auxiliaries and ftrength from heaven, and then he will fay, with the pfalmift; Pfal. cxviii. 10, 11. The nations compast me about, but in the name of the Lord will I deftroy them; for then the right hand of the Lord does valiantly. Yet ftill it is by little and little; here a little, and there a little; here a little stroke given to Satan's kingdom, and there a little ftroke; here a little dafh given to the old man and his lufts, and there a little dafh; a little at this duty, and a little at another; a little at this fermon, and a little at another fermon; at this facrament, and the other facrament, till the finishing stroke be given. But this leads to the other question here. 2dly, By what steps and degrees is the conqueft over the nations advanced to a total extirpation of them? Here I might enquire, 1. By what degrees the conqueft is advanced by Ifrael's captain in his own perfon 2. By what degrees it is advanced by him in their perfons? (1.) By what degrees the conqueft is advanced and compleated by the captain of Ifrael, the Lord Jefus Chrift, in his own perfon? I'll tell you four remarkable periods of his conqueft, wherein you may fee four remarkable degrees thereof. 1ft Period was the commencement of the war in paradife, immediately after the fall of Adam: There he proclaimed war between the feed of the woman and the feed of the serpent; and after the proclamation, during that Old Teftament period he kept all his foldiers in expectation of his appearing, according to that promife and proclamation, as their head and general; fo that, in the faith of this coming Meffias, they overcame. 2d Period was in the remarkable combat that was betwixt the two heads of the two contending parties on mount Calvary, Chrift on the one one hand, and the ferpent on the other; when tho the ferpent bruised his heel unto blood, yet he brake the ferpent's head with his bloody heel, while by death be deftroyed him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and vanquished the nations of hell, by destroying their commander's power. 3d Period was in the after-game that followed upon this memorable combat; when, in his refurrection and afcenfion unto heaven, he dismantled all the garrifons of Satan, divided the spoil with the frong, led captivity captive: which laid the foundation for a fuccessful war to all his Ifrael, carried on between Michaol and his angels, and the dragon and his angels; where the dragon, having got a deadly ftroke, cannot prevail, Rev. xii. 7, 8. tho' he continue thus to rally his forces against heaven, and all that bend heavenward to the end of the world. And then comes the 4th Period, in that confummate ftroke which the captain of falvation will give to the devil and his armies, at the great day, when he will come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory: Then death, and he that had the power of it, fhall be utterly destroyed; for, the last enemy to be deAtroyed, is death, 1 Cor. xvi. 56. From the first to the laft enemy, not one fhall be left nor fpared from deftruction: Then fin, and death that was brought in by fin, fhall be under an eternal banishment, never more to appear among the Ifrael of God. Thus you fee by what fteps and degrees the conqueft is effectuated by the Lord Jefus in his own perfon. (2.) By what degrees, fay you, is it actually obtained by him in his members and foldiers, when he drives out the nations before them? Why, 1. By little and little, he brings them to the field of battle against against the nations, in a day of power, when the fpiritual war is begun. 2. By little and little, he carries on the conqueft, till the day of death, when the warfare is concluded. ft, I fay, by little and little, he brings them forth to the field against the nations of lufts that stand in their way to the heavenly Canaan, and that in a day of power, in a day of converfion, when the fpiritual war is commenced in the man's person. Queft. How does the Lord their God bring them forth against the enemy? I do not limit the Lord to this or that way; he is fovereign: But I fpeak of the ordinary steps and degrees, by which he brings any poor finner that was under the power of fin and Satan, mixed with, and under the power of the nations of hell; by which, I fay, he brings them to the field. There are feveral fields that the captain of falvation leads them thro', before they be on the field of battle, where the nations are put out before them." 1. He leads them to the field of confideration, and makes them there bethink themselves what a fad ftate and condition they are in, while waging war again ft heaven, under the devil's banner. What am I doing? and, where am I going? and, what will be the end of these things, and of living in the fervice of thefe nations of lufts? And, O where will be my landing-place to eternity, if this be my courfe? Many never go fo far towards the heavenly Canaan, as to ftep into this field of confideration. The ox knoweth his owner, and the afs his master's crib; but Ifrael does not know, my people do not confider, Ifa. i. 3. But, ah! many never fo much as turn their faces towards the field of battle against their lufts, fo long as they do not enter on this field of confideration : deration: Therefore, when the Lord begins a good work on his people, he brings them first to confider their ways; I thought upon my ways, and turned my feet to thy teftimonies. May be he brings them to it. by fome rouzing providence, whereby he stops their career in wickednefs, and hedges up their way with thorns, as he ftopt Manaffes, and held him in the thorns of Babylon, till he began to confider and know that the Lord was God, and that he was fighting against God. 2. Another little advance, while by little and little he leads them forth to battle, is his bringing them next to the field of concern. This naturally follows upon due confideration. The man is brought to fee the hazard and danger he is compaffed with, and to be afraid of the iffue. Some may make a step into the field of confideration a little, but they presently step back again, without going forward to the field of concern: But when the Lord hath a mind to bring one forward to the camp for war, he brings them into the field of great concern, where they are filled with a greater concern about falvation than ever they had about any thing in the world, faying with the jaylor, O! What shall I do to be faved? and with Peter's hearers, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Is there any falvation for me, that have been fighting against God all my days? 3. Another little advance is, his bringing them from the field of concern to the field of reflefness, even to a restless endeavour to come out of Satan's camp, and out of that fad condition they fee themfelves in For this concern about falvation, and fear of everlasting damnation, makes them to fall about the means of relief; and fo they read, and pray, 430 pray, and hear, and meditate, and mourn, and weep, and reform; and you would think they were by this time beginning to fight against the nations of their lufts: But, however thefe means be good in themfelves, and a reftlefnefs in the use of them may be wrought under the awakening influence of the fpirit of God; yet there is fome other field the man must be taken thro', before he be capable to lift arms against his lufts in an evangelical and acceptable manner: For, as yet, his legal heart leads him to nothing but a legal warfare, under which his spiritual lufts remain ftill in their ftrength and dominion. The man is yet under the law, and fo under the dominion of fin, Rom. vi. 14. And hence, while he is yet in this field, he is ready to be filled with vain imaginations, and legal dreams, like the young man in the gofpel, that it is by doing fome good thing or other he is to have eternal life. In this cafe, he may be doing a great deal of duties, and doing what he can with the greatest natural feriousness, and yet to no purpofe; because he is doing upon the principle of the old covenant of works, do and live. Therefore, 4. Another little advance is the Lord's bringing them from that field of reflefness to the field of defpair; so as to defpair of help in themselves and in their endeavours, to defpair of ever getting the victory by their legal diligence, to despair of life by the law, and their own obedience thereto. When the foul is upon this field, it meets with the law, and fees the extent and fpirituality of it, as exacting no less than perfection, internal perfection in heart and nature, external perfection in lip and life, eternal perfection in point of continuance and duration; for, curfed is every one that continueth not, &c. and fo all this perfection it requires upon The gradual conqueft : Or, |