That heavenly principle within,
Doth it at once its power exert,
At once root out the seed of sin,
And plant perfection in the heart?
No; but a gradual life it sends,
Diffusive thro’ the faithful soul,
To actions, words, and thoughts extends,
And slowly sanctifies the whole.
That heavenly principle within
Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, in the kingdom of their Father.’—[Matt. 13,] v. 43.Wesley originally published verse 1 in his 1762 hymnal "Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures, Vol. 2" (Bristol: Farley, 1762). He later revised it and added the second verse in his unpublished 1766 manuscript “MS Matthew.” 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 1977/577, 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. 10 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1870), page 275.
Publishing: Public Domain