Sunday School Times Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent you, and believe the gospel. A locomotive is rushing at express speed along the main line of a railway, when suddenly, by a pointsman's mistake, it is switched off into a sideline. Instantly the brakes are applied, and the moving mass is brought to a standstill. Then the engineer lays his hand upon a lever, the motion of the engine is reversed, and the train moves back to the main line, and continues on its course. In human life, such an abandoning of the main line is transgression; such a reversal is repentance. The kingdom of God is like a walled city with a single gate, to which outsiders can only approach by one path. That gate is faith; that path is repentance. An old tower in one of the southern counties of Scotland goes by the name of The Tower of Repentance. A herd boy was one day lying in a field near it, reading his New Testament, when an irreligious gentleman of the neighbourhood stopped and asked him what book he was reading. On being informed, he said with a sneer, "Perhaps, then, you can tell me the way to heaven?" "Oh, yes," replied the boy, "you must go up through that tower." This quaint way of expressing the truth, sent the inquirer off in a more thoughtful mood than when he came. If a man is running from the kingdom of God, it is obvious that he must just turn round and run for it, if he wishes to reach it. Just as soon as it is possible for a man to reach the top of a hill by running downhill, will it be possible for the sinner to enter God's kingdom without repentance. (Sunday School Times.) Parallel Verses KJV: And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. |
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