Scripture Verse

Come over…and help us. Acts 16:9

Introduction

portrait
Rouget de Lisle (1760–1836)

Words: Will­iam P. Ri­vers (1827–1904).

Music: Mar­seil­laise, Rou­get de Lisle, April 1792 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know when this hymn was writ­ten,

illustration
Converted British Family Sheltering a Christian
Missionary from the Persecution of the Druids
William Holman Hunt (1827–1910)

Lyrics

Ye Chris­tian men of every nation,
Hark, hark what cries salute your ears!
The heathen in their degradation
They call for help with sighs and tears,
They call for help with sighs and tears;
Shall souls immortal languish bleeding?
Oppressed by Satan’s slavish chains,
In superstition’s woes and pains,
While Chris­tian hearts are dead, unheeding?

Refrain

Arise, O Church of God!
Awake for Je­sus’ sake!
March on, march on, all hearts aflame,
For Christ the world to take.

By thousands, hopeless, they are falling,
And ne’er have heard their Sav­ior’s name;
For life and liberty they’re calling,
But perish in their guilt and shame,
But perish in their guilt and shame;
Too long have Christians heard their wailing,
Their death cries out of pagan night;
Their prayers in vain for Gos­pel light;
Oh, shall their cries be unavailing?

Refrain

Oh, ye who serve the King of Glory,
In lands where Hea­ven’s blessings glow,
Can ye withhold sal­va­tion’s story,
From myriads sunk in heathen woe?
From myriads sunk in heathen woe?
Nay, by the blood that makes men brothers,
The bannered cross must be unfurled;
The kingdom is for all the world,
And men redeemed must uplift others.

Refrain

Shall Christians hoard their golden treasure?
And pile their stores with miser’s greed,
Or spend for fashion, pride and pleasures,
While empires for the Gos­pel plead?
While empires for the Gos­pel plead?
Can men of soul, their God adoring,
For heaven’s crowning glories hope?
While millions in their blindness grope,
And die, the light of life imploring?

Refrain

See, Hea­ven lends cooperation!
For conquests grand and manifold;
And calls the Church to consecration,
Of life and strength and precious gold;
Of life and strength and precious gold;
While with God’s power the world is shaking,
O’erturning systems, creeds and caste,
And working changes worldwide vast,
’Tis time dead Chris­tian souls were waking.

Refrain