Wesley Corpus

The word, the seed of righteousness Sown in our hearts we gladly feel, With joy our proffer'd Lord embrace, With rapturous joy unspeakable Receive the news of sin forgiven, And taste in love our present heaven. Yet the incorruptible seed Doth never in a moment rise, But buried deep, as lost and dead, Long in our earthy hearts it lies,28 Water'd, before the fruit appears, With showers of grace, and floods of tears. Howe'er our hasty nature fret, Or instantaneous growth require, We must, we must with patience wait, With humble, languishing desire, And when ten thousand storms are past, Bring forth the perfect fruit at last.29 "Whosoever hath, to him shall be given." Luke viii. 18. Lord, if thy grace I have, I plead thy word for more: Whom thou hast sav'd, persist to save, And all thy life restore: 27John Wesley underlined all of line 3 and "tell us thus" in line 8 in his personal copy. 28John Wesley underlined "long in our" in his personal copy. 29John Wesley underlined "must with" in line 3, "ten thousand" in line 5, and "at last" in line 6 in his personal copy, drawing an exclamation point in the margin near line 3.