The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-03-09
THE FRUIT OF PERSECUTION.
DR.. Talmage Declares that II Is ImpOs4
sible to Keep Good Men Down,
And Cites the Case Of Joseph in Proof-ThG
World Must and Will Christian
Character and Conduct


teristic sermon on the subject, From Dungeon
to Palace had for its text Genesis xii Al: "And
Pharaoh said unto Joseph see, have set thee
over all the land of Egypt"
You cannot keep good man down, said DR..
Talmage God mas decreed for him a certain
point of elevation. He will bring him to that,
though it cost him a thousand worlds You
sometimes find men fearful they will not be
properly appreciated Every man comes to be
valued at just what he is worth. You cannot
write him up, and you cannot write him down,
These facts are powerfully illustrated in my
subject 1t would be an insult to suppose that
you were not all familiar with the life of Joseph
How his jealous brothers threw him into a pit
but seeing caravan of Arabian merchants
trudging along on their camels with spices and
gums that loaded the air with aroma, sold their
brother. to these merchants, who carried him
down into Egypt; Joseph there sold to Poti
phar, of influence and Office. How
by Josephs integrity he raised himself to high
position in the realm until under the false
charge of a vile wretch, he was hurled into the
penitentiary How in prison he commanded re.
spect and confidence. How by the Interpreters
ton of Pharohs dream lie was freed and became
The chief man in the realm, the Bismarck of HE
century. How in time of famine Joseph had
the control of magnificent storehouse which he
had filled during seven years of plenty. How,
when his brothers, who had thrown him into
the pit and sold him into captivity, applied for
corn he sent them home with the beasts of bur-
den borne down under the weihgt of the corn
sacks. How the sin against their brother, which
had so long been hidden, came out at last, and
was returned by that brothers forgiveness and
kindness-the only revenge he took.
CHRISTIAN CHARACTER coMPEI.s POWER.
You see, in the first place, that the world is
compelled to honor Christian character. Poti,
phar was only a man of the world yet Joseph
rose in his estimation until all the affairs of that
great house were committed to his charge From
his servant no honor or confidence was with
held When Joseph was in prison he soon won
the heart of the keeper, and though placed there
for being scoundre he soon convinced the
jailor that he was an innocent and trustworthy
man, and, released from close confinement, he be-
came general superintendent of prison affairs.
Wherever Joseph was placed, whether servant
in the house Of Potiphar or a prisoner in the
penitentiary, he became the first man every
lay downfall the world is compelled to honor
Christian character There are those who affect to
despise a religious life They speak of it as a
system of phlebotomy by which the man is bled
of all his courage and nobility They say he
has bemeaned himself They pretend to have
no more confidence in him since his conversion
than before his conversion. But all this is hy-
pocrisy. There is great deal of hypocrisy in
the church, and there is a great deal Of hypoc-
risy outside the church 1t is impossible for
any man not to admire and confide in a man
who shows that be has really become child Of
God, and is what he processes to be. You can
not despise a son of the Lord God Almighty OF
course we have no admiration for the sham of
relision--we have adherence. Redwald, the
King after his baptism, had an altar of Chris
tan sacrifice and an altar for sacrifice to devils;
and there many men attempting the
same thing-half heart for God and half
heart for the world-and it is dead failure,
and it is caricature of religion, and the only
successful assault ever made on Christ anity is
the Inconsistency of its professors. You may
have contempt for pretension to religion but
when you behold the excellency Of Jesus Christ
come out in the life of one of His disciples, all
that there'is good and noble in your soul rises
up into admiration and you cannot help it.
Though that man be as far beneath you in
estate as the Egyptian slave of whom we are
discoursine was beneath his rulers, by an ire
vocable law of your nature, Potiphar and Pha-
raoh will always esteem Joseph. When
Eudocia, the empress, threatened Chrys.
ostom with death, he made the reply,
ha mn / Int O.; y
Such a scene as that compels the admiration of
the world. There was something in Agrippa
and Felix which demanded their respect for
Paul, the rebel against government 1 doubt
not they would willingly havo yielded their of.
fce and dignity for "a thousandth part of that
true heroism which beamed in the eye and beat
in the heart of that unconquerable apostle. Paul
did not cover before Felix; Felix covered before
Paul. The infdel and wording arc compelled
to honor in their hearts, although they may not
euloeiZe with their lips a Christian firm in per-
secuton, cheerful in poverty, trustful in losses,
triumphant in death. find Christian mon in
all professions and occupations, and
find them respected, and honored,
and successful. John Frederick Oberlin. allevi-
ating ignorance and distress; Howard passing
from dungeon 10 idzaretto Win meaning Tor the
body and the SOUL Elizabeth Fry, going to the
profigacy Of Newgate prison to shake its obdur-
acy, the angel came to the prison at Phillippi,
driving open the doors and swapping loose the
chains, as we'll as the lives of thousands of follow
ers of Jesus who have devoted themselves TO the
temporal and spiritual welfare of the race, are
monuments of the Christian religion that shall
not crumble while the world lasts A man said
to me in the cars ''What is religions Judging
from the character of many professors Of re-
Heion. / do not admire religion / said:
s.Now, suppose went to an artist in
the city of Rome and while in his gallery asked
him, what is the art of paintingl' would he
take us out in a low alley, and show us a mere