103

The Law and Christ. 7.6 double.

1 AT Sinai's foot assembled,

God's ancient people stood;
They saw the flame, and trembled
To hear the voice of God.
And well might Israel wonder,
And shrink in silent awe,
When God came down in thunder
To give His holy law.

2 God yet again descended
To make His glory known,

When heaven and earth were blended

In His beloved Son.

The angels sang the story

Of peace to men below;
And sinners saw His glory,
Though veiled in human woe.

3 O what a flood of mercies

104

Flows from this wondrous plan!
Christ bore the penal curses
The law pronounced on man :
And now He sheds His Spirit

On all for whom He bled;
They live by His sweet merit,
And death to them is dead.

THE GOSPEL OF GOD.

The Good News.

1 WELCOME news the gospel brings, Welcome news from heaven above;

7's.

Tidings from the King of kings,
Tidings full of grace and love:
2 Truth that makes the simple wise,
Truth on which the hungry feed,
Truth, the minister of joy,

Truth that makes man free indeed.
3 All this truth may reach my ear,
Yet may never touch my heart.
Without grace I've cause to fear
I shall hear the word, 'Depart.'

105

106

Gospel Light.

1 BEHOLD the morning sun
Begins his glorious way!

S.M.

His beams through all the nations run,
And life and light convey.

2 But where the gospel comes,

It spreads diviner light;

It calls dead sinners from their tombs,
And gives the blind their sight.

Gospel Sovereignty.

1 JESUS, the man of constant grief,
A mourner all His days;
His spirit once rejoiced aloud,
And turned His joy to praise :
2 Father, I thank Thy wondrous love,
That hath revealed Thy Son
To men unlearned, and to babes
Hath made Thy gospel known.

C. M.

3The myst'ries of redeeming grace
Are hidden from the wise,

While pride and carnal reasonings join
To swell and blind their eyes.

4 Thus doth the Lord of heaven and earth
His great decrees fulfil,

And orders all His works of grace
By His own sovereign will.

L.M.

107 No Hope but in the Gospel. 1 WHAT shall the dying sinner do, That seeks relief for all his woe? Where shall the guilty conscience find Ease for the torment of the mind? 2 How shall we get our crimes forgiven? Or form our natures fit for heaven? Can souls all o'er defiled with sin Make their own powers and passions clean? 3 In vain we search, in vain we try, Till Jesus brings His gospel nigh: "Tis there such power and glory dwell As save rebellious souls from hell. 4 Let men or angels dig the mines Where nature's golden treasure shines; Brought near the doctrine of the cross, All nature's gold appears but dross.

Love and Justice.

108
1 'Twas love, beyond conception great,
That formed the vast stupendous plan,

L. M.

Where all divine perfections meet
To reconcile rebellious man.

2 There Wisdom shines in fullest blaze,
And Justice all her rights maintains;
Astonished, angels stoop to gaze,
While Mercy o'er the guilty reigns.
3 Yes, Mercy reigns, and Justice too;
In Christ they both harmonious meet;
He paid to Justice all its due,
And now He fills the mercy-seat.
4 Such are the wonders of the Lord,
And the amazing depths of grace;
To save from wrath's vindictive rod
The chosen sons of Adam's race!

109

Good News of Grace.

1 NOT from the azure vault we see,
With glowing stars profusely sown,
Though every star a world should be,
The character of God is known.

2 The heavens indeed His praise declare;
They show His wisdom and His might :
But sinners see no token there

Of mercy to refresh their sight.

L.M.

3 The sun that climbs the height of heaven, And like a strong man runs his race, No notice brings of sin forgiven,

No news to guilty man of grace.

4 How welcome then the news must be That in the sacred page is found!

The news of mercy, rich and free, Comes by the gospel's joyful sound. 110 Beauty of the Gospel.

1 GOD, in the gospel of His Son,

L.M.

Makes His eternal counsels known : "Tis here His richest mercy shines, And truth is drawn in fairest lines. 2 Here Jesus, in ten thousand ways, His soul-attracting charms displays, Recounts His poverty and pains, And tells His love in melting strains. 3 Man's raging passions it controls, And comfort yields to contrite souls; It brings a better world in view, And guides the saint his journey through. 4 May this blest volume ever lie Close to my heart and near my eye, Till life's last hour my soul engage, And be my chosen heritage!

111

Sowing and Reaping.

L.M.

or 8.8.8.8.8.8.

1 THIS is the field-the world below,
In which the sowers come to sow,
Jesus the wheat, Satan the tares,
For so the Word of truth declares :
And soon the reaping time will come,
And angels shout the harvest home.

2 Most awful truth! and is it so?
Must all the world the harvest know?