The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1896-04-22
THE il ! J ]. LIFE / OF Oh JOSEPH.
REV. !. DR.. TALMAaE SHOWS 1T TO De
FULL OF; PRACTICAL. LEssoNs.


ULL OF PRACTICAL. LESSoNs.
~ Illustrates tho Fsot That You Cannot
Koep a Good Man Down and That the
sss, World Is Compelled to Honor Christian
Oharaoter. .s'.s
S5Sg Sig WASHINGTON, April IL. The sermon
Of Rev. DR.. Talmage today Is full ol
stirring and practical lessons for all,
Washington has many mon who, like
the hero Of the texts, started from al
most nothing and ross to high place
The texts chosen were Genesis xxxvii,
%, "They drew and lifted up Joseph
out Of the pit and sold Joseph to the
Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver
Genesis xiv, 20, He is governor over
all the land of Egypt"
You cannot keep a good man down.
God has decreed for him certain point
OF elevation. lie will bring him to
that though it cost him q thousand
worlds. You sometimes hnd men fear
full that they will not be properly a;p-
preciated. 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.
( It would be an insult to suppose that
you were not all familiar with the life
Of Joseph how his jealous brothers
threw him into pit, but seeing a cara
van 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 Potiphar, q man
of influence and Office; how by JOS
eph's integrity he raised himself to
high position in the realm until, under
the false charge of vile wretch, he
was hurled into the ponitentiary how
in prison he commanded 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 con-
troll of o magnificent storehouse which
he had filed during the seven years
of plenty; how when his brothers,
who had thrown him into tho pit and
sold him into captivity, applied for
corn he sent them homo with the beast
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 re-
turned by that brothers forgiveness
end kindness, the only revenge he
took.
You see, in the first place, that the
world is compelled to honor Christian
character. Potiphar was only 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 withheld. When
Joseph was in prison he soon won the
heart of the keeper, and, though placed
there for being scOnndrel, he soon
convinced the jailer that he was an
innocent and Trustworthy man, md,
released from close confinement, lie
became general superintendent of pris-
on affairs. Wherever Joseph was
placed, whether q servant in the house
of Potiphar or prisoner in the peni-
tentiary, he became the first man every
where and is an illustration of the
truth I lay down.-that the world is
compelled to honor Christian charac-
ter. There are those who affect to dos
pise a religious life. They speak of it
as q 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. Bnt all this is
hypocrisy. There is great
deal Of hypocrisy in the church, and
there is q great deal Of hypocrisy out
side the Z church. II IS impossible for
any man not to admire and confide in
man who shows that he has really be-
come q child of God and is what he
processes to bo. You cannot despise a
son of the Lord God Almighty. OF
course we have no admiration for the
sham of religion.
| was at place q few hours after tho
rutllans had gone into the rail train and
demanded that the passengers throw
up their arms, and then these ruffians
took the pocketbooks, and satan comes
and suggests to q man that he throw
up his arms IN hypocritical prayer and
pretension, and then steals his soul.
For the mere pretension of religion
we have abhorrence. Redwald, the
king, after baptism, had an altar Of
Christian sacrifice and an altar for
sacrifice to devils. and there are many
men now attempting the same thing
half q 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 Christianity is the Inconsistency of
its professors. You may have a 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 cannot help it.
Though that man be far beneath 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 Pharaoh will al.
ways esteem Joseph.
+ When Eudoxia, the empress, threat
ened Chrysostom with death, he made
the reply, "Tell the empress I fear
but SIM" Such a scene as
that compels the admiration of the
world. There was something in Agrip-
pa and Felix which demanded their
respect for Paul, the rebel against gov.
ernment. doubt not they would
willingly have yielded their Office and
dignity for thousandth part Of that
true heroism which peamed in the eye
and beat in the heart of that unccn-
querable apostle. Paul did not COW,
before Felix. Felix covered beforc
Paul. The infidel and wording are
compelled to honor in their hearts, al