Take home thy wandering sheep,
For thou hast sought it;
My soul in safety keep,

For thou hast bought it.

LONGING TO BE WITH CHRIST.

Having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better.

Phil. 1: 23.

To Jesus, the crown of my hope,
My soul is in haste to be gone;
O, bear me, ye cherubim, up,

And waft me away to his throne.

My Saviour, whom absent I love;
Whom, not having seen, I adore;
Whose name is exalted above

All glory, dominion, and power:

Dissolve from these bonds, that detain
My soul from her portion in thee;
Ah! strike off this adamant chain,
And make me eternally free.

When that happy era begins,

When arrayed in thy glories I shine,
Nor grieve any more by my sins,

The bosom on which I recline:

O, then shall the veil be removed,

And round me thy brightness be poured:

I shall meet him whom absent I loved,
I shall see whom unseen I adored.

And then, never more shall the fears,
The trials, temptations, and woes,
Which darken this valley of tears,
Intrude on my blissful repose.

Or, if yet remembered above,

Remembrance no sadness shall raise;
They will be but new signs of thy love,
New themes for my wonder and praise.

Thus the strokes which from sin and from pain,
Shall set me eternally free,

Will but strengthen and rivet the chain
Which binds me, my Saviour, to thee.

THE DYING CHRISTIAN.

Having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better. Phil. 1: 23.

HASTE my spirit, fly away,

'Tis thy gracious Saviour calls,

Leave this tenement of clay,

Quit its broken, shattered walls;

Through these ruins I descry
Gleams of immortality.

Cease, my friends, to weep for me,
I should rather mourn for you;
Every woe and sin I flee,

Christ and heaven are in my view;
Dare not wish my soul to stay,
Angels beckon me away.

God hath sent his envoy, death,
Earthly blessings I resign;
Lord, to thee I yield my breath,

Take this ransomed soul of mine;
And my songs of joy shall be
Ceaseless as eternity.

'TO LIVE IS CHRIST; TO DIE IS GAIN.'

Phil. 1: 21.

LET thoughtless thousands choose the road
That leads the soul away from God:
This happiness, O Lord, be mine,

To live and die entirely thine!

On Christ, by faith, my soul would live,
From him my life, my all receive;
To him devote my fleeting hours,
Serve him alone with all my powers.

Christ is my everlasting all,
To him I look, on him I call;
He will my every want supply,
In time, and through eternity.

Soon will the Lord, my life, appear;
Soon shall I end my trials here.
Leave sin and sorrow, death and pain:
To live is Christ—to die is gain!'

Soon will the saints in glory meet;
Soon walk through every golden street;
And sing on every blissful plain,
To live is Christ—to die is gain!'

THE DYING CHRISTIAN.

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 1 Cor. 15: 55.

'SPIRIT — leave thine house of clay! Lingering dust, resign thy breath! Spirit, cast thy chains away!

Dust, be thou dissolved in death.' Thus the Almighty Saviour speaks, While the faithful Christian dies! Thus the bonds of life he breaks,

And the ransomed captive flies!

'Prisoner, long detained below!

Prisoner, now with freedom blest! Welcome, from a world of woe! Welcome to a land of rest!' Thus the choir of angels sing, As they bear the soul on high! While with hallelujahs, ring All the region of the sky!

Grave, the guardian of our dust! Grave, the treasury of the skies! Every atom of thy trust,

Rests in hope again to rise! Hark! the judgment-trumpet calls! 'Soul, rebuild thy house of clay; Immortality thy walls,

And eternity thy day!'

THE DYING BELIEVER.

O death, where is thy sting?-1 Cor. 15: 55.

DEATHLESS principle, arise!
Soar, thou native of the skies!
Pearl of price, by Jesus bought,
To his glorious likeness wrought,