Driving Out the Canaanites and Their Iron Chariots

Driving Out the Canaanites and Their Iron Chariots

DELIVERED ON THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 12, 1888,

BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.

"For you shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots
and though they are strong." Joshua 17:18.

WHEN the children of Israel had come to Canaan and by God's good care
had entered into the land that flowed with milk and honey they were not
immediately at rest. The Canaanites were there–there in possession,
there in strong cities–which seemed to be walled up to Heaven. And
they had to drive out these Canaanites before they could possibly
possess the country. In fact, this was the reason why they were sent
there. The Canaanites had been outlawed by God. They had been guilty of
such horrible offenses that He had adjudged their race to destruction.

It was necessary for the purity of the world that ancient races which
had become so horribly depraved should be removed from it and the
Israelites were brought to the land as the Lord's executioners–to
smite the Canaanites and exterminate them. Some have dared to speak of
it as a hideous massacre. But being commanded of the great Judge who
has the power of life and death it is to be solemnly regarded as a
terrible execution for which there was a stern necessity.

We may rest well assured that He who commissioned His officers to slay
had the most urgent reason for the employment of their swords. God knew
best what was needful for the morals of the world and He came to the
conclusion that the iniquity of the Amorites was full and that they
could not be longer endured. The Israelites could not, therefore, enter
upon their inheritance without first driving out the aboriginal races,
since these had become the adversaries both of God and man.

You will see, then, dear Friends, that Canaan is hardly a full type of
Heaven. It may be used so in a modified sense. But it is a far better
emblem of that state and condition of soul in which a man is found when
he has become a Believer and by believing has entered into rest–but
not into an absolutely perfect deliverance from sin. He has come to
take possession of the Covenant heritage but finds the Canaanite of sin
and evil still in the land–both in the form of original sin within and
of temptation from without. Before he can fully enjoy his privileges he
must drive out his sins. It is absolutely needful–before he can
experience the blessings of the Covenant of Grace fully–that he should
contend with the iniquities and evils which are within him and around
him.

He must drive out the various tribes of enemies which, for a long time,
have been dwellers in the land of his nature. No doubt many young
Christians think that when they are converted the warfare is all over.
No–the battle has just begun. You have not come to the finish
line–you have only come to the starting block. You have entered upon
the land in which you will have to fight and wrestle and weep and pray
until you get the victory. That victory will be yours but you will have
to agonize to obtain it. He that has brought you into this condition
will not fail you nor forsake you. But, at the same time, not without
strong contentions and earnest strivings will you be able to win your
inheritance.

Be not deluded with the idea that you may sit down at your ease–the
very reverse will happen to the true heir of Heaven. I speak at this
time to many who understand the meaning of spiritual warfare and I
scarcely need remind them that they are called to be men at arms and
not men at ease. I speak to some, perhaps, who do not yet understand
much of warfare. But they will know before long, for no Believer's
sword will long sleep in its scabbard. Sin is a powerful en-emy–and if
you are a child of God, you will have to fight against it. If you are
an heir of the true Canaan–you are born first to a heritage of warfare
and ultimately to the vast inheritance of unbroken and everlasting
peace–

"The land of triumph lies on high, There are no fields of battle there;
Lord, I would conquer till I die,

And finish all the glorious war."

Our text is a speech of war to the tribes of Manasseh and Ephraim.
Joshua said to them, "You are a great people and have great power–you
shall not have one lot only." But he told them when he gave them two
lots they would have to drive out those who were then in
possession–"You shall drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron
chariots and though they are strong." May the Holy Spirit prepare us
for our life-struggles by the meditations of this hour!

I. Our first reflection shall be–WE MUST DRIVE THEM OUT. It is a
command from God–"You shall drive out the Canaanites." Every sin has
to be slaughtered. Not a single sin is to be tolerated. Off with their
heads! Drive the sword into their hearts! They are all to die. Not one
of them may be spared. The whole race is to be exterminated and so
buried that not a bone of them can be found. Here is a labor worthy of
all the valor of faith and the power of love.

They must all be driven out, for every sin is our enemy. I hope we have
no enemies in this world among our fellow men. It takes two to make a
quarrel. And if we will not contend there can be no contention. We are
neither to give nor to take offense. But if it is possible, as much as
lies in us, we are to live peaceably with all men. I trust that we have
forgiven everybody who has ever harmed us and would desire to be
forgiven by all against whom we have done anything wrong. But every
sin, every evil, of every shape, is our true enemy–against which we
are to wrestle to the bitter end. You cannot say to any sin, "You may
dwell in my heart and be my friend." It cannot be your friend–evil is
our natural and necessary enemy and we must treat it as such.

The Seed of the woman will never find a friend in the seed of the
serpent any more than Eve found a friend in the serpent that beguiled
her. Any pretense of friendship with iniquity is mischievous. If you
are a friend of sin, you are not a friend of God. All sorts of sins are
our enemies and we are to hate them with our whole soul. If you can say
of any sin, "I do not hate it," then you may gravely question whether
you were ever born again. One of the marks of a child of God is that,
although he sins, he does not love sin. He may fall into sin but he is
like a sheep which, if it tumbles into the mud, is quickly up
again–for it hates the mire.

The sow wallows where the sheep is distressed. Now we are not the swine
that love the slough, though we are as sheep that sometimes slip with
their feet. Would to God that we never did slip! What a misery sin is
to us! Evil is the worst of evils to godly men. The Lord send us all
the sorrow He pleases–if He will but prevent our ever falling into
sin, the greatest of our griefs will be non-existent. Every sin hates
us and we hate every sin. There is no sin, dear Friends, that can help
you in any case whatever–it will seriously harm and hinder you. Sin is
that ill wind which blows nobody any good. There is no beauty in sin.
There is no comfort in sin. There is no strength in sin. There is
nothing whatsoever good in sin.

From the crown of its head to the sole of its foot, sin is all bruises
and putrefying sores. There is nothing to be said in its favor. And I
am sure that no heir of Heaven would take up its cause and plead for
it. It is evil, only evil and that continually. While you hate sin, sin
hates you. It will do you all the hurt it can. It will never be
satisfied with the mischief that it has worked in you. It will try to
lead you farther and farther into danger so as to bring you down to
Hell. Sin would utterly destroy you if it could and it certainly could
and would, if the Grace of God did not prevent it. Proclaim, then, a
ceaseless warfare against all sin. Cry, "war to the knife with sin!"

The Canaanites war with you–take care that you war with them. Up with
the blood-red banner! Draw the sword and never sheath it again. So long
as there remains sin in our heart, or in our life, or in the world, it
is to be fought against to the death. Again, we should contend against
all these Canaanites and drive them out–for sin is our Lord's most
cruel enemy. Jesus abhors all evil and evil in every shape persecuted
Him. All sorts of sins He bore in His own body on the tree. From our
sins, all of which were laid upon Him, came the lashings of His back,
when the whip plowed deep furrows. From our sins came the bloody sweat
that covered Him from head to foot.

From our sins came the crown of thorns, the nails, the spear, the
vinegar and gall and the dread death of agony. Sin–oh, how our Lord
loathes it! In putting it away from us He drank of that cup from which,
for a moment, He started, saying, "If it is possible, let this cup pass
from Me." "He who knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him." And this it was which caused Him
such an agony. Sin to Jesus was horror, torment, death. Jesus abhors
sin with all the force of His holy nature. Saved by Jesus will you not
hate sin as He did? Would any person here lay up in his drawer as a
treasure the knife with which his father was murdered?

Our sins were the daggers that slew the Savior. Can we bear to think of
them? Oh, that our tears might flow at the very thought of our horrible
conduct towards our Lord, whom we slew by our sins–and may we never,
never, never indulge any of all our iniquities–for no one of them is
innocent of the murder of our best Beloved. They conspired to take away
His life. Let us execute them at once–

"Oh, how I hate those lusts of mine That crucified my God; Those sins
that pierced and nailed His flesh Fast to the fatal wood! Yes, my
Redeemer, they shall die; My heart has so decreed– Nor will I spare
the guilty things That made my Savior bleed.

While with a melting, broken heart, My murdered Lord I view, I'll raise
revenge against my sins, And slay the murderers, too."

Remember, Brethren, we cannot have Christ and have one sin reigning in
our hearts. We come to Christ as sinners but when we receive Christ we
hear Him say, "Sin shall not have dominion over you." Sin may look into
our nature, as it does, with its tempting witcheries. Sin may ride
through our nature, as it does, trampling down all that is good. Sin
may lurk in our nature, as it does, ready to plot against the King of
kings. But it cannot reign in our nature, for it has come under another
sovereignty–Christ is on the throne. "Grace reigns through
righteousness unto eternal life" within our nature at this present
time. It is not possible that we could set a single sin on any
throne–even though it should be lower than Christ's throne– neither
can we obey the lusts thereof.

Our Lord Jesus will not share His dominion even with an angel–much
less with a sin. If you have iniquity enthroned in your heart you must
be lost. There is no hope for you. You may have Christ and quit your
sin. But you can not have Christ and hug your sin. Christ shall help
you to slay your sin. But if you say, "No, but I will indulge this
evil," even though you add, "Is it not a little one?" you will perish
in your iniquity. If there is one darling sin that you would spare,
Christ and your soul will never agree. There can be no peace between
you and Christ while there is peace between you and sin.

I have known men give up drunkenness and when they have signed the
pledge they have thought, "Now I am somebody." And they have gone on
with some other habit which was quite as bad. I am glad enough to see
you total abstainers. But that will not save you. Drunkards cannot
enter Heaven. Neither can liars, nor thieves, nor fornicators, nor
unbelievers. You have driven out one Canaanite but how about the rest?
One man has said, "I cannot bear prodigality. The extravagant
expenditure of that young profligate is abominable." Just so, but is
not avarice abominable also? I do not suppose that you ever would spend
too much money–for you are a mean old tightwad. You would never be
tempted to waste your money–for you love it too much. Extravagance is
not in your line. But you may as surely be ruined by covetousness and
greed as by prodigality.

Covetousness may be a better sort of vice for your pocket, but it will
be not better for your soul when you have to stand before the judgment
bar of God. One man loathes hypocrisy but then he is cruel, hard and
unforgiving. Another man will never swear but he will lie as fast as a
horse will gallop. I have known a man hate lying and yet he has been
given to lechery. I have known another who has been perfectly pure from
fleshly sin but then he has been as proud as Lucifer himself. And pride
will destroy a man as much as any other form of sin. The fact is, the
whole nest of unclean birds must be thrown to the ground. All the eggs
of the cockatrice must be crushed. Let us pray–

"The dearest idol I have known, Whatever that idol is, Help me to tear
it from its throne, And worship only You."

Suppose that one of our missionaries were to come back from India and
say, "I have achieved a great marvel among the natives. All through one
of the districts I went and preached and worked wonders. I found them
worshipping gods made of the mud of the Ganges. I showed them the folly
of it and they broke their mud gods to pieces. And some of them had
wooden gods and I induced them to burn them all. But there were some
beautiful gods–gods of marble and of gold and of silver and I had not
the heart to meddle with them–for they were so artistic, so valuable
and so venerable. Why one of them had eyes of diamonds! And another had
about his wrist a bracelet of rubies."

Alas, Mr. Missionary! We see no reason for your self-congratulation. So
you left the people worshipping those precious gods, did you? What good
have you done? None whatever. It is evidently as evil an idolatry to
worship a god of gold as it is to worship a god of mud. Now if we come
among you and so deal with vice and improve the education and morals of
the masses

that we elevate the people, what have we done if we end there? We have
taken away one set of sins but have left others. We have broken the mud
gods but if we leave the gold and silver gods, what good have we done
as before the sight of the Lord?

Many men have been delivered from the bottom rank of lusts and so far,
so good. But then the higher ranks of spiritual wickedness in high
places have been left untouched and what has been the net result?
Something for this world but nothing for the next. Something for
morality but nothing for spirituality. In the long run we shall not
have done much even for morals– for the most loathsome of vices
flourish side by side with great apparent refinement. Even the King of
Sodom was a perfect gentleman. Many an infamously unclean person is a
man honored in society because of his cultured mind. Sins of all sorts
must go when Divine Grace takes possession of the soul.

Bring out the golden calf! This costly idol must be ground to powder
and strewed upon the water. The golden calf is as detestable before the
Lord as the most beggarly gods of wood. One form of enmity to God is as
obnoxious to His Law as another. Sin in satin is as great a rebel as
sin in rags. You may wash sin in perfume but it smells none the
sweeter. Remember, also, dear Fiends, that a man cannot be free from
sin ifhe is the servant of even one sin., Here is a man who has a long
chain on his leg–a chain of fifty links. Now suppose that I come in as
a liberator and take away forty-nine links but still leave the iron
fastened to the pillar and his leg in the one link which is within the
iron ring–what benefit have I brought him?

How much good have I done? The man is still a captive. If you had a
bird here–say, a canary–and it was all free except one leg, it would
not be a free bird then, would it? "It is only held by a single bit of
cotton," you say. Still the bird is not at liberty–it cannot fly as it
pleases. As long as a man is held a captive by a single vice–no matter
how small it is–he is still in bondage to iniquity. If just one sin
binds him, masters him–he is not the Lord's free man. He is still a
slave in the worst form of slavery–he is under the dominion of evil.
Hence, you see, I spoke not too harshly, when I said, "Down with them
all!" They must all be conquered, every one. Not one single sin must be
allowed to occupy the love of our heart and the throne of our nature.

There are certain sins that, when we begin to war with them, we very
soon overcome. These Israelites, when they were up in the mountains and
in the woods soon got at the hill country Canaanites and destroyed
them. But down in the plain–where there was plenty of room for horses
and chariots–the Israelites were puzzled what to do. For some of these
Canaanites had chariots of iron which had scythes fixed to the axles
and when they drove into the ranks of an army, they mowed down the
people as a reaping machine cuts down the standing corn. For a while
this seems to have staggered the Israelites altogether. It was a
terrible business to think about and fear exaggerated the power of the
dreadful chariots.

Dread made them powerless till they, by God's Grace, plucked up the
courage. And when they once mustered up courage they found that these
chariots were not nearly so terrible as they were supposed to be. There
were ways of managing and mastering them–if Israel would but trust in
God and play the man. When a man is converted by Divine Grace certain
sins are readily overcome–they fly away at once, never to return. I
hardly recollect, after talking with thousands of converts, hearing any
Brother or Sister say that they found it difficult to give up swearing.
I have often heard people express their wonder that though they had
never, for years, used a single sentence without an oath, yet, from the
moment of their conversion, no profane word ever escaped their lips.

I remember one who said, having been a profane swearer of the worst
kind, that some years after his conversion a hogshead rolled on his toe
and an ill word escaped him for which he was nearly broken-hearted. But
that during all his life beside, since his conversion, he never
remembered that such a folly and sin had come near him. Swearing is a
kind of Canaanite that is soon settled off–driven out and slain. So it
is with many other forms of evil. We get our sword at their throats
quickly and by God's Grace we are clean rid of all temptation to return
to them. Such sins, though once powerful, are left dead on the field of
battle.

Glory be to God! Goliath's head is off. Sisera has the nail through his
temple. Eglon is stabbed to the heart. The enemies of God and of our
souls are dead. I know that some of you could bear testimony that your
favored sins became so disgusting to you that you have never had a
temptation to wander in that direction. And if a desire towards them
has crossed your mind you have revolted against it and cast it away
from you with indignation.

But certain other sins are much tougher to deal with. They fight back
and some of them seem to have as many lives as a cat. There is no
killing them. When you think that you have slain them, they are up and
at you again. They may be said to have chariots of iron. These sins are
sometimes those which have gained their power–their chariots of
iron–through long habit. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the
leopard his spots?" No, he never shall but the Grace of God can. The
Grace of God has taken all the spots out of many leopards and all the
black out of crowds of Ethiopians. But occasionally old, deep-seated
habits come up again from their graves by a hideous resurrection.

Did you never catch yourselves with a snatch of an old song coming to
your memory when you have been in prayer? When you have drawn very near
to God, have you not been suddenly startled with the remembrance of a
filthy thing into which you once plunged? Terrible is the power of
habit which has long held sway. It is not easy to uproot the oak of
many a year's growth. These habits make chariots of iron into which
your sins mount and they become terrible enemies to our holy desires
and fervent resolves.

Some sins get their chariots of iron from being congenial to our
constitution. Certain Brothers and Sisters are sadly quick-tempered.
And as long as they live they will have to be on their guard against
growing suddenly angry and speaking unadvisedly. They are quick and
sensitive and this might not in itself be a serious evil. But when sin
wields that quickness and sensitiveness, evil comes of it. How many a
sincere child of God has had to go for years groaning, as with broken
bones, because of the quickness of his temper! As for these
constitutional sins, you must not excuse them. I beseech you mark what
I say about this–for many are ruined by supposing that their
constitutional faults are hardly faults at all but unavoidable
accidents.

You must not say of any sin, "I cannot help it." You have to help it.
You must not say, "Oh but it is natural to me." I know that it is
natural–that is the very reason why you have to be doubly on your
guard against it. Everything that is of nature–yes, and of your fallen
nature when it is at its best–has to be put under the feet of Christ
that Divine Grace may reign over every form of evil.

Frequently the chariot of iron derives its force from the fact that a
certain sin comes rushing upon you on a sudden and so takes you at a
disadvantage. If a man had notice of a temptation he might be able to
overcome it. But temptations never give us notice–can we expect them
to do so? The sailor does not expect to have notice of every gale of
wind that blows upon him. The soldier in battle does not reckon to have
notice of every bullet that is coming his way. By what apparatus could
we be kept aware of every advance of the Evil One? The very essence of
temptation often lies in the suddenness of it–we are carried off our
feet before we are even aware of it. Yet we must not say because of
this, "I cannot help it."

For we ought to be all the more watchful and live all the nearer to God
in prayer. We are bound to stand against a sudden temptation as much as
against a slower mode of attack. We must look to the Lord to be
preserved from the arrow which flies by day and the pestilence which
walks in darkness. We are to cry to God for Divine Grace. Let the gusts
of temptation come how they may and when they may–we may always be
found in Christ–resting in Him, covered with His Divine power.

Dear Friends, sometimes these sins get power from the fact that if we
do not yield to them, we may incur ridicule on account of them. Many a
true Believer who could burn at the stake cannot bear to be laughed at.
Many persons are remarkably sensitive to a jest or a sarcasm. They
could bear to be flogged more easily than to be ridiculed. So the
powers of darkness assail them with sneers and jeers and flouts and
gibes. These are to them as chariots of iron. I have no doubt that our
soldier friends who are about to be baptized tonight will have a hard
time of it in that respect. I pray God to strengthen them in the
barracks and make them like men in armor who cannot be wounded by sword
or arrow.

I would not, if I could, prevent any of you from being persecuted in
your measure. Should not soldiers fight? I would stay the persecution
for the sake of the persecutor. But for the sake of you who have to
bear it, I would hardly lift a finger to screen you because the trial
is an education of the utmost value. We shall never see champions if
there is no fighting. Brothers and Sisters, some of us have lived in
warfare so long that we should be half afraid if we were long free from
assault. We have been called pretty nearly every name–and if there
remain any other forms of abuse, we are waiting for their filthiness to
be poured on our head.

Yet our slanderers and revilers have not broken a single bone. They
have not hurt our faith, nor blighted our hope, nor chilled our love,
nor stopped our communion with God. Indeed, we are the better for the
fire–the anvil and the hammer with which our enemies have been good
enough to work upon us. More closeness to God, more confidence in
Him–and more joy in Him often come to the child of God when he is most
under fire. Still the trial of cruel mockings makes sin seem to have
chariots of iron.

Perhaps one of the things that is worst of all to a Christian is that
certain sins are supposed to be irresistible. It is a popular error and
a very pernicious one. "These chariots of iron," the Israelites said,
"it is of no use to try to contend with them." So they gave up the
plains to the Canaanites. It is a sad calamity when a Christian person
says, "I can keep straight in everything except that. Do not touch me
there. You must allow me a great deal of latitude in that direction.
Please make large allowances for my peculiar constitution." All such
pleading is mischievous. Listen to me, my Sister. I will make
allowances for you. But I beseech you, do not make any allowance for
yourself. My Brother, I implore you, do not take out a license to sin.

But for you to make an allowance for yourself will be most injurious to
your soul. You have to overcome and destroy the sin for which you claim
toleration.

Mark that! You must not–you dare not–allow ANY sin to master you! And
if you know that it does overpower you, do not therefore claim that you
may indulge it, but draw an inference of the opposite sort. Because it
has mastered you, concentrate your entire strength upon its utter
destruction. Sin must come down–let not your eyes spare it. The
Canaanite must be driven out–the finest and fairest of the race must
fall by the sword. We cannot enter Heaven with a single sin remaining
in us, for "they are without fault before the Throne of God." Before we
can pass the pearly portal every spot and wrinkle must be removed from
us. See your calling, Brethren. Look at it well. Do you not need
heavenly strength? Will you not seek the Holy

Spirit?

II. I now turn to the second head. I have said that we must drive them
out. The second head is that THEY CAN BE DRIVEN OUT. I do not say that
we can drive them out but I say that they can be driven out. It will be
a great miracle but let us believe in it. For other great wonders have
been worked. Note first that you and I have been raised from the dead.
Is it not so? "You has He quickened, who were dead in trespasses and
sins." If a dead man has been raised, then anything can be done with
the man who is now made alive.

Do not tell me that there is a spot on the face of newly-risen Lazarus
that cannot be washed away–I do not believe it. Do not tell me that
there is a bent finger that cannot be straightened–after having seen
the dead man live–I am certain that the living man can be perfected.
He that could raise Lazarus from the dead can cause his grave clothes
to be unbound, can raise him beyond his imperfections and infirmities,
can make him perfect in every good work to do His will. It CAN be done.
The raising from the dead is the evidence that it can be done.

You have also by Divine power been led to believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ. If you have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as the result of
Divine Grace within your heart, what is there that you cannot do?
Believing in the Lord Jesus Christ is a very simple thing, you say. I
know it is, but still it is the greatest thing a man ever does. "What
shall we do," they said to Jesus, "that we might work the works of
God?" And He said, "This is the work of God"–this is a God-like work,
the highest kind of work that ever can be done–"that you believe on
Him whom He has sent." If you have been enabled to believe you can be
enabled to be holy. He that led you to exert faith can lead you, by
faith, to overcome any and every iniquity.

In the next place, you have already conquered many sins. Look at the
heaps of Canaanites that you have killed. Begin at the beginning, where
God began with you in the work of Grace in your soul–is there not a
wonderful difference between what you were then and what you are now?
Were there not sins entrenched in your nature, like the Canaanites in
their walled cities? But Jericho fell flat to the ground. Hosts upon
hosts of unbelief and iniquities dwelt within your daily life but you
have driven them out. By God's Grace you have resisted temptation and
escaped from lusts and risen above doubts. You have overcome through
the blood of the Lamb. You can say, "O my soul, you have trod down
strength." He that has helped you so far can surely help you even to
the conclusion of the fight. Do not doubt that the almighty power of
Divine Grace which has achieved so much, can achieve much more. Be
strong and very courageous–the Lord of Hosts, Himself is at your side.

Have you not seen other Christians conquer? Oh, let your memory charge
you now with Brothers and Sisters in whom you saw great infirmities and
sins at the commencement of their spiritual career. How they have
grown! How they have vanquished inbred sin! The tears come into my eyes
when I think of certain members of this Church–some in Heaven and some
still among us. I remember what they used to be and what they are now
and I can hardly believe that they are the same persons. Fierce tempers
have been tamed, strong passions have been bound, black melancholy has
been chased away. When they first joined the Church they were good,
useful, sound men but the pear was very hard.

I should not have liked to put my teeth into it–they were stern,
self-willed and obstinate. The fruit was not only hard but sour–for
with all their zeal they were tart, sharp and the reverse of gentle.
But now, how mellow they are! What a sweet smell of ripeness there is
about them! How ready they are to be taken to the great feast above!
What God has done for them He can do for you. He can get that hardness
out of you. That greenness, that sourness–He can graciously remove.
Every man among us has to wear out at least one pair of green slippers.
And when he has worn them out–then he puts on something better by way
of traveling gear and has his feet "shod with the preparation of the
Gospel ofpeace." We generally begin with a fool's boots at first, but
God, who makes the foolish wise, makes men of us at last. He who trains
the babes till out of their mouths He brings forth mighty witness to
His Word can do the same with us.

Beloved, we have been talking about what can be done and what cannot be
done. Have we thought about it? We are dealing with the Almighty. And
with Him all things are possible. I think I see the battle now going
on. The enemy seems to prevail and the timid hearts of the soldiers of
the Cross sink within them. Listen! You have not yet drawn upon your
reserves. Do you

not know that there is eternal power within the Godhead waiting to help
you in your struggle against all evil? Call up your reserves! Entreat
your great Ally to send reinforcements in this hour of need. Beseech
the Lord to give you more Divine Grace. And as you have received life
at His hands, pray that you may receive it yet more abundantly.

Does any man know how holy he can be? "It does not yet appear what we
shall be." God give us grace to pray and watch and believe and
expect–and may the prayer of my dear Brother Williams be fully
answered, for he just now prayed that "the weakest among us may be as
David and David as the angel of God." God help us to feel that the
Canaanites can be driven out.

III. And then we close with our third head and that is, THEY SHALL BE
DRIVEN OUT. They must be driven out. They can be driven out. They shall
be driven out. They shall be driven out. That is a speech for a
monarch. "Must" is for the king and "shall" is for the King of kings.

Well, well–we venture to say it–because we only give the echo of His
sovereign tones. This is what Christ died for. He loved the Church and
gave Himself for it that He might sanctify and cleanse it by the
washing of water by the Word–that He might present it unto Himself a
glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing–but
that it should be holy and without blemish. Christ died to save His
people, not from some of their sins but from all of their sins. His
precious blood cleans from all sin. His perfect atonement secures
perfection to His saints. The death of sin is guaranteed by the death
of Christ. Let us pray tonight fervently–

"Let the water and the blood, From Your riven side which flowed, Be of
sin the double cure Cleanse us from its guilt and power." Brethren,
this is what Christ lives for. Up in Heaven He pleads for us and "He is
able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He
ever lives to make intercession for them." The desire of His heart is
that we may be kept from sin. "Holy Father, keep them through Your
Word." He pleads that though Satan may desire to have them and sift
them as wheat they still may be preserved. Christ in Heaven is the
pattern of what we shall be and He will not fail to mold us after His
own model. We shall one day be perfectly conformed to His image and
then we shall be with Him in glory. Our Lord's honor is bound up with
the presentation of all His saints in spotless purity to Himself in the
day of His glorious marriage.

This is what the Holy Spirit is given for. He is not given to come into
our hearts and comfort us in our sins but to deliver us from all evil
and to comfort us in Christ Jesus. He quickens, He directs, He helps,
He illuminates. He does a thousand things. But, chiefly, He sanctifies
us. He comes into the heart to drive out every other power that seeks
to have dominion there. By the living Spirit of God, who dwells in you,
as God within His temple, I charge you cry to Him that every Dagon may
be broken, every altar of Baal cast down, every golden calf ground to
powder.

Brothers and Sisters, let us never from this time forth write out a
pass for any sin to come and go in our hearts. We will have no licensed
sin, no place in which evil may claim a lodging. We will not have a
spare bed for iniquity, nor give it a room, even in the barn or the
outhouse. Do not let us idly say, "I cannot get over that sinful
habit." You CAN get over it–you MUST get over it. Do not say, "I will
draw the line there. I really must tolerate that one particular fault."
Do not tolerate it! It will ruin you. How dare you say, "I must drink
so much poison." Touch it not. Oh, that the poison of iniquity may
never come near your lips, however sweet it may seem to the carnal
taste!

This is the very object of the Gospel which we preach to you. And we
have preached in vain unless you are striving against sin. Ours is a
holy Gospel and if it does not make you holy, it has done nothing for
you. This, especially, is the meaning of the ordinance of Baptism for
which the pool is now open before you. It is one of the meanings of
Believer's Baptism that you are henceforth buried with Christ–dead to
your old sins and risen with Christ in newness of life. What a farce it
is if you are still living in sin! I shall thank God that I baptized
none of you if I see you still alive unto sin as you used to be. If you
and I are unholy, we stab religion in its vital parts and murder our
profession. When we make up our minds that we will allow any sin within
us, we do to that extent deny to Christ the travail of His soul.
Nothing grieves the Spirit of God like unholiness. And nothing pleases
Christ like seeing His disciples walking in His footsteps.

1 wish that I were able to speak more instructively upon such a subject
as this. But I speak to myself and I feel the effect of the Truth of
God as I utter it. I pray that I may speak to all here present with
practical result. I doubt not that I address many dear Brethren who are
far in advance of myself and to them I say, "Go on, dear Friends, from
strength to strength. And may the Lord help you to tread all the powers
of darkness down and win the day speedily." But I speak to others that
are far behind me. And I am sorry that they are so–for I am very far
from having attained–although I press forward with all my heart.

If you are living children of the living God, lay hold upon that
promise, "By little and by little, I will surely drive them out." If
you cannot conquer all the Hivites and Jebusites today–at least down
with one and then with another. May the mighty Grace of God–without
which you can do nothing–help you to keep your sword out of its
sheath, driving at the very heart of sin with your utmost strength
until the last sin shall lie dead at the feet of Christ and you shall
be perfectly happy because He has made you perfectly holy.

There is no fear of your stopping here upon this sin-deified earth if
you have once reached the point of perfection. This is a poor world for
the completely sanctified. God does not leave His ripe wheat out in the
fields too long–He takes the sheaves home to His barn when they are
quite ready. We shall soon be with Him where He is when we are made
like He. The Lord grant it, for Jesus' sake! Amen.