Wesley Corpus

This is my blood which seals the new Eternal covenant of my grace, My blood so freely shed4 for you, For you and all the sinful race, My blood that speaks your sins forgiven, And justifies your claim to heaven. The grace which I to all bequeath In this divine memorial take, And mindful of your Saviour's death, Do this, my followers, for my sake, Whose dying love hath left behind Eternal life for all mankind. Hymn II. In this expressive bread I see The wheat by man cut down for me, And beat, and bruis'd, and ground: The heavy plagues and pains and blows Which Jesus suffer'd from his foes, Are in this emblem found. The bread dried up and burnt with fire Presents the Father's vengeful ire Which my Redeemer bore: Into his bones the fire he sent, Till all the flaming darts were spent, And justice ask'd no more. 4"Shed" changed to "spilt" in 9th edn. (1786). Page 3 Why hast thou, Lord, forsook thine own? Alas, what evil hath he done, The spotless Lamb of God? Cut off, not for himself, but me, He bears my sins on yonder tree, And pays my debt in blood. Seiz'd by the rage of sinful man I see him bound, and bruis'd, and slain; 'Tis done, the martyr dies! His life to ransom ours is given, And lo! The fiercest fire of heaven Consumes the sacrifice. He suffers both from man and God, He bears the universal load Of guilt and misery; He suffers to reverse our doom; And lo! My Lord is here become The bread of life to me! Hymn III. Then let us go, and take, and eat The heavenly everlasting meat For fainting souls prepar'd; Fed with the living bread divine Discern we in the sacred sign The body of the Lord. The instruments that bruis'd him so Were broke and scatter'd long ago, The flames extinguish'd were, But Jesu's death is ever new, He whom in ages past they slew Doth still as slain appear. Page 4 Th' oblation sends as sweet a smell, Ev'n now it pleases God as well As when it first was made, The blood doth now as freely flow, As when his side receiv'd the blow That shew'd him newly dead.