Scripture Verse

We will all be changed—in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 1 Corinthians 15:51–52

Introduction

Words: Charles Wes­ley, Hymns and Sac­red Po­ems 1749.

Music: Ma­ry­ton H. Per­cy. Smith, in Church Hymns with Tunes (Lon­don: 1874) (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Smith (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Charles Wesley (1707–1788)

The Me­tho­dist Hymn Book Notes, by Ste­ven­son, 1883, gives the ori­gin of this hymn. It came about as a re­sult of Wes­ley’s visit to a Me­tho­dist so­cie­ty meet­ing in Leeds, Eng­land, March 14, 1744:

…in a cold up­per room, which was dense­ly packed, and crowds could not gain ad­mis­sion. He re­moved near­er the door that those with­out might hear, and drew the peo­ple to­wards him. In­stant­ly the raft­ers broke off short, close to the main beam, the floor sank, and more than one hund­red peo­ple fell, amidst dust and ruins, in­to the room below. Several were se­vere­ly injured, but none were killed. Charles Wes­ley him­self es­caped with slight in­jur­ies. I lift­ed up my head, he said, and saw the peo­ple un­der me, heaps up­on heaps. I cried out, Fear not, the Lord is with us; our lives are all safe, and then gave out, Praise God from whom all bless­ings flow.

This hymn, in 12 stan­zas, ap­peared five years lat­er in Hymns and Sac­red Po­ems, head­ed, Aft­er de­liv­er­ance from death by the fall of an house. In 1780, stan­zas 6–9, 11 & 12 were giv­en in the Wes­ley­an Hymn Book as one of the hymns Des­crib­ing Judg­ment.

Lyrics

The great arch­an­gel’s trump shall sound,
While twice ten thou­sand thun­ders roar
Tear up the graves, and cleave the ground,
And make the greedy sea re­store.

The greedy sea shall yield her dead,
The earth no more her slain con­ceal;
Sinners shall lift their guil­ty head,
And shrink to see a yawn­ing hell.

But we, who now our Lord con­fess,
And faith­ful to the end en­dure,
Shall stand in Je­sus’ right­eous­ness,
Stand, as the Rock of ag­es, sure.

We, while the stars from hea­ven shall fall,
And mount­ains are on mount­ains hurled,
Shall stand un­moved amidst them all,
And smile to see a burn­ing world.

The earth, and all the works there­in,
Dissolve, by rag­ing flames de­stroyed,
While we sur­vey the aw­ful scene,
And mount above the fie­ry void.

By faith we now tran­scend the skies,
And on that ru­ined world look down;
By love above all height we rise,
And share the ev­er­last­ing throne.