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them; "My defence is of God, which faves the upright in heart," Pfal. vii. 10. Hence called a flrong tower, and rock of defence; a hiding-place, a covert, a fhadow, to fhelter them from the affaults and attacks of the nations of enemies that are within them, and round about them; "A man fhall be a hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempeft; as rivers of waters in a dry place, and as the fhadow of a great rock in a weary land," Ifa. xxxii. 2.

(2.) He is the Lord their God and fhield, for offending all their enemies: hence he is faid to have a fword of power girded on his thigh, for executing judgment on their enemies; Deut. xxxii. 41, 42. "If I whet my glittering fword, and mine hand take hold of judgment; I will render vengeance to mine enemies, and a reward to them that hate me: I will make mine arrows drunk with blood." Read alfo ver. 43. and compare it with Ifa. Ixiii. 1,-4. "The day of vengeance is in mine heart, for the year of my redeemed is come." O! it is a happy vengeance to the Ifrael of God, when he, as their mighty Conqueror, fubdues the nations under them, and takes vengeance on all their powerful lufts and spiritual enemies. A day of vengeance to the enemy, is a day of redemption to his friends. But this leads me to

V. The Fifth thing propofed, namely, to fpeak of the manner of the conqueft. We have heard of the Conqueror, here defigned, The Lord thy God; and now the manner of the conqueft is, He will put out thefe nations before thee, by little and little. And here three things may be noticed, with reference to the manner of the conqueft. 1. It is obtained powerfully and effectually: He will put out-these nations. 2. Vifibly and remarkably: He will put them out before thee. 3. Gradually and piece-meal; by little and little. To each of thefe I would fpeak a word.

Firft, The manner of the conqueft is, that it is obtained powerfully and effectually: The Lord thy God WILL PUT OUT thefe nations; or, as it is rendered in the margin, be will PLUCK OFF thefe nations. And fo it is further explained, ver. 23. of this chapter; "He will deliver them unto thee, and fhall deftroy them with a mighty

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deftruction, till they be deftroyed utterly. And he will deliver their kings into thine hand," ver. 24. And, Exod. xxiii. 30. By little and little will I drive them out. Now, thus, in the fpiritual conqueft, the nations must be put out and the Lord's putting them out, does import,

1. That thefe nations of lufts, and fpiritual enemies, have ftrength and power upon their fide; fo that it is no eafy work to get them driven out; yea, utterly impoffible, unless the Lord our God undertake it. If you afk, where the ftrength of thefe nations lies, and particularly the ftrength of fin? I anfwer in these four things.

(1.) The ftrength of the nation of fin and of lufts lies in their root; viz. the body of fin and death as the ftrength of a tree lies in the root; fo that the ax muft be laid to the root, if you would deftroy it; and as the ftrength of the water is in the fountain, fo that if you would deftroy it, the fountain must be ftopt up: fo the ftrength of fin is in the root and fountain of fin that is within. And hence,

(2.) The ftrength of thefe nations of lufts lies in the relation they have to ourfelves: and hence, for a man to deftroy his lufts, is to deny himfelf. Thefe nations. of lufts and fins are fuch a part of himfelf, that they feem to be the best part, and the most useful part of himfelf; his right hand, his right eye, his members ; Mortify therefore your members that are upon the earth," Col. iii. 5.

(3.) The ftrength of thefe nations lies in the commander and captain-general that leads them forth; that is, the Devil; the great quarter-mafter that fills the heart, as it is faid of Ananias, A&ts v. 3. "Why hath Satan filled thine heart, to lie to the Holy Ghoft, and keep back part of the price?" It is the devil that fills the heart of people to lie, and fills their heart to swear, and fills their heart to drink and debauch, and fills their heart to keep back what fervice is due to God. This commander is a ftrong man, and cannot be conquered but by a ftronger. Yea,

(4.) The ftrength of thefe nations of fin lies in the law of works; 1 Cor. xv. 56. "The ftrength of fin is

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the law." Sin hath dominion over all that are under the law, and not under grace, Rom. vi. 14. and that on many accounts, that I cannot now infift upon; but particularly, among the reft, becaufe, by reafon of the origi. nal breach thereof, they are under the curfe of it, of which curfe the ftrength of fin is a great part; fo that no lefs power than that which can pull up the root, a body of fin and death, and pull down felf and all the members of it, and that can deftroy the devil, the captain of hell, and, at the fame time, give full fatisfaction to the law of the God of heaven; no lefs power can destroy thefe nations, for here their ftrength lies*.-The Lord's putting them out, fuppofes and imports this ftrength and power that they have upon their fide.

2. It imports, that thefe nations of lufts and spiritual enemies have the poffeffion; which, indeed, is alfo a great part of their ftrength. There would be no need of driving them out, if they were not in: nay, they are in poffeffion; they are in actual poffeffion of the understanding of all men by nature, who are therefore alienated from the life of God, through the ignorance that is in them. They have actual poffeffion of the will; hence men are not only unwilling to let thefe nations go out, and as unwilling as Pharaoh was to let Ifrael go, tho' plagued from heaven for his wilfulness: but also the will is filled with enmity against God, and rifes up in arms and oppofition against him, and in favours of thefe lufts. Yea, they have poffeffion of all the powers and faculties of the foul; they are deeply rooted in the heart and nature, as the Jebufites were in the land of Canaan; and there they strongly fortify and deeply intrench themselves, fo that it is no eafy work to drive them out: yea, as they have no will to go out, fo out they will never go, till they be driven by a fuperior power, as Chrift drove the buyers and fellers out of the temple, who turned the temple of God to a den of thieves. Therefore,

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* Wherein the ftrength of fin lies, is copioufly opened up from thefe words, The firength of fin is the law, Vol. V. Ser. LXXIII, &c.

3. It imports, an exerting of the divine power in oppofition to thefe nations, in order to their being put out and deftroyed; and that is even the almighty power of God in Chrift, by the Holy Ghoft; " If you, through the Spirit, mortify the deeds of the body, you fhall live,” Rom. viii. 13. It is not by the power of nature, or free-will; "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, fays the Lord of hofts," Zech. iv. 6. When the conqueft is actually commenced in a foul, the Spirit of God comes and gives battle to the nations of the Canaanites; the lufts and old inhabitants of the heart, and takes poffeffion. How he does fo, may afterwards more appear only, I fay here, the Lord's putting out the nations, imports, that his almighty power is actually put forth for this end.

4. It imports, that this power is and fhall be effectual; for it is faid, He wILL put them out: he will drive them out of their old quarters, and deftroy them; he will drive them out of the heart, out of the house, out of the will, out of the affections, out of all the forts where they strengthened themselves, and at laft out of the world, when he completes his work of fanctification; for," He that hath begun the good work, will perfect it," Phil.i.6. And fure there is no true-hearted Ifraelite here, but will fay, AMEN; Lord, haften the time when these nations of lufts fhall be driven out of my heart, and driven out of the world; Lord, let them be driven to hell with the devil, their captain, and let me be quit of them for ever. Well, the day of their complete extirpation is a-coming; The Lord thy God will drive out thefe nations. But then,

Secondly, The manner of the conqueft here exprest, is vifible and remarkable; He will drive them out BEFORE THEE. I think this word may import the visible and remarkable manner of the conqueft: and more particularly,

1. That the Ifrael of God get a fight of their enemies. These nations are in their view, while the Lord their God is driving them out, and while they, thro' grace, are led to the field of battle against them: he will drive them out before them. They that never got a view of their fins and lufts, nor of the ftrength of their arms;

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that never faw their own corrupt nature, nor experienced the power of corruption in their hearts; they are yet living at their eafe, in the midft of thefe nations, and under the power thereof: they are alive without the law, Rom. vii. 9. The commandment hath not come, nor fin revived, to difcover its ftrength to them: they are yet foldiers under the devil's banner: they have not taken on with Chrift: the battle with the nations is not yet begun; for they never yet faw them, nor viewed and reconnoitred their ftrength.

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2. His driving out the nations before them, imports, that, through grace, the Ifrael of Ged are made active herein. It is before thee they fhall be driven out. ing acted by his grace, they act; being armed by his Spirit, they fight; and, through the Spirit, mortify the deeds of the body. It is true, fometimes the Ifrael of God have nothing ado at all, but just to stand still, as it were, to fee how the waters will divide to let them through, and how they will return to drown and overwhelm their enemies: but, for ordinary, their work is to go forward, in the name and ftrength of the Lord their God, and give battle to their enemies, that they may be deftroyed before them; and, under the banner of Chrift Jefus, the glorious Captain of falvation, to fight the good fight of faith. Yea,

3. His driving out the nations before them, imports, that, even when they are called to act and fight, they fhall have no ground of boafting, but rather of blushing, when they confider what part it is they act in this matter; for the Lord himself must be the agent: The Lord thy God will put out the nations before thee. Ifrael's Captain goes before them, and leads the van; the Lion of the tribe of Judah must go before them, and tear their enemies to pieces: it is he that fubdues the nations un der them. He hath gone before them already, and had a bloody battle with all the nations of hell upon mount Calvary; there he fought, and overcame principalities and powers; there he condemned fin in the flefh, and destroyed the strength of it, by nailing the law to his cross, Col. ii. 14. And however the nations may rally their forces again, and feem formidable and dreadful, yet

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