Wesley Corpus

Last updated: Nov. 25, 2007. Answer to Gill (1754)1 Baker list, 207 Editorial Introduction: In 1751 John Wesley published Serious Thoughts upon the Perseverance of the Saints. This sparked a rebuttal from John Gill titled The Doctrine of the Saint's Final Perseverance Asserted and Vindicated; in answer to a late pamphlet called Serious Thoughts on that Subject (1752). John Wesley responded to Gill in Predestination Calmly Considered (1752), §§69-78. In 1754 a second answer to Gill was published by "the Revd. Mr. Wesley," in the form of three hymns excerpted from Hymns on Love (1742). It is unclear whether it was John or Charles Wesley who prepared this excerpt, but no significant textual changes were introduced. This response was never reprinted. Editions: Charles? Wesley. An Answer to All which the Revd. Dr. Gill has Printed on the Final Perseverance of the Saints. London: sold at the Foundery, 1754. Page 3 2The first 23 stanzas reprise Hymn 3 in Hymns on God's Love (1742); stanzas 24-35 are a reprint of Hymn 4, and the last three stanzas are drawn from Hymn 5 (sts. 1, 3 9). An Answer To all which The Reverend Dr. Gill, etc.2 O take away the stone, Jesu, the bar remove, Th' accursed thing to me unknown, That stops thy streaming love: Thy grace is always free, Thou waitest to be good, And still thy Spirit grieves for me, And speaks thy sprinkled blood. Ah! Do not let me trust In gifts and graces past, But lay my spirit in the dust, And stop my mouth at last. What thou for me hast done, I can no longer plead; Thy truth and faithfulness I own, If now thou strike me dead. Page 4 Surely I once believ'd, And felt my sins forgiven, Thy faithful record I receiv'd, That thou hast purchas'd heaven For me, and all mankind, Who from their sins would part; The peace of God I once could find, The witness in my heart. But soon the subtle fiend Beguil'd my simple mind, Darkness with light he knew to blend, Falshood and truth he join'd; Pride (he remember'd well) Had cast him from the skies: By pride the first transgressor fell, And lost his paradise.