Scripture Verse

The kingdom of Heaven is like ten virgins who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom. Matthew 25:1

Introduction

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John Goss (1800–1880)
National Portrait Gallery

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Words: From Hymns and Sac­red Po­ems, by John & Charles Wes­ley, 1749.

Music: Ar­thur’s Seat John Goss, Hymns and Songs of Praise (New York: 1874) (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

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Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

Lyrics

Ye vir­gin souls, arise,
With all the dead awake
Unto sal­va­tion wise,
Oil in your ves­sels take;
Upstarting at the mid­night cry,
Behold the hea­ven­ly Bride­groom nigh!

He comes, He comes, to call
The na­tions to His bar,
And raise to glo­ry all
Who fit for glo­ry are;
Made rea­dy for your full re­ward,
Go forth with joy to meet your Lord.

Go, meet Him in the sky,
Your ev­er­last­ing friend;
Your head to gl­or­ify,
With all His saints as­cend;
Ye pure in heart, ob­tain the grace
To see, with­out a veil, His face!

Ye that have here re­ceived
The unc­tion from above,
And in His Spi­rit lived,
Obedient to His love,
Jesus shall claim you for His bride:
Rejoice with all the sanc­ti­fied!

Rejoice in glo­ri­ous hope
Of that great day un­known,
When all shall be caught up
And stand be­fore His throne,
Called to par­take the mar­riage feast,
And lean on our Im­ma­nu­el’s breast.

The ev­er­last­ing doors
Shall soon the saints re­ceive,
Above yon an­gel pow­ers
In glo­ri­ous joy to live;
Far from a world of grief and sin,
With God eter­nal­ly shut in.

Then let us wait to hear
The trum­pet’s wel­come sound;
To see our Lord ap­pear,
Watching let us be found;
When Je­sus doth the hea­vens bow,
Be found—as, Lord, Thou find’st us now!