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 | The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley |  |
ON THE DEATH OF MR. THOMAS LEWIS, APRIL, 1782.
Thee, Lord, in all events we praise!
With wisdom, faithfulness, and grace
Thou dost Thy gifts dispense;
Thou dost Thy benefits revoke,
And by an unexpected stroke
Transport our brother hence.
With wisdom, faithfulness, and grace
Thou dost Thy gifts dispense;
Thou dost Thy benefits revoke,
And by an unexpected stroke
Transport our brother hence.
350
How many whom Thy judgments call,
As sudden, not as safely, fall!
He falls again to rise;
By instantaneous grace removed,
He falls asleep in his Beloved,
And wakes in paradise!
As sudden, not as safely, fall!
He falls again to rise;
By instantaneous grace removed,
He falls asleep in his Beloved,
And wakes in paradise!
For this habitually prepared,
Death could not find him off his guard,
A man who daily died,
A stranger in the vale of tears,
Whose life for more than forty years
Confess'd the Crucified.
Death could not find him off his guard,
A man who daily died,
A stranger in the vale of tears,
Whose life for more than forty years
Confess'd the Crucified.
His life the proof substantial gave,
And witness'd Jesu's power to save
The sinner here forgiven,
While firm in the old paths he stood,
Redeem'd the time by doing good,
And laid up wealth in heaven.
And witness'd Jesu's power to save
The sinner here forgiven,
While firm in the old paths he stood,
Redeem'd the time by doing good,
And laid up wealth in heaven.
Rugged howe'er his manners seem'd,
His manners were by all esteem'd,
Who truth preferr'd to art;
His hands for Esau's hands were known,
His voice bewray'd the favourite son,
And Jacob's honest heart.
His manners were by all esteem'd,
Who truth preferr'd to art;
His hands for Esau's hands were known,
His voice bewray'd the favourite son,
And Jacob's honest heart.
His heart, as tender as sincere,
Melted for every sufferer,
And bled for the distress'd,
(Where'er he heard the grieved complain,)
And pity for the sons of pain
Resided in his breast.
Melted for every sufferer,
And bled for the distress'd,
(Where'er he heard the grieved complain,)
And pity for the sons of pain
Resided in his breast.
351
A father to the sick and poor,
For them he husbanded his store,
For them himself denied;
The naked clothed, the hungry fed,
Or parted with his daily bread
That they might be supplied.
For them he husbanded his store,
For them himself denied;
The naked clothed, the hungry fed,
Or parted with his daily bread
That they might be supplied.
But chiefly who in Christ believed,
For them, into his heart received,
He naturally cared,
His faith's integrity to prove,
By labours of unwearied love
To gain a full reward.
For them, into his heart received,
He naturally cared,
His faith's integrity to prove,
By labours of unwearied love
To gain a full reward.
A steward just, and wise, and good,
Through life against the men he stood
Who basely sought their own;
He dared their practices condemn,
Yet not an enemy to them,
But to their deeds alone.
Through life against the men he stood
Who basely sought their own;
He dared their practices condemn,
Yet not an enemy to them,
But to their deeds alone.
Sin, only sin, his soul abhorr'd,
A follower of his righteous Lord,
Till all his toils were past:
And, lo, the hoary saint ascends,
And, gather'd to his heavenly friends,
Obtains the prize at last.
A follower of his righteous Lord,
Till all his toils were past:
And, lo, the hoary saint ascends,
And, gather'd to his heavenly friends,
Obtains the prize at last.
Thanks be to God, through Christ, His Son!
Thy power is on our brother shown,
Thy truth and constant love:
Thou dost the final victory give,
And more than conqueror receive
To rapturous joy above.
Thy power is on our brother shown,
Thy truth and constant love:
Thou dost the final victory give,
And more than conqueror receive
To rapturous joy above.
352
O that the friends he leaves beneath
Might live his life, and die his death,
For glory as mature,
Partakers with the sons of light,
And reap the pleasures in Thy sight
Which evermore endure!
Might live his life, and die his death,
For glory as mature,
Partakers with the sons of light,
And reap the pleasures in Thy sight
Which evermore endure!
| The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley | |