Ephes. 4:7-13 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men." 9(What does "he ascended" mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions? 10He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

"But to each one…has been given"

At the end of the last section we saw the center which must be the goal of all who wish to experience the oneness of unity in Christ's body. For many, this might have left the overburdening question, "Is there any hope for me?" We have these instructions and exhortations from Paul to "live a life worthy of the calling", to completely "humble, patient, gentle, longsuffering." We are told to make "every effort to keep the unity". Then he reminds us that the road to discipleship is a narrow one. There is not exactly a smorgasbord of choices out there to make it easier for our varied tastes.

How does the church accomplish this mission set before it?

At the point where one might say "I can't do this," almost as if he were reading our minds, he says, "now just in case you think this is all impossible, it is. That is why I remind you once more that the one who is now in you is able to do exceedingly more through you than you could ever imagine." (My paraphrase). In Paul's own words, "But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it." And in case we have forgotten the measure to which He has apportioned it to us, we can peek back at chapter on, the first few verses and be reminded that it is measureless grace in terms of our human understanding.

So once more Paul speaks in these paradoxical terms, laying out on the one side the task that is before us, and then immediately coming back to say, "but don't be overcome by all of this. The key lies in the "I can't" of all of this, so that through our weakness, He may be made strong.

Now Paul proceeds to tell us what the ascension of Christ means to us, and how His parting from His disciples physically was not a loss, but a tremendous gain.

The resurrection and ascension of Christ is so vital to the Christian faith. How anyone can maintain that Christ did not really rise from the dead in a physical way and therefore did not ascend in the sense that we understand it, is way beyond me. For Paul and the early apostles it meant everything. It was the one thread of hope that ran through every impossibility and obstacle of life. It was this knowledge that spurned them on against all odds. The knowledge that in the same way that Christ as the first fruit of victory over death and the grave, ensured that believers everywhere would now prevail over the very worst circumstances of life, because there is more beyond.

There are three assurances found here with regard to the ascension of Christ. Because of His resurrection we are assured of:

I. The Destruction of our Spiritual Enemy.

II. The Distribution of Spiritual Gifts.

III. The Development of Spiritual Perfection.

I. Deliverance from our Spiritual Enemy.

This is the grace of which Paul is speaking here. Ephes. 4:7-8

But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. [8] This is why it says: "When he ascended on high, he led captives in his train and gave gifts to men."

Led captives in his train. Two groups. Those who were captives of death and sin were set free. Those who were enemies of the church were taken captive. Either way Christ's grace is involved. We will see later that this grace is also connected to the gifts that He gives to the saints and to the church. Grace is given that we may overcome. Grace is given that we may be empowered.

The one is the gracious deliverance from the power of the spiritual enemies who sought to destroy the church. One of those enemies was death. In the early church there was the constant fear of death. After Christ had been crucified the disciples went into hiding for fear of their lives. Death was a dark prospect for them, in spite of the fact that they knew the doctrine of the resurrection. It was still and abstract concept. Then something happened. Something which began the day that Christ died. This was His first ascension. Remember, He commended His spirit into the hands of His Father, and in that moment went to be with Him. Remember His words to the thief. "This day you will be with me in paradise" Jesus ascended into heaven and death was dealt a fatal blow. Victory over death was at that moment. Not on Easter morning. And God did something awesome to give the church a taste of the victory that was to be revealed.

Look over at Matthew 27:52. I have not heard many sermons preached on those verses. I wonder what must have gone through the minds of those to whom the risen dead showed themselves? Can you imagine that scene? This was the beginning of the promise. It was as if God used that as an example of the victory that had been gained over the power of death.

Then the final realization came on that Sunday morning when once and for all the matter was settled. Death would no longer have any power over the church, and from that moment on, instead of running from death in fear, the church faced it head on and power prevailed. They realized that they could not lose their lives. And when you have nothing to lose, you have nothing to fear. So this same Paul could write in 1 Cor. 15:55

"Where, O death, is your victory?

Where, O death, is your sting?"

I heard a man by the name of Ondie Dram share his testimony of salvation. He had lived a life of total rebellion. Came to the states form another country. Rejected by his parents, he entered a life of crime. One night he and a friend planned to rob a convenience store. Ondie went in and confronted the clerk while his friend waited in the car outside. Ondie pointed his gun at her and demanded that she hand over the money. She just smiled at him and said, "Jesus loves you." Just like that. "Jesus loves you." He thought she was crazy. Maybe she did not understand what he had just told her. So he said it again. Still she just smiled at him and said, "Jesus loves you." Now frustrated and angry, he asked her if she realized that he had the means and the motivation to blow her head off. The smile never left her face. She looked him square in the face and said, "Jesus loves you. And for me, sudden death would mean sudden glory!"

She new that Christ had taken death captive and it held no more fear for her.

Family, if we no longer need to fear death, what is there to fear. There is nothing that can take our hope from us as believers. There is no foe that can defeat us. The gates of hell cannot prevail against us. Satan and all his little helpers are a defeated enemy.

With that in mind the church ought to rise up and move forward. Beyond the pews and the walls of church buildings. With all the confidence in the world that if Christ is for us, who can be against us. If the right man is on our side we cannot be defeated.

The other enemy is the demonic force of satan and His demons. The only sound on Easter morning must have been the sound of the crushing of the serpent's head as the Son of God stepped back across that threshold of death.

There is another aspect of this "setting captives free", and that is the freedom that we receive from the captivity of our own sin when we come to Christ.

The idea is illustrated in this familiar hymn.

O for a thousand tongues to sing

My great Redeemer's praise,

The glories of my God and King,

The triumphs of His grace!

He breaks the power of canceled sin;

He sets the prisoner free.

The very central hope of our faith is the fact that not only has Christ risen from the dead, and thus given to us the guarantee that we too have power over death, but He has ascended on high, and in doing so He led captives in His train. He has taken captive our spiritual enemies. He has freed us from the spiritual, emotional and physical strongholds which in times past held each one of us captive. We were trapped in a cycle of sin with no apparent way of escape, and He set us free. The first assurance we have as a result of Christ's physical resurrection is that of deliverance from our spiritual enemies.

The second assurance is related to the:

II. Distribution of Spiritual Gifts. See Grace, Gifts and Grandeur Part 2.