Jesus the Door

 

I am the door

Says the Lord, Jesus Christ,

The salvation of every human being

Hangs on his sacrifice.

 

No other door is available

Whereby a man can be saved,

It matters not your denomination

Or how well you behave.

 

No merit has anyone

Other than Jesus Christ in him,

Jesus the door, is the only deliverance

From the wages of sin.

 

The door to life abundant

Thus, the door to escape death,

The door to life everlasting

And God’s eternal rest.

 

 

Not just cracked open

That only a few can get in

But the door for the whosoever,

All can come to him.

 

All that came before Jesus

Were robbers and thieves

That took advantage of the sheep

And did as they pleased.

 

Their door was ineffective

And only scattered the sheep,

The sheep for whom Jesus died:

The sheep he still doth seek.

 

A great door and effectual

Declared the Apostle Paul,

This door was for them as well as us,

Jew, Gentile and all.

 

 

 

Knock and it will open

Meaning the door of salvation,

All that come, he will not refuse

Is his call to every nation.

 

The Jews first then Gentiles

Making them both one in Christ,

Baptized into one Holy Spirit

Via one atoning Sacrifice.

 

One sheep fold, not two

As some are wont to believe,

Just as Jesus said, “I am the door,”

It’s for all who will receive.

 

 

The Kingdom and the Church

Both rolled into one,

A people, neither Gentile nor Jew,

But only the reborn.

 

A new Israel, as it were,

But with a heavenly city,

The new Jerusalem that John saw

Coming in AD 70.

 

The destruction of the first

Was the initiation of the second,

No longer a door to a physical temple

But Jesus that now beckons.

 

“Come on to me,” he says,

And I will give you rest,”

Jesus is that door to that one fold-

Choose life rather than death!

 

Buried with Christ in baptism

Risen with Christ through faith,

The operation of God the Father

Delivered to us by His grace.

 

One Lord, one faith, one baptism,

One door which is Jesus Christ,

He is the way, the truth and the life,

No other door will suffice.

 

Stewart Russell © March 30, 2024

 

Saints in Christ

 

 

I got me to thinking today,

I was trying to find me a saint

And given the understanding of most

I found it rather quaint.

 

Saints are seen like Christ

In their character and behavior

And especially the ancient ones

Were just like the Saviour.

 

“There are no saints today”

This is the belief of the majority:

Not like St Paul and St Peter

Of Biblical authority.

 

No doubt this is your view too

If you grew up when I did,

If there were saints in that time

Please tell me where they hid.

 

Only today I watched a movie

About a wretched man

But a little boy befriended him

And became his only fan.

 

They went to the racing track

And frequented a certain bar

And regardless of the criticisms

He was that child’s star.

 

He was the boy’s baby-sitter

When his mother worked late

And if you saw this man’s home,

It was in an awful state.

 

He was often inebriated

From the alcohol he consumed,

Not a good example for a lad

As all of us would presume.

 

But he taught the lad to be bold

To stand up for his right

And equipped him with the skill

To hold his own in a fight.

 

Being very small for his age

He was always at a disadvantage

But after some time with his friend

He able to manage.

 

 

Then came a school assignment

Given to the students of his class:

Write an essay about a saint

Either of the present or past.

 

He chose to write about his friend

Starting first with the bad

And then he highlighted the good

That few had known he had.

 

He was an army officer

And had received a medal for bravery

Having rescued several officers

While battling the opposing army.

 

He attended faithfully to his wife

Who was in a seniors’ home,

Every week he would visit her

And not just called her on the phone.

 

He had done this for eight years

Even when dementia set in

And still continued his visiting

When she no longer knew him.

 

He was this little lad’s saint

Though to many he was zero

But after the little boy’s presentation

He became an instant hero.

 

I got me to thinking today

I was trying to find a saint,

Suddenly it became quite easy;

It was no longer quaint.

 

 

Fallible, flawed and feeble

All human just like me,

Even the saints in all of Scripture:

Take a look and you’ll see.

  

They were sometimes wretched

And at times too did fall,

Saint Paul, Peter, James and John,

Not just one, but all!

 

Do you still think in your mind

That all the saints are dead?

Read if you will, 1^st Corinthians,

And you’ll think differently instead.

 

Saint Paul called them saints

He really must have been mad!

They were wretched and full of sin

Like the hero this little lad had.

 

 

It is not an earned sainthood

But it is the Christ that is within:

The one who bestowed the sainthood

When he forgave us of our sin.

 

He is the only Holy One

And in him is our sainthood,

Let him from this day and onwards

Be the only judge.

 

Stewart Russell © March 2, 2022