Scripture Verse

The Lord Himself will come down from Heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. 1 Thessalonians 4:16

Introduction

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Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

Words: Charles Wes­ley, Hymns and Sac­red Po­ems 1742, page 128. This is a short ver­sion of Let the World La­ment Their Dead.

Music: Grey­stone Will­iam R. Wag­horne, in Songs for Lit­tle Peo­ple (Dan­iel­son & Co­nant: 1905) (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a bet­ter pho­to of Wag­horne,

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William R. Waghorne
1881–1942

Lyrics

Jesus, faithful to His word,
Shall with a shout descend;
All Hea­ven’s host their glo­ri­ous Lord
Shall pompously attend;
Christ shall come with dreadful noise,
Lightnings swift, and thunders loud;
With the great archangel’s voice,
And with the trump of God.

First the dead in Christ shall rise;
Then we that yet remain
Shall be caught up to the skies,
And see our Lord again:
We shall meet Him in the air,
All rapt up to Hea­ven shall be,
See, and love, and praise Him there,
To all eternity.

Who can tell the happiness
This glo­ri­ous hope affords?
Joy unuttered we possess
In these reviving words;
Happy while on earth we breathe,
Mightier bliss ordained to know;
Trampling upon sin and death,
To the third Hea­ven we go.