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2 The Golden Age for May 22, 1913. FROM SLAVERY TO SOVEREIGNTY Wednesday Night Bible Lecture by Rev. Len G. Broughton, D.D., of Christ Church, London REPORTED FOR THE GOLDEN AGE BY M. I. H.—Copyright Applied For. ffl 1 HA ,■ 1 OllSribOww nIL Jfftwgli CHRIST CHURCH, LONDON. Gen. XXXIV-XLII. Special Text: Gen. 39:2-4: “And Jehovah was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian. And his master saw that Jehovah was with him, and that Jehovah made all that he did to prosper in his hand. And Joseph found favor in his sight, and he ministered un to him; and he made him overseer over his house, and all he had be put into his hand.” In our last study we began the story of Jo seph, and considered his life from his child hood to slavery. At that time we considered the period of his youth; his father’s partial ity for him; his two dreams; his brother’s jealousy and hatred; his capture, and sale to the Ismaelites, and thence to Potipher, cap tain of Pharoah’s guard. Tn our present study we consider him as a slave in Potipher’s house, and thence, to his position as prime minister of Egypt. But be fore we do so, I want us to get in our minds something of the conditions that faced young Joseph, a lad of 17 years of age, as he en tered the land of Egypt. Rev. J. Van Dyke, speaking of Joseph’s entry into Egypt, says: “A brief journey has brought him from a re gion scarcely more than barbarous, to one far advanced in civilization. The skilled ag riculturist is in the field; the ingenious mech anic at his daily toil. The children have those rare evidences of a refined state of society; toys with which to while away the joyous hours. The judge in his court is administer ing statutes which even modern society might advantageously re-enact. A written language, the laborious work of many generations, and which had passed from hieroglyphics to pho netics, meets his eye on cunningly prepared papyrous leaves. A settled religious faith; a complicated system of government; a language bearing evidence of growth through many cen turies; a vast empire consolidated upon the wrecks of pre-existing nationalities, great ma terial prosperity accompanied with the knowl edge of the physical sciences, of history, of metaphysics, and even of theology, a degree of progress in the fine arts, which, though different, still rivals that of the present day —these, as well as their institutions, their laws, and their brilliant achievements, unmistakably testify to the immense antiquity of the empire under whose overshadowing influence Joseph is to pass his days of servitude.” Now let us see him as a slave in Potipher’s house. Fancy him as a slave of 17 years of age, entering this country under these splendid cir cumstances, so entirely different from any he had ever dreamed of in his earlier days. The first thing that greets him is service in the house of Potipher. When he enters the house of Potipher as a slave, there are three things said of him that I want to call your attention to. First, it is said “Jehovah was with Joseph.” A great statement! I can conceive of no stronger statement than this. I can conceive of no more important reality than that which he was favored with as a stranger, and a ser vant. I often think when I see young men and women coming to a great city like Lon don, ‘I wonder if they have the Lord Jehovah with them?’ Some time ago a young woman came to me in my vestry in this church, and she had not been in long before she said: “I am an entire stranger in this city.” *1 asked “Where is your home?” She replied, “In Wales; way back in the back woods of Wales is where my par ents live, and I am here for the purpose of taking a training in one of London’s great hospitals. ’ ’ I said, “ Oh! when did you come ?’ ’ “Just a few days ago,” she replied. I saw the girl was nervous, and a bit excited, and I endeavored to quiet her the best I could. Final ly she said, “You know, I begin to realize al ready that a strange girl in this city needs the help of the church.” Then I said to her: “It is not going to be possible for you, taking a training as a nurse, to be in church very much. I know something of the calling into which you are now entering, so I would like to amend your statement if you will. It is an awful thing for a girl to be in a great city like London without God! Now you ban have God with you all the time, and you are going to need him more by reason of the fact that you are environed here by strangeness on ev ery hand, and that you are going into a hos pital for training.” But 0 that girl was just one out of thou sands that are coming into the city every day —strangers, coming into a strange environ ment, facing new conditions, as strange as the conditions that faced young Joseph as he enter ed Egypt. Many of them alas! have no God. It cannot be said of them as it was said of Jo seph, that Jehovah was with them. Then again, you see another statement “and he was a prosperous man.” A natural result! Have you thought of the fact that these words were statements concerning Joseph when he was only a lad of 17 years of age, and when he was only a slave? Now when you think, as you look back upon that young man at the age of 17, a slave, why was he called a prosper ous man? Because he kept company with Je hovah. Prosperity does not consist in a man’s wealth, in the amount of motor cars that he has, and rides in, or in the section of the city he lives. That don’t make prosperity! We have to get God’s estimate of things, and his estimate of prosperity is not that which I have just outlined; it is exactly that which Joseph experienced; it is the presence of' H&msedf with a man! God with a man, keeping com pany with him, endorsing him, that is pros perity, and it is the only real prosperity that a man ever enjoys because if God is with him, he has everything that God has. Third, we read, “And his-master saw that Jehovah was with him.” Ah, that is a great thing to have said! Joseph’s life, and associa tion and conduct with God was not a thing he was ashamed of, and tried to hide. It was a thing that he exhibited in his daily walk and conversation with his superiors. When it is said of a man by his associates that God is with him, you may rest assured of the fact that that man’s life is worth living. And, after all, if a man really has God underwriting his life there is no way to hide it. He will not want to, and he could not if he did, because God cannot and will not be hid. So here at the very beginning of Joseph’s life in Egypt as a slave, we have these three great things said of him. The next thing we have said about Jo seph is an account of his promotion in the house of Potipher. Potipher placed Joseph in charge of the rest of his servants, and in charge of these servants Joseph had some new expe riences. In the first place, he was tried by new customs. Then he was tried with new respon sibility. Then he had to face a new temptation. All are familiar with the nature of his tempta tion, it came through the wife of his master, Potipher. But we all rejoice in the fact that young Joseph was enabled oy that superior power which came to him through his associa tion with Jehovah, to resist this temptation. But the resisting of the temptation brought him into still greater difficulty of having to face a charge of serious blackmail. The wife of Potipher set to work to entrap him. She went to her husband and told him that this young Hebrew slave that had come into the family and had been promoted to be the head of the servants of the household, had endeav ored to take advantage of her, and her hus band seemed to believe her story, at least he believed it far enough to have young Joseph placed in prison. Now you put yourself, if you can, back of the place of this young captive He brew, conscious of the fact that you are inno cent, and as a result of an infamous plot, im prisoned. Conscious also of your absolute in ability to establish your innocence—because the word of a woman is generally taken before the word of a man in such cases. But if you will read the story, you will see that it is stated of him again as he enters the prison, “Jehovah was with him.” God knew about this. And Joseph had handed his life over to God. We may criticise him for his early life; his over ambition; his meddlesome disposition with his brethren. But, my friends, as sure as you live, by this time Joseph’s life was in the hand of God. He is moulding that life for Joseph, as clay in the hands of the pot ter. While he is there in the prison, two other prisoners are put in. The king’s chief butler, and baker offended the king, and were put in prison and placed under his charge. Joseph seems to be one of those fellows born to rule. (Continued on Page 14.)