The Penn's Grove record., 1896-04-17
RET. DR.. TRLEaGi.
The Eminent Divine's Sunday
Sermon.
SUBJECT: practical Iestons From the
Life of Joseph"

TExrs: ''They drew and lifted up Joseph
Of the pit and sold Joseph to the lshmael'
ties for twenty pieces of silver.
xxxvii., IS. "He is governor over alLths
land of Egypt."-Genesis XIV, 26.
You cannot keep a good man down. uod
has deereed for him a certain point OF eieva-
ton. He will bring him to that though 1t
cost Him a thousand worlds. You sometimes
find men fearful they will not be properly
appreciated. Every man comes to be valued
ut 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 we're 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 cameh
with spices and gums that oaded the an
with aroma, sold their brother to these mer-
chants, who carried him down into Egypt;
Joseph there sold to Potiphar, a man OF In
fluence and office; how by Joseph's integ-
rity Ne raised himself to high position in the
realm until, under the false charge of a vile
wretch, he was hurled into the penitentiarv;
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 JOS
eph had the control OF a magnificent store
house, which he had filed 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 burden borne down
under the heft OF the corn sacks; how the
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 too
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 hat great house were COM
mitted 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 trust
worthy man, and released from close con-
finement he became general superintendent
OF prison affairs. Wherever Joseph was
placed, whether u servant in the house OF
Potiphar, or a prisoner In the penitentiary,
he became the first man everywhere, AMI Is
an illustration OF the truth I lay down, that
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 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 n man not to admire
and conf1de 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 tie Lord God Almighty. OF course we
80 ol,of.NIo- R1-4ha n a - rallnsno
l was at a place a few hours after the ruff
fans had gone into the rail train n de-
manded that the passengers throw up their
arms, and then these ruffianst took the pocket
books, and satan comes and suggests to d
man that he throw up his rms In hypocrit.
ical prayer and pretension, n then steals
his soul. For the mere pretension Of relig-
ion we have adherence. Redwald, the
king, after baptism, had an altar of Chris
tian sacrifice and an altar for sacrifice to
devils, and there are many men now at
tempting the same thing-half a heart for
God and half a heart for the world-and 1t
is a dead failure, and 1t is a caricature of re-
ligion, and the only successful assault ever
made on Christianity Is the Inconsistency of
its professors. You may have a contempt for
pretension to religion, but when you behold
the life Of n 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 as far beneath you In estate as
the Egyptian slave of whom we are dis
coursing was beneath his rulers, by an ire
yocable law Of your nature, Potiphar and
Pharaoh will always esteem Joseph.
When Eudoxia, the empress, threatened
Chrysostom with death. he made the reply,
''Tsll the empress I fear nothing but sin"
such a scene as that compels the admiration
OF the world. There was something In
Agrippa and Felix which demanded their re-
spect FOR Paul, the rebel against government.
1 doubt not they would willingly lave Yield
ed their office and dignity for a thousandth
part of that true heroism which beamed In
the eye and beat in the heart of that uncon-
querable apostle. Paul did not cover before
Felix; Felix covered before Paul. The inf
del and wording are compelled to honor in
their hearts, although 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 professions and occupations. n 1 find
them respected n honored and successful.
John Frederick Oberlin alleviatlng ignorance
and distress; Howard passing from dungeon
to lazaretto with healing for the body
and soul; Elizabeth Fry going to the prohi-
gacy of Newgate prison to shake its obdur-
Acy as the angel came to the prison at
Philippi, driving open the doors and snap
ping 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 that shall not
crumble while the world lasts. A man said
to me in the cars: "What Is religion? Judg-
ing from the character of many professors OF
religion I do not admire religion" / said,
''Now, suppose we went to an artist in the
city OF Rome, and while In his gallery asked
him, What is the art Of painting?' Would
he take us out In a low alley n show us a
mere daub Of a pretender at paintings, or
would he take us down into the corridors
and show US the Rubens, and the Raphaels,
and the Michael Angelos2 When we asked
him, What is the art OF ~painting2' he would
point to the works Of these great masters
and say, That is painting Now, you pro-
pose to find the mere c~aricature Of religion,
to seek after that which is the mere preten-
sion Of a holy life, and you call that religion.
] point you to the splendid men and women
whom this gospel has blessed and lifted and
crowned. Look at the masterpieces of divine
grace II you van to know what religion is. -
We learn also from this story of Joseph
that the result OF persecution Is elevation.
Had 1t not been for his being sold into Egypt
ian bondage by his malicious brothers IA
his false imprisonment Joseph never would
have become a governor. Everybody accepts
Tue pEOullooa ol05oou uE6 ludl tuhL hEb DtK-
secuted for righteousness sake, for theirs Is
the kingdom Of heaven" but they do not
realizethe fact that this principle applies to
worldly as well as spiritual success, 1t Is
rue in all departments. Men rise to high
oficial positions through Misrepresentation.
Public abuse Is all that some OF our public
men have had 10 rely upon for their eleva-
tion. 1t has brought to them what talent
and executive force could not have achieved.
Many of those who are making great effort
for place and power will never succeed just
because they are not OF enough importance
TO be abused. 1t is the nature of men-that
Is OF all generous and reasonable men-to
gather about those who are prosecuted and
defend them, and they are apt TO forget the
fault Of those who are the subjects of attack
while attempting TO drive back the SANDER
era. Persecution ts elevation. Helen Btirk,
the Scotch martyr, standing with her hus-
band at the place OF execution, said: Illus
band. let US rejoice to-day. We have lived
together many happy years. Thisis the hap
piest time OF all our life. You see We are to
be happy together forever. Be brave now,
be brave. I will not say Good night to you.
for we shall soon be In the kingdom OF our
Father together" Persecution shows the
heroes and heroines. l 40 into another de-
pertment, and l ind that those great de-
Nominations OF Christians which a " been
most abused have Anread the most rapidly.