Wesley Corpus

Page 186 "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!" Matt. xxv. 6. He comes! The heavenly Bridegroom, comes, Proceeded by the midnight cry! Sinners, and saints, forsake your tombs, Go forth, and meet him in the sky! "The door was shut." Matt. xxv. 10. How dreadful is the sinner's fate, Who wakes, to sleep no more, Who knocks and calls, alas, too late, When death hath shut the door! "Lord, Lord, open to us." Matt. xxv. 11. But we who now thy grace implore, Shall now admitted be, For if thy justice shut the door, Thy mercy keeps the key. "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." Matt. xxv. 21. My faithfulness I cannot see, My goodness is unknown to me, And be it, Lord, unknown,15 So thou the giver of all grace In that great day thy servant praise For what thyself hast done. "Thou wicked and slothful servant." Matt. xxv. 26. Master, I with shame confess Sloth is the worst wickedness; The worst wickedness is mine, Idle in the work divine, Doing neither good, nor ill, If I hide my talent still, Till I find the time is past, Perish in my sins at last. 15John Wesley underlined "faithfulness I cannot" in line 1 and all of lines 2-3 in his personal copy. He then wrote in the margin "φεØ" (a Greek exclamation of disappointment, like "Alas!").