The St. Louis Republic., 1900-12-03
ALL THINGS CAN BE
DONE THROUGH CHRIST.

The Reverend r. e. Carleton. pastor ~
Lafayette Park Baptist Church. preached
| yesterday morning ou the topic AN Over
! coming Life" from the text: Phil iv Il.
| Il can do all things through Christ which
| strengthened me. lie said in part: There
Is an eNultant ring about this text. in uni
{ SUu with the Keynote Of the book IL
| sounds like the triumphant song OF a hero
| after victory. and Yet il comes from a
| prisoner in chains. awaiting trial by his
| enemies
| 1t il the mastery OF mini oyer matter,
| OF soul over body. PaurS body was in
PRISON, but ms soul WAS unclaimed and the
shadow of gloom ,iid not obscure his spirit
Ial sky Let lIS see how he overcome< his
circumstances or Is superior to his environ
I ment. Joy is the Icy word, citizenship in
heaven the inspiring thought and ne right
iui appropriation Of divine power the ef-
f'ctiVc means or working force Of his royal
lie. II Is not true that We are the children
II our Circumst tnccS. and II is lar from
true when we leave out of consideration our
spiritual forces and cur spiritual environ
ncHt.
Sea weed and drift wood are at the mer-
cy of ihe waves; but TN" ocean liner plowS
through the billows and pursues the even
tenor of her Way mistress Of wave and cur
rent. wind and storm, because of the domi-
nant steam chest and the unseen helm. 50
the ruling fore. "t fauI'S life WAS not Ro-
man law. nor Hebrew ritual. hut heavenly
"innipnt"rcc in chiist. unseen, but real and
operative.
1T took the sting and humiliation out If
his imprisonment "ui made him Tn. freeSt
man in Rnfn". 1t took the Smdr; and shame
out of his stripes a,nd enabled him to glory
IN trIbulation. Ills spirit was in easy ac
cess t" the riches of the Christ life, and
therefor" he could he content with --ny
earthly lot. l; was Of little Importance
what the body had OF lacked. while the
soul held the key to heavens spiritual
storchruSe.
With the suficiency of .Christ's grace
he could be happy even with the thorn in
the ricsh. The dark. damp Phillppian jaii,
with Threatening danger could not suppress
the songs OF praise al midnight. The Lord
Eiveth songs in the night Paul SAID,
when ] am weak then am | strong Tor
Christ had sail my strength Is made per-
feet in weakness. oh. blessed possibility.
experienced 10y the apostle. 10 he JOYFUL IN
misery. To he free in prison, to he stron:
IN weakness. 10 be master in bondage, to
be rich in poverty, To make good and ill
alike ContriDut" To the accomplishment of
his purpuse. ,;od is i'll touch with his peo-
pie. and heavenly supplies abound Tor the
needs of earth. fdith can see more in the
hand of God to help. than in all the hands
Of earth to hinder
This ability to do. by the strengthening
hand Of Christ. carries with it the power 10
endure. so that the fires of aifliCtion and
jrlJl consume only the dro<s. the Baby
loucan furnace burned only the bonds of
the Hebrew children, As our day. oar
strength shall be. \ father was moving his
library upstairs. His little sou. wishing to
help him. started with the dictionary. but
could go no farther than tho foot of the
stairs.
The father took him aud the book in his
arms. Carried them 10 the room above and
he'red the littl" helper To place the heavy
book in position 50 heaven sees what We
would do and makes the I VIII L can
This il NOT fanciful. but real not a toy
boat for children to sail in Il tub but 4
soafarinG vessel that VIII weather the fisrc-
est storm ON the voyage OF lif.. Iiuw lS
II that it seems fancful to the world and
real To the child of God? This is th, pxpii-
of
environment controls the worldly
man. body aud soul: while the heavenly
nr spiritual, environment controls the ChIiS-
tian, soul and body. Not I'm tll,. sens. of
making him its servant. but in serving him
s" efficiently as To make him mrster in
my emergency Paul says 1t is not MY life
but tn" Christ life in mo. identified with
nlnc and made a part of me that makes
u" victorious Is IL natural. then or SUI
1ern5tCral? To one who sees only with
'arEal eyes, II is supernatural: hut to on, .
whose eyes have been opened to spiritual
hinEs. II IS perfectly natural and normal ,
iiSt as the skilled artisan can easily tIn |
WITH steam and electricity what seems SUI
'erhuman and miraculous To- the uututuT-d !
avaSc. IL Is an omen secret that heaycu ,
tands ready to charge every Christians Z
lie with this prevailing power. Faith is the !
phn'ctlnS WIG. 80 that II Is not Dresi,rllD- /
ION, nut Il h'rthTi@ht, for you and me my
,r"ther TO say ! can do all things through |
hrlNt thdt strengthened me-