Arkansas State press. [volume] (Little Rock, Ark.) 1941-1959, 1950-12-15

reminding you OF q
drug store. What
you do find. over ~
and over again. Is
the idea that this
LIE. for the Chris Dr. Foremsr
ian. Il q fight. a race, a gruelini
test run. What Christianity offeri
(among other things) Is power:
power to run the race. to stand the
test to win the fight.
Paul Knew How II Was
THE Christian life Is a fight
. but not losing fight. Countless
Christians have proved 1t by living
It. We can pass up the number one
example. Jesus himself, because
some people might say that he had
access to some source Of power
that ordinary men do not have.
Lo0k, II you please. at Paul
ef Tarsus. There was . man
who looked trouble In the eye
many . day. In fact, there new.
er was . single day when troub-
Lea left him free and easy.
! Whatever we may say about
Jesus. Paul certainly had no special
pipeline to heaven" which any 9th.
Or Christian might not have. Yet he
lived, so to speak. on top Of his
troubles. not down under them.
Even now. centuries later, Paurs
struggles are still an asset for
every Christian; each one Of us
can say. We'll. II Paul made II.
] can"
On Many Fronts
1T the end Of Pauls life he wrote
- those famous words. II have
fought q good fight" Our Scripture
brings that statement down to cases.
What was Pauls fighti
To his Corinthian friends he
losses off q rather hair-raising list
Of adventures. disasters and calam-
tiles through which he had passed.
We don't need details. Just to name
them is enough: famine. robbers.
beatings. jail sentences, riots, three
different shipwrecks What Q
lifei But Paul rode these things;
they did not ride him.
Or again. there was his
''thorn In the flesh" Nobody
knows certainly what that was;
bat Il was no doubt some kind
Of physical ailment or pain,
and II did not 20 away. Pain In
often far harder 10 stand than
some exciting experience like
. shipwrcck. In the face Of
palm such as Paul suffered. one
cannot fight back. All one can
do Is TO take II. Yet Paul lived
through this. too. II was part
Of his good fight"
To the Philippians. again. he re
ports another sort OF victory. though
he makes no boast about II. II,
had conquered his bese,ting sin o
conceit and pride Paul was by M
means a naturally humble man
Yet when a man can write as h,
does In Phil. 34-il. II Is plain tina
ne had crushed pride down and out
Perhaps Paul. like many anothe
man. had found that his worst en-
envy was himself. his worse self
In the second letter to Timothy
written at the end Of his life, h,
tells OF still other kinds Of thing
tina, cost him a s,ruggle--frlend
abandoning him. trial that wen
against him. Yet these too he hat
not simply endured bu. conquered
Available Victory
TWO thoughts come 10 US from al
! OF this.
One is. that Il takes a fight Z
make a man. That Is to say II Pau
had had a perfectly easy life. h
would never have been the gram
character we know For him. an
for many Christian since. re
verses. disappointments, sufferin
and pain. tragedy. sorrow and mi:
takes will contribute 10 creativ
spiritual experiences II these ar
met in the Christian way.
And that leads TO the other
thought: The Christian way 10
pSwer, the Christian secret II
living q winning life every day.
n today exactly the same ~
what Paul said II was: the
strength Of God. made per-
feet In weakness. The Chris
tlsn never becomes God; but
Gods grace and power can live
n the Christian.
II Is not the Christian who live
the victorious life. after all; left !
ourselves we should bog down. Bu
God be thanked. he does no. leav
~ TO ourselvesi II Is not we VIII
win. but He In us This does no
excuse Us from the fight; God live
not In the lazy but In the loyal
tcep,risht b, the in,ssnstisnsi Ccss
sSI III WsIisises Edaeaticn On behalf 4