and prosperity are natural to all its people. He proposed to establish such a kingdom among men, through the evidences of His power. Thus were the instructions given to His disciples whom He sent forth as His agents to inaugurate the new order of things.

Kingdom Likenesses

Had the kingdom to which Jesus so often referred been a city with golden streets, in the skies, He could easily have located it. He did not do so. On the contrary, He again and again gave illustrations to show His listeners that it was a desirable condition, which would be brought about among them through the power of Spirit. He did not say that it could be attained quickly. For instance, He said: "What is the kingdom of God? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches."

And again, "It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all leavened."

It is a great mystery how these comparisons of heaven ever came to be construed as referring in any way to a locality in the skies. What relation to a city with streets of gold has a mustard