knowledge of peace with God, as well as the peace of God. Paul wasn’t a stoic. He wasn’t claiming to be suf ficient apart from God. He didn’t imply that he had any mental or moral vigor of his own. This sug gests oneness between the believer and his Lord. It means both union and communion. Have we triumphed in Christ’s presence and power? Christ is stand ing right by you, enabling you to do all things, surmounting all obstacles, and conquering all foes. He makes us independent of circumstances, en abling us to achieve the ideal Chris tian life. This is not in our own power or strength, but in His. Paul wasn’t implying that he no longer sinned. He could find himself leaving undone the good he wanted to achieve, doing instead the evil that he wanted no part of. Living within him was Jesus Christ. No longer was it a hopeless struggle (Gal. 2:20). While temptation may be most severe, Christ gives us strength to think as we should and live as we ought. We can never de feat the evil one by ourselves. As we get to our knees, however, we can do all things in the power of Christ who strengthens us. God can smash a mountain with a worm if He can just get the wiggle out of the worm. When God shuts a door, He may be pleased to open a window. Write injuries in dust, but kindnesses in marble. What we entrust to God remains; what we claim to ourselves perishes. Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God. If for you God has appointed special trials, be sure that for you He has appointed a special place.
preached. They’ll either come to Christ or turn away from Him.
C hapter N ine T oday in our study, we want to consider a familiar verse, Philip- pians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me.” Paul is literally telling us that through Christ he’s able to do all the things the Lord would desire. This wonderful Saviour is able to bring us spiritual, moral, and even physical strength. Paul found that, in union with Christ, he had all the strength he needed to live a victori ous existence. He wasn’t talking about the spectacular or the unrea sonable. Paul wasn’t guilty of arro gance. Here is the secret of Paul’s great life. It was in union with Christ that caused him to triumph in his Christian experience. Too many erroneously feel that, given the right set of conditions, we could be good Christians. Paul learned by experi ence that conditions mustn’t conquer us when we are really one with Christ. Paul said, “I’m able to live a life for Christ, which is independent of the circumstances life brings upon me.” What was within him wasn’t determined by what was around him. When things went wrong, they didn’t break his spirit. He had a special source of strength. Things didn’t turn his head. He had all the Chris tian graces of humility and grati tude. No matter how things went around him, he was able to live the triumphant C h r i s t i a n life. He learned that whatsoever condition he was in he could be content. He wasn’t affected by either material prosperi ty or the adversities of life. His happiness didn’t depend upon exter nal things of life. He needed only the assurance of the presence of God. What made Paul such a victor over his circumstances? It was an inner 22
Made with FlippingBook HTML5