1 Election is a truth divine,
As absolute as free;
Works ne’er can make the blessing mine;
’Tis God’s own wise decree.
2 Before Jehovah built the skies,
Or earth, or seas, or sun,
He chose a people for his praise,
And gave them to his Son.
3 Eternal was the choice of God,
A sovereign act indeed;
And Jesus, the incarnate Word,
Secures the chosen seed.
4 He loved and chose because he would;
Nor did his choice depend
On sinners’ work, or bad or good,
But on his sovereign mind.
5 Nor law, nor death, nor hell, nor sin,
Can alter his decree;
The elect eternal life shall win,
And all God’s glory see.
6 His counsel stands for ever sure,
Immortal and divine;
And justice, mercy, truth, and power,
Unite to make it mine.
Source: A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship. In four parts (10th ed.) (Gadsby's Hymns) #530
Gadsby, William , was born in 1773 at Attleborough, in Warwickshire. In 1793 he joined the Baptist church at Coventry, and in 1798 began to preach. In 1800 a chapel was built for him at Desford, in Leicestershire, and two years later another in the town of Hinckley. In 1805 he removed to Manchester, becoming minister of a chapel in Rochdale Boad, where he continued until his death, in January, 1844. Gadsby was for many years exceedingly popular as a preacher of the High Calvinist faith, and visited in that capacity most parts of England. He published The Nazarene's Songs, being a composition of Original Hymns, Manchester, 1814; and Hymns on the Death of the Princess Charlotte, Manchester, 1817. In 1814 he also published A Selection of Hymn… Go to person page >
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