Mark 1:15

His words held two announcements and two appeals. The Servant-Prophet announced that the time was fulfilled, and that the kingdom of God was at hand. He called on men to repent, and to believe the gospel.

The Old Testament had spoken of the kingdom of God, above all in Daniel. Daniel 9 fixed a set time for the coming of the Messiah and for the fulfilment of the prophecy. That time was now fulfilled, and in Himself the kingdom was near to them. He called on men to repent and to believe this.

There was no more need for any delay. He does not bring in the law. John came in the way of righteousness to point people to Him. But once He appears on the scene Himself, no one else is needed to point to Him… "The time is fulfilled." There is no question of law now, and no reason for delay.

This kingdom will not be a fallen man ruling fallen men. When the blind lead the blind, the ditch must be where they end up. That, in fact, is the history of man's kingdoms, as the Old Testament shows in full. Now God's kingdom is to appear: it starts with God, it is governed by God, it is kept by God. Its reach is not limited to Israel; it will extend to all nations, to the ends of the earth. And not to man only, the head of creation — all suffering creation will be set free from its bondage to decay.

Here the King appears. How near, then, must God's kingdom be, when God's King was standing among them! … How sad that the King heard Himself denied by the wise men of Jerusalem… He was indeed crucified, and that had to change how the kingdom looked for the time. Yet even so, "the kingdom of God" is still to be set up on the earth.

But were the hearers ready for the gospel? To enjoy the blessing of God's kingdom as one should, whether in its moral or its material form, an inward change is essential. So the Lord calls on men to repent. He was not here to force men into submission by irresistible power. He came to "call sinners to repentance."

Some say it is sorrow for sin. Some say it is a change of mind, resting on the literal meaning of the word… In truth it is none of these, nor all of them put together… Scriptural repentance is nothing less than this: we side with God in His judgment of our sins, we take His part against ourselves, and so we bow in the dust before Him in true self-judgment… When we repent in this way, we justify God and condemn ourselves.

Matthew and Luke report the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom with the demand to repent. Mark adds the words "and believe in the gospel." This gospel is of course not the gospel of our salvation. No one preached that until He had finished the work the Father gave Him to do.

We have not only to proclaim that faith is the principle on which God justifies the sinner; we have to urge men to believe. Faith is the result of God's work in the soul… but that in no way stops the servant of God from being deeply in earnest and persuading men.