Wesley Corpus

Page 195 "His blood be on us, and on our children!" Matt. xxvii. 25. Horrible wish! Thy murtherers dare The blessing to a curse pervert: We turn the curse into a prayer; To cleanse our lives, and purge our heart, In all its hallowing, saving powers Thy blood be, Lord, on us and ours! "Him they compelled to bear his cross." Matt. xxvii. 32. Soon as we truly willing are To serve the Saviour's cause, Forc'd by an evil world, we bear The scandal of thy cross: At first we bear it thro' constraint, Till sprinkled with thy blood No more we shrink, no more we faint, But bless the welcome load. "Himself he cannot save." Matt. xxvii. 42. Himself he will not save, that we His saving grace may taste and see: He dies, that his worse16 foes may find His death the life of all mankind. "Himself he cannot save." Matt. xxvii. 42. Himself, and us, he cannot save, And therefore sinks into our grave, A voluntary victim dies, That we may to his glory rise. "There was darkness over all the land." Matt. xxvii. 45. Darkness the whole earth o'erspreads, And fills with sad affright, While th' eclipse of death invades That uncreated light: 16John Wesley corrects "worse" to "worst" in manuscript in his personal copy.