It is to rest from pain,

From grief, from doubt, from fear:
No sickness, parting, death again,
Nor any falling tear.

It is to rest with Him,

Whom now unseen we trust,
With cherubim and seraphim,
And spirits of the just.

A perfect cloudless rest,
An endless Sabbath-day;
Blest portion yet to be possessed,
And never fade away.

HEAVEN.

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.”.

Rev. xxi. 4.

No weary wasting of the frame away,

No fearful shrinking from the midnight air,
No dread of summer's bright and fervid ray.

No hidden grief,

No wild and cheerless vision of despair,
No vain petition for a swift relief,.

No tearful eyes, no broken hearts, are there.

Care has no home

Within the realm of ceaseless prayer and song;
Its billows break and melt away in foam,
Far from the mansions of the spirit throng.

The storm's black wing

Is never spread athwart celestial skies;

Its wailings blend not with the voice of spring, As some too tender floweret fades and dies.

No night distils

Its chilling dews upon the tender frame,
No moon is needed there. The light which fills
That land of glory, from its Maker came.

No parted friends

O'er mournful recollections have to weep;
No bed of death enduring love attends,
To watch the coming of a pulseless sleep.

No blasted flower,

Or withered bud, celestial gardens know;
No scorching blast, or fierce-descending shower
Scatters destruction like a ruthless foe.

No battle word

Startles the sacred host with fear and dread;
The song of peace creation's morning heard
Is sung wherever angel minstrels tread.

Let us depart,

If home like this await the weary soul.

Look up, thou stricken one! Thy wounded heart Shall bleed no more at sorrow's stern control.

With faith our guide,

White-robed and innocent, to lead the way,
Why fear to plunge in Jordan's rolling tide,
And find the ocean of eternal day.

THE FAMILY IN HEAVEN AND EARTH.

Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named."- Eph. iii. 15.

COME, let us join our friends above,

That have obtained the prize;

And on the eagle wings of love,
To joy celestial rise.

Let saints below in concert sing,
With those to glory gone;
For all the servants of our King
In heaven and earth are one.

One family, we dwell in him;
One church above, beneath;
Though now divided by the stream,
The narrow stream, of death.

One army of the living God,

To his command we bow;

Part of the host have crossed the flood,
And part are crossing now.

Each moment, to their endless home,
Some parting spirits fly;

And we are to the margin come,

And soon expect to die.

Dear Saviour, be our constant guide,
Then, when the word is given,

Bid death's cold flood and stream divide,

And land us safe in heaven.

C. WESLEY.

THOUGHTS OF ETERNITY.

"And fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power."-1 Thess. i. 11.

THOU God of glorious majesty,
To thee, against myself, to thee,
A worm of earth, I cry;
A half-awakened child of man ;
An heir of endless bliss or pain ;
A sinner born to die!

Lo! on a narrow neck of land,
"Twixt two unbounded seas, I stand,

Secure! insensible!

A point of time, a moment's space,
Removes me to that heavenly place,
Or shuts me up in hell.

O God, mine inmost soul convert,
And deeply on my thoughtless heart
Eternal things impress!

Give me to feel their solemn weight,
And save me ere it be too late,
Wake me to righteousness.

Before me place in dread array
The pomp of that tremendous day,
When thou with clouds shalt come
To judge the nations at thy bar;
And tell me, Lord, shall I be there
To meet a joyful doom?

Be this my one great business here,
With holy diligence and fear
To make my calling sure;

Thine utmost counsel to fulfil,
And suffer all thy righteous will,
And to the end endure.

Then, Saviour, then my soul receive,
Transported from this vale, to live
And reign with thee above;
Where faith is sweetly lost in sight,
And hope in full, supreme delight,
And everlasting love.

WESLEY.