Blind to the Christian mystery

Verse 1
Blind to the Christian mystery,
We first a glimpse of glory see,
And zealous for thy cause
Expect with sanguine hope and vain
The rest before the toil to gain,
The crown before the cross.

Verse 2
But ah! we know not what we say,
Who for pure consolation pray,
And seek with fond desire
In pomp of ghostly gifts to shine,
And in our fleshly prisons join
The bright celestial quire.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘Peter said unto Jesus, Master, it is good for us to be here: and let us make three tabernacles ... not knowing what he said.’—[Luke 9,] v. 33.” This hymn appears in the 1766 manuscript “MS Luke.” This manuscript is part of the collection of the Methodist Archive and Research Centre in The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester (accession number MA 1977/575, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 3). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 11 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1871), page 184.
Publishing: Public Domain