"Holiness unto the Lord"

Recently, as I have been praying through the Daily Office and, in connection with those prayers, singing through the Sing to the Lord hymnal,  I found myself in the "Holiness" section of the hymnal.  There are several good hymns in that section including "Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me" (translated by John Wesley) and "Jesus, Thine All-victorious Love," "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling," and "Jesus, My Strength, My Hope" (all by Charles Wesley).  -  As an aside, I want to say that as much as I enjoy good modern/contemporary worship music, churches may find themselves to be a bit anemic, theologically, when they remove these kinds of classical hymns from the mix in their worship gatherings!

In this section one also finds the "unofficial anthem" of the Church of the Nazarene; the hymn that is still sung at every ordination service in the Church of the Nazarene.  (In fact, I sent a resolution to our General Assembly some years back petitioning to make it our official anthem.  That resolution failed, not by vote, but rather because the rules insisted that all resolutions have a Manual paragraph attached to them!)  -  I have shared the hymn on this blog at different times over the years, but it is one of those things that worth repeating periodically.  

"Holiness unto the Lord" was written by Lelia N. Morris in 1900.  Mrs. Morris was a Methodist who wrote more than 1,000 gospel songs, including a number of "holiness hymns."  Among them was the following:

Holiness unto the Lord

1. "Called unto holiness," Church of our God,

Purchase of Jesus, redeemed by His blood;

Called from the world and its idols to flee,

Called from the bondage of sin to be free.

(Refrain) "Holiness unto the Lord" is our watch-word and song;

"Holiness unto the Lord" as we're marching along.

Sing it, shout it, loud and long:

"Holiness unto the Lord" now and forever.

2. "Called unto holiness," children of light,

Walking with Jesus in garments of white;

Raiment unsullied, nor tarnished with sin;

God's Holy Spirit abiding within.

3. "Called unto holiness," praise His dear name!

This blessed secret to faith now made plain:

Not our own righteousness, but Christ within,

Living and reigning, and saving from sin.

4. "Called unto holiness," bride of the Lamb,

Waiting the Bride-groom's returning again!

Lift up your heads, for the day draweth near

When in His beauty the King shall appear!