My Biblical Three Step

 

 

Three steps, my friend,

In maximizing the Word,

All three are extremely critical

And not to be deferred.

 

The order is important

Hence, we must get it right

And not underestimate the Spirit

In bringing insight.

 

Commentaries are good

But only for step 2,

However, heed the Holy Spirit

All the way through.

 

For the life in the Word

Is the Holy Spirit

To bring to our elucidation

All that is in it.

 

Step number 1 is:

We must read the Word:

This is of critical importance,

Don’t be deterred!

 

Don’t rush it through

But make adequate time

To read it over and over again

To fill your mind.

 

Memorize it if you can

To aid in your reading

And practice reading chapters

From beginning to ending.

 

 

 

Observe the key words

And the context as well

And on the critical points there,

Be careful to dwell.

 

There is so much

In just reading the Word,

Don’t be too quick to interpret it

Or to commentators refer.

 

Trust the Holy Spirit

To open up your eyes

And reveal treasures of scripture

In surprise after surprise.

 

Meditate on the Word

And let it interpret itself,

This is especially important

For spiritual health.

 

Interpretation is critical

Arising from understanding:

Reading first then interpretation

To see what it’s demanding.

 

Reading is explicit

Interpretation is the implicit,

Interpretation is clearer and clearer

With each successive visit.

 

Sometimes it is needed

To visit another scripture

To clarify one that appears vague

And give a fuller picture.

 

Thus far, number 1 is read

And number 2 is to interpret

But there is still another to come

So, we’re not finished yet.

 

 

Number 3 is application:

It is necessary to apply

What we understand by the Word

And I will tell you why.

 

It’s our manual for life

Regarding our behaviour

And how best to walk in the steps

Of our beloved Saviour.

 

It is the mirror of liberty

In to which we look

To experience wonderful freedom

From this Holy Book.

 

 

And hear a voice say,

This is the way, walk ye in it

Knowing with the full assurance

It’s the Holy Spirit.

 

Yes, three steps, my friend,

In optimizing the Word:

Reading first; interpretation second

And application third.

 

Stewart Russell © March 17, 2025

 

Puzzling to Me

 

 

Look out, my brother, my sister

For the return of Christ,

For the redeemed it will be great

For the unsaved, not so nice.

 

Yes, he is coming soon

To catch his bride away

And since these are the last days

It could be any day.

 

There’ll be a great tribulation

Of exactly seven years

And you will not want to be around

To experience such fear.

 

Immediately there after

There will be the millennium

In which Jesus will be the king

Ruling from Jerusalem.

 

 

A new temple will be built

And Jesus will rule with the Jews,

That this is the promise of God

Is the dispensationalist’s view.

 

I used to hold to this

But I have been forced to change,

A more in-depth reading of the Word

Shows me it is strange.

 

The first reason is the temple

That Jesus said would be destroyed,

However, that they must be another

Is an idea some employ.

 

Why revert to types and shadows

When the real has been fulfilled?

The knowledge that I am born again

Gives me an abounding thrill. 

 

As such, we are become lively stones

Built into the temple of Christ,

He himself is the cornerstone

And he alone does suffice.

 

Our bodies are his temple

If indeed we are of the born again,

To revert to a manmade temple

To me seems insane.

 

The second reason is the Jews:

Apparently, God is in their debt

Since he made a promise to them

And has not fulfilled it yet.

 

A promise made to Abraham

Relating to prosperity and land

And God is yet to fulfil either

In accordance with His plan.

 

Thus, a new temple must be built

And the Jews must indwell the land

As promised to the worthy patriarch

Whom we know is Abraham.

 

The promise was to Abraham

And to Abraham’s seed

That all the world would be blessed

Through the promised Holy Seed.

 

In Christ is the promised fulfilled

To the Jew first and the Greek

And this is still being fulfilled

Even as we speak. 

  

It is therefore puzzling to me

That we are yet about distinctions

When God, the faithful promiser,

Has made good our redemption.

 

Heirs and joint-heirs with Christ,

Already seated in Heavenly places

To enjoy here and now and all eternity

God’s manifold, abundant graces.

 

Stewart Russell © September 13, 2022

 

Preterism and Futurism

 

 

Two unique positions

Though similar in some respects,

The similarities they accept

But the differences reject.

 

The former says, already passed

With a little in the future,

The latter posits yet to happen

As its principal picture.

 

Eschatological positions-

That is what this is about:

Examining last day things

And how they will work out.

 

Accepted to come:

 

The final judgment

 And the consummation of all things,

Regarding both of these

From the same page they sing.

 

Neither holds his position

As a requirement for salvation

And both are cognizant

Of the Great Commission.

 

Go ye into all the world

And preach the Good News,

In this regard

They are of like views.

 

Their differences come

With when the end will occur

And whether present day happenings

To the last days refer.

 

 

A different view of Revelation

Concerning the time,

On its judgments and redemption

They differently opine.

 

The latter says futuristic

The preterists, it’s mostly passed,

Occurring in the first century

Is what they have grasped.

 

The Great Tribulation is passed

And therefore, not yet to come

And presently we are living

In the time of the kingdom.

 

The futurists disagree,

These things are yet to happen,

We are living in the last days

And it’s near the end, they reckon.

 

Present day happenings:

For them, these are the signs

That Jesus is about to return

And to this they are inclined.

 

 

Keep your eyes on Israel

They would also advise

And very soon we should expect

The antichrist to arise.

 

The generation that see

Israel become a nation again

Will also see Jesus

When he comes back to reign.

 

Differing interpretations

Regarding St. Matthew 24

Which generation? That’s the question:

Whether now or before.

 

Preterists argue “this generation”

Is the one to whom Jesus spoke,

But futurists disagree

And uses the fig-tree quote.

 

The fig-tree they argue

Is a reference to Israel

And “this generation” must mean

Twenty-first Century people. 

 

 

It is this generation

That witnessed the event

When Israel became a nation;

Time is far spent.

 

Jesus is standing up

And he is about to return,

This is the lesson from the fig-tree

That we ought to learn.

 

A coming in judgment

On the nation of Israel

And it has already happened

On the Jewish people.

 

This is the preterists’ position

Which they advance

But as you can see,

Futurists take a different stance.

 

Stewart Russell © August 2020

   

Types of Faith

 

 

Five types of faith

As seen in the Word of God,

I will show you as I see them

And what each involves.

 

I will start from the least

And proceed to the fifth

And hopefully by the end

You will see God’s gift.

 

 

The first is “no faith”

Meaning having no faith at all,

“Don’t you care if we perish?”

The disciples in fear called.

 

Jesus was on board

Yet they greatly feared,

Then again, he was asleep

As the worst drew near.

 

 

 

The next is “little faith”-

Better than no faith at all,

On the water Peter was walking

But then he began to fall.

 

“O thou of little faith,

Wherefore didst thou doubt?”

Thank God he wasn’t too prideful

There and then to shout.

 

“Lord, save me!”

He called out to the Christ

Whose abundant salvation

Will more than suffice.

 

 

“Mustard seed faith”

We are on to the next one,

Let me say a little about this

And then move on.

 

The mustard seed is tiny

But full of great potential,

Very similar in its rapid growth

To God’s covenanted people.

 

From smallest beginnings

They will grow and multiply;

This mustard seed phenomenon

Of which many testify.

 

No faith and little faith

And mustard seed so far,

Great faith is much higher surely

But not the highest star.

 

Not even a Jew, he was

But a frowned upon Gentile,

Commander of 100 soldiers

He was obviously wise.

 

He received his miracle

In spite of his disregarded race

And Jesus commended him

Referring to his faith.

 

“Great faith”

Was displayed by this Gentile,

Great faith is how by Jesus

Such faith was described.

 

Four types so far

And here at last is the fifth,

This one is not to be outdone

Although it follows adrift.

 

This fifth type of faith

Relates to you and me,

For without it we would be lost

For all eternity.

 

All other faith types pale

In comparison to this faith

And as a matter of fact, it goes

Hand in hand with grace.

 

 

Saved by faith

And that through grace,

So, because of “saving faith”,

I will see my Saviour’s face.

 

Five types of faith

And now you can see

Which one definitely outfits us

For eternity.

 

Stewart Russell © February 26, 2024

 

Faith

 

 

 

There is a lot of talk about faith

And, as a matter of fact,

Some are known by their abundance

And quite a few by their lack.

 

Some have faith in Christ

And some have faith in faith:

These two I hope to deal with

And this is by God’s grace.

 

Not to be mixed up with the faith

Meaning the doctrine of Truth

But the two most argued about:

One without biblical proof.

 

The Bible is replete with texts

Depicting faith in Christ

And central to this specific faith

Is his atoning sacrifice.

 

Jesus is the object of our faith

All of the household of faith,

All them that are the born again

Via their faith in God’s grace.

 

They that put their faith in Jesus

Having repented of their sins

And like sheep that know his voice

Are walking along with him.

 

This faith is given in measure

And exercised in our daily walk,

It is manifested in our conversation

And it impacts the way we talk.

 

It’s different from faith in faith

The object of which is faith

That has no bearing on salvation

Or to God’s wonderful grace.

 

 

 

It’s a kind of God-like faith

As defined by some denominations,

The kind of faith that God used

Way back in the creation.

 

A speak-it-into-being faith

Conceive it, believe it, receive it,

Albeit full of illusion and delusion

Leaving adherents in a fix.

 

Exercising faith in faith

As opposed to Christ as the object

And faking it till you make it

Being another illusory aspect.

 

Faith in Christ is not for miracles

That may or may not happen,

It is in fact the God-saving faith

That tells us we are forgiven.

 

It is not that miracles have ended

And will never again occur

But above all miracles that ever were

It’s the miracle of salvation I prefer.

 

Miraculously and wondrously saved:

The miracle of a life transformed,

By faith in Jesus Christ, my Lord,

Miraculously I have been reborn.

 

And this for all eternity,

I am at present a citizen of heaven

And sealed by the blessed Holy Spirit,

All my sins have been forgiven.

 

By faith I walk in righteousness

As a born-again child of God

And by faith in my Saviour Jesus Christ

I share him at home and abroad.

 

Stewart Russell © October 9, 2022

 

We Come if Welcome

 

 

We come if ‘welcome’,

If not, we will not,

After all, we aim to please you

And serving is our lot.

 

Only where ‘welcome’

Is where we will go,

You have the right to affiliation

And that right we know.

 

We strive not to offend

But rather, to satisfy,

And your privacy is your right

Which we won’t deny.

 

We come if ‘welcome’

Is our stated policy,

We won’t turn up unannounced

At anybody.

 

That ‘l’ is important

One finds in welcome

And if it is unilaterally ignored,

It becomes we come.

 

That is presumptuous

As in “we have the right”!

No, my erudite learned friend

That right is might.

 

“Ever so welcome,

Wait for a call”

Used to be neighbourly advice

Adopted by all.

 

So, we come if ‘welcome’

Is there for all,

We won’t take any for granted

But wait for a call.

 

Stewart Russell © April 23, 2025

 

Saved from What?

  

 

Oh, that’s an easy one!

Saved from sins

And you can take your Bible

And inquire within.

 

For he shall save his people

From their sins-

Matthew chapter 1 verse 21

As sharp as a pin!

 

But there is much more,

I can assure you

And it concerns all of his people

Including me and you.

 

Sin brought separation

Between God and us

And therefore, God sent His Son,

The sinless Jesus.

 

 

 

Upon His own Son

God poured out His wrath

And made him a public spectacle

To make a path.

 

It was for our sins

That Jesus was crucified,

Yes, it was on account of our sins

He suffered and died.

 

It should have been us

Crucified on that cross,

We should have been the ones

Suffering the loss.

 

So, saved from what?

I will ask you again

And you will need to re-examine

Your original claim.

 

 

 

It’s far more, I assure you,

Much more than our sins-

God actually sent his Son, Jesus,

To save us from Him.

 

God, Himself, I mean,

From His divine judgment,

He poured out on His Son, Jesus

Whom He sent.

 

Expressed another way,

It’s the wrath of a just God

Who has zero tolerance for sin

We make light and small.

 

 

 

Enemies of a Holy God,

That’s what we had become

And the only peace that could be had

Was through His Son.

 

Mankind had no desire

To initiate such peace with God

But rather, from Adam's historic fall,

Man had declared war.

 

Thus, God is the initiator

Of the peace shown in Romans 5

And it's as a result of God’s grace

By which we survive.

 

So, saved from what?

I am forced to reiterate,

Not only sin, but from God’s wrath,

The sinner’s fate.

 

Romans 5:1

 

Therefore,

Being justified by faith,

We have peace with God

Through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

 

 

Saved from God’s wrath

Culminating in divine judgment

But poured out upon His righteous Son

Whom God Himself sent.

 

From His righteous wrath

Only God could protect us

And His expression of amazing grace

Was sent through Jesus.

 

From justice to mercy,

From mercy to amazing grace,

Through the resurrection and the life

Death has been displaced.  

 

Stewart Russell © July 30, 2026