Sinner, who dost thyself deceive

Verse 1
Sinner, who dost thyself deceive,
By prudent care the cross decline,
Thou art not willing yet to live
In Christ the righteous life divine;
Thou dost not persecution bear,
Which all who would be sav’d endure;
Thy soul is in the fowler’s snare,
And sleeps in Satan’s arms secure.

Verse 2
Soon as thou wilt the world forsake,
The world becomes thy mortal foe,
Vengeance on their old slave they take,
And Pharaoh will not let thee go;
Thou hast the mark, the foul disgrace,
Resolv’d with sin no more to dwell,
And heav’n-ward if thou turn thy face,
Thou bear’st the wrath of earth and hell.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution.”—[2 Tim.] iii. 12. Introduced in Charles Wesley, Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures, Vol. 2 (Bristol: Farley, 1762). Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 13 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1872), page 108.
Publishing: Public Domain