Adventist Pioneer Library

The Sinner — Warning and Invitation

Delay not, delay not, O sinner, draw near!

  • No. 418
  • Words Thomas Hastings.
  • 5 stanzas
  • Words only in the original

Words

⤢ Full screen
1

Delay not, delay not, O sinner, draw near!The waters of life are now flowing for thee;No price is demanded, the Saviour is here;Redemption is purchased, salvation is free.

2

Delay not, delay not, why longer abuseThe love and compassion of Jesus,. thy God?A fountain is open; how canst thou refuseTo wash and be cleansed in his pardoning blood?

3

Delay not, delay not, O sinner, to come;For Mercy still lingers, and calls thee to-day:Her voice is not heard in the vale of the tomb;Her message unheeded will soon pass away.

4

Delay not, delay not, the Spirit of graceLong grieved and resisted may take his sad flight,And leave thee in darkness to finish thy race,To sink in the gloom of eternity's night.

5

Delay not, delay not, the hour is at hand,The earth shall dissolve, and the heaven's shall fade,The dead, small and great, in the Judgment shall stand;What power then, O sinner! will lend thee its aid?

About this hymn

As printed Words only. As printed: hymn number «418» (large) with the reference line «511, 781.» in italics beside it (= sung to the tunes of hymns 511 or 781); the hymn stands in the left column of p. 135 below hymn 417 (stanzas 1–3) and continues at the top of the right column (stanzas 4–5), ending with «Thomas Hastings.» in italics. The first word «DELAY» is set in capitals and small capitals; it is written «Delay» here. No meter is printed (the text is 11s, like hymn 417 above it). The long verse lines are broken by the column width (the turn-overs «thee;», «free.», «God?», «ing blood?», «to-day:», «tomb;», «away.», «sad flight,», «race,», «en's shall fade,», «shall stand;», «thee its aid?» are set on their own indented lines); they are joined here, one verse per line, and the two words broken at a turn-over are joined («pardon-/ing» → «pardoning», «heav-/en's» → «heaven's»). Lines 2 and 4 of each stanza are indented in the print. The stanza numbers are printed without a period; they are written «1.» … here, as in the other deliveries of this book. The print sets a thin space before «;» and «!» («here ;», «stand ;», «sinner !»); it is closed up here. The printer's curly apostrophes are written straight («eternity's», «heaven's»). Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's («Mercy», «to-day», «Saviour», «Judgment», the full stop after the comma in «Jesus,.», the apostrophe in «heaven's»).

Source
The Seventh-day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book (Battle Creek: Review & Herald, 1886/1888)
Where
The Sinner — Warning and Invitation · No. 418 · printed page 135
Checked
lyrics verified (fork reading; parent check pending) · 2026-10-01