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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