I have sung this hymn in a choir, in a congregation, listened to it on headphones in my study, playing loudly in the car, and recited it quietly in my head at prayer. Sanctification is not determined by what we do for God, but by the work of God. The flame of faith can only be lit from outside and from above, and the Wesleys were passionate in their conviction that human salvation and holiness arises from the response of the heart, mind and will to the universal prevenient grace of God.
Nowhere in this hymn is the Holy Spirit mentioned, but everywhere is presupposed. Yet Wesley's sense of the full activity and of the Triune God in all the work and works of salvation means he prays without embarrassment to Father, Son and Spirit. That first verses is a distilled concentrate of human longing despite deep self-knowledge of unworthiness. The second verse is dominated by the presence of that long multi-syllabic "inextinguishable", preceded by one syllable words, and followed by the trembling return of the fire of God's love to its source, in every act of prayer and praise. Early Methodists saw themselves as glad tiireless workers for Jesus, as all serious disciples must be, so the order of the verbs is important, 'to work and speak and think for thee"; and that can only happen when Jesus confirms and makes the desires of faith strong. But obedience and faithfulness are the human side of living the gift of grace, guarding the holy fire, and stirring up the gift. Only then, ready for all thy perfect will, and only in the life fulfilled in love and holiness, is the giving of our lives in sacrificial service complete.
And all of this is the inward work of the Holy Spirit, and the responsive love and obedience of the human heart in faithfully following after the one who came from above.
1 O thou who camest from above
the pure celestial fire to impart,
kindle a flame of sacred love
on the mean altar of my heart.
2 There let it for thy glory burn
with inextinguishable blaze,
and trembling to its source return,
in humble prayer and fervent praise.
3 Jesus, confirm my heart's desire
to work and speak and think for thee;
still let me guard the holy fire,
and still stir up thy gift in me.
4 Ready for all thy perfect will,
my acts of faith and love repeat,
till death thy endless mercies seal,
and make the sacrifice complete.
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