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![Haldane on Romans 1:17, for a very masterly view of this subject, with remarks on Matthew
2:16, and other passages supposed to demand the accommodation theory.
"Nothing can be more dishonorable," says that prince of English commentators, on the Epistle to
the Romans, "to the character of divine revelation, and injurious to the edification of believers,
than this method of explaining the quotations in the New Testament from the Old, not as
predictions or interpretations, but as mere illustrations, by way of accommodation. In this way,
many of the prophecies referred to in the Epistles are set aside from their proper application, and
Christians are taught that they do not prove what the apostles adduced them to establish." In
reference to the quotation in this place, there seems little difficulty in connection with the view,
that though the primary reference be to the bringing up of the ark to Mount Zion, the ultimate
one is to the glorious ascension of Jesus into the highest heavens. The Jews rightly interpret part
of this psalm Ps. 68 of the Messiah. Nor is it to he believed that the apostle would have applied it
to the ascension of Christ unless that application had been admitted by the Jews in his time, and
unless himself were persuaded of its propriety.
When he ascended up on high - To heaven. The Psalm is, "Thou hast ascended on high;"
compare Ephesians 1:22-23.
He led captivity captive - The meaning of this in the Psalm is, that he triumphed over his foes.
The margin is, "a multitude of captives." But this, I think, is not quite the idea. It is language
derived from a conqueror, who not only makes captives, but who makes captives of those who
were then prisoners, and who conducts them as a part of his triumphal procession. He not only
subdues his enemy, but he leads his captives in triumph. The allusion is to the public triumphs of
conquerors, especially as celebrated among the Romans, in which captives were led in chains
(Tacitus, Ann. xii. 38), and to the custom in such triumphs of distributing presents among the
soldiers; compare also Judges 5:30, where it appears that this was also an early custom in other
nations. Burder, in Res. Alt u. neu Morgenland, in loc. When Christ ascended to heaven, he
triumphed ever all his foes. It was a complete victory over the malice of the great enemy of God,
and over those who had sought his life. But he did more. He rescued those who were the captives
of Satan, and led them in triumph. Man was held by Satan as a prisoner. His chains were around
him. Christ rescued the captive prisoner, and designed to make him a part of his triumphal
procession into heaven, that thus the victory might be complete - triumphing not only over the
great foe himself, but swelling his procession with the attending hosts of those who "had been"
the captives of Satan, now rescued and redeemed.
And gave gifts unto men - Such as he specifies in Ephesians 4:11.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary8. Wherefore—"For which reason," namely, in
order to intimate that Christ, the Head of the Church, is the author of all these different gifts, and
that giving of them is an act of His "grace" [Estius].
he saith—God, whose word the Scripture is (Ps 68:18).
When he ascended—God is meant in the Psalm, represented by the ark, which was being brought
up to Zion in triumph by David, after that "the Lord had given him rest round about from all his
enemies" (2Sa 6:1-7:1; 1Ch 15:1-29). Paul quotes it of Christ ascending to heaven, who is
therefore God.
captivity—that is, a band of captives. In the Psalm, the captive foes of David. In the antitypical
meaning, the foes of Christ the Son of David, the devil, death, the curse, and sin (Col 2:15; 2Pe
2:4), led as it were in triumphal procession as a sign of the destruction of the foe.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/jesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641/85/Jesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-10-320.jpg)
![Hebrew text it is, "thou hast ascended"; there the psalmist speaks to the Messiah, here the apostle
speaks of him; though the Arabic and Ethiopic read there, "he ascended", as here:
he led captivity captive; which is expressive of Christ's conquests and triumph over sin, Satan,
the world, death, and the grave; and indeed, every spiritual enemy of his and his people,
especially the devil, who leads men captive at his will, and is therefore called captivity, and his
principalities and powers, whom Christ has spoiled and triumphed over; the allusion is to the
public triumphs of the Romans, in which captives were led in chains, and exposed to open view
(s):
and gave gifts unto men; meaning the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and particularly such as qualify
men for the work of the ministry; these he received "in man"; in human nature, in that nature in
which he ascended to heaven; , "in the man that is known above" (t), as say the Jews; and these
he bestows on men, even rebellious ones, that the Lord God might dwell among them, and make
them useful to others: wherefore the Jews have no reason to quarrel with the version of the
apostle as they do (u); who, instead of "received gifts for" men, renders it, "gave gifts to men";
since the Messiah received in order to give, and gives in consequence of his having received
them; and so Jarchi interprets the words, "to give them" to the children of men; and besides, as a
learned man has observed (w), one and the same Hebrew word signifies to give and to receive; to
which may be added that their own Targum renders it "and hast given gifts to the children of
men"; and in like manner the Syriac and Arabic versions of Psalm 68:18 render the words; very
likely the apostle might use the Syriac version, which is a very ancient one: it was customary at
triumphs to give gifts to the soldiers (x), to which there is an allusion here.
(q) Targum & Jarchi in Psal. lxviii 18. (r) Aben Ezra in loc. (s) Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 6.
c. 6. (t) Zohar in Numb. fol. 61. 4. (u) R. Isaac. Chizzuk Emuna, par. 2. c. 91. (w) Pocock. not.
Misc. p. 24. (x) Alex. ab. Alex. ib. ut supra. (Genial. Dier. l. 6. c. 6.)
Geneva Study BibleWherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led {g} captivity
captive, and gave gifts unto men.
(g) A multitude of captives.
EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT CommentaryHYPERLINK "/ephesians/4-8.htm"Ephesians 4:8. If it had just been
said that by Christ the endowment of grace was distributed in varied measure to each individual,
this is now confirmed by a testimony of the Scripture. Nothing is to be treated as a parenthesis,
inasmuch as neither course of thought nor construction is interrupted.
διὸ λέγει] wherefore, because the case stands, as has been said, Ephesians 4:7, He saith. Who
says it (comp. Ephesians 5:14), is obvious of itself, namely, God, whose word the Scripture is.
See on 1 Corinthians 6:16; Galatians 3:16; the supplying ἡ γραφή or τὸ πνεῦμα must have been
suggested by the context (Romans 15:10). The manner of citation with the simple λέγει,
obviously meant of God, has as its necessary presupposition, in the mind of the writer and
readers, the Theopneustia of the O. T. The citation that follows is not “ex carmine, quod ab
Ephesiis cantitari sciret,” and in which Psalm 68:18 had partly furnished the words (Storr,
Opusc. III. p. 309; Flatt),—which is quite an arbitrary way of avoiding the difficulty, and at
variance with the divine λέγει,—but is the passage of Scripture Psalm 68:18 itself according to
the LXX. with free alteration. This psalm, in its historical sense a song of triumph upon the
solemn entry of God into Zion,[204] is here understood according to its Messianic significance—](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/jesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641/85/Jesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-12-320.jpg)
![an understanding, which has its warrant, not indeed in the much too general and vague
proposition, that one and the same God is the Revealer of the Old and of the New Covenant
(Harless), but in the circumstance that the triumphal procession of Jehovah, celebrated in the
psalm, represents the victory of the Theocracy; and that, as every victory of the Theocracy is of a
typical and in so far prophetic Messianic character, the return of Christ into heaven appears as
the Messianic actual consummation of the divine triumph. The free deviation from the original
text and the LXX. consists partly in the immaterial circumstance that Paul transfers into the third
person that which is said in the second, and adds to ἀνθρώποις the article wanting in the LXX.;
partly in the essential point, that instead of the original sense: “Thou receivedst gifts (namely,
gifts of homage) among[205] men” (לָק ָחָת ַמ ָָֹּונ ָָּ ָּאָדנם, LXX.: ἔλαβες δόματα ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ, or
according to another reading: ἐν ἀνθρώποις), he expresses the sense: He gave gifts to men, ָ נ ַָ
ַָתַנחֹום ַמ ָָֹּונ luaP yltneuqesnoC .XXL eht fo noitisnart eht gnicudorper stcepser rehto ni elihw ,יל
has, as regards the ἔδωκε, given a sense opposite to the original one—a degree of variation such
as, with all freedom in the employment of Old Testament passages, is nowhere else met with in
the writings of the apostle, on which account the book Chissuk Emuna accused him of falsifying
the words of the psalm, while Whiston looked upon the Hebrew text and the LXX. in Psalm
68:18 as corrupt. This difference is not to be explained, with Rückert, by lightly asserting: “Paul
did not even perhaps know exactly how the words ran,” etc.; for in this way he would be
chargeable with a shallow caprice, for which there is no warrant; moreover, the agreement, in
other respects, of the citation with the original text and the LXX. leads us to infer too exact an
acquaintance with the passage adduced, to allow us to assume that Paul adduced the words in the
full belief that ַ ָ was read in the Hebrew, and ἜΔΩΚΕ in the LXX. Rather must he have in
reality understood the passage of the psalm, as to its main substance, just as he gives it.
Inasmuch, namely, as he had recognised the words in their bearing upon the antitypical
Messianic fulfilment, and that as a confirmation of what had been said of Christ in Ephesians
4:7, this latter special application must either have been suggested to him by another reading,
which he followed (ַ instead of אדם ), or else—with the freedom of a Messianic interpretation
of the words—by an exposition of the Hebrew words, which yielded essentially the sense
expressed by him. If the latter is the case (for in favour of the former there is no trace of critical
support), he took אדם , etc., in the sense: thou didst take away gifts, to distribute them among
men (on the ָּ,ת see Ewald, Ausführl. Lehrb. der Heb. Spr. § 217 f. 1), and translated this in an
explanatory way: ἔδωκε δόματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις; in connection with which the transposing into
the third person is to be regarded as an unintentional variation in citing from memory. ,אדם
namely, has often the proleptic sense to fetch [Germ. holen], i.e. to take anything for a person
and to give it to him. See Genesis 18:5; Genesis 27:13; Genesis 42:16; Genesis 48:9; Job 38:20
(and Hirzel in loc.); 2 Samuel 4:6, al.; see Gesen. Thes. II. p. 760, and Hoelemann, p. 97 f.
Comp. Bengel: “accepit dona, quae statim daret.” The utterance, however, as thus
understood,[206] Paul has reproduced, interpreting it as he has done, in order to place beyond
doubt the sense which he attached to it, for the reader who might have otherwise understood the
words of the LXX. The Chaldee Paraphrast likewise understood םדא in such wise, that, while
interpreting the passage of Moses, he could expound: ַָ ָּ ֹונ ָנמ ָּחם ָָלַ ֵיַ ָּנַם ָ, dedisti dona filiis
hominum. It is evident from this, since there is good reason for presupposing in the Targum—the
more so, as in our passage the Peshito agrees therewith (which likewise, Psalms 68 l.c., has
dedisti dona filiis hominum)—older exegetical traditions, that Paul himself may have followed
such a tradition (Holzhausen, Baumgarten-Crusius, Credner, Beiträge, II. p. 121 f.). To assume
that he actually did so, is in itself, and in reference to the previous Rabbinical training of the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/jesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641/85/Jesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-13-320.jpg)
![apostle, free from objection, and has sufficient warrant in that old and peculiar agreement, even
though we should explain the agreement between the same citation in Justin, c. Tryph. 39, 87,
and the quotation of the apostle, by a dependence upon the latter (Credner, Beitr. II. p. 120). On
the other hand, it is not to be said, with Beza, Calovius, and most older expositors,[207] that the
explanation given by Paul really corresponds with the historic sense of the passage in the Psalm
(see especially, Geier, ad Ps. l.c. p. 1181; comp. also Hoelemann, p. 98 f.), which, judging by the
context, is decidedly incorrect3. Even Calvin says: “nonnihil a genuino sensu hoc testimonium
detorsit Paulus;” and already Theodore of Mopsuestia aptly remarks: ὑπαλλάξας δὲ τὸ ἔλαβε
δόματα οὕτως ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ κείμενον, ἔδωκε δόματα εἶπε, τῇ ὑπαλλαγῇ περὶ τὴν οἰκείαν
χρησάμενος ἀκολουθίαν· ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ (in the psalm) πρὸς τὴν ὑπόθεσιν τὸ ἔλαβεν ἥρμοττεν,
ἐνταῦθα δὲ (in our passage) τῷ προκειμένῳ τὸ ἔδωκεν ἀκόλουθον ἦν. The deviation from the
historic sense cannot be set aside with fairness and without arbitrary presuppositions. This holds
not only of the opinions of Jerome and Erasmus (that in the psalm אדם is used, because the giving
has not yet taken place, but is promised as future) and of Calvin (“quum de Christi exaltatione
pauca verba Psalmi citasset, de suo adjecit, eum dedisse dona, ut sit minoris et majoris
comparatio, qua ostendere vult Paulus, quanto praestantior sit ista Dei ascensio in Christi
persona, quam fuerit in veteribus ecclesiae triumphis”), but also of the expedients to which
Harless and Olshausen have recourse. According to Harless, namely, Paul wishes to express the
identity of God, whose deeds at that time the word of Scripture represents in a form which, as
identical with the form of Christ’s action, makes us recognise the word of the O. T. as pointing
forward. to what was to come, and the Christ of the N.T. as the God who already revealed
Himself under the O. T.; in the words of the psalm the captives themselves are described as
sacrificial gifts, which the victor as God takes to Himself among men; the apostle changes
merely the form of the words, so far as the context makes it necessary, inasmuch as he wishes to
make out that those vanquished ones—who have not made themselves what they are, but have
been made so of God—are those, of whom he had said that on every one according to the
measure of the gift of Christ the grace had been bestowed which was already pointed to in the
psalm. “There is no other there,” says the apostle, “than He who had descended to earth, to gain
for Himself His own; not that they would have presented themselves to Him, but He takes them
as it pleases Him, and makes them what it pleases Him.” But (1) Paul does not wish to express
the identity of God, etc., but to show that what is said of Christ in Ephesians 4:7 was also already
prophesied Psalm 68:18; it was a question of the identity of the thing, as to which it was self-
evident that the triumph celebrated in Psalms 68 is in the N.T. fulfilment celebrated by Christ,
who had come in the name of the Lord. (2) In the Ps. l.c., אדם ֹו ַו applies to the gifts of
homage which the triumphing Jehovah has received among (from) men. Certainly, according to
another explanation (see above, Ewald’s view, and comp. also Bleek), the men themselves,
namely, the vanquished, may be regarded as the gifts or offerings which God has received; but
who could withal read between the lines in the apostle’s citation what, according to Harless, one
ought to read between them, in order in the end to find only the form of the words changed?
Olshausen, who, we may mention, quite erroneously (see Ephesians 4:9-10) specifies ΤΟῖς
ἈΝΘΡΏΠΟΙς as the point of the citation,[208] agrees with Harless in so far as he is of opinion
that the thought of the psalmist: “Thou hast taken to Thyself gifts among men,” affirms nothing
else than: “Thou hast chosen to Thyself the redeemed as offerings;” but further adds: “But the
man whom God chooses as an offering for Himself, i.e. as an instrument for His aims, He
furnishes with the gifts necessary to the attainment of the same; and this side (?) the apostle, in
accordance with his tendency, here brings into special prominence.” Similarly also Hofmann,](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/jesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641/85/Jesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-14-320.jpg)
![Schriftbew. II. 1, p. 484 f., who is of opinion that here, in the N.T. application of the passage
from the psalm, it is one and the same thing whether one say: that Christ has, for the
accomplishment of the work of His honour, caused to be given to Himself by His vanquished
that which they possessed, or: that He has given them gifts to this end; “for He takes that which
is theirs into His service, when He gives to them what is His, to make them capable of service.”
Essentially so also Delitzsch on the Psalm, l.c. Such subtleties, by means of which any quid pro
quo at pleasure may easily enough be got out of the alleged light and significance of the “history
of the fulfilment” (Delitzsch), may be conveniently foisted upon the words of the apostle, but
with what right?
ἈΝΑΒᾺς ΕἸς ὝΨΟς] Whether we understand the למל ָנים ָ יַםָם in the original text of the
ascending of the victorious God into heaven (Hengstenberg, Lengerke, Hitzig, Harless,
Hoelemann, and others) or to Zion (Ewald, Bleek), or leave it without more precise definition of
place (Hofmann); according to the Messianic accomplishment of the divine triumphal
procession, which takes place through Christ, the words apply to Christ ascended (comp.
ὙΨΩΘΕΊς, Acts 2:33) to heaven (Psalm 102:20, al.; Sir 13:8; Luke 1:78), who has brought in as
captives enemies that have been vanquished by Him upon this triumphal march.
αἰχμαλωσία, namely, is the abstract collective for αἰχμάλωτοι (Jdt 2:9; Ezra 6:5; Revelation
13:10; Diod. Sic. xvii. 70), like ξυμμαχία for ξύμμαχοι, etc. See on Ephesians 2:2. On the
connection with the kindred verb (to take captive, to lead, to bring in as such), comp. 2
Chronicles 28:5; 1Ma 9:72; and see, in general, Winer, p. 201 [E. T. 282]; Lobeck, Paral. p. 501.
The character ΑἸΧΜΑΛΩΤΕΎΩ of as Greek is even worse than that of ΑἸΧΜΑΛΩΤΊΖΩ. See
Lobeck, ad Phryn p. 442. But what subjects are meant by ΑἸΧΜΑΛΩΣΊΑ? Not the redeemed, as
already Justin, c. Tryph. 36; further, Theodoret (Οὐ ΓᾺΡ ἘΛΕΥΘΈΡΟΥς ὌΝΤΑς ἩΜᾶς
ᾘΧΜΑΛΏΤΕΥΣΕΝ, ἈΛΛʼ ὙΠῸ ΤΟῦ ΔΙΑΒΌΛΟΥ ΓΕΓΕΝΗΜΈΝΟΥς
ἈΝΤῌΧΜΑΛΏΤΕΥΣΕ, ΚΑῚ ΤῊΝ ἘΛΕΥΘΕΡΊΑΝ ἩΜῖΝ ἘΔΩΡΉΣΑΤΟ), Oecumenius,
Thomas, Erasmus (“captivorum gregem e peccati diabolique tyrannide liberatum”), and others,
including Meier, Harless, Olshausen (“men upon earth, so far as they are held captive by sin and
in the ultimate ground by the prince of this world, and among these, in particular, the Gentile
world”), Baumgarten-Crusius (“those gained for the kingdom of Christ”), have interpreted it;
seeing that the captives, both according to the original text and according to our citation, are
different from the ἀνθρώποι who are subsequently mentioned, namely, such vanquished ones as
are visited by the victor with the hard penal fate of captives in war. Hence also it cannot be the
souls delivered by Christ from Hades (Lyra, Estius, and many Catholic expositors; König, von
Christi Hbllenfahrt, p. 26; Delitzsch, Psychol. p. 414; and Baur) that are spoken of. It is the
enemies of Christ and His kingdom, the antichristian powers, including those of hell (but not
these alone); their power is broken by the completed redeeming work of the Lord. By His
resurrection and exaltation they have been rendered powerless, and subjected to His victorious
might; consequently they appear, in accordance with the poetical mould of our passage, as those
whom He has vanquished and carries with Him on His procession from Hades into heaven (see
Ephesians 4:9), so that He, having gone up on high, brings them in as prisoners of war. Not as if
He has really brought them in captivity to heaven, but under the figure of the triumphator, as
which the ascended Christ appears in accordance with the prophetic view given in Psalms 68, the
matter thus presents itself, namely, the overcoming of His foes displaying itself through His
ascension. This vanquishing, we may add, in its actual execution still continues even after the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/jesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641/85/Jesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-15-320.jpg)
![entering upon the kingly office which took place with the exaltation of Christ; δεῖ γὰρ αὐτὸν
βασιλεύειν ἄχρις οὗ θῇ πάντας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ, 1 Corinthians 15:25. Not the
final overcoming of the foes of Christ is thus meant, but the actual αἰχμαλωτεύειν αἰχμαλ.
ofttimes recurs until the final consummation, until at length ἔσχατος ἐχθρὸς καταργεῖται ὁ
θάνατος, 1 Corinthians 15:26, namely, at the resurrection on the last day. In this case, however,
there is the more reason for leaving the matter without more precise definition of the hostile
powers vanquished (Satanic and human), as the context suggests nothing more special, and as,
speaking generally, the ᾐχμαλώτ. αἰχμαλ. does not form for the aim and connection of our
passage the essential point of the psalmist’s saying, but the latter would have been quite as fully
in its place here, even though that ᾘΧΜΑΛΏΤ. ΑἸΧΜ. had not been inserted, since the element
confirmatory of Ephesians 4:7 lies simply in the ἈΝΑΒᾺς ΕἸς ὝΨΟς ἜΔΩΚΕ ΔΌΜΑΤΑ ΤΟῖς
ἈΝΘΡΏΠΟΙς.[209] Yet we have not, with Morus (comp. flatt), to rationalize the conception of
the apostle: “removit omnia, quae religionis suae propagationi et felicitati hominum obstarent
impedimenta,” by which the sense is altered, and vanquished foes become obstacles taken out of
the way.
δόματα] according to Paul, gifts in which ἘΔΌΘΗ Ἡ ΧΆΡΙς 7, thus equivalent to
ΧΑΡΊΣΜΑΤΑ. An appropriate commentary on the sense in which Paul has taken the citation, is
Acts 2:33. But to look upon the interpretation of the ἜΛΑΒΕ ΔΌΜΑΤΑ of the Ps. l.c., in the
sense of gifts of the Spirit as current among the disciples of the apostles (de Wette), is the more
arbitrary, inasmuch as de Wette himself finds it probable that some apostle has allegorized the
passage of the psalm.
[204] On what particular historic occasion this highly poetic song was composed, is for our
passage a matter of indifference. According to the traditional view, it was composed by David on
the occasion of the removal of the ark of the covenant from the house of Obed-edom to
Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:12 ff.; 1 Chronicles 15 f.); according to Ewald, for the consecration of the
new temple after the captivity; according to Hupfeld, upon the return from the captivity and the
restoration of the kingdom; according to Hitzig, in celebration of the victory after the war of
Jehoram and Jehoshaphat against the Moabites (2 Kings 3). Others explain it otherwise. See the
different views and explanations in Keuss, d. acht u. sechzigste Psalm, tin Denkmal exeget. Noth
u. Kunst, 1851, who, however, himself very inappropriately (without “exegetical exigency and
art”) places the Psalm in the late period between Alexander and the Maccabees, when the wish
for the reunion of the scattered Israelites in Palestine is supposed to be expressed in it; while
Justus Olshausen even interprets it of the victories of the Maccabees under Jonathan or Simon.
See Ewald, Jahrb. IV. p. 55 f. Certainly the psalm is neither Davidic nor of the Maccabaean age,
but belongs to the restoration of the Theocracy after the captivity.
[205] Yet לקחנ might also denote that men themselves are the gifts. So Ewald takes it, l.c. (and
comp. his Ausführl. Lehrb. der Hebr. Sprache, § 287 h), referring it specially to the humbler
servants of the temple, whom David and Solomon, e.g., gathered from among the subjugated
peoples and settled around the temple, whom thus God, as if in a triumphal procession from
Sinai to Zion, Himself brought in as captives, and then caused to be devoted by men to Him as
offerings, in order that they, who were once so turbulent, might dwell peacefully in His service
(“even rebellious ones must dwell with Jah God,” as Ewald renders the closing words of the
passage). The sense: “through men,” which Hoelemann, on account of ver. 11, finds as a](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/jesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641/85/Jesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-16-320.jpg)
![“secondary” meaning in ,לקחנ is not to be thought of, not even according to the apostle, who has
expressed his view with such simple definiteness by ἔδωκε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις.
[206] The phrase formerly so often compared, ַמ ָּנַם נ ָת ַח אָדנם (Exodus 21:10; Exodus 34:16), is not
in place here, since אָדנם, in that phrase, signifies nothing else than the simple take.
[207] Chrysostom, without, however, entering into any particulars, says merely: the prophet says
thou hast received, but Paul: he has given; and the two are one and the same. Theodoret more
precisely explains himself: ἀμφότερα δὲ (the taking and giving) γεγένηναι· λαμβάνων γὰρ τὴν
πίστιν ἀποδίδωσι τὴν χάριν. Comp. Oecumenius.
[208] “Paul does not wish by the quotation primarily to represent Christ as the dispenser of the
gifts, but to prove from the O. T. itself the universality of the gifts of Christ, consequently the
equal title of the Gentiles; He has by His redemption conferred gifts not merely on this one or
that one, not upon the Jews alone, but upon men as such, upon mankind.” What Olshausen has
further advanced respecting the dative expression with the article (instead of which the Hebrew
text has among men, while no article is used in the LXX.)—to wit, that by ἔδ. δόμ τοῖς
ἀνθρώποις, which applies to all men, it is not intended to say: all men must be redeemed, and as
redeemed receive gifts; but: all men may be redeemed, and as redeemed obtain gifts of grace;
and in so far this deviation from the original was altogether immaterial—is pure invention. The
difference certainly does not lie in the fact that לָק ָחָת points only to some, and the expression of
Paul to all men, as Olshausen supposes, but solely in the אדם of the original text and the ἔδωκε
of Paul. As well לקחנ as τοῖς ἀνθρώποις designates men according to the category; but according
to the original text it is men who are the givers, so that the Triumphator takes them; whereas,
according to Paul, the men are the recipients, to whom He gives.
[209] Chrysostom, Theophylact, Beza, Calovius, and many others understood specially the devil
and those things connected with him, death, condemnation, and sin. Comp. Luther’s gloss: “that
is sin, death, and conscience, that they may not seize or keep us.” Grotius rationalizes: “per
apostolorum doctrinam vicit et velut captivam egit idololatriam et vitia alia.” Most
comprehensively, but with an admixture of heterogeneous elements, Calvin says: “Neque enim
Satanam modo et peecatum et mortem totosque inferos prostravit, sed ex rebellibus quotidie facit
sibi obsequentem populum, quum verbo suo carnis nostrae lasciviam domat; rursus hostes suos,
i.e. impios omnes quasi ferreis catenis continet constrictos, dum illorum furorem cohibet sua
virtute, ne plus valeant, quam illis concedit.”
Expositor's Greek TestamentHYPERLINK "/ephesians/4-8.htm"Ephesians 4:8. διὸ λέγει:
wherefore He saith, when He ascended on high. The διό introduces the words which follow as a
confirmation of what has just been said; and these words are not a parenthesis, but part of a
direct and continuous statement; = “the fact that it is thus with Christ and His gift, and that the
grace which we possess is bestowed by Him on each of us in varying measures as He distributes
it, has the witness of God Himself in OT Scripture”. The quotation which follows is obviously
taken from Psalm 68:18, and in the main in the form in which it is given in the LXX. There are
difficulties in the rendering which Paul uses and in the application he makes of it. But they are
not such as to justify the assertion that the passage is a quotation from some Christian hymn, and
not from Scripture. There is nothing in the verse or in the context to suggest anything else than
the Psalm. The question is raised whether the introductory λέγει is personal or impersonal; and](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/jesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641/85/Jesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-17-320.jpg)
![whether, if personal, ὁ Θεός, or ἡ γραφή, or τὸ πνεῦμα is to be understood. OT quotations are
usually introduced by the personal term in such forms as ὁ προφήτης λέγει (Acts 2:17), ἡ γραφὴ
λέγει (Romans 10:17), Ἡσαΐας λέγει (Romans 10:16; Romans 10:20), Μωυσῆς λέγει (Romans
10:19), Δαβὶδ λέγει (Romans 4:6), ἡ δὲ ἐκ πίστεως δικαιοσύνη λέγει (Romans 10:6). Sometimes,
again, passive forms are used, γέγραπται (Romans 10:15), μαρτυρεῖται (Hebrews 7:17), etc. In
other cases the simple φησί (1 Corinthians 6:16; Hebrews 8:5), εἴρηκε (Hebrews 4:4), or λέγει
(Galatians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:2; Ephesians 4:8; Ephesians 5:14) is used; and in one case the
λέγει is introduced as continuing γέγραπται (Romans 15:10). Some, therefore, hold that, in cases
like the present, λέγει is impersonal, = “it is said,” as φησί is used impersonally in Attic (Abb.;
cf. Light, on Galatians 3:16). As the NT, however, makes a very limited use of impersonal verbs
of any kind, most take these undefined verbs by which quotations are introduced as personal, and
so it is with λέγει here. The subject to be supplied must be the one most readily suggested by the
context; and here, as in most cases, that will be neither ἡ γραφή nor τὸ Πνεῦμα, but ὁ Θεός. The
full formula λέγει ὁ Θεός occurs in Acts 2:17, and is implied in the πάλιν τινὰ ὁρίζει ἡμέραν,
“Σήμερον,” ἐν Δαυεὶδ λέγων of Hebrews 4:7. It is also confirmed in some degree by the
analogous mention of the Holy Ghost in Hebrews 10:15 (cf. Win.-Moult., p. 656; Blass, Gram.
of N. T. Greek, p. 75).—Ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος: when He ascended on high. In the Psalm the
victorious Subject is addressed in the second person; here the “Thou” becomes “He”. In the
Psalm the ascent expressed by לָלו ָנים ָ יַםָם (= “Thou hast gone up to the height”) is the triumphant
ascent of the God of Israel to Zion, the place of His earthly rest, or (better) to heaven His proper
habitation, after the victory He achieved for His people. Here it is the ascension of Christ to the
right hand of God (cf. Acts 2:33). The aor. part. has its most proper temporal force, denoting
something that preceded the main event in view. It means here, therefore, that Christ’s ascension
had taken place before He distributed the gifts of grace.—ᾐχμάλωτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν: He led
captivity captive. In the original י ַנ ִת ָ י ַנ ָ,ת the abstract αἰχμαλωσίαν (= “a body of captives”)
chosen according to a familiar usage (cf. Numbers 31:12; 2 Chronicles 28:11; see Win.-Moult.,
p. 282), instead of the concrete αἰχμαλώτους (“captives”), adds to the force of the sentence. The
verb αἰχμαλωτεύω belongs to late Greek; it is pretty freely used in the LXX and the Apocrypha.
The phrase is a general one, meaning nothing more than that He made captives (cf. Jdg 5:12),
and suggesting nothing as to who these captives were. Neither in the Psalm nor in Paul’s use of it
here is there anything to warrant the idea that the captives are the redeemed (Theod.), or men in
the bonds of sin on earth (Harl.), or souls detained in Hades (Est., König, Delit., etc.). The most
that the words themselves, or passages more or less analogous (1 Corinthians 15:25-26) warrant
us to say is that the captives are the enemies of Christ; just as in the Psalm they are the enemies
of Israel and Israel’s God. But these are left quite undefined, and the whole idea of the clause is
subordinate to that next expressed, viz., the giving of the gifts.—καὶ ἔδωκε δόματα τοῖς
ἀνθρώποις: and gave gifts unto men. The καί of the TR is found in [377] [378] [379]3[380]3
[381] [382], etc.; but is omitted in [383] [384] [385] [386]2[387]*[388], 17, etc. It is put in
brackets by WH, and omitted by LT, but retained (on the whole rightly) by RV. Here the
quotation diverges widely, both from the original Hebrew, which has אמ ָָֹּונ ָָּ ָּאָדנם לָק ָחָת (= “Thou
hast received gifts among men”); and from the LXX which renders it ἔλαβες δόματα ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ
(or ἀνθρώποις). The idea in the Psalm is that of Jehovah, the Conqueror, receiving gifts, that is to
say, gifts of homage; or, possibly, receiving the captured men themselves regarded as gifts or
offerings, the לָק ָחָת being capable of that sense (cf. Ewald, Aus. Lehrb. d. Hebr. Sprache, § 287
h). The idea expressed here is that of the ascended Christ giving gifts to men; ἔδωκε being
substituted for ἔλαβες, and τοῖς ἀνθρώποις for the generic ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ (or ἐν ἀνθρώποις).—Thus](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/jesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641/85/Jesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-18-320.jpg)
![in order to suit the purpose of a testimony to the statement made regarding Christ and the gift of
grace, the OT passage is materially changed. OT quotations introduced in the NT are given
without much regard to the literal faithfulness with which quotations are expected to be made in
modern times; and in other passages made use of by Paul (e.g., Romans 10:6-10) we discover a
remarkable liberty both in reproduction and in application. But in none is the change so great as
in the present case. There is first the departure from the historical meaning of the Psalm; in
which, however, this passage stands by no means alone. The Psalm in which this magnificent
description of the victorious march of Israel’s God occurs, celebrates the establishment of
Jehovah’s kingdom in the past and proclaims the certainty of its triumph over all enemies and in
all nations in the future. It does this in connection with some great event in the history of Israel.
All possible opinions have been expressed as to the particular occasion of the Psalm. It has been
identified with the removal of the Ark to Zion in David’s time (2 Samuel 6:12, etc.; 1 Chronicles
15); with some unnamed victory of David or with David’s victories generally; with the placing
of the Ark in Solomon’s Temple; with the victory of Jehoshaphat and Jehoram over Moab (2
Kings 3; Hitzig); with the check given to the Assyrians in Hezekiah’s time; with the consecration
of the Temple of the Restoration (Ewald); with the return from the captivity (Hupfeld); with the
struggle between Egypt and Syria for the possession of the Holy Land towards the close of the
third century B.C.; with the victories of Jonathan or Simon in the Maccabean wars (Olsh.); with
the struggle between Ptolemy Philometor and Alexander Balas (1 Maccabees 14), etc. But all
this uncertainty as to the particular date and occasion does not affect the fact that what is dealt
with is some great passage in the history of the Jewish nation. The probabilities are that the
Psalm belongs to the latter part of the Babylonian exile; but Paul passes by the actual historical
intention of the words and puts on them a quite different sense. There is, secondly, the notable
change from Jehovah receiving gifts to Christ giving gifts. Some have explained this by
supposing that Paul followed a Hebrew text which read ַ , or some such form, instead of אדם ;
but of this there is no evidence. It is possible, indeed, that the Apostle adopted a traditional
version or interpretation of the passage which was familiar, and of which some indication is
found in the Peshitta Syriac and the Chaldee Paraphrase (both having a rendering = “Thou didst
give gifts to the children of men”). Something also may be said in support of the explanation that
the אָדנם of the original, which is used elsewhere in the sense of fetching or taking in order to give
(Genesis 18:5; Genesis 27:13; Genesis 42:16; Genesis 48:9, etc.), has that meaning here. But
after all such explanations the fact remains that both the terms and the idea are changed. There is
thirdly the Messianic interpretation. It is here that the justification of the change is found. The
Psalm, there is good reason to believe, had been regarded as a Messianic Psalm; and the use
made of it by Paul was in all probability in accordance with views of Messianic prophecy which
had become current, and with a method of dealing with the OT which was generally understood.
But in any case it is an application rather than an interpretation in the strict sense of the word that
we have here. And the justification of such an application lies in the fact that the unknown event
celebrated in the Psalm was a victory of the Theocratic King, and in that sense a part of that
triumph of the Kingdom of God which was to be carried to its consummation by the Messiah.
[377] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of
the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.
[378] Codex Ephraemi (sæc. v.), the Paris palimpsest, edited by Tischendorf in 1843.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/jesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641/85/Jesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-19-320.jpg)
![[379] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its
discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.
[380] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in
1852.
[381] Codex Mosquensis (sæc. ix.), edited by Matthæi in 1782.
[382] Codex Angelicus (sæc. ix.), at Rome, collated by Tischendorf and others.
[383] Autograph of the original scribe of .ח
[384] Autograph of the original scribe of .ח
[385] Codex Alexandrinus (sæc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile
by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).
[386] Codex Ephraemi (sæc. v.), the Paris palimpsest, edited by Tischendorf in 1843.
[387] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in
1852.
[388] Codex Boernerianus (sæc. ix.), a Græco-Latin MS., at Dresden, edited by Matthæi in 1791.
Written by an Irish scribe, it once formed part of the same volume as Codex Sangallensis (δ) of
the Gospels. The Latin text, g, is based on the O.L. translation.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges8. Wherefore he saith] Or it, i.e. the Scripture, saith.
St Paul’s usage in quotation leaves the subject of the verb undetermined here and in similar cases
(see e.g. ch. Ephesians 5:14). For him, the word of the Scripture and the word of its Author are
convertible terms.—“Wherefore”:—as if to say, “the Scripture statement of course answers to
the spiritual fact just given.”
When he ascended, &c.] Psalms 68 (LXX. 67) 18. The Heb. there is lit., “Thou didst ascend on
high; Thou didst lead captive a captivity (a band of captives); Thou didst take gifts amongst
men,” or more lit., “in man.” The LXX. renders, “When Thou didst ascend on high, Thou didst
lead captive a captivity; Thou didst take gifts in man.” The Targum, or Chaldee paraphrase,
which is little likely to have been influenced by this passage, renders, “Thou hast given to them
gifts, even to the sons of men.”
On this quotation, we first examine the discrepancy between “take gifts” and “give gifts,” and
between “among men” and “for” or “to men,” and then briefly remark on the use made of the
Psalmist’s words by the Apostle.
α. The first discrepancy is not to be reconciled by an attempt to make the Heb. verb mean both
“give” and “take.” But what if the “taking” was for the purpose of “giving”? The Conqueror,
Divine or human, in Psalms 68 may well be conceived as receiving grants for distribution among
his vassals. If so, the Targum (see above) and the Apostle rightly convey the intention of the](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/jesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641/85/Jesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-20-320.jpg)
![Haldane on Romans 1:17, for a very masterly view of this subject, with remarks on Matthew
2:16, and other passages supposed to demand the accommodation theory.
"Nothing can be more dishonorable," says that prince of English commentators, on the Epistle to
the Romans, "to the character of divine revelation, and injurious to the edification of believers,
than this method of explaining the quotations in the New Testament from the Old, not as
predictions or interpretations, but as mere illustrations, by way of accommodation. In this way,
many of the prophecies referred to in the Epistles are set aside from their proper application, and
Christians are taught that they do not prove what the apostles adduced them to establish." In
reference to the quotation in this place, there seems little difficulty in connection with the view,
that though the primary reference be to the bringing up of the ark to Mount Zion, the ultimate
one is to the glorious ascension of Jesus into the highest heavens. The Jews rightly interpret part
of this psalm Ps. 68 of the Messiah. Nor is it to he believed that the apostle would have applied it
to the ascension of Christ unless that application had been admitted by the Jews in his time, and
unless himself were persuaded of its propriety.
When he ascended up on high - To heaven. The Psalm is, "Thou hast ascended on high;"
compare Ephesians 1:22-23.
He led captivity captive - The meaning of this in the Psalm is, that he triumphed over his foes.
The margin is, "a multitude of captives." But this, I think, is not quite the idea. It is language
derived from a conqueror, who not only makes captives, but who makes captives of those who
were then prisoners, and who conducts them as a part of his triumphal procession. He not only
subdues his enemy, but he leads his captives in triumph. The allusion is to the public triumphs of
conquerors, especially as celebrated among the Romans, in which captives were led in chains
(Tacitus, Ann. xii. 38), and to the custom in such triumphs of distributing presents among the
soldiers; compare also Judges 5:30, where it appears that this was also an early custom in other
nations. Burder, in Res. Alt u. neu Morgenland, in loc. When Christ ascended to heaven, he
triumphed ever all his foes. It was a complete victory over the malice of the great enemy of God,
and over those who had sought his life. But he did more. He rescued those who were the captives
of Satan, and led them in triumph. Man was held by Satan as a prisoner. His chains were around
him. Christ rescued the captive prisoner, and designed to make him a part of his triumphal
procession into heaven, that thus the victory might be complete - triumphing not only over the
great foe himself, but swelling his procession with the attending hosts of those who "had been"
the captives of Satan, now rescued and redeemed.
And gave gifts unto men - Such as he specifies in Ephesians 4:11.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary8. Wherefore—"For which reason," namely, in
order to intimate that Christ, the Head of the Church, is the author of all these different gifts, and
that giving of them is an act of His "grace" [Estius].
he saith—God, whose word the Scripture is (Ps 68:18).
When he ascended—God is meant in the Psalm, represented by the ark, which was being brought
up to Zion in triumph by David, after that "the Lord had given him rest round about from all his
enemies" (2Sa 6:1-7:1; 1Ch 15:1-29). Paul quotes it of Christ ascending to heaven, who is
therefore God.
captivity—that is, a band of captives. In the Psalm, the captive foes of David. In the antitypical
meaning, the foes of Christ the Son of David, the devil, death, the curse, and sin (Col 2:15; 2Pe
2:4), led as it were in triumphal procession as a sign of the destruction of the foe.](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-10-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![Hebrew text it is, "thou hast ascended"; there the psalmist speaks to the Messiah, here the apostle
speaks of him; though the Arabic and Ethiopic read there, "he ascended", as here:
he led captivity captive; which is expressive of Christ's conquests and triumph over sin, Satan,
the world, death, and the grave; and indeed, every spiritual enemy of his and his people,
especially the devil, who leads men captive at his will, and is therefore called captivity, and his
principalities and powers, whom Christ has spoiled and triumphed over; the allusion is to the
public triumphs of the Romans, in which captives were led in chains, and exposed to open view
(s):
and gave gifts unto men; meaning the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and particularly such as qualify
men for the work of the ministry; these he received "in man"; in human nature, in that nature in
which he ascended to heaven; , "in the man that is known above" (t), as say the Jews; and these
he bestows on men, even rebellious ones, that the Lord God might dwell among them, and make
them useful to others: wherefore the Jews have no reason to quarrel with the version of the
apostle as they do (u); who, instead of "received gifts for" men, renders it, "gave gifts to men";
since the Messiah received in order to give, and gives in consequence of his having received
them; and so Jarchi interprets the words, "to give them" to the children of men; and besides, as a
learned man has observed (w), one and the same Hebrew word signifies to give and to receive; to
which may be added that their own Targum renders it "and hast given gifts to the children of
men"; and in like manner the Syriac and Arabic versions of Psalm 68:18 render the words; very
likely the apostle might use the Syriac version, which is a very ancient one: it was customary at
triumphs to give gifts to the soldiers (x), to which there is an allusion here.
(q) Targum & Jarchi in Psal. lxviii 18. (r) Aben Ezra in loc. (s) Alex. ab Alex. Genial. Dier. l. 6.
c. 6. (t) Zohar in Numb. fol. 61. 4. (u) R. Isaac. Chizzuk Emuna, par. 2. c. 91. (w) Pocock. not.
Misc. p. 24. (x) Alex. ab. Alex. ib. ut supra. (Genial. Dier. l. 6. c. 6.)
Geneva Study BibleWherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led {g} captivity
captive, and gave gifts unto men.
(g) A multitude of captives.
EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Meyer's NT CommentaryHYPERLINK "/ephesians/4-8.htm"Ephesians 4:8. If it had just been
said that by Christ the endowment of grace was distributed in varied measure to each individual,
this is now confirmed by a testimony of the Scripture. Nothing is to be treated as a parenthesis,
inasmuch as neither course of thought nor construction is interrupted.
διὸ λέγει] wherefore, because the case stands, as has been said, Ephesians 4:7, He saith. Who
says it (comp. Ephesians 5:14), is obvious of itself, namely, God, whose word the Scripture is.
See on 1 Corinthians 6:16; Galatians 3:16; the supplying ἡ γραφή or τὸ πνεῦμα must have been
suggested by the context (Romans 15:10). The manner of citation with the simple λέγει,
obviously meant of God, has as its necessary presupposition, in the mind of the writer and
readers, the Theopneustia of the O. T. The citation that follows is not “ex carmine, quod ab
Ephesiis cantitari sciret,” and in which Psalm 68:18 had partly furnished the words (Storr,
Opusc. III. p. 309; Flatt),—which is quite an arbitrary way of avoiding the difficulty, and at
variance with the divine λέγει,—but is the passage of Scripture Psalm 68:18 itself according to
the LXX. with free alteration. This psalm, in its historical sense a song of triumph upon the
solemn entry of God into Zion,[204] is here understood according to its Messianic significance—](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-12-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![an understanding, which has its warrant, not indeed in the much too general and vague
proposition, that one and the same God is the Revealer of the Old and of the New Covenant
(Harless), but in the circumstance that the triumphal procession of Jehovah, celebrated in the
psalm, represents the victory of the Theocracy; and that, as every victory of the Theocracy is of a
typical and in so far prophetic Messianic character, the return of Christ into heaven appears as
the Messianic actual consummation of the divine triumph. The free deviation from the original
text and the LXX. consists partly in the immaterial circumstance that Paul transfers into the third
person that which is said in the second, and adds to ἀνθρώποις the article wanting in the LXX.;
partly in the essential point, that instead of the original sense: “Thou receivedst gifts (namely,
gifts of homage) among[205] men” (לָק ָחָת ַמ ָָֹּונ ָָּ ָּאָדנם, LXX.: ἔλαβες δόματα ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ, or
according to another reading: ἐν ἀνθρώποις), he expresses the sense: He gave gifts to men, ָ נ ַָ
ַָתַנחֹום ַמ ָָֹּונ luaP yltneuqesnoC .XXL eht fo noitisnart eht gnicudorper stcepser rehto ni elihw ,יל
has, as regards the ἔδωκε, given a sense opposite to the original one—a degree of variation such
as, with all freedom in the employment of Old Testament passages, is nowhere else met with in
the writings of the apostle, on which account the book Chissuk Emuna accused him of falsifying
the words of the psalm, while Whiston looked upon the Hebrew text and the LXX. in Psalm
68:18 as corrupt. This difference is not to be explained, with Rückert, by lightly asserting: “Paul
did not even perhaps know exactly how the words ran,” etc.; for in this way he would be
chargeable with a shallow caprice, for which there is no warrant; moreover, the agreement, in
other respects, of the citation with the original text and the LXX. leads us to infer too exact an
acquaintance with the passage adduced, to allow us to assume that Paul adduced the words in the
full belief that ַ ָ was read in the Hebrew, and ἜΔΩΚΕ in the LXX. Rather must he have in
reality understood the passage of the psalm, as to its main substance, just as he gives it.
Inasmuch, namely, as he had recognised the words in their bearing upon the antitypical
Messianic fulfilment, and that as a confirmation of what had been said of Christ in Ephesians
4:7, this latter special application must either have been suggested to him by another reading,
which he followed (ַ instead of אדם ), or else—with the freedom of a Messianic interpretation
of the words—by an exposition of the Hebrew words, which yielded essentially the sense
expressed by him. If the latter is the case (for in favour of the former there is no trace of critical
support), he took אדם , etc., in the sense: thou didst take away gifts, to distribute them among
men (on the ָּ,ת see Ewald, Ausführl. Lehrb. der Heb. Spr. § 217 f. 1), and translated this in an
explanatory way: ἔδωκε δόματα τοῖς ἀνθρώποις; in connection with which the transposing into
the third person is to be regarded as an unintentional variation in citing from memory. ,אדם
namely, has often the proleptic sense to fetch [Germ. holen], i.e. to take anything for a person
and to give it to him. See Genesis 18:5; Genesis 27:13; Genesis 42:16; Genesis 48:9; Job 38:20
(and Hirzel in loc.); 2 Samuel 4:6, al.; see Gesen. Thes. II. p. 760, and Hoelemann, p. 97 f.
Comp. Bengel: “accepit dona, quae statim daret.” The utterance, however, as thus
understood,[206] Paul has reproduced, interpreting it as he has done, in order to place beyond
doubt the sense which he attached to it, for the reader who might have otherwise understood the
words of the LXX. The Chaldee Paraphrast likewise understood םדא in such wise, that, while
interpreting the passage of Moses, he could expound: ַָ ָּ ֹונ ָנמ ָּחם ָָלַ ֵיַ ָּנַם ָ, dedisti dona filiis
hominum. It is evident from this, since there is good reason for presupposing in the Targum—the
more so, as in our passage the Peshito agrees therewith (which likewise, Psalms 68 l.c., has
dedisti dona filiis hominum)—older exegetical traditions, that Paul himself may have followed
such a tradition (Holzhausen, Baumgarten-Crusius, Credner, Beiträge, II. p. 121 f.). To assume
that he actually did so, is in itself, and in reference to the previous Rabbinical training of the](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-13-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![apostle, free from objection, and has sufficient warrant in that old and peculiar agreement, even
though we should explain the agreement between the same citation in Justin, c. Tryph. 39, 87,
and the quotation of the apostle, by a dependence upon the latter (Credner, Beitr. II. p. 120). On
the other hand, it is not to be said, with Beza, Calovius, and most older expositors,[207] that the
explanation given by Paul really corresponds with the historic sense of the passage in the Psalm
(see especially, Geier, ad Ps. l.c. p. 1181; comp. also Hoelemann, p. 98 f.), which, judging by the
context, is decidedly incorrect3. Even Calvin says: “nonnihil a genuino sensu hoc testimonium
detorsit Paulus;” and already Theodore of Mopsuestia aptly remarks: ὑπαλλάξας δὲ τὸ ἔλαβε
δόματα οὕτως ἐν τῷ ψαλμῷ κείμενον, ἔδωκε δόματα εἶπε, τῇ ὑπαλλαγῇ περὶ τὴν οἰκείαν
χρησάμενος ἀκολουθίαν· ἐκεῖ μὲν γὰρ (in the psalm) πρὸς τὴν ὑπόθεσιν τὸ ἔλαβεν ἥρμοττεν,
ἐνταῦθα δὲ (in our passage) τῷ προκειμένῳ τὸ ἔδωκεν ἀκόλουθον ἦν. The deviation from the
historic sense cannot be set aside with fairness and without arbitrary presuppositions. This holds
not only of the opinions of Jerome and Erasmus (that in the psalm אדם is used, because the giving
has not yet taken place, but is promised as future) and of Calvin (“quum de Christi exaltatione
pauca verba Psalmi citasset, de suo adjecit, eum dedisse dona, ut sit minoris et majoris
comparatio, qua ostendere vult Paulus, quanto praestantior sit ista Dei ascensio in Christi
persona, quam fuerit in veteribus ecclesiae triumphis”), but also of the expedients to which
Harless and Olshausen have recourse. According to Harless, namely, Paul wishes to express the
identity of God, whose deeds at that time the word of Scripture represents in a form which, as
identical with the form of Christ’s action, makes us recognise the word of the O. T. as pointing
forward. to what was to come, and the Christ of the N.T. as the God who already revealed
Himself under the O. T.; in the words of the psalm the captives themselves are described as
sacrificial gifts, which the victor as God takes to Himself among men; the apostle changes
merely the form of the words, so far as the context makes it necessary, inasmuch as he wishes to
make out that those vanquished ones—who have not made themselves what they are, but have
been made so of God—are those, of whom he had said that on every one according to the
measure of the gift of Christ the grace had been bestowed which was already pointed to in the
psalm. “There is no other there,” says the apostle, “than He who had descended to earth, to gain
for Himself His own; not that they would have presented themselves to Him, but He takes them
as it pleases Him, and makes them what it pleases Him.” But (1) Paul does not wish to express
the identity of God, etc., but to show that what is said of Christ in Ephesians 4:7 was also already
prophesied Psalm 68:18; it was a question of the identity of the thing, as to which it was self-
evident that the triumph celebrated in Psalms 68 is in the N.T. fulfilment celebrated by Christ,
who had come in the name of the Lord. (2) In the Ps. l.c., אדם ֹו ַו applies to the gifts of
homage which the triumphing Jehovah has received among (from) men. Certainly, according to
another explanation (see above, Ewald’s view, and comp. also Bleek), the men themselves,
namely, the vanquished, may be regarded as the gifts or offerings which God has received; but
who could withal read between the lines in the apostle’s citation what, according to Harless, one
ought to read between them, in order in the end to find only the form of the words changed?
Olshausen, who, we may mention, quite erroneously (see Ephesians 4:9-10) specifies ΤΟῖς
ἈΝΘΡΏΠΟΙς as the point of the citation,[208] agrees with Harless in so far as he is of opinion
that the thought of the psalmist: “Thou hast taken to Thyself gifts among men,” affirms nothing
else than: “Thou hast chosen to Thyself the redeemed as offerings;” but further adds: “But the
man whom God chooses as an offering for Himself, i.e. as an instrument for His aims, He
furnishes with the gifts necessary to the attainment of the same; and this side (?) the apostle, in
accordance with his tendency, here brings into special prominence.” Similarly also Hofmann,](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-14-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![Schriftbew. II. 1, p. 484 f., who is of opinion that here, in the N.T. application of the passage
from the psalm, it is one and the same thing whether one say: that Christ has, for the
accomplishment of the work of His honour, caused to be given to Himself by His vanquished
that which they possessed, or: that He has given them gifts to this end; “for He takes that which
is theirs into His service, when He gives to them what is His, to make them capable of service.”
Essentially so also Delitzsch on the Psalm, l.c. Such subtleties, by means of which any quid pro
quo at pleasure may easily enough be got out of the alleged light and significance of the “history
of the fulfilment” (Delitzsch), may be conveniently foisted upon the words of the apostle, but
with what right?
ἈΝΑΒᾺς ΕἸς ὝΨΟς] Whether we understand the למל ָנים ָ יַםָם in the original text of the
ascending of the victorious God into heaven (Hengstenberg, Lengerke, Hitzig, Harless,
Hoelemann, and others) or to Zion (Ewald, Bleek), or leave it without more precise definition of
place (Hofmann); according to the Messianic accomplishment of the divine triumphal
procession, which takes place through Christ, the words apply to Christ ascended (comp.
ὙΨΩΘΕΊς, Acts 2:33) to heaven (Psalm 102:20, al.; Sir 13:8; Luke 1:78), who has brought in as
captives enemies that have been vanquished by Him upon this triumphal march.
αἰχμαλωσία, namely, is the abstract collective for αἰχμάλωτοι (Jdt 2:9; Ezra 6:5; Revelation
13:10; Diod. Sic. xvii. 70), like ξυμμαχία for ξύμμαχοι, etc. See on Ephesians 2:2. On the
connection with the kindred verb (to take captive, to lead, to bring in as such), comp. 2
Chronicles 28:5; 1Ma 9:72; and see, in general, Winer, p. 201 [E. T. 282]; Lobeck, Paral. p. 501.
The character ΑἸΧΜΑΛΩΤΕΎΩ of as Greek is even worse than that of ΑἸΧΜΑΛΩΤΊΖΩ. See
Lobeck, ad Phryn p. 442. But what subjects are meant by ΑἸΧΜΑΛΩΣΊΑ? Not the redeemed, as
already Justin, c. Tryph. 36; further, Theodoret (Οὐ ΓᾺΡ ἘΛΕΥΘΈΡΟΥς ὌΝΤΑς ἩΜᾶς
ᾘΧΜΑΛΏΤΕΥΣΕΝ, ἈΛΛʼ ὙΠῸ ΤΟῦ ΔΙΑΒΌΛΟΥ ΓΕΓΕΝΗΜΈΝΟΥς
ἈΝΤῌΧΜΑΛΏΤΕΥΣΕ, ΚΑῚ ΤῊΝ ἘΛΕΥΘΕΡΊΑΝ ἩΜῖΝ ἘΔΩΡΉΣΑΤΟ), Oecumenius,
Thomas, Erasmus (“captivorum gregem e peccati diabolique tyrannide liberatum”), and others,
including Meier, Harless, Olshausen (“men upon earth, so far as they are held captive by sin and
in the ultimate ground by the prince of this world, and among these, in particular, the Gentile
world”), Baumgarten-Crusius (“those gained for the kingdom of Christ”), have interpreted it;
seeing that the captives, both according to the original text and according to our citation, are
different from the ἀνθρώποι who are subsequently mentioned, namely, such vanquished ones as
are visited by the victor with the hard penal fate of captives in war. Hence also it cannot be the
souls delivered by Christ from Hades (Lyra, Estius, and many Catholic expositors; König, von
Christi Hbllenfahrt, p. 26; Delitzsch, Psychol. p. 414; and Baur) that are spoken of. It is the
enemies of Christ and His kingdom, the antichristian powers, including those of hell (but not
these alone); their power is broken by the completed redeeming work of the Lord. By His
resurrection and exaltation they have been rendered powerless, and subjected to His victorious
might; consequently they appear, in accordance with the poetical mould of our passage, as those
whom He has vanquished and carries with Him on His procession from Hades into heaven (see
Ephesians 4:9), so that He, having gone up on high, brings them in as prisoners of war. Not as if
He has really brought them in captivity to heaven, but under the figure of the triumphator, as
which the ascended Christ appears in accordance with the prophetic view given in Psalms 68, the
matter thus presents itself, namely, the overcoming of His foes displaying itself through His
ascension. This vanquishing, we may add, in its actual execution still continues even after the](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-15-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![entering upon the kingly office which took place with the exaltation of Christ; δεῖ γὰρ αὐτὸν
βασιλεύειν ἄχρις οὗ θῇ πάντας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑπὸ τοὺς πόδας αὐτοῦ, 1 Corinthians 15:25. Not the
final overcoming of the foes of Christ is thus meant, but the actual αἰχμαλωτεύειν αἰχμαλ.
ofttimes recurs until the final consummation, until at length ἔσχατος ἐχθρὸς καταργεῖται ὁ
θάνατος, 1 Corinthians 15:26, namely, at the resurrection on the last day. In this case, however,
there is the more reason for leaving the matter without more precise definition of the hostile
powers vanquished (Satanic and human), as the context suggests nothing more special, and as,
speaking generally, the ᾐχμαλώτ. αἰχμαλ. does not form for the aim and connection of our
passage the essential point of the psalmist’s saying, but the latter would have been quite as fully
in its place here, even though that ᾘΧΜΑΛΏΤ. ΑἸΧΜ. had not been inserted, since the element
confirmatory of Ephesians 4:7 lies simply in the ἈΝΑΒᾺς ΕἸς ὝΨΟς ἜΔΩΚΕ ΔΌΜΑΤΑ ΤΟῖς
ἈΝΘΡΏΠΟΙς.[209] Yet we have not, with Morus (comp. flatt), to rationalize the conception of
the apostle: “removit omnia, quae religionis suae propagationi et felicitati hominum obstarent
impedimenta,” by which the sense is altered, and vanquished foes become obstacles taken out of
the way.
δόματα] according to Paul, gifts in which ἘΔΌΘΗ Ἡ ΧΆΡΙς 7, thus equivalent to
ΧΑΡΊΣΜΑΤΑ. An appropriate commentary on the sense in which Paul has taken the citation, is
Acts 2:33. But to look upon the interpretation of the ἜΛΑΒΕ ΔΌΜΑΤΑ of the Ps. l.c., in the
sense of gifts of the Spirit as current among the disciples of the apostles (de Wette), is the more
arbitrary, inasmuch as de Wette himself finds it probable that some apostle has allegorized the
passage of the psalm.
[204] On what particular historic occasion this highly poetic song was composed, is for our
passage a matter of indifference. According to the traditional view, it was composed by David on
the occasion of the removal of the ark of the covenant from the house of Obed-edom to
Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:12 ff.; 1 Chronicles 15 f.); according to Ewald, for the consecration of the
new temple after the captivity; according to Hupfeld, upon the return from the captivity and the
restoration of the kingdom; according to Hitzig, in celebration of the victory after the war of
Jehoram and Jehoshaphat against the Moabites (2 Kings 3). Others explain it otherwise. See the
different views and explanations in Keuss, d. acht u. sechzigste Psalm, tin Denkmal exeget. Noth
u. Kunst, 1851, who, however, himself very inappropriately (without “exegetical exigency and
art”) places the Psalm in the late period between Alexander and the Maccabees, when the wish
for the reunion of the scattered Israelites in Palestine is supposed to be expressed in it; while
Justus Olshausen even interprets it of the victories of the Maccabees under Jonathan or Simon.
See Ewald, Jahrb. IV. p. 55 f. Certainly the psalm is neither Davidic nor of the Maccabaean age,
but belongs to the restoration of the Theocracy after the captivity.
[205] Yet לקחנ might also denote that men themselves are the gifts. So Ewald takes it, l.c. (and
comp. his Ausführl. Lehrb. der Hebr. Sprache, § 287 h), referring it specially to the humbler
servants of the temple, whom David and Solomon, e.g., gathered from among the subjugated
peoples and settled around the temple, whom thus God, as if in a triumphal procession from
Sinai to Zion, Himself brought in as captives, and then caused to be devoted by men to Him as
offerings, in order that they, who were once so turbulent, might dwell peacefully in His service
(“even rebellious ones must dwell with Jah God,” as Ewald renders the closing words of the
passage). The sense: “through men,” which Hoelemann, on account of ver. 11, finds as a](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-16-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![“secondary” meaning in ,לקחנ is not to be thought of, not even according to the apostle, who has
expressed his view with such simple definiteness by ἔδωκε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις.
[206] The phrase formerly so often compared, ַמ ָּנַם נ ָת ַח אָדנם (Exodus 21:10; Exodus 34:16), is not
in place here, since אָדנם, in that phrase, signifies nothing else than the simple take.
[207] Chrysostom, without, however, entering into any particulars, says merely: the prophet says
thou hast received, but Paul: he has given; and the two are one and the same. Theodoret more
precisely explains himself: ἀμφότερα δὲ (the taking and giving) γεγένηναι· λαμβάνων γὰρ τὴν
πίστιν ἀποδίδωσι τὴν χάριν. Comp. Oecumenius.
[208] “Paul does not wish by the quotation primarily to represent Christ as the dispenser of the
gifts, but to prove from the O. T. itself the universality of the gifts of Christ, consequently the
equal title of the Gentiles; He has by His redemption conferred gifts not merely on this one or
that one, not upon the Jews alone, but upon men as such, upon mankind.” What Olshausen has
further advanced respecting the dative expression with the article (instead of which the Hebrew
text has among men, while no article is used in the LXX.)—to wit, that by ἔδ. δόμ τοῖς
ἀνθρώποις, which applies to all men, it is not intended to say: all men must be redeemed, and as
redeemed receive gifts; but: all men may be redeemed, and as redeemed obtain gifts of grace;
and in so far this deviation from the original was altogether immaterial—is pure invention. The
difference certainly does not lie in the fact that לָק ָחָת points only to some, and the expression of
Paul to all men, as Olshausen supposes, but solely in the אדם of the original text and the ἔδωκε
of Paul. As well לקחנ as τοῖς ἀνθρώποις designates men according to the category; but according
to the original text it is men who are the givers, so that the Triumphator takes them; whereas,
according to Paul, the men are the recipients, to whom He gives.
[209] Chrysostom, Theophylact, Beza, Calovius, and many others understood specially the devil
and those things connected with him, death, condemnation, and sin. Comp. Luther’s gloss: “that
is sin, death, and conscience, that they may not seize or keep us.” Grotius rationalizes: “per
apostolorum doctrinam vicit et velut captivam egit idololatriam et vitia alia.” Most
comprehensively, but with an admixture of heterogeneous elements, Calvin says: “Neque enim
Satanam modo et peecatum et mortem totosque inferos prostravit, sed ex rebellibus quotidie facit
sibi obsequentem populum, quum verbo suo carnis nostrae lasciviam domat; rursus hostes suos,
i.e. impios omnes quasi ferreis catenis continet constrictos, dum illorum furorem cohibet sua
virtute, ne plus valeant, quam illis concedit.”
Expositor's Greek TestamentHYPERLINK "/ephesians/4-8.htm"Ephesians 4:8. διὸ λέγει:
wherefore He saith, when He ascended on high. The διό introduces the words which follow as a
confirmation of what has just been said; and these words are not a parenthesis, but part of a
direct and continuous statement; = “the fact that it is thus with Christ and His gift, and that the
grace which we possess is bestowed by Him on each of us in varying measures as He distributes
it, has the witness of God Himself in OT Scripture”. The quotation which follows is obviously
taken from Psalm 68:18, and in the main in the form in which it is given in the LXX. There are
difficulties in the rendering which Paul uses and in the application he makes of it. But they are
not such as to justify the assertion that the passage is a quotation from some Christian hymn, and
not from Scripture. There is nothing in the verse or in the context to suggest anything else than
the Psalm. The question is raised whether the introductory λέγει is personal or impersonal; and](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-17-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![whether, if personal, ὁ Θεός, or ἡ γραφή, or τὸ πνεῦμα is to be understood. OT quotations are
usually introduced by the personal term in such forms as ὁ προφήτης λέγει (Acts 2:17), ἡ γραφὴ
λέγει (Romans 10:17), Ἡσαΐας λέγει (Romans 10:16; Romans 10:20), Μωυσῆς λέγει (Romans
10:19), Δαβὶδ λέγει (Romans 4:6), ἡ δὲ ἐκ πίστεως δικαιοσύνη λέγει (Romans 10:6). Sometimes,
again, passive forms are used, γέγραπται (Romans 10:15), μαρτυρεῖται (Hebrews 7:17), etc. In
other cases the simple φησί (1 Corinthians 6:16; Hebrews 8:5), εἴρηκε (Hebrews 4:4), or λέγει
(Galatians 3:16; 2 Corinthians 6:2; Ephesians 4:8; Ephesians 5:14) is used; and in one case the
λέγει is introduced as continuing γέγραπται (Romans 15:10). Some, therefore, hold that, in cases
like the present, λέγει is impersonal, = “it is said,” as φησί is used impersonally in Attic (Abb.;
cf. Light, on Galatians 3:16). As the NT, however, makes a very limited use of impersonal verbs
of any kind, most take these undefined verbs by which quotations are introduced as personal, and
so it is with λέγει here. The subject to be supplied must be the one most readily suggested by the
context; and here, as in most cases, that will be neither ἡ γραφή nor τὸ Πνεῦμα, but ὁ Θεός. The
full formula λέγει ὁ Θεός occurs in Acts 2:17, and is implied in the πάλιν τινὰ ὁρίζει ἡμέραν,
“Σήμερον,” ἐν Δαυεὶδ λέγων of Hebrews 4:7. It is also confirmed in some degree by the
analogous mention of the Holy Ghost in Hebrews 10:15 (cf. Win.-Moult., p. 656; Blass, Gram.
of N. T. Greek, p. 75).—Ἀναβὰς εἰς ὕψος: when He ascended on high. In the Psalm the
victorious Subject is addressed in the second person; here the “Thou” becomes “He”. In the
Psalm the ascent expressed by לָלו ָנים ָ יַםָם (= “Thou hast gone up to the height”) is the triumphant
ascent of the God of Israel to Zion, the place of His earthly rest, or (better) to heaven His proper
habitation, after the victory He achieved for His people. Here it is the ascension of Christ to the
right hand of God (cf. Acts 2:33). The aor. part. has its most proper temporal force, denoting
something that preceded the main event in view. It means here, therefore, that Christ’s ascension
had taken place before He distributed the gifts of grace.—ᾐχμάλωτευσεν αἰχμαλωσίαν: He led
captivity captive. In the original י ַנ ִת ָ י ַנ ָ,ת the abstract αἰχμαλωσίαν (= “a body of captives”)
chosen according to a familiar usage (cf. Numbers 31:12; 2 Chronicles 28:11; see Win.-Moult.,
p. 282), instead of the concrete αἰχμαλώτους (“captives”), adds to the force of the sentence. The
verb αἰχμαλωτεύω belongs to late Greek; it is pretty freely used in the LXX and the Apocrypha.
The phrase is a general one, meaning nothing more than that He made captives (cf. Jdg 5:12),
and suggesting nothing as to who these captives were. Neither in the Psalm nor in Paul’s use of it
here is there anything to warrant the idea that the captives are the redeemed (Theod.), or men in
the bonds of sin on earth (Harl.), or souls detained in Hades (Est., König, Delit., etc.). The most
that the words themselves, or passages more or less analogous (1 Corinthians 15:25-26) warrant
us to say is that the captives are the enemies of Christ; just as in the Psalm they are the enemies
of Israel and Israel’s God. But these are left quite undefined, and the whole idea of the clause is
subordinate to that next expressed, viz., the giving of the gifts.—καὶ ἔδωκε δόματα τοῖς
ἀνθρώποις: and gave gifts unto men. The καί of the TR is found in [377] [378] [379]3[380]3
[381] [382], etc.; but is omitted in [383] [384] [385] [386]2[387]*[388], 17, etc. It is put in
brackets by WH, and omitted by LT, but retained (on the whole rightly) by RV. Here the
quotation diverges widely, both from the original Hebrew, which has אמ ָָֹּונ ָָּ ָּאָדנם לָק ָחָת (= “Thou
hast received gifts among men”); and from the LXX which renders it ἔλαβες δόματα ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ
(or ἀνθρώποις). The idea in the Psalm is that of Jehovah, the Conqueror, receiving gifts, that is to
say, gifts of homage; or, possibly, receiving the captured men themselves regarded as gifts or
offerings, the לָק ָחָת being capable of that sense (cf. Ewald, Aus. Lehrb. d. Hebr. Sprache, § 287
h). The idea expressed here is that of the ascended Christ giving gifts to men; ἔδωκε being
substituted for ἔλαβες, and τοῖς ἀνθρώποις for the generic ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ (or ἐν ἀνθρώποις).—Thus](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-18-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![in order to suit the purpose of a testimony to the statement made regarding Christ and the gift of
grace, the OT passage is materially changed. OT quotations introduced in the NT are given
without much regard to the literal faithfulness with which quotations are expected to be made in
modern times; and in other passages made use of by Paul (e.g., Romans 10:6-10) we discover a
remarkable liberty both in reproduction and in application. But in none is the change so great as
in the present case. There is first the departure from the historical meaning of the Psalm; in
which, however, this passage stands by no means alone. The Psalm in which this magnificent
description of the victorious march of Israel’s God occurs, celebrates the establishment of
Jehovah’s kingdom in the past and proclaims the certainty of its triumph over all enemies and in
all nations in the future. It does this in connection with some great event in the history of Israel.
All possible opinions have been expressed as to the particular occasion of the Psalm. It has been
identified with the removal of the Ark to Zion in David’s time (2 Samuel 6:12, etc.; 1 Chronicles
15); with some unnamed victory of David or with David’s victories generally; with the placing
of the Ark in Solomon’s Temple; with the victory of Jehoshaphat and Jehoram over Moab (2
Kings 3; Hitzig); with the check given to the Assyrians in Hezekiah’s time; with the consecration
of the Temple of the Restoration (Ewald); with the return from the captivity (Hupfeld); with the
struggle between Egypt and Syria for the possession of the Holy Land towards the close of the
third century B.C.; with the victories of Jonathan or Simon in the Maccabean wars (Olsh.); with
the struggle between Ptolemy Philometor and Alexander Balas (1 Maccabees 14), etc. But all
this uncertainty as to the particular date and occasion does not affect the fact that what is dealt
with is some great passage in the history of the Jewish nation. The probabilities are that the
Psalm belongs to the latter part of the Babylonian exile; but Paul passes by the actual historical
intention of the words and puts on them a quite different sense. There is, secondly, the notable
change from Jehovah receiving gifts to Christ giving gifts. Some have explained this by
supposing that Paul followed a Hebrew text which read ַ , or some such form, instead of אדם ;
but of this there is no evidence. It is possible, indeed, that the Apostle adopted a traditional
version or interpretation of the passage which was familiar, and of which some indication is
found in the Peshitta Syriac and the Chaldee Paraphrase (both having a rendering = “Thou didst
give gifts to the children of men”). Something also may be said in support of the explanation that
the אָדנם of the original, which is used elsewhere in the sense of fetching or taking in order to give
(Genesis 18:5; Genesis 27:13; Genesis 42:16; Genesis 48:9, etc.), has that meaning here. But
after all such explanations the fact remains that both the terms and the idea are changed. There is
thirdly the Messianic interpretation. It is here that the justification of the change is found. The
Psalm, there is good reason to believe, had been regarded as a Messianic Psalm; and the use
made of it by Paul was in all probability in accordance with views of Messianic prophecy which
had become current, and with a method of dealing with the OT which was generally understood.
But in any case it is an application rather than an interpretation in the strict sense of the word that
we have here. And the justification of such an application lies in the fact that the unknown event
celebrated in the Psalm was a victory of the Theocratic King, and in that sense a part of that
triumph of the Kingdom of God which was to be carried to its consummation by the Messiah.
[377] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of
the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.
[378] Codex Ephraemi (sæc. v.), the Paris palimpsest, edited by Tischendorf in 1843.](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-19-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![[379] Codex Sinaiticus (sæc. iv.), now at St. Petersburg, published in facsimile type by its
discoverer, Tischendorf, in 1862.
[380] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in
1852.
[381] Codex Mosquensis (sæc. ix.), edited by Matthæi in 1782.
[382] Codex Angelicus (sæc. ix.), at Rome, collated by Tischendorf and others.
[383] Autograph of the original scribe of .ח
[384] Autograph of the original scribe of .ח
[385] Codex Alexandrinus (sæc. v.), at the British Museum, published in photographic facsimile
by Sir E. M. Thompson (1879).
[386] Codex Ephraemi (sæc. v.), the Paris palimpsest, edited by Tischendorf in 1843.
[387] Codex Claromontanus (sæc. vi.), a Græco-Latin MS. at Paris, edited by Tischendorf in
1852.
[388] Codex Boernerianus (sæc. ix.), a Græco-Latin MS., at Dresden, edited by Matthæi in 1791.
Written by an Irish scribe, it once formed part of the same volume as Codex Sangallensis (δ) of
the Gospels. The Latin text, g, is based on the O.L. translation.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges8. Wherefore he saith] Or it, i.e. the Scripture, saith.
St Paul’s usage in quotation leaves the subject of the verb undetermined here and in similar cases
(see e.g. ch. Ephesians 5:14). For him, the word of the Scripture and the word of its Author are
convertible terms.—“Wherefore”:—as if to say, “the Scripture statement of course answers to
the spiritual fact just given.”
When he ascended, &c.] Psalms 68 (LXX. 67) 18. The Heb. there is lit., “Thou didst ascend on
high; Thou didst lead captive a captivity (a band of captives); Thou didst take gifts amongst
men,” or more lit., “in man.” The LXX. renders, “When Thou didst ascend on high, Thou didst
lead captive a captivity; Thou didst take gifts in man.” The Targum, or Chaldee paraphrase,
which is little likely to have been influenced by this passage, renders, “Thou hast given to them
gifts, even to the sons of men.”
On this quotation, we first examine the discrepancy between “take gifts” and “give gifts,” and
between “among men” and “for” or “to men,” and then briefly remark on the use made of the
Psalmist’s words by the Apostle.
α. The first discrepancy is not to be reconciled by an attempt to make the Heb. verb mean both
“give” and “take.” But what if the “taking” was for the purpose of “giving”? The Conqueror,
Divine or human, in Psalms 68 may well be conceived as receiving grants for distribution among
his vassals. If so, the Targum (see above) and the Apostle rightly convey the intention of the](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-20-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![Psalmist.
“Among men”; “for men.” The great compression of Hebrew poetical diction makes it quite
possible to explain, “so as to be among men.” Thus again “to,” or “for,” will rightly convey the
intention of the Psalmist, whatever were his precise and conscious thought in depicting the
Conqueror as making gifts and grants to “man.”
β. The “first reference” of Psalms 68 is a large and difficult question. See Dean Perowne’s full
statement of problems and theories in his Commentary on the Psalms; see too Dr Kay’s notes. It
is enough here to say that the Psalm celebrates, apparently, some great sacred triumph, or
triumphs, at the Sanctuary of Zion; an occasion on which the supreme Conqueror, Jehovah, is
represented as “ascending” after battle to His throne. One type of criticism will see in this
nothing beyond a national Ode of Victory, and will regard the Apostle’s quotation as an
“unscientific” accommodation. For ourselves, believing that our Lord taught a very different
view of the Ancient Scriptures, we feel free to recognize any “first reference” fairly provable, but
also bound to believe that the Divine Author worked through the human author, so as to convey
eternal and permanent truth through his imagery and words, and so as to make the whole
terminate on Christ, whether or no the human author was aware of it. And we believe that the
same Divine Author worked here through the memory and thought of the Apostle, so as to
secure, in his quotation and exposition, the true development of the Divine intention of the
earlier passage.
We thus accept the present verse as reciting a true testimony of the Spirit of Prophecy to the
foreseen facts of the Ascension of the Divine Messiah after conflict and conquest, and the
distribution of blessings consequent upon it. The “captivity” will denote whatever persons or
powers are in any way His conquest; whether as “enemies under His feet” (1 Corinthians 15:25,
&c.), or self-surrendered rebels reconciled to His will (2 Corinthians 10:3-5, &c.).—For the
thought, “He received gifts (to distribute) amongst men,” cp. Acts 2:33.
Bengel's GnomenHYPERLINK "/ephesians/4-8.htm"Ephesians 4:8. Λεγει, he says) David, nay,
rather God Himself, Psalms 68 :(19) 20, ἀνέβης εἰς ὓψος, ἠχμαλώτευσας αἰχμαλωσίαν· ἔλαβες
δόματα ἐν ἀνθρώπῳ. Some also in the LXX. read ἀναβάς. But in the version of the LXX. that
reading is generally inferior, which too closely agrees with the text of the New Testament,
because it has been (probably) made to be in conformity to it.—ὕψος, on high) So the heavens
are called in Hebrew poetry; likewise in Isaiah 32:15.—ἠχμαλώτευσε αἰχμαλωσίαν, led captivity
captive) A frequent repetition; for example, 2 Chronicles 28:5. Here the forces of hell are
denoted, 2 Peter 2:4, that are opposed to men. Christ, at His ascension, led them captive; nor,
however, does it fare the better for that reason with the malefactor, who is to be tried for his life,
when he is led from prison to the forum or court of justice. This leading captive did not interfere
with their condition in hell; [it gave them no respite from torment.] If ever there had been for
them any hope of escape, that would have been the time; comp. ch. Ephesians 6:12, and
Colossians 2:15. Nor does every ascension, but only the ascension which has captivity taken
captive joined with it, presuppose and infer a descent into the lower parts of the earth.—ἔδωκε
δόματα, He gave gifts) To this expression may be referred He gave, Ephesians 4:11, and is
given, and of the gift, Ephesians 4:7. In Hebrew, אדם is an abbreviated expression; to wit, Christ
received gifts, which He might immediately give. Comp. ,אדםGenesis 15:9 [“Take me an
heifer,” abbreviated for, Take and sacrifice to me]; 2 Kings 2:20; where sudden action is denoted](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-21-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![PRECEPTAUSTIN RESOURCES
Ephesians 4:8-10 Commentary
Ephesians 4 Resources
Updated: Sun, 06/30/2019 - 07:16 By admin
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Ephesians 4:8 Therefore it says, "WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE
A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN." (NASB: Lockman)
Greek: dio legei, (3SPAI) AnabaHYPERLINK
"http://studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=305"s (AAPMSN) eiHYPERLINK
"http://studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=1519"s hupsos echHYPERLINK
"http://studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=162"maloteusen (3SAAI) aichmalosian,
edoken (3SAAI) domata tois anthropois.
Amplified: Therefore it is said, When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive [He
led a train of vanquished foes] and He bestowed gifts on men. (Amplified Bible -
Lockman)
NLT: That is why the Scriptures say, "When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd
of captives and gave gifts to his people." (NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: As the scripture says: 'When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and
gave gifts to men' (Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: Wherefore He says, Having ascended on high, He led away captive those taken
captive and gave gifts to men. (Eerdmans)
Young's Literal: For this reason Scripture says: "He re-ascended on high, he led captive
a host of captives, and gave gifts to men."
THEREFORE IT SAYS, WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH: dio legei, (3SPAI) anabas
(AAPMSN) eis hupsos:
• Ephesians 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
• Ephesians 4:7-10 Christ's Purpose for His Church - Steven Cole
• Ephesians 4:7-12 - Wayne Barber
• Ephesians 4:7-10: Preserving the Unity of the Spirit -2 - Wayne Barber
• Ephesians 4:7-11 The Gifts of Christ to His Church - John MacArthur
VALIDATION FOR
GIVING GIFTS](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-23-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![Gen. 14:14 = his relative had been taken captive Gen. 34:29; Num. 24:22; 1 Sam. 30:2;
1 Sam. 30:3; 1 Sam. 30:5; 1 Ki. 8:50; 2 Ki. 5:2; 2 Ki. 6:22; 1 Chr. 5:21; 2 Chr. 6:36; 2
Chr. 6:38; 2 Chr. 28:5; 2 Chr. 28:11; Est. 1:1; Est. 2:6; Job 1:15; Job 1:17; Ps. 68:18; Ps.
137:3; Isa. 14:2; Isa. 49:24; Isa. 49:25; Jer. 50:33; Ezek. 6:9; Ezek. 12:3; Ezek. 39:23;
Amos 1:5; Amos 1:6; Amos 5:5; Obad. 1:11; Mic. 1:16
Ps 68:18 (Ps. 68:18) - You have ascended on high, You have led captive (LXX -
aichmaloteuo) Your captives (aichmalosia); You have received gifts among men, Even
among the rebellious also, that the LORD God may dwell there.
A host of captives (161) (aichmalosia from aichmálōtos = a captive) describes the state of
being captive or of taking someone captive by the force of the spear. The only other NT use is
Rev 13:10 where it is used twice - "If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if
anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the
faith of the saints."
Gilbrant - This term denotes either the condition of “captivity” or a “group of captives,”
according to classical sources, and it is related to other members of the aichmal- word group
(aichmalōteuō [160], aichmalōtizō [161], aichmalōtos [162]). In the Septuagint aichmalōsia
occurs from the Book of Numbers on. Mainly it refers to “captives” taken during warfare (e.g.,
Numbers 21:1; 31:12,19; etc.). A significant, more technical association with the Babylonian
captivity is reflected in Nehemiah 1:2 and 3, which speaks of “those who survived the exile.”
(Cf. Tobit 1:3 in Codex Sinaiticus; Judith 2:9). Captivity became the fate of the people of God
because of their disobedience (cf. Jeremiah 15:2; 20:6; 22:22). The hope of Israel’s captives was
to be saved by God (Isaiah 1:27; 45:13); but this is the case even prior to the Babylonian
captivity (Ps 14:7; 53:6 [52:6]). There are only three instances of aichmalōsia in the New
Testament: Ephesians 4:8 (a citation of Psalm 68:18 [LXX 67:18]) and Revelation 13:10 (twice).
Through the power of the Resurrection Christ has vanquished His enemies: He led them
“captives” in His train (Ephesians 4:8; cf. Colossians 2:15). In Revelation 13:10 the two uses
refer to the possible fate of the faithful. The attitude of the author is not stoic complacency that
“what will be will be”; rather, he was calling for endurance from the faithful, no matter what the
circumstances. If they went into captivity or if they were killed, the call was for faithfulness.
(Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary)
Zodhiates has a lengthy note on this word - In Eph. 4:8 aichmalōsía is used with the verb
aichmalōtízō <G163>, to take captive, meaning a captive multitude. Quoted from Ps. 68:18, it is
a prophecy of the distribution of gifts (charísmata <G5486>) to believers. What the Lord Jesus
received from the Father (Matt. 28:19, 20) at the time of His ascension, He distributed as gifts to
His own to enable them to continue His work. The use of both the verb and the noun, "He
captivated captivity" (a.t. [Eph. 4:8]), indicates that the ascended Lord was in full possession of
all believers and that their destiny was absolutely in His hands, no matter what difficulties they
would encounter in the execution of their task of spreading the gospel. Distributing gifts was
Christ's confirmation of the captivity of the captives who were to serve Him through the exercise
of the gifts. In exercising these gifts they were never to forget that He was in full control. The
word also occurs in Rev. 13:10 where the kjv says, "He that leadeth into captivity shall go into
captivity." In the Gr. text there is only one verb, hupágei <G5217>, to go. The literal translation
is: "If anyone has captivity, he goes" (a.t.). The meaning assumed for the first clause cannot be
different from the meaning of the second clause. It means that since one has chosen to become a
captive of Jesus Christ, he moves on into captivity because he has tasted that the captivity is not](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-30-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![Ephesians 4:9 (Now this expression, "He ascended," what does it mean except that He also
had descended into the lower parts of the earth? (NASB: Lockman)
Greek: {to de AnebHYPERLINK "http://studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=305"e
(3SAAI) ti estin (3SPAI) ei mHYPERLINK
"http://studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=3361"e oti kai katebHYPERLINK
"http://studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=2597"e (3SAAI) eiHYPERLINK
"http://studylight.org/lex/grk/view.cgi?number=1519"s ta katotera [mere] tes ges?
Amplified: [But He ascended?] Now what can this, He ascended, mean but that He had
previously descended from [the heights of] heaven into [the depths], the lower parts of
the earth? (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
NLT: Notice that it says "he ascended." This means that Christ first came down to the
lowly world in which we live. (NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: (Note the implication here - to say that Christ "ascended" means that he must
previously have "descended", that is from the height of Heaven to the depth of this world.
(Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: Now, the fact that He ascended, what is it except that also He descended into the
nether parts of the earth? (Eerdmans)
Young's Literal: (Now this "re-ascended" —what does it mean but that He had first
descended into the lower regions of the earth?
(NOW THIS EXPRESSION "HE ASCENDED": to de anebe (3SAAI):
• Proverbs 30:4; John 3:13; 6:33,62; 20:17; Acts 2:34-36
• Ephesians 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
• Ephesians 4:7-10 Christ's Purpose for His Church - Steven Cole
• Ephesians 4:7-12 - Wayne Barber
• Ephesians 4:7-10: Preserving the Unity of the Spirit -2 - Wayne Barber
• Ephesians 4:7-11 The Gifts of Christ to His Church - John MacArthur
He ascended - Refers of course to Jesus Christ, these verses (4:9-10) serving as parenthesis
explaining "He ascended" in the prior verse and proving that only Christ fits the description.
Ascended (305) (anabaino from aná = up + baíno = to go) means to go up and here describes
Jesus ascending on high (into heaven).
Disciple's Study Bible notes that "The ascent/descent idea about Jesus--God's Son from heaven
coming to earth, descending even to hell and rising above all creation to God's heaven--is a
marvelous way of expressing in spatial terms the thoroughness of Christ's redemption. (Disciple's
Study Bible)
Anabaino - 82x in 78v translated Usage: arise(1), ascend(2), ascended(7), ascending(3),
came(7), climbed(1), climbs(1), come(4), comes(2), coming(3), entered(2), go(6), goes(1),
going(6), gone(3), got(2), grew(1), grows(1), rises(1), started on our way up(1), went(25).-
Matt 3:16; 5:1; 13:7; 14:23, 32; 15:29; 17:27; 20:17f; Mark 1:10; 3:13; 4:7f, 32; 6:51;
10:32f; 15:8; Luke 2:4, 42; 5:19; 9:28; 18:10, 31; 19:4, 28; 24:38; John 1:51; 2:13; 3:13;
5:1; 6:62; 7:8, 10, 14; 10:1; 11:55; 12:20; 20:17; 21:11; Acts 1:13; 2:34; 3:1; 7:23; 8:31,](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-34-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![39; 10:4, 9; 11:2; 15:2; 18:22; 20:11; 21:6, 12, 15, 31; 24:11; 25:1, 9; Rom 10:6; 1 Cor
2:9; Gal 2:1f; Eph 4:8ff; Rev 4:1; 7:2; 8:4; 9:2; 11:7, 12; 13:1, 11; 14:11; 17:8; 19:3; 20:9
WHAT DOES IT MEAN EXCEPT THAT HE ALSO HAD DESCENDED INTO THE
LOWER PARTS OF THE EARTH?: ti estin (3SPAI) ei me oti kai katebe (3SAAI) eis ta
katotera [mere] tes ges:
• Genesis 11:5; Exodus 19:20; John 6:33,38,41,51,58; 8:14; 16:27,28
• Ps 8:5; 63:9; 139:15; Matthew 12:40; Hebrews 2:7,9
• Ephesians 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
• Ephesians 4:7-10 Christ's Purpose for His Church - Steven Cole
• Ephesians 4:7-12 - Wayne Barber
• Ephesians 4:7-10: Preserving the Unity of the Spirit -2 - Wayne Barber
• Ephesians 4:7-11 The Gifts of Christ to His Church - John MacArthur
He also descended into the lower parts of the earth - the interpretations include descent to
Hades (Sheol), descent to the grave, or descent to earth (incarnation). Descent into Hades is the
view held by the early church fathers but which is less popular with modern evangelical
commentators.
Ryrie comments that the lower parts "Could mean that Christ descended into Hades between
His death and resurrection. Or, more likely, "of the earth" is better understood as an appositional
phrase, meaning that Christ descended (at His incarnation) into the lower parts (of the universe),
namely, the earth. (The Ryrie Study Bible: New American Standard Translation: 1995. Moody
Publishers)
Henry Morris makes an interesting point explaining that...
The ascending Lord was not merely ascending back from the earth, but from "the lower
parts of the earth." This somewhat enigmatic geographical reference could, by itself,
perhaps refer to the deep ocean bottom, but this would not yield captives. More likely it
refers to the great pit at the center of the earth, indicated in the Bible as the prison
confining the souls of the dead, the place called Sheol in the Old Testament Hebrew and
Hades in the Greek New Testament, but often translated "hell" in the King James
Version. One of Christ's purposes when He came to earth was
"to preach deliverance to the captives, and...to set at liberty them that are bruised"
(Luke 4:18).
This statement of Jesus is taken from Isaiah 61:1, where it reads
"...to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that
are bound."
When Christ died on the cross, He in the Spirit "went and preached unto the spirits in
prison" (1Peter 3:19). The word "preached" can be better translated "proclaimed"--that is,
proclaimed His victory over Satan. Christ had said prophetically (Psalm 16:10), "thou
wilt not leave [abandon] my soul in hell" (see note 1Peter 3:19). He returned from Hades
with "the keys of hell and of death" (Re 1:18-note), bringing "captivity captive" with
Him as He returned. His spirit returned to His body resting in Joseph's tomb, and He
arose from the dead, alive forever more. The souls of those who had died in faith came](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-35-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![Matt 3:16; 7:25, 27; 8:1; 11:23; 14:29; 17:9; 24:17; 27:40, 42; 28:2; Mark 1:10; 3:22; 9:9;
13:15; 15:30, 32; Luke 2:51; 3:22; 6:17; 8:23; 9:54; 10:15, 30f; 17:31; 18:14; 19:5f;
22:44; John 1:32f, 51; 2:12; 3:13; 4:47, 49, 51; 5:7; 6:16, 33, 38, 41f, 50f, 58; Acts 7:15,
34; 8:15, 26, 38; 10:11, 20f; 11:5; 14:11, 25; 16:8; 18:22; 20:10; 23:10; 24:1, 22; 25:6f;
Rom 10:7; Eph 4:9f; 1 Thess 4:16; Jas 1:17; Rev 3:12; 10:1; 12:12; 13:13; 16:21; 18:1;
20:1, 9; 21:2, 10
Lower (2737) (katoteros) means the lower region or lower parts. This verse marks the only
Scriptural use of katoteros.
Parts (3313) (meros) means a division, region or portion.
Earth (1093) (ge) refers to soil (as distinct from the sea), to the solid part or to the entire globe.
Lower parts of the earth - this phase is not without some controversy among conservative,
evangelical sources. Even the rendering of the translations reflects this difference of opinion.
Literally Paul writes that Jesus
went down into (eis) the lower parts or regions of the earth
Now, read the NIV and the NLT to determine where Christ descended...
(What does "He ascended" mean except that He also descended to the lower, earthly
regions? (NIV)
Notice that it says "He ascended." This means that Christ first came down to the lowly
world in which we live. (NLT)
Clearly from a simple reading of these two translations (neither of which is literal), one would
arrive at the interpretation that this verse speaks of Christ's incarnation, thus describing His
descent from His Father's side down to the "earthly regions" (NIV) or "the lowly world in which
we live" (NLT) as the God-Man.
Now look at how this same passage is rendered in the following (more literal) translations...
(Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth? (KJV)
[But He ascended?] Now what can this, He ascended, mean but that He had previously
descended from [the heights of] heaven into [the depths], the lower parts of the earth?
(Amplified)
These renderings suggest that Christ's descent was to the "lower parts of the earth" which has
been traditionally interpreted as Hades (Sheol).
Regarding the interpretation of this verse as a reference to Hades (Sheol is the OT counterpart),
Peter in his first post-Pentecostal sermon quotes from David's Psalm 16 (a Messianic Psalm) and
makes reference to Hades Luke recording...
Acts 2:27 BECAUSE THOU WILT NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR
ALLOW THY HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY. 28 'THOU HAST MADE
KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; THOU WILT MAKE ME FULL OF
GLADNESS WITH THY PRESENCE.' 29 "Brethren, I may confidently say to you
regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to
this day. (Peter's point is that this remarkable prophecy of Messiah's resurrection was not
fulfilled by David) 30 And so, because he was a prophet, and knew that GOD HAD](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-37-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![Amplified: He Who descended is the [very] same as He Who also has ascended high
above all the heavens, that He [His presence] might fill all things (the whole universe,
from the lowest to the highest). (Amplified Bible - Lockman)
NLT: The same one who came down is the one who ascended higher than all the
heavens, so that his rule might fill the entire universe. (NLT - Tyndale House)
Phillips: The one who made this descent is identically the same person as he who has
now ascended high above the very Heavens - that the whole universe from lowest to
highest might know his presence.) (Phillips: Touchstone)
Wuest: The One who descended himself is also the One who ascended above all the
heavens, in order that He might fill all things. (Eerdmans)
Young's Literal: He who descended is the same as He who ascended again far above all
the Heavens in order to fill the universe.)
HE WHO DESCENDED IS HIMSELF ALSO HE WHO ASCENDED FAR ABOVE ALL
THE HEAVENS: o katabas (AAPMSN) autos estin (3SPAI) kai o anabas (AAPMSN) huperano
panton ton ouranon:
• Ep 1:20, 21, 22, 23; Acts 1:9,11; 1Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:14; 7:26; 8:1; 9:23,24) (Ep
3:19; John 1:16; Acts 2:33; Colossians 1:19; 2:
• Ephesians 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries
• Ephesians 4:7-10 Christ's Purpose for His Church - Steven Cole
• Ephesians 4:7-12 - Wayne Barber
• Ephesians 4:7-10: Preserving the Unity of the Spirit -2 - Wayne Barber
• Ephesians 4:7-11 The Gifts of Christ to His Church - John MacArthur
Descended(2597) (katabaino from katá = down + baíno = go) means to come or go down or to
descend from a higher to a lower place.
Himself (846) (autos) sets Jesus apart from anyone and everyone else in regard to His descent
and ascent. He is unique.
Ascended (305) (anabaino from aná = up + baíno = to go) means to go up and here describes
Jesus ascending on high (into heaven).
MacDonald summarizes this section writing that "The central thought in verses 8–10 is that the
Giver of the gifts is the ascended Christ. There were no such gifts before He went back to
heaven.
Far above (5231) (huperano from hupér = above + áno = up, upwards) indicating that after His
incarnation and crucifixion, Christ then ascended higher than all the heavens.
All the heavens - Paul himself had ascended to the third heaven (2Cor 12:2) (See discussion of
Third Heaven: What is the third heaven?)
All (3956) (pas) means all without exception. Paul's point is clearly to emphasize the supremacy
of Christ. (See notes on parallel teaching in Ephesians 1:20; 1:21; 1:22; 1:23) Clearly this
position would place all powers subject to Him.
Heavens (3772) (ouranos) means sky and by extension heaven, the over-arching, all-embracing
heaven beneath which is the earth and all that is therein.](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-39-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![of that spiritual world which He obeyed. He could not be holden by death. "Wherefore
God highly exalted Him." "Thou art worthy, for Thou wast slain."
And being by the right hand of God exalted, He received of the Father the promised
plentitude of the Spirit. It had been his before, as the second Person in the Holy Trinity;
but it became his now as the Representative and High Priest of his people. It was
entrusted to Him as their Trustee and Surety. As we receive the fulness of forgiveness
from his death, so we may receive the fulness of the Spirit from his life.
There is no soul so low in its need, but He can touch it, because He has descended into
the depths of Hades; and now from the zenith throne of his ascended glory He can reach
the furthest and remotest points of spiritual need: as the sun can cover a wider area when
it sits regnant in the sky at noon, than when pillowing its chin upon the western wave.
(The Epistle to the Ephesians-A Devotional Commentary)
THE ENTRANCE OF OUR LORD INTO HEAVEN
Dr. W. A. Criswell
Ephesians 4:8
6-28-81 8:15 a.m.
And welcome the uncounted multitudes of you who are listening to this hour on radio. This is the
First Baptist Church in Dallas, and this is the pastor delivering the morning sermon entitled The
Entrance of Our Lord into Heaven. In these last several Sundays, in the long series of
doctrinal messages on the Bible, the “Great Doctrines Of The Bible,” in the section on
Christology: Our Lord’s Entrance into this Earth, our Lord’s descent from heaven His virgin
birth; Our Lord’s Entrance into Suffering, His atoning death; Our Lord’s Entrance into the
Grave; Our Lord’s Entrance into Resurrection Life, the message last Sunday morning; and
today, Our Lord’s Entrance into Heaven, the ascension of Christ into glory. In the fourth
chapter of the Book of Ephesians verse 8:
Wherefore He saith—
the Holy Spirit, through Isaiah, through the psalmists—
wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto
men.
(Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the
earth?
He that descended is the same also that ascended far above all heavens, that He might fill all
things.)
[Ephesians 4:8-10]](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-42-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![And the verse especially, “When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave
gifts unto men” [Ephesians 4:8].
There are eight tremendous epochs in the life of our Lord: His eternal pre-existence in heaven;
His descent into the earth, the virgin birth; His mighty ministry in word and in deed; His atoning
death; His resurrection from among the dead; His ascent into heaven; His return someday in
triumphant glory; and last, His eternal session as King and Lord over heaven and earth. In those
eight events, epochs, in the life of our Lord, this morning; our Lord’s ascent into heaven.
Those eight mighty epochs are like a Jacob’s ladder from earth to heaven, the heaven of heavens
[Genesis 28:12]. Not the heaven where the birds fly and the clouds go by; not the heaven where
the sidereal spheres and the Milky Way and the stars shine, but the third heaven where God has
His throne; the ascent, the ascension of our Lord into heaven. And we’re going to follow it as we
see it from the earth, as the angels watched it from heaven, as the Old Testament saints waited
for it in promise, and as the New Testament church received the Lord in ecstatic glory.
First, the ascension of our Lord as we look upon it from earth. In the dim, primeval, unknown
ages of the past, the Holy Scriptures say that Christ was the Lamb slain from before the
foundation of the earth [Revelation 13:8]. He is described in the tenth chapter of the Book of
Hebrews as having volunteered in those primeval ages to be the Savior of the world [Hebrews
10:5-14]. In the foreknowledge of God, before the universe was spoken by fiat into existence
[Genesis 1:1-31], the Lord foresaw, foreknew the fall of man [Isaiah 46:10]; and Christ, the
crown Prince of glory, volunteered to be the Savior of a fallen race [Hebrews 10:5-14].
And in the foreknowledge and providence of God, there was rebellion in heaven, Lucifer and his
angels [Isaiah 14:12-14], and heaven fell, and the whole created universe fell with it [Romans
8:22]. And the world became waste [Genesis 1:2], and our paradise turned into a fierce jungle.
And this earth became a house of woe and an immeasurable cemetery in which we bury our dead
[Genesis 3:19]. It travails in bondage and in groaning to this present day [Romans 8:22].
In the days of that Fall [Genesis 3:1-6], there was given to the human and fallen race a
Protevangelium, a gospel before the gospel: the Seed of the woman should bruise, should crush,
Satan’s head [Genesis 3:15]. And the Holy Scriptures follow that primeval promise: it is in Seth
that the Seed will be born; it is in Noah; it is in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; it is in Judah; it is in
David and his house. And in the prophecies, the delineation of His coming into the earth is
beautifully and marvelously and movingly foretold [Isaiah 9:6].
Then the day came when the Lord was born; He was born to be Savior and deliverer of the world
[Luke 2:11-16]. Then follows His majestic ministry [Matthew 11:4-5], His wonderful life, His
atoning death [Matthew 27:32-50], His resurrection from among the dead [Matthew 28:5-7], and
finally, in the passage we read this morning, His ascent into heaven [Ephesians 4:8-10]. And
from our earth, the eyes of the apostles watched Him when a cloud—not one of mist: the
shekinah glory of God—swept Him up to the throne of heaven [Acts 1:9-10]. And in the third
chapter of Acts the apostle Peter preaches that heaven must receive Him until the time of
restitution of all things [Acts 3:21]. So our Lord, as we view Him from earth, is now in session in
heaven seated at the right throne of God, waiting until His enemies be made His footstool
[Hebrews 10:12-13].
Second: the ascension of our Lord as the angels watched it in heaven. In that primeval beginning,
in the beginning of the ages of the ages, Christ our Lord, whom we know as Jesus our Savior, the
pre-existent God, was the Captain and the Prince of the host of heaven [Joshua 5:13-15]. And the](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-43-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![angels there in glory watched the rise and the fall of Lucifer, “the son of the morning” [Isaiah
14:12]. And in his rebellion, one third of the myriads and myriads of angels chose to follow
Lucifer [Revelation 12:4], and when he fell they fell with him [Revelation 12:9], but the two
thirds of the myriads, of the uncounted thousands and thousands times ten thousands of angels,
remained true to our pre-existent Lord [Revelation 12:4].
When the earth fell [Genesis 3:1-6], and the Lord announced that Christ should be the Savior of
the fallen race [Genesis 3:15], one of the most unusual passages in the Bible is in the first chapter
of 1 Peter that describes the angels desiring to look into this marvelous plan of salvation [1 Peter
1:9-12]. They just knew that God purposed to do it through Jesus and His incarnation and His
death [2 Corinthians 5:19; 1 Peter 1:12], but how? They couldn’t understand. And when our
Lord descended into the earth [Hebrews 10:5-14], and into the womb of the virgin Mary
[Matthew 1:20-25], and was made like unto a man [Philippians 2:5-8], the angels watched it in
amazement and they followed His life with intensest interest. Such is the meaning of 1 Timothy
3:16: “Great is the mustērion the mystery of godliness. God was manifested in the flesh, was
justified in the Spirit, was seen of angels.”
They watched Him all His life, and they were present in vast numbers when He was born. All
heaven rang with their song and shout of glory [Luke 2:13-15]. They were present in His
temptation [Matthew 4:1, 11]. They were present in the days of His ministry [Luke 22:43]. They
stood by Him in Gethsemane [Luke 22:43]. They were there at the grave, at the foot and at the
head [John 20:12], and they received Him back up into glory [Acts 1:9]. And when that
marvelous and triumphant day arrived, and our Savior, the Prince of the hosts of heaven, came
back into the glory He once knew, the marvelous indescribable ecstasy of the angels is beyond
what mind could think for. Then came to pass the glorious twenty-fourth Psalm:
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory
will come in.
Who is this King of glory? The Lord mighty in battle…
The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.
[Psalm 24:7-10]
Or as Colossians 2:15 says, when our Lord ascended into heaven He had made an open spoiling
of the principalities and powers of evil, triumphing over them! And as this glorious passage in
Ephesians 4:8 avows, “He ascended on high, taking captivity captive.”
He is Lord, and He came as a victor from the battle, and the angels received their rightful Prince
and their glorious, pre-existent God with ecstasy indescribable. And at His chariot wheels is
chained Lucifer, Satan, whom they had seen lead the rebellion in heaven [Revelation 12:7]. He is
now a toothless and stingless dragon. He is now a defeated foe. He is vanquished forever
[Romans 16:20; Colossians 1:13; Revelation 20:10]. And when the Scripture says He has taken
captivity captive [Ephesians 4:8], they who held our Lord captive are now captive now. Sin: “He
became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” [2 Corinthians 5:21].
He went down into the grave and burst its fetters asunder [Acts 2:24], and our Lord entered into
heaven, in the presence of the myriads and myriads of angels, a conqueror [1 Timothy 6:15]; the
rightful host and Captain of our salvation [Hebrews 2:10].
Now as the saints of the Old Testament waited in promise, in the ninth chapter of the Book of
Luke, in verse 30 and 31, “Behold, there talked with Him two men”; Luke 9:30-31. When He](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-44-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![was transfigured before them, the fashion of His countenance altered, his raiment white and
glistering [Luke 9:29].
Behold, there talked with Him two men, who were Moses and Elijah:
Who appeared in glory, and spake of His decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem.
[Luke 9:30-31]
There’s far more in that passage than you realize it when you read in this English translation.
Moses and Elijah talked with Him and spake of His exodus [Luke 9:31]. We’re familiar with that
word exodus. One of the books of the Old Testament in the Pentateuch is called Exodus. When
Moses led the children of God out of Egypt [Exodus 14:1-31], God calls it an exodus. That’s the
word here, the exact word. It’s the same in Greek as it is in English.
Moses and Elijah are speaking to Jesus about the exodus which He should—and you have it
translated “accomplish,” pleroō—which He should bring to pass, according to prophecy, in
Jerusalem [Luke 9:31]. Moses and Elijah are speaking to our transfigured Lord about the exodus,
the great deliverance, which He should pleroō—which He should accomplish according to
prophecy [Isaiah 53:1-8]—which He should fulfill according to the Word of God, in the
Protevangelium, that we should be delivered, saved [Genesis 3:15]. They’re talking to Jesus
about the exodus; the deliverance into heaven which He should pleroō, which He should fulfill
according to prophecy in His death and resurrection in Jerusalem [Luke 24:13-27].
And it came to pass, this thing that Moses and Elijah were speaking to Jesus about. “Lord Jesus,”
Moses says, “I am in heaven just because of the hope of the atoning grace in Your death.” And
Elijah says to Jesus, “Lord, I have been translated to heaven and received into glory because of
the promise that You will die for my sins.” And Moses [Deuteronomy 34:5-6], who represents
those who die and are resurrected [1 Thessalonians 4:16], and Elijah [2 Kings 2:11], who
represents those who are raptured and translated in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye [1
Corinthians 15:51-52]; those two represent all of the saints of the Old Testament. “Lord Jesus,”
they say, “we have our home and our hope in heaven because of Your deliverance on the cross,
dying for our sins” [Matthew 27:32-50].
Can you imagine, therefore, the truth of the Revelation when it says those twenty-four elders—
twelve represents the saints of the Old Testament—they bowed down before the Lord and
received Him with unexampled praise and glory? [Revelation 11:16-17]. Think of the saints of
the Old Testament, as they receive our Lord Jesus back into heaven, there where they have
waited for the great exodus, the deliverance [Daniel 12:2; John 5:25]. In the Old Testament
always, when an Old Testament saint dies, he is gathered to his fathers. There’s no exception to
that.
Abraham dies and is gathered to his fathers [Genesis 25:8]. Isaac dies and is gathered to his
fathers [Genesis 35:29]. Jacob dies, David dies, Solomon dies; always they are gathered to their
fathers. But they are justified and received into the glory of heaven when Christ led the great
exodus of the Old Testament saints in the presence of the myriads of the angels of glory
[Ephesians 4:8].
No wonder they bowed down and praised Him who liveth for ever and ever [Revelation 4:10].
Abel comes with his righteous offering [Hebrews 11:4]. Noah comes with his sermon on
repentance [2 Peter 2:5]. Abraham comes with his heart centered on the Promised Land
[Hebrews 11:8-10]. David comes with his harp [1 Samuel 16:23]. Isaiah comes with his](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-45-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![prophecies of hope and comfort [Isaiah 40:1]. Ezekiel comes with his four cherubim [Ezekiel
1:5]. Daniel comes with his lions eating straw like an ox [Daniel 6:19-22]. Zechariah comes with
his quietness and confidence [Zechariah 10:1-5]. And Malachi comes bowing before “the Sun of
Righteousness who has healing in His wings” [Malachi 4:2]. Can you conceive of the ecstasy of
heaven when the Old Testament saints received their atoning Lord? [John 8:56].
And last: the ascension, as the New Testament church rejoiced in it. That is the opening of the
Revelation, “Unto Him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood . . . to Him
be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen” [Revelation 1:5-6]. And the church, the bride of
Christ, receives their Bridegroom into heaven, the ascension of our Lord when He returned to
glory [Acts 1:9-10]. No wonder the Revelation in chapter 4 [Revelation 4:8-11], and chapter 5
[Revelation 5:8-14], strains under the burden of language to describe the glory of that moment
when Jesus appears in the presence of His saints and of His church and of the hosts of heaven.
In the second chapter of the Book of Philippians:
Wherefore God hath also highly exalted Him, and given Him a name above every name:
That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, things in heaven, things in earth, and things in
the netherworld under the earth;
And that every tongue should confess that He is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
[Philippians 2:9-11]
All the marvelous wondrous tributes to our Lord when He ascended into heaven [Acts 1:9-10],
everything above Him is His; the heaven of heavens. Everything around Him is His; the saints
and the angelic hosts of glory. Everything of His redeemed are now His; washed blood-bought,
purchased, atoned for, cleansed, purified, without spot or blemish [Ephesians 5:27]. And even
the damned in the infernal world beneath us, the demons and these who are lost, shall
acknowledge Him. “Every knee shall bow . . . and every tongue shall confess Jesus is Lord”
[Philippians 2:10-11].
There was a great city in America and someone had an unusual idea. For a series of nights there
were to be invited able men to present the faith of the living religions of the world; two to be
presented each night. For example, one night there would be a representative of Shinto and
Hindu. Shintoism and Hinduism were to be presented that night; the next night, someone to
present Islam, the faith of the Mohammedans, and Judaism, the faith of the Jew; and the last
night, a representative of Buddhism and a representative of the Christian faith.
When the night came, the last one, the representative of the Buddhist religion was a brilliant and
able man, and he swayed that vast throng of thousands that had gathered in the city auditorium as
he spoke of the laws of Nirvana and the quiet contemplative life of the Buddha. And when the
representative of the Christian faith arose to speak in behalf of our Lord, somehow he stammered
and stumbled, and the faith of our Lord began to wither in his hands and in his voice. And in the
midst of the stammering and the stumbling of the representative of the Christian faith, when it
seemed that Christ was bemeaned and belittled, somebody—and nobody knew who—somebody,
way up in the top of the balcony began to sing:
All hail the power of Jesus’ name.
Let angels prostrate fall.
Bring forth the royal diadem](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-46-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![And crown Him Lord of all.
And another picked up the stanza:
Ye chosen seed of Israel’s race,
Ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him who saves you by His grace
And crown Him Lord of all.
And others picked it up until finally there was the chorus of thousands singing:
Let every kindred and every tribe
On this terrestrial ball
To Him all majesty ascribe
And crown Him Lord of all.
[“All Hail the Power,” Edward Perronet, 1779]
And when they finished their song the representative of the Buddhist religion bowed his head
and left the platform in defeat. Jesus is Lord, Lord of all in heaven [1 Timothy 6:15], someday to
be Lord of all in earth and triumphant over God’s creation, the Great Restorer, the manifest and
eternal God [Titus 2:13]. That’s Jesus our Lord, who, as He reigns in heaven [Hebrews 8:1],
shall someday reign in earth [Isaiah 2:4]. May we stand?
Our Lord, before these mighty truths our souls tremble. Ah! The wonder, and the majesty, and
the glory, and the power of our preexistent Christ, who became one of us [Philippians 2:5-7],
who died for our sins [1 Corinthians 15:3], according to the promise [1 Corinthians 15:3], who
ascended into heaven to be our faithful High Priest [Hebrews 4:14-16, 8:1], who is coming again
with ten thousands and thousands of His saints [Jude 14], and with whom we shall live and reign
forever and ever [Revelation 22:3-5]. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
And in the quietness of this morning’s moment, you, receiving our Lord Jesus as your personal
Savior [Romans 10:9-10], waiting for His coming from heaven, asking His blessing upon your
life and heart and work; a family, a couple, one somebody you, while we pray, while we wait,
down one of those stairways, down one of these aisles: “Pastor, we have decided for God and
here we come” [Ephesians 2:8].
And our Lord, thank Thee for the sweet harvest You give us. In Thy glorious and saving and
redeeming name, amen.
While we sing this song, come, and welcome, welcome.
OUR LORD’S ENTRANCE INTO HEAVEN
Dr. W. A. Criswell](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-47-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![Ephesians 4:8
6-28-81 10:50 a.m.
In these days, all of you who are members of the church know so well, and to the great throng of
visitors, the pastor is preaching a very long series of sermons on the great doctrines of the Bible.
I was asked to do so by the Zondervan Publishing Company. And each year there will be a little
volume of these doctrinal messages printed and distributed. And in the long, long series, which is
divided into fifteen sections, we are in the third section, which is on Christology, the doctrine of
Christ.
And in the present part of that series on our Lord, we have spoken of Our Lord’s Entrance Into
This Earth, His virgin birth; Our Lord’s Entrance Into Human Suffering, His atoning death;
Our Lord’s Entrance Into The Grave; Our Lord’s Entrance, last Sunday, Into Resurrection
Life; and today, the message is entitled Our Lord’s Entrance Into Heaven, His ascension into
glory.
In the fourth chapter of the Book of Ephesians, verse 8, Paul quotes Psalm 68:18:
Wherefore He saith, the Holy Spirit of God witnesses, When Christ ascended up on high, He led
captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
(Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into this earth? He that
descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things.)
When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
[Ephesians 4:8-10]
There are eight great epochs in the life of our Savior: His eternal preexistence in heaven [John
1:1]; His descent into the earth, His virgin birth [Matthew 1:23-25]; His mighty ministry,
incomparable in word and in deed [Acts 2:22]; His atoning death on the cross [Matthew 27:32-
50]; His resurrection from among the dead [Matthew 28:5-7]; His ascension into heaven [Acts
1:9-10]; His triumphant and kingly return [Revelation 1:7]; and last, His eternal reign in heaven
and in earth [Revelation 21,22].
Of those eight, one is like a Jacob’s ladder [Genesis 28:12-13]: His descent and His ascent into
heaven, that heaven of heavens – the third heaven, as the Bible names them: the first heaven
where the birds fly and the clouds go by; the second heaven of the sidereal spheres and the Milky
Way and the stars that shine; then the heaven of heavens, where God’s throne is forever set, to
which heaven our Lord has ascended [Luke 24:50-51; Acts 1:9].
We’re going to look at that ascension in four ways: as we view it from the earth, as the angels
watched it in heaven, as the Old Testament saints waited in promise, and as the New Testament
church, the bride of Christ, receives her Bridegroom.
First: the ascension of our Lord into heaven as we view it from the earth; the Scriptures witness,
testify, such as in 1 Peter chapter 1, such as in Revelation chapter 13. Our Lord is described as
the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the earth [Revelation 13:8]. In the tenth chapter of
the Book of Hebrews, there is presented a scene in the primordial existence of time when the
Christ, the Captain of the host of heaven, volunteered to redeem a coming, fallen humanity
[Hebrews 10:4-14]. In the foreknowledge of God, He saw the rebellion of Lucifer [Ezekiel
28:15-17], the fall of our first parents [Genesis 3:1-6], and the despair and waste of the world.](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-48-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![When therefore in the rebellion in the sin in heaven and the desecration of God’s beautiful
creation, the world became waste and void [Genesis 1:2], it became a house of woe. The earth
became an immeasurable cemetery in which we bury our dead [Genesis 3:1-6], and it groans and
travails in agony until now [Romans 8:22]. In the midst of that fall there was given to the fallen
human race a protevangelium, a gospel before the gospel. It is found in Genesis 3:15: the Seed of
the woman shall destroy and bruise and crush Satan’s head.
And the rest of the Bible is the carrying out in God’s faithfulness of that promise of a Deliverer,
a Redeemer. He comes through the line of Seth, not Cain. He comes through the line of Noah
and Shem. He is to come through the line of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. He is to be a member
of the house and family of David. And the prophecies thereafter describe the beauty, the
preciousness, the comfort, the deliverance, and the glory of His reign.
And in keeping with that holy promise of God, in the fullness of time, He was born of a woman
[Galatians 4:4-5]; then followed His ministry of deed and word [Acts 2:22]; His atoning death
[Matthew 27:32-50]; His resurrection from among the dead [Matthew 28:5-7]; His ascension into
heaven [Luke 24:50-51]. In the passage that we read together this morning in Acts 1:9, as He
ascended into glory, a cloud – to us, a cloud is a mist; no, the shekinah glory of God – covered
Him and received Him up into heaven. That’s the way the story reads as we view the ascension
of our Lord from the earth.
Second: as the angels watched the ascension of our Lord in heaven – in the rebellion of Lucifer
in the dim ages of the ages past, one-third of the angelic host of heaven chose to follow Satan
[Revelation 12:4], but two-thirds of them were true and loyal and faithful to their crowned
Prince, the preexistent Lord Jesus Christ, the second Person of the Trinity, the eternal God
[Revelation 12:4]. And in that rebellion, two-thirds of those angels in heaven were made aware
of God’s redemptive plan, but they couldn’t understand it.
In the first chapter of 1 Peter, it says that the angels desire to look into what God was doing [1
Peter 1:12]. It was an astonishing and indescribably amazing providence when they saw their
crowned Prince of Glory, the preexistent Christ God come down into the womb of a virgin girl
named Mary and be born as one of us, a man [Matthew 1:23-25]. And all through the life of our
Lord did the angels watch over in amazement.
In 1 Timothy 3:16, Paul says, Great is the mustērion , the secret God kept in His heart. “Great is
the mustērion of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels,
seen of angels.” The angels watched over our Lord all through the days of His ministry. When
He was born, they sang in great countless numbers a song of praise and glory [Luke 2:13-14]. It
meant the deliverance of the fallen race and the restoration of this destroyed and wasted world.
They sang in the coming of our Lord into the earth. They were present helping our Savior in His
temptation [Matthew 4:11]. They followed Him through all of His ministry. They comforted
Him in Gethsemane [Luke 22:43]. When He was raised from the dead, they were at the foot and
at the head of the grave [John 20:12]. And when He ascended into glory, they announced to the
waiting, gazing, heavenly looking-upward apostles that this same Jesus whom they are receiving
into glory, that same Jesus, someday is coming again [Acts 1:10-11].
Now, as they watched our Lord and received Him into heaven, can you describe? No. Could you
imagine? It’s beyond our imagination the scene in glory when their Prince, the Captain of the
host of heaven, returns in triumph. What it must have been!](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-49-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![In Psalm 24 [Verses 7-10], we have a record of that scene in prophecy: “Lift up your heads, O ye
gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this
King of glory? The Lord mighty in battle, the Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory!”
In Colossians 2:15, those principalities and powers, unto Lucifer, unto Satan who warred against
our Christ, Scripture says, “He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them.” And in our
text, “He ascended up on high, leading captivity captive” [Ephesians 4:8].
To His chariot wheel is tied our conquered foe, Satan, Lucifer, the devil. He is now a toothless
and stingless dragon. He is a defeated and crushed and conquered foe [Revelation 20:10]. And
when our Lord entered heaven, He entered as the great Conqueror of him who had brought
rebellion among the angels, had introduced sin into God’s holy creation, and had destroyed the
universe and our world, finally had encompassed the death of our first parents and the human
race.
When the Lord entered into heaven amidst the song and the praise and the exaltation of ten
thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands of angels [Revelation 5:11-12], oh,
what a scene it must have been! This passage, “He ascended on high, leading captivity captive”
[Ephesians 4:8] – those who had held Him captive, He now has in His possession as captives:
Satan, in league with sin and death. “He became sin for us: that we might be the righteousness of
God in Him” [2 Corinthians 5:21]. And He entered into the grave that He might win there for us
an eternal and everlasting victory [1 Corinthians 15:57].
And the bands of sin and the bonds of death did He break asunder, and He arose from the dead
and entered into heaven, the great Lord Creator and victor and conqueror of the enemies we have
known in our lives: sin, and death, and the grave, and all of the hurt and sorrow of the sowing of
Satan [1 Corinthians 15:55-57]. Can you imagine what a scene it must have been when the
angels received back into glory their crowned Prince, the preexistent Christ, the Lord and
Captain of their hosts and our own loving Savior? The ascension of Christ as the angels watched
Him from heaven.
Third, the ascension of our Lord as the Old Testament saints waited in promise: in the ninth
chapter of the Book of Luke, and if you’d like to turn to it, Luke chapter 9, verses [29]-31, Luke
chapter 9, verse [29] through verse 31. In the midst of the story of the transfiguration of our
Lord, “the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment became white and
glistering.” The deity of our Lord, covered over by His flesh, is shining through. “And, behold,
there talked with Him two men, Moses and Elijah: they appeared in glory, and spake of His
decease which He should accomplish at Jerusalem” [Luke 9:29-31]. Far more is in that text than
you would discern by reading it in an English translation. Moses and Elijah appearing in glory,
speaking to Christ of His – you have it translated “decease.” The Greek is exodos, and the same
exact word in English is in Greek. They speak to Him of His exodus, translated here, “decease,”
which He should – and you have it translated “accomplish,” plēroō, which means the fulfillment
of prophecy; the exodus which He should bring to pass, to fulfillment, according to prophecy.
What does that mean? Moses represents those that died and are buried [Deuteronomy 34:5],
Elijah represents those who are raptured [2 Kings 2:11], who are translated, who are changed in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, and both Moses and Elijah speak to our Lord about the
exodus.
That’s what God calls the deliverance of His people out of the bondage of Egypt. It’s called in
the Bible an exodus, and the second book in the Bible God calls “Exodus.” And they’re speaking](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-50-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![to our Lord about the great exodus [Luke 9:30-31], the deliverance of the people from the
bondage of death and corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God, which He should
plēroō, which He should bring to pass, accomplish, in fulfillment of all of the prophecies of the
Old Testament, in Jerusalem.
In the Old Testament, when the Old Testament saints died, the Bible says they were gathered to
their fathers. Abraham was gathered to his fathers. Isaac and Jacob, David and Solomon, always
in the Old Testament they were gathered to their fathers, awaiting the redemption, the atoning
death of our Savior.
And when Moses and Elijah speak to our Lord, they say, “Jesus, we are in heaven waiting the
fulfillment of the promise. It is because of Your atoning death that we have hope of deliverance,
the forgiveness of sins, and a home in glory.” And they encouraged our Lord. “Our eternal life
and destiny are in Your hands. They depend upon You, this holy atoning purpose that You
realized for us in Jerusalem on the cross.”
Can you therefore imagine the infinite ecstasy of the Old Testament saints with Moses and Elijah
when our Lord, having died for their sins, and having delivered them from the judgment of
death, and having made it possible for them to have entrance into heaven; can you conceive
therefore, can you imagine therefore of the delight, and glory, and exaltation, and ecstasy in
heaven when the Old Testament saints receive our Lord upon His ascension, conqueror over sin
and death and the grave, victor, Deliverer? And the Old Testament saints rise to greet Him when
He returns to glory.
There is Abel with his righteous offering [Genesis 4:4]. There is Noah with his sermon on
repentance. There is Abraham with his heart in the Promised Land [Genesis 12:1-3]. There is
David with his harp [1 Samuel 16:23]. There is Elijah with his fire [1 Kings 18:36-39]. There is
Isaiah with his prophecies of comfort. There is Ezekiel with his four cherubim [Ezekiel 10:1-17].
There is Daniel with his lions eating straw like an ox [Daniel 6:21-22; Isaiah 11:7]. There is
Zechariah with his quietness and his confidence. And there is Malachi bowing before the Sun of
Righteousness who comes with healing in His wings [Malachi 4:2]. What a glorious day it must
have been when the Old Testament saints arose to receive their great Deliverer and Savior, the
Lord Jesus, the Christ.
Fourth: as the church, the redeemed blood-bought bride of Christ, as they received Him into
glory, it is hard to express it when you read the first chapters of the Apocalypse, of the
Revelation. The language groans under the heavy assignment of describing our Lord’s reception
into glory when the redeemed, when the four cherubim, when the twenty-four elders, twelve of
the Old Testament, twelve of the New Testament, the old patriarchs and the apostles, when they
received their Lord and join in the song of Moses and the Lamb [Revelation 5:6-14, 15:2-4]. Oh,
what a day it must have been! “Unto Him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own
blood, unto Him be glory and honor forever and ever, Hallelujah, amen!” [Revelation 1:5-6].
What a day it must have been when Jesus returned to glory!
The apostle Paul wrote of the eternal exaltation of our Lord, “Wherefore God hath also highly
exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name”; above every archangel, above
every angel, above all of God’s creation, exalted Him above all things, “That at the name of
Jesus every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess He is Lord, to the glory of God the
Father” [Philippians 2:9-11].](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-51-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![Everything in heaven above is His. It belongs to Him. Everything around Him is His, the earth
and all of its glory. It belongs to Him. Everything in His church, His redeemed family, all of us
belong to Him. And in that nether world of the infernal, and the damned, and the demons, they
also shall acknowledge Him. “Every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess that He is
Lord, Jesus is Lord, to the glory of God our Father.” Oh, what a day it must have been when all
of the saints of heaven, God’s redeemed church welcome their Savior and their Lord!
I read one time of a city in America in which was a large city municipal auditorium. And
somebody had the unusual idea of asking the finest representatives of the living religions of the
world, two of them each night, to present their faith. And it thrilled and delighted the interested
people of the city, and they jammed that great auditorium in presence by the thousands.
One night a representative of the Shinto religion and the Hindu religion presented each his faith.
Upon a night a representative of Islam, Mohammedanism, and Judaism, the faith of the Jew was
presented. And the last night the two presented, one representing Buddha, Buddhism, and the
other representing Christ, the Christian religion.
The representative, so I read, of the Buddhist faith was a brilliant and gifted man, and he swayed
that vast audience with his words of oratory and peroration, speaking of Nirvana and all of the
disciplines and the meditative life of Buddha. He was followed by the representative of the
Christian faith, and somehow the man stumbled and stammered, and our Lord was presented
poorly and weakly and ineffectively. And as the man spoke, stammeringly and weakly and
ineffectively, suddenly, up there high in the topmost balcony, a man began to sing:
All hail the power of Jesus’ name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown Him Lord of all;
And another man on this side took it up and others here,
Ye chosen seed of Israel’s race,
Ye ransomed from the fall,
Hail Him who saves you by His grace,
And crown Him Lord of all.
Then the whole throng of the thousands took it up,
Let every kindred, and every tribe,
On this terrestrial ball,
To Him all majesty ascribe,
And crown Him Lord of all;
[“All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name,” by Edward Perronet; Adapted by John Rippon]
Jesus is Lord. Jesus is King. Jesus is conqueror. He is God preexistent. He is God manifest in the
flesh [1 Timothy 3:16]. He is God triumphant and conqueror over sin and the grave and death [1
Corinthians 15:55-57]. He is our Lord reigning at the right hand of the Majesty on high
[Ephesians 1:20; Hebrews 1:3]. He is our great God and Savior [Titus 2:13] who shall appear](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-52-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![some day, apart from sin [Hebrews 9:28]. And He is our manifest and eternal Lord [1 Timothy
6:15-16], the re-creator and restorer of this wasted world.
What a marvel that God hath given to us, made out of dust, the privilege of being a fellow heir
with Him, a brother in the household of faith, a member of the family of God. Jesus is Lord. May
we stand?
Our Lord, there are not words to say it, the marvelous wonder of Christ our Savior, His loving
condescension, His suffering and death [Matthew 27:28-50], but oh, the glory of His resurrection
[Luke 24:1-12], and His ascension into heaven [Luke 24:50-51; Acts 1:9], whom the heavens
must receive until the time of the restitution of all things [Acts 3:20-21]. But in His grace, and in
His power, and in His love for us, we all have opportunity, invitation to be fellow heirs in the
kingdom of Christ. O God, that without the loss of one we all might be present in that day when
He is crowned Lord of the universe and Lord of this world. May our children be saved. May
these families and homes be saved. May we be saved, Lord. May I be saved. Write my name,
dear God, in the Lamb’s Book of Life, that when the roll of God’s people is called in heaven,
may my name be numbered among those who have loved the Lord and trusted Him.
And in this moment when our people stand before God in quietness and prayer and intercession,
praying for you, a family, a couple, one somebody you: “Today, pastor, we have decided for God
and here we stand.” In a moment when we sing this hymn of appeal, down one of those
stairways, down one of these aisles: “Here I come, pastor. Here I am.” And our Lord, thank Thee
for the sweet harvest You give us. In Thy saving name, amen. While we sing our song, come,
and welcome. God bless you. Welcome, while we sing.
CHRIST’S ASCENSION INTO HEAVEN
W.A. Criswell
Ephesians 4:8-10
2-10-57 10:50 a.m.
These are the services of the First Baptist Church in Dallas. This is the pastor bringing the
morning message entitled The Ascension Of Our Savior Into Heaven. In our preaching
through the Word, we are in the fourth chapter of the Book of Ephesians, and the text is the ninth
through the eleventh verses.
The reading of the context is this. Ephesians 4:
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation
wherewith ye are called,
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-53-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![One Lord, one faith, one baptism;
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
[Ephesians 4:1-6]
That is where we left off the last Sunday night that I preached here. Now:
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto
men.
(Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the
earth?
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens.)
[Ephesians 4:7-10]
Somebody asked me this very week, "Where is heaven?" It is above all heavens. It is above this
created world that you see, above it. The Bible will speak of a heaven and refer to the heaven
where the birds fly. They will – the Bible will refer to a heaven and it means the stars above us,
the second heaven. There is a heaven above all of these heavens that we see. It is the dwelling
place of God, a dwelling place.
The Greek called it a topos, a place. There is a dwelling place of God above this created world
that we look at.
And He ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all things.
And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and
teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect,
mature man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
[Ephesians 4:10-13]
Now, our subject, The Ascension Of Our Lord Into Heaven: the eighth verse, "Wherefore he
saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men"
[Ephesians 4:8]. There are five tremendous events in the life of our Lord; first His incarnation,
His birth. "Behold, a virgin, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bear a Son, and they shall call
His name, God is with us" [Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23]; His birth, the first great event in the life
of our Lord. The second tremendous event in the life of Jesus is His crucifixion, the atonement
on the cross [Matthew 27:32-50]. "Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins"
[Hebrews 9:22]. The third great event in the life of our Lord is His resurrection [Matthew 28:5-
7]. "He is the firstfruits of all of them that sleep" [1 Corinthians 15:20].
We someday shall be like Him. If we die, we shall be raised. We shall know a resurrection and
an ascension [Romans 6:3-5]. We shall see Him as He is [1 John 3:2]. Because He lives, we shall
live also [John 14:19]. The third great event in the life of our Lord is His resurrection. The fourth
great event in the life of Jesus is His ascension [Acts 1:9]. He returned to glory, to be Lord and](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-54-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![Ruler of the universe. He led captivity captive, He gave gifts unto men [Ephesians 4:8], gifts that
we receive from His gracious hands today.
And the last and final great event in the life of our Lord will be His descent, His coming again.
Had He not ascended, so Paul says, He could not descend. All of the other four lead up to that
great and culminating and climactic, consummating event toward which all time and history do
inexorably move, the final consummation of the age, the blowing of the trumpet of the archangel,
the personal, visible descent of our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17].
Those are the five great events in the life of the Lord.
Now our subject this morning is one, one rarely ever hears preached about, the ascension of our
Savior into heaven. The story that we read together is of the disciples walking with our Lord
beyond Kidron and up to the brow of Olivet [Luke 24:50]. What a hush, solemn scene, as those
disciples talked to the Lord whom they saw crucified [Luke 23:33-46], whom they saw buried
[Luke 23:50-53], and who now, immortalized, resurrected, walks in their midst [Luke 24:36-43].
What a solemn, holy hour, with hushed silence they listened to the words that fall from His lips
[Luke 24:44-]. And as they converse and walk along together, they reach the brow of the hill that
overlooked the holy city of Jerusalem [Luke 24:50].
And while they were speaking together, the Lord raised His pierced hands and in blessing and in
benediction, began slowly to rise from the earth before their very eyes [Luke 24:50-51]. And
when He reached the region of the clouds, a great shekinah glory of God, a cloud received Him
and bore Him out of their sight [Acts 1:9-11]. What a moment. What an hour. What an epoch.
What an event. No wonder they stood there transfixed, gazing up into heaven, whence their Lord
had been borne away. Well, a foolish thing, standing there gazing into heaven. But it’s pretty
hard to be logical about your heart. Did you ever think that, notice that, watch that in you? Five
hundred thousand reasons why you shouldn’t do thus and so, but your heart inclines.
For example, I wonder, is it with any hope that you do any good when you go to a graveside and
stand there, and in silence, weep and cry, and the tears fall down on the mound? No, you
couldn’t justify that by any piece of help or benefit. But your heart inclines, and you do.
Gazing into heaven; and while they gazed, lest they tarry too long, the Lord sent two angels.
Now you mark, they were not sent with flaming swords in their hands, nor were they sent with
rods of correction. But they were sent with raiment, glorious and white [Acts 1:10]. God knows
and God understands; not with His children does He chide and keep His anger forever.
And as they stood gazing there into glory, those angels came and said to them, "Qui bono. What
is the benefit? Why stand gazing? This same Lord," then you have the incomparable promise of
that final and marvelous and indescribably glorious appearing [Acts 1:11]. Then the angels point
to the task, and the word, and the Great Commission the Lord had just laid upon their souls [Acts
1:8]. To begin with, do you ever wonder why is it that the Lord hides Himself away, and why
does He tarry so long? "If these things are so real and so factual, where is Jesus and why did He
go away?"
There is the chair at the table where He used to sit, and here are the congregations to whom He
once didst speak, and here are the sick that He healed and the dead that He raised. Ah, the
blessing to have had Him! We couldn’t help but be like the two in Emmaus who constrained
Him to abide there still [Luke 24:29]. We would be like that and are now so, if we could, "Lord,
abide here with us. Break bread with us. Stay with us."](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-55-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![Why did He go away? Do I exaggerate if I were to say one Lord Jesus is worth ten thousand
apostles? Hadn’t you rather see Him? Hadn’t you rather have Him? Hadn’t you rather listen to
Him than to listen to a thousand apostles? Why did He go away?
Think of the blessing He could be in this world. I know a multitude that I’d like to bring, lay at
His feet, "Lord, heal this one. Open this man’s eyes. Unstop this man’s ears. Lord, raise up from
a bed of affliction this precious friend." I think of a multitude I’d like to bring to Jesus if He were
just here. Think of the words of wisdom by which our lives could be directed if He were here.
Ah, the perplexities that overwhelm us, and the perturbations of the mind that drown us – and if
just He were here.
And think of His enemies, all the enemies of Christ in this world. By just one word He could
annihilate them all. Why, I read there in the Bible when they came to arrest Him, He just said His
name, "I am He." They looked for Jesus. And when He just said it, they all fell backward,
paralyzed, transfixed, terrorized just by the Lord saying just a sentence [John 18:5-6]. Think
what He could do with His enemies were He here in the world. And think what He could do
about the conversion of the world. How we need Him. O Lord, why did You return into heaven?
Why? Well, that’s the sermon this morning.
There are several reasons why. First reason is this, our Lord ascended back into glory because it
is a part of the great purpose of God through the ages. God has a plan. He has a program. These
things that we, to us, they seem so impersonal and they happen just accidentally. Oh, no. From
the beginning to that final end, God has a program, and God has a plan, and God has a purpose.
And this thing that Jesus has done in going away is not something to hurt His sheep who are
down here below, but it is a mark in the advancement of His kingdom.
The despiser and the scorner, he looks upon us, and he says, "Your Christianity is spun out. Your
religion is done for. The kingdom is over. The Lord is gone and you are hopeless, and helpless,
and alone." Not so. Not so! Our Lord has just gone up into the hills from whence He can survey
the field of battle. Our Lord has just changed His place and His station, and there in glory He is
marshaling the cohorts of the Omnipotent who stand waiting and ready against that final day
when their Captain shall say the word to charge. He is just in another place. He is just in another
field. He is just looking down from another vantage point, but the battle isn’t lost, and the war
isn’t over, and Christ has not left or forsaken the field of conflict. He is just in another place.
All right, a second thing: our Lord ascended to heaven in order that the hearts, and the desires,
and the hopes, and the minds of His children might be centered not in this earth, but in the world
that is to come. There are some beautiful passages in the Scriptures, and one is Philippians 3:20:
"For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ." Now that word conversation is better translated, citizenship. "For our citizenship, our
commonwealth is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior."
And another admonition is in Colossians 3:2: "Set your affections on things above, not on things
on the earth." Our Lord is in heaven that He might draw our attention, and our hope, and our
aims, and our desires, and our visions not here, but in glory. Our treasures are not to be in this
world, but in the world that is to come. And by and by, if you live long enough, you will know
the truth of that heavenly vision; all the family on the other side, all of your friends on the other
side.
I was talking to an old man yesterday, and he was saying to me that his family had gone on the
other side and his friends were all on the other side and that he felt lonesome down here in the](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-56-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![earth. If you live long enough, the day will come when you will be a stranger in this world. The
children, all of the people who know you, they’ve all gone. And the children look at you as
belonging to a day and an age out of some remote, medieval past.
God’s Son and our Savior is where our final vision, and our final hope, and our final dream, and
our final home is to be. What if He were here and we grew old? What if He were here and the
day came for us to die, and He is here, and that great, long vista of the eons and the ages yet to
come, and He is here? Oh, no! God knows best. God always knows best. He never mistakes. He
never fails in the plan. Our home is there. Our destiny is there. Our inheritance is there. Our
mansion is there. And Jesus is there! [John 14:2-3]. That’s the second reason why He ascended
into heaven.
The third reason our Lord ascended into heaven is this: God would teach us to walk by faith and
not by sight [2 Corinthians 5:7]. Did you ever think what a moratorium it would be on faith if our
risen Lord were here in this world? Why, I suppose these Muslims making their trek toward
Mecca, would be a peccadillo compared to the enormous vying, and scrapping, and fighting, and
wedging of humanity to get to wherever Jesus was. You know, I’ve tried to imagine that and it’s
beyond my imagination. If our Lord were here in this world, we’d all be making our way to see
Jesus.
No, the religion of our Savior is not physical and material in that way! It is deeply spiritual like
God is spiritual, like His body is spiritual. Isn’t that a strange thing? But you can’t preach
without contradictions: like His body is spiritual. Religion is just like that. Some of the strangest
contradictions in it, but they’re true. The Lord Jesus Christ would have His people a spiritual
people who walk by faith, by trust, not by sight. God is Spirit: and He wishes that they who
worship Him worship Him in spirit and in truth [John 4:24]. Whatever is physical in religion is
that much less spiritual for His people.
Israel in the wilderness, with an actual sanctuary, and an actual altar, and an actual priest, and an
actual tabernacle that their eyes could see, was always prone to idolatry. Even the ordinances, the
Lord’s Supper and baptism are a snare and a delusion to so many. They engraft upon baptism
this thing of baptismal regeneration, that our sins are washed away in the act, that we’re saved by
being baptized. And they even speak of the Lord’s Supper as having sacramental efficacy; these
things, no!
The great truths of God are always deeply spiritual, always! And if a thing is physical like
baptism, it but portrays, it but dramatizes a tremendous spiritual truth which in baptism is the
washing of regeneration [Romans 6:3-5]. And if there is a Lord’s Supper in itself, it is nothing! It
is still bread, it is still a fruit of the vine; but it portrays, it dramatizes a great spiritual truth!
[Matthew 26:26-28; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26]. So with all of our religion, our altar is in heaven
[Revelation 6:9, 8:3-5]. Our Priest is in heaven. Our sanctuary is in heaven. Our great Mediator
is in heaven. The great spiritual truths of God are always spiritual. And the Lord would have us
walk by that faith and not by sight [2 Corinthians 5:7]. And our Lord ascended into heaven [Acts
1:9-10].
May I say another reason why our Lord returned to heaven? To make sure and certain our
inheritance, that we might persevere, that God’s children might surely and assuredly make it
[Hebrews 7:25]. How do you know? How do you know between now and that final time, how do
you know but that you will fall into hell? How do you know?](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-57-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![What a strong adversary we have in Satan. Why, our little puny hands and our feeble frames, no
match for that archangel! Even Michael, the archangel, dare not rebuke him! When they were
contending about the body of Moses, even Michael dared not rebuke him. The wonderful power
of Satan, even Michael dare not rebuke him, "but saith, The Lord God rebuke thee" [Jude 9].
Why is it that God’s children shall not fall into hell? No match are we, no equal are we to Satan.
Who shall save us? Who shall guarantee our inheritance? Who shall give us that ableness and
power and ability to persevere so that finally we make it? We shall arrive there, and we shall
receive that inheritance because we have a great representative in heaven to secure it for us and
to keep it for us, and someday to give it to us.
If I were to send a representative there to look after my inheritance in glory, he might fail, I don’t
care who he is. My lawyer, my friend, my best, my all, I don’t care whom I might send. But
when Jesus is there, I have an insured inheritance. It will be mine. He will see to it that there’s no
power that overwhelms us, that we don’t fall into the abyss. God will deliver into our hands that
wonderful and blessed promised mansion, that home in glory. God will do it because He is there,
and all power is in His hands, and He guides, and He helps, and He constrains, and He leaves,
and He blesses, and He keeps, and He preserves. And some of these days the inheritance will be
ours. He is there to keep it for us [2 Timothy 1:12].
Another reason why our Lord is in heaven: our Lord ascended into heaven to be our Mediator,
our Intercessor, to answer the prayers of His people. Our Lord is in glory. "There is one God, and
one Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus" [1 Timothy 2:5]; one in person, one
in office, one in sex. Isn’t that strange? There is one God, one Mediator between God and man –
the Man! Isn’t that strange? Why would God write that in His Book? Doesn’t everybody know
Jesus is a man? Does anybody have any doubts or questions about Jesus being a man? Why
emphasize that? You know why. There is a great spiritual truth that God would have us know.
There is one God, there is one Mediator between God and man – the Man! One in office, one in
name, one in ministry, one in person, and one in sex, the Man Christ Jesus!
What God is saying to His children is, "You don’t need saints to pray for you; you’ve got the
Man, Christ Jesus." "You don’t need a virgin to pray for you; you have the great Mediator, the
Man, Christ Jesus!" Nowhere, no time, no place is there any suggestion in the Bible that any
saint, or any virgin, or any other mediator stands between the soul and the God from whom we
implore forgiveness and mercy and help.
We go straight to God, to the great Mediator, the Lord Jesus [1 Timothy 2:5]. He is our Priest
[Hebrews 4:14-16], He is our Mediator, He is our Intercessor. He is our great go‑ between, and
He stands at the right hand of God in glory. That’s the reason the Book of Hebrews said,
"Wherefore He is able to save to the uttermost them who come to God by faith, through Him
because He ever liveth to make intercession for them" [Hebrews 7:25].
Jesus is our Intercessor. Jesus is our Mediator. Jesus is our Pleader. Jesus listens to the prayers of
His children. That’s why He ascended on high; Jesus in heaven, our great High Priest through the
veil into the sanctuary, there at the right hand of the throne of power [Hebrews 12:2] to listen to
the feeblest cry of His humblest children.
Now hurriedly this last, why our Lord ascended into heaven: my text, "Wherefore He saith,
When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men" [Ephesians
4:8]. If I had another hour, I’d preach the second sermon here on the entrance of our Lord into](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-58-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![glory. And there are several wonderful passages in the Bible that I’d preach from. One of them
would be the fifth chapter of the Book of the Revelation.
I think the fifth chapter of the Book of the Revelation is a scene in glory when our Lord, like a
conqueror coming back from the field of battle, when He came and the angels acclaimed Him
and all heaven sang the praises of the return of their Conquering Hero, leading death captive,
Satan forever defeated, leading captivity captive. "Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on
high, He led captivity captive."
And they sang a new song saying, Worthy is the Lamb. Glory and honor and blessing and power
be unto the Lamb forever and ever.
And the thousands times ten thousand angels, they said, And forever and forever.
And the saints of all ages and all time, they said, "And hallelujah, forever and forever.
[from Revelation 5:9-14]
"When He ascended up on high, when He led captivity captive" [Ephesians 4:8].
I said if I had another hour, I’d like to preach about the entrance of Jesus into glory. The Bible
says, "And He was seen of angels. And He was seen of angels" [1 Timothy 3:16]. They knew
Him. They’ve been watching Him, and He comes back to heaven. That’s why the Psalm was
inspired. Do you remember it? "Lift up your heads, O all ye gates; and be lifted up, ye
everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord,
great and mighty" – Jesus, the God of hosts, leading captivity captive, "He is the King of glory"
[Psalm 24:7-10].
Would you like to hear that sermon Dr. Fowler? We’ll just stay here another hour then and talk
about Jesus when He entered into heaven. Wouldn’t that be a great message to preach? "When
He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men" [Ephesians 4:8]. Ah,
in this little moment, we must close, "and gave gifts unto men." You can see the imagery of that,
the great conquering hero, and giving gifts, His rewards unto men.
Now, he’s not talking here about the end of time, though that’s true. "Behold, I come quickly;
and My reward is with Me, to give every man [according] as his work shall be" [Revelation
22:12]. But he’s not talking about that here, "And He led captivity captive," when He entered
into glory, "and gave gifts unto men" [Ephesians 4:8]. And He gave some and Paul just mentions
a few. "And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some,
pastors and some teachers" [Ephesians 4:11], all of us a measure of grace, all of us, all of us. God
in Christ when the Lord returned to glory, God fitted some gift for me, and God fitted a gift for
you. Ah, how greatly we differ!
And you know, often times, I hear people say to me, "Pastor, I am so unable. I don’t have any
talents. I can’t sing," and they call somebody, "I can’t sing like they can sing. And I can’t stand
up and talk eloquently, and I can’t pray beautifully like Dr. Fowler prays for our souls. And I
just; it just looks like I can’t do anything."
Well, I know how you feel because about ninety-nine percent of the time, I feel, "Lord, I’m just a
complete failure. O Lord, if I could preach like I want to preach, if I could say that thing as it
ought to be said, Lord, if I could just describe that thing like it ought to be described, O God
what it would be!"](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-59-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![But oh, you stammer and you stumble, and your words are feeble and stuttering. We’re all that
way. We’re all that way. Wish we could be a thousand times better for Jesus’ sake. Wish we
could do it a thousand times stronger and finer for Jesus, but this is our comfort, "And He gave
gifts unto men" [Ephesians 4:8], each one of us. Each one of us has his gift. All of us something
and that’s what makes the body glorious.
The foot can’t say to the head, "I don’t have any need of thee." And the hand can’t say to the eye,
"And I don’t need thee." And the ear can’t say to the tongue, "And I have no need of thee." But
God put all the body beautifully together. And the foot has its place, and the eye has its place,
and the hand has its place [1 Corinthians 12:14-20], and the apostle has his place, and the
evangelist has his place, and the pastor has his place, and the teacher has his place, and you have
a place. You have a place.
Some of us are like little pieces of glass in the window, and some of us are like globes up there
that shine in the chandelier, and some of us are like pillars in the house of the Lord, and some of
us like foundation stones and you don’t ever see them, they’re buried there deep in the earth.
And some of us are like little shingles up there on the top of the roof, and some of us are like a
spire, pointing people to God. But it takes us all to make the house, and it takes us all to make the
body, and it takes us all to exalt Jesus. "And He gave gifts unto men" [Ephesians 4:8], and He
gave one to you. There is something God has given to you. Ah, the blessed privilege; the blessed
privilege of dedicating what God hath given us to the purposes and the holy usefulnesses that
magnify His name, and build up His church, and honor His cause in the earth.
We must make our appeal and that’s it. God speaks to His people. Little boy came to me this
morning. I said, "Why are you come to see me?" He says, "I feel the Lord has spoken to my
heart." I said, "Son, that’s right. He always does." God made us that way. God speaks to your
heart, and He calls, and He knocks at the door, blessing you when you open it wide, "Come in
Lord, come in. The best seat in the house, that’s Yours; the best room in my heart, that’s Yours;
the best day of my life, that’s Yours; the finest moment, Lord, that’s Yours."
Would you make it that? Give yourself to the Lord, do it now. In the great balcony round, down
these stairwells; in the great press of people on this floor here, into the aisle and down here,
"Pastor, I have felt God’s call to my heart, His quickening Spirit in my life, and here I come."
Trusting Him, dedicating your life to Him, putting your life with us in the church, a family of
you, or one somebody you, while we sing the song and make the appeal, would you come?
Would you do it now, while we stand and while we sing?
THE HEAVENLY ASCENSION
Dr. W. A. Criswell
Ephesians 4:8-10
1-24-71 8:15 a.m.](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-60-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![You who are listening on the radio are sharing with us the services of the First Baptist Church in
Dallas. This is the pastor bringing the message entitled The Heavenly Ascension. In our
preaching through the Book of Ephesians, we are in the fourth chapter. And in the fourth chapter
beginning at verse 8, the apostle writes:
Wherefore He saith – and then he is going to quote from the sixty-eighth Psalm and the
eighteenth verse – When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts unto
men.
(Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the
earth?
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all
things.)
[Ephesians 4:8-10]
The ascension of our Lord above all heavens, where did He go? Where is He? Up and up and up;
the heaven of the birds and the clouds that float above our heads, the heavens of the sidereal
spheres and the Milky Way, the heaven of the stars that we see at night, and the stars beyond
what we cannot see, and up into the heaven of God where God dwells, where the new city, the
New Jerusalem is being built. "He that descended in the lower parts of the earth, even to the
grave, is also He that ascended up and up and up far above all heavens." So the message, the
ascension of Christ: there are five great events in the life of our Lord; His birth, His death, His
resurrection, His ascension, and His coming return.
His miraculous birth, born of a virgin [Matthew 1:23]. His death, the great purpose of God
through the ages; "Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sins" [Hebrews 9:22].
The two seals of the divine love and purpose, the manger and the cross, the resurrection, the
firstfruits, the Morning Star of our coming glory [Matthew 28:6]. As He died, we die. As He was
raised from the dead, we shall be raised. He is the harbinger, the promise, the earnest of our own
resurrection.
His ascension into glory, what a magnificent presentation [Acts 1:8-10], just one part of which
we shall speak of this morning; "When He ascended up on high, He carried captivity captive and
gave gifts unto men" [Ephesians 4:8]. And finally, His return [Acts 1:11]. All five of those, the
one points to the other, to the other, to the other. And all four of the preceding ones point to the
final one, the ascension of our Lord. "Wherefore, when He ascended up on high, He led captivity
captive and gave gifts unto men. Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended?
And He that descended is the same also that ascended above all heavens."
Now what the apostle is referring to is recounted in the first chapter of the Book of Acts and in
the passage you read in the twenty-fourth chapter of the Book of Luke, the ascension of our
Lord. On that fortieth day after He was raised from the dead, the little band of devout disciples,
apostles, were walking with our Lord up the hill called Olivet. They were filled with intense,
unspeakable, indescribable joy. Their Lord, risen, raised from the dead, was walking with them.
And when they came to the brow of the hill they paused. And the Lord lifted up His nail-pierced
hands to bless them. And while He was blessing them, He began to rise, and to rise, and to rise,
and to rise up to the clouds [Luke 24:50-51; Acts 1:9-10]. And there, a chariot of light, the
shekinah of God, the raiment, the garments of the Almighty, enveloped Him, and He disappeared
out of their sight.](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-61-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![They were wonderstruck! They were awestruck! They stood transfixed, looking up, whither our
Lord had gone. So many times we do things that our hearts dictate in which there is no logical
explanation at all, just standing there looking. It’s hard logically to explain some things we do,
such as going to the grave or the tomb to weep. Qui bono? What the benefit? Just why? It is just
something that we do. And there is no logical explanation at all. It is just our hearts lead us to do
it. So those disciples standing there wonder, awestruck, just transfixed.
Then the Lord sent an angel, an interrupting messenger to waken them back to their work. Not an
angel with a sword or even with a rod, but an angel dressed in luminous glory, to awaken them,
and to commission them, and to give them that holy and heavenly promise that He who ascended
some day will descend, the same Lord Jesus [Acts 1:10-11]. Why does He go away? Why does
He not stay here with us? Ah we can think of a thousand reasons why the Lord should have
stayed. Why did He go away? We need Him so desperately, all of us, and the whole world. We
are like those disciples in Emmaus when He was revealed to them, they constrained Him to abide
[Luke 24:29]. Oh, stay. We feel that way. Lord, stay. Thy presence is worth more to us, we think,
than ten thousand apostles. Lord, Thy gracious words of wisdom; we could just ask Thee, and it
would be the heavenly, heavenly answer. And Your miracle-working power, Your hands of
healing, and Your voice that can even raise the dead, dear Lord, how we need Thee! Thy
presence would bring consternation and confusion to the enemies of Christianity. We would be
like a triumphant marching army if the Lord were here to lead us, and we need Him for
conversion of the world. Lord, why do You go away? Why the ascension of our Christ?
When you think upon these things, there are some things that immediately press answers upon
our hearts. And I have chosen five of them: why the ascension of our Lord, why He left us, why
He returned to heaven.
First: we are not to suppose in His ascension, in His departure, that the Lord has wronged us or
forgotten us, that He has injured us or hurt us, that He has left us or forsaken us. No, rather, our
Lord has just ascended in order that He might more gloriously help us, succor us, encourage us,
lead us, and direct our warfare against our spiritual foes.
The despisers say, they are the ones who say, "Look, your cause is lost. Christianity has spun
out. Your leader is gone, no longer His miracle-working hands. The faith is done for." Not so.
Our Lord but has changed His place of commanding leadership. He has gone up to the hills. He
has ascended up to the throne. There, in a more strategic place, to direct the spiritual forces and
graces and gifts that He has bestowed upon us who love His name. He has not quit the battle. He
has not surrendered, nor is His ultimate victory questionable, but He is just there in another place
where He can survey the whole line of conflict. And against another day when He marshals the
whole host of heaven, when He mounts that white horse of the Apocalypse, He will come again
[Revelation 19:11]. It may be in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, with victory, with the
great consummation of the age in His hands. He hasn’t forsaken us. He still leads and directs our
assault against our spiritual enemies.
Second: our Lord has ascended up in the heaven in order that we might lift up our hearts, and our
faces, and our hopes, and our dreams, and our visions to the glory world that is yet to come. Paul
wrote to the Philippian church, "For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence we look for the
Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ" [Philippians 3:20]. Our citizenship is not here. It is in heaven. The
apostle wrote to the little church at Colosse, "Set your affection upon things above, not upon the
things of the earth" [Colossians 3:2]. The ascension of our Lord, like those disciples on Mount
Olivet, lifts up our faces and our hearts and our hopes heavenward, up there, up there. Our Lord,](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-62-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![our Head, has gone to the glory land, and our life is hid with Christ in God, and our life is there
also [Colossians 3:3]. Our treasure is there. Our inheritance is there.
Sometimes at a funeral service I think thoughts like this, "Oh dear, what if it had been the other
way around? What if the Lord were here? And what if the Lord stayed here? And then we were
forced in death to go there?" Oh, what a tragedy! What an unspeakable horrifying thought! Our
Lord is here. Our Savior is here. And all of our friends, one by one, go there. And the circle of
our family, all of them, go there.
If you live long enough, you will be a stranger in this earth. Everybody you know is gone, every
friend you have ever known. Every member of your family gone. And what a terrible thing if the
Lord were here and all of our friends and all of our family were there. And finally, we were
forced to go there and our Lord were here. The Lord knows, and in His wisdom, He has planned
what is best for us. He is there. Our inheritance is there. Our family is there. Our friends are
there. Everything ultimately and finally that we hold dear will be there. And the ascension of our
Lord raises our hearts to that heavenly promise, that glorious hope, that celestial and heavenly
land. He ascended, and with Him every hope we have for heaven.
Third, why the ascension of our Lord: in order for God to teach us to walk by faith and not by
sight. If our Lord were here in this earth, there would be a perpetual embargo and moratorium on
faith. The whole earth would be fighting and scrambling and scrounging and elbowing and
pushing in order to get to the Lord wherever He was. There would be no such thing as looking at,
enduring, and seeing the invisible. We would be striving to reach the material and the present
and the physical.
One of the purposes of God is to build in our hearts a tremendous faith, "And faith is the
substance of things not seen, not seen" [Hebrews 11:1]. For what a man seeth, why does he yet
hope for it? Faith means we don’t see it. It is invisible. It is something in which we have been
taught and led to trust, to believe, to accept. There is not a more glorious passage in the Bible
than the verse that Paul wrote to the Corinthians. "While we look not at the things which are
seen, the things which are seen, but at things which are not seen: for the things which are seen
are temporal, they are passing away even the earth and the heavens, for the things which are seen
are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" [2 Corinthians 4:18]. These are the
things of faith that we do not see. God would teach us to endure seeing the invisible. We have no
priest on which to gaze. We have no material altar at which to worship. We have no physical
temple in which God is contained. We have no particular rituals that are efficacious. Our High
Priest is in heaven. Our altar is in heaven. Our sanctuary is in heaven. Our temple is in heaven.
And the great expiation of our sins, the offering of blood of atonement, is in heaven.
And you mark this, the more material and physical your religion, the less spiritual it is, always. It
was when Israel had a temple and a sanctuary and a priest that they were so prone to fall into
idolatry, and the same thing is true today. The more the faith of God is presented materially,
physically, visibly, the less spiritual it becomes. The people are taught less and less and less the
true spiritual meaning of the faith, as they are led more and more and more to worship with
materialities, likenesses, earthly sanctuaries, and altars, and priests.
Even the two great ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, can be laden with superstition
and meanings that God never intended for it, such as baptismal regeneration, "In this you are
saved." And such as, the Lord’s Supper, "In this is the efficacy of God’s grace." All of these
things would God teach us, to lift up our hearts in spiritual tones and definitions. The faith is](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-63-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![always invisible! It is a trusting; it is a committing; it is an enduring; it is a belief; and the
ascension of our Lord teaches us to walk by faith and not by sight.
Fourth: in the ascension of Christ, we have our great assurance and promise of our ultimate
inheritance. He is there to secure it for us, and He cannot fail. One of the most unusual sentences
is the way the doctor, the beloved physician Luke, begins this Book of Acts. He had written to
Theophilus the story of the life of our Lord in the days of His flesh, the Book of Luke. Now he
picks up his pen, and he begins the continuation of the story in the book we call the Book of
Acts. So he says, listen, "The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began,
began both to do and to teach" [Acts 1:1]. And that is the Book of Luke, the days of His flesh. I
have told you in that book, Theophilus, all that Jesus began both to do and to teach. Now he
speaks of the Lord as He continues that redemptive ministry up there in glory.
What the Lord did here, the atonement for our sins and His resurrection for our justification
[Romans 4:25], what He did here in the days of the flesh in this earth is a prelude of what the
Lord is doing in heaven. He is there in heaven to bring to us a complete and finished redemption.
He is there still loving us, and interceding for us, and helping us, and encouraging us. How do
you know you will make it? How do you know but that you will fail? How do you know but that
your inheritance is questionable? No, "I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish"
[John 10:28]. How do you know that? We may perish. How do you know that eternal life, it may
last for five years, and then be taken away from us, or in death I still don’t inherit it?
Oh no, my brother. Courage. Courage. Lift up your heart. You have a representative in heaven, a
legal advocate. And had we sent somebody else to secure that heavenly inheritance for us, he
might have failed, but not the Lord, not the Lord. He will never fail. And the inheritance He has
promised will be given to us someday because He is there to secure it for us.
But I may die. They may place me in a sepulcher or a tomb. Then what? No matter. He died, and
He was wrapped in a winding sheet, and He was placed in a sepulcher. His tomb was sealed with
a seal and a guard to watch it, but the holy heavenly power of the Lord raised Him from the
dead! The same holy heavenly power of God will raise us from the dead! We are with our Lord,
one, He and His people. If we die, we shall be raised as He died and was raised from the dead.
This I say unto you my brethren, "If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also
which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him" [1 Thessalonians 4:14]. Our assurance of that
ultimate victory is our great Master and Lord and Keeper who is in heaven will not fail.
Fourth, why the ascension of our Lord: that we might have in glory a mediator, an intercessor, a
High Priest who had a human body such as we, touched with all of the feelings of our infirmities,
tried in all points like as we are, who can sympathize with us and who understands us [Hebrews
4:14-16]. What an astonishing thing that the great God of the universe should be a man with a
human body!
What became of the Lord Jesus? Did His body disintegrate and go back into the dust of the
earth? No. What became of the Lord Jesus? Did He fade like a mist that is burned by the rising
sun? Like an apparition that just disappears? What did those disciples look for, see? When the
Lord went away, were they looking at a dream or at an apparition or at a myth that was
disappearing? No!
When the Lord took upon Himself our humanity in Bethlehem, when He was incarnate, when He
was made into a human body, when He was given flesh and blood like ours, He never laid that
body aside. But when He ascended into heaven, He ascended with that human body, forever God](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-64-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![and forever man [Luke 24:50-51; Acts 1:9-11]. In the earth the man-God, Christ Jesus; ascended
the God-man, Christ Jesus. He is changed in condition, but not in nature. He is the same Lord.
He is a man, the God-man.
In one of the most unusual passages of Paul, he quotes a song evidently that they sang in the
early Christian church, "Without controversy great is the musterion of godliness." Great is the
secret of godliness. Look at it. "God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of
angels, preached unto the world, believed on by the Gentiles, and ascended up, received up into
glory" [1 Timothy 3:16].
He was seen of angels. They knew Him. They knew Him back yonder in the ages before. They
saw Him when He was incarnate. They sang the song of glory in Bethlehem when He was born.
They accompanied Him back to glory. They were at the tomb when He was raised from the dead;
they spake to those disciples when they saw Him ascend. And they received Him back up into
heaven when He returned from whence He came, seen of angels. It was the same Lord Jesus
except this; now He has a human body, a human frame, a body that has scars from the trials and
the sufferings of His life, and He is in heaven, our friend, our Redeemer, a Man who has endured
every trial that we shall ever know, and He is able to save us to the uttermost [Hebrews 7:25]. He
understands. He sympathizes. He is our great and holy, but sweet and precious and heavenly
Lord.
You don’t need to go to any saint to pray for you. You don’t need to go to any virgin to pray for
you. They have to pray for themselves. Go directly to the Lord Jesus. Anywhere, a kitchen
corner is as good as a cathedral, walking alone is as fine as bowing in a sanctuary, anywhere,
take your heart to the Lord. Just lay bare and naked every trial and battle and trouble of your life,
just take it to Jesus. He understands. He lived down here with us. He is our great human
heavenly Intercessor.
And last, why the ascension of our Lord; as the apostle so beautifully wrote, and as we shall
preach next time, "When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto
men" [Ephesians 4:8]. Oh, dear! The Bible tries to picture that triumphant return of our Lord into
heaven. You will find it, for example, in the fifth chapter of the Revelation when the Lord
ascended back up into heaven taking captivity captive. And there before the adoring praise and
worship of ten thousands and thousands of thousands of angels, and before the four and twenty
elders – that is a symbol of the twelve patriarchs of the Old Testament, the twelve apostles of the
New Testament, the redeemed of all of the ages – and before the four cherubim that represent the
entire creation of God, the Lord enters glory when He ascended up into heaven, raised from the
dead, bearing with Him the salvation and the redemption of all of God’s people. And there the
apostle says, "He gave gifts unto men" [Ephesians 4:8], bestowing upon us our separate graces,
our grace gifts.
First, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit which is the great ascension gift, the Promise of the
Father fulfilled at Pentecost [Acts 2:2-4]. And then to each one of us He gives our grace gift, our
spiritual endowments, you and you and you, all of us.
Last night, I had a discussion. What is this, the difference between a natural gift and a grace gift,
a charismatic gift? Ah, that we had hours to speak of these things! A natural endowment, that is
something that an orator might have or a politician might have or a strong man might have, a
natural endowment. But a grace gift, oh, that is something God does for us. That is an
endowment, a visitation from above that we receive from His gracious hand, and it completes the](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-65-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![church. There is a purpose and a program and a plan of God for your life, and He will give you
grace to do it.
Why, bless your heart, when I started preaching, did you know I would spend the afternoons
crying before the Lord? I would stand up there before that little country church, and I would just
try the best I could, and it was such a miserable failure. And then that afternoon, I would spend
the hours crying, "Lord, I just cannot do it." But it is a grace gift. The Lord helped me, and the
Lord blessed me.
You’re that way. The grace gift is not mine maybe. It is different for you. But we all have these
grace gifts that the Lord bestows upon us. And when we receive it and take it, not striving to be
something God never intended for us, reaching out for some selfish or ambitious goal that the
Lord never chose for us, but when we receive our assignment and our gift and our grace, we are
happy in the Lord, and the Lord blesses His people through you and through us.
"He ascended on high, and gave gifts unto men." You have one and you and you and all of us.
And the most heavenly of all dedications is bowing in the presence of the Lord with an open
uplifted hand to receive God’s assignment for us, a place, a plan, a program, a plan for you, for
all of us. And when we are together in that will of God the body of the Lord is complete. The eye
can’t say to the hand I don’t need you, and the foot can’t say to the head I don’t need you, but all
of us are vitally, significantly necessary in the household of the Lord, making up the body of
Christ.
Well, we have to quit. You know when you look at that Book and begin to read it and to study it,
oh dear, how rich and how full and how precious when God speaks to us, when the Lord leads
us, when we follow after the blessed will of our Savior. Does God speak to you, does He? Does
the Lord bid you follow, then come this morning. "Pastor, today I give my heart to Jesus, today I
am taking the Lord as my Savior, and opening my heart to him." Or, "We are putting our hearts
and lives in the fellowship of this dear church, we are coming this morning." A whole family or a
couple or just you, while we sing this song, come, on the first note of the first stanza, and God
bless you as you come and as we stand and sing.
THE HEAVENLY ASCENSION
Dr. W.A. Criswell
Ephesians 4:8-10
1-24-71 10:50 a.m.
On the radio and on television you are sharing the services of the First Baptist Church in Dallas.
And this is the pastor bringing the message entitled The Heavenly Ascension. In our preaching
through the Book of [Ephesians], we are in the fourth chapter and I read beginning at verse 8,
"Wherefore He saith," then he quotes Psalms 68:18:
Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto
men.
(Now that He ascended, what is it but that He also descended into the lower parts of the earth?](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-66-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![heavenly wisdom. Think of the miracles of His gracious hand. Think of His voice that could
raise the dead. And think how He would confuse and confound His enemies. He, the leader
marching at the front of a triumphant army, think of the conquests if He were here. And think of
the conversion of this vile and villainous world. Oh, we say, if the Lord would just have stayed
here, if He were present. Well, in His upper room talk to His disciples, one of the sentences He
said was, "It is expedient for you that I go away" [John 16:7]. And if the Lord will help me, I
want to point out five reasons why the Lord was ascended, taken up into heaven, separated from
us, why He said, "It is expedient for you that I go away."
First, we’re not to think that the Lord has forsaken us, or that He’s lost a battle, or that He’s quit
the field, or that He’s injured or hurt His flock. No, but our Lord has arisen into heaven,
ascended to the throne, that from that high and holy place, He might direct the advance of His
kingdom in the earth. It is the despiser’s who say that "your cause is done for. Christianity is
spun out. The battle is lost for us. Our Savior is gone. There’s no trace of His miracle working
hand." It is they who say that, but not we. For our Lord still lives. He has just gone up to the top
of the hill. He has just ascended the throne of glory, there to survey the whole circumference of
the field of conflict, and there to direct His people in their war against our darkening and spiritual
foes.
Our Lord still is at the head of His people. He still directs us in our work. There in glory He is
mustering those omnipotent powers and forces by which He shall someday return to this earth.
He is mounting the white horse of the Apocalypse. And, it may be in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, that He will return and with Him, the hosts of glory. Our Lord has not met defeat, nor
has He forsaken or forgotten us. But He has ascended that from the throne of glory and grace, He
might direct His kingdom work in the earth.
Why has our Lord ascended from us into heaven? Second, that we might lift up our hearts, and
our souls, and our prayers, and our dreams, and our hopes, and our visions upward, upward
always heavenward and Christward and Godward. The apostle Paul wrote to the church at
Philippi, "For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ" [Philippians 3:20]. Our citizenship, our home, our commonwealth is not here, it is in
heaven. Our home, our fatherland, our country is in glory. It is again as the apostle Paul wrote to
the little church at Colosse, "Set your affection upon things above, not upon the things of the
earth"[Colossians 3:2]. Our hearts are ever to be Godward. The windows of our soul are ever to
be opened heavenward, up there in glory. Our Head has gone to the land of the sky, and we are
hid with Christ in God, and where He is, our life is, up, up, always upward. Our treasure is there.
Our inheritance is there. Our reward is there. Our crown is there. By and by, our friends are
there. Our family is there.
Sometimes when I’m conducting a funeral service, a memorial service, I think how tragic it
would be, how sad it would be were it the other way around. That Christ were here, that Christ
remained here and we were forced to go yonder. Ah, the sadness of it. If our Lord were in this
earth and had remained on this planet, then in death, one by one, we all leave, we all cross over,
we all pass over. Ah, what a horrifying and dismal and unhappy prospect! But God never did it
that way. He did it the other way. Our Lord is there, our home is there, our inheritance is there,
our citizenship is there, our commonwealth is there, our country is there, and by and by, all of
our friends will be there. And by and by, all of our family will be there. By and by, everyone
whom you love will be there. That’s why our Lord bids us lift up our hearts and our souls
heavenward and Godward.](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-68-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![Third, our Lord ascended into heaven in order that we might learn to walk by faith and not by
sight. If our Lord were here in this earth, there would be a perpetual unending moratorium,
abrogation of faith. The whole earth would be trying, and scrounging, and elbowing, and
pushing, trying to get to the Master. Faith is a matter of what we don’t see. It’s the substance of
things not seen. For if we have what we can see, why would we yet hope for what we cannot
see? The substance of faith is enduring as seeing the invisible. Faith is looking, seeing with the
eyes of the soul. And materiality and temporality has no part in it. God wishes that they who
worship Him, worship Him in spirit and in truth [John 4:24], not in materiality and corporeality
and in sight. We walk by faith and not by sight.
One of the most meaningful verses that Paul ever wrote was to the church at Corinth, "While we
look not at the things which are seen, the things that are seen: for the things which are seen are
temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal" [2 Corinthians 4:18]. And He ascended
into glory that we might learn to walk by faith and not by sight. The more material a religion is,
the more unspiritual it is. We have no priest that we can see with our naked eyes. We have no
material altar. We have no sanctuary of gold or silver. We have no temple of monumental stone.
We have no rites and rituals that are efficacious in mediating to us the grace of God. Our great
Priest is in heaven. Our altar is in heaven. Our Sacrifice is in glory. Our sanctuary is in the sky.
Our great temple is the temple of God in heaven. And these we seek by the eyes of faith.
It is a poor faith that must put its finger into the nail prints in His hand and thrust the hand in the
scar in His side. And the more of that material expression of religion, the less spiritual it
becomes. One of the most devastating observations that you could make in reading the Old
Testament is that when Israel had their sanctuary and their altar and their priest, they were prone
to idolatry, and the same is true today. The more the church makes its religious body one of
materiality, one of sight, the less spiritual it becomes. For God wishes His people to worship in
spirit and in truth, seeing the invisible with the eyes of the soul.
One of the tragedies it seems to me of the Christian religion is that even those two ordinances
have been fraught with all kinds of religious superstition. And some say the ordinance of baptism
carries with it regeneration. You are actually washed from sin in the cleansing of the water. And
others will say in the Lord’s Supper we have the mediums and the efficacies of God’s grace. No!
A thousand times no; and again, by the Word of God, an everlasting no! For the religion of God
is ever and always spiritual, and invisible, and by faith! The soul lifts upward above this
temporal world, upward, and upward, and upward, and we worship God in the spirit and in the
truth, bowing at the sanctuary of heaven.
That’s why a kitchen corner is as good as a cathedral to call on the name of the Lord. That’s why
walking down the road or working at a counter, or in the middle of the night, or out in a desert
place, there is the sanctuary of heaven, and there can a man call on the name of the Lord, and
there can the saint have true fellowship and communion with God. There is our altar and throne.
There is our sanctuary and Priest. There.
Why did our Lord ascend into heaven? Number three, in order that He might secure for us our
inheritance. Oh, dear me, Lord. Here I am in a dark world. And here I am in a body made out of
clay and dirt. Lord, how is it I could ever be assured that I’ll make it, that I’ll be there? Lord,
how could it be? Here I am so far away and so prone to err. Lord, how could I ever know that I’ll
be there someday? How could I? That’s why the Lord ascended into heaven, to assure unto us
our inheritance. He is there to keep it for us and to see us through and to bestow it upon us.
Courage, my brother, we cannot fail it.](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-69-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![Do you notice in the Book of Acts how the apostle, how Luke, the beloved physician, begins the
work? "The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, – that is the Book of Luke writing of the
story of our Lord – the former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began to do
and to teach" [Acts 1:1]. In the account in the Book of Luke telling the story of the life of our
Lord in the days of His flesh down here, what Jesus began to do down here in this earth; then the
Book of Acts, he continues the next verse, "Until the day when he was taken up into glory." He
began His work of redemption down here, down here in the days of His flesh, but He continues
it, and He consummates it, and He brings it to that glorious conclusion and triumph in His work
in glory.
There He completes our redemption. There He ultimately and finally saves us as the author of
Hebrews says, "Wherefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come through God by
faith to Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for us" [Hebrews 7:25]. He is there to
secure for us our inheritance. Why bless you, if I could choose a legal representative and send
him to secure my eternal inheritance, that legal representative might fail, but not the Lord, not
the Lord. He cannot fail! He said, "I give unto them eternal life; and they’ll never perish. They’ll
never fail" [John 10:28]. Not I, but He, my representative, I cannot miss it, I cannot fail it. He has
given it to me, and He assures it for me because He’s up there to see me through and to keep it
for me.
Ah, but dear Lord, what of me? I may die before the Lord comes, and I may fall into the dust of
the ground, Lord. What of mine inheritance then? Why, bless God, He died. Bless the Lord, He
was buried. But praise the Lord again, He was raised from the dead. And we may know what it is
to die and to be wrapped in a winding sheet and to be placed in a sepulcher. But if we die with
Christ, we also know what it is to be raised with Him. Ah, Lord, our life is hid with Christ in
God, and we cannot fail it. We cannot miss it. And if we die, God will raise us from the dead,
even as the Holy Spirit did our Lord. "This we say unto you by the word of the Lord, we’re not
to grieve, as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so
them also which believe in Jesus will God bring with Him" [1 Thessalonians 4:13-15].
O Lord, what an infinite happiness, and what a glorious gladness to know that God will see me
through. It is not a matter of my clinging to the Lord. I might lose my grip and in death might not
even know when I lost it. But my inheritance is a matter of God holding fast to me which is
while I’m awake, which is while I’m strong, which is also when I’m weak, which is also when
I’m in a coma, and which is also when I die. Yesterday I had a sweet family call me, they were
crying saying, "Our mother is dying, and the doctor says it’s just a little while. Would you come
and pray with us?" So I went to the hospital and gathered the little family around and prayed
with them, and there was that mother in a coma. Lord, when I might not even be awake, when I
might not even know, Lord, how could I cling to it then? You see, that’s why the Lord is in
glory. He’s the one who holds my hand. He’s the one who sees me through. He’s the one who
keeps the inheritance for us who have placed our trust in Him. He is there to do it. He’s on the
other side of the river there to receive us to Himself and to give us our golden crown.
Why did our Lord ascend into heaven? Number four, in order that we might have an Intercessor,
a Mediator who understands us and sympathizes with us. He has a human body. Isn’t that the
most astonishing doctrine in time or history that God who reigns over the universe is a man, is a
man. What became of the body of our Lord? Dissolve away? Turn back into dust? As He
ascended into heaven, was it an apparition that the apostles saw disappear? Did they look](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-70-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![steadfastly upward at a myth or at a dream? No. In life, He was the Man-God, and in His
resurrection and ascension, He is the God-Man, forever God, and forever man.
As Paul writes to Timothy, without doubt, "great is the musterion of godliness." "Without
controversy – without argument – great is the mystery of godliness. What? That God was
manifest in the flesh, that He was seen of angels, that He was justified in the Spirit, that He was
preached to the Gentiles, that He was believed on in the world, that He was ascended, that He
was received up into glory" [1 Timothy 3:16]. Isn’t that a strange thing? That’s a song the first
Christian church sang. That’s a song they sang. The mystery of godliness made flesh, God made
flesh, seen of angels, and I just pause at that one stanza in the song, seen of angels. Why, they’d
known Him all through the eons before the world was made. They were there at the incarnation
in Bethlehem. They ministered to Him in the days of His flesh. They were there at the tomb
when He was raised from the dead. They were there to speak to the disciples when He ascended
into heaven. And they were there in glory when He entered in, the same Lord Jesus. His
condition has changed, but not His nature and not His heart. He’s the same Lord Jesus.
As Paul met Him above the brightness of the Syrian sun and blinded, struck down, cried, "Who
art Thou, Lord?" And He replied, "I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutes"[Acts 22:8],
there in glory, the same blessed Jesus. The human body that He took upon Himself at Bethlehem
He never laid aside. And when the disciples looked and watched, and our Lord ascended up, and
up, and up into the highest heaven, it was a human body, a glorified body that was raised
upward, one who suffered in all points as we suffer, tried in all points as we are tried, and able to
sympathize with us in all of our sorrows and trials. Our great Mediator and High Priest is one of
us. Bone, flesh, body, life, experience, He knows all about us.
Last, and hastily, why did our Lord ascend into heaven? In order that He might bestow upon us
those grace gifts of the Spirit. We’ll start there next Sunday, Leading Captivity Captive. Oh,
what an entré, what an entrance, when the Lord went back up to glory. You have it described
in the fifth chapter of the Apocalypse, when the whole creation, the four cherubim, when all of
the saints, the four and twenty elders, and when the angels, the thousands, thousands times
thousands bow down and welcome the Son of God in Glory. He ascended into heaven that He
might pour out upon us the grace gifts, the Spirit gifts. First of all, the ascension gift of the Holy
Spirit Himself poured out upon the world, upon us without measure; there’s no limit to the
abounding presence of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Just as much as we will let Him possess us
will the Holy Spirit of God live in u – the ascension gift, the pouring out of the Spirit, the
Promise of the Father at Pentecost, then the grace gifts.
Last night we were talking in our house the difference between a natural gift and a grace gift. A
natural gift, the man has astuteness in business, and he can trade and make money. Or the man
has great power. He’s a pugilist, or a player. Or the man is a great orator and knowledgeable and
has a magnificent vocabulary, natural gifts. But there are also grace gifts, gifts that God gives to
His people by which He blesses the household of faith and honors the Lord. Something that God
gives us, and each one of us has a grace gift. Each one of us has a different gift. Some of us have
several grace gifts, but all of us have the gifts, and when we gather together in the church, each
one bringing his grace gift, what God can do through you, makes the whole church complete.
For God gives you a gift and you a gift. There’s a plan and a purpose and a program for your life.
There is something to which God has called you, and when you give yourself to it, you’re happy
in the Lord. When you covet some other gift and have false egotistic self ambition, then you live
miserably. But when you take from God what the Lord gives you and are quiet and happy in His](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-71-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all
things.)
[Ephesians 4:8-10]
When you read and study, you will find some of the most diverse interpretations of this unusual
passage. It is a passage concerning our Lord’s ascension into heaven, and the phrase “leading
captivity captive” [Ephesians 4:8], and then from heaven bestowing grace gifts upon His church
and upon men [Ephesians 4:8, 11-12]. Now next Sunday we shall speak of those grace gifts that
the Lord Jesus from heaven bestows upon men. But this Lord’s Day we are speaking of that
unusual phrase: “When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive” [Ephesians 4:8]. I
shall present two interpretations of that passage, and then the third shall be my own.
First, it is thought by many who are reverently, deeply committed to the love of and
interpretation of the Word of God, it is thought by many of those devout men that this refers to
the liberation of the Old Testament saints from sheol, from hades; that when the Lord entered
heaven, when He was raised from the dead and ascended up into heaven, that He carried with
Him all of the Old Testament saints who heretofore had been waiting in sheol, in hades, for the
atonement of Christ. And they say that’s what this means, “When He ascended up on high, when
He went up to glory, He led captivity captive” [Ephesians 4:8]. Now I present what they mean by
that interpretation. The passage is a quotation from Psalm 68:18: “Thou hast ascended on high,
Thou hast led captivity captive.” And they say that this psalm written by David refers to some
unknown victory of David when he liberated the captives that the enemies had taken from Israel
and brought them back in triumph to their homes. And they refer to this, “Thou hast led
captivity,” they refer to that word “captivity” as referring to a multitude of captives. They were
captive, a multitude of them, and David liberated them and brought them back in triumph to
Israel [Psalm 68:18].
Then they quote also the passage in Judges 5:12, in the song of Deborah and Barak: “Arise,
Barak, and lead thy captivity captive”; that is, the Israelites were captives of the Midianites—and
Barak liberated the Israelites—who were the captors of Israel, and he led the multitude that was
captive, he led them in freedom, in captivity back to Israel and to freedom. So looking upon this
passage, they interpret that word “captivity” to refer to a multitude of captives that Jesus freed
[Ephesians 4:8].
Now, they say that those captives that Jesus freed and took up with Him into glory when He
ascended, those captives were the Old Testament saints—those who had died before the
atonement of Christ [Ephesians 4:8]. Now look at their reasoning. One: there is no doubt but that
now, when a saved man dies, his spirit, his soul goes directly to Paradise, to God. That is very
plainly presented in the New Testament. One, when Jesus died He said to the malefactor on the
cross, “Today shalt thou be with Me in Paradise” [Luke 23:43]; not in sheol, and not in hades,
but up there where God is, where I am going. Second, in the twelfth chapter of the second
Corinthian letter, Paul says that he went up to the third heaven, that he went up to Paradise [2
Corinthians 12:2-4]; he did not go to sheol, he did not go to the grave, he did not go to hades, he
went up to Paradise, up to the third heaven in the presence of God [2 Corinthians 12:2, 4]. So we
know that when a saved man dies today, he goes directly to God, to Paradise, where Jesus is
[Luke 23:43].
That is seen in the fifth chapter of the second Corinthian letter, when Paul says, “If we are absent
from the body, we are present with the Lord” [2 Corinthians 5:8]. It’s also seen in the first](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-73-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![chapter of the Philippian letter, where Paul says, “For I would choose to depart and to be with
Christ; which is far better” [Philippians 1:23]. Now there’s no doubt—I am repeating—but that
now when a saved person dies, he goes directly to God; he goes directly to heaven; he goes
directly to Paradise.
But when you turn to the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, these scholars say, it was not so:
they went to sheol, they went to hades, they went to a waiting place for the atonement of Christ.
And they point out these passages. When Joseph supposedly was killed, and his evil brothers
took his coat of many colors and bathed it in the blood of a goat, and then brought it to his father,
to Israel, and said, “Your son apparently is dead” [Genesis 37:26-34], Jacob said, “I will go
down to sheol, unto my son, mourning for him” [Genesis 37:35]. It is found again—now these
are just typical passages I’m citing—it is found again in Job, who because of his misery, Job
cried, “O that God would hide me in sheol” [Job 14:13]. It is found again in these passages—and
they are multiplied:
• when Abraham died, the Old Testament said he was “gathered unto his fathers” [Genesis
25:8].
• When Ishmael died he was “gathered unto his fathers” [Genesis 25:17].
• When Jacob died he was “gathered unto his fathers” [Genesis 49:33].
• When Joseph died he was gathered unto his fathers [Genesis 50:25-26; Joshua 24:32].
• When David died he “slept with his fathers,” with his people [1 Kings 2:10].
• And when Solomon died he slept with his people [1 Kings 11:43].
So they say in the Old Testament that the Old Testament saints, when they died, they went to a
waiting place, in sheol, in hades, awaiting for the great atonement of our Lord.
Now these interpreters say the great change from sheol, from hades, from that waiting place, to
Paradise, to God in heaven, occurred here, here in this passage [Ephesians 4:8]: when the Lord
Jesus ascended up on high, He led these captives who were waiting in sheol, He led them, His
triumph, He led them up to glory; He entered glory at the head of a great multitude of Old
Testament saints who were waiting for His atoning grace and for His expiation of their sins, and
He led them up into glory.
Somebody could also say that when Moses and Elijah spoke to the Lord Jesus on the Mount of
Transfiguration they spoke to Him about His death, which He should accomplish in Jerusalem
[Luke 9:30-31]. And I can imagine their saying to Jesus, “O Lord Jesus, however the cost, and
whatever the burden, and the agony, and the sacrifice, and the cross, You must die for our sins;
for our only hope of entering into heaven is in Your expiation, in Your sacrifice, in Your pouring
out of blood for our sins.” So that is one interpretation of this passage: that it refers to the
translation of the Old Testament saints up to heaven [Ephesians 4:8].
Now I notice this: the first edition, the old edition of the Scofield Bible, presents that view. I
notice that the second, the new edition of the Scofield Bible does not present it. They have
changed their minds concerning it, but I wanted you to know that interpretation.
All right, second: there is an interpretation which believes that this refers to the triumph of Christ
over Satan and the demons; demonology—“He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive,
and gave gifts unto men” [Ephesians 4:8]—that it refers to the ascension of our Lord when He
triumphed over the kingdom of darkness, the demonic kingdom of Satan [Colossians 2:15]. And](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-74-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![here is their interpretation of that: what they’re saying here is that our Lord Jesus filled, fulfilled
in perfection—and I believe this, of course—that our Lord fulfilled in perfection the Old
Testament type of the high priest who went into the Holy of Holies to sprinkle blood of expiation
and atonement [Leviticus 16:3-19]. Do you remember the Day of Atonement, when an animal,
an innocent animal was brought, and the hands of the high priest were laid on the head of the
animal [Leviticus 16:21], and he confessed all the sins of the nation over the head of the animal;
then the innocent animal was slain, and its blood was caught in a basin, and the high priest went
through the court and then through the Holy Place and into the Holy of Holies, and there on the
mercy seat he sprinkled the blood of expiation? [Leviticus 16:14-19]. Now these interpreters say
that was a picture and a type of what Christ has done for the expiation, the forgiveness, the
atonement of our sins. He died on the cross, and His blood was poured out on the ground [John
19:34]. And then He arose and went through the heavens [Acts 1:1-11]; He went through all of
the creation, and up there to God, He appeared in the sanctuary, our High Priest in heaven,
bloodless, a body bloodless—His blood had been poured out [Matthew 26:28]—as a sign, and as
the consummation, the perfection of our atonement. He presented Himself before God, He
presented His bloodless body before the Lord in keeping with the type that our sins had been
paid for and atoned.
All right, second in that view—the view is that the Lord ascended up into heaven in keeping with
that type of the great High Priest, offering blood for the expiation, the taking away of sin: now
they say, when the Lord went up into heaven, when He ascended up into heaven [Ephesians 4:8],
He went through the kingdom of Satan, for the Bible expressly says that this fallen creation, the
world and its glory, is a part of Satan’s domain [2 Corinthians 4:4; Matthew 4:8-9]. So when the
Lord went through this creation, from this earth through the air, through the heavens, when He
went through [Hebrews 4:14], He went through the kingdom of the demons, the kingdom of
Satan; and they tried to impede His progress, that He might not present Himself and fulfill His
work as the great High Priest of His people [Hebrews 4:14]. They point out that Satan tried to
kill Jesus when He was born [Matthew 2:16]; Satan tried to kill the Lord when He preached at
Nazareth [Luke 4:29]; Satan tried to kill the Lord in Gethsemane [Luke 22:3; John 18:3]. Then
they point out that when He was buried, Satan tried to keep Him buried, rolling a great stone
over the grave, putting a Roman seal on the stone, and setting a guard there to watch it [Matthew
27:66]. So they say when the Lord ascended up through this domain of Satan, the fallen creation
over which Satan presides, that when the Lord ascended [Ephesians 4:8], the demons tried to
impede His progress and to keep Him from appearing as the great High Priest and consummating
our salvation in heaven [Hebrews 4:14].
Now in support of that, they exegete a passage here in Colossians 2:15: “And having spoiled
principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.” Now
they follow this: principalities and powers, in Ephesians 6:12, those archēs and exousias, they
refer to orders of demons. “Having spoiled, apekdusamenos, apekdusamenos,” literally that
means “wholly to strip off from oneself”; and that’s the key to their interpretation of this.
Apekdusamenos is a Greek word, it’s a passive word, reflective, something that a man does to
himself, “wholly to strip off from oneself”; “And having wholly stripped off from Himself the
archēs and exousias,” the orders of angelic demons, “He made a show of them openly,
deigmatizō,” He exhibited them openly [Colossians 2:15]—usually that word is used in disgrace.
You’ll find it in the first chapter of Matthew, where Joseph said, when he saw that his virgin girl
that he was going to marry, Mary of Nazareth, was already pregnant, she was already heavy with
child, “He deigmatizō,” he thought to, not to expose her, not publicly to disgrace her [Matthew](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-75-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![1:19]. All right, now that’s what that word means, translated here “made a show of them openly
[Colossians 2:15]; He exposed them publicly, openly, boldly, triumphing over them in it,
thriambeuō, thriambeuō, thriambeuō.” Thriambeuō is a Greek word that comes from thriambos,
thriambos; and thriambos is the “Hallelujah Chorus,” it’s the festive song of glory in the great
procession up to the Parthenon in Athens. And the Greeks, using the word thriambos, the song of
exultation, the Romans took the idea and called it the “triumphus,” the “triumphus,” that is, the
shout of the Roman soldiers and the populous when the general came by in the great procession
after some great victory, the triumphus. And we get our English word “triumph” from it. So
these expositors say that the Lord Jesus in His ascent into heaven was impeded by all of these
demonic orders, but He wholly stripped Himself from them, He wholly stripped Himself from
them, and He took them captive, and they became a part of His glorious triumphant entrance into
heaven [Ephesians 4:8]. The kingdom of Satan and all of his demonic angels are defeated and
conquered and tied to His chariot wheels as He enters into the glory of heaven [Colossians 2:15].
That’s what they say that means, “When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive”
[Ephesians 4:8]: He took the multitude of that demonic orders, and He led them captive as He
entered glory [Ephesians 4:8].
Now we must hasten. Third: “Now pastor, what do you think that means?” Well, as with
everything else I study in the Book, I’ve got my ideas. Oh, I can’t help but be that way. When I
study the Bible and read and pore over it, there are things that just come to me with such deep
persuasion and conviction. And that does not mean these other expositors are not correct, nor
does it mean that they’re not more saintly than I and more deeply committed to the Word of God
than I. But when I study the Bible there are things that come to my heart, and so I’m going to
present now what I think that means. “Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, He
led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men” [Ephesians 4:8]. Then, now that He descended,
that means that He came down, entered into that world of death and the grave, and He ascended
from it in triumph, and presented Himself in heaven, as in triumph, as the word here is used
[Ephesians 4:9-10], as a Roman general in the great procession of victory through the streets of
the Eternal City.
All right, first of all, there is no doubt but that it refers to the marvelous entrance of our Savior
into heaven when He was raised from the dead [Luke 24:1-7], and when He ascended back to the
Father [Luke 24:50-51; Acts 1:9-10], when He ascended up on high; and it was a triumphal
entrance [Colossians 2:15]. And the Scriptures describe that in all of its glory and wonder. For
example, in this psalm, in the sixty-eighth Psalm that the apostle Paul is quoting here [Ephesians
4:8], he says, “The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels [Psalm 68:17]:
the Lord is among them . . . Thou hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity captive, Thou
hast received gifts for men” [Psalm 68:18]. This is a prophecy, it is a picture, and a glorious one,
of the Lord’s ascension into heaven with the angelic host [Psalm 68:17]—the Revelation calls
them “thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” [Revelation 5:11]—when He
entered into heaven, there was the great acclamation of all of the angels in glory and all of the
saints of all time. And I think this beautiful passage, so familiar to us in the twenty-fourth Psalm,
is also a prefiguration and a prophecy of that glorious entrance into heaven: “Lift up your heads,
O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory will come in? Who is
He? He is the Lord strong and mighty. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and lift them up, ye
everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is He? Who is the King of glory?
The Lord of hosts, Jesus, Jehovah God, He is the King of glory” [Psalm 24:7-10]. And He enters
in amid the acclaim and the adoration and the love of all of the Old Testament saints and of all of](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-76-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![the angels of God. The cherubim, the seraphim, the archangels, oh glory, glory, what a day!
What a day, when the Lord, after His atonement here in this earth [Colossians 2:13-14], ascended
back up to heaven! [Ephesians 4:8]. Think of it. Think of it.
The golden sun and the silvery moon and all the stars that shine
Were made by His omnipotent hand—
and think of it—
and He’s a Friend of mine.
When He shall appear with trumpet sound, to head the conquering line
The whole world will bow at His dear feet—
and think of it—
He’s a Friend of mine.
[author unknown]
When He ascended up on high, when the Lord entered into glory, raised from the dead [Luke
24:26], having made atonement for our sins [Hebrews 2:17], now what does that mean, “When
He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive”? [Ephesians 4:8]. I think it refers, He led
captive those who had tried to make Him captive. He led captivity captive. He led captive, He
tied to His chariot wheels in that triumph those who had sought to make Him captive.
“Well, pastor, what are you referring to?” I’m referring first to sin. Sin sought to defile Him, and
failed. Sin sought to besmirch Him and ruin Him, and failed. Sin in evil and fallen men
blasphemed Him, and cursed Him, and spat upon Him, and pulled out His beard [Isaiah 50:6],
and finally nailed Him to a tree and crucified Him [Matthew 27:28-50]. But He triumphed. When
He died, the sins of the world were laden upon Him, all of our sins [1 John 2:2]. And they
crushed Him down into the grave [Matthew 27:57-61]. But He rose victorious [Matthew 28:5-7],
clean and pure and undefiled [1 Peter 2:21-23]; and all of our sins laid upon Him He buried in
the grave, and they are buried [1 Peter 2:24]. That’s why baptism is so beautiful: we are buried
with the Lord in the likeness of His death, and dead to sin, buried [Romans 6:3-6]; and He rose
triumphant from the grave, leading captivity captive [Ephesians 4:5]. He triumphed over our
sins.
Second, what tried to capture Him and to hold Him? Death and the grave. Death sought to bind
Him, and so certainly was He dead that they did not break His bones as they did the malefactors
on either side. They just took a spear and ran it through His heart [John 19:31-34]. Death tried to
bind Him. And the grave tried to hold Him. And so certainly did the grave try to hold Him that
they placed on the stone a Roman seal and set there a guard before it [Matthew 27:66]. But He
triumphed over death and the grave [1 Corinthians 15:55-57]; He broke their bands asunder like
Samson the withies and the ropes [Judges 16:12]. And up from the grave triumphant He arose.
Low in the grave He lay, Jesus my Savior,
Waiting the coming day, Jesus my Lord!
Then up from the grave He arose;
With a mighty triumphus o’er His foes;
He arose a victor from the dark domain,](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-77-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![And He lives forever with His saints to reign.
He arose! He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!
[“Up from the Grave He Arose,” Robert Lowry]
Leading captivity captive [Ephesians 4:8], leading captive those that would captive Him: death
and the grave, tied to His chariot wheel in His triumphant entrance into heaven [Colossians
2:15].
What does that mean: “He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive”? [Ephesians 4:8]. It
refers to Satan and all of his hosts, all of them. Satan tried to destroy Him by trial, by temptation
[Matthew 4:1-10], by death [Matthew 27:26-50], by accusation; Satan tried to crush Him. Satan
did bruise His heel; but the Lord Jesus Christ broke Satan’s head and crushed him [Genesis
3:15]. “For the children,” we, “are partakers of flesh and blood, He also took part of the same;
that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, even the devil” [Hebrews
2:14]. Wherefore, wherefore, therefore, all of us who have through fear of death been subject to
the bondage of death all our lives are now free; we are liberated [Hebrews 2:15]. He destroyed
Satan and all of his kingdom, and tied Satan to His chariot wheels [Colossians 2:15]. And when
He entered heaven, He was triumphant over our adversary and archenemy [Genesis 3:15].
And to summarize and to close: triumphant over everything that is against us, everything.
Whether it’s in heaven, or whether it’s in earth, or whether it’s in hell, we’ve been liberated and
freed from it all in this triumph of Jesus our Lord. We are free. The law has been fulfilled
[Romans 10:4]. The curse has been removed [Galatians 3:13]. The ordinances of the handwriting
against us, has been nailed to the cross [Colossians 2:14]. And our foes are utterly and
completely demolished and overcome! And when the Lord entered glory, it was a thriambos, a
thriambos, it was with a hymn of glory! And when the Lord entered heaven, it was with a
triumphus, it was with a shout of the Roman soldiers when the victor came back! And today
we’re still in the glory of that exaltation. I am saved! Why, last Sunday the choir sang it:
Glory, I’m saved! Saved by the blood of the Crucified One!
All praise to the Father, all praise to the Son,
All praise to the Spirit, the great Three in One!
Saved by the blood of the Crucified One!
Glory I’m saved! Glory, I’m saved!
My sins are all pardoned, my guilt is all gone!
Glory, I’m saved!
Saved by the blood of the Crucified One!
[“Saved by the Blood,” S. J. Henderson]
Our thriambos, our triumphus, our praise to Jesus for what He has done for us. Isn’t that
something?
I think that’s what it means when He saith, “When He ascended up on high, He carried captivity
captive” [Ephesians 4:8]; those that would make us captive, send us down in sin and death and
grave and hell, those that would capture us, He captured them and made a show of them openly,
triumphing over them [Colossians 2:15].](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-78-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![O Lord, hold my hand while I shout! What a glory and what a blessing.
And that’s what Jesus has done for us, what our blessed Lord has done for you. And to love the
Savior, to give Him your life, to share your home and family with us in this dear church, to come
forward as God should press any appeal upon your heart, would you do it now? In the balcony
round, on this lower floor, into the aisle and down to the front, as God would speak to your heart,
and we wait upon Him, would you come? A family you, a couple you, a one somebody you,
while we make this appeal, on the first note of that first stanza, come. Make the decision now in
your heart, and when you stand up, stand up coming down one of these stairways or into the aisle
and down to the front: “Here I come, pastor, I make it now.” Do it. Do it, and God bless you in
the way as you come, and as we stand and sing.
LEADING CAPTIVITY CAPTIVE
Dr. W.A. Criswell
Ephesians 4:8-10
1-31-71 10:50 a.m.
On television and on radio you are sharing with us the services of the First Baptist Church in
Dallas. This is the pastor bringing the message entitled Leading Captivity Captive. It is an
exposition and an exegesis of a passage in Ephesians and Colossians. In our preaching through
the Book of Ephesians, we are in the fourth chapter and the passage which is the text is verses 8
through 10:
Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto
men.
(Now that He ascended, what is that but that He also descended first into the lower parts of the
earth?
He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that He might fill all
things.)
[Ephesians 4:8-10]
When you study it, this becomes one of the most unusual and potentially one of the most fraught
with meaning, significance, of any passage in all the Bible. And as scholars study it, and as
interpreters write of it, and as I read what they write, I am both enlightened in their elucidations,
and differing so; I cannot help but be intrigued by the scholars who read that passage and make it
refer to such unusually different things.
Now in the message this morning, I am going to take two of the interpretations of that passage in
which devout reverent scholars believe, and then I am going to speak in the third place of what I
think that it means. And when I speak of what I think that it means, I do it humbly and
reverently, not as though other men were incorrect or did not understand the passage or
misinterpreted it. But as I study and read, a passage will mean something to me whether I’m
correct in its interpretation or not, yet humbly devoutly, it speaks this to me. Then when it means](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-79-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![something to some other man, some other preacher, I pray God’s blessings upon him as he
presents the truth of God as he sees and understands it.
All right, let’s begin. The first interpretation of the passage is by those reverent and devout and
scholarly men who believe it refers to the liberation of the Old Testament saints from sheol or
Hades up to glory; that they were captive in a waiting place called sheol until the atonement of
Christ [Matthew 27:32-50], and upon the resurrection [Matthew 28:1-7], and ascension of our
Lord [Acts 1:9-10], that the Lord took them with Him up to heaven. Now this is their explanation
of that, “When He ascended up on high, He took captivity captive” [Ephesians 4:8-10]. And they
understand that word captivity to refer to a great host of captives [Ephesians 4:8]. They base that,
it is a quotation from the sixty-eighth Psalm and the eighteenth verse, “Thou hast ascended on
high, Thou hast led captivity captive” [Psalm 68:18]. And they say that this psalm, a psalm of
David, refers to an unknown victory that David was given by the Lord in which he liberated a
great many captives who had been taken out of Israel, and he brought them back in triumph and
in victory to reunite them to their people and their homeland; that the word “captivity” refers to a
great host of captives.
They also use another passage to substantiate that. In the fifth chapter of the Book of Judges
which recounts, is a record of the song of Deborah and Barak over the Midianites, in the twelfth
verse: “Arise, Barak, and lead thy captivity captive” [Judges 5:12]. And here they say that refers
to all the captive Israelites who were subject to the Midianites. And Barak liberated them, he
overcame the Midianites and brought those captives back, now captives of liberty, and freedom,
and victory in Israel. So they make that word refer to a great number of captives, a great throng
of captives whom the Lord liberated and took up with Him into glory. The captives, they say, are
these Old Testament saints—God’s people who died before Jesus’ atonement—and they went
down to Sheol and they waited there until the liberation of the Lord, until their sins were atoned
for, and the Lord took them up to glory.
Now they speak of that like this. First, there is no doubt but that now and since the death of
Christ, the soul that believes in Jesus at death goes directly to God, to Paradise, to heaven [Luke
23:39-43]. That is most explicitly avowed and presented, delineated and explained in the New
Testament. For example, when the Lord was dying, He turned to the malefactor who was dying
with Him and said, “Today, sēmeron, today, this day, shalt thou be with Me in Paradise” [Luke
23:43]. In the twelfth chapter of the second Corinthian letter, the apostle Paul says that he was
lifted up, whether in the body or out of the body he did not know, but he was raised up, even up
to the third heaven that he calls Paradise, and there God revealed to him things that he was not
even allowed to write, to reveal to us [2 Corinthians 12: 2-4]. You see, Paul did not go to sheol,
he did not go to the grave, he did not go to Hades, he went to Paradise [2 Corinthians 12:4]. He
went to the third heaven [2 Corinthians 12:2]. He went where God is, at the throne of the Lord;
and where Jesus is [Hebrews 12:2], where the saints go now when they die [Luke 23:43].
Another passage would be the fifth chapter of the second Corinthian letter where Paul says,
“Absent from the body, present with the Lord” [2 Corinthians 5:8]. When you die, you go
immediately to be with Jesus who is in heaven, who is in Paradise [Luke 23:43]. Another
passage is in the first chapter of the Philippian letter where Paul says, “It is far better to be, to
depart this life that I might be with the Lord” [Philippians 1:23]. So there’s no doubt but that
now, right now, this minute and this whole Christian era in which we live, that when a soul dies,
that soul goes directly to God, to Paradise, to the third heaven where the Lord is [2 Corinthians
5:8; Philippians 1:23].](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-80-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![But these interpreters say, in the Old Covenant, in the Old Testament, when one of the Old
Testament saints died, he went to sheol. He went to Hades. He went to a waiting place until the
Lord made atonement for his sins. Now they quote passages; of course, there are any number of
them—I point just a few. When Joseph, apparently had been slain by a wild beast, when his
brothers took the coat of many colors and dipped it in blood and brought it to Israel and said,
“Your son is apparently slain,” Jacob in his lamentation said, “I will go down to sheol unto him,
mourning for my son. I will go down to sheol. I will go down to my death grave. I will go to
sheol mourning for my boy Joseph” [Genesis 37:32-35].
Another instance is in Job. When Job was so afflicted he said, “Oh that the Lord would hide me
in sheol” [Job 14:13]. Then you have those endless passages like this: when Abraham died, the
Old Covenant says, “And he was gathered to his people” [Genesis 25:8]. When Ishmael died, he
was “gathered to his people” [Genesis 25:17]. When Isaac died, he was “gathered to his people”
[Genesis 35:29]. When Jacob died, he was “gathered to his people” [Genesis 49:33] When
Joseph died, he was gathered to his people.
And then in the list of kings, when David died, “And David slept with his fathers” [1 Kings
2:10]. And when Solomon died, he slept with his fathers [1 Kings 11:43]. So all of those
passages in the Old Testament, when an Old Testament saint died in the Old Testament, he went
to sheol. He went to Hades. He went to be with his people, with his fathers, there to wait until the
great translation up to heaven.
Now they say, “Where did that occur? Where were all of those Old Testament saints lifted out of
sheol, out of Hades, out of their waiting place and transferred to glory?” These interpreters say
that was done in this passage here, “When He ascended up on high” [Ephesians 4:8]. When the
Lord went up to heaven, He took with Him all of those captives and He carried them with Him
up to heaven. They would say that when the Lord was transfigured and Moses and Elijah were
talking to Him, the Bible says they were talking to Him about His death which He should
accomplish in Jerusalem [Luke 9:30-31]. That is, Moses and Elijah were saying to Jesus, “You
must die for our sins and the sins of all of us who died before You, because our hope of heaven,
our liberation, the end of our waiting, our captivity, lies in Your atonement for our sins [Matthew
27:32-50; Romans 5:11; Hebrews 2:17], and in Your ascension into glory, when we rise into
heaven with You” [Luke 9:30-31].
Now that’s what they say that means. I notice that the Scofield Bible, the first Scofield Bible
presented that view. I notice also that the new revised Scofield Bible does not present it. They
have changed their minds. But in any event, that is a view that many holy, reverent, devout
scholars have of the interpretation of that passage [Ephesians 4:8-9]. When He went up to glory,
when He ascended up on high, He took these captives, this multitude of Old Testament saints,
and He took them with Him and they entered Paradise, into heaven with God, with our Lord
[Ephesians 4:8-9].
All right, a second interpretation. There are those who believe that this passage presents the
triumph of our Lord over the kingdom, the orders of demons, Satan and the kingdom of
darkness. “When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men”
[Ephesians 4:8]. And the captivity there is the attempt of those who sought to make Jesus and us
captives—demons, the kingdom of Satan—and He captured them and they were a part of His
triumphal train. They were tied to His chariot wheels when the Lord entered the glory of heaven
[Ephesians 4:8].](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-81-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![All right, now let’s see why they say that. First of all, they remind us that the high priest on the
Day of Atonement went into the Holy of Holies to offer blood and expiation [Leviticus 16:1-34].
And you remember that type and that symbol in the Old Covenant, in the Old Testament. On the
Day of Atonement an animal, an innocent animal was brought before the high priest [Leviticus
16:9]. He laid his hands on the head of that innocent animal and confessed all the sins of the
people [Leviticus 16:21]. Then the animal was slain and his blood was caught in a basin
[Leviticus 16:15]. Then the high priest, on this one Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, the high
priest went through the court of the temple, through the Holy Place in the temple into the Holy of
Holies, and there on the mercy seat, he sprinkled blood of expiation, the blood of atonement
[Leviticus 16:14-16].
Now these interpreters say, and they say it correctly according to the ninth chapter of the Book of
Hebrews, our Lord did that [Hebrews 9:12]. Our Lord is our great and faithful High Priest
[Hebrews 4:14]. He died for our sins on the cross [1 Corinthians 15:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21]. And
He was raised for our justification [Romans 4:25]. He ascended up into heaven and there in the
sanctuary of God, He offered Himself, His blood [Hebrews 9:14]—now a bloodless body and
token of the fact that He had paid our debt [Hebrews 9:12]—He offered Himself, our High
Priest, in expiation for our sins [Hebrews 9:15], and that consummated the great atonement when
the Lord died [Matthew 27:32-50], when He was raised [Matthew 28:5-7]; then when He
ascended up into heaven [Acts 1:9-10], and there in the sanctuary of God, in the Holy of Holies,
He offered blood of expiation for the sins of His people [Hebrews 9:24-26].
Now what these interpreters point out to us is this: that when the Lord ascended into heaven, He
was impeded by this kingdom of darkness and demons [Colossians 2:15]. You see, Satan tried to
keep the Lord from being our Savior. He tried to kill Him in Bethlehem [Matthew 2:13, 16]. He
tried to kill Him in Nazareth [Luke 4:28-29]. He tried to slay Him in Gethsemane [Matthew
26:47], and when the Lord finally died for our sins on the cross and His blood was spilled out on
the ground [Matthew 27:32-50], then Satan tried to keep Him in the tomb [Matthew 27:57-60].
He put a great stone over the sepulcher and sealed it with a Roman seal, and he set a guard there
to watch it to see that He did not rise [Matthew 27:63-66]. Thus Satan and his demons—the
kingdom of darkness—have always sought to impede the high priestly work of our Savior.
So they did it here [Colossians 2:15]. As our Lord was raised from the dead, the kingdom of
Satan which is this fallen creation, the earth, and the air, and the whole fallen creation, he is the
lord over it [2 Corinthians 4:4]. That’s his dominion. He said so. He offered it to Christ, the glory
of it, whatever it is [Matthew 4:8-9]. When the Lord tried to ascend back up to heaven to
complete the offering of His blood for expiation of our sins [Hebrews 9:14], to enter the Holy of
Holies [Hebrews 9:11-12], as He left the earth and sought to go through the heavens [Hebrews
4:14], the dominion of Satan and his demons [Ephesians 2:2], they sought to impede His
progress [Colossians 2:15]. And that contest, that confrontation, they find in this passage in the
second chapter of Colossians and the fifteenth verse. “And having spoiled principalities and
powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it” [Colossians 2:15].
And here’s their exegesis of that passage: “principalities and powers,” archas and exousias
[Colossians 2:15]. Now in Ephesians 6:12, you will find them as here, that refers to orders of
demons: archas exousias, orders of demons. There are orders of demonic spirits just as there are
orders of angels. You have cherubim, you have seraphim, you have archangels [Genesis 3:24;
Isaiah 6:2, Jude 1:9], you have also orders in the demonic world, and two of those orders are
named here, the archas and the exousias. Paul lists them as orders of demons [Ephesians 6:12;](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-82-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![Colossians 2:15]. Then he says when Jesus was raised from the dead, He apekdusamenos. He
apekdusamenos: that is—if I could just translate that participle, it’s a passive participle—that
means He wholly, absolutely, completely stripped Himself, stripped Himself [Colossians 2:15].
So the passage here says, the archas and the exousias [Colossians 2:15], these orders of demons,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and you have it, “He spoiled them,” apekdusamenos, He completely
wholly stripped Himself of them [Colossians 2:15].
Then the next word is deigmatisai, deigmatisai, translated here, “He made a show of them
openly” [Colossians 2:15]. Deigmatisai, now you have that word in the first chapter in Matthew
when Joseph was going to marry the virgin Mary in Nazareth. Behold, she was pregnant. His
promised bride was with child, and he thought upon it. And he decided not to deigmatisai, to
make a show of her publicly [Matthew 1:19]. But what he was going to do was to put her away
privately. Now you see the meaning of that word, deigmatisai; it means to publicly to display, to
exhibit, and usually in a disgraceful way. So these archē and exousia, these orders of demons, He
apekdusamenos, He stripped Himself of them deigmatisai, made of the show of them openly,
and then the last word, translated here, triumphing over them in it [Colossians 2:15],
thriambeusas, thriambeusas, thriambeusas, thriambeusas. That’s the Greek word for the name of
the “Hallelujah Chorus,” the name of the exalted festal hymn when they had their procession in
honor of Bacchus, the thriambeusas.
And the Romans caught the spirit of that and they called it the thriambeusas. When the Roman
General came back with, laden with spoils and had conquered his enemies, and he was accorded
a procession through the Eternal City, why, the thriambeusas was the shout of the soldiery and
the shout of the citizenry when the general appeared riding in his chariot. So they say that’s what
happened to the Lord Jesus. “He, when He ascended up into heaven” [Ephesians 4:8]. He was
opposed by these archē and exousia, the kingdom of Satan; but He wholly stripped Himself of
them [Colossians 2:15]. They were not able to bind Him to make Him captive, but rather He
bound them to His chariot wheels, and when He entered into heaven, He came with these archē
and exousia, and the whole kingdom of Satan chained to His chariot wheels, and entered in
triumph into heaven [Colossians 2:15]. Now that’s what they say this means, “When He
ascended up on high, He carried captivity captive” [Ephesians 4:8]. He took all of that kingdom
of darkness, and the demons, and chaining them to His chariot wheel in triumph, He entered into
glory [Colossians 2:15]. That’s the second interpretation.
Now what I think it means: there is no doubt but that, “When He ascended up on high”
[Ephesians 4:8], refers to His ascension into heaven, because Paul explains it very carefully. “He
that ascended is He that descended into the lower parts of the earth” [Ephesians 4:9]. He came
down and died [Matthew 27:32-50], and was buried and went into sheol, went into Hades, went
into the grave and into the netherworld [Matthew 27:57-60; Acts 2:22-27], and He that did that,
“He that descended is He that ascended far above all heavens” [Ephesians 4:9-10]. The heaven of
the clouds and the birds, the heaven of the stars, into the third heaven where God is, “that He
might fill all things” [Ephesians 4:9-10], so, there’s no doubt but that that passage refers, “When
He ascended up on high” [Ephesians 4:8], it refers to the ascension of our Lord into heaven [Acts
1:9-10].
Now, sometimes you’ll find in the Bible the most glorious depiction of that marvelous entrée,
when the Lord in triumph returned to heaven, having died for our sins and raised for our
justification [Romans 4:25]. For example, in this passage that the apostle quotes in the Psalm
68:18 let me quote the verse above it, verse 17:](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-83-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels:
the Lord is among them.
Thou hast ascended up on high, Thou hast led captivity captive:
Thou hast received gifts for men.
[Psalm 68:17-18; Ephesians 4:8]
There is a picture of our Lord ascending up into heaven, and the angels, the Book of the
Revelation says, “They are myriads, myriads times myriads, ten thousand times ten thousands
and thousands of thousands” [Revelation 5:11]. When the Lord returned to heaven, the thousands
and the thousands of the angels lined all glory to welcome Him back home.
And there’s no doubt also, but that this glorious passage in the twenty-fourth Psalm refers to the
same thing:
Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is He? Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord
mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors; and the
King of glory shall come in. Who is He? Who is the King of glory? The Lord God Jehovah,
Jesus the Christ, He is the King of glory.
[Psalm 24: 7-10]
And that passage refers to the triumphal entry of our Lord into heaven [Acts 1:9-10], after He
had died for our sins [Matthew 27:32-50; 1 Corinthians 15:3], and was raised from the dead
[Matthew 28:5-7].
Ah, that I had the eloquence of an angel. That I had the tongue of a Demosthenes, or a
Chrysostom, or a George Whitfield, that I might describe the glorious entrance, the triumphant
entrance of our Lord into Glory when He ascended from this earth [Acts 1:9-10], having died for
us [1 Corinthians 15:3], and then raised for our salvation [Romans 4:25]. Oh, oh, can you
imagine it, the throngs of angels? Can you imagine the host of saints and all the heavens astir
with the return of the Prince of glory? Think of it. Think of it. Think of it.
The golden sun and the silvery moon.
And all the stars that shine,
Were made by His omnipotent hand—
And think of it!—
And He’s a friend of mine.
And when He shall come with trumpets sound
To head the conquering line,
The whole creation shall bow at His feet,
And He is a friend of mine.
[author unknown]
Think of it! How they must have gloried when the Lord returned, the exaltation and the praise of
the blessed Lord. Well, He did not come just alone. “When He ascended up on high, He led](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-84-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![captivity captive.” He came in, whatever that means, “He led captivity captive, and gave gifts
unto men” [Ephesians 4:8].
Next Sunday I shall preach on the grace gifts He pours out upon us from heaven [Ephesians 4:7-
12]. But that, “He led captivity captive” [Ephesians 4:8], what is that? To me that refers, He took
captive what had tried to make Him captive. “He led captivity captive,” what had tried to capture
Him, and hold Him, and bind Him, He took captive when He went up to glory; victor triumphant
[Ephesians 4:8].
Well, what is what tried to hold Him captive? One: sin and the world [Hebrews 4:15]. Sin tried
to defile Him, and in the person of evil men—degenerate, fallen sons of old man Adam—He was
cursed and reviled and blasphemed! [Matthew 27:39-43]. They spat upon Him! They spat upon
Him [Matthew 27:30]. They plucked out His beard! [Isaiah 50:6] They beat Him, and finally
they nailed Him to a tree [Matthew 27:30-35]. But He was still undefiled, pure, sinless, as
spotless when He went back [Hebrews 4:14-15], as He was when He was incarnate in Bethlehem
[Matthew 1:20-2:1]. And on Him, in His death heaped all of the sins of the world, your sins and
mine [1 John 2:2], and He carried them with Him into the tomb [2 Corinthians 5:21]. And when
He rose, He rose triumphant! [Matthew 28:5-7]. He left them there in the grave, our sins are
buried! And He arose triumphant, pure, the victor, and returned back to glory [Colossians 2:15].
That’s the picture you have in the baptismal scene you saw this morning. We are buried with
Christ, dead to our sins, washed in the grave, and we have risen to a new life in Christ [Romans
6:3-6]. We must hasten.
Who are these that tried to capture Christ? [Acts 2:24]. Who are this captivity that He took
captive? Bless you, death and the grave [Revelation 1:18]. Death tried to hold Him and to bind
Him, and the grave tried to keep Him and to seal Him [Matthew 27:57-66]. Death, so certainly
was He dead they did not break His bones. They just took a Roman spear and thrust it into His
heart, and the blood followed it to the ground, so certainly did He die [John 19:30-34]. And the
grave, the grave was sealed—a great stone and a guard to watch [Matthew 27:66]—but He broke
the fetters like Samson broke the webs and the ropes [Judges 16:9], He broke the withes of death
and He destroyed the grave and rose triumphant [Acts 2:24; Revelation 1:18].
Low in the grave He lay,
Jesus my Savior,
Waiting the coming day,
Jesus my Lord!
Up from the grave He arose;
With a mighty triumph o’er His foes;
Carrying captivity captive [Ephesians 4:8], these that would make Him captive are now captive
in Christ:
He arose a victor from the dark domain,
And He lives forever, with His saints to reign.
He arose! Hallelujah! Christ arose!
[“Low In The Grave He Lay,” Robert Lowry, 1874]](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-85-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![He ascended into heaven, carrying captivity captive [Ephesians 4:8]. Who are those that would
have captured Him? Satan and the kingdom of darkness [Ephesians 2:2; Colossians 1:13]. Look
at us. All of us children are partakers of flesh and blood [Hebrews 2:14]. He also took part of the
same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, and liberated us,
brought us freedom who all our lives were subject, in bondage, to the fear of death [Hebrews
2:14-15]. Satan, Satan—the Lord took him and chained him to His chariot wheels and entered
heaven triumphant and victorious; carrying, leading captivity captive [Ephesians 4:8].
Last: may I put it all together? “He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive” [Ephesians
4:8], that refers to everything in heaven above, in earth beneath, in hell below that would capture
us and make us captive. All things that are against us He has taken away, and forever we’re free.
We’re liberated. Our great Conqueror has won the victory for us. There’s a law; He has fulfilled
it [Matthew 5:17-18]. There’s a curse He has taken away [Galatians 3:13]. There are ordinances
contrary to us; He has nailed them to the cross [Colossians 2:14]. Our foes are utterly defeated.
Christ has triumphed, and to His great triumphal train, these He has conquered. Grace, His
victory—ah, what a glory! We’re free. We’ve been liberated. We’re saved. All things are ours in
Christ [1 Corinthians 3:22]. That’s the thriambeusas, that’s the song and the hymn of praise!
That’s the thriambeusas, that’s the shout of victory of the Roman soldiery and the Roman
populace, praising God for what He has done for us. That’s why I love songs that praise the
Lord.
We’re saved [Ephesians 2:8]. We’re redeemed [1 Peter 1:18-19]. We’re washed [1 John 1:7;
Revelation 1:5]. We’re free [Romans 8:2]. Like the song you sang last Sunday morning:
Saved by the blood of the Crucified One,
All praise to the Father, All praise to the Son.
All praise to the Spirit, the great Three in One,
Saved by the blood of the Crucified One.
Glory, I’m saved. Glory, I’m saved.
My sins are all pardoned,
My guilt is all gone.
Glory, I’m saved, Saved by the blood of the Crucified One!.
[“Saved By the Blood,” S. J. Henderson, 1902]
The thriambeusas: the thriambeusas, the shout of glory and victory as we follow the Lord’s train
into heaven. You want to come up here and hold my hand on either side while we shout
together? Anybody want to do that? Anybody? That’s what it is to be a Christian, to exalt, to
exalt, to glorify, to praise God [Ephesians 1:12]. Live it in the last hour of our death, in the grave
when the Lord wafts us up to glory, O Lord [1 Thessalonians 4:16-17]. I call that real preaching!
Even Bill Cannon said so, yes, sir. That’s the Book. That’s the Lord. That’s the glory. That’s the
shekinah. That’s the light. That’s the presence. That’s the Spirit. That’s God among us. Ah, that
we could learn more and more to be happy in the Lord, to be encouraged in the faith, to love
Jesus more and thank Him more, to rejoice in His train as He leads His people into heaven
[Hebrews 2:10].
Our time’s long gone. To give your heart to the Lord [Romans 10:9-10], to love Jesus, to put
your life with us in the fellowship of the church, you, would you come and stand by me? In that](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-86-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![balcony round, on that farthest row in the last seat, there’s time and to spare, and a stairway on
either side at front and back, you come. Come. On the lower floor, into that aisle and down here
to the front, a family you, a couple you, or just one somebody you, while we sing this hymn of
appeal, come now. Make the decision now. And in a moment when you stand up, stand up
coming. God attend you in the way as you come, while we stand and while we sing.
THE ASCENSION GIFTS OF CHRIST
Dr. W. A. Criswell
Ephesians 4:7-12
2-7-71 10:50 a.m.
The title of the sermon is The Ascension Gifts of Christ, the grace gifts of our Lord. We are
preaching through the Book of Ephesians, and we are in chapter 4. And this is the text, beginning
at verse 7:
But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
Wherefore He saith, When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive.
[Ephesians 4:7-8]
And that was the sermon last Sunday morning, when the Lord ascended back up to glory in
triumph, in victory; “When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive,” and now the
sermon this morning:
And gave gifts unto men,
And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and
teachers;
For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of
Christ:
Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect
man, a mature man, a grown up man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
[Ephesians 4:8, 11-13]
The grace gifts of our Lord, when He went back up to heaven, He poured out upon His church,
He enriched His church with His grace gifts. In the twelfth chapter of the first Corinthian letter,
the first verse, Paul calls them “ta pneumatika,” spiritual gifts; literally, “the spirituals.” In the
fourth verse of that same twelfth chapter of 1 Corinthians, he calls them “ta charismata,” grace
gifts, charismatic gifts, charisma, grace gift [1 Corinthians 12:4]. But here in this passage, he
calls them “a present, a dora”: “When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and
gave gifts, dora, unto men, presents” [Ephesians 4:8]. The idea that lies back of the passage is
that of a victorious general, and after the battle is done and the war is won, the general distributes
the spoils to his army, and each man is given a victor’s gift, a part of the spoils.
So the imagery here, remember last Sunday? “When the Lord ascended into heaven, leading
captivity captive” [Ephesians 4:8], the Scriptures present the Master in the same language and](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-87-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![imagery of a Roman general, who’s accorded triumph through the streets of the Eternal City, and
the people shouted, “The triumphus“; the Roman shout of victory, “The triumphus.” And that’s
what the Lord did when He went back to glory: He entered with all of the spoils of victory, and
the people shouted, “The triumphus, the threombus,” as the Greek would say, “the threombus,”
in the Greek, “the triumphus” in the Latin. And the Lord in heaven bestowed gifts to His people;
the grace gifts upon His church [Ephesians 4:11-13].
Now usually when the Bible, when the New Testament speaks of those gifts, it will do it in a
way as though the Holy Spirit were bestowing them: the spiritual gifts, the charismatic gifts; but
here it is the Lord doing it. He just changed the saying of it from the gifts of the Holy Spirit here,
to the gift of the Lord Himself; the Lord poured out these gifts. And another thing: usually in the
Scriptures, when it speaks of these charismatic gifts, it speaks of them in terms of an endowment.
A man has a charismatic, a grace gift, a spiritual gift: the spirit of wisdom, or the spirit of
discerning, or the spirit of understanding, the spirit of wisdom, an endowment [1 Corinthians
12:8-10]. But here he speaks of it, the gifts are the men themselves, the ministers themselves that
the Lord gives His church. And He names them. “When He ascended up on high, He led
captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men: some, apostles; some, prophets; some evangelists;
some, pastors and some teachers” [Ephesians 4:8-11]. Now here the apostle presents the grace
gifts as being the men themselves who have enriched the churches through the centuries.
Some of them, he says, are apostles [Ephesians 4:11], apostolos, apostello, just an ordinary
Greek word which means “to send forth,” apostello, an apostolos, “one who is sent forth,” an
apostle. It is used in two ways here in the New Testament. Technically, the word “apostolos,
apostle,” will refer to an office; and there are only twelve apostles, just twelve. The Lord will
say, in the nineteenth chapter of Matthew, that the twelve apostles will sit on twelve thrones,
judging the twelve tribes of Israel [Matthew 19:28]. In the twenty-first chapter of the Book of the
Revelation, the Lord says that the great city, the beautiful city, the New Jerusalem, is on twelve
foundations, and the twelve foundations are the twelve apostles [Revelation 21:14]. In that sense,
there are just twelve. In the first chapter of Acts, when the apostles elected Matathias to take the
place of Judas [Acts 1:24-26] – I think in the ninth chapter of Acts the Lord chose Paul to take
that place [Acts 9:15-18] – in any event, in the technical use of the word “apostolos,” there are
just twelve. But there is a general sense in which that same word “apostolos” is used in the New
Testament; and that refers to a missionary who is out on the frontier, preaching the gospel, and
founding churches where no Christians and no churches are. So, in the New Testament you will
find Barnabas called an apostolos; you’ll find Andronicus and Junius called apostoloi, apostles;
you will find Epaphroditus called an apostle. So the word is used technically for the Twelve, but
generally for the missionary.
Now, he set some in the church, prophets [Ephesians 4:11], prophetess, propheteo; that’s just an
ordinary word which means “to speak forth”; a “prophetes” is a man who speaks forth, he forth
tells, he stands up and under the inspiration of the Spirit of God he delivers God’s message. It
was, oh, comparatively recently that the word in the English language came to mean
“prediction,” prophesy, to predict, to foretell; but that’s a late meaning of the word. It has no
connotation like that as such in the Bible. The idea of prediction in the word, “prophet,” or
“prophecy” is secondary and remote. The great meaning of the word propheteuo, to “prophesy,”
in the Bible is “proclaiming,” to speak out, to speak forth. Here is a man who stands up and
delivers God’s message. Now here again you have that word used both ways in the New
Testament. It is used technically for an office, the office of a prophet. In the twenty-first chapter](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-88-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![of the Book of Acts, for example, it speaks of a certain prophet named Agabus; he had the office
of prophet [Acts 21:9], as Moses, as Jeremiah, as Isaiah, as Malachi, as John the Baptist; they
were prophets. And in the New Testament church the office of prophet was to tell the church
what to do. They didn’t have any written New Testament, and when the problems and decisions
came up, the prophet told the church what to do. Now that we have the written New Testament,
the office has ceased. Like the apostolic office has ceased, there are just twelve, so the office of
prophet in the church has ceased. But the general use of the word “prophet” still abides with us;
it is a grace gift from God. For example, in this same twenty-first chapter of the Book of Acts, in
two verses side by side, Paul designates the two uses of the word. He will use the word “prophet”
in the sense of an office for Agabus; then he speaks of the four daughters of Philip the
evangelists, who prophesied, that is, they spoke under the inspiration of the divine, indwelling
Spirit of Jesus [Acts 21:8-9]. And in that sense we have the inspired messengers of God who
endow and enrich the Lord’s church today.
And some evangelists [Ephesians 4:11]; “evangelists,” that is someone who tells the “good
news,” euaggelizo, euaggelizo. Euaggelistes, a man who tells something great; the good news,
euaggelizo, he is bringing the glad tidings. And this is used in the Bible when we refer to men
who do two things: one, they bring the glad tidings to the lost and seek to win them to Christ;
and second, they are itinerant, like Philip the evangelist, he didn’t have any settled pastorate; he
went from place to place and preached the gospel.
Then there are some who are pastors, poimen, “shepherds” [Ephesians 4:11]. There are three
words used in the New Testament to describe the office of a pastor, and they’re used
interchangeably. Sometimes he’s called an episkopos, translated “bishop” – he’s an episkopos,
he’s an overseer – it refers to the work. Sometimes he’s called a “presbuteros,” that is “elder”;
that refers to the dignity of his office. And sometimes he’s called a “poimen,” a pastor, a
shepherd; and that refers to his relationship with his people.
And then God hath set in the church some teachers [Ephesians 4:11], “didaskalos,“ didactically
gifted people. They can open God’s Word and they can teach in a way that the people
understand, and they grasp what God has said in His revelation.
Now, the apostle says that when the Lord went back up into heaven He poured out these grace
gifts upon His church: apostles, missionaries; prophets, men who speak under the unction and in
the divine burning fervor of the Lord. Evangelists, men who seek the lost, who conduct these
great revivals; pastors, the undershepherds of our Lord; and teachers, gifted souls who make
known the Word of the Lord: now, these gifts, these ministers of Christ, have been the riches of
the church through all of the centuries and are today. The enrichment of the church is by no
means these great piles of brick and stone, however ornate or impressive they may be. But the
real riches of the churches of Christ always is found in the grace gifts, the men – the ministers –
the leaders that God hath given them. And through all of the centuries, the Lord has endowed His
church with those grace gifts.
There has never been a generation without that outpouring of the graciousness of these
charismatic gifts from God; there never will be until the Lord comes again. The pouring out of
the grace gifts upon His church, the ministers of Christ [Ephesians 4:11] who enrich the
household of the faith; in the apostolic days, the Twelve, and Timothy, and Titus, and Tychicus,
and Epaphroditus, and the deacons, Stephen and Philip, who became known as “The Evangelist.”
Then, the ante-Nicene, and Nicene, and post-Nicene fathers: Papias, the pastor of the church at
Hierapolis, right across the Lycus River from Laodicea; Polycarp, the pastor of the church at](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-89-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![Smyrna; Ignatius, the pastor of the church at Antioch; Justin Martyr, the defender of the faith in
Samaria; Athanasius, and Augustine, and Chrysostom, “the golden mouth” pastor of the church
at Antioch and then at Constantinople. How rich did Jesus endow the people of God through
those centuries! Then, the grace gifts, the ministers of the pre-Reformation: Peter Waldo,
Savonarola, John Huss, Cranmer, Ridley, Hugh Latimer, Samuel Rutherford, William Guthrie,
all those flaming ministers of Christ. Then the days of the Reformation: Martin Luther, and John
Calvin, and John Knox, and Melanchthon, and Balthazar Hübmaier, and Felix Manz, the
whole constellation of God’s grace gifts. Then the seventeenth century: John Bunyan, and
William Carey, and Adoniram Judson, and George Fox, and Roger Williams, and William Penn,
on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond the seas, God’s shining stars. Then the eighteenth
century, the days of the great Wesleyan revivals, and the Great Awakening: John Wesley, and
Charles, whose hymn you sang a moment ago, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, David
Brainerd, William Carey, Adoniram Judson, God’s grace gifts upon His church. Then the
nineteenth century and it swells in volume and glory: Dwight L. Moody, Charles Haddon
Spurgeon, Charles G. Finney, Sam Jones, John A. Broadus, David Livingstone. Then the
twentieth century: Billy Sunday, Billy Graham, Bill Glass, George W. Truett, Lee Scarborough.
This, Paul says, is our Lord’s ascension gifts to His church [Ephesians 2:20, 4:4-8]: the building
up of the faith, the enrichment of the people of God.
Nor shall that gift ever end until the Lord comes in glory. Every generation shall have its grace
gifts, the men of God, the ministers of Christ who shine and burn for Him. I sometimes think of
it in that Old Testament story when Elijah was carried up to heaven in a whirlwind [2 Kings
2:11]. And when he ascended up into glory, the mantle fell from his shoulders down to the
ground. And Elisha, who poured water on the hands of Elijah, picked the mantle up and went to
the swollen Jordan River and said, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah? And he struck the waters
of the swollen stream with Elijah’s mantle, and the waters parted hither and thither, and Elisha
went over on dry ground” [2 Kings 2:13-14]. And when the school of the prophets at Jericho saw
what had happened, they looked upon the face of Elisha and said, “The spirit of Elijah doth rest
upon Elisha” [2 Kings 2:15].
This is God’s great grace gifts to the centuries. When one man lays the mantle down, there is
another man to pick it up and carry it on. I stood in Westminster Abbey looking at the monument
– he’s not buried there, just a plaque to John Wesley – and on the plaque, some of those sayings
of John Wesley, one of which there, “The world is my parish,” the Anglican church would not
open their doors to him; “The world is my parish”; and then this one, “God buries the workman,
but carries on the work.” One man finishes his task and lays the burden down, and a younger
man picks up the torch and holds it high and carries it on; the grace gifts of Christ in every
generation.
They are the gifts of the Lord, they are charismatic, they are pneumatika, they are spiritual gifts;
they are not natural, they are endowments from heaven. The apostolos, the missionary on the
frontier; as I have visited for these several years the mission fields of our world; I’m astonished
at some abounding gift such as in Guatemala. We have a missionary there, an apostolos, in
Guatemala. And wherever he goes, and he’s gone all over that nation, he establishes thriving
churches. It is a grace gift. When I was in Rhodesia, I met another man like that, a grace gift; all
the churches thriving and flourishing that he has established in Rhodesia in the heart of Southern
Africa, a grace gift.](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-90-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![And the evangelist [Ephesians 4:11], it’s a grace gift; no man can be an evangelist saying, “I’m
going to be an evangelist!” You just can’t. I was riding on a plane with one of my dearest, finest
friends, a marvelous pastor and successful; he’d just hold a meeting in a stadium, and seated
there by my side, he said, “Criswell, I’ve learned one thing from this stadium meeting, I am no
Billy Graham. I’m going back to my church.”
It’s a grace gift. It’s something God does. So with all of these grace gifts of apostolos, and
euaggelistes, and didaskos, and poimen, and prophetes, all of them are grace gifts; they have
nothing to do with a man’s looks or his endowments or any natural riches that he might have
inherited; they are grace gifts!
When I went to school, both in college and the seminary, I went to school with men that I
thought, “Dear me, I do believe God makes mistakes?” Why, I never saw such unpromising,
unprepossessing students for the ministry and the work of the Lord in my life! Some of them
were stupid, I mean dumb, and couldn’t learn. And some of them were, they looked to me as
though the cats had dragged them up, sorry looking. But as time has gone on and these years
have passed, I review sometimes in memory those young fellows I went to school with in
seminary and in college. Some of those men that I thought were the most unpromising are some
of the greatest chaplains of the United States Army and its Air Corp and all the rest of the
branches [that] America has ever produced. Some of them are magnificent professors and
teachers. Some of them are the finest denominational leaders and missionary strategists and
statesman that walk the face of the earth. You see, when you equate God’s gift with a natural
endowment, you’ve missed it. It’s not how he looks, it’s not his stature, it’s not his physical,
majestic mien, or form, or presence; it is God! And it is God that makes him shine, and flame,
and burn! It is God that makes him resplendent and incandescent; it is a gift of the Lord, it’s a
grace gift. It’s a charisma, it is a doran.
Ah, I read that so much in my studying. Thomas Chalmers had a sterile and barren ministry in a
little place in Scotland called Kilmeney – I have no idea where it is – in a place called Kilmeney
he had an experience with the Lord. And when the people went to church expecting those dull,
dry, dreary, sterile, barren services, they had a flame of fire! And the people were amazed and
overwhelmed by the miraculous transformation of Thomas Chalmers! It’s a grace gift!
John Wesley came to America, came over here to win people to Christ, especially the American
Indian in Georgia. He got on the boat and went back to England discouraged, defeated, he had
failed miserably! Then he describes in his journal his Aldersgate experience in London. And he
writes, “I called and they didn’t come; I call now, and they come.”
It’s a gift from God, it’s a grace gift. Charles G. Finney was a lawyer; and a man – one of his
clients – came to him bringing a retainer’s fee. And Charles Finney said, “I have a retainer from
the Lord”; God made him shine and burn, a lawyer, had no theological training at all.
Dwight L. Moody was a businessman taking care of a church, had an ordinary ministry. And
upon a day, walking down Wall Street in New York City, he had an experience. He rushed to the
room of a friend and finally after hours said, “God, stay Thy hand or I will die.” And Moody
says, “I preached the same sermons, I used the same words, I gave the same invitation; but
before where there were ones and twos that came, now there are thousands and thousands that
come.” It’s a grace gift. It’s something God does: it’s the enrichment of His church, something
the Lord does.](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-91-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![Up here at Whitewright, Texas, and I’ve never been there, but up here at Whitewright, Texas, a
town in north central Texas; and they had a young fellow there, barely twenty, who was studying
to be a lawyer. And the congregation met and said, “God’s called you to preach, young man,
George W. Truett; and we’re going to ordain you.”
He said, “Ordain me? Well, I’m studying to be a lawyer; I’m not going to be a preacher.”
Ah, but they said, “God has His hand upon you, and we’re going to ordain you.”
He went to his mother. Oh, he describes this so poignantly! Went to his mother, and his dear
sainted mother said, “Son, these are God’s people, they’re the Lord’s people; and if they believe
God has called you to the ministry, that’s the voice of the Lord!” And they set him aside, a grace
gift; it’s something God does. And how wonderful to see God do it as He takes weakness and
makes it into strength, as He takes nothing and makes it shine and glow for the Lord. It’s
something God does; it’s a gift from heaven.
Moses said, “Lord, I cannot speak.” The Lord said, “Who made your mouth and your tongue?”
[Exodus 4:10-11]. And God made him fire and flame like that bush that burned, unconsumed
[Exodus 3:2]. Jeremiah said, “Lord, I am a child [Jeremiah 1:6], I’m afraid of their faces; they
frighten me.” God said, “I will make your face like adamant” [Jeremiah 1:8, 9]; God did it!
Simon Peter said, “Lord, I am a sinful man; I am unworthy, Lord.” But God said, “I will make
you to be a fisher of men” [Luke 5:8-10], God did it! Saul of Tarsus, who became Paul the
apostle, said, “Lord, this thorn in my flesh, take it away, please Lord!” Isn’t it blessed we don’t
know what that is? Any man who has a burden, or a handicap, or an affliction, is a brother or a
sister to the apostle Paul, “Lord, this thorn in my flesh, take it away.” And the Lord said, “Not
so, My strength is made perfect in weakness” [2 Corinthians 12:7-9]. When I’m crushed, and
when I’m down, and when I’m defeated, then is God magnified and glorified; it’s something
God does. It’s not something we do, its God’s doing.
John Wesley – sometimes, if I find a Methodist that is in a good humor, I’ll say to him, “You
know ya’ll are sure proud and egotistical.”
Well, he says, “What makes you think we over here in the Methodist church are proud?”
Well, I say, “It’s because you say John Wesley was five feet tall; that’s what you Methodists say,
‘He was five feet tall.'”
“Well, what is it about that?”
“Well, he was barely four feet ten or eleven inches tall; that’s how tall he was.”
If John Wesley had been here in this pulpit talking, you couldn’t see him over this pulpit. He had
a wretched marriage; married in later life. All you who say these kids that marry, they don’t
know what they’re talking about; boy, these that marry in old age, I know they don’t know what
they’re talking about! John Wesley married in old age, and he married wretchedly. And upon a
day a friend came to see him and didn’t knock at the door, he just walked into the house; and
when he walked into the house, there was the wife of John Wesley dragging him all over the
house by the hair of the head! Yet that man burned and flamed and shined for Jesus; it is
something God does, it’s a grace gift.
Somebody went up, an English professor went up to Dwight L. Moody and said, “Mr. Moody, I
listened to your sermon today; here are seventeen flagrant, grammatical errors that you’ve made,
seventeen of them, I have them all written here.”](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-92-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
![And Dwight L. Moody, who had no education – if you were to read one of his sermons that is
not corrected you wouldn’t think a man talked like that – Dwight L. Moody replied, he said, “Sir,
I do the best I can for Jesus, do you?”
It’s a grace gift; it’s something God does for you. When I was in college four years down there at
Baylor, the man that made the greatest impression upon me in four years of going to chapel was
a crippled, deformed man. And I so can see him. He stood there in that chapel pulpit, and his
head was like that, and he couldn’t raise his head; he was deformed and he was crippled, but God
makes his ministry to shine and to burn like fire! It’s a gift from heaven!
The most movingly, eloquent man who ever lived was George Whitefield. Remember? Ben
Franklin said, “Well, I want to hear him, but I’m going to leave all my money at home, because
he’d get it all, they tell me, if I come with anything in my pockets.”
So Ben Franklin went to hear George Whitefield and left all of his money at home. And while
George Whitefield was preaching, Benjamin Franklin turned to a neighbor and said, “Sir, will
you loan me some money that I can give to George Whitefield?”
It’s a gift from heaven. Another man that I read about said, “George Whitefield could pronounce
the name ‘Mesopotamia’ and bring a vast throng to tears, just by pronouncing a word.”
George Whitefield, all of his life asthmatic; and when he preached he grasped for breath; God’s
eloquent preacher. When he came to Newberry Port in Massachusetts, at night, up there in bed,
the villagers came, pounded on the door and said to the host, “Would you ask Mr. Whitefield to
come and preach to us?”
So he went up there and got George Whitefield out of bed; the preacher dressed and came down
the stairway and stood on the bottom rung of the stairway; and he preached the message of Christ
to the people in the hall, and on the porch, and out in the yard. Standing there preaching, George
Whitefield had a candle in his hand, and a little candle holder. And when the candle burned
down and went out, George Whitefield led a benedictory prayer, went back up to the room, lay
down, and died. Asthmatic, couldn’t get his breath, and died.
It is God that does it! It’s not a man’s education, though I don’t deprecate it; nor is it a man’s
polish, and I don’t deprecate it; nor is it a man’s chaste language, and I do not deprecate it; nor
his human wisdom, I do not deprecate it, but by the Word of the Lord, I’m just avowing to you
what I read in the Bible and what I read in human history, it’s a grace gift. It is something God
does! And that, the apostle says, is the enrichment of the church – not our buildings, not our vast,
mausoleum like cathedrals – but it’s the grace gifts: the missionary, the evangelist, the pastor, the
teacher.
It’s you. Oh, I wish I had time, and I have to quit! To begin, “Unto every one of us is given
charis, a grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ” [Ephesians 4:7], each one of us,
you have it! Some of you can make money for Jesus, some of you know how to guide an
organization, some of you know how to be a superintendent, some of you a teacher, some of you
a personal soulwinner, some of you can sing. Lee Roy wasn’t educated to be a singer; do I need
to say that? He was educated to be an engineer! And he didn’t go to a Christian academy or a
church related school at all; he went to a state university and was graduated to be an engineer,
and the Lord put His hand upon him as an engineer, and gave him this incomparable grace gift.
Look at that choir. At eight-fifteen o’clock service this morning, they were running clear up on
either side, youngsters; that’s Lee Roy, that’s God, that’s the gift of the Lord upon him. It’s
something God did, and each one of you has a gift, each one of you.](/p?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.slidesharecdn.com%2Fjesuswastheascendedgiverofgifts-200211035641%2F85%2FJesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts-93-320.jpg&__src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.slideshare.net%2Fslideshow%2Fjesus-was-the-ascended-giver-of-gifts%2F227576909&__type=image)
Uploaded byGLENN PEASE
Jesus was the ascended giver of gifts
The document discusses the significance of Jesus Christ's ascension and the gifts he bestows upon believers. It emphasizes that his ascension marks a triumph over sin, death, and evil, while also highlighting the importance of the Christian ministry and the diverse gifts given to believers for edification and unity in faith. These gifts are portrayed as a reflection of Christ's glory and purpose to empower and perfect the church, even for those considered rebellious.
