Offer Accepted Offer Rejected

 

 

It is not a life lived

But because of an offer accepted

And for all those who eventually perish

It would be an offer rejected.

 

The preacher, as he concluded his sermon,

Gave the following admonition to all,

That they would live in such a way that when death comes

They would have the hope of living eternally with God.

 

And while the preacher was sincere

In his admonition to the congregation

Something was missing from this counsel

And that is the Gospel of salvation.

 

Many are trying to enter heaven

On what they do and do not do

And if you are one of these such persons

I have some serious news for you.

 

No amount of good deeds or acts

Will get any one into heaven

It is only by the precious blood of Jesus

That the penitent is forgiven.

 

No amount of sacrifice or self-denial

Will qualify us for the Lamb’s book of life,

Such will not guarantee us a pass

Even if it makes us feel nice.

 

In the Gospel of John and chapter 3

Jesus makes it very plain,

Unless a person is born again

There is absolutely nothing to gain.

 

Nicodemus was living a quality life

Being a teacher of the Jews

But Jesus stuck his spiritual bubble

And ransacked his religious views.

 

Except a man be born again,

Please my reader, let me repeat,

His impeccable life will count for nothing

If heaven is the home he seeks.

 

And you could keep the ten commandments

Including the highlighted fourth,

If you have not been born again

All this would still be a spent force.

 

It comes right down to two responses

Whether you accept or reject

The offer that God has made to man

For in Jesus all God’s requirements are met.

 

Our fruit is not a requirement,

Certainly not for our redemption

But for the critics and pundits looking on,

It is the evidence of salvation.

 

Jesus could not be the only way of salvation

If there was some other way,

Such would be a distortion of sorts

Like there is no black or white, just grey.

 

Accept God’s offer of salvation!

Jesus the way, the truth and the life,

In the final analysis this is all that counts

Even in the midst of all earth’s strife.

 

To accept God’s offer is to accept life

To reject is to reject the Lord Christ,

Thus, there remains no hope in the latter case

Having spurned God’s sacrifice.

 

Stewart Russell © February 10, 2021

 

Charity in All Three

 

 

In essentials: unity

In non-essentials: liberty

In all things: charity

 

Two cannot walk together

Except they be agreed,

Neither should we yoke a mule

With a fast running steed.

 

Two at different speeds

Cannot walk together,

Neither will keep the other’s company

In any kind of weather.

 

The foregoing scenarios

Speak to the fundamental,

Hence the strength of our unity

Must hang on the essential.

 

What are the essentials?

On what must we agree?

The undiluted Gospel of salvation

That in God’s Word we see.

 

 

Summed up in John 3:16

For God so loved He gave…

Thus, redeeming the repentant sinner

From the clutches of the Knave.

 

That Jesus came and died

Must indeed be an essential,

And that he rose up from the dead

Is an indisputable fundamental.

 

That there is only one God

And only one path that leads to Him:

Meaning there is absolutely one way

That we can be saved from sin.

 

Jesus is that way,

He is also the truth and life

And unless a man believes in him,

He is forever in sin’s strife.

 

The Word of God is our manual,

No other book even comes near

And whenever we peruse its pages,

We must do so with godly fear.

 

Reverencing the Holy Spirit

That brings enlightenment

To the born-again believer

And to the genuinely repentant.

 

Yes, in essentials: unity

Absolutely no compromise

And be aware of the counterfeiter

That comes in alluring disguise.

 

In non-essentials: liberty-

Judge not another on these,

However, cause not a brother to stumble

Is top of the charitable pleas.

 

Focus not on the “do-nots”

Rather, focus on the “do’s”

And be patient with one another

As God has been with you.

 

The “do-nots” are alluring,

Like Eve, we wonder, “Why not?”

Like Eve, we fall headlong

And trouble becomes our lot.

 

Quite enough non-essentials:

Discuss but don’t quarrel,

The enemy loves divisiveness

And in disunity he revels.

 

 

 

In all things: charity

Yes, charity in all three:

In essentials, non-essentials and all things

There must be charity.

 

Charity conquers all,

It is the evidence to the world

Of every born-again believer

That walks in God’s Holy Word.

  

It’s the hallmark of the faith-

The unifying trend

That says to all and sundry,

We will be faithful to the end.

 

In essentials: unity

In non-essentials: liberty

In all things: charity

Yes, charity in all three.

 

Stewart Russell © September 27, 2020

 

To the Jew First

 

 

In two Bible references

You will find this phrase,

Go to Romans 1:16 and 2:10

And thereupon gaze.

 

To the Jew first

But what does it mean?

When examined in its context,

What can we glean?

 

Quite a lot, you’ll see
If you but take a look

But it is important my friend

To read the whole book.

 

Therein is the context

Re the saints at Rome

Made up of Jews and Gentiles

As a diverse one.

 

 

Distinct, yet unified,

By faith in Jesus Christ:

Both Jew and Gentile redeemed

For the same price.

 

And this is critical

As we look to the future,

For we must examine this past

To get a right picture.

 

To the Jew first:

Chronological or priority?

A study of the book of Romans

Will help you see.

 

Who’s more important:

The Gentile or the Jew?

Neither of them is more important;

I thought you knew.

 

 

For in Father Abraham

Both were to be blessed

And in the Lord Jesus Christ only

Both find their rest.

 

Not one way for Jews

And another for Gentiles,

The contrast, I will dare say,

Is one of Satan’s wiles.

 

It’s one of Satan’s tricks

For which many still fall

Believing that Israel’s ethnicity

Is Israel’s all in all.

 

A special gathering in

Is yet reserved for them

Since God did make a promise

Re Abraham’s children.

 

Every promise of God

God does indeed fulfil

And He does so in accordance

With His divine will.

 

 

Some have been fulfilled

And some are ongoing

Like the millions of souls saved

Through evangelizing.

 

And what is more

As I am hoping you see,

This is the promise to Abraham

Given in prophecy.

 

Yes, to the Jew first:

The very first evangelists,

Also, the Gentile, no after thought

But always on God’s list.

 

For in Abraham

All nations are blessed

And their faith in Jesus, the Christ,

Is the utmost test.

 

For since Pentecost

Christ has made all one

And the dividing wall of partition

Is eternally gone.

 

 

 

No difference now

Between Gentiles and Jews

Though it was to the Jew first

That carried the news.

 

 

The blessed news

Of the glorious gospel:

The gospel of so great salvation

Which they did tell…

 

To the Gentiles afar off

Who were brought near

And now before the throne of God

We can all appear…

 

With our sins forgiven

And all iniquities pardoned

And God’s law written on hearts

That were once hardened.

 

 

To the Jew first

Was inclusive by intent

In that the first gospel message

Was for all to repent.

 

The early church

Was both Jew and Gentile,

No afterthought as some esteem

But prophecy all the while.

 

To the Jew first

Was merely the beginning

Of God’s glorious salvation to all

Without ending.

 

One salvation and baptism,

All one in Christ!

No two peoples, as some believe,

No dividing splice!

 

No ethnic division

In the kingdom of God,

All heirs and joint-heirs in Christ!

Shout this abroad.

 

 

To the Jew first

And also to the Greek,

Is the power of God unto salvation

Even as we speak.

 

To the Jew first

And to the Gentile also,

To every man that worketh good

And God’s mercy show.

 

To the Jew first

And to you and me,

Sealed by the blessed Holy Spirit

For all eternity.

 

Stewart Russell © July 11, 2025

 

The Book of Revelation

 

 

 If Revelation is a revelation

Why is it so difficult to understand?

And why is it so puzzling?

I am sure that was not the plan.

 

Surely it’s full of symbolism

And very strange looking creatures,

Their mixture of human and animal

Makes for a weird picture.

 

It speaks of all kinds of events

The timing of which we are uncertain,

Still many associate these events

With the final curtain.

 

But do all of these events

Relate to the end of time?

I am inclined to think not so

And it’s more that what I opined.

 

 

If we could get the timing right

Perhaps, we would have a clue

Concerning when the events unfolded

To give us a better view.

 

In addition to the fore-mentioned

The context would be critical,

And thirdly, but not finally,

Distinguishing the symbolic from the literal.

 

Some things we have seen as literal

Surely cannot be so,

So the meaning of the symbology

Would be something we ought to know.

  

The Bible must be taken as a whole

And is best at explaining itself,

Take the Word away from the Word

And there is absolutely nothing left.

 

So what Jesus said is critical

As it relates to the book of Revelation,

If we can uncover that important link

There would be less misapprehension.

 

We focus on the judgments

Without quite understanding them

And miss the benefits we already have

And therein lies one problem.

 

Revelation is about a journey

It is not simply about the last day,

In fact it is more about Jesus Christ

And the new covenantal way.

 

 

It is the person and work of Jesus

And the Church, his chased bride,

The spiritual and physical resurrections

Of those for whom he died.

 

When viewed in New Testament light

The imagery becomes quite clear,

And much of the current speculation

Simply disappears.

 

The prophetic utterances of the day

Conflict with those in the Word,

And the time setting for Jesus’ return

Is becoming more and more absurd.

 

Let us take our eyes off Israel

And focus on the Gospel of salvation,

Bearing in mind the great commission

Of reaching every nation.

 

Stewart Russell © October 2019

 

War and Confusion

 

 

There was war in heaven

Now war in the church,

God was in control in the first

Now it is church experts.

 

Experts in tongues

Experts in the prophetic,

Experts in visions and dreams

But not in the Holy Spirit.

 

International preachers

Going for the jugular

And in the international arena

Tearing down one another.

 

 

Citing the Old Testament

While ignoring the New

Or for some, the other way around,

Neither the correct view.

 

A lot of scare tactics

And much intimidating stuff,

Reminiscent of the fairy tale-

The wolf’s huff and puff.

 

I will refrain from names

But out there are many a wolf

Parading on social media platforms

And pedaling their stuff.

 

There is one in particular

With two international gurus:

One brimming in self-confidence

Giving the other his due.

 

One allegedly falling

And joining the unenviable crew,

The other beating him with the Word

At least, in his view.

 

Mocking and scorning the other

That has allegedly fallen,

Providing laughter and fun

For his bemused congregation.

 

 

Nations are in disarray

And apparently the churches too,

Each one fighting the other

Leaving God out of the do.

 

Yet professing vehemently

A word from the Lord,

Can’t see the light for the darkness

And mightily absurd.

 

Oh, for a renewed vision

Of the crucified Christ,

Instead of earth’s wealth and fame

With its accompanying vice!

 

 

 

Oh, for the gospel of salvation

Again, to be proclaimed

To church pews from the pulpits

In Jesus' name…

 

Rather than the infighting

Among brothers and sisters

Driven by the spurious agendas

Of charismatic leaders!

 

The world is dark,

The temple light allegedly gone out,

There is warring among the allies

Propelled by unbelief and doubt.

 

What a very sad indictment

On religion and the world!

Far more technologically savvy

But dangerously absurd.

 

Stewart Russell © February 4, 2024

 

Decreeing and Declaring

 

 

Decreeing and Declaring:

Whose roles are these two?

To best answer this question

We must get a biblical view.

 

49 times in the KJV 

You will find the word decree

And this word in all its usage

Speaks to authority.

 

95 times in the KJV

You’ll find the word declare:

77 times in the Old Testament;

In the New it 18 times appear.

 

It can mean to propagate

Or even to explain

And though subtly different,

These basically mean the same.

 

 

Decree on the other hand

You’ll find in the NT one time,

Caesar Augustus unwittingly fell in line

With what was in God’s mind.

 

He sent out the decree

That all the world be taxed

And thus, the need for a census

To be guided by the facts.

 

Before this God had decreed

That the Messiah would come

And it coincided with Caesar’s census

Within the Roman kingdom.

 

Kings by law decree

What must be in their domain,

Such decrees are for a time

And only while they reign.

 

God’s decrees are eternal

And not subjected to change,

Declaring the end at the beginning;

God has infinite range.  

There is much that we declare

That does not come to pass

And even when it does

It will not eternally last.

 

But when we declare God’s Word

We declare God’s decree,

Sealed in the blood of Jesus Christ

For the whole world to see.

 

Suspended on a rugged cross

At Mount Calvary,

In him alone is man’s salvation:

That’s the heavenly decree.

 

Declare the Gospel of salvation

Propagate this royal decree!

That whosoever believes in Christ

Shall be saved eternally.

 

Stewart Russell © August 20, 2021