Though  sacrifices  and  oblations  were  offered
to  God  under  the  law  by  His  own  express  ap-
pointment, yet  He  peremptorily  rejected  them
by  His  prophets,  when  presented  as  substitutes
nstead  of  signs.  Will  He,  under  a  more  per-
fect dispensation,  accept  of  any  observances
which  are  meant  to  supersede  internal  dedica-
tion, —  of  any  offerings  unaccompanied  by  com-
plete desire  of  acquiescence  in  His  will  ?  "  My
son,  give  me  thine  heart!'  is  his  brief  but
imperative  command.  But,  before  we  can  be
brought  to  comply  with  the  spirit  of  this  requi-
sition, God  must  enlighten  our  understanding,
that  our  devotion  may  be  rational:  He  must
rectify  our  will,  that  it  may  be  voluntary;  He
must  purify  our  heart,  that  it  may  be  spiritual.
Submission  is  a  duty  of  such  high  and  holy
import,  that  it  can  only  be  learnt  of  the  Great
Teacher.  If  it  could  have  been  acquired  by
mere  moral  institution,  the  wise  sayings  of  the
ancient  philosophers  would  have  taught  it.  But
their  most  elevated  standard  was  low  :  their
strongest  motives  were  the  brevity  of  life,  the


128  THY    WILL    BE    DONE.
instability  of  fortune,  the  dignity  of  suffering
virtue  —  things  within  their  narrow  sphere  of
judging  ;  things  true,  indeed,  as  far  as  they  go,
but  a  substratum  by  no  means  equal  to  the  su-
perstructure to  be  built  on  it.  It  wanted  depth,
and  strength,  and  solidity,  for  the  purposes  of
support.  It  wanted  the  only  true  basis,  the
assurance  that  God  orders  all  things  according
to  the  purposes  of  his  will  for  our  final  good ;
it  wanted  that  only  sure  ground  of  faith  by
which  the  genuine  Christian  cheerfully  submits
in  entire  dependence  on  the  promises  of  the
Gospel.
