We are going through the seven ones of Ephesians, and today we will study the hope of our calling. We have one true hope, and that is the hope of our calling.
Eph:4:3-7 3: Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4: There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; 5: One Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6: One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. 7: But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Eph; 1:17-18 17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: 18: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
The reason Paul prayed that God would give them this spirit of revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of their heart being enlightened, was that they might know what is the hope of his calling. God wants us to know the hope of his calling! He does not want us to be in ignorance of that hope.
Last week, we studied the one Spirit, and now we study the hope of his calling. It is his, not ours. First of all we must realize that our hope is not from us, but is from God, and is a work of the Holy Spirit.
Ro:15:13: Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
A. First, what is meant by “his calling or being called”?
The word “calling” has different “senses” to it, different shades of meaning. The word calling can refer to an invitation or summons. The word calling can refer to one’s vocation, not only to who he or she is but to what he or she is called to do. God tells us who we are and what we are to do, and invites or summons us to discover and live out our meaning and purpose, that our “hope” is fulfilled as we live out His calling to and for us.
There is a threefold calling of God or call from God: an external one and an internal one, and a vocation.
1. The external call is made to all who hear the gospel:
Matthew 20:16 So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.
That external call through the Scriptures is addressed to human responsibility and meets with universal rejection.
1Co:1:26: For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called:
And as a result of the refusal of that calling, they have no hope.
Eph:2:12: That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:
2. But God gives another call to His elect—a quickening call, an inward call, an invincible call, His effectual call.
Romans 8:30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
This is calling from death to life.
1Pe:2:9: But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Our calling is “in Christ Jesus”. It was given to us before the world began.
2Tm:1:9: Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
It is a holy calling, a calling into his kingdom and glory.
1Th:2:12: That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.
2Th:1:11: Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:
3. We are called to a vocation, a work for God.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
We are his workmanship, not our own workmanship. We are his, created in Christ unto good works.
This is our immediate calling – to walk as his workmanship unto good works. God has prepared for us to walk unto these good works since before the world began.
Eph:4:1: I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
B. Secondly, what is the one hope?
The word hope here is the Greek word elpis, literally an expectation. This is not hope as merely a wish, as in “I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow”, but an expectation which is acted upon. If you don’t expect it to rain, you leave your umbrella at home, you act based on what you expect to happen. In the Greek world of Paul’s time, hope was a subjective thing which was determined by each individual for him or her self. It was defined as a “subjective expectation of the future based on what one considers his own possibilities”. Our hope determined who we are and what we are to become. In essence, Paul was praying for these Believers to understand what they could expect in the future as a result of God’s calling them. Because the more we see the hope of his calling, the more we see how wondrous his plans are for us; then the more we will heed his calling, the more we will live for him. The more we live for him, the more fulfilled and satisfying our life will become. Romans gives us a very good definition of hope.
Ro:8:24-25 24: For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25: But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
1. First we can live in hope today even though it is a future anticipation.
Colossians 1:27 To whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
1Co:13:13: And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
Hope brings joy. Knowing the hope of our calling brings a lot of joy into our lives.
Ro:12:12: Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;
Ro:5:2: By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
2. One hope of our calling is the everlasting kingdom and the results of that kingdom.
Psalms:16:9-11 9: Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.
10: For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.
11: Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.
Ac:24:15: And have hope toward God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust.
I Peter 1:3-4 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4: To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
2Pe:1:10-11: Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 2Pe:1:11: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
2 Tim 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.
2 CORINTHIANS 4:18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
This life is but a speck in eternity yet we are tempted to treat it as if it were eternity. We are tempted to think that this hobby or this new car or this romance is going to continue without end. These thoughts begin to entangle us in the web. We must not allow it!
For those who do endure, the reward will be great indeed. In 2 TIMOTHY, Paul writes of a salvation with an “eternal glory”. He says that if we endure “we shall also reign with Him”. To reign with Christ in “heavenly places” is this “eternal glory” which we shall receive if we endure.
2 TIMOTHY 2:10-13 Therefore I endure all things for the elect’s sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer [endure], we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
Our salvation is assured, for He cannot deny Himself, His Own Body which is the Church
C. “THAT YOU MAY KNOW,” not being ignorant or doubtful.
Note how emphatic it is: “the eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know.” The apostle prayed here that they might know what great, infallible, multitudinous grounds of hope God had called them to; that they might appreciate what grounds of assurance and evidence they had—that heaven was theirs; that they might have assurance of their own interest in heaven!
2Pe:1:10-11 10: Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 11: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
This tells us we ought to labor after and pray earnestly for a clearer insight into and a fuller acquaintance with the great objects of the Christian’s hopes and expectations.
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