Prizing Christ Above All

I had the privilege recently of attending a conference called THINK14 at College Park Church in Indianapolis, where John Piper was the keynote speaker. In four sessions Piper walked through the book of Philippians in a fashion that was exegetically rich and eminently applicable to life. I was most captured in his thoughts on chapter 3, which he also expanded on in his sermon at College Park that Sunday. He went into great detail regarding what it meant to count all things as loss in comparison to the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:7-8). This preaching reminded me of something I had read a long time ago in Thomas Watson’s The Godly Man’s Picture. This work is a goldmine for showing forth the characteristics of godliness, but in relation to Philippians 3, Watson puts forth the following thoughts that is well worth our attention as we continue our growth in godliness.

Do we set a high estimation on Christ? If we are prizers of Christ, then we prefer him in our judgments above other things. We value Christ above honor and riches; the Pearl of great price lies nearest our heart.He who prizes Christ esteems the gleanings of Christ better than the world’s vintage. He counts the worst things of Christ better than the best things of the world: “esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt” (Heb. 11:26)…If we are prizers of Christ, we cannot live without him; things which we value we know not how to be without. A man may live without music, but not without food. A man may can lack health and friends, but he cannot lack Christ…If we are prizers of Christ, then we shall not complain at any pains to get him. Test by this! Many say they have Christ in high veneration, but they are not industrious in the use of means to obtain him. If Christ would drop as a ripe fig into their mouth, they could be content to have him, but they will not put themselves to too much trouble to get him. Does he who will not take medicine or exercise prize his health? Christ’s worth can never be full known. Christ is more precious than the soul, than the angels, than heaven.

Jeremy Kimble (PhD, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary) is Assistant Professor of Theological Studies at Cedarville University. He is an editor for Credo Magazine as well as the author of That His Spirit May Be Saved: Church Discipline as a Means to Repentance and Perseverance and numerous book reviews. He is married to Rachel and has two children, Hannah and Jonathan.