DESCRIBING INWARD RELIGION.
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SECTION II.
DESCRIBING INWARD RELIGION.
L. M.
Whose Spirit breathes the active Faith, like its Finisher and Lord,[ flame; To- day as yesterday the same;
2 To thee our humble hearts aspire, And ask the gift unspeakable; Increase in us the kindled fire, In us the work of faith fulfil.
3 By faith we know thee strong to save; ( Save us, a present Saviour thou!) Whate'er we hope, by faith we have, Future and past subsisting now.
4 To him that in thy name believes Eternal life with thee is given; Into himself he all receives,
Pardon, and holiness, and heaven.
5 The things unknown to feeble sense, Unseen by reason's glimmering ray, With strong, commanding evidence, Their heavenly origin display.
6 Faith lends its realizing light,
The clouds disperse, the shadows fly; The Invisible appears in sight,
And God is seen by mortal eye.
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Ow can a sinner know
но His sins on earth forgiven?
How can my gracious Saviour show
My name inscribed in heaven? What we have felt and seen, With confidence we tell; And publish to the sons of men The signs infallible.
2 We who in Christ believe That he for us'hath died,
We all his unknown peace receive, And feel his blood applied; Exults our rising soul, Disburdened of her load, And swells unutterably full
Of glory and of God.
3 His love, surpassing far The love of all beneath,
We find within our hearts, and dare The pointless darts of death: Stronger than death and hell The mystic power we prove; And conquerors of the world, we dwell In heaven, who dwell in love. 4 We by his Spirit prove
And know the things of God, The things which freely of his love He hath on us bestowed; His Spirit to us he gave, And dwells in us, we know; The witness in ourselves we have, And all its fruits we show.
5 The meek and lowly heart That in our Saviour was,
S. M.
To us his Spirit doth impart, And signs us with his cross: 24
Our nature's turned, our mind Transformed in all its powers; And both the witnesses are joined, The Spirit of God with ours. 6 Whate'er our pardoning Lord Commands, we gladly do; And guided by his sacred word, We all his steps pursue: His glory our design,
We live our God to please; And rise with filial fear divine, To perfect holiness.
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8s& 6 s.
1 THOU great mysterious God unknown,
Whose love hath
me on,
Even from my infant days, Mine inmost soul expose to view, And tell me, if I ever knew Thy justifying grace.
2 If I have only known thy fear, And followed with a heart sincere Thy drawings from above, Now, now the further grace bestow, And let my sprinkled conscience know Thy sweet forgiving love.
3 Short of thy love I would not stop, A stranger to the gospel hope,
The sense of sin forgiven;
I would not, Lord, my soul deceive, Without the inward witness live, That antepast of heaven.
4 If now the witness were in me, Would he not testify of thee
In Jesus reconciled?
And should I not with faith draw nigh,
And boldly Abba, Father, cry,
And know myself thy child?
5 Whate'er obstructs thy pardoning love, Or sin, or righteousness remove,
Thy glory to display;
Mine heart of unbelief convince, And now absolve me from my sins, And take them all away.
6 Father, in me reveal thy Son, And to my inmost soul make known How merciful thou art:
The secret of thy love reveal, And by thine hallowing Spirit dwell For ever in my heart!
7s& 6st.
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98
UPRICH
TPRIGHT, both in heart and will, We by our God were made; But we turned from good to ill,
And o'er the creature strayed; Multiplied our wandering thought, Which first was fixed on God alone, In ten thousand objects sought The bliss we lost in one.
2 From our own inventions vain Of fancied happiness, Draw us to thyself again,
And bid our wanderings cease; Jesus, speak our souls restored By love's divine simplicity, Re- united to our Lord, And wholly lost in thee!