Some Don’t Believe

If you don’t believe

There is going to be a hell

Then believe this, my friend,

There’s one the Bible tells.

 

Jesus said more about it

Than he spoke about heaven,

We don’t have to dread it

If we’ve been forgiven.

 

There is a fancy I know

We can argue things away

But believe God’s word

It is here to stay.

 

 

Hell was created;

In the Bible you’ll find this

So it won’t go away

However hard you wish.

 

Interesting enough,

It wasn’t created for man

But for the devil and his angels,

This was the plan.

 

However, all who reject Christ

Will be cast into hell

And it is not a place of comfort

But a place of dread.

 

I have heard it said

Hell is right here right now:

Some manner of retribution

God has avowed.

 

Death will end it

It won’t forever abide,

Perhaps this is the reason

Some commit suicide.

 

There is a hell

That many go through here

But for this type of hell

It is man we must fear.

 

 

 

His selfishness and greed

Is responsible for this

But there is no comparison

If heaven we miss.

 

God’s great salvation

Is the only way of escape,

If you are on the broad way

Hell is your fate.

 

I know some will laugh

And call this baloney

But I say to all naysayers

Hell is a reality.

 

God does not operate

After the fact,

Oh no, my friend,

He’s not a God like that.

 

That god is human

Spelt with a common ’g’,

Certainly not Almighty God

That exists eternally.

 

God is not reactive

As humans tend to be.

The entirety of life’s future

Is God’s history.

 

 

History is different though

From His story,

God’s narrative is man’s redemption

In the Bible that’s what we see.

 

A narrative of hope

But also, one of dread:

Heaven for the spiritually alive;

Hell for the spiritually dead.

 

I will be too busy

Shaking hands with friends

Was what one critic said

Of his destined end.

 

He doesn’t believe

But this doesn’t change the fact

That hell is a real place

And there's no way back.

 

Stewart Russell © March 16, 2024

 

Will I?

 

 

Am I going to make it?

Sometimes I doubt,

There are those who make me feel

I could be left out.

 

They point me to scriptures

That appear to point this out

And I must confess after I read

I still sometimes doubt.

 

God is able, they tell me

And plus, we do have a choice,

We could be obedient to Him

Or ignore His voice.

 

The moment we don’t listen

Could spell disaster for us

And the ravenous wolf

Could snatch us from Jesus.

 

Or, maybe I myself

Could take me out of God’s hand,

At any point I could decide

I am finished with His plan.

 

 

Am I going to make it?

Sometimes I doubt,

There are those who make me feel

I could be left out.

 

But it seems strange to me

That after being rescued

One would abandon his rescuer

To go back to that stew.

 

Picture a drowning person

That is pulled to safety

And dives back into the deluge:

That is insanity.

 

From what are we rescued?

That is the question,

And until we can truly answer it

We will have this problem.

 

Sin is the spiritual terror

From which we are saved

And the transformation that occurs

Dictates how we behave.

 

It is the initial choice we make

When we say yes to Christ

And by faith our born-again miracle

Results from his sacrifice.

 

It can happen only once

Just like in our natural birth,

The second birth is from heaven

The first is of the earth.

 

 

Am I going to make it?

Sometimes I doubt,

There are those who make me feel

I could be left out.

 

But having been born,

That is, having been born of the flesh

I am in this world until I die-

That is, when I am laid to rest.

 

Similarly, having been born again

That is, born of the Spirit,

I am a child of God forever

And in heavenly places I sit.

 

Whenever I am in doubt

I remember who my Father is

And since none can snatch me away

I will always be His.

 

It is very hard to be lost

A very good friend once said

And the friend was referring to someone

That was spiritually dead.

 

The Bible shows it is impossible

To foil God’s redemptive plan

And I know most definitively

None can pluck me from His hand.

 

Stewart Russell © October 9, 2020

Will I?

 

 

Am I going to make it?

Sometimes I doubt,

There are those who make me feel

I could be left out.

 

They point me to scriptures

That appear to point this out

And I must confess after I read

I still sometimes doubt.

 

God is able, they tell me

And plus, we do have a choice,

We could be obedient to Him

Or ignore His voice.

 

The moment we don’t listen

Could spell disaster for us

And the ravenous wolf

Could snatch us from Jesus.

 

Or, maybe I myself

Could take me out of God’s hand,

At any point I could decide

I am finished with His plan.

 

 

Am I going to make it?

Sometimes I doubt,

There are those who make me feel

I could be left out.

 

But it seems strange to me

That after being rescued

One would abandon his rescuer

To go back to that stew.

 

Picture a drowning person

That is pulled to safety

And dives back into the deluge:

That is insanity.

  

From what are we rescued?

That is the question,

And until we can truly answer it

We will have this problem.

 

Sin is the spiritual terror

From which we are saved

And the transformation that occurs

Dictates how we behave.

 

 

It is the initial choice we make

When we say yes to Christ

And by faith our born-again miracle

Results from his sacrifice.

 

It can happen only once

Just like in our natural birth,

The second birth is from heaven

The first is of the earth.

 

Am I going to make it?

Sometimes I doubt,

There are those who make me feel

I could be left out.

 

But having been born,

That is, having been born of the flesh

I am in this world until I die-

That is, when I am laid to rest.

 

 

Similarly, having been born again

That is, born of the Spirit,

I am a child of God forever

And in heavenly places I sit.

 

Whenever I am in doubt

I remember who my Father is

And since none can snatch me away

I will always be His.

 

It is very hard to be lost

A very good friend once said

And the friend was referring to someone

That was spiritually dead.

 

The Bible shows it is impossible

To foil God’s redemptive plan

And I know most definitively

None can pluck me from His hand.

 

Stewart Russell © October 9, 2020

 

Loving Shepherd of Thy sheep,

Keep Thy Lamb, in safety keep;

Nothing can Thy power withstand;

None can pluck me from Thy hand.

 

From the hymn:

Loving Shepherd of Thy Sheep

Jane Eliza Leeson  

 

 

The Colour of His Blood

The colour was red

Of the blood that was shed

For me that blood was poured out

It is finished he said

And there hung his head

Hallelujah is all I can shout

And not for me alone

But for everyone

He did leave his heavenly throne

For the whosoever

And I dare say wherever

To provide us a heavenly home
 

 

For all people

Not just Israel

The universal colour is red

It is red that we see

When to Christ we flee

Who raises the spiritually dead

Spiritually dead in sin?

I implore, please come to him

And from your sin be set free

For we won’t escape

Hell’s eternal fate

If we ignore the Saviour’s plea

There’s power in his blood

Come now, you should

Don’t wait until it’s too late

Come to him now

And in penitence bow

Let him wipe clean your slate

I have made my point

Do come to the fount

Where that blood is flowing free

Efficacious indeed

To meet your every need

In this world and eternity

He was human too

And regardless of one’s hue

He came to save the lost

And the blood he shed

It was the colour red

The blood that stained Calvary’s cross

Stewart Russell (c) February 2019

Just Imagine

Cast your mind way back

Maybe about two thousand years or so,

Come with me along that street

And an amazing thing I will show.

I see a crowd in a procession

Walking slowly along the way,

Observe with me their reluctance

And the heat on that dusty day.

The number of the people is hard to tell

But the crowd comprises a mix

Obviously of the old and the young

With a young man taking his final trip.

You are right; it is a funeral procession

And the dead is a man young in age,

The only son of his widowed mum

And many people with her at this stage.

Their grieving is very plain to see

After all the deceased is just a youth,

Whether he died of disease or accident

I have no idea of the truth.

You know how parents love their children

So keep in mind he was the only one,

Then consider the grief of this mother,

With both husband and only son gone.

Appreciate too the crying and wailing

As they make their way to the cemetery,

Consideration is due this bereaved mother

And that only son she would bury.

No son to protect her from the oppressors,

Think of her anxiety and distress,

No family male to come alongside her

As she confronts life with its many tests.

She may have had a daughter,

Maybe one or two or three

But to have lost her only son

Must have been the height of her misery.

  

Were you in the place of this widow

What would you have done

But do just as she is doing

And mourn the lost of your son?

But stretch your imagination for a moment

To the turn of events as they occur

And as you think of this widow’s plight

What would you wish for her?

I see in my astute observation

Another procession approaching,

There is a man of no striking features

With some men and people accompanying.

As he draws near the city gate

He sees the dead being carried out,

I note his demeanour and eyes of compassion

Are unlike those around with clout.

I see his hand extend to the widow

As he says to her, “Weep not.”

And then he walks up and touches the coffin,

Just this gesture would have meant a lot.

But there is more; it’s so unbelievable,

He is speaking to the dead,

“Young man, I say unto thee, Arise,”

Are the words that he actually said.

And he that was dead sat up

And more than that he began to speak

And this man delivered him to his mother

What a wonderful and unexpected treat!

I am sure this exceeded your wishes

As you thought of this widow’s plight,

Only Jesus could have done this

He is the way, the life and light.

Out of the city the procession went

As into the city the Saviour came,

They to bury a widow’s young son

And he to make him live again.

“I am come,” he says to the spiritually dead,

“That they may have life abundantly.”

Thus all who call upon the name of the Lord

Shall be saved eternally.

Think of our young men on the block

Dead in their trespasses and sins,

Just imagine Jesus’ outstretched hand

Inviting them to come to him.

How he wants to raise them up

And give to them eternal life

And bring great joy to a parent’s heart

To whom they have caused much strife!

And not forgetting our young women

Who are following close behind,

Just imagine the turn around

Our country could do with at this time!

Stewart Russell © August 2017