Church of the liv­ing God,
Pillar and ground of truth,
Keep the old paths the fa­thers trod
In thy il­lum­ined youth.

Lo, in thy bo­som lies
The touch­stone for the age;
Seducing er­ror shrinks and dies
At light from yon­der page.

Woe to the hands that dare,
By lust of pow­er en­ticed
To min­gle with the doc­trine there
The frauds of An­ti­christ.

Once to the saints was giv’n
All bless­èd Gos­pel lore;
There, writ­ten down in words from Heav’n,
Thou hast it ev­er­more.

Fear not, though doubts abound,
And scoff­ing tongues de­ride;
Love of God’s Word finds sur­er ground
When to the ut­most tried.

Toil at thy sac­red text;
More fruit­ful grows the field;
Each ge­ne­ra­tion to the next
Prepares a rich­er yield.

God’s Spi­rit in the Church,
Still lives un­spent, un­tired,
Inspiring hearts that fain would search
The truths Him­self in­spired.

Move, Ho­ly Ghost, with might
Amongst us as of old;
Dispel the false­hood, and unite
In true faith and true fold.