Now there are times with us all, when we seem to stand alone. There may be someone here to-night, a newcomer in a strange land,—far away from home and friends. It may be that circumstances have teniporarily separated us from the loved one upon whom we are accustomed to lean. Or M may be that we are passing through the grief of bereavement, and our lone-lines seems unbearable, as we long for the touch of a vanished hand and the sound of a voice (hat is stilled—Or it may be the loneliness of misunderstanding, or of uncongenial environment.
But if we learn as Joseph did, to realize the presence of God with us at all times, and. in all places, then, "wherever we are, and whatever be our circumstance, we shall no longer feel that we stand alone, That realized presence shall turn our darkness into light; transforming all Our circumstances, even as the clouds were made shining to the His brothers'
Egypt,—thrown parently forgotten. steps in God's providential care of his chosen people.. (And be when cur dark days come, and they come to al' of us, r r Joseph. Better still remember the promise of Him of whom Joseph was a type and figure, the Lord Jesus, the fulfiiment of whose parting promise to his Church has been the blessed experience of the great army of Saints and Martyrs, and holy men of all age: He has promised—"Lo I am with you always, even unto the end." Then shall we bear through the darkest night, until the dawning of the day, strong, courageous, and uncomplaining.
But this consciousness of the divine presence was to Joseph something still more. More than company in the loueiest places, and through the darkest days, more than an incentive to endure bravely. It was a constant source of strength. Me read that, "The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand; because (he Lord was with Joseph, and that which he did, the Lord made it prosper It was God Joseph experienced what many thousands in all ages have known even though they may not have been able to explain how it comes about. The practise of the presence of God brings power for daily living and strength for service. It was that strength which enabled the lad accustomed to the out-door life of Canaan, high strung and imaginative, to settle down to the routine of a slave in the house of Potipher. And more, to do it so well and so faithfully that he rises to the chief place in his master's household. It was in that strength that he lived those long years in: the dungeons of Pharoh. "He lived' there in the presence of God, and his daily cuties were done for Him, who saw every day in the prison house a he had seen it in the land of Canaan. And Joseph lived damp day as it came in the strength which that unseen companionship.gave to him. When the chief butler and the chief baker brought; their problems to him; he told them the secret of his power,—it was God. When Pharoh has a problem {oo hard. for the. solving of the cleverest of his councillors, Joseph does no: attempt it in his own Wisdom, he tells Pharoh plainly,—"It is not in me, the interpretation is of God."
What a lesson for us! We stagger along life's pathway, borne down with burdens that are too heavy for us. We wander blindly and miss the way. We are lonely and discouraged. When all the time the best of companions stands unseen and unrecognized beside us. The strong Son of God is waiting to guide us, to bear our burdens for us—waiting that his strength r be made perfect in our weaken: We may enjoy that which we read was the result of this companionship to the carly Christians. St. Mark records that,—"They went everywhere. the Lord working with them.
But there is one other thought and with that I close.
Consider how {he consciousness of God's presence helped him to conquer temptation.
Temptations i We read the story in our frst lesson this evening as appointed in the lectionary. It is one of the most dramatic incidents in the whole Bible. The temptation is doubly difficult, He is slave—apparently forgotten in the far off country. AN about him this sin, the sin of Egypt is condoned. Why should he stand out against what is common pra rise? But he does stand out.—Why Notice it is not through fear of his masters wrath. Nothing is said of the possibility of Potiphar's anger,—nothing of what might be the penalty if he sins, and is found out. No—This is the reason. He says,—"How can I do this' great wickedness and sin against Cot? It is a sin against the laws of God, in whose sight he lives in Egypt, as he had lived in Canaan. Egypt might condone, his father might never know, but God sees, and that alone matters.
The lesson is particularly apt for us way off here in China. For how often men and women will do abroad what they would never dream of doing at home. Our temptations may be very different in kind from that which tried Joseph. Each one has his or her own peculiar besetting sin. But the setting that gave Joseph's temptation its peculiar power works in many of ours to-duy. Others do those things we have been taught to consider wrong: they are common practise perhaps among our associales—and in any case the people at home will never know,—"it does not matter what I do in Shanghai."
But let us ask ourselves as each temptation comes along—"How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" "Thou God sees me."
How can I do this sin in God's sight? And if we can say that we will be less apt to conimit the which is our peculiar danger Shanghai.
Very wisely the Church bids us read each year these marvellously told Old Testament stories. Thousand of years old they are, yet wonderfully modern. Their setting is in the dawn of history, but the characters are in no way different from the men and women of the twentieth century. In their trials and tribulations we see our own reflected. In the way they met and conquered them, we can learn the way of victory over our own. And from this story of Joseph, we learn that the consciousness of God's presence at all times and in all places, the prac-rise of the presence of God, comforted him in the hour of loneliness, kept his faith and courage strong through the darkest days, was his ever present help and strength. And that the consciousness of the fact that he lived in God's sight. set temptation in its true light and perspective, and made victory possible. God grant that we too may learn the secret of Joseph's victorious We. That we too may prac-rise the presence of God, we too may come {o know at all times and in all places the blessed companionship of the Lord Jesus. For with Henry Lyte, we all can say.
"I need thy presence every passing hour what but thy grace can foil the tempters power who like thyself, my guide and stay can be through cloud and sunshine Lord abide with re"
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.