Wesley Corpus

The Life of Faith, Exemplified in the Eleventh Chapter of ... Hebrews Source: Hymns and Sacred Poems (1740), Part I Author: Charles Wesley (attributed) --- The trees of God shall deck the soil, The plants of righteousness arise; The Lord shall on his garden smile, His late-returning paradise. The earth, in token of his grace, Shall spread the odour of his fame, And everlasting trophies raise, To glorify the Saviour’s name. The Life of Faith,2 Exemplified in the Eleventh Chapter of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Hebrews. Verse I. Author of faith, eternal word, Whose Spirit breathes the active flame, Faith, like its Finisher and Lord, To day, as yesterday the same; To thee our humble hearts aspire, And ask the gift unspeakable: Increase in us the kindled fire, In us the work of faith fulfil. By faith we know thee strong to save, (Save us, a present Saviour thou!) Whate’er we hope, by faith we have, Future and past subsisting now. 2This was first published by Charles Wesley as a pamphlet on May 24, 1740--see Life of Faith (1740). To him that in thy name believes, Eternal life with thee is given, Into himself he all receives, Pardon, and happiness, and heaven. The things unknown to feeble sense, Unseen by reason’s glimm’ring ray, With strong, commanding evidence Their heavenly origine display. Faith lends its realizing light, The clouds disperse, the shadows fly, Th’ invisible appears in sight, And God is seen by mortal eye. Verses II, III. By faith the holy men of old Obtain’d a never-dying name, The sacred leaves their praise unfold, And God himself records their fame. Thro’ faith we know the worlds were made, By his great word to being brought: He spake: the earth and heaven obey’d; The universe sprang forth from nought. The heavens thy glorious power proclaim, If thou in us thy power declare; We know from whom the fabrick came, Our heart believes, when God is there. Thee thro’ thyself we understand, When thou in us thyself hast shown, We see thy all-creating hand, We feel a God thro’ faith alone. Verse IV. Believing in the woman’s seed, And justified by faith alone, Abel a nobler offering made, And God vouchsaf’d his gifts to own. Witness divine he thus obtain’d, The gift of righteousness receiv’d; And now he wears the crown he gain’d, And sees the Christ he once believ’d. Still by his faith he speaks tho’ dead, He calls us to the living way: We hear; and in his footsteps tread: We first believe, and then obey. Verses V, VI. Exempted from the general doom, The death which all are born to know, Enoch obtain’d his heavenly home By faith, and disappear’d below. From earth unpainfully releas’d, Translated to the realms of light, He found the God by faith he pleas’d, His faith was sweetly lost in sight. God, without faith, we cannot please: For all, who unto God would come, Must feelingly believe he is, And gives to all their righteous doom. We feelingly believe thou art: Behold we ever seek thee, Lord, With all our mind, with all our heart, And find thee now our great reward. Verse VII. Divinely warn’d of judgments near, Noah believ’d a threatning3 God, With humble faith, and holy fear He built the ark, and ’scap’d the flood. He (while the world that disbeliev’d, The careless world of sinners died,) The righteousness of faith receiv’d: Noah by faith was justified. We too by faith the world condemn, Of righteousness divine possest, Escape the wrath that covers them, Safe in the ark of Jesu’s breast. Verses VIII, IX, X. Obedient to his God’s command, And influenc’d by faith alone, Abraham left his native land, Went out, and sought a place unknown. 3Ori., “threating”, a misprint; corrected in 4th edn. (1743) and following. A place he should possess at last, When full four hundred years were o’er, Upon the word himself he cast, He follow’d God, and ask’d no more. As in a strange, tho’ promis’d, land, (A land his distant heirs receiv’d,) He, and his sons in tents remain’d; He knew on whom he had believ’d. A better heritage he sought, A city built by God on high, Thither he rais’d his tow’ring thought, He fix’d on heaven his stedfast eye. Whose firm foundations never move, Jerusalem was all his care, The New Jerusalem above; His treasure, and his heart was there. And shall not we the call obey, And haste where God commands, to go? Despise these tenements of clay, These dreams of happiness below? Yes Lord; we hearken to thy call, As sojourners o’er earth we rove, We have for thee forsaken all, And seek the heaven of perfect love.