the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth."

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[Illustration]
GOING TO THE DOCTOR

From a photograph taken by Mrs. Louise Seymour Houghton, and used by
her kind permission.

These poor women of the East have brought their poor little sick
children on the patient old donkey to the doctor. As the custom is
in the East, the faces of the women are covered by veils. This is
the way the Eastern mothers used to bring their sick little children
to Jesus in the old days.
[End illustration]

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THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

The people of the Bible land had lost their kingdom before the time of
Christ. They had no king of their own, but governors came from Rome, a
city hundreds of miles away, and ruled them. But the people hoped that
this would not last. They wanted a kingdom of their own. They believed
God would give it to them some day. They prayed that it might come.
When Jesus began to teach and hear people, they thought perhaps he
would be a king to bring this kingdom that God would give them. But
Jesus had something better than a great kingdom on earth. He tried to
make them understand what it was. He called it the kingdom of heaven.
By that he meant the rule of God in the world.

God's rule is not in a great palace, with soldiers and a throne and
great splendor. It is in the heart, and grows up very quietly, like
the plants in the field. Jesus once told a story to show this. It was
the story of

THE MUSTARD SEED

"The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man
took, and sowed in his field.

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"Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is
the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of
the air come and lodge in the branches thereof."

So the kingdom of heaven grows very quietly. But it is very precious,
even if it is hidden away so closely. One might better let anything
else go than that.

Again, he told them, the kingdom of heaven is like to a net, that was
cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind.

Again, the kingdom is like to a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls.

How proud a man is to be a citizen of a great country! In this country
we are proud to be Americans. Do you suppose you could be a citizen of
the kingdom of God? Yes. Jesus said once that children and people who
were like children belong to this kingdom.

"Suffer the little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for
of such is the