INSTRUCTIVE HYMNS.

PART IV.

THE WEDDING GARMENT:

THE GRACES OF THE HOLY SPIRIT SHOWN FORTH IN THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER;

THE CHRISTIAN'S ROAD TO HEAVEN BY THE

WAY OF

SANCTIFICATION,

AND OBEDIENCE TO GOD'S COMMANDMENTS.

N. B. The texts below are not to be read alone, but compared with those on pages 293 and 294, according to their numbers respectively.

294.

Behold yourself baptized into Christ's Church, already called to
be a candidate for the prize, and actually placed on the course,
with every necessary provision for running the race successfully.
1 AWAKE my soul, stretch every nerve,
And press with vigour on;

A heavenly race demands thy zeal,
And an immortal crown.

2 'Tis God's all-animating voice,
That calls thee from on high;
'Tis his own hand presents the prize,
To thine aspiring eye.

3 A cloud of witnesses around,
Hold thee in full survey;
Forget the steps already trod,
And onward urge thy way.

4 Bless'd Saviour, introduced by thee,
Have we our race begun,

And, crown'd with vict'ry, at thy feet,
We'll cast our honours down.

The Christian on Duty.

1 A SOLDIER'S course from battles won,
To new commencing strife;
A pilgrim's restless as the sun,

Behold the Christian's life!

2 The hosts of Satan pant for spoil-
How can our warfare close?
Lonely we tread a foreign soil-
How can we hope repose?

3 Then let us seek our heavenly home,
The rest for us in store;

The land where pilgrims never roam,
Where soldiers war no more.

4 Where grief shall never wound, nor death
Disturb the Saviour's reign;

Nor sin, with pestilential breath,
His holy realm profane.

5 The land where (suns and moons unknown,
And night's alternate sway,)
Jehovah's ever-burning throne
Upholds unbroken day.

6 Where they who meet shall never part,
Where grace completes its plan,
And God, uniting every heart,
Dwells face to face with man!

296.

Gratitude makes duty agreeable.

1 IS this the kind return,
And these the thanks we owe,
Thus to abuse eternal love,
Whence all our blessings flow.
To what a stubborn frame
Has sin reduced our mind;
What strange rebellious wretches we,
And God as strangely kind.

2

3

5

6

On us he bids the sun

Shed his reviving rays;

For us the skies their circles run,
To lengthen out our days.

The brutes obey their God,

And bow their necks to men ;

But we more base, more brutish things,

Reject his easy reign.

Turn, turn us, mighty God,

And mould our souls afresh ;

Break, sovereign grace, these hearts of stone,

And give us hearts of flesh.

Let old ingratitude

Provoke our weeping eyes,

And hourly as new mercies fall,
Let hourly thanks arise.

297.

1

(Or)

Be not sad, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

COME ye that love the Lord,

And let your joys be known;
Join in a song, with one accord,
As ye surround the throne.

2

3

4

5

The sorrows of the mind,
Be banish'd from this place;
Religion never was design'd
To make our pleasures less.
Let those refuse to sing,
That never knew our God;
But children of the heavenly King
May speak their joys abroad.

The men of grace have found
Glory begun below;

Celestial fruits on earthly ground,
From faith and hope may grow.
The hill of Zion yield

A thousand sacred sweets,

Before we reach the heavenly fields,

Or walk the golden streets.

6

Then let your songs abound,

And every tear be dry;

We're marching through Immanuel's ground,
To fairer worlds on high.

298.

Seeing ye have put off the old man, and have put on the

new man.

v. 1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 10, or 1, 4, 5, 7, 8.

1 AS new-born babes desire the breast,
To feed, and grow, and thrive;
So saints with joy the Gospel taste,
And by the Gospel live.

2 With inward gust, their heart approves
All that the word relates;

They love the men their Father loves,
And hate the works he hates.

3 Not all the flatt'ring baits on earth
Can make them slaves to lust;
They can't forget their heav'nly birth,
Nor grovel in the dust.

4 Not all the chains that tyrants use
Shall bind their souls to vice;

Faith, like a conqueror, can produce
A thousand victories.