Still youthful, soldiers of the cross,
With life and vigor crowned,
Press on with vigilance; God’s cause
Shall stand, it shall abound,
With blessings which shall never end
Unto that crowning day,
When Christ His angels then shall send
Crown your joy for aye.
The prize of glory, peace and rest
Is given unto them,
Who find their lives here to be blessed,
As Father gives to them;
The cause is sure; It cannot fail,
For God has spoken it,
The power of hell shall not prevail
Against God’s Covenant.
God’s Covenant, ‘Eternal Love’
Shall never suffer loss;
’t stands firm and sure, for God above
Has sealed it on the cross;
There, once for aye, our guilt was paid
By Him our blessed Lord;
For on Him all our sins were laid,
Our victory is assured.
Rejoice! Rejoice! and leap for joy,
The Victory is won!
Press on this passage to convey
To each and every one:
With zeal, speak of your faith in Him,
That men your joy may see,
That you with all belong to Him
Now and Eternally.
This Thou hast promised, and shalt do
Give us Thy grace to believe
That death is gone, which we’ll pass thru
That Thou shalt us receive;
With arms of Thine embracing love,
To be with Thee at home,
To see Thy face, to praise
Thy love, Redeemed; then safely home.
We are not worthy of all this,
Ah nay! but Him we trust,
Who our dear Lord and Saviour is,
He’s all our blessedness;
He promised it, in Him we plead
And know it shall be given
We know, that when we’ll leave this earth
We’ll be with Him in heaven.
With Him; and with the saints above;
How glorious that shall be!
Just to adore Him for His love Throughout Eternity.
Amazed I ponder on all this
That I His face shall see,
My prayer and praise thus ends as is,
And says, Oh Lord! Why me?
Thought waiting, we are occupied
As busily as can be,
With such as Thou hast us supplied,
Therein thus serving Thee;
And unconcerned for anything
Except one thing, which is,
That we to Thee our praise may bring.
So we Thy Name may bless.
Thou Father art so dear to us,
Thy covenant blessedness
Wherewith Thy hand here blesses us,
No words shall e’er express;
So filled with bliss, is this our cup,
It always overflows,
Thy love just keeps us looking up
To Father, who but knows.
All things, the bitter and the sweet
Which Thou to us doth bring,
Through mercy, we Thy love may meet
Which causes us to sing;
In tears and joys we are Thine own,
And ever too shall be,
Whate’er we are, with all we own,
We’re Thine Eternally.
Grant us in moments, when life’s thread
Seems all but cut in twain;
To know, that even thou we’re dead,
That we shall live again;
Yea fill us with that blessedness,
That he who believes in Thee,
Shall never die, but live in peace
With Thee Eternally.
This day again has slipped away,
Into Eternity;
What has it been? What shall I say?
Lord Thou didst care for me!
Thou didst provide my every need
No want I here did know;
This day has passed as Thou decreed;
And thus each day shall go.
Each day, each moment, every hour;
’T is Thine, we know, O Lord;
Grant that our faith so high may tower
That we Thy work record;
Each fleeting moment Thou art near,
Thy faithfulness is sure;
For what may come, we need not fear,
With Thee we feel secure.
No lack shall we experience, for
Time, and all things: are Thine;
Grant us such faith to Thee adore,
To place our hands in Thine;
To trust Thee, knowing, with such peace,
That all is well with Thee;
Wilt Thou each day this faith increase,
To wait alone on Thee.
Only a few more shadows; and then our Lord shall come;
Then life with all its battles, shall be forever done;
No sorrow, grief, nor misery, shall we there ever bear;
For then with our DEAR SAVIOUR, the battle shall be o’er.
Then with the saints in glory, His perfect praise we’ll sing
T’ repeat salvations story again, o’er and again;
’T will be that blessed anthem, praising our BLESSED LORD
Who gave Himself as ransom; HIM,—who we so adore.
Oh hail HIM!—For He’s coming, to take us home to Him;
Soon with Him we’ll be dwelling in our eternal home;
Our joy and expectation, our blessed hope is HE,
Our life and resurrection, throughout eternity.
How shall I here adore Him, in my imperfectness:
But there—Oh how! I’ll praise Him in perfect blessedness
Pure: Righteous; with new body! How glorious that shall be!
Just to adore our Saviour throughout eternity.
Praise Him!—AMAZING SAVIOR!—who came to ransom us;
He—Victor—never wavered. He is our blessedness!
He is our resurrection; death now forever gone!
Soon glorious perfection, we’ll own, with Jesus,—HOME.
Amazing love! Unbounded, who can but fathom this?
Damnworthy me, hellbounded: clothed—in His righteousness?
Pure white; in heaven’s perfections, in purest holiness,
In Christ my resurrection: shall I, His Name, not bless?
Hush!—I hear anthems swelling. It is a heavenly strain,
The saints redeemed are singing it o’er and o’er again;
It thrills my soul:—How blessed! these saints must be at home
With Jesus—Ever blessed!—O come, Lord Jesus, come!
Father speaks to us from glory:
“Just obey Me, trust in Me;”
Throw thy bread upon the waters,
Fruits of it you sure will see.
Lay up treasures there in heaven,
Preach the gospel far and wide;
For My grace in mercy given,
Shall fore’er with thee abide.
I’ll supply your need a plenty,
Overflowing great you’ll see;
When yourself for Me you’ll empty,
Then by grace I’ll prosper thee.
Then your founts will be o’erflowing.
And your hearts too small will be:
For the bliss which you’ll be owning,
Which in love I’ll send to thee.
Then your hearts shall bubble over,
With thanksgiving, love and praise;
I’ll deliver thee from trouble,
Throughout all thy pilgrims days.
For I never will forsake thee,
And your heart’s joy shall be full;
With a taste of heaven I’ll bless thee,
‘Tis the bliss none can annul.
Bliss of heavenly joy and comfort,
With a peace from heaven above;
With a trust to trust I’m faithful,
I’ll o’erload you in My love.
Grace supplied, ‘t will be sufficient,
To fulfill your every joy;
Which exceeds all earthly pleasures,
For My praise thou shalt employ.
Trusting praise, to trust thy Father,
That both heaven and earth are Mine;
Seeking heavens’ treasure you’ll gather,
Joys which speak of heaven sublime.
Father knows your need; I’ll fail not,
Go forth, simply trusting Me;
For My promise I forget not,
Crowned with joy you then shall be.
Then when this thy journey’s over,
This thy treasure thou shalt see:
In the heavenly (bank) above there,
With a joy eternally.
Grace and glory in abundance,
In accordance as you’ve done;
It shall be yours, ‘tis Father’s promise,
In heavens’ glorious, Heavenly Home.
As we worked our way through the middle chapters of Genesis in December, we saw the Lord establish a covenant relationship with Abraham and his descendants and give them prosperity in the land of Canaan. But in these final chapters of Genesis, God providentially uses the dramatic events of Joseph’s life to guide the family […]
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Who am I? What is my purpose on this earth? Why is everything the way that it is? These are the kinds of questions that often trouble young people as they become more independent from their parents, enter the world of college or career, and make major life decisions such as choosing a spouse, a […]
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The book of Proverbs was written by King Solomon to his young adult son. Solomon’s purpose in writing Proverbs was “that the generation to come might know them [God’s wonderful works]…that they might set their hope in God, and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments” (Ps. 78:6–7). Throughout the book, Solomon […]
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The Christian is placed in many different circumstances while on this earth. Some are characterized by hardships and trials, and others are full of joy and peace. How should the Christian respond? Throughout the Bible there are numerous times where God’s people sang in response to their various circumstances. Singing in response to God’s ordering […]
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As we examined the first eleven chapters of Genesis last month, we took note of the fact that the book of Genesis is theological, meaning it helps us to grow in our knowledge of God. In addition, we noted that the book of Genesis is historical, meaning that the events chronicled in it are the […]
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The group of churches that John writes to in this trio of epistles had recently experienced a split because of doctrinal controversy. We do not know the exact content of the error that these false teachers were spreading, but it is apparent from John’s writing that their teaching somehow denied the truth of the incarnation—that […]
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This article was originally presented as a speech at a Protestant Reformed mini convention held at Quaker Haven Camp in August 2021. Jael lived during the era of the judges. Deborah the prophetess was the judge who served Israel at the time of Jael. During this time, the Canaanites under the rule of king Jabin […]
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Although it’s been a couple of months since we’ve been immersed in news coming from Japan about the 2020/2021 Olympic games, it’s still worth considering how these events are understood in the modern worldview of our country. The “Top Story of the Day” on Monday, August 9 (at least according to my newsfeed), was how […]
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One of this year’s “mini conventions” was hosted by Grace and Grandville Protestant Reformed Churches at Quaker Haven Camp. Located just over two hours away in northern Indiana, the camp was a perfect fit for the 120 kids and 15 chaperones who attended. A total of twelve different churches were represented: Byron Center, Faith, First […]
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At the point that this edition of Beacon Lights arrives in the homes of our subscribers, most young people in the Protestant Reformed Churches will have been sitting under the catechism instruction of their pastor or elders for more than a month. If our readers are honest, that observation probably comes with a (quiet) sigh […]
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