The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1896-04-24

the text;
They drew SD lifted up Joseph out Of the
Bit eH1 sold Joseph TO the Ishmaelites for
twenty pieces OF silver.-Genesis xxxvi, a.
lie IL governor over all the land * Egspti-
Genesis xiv. &C.
You can not keep a good man down.
God haA actreed for him a certain
point Of elevation, He win RriAe him
to that though 4 SoGt Him thousand
Worlds. You sometimes find men fear
ful they will not be properly aPpre.
ciated. Every man comes 20 be valued
at just what he IL wertk. Yea can not
write him APP and you can not write
him down. These facts. are powerfully
illustrated by my subleet II would
be an irshlt 70 suppose that you were
hOt all familiar with the life of Joseph.
How his jealous brothers threw him
into pit, but, seeing a caravan Of
Arabian merchants tradRing along on
their cRmsls, with spices and gums
that loaded the air with aroma, sold
their brother to these merchants, who
carried him down into Egypt;
Joseph was there sold 60 Ptti.
phar, a man Of influence and Office.
How by Joseph's integrity ne raised
himself to high position in the feaim,
until under the false charge of vile
wretch he was hurled into the peni-
tentiary. How in prison he command
ed respect and confidence. How by
the Interpretation of Pharaoh's dream
he was freed and became the chief
man in the realm, the Bismarck OF his
century. How in the time of famine
Joseph had the control of q magnificent
BtorehoGse 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, APP
piled for corn. he sent them home with
the beasts of burden borne down Under
the heft 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 for
giveness and kindness-the only re-
venge he took.
You see, In the first place, that the
world Is compelled 10 honor Christian
character. Potiphar was only man
of the world. yet Joseph rose in his es-
timatIon until all the affairs of that
T.
charge. From his Servant no honor
or confidence was withheld. When Jo-
seph was in prison he soon won the
heart of the keeper, and though placed
there for being n scoundrel, he soon
convinced the jailer that he was an in
nocent and trustworthy man, and re-
leased from close confinement he be-
came general superintendent of prison
affairs. Wherever Joseph was placed,
whether a servant in the house of Poti-
phar, or a prisoner in the penitentiary,
he became the first man everywhere,
and is an illustration of the truth
compelled to honor Caristian char
acter. There are those who
affect to despise a religious life. They
speak of it as a system of phlebotomy
by which man is bled of all his courage
and nobility. They say he has be-
meaned himself. They pretend to
have no more confidence in him since
his conversion than before his CONVEX
sion. But all this is hypocrisy. There
is a great deal of hypocrisy in the
church, and there is a great deal of
hypocrisy outside the church. 1t is
impossible for any man not to admire
and confide in man who shows that
he has really become a child of God,
and is what he processes to be. You
can not despise a son of the Lord God
OF course we have no adj
miration for the sham of religion.
was at place a few hours after
the ruffians had gone into the rail
train and demanded that the passen-
gers throw up their arms, and then
these ruffians took the pocket-bool1s;
and Satan comes and suggests to a
man that he throw up his arms in hyp-
ocritical prayer and pretension, and
then steals his soul. For the mere pre-
tension of religion we have abhor-
renee. Redwald, the king, after bap-
tism, had an altar of Christian sacri
fee and an altar for sacrifice to devils;
and there are many men now attempt
ing the same thing-half heart for
God and half heart for the world
and it is dead failure, and it is a car
feature of religion, and the only sue
ccssful assault ever made on Chris
tianity is the inconsistency of its
professors. You may have q con-
tempt 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 can not help
1t. Though that man be as far be-
meath you in estate as the Egyptian
slave of whom we are discoursing was
beneath his rulers, by an irrevocable
law of your nature, Potiphar and
Pharoh will always esteem Joseph.
When Eudoxia, the empress, threat
eDed Chrysostom with death, he made
the reply; Tell the empress 1
fear nothing but sin" Such
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. ] doubt not they would
willingly have yielded their Office and
dignity for a thouSandth part of
that true heroism which beamed in the
eve and beat in the heart of that I'M
apostle. Paul did not
cover before Felix; Felix covered be-
fore Paul. The infidel and wording
are compelled to honor in their heart,
they may not eulogize with
their lips, a Christian firm in persecu-
ton, cheerful in poverty, trustful in
losses. triumphant in death.
/ find Christian men in all profess
sions and occupations, and find them
and honored and successful.
John Frederick Oberlin alleviatIng
ignorance and distress; Howard pass
ing from dungeon to lazoretto with
healing for the body and soul: Eliza