The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1896-04-24
REV. DIR. TALMAGE.
rHE NOTED DIvINM's sUNDAg
DISCOURSE
Subjects Practical Lessons From the
Life Of Joseph.


land Of Egypt "-GenesIa xiv, &C.
You cannot keep a good man down. God
has docreed for him a certain point Of eleva-
ton. Ho will bring him % that though It
cost Him a thousand worlds. You sometimes
ind men fearful they win not be properly
appreciated Every man comes 90 be valued
az just what be Is worth. You cannot write
him mp. and you cannot write him down.
These facts are powerfully illustrated On my
subject IL would be an insult 20 suppose
that you were not all familiar with tho life OF
Josoph-hOw his Jealous brothers threw him
into pit, but seeing a caravan Of Arabian
merchants lrudging along on their camels,
with spices and gums that loaded the air
with aroma, sold their brother 20 these mer-
chants. who carried him down into Egypt
Joseph there sold 70 Polphar, a man Of IN
huence and office; how by Ioseph's integ-
rIty he raised himself 10 high position In the
realm until, under the false charge Of a vile
wretch, he was hurled into the penitentiarY;
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 magnificent store
house, 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. 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, 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 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 seoundrel, he soon convinced the
iailer that he was an innocent and trust
worthy man, and released from close con-
inement he became general superintendent
OF prison affairs. Wherever Joseph was
placed. whether a servant in the house OF
Potiphar, or a prisoner la the penitentary
he became the first man everywhere, ana Is
an illustration Of the truth / 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 phlebOt0my by which the man
Is bled Of all his courage aud 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 any man not TO admire
and conade In a man who shows that no 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 admiration for thesha Of religion.
I az efnnn a. Ia hpvru off Ha ,sfVf
| fans had gone into the rail train and de-
! manded that the passengers throw up their
1 arms, and then these rufilans took the pocket
! books, and satan comes and suggests to a
! man that he throw up his arms in hypocrit-
/ ical prayer and pretension, and 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 heart for the wOrld-and il
is a dead failure, and it 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 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 as far beneath you in estate as
the Egyptian slave Of whom we are dis
coursing was beneath his rulers, by an ire
vocable law of your nature Potiphar anC
| Pharaoh will always esteem Joseph.
When Eudoxia, the empress, threatened
Chrysostom with death, he made the reply
"Tell the empress l fear nothing but sin.
Such a scene as that compels the admiration
OF the world. There was something ii
Agrippa and Felix which demanded their re
spect for Paul, the rebel against government
doubt not they would willingly have yield
ed their office and dignity for a thousandtl
part of that true heroism which beamed il
the eve and beat in the heart Of that uncon
querable apostle. Paul did not cover befor
Felix; Felix covered before Paul. The inf
del and wording are compelled to honor il
their hearts, although they may not eulogiz
with their lips, a Christian firm In persecu
tion, cheerful in poverty, trustful in losses
triumphant in death. ] find Christian mel
in all professions and occupations, and flnt
them respected and honored and successful
John Frederick Oberlin alternating ignorane
and distress; Howard passing from dungeon
to lazaretto with healing for the bod
and soul; Elizabeth Fry going to the profit
gaey Of NeWgate prison to shake its obduT
aey as the angel came to the prison a
Philippi, driving open the doors and snap
ping loose the chain, as we'll as the lives o
thousands of followers of Jesus who hav
devoted themselves to the temporal an
spiritual welfare Of the race are monument
Of the Christian religion that shall no
crumble while the world lasts A man SAT-
to me in the cars; "What is religion2 Judg
ing from the character Of many professors q
religion do not admire religion" / said
''NoW, suppose we went to an artist in tn
city of Rome, and while in his gallery aske,
him, What is the art OF painting?' Woul
he take US out in low alley and show US
mere daub Of a pretender at paintings, 0
would he take us down into the corridor
and show us the Rubens, and the Raphaels
and the Michael Angelos2 When we aske
him, What is the art OF painting2' he woul
point to the works of these great master
and say, That is painting Now, you pre-
pose to find the mere caricature 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 wome
whom this gospel has blessed and lifted an
crowned. Look at the masterpieces of divin
grace II you want to know what religion is
We learn also from this story OF JOSEPH
that the result OF persecution is elevation