Classic Poem

CHAPTER XIX.

P ASTORS , who live at ease
Without reproach or care
Preachers like Paul , with his,
Your services compare,
Your sloth with his extensive zeal,
And self-condemn'd the difference feel.

While the succession true
As wholly yours ye claim,
The' apostles' steps pursue,
The toil, the pain, the shame,
Their portion upon earth receive,
And only for your Master live.

C HRISTIANS make the same reply
Or a worse answer give;
Some audaciously deny
That Him ye can receive.
" Ask; but God will not bestow
The Holy Ghost with you to dwell;
Only fools and madmen know
Or now the Spirit feel. "

Most are ignorant that God
Doth still His Spirit impart,
Sheds Him with His love abroad
In every faithful heart;
By the blood of Jesus bought,
The Principle of righteous deeds,
Every holy word and thought
From Him alone proceeds.

Few alas! the need confess
Of His converting power,
Know that God we cannot please,
Or without Him adore;
Cannot seek the things Divine,
Till He the hindrances remove,
Secretly our hearts incline
To pray, repent, and love.

Who John's sincere disciples are,
They seek their Lord above,
The fruits of true repentance bear,
And tremble, till they love:
Expecting pardon for His sake,
Jesus, they trust will come,
Their souls and bodies too to make
His Spirit's constant home.

Our Saviour mindful of His word
To us who dare believe
And wait for our redeeming Lord,
Will soon His Spirit give;
Will with the Holy Ghost baptize,
His saving name declare,
And fit His members for the skies,
And crown with glory there.

G IFTS extraordinary bestow'd,
On them that first believed,
Powers miraculous from God
Are rarely now received;
True and faithful as Thou art,
We yet Thy promised Spirit claim;
Every fearful sinner's heart
May still expect the same.

Still the Holy Ghost descends
The' indwelling Comforter,
All the griefs and troubles ends
Of those that Christ revere;
Works His miracles within,
Renews their hearts, and tongues, and eyes;
Makes an utter end of sin,
And wholly sanctifies.

Always ready Thee we know
This gospel truth to seal;
Saviour, now on us bestow
The gift unspeakable,
In the Comforter come down,
(Who helps us for Himself to pray,)
Take possession of Thine own,
And here for ever stay.

F ROM men who harden their own hearts
And openly the way blaspheme,
A minister of Christ departs,
In pity and true love to them
Lest they should more obdurate be,
Farther provoke the Lord Most-high,
And fill up their iniquity,
And fighting with their Maker, die.

F ULL of paternal tenderness,
The pastor good will not expose
His children unconfirm'd in grace
To crafty disputations foes;
His faithful vigilance he approves
Divinely taught the flock to lead,
Beyond infection's reach removes
And parts the living from the dead.

O NE door is shut, when God permits,
To open a yet wider door;
The preacher then his toil repeats,
With warmer zeal, and fuller power;
Not every week, but every day
Proclaims the salutary word,
And multitudes the call obey,
And Asia now receives its Lord.

Preachers of Christ, in faith go on,
Nor fear your flock apart to meet,
You, whom self-righteous Jews disown,
May find a church in every street;
In synagogues received no more,
Perceive the thing your Lord intends,
Behold the great effectual door,
And Jesus preach, where'er He sends.

Temple, or house, or barn, or school,
(The gospel consecrates the place,)
No matter where, so Jesus rule,
And teach the lessons of His grace;
Though zealots still the way traduce,
And you as schismatics defame,
Go on; convince both Greeks and Jews ,
And peace to all mankind proclaim.

" Greater miracles than these
Shall My disciples do; "
Lord, we at Thy feet confess
The prophecy is true:
Yet Thine only power we own
Who didst by Paul the fiends expel,
Virtue flows from Thee alone,
Body and soul to heal.

Still the promise is fulfill'd
To them that trust in Thee,
Thine almighty arm reveal'd
With awe we daily see;
Outward signs but shadows were
Of greater miracles within,
Fiends expell'd the soul by prayer,
And sinners saved from sin.

I MPOTENT attempt and vain,
Satan from his house to' expel!
Used, usurp'd by daring man
Jesus' name will not avail,
Nothing by itself can do;
Jesu's Spirit the power supplies,
Satan mocks a faithless Jew ,
All the synagogue defies.

Jesus who divinely know
We His name employ aright,
Confident therein o'erthrow
All the potentates of night:
Jesus, to the faithful race
Arm'd with Thy great Spirit's power
Satan and his host give place,
Fly their ancient Conqueror.

J ESUS the woman's conquering Seed
He knew, the Bruiser of his head,
Who hurl'd the' archangel from his throne,
Who cast the foe as lightning down;
And bruises now beneath our feet
And drives him to the burning pit.

He knew the' apostle too, endued
With power from the Incarnate God,
Arm'd with his Lord's authority
To set the thralls of Satan free,
To blast the dire destroyer's aim,
And cast him out in Jesus' name.

But who are ye, or whence your power,
A church that Antichrist adore,
Yet over the demoniac call
The names of Jesus and of Paul ,
And still to cast him out pretend
By water sprinkled on the fiend?

The stubborn fiend will not give place
To all the Babylonish race,
Their unintelligible spells,
And charms, and lying miracles;
Nor can he Rome's exorcists fear,
Or fly from his own successor.

S INNERS , if Christ ye truly seek
Your convenant with Satan break,
An open detestation show,
Of him and all his works below;
In league with hell who long have been
Bring all your instruments of sin,
Your cards, the devil's books, disdain,
And cast your plays into the flame.

L OVER of souls he cannot rest,
In Ephesus already won
In Asia for his Lord possess'd,
But as he nothing yet had done
To Europe he his line extends,
And then to earth's remotest ends.

No conqueror or hero can
Equal his magnanimity
Whose heart in love to God and man
Enlarged and boundless as the sea,
Its all on every soul bestows,
And the whole universe o'erflows!

T HE love which worldly men pretend
To things Divine will always end
Where it at first begun:
Gain is their only godliness,
In all their actions they confess
They love themselves alone.

As for religion's cause
The slaves of Mammon fight;
" Our craft indeed may suffer loss,
But that we seem to slight
The church in danger is!
The vagrants undermine
Our pomp, magnificence, and ease,
And government divine!
Their heresy they spread
By day and night employ'd;
The church, if farther they proceed,
The church will be destroy'd!
'T is thus religion's name
We use our ends to screen;
But when the temple! we exclaim,
We our preferment mean. "

J ESUS in all times and places,
For His providential ends,
To His threaten'd servants raises
Secret, unsuspected friends;
Our well wishers at a distance
Till the Ephesian beasts appear;
Then their counsel or assistance
Saves the Saviour's messenger.

To the multitude enraged
Their way at first we give;
When their fury is assuaged
They may the truth receive,
Calm to reason's voice attend,
No further with the craftsmen go,
Leave them to their trusty friend
And sure allies below.

T HE universal fault
O how shall I eschew?
Precipitate in thought,
In word and action too,
My nature's turbulence I own,
And look for help in Christ alone.

R EASON and probity forbid
Even those that Christ deny
To second an outrageous deed,
Or join the general cry;
Let Christians hence instructed be
To stand in truth's defence,
And when the just oppress'd they see
To plead for innocence.

H OWE'ER your idols we despise,
As dirt beneath our feet,
We dare not Heathen scandalize,
Nor sacrilege commit;
Your Queen of Heaven and Patroness
May still her state maintain,
At Ephesus her shrine possess,
Or at Loretto reign.

T HE pagan deities of old
But lying demons were;
And modern gods of wood or gold
Their hellish birth declare;
We know their dark original,
Yet will we not presume
In bitterness of zeal to rail
At Satan, or at Rome .

T HE waves of the sea When highest they rise,
Are govern'd by Thee Our Lord in the skies;
Thy succour imploring Thy presence we find
To silence the roaring And tie up the wind.

The fierceness of men Who threaten so loud
Thy word can restrain And bridle the crowd,
And when it represses Their madness of will
The hurricane ceases, The tumult is still.

Whoe'er in Thy hand The instrument be,
Thine only command And action we see;
So nigh to deliver Acknowledge Thy power,
Thy mercy for ever And ever adore.