From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part three of a series of selections from chapter three of
Profiting From the Word by Arthur W. Pink

Edited by Dr. Paul M. Elliott, President, TeachingTheWord Ministries

The more Christ is becoming a living reality to you, the more you are profiting from the Word.

In the last article in this series, Arthur W. Pink asked readers the question, "Is your study of the Scriptures increasing your comprehension of your need of Jesus Christ?" In the next section of Profiting From the Word, Pink turns to the matter of the reality of Christ. For many believers He is but a dim figure, or they carry a mental image of the characterizations of Christ in religious art. It is a far different matter, says Pink, for the true believer to have personal dealings with the genuine Christ of Scripture:

An individual is profited from the Scriptures when they make Christ more real to him. The great mass of the Israelitish nation saw nothing more than the outward shell in the rites and ceremonies which God gave them, but a regenerated remnant were privileged to behold Christ Himself. 'Abraham rejoiced to see my day' said Christ (John 8:56). Moses esteemed 'the reproach of Christ' greater riches than the treasures of Egypt (Hebrews 11:26).

So it is in Christendom. To the multitudes Christ is but a name, or at most a historical character. They have no personal dealings with Him, enjoy no spiritual communion with Him. Should they hear one speak in rapture of His excellency they regard him as an enthusiast or a fanatic. To them Christ is unreal, vague, and intangible. But with the real Christian it is far otherwise. The language of his heart is,

I have heard the voice of Jesus,
Tell me not of aught beside;
I have seen the face of Jesus,
And my soul is satisfied.

Yet such a blissful sight is not the consistent and unvarying experience of the saints. Just as clouds come in between the sun and the earth, so failures in our walk interrupt our communion with Christ and serve to hide from us the light of His countenance. 'He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him' (John 14:21).

Yes, it is the one who by grace is treading the path of obedience to whom the Lord Jesus grants manifestations of Himself. And the more frequent and prolonged these manifestations are, the more real He becomes to the soul, until we are able to say with Job, 'I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee' (42:5). Thus the more Christ is becoming a living reality to me, the more I am profiting from the Word.

Christian, is this your quest as a believer? -

...till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head - Christ - from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:13-16)

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ. (Philippians 3:8)

And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. (John 17:3)

Next: Are You Learning More About Christ's Perfections?

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