The Midnight Cry (Knapp)

At mid­night the sum­mons will ec­ho

Awake

for the Bride­groom has come!

The wise thrill with joy at the tid­ings

The fool­ish with ter­ror be dumb.

Their lamps will be burn­ing but dim­ly

Give us of your oil be their pray­er;

Not enough

go and buy

be the an­swer.

Too late

’twill be then to pre­pare.

And oh

what a rap­ture and glo­ry

Will thrill thro’ the heart of the Bride!

But

oh

the des­pair and the ang­uish

Of those who stand knock­ing out­side.

Then the Bride­groom in glo­ry des­cend­ing

Will ap­pear with His host in the air

And His bride fly with gladn­ess to greet Him

So beau­ti­ful

ho­ly and fair.

All the saints that have died thro’ the ag­es

Will as­cend from their graves to the sky

And those who on earth then are liv­ing

Will be changed in the flash of an eye.

While the fool­ish are vain­ly in­quir­ing

The Bride­groom will come with a shout

And the wise will go in to the mar­riage

But the fool­ish

re­fused

be shut out.

They will plead all in vain

op­en to us;

No wel­come will wait them with­in;

The Bride­groom Him­self will not know them

All stained be their gar­ments with sin.

Have you tak­en the oil in your ves­sels?

Does the Spir­it with­in you abide?

Are you cleansed in the blood ev­ery mo­ment?

Are you watch­ing and now sanc­ti­fied?

Soon

too late

to pre­pare for the mar­riage

Or ev­er ad­mit­tance to gain;

Soon the wise will with glad­ness have en­tered

And the fool­ish stand knock­ing in vain.