The Cyber Hymnal ‎#4272

4272. The Missionary Marseillaise

1. Ye Christian men of every nation,
Hark, hark what cries salute your ears!
The heathen in their degradation
They call for help with sighs and tears,
They call for help with sighs and tears;
Shall souls immortal languish bleeding?
Oppressed by Satan’s slavish chains,
In superstition’s woes and pains,
While Christian hearts are dead, unheeding?

Refrain
Arise, O Church of God!
Awake for Jesus’ sake!
March on, march on, all hearts aflame,
For Christ the world to take.

2. By thousands, hopeless, they are falling,
And ne’er have heard their Savior’s name;
For life and liberty they’re calling,
But perish in their guilt and shame,
But perish in their guilt and shame;
Too long have Christians heard their wailing,
Their death cries out of pagan night;
Their prayers in vain for Gospel light;
Oh, shall their cries be unavailing? [Refrain]

3. Oh, ye who serve the King of Glory,
In lands where Heaven’s blessings glow,
Can ye withhold salvation’s story,
From myriads sunk in heathen woe?
From myriads sunk in heathen woe?
Nay, by the blood that makes men brothers,
The bannered cross must be unfurled;
The kingdom is for all the world,
And men redeemed must uplift others. [Refrain]

4. Shall Christians hoard their golden treasure?
And pile their stores with miser’s greed,
Or spend for fashion, pride and pleasures,
While empires for the Gospel plead?
While empires for the Gospel plead?
Can men of soul, their God adoring,
For heaven’s crowning glories hope?
While millions in their blindness grope,
And die, the light of life imploring? [Refrain]

5. See, Heaven lends cooperation!
For conquests grand and manifold;
And calls the Church to consecration,
Of life and strength and precious gold;
Of life and strength and precious gold;
While with God’s power the world is shaking,
O’erturning systems, creeds and caste,
And working changes worldwide vast,
’Tis time dead Christian souls were waking. [Refrain]

Text Information

• First Line: Ye Christian men of every nation
• Title: The Missionary Marseillaise
• Author: W. P. Rivers (before 1929)
• Refrain First Line: Arise, O Church of God!
• Language: English
• Copyright: Public Domain

Tune Information

• Name: MARSEILLAISE
• Composer: Rouget de Lisle (1792)
• Incipit: 55511 22531 13164
• Key: G Major
• Copyright: Public Domain