Of the other Parables of "The Kingdom of Heaven" describing special circumstances which affect the subjects of the Kingdom, only one, "The Marriage of the King's Son," seems to be capable of illustration by examples. And this is abundantly illustrated throughout the Acts of the Apostles in the history of the extension of the Church. As soon as the Gospel spread to Gentile lands, we find the Jews in general persistently refusing to accept the Lord Jesus as Messiah and to become members of the Church. Thus at Antioch in Pisidia, after the glad tidings had been so published that "almost the whole city came together to hear the Word of God; when the Jews saw the multitudes they were filled with envy, and spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming." Then the literal fulfilment of this prophetic Parable followed. "Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you; but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles" (Acts xiii. 44-46). And, in a similar way, the last chapter of the Acts of the Apostles records how the Jews in Rome brought upon themselves the warning Words of S. Paul, "Be it known, therefore, unto you; that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it" (Acts xxviii. 25-28). Thus we find the Parables of "The Kingdom of Heaven" exemplified and fulfilled in the history of the early Church. And any doubt still lingering in the mind of the reader, about the Church of Christ being "The Kingdom of Heaven," may be dispelled by the clear testimony of the facts recorded in Holy Scripture. CHAPTER VIII. THE ESSENTIAL UNITY OF THE KINGDOM. "Elect from every nation, Yet One o'er all the earth; Her charter of salvation, One Lord, One Faith, One Birth." If it is true that our Lord came to found a real Kingdom, and if the Church described in the Book of the Acts of the Apostles is this Kingdom, it is clear that the quality of Unity or Oneness is essential to it. It must belong to the nature of the Church that it should be One; because we cannot conceive in our minds, in any practical sense, the idea of two Kingdoms of Heaven. This truth was illustrated by our Lord under the form of a figure. "I am the Vine; ye are the branches" (S. John xv. 5). The idea of a tree implies oneness, and the branches have no separate existence apart from the stem. Even so the subjects of "The Kingdom of Heaven" can exist only through union with Christ Himself; and wherever Christians are enrolled, in whatsoever country they may be, all must belong to the same Kingdom, because all are branches of the One Vine.