4 But oh, when that last conflict's o'er,
And I am chained to flesh no more,
With what glad accents shall I rise,
To join the music of the skies!

5 Soon shall I learn the exalted strains
Which echo o'er the heavenly plains:
And emulate with joy unknown,
The glowing seraphs round Thy throne.
6 The cheerful tribute will I give,
Long as a deathless soul can live;
A work so sweet, a theme so high,
Demands, and fills eternity.

C.M.

573 Our citizenship is in heaven.—Phil.

1

3, 20.

AVIOUR! we seek Thy high abode,
Where perfect joy is found;

Along a strange and dangerous road,
And through enchanted ground.

2 But we will tread the desert through, With eager, hopeful feet;

For our great Captain shall subdue
The terrors that we meet.

3 A thousand savage beasts of prey,
Around the forest roar;

But Judah's Lion guards the way,
And they can hurt no more.

4 Storm, mist, and darkness dwell below, And long and frequent night, Therefore it is, we gladly go

To everlasting light.

5 Our journey is a thorny maze, But we march upward still;

And cheer our path with heavenly lays, Up to the heavenly hill.

6 And often, to our faith's clear sight, The glorious city nears!

And then, indeed, our hopes are bright,
And we forget our fears.

7 See the kind angels at the gates,
Smile forth their greetings fair;
And Jesus our Forerunner waits
To give us entrance there.

Y

8 So, faith and patience, still hold on?
Trust in the Master's love;
Trials and toils will soon be gone,
And home be reached above.

THE CHRISTIAN LIFE:
ASPIRATIONS AND HOPES.

C.M.

574 There remaineth therefore a rest

1

to the people of God.-Heb. 4, 9.

LORD, I believe a rest remains,

To all Thy people known,

A rest where pure enjoyment reigns,
And Thou art loved alone:

2 A rest where all our soul's desire
Is fixed on things above;

Where fear, and sin, and grief expire,
Cast out by perfect love.

3 O that I now the rest might know,
Believe, and enter in :

Now, Saviour, now the power bestow,
And let me cease from sin.

4 Remove this hardness from my heart,
This unbelief remove:
To me the Rest of faith impart,
The Sabbath of Thy love.

78.

575 The Sun of righteousness.—MaL

4, 2.

10 From the shining seats of day!

FOR one celestial ray

Sun of Righteousness, arise!
Warm our hearts, and cheer our eyes.
2 Distant from Thy blest abode,
Far from glory, far from God;
Now and then we breathe a sigh
Upwards to our native sky.

3 Melt our chains with heavenly fire;
Love, and joy, and peace inspire;
Make us feel Thy grace within;
Thou canst break the power of sin.

4 Give, O give us wings to rise In affection to the skies! Liberty and joy divine,

Sun of righteousness, are Thine,

L.M.

576 The inheritance of the saints in

1

light.-Col 1,. 12.

A The height of some o'erlooking hill,

S when the weary traveller gains

His heart revives, if 'cross the plains He sees his home, though distant still. 2 While he surveys the much-loved spot, He slights the space that lies between: His past fatigues are now forgot, Because his journey's end is seen.

3 Thus, when the Christian pilgrim views By faith his mansion in the skies,

The sight his fainting strength renews, And wings his speed to reach the prize. 4 The thought of home his spirit cheers; No more he grieves for troubles past: Nor any future trial fears,

So he may safe arrive at last.

5 Tis there, he says, I am to dwell
With Jesus, in the realms of day;
Then I shall bid my cares farewell,
And He will wipe my tears away.
6 Jesus, on Thee our hope depends,
To lead us on to Thine abode;

Assured our home will make amends
For all our toil while on the road.

7s.

577 Seek those things which are above.

1

HE

-Col. 3, 2.

EAVENWARD doth our journey
tend,

We are strangers here on earth,
Through the wilderness we wend
To our home of heavenly birth:
Here we roam a pilgrim band,
Yonder is our native land.

2 Heavenward stretch, my soul, thy wings,

Heavenly nature canst thou claim,

There is nought in earthly things Worthy to be all thine aim; Every soul, whom God inspires, Up to Him, its source, aspires. 3 Heavenwards! doth His Spirit cry, When I hear Him in His word, Showing me the rest on high, Where I shall be with my Lord: When His word expands my thought, Up to heaven my soul is caught. 4 Heavenwards! heavenwards! ever this Be my watchword on the earth; For the love of heavenly bliss Counting all things little worth. Heavenward let my being tend, Till in heaven my journey end.

C.M.

578 Now is our salvation nearer than

when we believed.-Rom. 13, 11.

1AWAKE, ye saints, and raise your

And raise your voices high; [eyes,
Awake, and praise the sovereign love
That shows salvation nigh.

2 On all the wings of time it flies,
Each moment brings it near
Then welcome each declining day,
And each revolving year.

3 Not many years their round shall run, Nor many mornings rise,

Ere all its glories stand revealed

To our admiring eyes.

4 Ye wheels of nature, speed your course! Ye mortal powers, decay!

Fast as ye bring the night of death,
Ye bring eternal day.

8.8.6.

579 He hath prepared for them a city.

1

-Heb. 11, 16.

BEYOND the dark and stormy bound

That girds our dull horizon round,
A lovelier landscape swells;

Resplendent seat of light and peace,
In thee the sounds of conflict cease,
And glory ever dwells.

2. For thee the early patriarch sighed,
Thy distant beauty faint descried,
And hailed the blest abode;

A stranger here, he sought a home,
Fixed in a city yet to come,
The city of his God.

3 Oft by Siloa's sacred stream,

In heavenly trance and raptured dream,
To faithful Israel shown;
Triumphant over all her foes,
The true celestial Salem rose,-
Jehovah's promised throne.

4 We, too, O Lord, would seek that land Follow the tribes that crowd its strand, From every peril saved;

And march, as when in olden time Were marshalled all Thy host sublime, And high Thy banner waved.

580

1

WE

C.M.

To die is gain.-Phil. 1, 21.

HEN musing sorrow mourns the past,

And weeps o'er present pain,

How sweet to think of peace at last,
And feel that death is gain!

2 Tis not that murmuring thoughts arise,
And dread a Father's will;
Tis not that meek submission flies,
And would not suffer still.

3 It is, that conscience deeply feels
The pangs of struggling sin;

[heals,

And sees, though far, the hand that And ends the strife within.

4 It is, that hope with ardour glows, To see Him face to face,

Whose dying love no language knows
Sufficient art to trace.

5 It is, that heaven-born faith surveys
The path to realms of light:
And longs her eagle plumes to raise,
And lose herself in sight.

6 O let me wing my hallowed way
From earth-born woe and care:
And soar above, to perfect day,
My Saviour's bliss to share.