Hearing words unspeakable.
“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”
“But, nay rather, I even do count all-(things) to-be loss on-account-of the surpassingness of-the knowledge of-Christ Jesus my Lord, on-account-of whom I-have-suffered-the-loss-of (or, I-have-suffered-forfeit-of) all those (things), and do-count (them but bits of) refuse (or, dung) in-order-that I-may-gain Christ (or, have Christ for my gain).”
Before we begin to meditate on this verse, I think we should consider a little further some of those things which Paul lost, or forfeited, on account of Christ. We have seen in our last chapter seven amazing “gains” that nearly all would hold most dear because of a religion they loved: but Paul had more than that to forfeit.
In Acts 21:3939But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people. (Acts 21:39), Paul tells the chief captain that he is “a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city” (Acts 21:3939But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people. (Acts 21:39)). In chapter 22:3, Paul tells the Jews, “I am verily a Jew, born in Tarsus” (Acts 22:33I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day. (Acts 22:3)). And in chapter 22:27-28 he tells the chief captain that he is a Roman, (free) born. In Sir William Ramsey’s book, “St. Paul the Traveler and the Roman Citizen,” he tells us some most interesting things about these three passages of Scripture. I will quote: “According to the law of his country, he (Paul) was first of all a Roman citizen. That character superseded all others before the law and in the general opinion of society; and placed him in the aristocracy of any provincial town. In the first century, when the citizenship was still closely guarded, (it) may be taken as a proof that his family was one of distinction and at least moderate wealth....”
“Paul was, in the second place, a ‘Tarsian, a citizen of a distinguished city’ (21:39; 9:11). He was not merely a person born in Tarsus, owing to the accident of his family being there: he had a citizen’s rights in Tarsus.... Roman (citizens) in a provincial city commonly filled the position of high-class citizens, and even had magistracies pressed upon them by general consent. Now, if Paul’s family had merely emigrated to Tarsus from Judaea some years before his birth, neither he nor his father would have been `Tarsians’, but merely ‘residents’.”
“In the third place, Paul was ‘a Hebrew sprung from Hebrews’. The expression is a remarkable one. It is not used to a Jewish audience, but to a Greek Church (Phil. 3:55Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; (Philippians 3:5)), and it is similar to a familiar expression among the Greeks: ‘a priest sprung from priests’ is a term commonly applied to members of the great sacerdotal families which play so important a part in the society of Asian cities. He was a Jew at least as much as he was a Tarsian and a Roman, as regards his early surroundings; and it is obvious that the Jewish side of his nature and education proved infinitely the most important, as his character developed. But it is a too common error to ignore the other sides. Many.... seems to think only of his words, 22:3, ‘I am a Jew born in Tarsus,’ and to forget that he said a moment before, ‘I am a Jew, a Tarsian, a citizen of no mean city.’ To the Hebrews he emphasizes his Jewish character, and his birth in Tarsus is added as an accident: but to Claudius Lysias, a Greek-Roman, he emphasizes his Tarsian citizenship.... Now there is no inconsistency between these descriptions of himself. Most of us have no difficulty in understanding that a Jew at the present day may be a thoroughly patriotic English citizen, and yet equally proud of his ancient and honorable origin....”
“If Paul belonged to a family of wealth and position, how comes it that in great part of his career (but not in the whole....) he shows all the marks of poverty....?”
“Now, as Paul himself says, he had been brought up in strict Judaic feeling.... as a Pharisee; and we must infer that the spirit of his family was strongly Pharisaic. The whole history of the Jews shows what was likely to be the feeling among his parents and brothers and sisters, when he not merely became a Christian, but went to the Gentiles. Their pride was outraged; and we should naturally expect that such a family would regard Paul as an apostate, a foe to God and the chosen race, and disgrace to the family; his own relatives might be expected to be his most bitter enemies. Looking at these probabilities, we see a special force in Paul’s words to the Philippians, 3:8, that he had given up all for Christ, ‘for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and do count them but refuse’. These emphatic words suit the mouth of one who had been disowned by his family, and reduced from a position of wealth and influence in his nation to poverty and contempt.”
Let us now seek, with the Lord’s help, to meditate a little on the beautiful verse before us. It begins with five little words, one after the other, which literally translated are: “yea, indeed, therefore, at-least, also (or, even).” But we may not take them literally: we must try and find what the Holy Spirit is seeking to tell us by putting them together in this way. The three middle words form a combination which expresses the correction of a foregoing statement as either incorrect, or inadequate. It was inadequate to say, “I counted (long ago) these things to be loss— these national and religious privileges of which we have been speaking: no, indeed, not only did I count them loss long ago, when first I was converted, but I still do count them so. And not only these things, but all things, do I count loss— my social standing, my family, my wealth, my all do I count loss for the surpassingness of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord”. As we have seen in our last chapter, Paul changes “counted” to “do count,” and “these things,” to “all things.” This was to correct the inadequate statement in the seventh verse. This string of little words is to prepare us for this change, and I think helps us to see the vehemence and strength of Paul’s conviction as to the worth of the exchange he had made “on account of Christ” (vs. 7).
We have seen that our Lord Jesus Christ, “Who subsisting in the form of God, He counted not as a means of gain the being equal with God, but made Himself empty.” His servant Paul sought to follow his Master, in such measure as a human being could. Paul, too, had his gains, and in his measure he emptied himself; cast them all away; counted them not as a means of gain, but rather reckoned them to be loss and refuse. And for what? “For the surpassingness of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” It is not for the sake of the superiority of the knowledge (the fact that it is superior, or more excellent), but for the sake of the knowledge which is surpassing all else, that he counts all things to be loss. And the more of that knowledge he gained, the more he longed for more of it; so when we get to verse 10, we hear him cry: “That I may know Him!” (vs. 10). O my beloved readers, what do we know of that urgency to “know Him”? Of what have we suffered the loss, for the surpassingness of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord?
And you notice Paul does not say, “our Lord.” No, it is “my Lord.” Outside of this Epistle Paul does not often speak in this way: Rom. 1:88First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. (Romans 1:8); 2 Cor. 12:2121And lest, when I come again, my God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed. (2 Corinthians 12:21); Gal. 2:2020I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20); Philem. 1:44I thank my God, making mention of thee always in my prayers, (Philemon 4); (perhaps there are others, I do not recall more): but in this little Epistle we find it three times: 1:3; 3:8; and 4:19. I think we can understand the suitability of this: there is a warmth, a fervor, that perhaps we see nowhere else: and so he writes: “Christ Jesus my Lord” (vs. 8). We get something the same in the Song of Solomon: “My Beloved is mine, and I am His” (Song of Sol. 2:1616My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies. (Song of Solomon 2:16)). “I am my Beloved’s and my Beloved is mine” (Song of Sol. 6:33I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine: he feedeth among the lilies. (Song of Solomon 6:3)). I wonder can we truthfully say, as shown out in our daily walk: “my Lord”?
Paul cried, “I even do count all things to be loss on account of the surpassingness of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, on account of Whom I have suffered the loss of all those things, and do count them but refuse, in order that I may gain Christ: (or, have Christ for my gain.)” The word translated “suffered the loss of,” (vs. 8) echoes the word “loss” used twice before. But it has also the meaning of a fine, or penalty imposed by a court. “I was fined all things I possessed.” Paul thus expresses the utter confiscation of all that he had: his aristocratic position, his wealth, comforts, reputation (you remember the One Who “made Himself of no reputation” (ch. 2:7)), family, friends, society, interests, prospects and ambitions; and still more, to such a man, all his religious advantages both by birth and training: hopes, standing, confidences, such as we saw in our last chapter. All were cast away in a moment, at the sight of the Lord of Glory. The God of Glory appeared also to Abraham, and he also left all. Beloved, were our eyes fixed more steadfastly on the Lord of Glory— “looking off unto Jesus”— might not we too be more ready to cast away many of the things that now drag us down?
(You will notice that twice we get the little word “all” in this verse: the first is without the article “the,” the second with it. We have seen that the article is like a finger pointing: in this case pointing, I think, back to the first “all,” and so I have translated it, “all those things,” (1 Cor. 8:1010For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol's temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; (1 Corinthians 8:10)) to which he had been referring above).
The word translated refuse is used only here in the New Testament, and is of uncertain origin, but it may come from two Greek words, meaning “to cast to the dogs”; and there is said to be an old papyrus in which this word is used to describe “bones cast out to the dogs.” (Blaiklock). It is in the plural, and I do not know how to express this except “bits of refuse.” You will recall that in verse 2 Paul had written: “Look out for the dogs!” Then he goes on to describe all his manifold “gains,” and now he tells us they were only bits of refuse, to be cast to the dogs. It may be he is telling us that this refuse is what the Judaizers feed on. This word also may, perhaps, be rightly translated “dung” as in our English Bible. In 1 Cor. 4:1313Being defamed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day. (1 Corinthians 4:13) we find two words with a very similar meaning: also used nowhere else in the New Testament.
“That I may gain Christ,” (vs. 8) or, “That I may have Christ for my gain.” In verse 7 we saw he spoke of his “gains” (plural), in verse 8 he enlarges these gains to include “all things”: wealth, home, friends, and so forth: these all are on one side of the ledger: and now we come to the crowning point: the single item: the one great “gain”: on the other side of the ledger — CHRIST!!! This one “gain” replaces all the lost items: “Whatsoever things were gains” (verse 7) I now count loss for the sake of that one gain. Oh, Beloved, have you and I discovered “the unsearchable riches of Christ” (Eph. 3:88Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; (Ephesians 3:8)), to be of such value, that all else may go? Another true servant of Christ could sing:
“Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill,
God’s truth abideth still,
His kingdom is forever.”
This passage reminds me of the merchantman (He was a wholesale merchant, who went abroad for His wares). He was seeking pearls: and having found one exceedingly valuable pearl, He went away “and sold all things whatever He had,” (indeed, the word is that used for selling a slave, as though He had given Himself also), and He bought it. (Matt. 13:45-4645Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 46Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. (Matthew 13:45‑46): See Greek Text). And the day is coming when He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: for He reckons that pearl was worth all that He gave for it. And Paul will also be satisfied in that day, when awake with His likeness, he no longer knows in part: but knows in full the surpassingness of the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord.
“Nothing but Christ, as on we tread,
The Gift unpriced— God’s living Bread,
With staff in hand and feet well shod,
Nothing but Christ— the Christ of God.
Everything loss for Him below,
Taking the cross where’er we go;
Showing to all, where once He trod,
Nothing but Christ— the Christ of God.
Nothing save Him, in all our ways,
Giving the theme for ceaseless praise;
Our whole resource along the road,
Nothing but Christ— the Christ of God”
“BEYOND THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE SUN”
(Continued)
Marvel not that Christ in glory
All my inmost heart hath won;
Not a star to cheer my darkness,
But a light beyond the sun.
All below lies dark and shadowed,
Nothing there to claim my heart,
Save the lonely track of sorrow
Where of old He walked apart.
I have seen the face of Jesus
Tell me not of aught beside;
I have heard the voice of Jesus
All my soul is satisfied.
In the radiance of the glory
First I saw His blessed face,
And forever shall that glory
Be my home, my dwelling-place.
Sinners, it was not to angels
All this wondrous love was given,
But to one who scorned, despised Him,
Scorned and hated Christ in heaven.
From the lowest depths of darkness
To His city’s radiant height,
Thus in me He told the measure
Of His love and His delight.