the wealth of time, that priceless boon from the Eternal. Methought from his dying lips came a feeble sigh, "Farewell! farewell!" Then a passion of weeping fell upon me, and when again I lifted up my head, lo! the New Year stood in the place of the departed.

Smiling he greeted me with good wishes and words of cheer, while around me lay many bright tokens of friendship and of love. But I was afraid, for to me he was a stranger; and when I would have spoken words of welcome, my lips trembled and were silent.

Then he said, "Fear not: I come unto thee from the Giver of every good and perfect gift."

"New Year, whither wilt thou lead me? Art thou appointed to bring me joy or sorrow, life or death ?"

The next

He replied, "I know not; neither doth the angel nearest to the throne know, only He that sitteth thereon. Give me thine hand, and question not. Enough for thee that I accomplish His will. Make that will thine own, and thou shalt wear an angel's smile even here below. I promise thee nothing. Be content to follow me. Take with thee a prayer for wisdom this winged moment. may not be mine to give. Yet, if we walk onward together, forget not that thou art a pilgrim for eternity. If I bring thee the cup of joy, be thankful, and pitiful to those who mourn; and let all men be unto thee as brethren. If the dregs of bitterness cleave unto thy lips, be not too eager to receive comfort, lest thou betray the weakness of thy faith. God's perfected discipline giveth wisdom. Therefore count them happy who endure. When morn breaketh in the east, gird thyself for thy duties with a song of thanksgiving. For God is near to those who trust him and rejoice in his ways. And when night putteth on her coronet of stars, kneel and ask that the day's sins may be forgiven thee. So when I have no longer any days or nights to give thee, and must myself die, thou shalt bless me as a friend and a helper on the road to heaven." Mrs. Sigourney.

IF you are a Christian indeed, your body is a spiritual temple, and Christ is the Shechinah that fills it.

If the gospel does not bid you despair, never do you despair of yourself. There is infinitely more in the new creation by grace, than in the whole compass of nature, to furnish new thoughts and new ideas.

The death of Christ was a greater and more costly sacrifice, than if the whole human family had perished eternally; the reason is, that it was not that of a mere man, but of God-man in one person. One of the greatest promises of the Spirit is, that he is a Spirit of power. Do not despond, then, because you are so weak. "Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might."

"The wicked are usually most secure when they are most in danger. God's providences often resemble pieces of tapestry before they are put together; here is a head, there is a limb, yonder is a hand or a

foot, or something else. When the whole is complete, it is a perfect specimen of beauty.

Wherever the Spirit of Christ is, there is Christ himself.

As well may you try to write upon a sheet of water, or engrave upon rotten wood, as to convert a heart without the grace of God.

Justification does not make a man more holy in himself; but, in the eye of God, it makes him to be accounted such.

If you have entered upon the greatest of all journeys, can it be possible that you do not know by experience whether it is begun?

It is the spirit of sonship that makes us know we are the "
God" and from that time forward we may cry,
Father."

sons of

66 'Abba,

By the light of God's word alone, you can learn whether you have a

sure footing, or stand in slippery places.

CERTAIN man had two sons, to each of whom he said, "Son, go work to-day in my vineyard." The first of them rudely refused, but afterwards he repented and went. The second promised to go,

but he never fulfilled his promise.*

This is one of the parables of Jesus. It described the different conduct of some who were living then; but there are people now living who are doing just the same.

The father represents God, the Maker of our bodies and the Father of our spirits. He speaks to every one of us, as He has a right to speak, with all a father's authority; but He speaks also with a father's kindest love.

He bids us go and work in His vineyard. The vineyard is that kingdom of grace and salvation which the Lord Jesus established by His teachings and His death. The first thing we have to do is, by true repentance and faith, to enter into that kingdom, "not by works of righteousness which we have done or can do, but by the grace of God. We cannot work for Christ till we have first of all given ourselves to Christ. And this we must do as poor lost sinners freely forgiven and saved by the blood of the cross. But there is a great deal to be done after that. By the help of His Holy Spirit we are to depart from all our sins and to try to keep all His commands; and then, too, we are to labour to make known His salvation, and to bring lost sinners to trust and love Him. Nor is our work done even then. We are to labour still to become ourselves, and to make them, through God's blessing, more and more like Jesus.

We are thus to work-when?

day very distant ? No, "to-day."

To-morrow, or some

Behold, now is the

accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." We sin against our own souls, and we sin against God, if we put off till "a convenient season," and do not begin to work in the vineyard "to-day."

* Matt. xxi. 28–31.

But some say at once, and very resolutely, "I go not." Who are they?

Jesus had in view those who openly lived very sinful lives. The infidel, laughing at the Bible, and sometimes even denying the very existence of God; the sabbath-breaker, neglecting God's worship, and spending the Lord's day in pleasure or idleness; the drunkard and the profligate these all say, sometimes with a boldness that makes one shudder, "I care nothing whatever either for salvation or Jesus."

Yet, thank God, such as these have thought again, have repented of their refusal and of all their sins, have believed in Jesus, and have become His true servants.

Many open profligates who heard Jesus, melted by His kind teachings and entreaties, believed in Him, and so entered into His kingdom. So too we hear often of those who have been very sinful indeed, sought out by the people of God, weeping for their sins, and then becoming also the Lord's faithful servants. There are numbers of such living: there are multitudes in glory.

But the second son said he would go and work, and did not. Whom does he represent ?

The chief priests and scribes, who professed to be God's true servants, but who showed they were not His servants by rejecting Jesus. The second son also represents a great many in the present day, who hear the gospel, who attend regularly God's house; who think they will some day repent of sin and believe in Jesus, but who still do neither.

Perhaps, dear reader, as you have heard your Father in heaven bid you go work in His vineyard, you have said, “I go." You said it when, as you stood, a little child at your mother's knee, and she told you of the kindness of the Good Shepherd, and how welcome to His love were little ones such as you. When the preacher in God's house held up to you the Lord Jesus Christ as your loving Saviour, and the Holy Spirit as the sanctifier of those who believe in Jesus and receive Him, you said it again. And when God took you and laid you aside in a sick chamber, and put you face

to face with death, you said, earnestly and with tears, “Ah, if God will only spare me, as soon as I get better I will go and work in His vineyard!" Still you are not doing so; instead of this you are keeping back from Him and from His service all the day.

What is it keeps you back? Perhaps it is the love of some cherished sin. You know that you must leave off all your sins if you are to become a true servant of Jesus, and you say, "I could do a great deal, but I can hardly give up that."

Or it may be through the influence of some companion or friend; and the companion need not be a very wicked person to keep you from Jesus. It may be quite enough if he is only trifling and thoughtless.

Or you may be getting more and more absorbed in the business of the world, and you are allowing it to occupy all your thoughts, so that you have no time to think about salvation and God. "The cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lust of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.”

Ask the Lord to help you to find out what it is. "Jesus, the hindrance show,

Which I have feared to see;

Yea, let me row consent to know
What keeps me back from Thee.
Searcher of hearts, in mine

Thy trying power display;
Into its darkest corners shine,

And take the veil away."

And ask Him to impart to you by His Holy Spirit strength to forsake the sin, however hard it may be to give it up; to break off the friendship which keeps you away from Christ; to put the world into its right place, that you may not love it more than your soul's salvation. Your Father calls. He might have said, obeyed me so long, you shall not enter. vineyard is closed against you for ever." say that. He still says, "Son, go work to-day."

"You have dis

The gate of the But He does not