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

 

White Washed and Washed White

  

 

White washed

And washed white:

Don’t make them synonyms

And think you are right.

 

Look again

With a closer eye

And you will see the difference:

Come on, you must try.

 

Two were a praying

To Almighty God:

 One was extremely boastful,

The other, not at all.

 

One was different,

This had to be known,

Only his kind you must understand

Was in his zone.

 

He paid his tithes

And also gave alms,

There was absolutely no doubt

He was a godly man.

 

He merited salvation,

He was so good

And he kept the Mosaic law

Like he should.

 

He notified God

Re the good he did

As though God did not know

What he hid.

 

And to look at him

He was really clean,

So white washed on the outside

He actually gleamed.

 

 

 

The other one

Smote on his chest

But unlike the religious Pharisee

He was a pest.

 

A societal nuisance

Mostly to the Jews

As he yearly exacted from them

More than their dues.

 

Summed up in a word,

Publican to be exact

But meaning he was a tax collector

Of dubious extract.

 

He had been merciless

In his tax demands

But for mercy he had pleaded

As a sinner man.

 

He bowed his head

As he cried out to God

And thence he found satisfaction:

The other, none at all.

 

He was washed white

Unlike white washed

And all his many sinful infractions

Immediately quashed.

 

The other, white washed,

Was self-deluded

Thus, could not access righteousness

Which is imputed.

 

He did his own washing

Which was outward only

Just like the white washed tombs

Used to bury.

 

A form of godliness

But denying its power,

Somewhat like the first skyscraper

Or Babel’s tower.

 

Washed from inside

Spreads to the outside

But just white washed outside

Many sins hide.

 

 

  

A definite 'coverup'

Or 'swept under the mat'

And when self-deceit settles in,

It’s a deadly trap.

 

However, washed white

Is a daily routine

That’s enabled by the Holy Spirit

Who constantly cleans.

 

Stewart Russell © April 16, 2026

 

Better All the Way

“A temple is to be built”

I hear some say,

“But the Muslim sacred dome

Is standing in its way.”

 

That dome must be moved

Can’t be there still,

The temple will be there

Believe me it will.

 

It will be the signal

Of Israel’s Messiah’s coming

For which devout Jews

Are currently looking.

 

Sacrifices must restart

So, the temple is a must,

Dispensationalists believe it

And do make a fuss.

 

Israel will be in charge

As nations go up to her,

This will follow the tribulation

To which the Bible refer.

 

Thus, a new temple

And animal sacrifice

Though this in the first place

Did not quite suffice.

 

There’s no temple need

Or for animal sacrifice,

Jesus’ once for all atonement

More than sufficed.

 

 

Why return, I ask,

To the beggarly elements

After the veil in the temple

Was permanently rent?

 

Showcasing for all

A much better way,

Jesus’ once for all sacrifice

Speaks to a better day.

 

A better High Priest

Than any before him,

The only High Priest ever

That can forgive sin.

 

Jesus is our temple

And our sacrifice,

He is also our High Priest

That gave his life.

 

This is borne out

In the book of Hebrews,

Go there I recommend

For a better view.

 

Better than the angels

And of better things,

We are so wonderfully blessed

We’ve a right to sing.

 

A better blessing

And a better hope,

Jesus is a better testament

Please take note.

 

 

A better covenant

Built on better promises,

The heavenly things themselves

With better sacrifices.

 

A better country

With a better resurrection

God providing a better thing

To bring us salvation.

 

Jesus is the mediator

Of this better covenant

That speaks of better things

For the elect remnant.

 

 

Better all the way:

From the Old to the New,

For the Jew and the Gentile:

For me and for you.

 

Better here and now

And still better to come,

Heirs to the kingdom of God

Through Jesus, His Son.

 

 

 

Christ the new temple,

Believers his lively stones,

Built up in Jesus the Christ

As the Spirit tones.

 

Go to Hebrews now

To study the word better

And see how Jesus shines

In this descriptive letter.

 

To God be the glory

And praise to the Son,

Honour to the Holy Spirit:

Three yet one.

 

Stewart Russell © July 12, 2024

 

Which Rebuilt Temple?

 

 

 

I hear of a rebuilt temple,

I mean one to come

Where the Jews will worship

In a millennium kingdom.

 

It’s after the tribulation

When the Jews will be gathered in,

And all of them in a single day

Will be saved from their sin.

 

It bothers me, though,

If this is really true,

Then for whom did Jesus die?

This question is to you.

 

When he said, it was finished

What did he really mean?

What was it that was finished,

If not the old covenant theme?

 

If the blood sacrifices were types

And the physical temple a shadow,

Why rebuild a new temple?

Please tell me; I want to know.

 

 

If the middle wall of partition

Was really broken down,

Then on the idea of a new temple

We ought to frown.

 

I like the Sunday school song

We sang so long ago,

It conveyed an understanding

That I think we need to know.

 

“We’re building up a temple

We’re building up a temple

We’re building up a temple of the Lord,

Hey brother, won’t you help?

Hey sister, won’t you help?

We’re building up a temple of the Lord.”

 

1 Peter 2:5; 1 Corinthians 3:16

 

What is the nature of this temple?

It’s a temple not made with hands,

But a temple of lively stones:

A spiritual house, as God planned.

 

To offer up spiritual sacrifices

Acceptable to God by Jesus Christ,

We, as lively stones, are God’s temple

Ever since his finished sacrifice.

 

The disciples once went to Jesus

To show him the temple structure

And no doubt, they were disappointed,

As he showed them the sad picture.

 

Not one stone, he said then,

Would be left upon another,

As he foretold the temple’s destruction

The disciples were clearly bothered.

 

They equated this with Jesus’ return

And the end of the world,

“When shall these things be?” they asked,

They were clearly perturbed.

 

The temple was the centre-piece

That is all that they knew,

Just like the ark of the covenant

It was security to the Jew.

 

The temple with its sacrifices

Was coming to its end,

The old covenant would pass away

And this was around the bend.

 

 

This was the rebuilt temple

From back in Persian times

And its destruction, after Herod’s upgrade,

Would be a significant sign.

 

It was a splendid edifice

Of which the Jews were proud

But not long after Jesus’ prophecy

Its destruction would be loud.

 

The end of the Mosaic covenant

The end of the blood sacrifice,

Another would become the focus

And that would be Jesus Christ.

 

So, when I hear of a rebuilt temple

I really have to ask, “Which one?”

It can’t be one in our future

For the temple worship has gone.

 

Stewart Russell © June 2020

 

A Magi

 

 

Perhaps you had heard

There were three of us

But whether there were more or not

Is not my focus.

 

Maybe you thought

We started out together

But again, neither is this my focus

So, no need to bother.

 

I just want to share

The incredible experience I had

And let me tell you from the outset,

I am eternally glad.

 

Please understand upfront

That I was not a Jew

And thus, the more wonderful to me,

And perhaps also you.

 

 

 

I studied the constellations

With their countless stars

And I was able to tell their distance

Whether near of far.

 

They often told of events

Particularly in the future

And because of the Almighty God

I got the picture.

 

I was not an afterthought

But I was always included

And just like the shepherds earlier

I was not excluded.

 

 

 

I followed that star

That mysteriously moved

Straight to over King Herod’s place

To give him news.

 

News of a new born king

He did not even know

But to whom that star had pointed

And also showed. 

 

I left King Herod’s palace

Of course, none the wiser

But I found the star still waiting

To be my guider.

 

It guided me to a house

In which was a young child

And by whom, I felt the strong urge

To kneel beside.

 

 

 

I presented him a gift

And it was of myrrh

With which he would be anointed

When his death occurred.

 

To me that was strange

For he was just a toddler,

Why should death at this early stage

Be a bother?

 

There were two more gifts

That I can recall,

There were gold and frankincense;

Yes, that was all.

 

There was a great presence

There in that room,

And it was of a heavenly invitation

And not of doom.

 

 

 

What an experience

And what great salvation

To be in the same room as the one

To bring redemption!

 

Not only for the Jew

But for the Gentile as well

And what great news other magi and I

Had to tell!

 

Some call us wise men

And some call us kings

But I can tell, seeing the Christ child

Meant everything.

 

Stewart Russell © December 16, 2025

 

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