your glory' (Eph. 3:13).

Why should Paul think that the Ephesians would be likely `to faint' when

they heard of his tribulations?  The word means rather to become dispirited, to

lose heart rather than to faint.  Paul says in effect `my tribulations'

constitute me `The prisoner of Christ Jesus', they are `for you', just as my

prison ministry is `for you Gentiles'.  This prison ministry with its

dispensation of the grace of God, deals with the unsearchable riches of Christ,

and these tribulations which are for you, are `your glory'.  So with these words

this most blessed parenthesis comes back to its starting point:

Ephesians 3:1-14

A

For this cause.

B

3:1.  The Prisoner of Christ Jesus for you.

C

The wonder of this dispensation thus entrusted.

B

3:13. My tribulations are for you.

A

3:14. For this cause.

We are therefore ready to follow the prayer with which chapter 3 ends, and

realize its relationship with the closing verse of chapter 2, rejoicing

meanwhile that the apostle was compelled to make so illuminating a detour as

that which has been occupying our worshipping attention.

The reader who has followed this series of studies so far will need no

explanation of the many allusions to a great building.  We have followed our

guide through the seven chambers of doctrinal truth, and now stand at the foot

of the central tower which represents the prayer of Ephesians 3:14-21 and

occupies a central position between the seven sections of doctrine and the seven

sections of practice.  Before ascending this tower, our guide pauses to draw our

attention to a stained glass window, and we observe that it is in reality a

symbolical representation of the sevenfold correspondence which is observable

upon the study of the doctrinal section as a whole.  The reader will see that we

have attempted to display this correspondence below and believe that if each

item is compared, fuller light will be forthcoming.  This detailed examination

we have ourselves made, but we can here only give the actual references,

trusting that the reader may be sufficiently interested to take them and the

several correspondencies, and pursue the study of their bearing upon one another

more fully than we hope to do here.

We have already seen that there is a close correspondence between the

seven sections of doctrine which occupy Ephesians 1:3 to 3:13 and the seven

sections of practice that occupy chapters 4 to 6, but this is not the only set

of correspondencies clearly indicated in this great epistle.  If we take the

seven doctrinal sections and consider them as a whole, and unrelated to the

practical portion, we shall still find that this law of correspondence holds

good.  See the chart