MERRY MONDAY BY PARRIS
“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” Phil. 3:7, 8
What did Paul mean by winning Christ? What more could the apostle want? After all he received Christ on the Damascus road. Paul preached untold riches from that experience but conversion wasn’t the “be all and end all”. His aim was to hold Christ as his prize and to win him! Christ emptied himself and laid aside his glory in order to redeem mankind. In return, Paul saw the “pearl of great price” and knew he too had to “sell out” in order to possess Christ. “He saw such beauty, such moral glory, such transcendent excellency in the Son of God, that he deliberately surrendered all the honors, the distinctions, the pleasures, and the riches of earth, in order that Christ might fill every chamber of his heart and absorb all the energies of his moral being. He longed to know Him not merely as the One who had put away his sins, but as the One who could satisfy all the longings of his soul, and utterly displace all that earth could offer or nature grasp.” Christian Truth Vol.23
SPURGEON SAYS; “Get Christ, beloved, and you have got all your soul can wish for. Now may you stretch your capacious powers to the utmost, and with a holy covetousness, and a sacred greediness, desire all you can. You may open your mouth wide, for Christ will fill it. You may enlarge your desires, but the infinite riches of Christ will satisfy them at their largest and widest stretch. Get Christ, and you have heaven on earth, and shall have heaven forever. Get Christ, and angels shall be your servitors, the wheels of providence shall grind for your good, the chariot of God, which brings on the events prophesied in apocalyptic vision, shall bring only joy and peace to you, and you shall hear it said, both in time and in eternity. Get Christ, and you have nothing to fear, and everything to hope for. Get Christ and sin is buried in the Red Sea of Jesus’s blood, while you are arrayed in the spotless righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ—JEHOVAH TSIDKENU Himself. Get Christ, and—what more shall I say? Then may you swim in seas of bliss, then may you walk Elysian fields of holy joy even here on earth. Get Christ, and you need not envy the angels. Get Christ, and you may count yourselves to be raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places with Him.”
GILL SAYS; “CHRIST is very comprehensive, unspeakable, and unchangeable: Christ, the chiefest among ten thousands; who made the heavens, earth, and seas, and all that in them are, the sun, moon, and stars, men and beasts, birds and fishes, fossils, minerals, vegetables, and everything in nature; and therefore the knowledge of him must be superior to the knowledge of everything else; and, which adds to its excellency, it makes Christ precious, engages faith and confidence in him, influences the life and conversation, humbles the soul, and creates in it true pleasure and satisfaction; when all other knowledge fills with self-love, pride, and vanity, and increases sorrow; whereas this is not only useful in life, but supports, as under afflictions, so in the views of death and eternity; through it grace is received now, and by it glory hereafter; for it is the beginning, earnest, and pledge of eternal life.”
May we pause and ponder this priceless prize. The world is grey, bland, tasteless compared to His love. Let our hearts stop being so indifferent, numb, and speechless. Let our actions, our thrust, our motive always be “that I may win Christ!” This is our eternal moment!