Classic Poem

For aye shall mortals bless the day
When with His Blood Christ won the way
Incarnate God, to Heaven, and passed
Through its bright gates unbarred at last.

We are the members, He the Head:
We follow where our Prince hath led
And, one with Him on earth in love,
Shall share His throne in heaven above.

Gone hence, His own yet deem Him near,
For by His Spirit He is here:
As on the head depend the parts,
So rules one influence all our hearts.

But O that Day, that dreadful Day!
Whither shall sinners flee away
When, armed with vengeance, He shall come
Down from His throne to strike them dumb?

The just One, by the guilty called
Unjust, shall see them stand appalled,
Who once condemned Him, and resume
His Judgeship to pronounce their doom.

Man to redeem, whose due was death,
Christ freely yielded up His breath:
And, ah, what woe must they sustain
For whom His Blood was shed in vain!

Thou Who one day our Judge shalt be,
Jesu, all glory be to Thee:
All glory to the Father, Son,
And Holy Spirit, Three in One.