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

 

God Knows Everything

 

 

He was called by his name

Long before he was born

And I can boldly say

He was not the only one.

 

His name was given

Fifty decades before his birth

And he became a great leader

In all the earth.

 

Although he was a pagan king

God used him mightily,

He was only twenty-five

When he won a great victory.

 

He became a world emperor

At the fall of Babylon,

What God says He will do

Must be counted as done.

 

 

He was anointed

By none other than by God

Go to Isaiah chapter 45

And read it in His Word.

 

He was a prototype

Of the Messiah that would come

And I am fairly sure you know

I mean Jesus, God’s Son.

 

God gave him much wealth

And many a conquest

And concerning His people Israel

In him did greatly invest.

 

Isaiah 44:28

 

Said God of this emperor

“He is my shepherd,”

And God Himself added,

“He shall perform all my pleasure.”

 

 

Even saying to Jerusalem

“Your walls shall be built;

And to the temple,

“Thy foundation shall be laid.”

 

 

A prophecy that came to pass

At the time prophesied,

That God knows all things

Cannot truly be denied.

 

God knew this emperor

Long before he was born

And he knows everything about us

Thus, we have been warned.

 

A particular king of Judah

Was named before he was born,

This one was Josiah;

Cyrus was the other one.

 

There were specific prophecies

Relating to their lives

And everyone was fulfilled

As in the biblical archives.

 

God is a promise keeper

And He knows everything,

He is able to declare

The end from the beginning.

 

Stewart Russell © July 2020

 

Shepherds Quaked

 

 

Out on a lowly hill

While their sheep attending

Shepherds quaked in great fear

Seeing angels descending.

 

“What could this mean?”

They thought to themselves

For surely it couldn’t be Santa

And his fairy tale elves.

 

Tales of Santa Clause

Was not back then rife

So why the presence of these angels

At this time in their life?

 

Fearing the worst

They huddled together

When words of the angels hinted

No need to bother.

 

 

“Fear not,” they said,

Stilling the shepherd’s fear,

And told to them the promise

We still hold dear.

 

For God so loved

That He selflessly gave

His only begotten Son, Jesus,

Our lives to save.

 

In a manger he lay

Right up the shepherd’s street

For unhindered they could go

And at Emmanuel peep.

 

I used peep for rhyme

But their eyes feasted

On the King of kings, Lord of lords

Whom they had visited.

 

 

With fear they had quaked

But not for long,

“Let us go and see,” they said,

Reminding us of a song…

 

A song we love to sing

At this yuletide season

About who it was that came

As well as the reason.

 

“While shepherds watched,

All seated on the ground”,

From heaven there came singing

As angels came down.

 

Shepherds quaked

At that wondrous sight,

When into this world of darkness

Came Jesus, the Light. 

 

To you, is born this day,

In the city of David,

The Saviour,

Who is Christ the Lord.

 

They had endured long

Expecting the Messiah

But in fullness of time he came,

Sing Alleluia.

 

Stewart Russell © December 9, 2024

 

These Times

 

 

 

No need to understand the times

As the children of Issachar did

But to propagate the glorious Gospel

That was from them hid.

 

For the Gospel as we know it

Was not revealed to them

Even though they were a part of it

From way back then.

 

They were aware, however,

Regarding the changing of the guard

That David would replace Saul

And Saul would take this hard.

 

It should not surprise us

How this matter was processed

But rather, come to the conclusion

That God’s way is always best.

 

Out of the tribe of Judah

Shiloh the Messiah would come,

Judah was neither Jacob’s oldest

Nor his favourite son.

 

He wasn’t even the greatest

Given the huge missteps he made

But God does not choose anyone

Based on his passing grade.

 

I know that Messiah is coming

Said the lady at the well,

Jesus confirmed that indeed he was

As later she was heard to tell.

 

No need to understand the times

As the children of Issachar did

But to propagate the glorious Gospel

Across this global grid.

 

To every nook and cranny

From every mountain to every vale

Until every human being alive

Gets to hear that God is real.

 

It is not for us to know

When Messiah will come again

But to make known to all peoples

The Gospel simple and plain.

 

For his return is more certain

That any historic fact

And he is coming for the born-again,

It’s time we all know that.

 

Stewart Russell © May 2, 2022