He Descends and Gives Gifts

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:05.679 Beginning in verse seven. Listen, for this is the word of the Lord. 2 00:00:11.429 --> 00:00:14.669 But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of 3 00:00:14.789 --> 00:00:20.829 Christ's gift. Therefore, it says when he ascended on high, he led 4 00:00:20.870 --> 00:00:27.379 a host of captives and he gave gifts to men. In saying he ascended, 5 00:00:27.500 --> 00:00:31.420 what does it mean but that he also descended into the lower regions of 6 00:00:31.500 --> 00:00:37.689 the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all 7 00:00:37.770 --> 00:00:43.210 the heavens, that he might fill all things. As far the reading of 8 00:00:43.250 --> 00:00:52.079 God's Word May he bless it to us he may be seated. This passage 9 00:00:52.079 --> 00:00:57.560 sound a little bit familiar to us. This morning we read from Psalm Sixty 10 00:00:57.640 --> 00:01:03.159 Eight, and here we are in Ephesians for where Paul quotes Psalm Sixty eight, 11 00:01:03.000 --> 00:01:10.430 verse eighteen. But before we get to that quotation, I want us 12 00:01:10.430 --> 00:01:14.150 to hear a bit of the context of what Paul is saying and this part 13 00:01:14.670 --> 00:01:18.739 in his letter to the Ephesians, to see why he quotes from this Psalmon 14 00:01:18.780 --> 00:01:25.379 and what he's saying when he quotes from Psalm Sixty eight earlier in Ephesians chapter 15 00:01:25.500 --> 00:01:29.939 four. Paul says before when I just read in verse four, talking to 16 00:01:30.140 --> 00:01:34.290 the church, describing the unity of the church, he says there is one 17 00:01:34.370 --> 00:01:40.129 body and one spirit, just as you were called to the one hope that 18 00:01:40.290 --> 00:01:46.010 belongs to your call, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one 19 00:01:46.090 --> 00:01:49.439 God and father of all, who is over all and through all and in 20 00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:57.519 all. And so the church here exists in Oneness, oneness with God, 21 00:01:57.079 --> 00:02:02.510 oneness with one another, and as one body. The Church has fellowship with 22 00:02:02.549 --> 00:02:08.150 Christ, for the body belongs to Christ. He's the head, as Paul 23 00:02:08.150 --> 00:02:14.550 says elsewhere. Therefore the church belongs to him. In fact, the unity 24 00:02:14.590 --> 00:02:19.460 of the Church reflects the very unity of God in the Trinity, as Paul 25 00:02:19.539 --> 00:02:24.099 Lists All three persons of the Trinity and describing this unity that the church possesses. 26 00:02:27.060 --> 00:02:30.009 And so it may seem unusual, then, what Paul says in Verse 27 00:02:30.090 --> 00:02:34.849 Seven. where he'd been talking about the the oneness, the unity of the 28 00:02:34.969 --> 00:02:39.370 church, he now addresses our individuality. But grace was given to each one 29 00:02:39.409 --> 00:02:46.919 of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. So, the way he'd 30 00:02:46.919 --> 00:02:52.520 been talking about our unity, now he describes diversity. He quickly goes from 31 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:57.199 referring to the Church as a collection active one, and now he addresses us 32 00:02:57.240 --> 00:03:00.310 as individuals. So which is it? Is The church just one thing, 33 00:03:00.389 --> 00:03:07.750 or is the church multiple many things? Of course the answers both right. 34 00:03:07.349 --> 00:03:12.030 Elsewhere, using the same imagery of a body, Paul will say that the 35 00:03:12.069 --> 00:03:17.099 church is like a human body, being composed of many different parts, and 36 00:03:17.219 --> 00:03:22.819 so to be united to the church does not mean that you lose your uniqueness 37 00:03:22.939 --> 00:03:29.409 or the gifts you've been given. Rather, there's an essential unity to the 38 00:03:29.530 --> 00:03:35.849 body and an essential diversity to that body as well. A pile of eyeballs 39 00:03:35.930 --> 00:03:42.000 doesn't make up a body. And to the Lord has blessed his church with 40 00:03:42.039 --> 00:03:47.120 a variety of gifts which, in their diversity, are given to build up 41 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:52.759 and to support one another. You don't lose yourself. Rather, what you've 42 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:59.349 been given is for the benefit of the body. But Paul doesn't really tell 43 00:03:59.349 --> 00:04:04.229 us about the variety of gifts until later, until verse eleven. What I 44 00:04:04.310 --> 00:04:10.139 want to focus on is what he first establishes here, which is the reason, 45 00:04:11.139 --> 00:04:17.779 the foundation for these gifts. Before describing the gifts, Paul draws eye 46 00:04:17.819 --> 00:04:25.689 eyes back to the giver again, as he says in verse seven. But 47 00:04:25.850 --> 00:04:30.889 grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. 48 00:04:31.769 --> 00:04:35.769 And so Christ is the giver, He is the One Who bestows gifts 49 00:04:35.930 --> 00:04:42.920 upon his church. And rather than just stating that fact, he goes on 50 00:04:43.000 --> 00:04:46.319 to prove it, doesn't he? And in order to prove his assertion, 51 00:04:46.399 --> 00:04:51.910 he references for us a familiar psalm. Here in Verse Eight he quotes from 52 00:04:51.910 --> 00:04:59.870 Psalms Sixty Eight, verse eighteen. And isn't this an interesting place for the 53 00:04:59.949 --> 00:05:04.269 apostle to turn? I mean there's several places. There's many psalms that are 54 00:05:05.069 --> 00:05:13.259 widely considered to be Messianic Psalms, psalms which specifically anticipate the coming Messiah. 55 00:05:14.339 --> 00:05:17.620 Famous psalms right like Psalm to. As for me, I've set my King 56 00:05:17.779 --> 00:05:21.209 on Mount Zion, my Holy Hill. I will tell the decree. The 57 00:05:21.410 --> 00:05:26.250 Lord said to me, you are my son Today, I have begotten you. 58 00:05:28.050 --> 00:05:30.569 Or Psalm one hundred and ten right, the Lord says to my Lord, 59 00:05:30.689 --> 00:05:33.449 sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The 60 00:05:33.610 --> 00:05:39.000 Lord Sends Forth From Zion Your Mighty scepter rule in the midst of your enemies. 61 00:05:41.079 --> 00:05:46.000 These are psalms which anticipate the coming victory of the Messiah, and that 62 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:51.310 is how they both reference his his kingship, they reference his victorious ascent to 63 00:05:51.430 --> 00:05:58.550 the Heights of Mount Zion. And yet Paul doesn't quote from these more commonly 64 00:05:58.709 --> 00:06:02.430 Messianic Psalms. He points us to a verse in Psalm Sixty eight instead. 65 00:06:04.139 --> 00:06:06.980 As we saw this morning, this is a psalm that's very much based in 66 00:06:08.100 --> 00:06:13.939 the history of Israel. Psalm Sixty eight seems at first glance to just be 67 00:06:14.100 --> 00:06:21.970 looking backwards, not forwards, but upon specific events in Israel's past. As 68 00:06:21.970 --> 00:06:28.490 Psalm Sixty eight describes God's victory when he conquered Jerusalem, the place where the 69 00:06:28.529 --> 00:06:33.480 temple would reside now. The historic battle was fought by David. But unlike 70 00:06:34.639 --> 00:06:41.040 more narrative accounts of David's victory there in Second Samuel Five or first chronicles eleven, 71 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:46.230 Psalm Sixty eight gives a poetic retelling of this victory, for in this 72 00:06:46.269 --> 00:06:53.389 psalm the victory doesn't belong to David, it belongs to the Lord. Likewise, 73 00:06:53.470 --> 00:06:59.709 the Psalm doesn't begin with David, it begins at Mount Sinai, and 74 00:06:59.829 --> 00:07:04.019 so psalm sixty eight gives us God's perspective on this March from Sinai to Zion. 75 00:07:04.139 --> 00:07:10.899 In Jerusalem and we're shown God's victory March leading his people through the Wilderness, 76 00:07:12.300 --> 00:07:15.139 as we saw. He says, lift up a song to him who 77 00:07:15.139 --> 00:07:19.370 rides through the dead Azzart, and that God settles the Solitary in a home, 78 00:07:19.490 --> 00:07:24.970 he leads the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched 79 00:07:24.970 --> 00:07:29.569 land. Oh God, when you went out before your people, when you 80 00:07:29.730 --> 00:07:35.079 marched through the Wilderness. And so the Psalm describes God bringing victory to his 81 00:07:35.240 --> 00:07:43.360 people and God bringing defeat to his enemies. It's a battle song describing God's 82 00:07:43.399 --> 00:07:48.910 ultimate victory and taking up residence upon Mount Zion in Jerusalem. As it describes 83 00:07:48.949 --> 00:07:54.069 this journey from the tent of the Tabernacle to the more solid structures of a 84 00:07:54.149 --> 00:07:59.819 temple. It's the journey of a wandering people of Israel to Israel, being 85 00:08:00.180 --> 00:08:05.540 given a home to call their own. And yet while David describes this victory 86 00:08:05.660 --> 00:08:13.290 March, Paul turns to verse eighteen to prove whose victory. He turns the 87 00:08:13.329 --> 00:08:22.730 Verse Eighteen to prove Christ's victory. Psalm Sixty Eight, verse eighteen says you 88 00:08:22.850 --> 00:08:26.519 ascended on high, leading a host of captives in your train, and receiving 89 00:08:26.600 --> 00:08:31.039 gifts among men, even among the rebellious, that the Lord God may dwell 90 00:08:31.519 --> 00:08:39.759 there. What its describing here is that, according to the ancient practices of 91 00:08:39.879 --> 00:08:46.429 war, after a victory, it was customary for the conquering king to ride 92 00:08:46.470 --> 00:08:54.230 into the conquered city with much ceremony. And as the king would leave this 93 00:08:54.429 --> 00:08:58.460 parade, he'd be followed by his own army, who would then be followed 94 00:08:58.500 --> 00:09:05.179 by their prisoners, by their captives. In a display of military might and 95 00:09:05.539 --> 00:09:11.730 power, the victorious King's enemies would be chained together in humiliation and and paraded 96 00:09:11.809 --> 00:09:18.649 before the entire city. Their possessions would be taken from them, along with 97 00:09:18.769 --> 00:09:22.370 their freedoms, as they were no longer belonging to their former king, but 98 00:09:22.490 --> 00:09:28.759 now belonging to their new king. This triumphant March for the king would be 99 00:09:30.360 --> 00:09:37.159 a humiliating and degrading March. Then, for the captives, the king would 100 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:41.629 receive his rewards from the plunder of the city. These were the spoils of 101 00:09:41.750 --> 00:09:46.509 war, with the enemy defeated, that things that used to belong to him 102 00:09:46.590 --> 00:09:52.190 now belong to the king. Psalm Sixty eight picks up on some of this 103 00:09:52.669 --> 00:09:56.620 language. The Lord leading in his train, a host of captives, as 104 00:09:56.659 --> 00:10:03.340 the Lord takes his dwelling, as the Lord receives gifts, and it psalm 105 00:10:03.419 --> 00:10:09.450 sixty eights does more than just describe the Lord as one who conquers and one 106 00:10:09.490 --> 00:10:13.450 who gathers and weeks. For in the same Psalm, God is described as 107 00:10:13.490 --> 00:10:18.450 a father to the fatherless. He's described as a protector to the widow. 108 00:10:20.169 --> 00:10:24.159 There it says that the women divided the spoil. This is a king who 109 00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:31.639 cares and who blesses his own people, especially the afflicted. So the Psalm 110 00:10:31.759 --> 00:10:37.110 describes both the mighty strength of our warrior God and also his protection and his 111 00:10:37.509 --> 00:10:48.029 care for his people. And so Paul takes that historical Psalm and now here 112 00:10:48.230 --> 00:10:54.419 applies it to Christ, and in doing so he tells us something about how 113 00:10:54.539 --> 00:11:00.419 to read our bibles. Is He's doing more than just saying that Christ is 114 00:11:00.620 --> 00:11:07.210 the Lord who was victorious when David conquered Jerusalem. He's saying something more. 115 00:11:07.730 --> 00:11:13.289 It's not just that Christ was present back then, but that we should read 116 00:11:13.970 --> 00:11:22.320 the very history of Israel as anticipating and expecting and pointing us to Christ. 117 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:31.080 The Lord's assent into Jerusalem was but a shadow. It was a real event, 118 00:11:31.159 --> 00:11:35.669 but it was still a picture of what would take place when Christ ascended 119 00:11:35.830 --> 00:11:43.909 into the true and Heavenly Zion. Christ's assent was not up an earthly mountain 120 00:11:43.990 --> 00:11:48.460 to subdue an earthly city. His assent was into the very throne room of 121 00:11:48.539 --> 00:11:54.100 God and was given a place of victory, for Christ is seated at the 122 00:11:54.139 --> 00:12:00.580 right hand of God in heavenly places. In this light, then, the 123 00:12:00.620 --> 00:12:05.450 picture portrayed by Psalm Sixty eight makes so much sense to us. The Lord 124 00:12:05.490 --> 00:12:09.450 who descends Mount Sinai, who shepherds his people through the Wilderness, is the 125 00:12:09.529 --> 00:12:16.159 one who claims victory in his assent to Mount Zion, and we see in 126 00:12:16.320 --> 00:12:20.200 that the very work of our Lord, the very work of Christ, for 127 00:12:20.360 --> 00:12:26.240 in Christ God descended. In Christ, God descended Mount Sinai once again to 128 00:12:26.480 --> 00:12:31.549 be with his people. For Christ, who is truly God and truly man, 129 00:12:31.789 --> 00:12:39.750 was also born under the law. And when describing Christ's incarnation, John 130 00:12:39.870 --> 00:12:46.259 and his Gospel says that the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and 131 00:12:46.419 --> 00:12:52.659 that word literally means tabernacled among us. And it was Christ who was then 132 00:12:52.940 --> 00:12:58.769 tempted in the Wilderness for forty days so that in the ascent in Psalm Sixty 133 00:12:58.809 --> 00:13:05.610 eight. That ascent actually anticipates an ultimate, a final assent vent of Christ 134 00:13:05.769 --> 00:13:13.240 into that final resting place, to that final Jerusalem that is above Paul. 135 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:24.960 That emphasizes the significance of Christ's victorious assent and what his victory accomplished. Look 136 00:13:24.960 --> 00:13:28.789 at verse nine. In saying he ascended, what does it mean but that 137 00:13:28.870 --> 00:13:33.549 he also descended into the lower parts the earth. He who descended is the 138 00:13:33.590 --> 00:13:39.389 one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all 139 00:13:39.590 --> 00:13:46.740 things for Paul. Here Christ's assent makes no sense unless you talk about his 140 00:13:46.940 --> 00:13:52.019 descent. And HOW LOW DID CHRIST DESCEND? Lower parts of the earth, 141 00:13:54.299 --> 00:14:00.570 as another way of saying the grave itself. The Christ descended all the way 142 00:14:00.690 --> 00:14:05.370 to the pit, to being under the very earth itself. For Christ to 143 00:14:05.450 --> 00:14:13.360 be victorious, he had to be taken captive himself. For Christ to conquer 144 00:14:13.480 --> 00:14:18.919 the grave, he had to first die enter the grave. To be victorious 145 00:14:18.960 --> 00:14:24.590 over sin and death, he had to first take sin and death upon himself. 146 00:14:28.909 --> 00:14:35.470 And so Christ's victory did not look like the victory of an ancient conquering 147 00:14:35.669 --> 00:14:41.940 king, did it? His victory did not come by the might of his 148 00:14:41.220 --> 00:14:48.460 sword, but through the weakness of the Cross. Christ's victory did not come 149 00:14:48.580 --> 00:14:56.730 through military might, but through the humiliating death of a prisoner, for Christ 150 00:14:56.889 --> 00:15:03.370 took on the very forces of sin and death, where military force cannot win 151 00:15:03.450 --> 00:15:11.399 the day. And Paul makes note of this reversal that has taken place in 152 00:15:11.480 --> 00:15:16.440 Christ's victory. For even though Christ's victory was greater than David's, the method 153 00:15:16.480 --> 00:15:24.389 of gaining it couldn't be any different. Where David is victorious in this Parade 154 00:15:24.429 --> 00:15:35.190 Right, Christ is bound, tied, humiliated, scorned. That's what happens 155 00:15:35.230 --> 00:15:41.500 to losers, that's what happens to captives. And this reversal is picked up 156 00:15:41.500 --> 00:15:46.100 in verse six and Verse Eight itself, when Paul quotes from Psalm Sixty eight. 157 00:15:46.899 --> 00:15:52.570 Casalm sixty eight, verse eighteen sounds different from Paul's quote. Psalm Sixty 158 00:15:52.610 --> 00:15:56.570 Eight, verse eighteen says you ascended on high, leading a host of captives 159 00:15:56.610 --> 00:16:04.159 in your train and receiving gifts among men. When Paul quotes us in Verse 160 00:16:04.200 --> 00:16:07.600 Eight, he says when he ascended on high, he led a house of 161 00:16:07.720 --> 00:16:18.559 captives and he gave gifts two men. What's going on here? Psalm sixty 162 00:16:18.590 --> 00:16:23.710 eighth says he received gifts. Ephesians, for says he gave gifts. As 163 00:16:23.710 --> 00:16:30.870 Paul just misremembering the Psalm, these weren't are opposites right. Is Paul disagreeing 164 00:16:30.909 --> 00:16:37.139 with the Psalm? No, his his change here is very intentional. Paul 165 00:16:37.259 --> 00:16:44.779 showing this that in Christ a reversal has taken place. When he ascended the 166 00:16:44.940 --> 00:16:53.570 Mount of Jerusalem, he did not ascend in ceremony but in chains. And 167 00:16:53.690 --> 00:16:59.570 this reversal is seen in Christ's very nature, who came not to be served 168 00:16:59.649 --> 00:17:03.559 but to serve. Christ does not go all the way to the cross in 169 00:17:03.640 --> 00:17:08.720 order to receive gifts. Rather, he went to the cross that he might 170 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:15.829 give gifts. And so Paul changes one word. That that we would see 171 00:17:15.910 --> 00:17:19.990 what happens when we move from the picture of Israel to the reality of Christ. 172 00:17:21.029 --> 00:17:27.710 Rather than Christ plundering his captives, he blesses his captives. Rather than 173 00:17:27.710 --> 00:17:33.859 humiliating his captives, he takes the shame of the cross in your place, 174 00:17:36.539 --> 00:17:41.019 for look at who the captives of Christ are. And just in Paul's letter 175 00:17:41.099 --> 00:17:48.369 to the Ephesians, twice Paul identifies himself as a captive, the conquered subject 176 00:17:48.450 --> 00:17:53.089 of the Lord as he begins Chapter Three, as he begins Chapter Four, 177 00:17:53.210 --> 00:17:59.160 Paul's calls himself both a prisoner of the Lord and a prisoner in the Lord. 178 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:06.039 Paul wants us to see him as a prisoner taken captive by Christ, 179 00:18:06.359 --> 00:18:15.150 because in Christ it's a blessing to be a captive, because in Christ the 180 00:18:15.269 --> 00:18:22.789 place of blessing is the place of captivity. In Christ, the place of 181 00:18:22.910 --> 00:18:27.579 blessing is the place of captivity. In the new covenant, you want to 182 00:18:27.700 --> 00:18:34.059 be a prisoner of Christ. To be a prisoner of Christ is not proof 183 00:18:34.099 --> 00:18:38.059 of God's cursing you. Rather, it's a proof of his blessing you. 184 00:18:41.529 --> 00:18:47.690 The Lord is teaching you to see yourselves as prisoners of the Lord, to 185 00:18:47.809 --> 00:18:55.210 see the church as a host of captives that he has conquered. By bearing 186 00:18:55.289 --> 00:19:02.359 the curse for us, he has removed humiliation and the shame of being a 187 00:19:02.519 --> 00:19:10.190 prisoner, as Hebrews says in chapter two, verse fourteen, since therefore the 188 00:19:10.390 --> 00:19:15.710 children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, 189 00:19:15.390 --> 00:19:18.869 that through death, he might destroy the one who has the power of 190 00:19:18.950 --> 00:19:22.789 death, that is, the devil. Deliver all those who, through fear 191 00:19:22.910 --> 00:19:30.619 of death, were subject to life long slavery. And so Christ has conquered 192 00:19:30.660 --> 00:19:36.819 a people for himself, not to plunder them, but to bless them and 193 00:19:37.019 --> 00:19:45.009 to give them gifts. And how does he give gifts? In his victory 194 00:19:45.130 --> 00:19:51.450 he's been blessed with the fullness of Heaven. He took possession of the Very 195 00:19:51.569 --> 00:19:57.039 Heavenly Zion, and that is his gift, that is his reward for going 196 00:19:57.160 --> 00:20:02.640 to the cross, that's his heavenly inheritance, and it's in light of that 197 00:20:02.839 --> 00:20:10.589 fullness that Christ blesses and gives to his church. As what Paul says all 198 00:20:10.630 --> 00:20:12.869 the way back in chapter one, verse three, blessed be the God and 199 00:20:12.950 --> 00:20:18.990 father of our Lord, Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with 200 00:20:18.269 --> 00:20:26.220 every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. For you've been given the gift of 201 00:20:26.259 --> 00:20:33.140 Christ's own inheritance. You've been given the gift of Christ himself, because he 202 00:20:33.299 --> 00:20:41.849 has conquered you, because he has made you his own. What a blessing 203 00:20:41.890 --> 00:20:48.490 it is to be God's prisoner, to be his eternal inheritance, to know 204 00:20:48.609 --> 00:20:53.079 that you are his spoils of war, just as he has made himself yours. 205 00:20:56.279 --> 00:20:59.359 For Christ has become a prisoner for your sake. Therefore, it's an 206 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:03.200 honor to be a prisoner for his sake. Therefore, it's an honor to 207 00:21:03.309 --> 00:21:08.829 walk in a manner worthy of this calling, as you're called to walk humbly, 208 00:21:08.990 --> 00:21:14.869 to walk graciously, to walk with patience, bearing one another in love, 209 00:21:17.069 --> 00:21:19.700 because you've been given gifts not to secure your own glory and honor, 210 00:21:19.819 --> 00:21:25.660 but to be a blessing to the body, and you're to walk in this 211 00:21:25.819 --> 00:21:32.579 manner knowing that your home is heaven, where Christ has been seated, for 212 00:21:32.660 --> 00:21:38.690 this is what being bound to him calls us to. So maybe this be 213 00:21:38.809 --> 00:21:47.200 what Christ continues to do in our lives until he calls US home. Amen. 214 -->