Who furious for the truth contend

Verse 1
Who furious for the truth contend,
Christ with an arm of flesh defend,
The world with its own weapons fight,
And oft your fellow-servants smite,
Put up the controversial sword,
Nor stain the meekness of your Lord.

Verse 2
Let heathens force by force repel,
Let bigots boast their fiery zeal,
The cup which God to Christ did give,
Ye followers of the Lamb, receive,
(The cup to all his members given)
And die on earth, to reign in heaven.

Verse 3
Jesus, I would with joy embrace
Thy portion here, thy patient grace,
Meekly my nature’s will resign,
Accept the precious gift divine,
Thy sacred cup of grief unknown,
Thy cross, which mounts me to thy throne.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘Put up thy sword into the sheath: the cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?’—[John 18,] v. 11." This hymn appears in the 1763-64 manuscript “MS John.” 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 1977/573, 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. 12 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1871), page 69.
Publishing: Public Domain