What are we to do with the signs of the times? (Matthew 2:1-12)

Author: 
Dean Stevenson
Date: 
Sunday, 30 August, 2020 - 10:45

Just As I Am

Just as I am, without one plea
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bid’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind:
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need, in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve,
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Has broken every barrier down;
Now to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, of that free love
The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,
Here for a season, then above,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Charlotte Elliot

I Cannot Tell

I cannot tell why He, whom angels worship,
Should set His love upon the sons of men,
Or why, as Shepherd, He should seek the wanderers,
To bring them back they know not how or when.
But this I know, that He was born of Mary,
When Bethlehem’s manger was His only home,
And that He lived at Nazareth and laboured,
And so the Saviour, Saviour of the world is come.

I cannot tell how silently He suffered,
As with His peace He graced this place of tears,
Or how His heart upon the cross was broken,
The crown of pain to three and thirty years.
But this I know, He heals the broken-hearted,
And stays our sin, and calms our lurking fear,
And lifts the burden from the heavy laden,
For yet the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is here.

I cannot tell how He will win the nations,
How He will claim His earthly heritage,
How satisfy the needs and aspirations
Of east and west, of sinner and of sage.
But this I know, all flesh shall see His glory,
And He shall reap the harvest He has sown,
And some glad day His sun shall shine in splendour
When He the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is known.

I cannot tell how all the lands shall worship,
When, at His bidding, every storm is stilled,
Or who can say how great the jubilation
When all the hearts of men with love are filled.
But this I know, the skies will thrill with rapture,
And myriad, myriad human voices sing,
And earth to heaven, and heaven to earth, will answer:
At last the Saviour, Saviour of the world, is King.

W.Y. Fullerton

Great is Thy Faithfulness

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father,
there is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions they fail not:
as Thou hast been Thou for ever wilt be.

Chorus:
Great is Thy faithfulness,
great is Thy faithfulness;
morning by morning
new mercies I see;
all I have needed
Thy hand hath provided, -
great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and spring-time and harvest,
sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
join with all nature in manifold witness
to Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin, and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Thomas Chisholm

What a Gathering!

On that bright and golden morning, when the Son of Man shall come,
And the radiance of His glory we shall see;
When from every clime and nation He shall call His people home -
What a gathering of the ransomed that will be!

What a gathering! What a gathering!
What a gathering of the ransomed in the summer land of love!
What a gathering! What a gathering!
Of the ransomed in that happy home above!

When the blest who sleep in Jesus at His bidding shall arise
From the silence of the grave, and from the sea;
And with bodies all celestial they shall meet Him in the skies -
What a gathering and rejoicing there will be!

When our eyes behold the City, with its “many mansions” bright,
And its river, calm and restful, flowing free -
When the friends that death has parted shall in bliss again unite -
What a gathering and a greeting there will be!

Oh, the King is surely coming, and the time is drawing nigh
When the blessèd day of promise we shall see;
Then the changing “in a moment”, “in the twinkling of an eye” -
And for ever in His presence we shall be.

Fanny Crosby