Hymnal: The Christian Hymn Book
Date: 1865
Compiler: Alexander Campbell
Publisher/Printer: Central Book Concern
First Line: Far down the ages now
Topic: The Church/Divine Constitution
Writer: <no first name given> Bonar
Composer:
Meter: SM
Tune:
Hymn Number: 459
Page Number: 280, click to see hymnal pages
LyicsFar down the ages now,
Much of her journey done,
The pilgrim church pursues her way,
Until her crown be won.
The story of the past
Comes up before her view;
How well it seems to suit her still--
Old, and yet ever new!
It is the oft-told tale
Of sin and weariness,--
Of grace and love yet flowing down
To pardon and to bless.
No wider is the gate,
No broader is the way,
No smoother is the ancient path,
That leads to life and day.
No sweeter is the cup,
Nor less our lot of ill:
'T was tribulation ages since,
'T is tribulation still.
No slacker grows the fight,
No feebler is the foe,
Nor less the need of armor tried,
Of shield, and spear, and bow.
Thus onward still we press,
Through evil and through good,--
Through pain, and poverty, and want,
Through peril and through blood.
Still faithful to our God,
And to our Captain true,
We follow where he leads the way,
The kingdom in our view.