Thus may I the kingdom seize

Verse 1
Thus may I the kingdom seize,
Where my Lord erects his throne,
Peace, and joy, and righteousness
Find compriz’d in Christ alone;
Labour thus with violent strife,
Till the power I apprehend,
Grasp the true, eternal Life,
Keep my Saviour to the end.

Verse 2
Now the holy violence give,
Let me of thy strength lay hold,
Bid my fearful soul believe,
Bid my faithful soul be bold,
Bold thy deepest cup to take,
Following on to Calvary,
Bold to suffer for thy sake,
Bold to lose my all for Thee.

Verse 3
Strengthen’d by thy Spirit’s word
Let this feeble, dying worm
Rush into thy kingdom, Lord,
Take the promises by storm:
O might all thy grace improve,
Conscious of their sins forgiven,
Seize the crown of perfect love,
Scale in death the mount of heaven!

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.’—[Matt. 11,] v. 12.” Wesley originally published an earlier version of verse 3 in his 1762 hymnal "Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures, Vol. 2" (Bristol: Farley, 1762). He later revised and expanded it in his unpublished 1766 manuscript “MS Matthew.”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), pages 249-50.
Publishing: Public Domain