We have come here to verse 7.
I want to read verses 7 through verse 10. The Apostle Paul had been speaking
to us about unity. And last week we looked at it
was unity without uniformity. We're all different, aren't we?
In the Kingdom of God, we're all different. And Paul is going
to tell us that here. But, he began with a but, unto
every one of us is given grace. according to the measure of the
gift of Christ. Wherefore, when he, when the
Lord Jesus Christ, ascended on high, he led captivity captive,
and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, what is
it but that he also descended first unto the lower parts of
the earth? He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fulfill
all things. And he returns to his subject
again in verse 11. He gave some apostles. He gave
the gift of apostles to his church. Prophets, evangelists, pastors,
and teachers, and so on. So he tells us here in verse
7, though we have unity, we don't have uniformity. We're nothing
alike. And here's what makes us to differ. Here's what makes
Christians to differ. It's the measure of the grace
of Christ that makes us to differ. If you're more loving than I
am, you're more patient than I am, you're more forgiven than
I am, you know why? It's the measure of Christ that's
in you. That's what makes us to differ, ain't it? And the early church, had the
gift of apostles. We don't have apostles now, but
they did then. We don't have prophets now, but
the Lord gave the gift of prophets then. He's still giving the gift
of evangelists, the gift of pastors. We know a church right now that
desperately needs a pastor. They're praying to the Lord to
give them the pastor. They can understand this first,
can't they? The Lord gave gifts. He gave pastors and He gave teachers. But you know they're all different. It takes more grace to be a pastor
than it does a teacher. We said that last time. It takes
more grace to be a teacher than a song leader. We're all different,
aren't we? We're all different. And here's
the thing. Here's the thing. The apostles
could not look down on the teachers or the helpers and say, now you
guys are insignificant. And we're very important. We
just want you to stay out of our way, you know. You haven't
received as much grace. They didn't say that because
it was grace. If you were an apostle, you couldn't
glory in that. You were called to be an apostle.
And those helps, the secretaries, those who clean the church, those
who mow the yards, the helps, They couldn't look up to the
apostles and say, wait a minute, if I can't be an apostle, I don't
want to be anything. We're all different. And what
makes us to differ is the measure of grace that we receive of Christ. But unto each and every one of
us. See how He distinguishes us?
We're one in Christ. Christ has made peace through
the blood of His cross. And we're one in Him. But when
it comes to the body, the members, they're so different. And the
Scripture says that God has set each member in the body as He
has pleased Him. You know you don't get in the
church except God puts you there. And then when God puts you there
in the body of Christ, then you obtain a measure of grace to
do whatever you do. It's a wonderful thing when a
body of Christ can find their proper place and function. What's
the Lord called me to do in this body? What is my gift? What's He given me a measure
of grace to do? And you know it's not just in
this local body here, it's not just here at this particular
congregation, but it's the universal Church of Christ. What am I to
the universal Church of Christ? When I meet some dear Christian,
or go to some other congregation that's in Christ, what am I to
them? I met a fellow this week down at the hardware store, and
I hadn't seen him for a long time. He recognized me the same
time I recognized him. It's been, I bet, 20 years since
I saw him. And he goes to church way south
of here. And we sat and talked. We stood there and talked and
talked and talked in tears. His eyes just filled up with
tears. And I was so blessed. I was so edified. He's talking
about what you and I believe. How can we come to Christ? How
can we know Him? How can we know God? We can,
He said, if He doesn't reveal Himself to us. He's every word,
but how in the world can we know Him? He has to make Himself known
to us. And He quoted that scripture,
No man can come to Me except My Father draw him. And we just
stood there, and I have no idea. I have no idea. He's not a pastor. I know that. I know He's not
the pastor. I have no idea what office He holds in that church,
if any. But I tell you what, He's a helper
of my joy. Just standing talking to that
man helped me. I know where his place is in the body of Christ
as far as I'm concerned. It's to help people like me.
See what I'm saying? We're all different. We all have
different offices. But the Lord helped us give us
grace to find out where we belong and abide there. Without looking
down upon somebody else or without looking up in envy of those who
are called to our higher office. Now in verse 8. Verse 8. The Apostle Paul, this is the
way he was. He just mentioned Christ. There
in verse 7. Just mentioned His name. Mentioned His grace. And
now he thinks of a Scripture. He thinks of a Scripture that
tells him about Christ. He remembers this Scripture all
the way back over in Psalms chapter 68. And he quotes it. Wherefore
he said, this is what the Scripture says. When he ascended up on
high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto man. Now
I want you to turn over there with me. You mark Ephesians chapter
4 because we're coming back there. Turn over here in Psalm 68 where
the Apostle Paul quoted from, and let's look at this. This is somewhat amazing because
look here who he's speaking. Look who he is speaking to. Look
who he is speaking of. This is the psalm of David. And look here who he is speaking
about. Look in verse 9 and verse 10. Thou, O God, hast sent a
plentiful rain, wherefore didst thou, whereby thou didst confirm
thy inheritance when it was weary. Thy congregations have dwelt
therein. Thou, O God, hast prepared of
thy goodness for the poor. Look down in verse 24. They have
seen thy goings, O God, even the goings of my God, my King,
in the sanctuary. And look in verse 1 through 5.
Let God arise. Let His enemies be scattered.
Let them also that hate Him flee before Him. As smoke is driven
away, so drive them away. As wax melteth before the fire,
so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. Look in verse
4. Saying unto God, saying praises
to His name, extol Him that writheth upon the heavens by His name,
Jair, and rejoice before Him. A father of the fatherless and
a judge of the widows is God in His holy habitation. Look
in verse 19. Blessed be the Lord, who daily
loatheth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. He
that is our God is the God of salvation. Unto God the Lord
belongeth the issues of life. And look over in 26. Bless ye
God in the congregation, even the Lord, from the fountain of
Israel. Verse 28, Thy God hath commanded
thy strength. Strengthen, O God, thou which
thou hast wrought for us. Now, look back here in verse
18, and here's the verse right in all the midst of this that
Paul quoted. Here he's speaking. Thou hast
ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive, and received
gifts for man. Ain't this strange? We know who
he's talking about. He's speaking here of God. He's
speaking of the Lord. He's speaking of the Almighty.
The giver of rain. The shaker of the earth. The
God of our salvation. And who is He? Well, He's the
One that ascended on high. And He led captivity captive
and gave gifts to men. How can it be said of God, who
is everywhere, that He ascended on high? Paul interprets this
Scripture for us. and he interprets it like this.
He said, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is very God in our
humanity, He ascended on high. Ain't that amazing? All around
this Scripture, he's talking to God. The mighty God. And Paul pulled that right out
of there and said, that's Christ. That's the Son of God. He is
the mighty God in our humanity. Listen to what Paul said. In
1 Thessalonians 3.16, without controversy, great is the mystery
of godliness, God was manifest in the flesh. He's made flesh. We've seen Him. He preached unto
the Gentiles. He was seen of angels, justified
in the Spirit, believed on in the world, and listen to this,
received up unto glory. God ascended up. in the person
of His Son, the Lord Jesus, in our humanity. And look here in
verse 9. Look back over here in verse
9 of Ephesians. Look in verse 9. He goes ahead to prove this.
This in your parenthesis here. He puts this in parenthesis.
He ascended on high. I want you to see three things.
I want you to see three things about this. First, He ascended
on high. He led captivity captive and gave gifts to man. Now that He ascended, what is
it that He also descended first unto the lower parts of the earth? The Son of God descended into
the lower parts of the earth. He descended first. That word
there, descended, means that He stooped. He stooped down. He condescended. He condescended
to be barned. He condescended to make himself
of no reputation. The lower parts, the inferior
parts of this earth. I think this phrase here, he
descended into the lower parts of the earth, I think it simply
means that he was conceived in a dark womb of his mother. When he was barned, He wasn't
born in a palace. He's born in a stable. That's
a lowly place, ain't it? He was wrapped in swaddling clothes
and laid in a manger. Not a little crib, but a manger.
His mother was a woman of no reputation. She was a lowly virgin. He lived in Nazareth. That was
a mean place. Nobody liked that. Can any good
thing come out of Nazareth, they said? He had no place to lay
His head. He that was rich, for your sakes
He became poor. Didn't even have a grave to bury
Him in, did He? Laid Him in the tomb of Joseph, the rich man,
when He was crucified. Crucified between two thieves. A lowly, lowly man, burned and
lived in a lowly place. without any repetition. That's
simply what this verse means. In inferior places. Now why? Why do I want to emphasize
this? I want to emphasize this for
this reason. The lower parts of the earth.
Because some have understood this in three different ways.
Some have understood this that Christ in His death, that He
ascended And to hell. And preach the gospel to those
people who were there. And they understand that from
1 Peter, where the scripture says that he went and preached
to the spirits in prison. 1 Peter chapter 3. Why would he do that? Why would
he ascend there? Well, they said to give them
a second chance. that lived in Noah's day. But what about everybody
else that's there? Is it just them he'd give a second
chance to? What about those of Sodom and
Gomorrah that was there? If you'll read 1 Peter 3, where
he said that Christ went and preached to the spirits in prison,
you'll see the context means that he went through Noah in
Noah's day by his spirit and preached to those lost men who
were bound in the prison house of sin. When the Lord Jesus Christ
died, he told the thief, today shall you be with me in paradise. Where's paradise? That's heavenly. Paul was caught up into the third
heaven. So when he said he ascended into the lower parts, it didn't
mean he ascended into hell and preached to those people who
were there. And secondly, there are some people that think that
Christ ascended into hell to suffer. But you know, that can't
be so. On the cross, he said it's finished. He never suffered after the cross. That was enough. He left up his
voice and said, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. It's finished. He never had to
descend into hell. So this, he descended into the
lower parts of the earth, simply means, as I said, that he was born, he was conceived
in that dark womb of his mother. Lived a lowly life. without repetition,
and die between those two. Inferior. Inferior. And he never ascended into hell.
It was finished. His sufferings were finished.
And then the Scripture says when he died, that they put him in
the tomb. He laid there for three Jewish
days and Jewish nights. His body was reunited with his
soul, revived, and he had died, he rose again, and the Scripture
says he ascended on high. A full humanity. A real soul
and a real body. Ascended on high. And Christ's
entrance there is proof to us that God's purpose is to save
us. All of us. A full humanity. Not just our souls. Not just
our bodies. But all of us. Christ didn't
just purchase our soul. He didn't just purchase our body.
He purchased the whole person. And the whole person is going
to heaven in the end. The Lord Jesus has already ascended
on high. He stooped. He stooped a way
down. and took to Himself our humanity.
He arose and in our humanity, in our nature, He is seated there
in heaven. And He's the forerunner for us. And that shows us God's purpose.
That just as He saved Christ and His full humanity, He's going
to save His people. He's going to save His people.
I don't want to lose my body. All I want to lose is my own
sinful nature. I don't want to lose these members.
I don't want to lose my soul. I don't want to lose who I am.
Christ never lost who He was, did He? And His people won't
either. His people won't either. And
He says in verse 10, see what He says? Look at this. He that
descended, He that came down from heaven, is the same also
that ascended up far above all Heavens. We know when the Son
of God descended, He took something to Himself that He never had
before. What was it? Human nature. He took a human soul. He took
flesh. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. But you know something? When
He took that, it never changed who He was. Never changed who
He was. He was still the Son of God.
Never changed. And on the cross, He took something
to Himself there that He never had before. What was it? Sin. God laid on Him the iniquity
of us all. He was made something on that
cross that He was never before. He was made a curse for us. But you know something? That
never changed who He was. He laid in the tomb for three
and a half days, and then He arose and ascended. He ascended
back into heaven. But the apostle says here, the
same One that descended is the very same One that ascended. It never changed Him, did it?
He's the same glorious Person that He always was. Jesus Christ
the same, yesterday, today, and forever. I am the Lord, I never
change. Therefore your sons of Jacob
are not consumed." Ain't that amazing that he could take to
himself what he took to himself and do what he did, and yet he
never changed. Never changed. I just wonder
what kind of Christ he is that he's seated there on that high
and holy place. The same Christ he's always been. The same God
he's always been. He never changes. He never changes. He suffered, rose, ascended,
and He's the same divine person, the Son of God. He has two natures? Yes, He does. But He's the same
divine person. The last portion of verse 10,
He ascended up. Look at this. Far above all heavens. Talking about Him ascending.
He ascended on high, Paul said. And it's not enough for Paul
to say that he ascended above all heavens. He's trying to find
words to express how high he is. He ascended far above all
heavens. Where is Jesus Christ today?
What position does He hold today? He's above everybody, above everything,
in name, in power, in triumphant glory. Look what He said over
in chapter 1 and verse 20. Look at this. He wants us to
know the power of God in chapter 1 verse 20. And here's the power
He wants us to know. The power which He wrought in
Christ when He raised Him from the dead and set Him at His own
right hand in the heavenly places far above all principalities
and power and might and dominion And every name that's named,
not only in this world, but that which is to come, and hath put
all things under his feet, and gave him to behead. God has exalted
him and given him a name that's above every name. All power is
given to me in heaven and in earth. And Peter says he's gone
into heaven. And angels and powers and authorities
That just about includes everything, doesn't it? You see the rain coming down
a few minutes ago? You know who sends that rain?
Jesus of Nazareth. It's subject to Him. See the
stars last night? I went outside the stars last
night and the moon was out. You know who those stars and
moons are subject to? Him. Look at yourself. Look at the lost neighbors. Look
at your lost friends. Their hearts, their wills, their
affections, their understandings. You know who they're subject
to? Him. All power is given to me. Devils, we think that they're
doing whatever they want to do. You know who they're subject
to? Him. How high is He? He's far. Far, far above. Brothers and sisters, be careful
what you think of Christ. Be careful what you believe of
Jesus Christ. Don't believe in Him like this
world believes in Him. They think He's just a little
Jesus who is up there in heaven and He's frustrated, He's desiring,
He's willing, He's wanting, but He can't have any of that. Is
that this Christ? Who is the Christ that we worship?
Who is the Christ we love and bow to and follow? It's this
One that's exalted high above. Far above. I bow to Him, don't
you? I believe Him. I tell you, I
worship Him. I worship Him. Far above all principalities
and prayers and names. No, He's not sitting passively
there in heaven. He's not. I'm telling you, when
the devils think of Him, they tremble. They tremble. And whatever
He's pleased, David said. That's what He does. Who's your
God, David? He's ascended on high. What's
He doing there? Whatever He pleases. Whatever
He pleases. Do you ever, let me ask you,
you're here this morning, you're here this afternoon at no end.
Do you ever stand in His face and say, no, not me, I'm not
doing it. And you can't make me. Huh? You ain't like Pharaoh, are you?
Who is the Lord that I should obey Him? That's not your attitude,
is it? I mean, He's given you a knowledge
of Him. He's given you a glimpse of Him. And His glory is this,
that He's far above. He's the Lord, ain't He? He's
the Lord. He ascended. Paul said, He ascended. And the same one that descended
is the same one that's ascended far above. Wherefore He saith,
when He ascended on high. That's the first point. He ascended
on high. The second one is this, in verse
8, look at this. He led captivity captive. He led captivity captive. What
does that mean? When He ascended on high, He
led captivity captive. Look at it this way. It means
two things. Our enemies were the enemies of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And our enemies had taken us
captive. Who were our enemies? The Scripture
says our enemies was this. Our enemies were Satan. Satan
was our enemy. He was Christ's enemy too. Paul
says that we were taken captive by him At His will. The Scripture says Satan is the
strong man that keeps his castle, his heart. He comes within. And he says, man, I've got you
now. You're mine. You're mine. Spiritual darkness. Ignorance. Spiritual ignorance. We were captive to that. Paul
said he's delivered us from the power of darkness. We lived in darkness. We walked
in darkness. We were darkness. And I'm telling
you, that darkness was so strong, you can't break loose from it. Sin. Sin had taken us captive. You were the servants of sin
until you obeyed that form of doctrine that was delivered.
I've heard people say, Someday I'll be finished with
sin. I'll be finished with my sin. I'll let go of my sin. Now there's a bigger issue than
you letting go of your sin. You know what it is? Your sin
letting go of you. Sin is a master. Sin reigns unto
death. We have to be freed from the
master. He breaks the power of cancelled
sins. and sets the captive free. What
about death? Death was our enemy. Death became
His enemy. Christ came to deliver them who
through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. If anybody has any sense about
death and how eternal it is, you're going to fear it. And
if a man don't have any hope in a world to come, he's going
to be in bondage to death. The curse of the law was our
enemy. If a man sins, James says, he breaks the law. And when you
break the law in one point, you're guilty of all. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law. Look over here in Colossians.
Look over here just a couple of pages to your right. A couple
of books to your right. Look at this. These were our
enemies. These were our enemies. The Lord Jesus made war on these
enemies. Sin, the devil, the curse of
the law, death. And look what he did to them.
Look here in Colossians chapter 2 and look in verse 14. Here's
what he did on the cross. Colossians chapter 2 verse 14. He blotted out the handwriting
of ordinance that was against us. What was that ordinance?
That's the law. Thou shalt love the Lord your
God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. Why was that
against us? Because we didn't do it. Love
your neighbor as yourself. Don't ever bear false witness.
Don't ever steal anything in any sense. Honor your father
and your mother. Why was that against us? Because
we didn't do it. And the dead had to be paid.
The law had to be fulfilled. He blotted out those ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and tuck it out
of the way, nailing it to His cross. And look in verse 15.
And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of
them openly, triumphing over them in it, in the cross, in
Himself. When the king used to go make
war on a city, they would defeat their enemies.
And then they'd put them in chains and haul them back to their own
country and say, look what I've done. Look what I've done to
my enemy. I've defeated my enemy. That's
what Christ did to death. He bragged about it. He bragged
about it. He said, I am He that was dead.
I'm alive forevermore." And he rattled the keys and said, look
here, I've got the keys. What was he doing? He's exposing
that he got the victory over death. Death gaped its jaws upon
him to swallow him up, and when death did, it was swallowed up
in life. In the cross, he's got the victory,
brothers and sisters. He destroyed the devil and his
works. Put death to death. Was made
a curse to redeem us from the curse. All are in it. All are in it. That's the first thing that it
means. He destroyed him that had the
power of death. He was cursed by the law. But
in its cursing him, he abolished it. Our Savior faced our chief
enemy. What was it? Sin. Sin. And what did he do to it? Put
it away. Put it away by the sacrifice
of himself. And he exposed everything. He's
triumphant. He's victorious over it all.
What is it? What is it that he's not defeated? Can you find one enemy that he's
not put under his feet? He ascended on high. He led captivity
captive. He got the victory over his enemy.
And secondly, he means this, he led captivity captive. Sometimes
the conquerors, the king, when he would go defeat a city or
a country, he didn't destroy all his enemies. Sometimes he
took some of the women to be his wives. He took some of the
little children to be their slaves. He took the gold and the silver
and divided it with his people. You remember Naaman the Syrian
who had the leprosy? Remember the little girl that
was in his house and told him about the prophet? She was a
captive. He went over and defeated Israel
and took her captive. She had a pretty good life. Remember
Esther? She was a captive, and she was
hauled by Ahasuerus' soldiers into Shushan the palace. Remember
what happened to her? She became Queen Esther. Pretty
good life, wasn't it? Remember Daniel? He was a captive. He's hauled captive by Nebuchadnezzar. He's made Nebuchadnezzar general. So there is a sense in which
captivity is a wonderful thing. And when the Lord Jesus defeated
His enemies, He made a bunch of them His friends. I'm looking at somebody. He even
married a bunch of them. He was like the heart of Rahab.
You remember when they delivered her and took her back to Israel?
It was said that she married a prince in Israel. That's the
way it was with us. He come against us. He destroyed
our Jericho, but what did He do? He took us captive. And lo
and behold, He said, I'm going to marry you. I'm going to marry
you. He took captivity captive. And I say, brothers and sisters,
looking back now, I despise being a servant of sin, but I love
being a captive of Christ. Don't you? Satan was such a hard
taskmaster. Beat you. afflicted you, but,
oh, Christ, is a wonderful testament. I'd be His slave any day, wouldn't
you? I will not work my soul to save, that my Lord has done,
but I'll work like any slave for the sake of God's dear Son.
Aren't you glad that you're His captive? You're His servant,
His wife, His bride, His servant. You're all of these things. And he said this, he ascended
on high, he left captivity captive, and he gave gifts unto men. David said he received gifts,
and he received them from his father, and then he gave them.
He gave gifts. Gave us apostles. Aren't you
glad for the apostles? Prophets told us about Him. What
would we do without the writings of the apostles and prophets?
Gave us pastors and teachers and helps. All these gifts He
gave. And thirdly, this. In verse 10,
the last of verse 10, we'll close with this. In Colossians chapter
4, verse 10. He ascended on high. He led captivity
captive. And He gave gifts unto men. And then He said there in the
last portion of verse 10, He ascended on high above all heaven
that He might fulfill. That's what that word fill means.
That He might fulfill all things. When He ascended on high, He
fulfilled all things. What things did He fulfill? Everything
that was written about Him in the Old Testament. He fulfilled
that. All the shadows. Bob read to us about Abraham
going up and offering Isaac and taking Isaac off the altar and
putting that lamb on. You know who that was, Christ,
wouldn't you? And he fulfilled that at his cross, in the resurrection. All the pictures and types, he
fulfilled them. Everything that was written in
the Law of Moses in the Psalms and in the Prophets concerning
him. All the prophecies concerning him. The Old Testament is all
about him. How many times to re-read, this
was done that it might be fulfilled. They broke the bones of those
two thieves on either side of him. They came to break his bones
and they said he's dead already. Don't break his bones. And this
was done that it might be fulfilled. Not a bone of him shall be broken. Everything. He fulfilled everything. And he fulfilled all the promises. I will finish the transgression.
I will finish the transgression. The first coming of the day said,
when sin ain't going to rule over my people, I'm going to
finish that. I'm going to make an end of sin. I'm going to make reconciliation
for iniquity. I'm going to bring in everlasting
righteousness. That was His promise. He fulfilled
that, didn't He? I'll tell you another good one
he fulfilled, and boy, we appreciate this. God shall see the travail
of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many. Aren't you glad for that promise?
Justify. You were deep in sin. You were
condemned to die. But here was the promise all
the way back in the Old Testament. that He would justify many. And
He fulfilled that promise to you, didn't He? He fulfilled
it to you. He arose again for our justification. Oh, what a promise! Christ fulfilled
all things. Blessed be His name. Let's pray.