HIM WHO ACTS IN GRACE

Grace does what it wills
in line with the nature of
Him who acts in grace.

Trace all your blessing
to the abundant love of
Him who acts in grace.

Base you assurance
on the unchangingness of
Him who acts in grace.

Place all your future
in the unfailing hands of
Him who acts in grace.

Face all that befalls
confident in the care of
Him who acts in grace.

CLOTHING

Marred by rebellion, which God loathed,
And cast out by their sin
Adam and Eve still go out clothed
By God in coats of skin.
So though we all display sin’s taint
By habit and by birth
We may go forth without restraint
Clothed in the Saviour’s worth.

The younger son was steeped in wrongs
God could not but detest -
The Father shows where he belongs
And clothes him in His best.
And thus repentant sinners find,
Though consciously undone,
God’s every act towards them is kind -
He clothes them in His Son.

Though merely human goodness drags
The priest’s clothes in the mire
God substitutes for filthy rags
His festival attire -
Outwith the range of Satan’s barb
We stand before God’s face
In pure and splendid priestly garb
Made suitable through grace.

The elders sit around the throne
Each clothed in robes of white,
Secured by God to be His own
And dwell with Him in light:
All thought of variation past
Through Christ they are complete;
They bow before the throne and cast
Their crowns before His feet.

TRIUMPH

Oh families of Seth
Forsake weak, mortal man;
Forsake the shades of night;
Come to the greatest light
Since sin's career began -
The Lord is out of death!

He suffered to atone
And bore the weight of sin;
He entered into death
And yielded up His breath.
He rose; He entered in -
The Lord is on the throne!

Though patriarchs remain
Within the graves of Heth
Christ watches every place
Which He will breach through grace:
The One who conquered death -
The Lord - will come again.

CHRISTINA ROSSETTI

If she had stood
Like a blasted tree
By the shore of the shivering sea

How had she become
Like an apple tree
Whose boughs are bent with summer fruit?

She had learnt
To swerve no more beneath the knife;

To welcome One Wiser as
He chose to lop
Branch after branch.

More fruit bodied
In its own ripe season.

EBED-MELECH

I’ll tell you of a happening
When Zedekiah was the king:

God sent His prophet to condemn
The wicked in Jerusalem,

While just outside the city gate
They saw the Babylonians wait.

That army was God’s punishment
For sinners who would not repent

And disobeyed when called upon
To serve the king of Babylon

Which was what Jeremiah taught
When he explained Jehovah’s thought.

The wicked men who hated it
Put Jeremiah in a pit.

The prophet thought; “This place is dire -
I’m sinking down into the mire!”

But while he found his prospects dim
His God was looking after him.

Now Ebed-Melech was the man
Whom God selected for His plan.

He went to see the king and said,
“If he’s left there he’ll soon be dead!”

The king replied, “Without a doubt
You must pull Jeremiah out”.

The Ethiopian found some rope
And soon gave Jeremiah hope.

“Just put some rags beneath each arm
So that the ropes will do no harm.”

Then Ebed-Melech and his friends
All started pulling at the ends.

Soon he was rescued, safe and sound:
He gladly stood on solid ground.

Thus Ebed-Melech pleased the Lord
Who shielded him against the sword.

"CUTTING IN A STRAIGHT LINE"

"Practice, yes ‑ but practice only
May be repetition of error; understanding
Is required; hand, elbow and shoulder
Must be and must remain in line.
If the hand wavers the surface cut
May be straight but the done work
Will reveal the wavering line. And the mind
Must exclude all else, concentrate
On its one objective, its single achievement."

NOW HE LIVETH

Once the Saviour suffered for us,
Scorned, rejected and denied;
For our peace and our redemption
Then upon the cross He died;
Now He liveth
Raised, ascended, glorified.

With His work for God accomplished
Christ is on the Father's throne
Who was once in grace and mercy
Here upon the earth unknown
Now He liveth
Giving impulse to His own.

When upon the earth He succoured
Men, the poorest and the least,
All the power of heaven's glory
Could not fully be released;
Now He liveth
Bearing us as heavenly Priest.

Once the Holy Spirit hovered
Sensitive to earth's constraints
But because Christ's cross and glory
Overwhelmed all sin's restraints
Now He liveth
In true companies of saints.

From the glory Christ delighted
To deliver to His own
An occasion of remembrance
Centred in Himself alone:
Now He liveth
Making His affections known.


Written over the course of a three-day meeting.

PERFECTION

Perfection towards God - Jesus portrayed,
The root and fruit, obedience and praise;
Perfection towards man - He would amaze
Men by the wealth of blessing He displayed;
Perfection towards duties - so He made
Arrangements for His mother’s coming days;
Perfection towards Himself - He in His ways
Showed how a saint of God should be arrayed.

And all was evenness, as when a tree
In the best light, and ideal soil grows round,
Presenting the same look at every side;
But He was like this though the soil might be
Dry, and although men’s roughness might surround.
In God alone, in rest, He could confide.