John Wesley

Do all the good you can

By all the means you can

In all the ways you can

In all the places you can

At all the times you can

To all the people you can

As long as ever you can

Poem – Stupendous Love of God Most High

Hymn XXV

Stupendous love of God most high!

He comes to meet us from the sky

In mildest majesty;

Full of unutterable grace,

He calls the weary burdened race,

“Come all for help to me.” 
Tired with the greatness of my way,

From him I would no longer stray,

But rest in Jesus have;

Weary of sin, from sin would cease,

Weary of mine own righteousness,

And stoop, myself to save. 
Weary of passions unsubdued,

Weary of vows in vain renewed,

Of forms without the power,

Of prayers, and hopes, complaints, and groans,

My fainting soul in silence owns

I can hold out no more. 
Beneath this mountain load of grief,

Of guilt and desperate unbelief,

Jesus, thy creature see;

With all my nature’s weight oppressed,

I sink, I die for want of rest,

Yet cannot come to thee. 
Mine utter helplessness I feel;

But thou, who gav’st the feeble will,

The effectual grace supply;

Be thou my strength, my light, my way,

And bid my soul the call obey,

And to thy bosom fly. 
Fulfil thine own intense desire,

And now into my heart inspire

The power of faith and love;

Then, Saviour, then to thee I come,

And find on earth the life, the home,

The rest of saints above. 

Poem – Extended on a Cursed Tree

Hymn XXIII 

Extended on a cursed tree,

Besmeared with dust, and sweat, and blood,

See there, the king of glory see!

Sinks and expires the Son of God. 
Who, who, my Saviour, this hath done?

Who could thy sacred body wound?

No guilt thy spotless heart hath known,

No guile hath in thy lips been found. 
I, I alone, have done the deed!

‘Tis I thy sacred flesh have torn;

My sins have caused thee, Lord, to bleed,

Pointed the nail, and fixed the thorn. 
The burden, for me to sustain

Too great, on thee, my Lord, was laid;

To heal me, thou hast borne my pain;

To bless me, thou a curse wast made. 
In the devouring lion’s teeth,

Torn, and forsook of all, I lay;

Thou sprang’st into the jaws of death,

From death to save the helpless prey. 
Saviour how shall I proclaim?

How pay the mighty debt I owe?

Let all I have, and all I am,

Ceaseless to all thy glory show. 
Too much to thee I cannot give;

Too much I cannot do for thee;

Let all thy love, and all thy grief,

Graven on my heart for ever be! 
The meek, the still, the lowly mind,

O may I learn from thee, my God,

And love, with softest pity joined,

For those that trample on thy blood! 
Still let thy tears, thy groans, thy sighs,

O’erflow my eyes, and heave my breast,

Till loose from flesh and earth I rise,

And ever in thy bosom rest. 

Poem – Behold The Saviour of Mankind

Hymn XXII 

Behold the Saviour of mankind

Nailed to the shameful tree!

How vast the love that him inclined

To bleed and die for thee! 
Hark, how he groans! while nature shakes,

And earth’s strong pillars bend;

The temple’s veil in sunder breaks,

The solid marbles rend. 
‘Tis done! the precious ransom’s paid,

“Receive my soul,” he cries!

See where he bows his sacred head!

He bows his head, and dies! 
But soon he’ll break death’s envious chain,

And in full glory shine:

O Lamb of God! was ever pain,

Was ever love, like thine?

Poem – Ye Simple Souls That Stray

Hymn XXI

Ye simple souls that strayFar from the path of peace,

That lonely, unfrequented way

To life and happiness,

Why will ye folly love,

And throng the downward road,

And hate the wisdom from above,

And mock the sons of God? 
Madness and misery

Ye count our life beneath;

And nothing great or good can see,

Or glorious, in our death:

As only born to grieve,

Beneath your feet we lie;

And utterly contemned we live,

And unlamented die. 
So wretched and obscure,

The men whom ye despise,

So foolish, impotent, and poor,

Above your scorn we rise:

We, through the Holy Ghost,

Can witness better things;

For He whose blood is all our boast

Hath made us priests and kings. 
Riches unsearchable

In Jesu’s love we know;

And pleasures, springing from the well

Of life, our souls o’erflow;

The Spirit we receive

Of wisdom, grace, and power;

And always sorrowful we live,

Rejoicing evermore. 
Angels our servants are,

And keep in all our ways,

And in their watchful hands they bear

The sacred souls of grace;

Unto that heavenly bliss

They all our steps attend;

And God himself our Father is,

And Jesus is our friend. 
With him we walk in white,

We in his image shine,

Our robes are robes of glorious light,

Our righteousness divine;

On all the kings of earth

With pity we look down,

And claim, in virtue of our birth,

A never-fading crown. 

Poem – Weary Souls That Wander Wide

Hymn XX

Weary souls, that wander wide

From the central point of bliss,

Turn to Jesus crucified,

Fly to those dear wounds of his:

Sink into the purple flood;

Rise into the life of God! 
Find in Christ the way of peace,

Peace unspeakable, unknown;

By his pain he gives you ease,

Life by his expiring groan;

Rise, exalted by his fall,

Find in Christ your all in all. 
O believe the record true,

God to you his Son hath give

Ye may now be happy too,

Find on earth the life of heaven,

Live the life of heaven above,

All the life of glorious love. 
This the universal bliss,

Bliss for every soul designed,

God’s original promise this,

God’s great gift to all mankind:

Blest in Christ this moment be!

Blest to all eternity! 

Poem – O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing

Hymn I

O for a thousand tongues to sing

My great Redeemer’s praise,

The glories of my God and King,

The triumphs of his grace! 
My gracious Master and my God,

Assist me to proclaim,

To spread through all the earth abroad

The honours of thy name. 
Jesus! the name that charms our fears,

That bids our sorrows cease;

‘Tis music in the sinner’s ears,

‘Tis life, and health, and peace. 
He breaks the power of cancelled sin,

He sets the prisoner free;

His blood can make the foulest clean,

His blood availed for me. 
He speaks, and, listening to his voice,

New life the dead receive,

The mournful, broken hearts rejoice,

The humble poor believe. 
Hear him, ye deaf; his praise, ye dumb,

Your loosened tongues employ;

Ye blind, behold your Saviour come,

And leap, ye lame, for joy. 
Look unto him, ye nations, own

Your God, ye fallen race;

Look, and be saved through faith alone,

Be justified by grace. 
See all your sins on Jesus laid:

The Lamb of God was slain,

His soul was once an offering made

For every soul of man. 
Awake from guilty nature’s sleep,

And Christ shall give you light,

Cast all your sins into the deep,

And wash the Æthiop white. 
With me, your chief, ye then shall know,

Shall feel your sins forgiven;

Anticipate your heaven below,

And own that love is heaven. 

Poem -Hymn III: All That Pass By, To Jesus Draw Near – John Wesley

All that pass by, To Jesus draw near, 

He utters a cry, Ye sinners, give ear! 

From hell to retrieve you He spreads out his hands; 

Now, now to receive you, He graciously stands. 
If any man thirst, And happy would be, 

The vilest and worst May come unto me, 

May drink of my Spirit, Excepted is none, 

Lay claim to my merit, And take for his own. 
Whoever receives The life-giving word, 

In Jesus believes, His God and his Lord, 

In him a pure river Of life shall arise, 

Shall in the believer Spring up to the skies. 
My God and my Lord! Thy call I obey, 

My soul on thy word Of promise I stay, 

Thy kind invitation I gladly embrace, 

Athirst for salvation, Salvation by grace. 
O hasten the hour! Send down from above 

The Spirit of power, Of health, and of love, 

Of filial fear, Of knowledge and grace, 

Of wisdom and prayer, Of joy and of praise; 

The Spirit of faith, Of faith in thy blood, 

Which saves us from wrath, And brings us to God, 

Removes the huge mountain Of indwelling sin, 

And opens a fountain That washes us clean.

Poem – Hymn: Thou Hidden Love Of God – John Wesley

Thou hidden love of God, whose height, 

Whose depth unfathom’d no man knows, 

I see from far thy beauteous light, 

Inly I sigh for thy repose; 

My heart is pain’d, nor can it be 

At rest, till it finds rest in thee. 
Thy secret voice invites me still, 

The sweetness of thy yoke to prove: 

And fain I would: but tho’ my will 

Seem fix’d, yet wide my passions rove; 

Yet hindrances strew all the way; 

I aim at thee, yet from thee stray. 
‘Tis mercy all, that thou hast brought 

My mind to seek her peace in thee; 

Yet while I seek, but find thee not, 

No peace my wand’ring soul shall see; 

O when shall all my wand’rings end, 

And all my steps to thee-ward tend! 
Is there a thing beneath the sun 

That strives with thee my heart to share? 

Ah! tear it thence, and reign alone, 

The Lord of ev’ry motion there; 

Then shall my heart from earth be free, 

When it hath found repose in thee. 
O hide this self from me, that I 

No more, but Christ in me may live; 

My vile affections crucify, 

Nor let one darling lust survive; 

In all things nothing may I see, 

Nothing desire or seek but thee. 
O Love, thy sov’reign aid impart, 

To save me from low-thoughted care: 

Chase this self-will thro’ all my heart, 

Thro’ all its latent mazes there: 

Make me thy duteous child, that I 

Ceaseless may Abba, Father, cry! 
Ah no! ne’er will I backward turn: 

Thine wholly, thine alone I am! 

Thrice happy he who views with scorn 

Earth’s toys, for thee his constant flame; 

O help that I may never move 

From the blest footsteps of thy love! 
Each moment draw from earth away 

My heart that lowly waits thy call: 

Speak to my inmost soul, and say, 

I am thy love, thy God, thy all! 

To feel thy power, to hear thy voice, 

To taste thy love, be all my choice.