Evening journal., 1912-05-04

Luke Vi. 2O-Se; xvi, 1s-sl-May 8.
"A mans life cOnsisteth not In the
abundance of the things which he
pOssesseth.r-Luke xi, 10.
Not all the poor are to be blessed
and TO inherit the Kingdom Of God.
ETC., as SET forth in this lesson. We
are TO notice particularly the setting
of the Masters words. He lifted up
His eyes on His disciples, and said,
Blessed are ye poor for yours is the
Kingdom of God'"-'ye shall be fill
ed"-"your reward is great In heav-
en-" Undoubtedly poverty Is a great
er aid TO discipleship than wealth.
The cost of discipleship Is the sur
render of every earthly ambition 20
follow in Jesus footsteps.
We must realize that our all. much
or little. is the Lords. and that faith
fulness. in sacrificing what we have
will decide whether or not we shall
share His glory.
"WithOut a Parable Spake He Not
The second part OF our lesson is
ono Of our Lords most striking par
abies. We read that He opened ms
mouth in parallels and dark sayings,
that, hearing, they might hear and
not understand" or all our Lords
parallels this one has been most ser
iously misunderstood Only a slight
investigation. however. is necessary TO
demonstrate that this is a parable
that il would be unreasonable to con-
slider II 20 be a statement Of literal
facts. II would be unreasonable 20
suppose that a man would be sent,
after death, to torment merely be-
cause in the present life he Jared
sumptuously every day, and wore pur-
pie and fine linen. Nothing whatever
is said about the character of the
man, and we are not permitted "a
add to the Word of God The Rich
Man represented a class.
Similarly. the poor man must have
symbolized a class. because no rea.
son is given for his blessing after
death except that he was poor, GOV.
cred with sores and lay at the rich
mans gate eating his crumbs.
Considered as a parable, this Is one
of the most interesting and helpful
Of all our Lords utterances The Rich
Man represents the Jewish nation
highly favored Of God. The bounti
ful table represents the rich prom.
ises Of the Law and the Prophets
which were theirs alone up to the
time that thev nationally died to thos,
fovors The Rich Mans purple rep
fceents rayoltv-the fact that thel
wore Gods typical kingdom.
David and Saul sat upon the throne
ita kingdom Of the Lord and wncf
''~gforn was removed in the dayI
7edekiah the declaration was madi
would afterward be restored
i-h Messiah as King. The 'hni
'i~en" OF the Rich Man representa-,
the justification which God had grant
ed 10 the Jewish nation alone thu
far Il was a typical justification. ac
c0mplished through the Law Coven
ant and its sacrifices for Sin Atone
ment administered by a typical prizes
year by year
A harvesting of the Jewish peoni
began with our Lords ministry an
LASTED forty years. It ended In tn
year A. ID. 20. when the Rich Mar
as a nation. died at the hands OF Tiu
and the Roman army. Nationally. u
Rich Man is buried. and will be nor
existent until the due time. whe
the Lords blessing viii return to N
Jewish people as explained by
Paul in Romans xi 25-35. But a
though nationally dead. the JEWS
neople have ben very much alive ev'
fince. and have been ostracised' az
tormented with fiery trials.