Wesley Corpus

If now we freely pardon'd are, And sink again in careless ease, No longer watching unto prayer, We drop our shield, we lose our peace; And saints who the condition slight Th' apostate's fearful doom shall feel, And tumble from perfection's height, And fall into the deepest hell. "Do all to the glory of God." 1 Cor. x. 31. To the glory of the Lord How can I all things do? Father, speak my soul restor'd, Create my heart anew; When thine image I retrieve, United to my Saviour I Shall in Jesu's Spirit live, And in his Spirit die. "Covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way." 1 Cor. xii. 31. I want that better than the best: Ah, bring me, Saviour, from above A gift surpassing all the rest, Thy precious self, thy perfect love. "Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." 1 Cor. xiii. 13. Faith the foundation sure remains, The anchor hope our soul sustains, But rooted in thy grace we prove, The greatest of the three is love. 46John Wesley underlined "promise absolute" in his personal copy, drawing a "Q" (for Question) in the margin. Page 295 Faith, hope, and love thou dost bestow, To bless, and perfect us below; Faith, hope, and love on earth are given, Love only makes an heaven of heaven. "Yet not I, but the grace." 1 Cor. xv. 10. O for that just humility, Which gives whate'er is good to thee, Teaches thine instrument to cry The Lord he doth the work, not I! Take all the glory of thy grace, Take all the everlasting praise! "That which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die." 1 Cor. xv. 36. Let the fond joy of grace decay, Pass my boasted gifts away, My comforts all expire!47 When nature's long-liv'd will is dead, Then shall th' incorruptible seed Spring up in pure desire.