Scripture Verse

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Revelation 3:20

Introduction

Words: Jo­na­than B. At­chin­son, in The Gos­pel Choir, by Ira D. San­key (New York: Big­low & Main, 1885).

Music: Ed­win O. Ex­cell (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

portrait
Edwin O. Excell (1851–1921)

In Great Bri­tain this fa­vo­rite hymn brought bless­ing to a re­tired col­o­nel of the Eng­lish ar­my, at one of Mr. Moody’s meet­ings on the banks of the Thames. The col­o­nel had be­come anx­ious about his spi­rit­ual con­di­tion, and de­cid­ed to go to Lon­don to at­tend our meet­ings there.

At the con­clu­sion of one of the ev­en­ing ser­vic­es, as he was about to leave the great build­ing, his at­ten­tion was ar­rest­ed by a sweet voice sing­ing, Let the Sav­iour in. On tak­ing the train at Pad­ding­ton sta­tion for Bourne­mouth, the song re­mained in his heart, and the wheels of the train seemed to re­peat in his ears the re­frain, Let him in! let the Sav­iour in!

He went again to Lon­don and sought out the sing­er whose voice had so im­pressed him. She was a la­dy of high rank, and in the course of a few months be­came the wife of the gal­lant col­o­nel. A year lat­er they moved to Flo­ri­da, where I had the plea­sure of vis­it­ing them in their home. On my in­vi­ta­tion, they ac­com­pan­ied me to a near-by town where I was hold­ing meet­ings. At the con­clusion of my lec­ture the la­dy sang this hymn again, and so sweet­ly that it moved the au­di­ence to tears.

Sankey, p. 189

Lyrics

There’s a stranger at the door,
Let Him in;
He has been there oft before,
Let Him in;
Let Him in, ere He is gone;
Let Him in, the Holy One,
Jesus Christ the Fa­ther’s Son,
Let Him in.

Open now to Him your heart,
Let Him in;
If you wait He will depart,
Let Him in;
Let Him in, He is your friend;
He your soul will sure defend,
He will keep you to the end,
Let Him in.

Hear you now His loving voice?
Let Him in;
Now, oh, now make Him your choice,
Let Him in;
He is standing at your door;
Joy to you He will restore,
And His name you will adore,
Let Him in.

Now admit the heav’nly guest,
Let Him in;
He will make for you a feast,
Let Him in;
He will speak your sins forgiv’n,
And when earth ties all are riv’n,
He will take you home to Heav’n,
Let Him in.