How soon alas, the selfish sin

How soon alas, the selfish sin,
The love of property comes in,
While man from God with-holds a part,
Yet seems to give him all his heart!
Deceiv’d th’ Omniscient cannot be
By avarice and hypocrisy,
Who lurking under love’s disguise
Present detested sacrifice.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘Ananias and Sapphira, sold a possession, and kept back part of the price, &c.’—[Acts 5,] v. 1, 2.” This hymn appears in the 1764 manuscript “MS Acts.” 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 1977/555, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 1). 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. 12 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1871), page 182.
Publishing: Public Domain