Ye neighbours and friends Of Jesus draw near

Ye neighbours and friends Of Jesus draw near.  Charles Wesley* (1707-1788). First published in Hymns and Sacred Poems (1749), the book that Charles Wesley published in his own name with his brother’s approval. It began: Ye Neighbours, and Friends of Jesus, draw near; His Love condescends, By Titles so dear To call, and invite you His Triumph to prove, And freely delight you In Jesus his love. The Shepherd who died His Sheep to redeem, On ev’ry Side are gather’d to Him, The Weary and Burthen’d, The Reprobate Race. And wait to be pardon’d Thro’ Jesus his Grace. It was entitled ‘After preaching to the Newcastle Colliers’. It had twelve 4-double-line stanzas. In A Collection of Hymns for the...