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 not leave any 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 heavenly

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

Already and Not Yet

 

 

For them it was a now

And for them a not yet,

A partial fulfilment you may say

If you contextually vet.

 

A deposit possibly

Of a much bigger picture

Mirrored in their present time

But yet in the future.

 

A glimpse, ah yes!

A nice way of putting it,

But definitely not in its fulness

Yes, a deposit.

 

We have the Holy Spirit

Yes, in his fulness

But there is far more to come

As believers progress.

 

There is a coming to come

That we await by faith

Knowing that our election is sure

And this by God’s grace.

 

First century believers

Looked forward to a coming

Detailed in the New Testament,

Jesus himself prophesying.

 

Three Gospel writers

Tell of this prophetic event

And it was that coming to come

That these writers meant.

 

It was a now and not yet

Something was passing away

And coming upon the Jews

Was a judgment day.

 

 

Matthew, Mark and Luke

Spoke of that day

Though regarding those events,

John had nothing to say.

 

This generation, they said,

Was the context clue,

Not meaning our generation

As some today view.

 

A coming in the clouds

As Jesus had said

Surely not the consummation

But a judgment instead.

 

He had come to his own

And they had not received him

For just like their ancestors,

Unbelief was their sin.

 

They used their foremost foe

To crucified the Christ

But while they used Roman law

It was really their vice.

 

 

They forced Pilate’s hand

As they sided with Caesar

Whereupon their eventual success

Brought them pleasure.

 

And they that pierced him

Could very well be the Jews,

Riding on Roman jurisprudence

Is one of the views.

 

We have no king but Caesar

This imposter we reject,

His blood be on us and our children;

Their resolve was set.

 

There be some standing here

Hear Jesus’ words!

That coming was back then

Not to us deferred.

 

A then and not yet!

Not the consummation of all,

It was judgment upon the Jews

For rejecting their call.

 

 

But to as many as receive

The glorious Gospel news,

To them, the called-out church,

Whom the Father did choose.

 

The passing of one covenant:

The old and obsolete,

And the ushering of the new:

Eternal and complete.

 

Not a replacement covenant

But the unfolding of a plan

Put in place by the eternal Godhead

For the redemption of man.

 

The heavenly Jerusalem

Which John saw coming down

Is likely the kingdom/church

Which is currently around.

 

For we are going to a city

Not built with human hands

And the temple which we are

Are a part of God’s plan.

 

No need for a third temple

That will deteriorate,

Jesus is the fulfilment of all this

In its eternal state.

 

A now and a not yet

Until the fulfilment of time,

Meanwhile we walk by faith

With Jesus on our mind.

 

 

Now and not yet

As redemption’s plan unfolds

Giving time to all the repentant

To come into the fold.

 

For all that belong to Jesus

Will come to him,

This is regarding the Father’s promise

And deliverance from sin.

 

Stewart Russell © November 20, 2023

 

Apostate Judaism

 

 

The first enemy of the Church

Was not the power at Rome

But the first enemy of the Church

Were the apostate Jews at home.

 

They were no less prodigals

Than the children that roamed

For Jesus noted he was rejected

When he came to his own.

 

Remember Herod was a Jew

But tried to kill the Christ child,

That Jesus he did not recognized

Cannot not be denied.

 

Even his biological family

Who regarded him as being insane

Had little to do with him

And from his teaching refrain.

 

Except for that in Bethany

There was nowhere to call home

Thanks to Mary, Martha and Lazarus

Who did their best to atone.

 

 

The Christ of the Church

Was hated by apostate Jews

And even to this very day

His Church, they still abuse.

 

From early in the Old Testament

They asked Samuel for a king,

They had rejected God

And with Christ, the same thing.

 

Jesus came to his own

And his own received him not,

That is why they can be described

As an apostate lot.

 

This reference is to the Jews;

They crucified the Christ

And via the Roman authority

He became sin’s sacrifice.

 

This was the avenue God used:

For His Son to shed his blood

For the remission of the sins everywhere:

Thus, out of man’s evil came good.

 

 

The Jews meant it for evil

But God meant it for good

For there can be no remission of sins

Without the shedding of blood.

 

But apostate Judaism continued

To target the body of Christ

With the Romans following on after

As Christians were sacrificed.

 

And even up to this day

Apostate Judaism is rife

As many Jews do not believe

In Jesus as the giver of life.

 

Some believe in a special time

When Jews will be saved in a day

But on that matter, I can only say,

Jesus is the only way.

 

Until one comes to that realization

For him there is no hope

For the Gentile as well as the Jew

This is the critical note.

 

Stewart Russell © May 16, 2021

 

666

 

 

Six hundred and sixty-six

What a horrible number indeed!

But if we could have it in thousands of dollars

It would meet many a desperate need.

 

For some Bible believing Christians

It is a terribly frightful number,

It is the number of the anti-christ

And it sometimes disrupts their slumber.

 

As to when this man will appear

There is considerable debate

But some believe he already exists

As they examine our world wide state.

 

It is the number of a man

You will find this in Revelation 13,

The very last verse if you go there now

It paints an awful scene.

 

“And that no man might buy or sell

Save he that had the mark”

Whenever that time was or will be,

It speaks of a time both grim and dark.

 

 

It appears the mark and the number

Are different from one another,

Wisdom is required in the case of the number

But the mark is a different matter.

 

The number is the name of a man

It is six hundred, three score and six,

When applied to men through the ages

To them it did not fit.

 

These were leaders of great Empires

But not one of them match the scene,

This man spoken of was also the beast

As expressed in Revelation 13.

 

It appears to me the people of the day

Knew the identity of this man,

The first beast they knew and the second beast too,

John too, was aware of the plan.

 

 

Hence, we speculate as time rolls on

And as world leaders come on the scene,

But not so with them in the time of John

They were living out Revelation 13.

 

They had the wisdom and understanding

To work out the identities of the beasts,

It was they who were oppressed every day

It would get worse instead of cease.

 

They were being persecuted all around

By the Romans as well as the Jews,

Hence, much of what John would report

Would have been present day news.

 

Stewart Russell © November 2019

 

A Bad Good Friday

 

 

The first Good Friday was a bad one:

The Lord Jesus was crucified,

For his followers and those he had healed

It was day to be despised.

 

The one upon whom their hope lay

Was suddenly taken away,

Their champion, like none from before,

Was crucified on that day.

 

Crushed were their expectations

And devastated would have been apt,

All that was left to do was run and hide;

All their gains were rolled back.

 

 

Things looked bright and hope was alive;

Their conquerors were held at bay

But the tables were turned unexpectedly,

As in the tomb their champion lay.

 

They gazed from afar afraid to come near;

Fear was then their greatest torment,

Betrayal and denial were in evidence

And Judas did not live to repent.

 

A bad Good Friday is an apt summary

As we looked back on that dreadful scene,

For his disciples, it was a nightmare

But for the Jews, a realistic dream.

 

They had planned with bedevilment

And had yearned for this eventful day:

The day they would see the back of Christ

And under the ground he would lay.

 

 

They rode on the backs of the Romans

Since crucifixion was without their remit,

They were bent on killing the Lord Jesus

But were actually following his script.

 

He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquity,

The chastisement of our peace was on him

And with his stripes we are healed.

 

It was a horrid day to the faithful few,

For the Jews, it was a dream come true,

But to everyone that believes in Jesus,

It is salvation to both Greek and Jew.

 

The first Good Friday was a bad one

But the resurrection removed the bad

So that each born-again believer ever since,

Has had every reason to be glad.

 

Stewart Russell © April 14, 2022

  

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

A Solemn Saturday

 

It was good while it lasted

But it has now come to an end,

All hope has gone with his defeat

And only gloom descends.

 

It’s a solemn Saturday

None like it before

And while they reminisced

Their pain grew more.

 

 

A solemn Saturday indeed

Never a Sabbath like this!

To whom can they turn

In their moment of anguish?

 

He had submitted so easily

To their perennial enemy,

Now they will be captives forever

With no hope to be free.

 

The Jews had delivered him

To the Romans to be crucified

But that the Romans were the culprits

Was not to be denied.

 

It was a solemn Saturday

But then, all Sabbaths were,

But that this was the most solemn

Nothing could ever deter.

 

They were behind closed doors

Afraid to show their face,

After yesterday’s events,

Of hope there was not a trace.

 

Solemnity reigned supreme

With their hope entombed,

For anything other than dismay

There was no room.

 

Their champion had succumbed

To the Roman scourge

And even to venture out again

There was no urge.

 

A Sabbath with a difference

Truly, a solemn Saturday,

Rabboni lies dead…

There’s none to show the way.

 

Stewart Russell © April 2, 2021