For them no further test remains,
Of purging fires, and torturing pains.
2 Who trusting in their Lord depart,
Cleansed from all sin, and pure in heart,
The bliss unmixed, the glorious prize,
They find with Christ in Paradise.
S Close followed by their works they go,
Their Master's purchased joy to know;
Their works enhance the bliss prepared,
And each hath its distinct reward.
4 Yet glorified by grace alone,
They cast their crowns before the throne;
And fill the echoing courts above,
With praises of Redeeming love.
VITAL spark of heavenly flame!
Quit, O quit this mortal frame:
Trembling, hoping, lingering, flying,-
O the pain, the bliss of dying!
Cease, fond nature, cease thy strife,
And let me languish into life!
2 Hark! they whisper-angels say,
"Sister spirit, come away!"
What is this absorbs me quite,
Steals my senses-shuts my sight-
Drowns my spirit-draws my breath?
Tell me, my soul, can this be death?
3 The world recedes-it disappears!
Heaven opens on my eyes! my ears
With sounds seraphic ring!
Lend, lend your wings! I mount! I fly!
O Grave! where is thy victory?
O Death! where is thy sting?
Rour loss is his infinite gain;
A soul out of prison released,
And free from its bodily chain;
EJOICE for a brother deceased,
2 With songs let us follow his flight,
And mount with his spirit above,
Escaped to the mansions of light,
And lodged in the Eden of love.
S Our brother the haven hath gained,
Out-flying the tempest and wind;
His rest he hath sooner obtained,
And left his companions behind.
4 Still toss'd on a sea of distress,
Hard toiling to make the blest shore, Where all is assurance and peace, And sorrow and sin are no more. 5 There all the ship's company meet,
Who sail'd with the Saviour beneath; With shouting each other they greet, And triumph o'er trouble and death: 6 The voyage of life's at an end,
The mortal affliction is past;
The age that in heaven they spend,
For ever and ever shall last.
THOU art gone to the grave!
But we will not deplore thee;
Though sorrows and darkness
Encompass the tomb :
The Saviour has passed
Through its portal before thee,
And the lamp of His love
Is thy guide through the gloom.
2 Thou art gone to the grave!
We no longer behold thee,
Nor tread the rough path of
The world by thy side;
But the wide arms of Mercy
Are spread to enfold thee,
And sinners may hope,
For the Sinless has died.
3 Thou art gone to the grave! And, its mansion forsaking,
Perhaps thy weak spirit
In fear lingered long;
But the mild rays of Paradise
Beamed on thy waking,
And the sound which thou heard'st
Was the seraphim's song.
4 Thou art gone to the grave!
But we will not deplore thee,
Whose God was thy ransom,
Thy guardian, and guide;
He gave thee, He took thee,
And He will restore thee,
And death has no sting,
For the Saviour has died!
428 (138) 7s. D.
LESSING, honour, thanks, and praise,
Pay we, gracious God, to Thee:
Thou, in Thine abundant grace,
Givest us the victory;
True and faithful to Thy word,
Thou hast glorified Thy Son,
Jesus Christ, our dying Lord,
He for us the fight hath won.
2 Lo! the prisoner is released,
Lightened of his fleshly load;
Where the weary are at rest,
He is gathered unto God!'
Lo! the pain of life is past,
All his warfare now is o'er;
Death and hell behind are cast,
Grief and suffering are no more.
3 Yes, the Christian's course is run,
Ended is the glorious strife;
Fought the fight, the work is done,
Death is swallowed up of life!
Borne by angels on their wings,
Far from earth the spirit flies,
Finds his God, and sits, and sings,
Triumphing in Paradise.
4 Join we then, with one accord,
In the new, the joyful song:
Absent from our loving Lord
We shall not continue long:
We shall quit the house of clay,
We a better lot shall share;
We shall see the realms of day,
Meet our happy brother there.
5 Let the world bewail their dead,
Fondly of their loss complain;
Brother, friend, by Jesus freed,
Death to thee, to us, is gain:
Thou art entered into joy:
Let the unbelievers mourn;
We in songs our lives employ,
Till we all to God return.
429 (139)
HARK! a voice divides the sky,
Happy are the faithful dead!
In the Lord who sweetly die,
They from all their toils are freed.
Them the Spirit hath declared
Blest, unutterably blest:
Jesus is their great reward,
Jesus is their endless rest.
2 Followed by their works, they go
Where their Head hath gone before;
Reconciled by grace below,
Grace had opened Mercy's door;
Justified through faith alone,
Here they knew their sins forgiven;
Here they laid their burden down,
Hallowed, and made meet for heaven.
3 Who can now lament the lot
Of a saint in Christ deceased ?
Let the world, who know us not,
Call us hopeless and unblessed:
When from flesh the spirit freed,
Hastens homeward to return,
Mortals cry, "A man is dead!"
Angels sing, "A child is born!"
4 Born into the world above,
They our happy brother greet;
Bear him to the throne of Love,
Place him at the Saviour's feet:
Jesus smiles, and says, "Well done,
Good and faithful servant thou;
Enter, and receive thy crown,
Reign with Me triumphant now." 5 Angels catch the' approving sound, Bow, and bless the just award; Hail the heir with glory crowned, Now rejoicing with his Lord: Fuller joys ordained to know, Waiting for the general doom,
When the' Archangel's trump shall blow, "Rise, ye dead, to judgment come!"
430 (141) 2-6s & 4-7s. AGAIN we lift our voice,;
And shout our solemu joys;
Cause of highest rapture this,
Rapture that shall never fail;
See a soul escaped to bliss,
Keep the Christian Festival.
2 Our friend is gone before
To that celestial shore;
He hath left his mates behind,
He hath all the storms outrode!
Found the rest we toil to find,
Landed in the arms of God.
3 And shall we mourn to see
Our fellow-prisoner free ?--
Free from doubts, and griefs, and fears,
In the haven of the skies ?
Can we weep to see the tears
Wiped for ever from his eyes?
4 No, dear companion, no;
We gladly let thee go,
From a suffering church beneath,
To a reigning church above:
Thou hast more than conquered death;
Thou art crowned with life and love.
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