The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1896-04-18
THEIR TRUE WORTH.
All Men Come to Be Valued for
Just That Amount.
Rev. t. Dewitt Talmage Tells How Man
May BE Lifted Up Out of the Pit and
Secure n Place Next to the
Throne on High.

In a recent sermon at Washington
Rev. T. De Witt Talmage preached on
christian Character" The K
chosen were from Gen. 37:2s: They
drew and lifted up Joseph out OF the
pit and sold Joseph to the lshmaelites
for 90 pieces of silver" Gen. 1928:
He is governor over all h land OF
Egypt" DIR. Talmags said:
You cannot keep a good man down.
God has decreed for him a certain
point of elevation. lie will bring him
to that though it cost Him a thousand
worlds. You sometimes find men fear
full they will not be properly appreci-
ated. 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. Itwould 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~a caravan of
Arabian merchants trudging along on
their camels, with spices and gums
hat loaded the air with aroma, sold
their brother to these merchants, who
carried him down into Egypt; Joseph
was there sold to Potiphar. q man of
influence and office. How by
Joseph's integrity he raised him
self to a high position in the
realm, until under the false charge OF
a vile wretch he was hurled into he
penitentiary. How in prison he COM
manded respect and confidence. o
by the Interpretation of Pharaoh's
dream he was reed and became the
chief man in the realm, the Bismarck
of his century. How in b time Of
famine Joseph q control of q mag
nihoent storehouss, 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 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 re-
turned by that brothers forgiveness
and kindness-ths only revenge he
took.
You see, in the first place, that the
world il compelled to honor Christian
character. Potiphar was only a man
of the world, yet Joseph rose in his
GSLlIudJlOu uuLl1 j INC "a SA6b
great house were committed to his
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 q 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 q servant in the house of Poti-
phar, or a prisoner in the peniten-
tiary, he became the first man
everywhere, and is an illustration
world is compelled to honor Christian
character. There are those who
affect to despise a religious life. They
speak of 1t 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 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 Of the church. 1t Is
tmPOboAOAO " ohy nan ~ 5000
and confde in a man who shows that
he has really become a child of God,
and is what he processes to be. You
cannot despise a son Of the Lord God
Almighty. OF course we have no d
miration for the sham of religion.
was at a place a few hours after
the rufians had gone into the rail-
train and demanded hat the passen-
-. kh-4u, nm THAR orpna and than
these rufinns took the pockstbooks;
and Satan comes and suggests to a
man hat he throw up his arms In q
hypocritical prayer and pretension,
and then he 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 q
heart for God and half a heart for the
world-and IL Is q dead failure, and II
is q caricature of religion, and the only
successful assault ever made on Chris
tianity is the inconsistency of its pro-
fessors- You may have q contempt for
pretention to religion, but when you
behold the excellency Of Jesus Christ
COHQc jul III II IA "a OAS - A41 oA~
ciples, all there is good and noble in
your soul rises up into admiration, and
YOU cannot help 1t. Though that man
be as far beneath you in estate as the
Egyptian slave of whom we are dis
coursing was beneath his rulers, by an
~irrsvocable law of your nature Poti-
phar and Pharaoh will always esteem
Joseph. When Eudoxia, the empress,
threatened Chrysostom with death
he made the reply, Tell the Inn
press 1 fear nothing but sim" Such 9
scene as that compels the admiration
of the world. There vas something
in Agrippa and Felix which demand
ed their respect for Paul, the rebel
against government. 1 doubt not
thew would willingly have yielded
their Office and dignity for q thou.
sandth part OF hat true heroism
which beamed in the eye and beat in
the heart of the unconquerable apostle.
Paul did not cover before Felix; Felix
covered before Paul. The inhdel and
wording are compelled to honor in
their hearts, although they may not
eulogize with their lips. q Christian
firm in persecution, cheerful in pov-
erty, truthful in losses, triumphant In
QodLus 4 hno AAOA 40 e4
professions and occupations, and / find
them respected and honored n sue
cessful John Frederick Oberlin AL
l~eviating ignorance and distress
Howard passing from dungeon
to lazaretto with healing for the
body and soul; Elizabeth Fry
going to the prohigacy of
Newgate prison to shake its obduracy
as the angel came to the prison at
Philippi, driving open the door and
swapping loose the chain, as well as the
lives of thousands of followers of Jesus,
who have devoted themselves to the
temporal and spiritual welfare of the
race, are monuments of the Christian
religion hat shall not crumble while
the world lastA A nan said to me on
the cars: What is religion Judging
the character of many professors
of religion l do not admire religion"
l saidI Now, suppose we went to an
artist in the city of Rome and while
in his gallery asked him, What
Is tho art of painting?' would
ha tale m ont In q 10" al1au |