Classic Poem

CHAPTER XVII.

Himself with lifted hands and eyes,
The great vicarious Sacrifice
He offers up for all our race,
Our faithful merciful High-Priest
To God presenting His request,
For every child of Adam prays.

First for the twelve He intercedes,
And then for all believers pleads,
And then for all the ransom'd kind,
That seeing how the Christians live,
The world may faithfully receive
And every soul his Saviour find.

W HEN full four thousand years are pass'd,
The destined hour arrives at last
For God to glorify His Son:
Again the Father's arms receive
In His own joy with Him to live
The Partner of His heavenly throne

Again the' angelic hosts adore
Their Maker, God, who was before
Angel or man began to be;
Who now resumes His sovereign right,
Brightness of uncreated Light,
I AM from all eternity.

Saviour and Prince enthroned on high,
Thou dost Thy Father glorify,
His majesty on earth display
Who sent Thee from His bosom down,
To make His love and justice known,
The universal debt to pay.

Thou dost His name to men declare,
And stamp us with the character,
The truth and holiness Divine;
The depths of Deity reveal,
Thy members with Thy Spirit seal,
That God in all His saints may shine.

F ULL power to Thee Thy Father gave,
Supreme authority to save
Whoe'er their proffer'd Lord embrace:
All flesh is now by purchase Thine,
Who didst Thy precious life resign
To ransom the whole fallen race.

Thou wouldst on every soul bestow
The faith through which Thy people know
Eternal life on earth reveal'd:
Thou dost Thy quickening Spirit give
To all who lovingly believe,
And find their blood-bought pardon seal'd

I N peace Divine unspeakable
The' angelic happiness we feel,
The life enjoy'd by saints above,
If Thou, His co-eternal Son
The Father in Thyself make known
And tell our hearts that God is love:
Soon as Thou dost Thy Spirit impart,
The one true God we know Thou art,
Our Prophet, Priest, and King receive,
Sent to restore our paradise,
With Thee we mount above the skies,
With Thee even now in heaven we live.

T HOU laid'st on earth the steadfast base
On which Thou dost Thy kingdom raise,
Thy church to fill the realms above;
Thou hast with all His will complied,
And through Thy passion glorified
The righteous God of truth and love.
Thou hast Thy ministry fulfill'd,
Thy faithful testimony seal'd,
Finish'd the work Thy Father gave,
Then, when Thou didst incline Thine head,
A voluntary Victim bleed,
And die Thyself the world to save.

J ESUS , Thy prayer is answer'd now,
The Man, Jehovah's Fellow Thou
And seated on Thy Father's throne,
Bright Effluence of the light Divine,
Thou dost in Thy own glory shine
From all eternity Thy own:
The Man who did our world redeem
Is clothed with majesty supreme,
Thy body now is glorified;
Thou wear'st Thy mediatorial crown,
That we may in Thy right sit down,
And reign exalted at Thy side.

W HOM first to Thee Thy Father gave
On them Thy present power to save,
Jesus, Thou didst in mercy show;
His name, His nature, and His mind,
Benevolent to all mankind
Thou bad'st Thy twelve apostles know:
His own and Abraham's progeny
The men whom He bestow'd on Thee
Redeeming from the world and sin,
With Thine adopting Spirit bless'd
Their gracious Father they confess'd,
And kept Thy word which spoke them clean.

I N order foremost of the Three,
Fountain of Life and Deity,
Thy Father, with the twelve, we own;
Jesus by highest heaven adored,
Thy mission, miracles, and word,
Thy Godhead is from Him alone:
Thy all Thou didst from God receive:
Thou didst to Thine apostles give
His words through Thy internal grace:
They knew Thee then, His only Son
Sent from the everlasting throne
To save our whole apostate race

N OT for the world of sinners dead,
Not for the living faithful seed,
As yet the common Saviour prays:
The twelve, His most peculiar care,
First mention'd in His final prayer,
Are first establish'd by His grace:
Them for their office high design'd,
Elected out of all mankind,
To Thee by Love Paternal given,
Jesus, Thy prayer doth first secure,
And make Thy church's pillars sure,
And seal them favourites of heaven.

J ESUS , Jehovah's equal Son,
Thou and Thy Father are but one,
Thine interests are with His the same,
Distinction none of mine and thine;
And hence the messengers Divine
Were all apostles of the Lamb
Thy power throughout their lives was seen;
Superior to the power of men
It proved the Source from which it flow'd,
When in Thy name the sick they heal'd,
The dead they raised, the fiends expell'd,
And thus Thy sovereign Godhead show'd.

W HILE Jesus doth to heaven ascend,
He asks His Father to defend
The little flock He leaves below;
Dependent upon God He prays
As man; as God confers the grace
His own eternal birth to show,
The constant need of prayer to' explain,
Through which we sure support obtain
In every conflict and distress;
And bless'd with final victory,
Holy, and true, and good, to Thee
Ascribe the everlasting praise.

G OD heard the acceptable prayer
When Jesus to His Father's care
Did His first family bequeath:
Jehovah's name became their tower,
He magnified His saving power
And made them faithful unto death:
His holiness did theirs secure,
And kept from all pollution pure,
His unity preserved them one,
Till conquerors through His faithful love
They found their place prepared above,
And join'd their Saviour on His throne.

T HE Shepherd good rejoiced to keep,
While in the world, His number'd sheep,
The sheep His Father had bestow'd:
He kept them in His Father's name,
The power and goodness to proclaim
The truth and faithfulness of God;
Jesus to Thee the twelve were given,
Their names were all inscribed in heaven;
Yet Judas by transgression fell,
His name was blotted from Thy book,
When his own mercies he forsook,
And challenged his own place in hell.

That none of Thine elect may boast,
One of the chosen twelve was lost,
He made himself perdition's son;
For whom Thou hadst a throne design'd,
He sold the Saviour of mankind,
And forfeited his promised crown:
Faithful he might have proved to Thee,
But fell from his integrity
By no decree of Thine compell'd;
He cast Thy slighted grace away,
Gave himself up, the tempter's prey,
And thus his own destruction seal'd.

W HILE yet Thou livedst a Man of woe,
Thy latest words of grace below
Thou didst to Thy disciples leave,
That soon recalling them to mind
They might Thy power and Spirit find,
And consolation strong receive:
Thee when they saw no longer here,
They felt the' indwelling Comforter
Accomplishing Thy whole design,
Granted they found Thy prayer and seal'd,
With all Thy joy and Spirit fill'd,
With all the plenitude Divine.

W HO first received the' engrafted word,
Thy followers by the world abhorr'd,
By patience and obedience show'd
The faith which through Thy sayings came,
And gloried in their Master's shame
Undaunted confessors of God:
Thy marks were in their bodies seen:
The filth and offscouring of men
Thy badge and daily cross they bore.
And still whoe'er belong to Thee
Detested by the world must be,
Till time and sin shall be no more.

T HY members must their trial take
And suffer, Saviour, for Thy sake,
And to Thy will submit their own,
The general scorn and hate abide,
Dead to the world and crucified,
Till all their work on earth is done:
The earliest preachers of Thy love
Thou wouldst not Lord from earth remove:
Thy presence from the evil pure
Preserved, and kept them in the flame,
Till out of great distress they came,
And made their crown by sufferings sure.

P ARIAKERS of Thy ministry,
The men who still are sent by Thee
Are men, not of the world but God;
They all its vain desires deny,
Against its evils testify,
And tread the path their Pattern trod:
Thy mind and Spirit they possess,
The tempers of their Lord express,
Acquainted with Thy sorrows live,
Themselves of no repute they make,
And poor becoming for Thy sake,
Thy cup in life and death receive.

T HAT Spirit pure of truth and love,
That sacred unction from above
Did Thy first messengers ordain;
It set them for Thyself apart,
Reveal'd Thy word to every heart,
And cleansed their lives from every stain:
Still by the gospel word applied,
Thy ministers are sanctified,
The truth they lovingly receive,
It saves their souls and sets them free;
And consecrated, Lord, to Thee,
Thy holy word they preach and live.

A MBASSADOR of the Most-High
Thy Father sent Thee from the sky
To make His truth and mercy known;
And every chosen instrument
By Thee into the world is sent,
To carry Thy great business on;
They of Thy work obtain a part,
And labouring sinners to convert,
Their ministerial task fulfil,
Ready their lives to sacrifice
(That precious souls may reach the skies)
And with their blood the record seal.

J ESUS , was ever love like Thine!
Victim, immaculate, Divine!
Self-offer'd in the sinner's place,
For Thine elect apostles slain,
For all who their commission gain,
For every child of Adam's race!
We through Thy death the power receive,
The sanctifying truth believe,
Partakers of Thy sacrifice;
Bodies and souls present to God,
With Thine all-patient mind endow'd,
And to Thy heavenly kingdom rise.

F AITHFUL and merciful High-Priest,
Supreme in power, and love Divine,
While underneath Thy wings we rest,
We in Thine intercession join;
Saviour, Thou dost Thy dying care
To every age alike extend,
And by the virtue of Thy prayer
Thy church is kept till time shall end.

Faith through the apostolic word,
The faith of Thine elect we feel:
The Holy Ghost my God and Lord
Thee in my heart doth now reveal;
I know my interest in Thy blood,
My pardon seal'd I now receive,
Thy death hath brought my soul to God,
And trusting in Thy death I live.

W HAT is that unity?
Can we be one in Thee,
As Thou the' eternal Son.
Art with the Father one?
Then shall we know, when once we feel
The grace incomprehensible.

J ESUS Thee the Head we own,
The Saviour of mankind:
Thou of twain hast made us one,
Hast Jews and Gentiles join'd;
Both Thy mystic body are,
In Thee the scatter'd members meet:
Through Thine all-prevailing prayer
Our harmony complete.

By one Spirit inspired and led
We to each other cleave,
Nourish'd with immortal Bread
The life of faith we live:
Call'd to purity and peace
The fellowship of saints we prove
In the bond of perfectness,
And unity of love.

In Thy heavenly Father one,
We all His children are,
Of Thy flesh and of Thy bone
Thy holy nature share;
All into Thy Spirit drink,
All baptized into Thy name
One in heart and mind, we think,
And act, and speak, the same

Closer knit to God and Thee
Jesus in us make known
All the hidden mystery,
The Holy Three in One:
Thus convinced the world shall feel
Thy Father's gracious will and mind,
Know He sent Thee down to dwell
In us, and all mankind.

T HE glory of God's only Son
In all His sons doth shine,
A greatness to the world unknown,
A majesty Divine!

W HAT to Thee Thy Father gave
Thou dost on man bestow,
Souls re-born Thy Spirit have,
Thy glorious image show,
Stamp'd with real holiness,
Partakers of Thy life, they shine,
All Thy members, Lord, express
The unity Divine.

One, though not the same, with Thee,
And each with each they are,
The Divine plurality
And simple nature share:
In Thy permanent abode
When Father, Son, and Spirit meet,
Transcript of the triune God
Thy church is all complete.

J ESUS , with Thy Father come,
And bring our inward Guide,
Make our hearts Thy humble home,
And in Thine house abide,
Show us with Thy presence fill'd,
Fill'd with glory from Thy throne,
Wholly sanctified, and seal'd,
And perfected in one.

Thus Thy Father's kind intent
Let the whole world perceive,
Know He from His bosom sent
His Son, that all may live;
Sent Thee every soul to bless,
That in Thy loving Spirit join'd
All may with one mouth confess
The Saviour of mankind.

By the miracle of grace
Bring every outcast in,
Show to all our ransom'd race
The power that saves from sin;
All our ransom'd race convert,
That every child of man may prove
Thee residing in his heart,
And know that God is love.

God in Christ is love to me,
He loves me for Thy sake,
Loves us all as part of Thee
Who didst our nature take:
Wills our God that all should live,
Through faith in Thee His favourite Son,
Should Thy proffer'd joy receive,
And triumph on Thy throne.

L ORD , Thy testamental will
Is ratified by God,
Seal'd by Thy own Spirit's seal,
And written in Thy blood:
Trusting, sharing in Thy death,
To us Thy life shall all be given,
Us to whom Thou dost bequeath
The' inheritance of heaven.

As His only Son and Heir
Thou challengest Thine own,
Askest that Thy church may share
Thine everlasting throne;
Praying in Thy proper right,
Thou dost for us demand the grace,
The beatifying sight
Of Thy own glorious face.

Head and members, Christ entire
We must together be,
In the bosom of Thy Sire,
And glorified with Thee:
Thee before the world began,
And us He did as Thine approve,
Chosen in the Son of Man
By His eternal love.

F ATHER of our gracious Lord,
Thy righteousness we own;
By the' angelic host adored,
And by Thy children known,
Hidden from the world Thou art,
Till humbly they Thy Son receive;
Then they find Him in their heart,
And one with God they live.

We have surely found Him here,
Sent in His saints to dwell,
Faith's almighty Finisher
Thy justice to reveal:
Justice now confers the prize,
Deserved and purchased by Thy Son:
Justice wills that we should rise,
His members to His throne.

C HRIST our Head and heavenly Lord,
Thou only canst proclaim
By Thine own inspoken word
Thy heavenly Father's name:
Thou to us hast made it known,
His Power and Wisdom from above,
Then His Righteousness we own,
His Truth, and Life, and Love.

Thou His name unspeakable
Wilt farther yet declare,
Till we all His nature feel,
And all His impress bear,
Till, complete in holiness
We comprehend the mystery,
Fill'd with all His love and grace,
For ever fill'd with Thee.

Come Thou holy One of God,
And by that Spirit Divine
Shed in all our hearts abroad
Thy Father's love and Thine:
Fit us for the blissful sight,
And when Thou hast Thy saints prepared,
Glory on our foreheads write,
Thyself our full Reward.

F ULNESS of power the world to save
Thy Father hath conferr'd on Thee,
All flesh He to Thy merit gave,
And Thou hast proved Thy power on me;
Thou hast to me the Father show'd,
Thine everlasting Spirit given:
And lo, I live the life of God,
I live on earth the life of heaven!

R EDEEM'D by Thine electing love,
And separate from the world I am,
Endow'd with wisdom from above
I know the great Jehovah's name;
Thou hast the Deity declared,
His nature to my soul reveal'd;
And soon in me, Thy death's reward,
Thy sayings shall be all fulfill'd.

G OOD in myself whereon to ground
My hopes of bliss, I seek no more,
Cause of all good in creatures found
Thy grace, O Father, I adore:
Instructed by Thy humble Son,
(Thy Son from all eternity)
The Fountain of perfection own
The whole of excellence in Thee.

J ESUS , in whom I now believe,
The Author of my faith Thou art,
The words Thou didst from God receive
Thy Spirit hath spoke them to my heart:
By these convinced I surely know
Thou art His co-eternal Son,
Who sent Thee down to die below,
And bring His rebels to His throne.

Inspiring me with faith Divine
Thou Lord out of the world hast took,
Hast pray'd for this weak soul of mine;
And for Thy prayer's return I look:
Thy prayer's return I daily find,
Unlike the world of sinners live
To Thee and to Thy people join'd
Till all Thy fulness I receive.

J ESUS Thy Father's child I am,
Who made me by Thy powerful word;
Me for Thine own vouchsafe to claim,
The work, the purchase of my Lord:
Thou didst redeem me by Thy blood,
That Thee my soul may glorify,
And triumph in a dying God,
And spread Thy praise through earth and sky.

T HY painful days of flesh are o'er,
Redeemer of our fallen race,
We see Thee Lord, on earth no more,
Nor hear Thy words of truth and grace:
But we Thy followers are constrain'd
As in the midst of wolves to dwell,
Still in an evil world detain'd,
And urged by all the hosts of hell.

Jesus our Head to heaven is gone
But we are in the world distress'd;
Father respect Thy praying Son,
And grant His prevalent request;
Preserve us pure from sinful blame,
From every spot and wrinkle free,
And keep through Thine almighty name
United each to each in Thee.

T AUGHT by our Lord we will not pray
To be out of the world removed,
But keep us in our evil day
Till patient faith is fully proved:
From sin, the world, and Satan's snare
The members of Thy Son defend,
Till all Thy character we bear,
And grace matured in glory end.

T HROUGH the pure evangelic word
Thine image, Lord, on us impress,
And speak us after God restored
In true internal holiness;
Thy word the channel of Thy love
Through meek and patient faith apply,
And fit us for the joys above,
And take us spotless to the sky.