Christians, make haste, your mission high fulfilling

1
Christians, make haste, your mission high fulfilling,
  To tell to all the world that God is Light,
That He who made all nations is not willing
  One soul should perish, lost in shades of night.
  Publish glad tidings, tidings of peace;
  Tidings of Jesus, redemption and release.
2
Behold how many thousands still are lying,
  Bound in the darksome prison-house of sin,
With none to tell them of the Savior’s dying
  Or of the life He died for them to win.
3
’Tis yours to save from peril of perdition
  The soul for whom the Lord His life laid down;
Beware lest, slothful to fulfill your mission,
  You lose one jewel that should deck His crown.
4
Proclaim to every people, tongue, and nation
  That God, in whom they live and move, is love;
Tell how He stooped to save His lost creation,
  And died on earth that men He might approve.
5
Give of your sons to bear the message glorious;
  Give of your wealth to speed them on their way;
Pour out your soul for them in prayer victorious,
  And all you spend our Savior will repay.
6
He comes again; O brothers, ere you meet Him,
  Make known to every heart His saving grace;
Let none whom He hath ransomed fail to greet Him,
  Through your neglect unfit to see His face.
3
Steve Miller

Detroit, MI, United States

The original first line is from Isa. 40:9-10:

O Zion, haste, thy mission high fulfilling,

In stanza 4, line 2, the original says "live and move" according to Acts 17:28 instead of "move and live". (I don't see a reason for that change. It may have been a mistake.)

Also in stanza 4, the original last line said:

And died on earth that man might live above.

The original last stanza, 1st line alludes back to Zion from the 1st stanza:

He comes again! O Zion, ere thou meet Him,

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One night in 1868, a worried mother sat up with one of her children who was critically ill. She prayed to the Lord to heal her child. She realized how quickly her comfortable life style was jolted by the reality of something really important. And what is really important to God is the evangelization of the world. If God raised up her child, would she be willing to see him go out as a missionary to a continent like Africa, where David Livingstone was lost in the interior? Out of her inner wrestling with such questions, 34 year old Mary Ann Thomson wrote these words.

This hymn blends the messianic pronouncement of Isaiah 52 with the missionary call of Romans 10. For over 100 years this hymn has stirred thousands to respond to God's call. - Great Songs of Faith by Brown and Norton


Frank Pytel

Chicago, Illinois, United States

I have found that the one prayer the Lord answers most often is when I ask Him in my morning time to give me someone to speak the good news of Jesus Christ to that day. Often during the day at an awkward time, in a way I didn't expect, He brings the opportunity to share the gospel as an answer to my prayer. He opened the way for me at that moment to share some word or give out a tract. "The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost" (Luke 19:10). "...woe to me if I do not preach the gospel" (1 Corinthians 9:16b)


Brian Young

Nixa, MO, U.S.A.

hm...what to say about this beautiful song...that's what I'll say... This is a beutiful peice of music, it truely is.