FATE OF THE RICH
MAN ANDLAZARUS
Words o! ttis Savior Explained
and Made Clear.
STUMBLING STOKE REMOVED,
Pastor Russell Disagree With the Or
dinary Interpretation of Jesus' Words
a Irrational Ha Offer a Novel
Substitute Which Nevertheless Fit
Well to the Narrative Order Out of
Confusion I the Verdict of Many
Winnipeg Hearer.
T ' - tti i n..-..
Ca, July 9th.-I'a-tor
Kussell deliver
ed two nddreases
here today which
will never be forgot
ten, even by those
n-uo did not commit
themselves fully us
indorsing bis every
utterance. We re
port one of his dis
courses from the
text, "And In bell
be lifted up bis
eyes, being in torments, and seeth
Abraham ufar off and Lazarus In bis
bosom" (Luke xvl, 23). Addressing the
public under the auspices of the In
ternational Ulble Students Associa
tion, the speaker said:
I am not chousing my topic for this
occasion according to my own prefer
ences, nor do I wish to do so. Realiz
ing that a great cloud of superstition
and erroneous interpretation of God's
Word acts as an earth born cloud to
hide the heavenly Father from our
eyes of faith, I nnt continually address
ing myself to the removal of this bar
rier, to the Intent that the light of
the knowledge of the glory of God as
It shines lu the face of Jesus Christ
our Lord may sblne into the hearts of
all of Cud's dear people more efful
gently than heretofore; to the intent
that, with the clouds removed, our
eyes may behold the King in Ills
beauty, nnd our hearts be drawn to
Him as to a Father, as to a God of
love, as to an Almighty Savior.
Time nnd again as I have delivered
an address setting forth the Divine
Dan of the Ages from the Bible stand
point, I bave been approached after
ward by Christian brethren who sit Id,
"What you say, Tastor Russell. Is
cheering, is God like, is Just what our
hearts are hungering for and crying
for, but but 1 ennnot accept it be
cause of the Lord's Word respecting
the 'Rich Man and Lazarus,' and Ills
description of their fates."
What I say to these privately never
reaches, the ears of .others who have
the same query nnd the same obstacle
to meet, hence I take this os my topic
on this occasion, not only for the bene
fit of this audience, but for tho bene
fit of tho larger audiences to whom
I npeak weekly through the columns
of the press of this land nnd Great
Britain and Australia uuiulx-ring mil
lions. All need to have this stumbling
titone removed from their pathway, and
by God's grace we will remove it. lie
will remove It. using our shimmering
lips for the purpose.
Literal or Parabolic Which?
It Is not siilhf icnt that I declare that
in the Scripture under c tuideratlon
the great Teacher was giving a parable.
It Is not sufllcieiit that I quote, "With
out a parable spake He ut unto the
people." Some dear, earnest children
of God would object, saying. "It reads,
there was a certain Rich Man. etc."
I must, therefore, prove that It Is a
parable and not a literal statement by
Knowing that, considering It as a lit
eral statement. It would be untrue and
' tthstml. After tht:s proving Jt to be a
parable I will dNcuss it as such.
If It be a statement of literal facts
then all the facts must be taken lit
erally. This would mean that because
a certain man was rich and fared
bountifully every day and was clothed
in purple and line linen he would go )
an eternity rf torment. wIMiout m -'n-gle
charge being made against him
along the lines of murder, or Injustice
or blasphemy, for In the account noth
ing of the kind nnpc;irs. Furthermore,
nothing Is said of the poor man as be
ing a god'y man. a saint, but merely
that he was poor, full of sores, which
I he dogs licked: and that be ate the
offal from "The Rich Man's" table.
If those be the grounds and condi
tions upon whl"h rny of us have had
hope for eternal bliss, surely a com
pnrntlvely smnll number could claim
It. Did we ever have su'h experi
ences? If not. what rronnd have we.
according to this teaching, for n hope
of reaching Abraham's bosom? And.
Additionally. If the statement Is a lit
rrol one, Abraham nnd his bosom nnM
be considered literal also, and If on'y
two or three who were begrars like
T.nznrns were before us. wlv.t hope
would we l ave for room In Abrc ham's
bo-nm? Hot enoufh of tlils! V see
llenrly that th? Malemcnt Is paraboMe
nnd we must loo': for siii h an Interpre
tation as will fit nil conditions. And
here It I"'
Viewed P.-rsble.
Viewing the matter as a parable, our
difficulties all rtlsniipear a simii as we
get tho ker. The ir'vit T' -flier In
this parable wa i-rit'. ! c t'v ' t
ers of tin1 Jewish r'l t'n u a"l for.
telling tlnlr fate, lie Hlm-'f w;- an
outcast. o were Ills dlsi Ipies and so
have all In-eu isiwe wh tnve bcom
-- 7 j
m
fFASTQg. KUSSEflj
Ills followers. "A lie was so ar wa
In this world."
"The Rich Man" of the parable rep
resented the Jewish nation. The One
linen he wore represented the typical
Justification granted to that natlou un
der the Law Covenant made with Is
rael at Mt. Sinai. "The Rlih Man's"
purple raiment pictured the royalty
which belonged to Israel as God's typ
ical kingdom in the world. Thus we
read, "Solomon sat upon the throne of
the kingdom of the Lord, in the room
(or stead) of his father David." Jesus
recognized this kingdom dignity as
still belonging to that nation when lie
said, "The Kingdom shall be taken
from you and shall be given to a na
tion bringing forth the fruits thereof"
(Matthew xxl. 43).
The Rich Man's bountiful table
represented the glorious promises of
God which were theirs primarily, and
granted to no other people until after
they had rejected Jesus and crucified
Him. St Paul refers to this table in
this way and quotes David the Prophet
saying, "Let their table become a trap
and a snare and a recompense to
them." This was because they did
not rightly appreciate their glorious
promises and live up to the conditions
which they required. The death of
The Rich Man represented the cut
ting off of national Israel from all
those special privileges and advan
tages every wny which had been theirs
for centuries. "The Rich Man" (the
Jewish nation) began to sicken from
the time of the crucifixion from the
time that Jesus said. "Your house is
left unto you desolate; henceforth ye
shall see Me no more until that day
when ye shall say, Dlessed Is He that
cometh in the name of the Lord."
The saintly few were gathered out
of Judaism Into relationship with
Christ at Pentecost, and "The Rich
Man," the nation, continued to be sick
and finally died in the year A. D. "0,
when Titus, the Roman general, cap
tured Jerusalem, the entire laud of
Palestine being laid waste .
The Jewish nation has been a dead
nation since the year A. D. 70. It Is In
hade. In the tomb. But this Implies
its resurrection in due time, for the
figure of the tomb, hades, does not rep
resent a perpetual condition, but a tem
porary one, from which Messiah will
grant a release, and hades, in every
sense of the word, will be destroyed.
Dive In Torment.
But the parable declares that Dives
was in torment I How could this be,
seeing that the word hadts signifies
the death state, the nnconscious con
dltlon? We answer that the Jewish
people have a double aspect, in the
parable and out of it. Nationally, they
are dead or asleep, but as a people
they are very much alive no other
people more so. It Is as a people that
they have been suffering the tortures
of persecution during the past eighteen
centuries, while as a nation they have
been dead, burled. In hades, and are
awaiting a resurrection, of which the
present Zionism is an advance token.
Boon Israel's persecutions will end.
when Messiah's glorious Kingdom shall
take Its power; and then will come
their national resurrection, for they
are to be actively nnd specially Identi
fied with the Messianic Kingdom
shortly, as Its earthly nnd visible rep
resentatives. As the two tribes of Judah nnd Ben
jamin were represented In "The Rich
Man" in a very special sense, the oth
er ten tribes, scattered amongst tho
surrounding nations, would, at n like
proportion, represent his five brethren
God's dealings with the Jews will be
tho same wherever they are no prof
erence will be shown "They have
Moses ami the Prophets, let them hear
them." This could not be applicable
to any except these two tribes nnd the
other ten tribes of Israel, for they
alone had Moses and the Prophets.
The Rich Man Tormented In Hades.
All scholars will concede that the
Greek word hades and the Hebrew
word sheol, rendered hell lu our com
mon version, really signify the death
state, the tomb. Various Scriptures
tell us of the silence of nheol and hadeg
and thnt there Is neither wisdom nor
knowledge nor device there; thnt the
dead know uot anything. Scholars,
therefore, have been perplexed greatly
at the statement of this parable that
The Rich Man lifted up his eyes In
hades, being In torments.
The dllllculty dissolves as soon as
we have the proper Interpretation to
the parable and see that the Jewish
people died as a nation and were
burled as a nation, but did not nil die
Individually. The people of Israel, out
cast from their own land among all
the nations of earth, are very much
alive, socially and personally, having
suffered for all these centuries.
Only very recently we have had an
exhibition of how this Rich Man (Is
rael), dead as a nation, but alive as a
people, has appenled to Father Abra
ham to have Lazarus cool his tongue
with a drop of water. Of course, the
thought would not be that a spirit
finger would take a drop of literal wn
ter to cool a literal tongue. A drop of
water on the tip of a finger would not
afford much relief anyway.
The Interpretation must be looked
for along the lines of the parable. Tho
fulfillment came when the Jews of this
country In a general petition request
ed the President of the United States
to co-operate with other "Christian na
tions" ami Intercede on behalf of their
pcopl" In Russia that they might
have more liberty nnd less persecu
tion, that their torments might bo
cooled.
Finding the Lazarus Class.
If we have found The Rich Man.
( let in now st'. '; for por Lazarus lie
represented a God fearing nnd God
seeking cl.is outside the pale of of
ficial Judaism -not nil the Gentiles, but
.ertaln ones concerning whom Jesus
-aid, "I have not foand to great faifh?
no. not in Israeli"
The Jews were in the habit of speak
ing of the Gentiles as "dogs." The
great Teacher Himself Used this ex
pression (Mark vli. 25-30). Lazarus
had no fine linen garment granted to
him because be was outside the pale
of Israel, for whom alone the typical
sacrifices wore offered. Lazarus had
no purple robe for the same reason
because the kingdom of blessing, for
the time, belonged exclusively to the
seed of Abraham. The dogs (other
Gentiles) licked his sores, in the sense
of considering the Lazarus class up
right and godly nnd in some sense
showing sympathy for them. Ills eat
Ing of the crumbs thnt fell from tha
children's table signifies thnt Jesus did.
on a few occasions, allow some special
blessings of healing, which were for
the Jews, to go to this worthy class of
Gentiles.
For Instance, the daughter of Jalrus,
raised from dath, was a crumb from
the children's table to one noble-mind
ed Gentile who feared God and who
had built a synagogue for the Jews.
The healing of the centurion's servant
was another crumb from "The Rich
Man's" table to one of the Lazarus
class. Ileallng the daughter of the
Fyro-rhenlcian woman was another
crumb from "The Rich Man's table' to
a member of the Lazarus class. In an
swer to her request Jesus answered
"It Is not proper to take the children's
bread and give It to dogs" Gentiles.
Accepting the suggestion the woman
replied. "Yen. Lord, yet the dogs eat of
the crumbs which fall from the chil
dren's table." Her faith In God mark
ed her as one of the Lazarus class,
outside "The Rich Man's" household.
She was a companion of dogs (Gentiles).
' and for the time could merely have a
i crumb from "The Rich Man's table."
As the death of "The Rich Man"
represented a change lu his n (Tali's, so
the death of the Lazarus class indi
cated a change in the affairs of this
outcast class. But, Instead of being
buried, these were carried by the an
gels to Abraham's bosom not to heav
en, not to purgatory, uot to some in
termediate state. As Abraham in the
parable represents God, the receiving
of the faithful of the Lazarus class
into the bosom of Abraham figurative
ly represents the acceptance of this
class as the true children of Abraham
true children of God. As Jesus went
outside the "the camp" bearing the
reproach of His nation, before He
died, so did all of His followers who
belonged to that nation. They were
all recognized ai outcasts with the
Gentiles; these the Lord received as
Ills children by the begetting of the
Holy Spirit. And so St. Paul tells us
that we who were by nature Gentiles
were not of the stock of Israel. But,
"If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abra
ham's Seed (children), and heirs ac
cording to the promise" Jolnt-helrs
with Christ, member of the great
Messiah (Galatians ill, 20)
Here, dear friends, we have a con
sistent interpretation of this parable,
and It relieves our minds greatly. It
assists also In Illustrating to us the
special relationship of the Jews under
the Law Covenant nnd how this spe
cial relationship was lost by reason of
their unbelief and how their unbelief
alienated them from the Divine favor
of this Gospel Age and constituted n
deep and wide gulf between them and
the spiritual Israel class represented
In Lazarus In Abraham's bosom.
We thank God that the promise of
the Scriptures Is that with the end of
this Gospel Age this gulf of unbelief
and consequent separation from Di
vine favor will be done away and Is
rael will be delivered from the tor
ments of these centuries and expe
rience a national resuscitation or res
urrection under the glorious privileges,
favors and advantages of the New
Covenant
Hope For th Many Nations.
Since God's favors are thus marked
out for tho heavenly and the earthly
Seeds of Abrnhnm tho earthly through
the heavenly-It follows that the bless
ing of the other nations will come
about through their affiliation with
these. In other words, we may under
stand thnt the Divine Government es
tablished In Israel In tho hands of the
Ancient Worthies will be the center of
Divine favor, nnd the peoplo of other
nationalities must come to this center
for their supplies of truth and grnce.
Thus the Prophet represents the mat
ter, saying. "Mnny nations shall go
and say. Come and let us go up to the
mountain (Kingdom) of tho Lord, and
to the house of the God of Jacob; and
He will teacb us of Ills ways, and we
will walk In Ills paths; for the Law
shall go forth from Mount Zlon (the
spiritual Kingdom) and the Word of
the Lord from Jerusalem (the center
of the earthly Kingdom)" (Mlcah Iv, 2).
As thus all nations, peoples, kindreds
and tongues shall be brought gradually
to an appreciation of the Divine Plan,
they shall all be blessed with Restitu
tion privileges and opportunities and
with an enlightenment from the rays
of the Sun of Righteousness, which
then through the appointed channels
will be flooding ull the earth. Thus
will the original Covenant have Its
amplified fulfilment; first, in The
Christ, the spiritual Israel; secondly,
under the New Covenant with Israel
nfler the flesh; nnd through these bless
all the families of the earth, so that
nil the willing nnd obedient may grad
ually attain to the standards of the
children of God nnd be possessed of
the "liberties of the sons of God" free
don) from s!:i. mtvv pain nnd death
As the Old Law Covenant wns with Is
rael only, so the New il.mvi Covenant
will bo with Israel only, other na
tions will share It by becoming Israel
ites, "Proselytes of the gate," not un
der the Old but under the New Cove
mint tFzcklel vl. c,o, t;ii. o that
hath an ear to hear, let him hear."
Here are the SUMMER CLEARANCE Prices on Men's Suits
Every single suit in our stock has been reduced to one of the three prices
above. This is the greatest opportunity eve- offered you to buy high-class de
pendable merchandise at such low figures, When you recall that the bulk of our
suits run in price from $15 to $35, you can appreciate what a sweeping reduction
we have made at this time. Its certainly up to you to take advantage of this sale.
Don't wait. Make your selection at once and by making a small payment on it
we will keep the suit out for you until you are ready to take it.
6. EL
Terms
Strictly Cash
THE
Afternoon Program.
The following program will bo
divert at 1 ho homo of Mrs. Glen
Hoodeker on Thursday afternoon,
July 13, at 2 o'clock. An admis
sion foo of cents will be
charged for the musical program
and refreshments. All are
cordially invited to attend:
Piano Duet Marche Grotesque
Christian Sinding
Mrs. Giltnore and Margie Walker.
Piano Solo Moonlight on tho
Hudson Wilson
May Loughridge.
Piano Solo Thine Own. . .Lunge
Mrs. Young.
Rending ." Selected
Mrs. Urown.
Piano Solo Hunting Song. . . .
Mendelsohn
Mrs. Hendricks.
Piano Solo Return of Spring
Moelling
Miss Puis.
Reading The Plaint of the
Little Disque Doll
Miss Perry.
Piano Solo Selected
Miss Hialt. .
Piano Solo The Flatterer....
Chaminde
Mrs. Young.
ular bought, "Keep Up the Qual
ity" Footwear, and are not "Fake Sale" or misleading representations, and
every pair sold with the same recommendation and reliability as in the past.
Keep Kool and attend our "More Than Your Monies Worth
a
acrificG Shoe Sale!-
20 pairs Ladies' Red Cross Pumps, was $4.00, sale price $2.50
25 44 " . 44 Oxfords, 44 4.00, " 44 2.50
24 " " Julia Marlow Cameo Ties, was $3.50, sale price 2.50
12 " " Patent Pumps, 44 3.00, 44 3.00
25 " " Patent Pumps, " 2.50, " " 1.75
50 44 " Tan Oxfords, 44 3.50, 44 44 2.50
24 44 " Patent Oxfords, 44 2.50, 44 44 ,... 1.75
36 " 44 Chocolate Oxfords, 44 3.00, 44 44 2.25
12 " 44 44 Pumps, 44 2. 00, 44 44 1.25
20 " 44 Tan Button Oxford, 44 4.00, 14 44 2.50
23 " Men's Patent Oxfords, 44 3.50, 44 44 2.50
50 44 Boy's Calf Shoes, 44 2.00, 44 44 1.50
150 44 Misses' and Children's Slippers and Oxfords special- reduction.
200 44 of "Pick up Items" to lengthy to classify.
EVERY DAY WILL BE BARGAIN DAY, ON SALE GOODS!
1,000 SHOE BRUSHES GOING AT 10c '
Repairing Done Right.
3 as
Uoscott's
HOME OF SATISFACTION
Quartet Ro ok-a-Uyc
Neilinger
Mrs. Holmes, Miss Miruiear, Mrs.
Kennedy, Mrs. Loughridge.
Monday Night Plattsmouth Night.
Tho president of the Com
mercial club has received an in
vitation to visit the Ak-Sar-Ben
den as gnosis of honor, along
with Iho olher members of the
Nebraska Publicity league, on
Monday evening, July 10th. Tho
invitation is signed "Sampson"
.himself and attested with his seal,
and slates that whatever service
tho knights nnd their board of
governors enn do to make il
.pleasnnt for tho Plaltsmoulh
membership will be done.
Depart for Europe.
Miss Dora Fricke of I his city
and Miss Fugenin Wiggcuhorn of
Ashland departed for Now York
today, expecting to sail next
Monday for Germany, where they
will visit for the summer.
Mrs. A. L. Tdid, who has been
visiting her brother and sister at
Lincoln for some days, returned
last evening. ,
PRICE CUTTING
MI
PUMP AND OXFORD SALE!
450 pairs of Ladies' and Chil
dren's Summer Low Cuts at less
than reliable manufacturer's prices.
A large part of these goods
"Factory Samples" and our
23C
1(0)
LI (2)
Sons
Alterations at
Your Expense
M. S. Davis In Town.
From Snturdny's laiiy,
Mr. M. S. Davis or Fort Col
lins, Colorado, who has been visit
in ghis ralher, Mr. Anderson
Davis, near Murray, for a few
days, is in the city, the guest of
his father-in-law, Mr. A. Dill. Mr.
Davis has been a Colorado citizen
for Iho past four years and his
Cass county friends are glad to
welcome him back, if only for a
brief visit.
Locate In Falls City.
Georgo Hall and Jennings U.
Seiver departed Wednesday for
Falls Cily, where (hoy have ac
cepted positions in the mnchino
shops of the Missouri Paciflo
railway. Doth young men nre
hustlers nnd went to work in
their new positions Thursday
morning.
Allornoy Shotwell of Omaha
was a probalo court visitor today,
nppearing at Iho hearing of claims
in Iho J. M. Ruby esla'o, where ho
had Died a claim for adjustment.
Mr, Shotwell and the administrat
or, Charles Marlin, agreed on the
amount to ho allowed.
are wag $.300
reg- sale price
$.200 I
II
PLATTSMOUTH, NEBRASKA.
