Judgment

Verse 1

And must I be to judgment brought,
And answer in that day,
For every vain and idle thought,
And every word I say?

Verse 2

Yes, every secret of my heart
Shall shortly be made known,
And I receive my just desert
For all that I have done.

Verse 3

How careful then I ought to live!
With what religious fear,
Who such a strict account must give
For my behavior here.

Verse 4

Thou awful Judge of quick and dead,
The watchful power bestow;
So shall I to my ways take heed,
To all I speak or do.

Verse 1

Called to the feast by the King are we,
Sitting, perhaps, where his people be,
How will it fare, friend, with thee and me,
When the King comes in?

Refrain

When the King comes in, brother,
When the King comes in!
How will it fare with thee and me
When the King comes in?

Verse 2

Crowns on the head where the thorns have been,
Glorified he who once died for men,
Splendid the vision before us then,
When the King comes in.

Verse 3

Like lightning’s flash will that instant show
Things hidden long from both friend and foe,
Just what we are will each neighbor know,
When the King comes in.

Verse 4

Joyful his eye shall on each one rest
Who is in white wedding garments dressed,
Ah, well for us if we stand the test,
When the King comes in.

Verse 5

Endless the separation then,
Bitter the cry of deluded men,
Awful that moment beyond all ken,
When the King comes in.

Verse 6

Lord, grant us all, we implore thee, grace,
So to await thee each in his place,
That we may fear not to see thy face
When thou comest in.

Verse 1

Come, Lord, and tarry not;
Bring the long-looked-for day;
O why these years of waiting here,
These ages of delay?

Verse 2

Come, for Thy saints still wait;
Daily ascends their sigh:
The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come”:
Dost Thou not hear the cry?

Verse 3

Come, for creation groans,
Impatient of Thy stay,
Worn out with these long years of ill,
These ages of delay.

Verse 4

Come, and make all things new;
Build up this ruined earth;
Restore our faded Paradise,
Creation’s second birth.

Verse 5

Come, and begin Thy reign
Of everlasting peace;
Come, take the kingdom to Thyself,
Great King of Righteousness.

Verse 1

Day of wrath! O day of mourning!
See fulfilled the prophets’ warning,
Heaven and earth in ashes burning!

Verse 2

O what fear man’s bosom rendeth,
When from heaven the Judge descendeth,
On whose sentence all dependeth.

Verse 3

Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth;
Through earth’s sepulchres it ringeth;
All before the throne it bringeth.

Verse 4

Death is struck, and nature quaking;
All creation is awaking,
To its Judge an answer making.

Verse 5

Lo, the book, exactly worded,
Wherein all hath been recorded:
Thence shall judgment be awarded.

Verse 6

When the Judge His seat attaineth,
And each hidden deed arraigneth,
Nothing unavenged remaineth.

Verse 7

What shall I, frail man, be pleading,
Who for me be interceding,
When the just are mercy needing?

Verse 8

King of Majesty tremendous,
Who dost free salvation send us,
Fount of pity, then befriend us.

Verse 9

Think, kind Jesus, my salvation
Cost Thy wondrous Incarnation;
Leave me not to reprobation.

Verse 10

Faint and weary Thou hast sought me,
On the cross of suffering bought me;
Shall such grace be vainly brought me?

Verse 11

Righteous Judge of retribution,
Grant Thy gift of absolution
Ere that reckoning-day’s conclusion.

Verse 12

Guilty, now I pour my moaning,
All my shame with anguish owning;
Spare, O God, Thy suppliant groaning.

Verse 13

Thou the sinful woman savedst;
Thou the dying thief forgavest;
And to me a hope vouchsafest.

Verse 14

Worthless are my prayers and sighing;
Yet, good Lord, in grace complying,
Rescue me from fires undying.

Verse 15

With Thy favored sheep O place me;
Nor among the goats abase me;
But to Thy right hand up-raise me.

Verse 16

While the wicked are confounded,
Doomed to flames of woe unbounded,
Call me, with Thy saints surrounded.

Verse 17

Low I kneel with heart-submission;
See, like ashes, my contrition;
Help me in my last condition.

Verse 18

Ah, that day of tears and mourning!
From the dust of earth returning,
Man for judgment must prepare him;
Spare, O God, in mercy spare him:

Verse 19

Lord, all pitying, Jesus blest,
Grant us Thine eternal rest.

Verse 1

Great God, what do I see and hear!
The end of things created!
The Judge of mankind doth appear,
On clouds of glory seated!
The trumpet sounds; the graves restore
The dead which they contained before:
Prepare, my soul, to meet Him.

Verse 2

The dead in Christ shall first arise,
At the last trumpet’s sounding,
Caught up to meet Him in the skies,
With joy their Lord surrounding;
No gloomy fears their souls dismay;
His presence sheds eternal day
On those prepared to meet Him.

Verse 3

But sinners, filled with guilty fears,
Behold His wrath prevailing;
For they shall rise, and find their tears
And sighs are unavailing:
The day of grace is past and gone;
Trembling they stand before the throne,
All unprepared to meet Him.

Verse 4

Great God, what do I see and hear!
The end of things created!
The Judge of mankind doth appear,
On clouds of glory seated!
Beneath His cross I view the day
When heaven and earth shall pass away,
And thus prepare to meet Him.

Verse 1

How sad would it be, if when thou didst call,
All hopeless and unforgiven,
The angel that stands at the beautiful gate,
Should answer, No room in heaven.

Refrain

Sad, sad, sad would it be!
No room in heaven for thee!
No room, no room,
No room in heaven for thee!

Verse 2

How sad it would be, the harvest all past,
The bright summer days all over;
To know that the reapers had gathered the grain,
And left thee alone forever.

Verse 3

Oh, haste thee, and fly, while mercy is near,
Remember the love that he gave you;
The love that has sought thee is seeking thee still,
And Jesus now waits to save you.

Verse 1

Lift up your heads, rejoice,
Redemption draweth nigh;
Now breathes a softer air,
Now shines a milder sky;
The early trees put forth
Their new and tender leaf;
Hushed is the moaning wind
That told of winter’s grief.

Verse 2

Lift up your heads, rejoice,
Redemption draweth nigh;
Now mount the laden clouds,
Now flames the darkening sky;
The early scattered drops
Descend with heavy fall,
And to the waiting earth
The hidden thunders call.

Verse 3

Lift up your heads, rejoice,
Redemption draweth nigh;
O note the varying signs
Of earth, and air, and sky;
The God of glory comes
In gentleness and might,
To comfort and alarm,
To succor and to smite.

Verse 4

He comes, the wide world’s King,
He comes, the true heart’s Friend,
New gladness to begin,
And ancient wrong to end;
He comes, to fill with light
The weary waiting eye:
Lift up your heads, rejoice,
Redemption draweth nigh.

Verse 1

Light of those whose dreary dwelling
Borders on the shades of death,
Come, and by Thy love’s revealing,
Dissipate the clouds beneath.

Verse 2

The new heaven and earth’s Creator,
In our deepest darkness rise,
Scattering all the night of nature,
Pouring eyesight on our eyes.

Verse 3

Still we wait for Thine appearing;
Life and joy Thy beams impart,
Chasing all our fears, and cheering
Every poor benighted heart.

Verse 4

Come and manifest the favor
God hath for our ransomed race;
Come, Thou glorious God and Saviour,
Come and bring the gospel grace.

Verse 5

Save us in Thy great compassion,
O Thou mild, pacific Prince;
Give the knowledge of salvation,
Give the pardon of our sins.

Verse 6

By Thine all-restoring merit
Every burdened soul release;
Every weary, wandering spirit
Guide into Thy perfect peace.

Verse 1

Lo! He comes, with clouds descending,
Once for favored sinners slain;
Thousand thousand saints attending
Swell the triumph of His train:
Alleluia! Alleluia!
God appears on earth to reign.

Verse 2

Every eye shall now behold Him,
Robed in dreadful majesty;
Those who set at naught and sold Him,
Pierced, and nailed Him to the Tree,
Deeply wailing,
Shall the true Messiah see.

Verse 3

Every island, sea, and mountain,
Heaven and earth, shall flee away;
All who hate Him must, confounded,
Hear the trump proclaim the day;
Come to judgment!
Come to judgment, come away!

Verse 4

Now Redemption, long expected,
See in solemn pomp appear!
All His saints, by man rejected,
Now shall meet Him in the air:
Alleluia!
See the day of God appear!

Verse 5

Answer Thine own Bride and Spirit,
Hasten, Lord, the general doom!
The new heaven and earth to inherit,
Take Thy pining exiles home:
All creation
Travails, groans, and bids Thee come.

Verse 6

Yea, Amen! let all adore Thee,
High on Thine eternal throne;
Saviour, take the power and glory,
Claim the kingdom for Thine own:
O come quickly;
Alleluia! come, Lord, come.

Verse 1

Lo! on a narrow neck of land,
Between two boundless seas I stand,--
Yet how insensible!
A point of time--a moment’s space--
Removes me to yon heavenly place,
Or shuts me up in hell!

Verse 2

O God! my inmost soul convert,
And deeply on my thoughtless heart
Eternal things impress;
Give me to feel their solemn weight,
And save me, ere it be too late!
Wake me to righteousness.

Verse 3

Be this my one great business here,
With holy trembling, holy fear,
To make my calling sure;
Thine utmost counsel to fulfill,
To suffer all thy righteous will,
And to the end endure!

Verse 4

Then Savior! then my soul receive,
Transported from the earth, to live
And reign with thee above;
Where faith is sweetly lost in sight,
And hope, in full supreme delight,
And everlasting love.

Verse 1

O God, mine inmost soul convert,
And deeply on my thoughtful heart
Eternal things impress;
Give me to feel their solemn weight,
And save me ere it be too late;
Wake me to righteousness.

Verse 2

Before me place in dread array
The pomp of that tremendous day
When Thou with clouds shalt come
To judge the nations at Thy bar;
And tell me, Lord, shall I be there
To meet a joyful doom?

Verse 3

Then, Saviour, then my soul receive,
Transported from the vale, to live
And reign with Thee above,
Where faith is sweetly lost in sight,
And hope in full, supreme delight,
And everlasting love.

Verse 1

O quickly come, dread Judge of all;
For, awful though Thine advent be,
All shadows from the truth will fall,
And falsehood die, in sight of Thee:
O quickly come; for doubt and fear
Like clouds dissolve when Thou art near.

Verse 2

O quickly come, great King of all;
Reign all around us, and within;
Let sin no more our souls enthral,
Let pain and sorrow die with sin:
O quickly come; for Thou alone
Canst make Thy scattered people one.

Verse 3

O quickly come, true Life of all;
For death is mighty all around;
On every home His shadows fall,
On every heart his mark is found:
O quickly come; for grief and pain
Can never cloud Thy glorious reign.

Verse 4

O quickly come, sure Light of all;
For gloomy night broods o’er our way:
And weakly souls begin to fall
With weary watching for the day:
O quickly come; for round Thy throne
No eye is blind, no night is known.

Verse 1

Soon the evening shadows falling
Close the day of mortal life;
Soon the hand of death appalling
Draws thee from its weary strife.

Refrain

Are you ready? are you ready?
’Tis the Spirit calling, why delay?
Are you ready? are you ready?
Do not linger longer, come to-day.

Verse 2

Soon the awful trumpet sounding
Calls thee to the judgment throne;
Now prepare, for love abounding
Yet has left thee not alone.

Verse 3

Oh, how fatal ’tis to linger!
Art thou ready--ready now?
Ready should Death’s icy finger
Lay its chill upon thy brow?

Verse 4

Priceless love and free salvation
Freely still are offered thee;
Yield no longer to temptation,
But from sin and sorrow flee.

Verse 1

That awful day will surely come,
Th’ appointed hour makes haste,
When I must stand before the Judge
And pass the solemn test.

Verse 2

Thou lovely Chief of all my joys,
Thou Sovereign of my heart,
How could I bear to hear thy voice
Pronounce the sound, “Depart!”

Verse 3

Oh, wretched state of deep despair,
To see my God remove,
And fix my dreadful station where
I must not taste his love!

Verse 4

Oh, tell me that my worthless name
Is graven on thy hands;
Show me some promise in thy book
Where my salvation stands.

Verse 1

That day of wrath, that dreadful day,
When heaven and earth shall pass away!
What power shall be the sinner’s stay?
How shall he meet that dreadful day?

Verse 2

When, shrivelling like a parchèd scroll,
The flaming heavens together roll;
When louder yet, and yet more dread,
Swells the high trump that wakes the dead;

Verse 3

O on that day, that wrathful day,
When man to judgment wakes from clay,
Be Thou the trembling sinner’s stay,
Though heaven and earth shall pass away.

Verse 1

The world is very evil;
The times are waxing late:
Be sober and keep vigil,
The Judge is at the gate,—
The Judge that comes in mercy,
The Judge that comes with might,
To terminate the evil,
To diadem the right.

Verse 2

Arise, arise, good Christian,
Let right to wrong succeed;
Let penitential sorrow
To heavenly gladness lead;
To the light that hath no evening,
That knows nor moon nor sun,
The light so new and golden,
The light that is but one:

Verse 3

The home of fadeless splendor,
Of flowers that fear no thorn,
Where they shall dwell as children
Who here as exiles mourn;
Midst power that knows no limit,
And wisdom free from bound,
The beatific vision
Shall glad the saints around.

Verse 4

O happy, holy portion,
Refection for the blest,
True vision of true beauty,
Sweet cure of all distrest!
Strive, man, to win that glory;
Toil, man, to gain that light;
Send hope before to grasp it,
Till hope be lost in sight.

Verse 5

O sweet and blessed country,
The home of God’s elect!
O sweet and blessed country
That eager hearts expect!
Jesus, in mercy bring us
To that dear land of rest,
Who art, with God the Father,
And Spirit, ever blest.

Verse 1

Thou art coming, O my Saviour,
Thou art coming! O my King,
Every tongue Thy name confessing,
Well may we rejoice and sing.

Verse 2

Thou art coming! rays of glory
Through the veil Thy death has rent,
Gladden now our pilgrim pathway,
Glory from Thy presence sent.

Verse 3

Thou art coming, Thou art coming,
We shall meet Thee on Thy way,
Thou art coming, we shall see Thee,
And be like Thee on that day.

Verse 4

Thou art coming, Thou art coming,
Jesus, our beloved Lord,
O the joy to see Thee reigning,
Worshiped, glorified, adored.

Verse 5

Thou art coming, and a shadow,
Not a stain, not a tear,
Not a sin and not a sorrow,
On that sunrise grand and clear;

Verse 6

Thou art coming! Jesus Saviour,
Nothing else seems worth a thought,
Oh, how marvelous the glory,
And the bliss Thy pain hath bought.

Verse 7

Thou art coming! we are waiting
With a hope that can not fail,
Asking not the day or hour,
Anchored safe within the veil;

Verse 8

Thou art coming! At Thy coming,
We are witnesses for this,
As we meet Thee in communion,
Earnest of our coming bliss.

Verse 1

Thou art coming, O my Saviour,
Thou art coming, O my King,
In Thy beauty all resplendent,
In Thy glory all transcendent;
Well may we rejoice and sing:
Coming! in the opening east
Herald brightness slowly swells;
Coming! O my glorious Priest,
Hear we not Thy golden bells?

Verse 2

Thou art coming, Thou art coming;
We shall meet Thee on Thy way,
We shall see Thee, we shall know Thee,
We shall bless Thee, we shall show Thee
All our hearts could never say:
What an anthem that will be,
Ringing out our love to Thee,
Pouring out our rapture sweet
At Thine own all-glorious feet.

Verse 3

Thou art coming; at Thy Table
We are witnesses for this;
While remembering hearts Thou meetest
In communion clearest, sweetest,
Earnest of our coming bliss:
Showing not Thy death alone,
And Thy love exceeding great,
But Thy coming and Thy throne,
All for which we long and wait.

Verse 4

Thou art coming; we are waiting
With a hope that cannot fail,
Asking not the day or hour,
Resting on Thy word of power,
Anchored safe within the veil:
Time appointed may be long,
But the vision must be sure;
Certainty shall make us strong,
Joyful patience can endure.

Verse 5

O the joy to see Thee reigning,
Thee, my own beloved Lord!
Every tongue Thy Name confessing,
Worship, honor, glory, blessing
Brought to Thee with glad accord;
Thee, my Master and my Friend,
Vindicated and enthroned;
Unto earth’s remotest end
Glorified, adored, and owned.

Verse 1

Wake, awake, for night is flying;
The watchmen on the heights are crying,
Awake, Jerusalem, at last!
Midnight hears the welcome voices,
And at the thrilling cry rejoices:
Come forth, ye virgins, night is past!
The Bridegroom comes; awake,
Your lamps with gladness take;
Alleluia!
And for His marriage-feast prepare,
For ye must go to meet Him there.

Verse 2

Zion hears the watchmen singing,
And all her heart with joy is springing;
She wakes, she rises from her gloom:
For her Lord comes down all glorious,
The Strong in grace, in truth Victorious,
Her Star is risen, her Light is come.
Ah, come, Thou blessed Lord,
O Jesus, Son of God,
Alleluia!
We follow till the halls we see
Where Thou hast bid us sup with Thee.

Verse 3

Now let all the heavens adore Thee,
And men and angels sing before Thee,
With harp and cymbal’s clearest tone;
Of one pearl each shining portal,
Where we are with the choir immortal
Of angels round Thy dazzling throne;
Nor eye hath seen, nor ear
Hath yet attained to hear
What there is ours;
But we rejoice and sing to Thee
Our hymn of joy eternally.

Verse 1

When thou, my righteous Judge, shalt come,
To take thy ransomed people home,
Shall I among them stand?
Shall such a worthless worm as I,
Who sometimes am afraid to die,
Be found at thy right hand?

Verse 2

I love to meet thy people now,
Before thy feet with them to bow,
Though vilest of them all;
But--can I bear the piercing thought?--
What if my name should be left out,
When thou for them shalt call?

Verse 3

O Lord, prevent it by thy grace;
Be thou my only hiding-place,
In this th’ accepted day;
Thy pardoning voice, oh, let me hear,
To still my unbelieving fear,
Nor let me fall, I pray.

Verse 4

And when the final trump shall sound,
Among thy saints let me be found,
To bow before thy face;
Then in triumphant strains I’ll sing,
While heaven’s resounding mansions ring
With praise of sovereign grace.

Thus there are two cities, one of the wicked, the other of the just, which to endure from the beginning of the human race even to the end of time, which are now intermingled in body, but separated in will, and which, moreover, are to be separated in body also on the day of judgment. For all men who love pride and temporal dominion together with empty vanity and display of presumption, and all spirits who set their affections on such things and seek their own glory by the subjection of man, are bound fast together in one fellowship; and even though they frequently fight one with another for these ends, still they are flung headlong by an equal weight of desire into the same abyss, and are united to one another by the likeness of their ways and deserts. And again, all men and all spirits who humbly seek God’s glory, not their own, and who follow Him in godliness, belong to one fellowship. And yet God is most merciful and long-suffering toward ungodly men, and offers them room for repentance and amendment.