that he is and will be their fun to enlighten them, their portion to inrich them, their father to pity them, their husband to cherish them, their righteousness to clothe them, their guide to conduct them, their glory to crown them, and their ALL in all. But the text confines me to these relations imported in this title, Thy God, which have a refpect to his destroying their enemies before them by little and little. I only mention two of thefe; 1. His being their God, imports that he is their friend, tho' their enemies be many. 2. His being their God, imports that he is their field, tho' their enemies be mighty.

ft, Amidst the multitude of enemies, their God is their friend. And indeed, no matter who be our enemies, if God be our friend. If God be for us, fays the apoftle, who can be against us? Rom. viii. 31. And he is a friend to all thefe to whom he is a God in a peculiar manner. And his being their friend imports the removal of feud and enmity, his anger being turned away, and reconciliation made up through Chrift, whatever was the former difference. It imports the acceptation of their perfons into favour, and the obligation he lies under as a friend, by virtue of the new covenant of grace and promife to help them in every time of need, and to do all their works in them and for them, and to fight all their battles. Therefore,

2dly, tho' their enemies be mighty, his being their God, imports that he is their field. The Lord God is a fun and shield to them, Pfal. lxxxiv. 11. The fhields of the earth are his; and his being their fhield, is to be understood both in a defenfive and offenfive way. 1. He is the Lord their God and fhield to defend them, Pfal. vii. 10. My defence is of God, which faves the upright in heart,

Hence called

called a strong 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, Ifa. xxxii. 2. A man shall 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. 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 fwerd, 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, &c. Read alfo, ver. 43. and compare it with Ifa. lxiii. 1, 2, 3, 4. The day of vengeance is in mine heart, for the year of my redemption is come. O it is a day of 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

The fifth thing propofed, namely, to speak 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 cut 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 these I would fpeak a

word.

VOL. II.

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

1. That these nations of lufts and spiritual enemies have strength 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 ask where the strength of these nations lies, and particularly the strength of fin? I answer, in these four things; (1.) The strength of the nation of fin and of lufts lies in their root, the body of fin and death: As the ftrength of a tree lies in the root, fo that the ax must 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 strength of these nations of lufts lies in the relation they have to our felves: And hence, for a man to deftroy his lufts, is to deny himself. These nations of lufts and fins are fuch a part of himself, that they feem to be the best part, and the most useful part of himself; his right-hand, his right-eye, his members, Col. iii. 5. Mortify therefore your members that are upon earth. (3.) The ftrength of these nations lies in the commander

mander 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, Acts v. 3. Why bath Satan filled thine heart, to lye to the Holy Ghoft, and keep back part of the price? It is the devil that fills the heart of people to lye,and fills their heart to fwear, and fills their heart to drink and debauch, and fills their heart to keep back what service is due to God. This commander is a ftrong man, and cannot be conquered but by a ftronger. Yea, (4.) The strength of these nations of fin lies in the law of works, 1 Cor. xv. 56. The firength of fin is the law. Sin hath dominion over all that are under the law, and not under grace, Rom. vi. 14. and that on many accounts, which I cannot now infift upon; but particularly, among the reft, because, by reafon of the original breach thereof, they are under the curfe of it, of which curse the strength of fin is a great part; fo that no less 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 destroy the devil the captain of hell, and at the fame time give full fatisfaction to the law of the God of heaven; no less power can deftroy thefe nations, for here their firength 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 fpiritual enemies have the poffeffion, which indeed is also 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, thro' the ignorance that is in them. They have actual poffeffion of the will; hence men are not only unwill

Ee 2

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 favour 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 Jebusites were in the land of Canaan; and there they fortify and 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,

3. It imports an exerting of the divine power in oppofition to thefe nations, in order to their being put out and destroyed; and that is even the almighty power of God in Chrift, by the Holy Ghoft, Rom, viii. 13. If you thro' the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, you fhall live. It is not by the power of nature, or free-will; Not by might, nor by power, but by my fpirit, fays the Lord of hosts, 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 shall be effectual; for it is faid, He will put them cut; he will drive them out of their old quarters, and deftroy them; he will drive them out of the heart,

out