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CHRIST A COMPLETE SAVIOUR.--Luke iv. 18, 19

[DODDRIDGE.]

HARK, the glad sound, the Saviour comes!

The Saviour promised long;

Let every heart exult with joy,

And every voice be song!

On Him the Spirit, largely shed,
Exerts its sacred fire;

Wisdom and might, and zeal and love,
His holy breast inspire.

He comes; the prisoners to relieve
In Satan's bondage held;

The gates of brass before him burst,
The iron fetters yield.

He comes from darkening scales of vice
To clear the inward sight,
And on the eye-balls of the blind

To pour celestial light.

He comes! the broken heart to bind,
The wounded soul to cure,

And with the treasures of his grace
To' enrich the humble poor.

The sacred year has now revolved,
Accepted of the Lord,

When Heaven's high promise is fulfill'd,
And Israel is restored.

Our glad hosannahs, Prince of Peace!
Thy welcome shall proclaim;
And heaven's exalted arches ring
With thy most honour'd name.

THE HOUSE NOT BUILT WITH HANDS 2 Cor. v. 1.

SOON shall this earthly frame, dissolved,

In death and ruins lie;
But better mansions wait the jus
Prepared above the sky.

A house eternal, built by God,
Shall lodge the holy mind,
When once those prison walls I ave fall'o
By which 'tis now confined.

Hence, burden'd with a weight of clay,
We groan beneath the load,
Waiting the hour which sets us,
And brings us home to God.

We know that when the soul, unclub'd,
Shall from this body fly,
"Twill animate a purer frame,
With life that cannot die.

Such are the hopes that cheer the just;
These hopes their God hath givu;

His Spirit is the earnest now,

And seals their souls for heaven

We walk by faith of joys to come,
Faith grounded on his word;
But while this body is our home,
We mourn an absent Lord.

What faith rejoices to believe.
We long and pant to see:
We would be absent from the fle",
And present, Lord! with thee.

But still, or here, or going aence,
To this our labours tend,
That, in his service spent, our fa
May in his favour end.

For, lo! before the Son, as Judge,
The' assembled world shall stand,
To take the punishment or prize
From his unerring hand.
Impartial retributions then

Our different lives await;
Our present actions, good or bad,

Shall fix our future fate.

427

REDEMPTION BY CHRIST.-John xix 30.

BEHOLD the Saviour on the cross,

A spectacle of wo!

See from his agonizing wounds
The blood incessant flow;

Till Death's pale ensigns o'er his cheek
And trembling lips were spread;
Till light forsook his closing eyes,
And life his drooping head!

'Tis finish'd-was his latest voice;
Those sacred accents o'er,

He bow'd his head, gave up the ghost,
And suffer'd pain no more.

'Tis finish'd-The Messiah dies

For sins, but not his own;
The great redemption is complete,
And Satan's power o'erthrown.

'Tis finish'd-All his groans are past;
His blood, his pain, and toils,

Have fully vanquished our foes,
And crown'd Him with their spoils.

"Tis finish'd-Legal worship ends,
And gospel ages run;

All old things now are pass'd away,
And a new world begun.

THE SOWER.-Mark iv. 3.

LORD of the harvest! God of grace!
Send down thy heavenly rain;
In vain we plant without thine aid,
And water too in vain.

May no vain thoughts, those birds of prey,
Defraud us of our gain;

Nor anxious cares, those baleful thorns,
Choke up the precious grain.

Ne'er may our hearts be like the rock,
Where but the blade can spring;
Which scorch'd with heat becomes by noon
A dead, a useless thing.

Let not the joys thy gospel gives

A transient rapture prove;
Nor may the world by smiles and frowns
Our faith and hope remove.

But may our hearts, like fertile soil,
Receive the heavenly word;
So shall our fair and ripen'd fruits
Their hundred-fold afford.

LOVE-1 Cor. xiii.

Love suffers long; love envies not;
But love is ever kind;
She never boasteth of herself,
Nor proudly lifts the mind.

Love harbours no suspicious thought,

Is patient to the bad;

Grieved when she hears of sins and crimes

And in the truth is glad.

Love no unseemly carriage shows,
Nor selfishly confined;

She glows with social tenderness,
And feels for all mankind.

Love beareth much, much she believes
And still she hopes the best;
Love meekly suffers many a wrong,
Though sore with hardship press'd.

Love still shall hold an endless reign,
In earth and heaven above,

When tongues shall cease, and prophets fail.
And every gift but love.

CHRISTIAN ASSURANCE.-2 Tim. i. 12.

[wrs.]

I'm not ashamed to own my Lord,

Or to defend his cause, Maintain the glory of his cross, And honour all his laws.

Jesus, my Lord! I know his name,
His name is all my boast;

Nor will He put my soul to shame,
Nor let my hope be lost.

I know, that safe with Him remains,
Protected by his power

What I've committed to his trust,
Till the decisive hour.

Then will He own his servant's name.

Before his Father's face,

And in the new Jerusalem,

Appoint my soul a place.