Character and Offices of Christ

Representative Text

1 Christ is the eternal Rock,
On which his church is built;
The Shepherd of his little flock;
The Lamb that took our guilt;
Our Counsellor, our Guide,
Our Brother, and our Friend;
The Bridegroom of his chosen bride,
Who loves her to the end.

2 [He is the Son to free;
The Bishop he to bless;
The full Propitiation he;
The Lord our Righteousness;
His body’s glorious Head;
Our Advocate that pleads;
Our Priest that prayed, atoned and bled,
And ever intercedes.]

3 Let all obedient souls
Their grateful tribute bring,
Submit to Jesus’ righteous rules,
And bow before the King.
Our Prophet, Christ, expounds
His and our Father’s will;
This good Physician cures our wounds
With tenderness and skill.

4 [When sin had sadly made,
’Twixt wrath and mercy, strife,
Our dear Redeemer dearly paid
Our ransom with his life.
Faith gives the full release;
Our Surety for us stood;
The Mediator made the peace,
And signed it with his blood.]

5 [Soldiers, your Captain own;
Domestics, serve your Lord;
Sinners, the Saviour’s love make known;
Saints, hymn the incarnate Word;
The Witness sure and true
Of God’s good will to men,
The Alpha and the Omega too,
The First and Last. Amen.]

6 Poor pilgrims shall not stray,
Who frighted flee from wrath;
A bleeding Jesus is the Way,
And blood tracks all the path.
Christians in Christ obtain
The Truth that can’t deceive;
And never shall they die again,
Who in the Life believe.

Source: A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship. In four parts (10th ed.) (Gadsby's Hymns) #130

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Author: J. Hart

Hart, Joseph, was born in London in 1712. His early life is involved in obscurity. His education was fairly good; and from the testimony of his brother-in-law, and successor in the ministry in Jewin Street, the Rev. John Hughes, "his civil calling was" for some time "that of a teacher of the learned languages." His early life, according to his own Experience which he prefaced to his Hymns, was a curious mixture of loose conduct, serious conviction of sin, and endeavours after amendment of life, and not until Whitsuntide, 1757, did he realize a permanent change, which was brought about mainly through his attending divine service at the Moravian Chapel, in Fetter Lane, London, and hearing a sermon on Rev. iii. 10. During the next two years ma… Go to person page >

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