That the people did not observe the word of Jesus is, however, very evident from the way in which He upbraided them, and pointed out to them that the lot of the wrongdoers who repented would in the end be better than that of the selfrighteous who repented not. "But whereunto shall I liken this generation?" exclaimed Jesus one day. "It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, and saying, We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented. For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, he hath a devil. The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. . . . Then began He to upbraid the cities wherein most of His mighty works were done, because they repented not. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have {123} repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee." [Sidenote: Repentance a universal principle.] It is evident, then, that in the teaching of Jesus, repentance from evil is absolutely necessary if one would enjoy the blessings of the Lord. This is so self-evident a truth that it should not be necessary to state it. In all the affairs of life--in business, in politics, in the industries, in science, in art, in war, in what not--repentance is a fundamental principle of true success. In our daily work we are accustomed to calling our wrongdoings mistakes; but we have to correct those mistakes before we can achieve the end for which we are working. Sometimes the mistakes we make are of such a nature that we cannot correct them. Then we have to begin over again, and have to try to avoid those serious mistakes; but the memory of those mistakes remains with us forever, and the waste, or loss, or suffering, caused by them can never be made right. In the great world war now raging, many costly mistakes have been made. Officers and men have often been forced to repent; and many men, because they have violated their orders, have lost their lives. For them, repentance in this life has been made impossible. So it will be also with those who persist in evil. The day {124} will come when they will be taken away suddenly. Then the opportunity to repent in this life will be lost. Jesus would have us repent here and now, and devote ourselves to works of righteousness that we may gain eternal life. [Sidenote: Things of which to repent.]