Scripture Verse

The seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in Heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever. Revelation 11:15

Introduction

Words: A. B. W., 1908, alt. Ap­peared in Hymns of the Se­cond Com­ing of Our Lord Je­sus Christ, ed­it­ed by Bai­lie Brown & Pe­ter P. Bil­horn (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Bil­horn Bro­thers, 1911), page 66.

Music: Vin­nyt­sia W. Still­man Mar­tin (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know A. B. W.’s full name, or where to get a good pho­to of him (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
W. Stillman Martin (1862–1935)

Lyrics

The light of His coming is flashing afar,
The rising and glo­ry of Bethlehem’s star,
The heavens receive Him no longer from sight,
Descending, encompassed with seraphim bright.

Refrain

Rejoice, O ye faithful, the circling of years
Has hastened His coming to dry up your tears;
The sweet fields of Eden again are restored—
The kingdoms of earth now belong to your Lord.

He comes, the Messiah, to harvest the earth,
The gems of His crown are bright jewels of worth;
The mantle of death is now folded away,
The faithful of ages are born in a day.

Refrain

Behold the des­pis­èd, the cru­ci­fied One,
Once led to the cross, now as­cend­ing the throne;
The kings of the earth cast their crowns at His feet,
The hosts of the hea­vens His prais­es re­peat.

Refrain

An ex­pand­ed, mo­di­fied ver­sion of these ly­rics was print­ed in The Ca­na­di­an Watch­man, vol­ume 1, num­ber 6 (Osha­wa, On­tar­io: June 1921), page 29, marked as Se­lect­ed.

The light of His com­ing is flash­ing afar,
The ris­ing and glo­ry of Beth­le­hem’s star;
The hea­vens con­ceal Him no long­er from sight,
Descending, en­com­passed with se­ra­phim bright.

He comes! lo, He comes for the har­vest of earth!
The gems of His crown are bright jew­els of worth;
And the man­tle of death is fold­ed away,
And the faith­ful of ag­es are born in a day.

Hail, land of the Ori­ent, lift up thy head!
The Just One has come; the de­stroy­er has fled!
The hills of Ju­dea with glad­ness re­joice,
And the trees clap their hands at the sound of His voice.

Thou tri­bute to strang­ers no long­er must yield,
Nor the place of His throne be plowed as a field;
But the ci­ty of God will arise on its height,
And the saved of the na­tions shall walk in its light.

Behold the des­pis­èd and cru­ci­fied One,
Once led to the cross, now as­cend­ing the throne!
And the kings of the earth cast their crowns at His feet,
And the hosts of the hea­vens His prais­es re­peat.

Rejoice, O ye faith­ful! the circ­ling of years
Has hast­ened His com­ing to dry up your tears;
The sweet fields of Ed­en again are re­stored—
The king­dom of Je­sus. Re­joice in the Lord!