thful word."

We have seen that, in the providence of God, John the Baptist was sent
to proclaim to the world that "The Kingdom of Heaven" was at hand, and
to point out the King. And as soon as the Herald had raised the
expectation of men by the proclamation of the coming Kingdom, our Lord
began His public ministry, the great object of which was the founding
of His Kingdom for the salvation of the world. And, as S. Matthew
tells us, He "went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and
preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom" (S. Matt. iv. 23); or, as S. Mark
relates, "After that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee
preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and saying, The time is
fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe
the Gospel" (S. Mark i. 14, 15).

Thus the King took up and continued the message of His Herald, only
adding to John the Baptist's preaching of repentance the call to
believe the Gospel--to have faith in the good tidings which He came to
tell of the Kingdom of Heaven and of God. And from this time to the
end of His ministry we find that the Gospel of the Kingdom was the
continual subject of His teaching. Thus S. Luke records that He
declared once to a multitude which would detain Him, "I must preach
the Kingdom of God to other cities also; for therefore am I sent" (S.
Luke iv. 43). And, a few chapters after, we read, "It came to pass
afterward that He went throughout every city and village, preaching
and showing the glad tidings of the Kingdom of God" (S. Luke viii. 1).
And then, after a while, "He called His twelve disciples together, and
gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.
And He sent them to preach the Kingdom of God" (S. Luke ix. 1, 2). And
having thus spent the years of His public ministry in publishing the
good news of the Kingdom, He declared towards the end of it, as He was
foretelling to His disciples the signs of His future coming to
judgment, "And this Gospel[3] of the Kingdom shall be preached in all
the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come"
(S. Matt. xxiv. 14).

And what is the Gospel of the Kingdom?

To form the answer we must look to the general teaching which runs
through the Bible. As soon as Adam fell from his high estate as God's
child, the Deliverer was promised, "who should bruise the serpent's
head" (Gen. iii. 15). Ages passed with only a dim hope of a coming
Saviour; unt