Isaiah 47:6,7 - I was angry with my people

47:6a

Why was Babylon allowed to have so much power? Why was she allowed to overrun Jerusalem? Because God was angry with His people. They had repeatedly disobeyed God and worshipped idols. Our western minds might say God is being rather self-centred here, acting like a tyrant, but consider this. Their abandonment of God meant that injustice and bloodshed triumphed in the land, people suffered and even died because of Israel’s rebellion. In the West we see similar bad fruits of our abandonment of Christian heritage. Conversely, if they had turned to God then peace and justice would have flourished, people would have been blessed, and the blessing would have spread to other lands as well.

47:6b,7

So God gave Jerusalem into Babylon’s hands because of Israel’s disobedience. However, that did not mean that Babylon had no responsibility. For she showed them no mercy, they even laid a heavy burden on the old. There is the Law that was particular to Israel, but there is a common morality that is applicable to all (the Ten Commandments is a pretty good summary of that aspect). Babylon was so puffed up with her pride, and she did not consider that one day she would have to give an account for her actions, she did not consider the long term consequences. One might say exactly the same about our own society.

2 Corinthians 3:4-6 - He has made us competent

3:4,5

Paul is continuing to answer the question of 2:16, “who is equal to such a task?”, and building on what he has just said. The answer is that they are equal to the task, but not because of any merit of their own, but because of their confidence in Christ. There are two ways of looking for assurance. One is to base it on ourselves, this will ultimately end in failure. The other is to base it in Christ, who will never disappoint. As Christians we are to be God confident, but not self-confident. 

3:6

God makes us competent. Coming to Christ means admitting our sinfulness, and our utter inability to save ourselves. But it does not mean that we consider ourselves useless forevermore. For when we believe in Christ we become a new creation, we are born again, Becoming a Christian is not just something that we do, but also something that God does in us. Here Paul is also moving to considering the difference between the Law and the Gospel. The ten commandments were written on stone, but with the gospel the law is written on our hearts. The Law tells us what to do, the gospel changes us. So the covenant is new, this also means the way of ministering the covenant is new, and the difference between the gospel and all human based philosophies and religions is like the difference between the gospel and the law. All man-made religions ultimately lead to death, the gospel gives life. The gospel is God-focused, everything else is man focused.

Isaiah 47:4,5 - Sit in silence

47:4

“Our Redeemer - The Lord Almighty is His name - is the Holy One of Israel”. All men are looking for someone to redeem them. We know that we need a saviour, we cannot save ourselves. The Lord is our redeemer. And He is the Holy One of Israel. He is not like men, He is infinitely greater and more righteous than men. We should put our trust in the Lord. Notice how often God is referred to as the Lord, and then see how significant it is that Jesus is called Lord.

47:5

The previous verse was a sort of interlude. We are in the midst of a section where the judgement and destruction of Babylon is foretold. The previous verse is saying, this is what will happen to babylon, but things are different for you because the Lord is your redeemer. When we see the world crumble we should not worry, for the world is not our source of security. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t care, we should seek to save the lost, but we should not fear. So we are back to the foretelling of Babylon’s downfall. Babylon will be no more. Once she may have reigned supreme, but she will come to nothing. And so it is with all earthly kingdoms.

2 Corinthians 3:1-3 - On tablets of human hearts

3:1,2

A variety of personal attacks were being made on Paul. One was that he commended himself and did not have letters of commendation. It was common for itinerant teachers to have letters of commendation, so that their credibility could be assessed. However, such a “demand” was totally unreasonable in Paul’s case. It was Paul who had founded the church in Corinth. Before his arrival there was no church, not until he had preached the gospel in the city. The Corinthians knew full well who Paul was, they themselves were the evidence that Paul was genuine!

3:3

The change in the lives of the Corinthians was the proof. They were a “letter from Christ”. What better letter of commendation could there be! They were the result of Paul’s ministry. The test of any ministry we might have is whether it leads to people being made more Christlike, whether it be people coming to faith, or Christians growing in maturity. The key question is whether God is involving us in His work or not. If He is then there will be positive spiritual fruit.

Isaiah 47:1-3 - Come down and sit in the dust

47:1

For years Babylon had conquered many nations, making them sit down in the dust, gloating over them, and Israel was one of the nations she had vanquished. She was lauded by other nations, some would do so out of fear, some may have had trading relationships with her benefitted from Babylon’s power. But a time would come when no one would speak well of her. Revelation 18 uses Babylon as a metaphor for describing the fall of the world’s kingdom.

47:2,3

Babylon had disgraced many peoples, but a time was coming when she herself would be despised. She would have to do manual labour, her nakedness would be exposed. The Lord would take vengeance on her, and no one would be spared. We need to be careful who we allow to rule our nation, for when judgement comes upon a nation it comes upon all. All of Germany suffered greatly at her fall at the end of World War II. Some had enthusiastically supported the Nazis, some had allowed it to happen. We need to be very wary of just shrugging our shoulders saying nothing can be done.

2 Corinthians 2:16,17 - A fragrance of death or of life?

2:16

So, if we are faithful to Christ, then we are a pleasing aroma to God, both among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. But we are not pleasing to all people, we will not get a positive reaction from everyone. To some we are an aroma of death. The gospel is not just about being nice! It is a gospel of judgement, it declares that we are sinners. There is life and forgiveness, but we need to acknowledge our sin before we can benefit from that. So to those who refuse to admit their guilt, we are an aroma of death, for we declare that God is against them. But to those who do admit their guilt we are an aroma of life, for we bring news of forgiveness.

2:16b,17

“Who is equal to such a task?” Being a minister of the gospel is a momentous thing, an amazing task, who is up to it? There were many “teachers” and philosophers of all sorts who went around aiming to make money out of their teaching, and there were some who saw the gospel as just another way to make money. But the gospel is a very different matter, and no one is worthy of the task of bringing God’s message in their own right. Paul tells them that they do not speak the gospel in order to make money. They needed to appreciate the radical difference between the gospel and everything else. Paul and his co-workers spoke with sincerity, knowing the were serving God, they were God’s representatives, and so had to answer to Him.

Isaiah 46:12,13 - Listen to me you stubborn hearted

46:12

God speaks to those who are “stubborn-hearted” and “far from righteous”. Two things to note from this. The first is that God is disarmingly honest about the rebels. They are not people who have a “different perspective”, but rebel sinners. Their hearts are stubborn and they are far from righteousness. But a second thing to note is that God is speaking to them. There is still hope. Likewise, there may be individuals that we despair of, we look askance at our society. We should not react by pretending that people are not as bad as they seem, we should not close our eyes to the reality of the situation, but neither should we lose hope.

46:13

Why should we not lose hope? Because God is bringing His salvation near. It is coming and will not delay. In the immediate context this was God’s words to Israel, speaking of their rescue from Babylon, but the greater application is the salvation found in Jesus. Notice also that His salvation involves God granting His splendour. God does not save us but leave us as bedraggled specimens pulled out of the raging sea. He starts a work of transformation on our lives. So there is utter reality about the true nature of our condition, and wonderful glory about the true nature of God’s salvation.

2 Corinthians 2:14,15 - Christ leads us in triumphal procession

2:14

Paul and his co-workers had experienced many difficulties and trials, they had been tested way beyond their own capabilities. There are two or three key things in the way that Paul sums up the situation. First, they had been led as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession. The analogy is a Roman general leading his army together with its captives in a victorious procession after defeating the enemy. So Christ is always victorious. The difficulties did not result in defeat for Christ or the gospel, but only in its continued advance. Secondly, Paul views himself as a captive. One might have thought he would have counted himself as one of the soldiers. Throughout this letter he is contrasting the life of a true apostle with that of the super apostles. The super apostles would no doubt seen themselves as soldiers, or perhaps more likely as generals! They are in some ways like the prosperity teachers of today who see the gospel as all about them. Paul is having none of this. Finally, the gospel continues to be spread, the goal is that more and more people get to know about Christ.

2:15

Incense was sometimes used during sacrifices, and Paul describes himself and his co-workers as a pleasing aroma to God. The super-apostles may have been full of themselves, boasting about themselves. Paul was interested only in boasting about God. They brought the true aroma of God to people, both to those who were being saved, and to those who were pershing.

Isaiah 46:8-11 - Take it to heart you rebels

46:8,9

The rebels are urged to remember what God is saying about the idols, and what He is saying about the future. Once again, this is consistent with Isaiah having given this prophecy. God told things ahead of time as a witness against those who rebel against Him. The whole message of Isaiah is that God is the sovereign Lord, and there is no limit to His greatness. Conversely, there is no limit to our stupidity.  

46:10,11

God makes known His purpose, and has done so from long ago. And His purpose stands. Just think how often sceptics say “we know better now”. They could not be more wrong. God’s purposes will be fulfilled, and the futility of man’s thinking will become all too apparent. In the case of Israel, it would be God calling “a bird of prey from the East” (Cyrus and the Medes) to conquer Babylon. 

“What I have planned, that I will do”. The only wise decision is to put our complete trust in God.

Loving your enemies - A sermon

A sermon Loving your enemies, based on Matthew 5:43-48 and 2 Timothy 1:5-14.

2 Corinthians 2:12,13 - My spirit was not at rest

2:12

We are still involved in Paul’s explanation, but the letter is going to transition into more theological teaching about who we are, and the role God gives us in the spread of the gospel. Troas was a city on the Aegean coast, and Paul went there from Ephesus hoping to find Titus and to get news of the Corinthian church. Titus had not arrived, but found that the Lord had opened a door for the gospel there. So Paul took hold of that opportunity. There are times in our lives when we are preoccupied with things, there is some issue or concern that is playing on our minds. During those times we should still be aware of the opportunities, God still has work for us to do, and part of Satan’s tactics is to distract us from that work. While we usually take the “we are not unaware of his schemes” of the previous verse as relating to forgiving the repentant brother, maybe we can also apply it to this as well.

2:13

Paul was getting on with the work of the gospel, but still did not have peace of mind. We all go through times like these, and can beat ourselves up about it. But the great apostle Paul went through similar things! So we should follow his example, and resolve to get on with the job in all circumstances. Paul then went up to Macedonia hoping to find Titus. 

Isaiah 46:5-7 - With whom will you compare me?

46:5

“To whom will you compare me ...” This is closely related to the second of the ten commandments, “You shall not make for yourself an image ..” (Ex 19:4). God is infinitely greater than everything else. Everything else was created by Him and for Him. There is nothing that He can be compared to, for everything falls so far short. There is no comparison. So when we seek to make a comparison we inevitable  misrepresent God. 

46:6,7

God then gives another withering attack on idols and those who make them, pointing out the futility of it all. What happens? Some men pour out gold, others weight out silver. They hire a goldsmith to make an idol, and then they bow down to worship this idol. After that they have to carry the idol to its place. And after that it cannot move, it cannot speak, it cannot hear. How does this compare to God? For God created us, we did not create Him. That is why it is good and proper to worship God.

2 Corinthians 2:9-11 - So that we are not outwitted by Satan

2:9

Paul was also writing in order to test the Corinthians, to see if they would be “obedient in everything”. The gospel is all about forgiveness, but that does not mean obedience is un important. Indeed obedience is a fundamental part of the gospel, the gospel call is a call to obedience (Rom 1:5, 2 John 1:6). The so-called hyper-grace teaching is actually no-grace teaching. The gospel is a call to disobedient people (ie all of the human race) to repent and believe, and to learn to live a life of obedience, to be transformed by the Holy Spirit to have a heart that delights to do the will of God.

2:10,11

While insisting that the matter had to be dealt with, that it could not be just overlooked, Paul has already said that it was important not to go to the other extreme. Here he emphasises that point again. Paul has no desire to continue to hold anything against the man, and if the Corinthian church has forgiven the man, then Paul is happy with that. Paul new the authority he had as an apostle, but he was not a controlling person. Paul also saw this as a battle against Satan. He knew full well that the battle we fight is a spiritual battle. Unforgiveness is one of Satan’s key weapons. Conversely, proper forgiveness is one of our strongest spiritual weapons.

Isaiah 46:1-4 - I am He who will sustain you

46:1,2

Bel and Nebo were two of the Babylonian gods. The Babylonians carried images of these two gods at an annual New Year festival. God is highlighting the stupidity of worshipping these gods, or fearing them. Their images, which themselves were useless to save, had to be carried by beasts of burden. A moments thought would show the futility of worshipping these made up idols. Today, a moments thought should show up the stupidity of the direction society thinks it should go in with regard to LGBTQ stuff. These idols would not save Babylon, nor lead her into a glorious future. Instead the idols would be dragged off into captivity, along with the nation itself.

46:3,4

Having pointed out the helplessness of the idols, and why His people should not fear them, God speaks to His people. Rather than needing to be carried by the people, God had carried Israel since her creation. Indeed, they were commanded not to make any idols of Him. Our God is the one who sustains us, and He does so all the days of our lives. He made us and He will carry us. He will sustain us and rescue us. Ie He will see us through all the stages and experiences of life. We can have complete trust in our God, even when we fall into danger.

Isaiah 45:24,25 - In the Lord are deliverance and strength

45:24

“They will say ..” There is no doubt about it, God will bring His people to salvation, and this salvation involves a change of heart. At the time this was said the people did not trust in God, they did not think that deliverance was in the Lord alone. That was why they looked to idols or to making alliances with other nations. But God would bring about a change of heart. He will bring about a change of heart in us as well, and we have already experienced some of that, But if we are honest, we know that our faith, our trust, is far from perfect. But God is able to complete the work He has started within us and to make our faith perfect. So then we will know that we can trust Him completely, and that all who rage against God will be put to shame.

45:25

Israel will be saved. Does this mean that all the nation of physical Israel will be saved? This is a very difficult question. I think we have to assume that “all the descendants” includes those who are descendants by faith, for that is what Paul speaks about in Romans and Ephesians, and elsewhere. We also know that many Israelites are not saved, but if we draw from this that this does not include the nation of Israel in some sense, then I think we are on dangerous ground, for that would seem to nullify far too many promises of God.

However, the key point here is that salvation is coming, and there will be a people who boast in the Lord and no one else.

2 Corinthians 2:5-8 - Reaffirm your love for him

2:5,6

We now come to the offender. He is often identified with the man guilty of incest in 1 Cor 5, though this identification is not universal, and it may be referring to some other case, of which we have no details. The point that Paul is concerned with here is that it is not just Paul who has been grieved by this man’s sin. The issues at Corinth were tending to focus on Paul, but he is not the real issue. Earlier Paul, while not ignoring the complaints relating to himself, has focused the Corinthians’ minds on the gospel, and on avoiding a worldly outlook on life. Here Paul stresses that it is the whole church that has been affected by this man’s sin, he is not personalising the issue. Paul also says that the punishment was sufficient. There are two traps that we can fall in the church when someone sins against God. The most common in the West is to not treat it seriously enough. The other is to never forgive. Punishment needs to be made, but the purpose is to restore the individual. Although in the outward form of the church there far too little discipline in most churches, inwardly we know that sin is serious, and we have a tendency not to forgive. A properly functioning church takes sin seriously, but also is looking to forgive and to restore.

2:7,8

So, the man having been punished, Paul urges them to forgive and restore the man. Forgiveness is the oil that stops the church from seizing up. “Excessive sorrow”. There is a proper balance to be had, both in the corporate attitude of the church, and in our attitude as individuals, and about ourselves. Sin must be taken seriously, for it is destructive, both for ourselves, and for others. But we must not condemn ourselves or others beyond hope. Jesus died on the cross because sin is so serious, and because His “remedy” is so effective. We need to hold these two aspects in balance. The seriousness of sin and the completeness of God’s forgiveness. So Paul urges the church to show love to the now repentant sinner.

Isaiah 45:21-23 - Turn to me and be saved

45:21

As He did with Israel, so God does with the nations. He challenges them, or rather their idols, to foretell the future. Then He points out that He the Lord did declare what would happen, and did so long ago. (Another pointer to the consistency of all of Isaiah being written in the Assyrian time.) The Lord is the only God. He is also the righteous God and a Saviour. God’s ways are right, so we should go to Him. But when we go to Him our own sinfulness will be shown up for what it is, so where does that leave us? As well as being righteous, God is also a Saviour, He saves us from our sins. And He is the only God and Saviour.

45:22

The Lord then calls on all the earth to turn to Him and be saved. All of mankind is in a mess, all of us are entrapped by sin, and we all need to repent and believe, and all who do so will be saved. Jesus told us to go into all the world (Matt 28:19,20). Why must all men turn to God? Because He is God, the only God. There is no other. You can turn to something or someone else if you wish, but it will do you no good.

45:23

This verse is the inspiration behind Phil 2:10,11, which clearly sees Jesus Christ as Lord, as God. God has sworn by Himself, for there is no greater name (Heb 6:13).  He has uttered these words in all integrity, ie we can absolutely rely on them. Every knee will bow before Him, and every tongue confess. Man’s original sin is to rebel against God, to deny that He is God, this is the sin that we see repeated in every generation. But one day man will have to end his rebellion and the truth will be hidden no longer.

2 Corinthians 1-4 - Who is there to make me glad?

2:1,2

Paul continues his explanation for the change in plans. The motive behind Paul’s change was to avoid “another painful visit”. Clearly, there had already been one painful visit. Paul was not just wanting things to be right in Corinth in the sense that a regulator or assessment body wants to check that things are in order, but he had a personal concern for them, and wanted their to be a positive and joyful relationship.

2:3,4

Paul must have sent quite a severe and direct letter (this may have been 1 Corinthians, or some letter sent in between 1 and 2 Corinthians). He had spoken directly with the hope that they would sort things out. Indeed, he had confidence that the church at Corinth would put things in order, so that there could be unity again. Paul was an emotional man. Indeed, if we look throughout the Bible we find men demonstrating emotion. Paul wrote and acted as he did because of a deep care and concern for the Corinthian church.

Isaiah 45:19,20 - I have not spoken in secret

45:19

God has spoken, and He has not done so in secret. A feature of many cults is “secret knowledge” or “secret revelation”. This can also come about by theologians claiming we need to have special academic training in order to understand the Bible (which all too often means rejecting the Bible). This is not to decry the value of academic research at all, but the Bible is actually clear in most of what it teaches. God has spoken clearly. Israel had the Law and the Prophets. Prophets came and spoke openly to the nation and its rulers. God has made an open invitation to all people to seek Him, and if we seek Him the promise is that we will find Him (Matt 7:7).

45:20

Now the call of salvation goes out to all the nations. First there is a call to recognise the futility of their current way of life. God calls the fugitives from the nations to come before Him. These people were in captivity (mostly by the Babylonians). People without Christ are held captive to all sorts of things. The gospel is definitely not about saying “your life is OK, here let Jesus make it a bit nicer”! Sin holds people captive, people suffer because of their rebellion against God. So God tells them that those who worship idols are ignorant. There is no being nice or showing respect here! 

2 Corinthians 1:23,24 - We work with you for your joy

1:23

Paul now returns to the immediate point of contention. The reason he did not return to Corinth as originally planned was in order to spare the Corinthians. One of the letters and various events had caused great anguish for the Corinthians. The situation was getting worse in some ways, and Paul wanted to give them a chance to sort things out themselves, or to at least make some progress in the matter. If he had visited as per his original intention, then he would have had to take a very hard line with them, and he did not believe that would ultimately be the best course of action. 

There are a number of practical points we can learn from this. One general one is that the New Testament, not even Paul’s letters, is not just about doctrine, but also about real practicalities of life in general, and church life in particular. Secondly, a degree of flexibility and pragmatism is needed on occasion. We can get worried about being pragmatic because so often when church leaders are “pragmatic” it means denying a basic Biblical doctrine. We need to have wisdom. Thirdly, we don’t always immediately jump in to “solve” a situation, sometimes it is better to wait. Again, wisdom is needed here.

1:24

Jesus told His disciples not to lord it over each other as the Gentiles do (Matt 20:25). Paul’s aim was not to prove that he was right and the Corinthians were wrong, nor to prove that he was the boss. Instead he wanted the Corinthians to know God more fully, to be full of the joy of the Lord. They needed to put their focus on faith in Christ, not the personality cult that the “super apostles” were promoting. And this problem has not gone away!

Isaiah 45:15-18 - Israel will be saved by the Lord

45:15-17

These words are now Isaiah’s response to all this. “Surely you are a God who has been hiding Himself”. These are somewhat like the words of Paul In Rom 11:33-36. Isaiah, nor anyone else, could work out what was going to happen, or how God’s plans could possibly be fulfilled. He is the God and Saviour of Israel. At the time it seemed as if neither of these things was true. But the makers of idols would be put to shame, while Israel would receive an everlasting salvation and would never be disgraced again. This is also our heritage in Christ.

45:18

We get yet another declaration of the creativeness of God. Any theology we have that diminishes the fact that God is creator is an impoverished view. David repeatedly praised God for His creation. Here in Isaiah, arguably the most majestic book in the Bible, is founded on the fact of God as creator. Here we have re-emphasis of God as creator, and His purpose in creation. God did not just create the universe saying “I wonder how this will turn out”. He had a purpose in creation. So God did make the earth, and He made it to be inhabited.

2 Corinthians 1:20-22 - God's promises are "Yes" in Christ

1:20

All the promises of God are yes in Christ. What does this mean? It means that all God’s promises in the Old Testament are fulfilled in and through Christ. The focus of God’s message is Christ, and this is to the glory of God. There are two things that are going on, and Paul recognises this. The most obvious and immediate is the attack on Paul himself, and Paul addresses this as far he feels he needs to, and he will continue to do this at other points in the letter. But behind this is a very worldly view of things. The Corinthians were impressed by human glory, they were too ready to judge or assess things in human terms. This was something that Paul countered to some extent in his first letter, but is something that is still having an effect here. They were looking at things that men do, and looking at men’s glory. Instead they should have been focusing on what God had done and was doing in Christ, and looking at God’s glory.

1:21,22

It is God who makes us stand. Again we need the proper balance. Yes Paul was important, the work you or I do for Christ is important. The times that we have benefitted from the work of others is important, and Paul gives proper acknowledgement and appreciation of this in a number of his letters. But there is no man who enables you or I to stand firm in Christ, it is God who enables us to stand. He is the One who anointed us and set His seal (the Holy Spirit) upon us. We belong to Him, we are owned by God. His Spirit is the guarantee of what is to come. We need to have the correct focus, and that is to be focused on Christ.

Isaiah 45:12-14 - It is I who made the earth

45:12,13

God did not just create Israel, He made the earth and created all of mankind. Every single human being was created by God. When we look at anyone we see a created being. When we look at the universe we see the things that God has created. So on a cosmic scale everything was created by God, but this fact of God being the creator is not just a general truth, it has specific applicability as well. He was going to raise up Cyrus. Note the future tense here, entirely consistent with this prophecy being given before the events happened. This would be done in God’s righteousness. Cyrus would rebuild Jerusalem and set the exiles free, and this is what he did. Nor did he exact any charge from Israel for doing this. 

45:14

We might find the language used here difficult to cope with, for it talks about the Egyptians and Sabeans comings in chains to Israel. However, we should get over this and focus on the real message. These other nations would seem so strong and to have it altogether. In this the nations mentioned were not strong militarily, but were strong economically. But a time would come when everything would be turned upside down, and they would recognise that God is God. So how are we to take this? Are we to look forward to the day when the atheists and the secularists bow down before us? No. But we are to recognise that atheism, secularism, humanism etc are complete rubbish, they are founded on lies, and that a day will come when all people will recognise that Christ is Lord.

2 Corinthians 1:15-19 - God is faithful

1:15,16

There was currently much misunderstanding, but Paul is confident that the situation can be clarified. Paul is referring to his change of travel plans. The original plan involved two visits to Corinth, one on the way from Ephesus to Macedonia, and then again on the return journey. 

1:17

We now come to the heart of the accusations against Paul. He was accused of being fickle, and saying one thing and meaning another, or saying yes to those who want to hear yes, and no to those who want to hear no. Ie he is accused of acting like a politician! So Paul is accused of being completely unreliable.

1:18,19

Paul denies the accusations, but moves the debate on to the heart of the matter, the gospel. Both in this letter and in Galatians there is an interesting interplay between the gospel and the messenger. Paul is absolutely convinced that it is the message of Jesus Christ that counts above all else, the messenger is very much secondary. Indeed, in Philippians he says he is not overly bothered that some are preaching the message from wrong motives, as long as they are preaching the gospel (Phil 1:18). Yet at the same time he does explain and defend his actions. We need to have the correct balance here. How we live does matter, and there will be times when we do need to explain actions, but at the same time it must never become all about us, for it is all about Jesus. Paul broadens things out, reminding them that Timothy and Silas preached the same gospel, and the key thing is that in Christ everything is yes. The gospel is completely reliable.

Isaiah 45:9-11 - Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker

45:9,10

We then get God’s judgement on those who rebel against God, and see how accurate and relevant the condemnation is. “Those who quarrel with their maker”. Think of those who object to God, they are objecting to the one who created them, along with the whole universe. “Does the clay say to the potter?”  We have no right, moral nor logical, to argue with our creator. It makes no sense at all to do so.

45:11

Yet again God reminds Israel that He is the “Holy One of Israel” and is “its Maker”. When Israel forgot this she forgot her identity. The nation would not have come into existence without God’s direct action. Israel only finds her identity when she looks to the Lord and to His plans for her. So it is with all of us. And God decides how things are going to be done, how His plans are going to be fulfilled. Again, so it is with us. We need to look to the Lord.

2 Corinthians 1:12-14 - This is our boast

1:12

The backdrop to all this was that Paul had had to change his plans, and some in Corinth had put a very bad gloss on this. Paul declares that he has conducted himself properly, he has a clear conscience. He has acted properly, and properly towards the Corinthians. He has acted with integrity and sincerity. There was never any attempt to deceive or take advantage of the Corinthians. Paul acted relying on God’s grace, not worldly wisdom. Worldly wisdom can tell us to mislead people, or to say one thing while we mean something completely different, or it can urge us to make promises we have no intention of keeping. Paul did not follow such ways.

1:13,14

There was much talk circulating in the Corinthian church about Paul, most of it derogatory. One aspect of this was accusing Paul of writing one thing while saying another, or meaning something else. Paul is stressing that he is writing in plain English (actually Greek, but you know what I mean). At present they only partly appreciated who Paul was and what his work was. They were seeking to interpret it in worldly terms. Paul wants them to appreciate it in eternal terms, so he points them to the day of the Lord Jesus. It is significant that he calls it the “day of the Lord Jesus”, rather than “the day of the Lord”. This is another minor indicator of the deity of Christ.

Isaiah 45:4-8 - I, the Lord, have created it

45:4,5

Cyrus was called for the sake of Israel. Nations do things having many motives and intentions in their hearts, but it is the Lord's will that prevails. Even though Cyrus did not know God, he was serving God's purpose.

God is Lord of all, there is no other. There is only one true God. He is the creator of all things, and He equipped Cyrus, even though Cyrus did not know God. When we look at what is going on in the world we should not lose heart, for God is in control.

45:6,7

God's purpose is that all the world may know who He is, the "there is no other". Men worship all sorts of things, but there is only one God. He creates both light and darkness, He creates both well being and calamity. Any theology that only attributes "good things" to God is deficient.

45:8

This verse expresses the heart of God, and we need to get a hold of this. He speaks about righteousness raining down, and the clouds showering down righteousness. In response the earth opens up and salvation springs up, and so righteousness flourishes with it. Righteousness and salvation go together. In Romans we read about righteousness through faith, and the cross being just. In the cross sins have not been merely overlooked, righteousness has been fulfilled, justice has been done. If we think the gospel is just about “God loving everyone” we really have not got a clue. The cross is about righteousness. And it is the Lord who has brought about that righteousness.

2 Corinthians 1:9-11 - On Him we have set our hope

1:9

We do not know the details of the situation that Paul was referring to, but we do know the severity of it. Paul felt that death was imminent. Then he explains why God had allowed this to happen, and this was to ensure that they would rely not on themselves, but on God alone. This, again, is a theme that runs throughout the letter. Namely, that we should and must rely purely upon the Lord, and not on ourselves. We all go through various experiences in life. One of the key issues is whether or not we learn from God in the midst of these events. Sometimes we may handle a situation well, at other times we make a complete mess of it. Whatever the case, afterwards we should reflect on what God is teaching us. The end of this verse says “who raises the dead”. Why does Paul say this in the current context? It could be a general statement, ie that God is the God who raises the dead, so we can always trust Him. Or it could be that since God raises the dead, it ultimately does not matter whether we die or not. So even if the situation had resulted in Paul’s death, it would not have mattered.

1:10

They did not die, for God delivered them, and Paul learns from this. How do we react when God rescues us from some situation? Do we just breathe a sigh of relief that that is over! Or do we learn from the situation? Paul learnt from it, he was convinced that God would continue to deliver them.  So Paul set his hope on the fact that God would continue to deliver them. Men and circumstances may do all sorts of things, it did not matter, for God would rescue them.

1:11

Paul setting his hope on Jesus did not mean he considered himself independent of other believers. Instead he urges the Corinthians to help him by their prayers. All this would result in glory for God as people would see what He did in response to the prayers of His people.

Isaiah 45:1-3 - I will give you the treasures of darkness

45:1

Now the Lord addresses Cyrus. Did God actually say this to Cyrus, or is this just a matter of God declaring to Isaiah what his purpose is? Given that this was written by Isaiah many years before the time of Cyrus the latter seems the more likely. God is demonstrating His Lordship of history, and His purpose. God would use Cyrus to subdue nations, most notably Babylon. He would also set nations free, nations who had been captured by Babylon. Note that seemingly irreversible events and situations can be overturned.

45:2,3

While God would use Cyrus, He would also prepare the ground before Cyrus. Cyrus would succeed not because he was so great, but because God had prepared the way, and because God was with him. He would be given the "treasures of darkness", the things hidden in secret places. Cyrus would know that it was the Lord who gave him victory.