Ephesians 4:8 Why he said, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men. Mr. Moody tells us how his elder brother ran away from home soon after their father's death, and the absence of the beloved boy was the perpetual grief of his mother's heart. She waited years and years for a letter from the wanderer, but none came. Long years had rolled away, and the mother's hair had grown grey, when, one summer's afternoon, a sunburnt man was seen coming into the gate at Northfield. He knocked at the door. The mother went and opened the door, and invited the stranger in. He held back for a moment, until the tears started, and he exclaimed, "No, mother, I will not come in until you forgive me!" He did not stand there long. Her big motherly heart rejoiced more over the returning prodigal than over all of the boys that had never run away. Jesus keeps no sinner waiting outside His open door. The forgiveness of a lifetime's sin is the very first boon to the hungry penitent. (T. L. Cuyler, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.WEB: Therefore he says, "When he ascended on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men." |
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