Nature would the crown receive
The first moment we believe,
But we vainly think to seize
Instantaneous holiness:
Faith alone cannot suffice,
Patience too must earn the prize,
Both insure the promise given,
Lead thro’ perfect love to heaven.
Nature would the crown receive
Hymnal/Album: Originally titled “Be followers of them, who through faith and patience, inherit the promises.”—[Heb.] vi. 12. Introduced in Charles Wesley, Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures, Vol. 2 (Bristol: Farley, 1762). Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 13 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1872), page 133.
Publishing: Public Domain