Christ Himself the precept gives

Verse 1
Christ himself the precept gives,
(Let who will the word despise)
Bids me in the sacred leaves
Trace the way to paradise,
All his oracles explore,
Read, and pray them o’re and o’re.

Verse 2
Who with true humility
Seek Him in the written word,
Christ in every page they see,
See, and apprehend their Lord:
Every scripture makes him known,
Testifies of Christ alone.

Verse 3
Here I cannot seek in vain:
Digging deep into the mine,
Hidden treasure I obtain,
Pure, eternal Life Divine,
Find Him in his Spirit given,
Christ the Way, the Truth of heaven.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘Search the Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me.’—[John 5,] v. 39." 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. 11 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1871), page 374.
Publishing: Public Domain