202 The Stranger at the Door. L.M.
(429) At the Door.
Behold a stranger at the door,
He gently knocks, has knocked before;
Has waited long, is waiting still;
You treat no other friend so ill.
CHO.--Oh, let the dear Savior come in,
He'll cleanse the heart from sin,
Oh, keep him no more out at the door,
But let the dear Savior come in.
2 Oh, lovely attitude--he stands
With melting heart and loaded hands;
Oh, matchless kindness--and he shows
This matchless kindness to his foes.
3 But will he prove a friend indeed?
He will--the very friend you need;
The Friend of sinners? Yes, 'tis he.
With garments died on Calvary.
4 Rise, touched with gratitude divine,
Turn out his enemy and thine;
That soul-destroying monster, sin,
And let the heavenly stranger in.
5 Admit him, ere his anger burn--
His feet, departed, ne'er return;
Admit him, or the hour's at hand
You'll at his door rejected stand.
Joseph Grigg, 1765.
203The Stranger at the Door. L.M.
(430) Why Not Be Saved To-Night?
Oh, do not let the word depart,
And close thine eyes against the light;
Poor-sinner, harden not thy heart;
Thou would'st be saved, why not to-night?
2 To-morrow's sun may never rise
To bless thy long-deluded sight;
This is the time, oh, then be wise!
Thou would'st be saved, why not to-night?
3 Our God in pity lingers still;
And wilt thou thus his love requite?
Renounce at length thy stubborn will;
Thou would'st be saved, why not to-night?
4 The world has nothing left to give,
It has no new, no pure delight;
Oh, try the life which Christians live;
Thou would'st be saved, why not to-night?
204 Spanish Hymn. 7s. D.
Sinners, Turn!
Sinners, turn; why will ye die?
God, your Maker, asks you why?
God, who did your being give,
Made you with himself to live;
He the fatal cause demands;
Asks the work of his own hands,--
Why, ye thankless creatures, why
Will ye cross his love, and die?
2 Sinners, turn; why will ye die?
God, your Savior, asks you why?
He, who did your souls retrieve,
Died himself, that ye might live.
Will ye let him die in vain?
Crucify your Lord again?
Why, ye ransomed sinners, why
Will ye slight his grace and die?
3 Sinners, turn; why will ye die?
God, the Spirit, asks you why?
He who all your lives hath strove,
Urged you to embrace his love.
Will ye not his grace receive?
Will ye still refuse to live?
O ye dying sinners, why,
Why will ye forever die?
Rev. C. Wesley, 1745.
205 Spanish Hymn. 7s. D.
(454) Delay.
Hasten, sinner! to be wise,
Stay not for the morrow's sun;
Wisdom, if thou still despise,
Harder is she to be won.
2 Hasten, mercy to implore,
Stay not for the morrow's sun,
Lest thy season should be o'er,
Ere this evening's stage be run.
3 Hasten, sinner! to return,
Stay not for the morrow's sun,
Lest thy lamp should fail to burn,
Ere salvation's work is done.
4 Hasten, sinner! to be blessed,
Stay not for the morrow's sun,
Lest perdition thee arrest,
Ere the morrow is begun.
Thomas Scott, 1773.
206 Spanish Hymn. 7s. D.
(451) The Voice of Jesus.
Come, says Jesus' sacred voice,
Come, and make my paths your choice;
I will guide you to your home;
Weary pilgrim! hither come.
2 Thou, who, houseless, sole, forlorn,
Long hast borne the proud world's scorn,
Long hast roamed this barren waste,
Weary pilgrim! hither haste.
3 Ye, who, tossed on beds of pain,
Seek for ease, but seek in vain!
Ye, by fiercer anguish torn,
In remorse for guilt who mourn!--
4 Hither come, for here is found
Balm that flows for every wound,
Peace that ever shall endure,
Rest eternal, sacred, sure.
Mrs. Anna L. Barbauld, 1812.
207 Why Do You Wait? P.M.
Immediate Decision.
Why do you wait, dear brother,
Oh, why do you tarry so long?
Your Savior is waiting to give you
A place in his sanctified throng.
CHO.--Why not? why not?
Why not come to him now?
Why not? why not?
Why not come to him now?
2 What do you hope, dear brother,
To gain by a further delay?
There's no one to save you but Jesus,
There's no other way but his way.
3 Do you not feel, dear brother,
His Spirit now striving within?
Oh, why not accept his salvation,
And throw off thy burden of sin?
4 Why do you wait, dear brother,
The harvest is passing away,
Your Savior is longing to bless you,
There's danger and death in delay.
George F. Root.
208 Spanish Hymn. 7s. D.
(455) Come and Welcome.
From the cross uplifted high,
Where the Savior deigns to die,
What melodious sounds we hear,
Bursting on the ravished ear!--
"Love's redeeming' work is done--
Come and welcome, sinner, come!
2 "Sprinkled now with blood the throne--
Why beneath thy burdens groan?
On my pierced body laid,
Justice owns the ransom paid--
Bow the knee, and kiss the Son--
Come and welcome, sinner, come!
3 "Spread for thee, the festal board--
See with richest bounty stored;
To thy Father's bosom pressed,
Thou shalt be a child confessed,
Never from his house to roam;
Come and welcome, sinner, come!
4 "Soon the days of life shall end--
Lo, I come--your Savior, Friend!
Safe your spirit to convey
To the realms of endless day,
Up to my eternal home
Come and welcome, sinner, come!"
T. Haweis, 1792.
209 Azmon. C.M.
(417) The Gospel Feast.
Ye wretched, hungry, starving poor!
Behold a royal feast,
Where mercy spreads her bounteous store,
For every humble guest.
2 See, Jesus stands, with open arms;
He calls,--he bids you come;
Guilt holds you back, and fear alarms;
But, see! there yet is room.
3 Room, in the Savior's bleeding heart;
There love and pity meet;
Nor will he bid the soul depart,
That trembles at his feet
4 Oh! come, and with his children taste
The blessings of his love:
While hope attends the sweet repast
Of nobler joys above.
5 There, with united heart and voice,
Before th' eternal throne,
Ten thousand thousand souls rejoice,
In ecstasies unknown.
6 And yet ten thousand thousand more
Are welcome still to come;
Ye longing souls! the grace adore,
Approach, there yet is room.
Anne Steele, 1760.
210 Azmon. C.M.
Gen. 6:3.
There is a line by us unseen,
That crosses every path,
The hidden boundary between
God's patience and his wrath.
2 To pass that limit is to die,
To die as if by stealth;
It does not quench the beaming eye,
Nor pale the glow of health.
3 Oh! where is this mysterious bourne
By which our path is crossed;
Beyond which God himself hath sworn
That he who goes is lost?
4 How far may we go on to sin?
How long will God forbear?
Where does hope end, and where begin
The confines of despair?
5 An answer from the skies is sent,--
"Ye that from God depart,
While it is called to-day, repent,
And harden not your heart."
Joseph Addison Alexander.
211 Azmon. C.M.
(416) The Last Resolve.
Come, humble sinner! in whose breast
A thousand thoughts revolve:
Come, with your guilt and fear oppressed,
And make this last resolve:--
2 "I'll go to Jesus, though my sin
Like mountains round me close;
I know his courts, I'll enter in
Whatever may oppose.
3 "Prostrate I'll lie before his throne,
And there my guilt confess;
I'll tell him I'm a wretch undone,
Without his sovereign grace.
4 "Perhaps he will admit my plea;
Perhaps will hear my prayer;
But, if I perish, I will pray,
And perish only there.
5 "I can but perish if I go,
I am resolved to try;
For, if I stay away, I know
I must forever die."
Edmund Jones, 1777.
212 Sessions. L.M.
(427) My Spirit Shall Not Always Strive.
Say, sinner, hath a voice within
Oft whispered to thy secret soul,
Urged thee to leave the ways of sin,
And yield thy heart to God's control?
2 Sinner! it was a heavenly voice,--
It was the Spirit's gracious call;
It bade thee make the better choice,
And haste to seek in Christ thine all.
3 Spurn not the call for life and light;
Regard in time the warning kind;
That call thou may'st not always slight
And yet the gate of mercy find.
4 God's Spirit will not always strive
With hardened self-destroying men;
Ye, who persist his love to grieve,
May never hear his voice again.
5 Sinner! perhaps this very day
Thy last accepted time may be:
Oh! should'st thou grieve him now away
Then hope may never beam on thee.
Mrs. Ann B. Hyde.
213 Just As Thou Art. L.M.
(428) Just As Thou Art.
Just as thou art--without one trace
Of love, or joy, or inward grace,--
Or meekness for the heav'nly place,--
Oh, guilty sinner! come,--now come.
2 Thy sins I bore on Calvary's tree;
The stripes, thy due, were laid on me,
That peace and pardon might be free;--
Oh, wretched sinner! come,--now come.
3 Burdened with guilt, would'st thou be blessed?
Trust not the world; it gives no rest;
I bring relief to hearts oppressed;--
Oh, weary sinner! come,--now come.
4 Come, hither bring thy boding fears,
Thy aching heart, thy bursting tears;
'Tis mercy's voice salutes thine ears;--
Oh, trembling sinner! come,--now come.
5 "The Spirit and the Bride say, Come!"
Rejoicing saints re-echo, "Come!"
Who faints, who thirsts, who will, may come;
Thy Savior bids thee come,--now come.
Russell S. Cook, 1850, a.
214 Jesus is Calling. P.M.
The Call of Christ.
Jesus is tenderly calling thee home--
Calling to-day, calling to-day;
Why from the sunshine of love wilt thou roam
Farther and farther away?
REF.--Calling to-day,
Calling to-day.
Jesus is calling,
Is tenderly calling to-day.
2 Jesus is calling the weary to rest--
Calling to-day, calling to-day;
Bring him thy burden and thou shalt be blest;
He will not turn thee away.
3 Jesus is waiting, oh, come to him now--
Waiting to-day, waiting to-day;
Come with thy sins, at his feet lowly bow;
Come, and no longer delay.
4 Jesus is pleading, oh, list to his voice--
Hear him to-day, hear him to-day;
They who believe on his name shall rejoice;
Quickly arise and away.
Fanny J. Crosby.
215 Goshen. 11s.
(469) All Things Ready.
Oh, turn ye, oh, turn ye, for why will ye die,
When God, in great mercy, is coming so nigh?
Now Jesus invites you, the Spirit says, "Come!"
And angels are waiting to welcome you home.
2 How vain the delusion, that while you delay,
Your hearts may grow better by staying away!
Come wretched, come starving, come just as you be,
While streams of salvation are flowing so free.
3 And now Christ is ready your souls to receive;
Oh, how can you question, if you will believe?
If sin is your burden, why will you not come?
'Tis you he bids welcome; he bids you come home.
4 Why will you be starving, and feeding on air?
There's mercy in Jesus, enough and to spare;
If still you are doubting, make trial and see.
And prove that his mercy is boundless and free.
Josiah Hopkins, 1830.
216 Goshen. 11s.
(470) Danger of Delay.
Delay not, delay not; oh, sinner! draw near;
The waters of life are now flowing for thee;
No price is demanded, the Savior is here,
Redemption is purchased, salvation is free.
2 Delay not, delay not; why longer abuse
The love and compassion of Jesus, thy God?
A fountain is opened,--how canst thou refuse
To wash, and be cleansed in his pardoning blood?
3 Delay not, delay not, oh, sinner! to come,
For mercy still lingers and calls thee to-day;
Her voice is not heard in the vale of the tomb,--
Her message, unheeded, will soon pass away.
4 Delay not, delay not; the Spirit of grace,
Long grieved and resisted, may take its sad flight;
And leave thee in darkness to finish thy race,--
To sink in the vale of eternity's night.
Thomas Hastings, 1831.
217 He is Calling. 8s & 7s.
(477) Divine Sympathy.
There's a wideness in God's mercy,
Like the wideness of the sea;
There's a kindness in his justice,
Which is more than liberty.
REF.--He is calling, "Come to me;"
Lord, I'll gladly haste to thee.
2 There's no place where earthly sorrows
Are more felt than up in heaven;
There's no place where earthly failings
Have such kindly judgment given.
3 For the love of God is broader
Than the measure of man's mind,
And the heart of the Eternal
Is most wonderfully kind.
4 But we make his love too narrow,
By false limits of our own;
And we magnify his strictness
With a zeal he will not own.
5 Pining souls, come nearer Jesus;
Come, but come not doubting thus;
Come with faith that trusts more freely
His great tenderness for us.
6 If our love were but more simple,
We should take him at his word;
And our lives would be all sunshine
In the sweetness of our Lord.
Frederick Faber, ab.
218 Come to Jesus.
(478)
Come to Jesus, come to Jesus,
Come to Jesus just now,
Just now come to Jesus,
Come to Jesus just now.
2 He will save you.
3 Oh, believe him.
4 He is able.
5 He is willing.
6 He'll receive you.
7 Call upon him.
8 He will hear you.
9 Look unto him.
10 He'll forgive you.
11 Flee to Jesus.
12 He will cleanse you.
13 He will clothe you.
14 Jesus loves you.
15 Don't reject him.
16 Only trust him.
17 Hallelujah. Amen.
219 Who'll Be the Next? P.M.
Delay Deplored.
Who'll be the next to follow Jesus?
Who'll be the next the cross to bear?
Someone is ready, someone is waiting;
Who'll be the next a crown to wear?
REF.--Who'll be the next? Who'll be the next?
Who'll be the next to follow Jesus?
Who'll be the next to follow Jesus now?
Follow Jesus now?
2 Who'll be the next to follow Jesus--
Follow his weary, bleeding feet?
Who'll be the next to lay ev'ry burden
Down at the Father's mercy-seat?
3 Who'll be the next to follow Jesus?
Who'll be the next to praise his name?
Who'll swell the chorus of free redemption--
Sing, hallelujah! praise the Lamb?
4 Who'll be the next to follow Jesus,
Down thro' the Jordan's rolling tide?
Who'll be the next to join with the ransomed,
Singing upon the other side?
Annie S. Hawks.
220 Let Him In. P.M.
The Stranger at the Door.
There's a stranger at the door,
Let him in,
He has been there oft before,
Let him in;
Let him in ere he is gone,
Let him in, the Holy One,
Jesus Christ, the Father's Son,
Let him in.
2 Open now to him your heart,
Let him in,
If you wait he will depart,
Let him in;
Let him in, he is your Friend,
He your soul will sure defend,
He will keep you to the end,
Let him in.
3 Hear you now his loving voice?
Let him in,
Now, oh, now make him your choice
Let him in;
He is standing at the door,
Joy to you he will restore,
And his name you will adore,
Let him in.
4 Now admit the heavenly Guest,
Let him in,
He will make for you a feast,
Let him in;
He will speak your sins forgiv'n,
And when earth ties all are riven,
He will take you home to heaven,
Let him in.
Rev. J. B. Atchison.
221 Almost Persuaded. P.M.
(475) "Almost," but Lost.
"Almost persuaded" now to believe;
"Almost persuaded" Christ to receive;
Seems now some soul to say,
"Go, Spirit, go thy way;
Some more convenient day
On thee I'll call."
2 "Almost persuaded," come, come to-day;
"Almost persuaded," turn not away,
Jesus invites you here,
Angels are ling'ring near,
Pray'rs rise from hearts so dear;
Oh, wand'rer, come!
3 "Almost persuaded," harvest is past!
"Almost persuaded," doom comes at last!
"Almost" cannot avail;
"Almost" is but to fail!
Sad, sad that bitter wail,--
"Almost," but lost!
P. P. Bliss.
222 To-Day. 6s & 4s.
(476)
To-day the Savior calls!
Ye wand'rers, come,
Oh, ye benighted souls,
Why longer roam?
2 To-day the Savior calls!
Oh, hear him now;
Within these sacred walls
To Jesus bow.
3 Today the Savior calls!
For refuge fly!
The storm of justice falls,
And death is nigh.
4 The Spirit calls to-day;
Yield to his power;
Oh, grieve him not away,
'Tis mercy's hour.
223 Greenville. 8s, 7s, & 4s.
(463) Invitation Hymn.
Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,
Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
Jesus ready stands to save you,
Full of pity, love, and pow'r;
He is able,
He is willing, doubt no more.
2 Now, ye needy, come and welcome;
God's free bounty glorify;
True belief and true repentance,
Every grace that brings you nigh,
Without money,
Come to Jesus Christ and buy.
3 Let not conscience make you linger,
Nor of fitness fondly dream;
All the fitness he requireth
Is to feel your need of him;
This he gives you;
'Tis the Spirit's glimmering beam.
4 Come, ye weary, heavy laden,
Bruised and mangled by the fall;
If you tarry till you're better,
You will never come at all;
Not the righteous,--
Sinners Jesus came to call.
Joseph Hart, 1759.
CHO.--Turn to the Lord and seek salvation,
Sound the praise of his dear name:
Glory, honor, and salvation,
Christ, the Lord, is come to reign.
CHO.--I will arise and go to Jesus,
He will embrace me in his arms,
In the arms of my dear Savior,
Oh, there are ten thousand charms!
224 Greenville. 8s, 7s, & 4s.
(466) The Voice of Mercy.
Listen, sinner! mercy hails you;
With her sweetest voice she calls;
Bids you hasten to the Savior,
Ere the hand of justice falls:
Listen, sinner!
'Tis the voice of mercy calls.
2 See! the storm of vengeance gathering
O'er the path you dare to tread!
Hark! the awful thunders rolling
Loud and louder o'er your head!
Flee, oh, sinner!
Lest the lightnings strike you dead.
3 Haste, ah! hasten to the Savior;
Sue his mercy while you may;
Soon the day of grace is over;
Soon your life will pass away,
Hasten sinner!
You must perish, if you stay.
Andrew Reed, 1817.
225 Rhinehart. 7s & 6s.
(458) Penitents Encouraged.
Dropping souls! no longer mourn,
Jesus still is precious;
If to him you now return,
Heav'n will be propitious;
Jesus now is passing by,
Calling wand'rers near him;
Drooping souls! you need not die,
Go to him and hear him!
2 He has pardons full and free,
Drooping souls to gladden;
Still he cries--"Come unto me,
Weary, heavy laden!"
Tho' your sins, like mountains high,
Rise, and reach to heaven,
Soon as you on him rely,
All shall be forgiven.
3 Precious is the Savior's name,
All his saints adore him;
He to save the dying came;--
Prostrate bow before him!
Wand'ring sinner! now return;
Contrite souls! believe him!
Jesus calls you; cease to mourn;
Worship him; receive him.
Thomas Hastings. 1831.
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