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

 

The Saint’s Graduation

 

Death should be a time of rejoicing

For saints, if you know what I mean,

The graduation from all of earth’s troubles

And prepared for the heavenly scene.

 

It is like any course of study,

At the end, we look forward to graduation

And for all the successful participants,

There is a culminating celebration.

 

This earth is the saint’s testing ground

It is a mixed bag of joy and sorrow,

We deal with today’s examinations

 But anticipate some more tomorrow.

 

Some of them are particularly fiery

Some, especially long and drawn out,

 Some leave us so down and distraught

That we are even inclined to doubt.

 

Yet when the death angel interrupts

We are disappointed and suffer sore,

Almost as if of life’s troubles

It would be good to suffer some more.

 

Seldom do we release our loved ones

And we gripe when they finally go,

And we treat to their home going event

As though death was their greatest foe.

 

For some the graduation exercise

Is all about doom and gloom,

And even in the case of longevity

We still say they have gone too soon.

 

Death is treated to as a monster

Even though it was the death of a saint,

And sometimes this is so overwhelming

That at the ceremony some will faint.

 

 

Death ought to be a time of rejoicing

Especially in the case of a saint

But suffice it to say I am guilty

Even though a cheerful picture I paint.

 

We sorrow at the death of a saint

And rejoice at the birth of a child,

The former is escaping earth’s troubles

While the latter, the opposite is applied.

 

Some believe it should be reversed

Given all that is really to follow,

But the vast majority, and so am I,

Find that too difficult to swallow.

 

We ought not to sorrow, the Bible says,

As those who have no hope,

For the dead in Christ will precede us

And that should help us to cope.

 

Death is the saint’s graduation

Amidst our sorrow, we should rejoice

In recognition of our loved ones’ destiny

Having made Jesus their choice.

 

Yes, sorrow for the lost affection

And be sad for the physical separation,

But rejoice that on account of redemption

We can celebrate a saint’s graduation.

 

Stewart Russell (c) September 2019

 

The End of Time

 

 

Lovers say it to one another-

At the beginning, anyway,

Though they may have a different feeling

By the end of the day.

 

Some say I will love you forever

As though there is no end of time,

But often forget this promised vow

Somewhere along the line.

 

For some, there is no commitment,

These prefer a wait and see:

A “que sera-sera”, perhaps-

What will be will be.

 

Forever and the end of time

Are two biblical terms:

We will contemplate the latter one

To see what we can learn.

  

“Time is longer than twine”

Is a regular Barbadian saying:

It is like any wrong you do to me,

Someday you’ll end up paying.

 

The end of time might mean

The ending of a specified period,

The course of time to do something

Whether bad or good.

 

However, God’s end of all time

Is the consummation of all things,

It’s His designated time of conclusion

Before His all new beginnings.

 

Behold a new heaven and new earth!

The old having passed away,

So saw John on the Isle of Patmos

In the Spirit on the Lord’s day.

 

All time will have passed a way

History will be no more,

Eternity will be all that there is

No counting of days like before.

 

No more night as a matter of fact

No need for the sun or moon

For with the light of the glorious Trinity

All will be brighter than at noon.

 

 

Time will have ended as we know it

Eternity for the saved begun,

And of troubles and trials and temptations

There will be absolutely none.

 

No memory of earth’s sojourn past

No memory be it good or bad,

No giving in marriage or marrying

No joy that will become sad.

 

In time our loved ones will die

In eternity there’ll be no more death,

The King of kings will reign supremely

And all will be peace and rest.

 

This end will be a time of separation

Two destinies will be our lot:

“Come ye blessed of my Father” or

“Depart from me, I know you not.”

 

The end of time is approaching

It is nearer than ever before,

Make your calling and election sure!

Need I tell you more?

 

Stewart Russell © September 8, 2020

 

 

Anonymous

 

I won’t tell who I am

But by the end you’ll know my name

For there will be no doubt in your mind

Regarding my popularity and fame.

I have been around a very long time

How long I wouldn’t even mention

Understand though as you read this

I was before the first invention.

Did I say before the first invention?

Well that is not exactly accurate

Fig leaves came just before I arrived

And then after I had my first date.

I have seen skirmish after skirmish

And I have never missed a war

And the things that you like about life

I most definitely abhor.

I walk among the rich

And I keep company with the poor

With me kings and queens affiliate

Stick around and I’ll tell you some more.

People just love to hate me

And I am blamed for every lost

Insurance companies dare not disregard me

To them I am a significant cost.

I fear no woman, I fear no man

I am not intimidated by girl or boy

The very things that advance their lives

Are often in my employ.

I am older than the oldest man

More relevant than today

And in most of the cases I have tackled

I have mostly had my way.

Young and old are acquainted with me

I have been to every home

I am at ease with the biggest crowd

But I am just as comfortable alone.

It would appear I am omnipresent

And your nature is suited to me

I revelled in hatred and anger

And in human hostility.

I reside in every country

Not a single family escapes me

I have no time to sit on thrones

For I am too busy bringing misery.

I have flown on many a plane

I have crossed every single sea

I have traversed the densest jungles

And the deserts have not escaped me.
 

I make it my business to bring fear

Separation is my portfolio

I am the Minister of distress and harassment

And presided in many an overthrow.

I interrupt the best-made plans

And institute operations of my own

I make mock sport at their projections

From time immemorial my business has grown.

Occasionally I encounter failure

But success is just around the bend

And before you can say cock robin

There is another funeral to attend.

My ads are in every country’s paper

In some tabloids page by page

You’ll never read your name there though

It doesn’t matter your age.

Which brings me to the significant point

That I have never missed a funeral

Some have been simple, some elaborate

Depending on the status of the people.

I am often the talk of the town

For some I guarantee a generous income

Particularly them who live off others dying

But they too have their course to run.

One thing you could say for me

I do not favour or discriminate

There is no amount that you can pay me

And when your time comes you will be the late.

I never take a bribe and I do not grudge

For such I have no need

In any case my quiver is always full

On account of man’s avarice and his greed.

I recall it was the very first spring

And I was privy to a certain conversation

The instructions were clear as clear can be

But the recipients followed another's direction.

From that era until the present time

Every day has been a field day

I have never lacked for victims

For invariably they come my way.

In any endeavour there are highs and lows

And my greatest high was my premiere low

For a moment there I had the Prince of Life

But I was forced to let him go.

Three days I held him in the belly of the earth

I was so sure that he was mine

But suddenly he was no longer there

That experience is difficult to define.
 

I have had two partners throughout time

And we really felt the victory was ours

But my sting was removed and their victory short lived

Swallowed up by His infinite power.

I am the resurrection and the life

The Creator of life once said

And those who put their trust in Him

Will one day be delivered from the dead.

In the meantime I shall continue my business

Working with partners two and three

And taking consolation in the very fact

That I will be around for eternity.

For those who die in the Prince of Life

Will be gathered together with him

And those in him at his return

Will over me the greatest victory win

But those who reject the Prince of life

Will be mine for ever and ever

Eternally separated from their Maker and Judge

Eternal separation from the Saviour

Stewart Russell (@) 2016