We preach in Jesus’ name in vain

Verse 1
We preach in Jesus’ name in vain,
We write, as champions of our Lord,
His kingdom’s mysteries explain,
And do great wonders thro’ his word;
If casting off the godly fear,
In crooked paths of sin we run,
We save the gracious souls that hear,
But lose, forever lose our own.

Verse 2
Shall I be of that wretched croud
Those workers of unrighteousness,
Rejected by an angry God,
And justly banish’d from thy face?
Or now, while mercy may be found,
From all iniquity depart,
In all the fruits of grace abound,
And serve Thee with a loving heart?

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name &c.’—[Matt. 7,] v. 22, 23.” This hymn appears in the 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), page 205.
Publishing: Public Domain