Wesley Corpus

O thou who by thy blood Hast brought a world to God, Thou who to thy Father gone Dost in our behalf appear, Hear thy des'late servants groan, Send us down the Comforter. Hadst thou not purg'd our stain, And gone to God again, None of Adam's helpless race Could that blessed Spirit find; But thou hast obtain'd the grace, Purchas'd him for all mankind. Didst thou not plead above For us thy dying love, Never could we hope thine aid, Never for thy Spirit call: But thou hast the Father pray'd, Hast receiv'd the gift for all. "And if I go away (By faith we hear thee say) I the Comforter will send, Comforter of you that grieve, All your goings to attend, Ever in your hearts to live." Amen our hearts reply Uplifted to the sky, Pant to be thy blest abode, Swell to be possest by thee, Fill'd with the indwelling God, Fill'd to all eternity. 14Manuscript version appears in MS John, 328. Page 20 Hymn XVII.15 John xvi. 18. Eternal Paraclete, descend Thou gift and promise of our Lord, To every soul, till time shall end, Thy succour, and thyself afford, Convince, convert us, and inspire; Come, and baptize the world with fire. Come, and display thy16 power below, And work thy threefold work of grace: Compel mankind themselves to know, Convince of sin th' apostate race, Brood o'er the sin17 of nature's night, And speak again, Let there be light. Thou only knowst the fallen man, Thou only canst his fall reveal, The monster to himself explain, And make his darkness visible, Pierce all the folds of hellish art, And rent the covering from his heart. Come then, thou soul-dividing sword, That dost from Jesu's mouth proceed, The foes and haters of their Lord Find out, o'erturn, and strike them dead, Destroy the sin that keeps them blind, And slay the pride of all mankind. Spirit of truth, in ALL begin That work of thine awak'ning power, Convince the Christian world of sin, Who Satan and not Christ adore; Who Jesus slight, reject, disclaim, And never knew his saving name. 15Manuscript version appears in MS John, 330-32. 16"Thy" changed to "the" in 2nd edn. (1747), and 1753-1768 edns. 17"Sin" changed to "deep" in 2nd edn. (1747) through 1768 edn. Page 21