The Midnight Cry

At midnight the summons will echo

Author: Martin Wells Knapp (1897)
Tune: [At midnight the summons will echo]
Published in 1 hymnal

Printable scores: PDF, Noteworthy Composer
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 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.

Refrain:
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.

2 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. [Refrain]

3 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. [Refrain]

4 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. [Refrain]

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #9280

Author: Martin Wells Knapp

Born: March 27, 1853, Albion, Michigan. Died: December 7, 1901, Cincinnati, Ohio, of typhoid fever. Buried: Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Ohio. At age 17, Knapp began studies at a Methodist college in Albion, Michigan. He worked on the family farm in the summer, studying Greek and Latin at night, and attending classes in Albion in the winter. In 1877, the Methodist Michigan Conference assigned him a circuit. He went on to a career in ministry, founding the magazine God’s Revivalist in 1888; the International Holiness Union and Prayer League in 1897; and God’s Bible School (later known as God’s Bible School and College) in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1900. His works include: Christ Crowned Within, 1886 The Double Cure… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: At midnight the summons will echo
Title: The Midnight Cry
Author: Martin Wells Knapp (1897)
Language: English
Refrain First Line: And oh, what a rapture and glory
Copyright: Public Domain

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #9280
  • PDF (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer Score (NWC)

Instances

Instances (1 - 1 of 1)
TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #9280

Suggestions or corrections? Contact us