Section 1146
I. The words may be considered as expressive of the gain that Christ was, or would be to the apostle, both living and dying
And this is not to be limited and restrained to him as an apostle, who as such received his commission from Christ; had gifts and grace from him, qualifying him for that office; and by whom he was made successful in it, and profitable to the souls of men; and whereby he gained much credit and reputation among the churches of Christ: but is to be understood of him as a believer in Christ, in common with others; and it is true even of the meanest saint, that Christ is his gain in life and in death. I use the words, believer and saint; for Christ is not gain to graceless persons, nor is he esteemed as such by them; they see no excellency in him, to distinguish him from another beloved; nor any comeliness in him, wherefore he should be desired by them; nor can they imagine that any profit or advantage will arise unto them by professing and serving him; or that any gain will accrue to them by attending his word, worship, and ordinances; but, on the contrary, that they would be losers in their character or substance; and therefore, like the Gergesenes, desire he would depart from them: especially it cannot be thought that Christ should be gainful to those that strip him of his proper deity; count his blood as common, or no other than that of a common man; despise and reject his righteousness, and deny his sacrifice, satisfaction and atonement; and are self-sufficient to be their own saviors: but he is gain to them that believe in him, and is so accounted by them; for to them he is precious: he is so to them who have a special and spiritual knowledge of him; who have an understanding given them, or the eyes of their understandings are opened and enlightened by the Spirit of God, to know him that is true; that he is the true God, truly and properly God, and in whom is eternal life; and that they are in him that is true; (1 John 5:20) are interested in him, and share in all the blessings of grace by him; who have such knowledge of him, of the glories of his person, and the riches of his grace, as that it is the beginning, pledge, and earnest of eternal life; and which knowledge, and the object known, are preferred by them to everything else, and all things are reckoned but loss in comparison thereof; and therefore are desirous of knowing more of him, of his person, office and grace; being willing to suffer the loss of all things, that they may win (Philippians 3:8, 10) or gain him, and a greater degree of knowledge of him. Christ is gain, and reckoned gain to such who see him, and believe in him; who see the worth and value of him; the fullness of grace in him; the suitableness of him to lost sinners; and who, as poor perishing creatures without him, go to him, and venture their souls on him, trusting in him, who lay hold upon him by faith as the Lord their righteousness, their only Redeemer and Savior; who lean and rely upon him alone for salvation; commit their all into his hands, and expect all from him, grace here, and glory hereafter; and who not only have an interest in him, but are satisfied of it, that he is theirs, and they are his; their Lord and their God, who has loved them, and given himself for them; to such as these Christ must be gain, and he is so esteemed by them.
First, Christ is their gain in life: he is their το παν, everything to them, “their all in all; ” he is everything to them they want, and all they need they find in him. He is their wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption; (1 Corinthians 1:30) their wisdom, to guide and direct them; their righteousness, to justify them, and render them acceptable to God; their sanctification, to make them meet for eternal glory and happiness; and their redemption, to deliver and save them from all their enemies, sin, Satan, and the world. He is their life, to quicken them, and to enable them to perform all the acts of spiritual life, and to entitle them to an eternal one; he is their light to enlighten them, and in whose light they view with pleasure all divine objects; he is their food they live upon, and by which they are nourished to everlasting life; and he is their raiment with which they are clothed; he is the source and spring of all their solid joy, peace, and comfort; and through an interest in him they have a right to all things pertaining to life and godliness; all are theirs, Christ being theirs; and therefore they must be great gainers by him. And how great their gain is, will appear by the following particulars.
1. He himself, his person, being theirs, he must be gain, and gain enough unto them; there being none among the sons of God in heaven to be compared to him, nor any among the mighty men on earth to be desired besides him. He is the chiefest among ten thousand; (Song of Solomon 5:10) among ten thousand angels, or among ten thousand saints; being “the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person; ” he is the one and only Mediator between God and man, through whom they have access unto God, and in whom they have acceptance with him; he is their prophet, to teach and instruct them in all divine things; their priest, to make atonement for their sins, and intercession for their souls; their king, to rule and govern, protect and defend them: he stands in, and fills up all relations to them; is their indulgent father, loving husband, kind brother, and faithful friend; in all these he is gain unto them. He is the pearl of great price, on whom no price can be set; he is more precious than rubies; and all the things that can be thought, spoken of, or desired, are not to be mentioned with him; the merchandise of him, the wisdom of God, is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. (Proverbs 3:14, 15)
2. Not only Christ himself, but all other things of any value and importance, are theirs: Christ is the unspeakable gift of God unto them; and he is not given alone; God with him freely gives all things (Romans 8:32) appertaining to their spiritual and everlasting life; they are blessed with all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3) in him; as with peace, pardon, righteousness, adoption, and eternal life; with all the sure mercies of David, the blessings of an everlasting and well ordered covenant; with all the stores of grace, and rich provisions of good things laid up in it; all the fullness of grace it has pleased the Father should dwell in him, is for their use; and out of it do they receive continually grace for grace; (Colossians 1:19, John 1:16) or a large abundance of it, as they want it; and every need of theirs is supplied by their covenant God and Father, according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)
3. All the promises of the covenant of grace, and which are transcribed into the everlasting gospel, are theirs: godliness, true, real, powerful godliness, and those who are possessed of it, have promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come; (1 Timothy 4:8) both as to things temporal and spiritual, and with respect to grace and glory; and these are all in Christ, yea, and amen; (2 Corinthians 1:20) and those that believe in him, are heirs of them; have a right unto them, and claim upon them, and enjoy what is contained in them: and these are exceeding great and precious; they are like apples of gold in pictures of silver, and are more to be desired than thousands of gold and silver; and such that know the worth and value of them, will rejoice at them when they find them, and when they are applied unto them, as they that find a great spoil; (2 Peter 1:4, Proverbs 25:11, Psalm 119:72, 162) being suitable to their case, free and gracious, absolute and unconditional; and what give them immediate comfort and relief, and are of service to them in future times of difficulty and distress.
4. Christ must needs be gain to those that know him, and believe in him, since high honors are conferred on them by him. Though they may, by embracing and professing him, lose their name, credit, and reputation among men, and be reckoned the filth of the world, and the offscouring of all things; (1 Corinthians 4:13) yet they are made by Christ kings and priests unto God and his Father; (Revelation 1:5) these two high and honorable characters are united in them; they are a royal priesthood. They are kings, not titular ones: they have now a kingdom of grace, which is within them, where grace reigns through righteousness over sin, Satan, and the world; and which lies in righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost; and they are heirs of an everlasting one: they have a crown of life, righteousness, and glory hid up for them, and a throne of glory prepared and set up for them; even the same on which their Lord and Head, their Redeemer and Savior sits, and they will sit with him on it: they fare like kings; they sit at the king’s table, and partake of royal dainties: they are clothed like such: being related to Christ the King of kings; they are his queen, and stand at his right hand in gold of Ophir; their clothing is wrought gold, and raiment of needle-work: and they have the attendance of kings; angels are their life-guards; those ministering spirits minister to them who are heirs of salvation. And they are priests; they have easy and ready access to God their Father, through Christ the Mediator, under the influence of one Spirit; and they have access with freedom and boldness; they can come to God through the blood of Christ with intrepidity, and with full assurance of faith; they can come without fear to God, and offer up their spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise, and present themselves, souls and bodies, a holy, living, and acceptable sacrifice to him. This honour have all the saints. (Psalm 149:9)
5. They are possessed of abundance of riches from Christ; everything in Christ is gain to them, even his very poverty; for through his poverty they are made rich; (2 Corinthians 8:9) and how enriching then must his riches be! for all his riches are theirs; his riches, as the creator and governor of the world; the earth is his, and the fullness thereof, (Psalm 24:1) and all this belongs to his people; the world is theirs, he being theirs; they are heirs of it, as Abraham was; they have a rightful claim unto it, and possess as much of it as is for their good, and enjoy it in a manner others do not: the riches of grace, and the riches of glory, are theirs; the unsearchable riches of Christ, which can never be traced out, nor told over; the true, solid, and substantial riches, even durable riches, which will last forever, and can never be lost; and though believers in Christ may for his sake suffer the spoiling of their goods, and lose their worldly substance, yet in the issue they are no losers; they gain by their losses; for what they leave and lose for Christ’s sake, they receive an hundred-fold now in this world, and in the world to come eternal life. (Mark 10:30)
6. They obtain with Christ, and receive from him a glorious justifying righteousness; though they part with their own, they get a better; they are indeed obliged, upon their becoming the disciples of Christ, to deny righteous self, as well as sinful and civil self, for his sake: being convinced by the Spirit of God of the insufficiency of their own righteousness, to justify them in his fight; they drop it, they disclaim and renounce it, in point of dependence; they desire to be found not in their own righteousness, by which they see they cannot be justified before God; they perceive it is a garment too narrow to wrap themselves in, and therefore lay it aside as their robe of righteousness; but what do they lose thereby? only rags, and these filthy ones; which are of no more use to cover naked souls, and shelter them from the wrath of God, and avenging justice, than the aprons of fig-leaves were to our first parents, when they had sinned: and in the room of it they gain a better righteousness; not only a righteousness that exceeds the righteousness of the hypocritical scribes and pharisees; but even that exceeds the real holiness of saints, that new man which is created in righteousness and true holiness; yea, that exceeds the righteousness of the angels in heaven, and of Adam in a state of innocence; for it is not the righteousness of a creature, but the righteousness of God, which is unto and upon all them that believe; (Romans 3:22) it is a righteousness as broad as the commandment is; it is every way commensurate to the righteous law of God, by which that is magnified and made honorable; by which justice is satisfied, and with which God is well pleased; it is an everlasting one, and will answer for the saints in a time to come; it acquits them now, and will hereafter; it secures from all condemnation and wrath, and entitles to eternal life.
7. All that believe in Christ gain much by his blood and sacrifice: they have redemption through his blood, from all their iniquities; from the law, and all its curses; from Satan and his principalities and powers; from the world, and all their enemies; from hell, wrath, ruin, and destruction: and this they have, not through corruptible things, as silver and gold, but through the precious blood of Christ. By this likewise full remission of sins is obtained, peace is made with God, and reconciliation for sin; this being also sprinkled on the conscience, speaks peace there, and purges it from dead works, and cleanses from all sin: by the sacrifice of Christ, sin is finished and made an end of; it is put away forever; and those that are sanctified, are perfected by it; which lays a foundation for solid joy, in all that have received the atonement; whose gain hereby is exceeding great.
8. All that believe in Christ are, and shall be saved, with an everlasting salvation. Christ, as their surety, engaged to be the Savior of them; he came into this world in their nature for that purpose; and by his obedience, sufferings, and death, has obtained eternal salvation for them. This is in him, and in no other; nor is there any other person, or name, or thing under heaven, whereby any can be saved; it is in vain to expect it from hills and mountains; from any works of men, be they ever so numerous; but in Christ alone is the salvation of Israel: (Jeremiah 3:23) and they that believe in him, believe in him to the saving of the soul; and do at last receive the end of their faith, even the salvation of their souls; the redemption of which is precious, as being of more worth than a world, and requires a price a creature cannot give: so that as on the one hand, it will be no profit or advantage to a man, should he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul; (Matthew 16:26) on the other hand, he, whose soul is saved in the day of the Lord Jesus, and by him, must be thereby an infinite gainer.
9. Once more let it be observed, that everything that belongs to Christ, or has any connection with him, is gain to the believer in him. The ministers of Christ are theirs, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, (1 Corinthians 3:22) or whoever they be; they have a right to their ministrations, and they receive profit by them, for they speak unto them for exhortation, consolation, and edification; though they have not dominion over their faith, they are helpers of their joy; (2 Corinthians 1:24) they are instruments of encouraging their faith and hope in God, and of increasing their spiritual knowledge and joy in the Lord. The gospel of Christ, when mixed with faith by them that hear it, becomes profitable; when it is found and eat by faith, it is the rejoicing of the heart; it is soul-strengthening and comforting food to faith; and is esteemed by the believer more than the necessary food of his body. The ordinances of Christ are breasts of consolation, (Isaiah 66:11) and afford much spiritual refreshment, when the presence of Christ is enjoyed in them: and the people of Christ are very beneficial one to another, by praying together, and building up one another on their most holy faith; by sympathizing with each other, conversing together, and relating their experiences to one another; all which makes their company delightful and profitable: to say no more under this head.
10. The worst things of Christ, if any of his may be called bad, are gain to the saints, and are so esteemed by them; as reproaches for the sake of Christ and his gospel, and their profession of it; even these are reckoned by them greater riches than the treasures of Egypt: (Hebrews 11:26) there are no afflictions befall the people of God, but they are gainers by them; their consolation abounds by Christ, as the sufferings of Christ abound in them; all their trials and exercises serve but to brighten their graces, particularly their faith, and make it to appear much more precious than gold that perisheth; (1 Peter 1:7) their various afflictions work together for their good, either temporal or spiritual; and even work for them an exceeding and eternal weight of glory: (Romans 8:28, 2 Corinthians 4:17) and if these are so gainful and profitable to them, what must Christ’s best things be! earthly kingdoms, crowns, thrones and scepters, are toys and trifles, in comparison of them. Thus Christ is the believer’s gain in life.
Secondly, Christ is the gain of believer’s in death, at it, and after it. When they die, they die in Christ: they have a secret being in Christ, as they are chosen in him before the foundation of the world; and they have an open manifest being in him, when they are converted and made new creatures; they live in him as the branches do in the vine; and they continue in him, and through abiding in him, bring forth fruit as long as they live; and when they die, they are found in Christ, interested in him; and blessed are the dead that die in Lord; (Revelation 14:13) they are happy with him, enjoying everlasting peace and rest; falling asleep by death, they sleep in the arms of Jesus, and he will bring them with him at his second coming: the righteous, when they die, have hope in their death of enjoying eternal life and happiness; and this hope is founded on the person, blood and righteousness of Christ: he is in them the hope of glory; (Colossians 1:27) the anchor of hope being cast on him, on such good ground, on so sure a foundation, is in itself sure and stedfast, (Hebrews 6:19) and enters within the veil where Jesus is; it is a hope that makes not ashamed, or disappoints; salvation follows upon it. These also die in the faith of Christ; and as in life, the triumph of that grace arises from what Christ is to his people, and has done and suffered for them, from his death, resurrection ascension to heaven, sitting at the right hand of God, and intercession for them; so when they come to die, what gives them reason to sing and say, O death, where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory? is, that Christ has took away the sting of death, sin, and has fulfilled and satisfied the law, the strength of sin; (57) so that there is nothing lies against them to their condemnation. Moreover, their expectation in their dying moments is to be with Christ, and with whom they are desirous to be; and choose to be absent from the body, that they might be present with the Lord; (2 Corinthians 5:8) and they are immediately with him, as soon as soul and body are separated: and this is their comfort, both in life and at death, that they shall be forever with him; and when they are departed, their happiness at and after death lies in communion with Christ, in conformity to him, and in the everlasting vision of him. Communion with Christ is a most delightful and desirable thing; the believer reckons it great gain to him, when he can say, truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ, (1 John 1:7) which yet is imperfect, and but for a season; what gain will that be which will be forever and uninterrupted, that is entered upon at death! Now the saints are like to Christ, but it is but in part; they are gradually changed into his image from glory to glory; (2 Corinthians 3:18) but at death, and as soon as in glory, this image will be perfect and complete; and in the resurrection, it will be so both in soul and body. In the present state of things, we see but in part, and through a glass darkly; (1 Corinthians 13:9, 12) but, in the other state, when death has done its office, we shall see Christ as he is, as well as be like him. A principal part of the saints happiness, will lie in beholding his glory, and gazing at it, and feeding the eyes of the mind upon it with unutterable pleasure; which to enjoy, is the ultimate end of our Lord’s sufferings here, and of his preparations and intercession in heaven. But,