My stores afford those rich supplies That health and pleasure give; Incline your ear, and come to Me, The soul that hears shall live.

With you a covenant I will make,

Thatever shall endure;

The hope which gladdened David's heart My mercy hath made sure.

Behold He comes! your Leader comes,
With might and honour crowned;
A Witness, who shall spread My name
To earth's remotest bound.

See! nations hasten to His call

From every distant shore; Isles yet unknown shall bow to Him, And Israel's God adore.

Seek ye the Lord, while yet His ear
Is open to your call;
While offered mercy still is near,
Before His footstool fall.

Let sinners quit their evil ways,

Their evil thoughts forego; And God, when they to Him return, Returning grace will show.

He pardons with o'erflowing love:
For hear the voice divine:
"My nature is not like to yours,
Nor like your ways are Mine:

"But far as heaven's resplendent orbs
Beyond earth's spot extend,
As far My thoughts, as far My ways,
Your ways and thoughts transcend.

"And as the rains from heaven distil,
Nor thither mount again,
But swell the earth with fruitful juice,
And all its tribes sustain ;

"So not a word that flows from Me

Shall ineffectual fall;

But universal nature prove
Obedient to My call."

With joy and peace shall then be led
The glad converted lands;
The lofty mountains then shall sing,
The forests clap their hands.

Where briers grew 'midst barren wilds,
Shall firs and myrtles spring;
And nature, through its utmost bounds,
Eternal praises sing.

ANONYMOUS.

226. The Gospel Jubilee.

LEVITICUS XXV. 10.

HIS spirited Hymn is the third in a little penny tract containing seven Hymns for New Year's Day," 1750, printed in Bristol. The tract also contains the fine lyric "Come, let us anew." The present Hymn is introduced without alteration into the Wesleyan Hymn-book, and into most collections. Many editors have altered "all-atoning" in the third verse, to "sin-atoning," so as to have the question of universal redemption at least an open one. Sometimes, also, the order of the verses is unnecessarily transposed; and the second couplet of the last verse is made to read :

"Ye happy souls draw near,

Behold your Saviour's face."

For this last alteration, Dr. Rippon seems to be responsible.

6666.88.

228.-The Stranger at the Door. REVELATION iii. 20.

HE wonderful allegory in which the Saviour has represented Himself as standing and knocking at the door of the heart, has fascinated poet and painter alike, while the preacher of the gospel has based upon it his most solemn appeals. Mr. Holman Hunt's picture, "The Light of the World," is familiar to all. There is a striking poem by Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe on the same theme. It begins :

"Knocking, knocking, ever knocking?
Who is there?

'Tis a pilgrim, strange and kingly,
Never such was seen before;

Ah, sweet soul, for such a wonder,

Undo the door!"

Another American author, Dr. Arthur Cleveland Coxe, has some striking lines on the topic. The first stanza is as follows:

"In the silent midnight watches,

List-thy bosom door!

How it knocketh, knocketh, knocketh,
Knocketh evermore !

Thou'rt blind, He'll take the scales away,
And let in everlasting day :

Naked thou art, but He shall dress
Thy blushing soul in righteousness.

Art thou a weeper? grief shall fly, For who can weep with Jesus by? No terror shall thy hopes annoy, No tear-except the tear of joy.

Admit Him; for the human breast Ne'er entertained so kind a guest : Admit Him; for you can't expel; Where'er He comes, He comes to dwell.

Admit Him, ere His anger burn,
His feet departed, ne'er t' return :
Admit Him; or, the hour's at hand
When at His door denied you'll stand.

Yet know (nor of the terms complain), If Jesus comes, He comes to reign; To reign, and with no partial sway; Thoughts must be slain that disobey.

Sovereign of souls! thou Prince of peace!
O may Thy gentle reign increase!
Throw wide the door, each willing mind,
And be His empire all mankind.

JOSEPH GRIGg.

229.-" Behold I stand at the door and knock."

REVELATION iii. 20.

E have inserted this touching Hymn where it seems most naturally to belong, among those which express the appeal of Christ's love to the lost. It is only fair, however, to the author, to say that in its original form (as in the motto-text from the Epistle to the Church at Laodicea) it is applied to lukewarm Christians; the following being the second stanza, where the "sign" doubtless intends baptism.

"Shame on us, Christian brothers,
His Name and sign who bear!
Oh shame, thrice shame upon us,
To keep Him standing there!"

7.6.

JESUS! Thou art standing
Outside the fast-closed door,

In lowly patience waiting

To pass the threshold o'er ;

O Jesus! Thou art knocking;
And lo! that hand is scarred,
And thorns Thy brow encircle,
And tears Thy face have marred.

O love that passeth knowledge,
So patiently to wait!
O sin that hath no equal,

So fast to bar the gate!

O Jesus, Thou art pleading,
In accents meek and low-
"I died for you, My children,
And will ye treat Me so?"

O Lord! with shame and sorrow
We open now the door;
Dear Saviour, enter, enter,
And leave us nevermore !

BISHOP W. WALSHAM HOW.

230.-Forgiveness.

LUKE vii. 48.

HIS beautiful Hymn has as yet appeared in few of our collections, and when it is given it is often marred by abridgment and alteration. It is clearly destined to find a place among the choicest treasures of the Church. The version here given is transcribed with one slight variation from the little volume in which it first appeared, "Lyra Fidelium: Twelve Hymns on the Twelve Articles of the Apostles' Creed" (S.P.C.K. 1865). The article on which the Hymn is written is of course, "I believe in the forgiveness of sins." The variation is in the third line of the last verse, where for "Mary's gift" the words were originally" that sweet maid!" The author, we believe, approves this alteration.

So vile I am, how dare I hope to stand In the pure glory of that Holy Land? Before the whiteness of that throne appear?

Yet there are hands stretched out to draw me near.

The while I fain would tread the heavenly way,

Evil is ever with me day by day;
Yet on mine ears the gracious tidings fall,
Repent, confess, thou shalt be loosed
from all."

It is the voice of Jesus that I hear,
His are the hands stretched out to draw

me near;

And His the blood that can for all atone, And set me faultless there before the throne.

'Twas He Who found me on the deathly wild,

And made me heir of heaven, the Father's child,

And day by day, whereby my soul may live,

Gives me His grace of pardon, and will give.

O great Absolver, grant my soul may wear The lowliest garb of penitence and prayer, That in the Father's courts my glorious dress

May be the garment of Thy righteousness.

Yea, Thou wilt answer for me, righteous Lord :

Thine all the merits, mine the great reward; Thine the sharp thorns, and mine the

golden crown,

Mine the life won, and Thine the life laid down.

Nought can I bring, dear Lord, for all I owe,

Yet let my full heart what it can bestow ; Like Mary's gift, let my devotion prove, Greatly forgiven, how I greatly love.

S. J. STONE.