The vision of faith.-Heb. xi. I. 1 By faith I see the unseen things, Hid from all mortal eyes;
Proud reason stretching all its wings, Beneath me fluttering lies.
2 By faith I build my lasting hope On righteousness divine;
Nor can I sink with such a prop, Whatever storms combine.
3 By faith I overcome the world, And all its hurtful charms; I'm in the heavenly chariot hurl'd Through all opposing harms.
4 By faith I can the mountains vast Of sin and guilt remove, And them into the ocean cast, Of my Redeemer's love.
5 By faith my melting soul repents, Whene'er the cross appears,
My heart in grateful praises vents, My eyes in joyful tears.
6 By faith I walk, I run, I fly; By faith I suffer thrall;
By faith I'm fit to live or die; By faith I can do all.
7 By faith I hope to see that Sun, Who Grace's light thus lent,
His everlasting circles run
In Glory's firmament.
The Christian's pilgrimage through the wilderness. Heb. xii. 14.
1 How happy is the pilgrim's lot;
How free from every anxious thought,
From worldly hope and fear! Confined to neither court nor cell, His soul disdains on earth to dwell, He only sojourns here.
2 This happiness in part is mine; Already saved from low design, From every creature love : Bless'd with the scorn of finite good, My soul is lighten'd of its load, And seeks the things above.
3 The things eternal I pursue; A happiness beyond the view Of those that basely pant
For things by nature felt and seen; Their honours, wealth, and pleasures mean, I neither have nor want.
4 I have no babes to hold me here; But children more securely dear For mine I humbly claim: Better than daughters, or than sons, Temples divine, of living stones, Inscribed with Jesus' name.
5 No foot of land do I possess ; No cottage in this wilderness: A poor, way-faring man, I lodge awhile in tents below, Or gladly wander to and fro, Till I my Canaan gain.
6 Nothing on earth I call my own; A stranger to the world, unknown, I all their goods despise ; I trample on their whole delight, And seek a city out of sight, A city in the skies.
7 There is my house and portion fair, My treasure and my heart are there, And my abiding home;
For me my elder brethren stay,
And angels beckon me away,
And Jesus bids me come!
"The Lord is my helper."-Heb. xiii. 6. 1 OFT as I look upon the road That leads to yonder bless'd abode, I feel distress'd and fearful: So many foes the passage throng, I am so weak, and they so strong, How can my soul be cheerful!
But when I think of Him whose power Can save me in a trying hour;
And place on Him reliance: My soul is then ashamed of fear; And though ten thousand foes appear, I bid them all defiance.
3 The dangerous road I then pursue, And keep the glorious prize in view; With joyful hope elated:
Strong in the Lord, in Him alone; Where He conducts, I follow on With ardour unabated.
4 O Lord, each day renew my strength, And let me see thy face at length, With all thy people yonder : With them in heaven thy love declare, And sing thy praise forever there, With gratitude and wonder.
Seeking a better country.-Heb. xiii. 14. 1 LEADER of faithful souls, and Guide Of all that travel to the sky, Come, and with us, even us abide
Who would on Thee alone rely; On Thee alone our spirits stay, While held in life's uneven way.
2 Strangers and pilgrims here below, This earth we know is not our place, But hasten through this vale of wo, And restless to behold thy face; Swift to our heavenly country move, Our everlasting home above.
3 We have no biding city here, But seek a city out of sight; Thither our steady course we steer, Aspiring to the plains of light; Jerusalem, the saints' abode, Whose founder is the living God.
4 Patient th' appointed race to run,
This weary world we cast behind; From strength to strength we travel on, The New Jerusalem to find;
Our labour this, our only aim,
To find the New Jerusalem.
5 Through Thee, who all our sins hast borne, Freely and graciously forgiven, With songs to Zion we return, Contending for our native heaven; That palace of our glorious King: We find it nearer while we sing.
6 Raised by the breath of Love divine,
We urge our way with strength renew'd; The church of the First-born to join,
We travel to the mount of God;
With joy upon our heads arise, And meet our Captain in the skies.
Conformity to Christ.-Heb. xiii. 20, 21.
1 FATHER of peace, and God of love! We own thy power to save,
That power by which our Shepherd rose Victorious o'er the grave.
2 Him from the dead Thou brought'st again, When, by his sacred blood, Confirm'd and seal'd for evermore, Th' eternal covenant stood.
3 O may thy Spirit seal our souls, And mould them to thy will,
That our weak hearts no more may stray, But keep thy precepts still;
4 That to perfection's sacred height, We nearer still may rise; And all we think, and all we do, Be pleasing in thine eyes!
The Christian's hope.-1 Pet. i. 3-5.
1 BLESS'D be the everlasting God, The Father of our Lord!
Be his abounding mercy praised, His majesty adored!
2 When from the dead He raised his Son, And call'd Him to the sky,
He gave our souls a lively hope, That they should never die.
3 To an inheritance divine,
He taught our hearts to rise; 'Tis uncorrupted, undefiled, Unfading, in the skies.
4 Saints, by the power of God, are kept Till the salvation come:
We walk by faith, as strangers here, But Christ shall call us home.
Adoption.-1 John iii. 1.
BEHOLD, what wondrous grace The Father hath bestow'd
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