The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand

By Annie Johnson Flint

Rejoice, ye weary workers, for the Kingdom is at hand!
The Son of God is watching from His throne where He doth stand;
Sleepless vigil was He keeping while ye sowed the seed with weeping,
After seed time cometh reaping and the harvest is at hand.
Ye who fight the battle with Him, ye who follow in His train,
For the joy once set before you counting all your loss as gain,
Ye who walk with Him unfaltering and tread the path He trod,
Ye who work with Him to reconcile human hearts unto our God—
In the east, the darkness scorning, lo, the Day Star brings the morning,
In the brightness of that dawning, Oh, rejoice, ye faithful band!
Ye who bear the heat and burden, ye shall soon receive the guerdon,
For the Kingdom with its joy is just at hand.

Take heart, ye heavy-laden, for the Kingdom is at hand!
The Son of Man is harkening from the throne where he doth stand;
He hath marked the children’s crying, He hath heard the widow’s sighing,
He hath seen the strong man’s dying, and the reckoning is at hand.
Long, oh, long, from reeking sweatshops, long from factory and mine,
Ye have lifted hands of pleading to a heaven that made no sign;
But the Lord’s ear hath been open, He hath heard your bitter cry;
He hath answered, and the day of your redemption draweth nigh;
He will not forget your story when He cometh in His glory,
And the evils old and hoary He will banish from the land;
He hath heard the prisoners’ moaning, He hath heard creation’s groaning,
And the Kingdom with its freedom is at hand.

Take heed, O ye oppressors, for the Kingdom is at hand!
The righteous Judge is waiting by the throne where He doth stand;
Ye have kept the hireling’s wages, ye have altered metes and gauges,
And ‘tis written in the pages of the Book within His hand.
Swift and terrible His judgment when those pages shall unfold;
He cannot be bribed with favour, He cannot be bought with gold.
Ye have pawned the debtor’s garment, and the roof above his head,
Ye have fattened on his hunger—ye have raised the price of bread.
Ye have trafficked in the souls of men, the welfare of the state,
In the honour of the humble and the weakness of the great,
In the safety of the labourer, the playtime of the child;
Ye have coined the women’s purity; corrupted and defiled.
Ye have trapped the feet of innocence and slain the joy of youth,
And your souls have known no pity and your hearts have felt no ruth.
Ye are filling up the measure of your lust and pride and pleasure,
And your hoard of cankered treasure burns like fire within your hand;
Now the wealth in which ye trusted, with the children’s tears red-rusted,
With the toilers’ blood encrusted, shall dissolve like ropes of sand,
For the reign of gold is ending and God’s judgment is impending,
And the Kingdom with its glory is at hand.

Matthew 3:2  …Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Revelation 22:10-12 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

graphics and background by Mary Stephens
updated 2016