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Once they were mourning here below,
And wet their couch with tears;
They wrestled hard, as we do now,
With sins, and doubts, and fears."

I ask them whence their victory came;
They with united breath

Ascribe their conquest to the Lamb,
Their triumph to his death.

They mark'd the footsteps that he trod,
His zeal inspir'd their breast;
And following their incarnate God,
Possess the promis'd rest.

Our glorious Leader claims our praise,

For his own pattern given;
While the long cloud of witnesses
Show the same path to heaven.

HYMN 250.

"These are they which came out of great tri

bulation,"

EXALTED high at God's right hand,
Nearer the throne than angels stand,

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With glory crown'd, in white array,

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What are their names, and whence came they?

Through tribulation great they came;

They bore the cross, and scorn'd the shame;
Within the living temple blest,

In God they dwell, and on him rest.

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Hunger they ne'er shall feel again,
Nor burning thirst shall they sustain;
To wells of living water led,

By God, the Lamb, for ever fed.

Jesus, the Saviour, is their theme;
They sing the wonders of his name;
To him ascribing power and grace,
Dominion, and eternal praise.

HYMN 251.

The heavenly Jerusalem.

JERUSALEM ! my happy home!
Name ever dear to me!

When shall my labours have an end,
In joy, and peace, and thee?

O when, thou city of my God,

Shall I thy courts ascend,

Where congregations ne'er break up,'

And sabbaths never end?

There happier bowers than Eden's bloom,
Nor sin nor sorrow know;

Blest seats! through rude and stormy scenes
I onward press to you.

Why should I shrink at pain and woe,
Or feel at death dismay?

I've Canaan's goodly land in view,
And realms of endless day.

5 Apostles, martyrs, prophets, there

Around my Saviour stand;

And soon my friends in Christ below:-
Will join the glorious band.

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Jerusalem! my happy home!
My soul still pants for thee;
Then shall my labours have an end,
When I thy joys shall see.

HYMN 252.

"Set your affections on things above."

RISE, my soul, and spread thy wings,
Thy better portion trace;
Rise from transitory things,

Towards heaven, thy native place:
Sun, and moon, and stars decay,

Time shall soon this earth remove;

Rise, my soul, and haste away
To seats prepar'd above.

Rivers to the ocean run,

Nor stay in all their course;
Fire ascending seeks the sun;

Both speed them to their source:
So a soul that's born of God
Pants to view his glorious face,
Upwards tends to his abode,
To rest in his embrace.

Cease, ye pilgrims, cease to mourn,
Press onward to the prize;

Soon your Saviour will return
Triumphant in the skies:
Yet a season, and you know
Happy entrance will be given,

All your sorrows left below,

And earth exchang'd for heaven.

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HYMN 253.

The future peace and glory of the Church. HEAR what God the Lord hath spoken: "O my people, faint and few; "Comfortless, afflicted, broken, "Fair abodes I build for you: "Thorns of heart-felt tribulation "Shall no more perplex your ways; "You shall name your walls, salvation, · "And your gates shall all be praise. "Ye no more your suns descending, Waning moons no more shall see; But, your griefs for ever ending, "Find eternal noon in me:

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"God shall rise, and shining o'er you,
Change to day the gloom of night;
"He, the Lord, shall be your glory,
God your everlasting light."

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HYMN 254.

The dying christian.

"SPIRIT-leave thine house of clay!
Lingering dust-resign thy breath!
Spirit-cast thy chains away!
Dust-be thou dissolv'd in death!"
Thus the Almighty Saviour speaks,
When the faithful christian dies;
Thus the bonds of life he breaks,
And the ransom'd captive flies!
"Prisoner-long detain'd 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 regions of the sky!

3 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!"

HYMN 255.

Christ's second coming.

1 THE Lord shall come! the earth shall quake,
The mountains to their centre shake;
And, withering from the vault of night,
The stars shall pale their feeble light.

2 The Lord shall come! but not the same
As once in lowliness he came,
A silent Lamb before his foes,
A weary man, and full of woes.

3 The Lord shall come! a dreadful form,
With rainbow-wreath and robes of storm;
On cherub wings, and wings of wind,
Appointed Judge of all mankind.

4 Can this be he, who wont to stray,
A pilgrim on the world's highway,
Oppress'd by pow'r, and mock'd by pride,
The Nazarene,-the crucified?

5 While sinners in despair shall call,
"Rocks, hide us; mountains, on us fall!"
The saints, ascending from the tomb,

Shall joyful cry "The Lord is come!"