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Psalm 68:18 says, “You have ascended on high; You have led captive those taken captive; / You have received gifts among men, / Even the rebellious ones also, / That Jehovah God may dwell among them.” J. N. Darby renders the second half of this verse as, “Thou hast received gifts in Man, and even for the rebellious, for the dwelling there of Jah Elohim.” In Ephesians 4:8 Paul quotes this verse by saying, “Therefore the Scripture says, ‘Having ascended to the height, He led captive those taken captive and gave gifts to men.’” Those taken captive refers to the redeemed saints, who were taken captive by Satan before being saved by Christ’s death and resurrection. In His ascension Christ led them captive; that is, He rescued them from Satan’s captivity and took them to Himself. In His ascension He made these rescued sinners gifts for the building up of His Body (vv. 11-12).
In order to understand Paul’s thought in Ephesians 4:8, it will be helpful to know a little bit about the construction of this chapter. Verses 1 through 6 deal with the keeping of the oneness of the Spirit. The apostle first exhorts us to be diligent to keep the oneness of the Spirit. Then he points out seven things that form the base of our oneness: one Body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one God. Based on these seven “ones” we have the oneness of the Spirit.
Then in verse 7 Paul says that “to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” We have received grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. What does this mean? Just look at our own body. Each member of our physical body has a certain measure. The measure of the nose is of one size, and the measure of the arm is of another. Because the arm is considerably bigger than the nose, it receives more supply of blood than the nose. The apostle Paul was a big member like an arm. Therefore, no doubt, much grace was measured to him. We are small members like little fingers. Hence, the grace measured to us is not as great as what was measured to Paul.
The measure of the gift of Christ is the size of a member of His Body. Just as our blood supplies the members of our body according to their size, grace also is given to each member according to its size. In the Body of Christ there are different members and different gifts. Some are big members and some are small. Every member is a gift. The grace that we receive is according to what we are as a member. One who is an apostle like Paul receives more grace than one who is a little member in the Body.
Now we go to verse 8, which says, “Therefore the Scripture says, ‘Having ascended to the height, He led captive those taken captive and gave gifts to men.’” These “gifts” are not the abilities or capacities for various services but the gifted persons mentioned in verse 11. Since verses 9 and 10 are parenthetical, verse 11 is a direct continuation of verse 8. Verse 11 says, “And He Himself gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists and some as shepherds and teachers.” It is clear that after His ascension Christ gave as gifts different gifted persons to the church. Verses 12 through 16 tell us that these gifted persons are for the perfecting of the saints unto the building up of the Body, that is, the church.
When Christ received gifts in the heavens, He received them in man, as man. His standing, His qualification, for Him to receive the gifts was His being a man. We are men, and He represents us as a man. The gifts mentioned in Ephesians 4:8 are the gifted persons — apostles, prophets, evangelists, and shepherds and teachers. After conquering Satan and death and rescuing the sinners, the rebellious ones, from Satan and death through His death and resurrection, Christ in His ascension made the rescued sinners themselves such gifts by means of His resurrection life and gave them to His Body for its building up.
Consider the case of Peter. Before the day of Pentecost, he was not yet equipped to be an apostle. On the day of Pentecost, the ascended Christ as the wonderful Spirit came down from the heavens to qualify, to equip, him as an apostle. From that day on, Peter was an apostle as a gift given to the church by the Head. Also, consider the apostle Paul. Before the Lord’s ascension, he was called Saul (Acts 13:9). As a young man, Saul helped the persecutors in their slaying of Stephen (7:58). Later, he devastated the church and persecuted the believers of Christ (8:3). After the Lord’s ascension, however, the Lord came down to visit Saul and to enter into Saul. Thus, Saul was regenerated, transformed, equipped, and made an apostle as a gift given to the church.
After His ascension to the heavens, the Lord accomplished everything. As the One with divinity and humanity, He lived a human life, went through death, dealt with sin, overcame Satan, conquered death, released Himself as life, was glorified in His resurrection, ascended to the heavens, and was enthroned to receive the kingdom and authority. In Him is embodied all the fullness of the riches of the Godhead. When this One with so many things comes into us, He makes us gifts to the church.
Why does the Lord receive gifts for His Body in man, as man, on the standing of man, with the nature of man, and with the qualification of man? It is simply because we, the rebellious ones, are men. Our standing, our qualification, our nature, is that of a man. So the Lord must be the same as we are. If we give the full ground to Him, He can work out something in us to make us gifts to the church.
We should have an aspiration to be gifts to the Lord’s Body. We should not be ambitious for any kind of position or title. We human beings want to be great, to be rich, to be famous, and to get some titles. Even among the so-called servants of God, many are seeking the worldly titles. They like to be advertised as “Dr. So-and-so” or “the world famous preacher.” Some preachers would even receive an honorable degree. We should consider ourselves in this matter. Are you willing to be small, to be lowly, and to be poor? Are you willing to suffer opposition and persecution? Are you willing to be hidden, buried, and not to be famous? When the Lord was on this earth, in His human life He was willing to be lowly, poor, and buried. He was willing to suffer opposition and persecution. He never sought fame for Himself. If we desire to be famous in the religious world, in the Christian world, this means that we do not give ground to Christ in His human living. The all-inclusive Christ within us includes the element of His human living on this earth, which was lowly, poor, humble, restricted, and under persecution. Consider the apostles such as Peter and Paul. They experienced poverty, opposition, and persecution.
He who suffers the most will have Christ the most and will become the biggest part, the biggest member, of Christ. He who has more experiences of the cross will have more of Christ. How much of the cross has been applied to you? Is there ground within you for the death of Christ? If another brother quarrels with you and makes you unhappy, what should you do? If you fight back, this means there is no ground within you given to the death of Christ. But if you realize that you have been crucified with Christ and apply that death to yourself, this will cause you to have more of Christ and will make you a bigger part of Christ. You should say, “Lord, I am finished. I am on the cross. Now, Lord, it is You who live in me.”
Brothers and sisters, if you are willing to give more ground to Christ and the cross, you will have Christ with all His accomplishments. Christ’s ascension and enthronement will be in you. You will be submitting to Christ as the King, and you will be a co-king, co-ruler, with Him. You will be on the throne with authority. Furthermore, you will realize and apprehend the transcendency, the power, the riches, and the fullness of Christ. All these things will be in you, and you will become a great part of Christ. Then you will become a real gift from the Head to the church.
Many think that if they are going to serve the Lord, they need to go to a seminary or a Bible institute and study all the things about God. Then they can become a pastor, a minister, or a preacher to serve the Lord’s children. This, however, is not the right way. You have to realize that Christ today is within you. Furthermore, everything that He has accomplished, obtained, and attained is also within you. You have to give Him the ground and let Him work Himself and everything that is of Him into you. Then you will be renewed, transformed, and re-made into something other than yourself. You will be made a part of Christ as a gift to be a great help to the saints. You will be able to perfect the saints for the building up of the Body. The real gifts for the building up of the Body of Christ are the persons who have been worked on by Christ in such a way that they are saturated and permeated with Christ so that they become the great parts of Christ.
These gifted persons should not do anything to replace the saints in the service of the Lord. Rather, they should perfect the saints to serve the Lord. Let me illustrate. Suppose I am a cooking expert. When I come to your home, there are two possibilities. One possibility is that I will get rid of you. I will tell you, “Brother, since you don’t know how to cook, you had better stay away and let me cook for you.” The other possibility is that I teach you how to cook and help you to cook. Then after a while you will be able to cook as I do because you have been perfected by me. The gifted persons should learn to perfect the saints in this way. They should not take their place in serving the Lord. They should not be their substitute. Rather, they should help them, teach them, and instruct them so that they may be perfected.
Now we need to see the way to perfect the saints. The gifted persons need to minister Christ to others. They have to help others realize Christ, know Christ, experience Christ, and grow in Christ. This is the intention, the ultimate goal, of the teaching of the apostles.
Ephesians 4:14 says, “That we may be no longer little children tossed by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching in the sleight of men, in craftiness with a view to a system of error.” Here I would ask you to mark or underline the word teaching. This verse does not speak of the wind of heresy, or the wind of mere doctrines, or the wind of wrong teachings. It simply says “every wind of teaching.”
Recently, I gave some messages in a conference, and there were three to five brothers there who would challenge me with some questions after each meeting. They came to me, asking, “Brother Lee, what about predestination?” “What about absolute grace?” “What about free will?” If I had spent the time to talk, discuss, and argue with them about all these matters, all the meetings there might have been spoiled. These kinds of teachings are like the wind blowing people away from Christ. Sometimes the wind may become a hurricane that can bring in much damage. It causes people to forget about Christ and His expression, His Body. Instead, they begin to argue about different kinds of opinions and doctrinal matters. This is to be carried about by the wind of teaching.
In verse 14 the apostle mentions the wind of teaching, and in the previous verse he mentions the oneness of the faith. The oneness of the faith is something altogether contrary to the wind of teaching. Suppose five of us brothers come together. We have been regenerated and saved. We are in Christ, and we are one. We have the oneness of the faith. We praise the Lord together, pray together, worship God together, and fellowship with one another. It is really good and wonderful. Then one day, one of the brothers asks a question, “Brother Lee, how about the rapture?” Right away there is a danger, even a snare, before us. If we are not careful, we will open all the windows for the wind to blow in. Then we can no longer pray together because of our different views about the rapture. Eventually, we may even become divided and separated from one another.
If you have learned the lesson, it is better not to ask this kind of question. And if you are asked this kind of question, you have to learn to say, “Brother, anyhow, one day He will come to take us. Let us love Him and live by Him.” This is the best answer. Do not allow yourself to be tempted to argue about doctrines. Keep yourself from being carried away by the wind of teaching. As long as you have the oneness of the faith, it is good enough. The faith consists of the seven “ones” in Ephesians 4: one Lord, one God, one Spirit, one Body, with one faith, one baptism, and one hope. As long as we have these seven “ones,” it is sufficient.
Then verse 15 says, “But holding to truth in love, we may grow up into Him in all things, who is the Head, Christ.” The truth is the reality, which is Christ Himself. We have to hold to Christ and grow up into Him in all things. Then, what is the outcome? Verse 16 says, “Out from whom all the Body, being joined together and being knit together through every joint of the rich supply and through the operation in the measure of each one part, causes the growth of the Body unto the building up of itself in love.” This means that out from the fountainhead, the source, the all-inclusive Head, we will receive something of Christ and minister something of Christ to one another. In this way there will be a great measure of Christ within us and among us. So we will have the growth of life and the transformation of life. Eventually, the Body will be built up by itself in love.
Brothers and sisters, this is the life for us to practice the church. I do ask you to pray about all these things so that you may see something in these days.
