A Coming Still to Come

 

 

 

Every eye shall see him

And also they that pierced him,

Though it sounds very like it

Could this be the second coming?

 

The Bible speaks of two advents

The first was the virgin birth,

Angels proclaimed to shepherd folk

The Saviour had come to earth.

 

Jesus is that Saviour

That the Father had promised to man,

To redeem man from the curse of sin

Was the Father’s salvation plan.

 

Adam and Eve had sold us out

But Jesus came to buy us back,

Hence, the purpose of the first advent:

His death is a historical fact

 

His death was only temporary

For up from the grave he rose,

The evidence of this was an empty tomb

And the grave clothes he disposed.

 

 

There were many who testified

They had seen the risen Christ,

Some days later he ascended on high

Having paid sin’s ultimate price.

 

The culmination of his first advent

Was at his glorious ascension

But he will appear in the second advent

Amidst tremendous exultation.

 

At this time, the Bible says,

All that are in the grave will hear:

Some will come forth to eternal life,

The others to everlasting despair.

 

Turn to Revelation 1 verse 7

For the words in verse number 1,

Is this prophecy yet to be fulfilled

Or, has it already gone?

 

For some it is already gone

For others it is yet to come,

But all are agreed on the central one

Which is Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

 

 

Some believe this visitation

Is the judgement promised on Jerusalem,

Others see it much differently

And with this have a problem.

 

It all depends on how we see

Words like “near” and “at hand”,

 Whether they are explicit or implicit

Regarding the timing of God’s plan.

 

It must be understood my friend

That neither position is salvific

But what is important to you and me

Is that an advent is still futuristic.

 

I could go on and argue some more

On either side of the dispute,

But there is something far more critical

That none of us should refute.

 

We may never come to a conclusion

Concerning our respective positions

But far more critical than that resolve

Is Christ’s Divine commission.

 

 

Go ye into all the world

And preach the glorious gospel,

Baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit

And of them make disciples.

 

There is a coming still to come

For the children of the kingdom,

Meanwhile we tell of God’s great salvation

Through Jesus Christ, His Son.

 

Our eschatology might be different

Leading up to the second advent

But far more important than our positions

Is the teaching to repent.

  

John the Baptist preached repentance

Jesus taught it too

And while we wait for him to appear

This we must also pursue.

 

We’ve a story to tell to the Nations

The story of man’s redemption:

How Jesus came and is coming again,

The culmination of man’s salvation.

 

Stewart Russell © November 2019

 

His Story

 

 

Do note the title!

It is two words and not one,

It is a prophetic history

Not totally gone.

 

It is a history written

And its end already declared

By God who established it

In Christ who did appear.

 

People look for flaws

And for contradictions too,

And seek to confuse many

Like me and like you.

 

But His story is flawless;

No errors you will find,

Any contradictions that exist

Exist in our mind.

 

His story is about a plan

And, also a man,

One needs to recognize this

To better understand.

 

 

From Genesis to Revelation

Redemption is its theme,

Jesus is central to His story

In every unfolding scene.

 

It starts out with the creation:

The origin of the universe,

All was declared good

But then sin emerged.

 

In a corner of creation

There was the garden of Eden

Where the first married couple

Committed the forbidden.

 

Adam and Eve were real:

Not a mere legend or myth

As some would want to say,

If you catch my drift.

 

If Adam and Eve is a myth

Then so was the crucifixion,

There was no coming of the Christ

And definitely no resurrection.

 

No ascension,

Hence, no coming back again,

If the beginning is a myth

Then none has a claim.

 

The cleric who believes this,

What does he teach?

For, if there is no Saviour

Of whom does he preach?

 

Thank God, my friend,

This is so far from the truth,

His story is history

Substantiated by His proof.

 

For the woman’s seed

Did bruise the serpent’s head,

The crucifixion proved

Just what in Genesis is said.

 

Thousands of years after

This event was prophesied,

The woman’s seed, Jesus,

Was crucified.

 

 

His story was unfolding,

It was all coming true,

Jesus came and he died

For me and for you.

 

So, if Genesis is a myth,

The Church’s preaching is in vain

So, what is this cleric doing

Preaching in Jesus’ name?

 

It’s a contradiction of sorts

Or a confused state of mind,

No wonder such clerics get it wrong

Each and every time.

  

His story is still unfolding;

The end is already written,

There is the reality of salvation

For all of the forgiven.

 

For the creator of the beginning

Is the establisher of the end,

Man make talk his foolishness

But God is God, my friend.

 

 

Whose report will you believe?

His story or man’s?

Will you believe the Devil’s lie?

Or trust redemption’s plan?

 

All of the Holy Bible, I repeat,

Is centred on a man

And that man, I reiterate,

Is central to salvation’s plan.

 

There is no Saviour

Other than the Saviour, Jesus Christ,

And the salvation he offers

Is the only one that will suffice.

 

Tell my friend, that cleric,

He must revisit the Word

For the one that he now teaches

Is absolutely absurd!

 

Stewart Russell © February 13, 2022

 

Hope or Hoax?

 

 

How confusing it is

To hear a God-believing cleric

Publicly denounce the Bible

And be a vociferous critic!

 

Proclaimed as delusional:

That is, the Word of God,

On the airwaves and television

This was spread abroad.

 

If Christianity is a hoax

Then what does he believe?

What does he really teach

Or coax people to receive?

 

If the first 11 chapters

Of the Holy Bible are mythical

Then please tell me my dear cleric

What in there is believable?

 

If creation falls down,

On what can we rely?

Surely the whole Bible becomes

A colossal lie!

 

 

No Adam and Eve,

No Noah or Abraham,

No Moses and no Exodus

And no redemptive plan.

 

No Christ and no Gospel

No dying or resurrection,

No ascension or coming again

And definitely no salvation!

 

No creation and no Creator

It is all a huge scam!

All this preaching about eternity

And a salvation plan.

 

 

Hope or Hoax?

The latter it must be

When even leading church clerics

Preach such heresy.

 

No wonder the world

Appears “going to the dogs”
For the church the world sees

Denies its very God.

 

This is an indictment

On leaders like the noted cleric

That propagate so-called sermons

That are without merit.

 

 

If the Bible’s first 11 chapters

Are to be considered as mythical,

There’s no hope beyond death

For all of earth’s people.

 

Then nothing is absolute

And a man’s truth is only his own

And this augurs well

Once he stays in his zone.

 

However, such is impossible

For social beings,

They must of necessity interact

As their survival deems.

 

So that all who believe the lie

As propagated by this cleric

Are on their way to hell

For heaven they will forfeit.

 

Anyone who comes to God

Must believe that He exists

And without faith in God’s Word

Eternal life he will miss.

 

For if creation is a tale

Then the whole Bible is a myth

And Christ must be denounced

As being the Father’s Gift.

 

There is no Word of God

And there is no Holy Spirit

And ultimately no eternal hope

As implied by this cleric.

  

What is he really doing then

As he stands in the pulpit

When much of what he preaches

He doesn’t even believe it.

 

Stewart Russell © February 24, 2022

 

Thirty-Seven Miracles of Jesus

1. The first was at a wedding

Where he turned water into wine

And all present agreed

The wine was absolutely fine.

2. Then at Cana of Galilee

He healed a noble man’s son,

3. Next, he cast out an evil spirit

Also at Capernaum.

4. Peter’s mother-in-law was sick

And Jesus was the cure,

In no time she was up

And going about her chores.

5. On one particular evening

He healed a lot of people

6. Then on the Lake Gennesaret

He did the first fishing miracle.

7. Next, he cleansed a leper

8. And after, a centurion’s servant

9. Then the suspended paralytic

Hanging from ropes like a pendant.

10. Next, Jesus healed a man

That had a withered hand

And though it was on the Sabbath

“Doing good” was Jesus’ plan.

11. Next, he raised a widow’s son

12. And calmed a stormy sea

13. Then deliver demons into pigs

And the citizens responded angrily.

14. Then there was the woman

With the issue of blood,

15. Next, the raising of Jairus’ daughter

Done only as Jesus could.

16. Jesus healed two blind men

17. Then a man who could not speak,

18. Next, an invalid at Bethesda

19. And from little, 5000 plus did eat.

  

20. This man was possessed by a devil

He was both blind and dumb,

Jesus wonderfully healed him

But was said to be in league with Satan.

21. Next, he walked on water

22. Then healed many that were sick,

As each one touched his garment

He was healed; it was no trick.

23. He healed a Gentile girl

By a demon, she was possessed,

In response to Jesus’ challenge

Her mother’s faith passed the test.

24. He healed a deaf and dumb man

25. Then next it was the 4000 plus,

With seven loaves and a few fishes

He fed them without a fuss.

26. He healed a blind man at Bethsaida

Whom he touched a second time,

27. Quite unlike the next blind man

Where clay and spittle were fine.

28. A man brought his son to Jesus

Whom the disciples could not cure

But was Jesus able to heal him?

The answer to that is “sure”.

29. Then there was the temple tax

That was delivered by a fish,

Peter went down to collect it

And the tax collectors got their wish.

30. Then there was this woman

That was sick for eighteen years,

Jesus loosed her from her infirmity

Which she no longer had to bear.

31. Jesus healed a man with dropsy

32. And cleansed ten lepers too

33. Next, he raised Lazarus from the dead

34. And gave Bartimaeus a perfect view.

35. Just a word and a fig tree withered

36. Next, he restored a severed ear,

37. Then came the second fishing miracle:

Thirty-seven miracles that’s clear.

Perhaps, you can find another

That I may have overlooked...

Like the calming of the storm,

So I could check it in the Book.

The truth of the matter is:

There were many more miracles

For on more than one occasion

Jesus healed many people.

And, add to these His resurrection,

And his ascension too

As his disciples stood upward gazing,

Having such a remarkable view.

Then, of course, there is mine,

I have a miracle all my own,

If from sin Jesus has set you free

Such a miracle is not mine alone.

The salvation of a soul:

That is the greatest miracle today,

I implore you, my friend, believe in him

And let him have his way.

Stewart Russell © September 2018

Modified: August 2019

A Welcomed Sound

He’d been with them a while

But said he must go away,

They became apprehensive

And had had much to say.

He had promised much

And had only partly delivered,

That’s why at his crucifixion

They not only coward but shivered.

Their hopes were raised again

When he came back from the dead,

They had hoped he would remain

But he left again instead.

But this time he left a promise

To send the Comforter soon

And instructed them to tarry

In the upper room.

In the upper room they waited

For the fulfilment of that promise

Certain in their obedience

Nothing they would miss.

Unlike the Jews of old

They believed the word they heard,

Unlike the Jews of old

They knew Jesus kept his word.

He had risen from the dead

Before then they did not believe

But since then they were sure

The Spirit they would receive.

They waited as instructed

For the Holy Spirit’s coming,

Together in one accord

Together in faith believing.

Seven days after Jesus ascended

There was a peculiar sound,

It filled the room where they were

In that room it was all around.

  

It was not a sound of victory

Or the cry of the vanquished,

Rather it was like a rushing wind

Bearing the news they all wished.

O this was the sound of Pentecost

The coming of the Holy Ghost

And soon the sound would spread

Beyond Judea’s coasts.

The Holy Spirit had come

And He filled the room therein,

And later in Jerusalem

There would be a tremendous din.

This was not the golden calf

That the Jews before had worshipped,

This was the return of Jesus Christ

In the person of the Holy Spirit.

This was the sound of promise

The sound of the Comforter,

The sound that one like Jesus

Had come as our Deliverer.

What a sound of distinction!

The sound of a soul set free,

The sound that speaks to the victory

Over our archenemy.

Not a sound of rebellion

Where thousands upon thousands died

But a sound of glorious triumph

For all who in Jesus abide.

This sound can fill our hearts

Just like it filled the room back then

When God on that Pentecost

The Holy Spirit did send.

Promised in the Old Testament

It was delivered in the New

The glorious sound of the redeemed

Not only for me but also you.

Stewart Russell © May 2018