verted, and not till then, they are provided for, bo& for time and etemity^. "A wise son maketli a glad father." (ProT. X. 1.) Whatever we seek for our sons and daughters, let us first seek that they may have a place in the covenant, and a name in the hook of life.
We leam, in the third place, the nature of true great- nest. The angel describes it, when he tells Zacharias that his son " shall be great in the sight of the Ijord."
The measure of greatness which is common among men is utterly false and deceptive. Princes and poten- tates, conquerors and leaders of armies, statesmen and philosophers, artists and authors, — these are the kind of men whom the world calls "great." Such greatness is not recognised among the angels of QoA. Those who do great things for God, they reckon great. Those who do little for God, they reckon litUe. They measure and value every man according to the position in which he is likely to stand at the last day.
Let us not he ashamed to make the angels of God our example in this matter. Let us seek for ourselves and our children that true greatness which wUl he owned and recognized in another world. It is a greatness which is within the reach of aIl,^-of the poor as well as the rich, — of the servant as well as of the master. It does not depend on power or patronage, on money or on friends. It is the free gift of God to all who seek it at the Lord Jesus Christ's hands. It is the portion of all who hear Christ's voice and follow Him, — who fight Christ's battle and do Christ's work in the world. Such may receive littie honour in this life. But great shall be their reward at the last day.