Required: One Fool

 

 

Tell me what I need to hear

But do it in jest

Not what I want to hear;

That is not the best.

 

“A spoonful of sugar”

You know how the maxim ends,

“Makes the medicine go down

And does not offend.”

 

You would recall the jester:

A professional clown,

His job was to entertain the King

Who wore the crown.

 

Of course, he did it in a way

Hoping not to offend

For if he exposed the king

It could be his end.

 

He could call the king a fool

Once he acted the fool,

None would take him seriously

And all would be cool.

 

The king would understand

And act appropriately

And hopefully if all went right

Then all would be happy.

 

On the other hand,

If it did not go down right,

For some, including the jester,

Day could turn to night.

 

Listen to modern day comics

As they ply their craft,

They tell the truth in a way

To make one laugh.

 

But dig in a little deeper

And you would come to realize

A lot of truth can emerge

From a pseudo lie.

 

A truth that appears as a lie

Is truth nevertheless,

And if per chance, you are alert

You can pass the test.

 

 

In the “Emperor’s new clothes”

None dared to speak out,

But regarding the king’s nakedness

That child had no doubt.

 

The fool that I am speaking of

Is very witty and wise,

He knows how to deliver truth

Albeit, in disguised.

 

“A word to the wise”

If one’s faculty is not deficient

Will certainly hit the mark

And will also be sufficient.

 

“Every company needs a fool”

As seen in "The Barbados Today"

Not getting through in your quest,

This fool is the way.

 

Harbour people around you

Who will tell you the truth,

It is a great leadership ploy

And bears much proof.

 

Stewart Russell © June 10, 2023

 

The End of All Prophecy

 

 

Nothing remains to be fulfilled

Until the coming of the Lord,

Jesus is the end of all prophecy

As it says in the Word.

 

The OT pointed forward to him

To him, the epistles point back,

Jesus is the Bible’s summation

And that is an historic fact.

 

Fulfilment means the end

And that end is the Lord Jesus,

Jesus fulfils all prophecy

And in him we must trust.

 

The Gospels are about him:

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,

Israel is not the prophetic key

So, my friend be warned! 

 

 

Take your eyes off Israel

Meaning the Jewish nation,

Instead you must look upon Jesus;

He is our eternal salvation.

 

When you read the Holy Word

Read it with Jesus in mind,

It is his story, you must understand,

Each and every time.

 

Remember that God is spirit

And none has ever seen His face,

It is His eternal Son, Jesus

That for us takes His place.

 

Hence, he that has seen the Son

Has also seen the Father,

The Son being the expressed image

Of the unseen Father.

 

The Father chose to reveal himself

In none other than His Son

Hence, the fulfilment of prophecy

And His everlasting kingdom.

 

 

The sun and moon and stars

They all bowed down to him:

A foreshadowing of what was to come

When Jacob’s eyes would dim.

 

Not about Joseph, the dreamer,

But of the coming Messiah,

About the revelation of Jesus Christ:

The great and mighty deliverer.

 

And when David slew Goliath

And all the Philistines fled,

That also pointed to Jesus

That will judge the quick and dead.

 

The fact that all prophecy

Has already been fulfilled

Shows the power of Almighty God

And that gives me a thrill.

 

He who declares the end

Even before an event begins

Is none other than Jesus the Christ,

The King of all kings.

 

 

He is the chief cornerstone

Of the entire Bible

And the kinsman Redeemer

Of every nation and people.

 

Now see where this takes us

If with me you will go,

It’s to a world that is out of focus

As both you and I know.

 

The lamb is now the Lion

The Servant has become the King,

Now he rules in heaven

Let us shout and sing.

 

All will bow before him,

And they will do so in due time:

Some willingly, others otherwise,

From every land and clime.

 

 

For Christ must reign

Until all enemies are under his feet,

The last enemy being death

That has also suffered defeat.

 

Therefore, what should we do?

I will tell you what;

To carry out the great commission

Is the believer’s lot.

 

The consummation of all things

Is not our concern

But of the Gospel of salvation

We should preach and learn.

 

Whether he comes tomorrow,

Next month or next year,

We must occupy till Jesus returns

And of his business take care.

 

 

If you have been saved

Go and spread the word

Of Jesus, the wonderful Saviour

To whom you defer.

 

The one who raises the dead

And the one who gives life,

The one who once died

To become our living sacrifice.

 

Pray, tell me, my friend,

What prophecy is yet to be fulfilled?

None except the end of all things:

That is to be fulfilled still.

 

Stewart Russell © August 28, 2021

 

The Kingdom

 

 

The kingdom is coming

Nay, already come,

Actually, my brothers and my sisters

We are in the millennium.

 

This is kingdom building

Being done through the Church;

Read the Word for yourself

Before consulting experts.

 

From in Matthew chapter 4

The kingdom of heaven was at hand,

So, said the King, Jesus,

As he unfolded God’s plan.

 

And throughout the book

From Matthew chapters 4 to 14

He tells about the kingdom

He being the King on the scene.

 

If my kingdom were of this world

My servants would fight,

The essence of Jesus’ words

As he showed them their plight.

 

Go to St John 18 verse 36

For Jesus’ exact words,

This should leave no doubt

Why Pilate was so disturbed.

 

Remember, it was the Jews

That had delivered him up

But Jesus framed it differently

Regarding his bitter cup.

 

They saw a political kingdom

Being under Roman yoke

So, this imposter they called Jesus

Could never get their vote.

 

He was delivered to the Jews

Thus, to be crucified

And though the Romans killed him

It was at Jewish hands he died.

 

The king had come

And so too did his kingdom

And almost immediately after

Began the millennium.

 

It is not a political kingdom

And it never will be,

Political kingdoms are temporal

His is for eternity.

 

From eternity to eternity

That’s the kingdom of God,

And throughout the millennium

This is to be spread abroad.

 

 

From Jerusalem through Judea

Obviously first to the Jews,

Jesus' servants had to be scattered

To tell the good news.

 

Don’t be misled by a thousand

It only means a lot,

And even so, compared to eternity,

It is not even a drop.

 

I tell you the kingdom is here,

Jesus said it has come

And there is no other king but he,

God’s incarnate Son.

 

It is not the political kingdom

For which the Jews had yearned

But at present, a spiritual kingdom,

From the Bible we learn.

 

We are heirs to the kingdom

Heirs and joint-heirs

And with Christ we sit in the heavenlies

Even while we are here.

 

We wait in earnest anticipation

When the fullness will unfold

For at present, ours is a deposit

Of treasures untold.

 

Stewart Russell © May 6, 2021

Elijah’s Little Cloud

It was just a little cloud

But promised an abundance of rain,

At first there was nothing;

The servant looked again and again.

It was on the seventh time

That it arose from out of the sea,

It was shaped like a man’s hand

And as small as a cloud can be.

The servant was still skeptical

But Elijah sent the king a warning

To get down off the mountain

For the rain would soon be falling.

Elijah outran Ahab’s chariot

You could just imagine his speed,

The hand of the Lord was on him

And he was the first to Jezreel.

          Stewart Russell © June 2020