THE REV. DR. TALMAGE.
rilK !S!iOOKLN DIVINE'S SUNDAY
. , i , j
Text: -"And Pharaoh said unto Joseph:
See. I hare set thee oner all the land of EauoL"
Jeiiesi xli, 4L '. '
You cannot keep a good man down. Ood
ha3 decreed for him a certain elevation to
which' he must attain. He will bring him1
through though it . cost Him a thou
sand worlds. There are men constantly ir
trouble lest they shall . not be appreciated,
kvery mau comes' in the end to be valued at
just wnat ne is wortn. , iiow ox ten you see
men turn out all their forces to crush
one man or. sofc of men. How do thev
ucceed? No better than did the govern
ment that tried to crush Joseph,' a Scripture
character upon which we,' speak to-day. It
would be an insult to suppose that you .wore
not all familiar-with the life of Joseph; how
his jealous brothers threw him into the pit,
but, seeing a caravan of Arabian merchants
moving along on their camels wit h spices and
gums, that loaded the air with aroma, sold
their brother to those merchants, who carried
him down into Egypt; how Joseph was sold
to Potiphar, a man of influence and office; how
by his integrity he raised himself to high posi
tion in the .realm, until under the faisa charge
of a vile wretch "ho was, hurled into the peni
tentiary how in , prison, he coraman led re
spect and confidence ; how by tho interpreta
tion of Parao'n's dream ha was freed and be
came tlw chief man in government, the Bis
marck of. the nation; how in time of famine
Joseph had tho? control, of a storehouse
whi.h he had filled during the seven
yeans of plenty; how when his brothers who
had thrown' him into the pit and sold him into
captivity applied for corn ha S3nt them home
with their beasts . borne" down under the
heft of tho corn sacks; how tho sin against
their brother which had so long been hidden
came out a" JaAt, and was returned bythat
brothers forgiveutss and kindness, ai il
4utrioustriumh of Christian principle.
Learn from this story in the first p!ace,
that th8 world is compeiisd to honor Christian
1 L V-1.. 1 . C A 1
cnaracter. roupiwr was uuiy a uiau ul uiy
world, yet Joseph 103 in his estimation until,
all the affairs of that great house were com
mitted to his charge. From this servant no
honors or confidences were withheld. When
Jox-ph was in prison he soon won the heart
of the keeper, and, though; placed
there ' for being a scoundrel, he soon
convinced tne jailer that he was an in
iicc.nt man, a id, released from clo33 confuie
mer.t, he became a general superintendent
of p.-isoa aifairs. Wharever Joseph was
placed, whether 'a servant in. the house of
Potiphar or a prisioner in the penitentiary, ha
.became the first man everywhere aid is an
Illustration of the truth I lay (hwaj that the
world is compelled to honor Chr-siian char
acter, t
There are those who affect to do pise a re
ligious life. They speak of it as a system of
phlebotomy by which a man is bled of all his
courage and nobility. They say he has be
moaned himself. . They pretend to have no
moro confidence in him since his conversion ,
than before his conversion. But all that is
hypocrisy. It is impossible for any man
not to admire and confide in ;a Chris
tian who shows that he has really become a
child of God and is what he professes to be.
You cannot despise a son or a daughter of
. i r -x 1 t i i . i i s e , i i a J
ine juora vjroa AimiguLy. yi course nan auu.
half religious character wins no Approba
tion. Rodvvald.'the King of tho SaxOns, after
Christian baptism had two alters, one for
the worship of God and tho other for the
sacrifice of devils. You may have a contempt
for such men, for mere pretentions of
religion, but when you behold the excellency
of Jesus Christ come out in tho life - of one of
bis disciples, all that there is good and noble
in your; soul rises up iito admiration.
Though that Christian be as far beneath
;you in estate as the Egyptian slave of whom,
we are discussing, by an irrevocable
;iaw of our nature Potiphar and Pharoah
will always esteem Joseph. " Ohrysastom
when threatened with death by Eudoxia, the
Empress, sent word to her saying: "Go tell
her that i I fear nothing bat sin." . JSuch no
bility of character will always be applauded.
There was. something in Agrippa and Felix
- which demanded their respect for Paul, the
rebel figainst government. I doubt not they
would willingly have yielded their office and
.&...v7 . X -
true heroism which beamed i in the
eve and boit in tho heart of the unconquer
able apostle. Th3 intidel and wordlingare
campeuea to nouor in ineir nearcs, tnougn
they -may not eulogize , with their lips, a
poverty, trustful in losses, triumphant in
death. I find Christian men in airprofessions
and occupations, and . I find them rejected;
and honored, and successful. J ohn Frederick
'Oberlin alleviatirig ignorance and distress,
John. Howard passing from dungeon to laz
aretto with healing for the body and the souL
Elizabeth Frye coming to the profligate of
Newgate prison to shake down their obdu
racy as the angel came to the prison at-Phil-linpi,
driving open the doors and snap
ping locks and chains, as . well as
the lives, of thousands of the - folic w
.er3 of Jesus - who have devoted them
selves to " tho temporal and w- spiritual
welfare-of the ,race, are monuments of ihi
Christian religion that shall not crumble
while the world lasts.- A man in th3t cars
said: 4I would like to become a Carisiia-i if
I 'only knew what. iT:gion is. Bat if . this
I'ying'and; cheating and 'fad behavior among
men whd profess to be good is reliioa, V
want udne of it.,: But,--my fiieiia, if I am
an artist in llome and a man cc mes to me and
asks what the rt of pointing is; I must' not
show him the t. ub o some mere pretender.
I 'mIII hUl tO t!12 J.Z-2Y:l 'Jill
JUlchaef Angelas. It is most unfair an! dis
honest to take the ignominious failures in
Christian profession instead of the glorious
ucces5e3. The Bible and the church are xeafc
picture galleries filled with masterpieces.
Furthermore, we learn from this ttory of
Joseph that the result of p?ree?ution is d?va-.
tibn. Had it not been for his bring soil into,
Egyptian bondage by his malicious brothers
and his ! fabso imprisonment, Joseph woId
never have become Prime Slinister. r' very
body accepts the promise : ' Blessed
are they that are persecut'ei for right
eousness sake, for their3 is the
kingdom ' of heaven,' but they do
not realize the fact that this principle ap
plies to worldly as well as spiritual success.
Had it not been for .Esc hines who brought
Imneachment asrainst Demosthenes, the im
mortal oration De Corona, would never kave-f
been delivered. Men nso to high political
position through misrepresentation and the
assault of the public Public abuse is all that
some ' of our public men hare had
to rely upon for their elevation. It
has brought to them what talent and
executive force could never have achieved.
Many of those who are making great effort
for place and power will nerer succe3?d just
because they are not of enough importance
to be abused. It is the nature of man to
gather about those who are persecuted and
defend them, and they are apt to forget : tha.
faults of those who are - tha subjects of at
tack while attempting to drive back, the
slanderers. Helen Stirk, a Scotch martyr
condemned with" her husband ,to .death for
Christ's sake,'-said to her husband? 'Rejoice;
we have lived.together many joyful day?, but
this day wherein we must die together ought
to be most joyful to us both. Therefore I
will not bid you good night, for soon we shall
meet in the heavenly kingdom." Bytli3 flash
1f the fiirnaca; best Caristiaa character is
demonstrated." . ' " ,
1 go into another 'department, :mi I CrrJ
that those great denomination'; of Cnristians
which -tiavo teen niO.it abused ' have spread
of
wa3 best to get his army into Italy. Amaril,
the court fool, sprang out ffrom t!:o corner
and said to the king and his taff oncers:
14 You had better be thinking how ycu will
get your army back out of Italy after onco
you have entered. In other, words, it is easier
for us to get into sm than to get cut
of it. Whitetietd was riding on horseback in
a lonely way with some missionary mon9y la
a sack feist cned to the sad life bags. ,Ahigh
wavman sprang out from the thicket and put
his'hand cut toward the gold, wh?n Wh. to
field turned upon him iand sijid'That belongs
to the Lord Jesus Chirst, touch it if you ds re,"
and the villain fell back empty banded into
the thicket. Oh, the; power of ccnscience 1
If oSVuded, it becomes God's avenging minis-;
ter. Do not think that yOu can hide any
great and protracted sin in your hearts, in
an unguarded moment it wall slip off the lip,
or some slight occasion may for a moment
set ajar this door of hell that ycu wanted to
keep" closed; But i suppose that in
this life you hide it. and ,yci get along with
that transgression burning in your heart, as a
ship on fire within for days may hinder the
flame from breaking out by! keeping down the
hatchways, yet at lfcsfc. in the Judgment, that
iniquity will blaze out before tho throne of
God and the universe. - , j ''
Furthermore, learn from this subject the
inseparable connection between all - event3
however remote. Lord Hastings; was be
headed one vear after he had causedjihedeath
of the Queen's children, in tha very'" jnonth,
the verj day, the v erjr hourj and the very mo
ment. There is wonderful precision in
the Divine ' judgments. (The ' imivt-rse is
only one ' thought of; God. Those
things which seem fragmentary m and
isolated are only different parts of --.that
one great, thought. ..How far opart seemed
these two e euts - Joseph . ioid to the
Arabian merchants -and j.he rulership of
Egypt. Yet you see1 in ihat a mysterious
way God connected tno twq ju ono p;an. co
itoizier. . ion
tna most rapidly, ro crool muu was evf-r
more vilely maltreate! than -John "Wesley.
His followers were -hooted at and, maligned
and called by every detestable nama that in
fernal ingenuity could invent, but the hotter
the persecution the more rapid tho spread of
that denomination, until yoa know what a
great host ticy have become and what a tre
mendous force for God and truth they are
wielding all tho world over, it wa3 persecu
tion that gave Scotland to Presbyterian ism.
It was persecution which gave our own land
CrsS to civil liberty and afterward to
roiigious freedom. Yea, I may go further
back and say it was persecution that gave the
world the salvation of the Gospel. Tha ribald
mockery, the hungering and thirsting, the un
just trial and ignominious death where all the
forces of hell's i ary was hurled against the cross
was tho introduction of that religion which
is 3'et to be the earth's deliverance from guilt
and suffering and her . everlasting enthrone
ment among tho principalities of heaven.
The State has sometimes said to the Church:
"Come, let me take your hand and I will help
you," What has boon the result? The Church
has gone back and has lost its estate of
holiness and has become ineffective. At
other times the State has said to the Church:
44 1 will crush joiL" What has been the re
sult ? After the storms have sjient-their fury,
the church, so far from having lost jmy of its
force, has increased, and is worth iniinitely
more after the assault than before it. The
churah is far more-indebted to -the opposition
of civil government than to its approval.
Tha fires of the stake have only been
the torches which Christ held in His
hand, by the light of which the church has
marched to 'her present position. In the
sound of racks and implomants of torture I
hear tha rumbling of tho wheels of the Gospel
chariot. Scaffolds of martyrdom have been
the stairs by which the church has ascended.
Aqua fortis is tho best test of pure gold.
Furthermore, our subject impresses us that
pins will come to exposure. Long, long ago
had these brothers sold Jo?eph into Egypt.
They had suppressed the crime, and it wa3 a
profound secret well kept by the brothers.
But suddenly the secret is out. The 'old
father hears that his son is in Egypt, having
been sold there by the malice of his
own brothers. How their cheeks must
nave burned and . their hearts sunk
at the flaming out of this sup
pressed crime. The smallest iniquity has
a thousand tongues, and they will blab out an
exposure'. Saul was sent to destroy the
Canaanftes, their sheep and the oxen. But
when he got down there among the pastures
he saw some fine sheep and oxen too fat to
kill, and so he thought He would steal them.
He drove them toward home, but stopped
to report to the prophet how well he had
executed his commission, when in the dis
tance the sheep-hegan to bleat -and the oxen
to bellow. The sec-re 6 was out and Samuel
6nid to the blushing and confounded Saul :
44 What means the bleating of the sheep that
I hear and the lowing of the cattle'" Aye, my
hearers, you cannot keep an iniquity quiet
At just tho wrong time the sheep will
bleat and the oxen will bellow: "Achan can.
not steal the Babylonish garment without
getting stoned to death, n6r Benedict Arnold
betray his country without being execrated
for all' time. , Look over the police arrests,
these thieves, these burglars, these adulterers,
theso counterfeiters, Jthese highwaymen,
these assassins. They all thought
thej' could bury their iniquity so
dt'ep down that it would never come toresur
rectiu. , But there was some shoe that an-,
twered to the print in the sand, some false
. koyri fouad in ogse3sion. some bloody knife
that whimpered tZ the deed, and the pub
lic: indignatit n. and the anathema of
-fiirt raged, law hurled him into .the Tombs'
hoisted him on the gallows. At the closo
the battle iw tween the Dauphin of France
end the Helvetians, Burchard Monk was ?o
e.nted wtb the Victory that he lifted his
helmet to look off upon the field; when a
wounded solairr hurlei a stoe that struck
ins uncovered foreatead and ue felL fcJin will
always leavo some Fpct expossd, and there
no safety in iniquity. l-rancis
rirst, Kin of 1-ranee, was aL?casinsj how it-
all events ju-o
who are aged
group together
your lifo that
linked
can fooc back aad
a . thousaud things iu
once- (sce-med isolated.
One undivided chain cf events reacted from
the Garden of Edtii to the dross of Calvary,
and thus up to heaven. Tiere is -a relation
between the smallest insect that hums in the
summer air and the archangel on his
ethj
.throne. Gol can t&cq a direct ancestral
'lino from the blue jay that last spring
built its nest in a tree jehind the house
to some one of that ' flock! of birds, which,
when Noah hoisted the ark'S window, with a
whirr and dash of bright wings went out to
sing over Mount Ararat, j Tha tulips that
bloomed this summer in th flower-bed were
nursed of last winter's sn:t-flakes. . The fur
therest star -on one side the imiverseuld'not
look to the furtherest str on. the other
side and say : 4 k You are np relation to me ; w
for from that, bright iOrb p. ' voice of light
would ring across the heajvens responding:
"Yes, yes; we are sisters."' j Sir Sidney Smith
in prison was playing lavn tennis in the
yard and the ball flew overs, the wall Another
ball containing letters was thrown back,
and so communication was opened with
the outside world, and Sidney -escaped
in time to defeat Bonaparte's Egyptian ex
pedition. What a small incident connected
with what vast result! Sir liobert Peel from
a pattern be drew on! the jback of a pewter
dinner plate got the suggestions of that
which led X to the important inven
tion by whicti calico - is printed. Noth
ing in God's universe swings at loose
ends. "Accidents are 4nly Gods way
of turning a leaf in the bqok of bis eternal
decrees. From our cradle to our grave, there
is a path all marked outTS Each eent in our
life is connected with every other event in
our life. Our loss may Jbe the most direct
road to our gain. Our defeats and victories
are twin brothers. The whole direction of
our life was changed! bv something
-which at the timo. seemed to vou . a
trifle, while some occurrence which
seemed tremendous affected you but little.
The Rev. Dr. Kennedy, of Basking Ridge,
New Jersey, went into his pulpit one Sab
bath and by a strange freak of memory for
got his subject and forgotj his text, and in
great embarrassment rose! before his audi
ence and announced the circumstance and de
clared himself entirely unable to preach; then
launched forth in a few words of entreaty
"and warning which resulted in the outbreak
ing of the mightiest revival of religion: ever
known in that State, arevial "of religion that
resulted in churches still standing aSid in the
conversion of a large number of. man who
. ' i ' '; -
entered the Gospel mirihrtry who have
brought their, thousands nto the kingdom
of God. God's plans ! are magnificent
beyond all comprehension. Hp moils us,
turns and directs U3, and we know it not.
Thousands of years are to Him but as. the
flight of , a shuttle. The mast terrifia occur
rence does not make God j tremble, and tha
most triumphant achievement does not lift
Him into rapture. That one great thought of
God ocs on through mmrtu.rLn3. and nations
" i
rise and fall, and eras pass, and the world
itself changes, but God still keeps tho undir
vided mastery, -linking event to event and
century to ceatury. To God they are all ona
event.one history, one planlone development,
one system. Great and marvellous era thy
works. Lord God Almighty;.
Furthermore; we learn "from this story the
propriety of laying up for! the future. 'Dur
ing seven years of plenty Joseph prepared for
the f am hie, and when it- came he had a
crowded storehouse. The life ofnacst men in
a worldly respeet is divided into voars of
plenty and faniini. It is seldom that-any
man passes through lire without at lea t seven
years of pU ntv. Durinor theso seven prosperous
yesrs your l-u-iiKSji ibear a rich harvest,
iou hardly know whore ail the money conies
from, it comes -so fast. Ejrery bargain you
make seems, to torn into gold. You contract
few Lad 'debts.! ou nr-l astounded with
largo dividends. Y0n"i.ut more and more
capitsJ. 'oa wonder hbw mn can be
content with a sma:; business, gather
ing m or. y a hundred dolars where
,yuu reap your tuou-san Jbi . These are lis
roven years of plenty. Now, Joseph, u the
time to- prepare for famine : for to almost
every man there do come seven years of
famine. You will bo sick; you will he
unfortunate; you will be defrauded;
you .will . ba . disappointed; you will be
bM, and if you have no storehouse
uro:i which Jto fall back you may be famine
struck. "We have no admiration for this
denying cne's self of all present comfort and
luxury for the mere pleasure of hoardihg up,
this grasping for the mere pleasure of seeing
how large a pile you can get, this always
being poor and cramped because, as soon as
a dollar comes in it is sent oat to see if it
can't find another dollar to carry home on its
back; bat there is ah intelligent and noble-minded
forecast which wo love to see
in men who have families and kindred
dependent upon them for the blessings of
education and. home. God sonds us. to the
injects for a lesson which, whiie .thy do.not
si int .themselves in tho present, do not forget
their duty to forestall the future: "'Go to the
ant. thou sluggard, consider her. ways and
be wise, which, having no guide, overseer. Or
ruler, provideth her meat in the sum
mer and gathereth her food in the
harvest." Now. there are two ways
of laying up money: the one by investing it
in stock and depositing it in banks nnd loan-
I. in? it on bona and mortgage. The other wav
or laying up money is giving it away, die is
the safest who makes both of these invest
ments. But the man who devotes none of hi
gain to the ; cause of Christ and thinks
only of hig" own comfort and luxury.
Is not safe. I don't crVm how his monev is i n
vested. He acted as''tho rose if it should say :
' I will hold ray bresth and ho one shall
have a snatch of fra'grmee from - mo until:
next week, and then I will set all the
garden afloat ; With the - aroma. The time
comes, but having been without fracrranco for
so Ion?, it has nothing then to gi e. put above
.all lav up treasures in heaven." TJiey never
depreciate in value. They neer re 'nt a
euscounr. iney are aiwavs .avauatiie. iqu
may feel safe now with your prcse H yearly
income, but what will suh an income be
worth after. you are dead? Others will cet it
Perhaps some of them ; will quarrel ' about it
before you are buried. They will
be right glad that . - you are" dead.
They are only waiting for you -to die.
What then Will all cyour accumulation
De wqrtn ir you could srather It all into -your
bosom and walk up with it to heaven's gate!
It would not purchase jour adrn'ssion ; or,:
if allowed to enter, it could not buy you a
crown or a rob?, and the poorest saint in
heaven would look down and say: 4'1V"here
did that pauper come fromf
Finally, learn from this sxibject that in
every fam:neth?reis a storehouse. -Up the
loirr row of building, piled to tho very roof
with corn, come the hungry multitudes, and
Joseph commanded that their satsarid their
wagona bo filled. The world has been blasted.
Every green thing wns withered under tho
touch of sin: From all .continents
and . islands, and zones, comes up the
ujng luiinujis. uer tropical
spiro-grovo. i and Siberian ico-lmt, and
Hindu jungle the blight has fallen. The fam
ine is universal. r But, glory le to God! there
is a "great storehouse. Jesus Clirist,our elder
brother, this day bids us come in from our
hunger and beggary, and obtain infinite sup
plies. of grace dnough to make us richforotyeni
Many of you have for all a ltmg
while been j smitten of tha famfoe..
The world has not . stilled the throbbing
wi your piric. xour conscience sometimes
rouses you up with - "rach suddenness- and
strength that it requires the most gigantic
determination to quell, the disturbance. Your
courage quakes at the thought of the futureJ
Oh, why will you tarry amid the blastings of
the famine when such a glorious storehouse
is open in God's mercy? , 1
"1
4Ye wretchsd. hnnwry, gtarving poor,
Beho'd a royal feat. ' !-
Where mercy spreads her bounteous storp I
For every humble guest. j
"See, Jeans stands with open arms, '
He calls. He bids yon cora; " !.
Gail holds you back and fear alarms.
sat ice, liicro yei is room. -
Was It a Mistake.
The Jeieyer Weekly relates the fol-
d ving : 1 'Let me tell you an incident
w ch occurred to mo once. I was a
young man then and aMerk in Ti.tTanj'sJ
One morning a richly attired lady got out
of her handsome carriasre and entered
the store. She walked to the diamond
department and asked to be shown some
io;se gems. She selected two valuabla
solitaires and paid for them. Thinking:
my attention was called in another di
rection, she slyly but rapidly took a stone
and placed it in her mouth, I saw the
theft but hardly knew what to do. Call
ing for a messenger, I sent for our busi
ness manager, and told him what had
ha ppe nod. Without an instant's delay
j he said - i
44 4JMadam, you have made a mistaken
You have one of our. diamonds in your"
mouth. Will you return it without, an!
4 'The next moment she gave a gnlp,
and I knew tho gem hari gone. She had1
swallowed it.- Of course, v. e were in a
dilemma.; Tho lady. 'became indignant
and threatened suit and violence at the ;
hands of her husband." i
"What did ybd 'do?' j- I
"Sent thn'hiil with n written rrtla na
tion to the husband.- The next day ho
paid us a visit, lie said that he believed
there was a mistake but that he could
not afford an exposure.'!