O GOD, unseen, yet ever near,
Thy Presence may we feel;
And thus, inspired with holy fear,
Before Thine altar kneel.
Here may Thy faithful people know
The blessings of Thy Love-
The streams, that through the desert flow,
The manna from above.
We come, obedient to Thy Word,
To feast on heavenly Food-
Our meat, the Body of our Lord,
Our drink, His precious Blood.
Thus may we all Thy words obey,
For we, O GOD, are Thine;
And go, rejoicing, on our way,
Renewed with strength divine.
COME, all who truly bear
The Name of CHRIST your Lord,
His last mysterious supper share,
And keep His dying Word.
Hereby your faith approve
In Him, the Crucified;
'Do this in memory of my Love,'
The Saviour said, 'and died.'
The pledge and token this,
The sure confirming seal,
That He is ours, and we are His,
The servants of His Will—
His dear and chosen ones,
The purchase of His Blood
His Blood, which once for all atones,
And brings us near to GOD.
Then let us all confess
Our Lord and Master's Name,
Stand forth His faithful witnesses,
True followers of the Lamb.
Part of His Church below,
We thus our right maintain;
Our living membership we show,
And in His Fold remain.
HEAR what the voice from Heaven proclaims
For all the pious dead:
Sweet is the savour of their names,
And soft their sleeping bed.
They die in JESUS, and are blessed :
How kind their slumbers are-
From suffering and from sin released,
And freed from every snare!
The labours of their mortal life
End in a large reward;
Far from this world of toil and strife,
They're present with the Lord:
Till that illustrious morning come,
When all His saints shall rise,
And, decked in full immortal bloom,
Attend Him to the skies.
WHY do we mourn departing friends,
Or shake at death's alarms?
"Tis but the voice that JESUS sends,
To call them to His arms.
The graves of all His saints He blest,
And softened every bed:
Where should the dying members rest,
But with their dying Head.
When He arose, ascending high,
He showed our feet the way;
Up to the Lord our flesh shall fly
At the great Rising Day.
Then shall the last loud Trumpet sound,
And bid our kindred rise:
Awake, ye nations under ground!
Ye saints, ascend the skies!
THERE is a land of pure delight,
Where saints immortal reign;
Infinite day excludes the night,
And pleasures banish pain:
There everlasting spring abides,
And never-withering flowers;
Death, like a narrow sea, divides
That heavenly land from ours.
Sweet fields, beyond the swelling floods,
Stand drest in living green;
So to the Jews old Canaan stood,
While Jordan rolled between.
But timorous mortals start, and shrink
To cross the narrow sea;
And linger, shivering on the brink,
And fear to launch away.
O could we make our doubts remove,
Those gloomy doubts that rise,
And see the Canaan, that we love,
With unbeclouded eyes!
Could we but climb where Moses stood,
And view the landscape o'er,
Not Jordan's stream, nor Death's cold flood,
Should fright us from the shore.
BLESSING, honour, thanks, and praise,
Pay we, gracious LORD, to Thee:
Thou, in Thy abundant grace,
Givest us the Victory.
True and faithful to Thy word,
Thou hast glorified Thy Son;
JESUS CHRIST, our dying Lord—
He for us the fight hath won.
Lo, the prisoner is released,
Lightened of his fleshly load;
Where the weary is at rest,
He is gathered home to GOD.
Lo, the pains of life are past-
All his warfare now is o'er-
Death and hell behind are cast-
Grief and suffering are no more.
Now the Christian's course is run;
Ended is the glorious strife;
Fought the fight, the work is done;
Death is swallowed up of life.
Borne by angels on their wings,
Far from earth the spirit flies-
Finds its GOD, and peaceful sings
Triumphing in Paradise.
Join we all, with one accord,
In the new and joyful song;
Absent from our living Lord,
We shall not continue long:
We shall quit this house of clay-
We a better lot shall share-
We shall see the realms of day-
We shall meet our Brother there.
O LORD of Hosts, whose Glory fills
The bounds of the eternal hills,
And yet vouchsafes in Christian lands
To dwell in temples made with hands!
Grant that all we, who here to-day,
Rejoicing, this foundation lay,
May be in very deed Thine own,
Built on the Precious Corner-stone.
Endue the hearts, that guide, with skill;
Preserve the hands, that work, from ill;
That we, who these foundations lay,
May raise the topstone in its day.
Both now and ever, LORD, protect
The Temple of Thine own elect;
Be Thou in them, and they in Thee,
Now and throughout Eternity.
CONSECRATION OF A CHURCH.
HYMN CLXVII.
LORD, Whose temple once did glisten
With a monarch's rich supplies,
To our humble praises listen,
Bless our willing sacrifice :
Here Thy Love our hearts shall brighten,
Driving earth-born clouds away;
Here Thy Spirit shall enlighten,
Shining to the perfect day.
Hither, on each Sabbath Morning,
Guide us on our Church-way path;
Here, O LORD, in life's first dawning,
Sprinkle every child of wrath;
Here around Thine altar bending,
Feed us with the living Bread;
Here, to wait their Lord's descending,
Hallowed earth! receive the dead.
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