By thine all-sufficient merit
Every burden'd soul release;
By the influence of thy Spirit
Guide us into perfect peace.
LO! he comes with clouds descending,
Once for favour'd sinners slain,
Thousand thousand saints attending
Swell the triumph of his train:
Hallelujah!
Jesus now shall ever reign.
Every eye shall now behold him
Rob'd in dreadful majesty ;
Those who set at nought and sold him,
Pierc'd and nail'd him to the tree,
Deeply wailing,
Shall the great Messiah see.
Now redemption long-expected
See in solemn pomp appear;
All his saints by man rejected
Now shall meet him in the air:
Hallelujah!
See the day of God
Yea, Amen! let all adore thee,
High on thine eternal throne:
Saviour, take the power and glory,
Claim the kingdom for thine own;
Hallelujah!
Come, Lord Jesus, quickly come.
The solemnities of the future Judgment.
GREAT God, what do I see and hear!
The end of things created!
The Judge of mankind doth appear
On clouds of glory seated!
The trumpet sounds! the graves restore
The dead which they contained before!
Prepare, my soul, to meet him.
The dead in Christ shall first arise,
At the last trumpet's sounding;
Caught up to meet him in the skies,
With joy their Lord surrounding:
No gloomy fears their souls dismay;
His presence sheds eternal day
On those prepar'd to meet him.
Far over space, to distant spheres,
The lightnings are prevailing;
The ungodly rise, and all their tears
And sighs are unavailing:
The day of grace is past and gone;
Trembling they stand before the throne,
All unprepar'd to meet him.
Stay, fancy, stay, and close thy wings;
Repress thy flight too daring;
One wondrous sight my comfort brings,
The Judge my nature wearing:
Beneath his cross I view the day,
When heaven and earth shall pass away,
And thus prepare to meet him.
Prepare to meet thy God."
AND will the Judge descend?
And must the dead arise?
And not a single soul escape
His all-discerning eyes?
How will my heart endure
The terrors of that day,
When heaven and earth before his face
Astonish'd shrink away?
But ere his trumpet shakes
The mansions of the dead,
Hark, from the gospel's gentle voice
What joyful tidings spread!
Ye sinners, seek his grace,
Whose wrath ye cannot bear;
Fly to the shelter of his cross,
And find salvation there.
The birth of Christ celebrated in heaven and
HIGH let us swell our tuneful notes,
And join the angelic throng,
For angels no such love have known
To wake a cheerful song.
Good-will to sinful men is shown
And peace on earth is given;
For, lo! the incarnate Saviour comes
With messages from heaven.
Justice and grace, with sweet accord,
His rising beams adorn;
Let heaven and earth in concert join;
The promis'd child is born.
Glory to God in highest strains,
In highest worlds be paid;
His glory by our lips proclaim'd,
And by our lives display'd.
The Angels' song.
HARK! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King;
"Peace on earth, and mercy mild;
God and sinners reconcil'd."
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With the angelic host proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem.'
Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born, that man no more may die;
Born, to raise the sons of earth,
Born, to give them second birth.
Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us thy humble home:
Rise, the Woman's conquering seed,
Bruise in us the serpent's head.
6 Adam's likeness now efface,
Stamp thine image in its place;
Second Adam from above,
Re-instate us in thy love.
Praise for the Incarnation.
1 MORTALS, awake, with angels join,
And chant the solemn lay;
Joy, love, and gratitude, combine
To hail the auspicious day.
2 In heaven the rapturous song began,
While pure seraphic fire
Through all the shining legions ran,
And strung and tun'd the lyre.
3 Hark! the cherubic armies shout,
And glory leads the song:
Good-will and peace are heard throughout
The harmonious heavenly throng.
4 With joy the chorus we'll repeat,
"Glory to God on high;
"Good-will and peace are now complete, "Jesus was born to die."
5 Hail, Prince of life, for ever hail! Redeemer, Brother, Friend!
Though earth, and time, and life should fail, Thy praise shall never end.
The birth of Christ a ground of joy.
1 LIFT up your heads in joyful hope,
Salute the happy morn;
Each heavenly power
Proclaims the glad hour,
Lo! Jesus the Saviour is born.
All glory be to God on high,
To him all praise is due;
The promise is seal'd,
The Saviour's reveal'd,
proves that the record is true.
Let joy around like rivers flow,
Flow on, and still increase:
Spread o'er the glad earth,
At Jesus's birth,
For heaven and earth are at peace.
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