Which Israel?

 

 

This may be a puzzle

But it need not be, my friend,

An explicit reading, I dare say,

Should bring it to an end.

 

Go to Romans chapter 9

And you will see what I mean,

As I read it for myself

I see two different scenes.

 

I see Israel number 1

And I see Israel number 2,

Since not all Israel are of Israel

Is clear to me and you.

 

 

Yes, there are two “Israels”

Read it in Romans 9:

One of the flesh and one of promise,

Lock this in your mind.

 

This is explicitly stated

In not all Israel are of Israel,

Israel number 2 you should see

Are an assorted people.

 

Not all children

Because they are Abraham’s seed

But the children of the promise

Are counted for seed.

 

Predestined to be so

In God’s redemptive plan

That all the nations of the world

Will be blessed in Abraham.

 

 

“At this time will I come

And Sarah shall have a son,”

It was not Ishmael as some may opine,

 Isaac was her promised one.

 

 

Yes, Ishmael was older

But Isaac was the promised son,

Very similar to Esau and Jacob

But Jacob was the chosen one.

 

 

It was said to Sarah

The elder shall serve the younger,

As it is written, Jacob have I loved

But Esau have I hated.

 

Of course, love and hate here

Must be put into context

Never mind Jacob did some things

That really made Esau vexed.

 

After all, Jacob was a trickster

And by trickery he made his way

But in all of his dealing and scheming,

God held absolute sway.

 

Do not be side tracked

By the quality of men God chose,

The reason why He chose these men,

Only God knows.

 

Here He chose a trickster

Whose seed crucified the Christ

Arguing they were Abraham’s seed

And Christ did not suffice.

 

Not only of the Jews

Did all-wise all-knowing God call

But He also chose of the Gentiles;

Jews were not them all.

 

Not all of Israel are of Israel

Has a double meaning,

Follow me closely as I proceed

And see what I am gleaning.

 

Not all of Israel

Meaning not every Israelite,

To say that they all will be saved

Is just not right.

 

Thank God there were Jews

That did come to Christ,

Not all of them rejected the Saviour

Losing out on eternal life.

 

Not all of Israel

Are of Abraham’s flesh,

But in Abraham’s seed, of course,

The Christ, all will be blessed.

 

So that Israel number 2

Comprise both Jew and Gentile,

Both being endued by the Spirit;

The flesh being defiled.

 

For in the flesh, it states

Dwelleth no good thing,

Paul makes this clear in chapter 7

In what he’s offering.

 

‘Tis God’s sovereign choice

To choose as He did choose

But it is an act of man’s free will

Whether he win or lose.

 

 

Israel number 2 is the elect

The chosen of Almighty God,

These are they that came by faith

When they heard Him call.

 

“Whosoever will may come”

Is the invitation to one and all,

“Elect according to God’s foreknowledge”

Them that heed His call.

 

Neither Jew nor Gentile

But all are one in Jesus Christ

Who gave his life a ransom for many:

A once for all sacrifice.

 

Romans 9:30-33

 

What shall we say then?

That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness,

Have attained to righteousness,

Even the righteousness which is of faith.

 

But Israel,

Which followed after the law of righteousness,

Hath not attained to the law of righteousness.

 

Wherefore?

Because they sought it not by faith,

But as it were by the works of the law.

For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;

 

As it is written,

Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence:

And whosoever believeth on him

Shall not be ashamed.

 

 

 

Be sure to say which Israel

For not all Israel are of Israel,

The one of faith is not ethnic Israel

But the New Covenanted Israel.

 

Stewart Russell © March 20, 2024

 

An Act of the Will

 

There is much conflict

Between Armenians and Calvinists

And there is clearly a major point

That both of them miss.

 

That point being, of course,

God’s ways are past finding out

And that man’s enormous deficit

Is surely without doubt.

 

For every one who is saved

It was an act of the will,

Concerning what Calvinists hold

This is the bitter pill.

 

The elect chooses to be saved

By a definite act of the will,

Thus, the “whosoever will” may come

We hear the invitation still.

 

There is clearly no doubt

That choice is a factor,

Those who come will not be denied

Who don’t, is another matter.

 

 

 

God is God

And He is definitely in charge,

He was and is and always will be

Though often disparaged.

 

His sovereignty is intact

Despite giving man a choice,

That is to accept His invitation

Or ignore His voice.

 

In the acceptance of grace

Neither is compromised:

God’s sovereignty and our choice

Work side by side.

 

On this wise we ought to pray

Even when I don’t understand

Lord, let me never wander away

From your sovereign hand.

 

 

The elect is the elect

Because they’re chosen of God,

Is it any wonder, therefore,

They answered His call.

 

They were given to Christ

As is outlined in the Word

And to think Satan can snatch them

Is to be absurd.

 

Having said yes to His call

They are held by His hand

And nothing can pluck them out:

No creature or no man.

 

For by an act of their will

They show they are the elect

And seeing the footsteps of Jesus

They fell in step.

 

Prevenient grace or total depravity

Is not the critical issue

But having heard Christ call,

What will you do?

 

 

Christians argue technicalities

While sinners are lost and undone,

It is for such sinners the Saviour died

And now he bids them come.

 

A simple act of the will

Expressed in an act of faith,

God’s sovereignty and our free will

Meeting in wonderful grace.

 

Stewart Russell © March 21, 2024

 

Position Is Not All

 

 

 

They both held positions

Of great authority

But having betrayed that trust

Now share the same destiny.

 

No name shall I name

And I dare add, no blame

For it is not really in my power

To make such a claim.

 

Suffice it to be said, though,

Notoriety is not fame

And while both are well known

Infamy is their gain.

 

Assigned by the greatest

Yet, each in his own case

Was by his own selfish desire

Brought to the lowest place.

 

 

Position is not all

It’s responsibility that counts,

If you run afoul like these two

Then nothing amounts.

 

The first in the heavenlies

The second, right here on earth

But neither would be satisfied

Given his greedy thirst.

 

One desperately sought

To dethrone the Almighty God

But failed in that mission

And was exposed as a fraud.

 

The other was an accountant

Overcome with avarice

Whereupon to satisfy his greed

He took an unthinkable risk.

 

Both committed suicide

Though in different ways:

One challenged the “Most High”

The other ended his days.

 

 

Both await final sentence

One of them long in the grave,

The other pedals evil

As an unsuspecting knave.

 

One was to the Father

What the other was to the Son,

The latter’s time has ended

The other is still on the run.

 

The former moved the latter

To do the evil he did

And daily in the worldly market

For our souls he still bids.

 

His objective is to destroy

God’s elect if he can

But he will certainly fail again

According to God’s plan.

 

 

Position is not all

As these scoundrels found out

And concerning accountability

None should be in doubt.

 

Stewart Russell © September 7, 2021

 

Two Comings

 

 

He hung on the cross

Knowing for this he came,

For you and for me

Glory to his name!

 

“Father forgive them

They know not what they do.”

All part of salvation’s plan

For me and for you.

 

“Truly this was God’s Son,”

The centurion did say

Words that are remembered

Even up to this day.

 

They buried him in a grave

That was not even his own

And there he lay

Having left his throne.

 

He rose triumphantly

The gave couldn’t hold him down,

Death he defeated

He again wears his crown.

 

None saw him rise

But many saw him alive,

Which proves it was nothing

That somebody contrived.

 

 

On the Emmaus road

Two disciples with him walked

And they too were convinced

As they with him talked.

 

Thomas touched his wounds

He required such proof,

And when he did

He confessed the truth.

 

These saw him ascend

And the angels they heard,

“He is coming in like manner.”

Accept their word.

 

He is coming again

For those who are prepared,

We are not sure when

It could be far or near.

 

 

What we do know is

That he came before

And today he is standing

Knocking at someone’s door.

 

Open your heart

And let Jesus come in,

That is the only way

You can be saved from your sin.

 

Believe him in your heart

And confess with your mouth

And like Zacchaeus

 He will come to your house.

 

He will make it his temple

And dwell in you there

And you’ll go to be with him

When he shall appear.

 

Prepare to meet thy God

Amos had declared,

That same calls goes out today

To people everywhere.

 

 

Two comings there must be

One has gone,

The second is on the way

We need to be warned.

 

It may be while we are living

Or sometime after instead

But we cannot make a decision

After we are dead.

 

Whether Jesus comes or calls

You must be prepared,

Let neither of these two

Take you unawares.

 

For this cause he came

To redeem the elect

And he is coming again

Whether or not you expect.

 

He will take to himself

Those that are his own

And there they will worship

Before his throne.

 

Stewart Russell © November 2019

 

God Knows

 

 

If God knows something

That something must exist

Since nothing can exist

That God doesn’t know.

 

God knows the end

From the very beginning

So, the end must exist

Since God is all knowing.

 

When asked a question

And the answer we don’t know

It is not uncommon to hear

Only God knows.

 

All wise and all knowing

Are two characteristics of God

That cause devils to tremble

Including Satan, the fraud.

 

“God can only know

That which can be known.”

If this is baffling to you

You are not alone.

 

This position is held

By some Pentecostal believers,

I won’t mention the group

But they are deceivers.

 

To tell you the truth

I don’t know what they mean

But I can surely tell you

Their understanding is lean.

 

 

God’s knowledge is infinite

His foreknowledge too,

That is why Bible prophecies

Have always come true.

 

One hundred percent accuracy

Each and every time

Unlike modern day prophets

That are self-opined.

 

They always hear from God

Or so they say

And of the prophecies they declare

I can only say, no way.

 

Excuses and more excuses

When they don’t come to pass

And the others that say nothing

Just disappear from the class.

 

 

But God knows everything,

From Him nothing is hidden

And that is why I am sure

All my sins are forgiven.

 

Whether sins of my past,

My present or my future

I praise God, my Heavenly Father,

By the blood they are covered.

 

Jesus knows who are His,

They have been washed in his blood

From the moment spiritually

Beneath the cross they stood.

 

And since he tells me I am his

You could say what you like,

The battle is not mine

And neither is the fight.

 

Elect according to His foreknowledge,

God knew this all the time

So that His Spirit witnesses to my spirit

That I am His and He is mine.

 

Stewart Russell © February 9, 2021