When captious Pharisees are near,
Thro’ prudence false, or slavish fear
We never should the truth suppress,
We never should with man comply,
Their pride or malice gratify,
Or speak, a curious world to please:
Whether they praise us, or condemn,
Our silence or our freedom blame,
We make the heavenly counsel known,
To truth our testimony bear,
And only for its interests care,
And simply speak for Christ alone.
When captious Pharisees are near
Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘Render to Cesar &c.’—[Mark 12,] v. 17.” This hymn appears in the 1766 manuscript “MS Mark.” 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 1977/574, 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 53.
Publishing: Public Domain