 | CHAPTER XVI. The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley |  |
299
417.
[A loose morality proceeds]
Then understood they how that He bade them, &c.
—xvi. 12.
A loose morality proceeds
Unseen, from the corrupted heart,
Insensibly, as leaven spreads,
By slow degrees, through every part,
Till the whole church depraved we see
With pride, or infidelity.
Unseen, from the corrupted heart,
Insensibly, as leaven spreads,
By slow degrees, through every part,
Till the whole church depraved we see
With pride, or infidelity.
Still the two clashing sects appear,
Who Jesus and His truth oppose.
The formal Pharisees severe,
Humility's eternal foes,
Exact in every outward rite;
The tombs are beautifully white.
Who Jesus and His truth oppose.
The formal Pharisees severe,
Humility's eternal foes,
Exact in every outward rite;
The tombs are beautifully white.
With specious shows, and state, and ease,
They court, and keep the crowd in awe,
But hate the power of godliness,
The Christian life, the Spirit's law,
The faith, the wisdom from above,
The pure morality of love.
They court, and keep the crowd in awe,
But hate the power of godliness,
The Christian life, the Spirit's law,
The faith, the wisdom from above,
The pure morality of love.
Behold the adverse sect arise,
The careless Sadducees profane!
Religions all alike they prize,
Content the things of earth to gain;
No pleasures they but bestial know,
And seek their only heaven below.
The careless Sadducees profane!
Religions all alike they prize,
Content the things of earth to gain;
No pleasures they but bestial know,
And seek their only heaven below.
United in a common cause
Prelates and infidels admire!
But while to fight against the cross,
All in the holy league conspire,
Atheists and formalists proclaim
The world in every age the same.
Prelates and infidels admire!
But while to fight against the cross,
All in the holy league conspire,
Atheists and formalists proclaim
The world in every age the same.
| CHAPTER XVI. The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley | |