The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1896-04-22
THE LIFE OF JOSEPH.
REV. DR.. TALMAeE SHOWS IT TO BE
FulL OF PRACTICAL LESSONS.


It Illustrates the Fact That Aou eah"''
pss, - Good Nan Down and That the
vo-,d l. Compelled to Honor Christian
Character.
WASHINGTON, April 12.-The sermon
of Rev. DR.. Talmage today is full OF
stirring and practical lessons for all.
Washington has many men who, like
the hero Of the texts, started from al
most nothing and rose to high place.
The texts chosen were: Genesis xXxvii.
IS. ssThey drew and lifted up Joseph
out of the pit and sold Joseph to the
Ishmaelites for 20 pieces of silver"
Genesis xiv, 26, ''He is governor over
all the land Of Egypt"
You cannot keep good man down.
God has decreed for him certain point
of elevation. He will bring him to
that though it cost him thousand
worlds. You sometimes find men fear
full that they will not be properly a,p-
preciated. Every man comes TO De
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 tna1
YOU were not all familiar with the lie
of Joseph-how his Jealous brothers
threw MIN into pit. but seeing cara
van of Arabian merchants truoglng
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, a man
of influence and Office; how by JOS
eph's integrity he raised himself to
high position in the realm until, unGer
the false charge of a vile wretch. he
,-ss hurled into the penitentiary; how
in prison ne 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 q magnificent storehouse which
he had filed during the 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 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
and kindness, the only revenge he
took.
You see, in the first place, that the
world IS compelled to honor Christian
character. Potiphar 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 withheld. When
Joseph was in prison he soon won the
heart of the keeper, and, though placed
there for being a scoundrel, he soon
convinced the jailer that he was an
innocent and trustworthy man, and,
released from close confinement, he
became general superintendent OF prls-
on affairs. Wherever joseph was
placed, whether servant IN the house
of Potiphar or prisoner IN the penl-
Tertiary, he became the first man every
where and is an illustration OF the
truth lay down-that the world is
compelled to honor Christian charac-
ter. There are those who affect to des-
pise 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. Bnt all this is
hypocrisy. There is a great
deal of hypocrisy in the church, and
there is a great deal Of hypocrisy out
side the church. It is impossible for
any man not to admire and conhde IN
a aman who shows that he has really be-
come child OF God and is what he
processes to be. You cannot desplse a
son of the Lord God Almighty. OF
course we have no admiration for the
sham of religion.
Twas at place few hours after the
rufans had gone into the rail train and
demanded that the passengers throw
up their arms, and then these rutlans
took the pocketbooks, and satan comes
and suggests to man that he throw
up his arms in hvpocritical prayer and
pretension, and then steals his soul.
For the mere pretension Of religion
we have adherence. 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 heart for God and half a 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 1t.
Though that man be far beneath you
in estate as the Egyptian slave of whom
we are dIscourslng 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 fear
nothing but sin" Such 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.
eminent. I doubt not they would
willingly have yielded their Office and
dignity for thousandth part Of thai
true heroism which Deamed in the eye
and beat in the heart of that uncon-
querable apostle. Paul did not cover
before Felix. Felix covered before