Seven Wesley Hymns That Illustrate 19Th Century Holiness Movement Emphases

Compiled andannotated by Leroy E. Lindsey, Jr., Ph.D.

Come, O my God, the promise seal
#549 in American Hymnal
Methodist Episcopal Church, South(1866 edition)

Come, O my God, the promise seal
This mountain, sin, remove!
Now in my grasping soul reveal
The virtue of thy love.

I want thy life, thy purity,
Thy righteousness brought in;
I ask, desire, and trust in thee
To be redeemed from sin.

For this as taught by thee I pray,
And can no longer doubt!
Remove from hence, to sin I say,
Be cast this moment out!

Anger and sloth, desire, and pride,
This moment be subdued!
Be cast into the crimson tide
Of my Redeemer’s blood!

Saviour, to thee my soul looks up,
My present Saviour thou!
In all the confidence of hope
I claim the blessing now!

Tis done! Thou dost this moment save,
With full salvation bless;
Redemption through the blood I have,
And spotless love and peace.

Doctrinal and biblical notes
Acts 1:4—the “promise of the Father”
“This mountain” alludes to Zachariah 4:7. Cf. his poem “O great mountain, who art thou?” (below).
God’s love is virtuous, especially His power, in what it produces.
Holiness as purity and righteousness become KEY concepts for the Holiness Movement. Righteousness imparted is the concept. That is, fully redeemed from the sin principle.
Charles claims that Jesus teaches us to pray for holiness, and doubting is a sin against Him.
Speaking to one’s own sinful natur

Colossians 2:11, now, even now!
That Charles is not suggesting a mere “suppression” of these is seen in the other verbs he uses. Note the further emphasis on the present moment. The remedyis the blood of Jesus, which he describes as effective in its treatment.

The source of sanctity is never seen as anything but the personal work of the Savior.
The blessing of “entire sanctification” entered by faith,is claimed in the present moment.
Hebrews 7:25—salvation “to the uttermost”: one of Charles’ favorite expressions for holiness.
“Full salvation”, “full redemption” became key concepts for the Holiness Movement, especially in the writings of Phoebe Palmer.
(Wesley’s Works Vol. 7, Hymn #405, p. 581).

Both John and Charles Wesley often used “save”, “salvation” “redeem” and justification—somewhat maddening for interpreters who have not understood their vocabulary. The context shows that they were not confused, but that they were using the terms in a specific way. Thus, the true Wesleyan view is not that sanctification is something “added on”, but should be seen as an integral part of salvation.
Notes © 2014 by Leroy E. Lindsey, Jr., PhD.

Wrestling Jacob

Come, O thou Traveller unknown,
Whom still I hold, but cannot see!
My company before is gone,
And I am left alone with thee;
With thee all night I mean to stay,
And wrestle till the break of day.

I need not tell thee who I am,
My misery or sin declare;
Thyself hast called me by my name,
Look on thy hands, and read it there.
But who, I ask thee, who art thou?
Tell me thy name, and tell me now.

In vain thou strugglest to get free,
I never will unloose my hold;
Art thou the Man that died for me?
The secret of thy love unfold:
Wrestling, I will not let thee go
Till I thy name, thy nature know.

Wilt thou not yet to me reveal
Thy new, unutterable name?
Tell me, I still beseech thee, tell;
To know it now resolved I am:
Wrestling, I will not let thee go
Till I thy name, thy nature know.

’Tis all in vain to hold thy tongue
Or touch the hollow of my thigh;
Though every sinew be unstrung,
Out of my arms thou shalt not fly;
Wrestling, I will not let thee go
Till I thy name, thy nature know.

What though my shrinking flesh complain
And murmur to contend so long?
I rise superior to my pain:
When I am weak, then I am strong;
And when my all of strength shall fail
I shall with the God-man prevail.

My strength is gone, my nature dies,
I sink beneath thy weighty hand,
Faint to revive, and fall to rise;
I fall, and yet by faith I stand;
I stand and will not let thee go
Till I thy name and nature know.

Yield to me now—for I am weak,
But confident in self-despair!
Speak to my heart, in blessings speak,
Be conquered by my instant prayer:
Speak, or thou never hence shalt move,
And tell me if thy name is Love.

’Tis Love! ’Tis Love! Thou diedst for me;
I hear thy whisper in my heart.
The morning breaks, the shadows flee,
Pure Universal Love thou art:
To me, to all, thy feelings* move—
Thy nature, and thy name, is Love.

My prayer hath power with God; the grace
Unspeakable I now receive;
Through faith I see thee face to face;
I see thee face to face and live!
In vain I have not wept and strove—
Thy nature, and thy name, is Love.

I know thee, Saviour, who thou art—
Jesus, the feeble sinner’s friend;
Nor wilt thou with the night depart,
But stay, and love me to the end:
Thy mercies never shall remove,
Thy nature, and thy name, is Love.

The Sun of Righteousness on me
Hath rose with healing in his wings;
Withered my nature’s strength; from thee
My soul its life and succor brings;
My help is all laid up above:
Thy nature, and thy name, is Love.

Contented now upon my thigh
I halt, till life’s short journey end;
All helplessness, all weakness, I
On thee alone for strength depend;
Nor have I power from thee to move:
Thy nature, and thy name, is Love.

Lame as I am, I take the prey,
Hell, earth, and sin with ease o’ercome;
I leap for joy, pursue my way,
And as a bounding hart fly home,
Through all eternity to prove,
Thy nature, and thy name, is Love.

*Originally, “bowels”, an old expression for strong feelings.

(Charles Wesley, WJW, VII:250-52, Hymn #136).“Wrestling Jacob”
is considered Charles’ masterpiece.

IsaacWatts—one of Charles’ fiercest literary critics—commented that this poemalone

“was worth all the verses he himself had written,”as noted by John in his obituary tribute to Charles (WJW VII:250, editor’s footnote).

O great mountain, who are you
Zacariah 4:7

O great mountain, who are you,
Immense, immovable?
High as heaven aspires your brow,
Your foot sinks deep as hell.
You, alas, I long have known,
Long have felt you fixed within;
Still beneath your weight I groan–
You are indwelling sin.

You are darkness in my mind,
Perverseness in my will!
Love inordinate and blind,
That always cleaves to ill;
Every passion's wild excess,
Anger, lust, and pride you are;
You are sin and sinfulness,
And unbelief of heart.

Not by human might or power
Can you be moved from hence,
But you shall flow down before
Divine omnipotence;

My Zerubbabel is near,
I have not believed in vain;
You, when Jesus does appear,
Shall sink into a plain.

Christ the head, the corner-stone,
Shall be brought forth in me;
Glory be to Christ alone,
His grace shall set me free!
I shall shout my Saviour's name,
Him I evermore shall praise,
All the work of grace proclaim,
Of sanctifying grace.

Christ has the foundation laid,
And Christ shall build me up;
Surely I shall soon be made
Partaker of my hope;
Author of my faith he is,
He its finisher shall be;
Perfect love shall seal me his
To all eternity.

—Charles Wesley, 1742 O great mountain, who art thou? Altered (verbs modernized), by L. E. Lindsey, Jr.
The five stanzas— (1) Identifies the problem; (2) describes the condition;

(3) notes the divine remedy(alludes to Zach. 4:6, with Christ illustrated as Zerubbabel);

(4) portrays the present personal experience of the removal of “the mountain”;

(5)claims a reality for the present life and on “to all eternity”.

Saviour of the Sin-sick Soul
(#542, 1866 American Hymnal)

Saviour of the sin-sick soul,
Give me faith to make me whole!
Finish thy great work of grace!
Cut it short in righteousness.

Speak the second time, ‘Be clean!’
Take away my inbred sin:
Every stumbling-block remove;
Cast it out by perfect love.

Nothing less will I require;
Nothing more can I desire:
None but Christ to me be given!
None but Christ in earth or heaven.

O that I might now decrease!
O that all I am might cease!
Let me into nothing fall!
Let my Lord be all in all!

Note the use of terms to describe both the divine remedy for sin (“make me whole”,

“take away”, “remove”, “cast out”), and the desire for the work to be done in this life.

Holiness writers took Charles’ desire for holiness to mean a present possibility.

Be it according to thy word!
#362, Hymnal, M.E. Church South(1889 Ed.; stanzas 3 and 5 omitted)

Be it according to thy word!
This moment let it be!
O that I now, my gracious Lord,
Might lose my life for thee!

Now, Jesu, let thy powerful death
Into my being come,
Slay the old Adam with thy breath,
The man of sin consume.

Withhold whate’er my flesh requires,
Poison my pleasant food,
Spoil my delights, my vain desires,
My all of creature-good.

My old affections mortify,
Nail to the cross my will,
Daily and hourly bid me die,
Or altogether kill.

Passion and appetite destroy,
Tear, tear this pride away,
And all my boast and idle joy,
And all my nature slay.

Jesu, my life, appear within,
And bruise the serpent’s head;
Enter my soul, extirpate* sin,
Cast out the cursed seed.

(*Charles’ only use of the term, per my study —LEL.)

O joyful sound of gospel grace!
#512 in 1866 Hymnal, M.E. Church South

O joyful sound of gospel grace!
Christ shall in me appear!
I, even I, shall see his face,
I shall be holy here!

The glorious crown of righteousness
To me reached out I view;
Conqueror through him, I soon shall seize,
And wear it as my due.

With me I know, I feel thou art;
But this cannot suffice,
Unless thou plantest in my heart
A constant paradise.

My earththou wat’rest from on high;
But make it all a pool:
Spring up, O well, I ever cry,
Spring up within my soul!

Notes
The first stanza was quoted in Hester Ann Rogers, A Diary of Spiritual Discovery, widely read in late 18th Century America, and on into the 19th Century (and quoted many times by early writers of the Holiness Movement).
Personal, present righteousness, the crown of redemption, offered freely and received by faith, is obtained and “worn” as part of one’s personal privilege as a believer (conquering sin through Christ).
The personal dimension of saving faith, presently known by the believer, but longing for a constant, abundant experience, alluding to sanctification:Charles often describes the present obtaining of entire sanctification with terms of desire, petition and witness.
Another allusion to spiritual life and holiness as an abundant supply of living water, in a generous amount:alluding to Numbers 21:17 and John 4:14.

Spirit of faith, come down
#212 in M.E. Church South Hymnal(1866)

Spirit of faith, come down
Reveal the things of God,
And make to us the Godhead known,
And witness with the blood:
’Tis thine the blood to apply,
And give us eyes to see,
Who did for every sinner die
Hath surely died for me.

No man can truly say
That Jesus is the Lord
Unless thou take the veil away,
And breathe the living word;
Then, only then we feel
Our interest in his blood,
And cry with joy unspeakable,
Thou art my Lord, my God!

O that the world might know
The all-atoning Lamb!
Spirit of faith, descend, and show
The virtue of his name;
The grace which all may find,
The saving power impart,
And testify to all mankind,
And speak in every heart!

Inspire the living faith
(Which whosoe’er receives,
The witness in himself he hath,
And consciously believes),
The faith that conquers all,
And doth the mountain move,
And saves whoe’er on Jesus call,
And perfects them in love.

Doctrinal notes
The Holy Spirit is the revealer of truth. Prevenient grace —Jesus’ sacrifice the basis of all salvation. The Spirit applies what Jesus provided. Regeneration opens spiritual eyes. Jesus’ atonement is universal in provision, but is efficient only for one who believes personally, and that realization is vital.
“Man” in the generic sense. 1 Cor. 12:3 (Lord = a beneficent ruler who supplies all one’s need.) The veil of a lack of understanding – The word of faith is imparted by the Holy Spirit (2 Cor. 3:16).Personal experience depends on this revelation that Jesus truly died “for me”. Interest = an individual part as beneficiary. The rejoicing of 1 Peter 1:8, and an allusion to Thomas’ confession in John 20:28.
Wesley’s evangelistic interest in the world

Another reference to unlimited atonement. The Holy Spirit’s office: to reveal Christ to the penitent sinner, apply justifying grace, which includes a “saving power” imparted, not simply imputed.
The universal offer of salvationis witnessed to and available for everyone, personally.
Wesley concludes, offering poetic observations on saving grace, including the witness of the Spirit, and a faith that effects a complete change.
Claims by faith a total submission, that actually removes sin (the mountain)
Full salvation for all who believe
Perfection in love = entire sanctification. Note the scope of truth contained in this one hymn.
Notes and commentary, © 2014, by
Leroy E. Lindsey, Jr., Ph.D.