In this sermon titled 'Gifts From the Victory Parade,' Jason Dohm explores Ephesians 4:1-10, emphasizing the call for believers to walk worthy of their high calling. He highlights the importance of adopting a Christ-like disposition characterized by humility, gentleness, and unity. The sermon discusses the dual nature of the body of Christ as both unified and diverse, where individual gifts are given by Christ to promote growth and maturity within the church. Dohm explains that these gifts are a result of Jesus' ascension after his descent, relating to Psalm 68 and depicting Jesus as a victorious king who leads captivity captive. This concept involves Jesus conquering spiritual enemies such as sin, death, and the devil, and bestowing gifts upon believers. The speaker encourages believers to appreciate their gifts, be humble about them, and recognize their role in fostering unity within the church.

I'll be reading Ephesians 4 verses 1 through 10. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit just as you were called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above all and through all and in you all. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore he says, when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.

Now this, he ascended, what does it mean? But that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things. Amen. You can be seated.

Title of the sermon this morning is, Gifts from the Victory Parade. This is a text about a conquering king who returns in glory from his conquering conquests. It really is a glorious text. I find myself hoping I can do it justice because there are some very wonderful things here. In last week's text, the beginning of chapter 4, Paul reaches back to chapters 1 through 3 and the pile of riches that he stacks up for us and he says, because all that is true, believers should walk worthy of that calling.

He's labored for three chapters to convince us that the calling is a very high calling. And now he calls us to walk worthy of the high calling. We saw that that means taking on the disposition of the Lord Jesus. All lowliness and gentleness with long suffering, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. What's the summary of that?

Act like Jesus. Have a disposition like Jesus' lowly, humble disposition who didn't think the glories of heaven, even though the glories of heaven is something to be grasped, but he laid them aside in order to take on the form of a man and to come and die for sinners. So Christians are to grow in that Christ-like disposition. And that means that, or that disposition should breed a unity which is worth guarding. That humble disposition breeds a unity, a oneness among the people of God, and it's worth protecting, maintaining, keeping, guarding, all of those words are appropriate.

Our text last week ended with a seven point basis of our unity and It's a trinitarian basis of our unity. It involves the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity is involved in this unity. One body, one spirit, one hope of our calling, one faith, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all. And so that's where we left off in last week's text.

As we come to our text this week, let's ask the Lord to help us. Our God, we thank you for this blood-bought unity. And I pray to us it would be a precious unity so worth keeping, protecting, guarding, nurturing, maintaining, that the unity of your body would be something worth striving to keep for us. We thank you that The Spirit has done it and help us to keep it, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

So, I'm only going to subdivide into two this week, but the first one is going to be short. I'm just going to start with verse 7, so please, hopefully you still have a finger in Ephesians chapter 4. Follow along as I re-read verse 7. Paul writes, but to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift." There's a lot here I think it's worth looking at by itself.

In this verse Paul speaks of gifts of grace to each and every one. Of course Paul is writing to believers, he's talking to and about believers. There's a gift of grace to each and every believer. Paul begins this section like this, but to each one of us grace was given. You might miss it the first time that you read it, but as you reread it and reread it and think about it, you begin to realize that Paul is drawing a contrast here.

He's building off of what he just said. He was just talking about unity and oneness. But now he reverses and goes in the other direction in order to draw a contrast. But to each one of us grace was given. So he's been talking about oneness and unity, but now he begins to talk about a kind of individuality and a kind of diversity.

So is the body of Christ one in unity or diverse? And the answer is it's both. And you find that that's a pervasive New Testament teaching. It's in many places. Here's what the Expositors Bible commentary says, unity does not mean uniformity.

That the church consists of a cadre of clones. God has built diversity into the body by variously gifting all of its people to serve in different capacities to promote its growth and maturity. I think that is a fantastic summary of not only this week's text, but probably the next two weeks' texts included. So we'll keep that one in mind. Unity does not mean uniformity.

So yes, believers are one body, that is true. But that does not mean that we are clones of one another or that the goal of maturity is to become exactly the same in every way. Yes, we should grow in Christ-likeness. And In some ways that will make us look like each other. It will make us look like we have a disposition of all lowliness, gentleness, with long suffering, bearing with one another in love.

So yes, the disposition as we grow in Christ, our dispositions will be growing towards one another. But that doesn't mean we're being made into clones and losing individuality. Not at all. Each and every believer is included as receiving gifts from the great head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ. Not one single believer is going to be skipped.

But to each one of us, grace was given. That word, each, could have been translated every. And it doesn't really matter if you end up at the same place. Each and every one of us is given a gift by the great head of the church. Every member of the body gets a gift or different gifts from the head of the body.

Who determines the gift or gifts? Jesus Christ, the head of the church. Who determines the amount or the measure of the gift? Jesus Christ, the head of the church. So you don't get to say, I get this gift, He does, He's the head.

You don't get to say, I get this much of the gift, he measures it out. It's so clear in this text. So this is where Paul is headed. Let me give you a sneak peek. Look ahead to verse 16.

We're a couple of weeks away from this, but look ahead to Ephesians 4 verse 16 and then back up one word, back up one single word to the last word of 15. Christ, from whom the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love." So this is what the great head of the church is doing. Christ is giving gifts so that every member has something to contribute to the maturing and the functioning of the whole. So that's what this week, and next week, and the week after that is going to be about. Which is very liberating for me in some ways, because it means I don't have to try to say it all in this week.

There's a lot that I'll save for myself. Actually, that verse that I just quoted, verse 16, will be in a sermon that James will preach two weeks from now. And he's going to be preaching on back to back sermon. So I'll preach next week, and then I'll leave for somewhere very sunny. And he will preach the next week.

And this is all under the banner of walk worthy of the calling with which you were called. So Again, the first part of chapter 4 frames the whole discussion, frames the whole flow of Paul's thought. What is that? He's calling us to walk worthy of this high calling. And part of that is to function in the gifts that the great head of the church gives in the measure that he determines to everyone in the church.

It is impossible to walk worthy of the high calling with which you are uncalled if you are not functioning in the body with the gift that Jesus has given to you. Now, let's keep going. That was verse 7. Now, let me reread Ephesians chapter 4 verses 8 through 10 and talk about them. Follow along.

Paul writes, Therefore, he says, when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men." Now this, he ascended, what does it mean, but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things." So in these verses, Paul explains the gifts of grace by applying Psalm 68 to Jesus. He doesn't actually say Psalm 68 here, but that is what is being quoted, Psalm 68 verse 18. So Paul explains these gifts of grace that he gives according to his own good pleasure, and he measures it out according to his own good pleasure. Paul explains that by applying Psalm 68 to the Lord Jesus.

So having spoken of the gifts poured out by Jesus on his blood bought people, Paul relates it to Psalm 68 verse 18. Therefore he says, and then he quotes, and he's quoting Psalm 68, 18. There are three things I'd like to say about Psalm 68 18 and Paul's quotation of it. Number one, this is not a word-for-word quotation, but it is a perfect summarization of Psalm 68. Not a word for word quotation.

There are some variations to a word for word quotation, but it is a perfect summarization of the truths that we find in Psalm 68. So first, let me orient you to Psalm 68 by reading Psalm 68 verse 1. So Psalm 68 verse 1, this first verse of the psalm, frames the whole psalm. It is a psalm of David and it begins this way, speaking of God. God is the you in verse 1.

You have, oh, Let's see, almost quoted the wrong one. Psalm 68 verse 1. Let God arise. Let his enemies be scattered. Let those also who hate him flee before him." So this is what the whole Psalm is about.

The whole Psalm is about God, the God of Israel, descending from heaven to defend His people, conquering their enemies, and then ascending again to His place of exaltation. The whole Psalm is just dripping with that. God coming down to defend his people, to vanquish his own enemies and the enemies of his people, and then returning to his place of exaltation. So, now within that context, listen to Psalm 68 verse 18, word for word. By the way, if you want to turn there, we'll be there for a minute or two.

Feel free to turn there. Psalm 68, 18. You have ascended on high. You have led captivity captive. You have received gifts from men, even from the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell there.

So there are two things different in our text when you compare the word for word quotation directly from Psalm 68 verse 18 And then what Paul says in our text in Ephesians 4. Those two things are this. First, Paul changes you to he. David the Psalmist is addressing and praising God directly. So David says, you have ascended on high, and Paul switches that to we because he's writing to the Ephesians.

He's not praising God directly. He's writing to the Ephesians. And so he switches it to when he ascended on high. So he makes that change because of the change in audience from Psalm 68 to Ephesians 4. And then, in this word-for-word quotation, God receives the gifts.

Where in Ephesians 4, in Paul's summarization, He gives the gifts. That's a pretty big change. But listen to the very next verse in Psalm 68. So now I'm going to read you Psalm 68 verse 19, the very next verse. Blessed be the Lord who daily loads us with benefits, The God of our salvation.

So David continues by blessing God who daily loads us with benefits. So what Paul says is in complete keeping with it. God as the giver is in complete keeping with what David is saying in Psalm 68. Or look earlier in the Psalm, in Psalm 68 verse 12. Listen to Psalm 68 verse 12.

Kings of armies flee. They flee and she who remains at home divides the spoil. So again, this is a Psalm about God descending from heaven to vanquish Israel's enemies. It's saying that the woman at home, when God comes to head the armies of Israel to crush their enemies, that the woman at home receives the plunder from the great victory that God gives to His people. So even in verse 12, God is the great giver.

The spoil, the plunder from the victory is given out to even people who were at home and weren't fighting. And then finally, listen to how this psalm concludes. Psalm 68, the end of verse 35, which is the last verse in the chapter. The God of Israel is he who gives strength and power to his people. So again, God is the giver to his people of strength and power.

And then it just ends by saying, blessed be God. Amen. Amen to that. So, that is point number one about Paul's use of Psalm 68, 18. It's not a word for word quotation, but it is a perfect Summarization.

God comes down, vanquishes his enemies and the enemies of his people, and he returns to glory giving of the plunder of the victory to his people. Number two. I view this as the fulfillment of a type, not the fulfillment of a prophecy. Let me say that again and I'll try to explain it. I view this as the fulfillment of a type, not the fulfillment of a prophecy.

Here's what I mean. I don't believe that the Holy Spirit was using David to prophesy specifically about the Messiah in Psalm 68 verse 18. I don't believe it was ever taken that way up to Paul's usage of it. And I don't believe that we need to think of it that way, that David had in his mind somehow the Messiah and the victory on the cross. But so often God's historical dealings with the people of Israel in the Old Testament have a spiritual equivalent under the New Covenant.

So something happened historically to Israel, and it actually functions as a picture of a spiritual reality that will be enjoyed by the people of God under the new covenant. That's actually what Passover is. If you think it through, Passover is a type. It's a picture. Did it happen really in the history of Israel?

Is it historical? Yes, of course, God did deliver his people from Egypt. He did destroy, send the destroying angel to destroy the firstborn in Egypt, but the blood over the doorpost preserved the Israelites. So it is a historical fact in the history of Old Testament Israel, but it's really Even more than a real historical fact, which it was, the ultimate reality of it is the spiritual fulfillment in Christ and how it wipes away our sins. It causes God to pass over us in the judgment because of the blood of it.

Passover is a type or a picture and Christ is the reality. He is the spiritual fulfillment of that Old Testament picture. So Paul's use of Psalm 68, 18 is like that. God did defeat Israel's enemies in the Old Testament in many places, but the ultimate reality of that is the Messiah coming to conquer our spiritual enemies. That's what the Messiah is.

Messiah means anointed. He's the one anointed for the work of saving the people of God from their enemies. Set apart by God for that great saving, conquering mission. Listen to 1 Corinthians 15. Feel free to turn there if you want to, or to just listen.

This is the end of 1 Corinthians 15. Feel free to turn there if you want to, or to just listen. This is the end of 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15 is the chapter on the resurrection. There are lots of great texts on the resurrection, but none of that.

I mean, 1 Corinthians is a long chapter, all about the resurrection. And this is very, very near the conclusion of that chapter. So it's about Jesus' work on the cross, and then his resurrection from the dead. Listen to 1 Corinthians 15 verses 54 through 57. Paul writes to the Corinthians, so when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality he's talking about the resurrection of of the body to it to an immortal body Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, Jesus has conquered sin and death, and to that I would add the devil.

All of our worst enemies, all of our spiritual enemies, Jesus has conquered by his death and his resurrection and his ascension, where he now sits at the right hand of God and intercedes for his people. So that's number two. I view this as the fulfillment of a type, not the fulfillment of a prophecy. All those Old Testament victories over physical earthly enemies are pointing forward to Christ conquering sin and death and the devil. Number three.

Finally I'd like to talk about what it means to lead captivity captive. When Paul summarizes Psalm 68, 18 he says when he ascended on high he led captivity captive. That actually is word for word from Psalm 68, 18. And gave gifts to men. What does it mean that he led captivity captive?

It means to conquer those who had been captive takers. So there are those enemies who had been captive takers to conquer them and to make them captive. Listen to what Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones says. He says, in ancient times, if a king or a prince or a great military captain waged successful warfare, and he came back to his own country, there was always a kind of victory parade.

The conquered kings and princes and military chieftains and captains were all made to walk in the procession in their chains. The conqueror was leading captivity captive. He had taken his foes captive and was now making a public display of them. At the same time, he threw gifts to his own people. He was riding in his chariot, distributing his largesse among the acclaiming people.

He was leading these conquered men as captives at the same time. So you have this picture of a king who has gone off and he has conquered his enemies. The other royalty that he has conquered, and the military captains that he's conquered, are all now in a line in chains. And in the victory parade, they're paraded before the acclaiming people celebrating the victory. And the king is taking up the spoils of war, and he's throwing money to the people from the spoils of war.

It's just a wonderful thought. And so this is what has happened in Old Testament times when Israel won victories because God was with them. And this is what happened when Jesus conquered through his life and his death and his resurrection and his ascension. Listen to Colossians 2.15. This is great.

Colossians 2.15. Paul has just talked about the cross, the work of the cross, and then he says this in Colossians 2.15, Having disarmed principalities and powers, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. It's a victory parade of the principalities and powers. The devil and his forces defeated and made a public spectacle because of the triumph of Jesus Christ, the Lord of Hosts, and His victory parade. Those who had been captive takers had been taken captive by our Lord Jesus Christ.

And now instead of being enslaved by them, we are liberated and the plunder of Christ's victory is given to us. Christ gives gifts to men. It's an unbelievable truth and an unbelievable vision of Christ in His victory. How many captives has sin taken? Sin is a great captive taker.

How many captives has death taken? Death is a great captive taker. How many captives has the devil taken? He is a great captive taker. They have been taken captive by Jesus.

He has taken captivity captive. And for the great victory, The spoils of war, the spoils of victory are his and he gives gifts to men. Praise God. In the final two verses, Paul explains how Psalm 68 is fulfilled by Jesus, the ultimate reality. Look back, it's been a while since we've been in our text.

So let's go back and re-read verses 9 and 10. Now this, he ascended, what does it mean? But that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things." I think a good place to start in understanding this is something very similar that Jesus said in John 3.13. So listen to what Jesus said in John 3.13.

Jesus said, No one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is the Son of Man who is in heaven. So Jesus used very similar words to what Paul is saying here. No one ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven. Jesus is talking about the Son of Man, his favorite self-designation, especially in the Gospel of John. He's saying that the one who has ascended into heaven is he who came down from heaven.

So my understanding is that what is being spoken of by Paul is the incarnation and especially including Jesus' death and burial. So no need to separate those two things at all as if they are two separate things. The great work of the incarnation, Jesus taking on the form of a servant, taking on human flesh, the great work of the incarnation is his death and then he was buried. So I think this is Paul is speaking of the incarnation, especially including his death and burial, by which he accomplished this great conquering victory when he rose and ascended. There are all sorts of other interpretations of what this means.

You have to start with things outside of this text and bring it in and I don't see the warrant for doing it. So I just leave it at the incarnation and Jesus' death and burial. The lower parts of the earth equals the grave, either earth as opposed to heaven or the grave, and both of those essentially end up with how I've explained it. And then regarding Jesus ascending far above all the heavens, consider what the writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 7.26. In Hebrews 7.26 the writer of Hebrews says, For such a high priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens.

It's the picture of a great high priest who has become higher than the heavens, so there's nothing he can't accomplish for those he's advocating for in his role as their high priest. He's higher than the heavens. Nothing is above him. Nothing is equal to him. Everything is beneath him and so he can accomplish on behalf of the people that he is a priest for anything and and everything.

Paul has already really introduced us to this thought. Flip back to Ephesians 1 and look again at Ephesians 1 verses 20-23. It's in the middle of a long sentence, I won't start at the beginning of the long sentence, but it's about the power of God. And then verse 20, the power of God, which he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. And he put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him, who fills all in all." So you have almost the same language being used here.

He is above every other authority structure that exists. He is above it. He is ruling over it and he is filling all things. I think that Paul talks repeatedly after naming him as above all things, as also filling all things. I think Paul says this lest we imagine that Jesus' ascension and exaltation has put him at a distance from his people.

You might think that. He's above all the heavens. He's nowhere near me. Lest you think that Jesus' ascension and exaltation has put Him out of reach to the believer, and therefore out of relationship, out of closeness with the believer, Paul assures us that all this is for this purpose, that he might fill all things. Jesus hasn't done these things in order to be out of reach.

He hasn't done these things in order to be out of relationship, out of closeness, quite the contrary. He's done these things that he might fill all things, that he might indwell his people, work in and through his people. Applications, let me give you three. Three applications. Number one is the big one.

Believer. Be happier in your conquering king. Be happier. Well I'm already really happy. I don't care.

Be happier. There's always room for being happier in this conquering king. Just the vision of Jesus descending from heaven, Leaving the glory that was rightfully His in order to take on the form of a servant, and then conquering sin, and death, and the devil, and taking the spoils of war, and giving them to His people ought to make you happier. We have a right to be happier in Jesus. All the great captive takers have been defeated and taken captive.

Sin is a great captive taker. Maybe you think, I just I just can't, I just can't get free. Not true. Not true if you're a believer. It might feel that way, but that is not true.

Your great king is a great conqueror, and he has taken captive all the greatest captive takers, including sin. Death is a great captive taker. You might fear death. Fear death no more. He has taken that captive taker captive.

He has conquered it, mastered it, chained it with the other captives, and let it forth in his great victory parade. The devil is a great captive taker. He has no power over believers. That cannot be broken by our King. He is the great captive taker of captive takers.

Be happier in your conquering King. We have every reason to be, every right to be. Number two, believer. Don't doubt that you have gifts of grace. If you're a real believer, that becomes impossible with what Paul is teaching in our text.

Do not doubt that you have gifts of grace. Don't ever despise them or the measure of them. I wish I had the other gift. Don't despise your gift. I wish I had more of the gifts that I have.

Don't despise the measure. There is a head, an all-knowing head, who is with perfect wisdom giving just the right gift, just the right person, in just the right measure, for all of us coming together in a way where we grow to maturity to Christ-like. Every single gift that you have supplies a lack in the body. That's a precursor for the next two sermons. I'm confident.

Every single gift that you have been given supplies a lack in the body. That's why you have it. So the things that I need, God wanted me to have the lack so it could be supplied by a gift that He gave to you because this nurtures and fosters the unity and oneness that He wants among the members of His body. It's such a beautiful, amazing design. Believer, Don't doubt that you have gifts of grace, and don't despise the measure.

God in perfect wisdom gave just the right gift, just the right person, and just the right amount. To have us need each other in just the right way for oneness and unity. Number three. Believer, be humble about, air quotes, your gifts. Be humble about your gifts.

Listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4 verse 7. 1 Corinthians 4 verse 7. For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

So this makes it clear how absurd it is to be proud of, air quotes, your gifts. Because they were given to you. What did you have before God gave you good things? You only had things to be humiliated about. The things that are good in your life, God gave them to you.

Don't act like you didn't receive it. Much more to say, and more time to say it, more weeks to say it, because Paul is going to bear down on this topic. Let's give thanks. God, we do give you thanks for our great conquering King Jesus, who has mastered every captive taker on behalf of your people, and then taken the spoils of war and given to his people. This is such a glorious truth.

I do pray that you'd make us happier in our Lord Jesus because of this truth being unfolded from scripture today in Jesus name we pray amen.