When the time was now fulfilled

Verse 1
When the time was now fulfil’d,
Thou didst send forth our Lord;
In a Servant’s form reveal’d
He preach’d the gospel-word,
Shew’d the heavenly kingdom nigh,
Invited sinners to the feast,
“Weary souls, on Me rely,
“And I will give you rest.

Verse 2
“I will give you drink, and feed
“Your hungry souls with love,
“To the feast eternal lead,
“And be your Life above;
“I have there prepar’d your place
“Who to my yoke your spirits bow:
“Now receive my word, and grace
“And heaven is ready now.”

Verse 3
Daily sent in Jesus name
Thy gospel-servants go,
Tidings of great joy proclaim,
Of heaven begun below:
Christ is ready to receive
The souls he did by death redeem,
Waits his precious Self to give,
And grace and heaven in Him.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “‘He sent his servant at supper-time to say to them that were bidden, Come, for all things are now ready.'—[Luke 14,] v. 17.” This hymn appears in the 1766 manuscript “MS Luke.” This manuscript is part of the collection of the Methodist Archive and Research Centre in The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester (accession number MA 1977/575, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 3). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Published in S.T. Kimbrough Jr. and Oliver A. Beckerlegge, eds., The Unpublished Poetry of Charles Wesley, vol. 2 (Nashville: Kingswood Books, 1990), page 150. Verses 1 and 2 were published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 11 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1871), page 227.
Publishing: Public Domain