IMITATION OF CHRIST'S HUMILITY.
PHILIPPIANS ii. 6-12.
YE who the name of Jesus bear,
His sacred steps pursue;
And let that mind which was in Him
Be also found in you.
Though in the form of God He was.
His only Son declared,
Nor to be equally adored
As robb'ry did regard;
His greatness He for us abased,
For us His glory veiled;
In human likeness dwelt on earth,
His majesty concealed;
Nor only as a man appears,
But stoops a servant low:
Submits to death, nay, bears the cross,
In all its shame and woe.
Hence God this gen'rous love to men
With honours just hath crowned,
And raised the name of Jesus far
Above all names renowned:
That at this name, with sacred awe,
Each humble knee should bow,
Of hosts immortal in the skies,
And nations spread below;
That all the prostrate pow'rs of hell
Might tremble at His word,
And ev'ry tribe, and ev'ry tongue,
Confess that He is Lord.
(A very aged man, in an almshouse, was asked what he was doing now? He replied, "Only Waiting.")
ONLY waiting till the shadows
Are a little longer grown;
Only waiting till the glimmer
Of the day's last beam is flown;
SUBMISSION UNDER AFFLICTION.
Till the night of earth is faded
From the heart once full of day;
Till the stars of heaven are breaking
Through the twilight soft and grey.
Only waiting till the reapers
Have the last sheaf gathered home,
For the summer time is faded,
And the autumn winds have come;
Quickly, reapers! gather quickly
The last ripe hours of my heart,
For the bloom of life is withered,
And I hasten to depart.
Only waiting till the angels
Open wide the mystic gate,
By whose side I long have lingered,
Weary, poor, and desolate;
Even now I hear the footsteps,
And their voices far away;
If they call me, I am waiting,
Only waiting to obey.
Only waiting till the shadows
Are a little longer grown;
Only waiting till the glimmer
Of the day's last beam is flown:
Then from out the gathering darkness
Holy, deathless stars shall rise,
By whose light my soul shall gladly,
Tread the pathway to the skies.
SUBMISSION UNDER AFFLICTION INCULCATED FROM THE EXAMPLES OF CHRIST.
HEBREWS xii. 1-13.
BEHOLD What witnesses unseen
Encompass us around;
Men, once like us, with suff'ring tried,
But now with glory crowned."
Let us, with zeal like theirs inspired,
Begin the Christian race,
And, freed from each encumb'ring weight,
Their holy footsteps trace.
SUBMISSION UNDER AFFLICTION.
Behold a witness nobler still,
Who trod affliction's path,
Jesus, at once the finisher
And author of our faith.
He for the joy before Him set,
So gen'rous was His love,
Endured the cross, despised the shame,
And now He reigns above.
If He the scorn of wicked men
With patience did sustain,
Becomes it those for whom He died
To murmur or complain ?
Have ye like Him to blood, to death,
The cause of truth maintained?
And is your heav'nly Father's voice
Forgotten or disdained?
"My son," saith He, "with patient mind
Endure the chast'ning rod;
Believe, when by afflictions tried,
That thou art loved by God.”
His children thus most dear to Him,
Their heav'nly Father trains,
Through all the hard experience led
Of sorrows and of pains.
We know He owns us for His sons,
When we correction share;
Nor wander as an alien race,
Without our Father's care.
A father's voice with rev'rence we
On earth have often heard;
The Father of our spirits now
Demands the same regard.
Parents may err; but He is wise,
Nor lifts the rod in vain ;
His chast'nings serve to cure the soul
By salutary pain.
Affliction, when it spreads around,
May seem a field of woe;
Yet there, at last, the happy fruits
Of righteousness shall grow.
REJOICE WITH THEM THAT DO REJOICE.
Behold, on flying clouds He comes!
His saints shall bless the day;
While they that pierced him sadly mourn
In anguish and dismay.
I am the First, and I the Last;
Time centres all in me;
Th' Almighty God, who was, and is,
And evermore shall be.
"MY SOUL THIRSTETH FOR GOD."
THOU hidden love of God, whose height,
Whose depth unfathomed no man knows;
I see from far Thy beauteous light,
Inly I sigh for Thy repose;
My heart is pained, nor can it be
At rest, till it find rest in Thee.
Is there a thing beneath the sun
That strives with Thee my heart to share?
Ah! tear it thence, and reign alone,
The Lord of every motion there!
Then shall my heart from earth be free,
When it hath found repose in Thee.
O Lord, Thy sovereign aid impart,
To save me from low-thoughted care;
Chase this self-will through all my heart,
Thro' all its latent mazes there!
Make me Thy duteous child, that I
Ceaseless may "Abba, Father," cry.
Each moment draw from earth away
My heart, that lowly waits Thy call:
Speak to my inmost soul, and say,
I am thy Love, thy God, thy All!"
To feel Thy power, to hear Thy voice,
To taste Thy love, be all my choice.
"REJOICE WITH THEM THAT DO REJOICE."
LORD, give me freely to rejoice
When others' joys I see,
E'en though the brightness of their lot
Extendeth not to me.
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