LSB #644 "The Church's One Foundation"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Ephesians 2:20; 4:4-6; 1 Corinthians 10:16-17; Revelation 7:14b-17

Ephesians 2:20:  "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone"

Ephesians 4:4-6:  "4 There is one body and one Spirit - just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call - 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all."

1 Corinthians 10:16-17:  "16 The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ?  The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?  17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread."

Revelation 7:14b-17:  "And he said to me, 'These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

"15 'Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.  16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.  17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.'"

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The text is public domain:

The Church's one foundation

Is Jesus Christ, her Lord;

She is His new creation

By water and the Word.

From heav'n He came and sought her

To be His holy bride;

With His own blood He bought her,

And for her life He died.

Elect from ev'ry nation,

Yet one o'er all the earth;

Her charter of salvation:

One Lord, one faith, one birth.

One holy name she blesses,

Partakes one holy food,

And to one hope she presses

With ev'ry grace endued.

Though with a scornful wonder

The world sees her oppressed,

By schisms rent asunder,

By heresies distressed,

Yet saints their watch are keeping;

Their cry goes up, "How long?"

And soon the night of weeping

Shall be the morn of song.

Through toil and tribulation

And tumult of her war

She waits the consummation

Of peace forevermore

Till with the vision glorious

Her longing eyes are blest,

And the great Church victorious

Shall be the Church at rest.

Yet she on earth has union

With God, the Three in One,

And mystic sweet communion

With those whose rest is won.

O blessèd heav'nly chorus!

Lord, save us by Your grace

That we, like saints before us,

May see You face to face.

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Ephesians 2:20 appears in the first two lines:  "The Church's one foundation / Is Jesus Christ, her Lord."  Ephesians 4:4-6 may figure into this too, but this passage (specifically verse 5) appears more clearly in the hymn's second verse:  "Her charter of salvation: / One Lord, one faith, one birth."

1 Corinthians 10:16-17 appears in the line "Partakes one holy food" in the second verse and in the lines "Yet she on earth has union / With God, the Three in One, / And mystic sweet communion / With those whose rest is won" in the last verse.

Revelation 7:14b-17 seems to be referred to at the end of the fourth verse:  "Till with the vision glorious / Her longing eyes are blest, / And the great Church victorious / Shall be the Church at rest."

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"She is His new creation / By water and the Word" in the first verse seems to come from 2 Corinthians 5:17:  "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come."

"With His own blood He bought her, / And for her life He died" at the end of the first verse bears some resemblance to 1 Peter 1:18-19:  "18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot."

The second half of the third verse ("Yet saints their watch are keeping; / Their cry goes up, 'How long?' / And soon the night of weeping / Shall be the morn of song") combines elements from various Psalms.  The question "How long?" appears in Psalm 13:1-2 ("1 How long, O LORD?  Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?  2 How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day?  How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?") and in Psalm 74:10 ("How long, O God, is the foe to scoff?  Is the enemy to revile your name forever?").  The image of keeping watch until the morning appears in Psalm 130:5-6 ("5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; 6 my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.").  The contrast between "night of weeping" and "morn of song" is similar to Psalm 30:5b ("Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.").

The "blessèd heav'nly chorus" in the last verse seems to come from Revelation 7:9-10:  "9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'"

The lines "That we, like saints before us, / May see You face to face" at the end of the last verse come from 1 Corinthians 13:12:  "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known."