Praise for the Communion of Saints
Though saints on earth imperfect be, through the relics of their sin;
Yet, Lord, they are thy chosen flock, And sealed by thy grace within.
They are the purchase of Christ’s blood,
He calls them [brethren] spouse, and friends:
As Eve of Adam, his own flesh:
Whom he for heav’n [fits and] intends.
His spirit doth their souls possess;
As in his temple [there he] dwells,
Reneweth them by saving grace,
Their [sores and] sicknesses he heals.
Thy word and works are all for them: [Christ and] thy blessings are their food:
Thy truth is writ to make them true,
Thy [good] word [is] to make them good.
God who is out of mortals’ sight,
[As] working in [his] saints is known;
In them he will be lov’d and serv’d, What ’s done [to them] to him is done.
Grace is one constant miracle, The [standing] witness of Christ’s truth:
He is a saviour indeed,
Whose [saving] grace man’s soul renew’th.
God’s known on earth, to man by this His [holy] image on man’s soul;
Even in their weakness God is seen,
Much more when they by [grace] are whole.
If Christ had made no better men
Than formal [christian] hypocrites
Who differ not from infidels,
Save by set tasks, and [outward] rites. Who’d take him for a saviour, then,
Who doth [man s soul] no better save? That he the best physician is
Whose patiqgs no more [healing] have.
We praise the Lord, who made us see God’s image is [on man] restor’d,
Which helps us firmly to believe,
Christ’s [saving] office and sure word.
We thank thee, Lord, that quickening grace, Doth make dead sinners [rise] and live,
It’s salt to this corrupted earth,
Light to the [darken9 d] world doth give;
And though men’s slanders and our sin,
Do cloud its [glory] for a while: Thou wilt soon scatter all these clouds:
Thy [pleased] face on us will smile.
We bless thee for that saving light,
Which we from these [th?j lights] have had.
Their quickening words, their warning love, Reviv’d our hearts, when [cold and] sad.
Thy grace is like a fervent fire,
It warms or burns all {that is] nigh;
It breeds more saints; consumeth sin; And still mounts up [to God] on high.
We thank thee for the blessed days,
Which we in [holy] churches spent,
Where potent truth converted souls, And made the [hardened] hearts relent.
There we have heard the word of life,
And [all did] in thy light rejoice; And among divers small dissents
All prais’d thee with one [heart and] voice.
Thy church hath all one God, one head, [One faith,] one baptism, one hope,
One body better unified Than by [one] council, or [one] pope.
All have one spirit of life, and love,
[And all] for every Christian pray: And though in different forms and words,
All come to God [by] one [sure] way.
Faulty they are; but excellent
By divine life and [holy] birth: Men’s lives much differ; for their ends
Differ as [far] as heav’n and earth.
Were kingdoms, churches, families,
Made up of [humble] serious saints, What a chang’d world would this then be,
[Love and] delight would end complaints.
The great destroyer would be bound, [Malice] and hurtfulness would cease;
The earth, that’s now so near to hell, Would be like heav’n in [love and] peace.
r§2 BAXTER’S POEiMS.
But, Lord, if this here may not be, Prepare us for that [blessed] place,
Where all are perfected with thee, And see [with joy] thy pleased face.