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We may consider three things.

I. THE CHANGES OF LIFE. The fathers come first, then the children. There is a constant succession. We see the same on the earth. The sun and moon and stars are the same that have been from the beginning, but the scarred face of the earth indicates change. The year has its seasons. Fields white unto harvest to-day will be bare to-morrow. The leaves fade, and others come in their places. So it is in life. Go where you will, the cry is, "Your fathers, where are they?" (Zechariah 1:5). This throws great responsibility upon the living. They stand between the past and the future. From the fathers they have received much, and of them the children require much. They are the "heirs of all the ages," and they are bound to hand down, pure and entire, to those who come after, the glorious inheritance they have possessed.

II. THE COMPENSATIONS OF LIFE. When the fathers are taken, we are ready to regard it as a calamity. If one fails who stood high in Church or state, we cry in our grief like David when Abner was slain, "Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?" (2 Samuel 3:38). But God's hand is in these things. There is compensation. If the fathers go, it is that the children may take their places. The line is never broken. The order which God has fixed continues. If Moses dies, Joshua takes his place. If Elijah is carried into heaven, his mantle falls upon Elisha. If Stephen is martyred in the midst of his labours, God has a chosen vessel in preparation, to take up his work, and carry it out in nobler ways than he could have done. So it is still. Though there be breaks and interruptions and intervals when things were dark, yet the law holds good. Let us take heed. The future is the outcome of the present. We are sowing in the hearts of our children the harvests that are to be. Let us do our duty towards those who are to come in our place, and leave results to God. "0 Church of God," said Augustine, "think not thyself abandoned, because thou seest not Peter, nor seest Paul. Seest not thou through whom thou wast born; out of thine own offspring has a body of 'fathers' been raised up to thee."

III. THE DISTINCTIONS OF LIFE.

1. Their source is Divine. We say the sovereign is the source of honour. So it is in the higher things. True honour is from God only, and he gives it to those alone whom he has "made" to be worthy (John 1:12).

2. Their character is princely. When God makes princes, he makes princes in reality. He gives not only place, but power; and not only power, but the highest honours (Genesis 32:28; 2 Timothy 1:7; Revelation 1:5). What Gideon's brethren were in appearance they are in reality (Judges 8:18).

3. Their influence is world-wide. Wherever they are known, they are honoured. What was true of the twelve is true in a measure of all Christ's servants (Matthew 19:28). As Samuel Rutherford said with his last breath, "Glory dwelleth in Immanuel's land." - W.F.

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KJV: Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.

WEB: Your sons will take the place of your fathers. You shall make them princes in all the earth.