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hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me'.” And St. John writes thus, " Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is "." "As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." The one is as sure as the other, to every true believer. And thus the very weakness of the body; the pain, the weariness, the sickness, which we suffer while yet we bear the image of the earthy, may strengthen our hope of being freed from them all for ever, and instead of bearing the image of the earthy, of hereafter bearing the image of the heavenly.

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CHAPTER XI.

JOSEPH IN PRISON.

GENESIS XXXIX. 20-23.

20. And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.

21. But the Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.

22. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it.

23. The keeper of the prison looked not to any thing that was under his hand; because the Lord was with him, and that

which he did, the Lord made it to pros

per.

JOSEPH had done no wrong, and yet he was put into prison. Far from doing wrong, he had done right, quite right, in the face of great temptation ; and yet we find him in prison. The wicked woman who had tempted him to sin, accused him falsely when she found he would not do as she wished, and his master, believing her tale, cast Joseph into prison.

So it is sometimes.

God lets it be so. The

wicked prosper, the righteous suffer. We must not be surprised at this. The Lord Jesus Christ suffered death upon the cross to save us, though He had done no wrong; and sometimes He calls His followers to bear ill-treatment which they have not deserved. They must bear it meekly for His sake. "For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully; for what glory is it, if when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

For

even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow His steps." And if, when we suffer for doing right, we are even then to bear it patiently, how much more when suffering comes in a common way, or when we can trace it to something wrong that we have done! Is it not sent by God? And can we say that it is more than our sins have deserved ?

God's

A prison is not in itself a happy place; and probably an ancient prison in such a country as Egypt was even more miserable than our prisons are. Yet Joseph was not unhappy in prison, because the Lord was with him. No place can be miserable in which the Lord is with us. presence can brighten a dungeon, a sick-room, a house of mourning. It is God's presence and favour, perfectly enjoyed, that will make the happiness of Heaven; the same can make happiness any where.

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The Lord was with Joseph, and showed him mercy." Doubtless Joseph felt and knew that the Lord was with him. Even there in the

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prison, in the worst of company, in the "place where the king's prisoners were bound," most of them probably not unjustly punished, like Joseph, but bad men suffering for their crimes,— even there Joseph enjoyed the presence of God in his heart. The Lord showed him mercy, extended kindness unto him, gave him a comforting sense of His goodness and love, and enabled him to feel that though He let him suffer, yet He was still gracious towards him. Is not this enough to make any place a place of comfort? Our happiness depends far more on inward than on outward things. If our thoughts are happy, outward things matter but little. But little comparatively. They do make a difference to us. It would not be true to say they do not. No one would choose a prison who might be free; none would be sick who might be well. Yet happy thoughts, inward peace, God's presence, can do wonders, even when all outward circumstances are against us. When the disciples were most unhappy, this was the comfort which their Lord gave them He told them that He would make His abode in their hearts by the Spirit; that is, that God's presence should be with them. Ah! we cannot be

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