have an answer. "If it be possible/' and the thing we ask is for God's glory, it shall be done. The thorn in the flesh shall either be removed, or grace to endure it will be given to us, as it was to St. Paul. (2 Cor. xii. 9.) May we all store up this lesson against the day of need. It is a true saying, that " prayers are the leeches of care."
Let us learn, in the second place, that entire submission of will to the luill of Ood should he one of our chief aims in this world. The words of our Lord are a beautiful example of the spirit that we should follow after in this matter. He says, " Not as I will, but as thou wilt." He says again, " Thy will be done."
A will unsanctified and uncontrolled, is one great cause of unhappiness in life. It may be seen in little infants. It is born with us. We all like our own way. We wish and want many things, and forget that we are entirely ignorant what is for our good, and unfit to choose for ourselves. Happy is he who has learned to have no wishes, and in every state to be content. It is a lesson which we are slow to learn, and like St. Paul, we must learn it not in the school of mortal man, but of Christ. (Phil. iv. II.)
Would we know whether we are born again, and growing in grace ? Let us see how it is with us in the matter of our wills. Can we bear disappointment ? Can we put up patiently with unexpected trials and vexations ? Can we see our pet plans, and darling schemes crossed without murmuring and complaint ? Can we sit still, and suffer calmly, as well as go up and down and work actively ? These are the things that prove whether we have the mind of Christ. It ought never to be forgotten, that warm feelings and joyful
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frames are not tlie truest evidences of grace. A morti- fied will is a far more valuable possession. Even our Lord Himself did not always rejoice ; but He could always say, " Thy will be done."
Let us learn, in the last place, that there is great weahiesSj even in true disciples of Christ, and that they have need to ivatch and pray against it. We see Peter, James, and John, those three chosen apostles, sleeping when they ought to have been watching and joraying. And we find our Lord addressing them in these solemn w^ords, " Watch and pray, that ye enter not into tempta- tion : the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
There is a double nature in all believers. Converted, renewed, sanctified as they are, they still carry about with them a mass of indwelling corruption, a body of sin. St. Paul speaks of this when he says, " I find a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind." (Rom. vii. 21—23.) The ex- perience of all true Christians in every age confirms this. They find within, two contrary principles, and a con- tinual strife between the two. To these two principles our Lord alludes when He addresses His half-awakened disciples. He calls the one flesh and the other spirit. He says, " the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
But does our Lord excuse this weakness of His dis- ciples ? Be it far from us to think so. Those who draw this conclusion mistake His meaning. He uses that very weakness as an argument for watchfulness and prayer. He teaches us that the very fact that -we are
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