241. Boasting Excluded.

C. M.

In all the acts of sov'reign grace
Jehovah can display ;

Free grace alone exalted is,
And boasting done away.

Since creature-deeds can't gain the crown,
Nor purchase heav'n for men;
Merit must sink for ever down,
And where is boasting then?
"Tis by the cross of Jesus laid,
Where sinners ought to lie;
No more to lift its hateful head,
The grace of God to buy.

From sin to God could sinners turn,
And make their natures clean;
Then incense to their shrine shall burn,
And Christ hath died in vain.

But where the sov'reign grace of God
Shall set the guilty free;

His only hope is Jesu's blood,
The worst of sinners he.

Thus grace triumphant keeps the throne,
Without a rival there;

While mercy shines in Christ alone,
In rays divinely clear.

242. The Returned Prodigal.

C. M.

WHEN to the Father's fond embrace

The Prodigal return'd,

The tears bedew'd his aged face,

With love his bosom burn'd.

He kiss'd him with a Father's love,
For all that he had done;
Reprov'd the sin that made him rove,
Yet own'd him for his son.

For him the fatted calf they slew,
The Father's grace to prove;
While on the rebel's hand we view
The tokens of his love.

66

In royal robes my son array, "For 'tis his Father's will; "Make no excuse, without delay, For he's a fav'rite still."

66

His shame, his folly, and his sin,
The Father saw no more;

His thoughts, his ways, his acts unclean,
This garment cover'd o'er.

The guests surround the sumptuous board,

Nor feast without a song ;
Yet he sat nearest to his Lord,
Who did his Father wrong.

Thus shall the Father's sov'reign grace,
Thro' Jesu's blood alone,
Bring all th' apostate ransom'd race

With weeping to his throne.

And when from Satan's vile employ

The sinner hastes away,

The saints shall sing their hymns of joy, And keep a holy day.

243 Ye are all one in Christ. S. M.
IN union with the Lamb,

From condemnation free,
The saints from everlasting were;
And shall for ever be.

In cov'nant, from of old,
The sons of God they were;
The feeblest lamb in Jesu's fold
Was blest in Jesu there.

Its bonds shall never break
'Tho' earth's old columns bow;
The strong, the tempted, and the weak,
Are one in Jesus now.

With joy lift up your heads,

Ye highly favour'd few,

When thro' the earth destruction spreads,

For what shall injure you

?

When storms or tempests rise,

Or sins our peace assail,

Your hope in Jesus never dies,

"Tis cast within the vail.

Here let the weary rest,

Who love the Saviour's name ; Tho' with no sweet enjoyment blest, This cov'nant stands the same.

244. The Freeness and Fulness of God's Grace no Cloak to Licentiousness.

SHALL Israel's ransom'd race,
By Jesu's blood made clean,

S. M.

Abuse Jehovah's sov'reign grace,
And live in acts obscene?

What! shall the heirs of heav'n
Presume in sin to live;
Because eternal life is given,
As free as God can give?

To hell, from whence it came,
Let such a thought be drove;
While those who love the Saviour's name,
Their indignation prove.

Whene'er by sin distress'd,

To Jesu's blood we go ;
The safest refuge, and the best,
Where ample pardons flow.
We mourn the plague within
And heave the painful sigh,
When to this sacrifice for sin,
By faith we cast an eye.
If such on earth are found,
Who thus thy grace contemn;
Damnation! 'tis an awful sound,
But not unjust to them.

245. The Building of Mercy completed. 8.8.6.

WHEN, mercy's building to complete,
Which hell nor sin could ne'er defeat,
The topmost stone shall rise;

Then shouting grace, the blood-wash'd throng,
Of ev'ry tribe and ev'ry tongue,

Shall rend the vaulted skies.

Then shall the Church, while seraphs gaze,
Outshine the sun's meridian blaze,
In her divine array:
While grace, eternity along,

Shall sound, in high immortal song,
That sweet harmonious lay.

Founded in

grace, for ever sure,

This glorious fabric shall endure
When time his race has run;
Cemented with a Saviour's blood,
Who, for his saints, the wine-press trod,
In mystic union one.

In God's great will, the scheme was laid,
Before his hands the mountains weigh'd,
Or spread the unknown seas;
Then did his arms of love embrace
A seed, elect, of Adam's race.
His glorious name to praise.
Transporting thought! awake my soul,
And bid the lagging moments roll,
That keep thee from the skies;
Soon thou shalt bid the world adieu,
With sorrows, sins, and suff'rings too:
Lift up, with joy, thine eyes.

246. Jesus the Tree of Life. L. M. JESUS the Plant, of old renown'd, Whose sacred leaves are healing found; Throughout the world, we'll tell of thee, For thou art Life's fair Healing Tree.