1 If now Thou dost Thy work revive,
If still Thou dost Thy Church increase,
Persist to save our souls alive,
O Christ, stand by Thy witnesses,
And every cursèd thing remove,
And every bar to perfect love.
2 The vile abusers of Thy grace,
The men of lips and lives unclean,
Above Thy oracles who praise
The dreams of Nicholas obscene,
Restrain by Thy great arm alone,
And drive their idol from his throne.
3 Those who withstand the Gospel word
Of real, inward righteousness,
Betray Thee, while they call Thee Lord,
In words exalt, in deeds debase;
Tell them, they shall no farther go
To serve the interests of Thy foe.
4 Root up the tares by Satan sown,
The whispering hypocrites expel;
And cast the soft accuser down,
But spare the men inflamed of hell,
Nor let them all their burden bear,
Or gnaw their tongues in sad despair.
5 The brethren—false, by stealth crept in,
Thy cause and people to disgrace,
Deceiving and deceived by sin,
By Satan with his shining face,
Detect them, Lord, and scatter wide
The specious sons of gilded pride.
6 Let none within the pale be found
But simple Israelites indeed,
But men of upright hearts and sound,
The humble, poor, and holy seed,
Who truly are what they profess,
Thy band of blood-bought witnesses.
Source: The Cyber Hymnal #12328
Charles Wesley, M.A. was the great hymn-writer of the Wesley family, perhaps, taking quantity and quality into consideration, the great hymn-writer of all ages. Charles Wesley was the youngest son and 18th child of Samuel and Susanna Wesley, and was born at Epworth Rectory, Dec. 18, 1707. In 1716 he went to Westminster School, being provided with a home and board by his elder brother Samuel, then usher at the school, until 1721, when he was elected King's Scholar, and as such received his board and education free. In 1726 Charles Wesley was elected to a Westminster studentship at Christ Church, Oxford, where he took his degree in 1729, and became a college tutor. In the early part of the same year his religious impressions were much deepene… Go to person page >
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