Christian Fellowship

888 The Communion of Saints

1 PARTNERS of a glorious hope, Lift your hearts and voices up;

Jointly let us rise and sing Christ our Prophet, Priest, and Ring.

Monuments of Jesu's grace, Speak we by our lives His praise, Walk in Him we have received;

Show we not in vain believed.

2 While we walk with God in light, God our hearts doth still unite;

Dearest fellowship we prove, Fellowship in Jesu's love:

Sweetly each, with each combined, In the bonds of duty join'd, Feels the cleansing blood applied, Daily feels that Christ hath died.

3 Still, O Lord, our faith increase;

Cleanse from all unrighteousness:

Thee the unholy cannot see:

Make, oh make us meet for Thee!

Every vile affection kill;

Root out every seed of ill;

Utterly abolish sin;

Write Thy law of love within.

4 Hence may all our actions flow;

Love the proof that Christ we know:

Mutual love the token be, Lord, that we belong to Thee:

Love, Thine image, love impart!

Stamp it on our face and heart!

Only love to us be given;

Lord, we ask no other heaven.

Charles Wesley, 1740.

889 Fellow Citizens with the Saints 1 HAPPY the souls to Jesus join'd And saved by grace alone.

Walking in all His ways, they find Their heaven on earth begun.

2 The church triumphant in Thy love, Their mighty joys we know:

They sing the Lamb in hymns above, And we in hymns below.

3 Thee, in Thy glorious realm, they praise, And bow before Thy throne;

We in the kingdom of Thy grace; The kingdoms are but one.

4 The holy to the holiest leads; From thence our spirits rise; And he that in Thy statutes treads, Shall meet Thee in the skies.

Charles Wesley, 1745.

890 Saints on Earth and in Heaven 1 IN one fraternal bond of love, One fellowship of mind, The saints below and saints above Their bliss and glory find.

2 Here, in their house of pilgrimage, Thy statutes are their song;

There, through one bright, eternal age, Thy praises they prolong.

3 Lord, may our union form a part Of that thrice happy whole, Derive its pulse from Thee, the heart, Its life from Thee, the soul.

James Montgomery, 1825.

891
Christians one Family 1 LORD, we all look up to Thee, As one flock, one family: May all strife between us cease, As we love Thee, Prince of Peace.

2 Make us of one heart and mind, Gentle, meek, forgiving, kind, Lowly both in thought and word, Like Thyself, beloved Lord.

3 Let us for each other care;

Each the other's burden bear:

Each to each by love endear;

One in faith, and hope, and fear.

4 Free from all that hearts divide, Let us thus in Thee abide;

All the depths of love express, All the heights of holiness.

Charles Wesley, 1749;

Thomas Davis, 1864.

892
Love to the Brethren 1 BLEST be the tie that binds Our hearts in Christian love; The fellowship of kindred minds Is like to that above.

2 Before our Father's throne We pour our ardent prayers: Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one, Our comforts and our cares.

3 We share our mutual woes, Our mutual burdens bear; And often for each other flows The sympathizing tear.

4 When we asunder part, It gives us inward pain; But we shall still be join'd in heart, And hope to meet again.

5 This glorious hope revives Our courage by the way;

While each in expectation lives, And longs to see the day.

6 From sorrow, toil, and pain, And sin we shall be free: And perfect love and friendship reign Through all eternity.

John Fawcett, 1782.

893
Receiving Members 1 COME in, thou blessed of the Lord, Stranger nor foe art thou;

We welcome thee with warm accord, Our friend, our brother now.

2 The hand of fellowship, the heart Of love, we offer thee:

Leaving the world, thou dost but part From lies and vanity.

3 The cup of blessing which we bless, The heavenly bread we break, (Our Saviour's blood and righteousness) Freely with us partake.

4 Come with us, we will do thee good, As God to us hath done;

Stand but in Him, as those have stood, Whose faith the victory won.

5 And when, by turns, we pass away, As star by star grows dim, May each, translated into day, Be lost, and found in Him!

James Montgomery, 1836

894
Receiving Members 1 NOW we'll render to the Saviour, Praise for all that He has wrought; For the precious, full salvation, Which has now to souls been brought.

Hallelujah!

Jesus shall have all the praise!

2 Heaven has rung with joy and transport, While we here have been convened, Over the returning sinner, Number'd now with the redeem'd;

Hallelujah!

Jesus shall have all the praise!

Albert Midlane, 1865

895
A Welcome to Christian Friends 1 KINDRED in Christ, for His dear sake, A hearty welcome here receive: May we together now partake, The joys which only He can give

2 To you and us by grace 'tis given To know the Saviour's precious name; And shortly we shall meet in heaven, Our hope, our way, our end the same.

3 May He by whose kind care we meet, Send His good Spirit from above, Make our communications sweet, And cause our hearts to burn with love.

4 Forgotten be each worldly theme When Christians see each other thus:

We only wish to speak of Him Who lived, and died, and reigns for us.

5 We'll talk of all He did and said, And suffer'd for us here below; The path He mark'd for us to tread, And what He's doing for us now.

6 Thus, as the moments pass away, We'll love, and wonder, and adore; And hasten on the glorious day, When we shall meet to part no more.

John Newton, 1779.

896
Meeting and Parting 1 AS the sun's enlivening eye Shines on every place the same; So the Lord is always nigh To the souls that love His name.

2 When they move at duty's call, He is with them by the way:

He is ever with them all, Those who go, and those who stay.

3 From His holy mercy-seat Nothing can their souls confine, Still in spirit they may meet, Still in sweet communion join.

4 For a season call'd to part, Let us then ourselves commend To the gracious eye and heart Of our ever-present Friend.

5 Jesus, hear our humble prayer!

Tender Shepherd of Thy sheep!

Let Thy mercy and Thy care All our souls in safety keep.

6 In Thy strength may we be strong!

Sweeten every cross and pain:

Give us, if we live, ere long Here to meet in peace again.

John Newton, 1779.