(My bold, italics)
The church's one Foundation
is Jesus Christ her Lord;
she is His new creation,
by water and the Word;
from heav'n He came and sought her
to be His holy bride;
with His own blood He bought her,
and for her life He died.
Elect from ev'ry nation,
yet one o'er all the earth,
her charter of salvation,
one Lord, one faith, one birth;
one holy Name she blesses,
partakes one holy food,
and to one hope she presses,
with ev'ry grace endued.
Tho' with a scornful wonder,
men see her sore oppressed,
by schisms rent asunder,
by heresies distressed,
yet saints their watch are keeping,
their cry goes up, "How long?"
And soon the night of weeping
shall be the morn of song.
The church shall never perish!
Her dear Lord, to defend,
to guide, sustain, and cherish,
is with her to the end;
tho' there be those that hate her
and false sons in her pale,
against the foe or traitor
she ever shall prevail.
'Mid toil and tribulation,
and tumult of her war,
she waits the consummation
of peace for evermore;
till with the vision glorious
her longing eyes are blest,
and the great church victorious
shall be the church at rest.
Yet she on earth hath union
with God the Three in One,
and mystic sweet communion
with those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we,
like them, the meek and lowly,
on high may dwell with Thee.
Hi Glenn,
ReplyDeleteWe love this hymn! Of course, we've never heard those two verses sung, the verses in which you highlighted certain portions of the text (about schisms, heresies, and false sons). Wow, talk about truths that NEED to be sung in church. But those verses would condemn the churches that let in music from Hillsong or Jesus Culture, or teachings from B Moore or R Warren, because those are the very heresies and false sons about which the song warns.
Blessings to you for posting the full text of this great hymn!
-Carolyn
Hi Carolyn
ReplyDeleteWe sang all those verses yesterday at the Church my wife and I attend. I hadn't previously seen them either, and that is why I decided to post the whole thing!