Wesley Corpus

Lord, when I am of thee possest, Thy Spirit prays in me, And offers up my bold request In faith and charity: When love hath cast my hatred out, To wrath I cannot yield,73 I cannot of acceptance doubt, When every prayer is seal'd. "Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh." 1 Tim. iii. 16. God in mortal flesh reveal'd, Explain the mystery, Shew it still on man fulfill'd, Be manifest in me; Thou who didst on earth appear, By faith conceiv'd thyself impart, Pitch thy tabernacle here In my believing heart. 73John Wesley underlined "I cannot yield" in his personal copy, writing in the margin "See p. 355" i.e. referring to 693, stanza 2, which assumes one can yield. Page 331 Thou, who didst so greatly stoop To a poor virgin's womb, Here thy mean abode take up, To me, my Saviour come; Come, and Satan's works destroy, And let me all thy Godhead prove, Fill'd with peace, and heavenly joy, And pure eternal love. Then my soul with strange delight Shall comprehend and feel All the length, and breadth, and height Of love unspeakable; Then I shall the secret know, Which angels would search out in vain, God was man, and serv'd below, That man with God might reign. "She that liveth in pleasure, is dead while she liveth." 1 Tim. v. 6. Stay, thou too happy sinner, stay, Smooth-gliding down the flowery way, The broad frequented road; Gay wretch, that dost in pleasure live, And all thy joy from earth receive, Thy soul is dead to God. When death thy soul and body part, If dead to God ev'n then thou art, Excluded from the skies, Shut up in darkness palpable, And justly left to its own hell, Thy soul forever dies. "They that will (Gr., are willing to) be rich, fall into a snare, c." 1 Tim. vi. 9. See the fruit of worldly cares! They that will be rich or great Fall into ten thousand snares, Fall at last into the pit,