Classic Poem

CHAPTER XV.

I F grafted into Thee, the Vine,
I bring forth fruit, the praise is Thine:
But use Thy sin-retrenching power,
Prune me that I may bring forth more;
That through Thy Spirit's grace, I may
The truth with all my heart obey.

Kindly Thou dost chastise, reprove,
The objects of Thy choicest love,
That thus we may Thy mind express,
Partakers of Thy holiness,
May meekly all Thy sufferings share,
And fruit unto perfection bear.

 T HE word of pardoning grace
  If I have heard from Thee,
 And did by faith embrace
  And am from sin set free;
The word did then my change begin,
 True holiness impart;
And still Thy Spirit works within,
 And purifies my heart.

 The reconciling word
  Thy cleansing blood applied,
 And trusting in my Lord
  My soul is sanctified:
And if I still abide in Thee,
 Thou wilt my faith increase,
And bless with spotless purity,
 With perfect holiness.

I WILL abide in Thee, my Lord,
 Till life's extremest hour,
For Thou who gav'st the gracious word
 Shalt give the gracious power:
And summon'd, with my friends above,
 Thine open face to see,
An age of everlasting love
 I shall abide in Thee.

 I N Christ the holy One
 We dwell by faith alone,
 The holy One we feel
 By faith in us doth dwell:
Communion doth from union flow,
Till God as we are known we know.

 U NLESS we faith receive
 And still to Jesus cleave,
 Our God we cannot please
 By fruits of righteousness,
Or work a work, or speak a word,
Or think a thought, without the Lord.

 But freely justified
 In Jesus we abide,
 The Spirit's fruits we show,
 In true experience grow;
Daily the sap of grace receive,
And more and more like Jesus live.

 B RANCHES we could not be,
 Unless we were in Thee,
 But grafted in the Vine
 By faith we now are Thine:
O may we still our faith retain,
And Thine eternally remain.

 S IN , unimproved by grace,
 I never can confess;
 Till Thou repentance give,
 Sin I can never leave:
Till Thou the contrite wish inspire,
I never can Thyself desire.

 Thee, Lord, and Thee alone
 Author of faith I own;
 Thee, Saviour, I confess
 Giver of holiness,
Who only dost on man confer
Our souls' eternal Comforter.

 While sever'd from the Root
 I cannot bring forth fruit:
 But to my Saviour join'd,
 The same in heart and mind,
I wait in impotence to prove
The whole omnipotence of love.

 S TUPENDOUS mystery,
 Thy people Lord with Thee,
 The members with their Head
 Throughout the earth dispread,
In mind and will and spirit join,
One Christ, one body, and one vine

 Thy grace our souls receives
 And animates our lives,
 The Spirit from Thee proceeds,
 And sanctifies our deeds,
Prevents, and with His power attends,
And all in Thy great glory ends.

 By virtue from the Root,
 Thy branches bring forth fruit,
 The hundred-fold increase
 Of solid righteousness,
Till with Thy humbling Spirit fill'd,
The pure, the perfect love we yield.

 J OIN'D no longer to the tree,
  I nothing good can do,
 Broken off, O Christ, from Thee,
  Can nothing ill eschew,
 Sever'd now through unbelief
The double impotence I feel,
 Overwhelm'd with sin and grief,
  And sinking into hell.

 Pity, Lord, Thy creature's pain
  And challenging for Thine,
 Graft me in on Thee again,
  The true immortal Vine:
 Graft me in to part no more
Till love's maturest fruit I bear,
 Then I reach the heavenly shore,
  And bloom eternal there.

A H ! wretched souls, who once in grace
 Who one in Thee were truly Thine,
But left for sin Thy righteous ways,
 And shipwreck made of faith Divine,
By unbelief broke off from Thee,
They die in their apostasy!

Among the branches found no more,
 Deprived of faith and life and love,
Abandon'd to the tempter's power,
 Vilest of all the' apostates prove,
The sorest punishment require,
Cast into that eternal fire.

Saviour, reverse my righteous doom
 Fallen, alas, from pardoning grace,
Yet do not in Thy wrath consume,
 But give me still a longer space,
And graft again into the Vine,
And keep my soul for ever Thine.

 W HILE the power of faith I prove,
  I still abide in Thee,
 While Thy words, O Lord, I love,
  Thy words abide in me:
 Strangely on my mind impress,
That thence they never may depart;
 Grave the truth of righteousness
  For ever on my heart

 Fruit of faith and charity,
  The prevalence of prayer,
 Prayer, which all obtains from Thee,
  Abundant fruit shall bear:
 Prayer its principle maintains,
The faith by which our spirit lives,
 All Thy promises it gains,
  And all Thy life receives.

 Praying on for faith's increase
  In every grace we grow,
 Reach the finish'd holiness,
  And to perfection go;
 One with Thee by faith and love
We ask and have whate'er we will,
 Till we from the vale remove,
  And find Thee on the hill.

What shall I ask but Thee?
 Thou, Lord, art all in one:
In time and in eternity,
 I ask my God alone.

F ATHER , Thy name be sanctified!
 Thy nature to my soul declare,
So shall I in the Vine abide,
 And fruit unto Thy glory bear;
A witness of redeeming grace,
 O might I in Thy Spirit live,
Abound in works of righteousness;
 And Thou shalt all the praise receive

One only work on earth I have,
 One only means Thy praise to show,
My own and others' souls to save
 Is all my business here below:
I live Thy mercy's minister
 Myself to second life restored,
A genuine child of God appear,
 A true disciple of my Lord

So let my light to others shine,
 That they my works of faith may see,
With wonder own they are not mine,
 But wrought by Thy great power in me:
The' effects of Thy triumphant grace
 O might they all adore and prove,
And born again my Father praise,
 The' almighty God of faithful love.

H E for Thy sake approves us,
 With grace Divinely free,
And still Thy Father loves us
 As members, Lord, of Thee:
The cause of His election
 Unsearchable we own,
And all our God's affection
 Receive through Thee alone.

Thy love's an emanation
 Of His to Thee above:
Before the world's foundation
 Thou didst Thy people love:
And whom Thou mak'st Thy dwelling
 Thou surely wilt defend,
And by Thy Spirit's sealing
 Preserve us to the end.

T HEE Jesus, I adore,
 Whose word doth strength ordain,
And trusting in Thy power,
 I shall Thy love retain;
Continue in Thy favour
 Till soul and body part,
If Thou my dearest Saviour
 Continue in my heart.

O BEDIENCE to our Lord must prove
The truth and constancy of love,
By this our faithfulness is tried,
By this we in His love abide:
Submissive to the Father's will
He bids us His commands fulfil,
And joins in all He owns for His
Obedience and eternal bliss.

Jesus the true fidelity
The Spirit's fruits produce in me,
O let my life and heart confess
The' effects of Thine almighty grace,
That fill'd with faith which works by love,
And serving like Thy saints above,
My soul may gain the joy prepared
The fulness of Thine own reward.

 T HOU didst rejoice to' obey
 Thy Father's utmost will:
Thy joy, O Lord, in us shall stay
 Who Thy commands fulfil:
 And when Thy will is done
 By us like those above,
We find our heaven on earth begun
 In pure obedient love

 The more like Thee we live,
 The fuller joy is given,
We more abundant bliss receive,
 And larger draughts of heaven:
 Our confidence fill up
 Till faith improves to sight;
And then we lose both faith and hope
 In love's supreme delight.

J ESUS , that new command of Thine
 I languish to obey:
The zeal of charity Divine
 Into my heart convey,
That in and for my God alone
 I may embrace, esteem,
And after Thee my life lay down,
 The brethren to redeem.

 G REATER love is not in man,
  But greater is in God;
 Life for sinners to regain
  Jehovah sheds His blood,
 Gives Himself a sacrifice,
His own most precious blood expends,
 Freely for His foes He dies,
  And turns them into friends.

W HO can the grace explain?
 My God doth condescend
To call a worm, a man,
 A sinful man His friend!
If answering His designs
 With a true heart and free,
I do what He enjoins,
 And doth Himself in me.

N O longer held by servile fear,
 Thy pleasure we fulfil,
And principled with love sincere
 Delight to do Thy will:
Thy will concerning us we know,
 That daily crucified
Blameless we in Thy steps should go
 To triumph at Thy side.

T O be Thy ministers above
 Seraphic flames aspire,
But we by Thy redeeming love
 We are exalted higher;
Our thoughts and praises it transcends
 The love on men bestow'd;
We are the favourites and friends,
 The bosom-friends of God.

Thy friends instructed are by Thee,
 Jehovah's only Son,
The secrets of eternity
 Are to Thy church made known;
The unction doth in us abide,
 In all through grace forgiven,
The Spirit is our inward guide,
 And leads our souls to heaven.

T HEE we never could have chose,
 Dead in sins and trespasses:
But Thou hast redeem'd Thy foes,
 Bought the universal peace,
That all our ransom'd race might prove
The sweetness of electing love.

J ESUS , dost Thou not ordain
 Us to go, and fruit to bear,
Fruit that always shall remain,
 Souls that may Thy praise declare?
Sinners whom for Thee we win
 Rescue them and still defend,
From the world, and hell, and sin
 Save, and save them to the end.

F ATHER , in the powerful name
 Of Thy well-beloved Son
Hear us, who the promise claim,
 Keep us, till our work is done,
Give the faith to persevere,
 Give the patience to endure,
Hide our life till Christ appear;
 Then our full reward is sure.

O BEDIENT to our Lord's command,
Join every heart and every hand
 Of those who Jesus know
To' advance the kingdom of His grace,
To publish our Redeemer's praise,
 And spread His love below.

O were we in Thy Spirit join'd!
One heart, one judgment, and one mind
 To all Thy labourers give:
Unite us closer, Lord, to Thee,
That all may in Thy name agree,
 And to Thy glory live:

That all may think and speak the same,
Jointly our common Lord proclaim,
 Our mission fully prove,
Determined Thee alone to know,
And to Thy church the pattern show
 Of pure primeval love.

T HIS is our consolation, Lord,
 The world's fierce enmity
We bear, assured it first abhorr'd
 And persecuted Thee:
Thy friends in every age and place
 Are hated by Thy foe;
But if the scandal we embrace,
 We shall the glory know.

T HE hatred of our ancient foe
 Contentedly we bear,
And are not of the world we know,
 And this themselves declare:
Their maxims we no more receive
 As by their spirit led,
But faithfully to Jesus cleave,
 And suffer with our Head.

As evil when they cast us out
 And shun our company,
They will not suffer us to doubt
 If we belong to Thee:
Saviour, whom they reject, disdain,
 We find Thou dost approve,
And thus another mark obtain
 Of Thine electing love.

R EASON and sense would fain forget
 The cross-imposing word,
The servant is not more discreet,
 Or greater than the Lord:
If Christ they persecuted here,
 Their malice will pursue
His every saint and minister,
 As sure as God is true.

In pagan times it might be so
 The prudent world allow,
“But all the true religion know,
 But all are Christians now.”
Christians in name, they vex and grieve
 They persecute and kill
The men that would in Jesus live;
 And all His words fulfil

Because the truth they cannot bear
 They hate its witnesses,
And all who live the gospel, share
 The sanctified distress;
They will not, Lord, to Thine agree,
 Who Satan's works approve,
And till they cease from hating Thee
 Thy church they cannot love.

T HE world our unrelenting foe,
 May false pretences make,
But persecute Thy flock, we know,
 And hate us for Thy sake:
Because our God they have not known,
 They treat us with despite,
And by their cruel judgments, own
 Our lives are in the right.

Yet will we not the world upbraid,
 The infidels condemn:
Grace only hath the difference made
 Betwixt our souls and them:
The grace which we may lose by pride,
 May be on them bestow'd,
And when they feel Thy blood applied,
 They know the pardoning God.

H ADST Thou not come to Adam's race,
 And call'd them all to turn and live,
Offer'd Thy true sufficient grace
 With power the pardon to receive,
They might have charged their death on Thee,
As reprobate by Thy decree.

But who Thy heavenly doctrine hear,
 And view the wonders of Thy power,
Yet will not their Creator fear,
 Or Thee their Saviour-God adore,
They must their wilful folly own,
Undone; but by themselves undone.

No colour for their sin they have,
 Their stubborn infidelity:
Thou didst declare Thy will to save,
 They will not Thy salvation see,
But from Thine arms of mercy fly,
And die, because resolved to die.

W HO to those gracious words of Thine
 Might sinless their assent refuse,
Soon as they saw Thy works Divine,
 Condemn'd and left without excuse,
Their wilful unbelief they show'd,
And justly perish'd in their blood.

The world may thus our words deny,
 Who pardon, or perfection claim;
But when our actions testify,
 When all our lives declare the same,
They must the' authentic truth receive,
They must Thy witnesses believe.

I S there such dire malignity
 And black ingratitude in man?
Such sin Satanical in me?
 With grief and shame I own, I can
Vilest of fiends incarnate prove,
And hate a God whose name is Love.

My mind is hatred against God,
 My life rebellion and despite.
To Thee, who hast on me bestow'd
 Thy Son, Thy soul's supreme delight,
Thus to remove my enmity
As causeless, as Thy love for me.

S PIRIT of truth, the Comforter,
 Proceeding from the Father's throne,
Come, and Thine inward witness bear
 Of Jesus, His eternal Son;
Him, the great uncreated Word,
 Give me the God supreme to call,
Essence, I AM, Jehovah, Lord,
 My God, who made, and died for all.

Thy weak disciple I,
 Jesus, for years have been:
Thee let me testify
 The Truth, that frees from sin,
The Wisdom from above,
 The Life to mortals given,
The Power of perfect Love,
 The Way to God in heaven.