Election excludes boasting.

1 Cor. i. 26-31.

BUT few among the carnal wise,

But few of noble race,

Obtain the favour of thine eyes,
Almighty King of Grace.

2 He takes the men of meanest name
For sons and heirs of God;

And thus he pours abundant shame
On honourable blood.

3 He calls the fool and makes him know
The myst❜ries of his grace;
To bring aspiring wisdom low
And all its pride abase.

4 Nature has all its glories lost
When brought before his throne;
No flesh shall in his presence boast,
But in the Lord alone.

HYMN 90. L.M. (I. 117.)

Election sovereign and free. Romans, ix. 21-24.

MAY not the sovereign Lord on high
Dispense his favours as he will,

Choose some to life, while others die,
And yet be just and gracious still?
Shall man reply against the Lord,
And call his Maker's ways unjust,
The thunder of whose dreadful word
Can crush a thousand worlds to dust?
But, O my soul! if truths so bright
Should dazzle and confound thy sight,
Yet still his written will obey,
And wait the great decisive day.

1

Then shall he make his justice known,
And the whole world before his throne
With joy or terror shall confess
The glory of his righteousness.

HYMN 91. C.M. (II. 130.)

The new creation.

ATTEND, while God's exalted Son

Doth his own glories show:
"Behold, I sit upon my throne,
"Creating all things new."
Mighty Redeemer! set me free
From my old state of sin;
O make my soul alive to thee,
Create new powers within.
Renew mine eyes, and form mine ears,
And mould my heart afresh ;
Give me new passions, joys, and fears,
And turn the stone to flesh.

Far from the regions of the dead,
From sin, and earth, and hell;

In the new world that grace has made
I would for ever dwell.

HYMN 92. L. M. (I. 101.)
Joys in heaven for a repenting sinner.
Luke, xv. 7, 10.

WHO can describe the joys that rise

Through all the courts of Paradise,

To see a prodigal return,

To see an heir of glory born?

2 With joy the Father doth approve
The fruit of his eternal love;

The Son with joy looks down and sees
The purchase of his agonies.

1

3 The Spirit takes delight to view
The holy soul he form'd anew;
And saints and angels join to sing,
The growing empire of their King.

2. Christian Privileges.

HYMN 93. S.M. (I. 64.)

Adoption. 1 John, iii. 1; Galatians, iv. 6.

B

EHOLD what wondrous grace
The Father has bestowed

On sinners of a mortal race,
To call them sons of God!

Nor doth it yet appear
How great we must be made;
But when we see our Saviour here,
We shall be like our Head.

A hope so much divine
May trials well endure;

May purge our souls from sense and sin,
As Christ the Lord is pure.

We would no longer lie

Like slaves beneath the throne;

My faith shall Abba Father cry,
And thou the kindred own.

HYMN 94. L. M. (I. 14.)

The triumph of faith. Romans, viii. 33, &c.

WHO shall the Lord's elect condemn!
"Tis God that justifies their souls;
And mercy, like a mighty stream,
O'er all their sins divinely rolls.

2 Who shall adjudge the saints to hell? "Tis Christ that suffer'd in their stead; And, the salvation to fulfil,

Behold him rising from the dead!

3 He lives! he lives! and sits above,
For ever interceding there;

Who shall divide us from his love?
Or what should tempt us to despair?
4 Shall persecution, or distress,
Famine, or sword, or nakedness?

He that hath loved us bears us through,
And makes us more than conquerors too.
5 Faith hath an overcoming power;
It triumphs in the dying hour:

Christ is our life, our joy, our hope,
Nor can we sink with such a prop.

6 Not all that men on earth can do,
Nor powers on high, nor powers below,
Shall cause his mercy to remove,

1

Or wean our hearts from Christ our love.

HYMN 95. L. M. (I. 43.)

The Christian's treasure, 1 Cor. iii. 21.

H

WOW vast the treasure we possess !

How rich thy bounty, King of grace! This world is ours, and worlds to come! Earth is our lodge, and heaven our home. 2 All things are ours, the gift of God; The purchase of a Saviour's blood: While the good Spirit shows us how To use and to improve them too. 3 If peace and plenty crown my days, They help me, Lord, to speak thy praise:

If bread of sorrows be my food,
Those sorrows work my lasting good.
4 I would not change my blest estate
For all the world calls good or great:
And while my faith can keep her hold,
I envy not the sinner's gold.

5 Father, I wait thy daily will;

Thou shalt divide my portion still: Grant me on earth what seems thee best, Till death and heaven reveal the rest.

3. Christian Joys.

HYMN 96. C. M. (I. 144.)

The witnessing and sealing Spirit. Rom. viii. 14, 16; Eph. i. 13, 14.

1

WE

HY should the children of a king
Go mourning all their days?

Great Comforter! descend and bring
Some tokens of thy grace.

2 Dost thou not dwell in all the saints,
And seal them heirs of heaven?

When wilt thou banish my complaints,
And show my sins forgiven?

3 Assure my conscience of her part
In the Redeemer's blood;

And bear thy witness with my heart,
That I am born of God.

HYMN 97. C.M. (II. 40.)

Our comfort in the covenant made with Christ. UR God! how firm his promise stands, E'en when he hides his face;

He trusts in our Redeemer's hands
His glory and his grace.