That is the worst fight. Far worse than all these Hittites and Hivites,
and the other tribes with their barbarous names, far worse than all
external foes, are the foes that each man carries about in his own
heart. In that slow hand-to-hand and foot-to-foot struggle I do not
believe that there is any conquering power available for a man that can
for a moment be compared with the power that comes through submission
to Christ's command and acceptance of Christ's help. He has fought
every foot of the ground before us. We have to 'run the race'--to take
another metaphor--'that is set before us, looking unto Jesus,' the
great Leader, and in His own self the Perfecter of the faith which
conquers. In Him, His example, the actual communication of His divine
Spirit, and in the motives for brave and persistent conflict which flow
from His Cross and Passion, we shall find that which alone will make us
the victors in this internecine warfare. There can be no better
directory given to any man than to tread in Christ's footsteps, and
learn how to fight, from Him who in the wilderness repelled the triple
assault with the single 'It is written'; thus recognising the word and
will of God as the only directory and defence.
Thus, brethren, if we humbly take service in His ranks, and ask Him to
show us where our foes within are, and to give us the grace to grapple
with them, and cast them out, anything is possible rather than ultimate
defeat, and however long and sore the struggle may be, its length and
its severity are precious parts of the discipline that makes us strong,
and we shall at last be more than conquerors through Him that loveth us.