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

 

Which Israel?

 

 

This may be a puzzle

But it need not be, my friend,

An explicit reading, I dare say,

Should bring it to an end.

 

Go to Romans chapter 9

And you will see what I mean,

As I read it for myself

I see two different scenes.

 

I see Israel number 1

And I see Israel number 2,

Since not all Israel are of Israel

Is clear to me and you.

 

 

Yes, there are two “Israels”

Read it in Romans 9:

One of the flesh and one of promise,

Lock this in your mind.

 

This is explicitly stated

In not all Israel are of Israel,

Israel number 2 you should see

Are an assorted people.

 

Not all children

Because they are Abraham’s seed

But the children of the promise

Are counted for seed.

 

Predestined to be so

In God’s redemptive plan

That all the nations of the world

Will be blessed in Abraham.

 

 

“At this time will I come

And Sarah shall have a son,”

It was not Ishmael as some may opine,

 Isaac was her promised one.

 

 

Yes, Ishmael was older

But Isaac was the promised son,

Very similar to Esau and Jacob

But Jacob was the chosen one.

 

 

It was said to Sarah

The elder shall serve the younger,

As it is written, Jacob have I loved

But Esau have I hated.

 

Of course, love and hate here

Must be put into context

Never mind Jacob did some things

That really made Esau vexed.

 

After all, Jacob was a trickster

And by trickery he made his way

But in all of his dealing and scheming,

God held absolute sway.

 

Do not be side tracked

By the quality of men God chose,

The reason why He chose these men,

Only God knows.

 

Here He chose a trickster

Whose seed crucified the Christ

Arguing they were Abraham’s seed

And Christ did not suffice.

 

Not only of the Jews

Did all-wise all-knowing God call

But He also chose of the Gentiles;

Jews were not them all.

 

Not all of Israel are of Israel

Has a double meaning,

Follow me closely as I proceed

And see what I am gleaning.

 

Not all of Israel

Meaning not every Israelite,

To say that they all will be saved

Is just not right.

 

Thank God there were Jews

That did come to Christ,

Not all of them rejected the Saviour

Losing out on eternal life.

 

Not all of Israel

Are of Abraham’s flesh,

But in Abraham’s seed, of course,

The Christ, all will be blessed.

 

So that Israel number 2

Comprise both Jew and Gentile,

Both being endued by the Spirit;

The flesh being defiled.

 

For in the flesh, it states

Dwelleth no good thing,

Paul makes this clear in chapter 7

In what he’s offering.

 

‘Tis God’s sovereign choice

To choose as He did choose

But it is an act of man’s free will

Whether he win or lose.

 

 

Israel number 2 is the elect

The chosen of Almighty God,

These are they that came by faith

When they heard Him call.

 

“Whosoever will may come”

Is the invitation to one and all,

“Elect according to God’s foreknowledge”

Them that heed His call.

 

Neither Jew nor Gentile

But all are one in Jesus Christ

Who gave his life a ransom for many:

A once for all sacrifice.

 

Romans 9:30-33

 

What shall we say then?

That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness,

Have attained to righteousness,

Even the righteousness which is of faith.

 

But Israel,

Which followed after the law of righteousness,

Hath not attained to the law of righteousness.

 

Wherefore?

Because they sought it not by faith,

But as it were by the works of the law.

For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;

 

As it is written,

Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence:

And whosoever believeth on him

Shall not be ashamed.

 

 

 

Be sure to say which Israel

For not all Israel are of Israel,

The one of faith is not ethnic Israel

But the New Covenanted Israel.

 

Stewart Russell © March 20, 2024