1 JESUS, faithful to his word,
Shall with a shout descend;
All heaven's host their glorious Lord
Shall pompously attend:
Christ shall come with dreadful noise,
Lightnings swift, and thunders loud;
With the great archangel's voice,
And with the trump of God.
2 First the dead in Christ shall rise;
Then we that yet remain
Shall be caught up to the skies,
And see our Lord again:
We shall meet him in the air,
All rapt up to heaven shall be,
Find, and love, and praise him there,
To all eternity.
3 Who can tell the happiness
This glorious hope affords?
Joy unuttered we possess
In these reviving words;
Happy while on earth we breathe,
Mightier bliss ordained to know,
Trampling down sin, hell, and death,
To the third heaven we go.