Isaiah 54:17
But in that coming day no weapon turned against you will succeed. You will silence every voice raised up to accuse you. These benefits are enjoyed by the servants of the LORD; their vindication will come from me. I, the LORD, have spoken!

The context of this verse is astounding; the title of the chapter is “Future Glory of Jerusalem” (in the ESV “The Eternal Covenant of Peace”) and it is just that.  It starts with singing and ends in vindication, and it’s packed with great compassion (v7), everlasting love (v8), everlasting promise (v9), a covenant of peace (v10), being established in righteousness (v14), and safety from oppression (v14).

All of this is what is involved in serving in God’s army, but there are current and future promises.  Future promises are victory against every weapon turned against us and a silencing of every accusatory voice; however, the phrase “these benefits are enjoyed” indicates a present application as well.  So, to some extent, we will see this happening in our earthly lives although the full extent of it will not be realised until the final day.  Our vindication (or justification) is also a mixture of tenses, but no less certain.  We are immediately justified when we place our trust in Christ’s death, and consequently we can be sure of our salvation on that final day.

As servants in the Lord’s army, we are freed from our slavery to sin (Romans. 6v7) and have been made slaves of righteousness instead (Rom. 6v16).  We must, therefore, throw off sin and present ourselves as instruments of righteousness (Rom 6v13).  In this way we cannot be destroyed because we have been freed from sin and saved for the praise and worship of God.  Serving in God’s army means looking forward to certain victory and unnumbered blessings!  And when the Lord speaks none shall unspeak it!  We have an unanswerable weapon: God’s truth!

Zoe S

1 John 5:4-5
For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

I don’t know about you, but sometimes it seems like there are no limits to the evil that mankind can do; a headline in the newspaper, a scandal laid bare, a heartbreaking story. This world is evil and no matter how much progress we make with technology, communication and global business, it will remain an evil place, because deep down we are all capable of more than we can imagine. That sounds pretty bleak.

What is the Christian’s hope? Jesus.

Our faith in Him, that He is who He says He is, changes everything! This faith allows God to work through us to change us, and to help us make an impact on a world that is in desperate need. This faith gives us hope, not in ourselves but in God, who sent His Son to rescue us from our destructive selves, so that we can know life, and life in all its fullness.

But we’re swimming upstream. It’s not enough to have faith. So many people have faith. (We can have faith in anything!) The only faith that gives us the victory, that helps us to be different from the core of our hearts, to the depth of our being, is faith in the Saviour of the world. His name is Jesus.

Where’s your hope?

Tosin O