Wesley Corpus

To take me to his breast. 4 What is there here to court my stay, Or hold me back from home, While angels beckon me away, And Jesus bids me come? Shall I regret my parted friends, Still in the vale confined? Nay, but whene'er my soul ascends, They will not stay behind. 5 The race we all are running now ; And if I first attain, They too their willing head shall bow, They too the prize shall gain. Now on the brink of death we stand ; And if I pass before, They all shall soon escape to land, And hail me on the shore. (J Then let me suddenly remove, That hidden life to share ; I shall not lose my friends above, But more enjoy them there. There we in Jesu's praise shall join, His boundless love proclaim, And solemnize in songs divine The marriage of the Lamb. 7 O what a blessed hope is ours ! While here on earth we stay, We more than taste the heavenly powers. And antedate that day : Ou2 Time, Death, and We feel the resurrection Dear, Our life in Christ conceal'd, And with his glorious presence here Our earthen vessels fill'd. 8 O would He more of heaven bestow. And let the vessel break, And let our ransom'd spirits go To grasp the God we seek : In rapturous awe on Him to gaze, Who bought the sight for me ; And shout, and wonder at his grace, Through all eternity ! HYMN 734. c. m. ' ' The sufferings of the present life are not worthy to he compared with the glory that shall he re vealed in us." 1 A ND let this feeble body fail, -^*- And let it droop and die ; My soul shall quit the mournful vale, And soar to worlds on high ; Shall join the disembodied saints, And find its long-sought rest, (That only bliss for which it pants,) In my Redeemer's breast. 2 In hope of that immortal crown, I now the cross sustain, And gladly wander up and down, And smile at toil and pain : I suffer out my three-score years, Till my Deliverer come, And wipe away his servant's tears, And take his exile home. 3 Surely he will not long delay : I hear his Spirit cry, the future State. f)63