the fiercest opposition and adversity imaginable? And how can we possibly do the same? The answer is in v. 17: “The Lord…strengthened me.” In Paul’s darkest hour, the Lord Jesus actually empowered him to faithfully persevere in the faith.
Once again, we see the supernatural on display. The apostle Paul wasn’t a superhero with extraordinary strength. He wasn’t unacquainted with fear and trembling. He was a mere man—fallen, frail, and made of dust. But he was a man who trusted and followed the God-man, the risen and reigning Lord Jesus, the Sovereign Son who sustained and strengthened Paul in his suffering.
It was Christ who empowered Paul to testify about the gospel of grace before the Gentiles, powerful kings, and the people of Israel, even in the face of certain death. Paul did not and could not do those things in his own strength—and neither can we! And that’s why we’re called to “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Eph. 6:10). It’s only because of Christ and his power at work in us that we’re able to do such things.
And be sure to remember this: the Lord Jesus doesn’t strengthen us by his power only for the sake of enduring persecution and opposition to the gospel. He is present with us and will powerfully work within us in all our suffering, in every moment of weakness, in every hour of need. That’s Paul’s whole point in 2 Corinthians 12. You might be familiar with that passage of Scripture.
Paul was afflicted with that mysterious “thorn in the flesh” so that he wouldn’t boast about the heavenly visions God gave him. He prayed three times to the Lord, pleading that this “thorn in the flesh,” whatever it was, would be removed. And each time the Lord’s answer was, “No.” Why? Because, as Jesus said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).
Believers in Christ can be content in our weakness, suffering, and hardship because when we’re weak, when we’re utterly dependent on Christ and his power at work within us, then we’re truly strengthened by him. So when you think there’s no way you can endure a particularly difficult situation or circumstance, rest by faith in Christ’s power knowing that when you’re weak in the flesh, you’re strong in Christ and in the strength he graciously supplies by his Spirit.
Christ’s Purpose for Us
Thirdly, Christ comforts his people in life and in death by accomplishing his purpose for us. The Lord stood by Paul when no one else would, and he strengthened Paul in his hour of greatest need. But to what end? In the middle of v. 17, Paul describes the purpose behind Christ’s presence with him and Christ’s power in him: “so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it.”
God aims to do more in and through us than merely getting us through hard times, though he certainly does that. There’s a bigger picture being painted by God’s providence. There’s bigger purpose being carried out by God’s omnipotent hand. The purpose behind his presence with us and his power at work in us is that his gospel might be proclaimed to the people all around us. And that’s true, even when, perhaps especially when, life is hard.
The suffering we endure, the hardship we face in this fallen world, is never meaningless. It’s never random. God has a purpose in it, namely to use it as a platform for the proclamation of the gospel, to shine a spotlight on the mercy, grace, comfort, and hope that’s found in Christ and in Christ alone.
Just think of Paul’s experience, how he was strengthened by the presence and power of the Lord Jesus to testify of the gospel before all peoples, including the most powerful rulers on the planet. There was a divine purpose in Paul’s suffering for Christ—to rescue and redeem those who believed through his witness.
As people watched him endure persecution, Roman trials, imprisonment, and eventually, execution, all while proclaiming the good news that Christ died for sinners like us and was raised from the dead so that all who repent and believe can receive eternal life, they were given a glimpse of what Paul treasured most deeply. And Paul’s treasuring of Christ, especially in suffering, helped others to see the glory of Christ.
God wants to use us in the same way! Sometimes we’re given platforms like popularity to proclaim the gospel, platforms that are comfortable and easy. But it seems that one of the most effective platforms for gospel proclamation is our suffering. Why? Because when people see us clinging to Christ by faith and finding our only comfort and ultimate hope in him, demonstrating, just as Paul did, that Christ is more precious to us than life itself, more precious than anything else in this world, it magnifies the glory of his grace. It shines the spotlight on the Lord Jesus and reveals the surpassing worth of knowing him. And when that happens, the gospel goes forth in great power.
Christ is present with us and his power is at work in us so that he can accomplish his purpose through us, “that [his] way may be known on earth, [his] saving power among all nations” (Ps. 67:2). The risen and reigning Lord who has all authority in heaven and on earth is powerfully working in us and promises to be present with us, even to the end of the age, as we go and make disciples of all nations. And as the world sees us not only proclaiming Christ but suffering for Christ, finding our only comfort and ultimate hope in Christ, he will build his church through our witness and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
Christ’s Preservation of Us
Christ comforts his people in life and in death by his presence with us, his power in us, his purpose for us, and—fourthly and finally—his preservation of us. If you’re united to the Lord Jesus by grace through faith, he is going to keep you to the end! Paul writes in vv. 17–18, beginning with the final part of v. 17: “So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”
Throughout the Old Testament, lion imagery is often used to depict those who seek to harm and destroy God’s people. Sometimes it’s used to describe the Lord and his activity, but it’s often used of those who oppose God, his purposes, and his people. Think of Psalm 22, that famous psalm of David in which he describes the suffering he endured at the hands of his enemies, the psalm that begins with those painful words Christ cried out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Ps. 22:1).
It seems likely that this very psalm was in the forefront of Paul’s mind as he penned the words of v. 17. In Psalm 22, the enemies of the LORD’s anointed are described as opening their mouths at him “like a ravening and roaring lion” (Ps. 22:13). Later in that psalm he confidently prays, “Save me from the mouth of the lion” (Ps. 22:21).
We also see this imagery in the New Testament. In Revelation 13, the beast who opposes God and his people is described as having a mouth “like a lion’s mouth,” an image drawn from the Old Testament book of Daniel. This beast with a mouth “like a lion’s mouth” is given the power, throne, and authority of the dragon, namely Satan. And he blasphemes God and kills everyone who doesn’t take his mark upon them and worship him.
The apostle Peter uses similar imagery in Chapter 5 of his first letter: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8).
So, again, while the imagery of the roaring lion is used throughout Scripture to describe those who seek to harm and destroy God’s people, like the lions in Psalm 22, the ultimate enemy behind the work of all God’s enemies and all who oppose and harm God’s people, is none other than Satan himself. And when I read about the activity of the evil one in Scripture, I don’t get the impression that his aim is to merely destroy people physically, though I’m sure that gives him great pleasure.
When Satan seeks people to devour, he aims to destroy their trust in the Lord, to lead them into making shipwreck of their faith. Therefore, when Paul describes being rescued from the lion’s mouth at the end of his life here in 2 Timothy 4, I don’t think he’s saying, “I was rescued from physical death.” Again, Paul knows he’s about to be martyred, that he’s about to be poured out like a drink offering. The time of his departure has come. He is going to physically die.
So while some think Paul’s merely describing the postponement of his execution here, I don’t find that persuasive. I think we should let the symbolic meaning of the lion imagery found throughout the Bible, especially what it means with regard to Satan’s desire to devour the faith of believers, along with Paul’s own words in v. 18, explain what he means by being rescued from the lion’s mouth.
Paul was rescued from the mouth of Satan, the roaring lion, and “The Lord will rescue [him] from every evil deed and bring [him] safely into his heavenly kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:18). We know that Paul being rescued from “every evil deed” does not mean, “Rescued from physical death.” Rather, I think it means something like this: When people like Alexander the coppersmith oppose the preaching of the gospel and seek to harm God’s people, and when the roaring lion prowls around seeking to devour us, God will fully and finally rescue us from the evil deeds of those who oppose his truth and from the mouth of the roaring lion, Satan, in the sense that he will preserve us and our faith in him through all the evil we endure, ensuring our save arrival in the eternal kingdom of Christ. In other words, despite all our suffering and all of Satan’s schemes, we’re gonna make it to glory because Christ himself will keep us!
If you’re in Christ, united to him by grace through faith, you have every reason to be confident that God will rescue you from the lion’s mouth and preserve you to the end. Why? Because God rescued his Son from the lion’s mouth. As Christ cried out the words of Psalm 22 from the cross, as his enemies opened their mouths at him like ravening and roaring lions, he knew that he would be rescued from the lion’s mouth when he was raised from the dead and exalted on high to rule and reign on the throne of heaven.
The Lord Jesus Christ will empower us to endure in faith to the end. He will not let Satan sift us like wheat. He will not let him devour our faith. God will preserve us by his strength and power to stand against the schemes of the devil, to withstand in the evil day, to extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one. And in so doing, Christ will preserve us for his kingdom.
Is Christ Your Only Comfort in Life and in Death?
Let me ask you once more: Is Christ your only comfort in life and in death? He is present with us, even when we feel abandoned. His power is strengthening us, even in the most difficult of times. He is accomplishing his purpose for us when we share his gospel, even as we suffer for his name’s sake. And he will preserve us on the last day, body and soul, by rescuing us from every evil deed Satan designs for our physical and spiritual harm and bringing us safely into his heavenly kingdom. Christ is indeed our only comfort and our ultimate hope.
- Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016). ↩︎
