 | The Choir and The Oratory |  |
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THE TRUE CHURCH.
One Church,—tho' bigots fight, and sceptics scorn
To view the unholy strife;
The Church is one, the Church of the new-born,
Who draw from Christ their life.
One race from Adam sprung have peopled earth:
The heirs of Heaven are one by second birth.
To view the unholy strife;
The Church is one, the Church of the new-born,
Who draw from Christ their life.
One race from Adam sprung have peopled earth:
The heirs of Heaven are one by second birth.
The clansman glories in the common name
That binds him to his head,
And each to all the stock. Oh, sin and shame!
That Christians are so dead
To the dear tie their sacred name implies,
Which binds them to one Leader in the skies.
That binds him to his head,
And each to all the stock. Oh, sin and shame!
That Christians are so dead
To the dear tie their sacred name implies,
Which binds them to one Leader in the skies.
Diverse in feature, fortune, temper, hue,
In robes or rags disguised,
Yet to their Head were each in spirit true,
As to one Lord baptized,
Then would they as one body feel allied,
And deem him brother for whom Christ has died.
In robes or rags disguised,
Yet to their Head were each in spirit true,
As to one Lord baptized,
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And deem him brother for whom Christ has died.
Yet are they not one body? Sceptic, learn;
Divided as they be,
Still with one spirit all the pious burn;
As one they bow the knee
To God in Christ; one hope divine is theirs.
Oh, there is unity in good men's prayers.
Divided as they be,
Still with one spirit all the pious burn;
As one they bow the knee
To God in Christ; one hope divine is theirs.
Oh, there is unity in good men's prayers.
Pascal and Beveridge, Leighton, Baxter, Howe,
But as one doctrine read;
And varying sects, in common hymns, avow
Their harmony of creed.
From age to age, from church to church sent on,
The songs of Zion are in unison.
But as one doctrine read;
And varying sects, in common hymns, avow
Their harmony of creed.
From age to age, from church to church sent on,
The songs of Zion are in unison.
For the One Church is not the aggregate
Of churches or of sects;
But of the faithful, those whose happy state
Each with the Head connects:
Oh, come the day when every sect shall fall,
And Christ, the living Head, be all in all!
Of churches or of sects;
But of the faithful, those whose happy state
Each with the Head connects:
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And Christ, the living Head, be all in all!
| The Choir and The Oratory | |