Hymns and Spiritual Songs Part 21

3 Our flesh and sense must be deny'd, Pa.s.sion and envy, l.u.s.t and pride; While justice, temperance, truth and love Our inward piety approve.

4 Religion bears our spirits up, While we expect that blessed hope, The bright appearance of the Lord, And faith stands leaning on his word.

Hymn 1:133.

Love and charity, 1 Cor. 13. 2-7 13.

1 Let Pharisees of high esteem Their faith and zeal declare, All their religion is a dream If love be wanting there.

2 Love suffers long with patient eye, Nor is provok'd in haste; She lets the present injury die, And long forgets the past.

3 [Malice and rage, those fires of h.e.l.l, She quenches with her tongue; Hopes, and believes, and thinks no ill, Tho' she endure the wrong.]

4 [She nor desires nor seeks to know The scandals of the time; Nor looks with pride on those below, Nor envies those that climb.]

5 She lays her own advantage by To seek her neighbour's good; So G.o.d's own Son came down to die, And bought our lives with blood.

6 Love is the grace that keeps her power In all the realms above; There faith and hope are known no more, But saints for ever love.

Hymn 1:134.

Religion vain without love, 1 Cor. 13. 1 2 3.

1 Had I the tongues of Greeks and Jews, And n.o.bler speech that angels use, If love be absent, I am found Like tinkling bra.s.s, an empty sound.

2 Were I inspir'd to preach and tell All that is done in heaven and h.e.l.l, Or could my faith the world remove, Still I am nothing without love.

3 Should I distribute all my store To feed the bowels of the poor, Or give my body to the flame To gain a martyr's glorious name;

4 If love to G.o.d and love to men Be absent, all my hopes are vain; Nor tongues, nor gifts, nor fiery zeal The work of love can e'er fulfil.

Hymn 1:135.

The love of Christ shed abroad in the heart, Eph. 3. 16 &c.

1 Come, dearest Lord, descend and dwell By faith and love in every breast; Then shall we know, and taste, and feel The joys that cannot be exprest.

2 Come, fill our hearts with inward strength, Make our enlarged souls possess, And learn the height, and breadth, and length Of thine unmeasurable grace.

3 Now to the G.o.d whose power can do More than our thoughts or wishes know, Be everlasting honours done By all the church, thro' Christ his Son.

Hymn 1:136.

Sincerity and hypocrisy; or, Formality in wors.h.i.+p, John 4. 24. Psalm 139. 23 24.

1 G.o.d is a spirit just and wise, He sees our inmost mind; In vain to heaven we raise our cries And leave our souls behind.

2 Nothing but truth before his throne, With honour can appear, The painted hypocrites are known Thro' the disguise they wear.

3 Their lifted eyes salute the skies, Their bending knees the ground; But G.o.d abhors the sacrifice Where not the heart is found.

4 Lord, search my thoughts, and try my ways, And make my soul sincere; Then shall I stand before thy face, And find acceptance there.

Hymn 1:137.

Salvation by grace in Christ, 2 Tim. 1. 9 10.

1 Now to the power of G.o.d supreme Be everlasting honours given, He saves from h.e.l.l, (we bless his Name) He calls our wandering feet to heaven.

2 Not for our duties or deserts, But of his own abounding grace, He works salvation in our hearts, And forms a people for his praise.

3 'Twas his own purpose that begun To rescue rebels doom'd to die; He gave us grace in Christ his Son Before he spread the starry sky.

4 Jesus the Lord appears at last, And makes his Father's counsels known; Declares the great transactions past, And brings immortal blessings down.

5 He dies; and in that dreadful night Did all the powers of h.e.l.l destroy; Rising he brought our heaven to light, And took possession of the joy.

Hymn 1:138.

Saints in the hands of Christ, John 10. 28 29.

1 Firm as the earth thy gospel stands, My Lord, my hope, my trust; If I am found in Jesus' hands, My soul can ne'er be lost.

2 His honour is engag'd to save The meanest of his sheep, All that his heavenly Father gave His hands securely keep.

3 Nor death, nor h.e.l.l shall e'er remove His favourites from his breast; In the dear bosom of his love They must for ever rest.

Hymn 1:139.

Hope in the covenant; or, G.o.d's promise and truth unchangeable, Heb. 6. 17 18 19.

1 How oft have sin and Satan strove To rend my soul from thee, my G.o.d, But everlasting is thy love, And Jesus seals it with his blood.

2 The oath and promise of the Lord Join to confirm the wondrous grace; Eternal power performs the word, And fills all heaven with endless praise.

3 Amidst temptations sharp and long My soul to this dear refuge flies: Hope is my anchor firm and strong, While tempests blow, and billows rise.

4 The gospel bears my spirits up; A faithful and unchanging G.o.d Lays the foundation for my hope In oaths, and promises, and blood.

Hymn 1:140.

A living and a dead faith. Collected from several scriptures.

1 Mistaken souls! that dream of heaven, And make their empty boast Of inward joys, and sins forgiven, While they are slaves to l.u.s.t.

2 Vain are our fancies airy flights, If faith be cold and dead, None but a living power unites To Christ the living head.

3 'Tis faith that changes all the heart; 'Tis faith that works by love; That bids all sinful joys depart, And lifts the thoughts above.