2020-02-13 | Ephesians 4:7-10 | He Led Captivity Captive
Alright well we’re there in Ephesians chapter number four. And we were making our way through the book of Ephesians on Wednesday night. We’re going verse by verse and chapter by chapter. And we’re going to be in Ephesians 4 for a little while. I thought we were going to move through chapter 4 a little faster than this but there are a lot of great truths in this chapter that I don’t want to just pass over. If you remember last week, we dealt with verses 1 through 6. And tonight we’re going to deal with verses 7 through 10. And honestly, I planned for verses 7 through 10 to just be the introduction to the sermon but I realized that we’re going to just do a whole sermon just in these verses. And we’re going to expound tonight on one of the most unusual passages in the Bible. It’s a controversial passage in some ways and a confusing passage to some. We’ll go ahead and read it.
Ephesians 4:7-10 “7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. 8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)”
And when you think of these verses, and if you’ve ever heard preaching out of these verses, especially verse number 8, you know you’ll find the most diverse interpretations and the unusual interpretations to this passage. And I’m going to break down this passage and show you exactly what this talking about. But what I want you to understand is the theme of these few verses. There are really two major themes. And the first one is dealing with what Jesus gave us. And that’s really what he’s talking about, the fact that Jesus gave us something. And I’ll tell you what he gave us here in a minute, that he gave us spiritual gifts. And he also gave us spiritual leadership. He gave us spiritual gifts and he gave a spiritual leadership. And then he talks about when he gave it to us. So Paul is teaching us about what Jesus gave us and then he talks to us about when he gave it to us. So really verse number seven is where we need to begin to understand the context of verse 8. And verse 8 is really the controversial and confusing verse. But to understand verse 7, you have to remember the context of the passage.
And I’m not going to re-preach last week’s sermon. You can go back and listen to it on our website or on YouTube if you’d like. But I do want to just read to you verses 2 & 3, just to remind you the context of these verses leading into this passage. Ephesians 4:2 “2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;”. And here’s the theme. “3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”. Now I preached an entire sermon last week on endeavoring to keep the unity and the importance of unity and we talked about those characteristics in unity. If you and I are going to walk in unity, we’re going to have to have these characteristics of lowliness and meekness, long-suffering and forbearing. I want you to understand that that is the context that leads us into verse number 7. Because of course verses 4 through 6, it’s just this reiterating of unity. He talks about one baptism, one Lord, one body. And he keeps emphasizing the fact that we’re all united as one.
And then in verse 7 he says this, “7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.”. He says but unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Now I want you to keep your place here in Ephesians, of course that’s our text for tonight. But go to the book of Romans if you would, Romans 12:3. I’ll prove to you first of all that these passages are connected, that they are referring to the same thing. In Ephesians 4:7, the Bible says this “7 But unto every one of us is given grace”. And I want you to notice those words in fact if you don’t mind underlying in your Bible. I’d encourage you to underline those two words “given grace”. But unto every one of us is given grace. And I want you to notice Romans 12:3. “3 For I say, through” Notice what he says “the grace given unto me,”. So in Ephesians 4:7 he says “but unto every one of us is given grace”. And then in Romans 12:3 he says “for I say through the grace given unto me”. So I want you notice he’s talking about similar things here. In one he says we have been given grace and another one he says that grace has been given unto me.
Ephesians 4:7 “7 But unto every one of us is given grace”. And then I want you to notice these words “according to the measure of the gift of Christ.”. And if you don’t mind underlying in your Bible, notice the words “the measure of the gift”. Because he says we are given grace according to the measure of the gift. He says but unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Go back to Romans 12:3. “3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man”. Notice these words “the measure of faith.”. So we see that these passages are connected. Because in Ephesians 4:7 he talks about “unto us is given grace according to the measure of the gift”. In Romans 12:3 he talks about the fact that grace has been given unto us according to the measure of faith. In the context, this is all about what God is giving us. And the first thing that Paul’s alluding to is the fact that God has given us spiritual gifts.
Now I’m not going to preach a sermon on spiritual gifts tonight. I’ve done that in the past. We’ve done that a lot. I did it in the Holy Spirit series and you can look up those things if you like. He outlines them for us here in Romans 12. Notice verse 4. But I want you to notice that when we’re talking about spiritual gifts, there’s a theme. Even in Romans 12 there is a theme of unity. Remember I told you this is a theme last week. I told you there’s a theme throughout the entire Bible about unity. Notice verse 4, “4 For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: 5 So we, being many, are one body”. Notice again there’s an emphasis there of unity. He says look, we’re many members but we’re one body. He says we have different offices in different positions. We have different gifts. But we are one body in Christ and every one members one of another. Verse 6 “6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us,”. He says look, we all have gifts. When you got saved, God gave you the Holy Spirit. And when he gave you the Holy Spirit, the Bible says he gave you a spiritual gift. Now we all have gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us. We all bring something unique to the table, just like your body and your hands do different things. Your feet, eyes & ears have a different purpose. We all have something that God has given us to do.
“6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;”. Notice that the gift is connected to your faith. “7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching; 8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.”. So I want you to notice that Romans 12 and Ephesians 4 are connected. Because they’re both about the fact that we’ve been given grace or grace has been given to us, and has been given to us by the measure of the gift or by the measure of our faith. There’s a theme in regards to unity, that we are many members in one body. We’re all one body. We have different gifts, some to prophesy and some for ministry and some for teaching and some for exhortation some forgiving and ruling and mercy. And that’s not the only list that has spiritual gifts. There are other lists. 1 Corinthians 12 has a list with spiritual gifts and things like that. But he’s talking about these things.
You say well what does this have to do with? For example, the context of last week’s sermon, we talked about the fact that in order to have unity we have to maintain lowliness. We need to be meek, we need to be forbearing and long-suffering. Notice what he says in verse number three of Romans 12. He says “3 For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself” Here’s the key “more highly than he ought to think;”. He says look, in order to keep unity, in order to keep unity in the church, you need to realize that we all have different positions, different gifts, different abilities, different things that we bring to the table. We all have different things that we bring into church life. But don’t ever get to the place where you start thinking of yourself more highly than others, where you’re looking down on others. You say “Well I do more in church than they do and I’m more faithful than that person and I accomplish more for the cause of Christ.”. Paul says look, realize that anything you have, any ability and talent and gift, anything you have, you have it because God gave it to you. You have it because it was given to you by God. You have that gift because the Holy Spirit gave it to you. And he says don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought to think.
He says “but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”. So whatever gift you have, whatever talent you have; maybe it’s an ability to speak and we can use you in the preaching ministry. Maybe you’ve got musical talent that can be used for the choir. Maybe you’re good with events and you help with decorating. Whatever area you serve in or you minister in, whatever you do, hey that’s great. But Paul says please don’t ever start thinking too highly of yourself or start thinking that you’re just the greatest thing since sliced bread and you’re the greatest Christian ever and that church would fall apart without me. He says big mistake. Because the gifts we have, the gifts that have been given to us by God. And I want you to notice this, he talks about the fact that he gave us spiritual gifts.
In Ephesians 4:11, he explains that he not only gave us spiritual gifts but then he talks about the fact that he gave a spiritual leadership. Notice Ephesians 4:11, he continues with this idea of what he’s given us. Because in verse 7 he says “7 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.”. And then in verse 11 he says this “11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;”. And next week we’re going to talk about the position of spiritual leadership and the purpose of spiritual leadership. We’ll deal with that in those verses. I just want you to notice that he’s talking about the fact that he’s given a spiritual gift and he’s given you spiritual leadership. And the reason he connects these two is because spiritual leadership often is able to exercise spiritual gifts.
Go back to Romans. Look at the list of gifts that he gives us. Romans 12:6 “6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy”. So he says there’s a position of a prophet but there’s a gift of prophecy. Then he says “according to the proportion of faith;”. He says “7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;”. There’s a position of a teacher and there’s a gift of teaching. “8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth,”. There’s a position of a Pastor who’s supposed to be the under shepherd and be the overseer of what happens in the church. And then there’s a gift of ruling. “with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness. So we see how these are connected. Because often it is your spiritual gifts that we can use and this is how it should be.
It is your spiritual gifts that we can use in church. And whatever talent you have, whatever ability you have. You say, oh I just know how to fix things. Then fix things for the glory of God. Or if you play an instrument, do it for the glory of God. Whatever God has given you, don’t get puffed up and start thinking you’re better than other people. Because the only reason you’re able to do that is because God allows you to do it and gives you the ability to do it, gives you the brains to do it, gives you the strength to do it. But then also realize that God has given you those things to serve him. So he talks about the fact that he’s given us spiritual gifts. And he says look, he gave these to you. And my plan for tonight was really to get into verses 11 through 15 but then we have these infamous verses of 8, 9 and 10. And it seems like Paul just kind of rambles and starts talking about something different. But really, it’s all connected. Because of the fact that he’s talking about spiritual gifts, he’s talking about what God has given for spiritual leadership.
Then these verses open up a whole can of worms and I want to deal with it tonight. And I don’t mean that in a negative way. Obviously, Paul didn’t do anything wrong by giving us these verses. But many people have taken these verses and tried to twist them and make them say things that they don’t say. So go back to Ephesians 4 and look at verse 8. The Bible says this, “8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.”. Now this is a quote from the book of psalms. And I’d like you to go to Psalms. Keep your finger there in Ephesians. Go to Psalm 68 if you would.
Psalm 68:18 “18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.”. So I want you to notice that we have these verses. And then something that Paul would often do in the New Testament is quote the Old Testament. He’s quoting from Psalm 68. I want you to notice that the quote is not exact. In fact, people bring this up as a contradiction in scripture. We’ll deal with that in the sermon tonight. But let’s go and just break down this verse and kind of answer some of these questions. Let’s begin with this idea of ascended up on high. Go back to Ephesians 4 if you would and look at verse number eight. Notice what he says “8 Wherefore” Wherefore means as a result of. He says as a result of this. He says “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 9 (Now that he ascended,”. I want you to notice his words. He talks about the fact that we what we received these gifts, the spiritual gifts and even the positions of these spiritual leaders. They were given at a certain time. When were they given? When he ascended up on high.
And then in verse 9 he says this, “9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)”. Now usually when we read these verses we think of the Ascension of Christ, where he ascended up in the clouds. He gave his disciples his last words and he went up to the cloud. But Paul is making a point here, that yes, he ascended up on high. But in verse 9 he says before he ascended, he also descended. And he descended to the lower parts of the earth. Now what is this referring to and what is this talking about? Go to Ezekiel 31.
And it’s interesting that how the Lord kind of worked it out because I happen to be preaching in Revelation chapter 2 on Sunday morning about the church at Ephesus. And at the end we dealt with that whole thing about Paradise and the doctrine of paradise and how people will say that paradise is this nice part of Hell and we disproved that. It’s interesting because that kind of goes with what we’re talking about here in Ephesians because the Bible says and Paul says that before Jesus ascended, he descended down into the lower parts of the earth. What is that referring to? And I could spend all night taking you to verse after verse to prove this. I’m not going to do that. But I’ll just show you here one passage. Ezekiel 31:16 “16 I made the nations to shake at the sound of his fall, when I cast him down”. Notice these words “to hell”. So I want you to notice that the context of Ezekiel 31 is that someone’s being thrown into hell “with them that descend into the pit:” So notice in the Bible when someone goes to hell, where do they go? Down. They go down into the pit. In fact the Bible says that hell is in the center of the earth. “and all the trees of Eden, the choice and best of Lebanon, all that drink water, shall be comforted in the nether parts of the earth.”.
Now the nether means lower. And this is exactly what Paul’s talking about in Ephesians 4:9 when he says “9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?”. Paul said Jesus descended down into the lower parts of the earth. Ezekiel said hey, when these people went down to hell they descended into a pit and they went down to the nether parts of the earth. What does that mean? The lower parts of the earth. Notice verse 17 “17 They also went down into hell with him unto them that be slain with the sword; and they that were his arm, that dwelt under his shadow in the midst of the heathen. 18 To whom art thou thus like in glory and in greatness among the trees of Eden? yet shalt thou be brought down with the trees of Eden” Notice “unto the nether parts of the earth:”. And look, all throughout the Bible. I know I don’t have to convince you of this but there’s just people who don’t believe this and dispensational doctrine that goes against this. All throughout the Bible, hell is in the center of the earth. You go down. With Korah, earth opened up and he went down into hell. You go down into the pit. You descend into the nether parts, into the lower parts of the earth.
Look at Acts 2:31. The Bible says “31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ,”. And I want you to notice these words “that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.”. Now if you have one of these modern Bible perversions, not translations but perversions, then your Bible is going to say that his soul went down to Hades. And you know it’s dishonest for them to leave a Greek word there that’s translated as hell all throughout the Bible. They do this just because they want to avoid you thinking that Jesus went to hell. Because that’s what Hades is in Greek. It is used as the word hell throughout the Bible so they just leave it as this Greek word Hades so that you won’t know what the Hades they are talking about. Or they’ll put the grave there. They’ll put something that’s dishonest there. But the Bible is clear that he went down to hell, that his soul was not left in Hell neither his flesh did see corruption. They’ll say that his body was buried and his soul went to hell but the nice part. And we talked about that on Sunday morning and I’m not going to deal with that. Obviously, it’s foolishness. We proved from the Bible that paradise is heaven according to the Bible. But I just want you to notice there in acts 2:31, the Bible says his soul was not left in Hell. His body was buried and his soul went down to hell. But then there’s this argument, well what was he doing in hell? Was he just hanging out in the nice part of Hell? Just kind of relaxing. Well here’s the thing, we’re Baptists. We don’t have to wonder what we believe. The Bible tells us what to believe. The Bible says that his soul went down to hell.
So let’s ask this question, what was his soul doing in hell? Isaiah 53 is one of the most famous prophecies of the Lord Jesus Christ, one of the most descriptive. You can’t read Isaiah 53 without walking away realizing it’s a prophecy of Jesus Christ. Ad I’m not going to take the time to develop that. I’ve done that in other sermons. But I want you to notice what the Bible tells us about Jesus in Isaiah 53:10. “10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his” Notice this word “soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.”. Now wait a minute, we know from Acts 2:31 that his soul was in hell. Dispensationalists say that yes, his soul was in hell but he was just relaxing in a nice place. You know a little beachfront named Paradise. Well wait a minute. Isaiah 53:10 tells us that when Jesus died, his body his bible tells us that his body was beaten for us, he was wounded for our transgressions, by His stripes we are healed. His body there was an aspect of the pain and the punishment of his body during that crucifixion. But then it tells us that God made his soul an offering for sin. So okay his soul was made an offering for sin. His soul goes down to hell and then you’ve got Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy telling you that every offering that was offered was a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. And all of them are burnt in fire.
Jesus saves us from hell. You say he saves us from death. Ok, he saves us from death including the 2nd death which is the lake of fire, which is hell. He went to hell to pay for our sins. Because if I didn’t believe on Jesus Christ, what would happen to me? I’d go to hell. So in order for him to pay for our sins, he went to hell. And he didn’t go to hell to relax. No one goes to hell to relax. Are you serious? He went there because his soul was made an offering for sin. So he ascended up to heaven but he first descended down to hell. And then Paul would say when he ascended, he gave spiritual gifts because he gave the holy spirit.
Go to John 16:7. Notice what the Bible says. I’ll just show you this to you quickly. John 16:7 “7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”. So notice Jesus says that when he ascends, he is not going to leave them comfortless. He will send the comforter or the Holy Spirit. He said in fact it’s expedient, it’s in your best interest that I go so I can send you the Holy Spirit. And then we’re told when he ascended, he gave spiritual gifts. Because those spiritual gifts come from the Spirit of God, from the Holy Spirit of God. That’s how we got them. So there’s this phrase that he ascended up on high. What does that mean? Well it means that he ascended up to heaven. But Paul says that we need to realize that he first ascended down to hell to be an offering for sin. And when he ascended, he gave spiritual gifts because he gave the Holy Spirit.
Go back to Ephesians 4:8. So we’re breaking up this controversial verse for you. Because this verse has a lot of controversy with it. So the first phrase he ascended up on high, we’ve dealt with that. Let’s deal with the second phrase. The second phrase is this, he led captivity captive. He led captivity captive. Now this is all connected that he ascended and descended. Because our dispensational friends, they’ll say when Jesus went down to hell, he was just relaxing. But then they’ll say he was also down there preaching to the Old Testament Saints. Because people wonder, if he was in hell, what was he doing there? They say that’s where all the Old Testament Saints are. So the Old Testament Saints when they died, they didn’t go to heaven according to Dispensationalists. They went to a nice part of Hell. So according to them, he’s in hell preaching to these Old Testament Saints. Now wait a minute, let’s ask this question. Does the Bible teach that Old Testament Saints go down to hell? Because the Bible says hell is down, the nether parts of the earth. The lower parts of the earth. Where does the Bible say that Old Testament Saints go when they die? Let’s look at some verses.
Because they’ll say that Jesus hadn’t died yet so because Jesus hadn’t died, God couldn’t let the Old Testament Saints into heaven. As a result, he had to put them in a nice part of hell. Then they say Jesus died, then he went down there, he preached the gospel to them, then he brought them out and took them up to heaven. What does the Bible say? 2 Kings 2:11 “11 And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.”. Why did he go up? Because he went to heaven. And guess where heaven is? Up. Guess where hell is? Down. So where did Old Testament Saints go? Well it’s up for Elijah.
Go to Ecclesiastes 3. And we could look at a lot of passages about this. But I’ll just show you a few. Ecclesiastes 3:21 “21 Who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth?”. See, with animals, they just return to the earth. But the spirit of man, it goes upward to God. And of course we’re talking about saved individuals here. You say, well in the Old Testament everybody went down. Well somebody didn’t tell Solomon. Because he said that the spirit of man goes upward. Somebody didn’t tell Elijah. Because he went up by a whirlwind into heaven. So look, in the Old Testament, the Saints, whenever they died, they went to heaven. And what kind of foolishness is this that God couldn’t let them into heaven because Jesus hadn’t died. Oh really? Because the Bible says he’s the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. The Bible says that when God makes a promise, it’s as good as done.
We are studying Ephesians. He’d already predestinated what was going to happen. Not who would get saved but the fact that Jesus would come and die for our sins. That was already done. It’s as good as done. And look, in the Old Testament, anyone who believed, they didn’t know the name of Jesus, they didn’t know all the details, but anyone who believed and called upon the Lord, when they died, they went to heaven. And then these people will say oh no, they are down in hell and Jesus is preaching the gospel. So just get this picture. Pretend we’re in a Bible College right now and they are teaching the doctrine of paradise and we just heard it for the first time. And then we are like, explain this to us. Then they tell us that there is a nice part of hell where all the Old Testament Saints are having a party. Then we say, I thought all Old Testament Saints went up. Then they say, no they went down to hell and it’s complicated and he went and preached to them.
So let’s ask this question, what does the Bible say? Ephesians 4:8 “8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.”. I don’t know about you, but where’s the part about the Old Testament Saints in hell and that there’s a nice part of hell? You say, well Jesus led captivity captive. Look, if you believe that, you’re putting a lot into those few words “he led captivity captive”. You got out of “he led captivity captive” that millions of Old Testament Saints are in a compartment called paradise and hell? That Jesus went down there to preach the gospel to them and brought them all out? You got that out of that phrase? You didn’t get that out of that phrase. You know what? You got that out of commentaries. You got it out of books. You got that out of Scofield and Darby and teachers that are teaching the doctrines of men. Because there’s no way that you would have read that verse and say that he went and preached in the prisons. You wouldn’t have read that and thought hell, Old Testament Saints, center of the earth, there’s a paradise. You wouldn’t have gotten that from just reading the Bible. So you’re putting a lot into that phrase “he led captivity captive”.
Let’s let the Bible define itself. The Bible is its own dictionary. What does that phrase mean? “he led captivity captive”. What does that mean? It’s not that hard. There are only two other places in the entire Bible that has that phrase. Let’s look at them quickly. Go to Psalm 68:18. And I’m not going to take the time to read the whole chapter. You can read it if you want. It’s a whole story of
God coming down and fighting for his people. God awakes and he goes to fight and he goes into battle for his people.
And in Psalm 68:18, the Bible says this “18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, for the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell among them.”. And here’s what Psalm 68 is talking about. You can read it like it’s this idea that the children of Israel were captive, God came and fought for them, and then they were able to turn the tables and now they’re become the captors of their captors. They are leading captive those who led them captive. Now you say I don’t know Psalm 68, I’m not too familiar with that story. Ok, let’s look at the other place where this is mentioned. Judges 5 is basically just kind of reiterating the story of Deborah. Remember the 1 female judge Deborah and Barak her partner that was afraid to go so God had to send a woman.
In Judges 5:12, notice what the Bible says. “12 Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song: arise, Barak, and” Notice “lead thy captivity captive, thou son of Abinoam.”. So notice here we’re told that this is what Deborah did. This is what they did in the book of Judges. They led their captivity captive. What does that mean? Well, what happens in the story? They’re being held captive. They’re being held under tribute. They’re under the authority of the enemy. And then Deborah and Barak come along and they are able to set them free. And then they turn the tables on them and now they’re leading their captivity captive. Now they’ve captured those who had them captured. And that’s what the phrase is like when you read it in Psalm 68 and when you read it in Judges 5. If you just look at the wording, doesn’t that make sense? “lead captivity captive”. Like those who were keeping you in captivity, now you’re going to keep them in captivity.
Now you say, well what does that have to do with Jesus? Go to Revelation chapter 1. This goes back to this idea of what was Jesus doing in hell? Was he just relaxing there having a good time? The Bible says that his soul went down to hell. The Bible says that his soul was made an offering for sin. And you know Jesus was held captive in Hell and he was tortured in hell and he paid for our sins in hell. But it didn’t stay that way. Revelation 1:18 “18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.”. Do you know what Jesus did? He went down to hell and he was held captive for three days and three nights while he paid for the sins of mankind. But then he led captivity captive. Then he turned the tables. Then he came out victorious. Then he came out and said hey, “I am he that liveth, and was dead;”. He said I was dead but I am Alive for evermore. And now I have the keys of hell and of death.
Go to Hebrews 2:14. “14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same;”. He says look, because you and I are human, because we’re flesh and blood, Jesus also partook in flesh and blood. He became a human. Why? “that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death,”. So what is he talking about? You say what? Who’s that? Notice, “that is, the devil;”. Look, what happened? What happened when Jesus died, when he was crucified, when he was buried? I remember Jesus said to the disciples that wanted to fight, this is their hour and the power of darkness. Look, at the cross we lost. I mean that’s what it looked like. Jesus died. The devil won, evil won, sin won, death won. He went to hell. I mean think about the fact that the devil and his Devils and his demons, they thought for three days, they thought we got him, we beat him, we killed the Son of God, the Son of glory. And three days later he turned captivity captive. Three days later he turned the tables and he came out victorious. And he has the keys of hell and death and he destroyed him that had the power of death, that is the devil.
And look, this is what we sing about. I wrote down some common songs that teach this doctrine. “Low in the grave he lay, Jesus my Savior. Waiting the coming day, Jesus my lord.”. “Vainly they watch his bed, Jesus my Savior. Vainly they seal the dead, Jesus my Lord”. “Death cannot keep his prey, Jesus my Savior. He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord”. “Up from the grave he arose”. Look, he went down to hell, they captured him, they beat him, they tortured him. But then he led captivity captive. That’s what that verse is about. The fact that he ascended. But look, in order to ascend, he had to first descend. And he descended down to hell to pay for our sins. But then he turned the tables. “One day when heaven was filled with his praises, one day when sin was as black as could be, Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin, lived amongst men my example is he.”. “One day they led him up Calvary’s Mountain, one day they nailed him to die on a tree, suffering anguish, despised and rejected, bearing our sins my Redeemer is he”. “One day the grave could conceal him no longer, one day the stone rolled away from the door, then he arose over death he had conquered, now is ascended my Lord evermore”.
This verse is not about Jesus hanging out somewhere, just kind of relaxing for three days. The Bible says that he led captivity captive. He had been defeated, well at least that’s what I looked like. He had been beaten. The disciples quit. Everybody quit. Jesus said too much about himself, who he was, when he died. There was no “Keep the dream alive, keep the story going”. Sometimes when people die it kind of helps the movement of different individuals. With Jesus this was not the case. Because he said too much of himself. He said I am the life and then he died. He said I am the resurrection and then they buried him. He said I’m the Son of God and then they killed him. But three days later he led captivity captive. Three days later he turned the tables and he destroyed him that had the power of death, that is the devil. He came out with the keys of hell and of death.
Go back to Ephesians 4:8. The Bible says this, “8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive,”. And then the Bible says “and gave gifts unto men.”. Not I want to deal with this really quickly. Because here people will say there’s a contradiction in the Bible. I just want to explain to you really quickly. In Psalm 68:18 the Bible says “thou hast received gifts for men;”. Ephesians 4:8 says “gave gifts unto men”. And people will say that this is a contradiction in the Bible. But look, if you look at the wording, it makes logical sense what’s being said here. Because in one verse we’re told that he received gifts for men. He received gifts to give to men. And then Paul quotes it as “gave gifts unto men”. It says he received gifts for man. He received them to give them to us. People try to act like there’s a big contradiction here. But look, there’s no contradiction. He received gifts for men to give unto men. He gave gifts unto men and he received gifts for men. But in this passage, people like to twist it, like to read into it, like to say all sorts of things about it and bring all sorts of doctrines. But it’s kind of sad because when you do that, you miss out on the truth that we serve a risen Saviour, that we serve a resurrected Messiah, a glorified God. Yes, he died, yes, he was buried, yes, he was captured. But then he turned the tables and he came out victorious with the keys of death and of hell.
Let’s pray.