“Take up thy cross,” the Savior said,
“If thou wouldst My disciple be;
Deny thyself, the world forsake,
And humbly follow after Me.”
Take up thy cross, let not its weight
Fill thy weak spirit with alarm;
His strength shall bear thy spirit up,
And brace thy heart and nerve thine arm.
Take up thy cross, nor heed the shame,
Nor let thy foolish pride rebel;
Thy Lord for thee the cross endured,
And saved thy soul from death and hell.
Take up thy cross then in His strength,
And calmly sin’s wild deluge brave,
’Twill guide thee to a better home,
It points to glory o’er the grave.
Take up thy cross and follow Christ,
Nor think til death to lay it down;
For only those who bear the cross
May hope to wear the glorious crown.
To Thee, great Lord, the One in Three,
All praise forevermore ascend:
O grant us in our home to see
The heavenly life that knows no end.
Charles W. Everest
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From the cross uplifted high,
Where the Savior deigns to die,
What melodious sounds we hear,
Bursting on the ravished ear!
“Love’s redeeming work is done—
Come and welcome! sinner, come!
Sprinkled now with blood the throne;
Why beneath thy burdens groan?
On My piercèd body laid,
Justice owns the ransom paid:
Bow the knee, and kiss the Son,
Come and welcome, sinner, come.
“Spread for thee, the festal board
See with richest bounty stored;
To thy Father’s bosom pressed,
Thou shalt be a child confessed,
Never from His house to roam;
Come and welcome! sinner, come!
“Soon the days of life shall end—
Lo, I come—your Savior, Friend!
Safe your spirit to convey
To the realms of endless day,
Up to My eternal home—
Come and welcome! sinner, come!”
Thomas Haweis,
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I saw the cross of Jesus, when burdened with my sin;
I sought the cross of Jesus, to give me peace within;
I brought my soul to Jesus, He cleansed it in His blood;
And in the cross of Jesus I found my peace with God.
I love the cross of Jesus, it tells me what I am—
A vile and guilty creature, saved only through the Lamb;
No righteousness nor merit, no beauty can I plead;
Yet in the cross I glory, my title there I read.
I trust the cross of Jesus, in every trying hour,
My sure and certain refuge, my never failing tower;
In every fear and conflict, I more than conqueror am;
Living, I’m safe, or dying, through Christ, the risen Lamb.
Safe in the cross of Jesus! There let my weary heart
Still rest in peace unshaken, till with Him, ne’er to part;
And then in strains of glory I’ll sing His wondrous power,
Where sin can never enter, and death is known no more.
Frederick Whitfield,
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