Philippians 3 shows us that on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, Paul counted all things to be loss; he placed great value on this excellency of Christ Jesus his Lord, and because of this, he counted all loss.
The more we know Christ, the more we have the revelation of Christ from the Father, the more He becomes excellent in our eyes, and we can consider everything else as loss on account of Him.
But if we only read the Bible and pray in a routine way, if we do not have revelation from God the Father concerning His Son Jesus Christ, and if He doesn’t become our Lord in an intimate and personal way, we do not have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, and we cannot consider all things as loss on His account.
We need to have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ; this is the revelation of Christ that causes us to pursue Him, and our pursuit of Christ will cause us to experience Christ and enjoy Christ.
If we read the book of Philippians we have the feeling that Paul opens his heart to us and tells us the secret of his experience of Christ, for he wants us also to experience such a rich and excellent One.
When we speak of having a revelation of Christ we don’t mean that He needs to appear to us outwardly and physically, like a blinding light which supernaturally attracts us and causes us to drop everything else.
Even though Paul did see a blinding light when he met the Lord, it was the Father who was pleased to reveal His Son in him, and Paul could not resist this One; rather, he was captured by Him, and he sought to know Him, gain Him, experience Him, and enjoy Him. His whole life was a pursuit to enjoy Christ, experience Christ, and know Him.
It pleases God the Father to reveal His Christ to us; He treasures Christ, He has Christ as His beloved, and He wants that this Christ would be everything to us and to all His people.
We simply need to come to the Lord and ask Him, with an exercised spirit in His word, to reveal His Son in us, so that we may see Christ, have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, and seek to gain Christ and pursue Him.
When we see Christ, when we have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, everything else will seem like loss, for on account of Him we will be willing to suffer the loss of all things, so that we may gain Him. Oh, what a Christ!
How Paul counted all things to be Loss on Account of the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ
In Phil. 3:8 Paul concluded that on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, he counted all things as loss, and he even suffered the loss of all things, so that he may gain Christ.
He had a lot of zeal and gains when he was in the law, and he considered the law as being excellent and great; but when he met Christ, when he had the inward revelation of the excellency of this One, he dropped all the other things so that he may gain Christ.
Paul placed great value on the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord; this is indicated by the words “my Lord” which convey his intimate, tender feelings concerning Christ.
Christ Jesus my Lord…this is such a sweet and intimate expression of his feelings toward Christ, who was not only outside of him but within him as his life, his supply, and his everything.
When Paul was speaking of Christ, he was filled with tender and sweet feelings toward Him, for he placed great value on the excellency of the knowledge of his dear Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul’s eyes were opened to see the excellency of this wonderful, all-inclusive Christ; because he saw the preciousness and excellency of Christ, Paul counted all things as loss on account of Him.
Because Paul saw the excellency of Christ, he counted all things as loss, whether they related to religious gain or natural gain. He had much to gain in the natural realm, for he was a Jew of Jews, circumcised on the eighth day, well-educated, and full of zeal and more advanced than his contemporaries.
He also had much to gain the religious realm, for he kept the law, was found blameless in regards to the law, a Pharisee, and very zealous for the law, even to the extent that he persecuted those who left the law and the Jewish religion.
But when Paul saw Christ, when he was filled with the excellency of he knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord, he counted all as loss – whether things natural or religious.
Paul dropped not only religious things but all things on account of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus; thus, to Paul, the loss of all things was the loss of everything.
Do you think this was too much? Do you think that Paul paid a price that is too high? It all depends on what you consider most precious; to Paul the law and the righteousness that came according to the law was precious, but after he met Christ and obtained the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, he counted all things loss.
To him all the other things were as nothing compared to Christ; all other things were as refuse when compared to Him.
Lord Jesus, unveil us to see a revelation of the supreme excellency of Christ so that all other things would fade away and we would gladly put them aside. Save us, Lord, from following You half-hearted; save us from not being absolute for You. May our eyes be opened to see the excellency of the wonderful, all-inclusive Christ, so that we may be motivated to count all things as loss for Him. Amen, Lord, become more precious to us as we are unveiled to see You, enjoy You, and experience You!
On Account of the Excellency of Christ we suffer the Loss of All things to Gain Him
Paul’s goal was to gain the Christ whom he saw; it is one thing to see Christ, and it is another thing to possess Christ, gain Christ, and own Christ.
For example, we may go shopping and we may have a revelation of the preciousness of the things we want to buy, but for us to actually own those things we need to pay the price to buy them. It’s one thing to see something while window-shopping and it is another thing to pay the price to buy it.
Having a revelation of Christ and seeing His supreme preciousness is important, but we need to pay the price to gain this Christ.
When we read the Bible we shouldn’t just do “window-shopping”, that is, we shouldn’t just look at and enjoy all the wonderful aspects of Christ; we should be motivated to pay the price to gain this Christ.
When we see the excellency of the knowledge of Christ, we are motivated to pay the price, whatever the cost, so that we may own Christ, that is, so that we may gain Christ.
What is the price we have to Paul to gain Christ? It is the same as with Paul; we need to pay the price of all things, especially the natural and religious things.
We may look at Paul and say that we can’t really pay such a high price, that is, we’re not prepared to pay the price of losing all things on account of Christ. And it is true, we may not be ready to do this; what we need is more revelation of Christ.
Once we see the value of Christ, we will realise that nothing compares to Him, and the little price of all things that we can pay is nothing in comparison to the value that we gain.
The excellent Christ we gain is much more precious and valuable than anything we have, we can do, or we can offer; the value that we get when we pay the price of all things is nothing in comparison to the excellency of Christ that we gain.
On account of Christ, Paul suffered the loss of all things and counted them as refuse in order that he may gain Christ (Phil. 3:7-8). Paul didn’t just count all things to be loss – he also suffered the loss of all things, he actually lost all hings.
It is easy to say that you count all things as loss, but when the test comes, do we actually lose all things on account of Christ?
Once we see the excellency of Christ Jesus our Lord, we count all things as loss; then, the Lord comes in and brings about the situations and circumstances that will help us lose all things on account of Christ.
When we lose all things on account of Christ, we gain Christ; to see a revelation of Christ may cost us something, but to gain Christ is very costly – it all depends on how we value what we gain.
For example, some people value diamonds while others don’t; to some a diamond is something very precious and worth selling all things to obtain it, while to others, diamonds are not that precious.
When those who value diamonds see a diamond of great value, they are willing to sell everything to get it.
When we are under the hearing of faith – which is not only being in the meetings to hear the word of God but also in our personal time with the Lord, as we enjoy Him and pray over the word of God to be infused with Himself – we have a realisation of His preciousness.
As we are under the hearing of faith, we have the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord, and we will be willing to give up all things, including religion, philosophy, and culture.
All things – including the good things of religion, philosophy, and culture – are substitutes of Christ, and they can be used by Satan as hooks to keep us from Christ and the experience of Christ.
Philosophy governs our behaviour, our thinking; a philosophical person has no room for Christ in his being. Culture with all its aspects, religion with all its ordinances and laws, and philosophy with its logic and reasoning, all can be used by the enemy in his subtlety to keep us away from the experience of Christ.
Oh, how the subtlety of the enemy needs to be exposed, and how much we need to realise to a great extent many things of religion, culture, and philosophy have been replacing Christ in our being!
May we be so enthralled and filled with Christ and the excellency of the knowledge of Christ that we are willing to suffer the loss of all things and even count them as refuse in order to gain Christ!
Lord, grant us more revelation of Christ so that we may see His preciousness, His excellency, and His utmost worth; infuse us with Yourself, Lord, until we realise that all things are refuse compared to You. May we have the excellency of the knowledge of Christ to the extent that we are willing to suffer the loss of all things and even count them as refuse in order to gain Christ! Amen, Lord, we want to gain Christ, that is, suffer the loss of all things so that we may gain the Christ whom we see, enjoy, and experience!
This article can also be read in the Romanian language / Citiți acest articol în limba română vizitând următorul link, De dragul excelenței lui Cristos, suferim pierderea tuturor lucrurilor pentru a-L câștiga pe El.
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, the message by bro. Mark Raabe for this week, and portions from, Life-study of Philippians, msgs. 18-19 (by Witness Lee), as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, The Experience of Christ (2019 Memorial Day Conference), week 5, Having No Confidence in the Flesh and Counting All Things to Be Loss on Account of Christ and the Excellency of the Knowledge of Christ.
- Hymns on this topic:
# Pursue Him and know Him; be found in Him. / Count all things loss for Him. / Just gain Him, obtain Him; lay hold of Him. / It’s Christ the central vision. / Forgetting the things which are behind, / Press on, pursue with this mind. / By any means each hour now redeem; / Stretch forth, lay hold of Him. (Song on, Pursue Him and know Him)
# What things were gains to me, / These I now count as loss. / Jesus has set me free / From what I was! / All of the things I had; / Everything, good or bad, / I count as refuse / That I may gain Christ! (Song on, What things were gains to me)
# Arise! the holy bargain strike— / The fragment for the whole— / All men and all events alike / Must serve the ransomed soul. / All things are yours when you are His, / And He and you are one; / A boundless life in Him there is, / And kingdom yet to come. (Hymns #473)
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