Paul saw Christ in glory, and that eclipsed everything to him. He says, I will have Christ instead of everything, not merely instead of his sins, but instead of everything that would accredit him.
The world was an empty show for Paul. He says, “I DO count it dung and dross.” That was the constant condition of his life, because Christ was before his soul.
God has given us in Christ a perfect object, and it is this that gives the true character to the Christian, and which marks everything in this world. He, the object, is out of the world, in the glory, and the man that sees Him becomes single-hearted. To give up the world is no sacrifice to him. It is all “dung and dross.”
But self, wretched self, must be broken down. Paul was smashed on the way to Damascus. Can you say Christ is your only object, and that in the secret of your soul you have no other? The thing is, that we do not see Christ, and then there is some secret chamber, of which we keep the key, even from our own heart and conscience, which is not for Christ, and which mars the whole.
When the soul is knit to Christ, other things are gone. It has an object that governs it completely. He is the object, and self is gone. Do you know Christ thus?
There are babes, young men, and fathers; but all that can be said of the fathers is, “Ye have known Him that is from the beginning.” Are you running after that? Are you sufficiently dead that your one object is to know Him; not merely to be found in Him, but to know Him? It is with Him you are going to be forever. Is He not perfect? It is no human knowledge to know Him, but divine teaching. The human mind produces heresies—the humble heart feeds on Him, and that is what will make you happy in heaven. It is what is hidden in the heart that tests.
Christ must be at the bottom, or you are not a, Christian at all; and at the top may be a blameless walk; but a great deal may come in between the two—the news of the day, the tittle-tattle of life, showing that Christ has not His due place—the heart is the highway of the things of the world. What a difference between that, and my knowing Him and the power of His resurrection! That is what takes me clean out of the world. The prize of the high calling is the calling above.
My object is out of the world, and my life is characterized by the object I am following after. Every life is characterized by some object, and Christ should characterize our lives. We are called to glory and virtue. These two can never be separated. Glory is the thing to be attained.; virtue the courage to attain it.
I am predestinated to be conformed to the image of God’s Son. I am going to be like Christ in glory therefore the heart rims after Him.
How far in spirit have I seen the Second Man, the Lord from heaven? Just in so far as I have, is the first Adam condemned. The Second Adam is set up before God. I am before Him, like Him, to own Him here. This gives earnest energy to the heart. I have seen Christ, and my heart cannot part with Him. I mind not earthly things, but “this one thing I do.” When we see Christ, we shall know that all else is vanity, but we ought to know it now.
Are your hearts with Christ? Are you identified with His interests? Do you work from Christ, and for Him? Is He your starting point? Is He the one who possesses you? Are you looking for Him as men who wait for their Lord? The Lord give us to know what it is to have a Christ in glory, and so to have our hearts in the glory!