Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1917-01-08
NEW SERMON SERIES
AT BAPTIST CHURCH.
Rev. DR.. sIocum breaches on Joseph,
The Triumph of Clean Living.

Il
| The Triumph of Clean Living.
| At the Sunday evening service at the
i Central Baptist church Rev. Joel B.
Slecum, y. D.. the pastor. preached the
| fret of his latest series of sermons on
Men VINO Made Good The title of the
sermon Sunday evening was Joseph,
the Triumph of Clean Living. Gen. 40:
"a. In part, Rev. DR.. Slocum spoke
| as follows:
1t is not my purpose to rehearse any
considerable portion of the long and
| fascinating story of Joseph. In con-
nection with thu topic have chosen
wish to point 20 only one incident In
that Egyptian experience as illustrative
| of the power o. clean living. 1 refer
| to the temptation of Joseph as record
| ed in the Seth chapter of Genesis.
| The wife of Joseph's master became
infatuated with Joseph and brought
/ en- him and openly approached him in
6isloyalty to. her own husband during
his absence. But Joseph remained true
t.: his manhoo1 and to his sense of
this great wickedness, and sin against
Cod"
| Then her Iustful love turned to
hatred. and making false accusation
| against him, she caused him to be
cast into prison.
| 1t is true that God overruled that
| irison experience for good, but never
| theless there was a great deal of suf-
| fering connected with it; such suffer
| ing as only an innocent man can ex-
| perience in paying the penalty for a
wrong that he did not commit but
/ rstthed was falsely charged against
b. m.
This was the turning point in the
career of Joserh. Had he not been
| true and strong in his pure minded
ness, loyal and devoted to honor. and
\! ~ Id 6e Ianx
yielded to the temptation of wicked
woman and his name would have been
trailed in the dust.
Many a man exposed to such an
unusual assault Upon his honor would
have fallen. Ore misstep that day
would have meant his own ruin and
the hindrance of Gods purposes for
generations.
But Joseph did not fall, and man
hood is stronger throughout all the
centuries because of his loyalty to
CO d and his devotion to his own in
tes. rity-
Jacob, his old father, came down at
length to his last sickness, and there
on his deathbeI under the inspiration
of exalted feeling and aided by the
spirit of God, he prophesied concern
ing his sons.
When he came to Joseph he sang:
Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful
hough by a fountain; his branches
run over the wall. The archers have
screly grieved him, and shot at him,
and prosecuted him. But his bow
abode in strength" Going on firm this
thought, Jacob gives the credit for Jo-
seph's strength to the Lord. But If
relp of one mis- liter than himself he
would have fallen in the midst of
the battle.
The conditions with respect to
temptation are Tot different in these
days from those days of Joseph's ex-
perience in Egypt. Sin is sin in what
ever age of the worlds history it
breaks forth.
But there are more forms of evil in
these days than ever before. The in
clination to liG:en to the appeals of
temptation may not have been essen
tally enlarged during the last two or
three thousand years of the worlds
history, but during the last hundred
years the variety of those appeals has
LCcome almost infinite. Consequently
there has never been a time when
there has been such demand for
clean living as now. And it is mat
ter of announcement that there was
never a time when the premium upon
character-good character-was as
high as it is today. 1t seems to me
to be matter of hopefulness that the
world has become more and more SEN
sitiVe as to all outrages against de-
cency. 1t is a wholesome sign of the
times that English society is at present
scandalized oven the disclosures that
high performances OF Lady
CornwaIlis-W These things have
always gone on, but people have not
always cared. People are beginning to
RI alize that virtue is above the price of
rubies and thai when a man loses his
honor he has nothing left even though
he may be a multimillionaire. People
are becoming aware of the fact that
when a woman loses her virtue she
might as well be buried unless she
turns at once away from her sins tow
ards the merciful Christ.
Joseph seemed to understand that
his only safety in the midst of the
temptations of that heather court
were reliance upon God and determine
ton to maintain his personal purity
at whatever cost How much depended
upon that moment; more than he could
possibly understand at that time. In
after years he could look back and
thank God that he was kept from ruin.
And the old man was so thankful that
in his death song he could say of
Joseph: His bow abode in strength"
What are the reasons why men
should lead clean lives? o, there are
thousands of req sons. But there are
three reasons that are outstanding and
that include a great many others.
First, that clean living is absolutely
Prerequisite to the largest kind of sue
cess in this world. 1t is the long road
that tests the traveller. Joseph would
have soon come to the end of his use
The men who have built great, abiding
institutions are men who have led
clean lives. Other men who have
been corrupt in high places have
sooner or later round their level. Only
rten of clean lives reach the highest
good for themselves and for others.
A second reason why clean living Is
to be desired is because of the inward
that comes from personal
purity. The conscience is on that side.
Tennyson represents the young knight
as saying: My strength is as the
strength of ten because my heart is
Iure.'' A mans battles are half fought
ii he knows he is right with God and
right with his fellow men. There is
strength in the con-
seriousness of integrity. Thrice armed
Is he who feels his cause is just.
In the third place. clean living is
desirable because it is pleasing to God
and is absolutely prerequisite to any
approach to the presence of God. The
E'salnist inquired as to who might
stand in Gods holy place or on His
holy hill and his answer to his own
question was: He that hath clean