Charles Wesley began a personal relationship with Jesus on May 21, 1738. Salvation opened the floodgates for this highly skilled poet. Within 72 hours he takes pen to paper and writes the hymn, And Can It Be. One year later, he writes an 18-verse poem for Pentecost (Whit) Sunday originally titled “For the Anniversary Day of One’s Conversion”. Of utmost importance to both Wesley brothers, John and Charles, was evangelism, followed by poetry for Charles. As recognized leaders of the First Evangelical Great Awakening, they, along with George Whitefield, preached the Good News of salvation by faith, not by works. The church opposed this, closing their doors, forcing them to do the unthinkable—preach outside the church.

Wesley wrote about every aspect of the Christian life, emphasizing the human experience. Drawing from his own life, a blend of doctrine and personal experience, gives his poetry a depth of emotion. The effervescent wellspring pouring forth from his heart of gratitude for the redemptive work of his Savior Jesus Christ met with eager devotion to Christ. Though his brother, John, known for his evangelistic messages, is the better known of the two, more people have come to Christ through the hymns than through John’s preaching. For 50 years, Charles wrote poetry with remarkable rhythm and frequent allusion. He translated Biblical principles into images and presented them in an evangelistic, orderly manner.

The 12th stanza of Wesley’s original 18-stanza poem declares:

Hear him, ye deaf, his praise, ye dumb,
your loosened tongues employ;
ye blind, behold your Savior come,
and leap, ye lame, for joy.

Most of the verses in this poem deal intimately with Wesley’s own conversion experience. Prior to his conversion, while studying under the Moravian scholar, Peter Bohler, extreme doubts and fears about his faith had plagued him. One day in late spring, he lay in bed suffering from the Pleurisy when he was deeply affected when reading in his Bible. He records in his journal, “With a strange palpitation of heart, I said, yet feared to say, I believe, I believe!” Upon this declaration of faith, his health returned. He refers to this event in the 3^rd verse of the poem:

Jesus! The name that charms our fears,
That bids our sorrows cease,
Tis music in the sinner’s ears,
Tis life, and health, and peace.

For centuries, this hymn has acquired a prominent place as the first hymn in Methodist hymnals, and rightly so. For it acknowledges the worship of God throughout eternity. An apt proclamation from the pen of this prolific hymnist on the anniversary of his conversion.