Whoe’er the cross of Christ oppose

Verse 1
Whoe’er the cross of Christ oppose,
He justly numbers with his foes;
And we should do the same:
Who turns us from the narrow road,
The Saviour’s death, the ways of God,
Is worthy Satan’s name.

Verse 2
False friendship in its last excess
With only carnal tenderness
Can our weak hearts inspire:
And such is contrary to Thee,
Whose love injoins that daily we
Should on thy cross expire.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘He turned and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan, thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.’—Matt. 16, v. 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 302.
Publishing: Public Domain