The poetical works of John and Charles Wesley

In vain for a reprieve he cries,
And groans, and struggles to be freed;
In vain his subtlest art he tries,
And feigns himself already dead:
To make us boast the conflict o'er,
He seems to gasp his latest breath,
And stirs in novices no more,
And dies at once a sudden death.

But taught of God, we surely know,
The man of desperate wickedness
Shall weaker still and weaker grow,
And lingering die by slow degrees;
The Adam old, we dare believe,
Shall hang with Christ transfix'd and fast,
A thousand mortal wounds receive,
Till perfect grace inflict the last.

True believers have nailed the flesh with all its evil passions, appetites, and inclinations, as it were, to a cross, whence it has no power to break loose, but is continually weaker and weaker. —Mr. W's Notes.

University of Virginia Library

3163.

[We that are Christ's, have crucified]