that was given by inspiration for the use of the Church for all time. Yet, look at

Eph. 1: 15-23. Taking as his basis the fact of faith in the Lord Jesus, the Apostle declares

that he prayed to God that He would give unto them the spirit of wisdom and revelation

in the knowledge of Him (the eyes of your heart having been enlightened) that ye may

know what is the hope of His calling. The Apostle does not say that he was about to give

them further teaching, nor that he was about to reveal anything to them, he simply tells

them that he prayed for them that they might have a revelation. Further, this prayer was

not temporary in character, awaiting the full written statement, but was incorporated into

Scripture itself; it is truth for us now that all Scripture has been completed.

The knowledge of the Scriptures must be supplemented by a spirit of wisdom and

revelation in the knowledge of Him. Illuminated hearts may have revealed to them

"What is the hope of His calling." Others will truthfully say, "I cannot see it." To

entertain the hope of the glory will be accompanied by the desire to be presented perfect

in Christ Jesus (Col. 1: 27, 28). To look forward to being manifested with Him in glory

will be followed by a desire to mortify the members that are on the earth and to set the

mind on things above (Col. 3: 1-5). To have before one the blessed hope, even the

manifesting of the glory, will mean that we shall live soberly, righteously and godly in

this present age (Titus 2: 12, 13). So it is with the only other occurrence of the word

glory in Colossians. They who have before them the hope of the glory, and of being

manifested in glory, are "strengthened with all might according to the strength of His

glory unto all patience" (Col. 1: 11). The patience of the hope is here before us. The

glory that is to be revealed provides the strength for present patience.

May grace be given to all who have such a hope to be able to walk in the strength of it

now with all patience, longsuffering, and joyfulness, for they have an inheritance in the

light (Col. 1: 12), which is a parallel expression to the two words that summarizes our

hope, "in glory."

We have already endeavored to show that the words, "The high calling," refer to the

vocation wherewith we are called and not to a future "calling on high," even though such

an event may be a truth of Scripture. To read Eph. 1: and 2: will dispose of any idea

that this high calling is in any sense a "prize," it is in every sense a free gift of unmerited

grace. The expression, "the prize of the high calling," therefore, cannot be rendered "the

prize, that is to say, the high calling."  The expression conveys the teaching that

connected with the free grace calling there is a prize. Now it is in the nature of a prize

that it must be won. It is the crown of effort and desire. Associated with the idea of

running for a prize will always be a measure of uncertainty, and also of the need for the

exercise of disciple and endurance. I Cor. 9: 24 gives many of these items.