Invitation to worship the new-born Saviour.
1 ANGELS, from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o'er all the earth;
Ye, who sang creation's story,
Now proclaim Messiah's birth:
Come and worship!
Worship Christ the new-born King!
2 Shepherds, in the field abiding,
Watching o'er your flocks by night,
God with man is now residing;
Yonder shines the infant light:
Come and worship! &c.
3 Sages, leave your contemplations,
Brighter visions beam afar;
Seek the great Desire of nations,
Ye have seen his natal star:
Come and worship! &c.
+ Saints, before the altar bending,
Watching long in hope and fear,
Suddenly the Lord, descending,
In his temple shall appear:
Come and worship! &c.
5 Sinners, wrung with true repentance,
Doom'd for guilt to endless pains,
Justice now revokes the sentence;
Mercy calls you, break your chains!
Come and worship! &c.
Christ's first coming.
Isa. ix, 6. Heb. ii, 16.
1 HIGH let us swell our tuneful notes,
And join th' angelic throng;
For angels no such love have known
To wake a cheerful song.
2 Good-will to sinful men is shown,
And peace on earth is giv'n;
For lo! th' incarnate Saviour comes
With messages from heav'n.
3 Justice and grace, with sweet accord,
His rising beams adorn:
Let heaven and earth in concert join;
To us a child is born.
4 Glory to God in highest strains
In highest worlds be paid:
His glory by our lips proclaim'd,
And by our lives display'd!
5 When shall we reach those blissful realms,
Where Christ exalted reigns;
And learn of the celestial choir
Their own immortal strains?
1 THE Son of God goes forth to war,
A kingly crown to gain;
His blood-red banner streams afar:
Who follows in his train?
2[Who best can drink his cup of woe,
Triumphant over pain;
Who boldest bears his cross below;
He follows in his train.]
3 The martyr first, whose eagle eye
Could pierce beyond the grave;
He saw his Master in the sky,
And call'd on Him to save.
4[Like Him, with pardon on his tongue,
In midst of woe and pain
He pray'd for those who did him wrong:
Who follows in his train?]
5[A glorious band, the chosen few, Ŏn whom the Spirit came;
Twelve valiant saints; their hope they knew,
And dared the cross and flame.]
6 A noble army, men, and boys,
The matron, and the maid,
Around the Saviour's throne rejoice,
In robes of light array'd.
7 They climb'd the steep ascent to heav'n,
Through peril, toil, and pain:
O God! to us may grace be giv'n
To follow in their train.
Triumphing in Christ our head.
Exod. xv, 9-13. Rom. v, 3. Col. i, 18.
HEAD of the church triumphant,
We joyfully adore Thee!
Till Thou appear, Thy members here
Shall sing like those in glory.
We lift our hands and voices,
With blest anticipation,
And cry aloud, And give to God
The praise of our salvation.
While in affliction's furnace,
And passing through the fire,
Thy love we praise In grateful lays,
Which ever brings us nigher:
We clap our hands, exulting
In thine Almighty favour:
The love divine, That made us thine,
Shall keep us thine for ever.
3[Thou dost conduct thy people
Through torrents of temptation;
Nor will we fear, While Thou art near,
The fire of tribulation.
The world, with sin and Satan,
In vain our march opposes;
By Thee we shall Break through them all,
And sing the song of Moses.]
4 By faith we see the glory,
To which Thou shalt restore us;
The shame despise For that high prize,
Which Thou hast set before us:
And if Thou count us worthy,
We each, with dying Stephen,
Shall see Thee stand At God's right hand
To call us up to heaven.
St. John the Evangelist's Day.
God is light and love.
John i, 5; iv, 8.
1 GOD is love: his mercy brightens
All the path in which we move;
Bliss He forms, and woe He lightens:
God is light, and God is love.
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