MY brother, have you ever heard
That Christ the Lord will come
From earth, the grave, and from the sea,
To call His people home?
Ah yes, you say, I oft have heard
That faithful message given,
That Christ the Lord will come again
To take His saints to heaven.
And oft I've told the message too,
To others far and wide,
That Christ is coming soon to claim
His dearly purchased bride.
When first this hope to you was known,
With joy your heart would rise
And bid Him come, and call His own
To meet Him in the skies.
But time has come and gone since then,
With many changes too,
And does your heart long for that day
As once it used to do?
Or have the things of time come in—
However fond and fair—
To' rob you of that blessed hope—
His meeting in the air?
You say, my heart has now grown cold,
That hope has lost its power;
I've thought too much of earthly things
Which perish in an hour.
My brother, soon He'll come again
His ransomed Church to take;
Bestir thyself, shake off thy sloth,
He calls to you "awake."
Rise from thy slumber, call afresh
To Him whose coming's nigh,
For soon He'll call His people home
To mansions in the sky.