Whether the Word Be Preached or Read
Charles Wesley
(1707-1788)

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2 Corinthians 3:6

Whether the Word be preached or read,
No saving benefit I gain
From empty sounds or letters dead;
Unprofitable all and vain,
Unless by faith Thy Word I hear
And see its heav’nly character.

Unmixed with faith, the Scripture gives
No comfort, life, or light to see,
But me in darker darkness leaves,
Implunged in deeper misery,
O’erwhelmed with nature’s sorest ills;
The Spirit saves, the letter kills.

If God enlighten through His Word,
I shall my kind Enlight’ner bless;
But void and naked of my Lord,
What are all verbal promises?
Nothing to me, till faith divine
Inspire, inspeak, and make them mine.

Jesus, th’ appropriating grace
’Tis Thine on sinners to bestow.
Open mine eyes to see Thy face,
Open my heart Thyself to know.
And then I through Thy Word obtain
Sure present and eternal gain.

 

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Jim’s Itinerary

9-21 May: Pastors’ train­ing conference, Guate­mala.
10-17 June: Ministering in Iowa, including the Iowa Holiness Association Camp Meeting [tentative]
25 Jul-3 Aug: Pastors’ train­ing conferences in Costa Rica with Lend­A­Hand Mission Teams.

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