 | Devotional Verses |  |
LIGHT AND DARKNESS.
“And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.”
—John, i. 5.
Just picture of the human mind,
Yet unregenerate, unrefin'd,
Ere the bright Day-Spring from on high
Our mental vision can espy.
Yet unregenerate, unrefin'd,
Ere the bright Day-Spring from on high
Our mental vision can espy.
Such was the night which shrouded earth
When Godhead stoop'd to human birth;
When He, whose fiat worlds had fram'd,
Walk'd among men unknown, unnam'd!
When Godhead stoop'd to human birth;
When He, whose fiat worlds had fram'd,
Walk'd among men unknown, unnam'd!
185
As in His outward body, then,
He was rejected, scorn'd of men,
So in His inward coming now,
To Him we yet refuse to bow.
He was rejected, scorn'd of men,
So in His inward coming now,
To Him we yet refuse to bow.
His heavenly light vouchsafes to shine
Within the heart's yet darken'd shrine,
But there, 'till grace hath life begot,
Our darkness comprehends it not.
Within the heart's yet darken'd shrine,
But there, 'till grace hath life begot,
Our darkness comprehends it not.
But when his Spirit's quick'ning breath
Hath rous'd the heart, as if from death,
And given its powers a heaven-ward tone,
That heart becomes, indeed, His own!
Hath rous'd the heart, as if from death,
And given its powers a heaven-ward tone,
That heart becomes, indeed, His own!
To such he comes, a second time,
In Spirit, and in power sublime;
By them He is with joy receiv'd,
By them His holy name believ'd.
In Spirit, and in power sublime;
By them He is with joy receiv'd,
By them His holy name believ'd.
To those who thus believe, and live,
The claim of sonship He will give,
Through which they shall be born anew,
And prove His gracious promise true.
The claim of sonship He will give,
Through which they shall be born anew,
And prove His gracious promise true.
Then grant, O God of grace divine,
That in our hearts thy light may shine;
And bid those hearts be born again,
That there it may not shine in vain.
That in our hearts thy light may shine;
And bid those hearts be born again,
That there it may not shine in vain.
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