Good evening. We're going to
start out tonight in Psalm 68. While you're turning there, Mr.
Jim got good news. He's passed his test today and
is going to be released tomorrow to come home. They're going to
set him up some physical therapy to follow up with him there.
Shirley is supposed to be coming back tonight. So we'll try to
remember her in prayer. And I heard from Donnie, he sounds
like he's having a great time. He said there was nothing going
on tonight, so he's going to try to go to bed early, as opposed
to early in the morning, as he's been doing the last couple of
nights. Psalm 68, I'm going to read just
part of verse 18. Psalm 68, 18. Thou hast ascended on high. Thou hast led captivity captive. We hear much today, and I suppose
it's been like this throughout all times. about man's free will. We hear it from those who are
moral superiorist, who think they're better than everyone
else, and they have a free will to choose to be so. We hear it
from those who have never darkened the door of a church, who never
opened their Bible. They'll still say, it's my choice,
my free will, and I'll get to heaven my way. by which, when they declare they
have a free will, as I understand it, they mean that their will
is subject to no one and no thing, that they can easily choose to
be good or bad and proceed in that choice as long as they want
to, and at some point, if they desire, they can turn around
and go the other direction. Man's will is bound by a nature
that is contrary to anything that is good. For God is good. He alone is good. And we in our
natural state are in enmity. We are actively hostile with
God. There is nothing free about any
child of Adam. We are bound captives of Satan,
sin, God's law, and death. The kings of old, after a victorious
conquest, would often bring home with them notable prisoners who
they would bind in chains and lead them through the capital
city. Thus the king signaled his might
and his power and affirmed the destruction of their enemies. Now, I don't know this for sure,
but I imagine most kings like to have their names proclaimed,
that there was a herald that would go forth before these,
and he would declare what the king did in his capture of these
cities and how he won the day. Tonight, I want to act the part
of the herald, and I want to read part of the account of how
our Lord won the day and disposed of our great enemies. Turn with
me to Matthew chapter 27. You will not need to hold your place
anywhere. I have several scriptures we're
going to turn to tonight. Matthew chapter 27, I'll begin
reading in verse 33 and I'm going to skip around a bit. So I'll
let you know when we're going to skip some verses. Matthew
27 verse 33. And when they were come unto
a place called Golgotha, that is to say a place of a skull,
they gave him vinegar to drink, mingled with gall, And when he
had tasted thereof, he would not drink. And they crucified
him, and parted his garments, casting lots, that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, that they parted
my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
And sitting down, they watched him there. And set up over his
head his accusation written, This is Jesus, the King of the
Jews. Now down in verse 45. Now from the sixth hour there
was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. And about
the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli,
lama sabachthani, that is to say, my God, my God, why has
thou forsaken me? Some of them that stood there
when they heard that said, this man calleth for Elias. And straightway,
one of them ran and took a sponge and filled it with vinegar and
put it on a reed and gave him to drink. The rest said, Let
be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. Jesus,
when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the
ghost. Now down in verse 57. When the even was calm, there
came a rich man of Arimathea named Joseph, who also himself
was Jesus' disciple. He went to Pilate and begged
the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body
to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the
body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and laid it in his
own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock. And he rolled
a great stone to the door of the sepulcher and departed." The account we just read of our
Lord's crucifixion, death, and burial was the hour of triumph
for natural man. Here we have, for all natural
appearances, the successful conclusion of man's desire since the fall
of Adam, the death of God. Here mankind cried out bold and
loud, we will not have this man to rule over us. And here, mankind fulfilled the
covenant he made with death and their agreement with hell. And
Satan felt victorious at the prevention of God's promise that
the seed of woman should bruise his head. Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, died. And for one brief moment in time,
For all natural appearances, it seemed as if the Son of Man
had failed in His mission. But that moment was indeed brief.
Look with me in Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24, beginning in
verse one. Now, upon the first day of the
week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher,
bringing the spices which they had prepared and certain others
with them. And they found the stone rolled
away from the sepulcher and they entered in and found not the
body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they
were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them
in shining garments. And as they were afraid, and
bowed their heads to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek
ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he spake unto you
when he was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of man must be delivered
into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third
day rise again. And they remembered his words,
and returned from the sepulcher, and told all these things unto
the eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene and Joanna,
and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with
them, which told these things unto the apostles. And their
words seemed to them as idle tales, and they believed them
not. Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulcher, and stooping
down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed,
wondering in himself at that which was come to pass. Christ Jesus, which was crucified,
rose from the dead. And before all of this took place,
our Lord spoke with Moses and Elias concerning his decease
or his death, which he should accomplish at Jerusalem. My topic this evening comes from
Psalm 68, 18, where David, speaking of Christ, says, Thou hast ascended
on high. Thou hast led captivity captive. The statement sums up the accomplishments
of Christ's crucifixion, death, and resurrection. He led captivity
captive. Who or what is the captivity,
and how or where are they now captive? Well, Paul, writing
to Timothy, put it this way. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners. It stands to reason that since
the Son of Man came into the world to save, those that he
came to save are in desperate need and are not free to save
themselves. They are held captive. What is
it that holds us captive? There may be others, but I came
up with four captors. Satan, sin, God's law or his
justice and death. In Christ's accomplished work,
he must meet with each of these captors and deal with their conquering
power over us. Those of us that he came to say. So what power or hold does Satan
have over those that Christ came to save? We have numerous examples
of those throughout scriptures who were tempted, tried, and
from all standpoints, failed when they were tempted of Satan
and the Lord gave him power over them for a moment. Our mother
Eve was deceived by Satan in the garden. And judges were told
the devil disputed with Michael the archangel concerning the
body of Moses. But Michael said, the Lord rebuke
thee. Satan is a powerful adversary,
and not even Michael dared to engage him. It was Satan who
provoked David to number Israel. And he sorely afflicted Job.
Satan is called the accuser of the brethren. And Peter calls
for us to be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary, the devil,
as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. Our Lord faced Satan early in
his ministry. Let's turn over to Matthew chapter
four. Matthew chapter 4, beginning
in verse 1. Then was Jesus led up of the
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And
when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward
unhungered. And when the tempter came to
him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these
stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It
is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Then the devil
taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle
of the temple, and saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God,
cast thyself down. For it is written, He shall give
His angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they
shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against
a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written
again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Again the devil
taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him
all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them. And saith
unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall
down, and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get
thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the
Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth
him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. As our
representative, Christ faced every trial and temptation that
we are subject to. But unlike us, he faced them
without sin. Did Christ redeem those sinners
he came to save from the captivity that Satan had over them? Hebrews
2.14 says, For as much then as the children are partakers of
flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same.
that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is, the devil. In Christ's death, Satan bruised
the heel of the seat of woman, but at his resurrection he bruised
the serpent's head. Sin is also a captor of those
that Christ came to save. As by one man, sin entered the
world. Our father, Adam, sold us into
the bondage of sin. He willfully disobeyed God, and
sin entered the world. The wages of sin is death. Adam,
having sold himself into sin, has nothing whereby to pay to
get himself out. He is dead. He has no life to
give, so he has no payment price to offer. He cannot redeem himself. And the father, being a servant,
so are the children. We inherit our father's nature.
He's a sinner. We are sinners. No one can change our dead nature
into a living nature of ourselves to pay the price to set the captive
free. This is why it was so important
that Christ came into the world as the seed of woman. Adam's
nature, like all creation, gets its nature from the man's seed. There was one born the seed of
woman, our Lord Jesus Christ, and as the seed of woman doesn't
pass down the nature, he does not inherit Adam's sinful and
rebellious nature. But he came and took upon himself
a body that was made like unto sinful man, yet without sin. And having no sin of his own,
death had no hold over him. He would not have been able to
die had sin not been placed upon him. It pleased God, the Father, to
make God the Son sin for us, those sinners that Christ came
to save. He bore our griefs. He carried
our sorrows. And with his stripes, we are
healed. God is life. There is no death
about him. So when Christ, the Son of God,
came, And he bore our sins in his body. When he was made sin,
God forsook God. And the wrath of God fell upon
Christ, the anointed one. Christ, our altar, contained
God's wrath as those altars of old held the fire for the sacrifice. And as they prevented the fire
from escaping and spreading beyond the sacrifice, so our Lord's
body consumed the wrath that fell upon Him and kept it from
falling on us. The fuel for the fire of God's
wrath is sin. And as Christ suffered our just
penalty, He consumed that wrath until every sin was purged. and the wrath was extinguished.
The debt of death was paid by Jesus Christ. He laid down his
life to redeem sinners from their bondage of sin. Satan and sin held us captive. So did the law of God. Turn with
me to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians 3.10 For as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse. For it is written, Cursed is
every one that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God is evident. For the just shall
live by faith. And the law is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. The law of God
isn't a rule book that tells us how we should live, but it
reveals the absolute inability of any child of Adam to keep
that law. James 2.10 tells us, whosoever
shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one, is guilty
of all. To illustrate James' point here, take for example the laws given
on the second tablet at Mount Sinai. Honor thy father and mother,
thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt
not steal, thou shalt not bear false witness, thou shalt not
covet. Now if I had somehow kept all
these from my youth up, but one day I walk through a
field that is not mine, and in that field I find a wedge of
gold. And I pick it up and I take it home with me. I have broken the love I took
that did not belong to me. I've stolen it. If I go back
the next day to the owner of the field and say, I took this
from you and I'm sorry. He may forgive me. But I have still broken the law
and I cannot undo it. Before God's justice, I'm guilty. It doesn't matter if it's what
we call a big law, thou shalt not kill, or a little law, thou
shalt not bear false witness, lie. I'm guilty. And by offending
in one of those points, I break the whole law. The law of God and his justice
has me captive. I can't do anything to remove
my own guilt. But Jesus Christ. Notice how
we keep coming back to Christ. Our text said, I've forgotten
the name. Thou hast led captivity captive. When thou ascended on high, thou
led captivity captive. We don't enter into this. Christ
did it. He's finished the work. He's
done it all for us. Jesus Christ came in the flesh
and he walked upon this earth as a man. He was made subject
to the very law that he created. And he kept it perfectly. God
nor man could find fault in him. Upon that cross, God the Father
made him sin for us. And we were made the righteousness
of God in him. He fulfilled the law. I fulfilled
the law. Because Christ liveth in me. That final capture, death. Turn over to Hebrews 2, I quoted
part of this a moment ago. Hebrews chapter 2. Hebrews 2 verse 14. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also likewise took part of
the same, that through death he might destroy him that had
the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who through
fear of death were all their lifetimes subject to bondage. From the day of our conception
in the womb, we begin our decay. Every child of Adam has the same
end as our ancestors beginning with Adam. Genesis chapter 5
starts with, this is the book of the generations of Adam and
throughout that chapter is repeated these words, and he died. In our natural state we have
great reason to fear death We're held in the power of Satan. We
have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. We are condemned
by the law of God and justice stands ready to cast us into
utter darkness and separation from God. Death for anyone who
Christ did not come to save should be a fearful capture. But here's our Lord. He went
to the cross. He suffered and died under the
curse of sin. He satisfied the justice of God. Now those that he saved are no
longer bound under the fear of death. For they say, O death,
where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Now turn to Colossians chapter
2. Colossians chapter two, verse
13. And you, you saints and faithful
brethren in Christ, you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision
of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven
you all trespasses. Blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. And having spoiled
principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing
over them in it. Jesus Christ, being raised from
the grave, showed forth that the debt of our sins was paid,
that death and Satan had no power over him, and that God's justice
was satisfied. He had conquered those who held
us captive. Our text reads, thou hast ascended
on high, thou hast led captivity captive. At the outset of this
message, I referenced back to the kings of old displaying their
conquered foes through the city. And everyone that I read had
much the same take on this passage. They all seem to indicate that
the captivity that was led captive were our conquered captors. Satan, sin, death, the law, justice. But I couldn't help thinking
about Abram at the Battle of the Kings. One last passage, Genesis chapter
14. In this chapter, we have recorded
that the king of Sodom and four other kings, five kings, waged
battle upon four other kings. And the king of Sodom was defeated.
And the victors took the goods and the people of that city,
including Lot. Let's start reading in verse
13. And there came one that had escaped
and told Abram the Hebrew that he dwelt in the, excuse me, for
he dwelt in the plain of Mamre, the Amorite, brother of Eschel,
the brother of Anar. And these were confederate with
Abram. And when Abram heard that his
brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born
in his own house, 318, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided
himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote
them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of
Damascus. And he brought back all the goods
and also brought again his brother Lot and his goods, excuse me,
and the women also and the people. Abram engaged in this battle
for one reason. His brother's son was held captive. Abram loved Lot and he entered
into the battle for him. Our Lord came to redeem those
that he loved from the foundation of the world. His children were
taken captive and he came to set them free. Upon the defeat
of the four kings. There were the captives of those
kings. And these captives suddenly became
Abram's captives. He didn't have to keep them with
force, for he was the instrument of their freedom. And he was
the one who would take them back to their king and to their land. I found myself represented by
these captured people from Sodom, particularly Lot. Have you been
in his state? Dwelling among exceeding sinful
men? Taken away by the diverse lust
of the flesh? When Abram and Lot split, Lot
pitched his tent toward Sodom. And by the time of this battle,
he had moved into the city. After this battle, we find that
he's raised on high in the city. He's a judge of the city, somewhat
important. I've been there, caught up in
the world, Loving it. But then one day. Word of God
came in power. And my ears were open to hear
his voice. And my eyes looked upon that
one. Who came to save me? And he restored me and set me
at liberty from my captors. Don't you run to him, not run
away from him. He's the one that gave us liberty.
We become willing bond slaves. We're captives of his. We are that captivity that Christ
led captive. Paul in writing to the Corinthians
said, for as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be
made alive. But every man in his own order,
Christ, the first fruits. Afterward, they that are Christ
at his coming. He leads his captivity captive. And we'll follow after him, magnifying
his precious name. Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior,
came to this earth and he conquered those powers and principalities
that held us in captivity. He suffered our curse, shed his
blood and died to destroy our captives. He rose to openly reveal
that our captors were destroyed. And he ascended into heaven and
is seated at the right hand of God. My Lord is triumphant. He vanquished my captors and
set me free. His love for me brought him to
suffer and die that I might live in him. He alone is worthy of
my worship, praise, and adoration. Do you worship a triumphant God? Or do you have to help him, give
him permission to redeem you? Jesus Christ, our Lord, is a
great Savior for needy sinners. You who are captives of sin,
Satan, and death, come to Him, for He has conquered and led
captivity captive. Let's bow together in a word
of prayer. Our gracious Lord and God in
heaven, Oh, Lord, thank you for your son. Thank
you that he came in power, that he is triumphant. He is able to
save to the uttermost. Lord, we we thank you for this
place together together in this time that you've set aside for
us that we can meet and worship him. Father, I pray this message
will be a blessing and an encouragement. Oh, that we might see more of
Christ be made like unto him. Father, we're exceedingly thankful
for all your mercies towards Mr. Jim, that you've restored
his health. Lord, continue to be with him
and strengthen his body. Father, we bring those in this
congregation that are still suffering so bitterly under the curse of sin, those
who suffer in their bodies. And Lord, especially we bring
those who are lost without God and without hope in this world.
Lord, may we be. Witnesses. Faithful witnesses
unto them. That they might, through the
foolishness of preaching. Be made to know Christ Jesus,
our Lord. Father, have mercy upon those
that are traveling. We thank you for the ones that
you've restored safely to us. Lord, if it be your will, bring
the others home safely. Father, we pray for Brother Tom
as he prepares for the service on Sunday. Lord, meet with us
and once again magnify Christ in our midst. Forgive us, Lord,
of our sins. Oh, it's against you and you
alone that we sin. Father, be merciful to us. Save
us by your grace. For it's in Christ's name we
pray. Amen. You're dismissed and Lord willing
we'll meet Sunday morning. Tom Harding will be here.