standing and repute of some one with whom he had thoughts of doing business, and to whom, it would seem, he was a stranger. It was wise in him to do so. Indeed, no man of ordinary prudence would ever think of opening an account with an entire stranger, or with one whom he had not good reason to believe to be perfectly solvent.

No doubt the reply would be perfectly satisfactory; and we may well believe that the man would open his new account without delay.

The reply took for granted that there are accounts of which men do repent that they ever opened them.

Are you a tradesman? Then very likely you could read out from your ledger the names of men whom you trusted quite confidently, but about whom you soon found out that you had been quite mistaken. To this day their accounts are unpaid, and you reckon them amongst your bad debts.

There are hundreds of people who are ruined because they opened accounts with men who were not worthy of credit. They did so without making due inquiry. Or, possibly, they were warned, and they gave no heed to the warning; and now they are saying, “I ought to have known better. I was told how it would be; but I took my own foolish way, and this is what has come of it." There are other kinds of accounts, of which men repent just as bitterly.

You are perhaps tempted-if you have not already yielded to the temptation-to open an account with sinful pleasure; and your foolish heart, deluded by the great deceiver, tells you that it will be a very profitable one. It promises to you large enjoyment; the cost, compared with the pleasure, will be very small; there is no doubt that its promises will be fulfilled; and there will be no penalty. But as surely as you live, if you open your account there you will regret it.

The Bible, which is God's own Word, says so. Here are some of its warnings: "Be sure your sin will find you

out;""What fruit had ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed ?" "The wages of sin is death."

And in whatever other ways you open your account with the world and sin-seeking from them solid peace and joy -you will most certainly repent it. If you do not cry, like the royal preacher in the Book of Ecclesiastes, "All is vanity and vexation of spirit;" if you do not repent it on your death-bed, there awaits you beyond the grave an eternity of misery and despair.

But we can tell you of an account which you will never regret opening; and what we wish to do is, by the help of God, to persuade you to open it without delay.

Could there be a more fitting time for you to do this than the present? Many a tradesman, looking over the accounts of the year just gone, is now saying, "That account is altogether unsatisfactory: I will close it." Very likely he adds, "And I will try if I cannot open new business relations there, and there, and there."

That is what we want you to do, if you have not yet sought salvation. We want you to close your account with sin, and to open a new account with God.

Do you ask how you are to do that? We will try to tell you:

First of all, you must clearly understand that, though you have never yet cared to have any account with God, He has a long unsettled account against you. You have been sinning against Him all your life; He has seen every evil thing that you have ever done; and all your sins are written in His book of remembrance. They are a great load of debt which you can never pay, and which, if it be not forgotten, must sink you down into everlasting death.

But God is ready, for the sake of His dear Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to forgive you all. If you will really repent of sin, bewailing it, hating it, resolving by God's help to forsake it at once and for ever, and if thus repenting, you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and put in Him all your trust, nothing that you have ever done will be remembered

against you any more. at once and for ever.

Your whole debt will be remitted

Not only will He thus forgive you, but, by the power of His Holy Spirit, He will create in you a new heart, whose delight it will be to love and serve Him.

That, then, is how you must open your account with God, by accepting, with a thankful heart and with entire faith, the salvation of the cross.

But you must do so with the resolve that from this time forward your whole life shall be a life of loving obedience, and that with His help you will try to do all His will. We assure you that, if you do this you will never regret it. For see what God promises to all who believe and love Him: a "peace which passeth all understanding"-a joy which no words can tell-comforts which will gladden you in the sorest troubles-victory over death-and then everlasting life in heaven.

"But may I be sure of all this ?" you ask.

Indeed you may, beyond any doubt whatever.

Men often fail those who trust them because they are unable to fulfil their promises. They would fulfil them if they could, but they cannot. But there is nothing God has promised which He is unable to do, for all things are His in heaven and in earth, and there is no limit to His power.

Again, men fail through unfaithfulness; but God is faithful to all His promises, for He cannot lie.

No, you will never regret that you have believed in God and loved Him. You will never regret it in life. Whatever your circumstances, and however long you may live, you will never find that it was a mistake that you had trusted and served Him.

You will not regret it when you come to die. The writer has attended he cannot tell how many death-beds, but he never once heard a dying man say, "I am sorry that I ever believed in Christ." So far from being a regret, in heaven it will fill you with an everlasting and ever-increasing joy.

A New Year's Encouragement.

Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as thy days, so shall thy strength bc."— Deut. xxxiii. 25.

Story of a Pawnbroker's Shop.

ID Miss Blakiston feel hurt at all this cold-shouldering on the part of her friends, or rather, acquaintances? No, not she! She was not even aware of all that they said and thought about her, so how could she be hurt? And as to noticing the affected ptty and covert sympathy in their eyes and voices, why, she