REJOICING;

IN

PROSPECT OF HEAVEN.

COM

925

4th P. M. 886, 886. Bliss-inspiring hope. TOME on, my partners in distress,

My comrades through the wilderness, Who still your bodies feel : Awhile forget your griefs and fears, And look beyond this vale of tears,

To that celestial hill. 2 Beyond the bounds of time and space, Look forward to that heavenly place,

The saints' secure abode;
On faith's strong eagle pinions rise,
And force your passage to the skies,

And scale the mount of God.
3 Who suffer with our Master here,
We shall before his face appear,

And by his side sit down;
To patient faith the prize is sure;
And all that to the end endure

The cross, shall wear the crown.
4 Thrice blessed, bliss-inspiring hope !
It lifts the fainting spirits up;

It brings to life the dead :
Our conflicts here shall soon be past,
And you and I ascend at last,

Triumphant with our Head.
5 That great mysterious Deity,
We soon with open face shall see;

The beatific sight Shall fill the heavenly courts with praise, And wide diffuse the golden blaze

Of everlasting light.

HOW

926

C. M
The full assurance of hope.
COW happy every child of grace,

Who knows his sins forgiven!
This earth, he cries, is not my place;

I seek my place in heaven:
A country far from mortal sight,

Yet, O, by faith I see;
The land of rest, the saints' delight,

The heaven prepared for me.
2 O what a blessed hope is ours !

While here on earth we stay,
We more than taste the heavenly powers

And ante-date that day :
We feel the resurrection near,-

Our life in Christ conceal'd, -
And with his glorious presence hero

Our earthen vessels fill'd. 3 () would he more of heaven bestow !

And when the vessels break,
Let our triumphant spirits go

To grasp the God we seek;
In rapturous awe on lIim to gaze,

Who bought the sight for me;
And shout and wonder at his grace

To all eternity.

A

927

C. M. Continued.- Endless bliss in prospect. STRANGER in the world below

I calmly sojourn here; Nor can its happiness or wo

Provoke my hope or fear :
Its evils in a moment end ;

Its joys as soon are past:
But O, the bliss to which I tend

Eternally shall last.

2 To that Jerusalem above,

With singing I repair ; While in the flesh, my hope and love,

My heart and soul, are there. There my exalted Saviour stands,

My merciful High Priest; And still extends his wounded hands,

To take me to his breast. 928

S. M.
The goodly land.
AR from these scenes of night,

Unbounded glories rise,
And realms of joy and pure delight,

Unknown to mortal eyes.
2 Fair land could mortal eyes

But half its charms explore,
How would our spirits long to rise,

And dwell on earth no more!
3 No cloud those regions know,-

Realms ever bright and fair ; For sin, the source of mortal wo,

Can never enter there. 4 O may the prospect fire

Our hearts with ardent love, Till wings of faith, and strong desire,

Bear every thought above. 5 Prepared, by grace divine,

For thy bright courts on high, Lord, bid our spirits rise and join

The chorus of the sky. 929

C. M,
The kingdoms are but one.
APPY the souls to Jesus join'd,

alone e; Walking in all his ways, they find Their heaven on earth begun.

HAR

And saved by grace

2 The church triumphant in thy love,

Their mighty joys we know :
They sing the Lamb in hymns above,

And we in hymns below. 3 Thee in thy glorious realm they praise,

And bow before thy throne ; We in the kingdom of thy grace:

The kingdoms are but one.
4 The holy to the holiest leads,

And thence our spirits rise;
For he that in thy statutes treads,

Shall meet thee in the skies.

930

C. M. The heavenly Canaan. THERE is a land of pure delight, Infinite day excludes the night,

And pleasures banish pain. 2 There cverlasting spring abides,

And never-with’ring flowers : Death, like a narrow sea, divides

This heavenly land from ours. 3 Sweet fields beyond the swelling flood

Stand dress'd in living green; So to the Jews old Canaan stood,

While Jordan roll'd between. 4 Could we but climb where Moses stood,

And view the landscape o'er, Not Jordan's stream, nor death's cold flen,

Should fright us from the shore. 931

C. M.
The promised land.
ON Jordan's stormy banks I stand,

cast a
To Canaan's fair and happy land,

Where my possessions lie.

2 0 the transporting, rapturous scene,

That rises to iny sight!
Sweet fields array'd in living green,

And rivers of delight.
3 There generous fruits that never fail,

On trees immortal grow; There rock, and hill, and brook, and vale,

With milk and honey flow.
4 O’er all those wide-extended plains

Shines one eternal day;
There God the Son forever reigns,

And scatters night away. 5 No chilling winds, or pois’nous breath,

Can reach that healthful shore; Sickness and sorrow, pain and death,

Are felt and fear'd no more. 6 When shall I reach that happy place,

And be forever blest?
When shall I see my Father's face,

And in his bosom rest? 7 Filld with delight, my raptured soul

Would here no longer stay: Though Jordan's waves around me roll,

Fearless I'd launch away.

932

S. M,
The pilgrim's home.
HILE through this world we roam,

From infancy to age,
Heaven is the Christian pilgrim's home,

His rest at every stage. 2 Thither his soul ascends.

Eternal joys to share;
There his adoring spirit bends,

While here he kneels in prayer.