Isaiah 43:10-13 - Apart from me there is no saviour

43:10,11

We get several features of God’s people here. First, we are His witnesses. It is our job to bear witness to the Lord. Then we are His servant, chosen by Him,. Notice the God focus of all this.

The purpose is that may know and believe the Lord. That we may understand just who the Lord is, His absolute sovereignty.  He is the only God, and the only saviour

43:12

This gets us to the heart of the matter. “I have revealed and saved and proclaimed -  I and not some foreighn god among you”. Israel’s great failing was to think that other nations or other gods would save her, rather than trusting in the Lord. Now see what God wanted them to know, and wants all of us to know. He is the one who saves us. If anyone goes to God in repentance and faith they will be saved, and this is the message that the gospel proclaims. All men know that there is something wrong, all are looking for a means of salvation, but they look in the wrong place. 

Those who are saved by the Lord are His witnesses, we experience being saved and we are meant to say to the world that the Lord has saved us, and that He is the only way to salvation.

43:13

“No one can deliver out of my hand”. When someone trusts in the Lord they are completely secure in that salvation. Why not? Because it is the Lord who has done this, He is the one who has acted, so no one can reverse it. This is the sovereignty of God. Does this mean “once saved always saved”? Not in the sense that some mean it, not in the sense that you can do what you like and it doesn’t matter. Not in the sense that it doesn’t matter what we do with our lives, that is completely unbiblical. But we are completely secure in our salvation.

Ephesians 5:24,25 - Love your wives, as Christ loved the church

5:24

All this section must be taken together. Wives are to submit to their husbands as the church submits to Christ, in everything. With some this tends to raise our hackles, with others there is at least a mild discomfort with the words. This is largely because our sense of what submission means is deeply skewed by our experience of the world. We think that submission equals inferiority, but consider for a moment what the fruit of submission to Christ means. It means life, and more abundant life, it means freedom, it means we can do things we could never dream of doing. It means we become so much more effective, fruitful, useful, fulfilled. So it is with wives submitting to their husbands. It certainly does not mean that a woman becomes less, becomes more of a person.

5:25

So husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church. Christ sacrificed Himself for the sake of the church, so that the church could become all that it was meant to be. If anyone thinks that a husband having authority over his wife means he can do what he wants, or he treats her as inferior, or it means he always gets his own way, such a man is deeply mistaken and should view the last day with fear and trembling. The goal of our lives should be to see our wives flourish, we make sacrifices for them.

Isaiah 43:5-9 - Bring my sons and daughters from afar

43:5,6

The Lord will call people from the East, West, North and South. In the immediate context this is referring to Israelites who had been scattered to various lands, and this still has a relevance today. However, it has a much wider relevance. The gospel goes out to all the earth. In the Great Commission Jesus tells us to make disciples of all nations. Elsewhere He speaks of having sheep in another fold. At the call of Abraham he is told that all nations will be blessed through him. God’s plan has always been global. This does not diminish the role of Israel, but gives it its true significance. And we should note that all this is God’s work, “the zeal of the Lord will accomplish this”.

43:7

“Everyone who is called by my Name”. The “human condition” is always focused on self, self-identity, self-worth. The truth is we find our true identity only in Christ, our worth comes from God. We were created for God’s glory. Far from diminishing us, this increases our significance beyond all recognition.

43:8,9

“eyes but are blind”. Everyone has the ability to hear God, but most are deaf. Everyone has the ability to see God, but most are blind. Yet it is the blind and the deaf who will see and hear. God saves those who cannot by their own efforts be saved. God calls all the nations before Him, and He will judge them. It will be shown that the Lord alone is God.

Ephesians 5:22,23 - Wives submit to your husbands

5:22

"Wives, submit to your husbands, as to the Lord". Oh, what a terrible thing to say! But we say this only because we have a worldly perspective on what submission means, not a kingdom perspective, not a Jesus perspective. Who is the person who walked this planet who was more submitted than any other person who has ever lived? Jesus, in His submission to the Father. Who is the one who exercised more authority than any other person who has walked this planet? Jesus! In the kingdom submission is enabling, empowering. We need to remember this when we are the ones who submit, and especially when we are the ones who people submit to. We will see this in the context of the husband and wife in a verse or two's time, but the general principle is that if we are in authority we use that authority first for God and then for the well being and the upbuilding of those we have authority over.

5:23

Paul now draws a parallel between the relationship between man and wife, and between Christ and the church. Christ is the head of the church, hopefully we can all agree on that. The church is His body. Christ and the church are inseparable. And He is the saviour of the church. Without Christ the church would not and could not exist.

Isaiah 43:3,4 - I am the Lord your God

43:3

“I am the Lord your God”. It is often said that religion was invented by man, that god is a product of man’s imagination. This may be true of all the false religions, but the Lord is God. He is self-existent, completely independent of us. Yet He is also our saviour. The “otherness” of God is something we must never forget, we must never make an image of God, mental or physical, for it will be utterly distorted. Egypt, Cush and Seba were lands that Cyrus was allowed to conquer. History was directed at saving Israel. This fact has not changed, and Israel will one day be saved, but on God’s terms, in His ways, not Israel’s ways.

43:4

We get more of the Godly vision of Israel and of history. Israel is “precious and honoured” in God’s sight and is loved by God. So He will give up nations for her. There are two very wrong views of Israel. One sees Israel as effectively doing no wrong, and see her salvation as intrinsically linked to land. This is not true, and the whole of the Old Testament demonstrates that this is not the case. The other view is to see Israel as now no different from any other people, seeing the church as superseding Israel. Both these views are mistaken, and both fail to appreciate the full glory and wonder of God’s plan. God loves Israel. Has He stopped loving Israel? I don’t think so! Yet He sees here salvation in a very different way to what we do. He sees our salvation very differently. He knows the full depths of sin in Israel, and He knows the full depths of sin in us. At the same time He knows the full glory of His plans for Israel, and the full glory of His plans for us. And the two are not in contradiction.

Ephesians 5:19-21 - Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs

5:19,20

When men are drunk they have a habit of singing, but the songs will not be particularly edifying. When filled with the Spirit we will sing praises to God, we will declare His glory. So we are to sing "psalms, hymns and spiritual songs" to each other. We encourage one another to recognise the Lord's greatness, and we make melody to the Lord. Instead of doing or saying things that grieve the Holy Spirit, we do and say things that are pleasing to Him. And we give thanks to God. "in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ". It is only because of Him that we can do this,. It is Christ who makes us acceptable to God, it is He who has opened our eyes to the truth.

5:21

"Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ". This provides the introduction and the foundation for the next section. Above all else, we submit to Christ, and therefore to each other. The world's way is to seek to be the top dog, to get our own way. Christ's way is to seek to get God's way. Why should we do this? Out of reverence for Christ. He is our Lord, and He has shown us that it is what He wants. But making Christ Lord has an immediate effect on how we treat each other. So we submit to one another. Now submission causes us problems, because in the world if someone submits it usually means that they become less, but in the kingdom it means that we actually become more.

Isaiah 43:1,2 - Do not fear, for I have redeemed you

43:1

“But now ...” This is a repeated pattern in Isaiah, but also applies to the Bible as a whole. The big picture is that God is holy and just, mankind is anything but. He has received repeated warnings, much discipline, but has utterly failed to respond. This is true of the whole human race, in the Old Testament we see it played out in Israel. Israel had all the benefits a people could possibly have (a perfect law, many miracles and other interventions from God, numerous prophets etc) yet was utterly reprobate. The notion that if only we had more evidence then we would believe in God is nothing more than an idle notion. So does this mean man is a write-off? No, for we have the “but now...” Based on man alone we would indeed be a basket case, but God has taken action. This is God who created us and formed us. He has redeemed us and called us by name. All of this is the gospel, the utter sinfulness of man, and the complete salvation from God. And we are called by name. There are often unhelpful debates between Calvinists and Arminians, with Molinists chipping in here and there. These happen because we think “if A is true, then B cannot be true”, but this thinking is usually founded on looking at things from a human perspective. But we are looking at things from an eternal perspective, from God’s perspective, and in that case “if A is true, then B cannot be true” is no longer a valid statement. So let us if the Bible says “A is true” and also says “B is true” and we cannot work out how this can be, let us accept what God says. So here we are told that God calls us by name.

43:2

But how can they be rescued? How can we be rescued?  Israel was in Babylon. Many Christians today exist in very hostile regimes. Note that the promise is not of an easy life. They would pass through the waters and would walk through the flames, but they would not be overwhelmed. If you look at reports from organisations such as Open Doors it is amazing that so many continue to worship the Lord despite all the opposition and persecution. In the West we do not yet face violent persecution, but the environment is changing. We should not fear, but we must rely upon the grace of God.

Ephesians 5:17,18 - Do not get drunk with wine

5:17

We have been given brains by God and He expects us to use them. So we are not to be foolish but to understand what the will of the Lord is. How do we do this? The primary means is by reading His word. we also need to let Him renew our minds, we need to think differently. Jesus, during His earthly ministry, often taught how the kingdom of God is different from the kingdoms of the world. Note that we don't just know what the will of the Lord is, we are to understand it. This implies having the mind of Christ, thinking like He does.

5:18

This verse seems to come rather suddenly, "do not get drunk on wine". Drunkenness is common in the world. It is a normal way of celebrating, it is a normal way of spending Friday night, it is a normal way of dealing with sorrow or anxiety. We are not to follow that path. Instead we are to be filled with the Spirit. Too much wine makes us lose control, being filled with the Spirit gives us self-control. We should turn to the Holy Spirit, for He is living and active within us.

Isaiah 42:23-25 - Who among you will give ear to this?

42:23

If one accepts, as I do, the unity of Isaiah, ie it is all about the one prophet Isaiah, then one has to accept that chapter 40-66 are largely aimed at future generations. Initially they are aimed at the Babylonian exile generation, and then much later at all of us. This verse with its words “which of you will pay close attention in time to come?” would seem to tie in with this. Judah was going to be severely judged for her sin, as Israel already had been, but this judgement was not terminal. Would future generations pay heed?

42:24,25

The message from Isaiah (more accurately from God, through Isaiah) was not an easy one. “Who handed Jacob over ...” The judgements that Israel and Judah had received were judgements from God (as stated previously, this does not absolve Assyria and Babylon of their responsibility). They were judgements on their failure to obey God’s Law. Likewise, the gospel is not the “nice” message it is often presented to be. The gospel states that we are deserving of hell, it is certainly not an “affirming” message!

Ephesians 5:14-16 - Awake, O sleeper

5:14

The words here may have been part of an early church hymn, or used in baptismal services. The gospel calls us to wake up. The world is sleepwalking on its way to hell, wilfully oblivious to the reality of what is happening. We need to see life as it really is, to see ourselves as we really are. For we want Christ to shine upon us.

5:15

We are to look carefully at how we live. The gospel opens our eyes to reality, so we should live in the light of that reality. We are to be careful about how we live. We are to live as wise not as unwise. In a sin saturated society it is easy just to go with the flow.

5:16

Instead of living as unwise we are to be wise and make the best use of the time. Why, "because the days are evil". Precisely because of the vileness of our days we are to be active, to live as wise. We need to take all the opportunities we have.

Isaiah 42:21,22 - To magnify the Law and make it glorious

4:21

“It please the Lord for the sake of His righteousness to make His law great and glorious”. The people of Israel repeatedly ignored or rejected the Law, today people reject the ways of God, even churches do that! We should remember the attachment that the Lord has a great attachment to the Law. This attachment is not an arbitrary thing, but is “for the sake of His righteousness”. The Lord is righteous, His ways are righteous. For Him to do anything else would be against His nature. It would also be against our interests as well! We should also know that the Lord will act to make His law “great and glorious”.

4:22

Israel was in a sorry state. They had been plundered and looted (both northern and southern kingdoms). They were trapped in prisons and many were in exile. This was the result of their rejection of the Law. In our nation we see many people suffering and in trouble. The rejection of God’s ways on sexuality has not led to greater happiness, but to much increased unhappiness. The breakdown of family life has had a detrimental effect on families, on children and on society. In a bid for “freedom” people have found themselves to be enslaved.

Ephesians 5:12,13 - Exposed by the light

5:12

Paul did not beat about the bush in what he thought about the ways of the world. The things the world did were so dire that it was shameful even to speak about them. Sexual immorality and things involved in pagan worship were dire in Paul's day.

5:13

Evil deeds are usually done in secret, but the light of God exposes the darkness. Even when the world is blatant about its sinfulness it still seeks to hide the reality. The world proclaims abortion as a "good", but won't allow campaigners against abortion to show pictures of what is involved. Gay relationships are presented as an unalloyed good, but the world says nothing about the health risks and the extremely high promiscuity involved. Sex outside marriage is  presented as good and normal, but a blind eye is turned to the immense emotional suffering and harm that goes along with it. Christians are very keen on quoting John 3:16, but very few, I suspect, know what comes next. After that it says men so loved the darkness that they would not come into the light, and so they are condemned. Go and read John 3:16-21. Part of the effect, indeed part of the purpose, of the light of God is to expose sin for what it is.

Isaiah 42:18-20 - Hear, you deaf

42:18,19

This illustrates the difficulty in finding a consistent identification of the servant. Up to this point all that has been said about the servant can be said about Christ, and Christ is the only one in whom it is completely fulfilled, though we have much to learn from it in seeing how God will work in our own lives. But these two verses cannot possibly apply to Jesus, “who is blind like my servant?” Yet it speaks of the servant being the one God sends. The solution is that we have to read the servant passages carefully. The general picture is that Israel was supposed to be the servant of God, all nations were to be blessed through her as she properly fulfilled her role. But Israel was a disaster, persistently failing to trust and obey the Lord. Jesus came as the one sent by the Father and He fulfilled the role that Israel never did. The church should seek to be Christlike in serving God (this does not mean that Israel no longer has any part in God’s plan, in case some of you are getting worried). So Israel, the failed servant, is blinf and deaf.

4:20

Israel was also without excuse. “You have seen many things, but you pay no attention”. Israel has seen much throughout her history. She had experienced the deliverance from Egypt, and all that that entailed. She had seen God rescue them, yet she had learnt nothing. People sometimes say that if only they saw the miracles then they would believe. The historical evidence is that this is not the case!

Ephesians 5:10,11 - Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness

5:10

So we are to "try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord". It is not just a matter of following rules. Obviously the Bible gives us lots of instruction, and we are to follow that instruction, but there is more to it than that. First, we do not just follow blindly, but are to seek to understand why God gives various commands. We are to act justly and to love mercy (Mic 6:8), but often there are not neat rules on how to do this, we need wisdom.

5:11

The ways of the world are darkness, there is no good in them. So we need to be clear on the nature of the ways of the world. But we are to do more than that, we are to expose the darkness. How do we do that? First and foremost we live our own lives as children of light, living in obedience to God. This will show up the difference in the two approaches to life. But at the same time we may need to explain why the ways of the world are darkness, especially in a time when society is pumping out propaganda that its ways are good, and God's ways are evil.

Isaiah 42:14-17 - I will turn the darkness into light

42:14

There are many times when it seems as if God is not answering, or is unaware of what is going on. So it would have seemed to Israel in captivity. Indeed temporally He had indeed been silent and had “held himself back”. But God’s plans are eternal, so His perspective on things is completely different from ours, and while He may have been silent for a time, this does not mean He is unaware, nor that He has no plans to act. There always comes a time when He will act.

42:15-17

When God acts He makes a radical change to the landscape. Until the time of His acting it may seem that He is doing nothing and that we are trapped in our circumstances. But when He acts He changes things. But these changes will not always be what we expect. He will lead the blind by unfamiliar paths. This can be disconcerting, even scary, but he will “turn the darkness into light” and “make the rough places smooth”. Ie He will make it possible for us to walk along the unfamiliar paths. 

Then there is a severe warning. Those who trust in idols “will be turned back in utter shame.” It matters what and who we trust in.

Ephesians 5:8,9 - Walk as children of light

5:8

"You were darkness", now "you are light". It wasn't just that we did dark deeds, we actually were darkness, but now we have become light. We need to live in line with our identity. There is a lot of talk about identity these days, with gender identity, identity politics etc. Our identity is that we are "light in the Lord" and "children of light", and we should live as such. Now notice something else that is relevant in the light of our identity obsessed age. We do not choose our identity, it is given to us by God. This applies to our gender. The Biblical view is that we live in harmony with our God given identity. This applies to being male or female, and, most of all, to our identity as children of God, children of light. We are here to live as children of light, and will never be happy unless we do so, nor will we be fulfilled. This will mean going against the tide of the world, but it has almost always been so.

5:9

"The fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true" (NIV). All the good things in the world ultimately emanate from the light of the Lord, from the goodness of God. All the good qualities in lives of individuals, and in society as a whole come from the light. The world will often try to deny this, saying they are either arrived at in an evolutionary manner, or are inherent in the nature of man. Experience and a little history are usually sufficient to show these arguments to be utter nonsense. We value freedom of speech, tolerance and equality, these are much more likely to be found in a society with a Christian ethos than one with an athesitic, secular or religious ethos. This is not to say that "Christian" countries are without fault, they are all imperfect, and sometimes descend into being a religious ethos, but look around the world. Countries that are ruled by a religious ethos such as Muslim countries are usually intolerant of other religions (though there was  an interesting article in the Spectator on Rwanda's approach to Islam). As India has been more dominated by Hinduism in government there has been an incease in persecution of Christians and Muslims. Atheistic countries are usually utterly appalling. Communist Russia was a prime example, as was China, and China is going back down that road, with increasing persecution of Muslims and Christians. As the West casts off its Christian heritage it is becoming increasingly intolerant, just try arguing against the West's mores on sexuality!

Isaiah 42:10-13 - Sing to the Lord a new song

42:10

The people are to sing a new song, and it is to be a song to the Lord. In the previous verse God has said that He will announce new things. The basis for singing a new song is not the circumstances, but the word of the Lord. The circumstances did not look good, but God has said He will do a new thing. The command to sing a new song is not just for Israel, but is for all the earth.

42:11-13

And this new song is not just to be sung in the places one might expect, but the wilderness is to join in. God's salvation reaches to all parts. Kedar and Sela represent remote areas in the wilderness and mountains. They are to give glory to the Lord and to proclaim His praise in the islands. The Lord is not passive in this, for He will "march out like a champion", like a man of war. He will triumph over His enemies. The victory and the glory is all God focused, but man benefits when the Lord is glorified.

Ephesians 5:6,7 - Let no one deceive you with empty words

5:6

“Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient” (NIV). There are people, even in the church, who will seek to deceive. Perhaps the most obvious example today are those who try and persuade us that God is OK with homosexuality. Their arguments are empty and deceptive. But there are other areas as well. In the area of sexual morality there are those who say that sex before marriage isn’t a big issue, or is even OK. This is a deeply unbiblical and harmful idea. At times there are those who will try to argue that greed is good. The most obvious example of this are proponents of the so-called prosperity gospel. This is a clear example of empty words. Jesus said what good is it if a man gains the whole world but loses his soul (Mark 8:36), yet this is precisely what prosperity teachers are advocating! Finally, it is because of these things that God’s wrath comes. We don’t like that idea, yet it is a recurrent theme throughout the Bible. Sin is utterly destructive, and so God’s judgement will come upon such things.

5:7

"Therefore do not become partners with them". There is a desire in all of us to be liked, to be in tune with the general flow of things, but often the general flow of the world is utterly destructive, as with the aspects mentioned in the previous verses by Paul. We must not be "sons of disobedience", we must not partner with them. Why would we want o be partners in something that brings God's wrath upon people?

Isaiah 42:8,9 - New things I now declare

42:8

This is so important, "I am the Lord, that is my name!" The fundamental fact of life is the God is the Lord. Unless we live our lives in that light we are bound to go wrong. "I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols". There are always things that seek to claim to take the place of God, be it idols, or human powers. They can seem quite imposing and their claims to have some substance, but they never do. And we should never doubt that at some point God will rise up and they will be brought low. The timing will rarely suit our timing, but it will happen.

42:9

Again we get the Lord referring to His "predictive" capabilities. The whole argument against the unity of Isaiah is based on the supposed impossibility of God "predicting" Cyrus and related events. Yet the a key element of the book is God declaring and demonstrating that He is Sovereign, He alone understands the past, and He alone knows the future. I have put "prediction" in quotation marks" because it is not really prediction, but God causing the future.

Ephesians 5:5 - The sexually immoral have no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ

5:5

“No immoral, impure or greedy person has an inheritance in the kingdom of God.” We worry sometimes that verses such as these are teaching works salvation, so we tend not to give them their full weight. Or we use them to become self-righteous, condemning others. Two things to say about this. The first is that salvation is not just a matter of being saved from our sins and the judgement that we deserve because of them, but is about being saved to Christlikeness. Our sinful self has no part in the kingdom of God. We are forgiven for our sins and sinfulness, and are being transformed to be ever more like Christ. So things like  immorality, impurity and greed have no part in God’s kingdom. Secondly, the first application of this is to ourselves, we need to be constantly on our guard, for sin will seek to grab hold of us. Then Paul says that “such a person is an idolater”. So it looks as if Paul is speaking about someone for whom such things are a way of life, and defining aspect of their character. So how is such a person an idolater? It is because they are making something, be it sex, money or whatever, the focus of their life, the source of their life.

Isaiah 42:6,7 - I have called you in righteousness

42:6

The Lord has called us "in righteousness". Jesus brings righteousness, He acts righteously, and He is righteous. A key element of the gospel is that it is righteous, it does not ignore sin. Look at any heresy, particularly the liberal heresies, but not limited to them, and sin will be either overlooked or downgraded. Jesus did not act alone. The Father took hold of His hand, He was filled with the Spirit and led by the Spirit. See Jesus' repeated references to the Father in what He said in the gospels. And He was made a covenant. The old covenant was the Law, but the knew covenant was Jesus Himself. He referred to His body and His blood. The sacrifice on the cross justified us, and we live by and through Him. We also see here the global reach, He is a light for the Gentiles. Now all this was, of course, fulfilled fully in Christ, but it also teaches us about our mission, about God's working through us. We are called in righteousness, and God takes us by the hand. And we will reach people we should not be able to reach.

42:7

Jesus quoted these words in response to John's disciples coming to ask if He really was the Messiah. He opens the eyes of the blind, He enables people to see what they previously could not see. So often the church wants to go along with the ways of the world, but Jesus is about enabling people to see things God's way, not the world's way. People are held captive by sin, but Jesus sets the captive free. He releases people from the dark dungeons in which they are entrapped.

Ephesians 5:3,4 - Let there be no filthiness

5:3

Paul now lists some things that should not be present among us. “There must not be even a hint of sexual immorality”. All the gospels, all the letters, in fact all of the Bible, warn against sexual immorality. Yet so often the church is scared or reluctant to talk about this. It is also an area where the state is explicitly promoting sexual immorality in various forms. Sex was created by God as a good gift, and a very powerful gift. It is so powerful that is potentially life creating! But it is powerful in so many ways, having an enormous effect emotionally and psychologically. Any attempt to claim it is just a physical act goes against all empirical evidence. It is because it is so powerful that sex is restricted to one place only, marriage between one man and one woman. We deviate from this at our peril, and will reap the consequences if we do so. Any impurity, or greed are also ruled out. Greed is destructive, and goes against the whole ethos of God’s kingdom. We are given things in order to bless each other, not to horde for ourselves.

5:4

Obscenity, foolish talk and coarse joking are also out. These things are “out of place”. If we look at society we see that the things warned about here are prevalent in our society. We need to avoid these things. Our speech should be positive and upbuilding, so we should replace the inappropriate speech with thanksgiving. Enter His courts with thanksgiving, as it says in Psalm 104.

Isaiah 42:2-5 - A bruised reed He will not break

42:2-4

Most men (and women) when they think they can achieve something make a big noise about it, they are also often brutal about those who are weak. The Lord's servant is very different. First he does not make a big noise, going around shouting about how great he is. Now this does not mean he does not make an impact, Jesus made an enormous impact, but not in the way common to men. Those who are wounded or are faltering are not cruelly discarded.  Instead he brings forth justice, with unfailing resolve. He is not easily discouraged, and does not give up until he has accomplished what he set out to do. The islands put there hope in him, the distant lands. Of course, it is only Christ who fulfils this perfectly, but these characteristics are ones we are all to aspire to.

42:5

God now speaks directly, and He begins by reminding the hearers who He is. We all do well to remind ourselves just who God is, for so often we act as if He does not have the characteristics we read of hear. He created the heavens , stretching them out. One could see this as speaking of the expanding universe. In particular He created the earth and everything in it. He gives breath to its people. Everyone we see is alive only because God says so. This applies to us, and to everyone else, even those who seek to oppose God or us.

Ephesians 5:1,2 - Walk in love

5:1

“Follow God’s example ...” This is quite an amazing statement in many ways. We were created in God’s image, we are, in many ways, meant to be like Him. Then it supports the divinity of Jesus. How do we know how to be like Him? We look at Jesus and see how He lived, for Jesus is God.

“As dearly loved children”. We are to obey, but it is not a matter of obeying out of terror, out of fear of punishment, but as dearly loved children”. We are children of God, for when we believe we are adopted into His family, and we are dearly loved. There are times when we may feel alone or vulnerable, in those times we should always remind ourselves that we are actually dearly loved children of God.

5:2

So how do we follow God’s example? By living a life of love, just as Christ loved us. He gave himself up for us as a “fragrant offering and sacrifice to God”. This is no sentimental mushy love, but a  love that might well involve a great cost. We also see here that Christ is an example. There many debates about what the cross was all about. We actually see several of those aspects in this verse. First, Christ’s death was a sacrifice, a sacrifice that the Levitical sacrifices were pointing forward to, Jesus was punished in our place. It was also an act of love, not just towards us, but an act of love between the Father and the Son. Then it was an example for us to learn from. We go wrong when we emphasise one aspect at the expense of others, or even reject some aspects altogether. The most common one that is rejected by some is the penal substitution aspect of the cross, ie Jesus taking the judgement that should have been upon us. This is a grievous mistake, for it is the foundation on which everything else stands.

Isaiah 42:1 - Behold my servant

42:1

We now get the first of the “servant songs” in Isaiah. We have just had two chapters filled with promises and declarations of the greatness of God and of His love for His people. People so often get upset about the greatness of God, objecting to the call to worship Him. But have you noticed who the prime beneficiaries of God’s greatness and glory are? Us! It should certainly be a delight to worship God.

We see here some key characteristics of the servant. There are arguments about whether the servant refers to Israel or to Jesus. In some places things seem obvious (especially Isaiah 53), but there is also a deliberate ambiguity. For Jesus is the man we were all meant to be, and the one we are to become like. The nation of Israel should have been a beacon to the world, but failed miserably, repeatedly sinning against God, as have we all. So Christ is the only full representation of the servant, but the descriptions are also a promise, an indication of our destiny in Christ, of what He is transforming us into.

So back to the characteristics of the servant outlined in this verse. First he is the servant of the Lord. We need to remember that, the church needs to remember it. We are to serve the world, but we are not servants of the world. We are servants of the Lord and are to take our instructions and guidance from Him. 

God upholds His servant. We do not live dependent only upon our own power, but knowing that God actively upholds us. We are chosen by the Lord. Jesus told His disciples that they did not choose Him, but He chose them. We are chosen by the Lord. Moreover, this was not done reluctantly, for the Lord delights in His servant, He actually delights in us!

He puts His Spirit in us. With Christ this was seen at His baptism, but all of us have received the same Spirit. And we should expect God to give us more of His Holy Spirit. Things will happen, and He will do things for us that go beyond anything we can comprehend or imagine.

Jesus is the Lord who brings justice, but He works through His faithful church. When we walk in step with the Spirit we will find that God works through us to bring justice to the nations. 

Ephesians 4:30-32 - Do not grieve the Holy Spirit

4:30

“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit”. The Holy Spirit is not a force nor a “thing”, He is a person, the third person of the Trinity, and we are in a relationship with God. When we act in ungodly ways we grieve the Holy Spirit. For we have been sealed for the day of redemption. God has set aside a day when His work in us will be brought to completion, when we will be completely redeemed from all the effects of sin. That is the purpose in being saved, it is not merely a matter of escaping the penalties of sin.

4:31

So how are we to avoid grieving the Holy Spirit? We do so by getting rid of bitterness, rage, anger, bawling, slander and malice. Note the implicit assumption that it is possible for Christians to have these things! The Bible has a very realistic attitude about sin and the human condition. So if and when we experience these things we should get rid of them as soon as possible. The world system encourages us to form into groups and to hate people who are not in our “tribe”. The gospel encourages us to love everyone, including our enemies. This does not mean we agree with everyone, nor pretend that everyone is right. The world in its pathetic attempts to find unity is increasingly using the ill-founded concept of “hate crimes”, so if you disagree with someone, or say that their way is wrong that means you hate them.

4:32

Instead of anger etc, we are to be kind and compassionate. If someone does something against us, instead of going to war with them, we forgive, “just as in Christ God forgave you”. Forgiveness is the oil that makes the kingdom work. Without forgiveness any church, any plan, will seize up. For we all get things wrong, often unintentionally, sometimes deliberately. If the basis for a relationship is the other person never doing anything wrong, then that relationship is doomed to failure. Forgiveness is the essential oil of the kingdom.

Isaiah 41:25-29 - See, they are all false!

41:25

Later on the “one stirred up” will be identified as Cyrus. This is one of the prime reasons why so many insist that 40-66 is written not by Isaiah, by a “second Isaiah”. However, we should bear in mind one of the key purposes of Isaiah, which is to demonstrate that God is the sovereign Lord, including the Lord of history. In this case the unity of Isaiah makes far more sense. Nations rise and nations fall, and they are responsible for their actions, but it is the Lord who determines the course of history. “He treads on rulers ...” Most of the time Israel acted as if it was the nations and their rulers who determined the course of history, so Israel acted out of fear and so trusted in anyone and anything but God. She needed to know that compared to God the nations were nothing at all. Today we need the same attitude. There are Christians in many countries who experience serious persecution, in the West it seems that ungodly forces have dominion. We need more than ever to trust in God.

41:26-29

This verse stresses the truth that God knows what is going on and what will happen. More than that, He determines history. The idols did not, the things we may fear today do not actually rule. The Assyrian episode was a demonstration of the truth of all this. The idols could foretell nothing at all, they could only speak lies.

Ephesians 4:28,29 - Do not steal, but work

4:28

We now get down to specific actions, and those who had been stealing must stop and do something useful with their lives instead. Note first that the gospel was reaching all sorts of people, including those who were criminals. This is what the gospel was designed for. Then note that there is transformation, transformation from someone who is a drain on society to someone who is useful, from someone who does bad to someone who does good. Too often we think “we must reach the sinner”, without the accompanying thought of “the sinner needs to be transformed”. It is not a matter of you need to change before you come into the kingdom, but that you come into the kingdom in order to be changed. Coming into the kingdom to stay exactly as you were is a deeply unbiblical concept.

4:29

“Do not let unwholesome talk come out of your mouths”. This is something we need to watch today, for there has been an enormous increase in unwholesome talk in society. There is far more swearing on the media than there used to be, and much talk is about doing people down. The converse of this is that we are to speak to build others up “according to their needs”. So sometimes this might be correcting someone, but if so it is always done with the purpose of helping someone, of “benefiting those who listen”.