Wesley Corpus

Ten thousand to their endless home This solemn moment fly, And we are to the margin come, And we expect to die: His militant, embodied host With wishful looks we stand, And long to see that happy coast, And reach that heavenly land. 2A manuscript precursor of the first four stanzas of this hymn appears in MS Richmond, 156. The full hymn is found in MS Six, 23-24; and (in shorthand) MS Spencer, 1-2. Page 2 Our old companions in distress We haste again to see, And eager long for our release And full felicity: Ev'n now by faith we join our hands With those that went before, And greet the blood-besprinkled bands On the eternal shore. Our spirits too shall quickly join, Like theirs, with glory crown'd, And shout to see our Captain's sign, To hear his trumpet sound: O that we now might grasp our guide, O that the word were given! Come Lord of hosts the waves divide, And land us all in heaven. Hymn II.3 How happy every child of grace Who knows his sins forgiven! This earth, he cries, is not my place, I seek my place in heaven: A country far from mortal sight; Yet, O! By faith I see The land of rest, the saints' delight, The heaven prepar'd for me. A stranger in the world below, I calmly sojourn here, Nor can its happiness or woe Provoke my hope or fear: Its evils in a moment end, Its joys as soon are past; But, O! The bliss to which I tend Eternally shall last. 3A manuscript precursor of this hymn in CW's hand appears in shorthand in MS Spencer, 7-9; a version in longhand revised slightly (most over to published form) in MS Richmond, 134-36. Page 3 To that Jerusalem above With singing I repair, While in the flesh, my hope and love, My heart and soul are there: There my exalted Saviour stands, My merciful high-priest, And still extends his wounded hands To take me to his breast. What is there here to court my stay, To 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 confin'd? Nay, but whene'er my soul ascends, They will not stay behind.