Moe Bergeron

Tag: bible

  • Sparrows, Souls, & Sovereignty: When The Towers Fell

    Twenty-five years ago (Sept. 11, 2001) life as we knew it arguably changed forever. We saw some unspeakably horrific images.  I for one will not forget seeing people jump some 100 stories to their deaths. As I watched, all I could think was ‘What kind of fiery hell inside the towers made them choose the window?’ How hopelessly terrifying must it have been to make the pavement below more desirable! I cannot even begin to imagine the fear.  It must have been overwhelming times a billion. 

    In the wake of such an event, when evil seems to have the upper hand, people say stuff. Men wish to make sense of what happens around them. We have this desire to understand what happened, how it happened, and why it happened. Sadly, if not dreadfully, horrible events such as 9/11 are the sparks for bad theology. With hopes to soothe suffering, tranquilize the pain, and protect God’s reputation and character, even Christians and their pastors fall prey to all sorts of doctrinal confusion and nonsense.  With a desire to uphold God’s name and keep it from false accusation and even slander, they are quick to assert God’s non-involvement with any type of ‘ground zero’.  “If it results in human suffering,” they say, “God has nothing to do with it.” They’re quick to point out the fact that God is love. God is a merciful, compassionate, good God, and so they conclude He has nothing to do with hate and evil.  It is conceivable that such a god, if he were God, would be so aloof. A god who is merely loving and compassionate may in fact be completely removed from every horrific event in the history of mankind.  But the God who is compassionate, merciful, loving, just, and holy is not so removed. God is involved with death and destruction.

    The Biblical evidence for this leaves no room for any doubt whatsoever.  Ezekiel is but one example. Through that prophet, the Lord says to Sidon, the nation:

    “Behold, I am against you…and I will manifest my glory in your midst. And they shall know that I am the Lord when I execute judgments in her and manifest my holiness in her; for I will send pestilence into her, and blood into her streets…” (Ezek. 28:22-23).

    God is love. But God is also, and essentially, holy. The cross itself makes that known. At Calvary, God displayed His holiness in wrath and judgment. This is not new to you. You have all been established in this. God’s holiness is a pillar here; it is a foundational plank in our theology. And so is this: God is sovereign. He is sovereign over all and in all. God rules over all creation and even in salvation. That is why we call ourselves Sovereign Grace Baptist. God is sovereign in saving grace.  The God we serve and worship and exalt is a sovereign God. But it’s been said that what was once fought for then believed all too often becomes assumed. And what becomes assumed all too often is abandoned. To the end that doesn’t happen here on my watch, I declare to you what you have learned and become convinced of. 

    God is Absolutely Sovereign

    God is absolutely sovereign. To say God is absolutely sovereign is to assert what the Bible says about God. It isn’t to say what mere men might argue. Nor is it to declare what many believers and even some scholars believe about divine sovereignty. To say God is sovereign is to proclaim what God says about Himself.  It’s to affirm God’s absolute supremacy and authority and power over all. It’s to say God does as God pleases, that He governs all things according to His good pleasure. It is to declare God is the Most High, the Almighty, the Possessor of all power and authority in heaven and earth, that none can thwart His counsels, deny His purpose, or resist His will. It’s the declaration that none can stay God’s hand or say to Him, “What are you doing?” It’s to proclaim that there’s no such thing as a maverick molecule. It’s to affirm with the Bible, and thus agree with God Himself, that God sets up kingdoms, determines presidencies, and overthrows empires. It’s to say that God is the King of kings and Lord of lords. It’s to say that God alone is the author, orchestrator, and conductor of the symphony of history with all its harmonies and discords. In short, to say God is sovereign is to say God is God. He’s either sovereign over all or He isn’t sovereign at all.  

    The Bible is very clear on this. God’s absolute sovereignty is the warp and woof of Scripture. 

    Psalm 103:19 states that “The Lord has established His throne in the heavens; and His sovereignty rules over all.”

    In Ephesians 1:11, Paul asserts that God “works all things after the counsel of His will.”

    In Psalm 119:91, we find this statement: “all things are your servants.” 

    Which means everything bows to the King of kings. God bows His knee to no one and no thing. 

    Proverbs 16:33- “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.” Even dice are divinely ruled.

    Proverbs 21:1 teaches God is sovereign over the most sovereign of men. “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand if the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.”

    Psalm 44:11 reveals that God governs the slaughter and scatter of His people. It says “You have made us like sheep for slaughter and have scattered us among the nations.”

    “O Lord of hosts…You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them”  (Ps. 89:9).  

    “Who enclosed the sea with doors, when bursting forth, it went out of the womb…and I placed boundaries on it, and I set a bolt on its doors, and I said, ‘Thus you shall come, but no farther, and here your proud waves shall stop?”

    And it so happened that they found themselves in a boat with their Master, asleep. And the wind began to below and the sea became fierce. The waves came crashing in upon them. Fearing for their lives they woke him. And Jesus rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they obeyed. 

    Amos 3:6. “If a calamity occurs in a city, has not the Lord done it?”

    Isaiah 45:7. “I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord who does all these things.”

    And in Matthew 10:29-30, Jesus weighs in on the matter. Look at it with me again:

    “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.” Stop there. What’s Jesus saying? He’s saying that even a sparrow, even that which holds next to no value, when it falls to the ground, it does not do so apart from God. God is somehow involved when a sparrow dies. He is associated even with the smallest, unnoticed, and seemingly inconsequential event.   A sparrow dies and falls. An apple falls out of a tree, then a leaf.  A lone raindrop lands on your head. If it happens, it happens ‘not apart from your Father.’  In other words, every occurrence in the universe, seen or unseen, felt or unfelt, is not independent of, but dependent upon, God.

    But what does that mean exactly, that every event is dependent upon God?  The ISV renders the phrase in question ‘without your Father’s permission.’ Sparrows don’t fall ‘apart from God,’ or ‘without God’s permission.’ The NIV translates it ‘apart from the will of your Father.’ Sparrows don’t fall apart from God’s will. The Lexham English Bible says “without the knowledge and consent of your Father.” It goes without saying: there’s a few ways to understand this phrase.  Some even interpret this in terms of God knowing what happens.  God knows all that happens they say, because nothing happens apart from the Father.  This is of course true. God does know all that happens. 

    But the best and correct way to see that nothing happens apart from God is to do so in light of what Jesus says in the next verse. Let the Bible define its terms. We always must come to that position. So, 

    are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. Verse 30: “But even the hairs on your head are all numbered.”

    I submit to you that the ‘numbering’ of verse 30 defines the Father’s involvement of verse 29.  God numbers the hairs on our heads. The number of hairs we have is not apart from the Father.  How would a Jew understand that? Matthew was written to Jews. So, it makes good sense to ask this question. And I suggest to you he would understand it this way: He would see it in terms of God’s absolute sovereignty. Psalm 147 is very helpful here. In the 4th verse of that Psalm, we read that God counts (NASB), or determines (ESV) the number of stars.  Matthew uses the exact same word as the LXX uses in this Psalm (ἀριθμέω). The word means ‘to use numbers in determining how much.’ The key word is ‘determining.’ It’s essential we understand what Jesus is not saying here. He isn’t saying God counts or numbers hairs to discover how many.  We count jelly- beans to learn how many. We count our pennies to find out if we have enough to buy something. But when Scripture says God numbers something, like the hairs on our heads, or the days of our lives, it’s not saying God counts so as to learn and discover. What it’s saying is God determines, or wills, whatever He counts. He counts so as to determine the quantity of. In other words, He NUMBERS them by sovereign decree! He sovereignly determines the number of stars. He determines the number of hairs. And He determines when, and how, a sparrow falls to the ground.  And if that is the case, what shall we say of 9/11, when the towers fell to the ground, and 3000 souls perished? How much is one soul worth? If God determines the death of a sparrow, then surely He determines the end of that which is far more costly.  It is wrong to say 9/11 occurred independent of God; all things are dependent upon God. And it’s not enough to say God permitted 9/11. God did more than permit the evil carried out that day. God determined that sparrows fall when they do. And He determined when and by what means the twin towers fell. 

    “Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it?” These are words from the Lamentations of Jeremiah. Listen again: “Who is there who speaks (like Osama Bin Laden) and it comes to pass (like 9/11), unless the Lord has commanded it?”

    “Then the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s widow bore to David, so that he was very sick” (2 Samuel 12:15). “Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house.  And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him” (Job 42:11).

    So, when someone, some religious leader or pastor or whatever, stands up and says “The Christian is not … to assume that whatever happens is the will of God, especially not when something is so at odds with … God as a God of love,” he doesn’t know God. It’s that simple. He doesn’t know God; and he doesn’t know the Scriptures (let alone tremble before them). In the final analysis, this is the issue. The authority of God’s Word is the issue. Did God actually say what He said in the pages of Holy Writ? Or did He deceive? Is God’s Word true? Or is it false? If true, then God is absolutely sovereign. He works all things after the counsel of His will. If false, then we might as well go home, eat, drink, and be merry. God is not God.

    God Willed the Cross

    There’s yet another thing to consider, something monumental: God willed the cross. God ordained Calvary. Calvary answers the question: “How can God will evil and not be responsible for evil?” Make no mistake: God wills evil to happen. But God remains pure and sinless. Luke records the apostle Peter’s words. He says that Jesus was “delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God.” By that plan, by that sovereign, predetermined before the dawn of time plan, Jesus was crucified and killed “by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23).  God planned it. Men performed it. God determined it. Men, both Jews and Gentiles (i.e. Romans) carried it out.  And so the believers prayed what they prayed, together saying 

    “Sovereign Lord, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, who through the mouth of our father David, your servant, said by the Holy Spirit: Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against His Anointed- for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your plan had predestined to take place” (Acts 4:24-27).

    How strange is it therefore, to hear those who claim to believe in the authority of Scripture, and who profess the name of Christ, to reject the God-exalting, divine attribute of absolute sovereignty! Besides, if God willed the death of His one and only Son, if He predestined the death of the only truly innocent One, who was not deserving of death, then what’s so hard about the predestined death of 3000 sinners, deserving of death, even death by fire and fall?    God is a God of love; a thousand times yes! But love and willing evil are not at odds; not if you’re a holy God.  Look at every brutality that ever occurred in the history of mankind. See it in light of the cross, and you see it as you ought. God willed it. He was very much involved. Even though men crashed the planes, God was working His plan.

    When the Towers Fell: A Call to Reverence & Humility

    In response to this, much can be said. God is God. We are not God. God is the Maker. We have been made.  He is the Potter. We are but clay. He therefore has the right to ordain and bring to pass whatsoever comes to pass, no matter if it’s the death of a swallow, the destruction of a tsunami, or the pain of a gut-wrenching September day. Men, unregenerate men, balk at this. The proud believer shrinks and recoils at this. What would God say to any and all who object? We do not have to guess. God Himself has furnished us with the answer. He would say what the apostle has written in the 9th chapter of the book of Romans: “Who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this, will it?” Or, “What on earth are you doing?’” Job’s words were right, weren’t they? You recall what he said after God put him in his place. “Behold, I am of small account; what shall I answer you? I lay my hand on my mouth” (Job 40.4). A.W. Pink hit the nail on the head. He said that God’s sovereignty argues that no one has the right to speak against God. The only fitting attitude for the creature is one of reverent submission.  When the towers fell is therefore, a call to reverence and humility before God. It’s the only posture. 

    A Check Against Idolatry

    But that’s not all 9/11 is. When the towers fell is also a check against idolatry.  Do you embrace the God who determined the death of 3000 souls by means unimaginable? If you don’t, you embrace a god of your own imagination.  Sparrows do not fall independent of God. Neither do 110 story towers or the 767 jets that fly into them. 

    A Reason for Confidence & Security

    When the towers fell is a call for reverence and humility. It’s a check against idolatry. And as strange as it might sound, it’s also reason for confidence and safety. When Jesus told His disciples in Matthew 10 to not be afraid, he did so because God is absolutely sovereign. The road ahead would be dangerous; suffering and persecution were waiting. So, Jesus assured them. He told them, in effect: ‘Fear not, you are of more worth than sparrows. And no sparrow falls apart from your Father. Neither will any of you.’ 

    Death and plagues around me fly,

    till he bid, I cannot die;

    Not a single shaft can hit,

    Til the God of love sees fit.

    There is no hope in the position that says, “God was on vacation on 9/11.” If God had nothing to do with what happened at the Pentagon or in Pennsylvania or Manhattan that would mean this:  Evil was in control, Al-Qaeda was in charge, and Satan called the shots. And I say there is no hope in that. None whatsoever.  With Satan there is no righteousness, no mercy, no justice, no love. So don’t get sucked in to the “God doesn’t will bad things” trap. 

    A Motivation for Repentance & Sobriety

    When the Towers Fell: A Call to Reverence & Humility, A Check Against Idolatry, A Reason for Confidence & Security; and finally, a motivation for repentance and sobriety.  On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, when 3000 people woke up and got ready for work, not one soul thought “I’m going to die today. This is the day. My time is up. I’m going to meet my Maker.”   I do not know how many among the dead were believers. Todd Beamer is the only one of which I am aware. The rest for all we know are in hell. But if Jesus were a guest speaker at ground zero today, what would he say? Would he say things aimed to console and comfort? Maybe. Would he proclaim with abounding authority how unjust the tragedy was? I somehow doubt it. Would he decry the monstrosity of the thing? What would Jesus say? Luke tells us:

    13 There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? 5 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” 

    The most important issue when towers fall is not that thousands die. The horrific event is not what concerns Jesus. What concerns Jesus is your soul. God now commands men everywhere to repent because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness.  This is not the same as “inviting Jesus into one’s heart.” No one receives the saving benefits of Christ that way. We must turn from our sins and trust in Christ. We must embrace his death, his atoning, wrath appeasing, justice satisfying, eternal redemption securing, forgiveness purchasing, righteousness ensuring death.  He made him who knew no sin to be sin that we might become the righteousness of God in Christ. It’s the greatest of all exchanges. And it was ‘not apart from the Father.’ As sure as God willed the day when the towers fell, he willed the hour when the Son of Man was lifted up. 

    The Ground of Doxology

    A cause for reverence and humility; a check against idolatry; a reason for confidence and security; a motivation for repentance and sobriety; finally, when the towers fell is ground for doxology. When Job lost everything, he fell to the ground, and worshiping he said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”  Tuesday, September 11, 2001, 8:46 am flight 11 crashes into the north tower. At 9:03 flight 175 crashes into the south tower.  At 9:38 flight 77 crashes into the Pentagon. At 9:59 the south tower falls.  At about this time somewhere over Pennsylvania, Todd Beamer says, “Let’s roll.” Flight 93 crashes in a field at 10:10. Then, the north tower collapses at 10:28. Thousands die unspeakable, unimaginable, fiery, gut-wrenching deaths. The Lord gave. And He took away. 

    The apostle Paul makes this sweeping statement at the end of his doctrinal section in Romans: “…from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”   How is it possible that the events of 9/11, and events like them, be the ground for praise and doxology? How ON EARTH is that possible? There’s only one way. It’s only when the glory of God itself is treasured above everything else does a ground zero event become the ground for worship. If life, or unsaved family, or convenience, or pain-free living, or anything else is cherished above God Himself, then ground zero events will be … meaningless. Not until God is seen as the end for which God created the world will life be seen as God sees it. September 11/01 was a day God made for God. It was His to do with as He pleased. “For from him and through him and to him are all things.” Blessed be the name of the Lord.

  • John 17:11–12 — Kept in Your Name

    John 17:11–12 — Kept in Your Name

    In the upper room on the night before His crucifixion, Jesus offers a prayer that serves as both farewell and commission, interceding for His disciples with a specificity that reveals the Father’s protective heart. Among His many petitions, one stands out with profound urgency: that the Father would guard those entrusted to Him so that none may perish. This prayer was spoken while Judas still sat among them, a walking reminder that betrayal was imminent—and yet Jesus prayed anyway. In the New Covenant, this intercession continues eternally, for Christ ever lives to make intercession for His own, ensuring that the protection promised is not a momentary shield but an everlasting covenant.

    “And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. They have guarded them and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” — John 17:11–12

    Jesus opens with a striking statement about His departure and their continued presence: “And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.” This captures the tension of the New Covenant age—the Lord has ascended to the Father, yet His people remain in the midst of a hostile world. Under the Old Covenant, God’s presence was localized in the Tabernacle and Temple, visible and tangible to the worshiper. But now, in the New Covenant, Christ’s physical departure does not mean abandonment; it means expansion, for He will send the Spirit to dwell within every believer (see John 14). The phrase “I am coming to you” speaks of His return to the Father, but it also anticipates the coming of the Spirit, who would be another Advocate, another Helper (see John 14:16). The disciples, and all believers after them, would face the world without Christ’s physical presence, yet with His spiritual presence more intimately than ever before.

    The petition that follows is the heart of this passage: “Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me.” The address “Holy Father” is unique in the Gospels—Jesus only uses it here. It emphasizes both God’s moral purity and His paternal care. To “keep them” means to guard, protect, and preserve. The means of this protection is specified: “in your name, which you have given me.” The Name of God represents His character, authority, and covenantal faithfulness. In the Old Testament, the Name was invoked over the priests to bless and keep them (see Numbers 6). Here, Jesus claims that the Father has given Him that Name, and with it, the authority to exercise divine protection over His people. The Name belongs to the Father, yet it has been bestowed on the Son, revealing the unity of power and purpose between them. In the New Covenant, this protection operates through the Name of Jesus, for there is salvation and safety in no other name under heaven (see Acts 4).

    The purpose of this keeping is equally profound: “that they may be one, even as we are one.” Unity among believers is not merely an aesthetic ideal but a sign of divine protection and a testimony to the world. The unity Jesus prays for mirrors the unity of the Trinity itself—an eternal, perfect communion of Father, Son, and Spirit. When the church is unified in Christ, it reflects the reality of the Kingdom and demonstrates the power of the Gospel to reconcile what was divided. In the Old Covenant, Israel was called to be a united nation, yet they were frequently fractured by internal strife and idolatry. In the New Covenant, the church is knit together not by ethnic or political bonds but by the Spirit, who baptizes all believers into one body (see 1 Corinthians 12). This unity is itself a form of protection, for a house divided against itself cannot stand (see Matthew 12).

    Jesus then reflects on His ministry among the disciples: “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me.” During His earthly life, Jesus personally guarded the twelve, sustaining them through rejection, misunderstanding, and opposition. He protected them from the schemes of the Pharisees, from the violence of the crowds, and ultimately from the devil’s attempts to destroy them before the appointed hour. Yet this guarding had a specific limit: “They have guarded them and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.” Judas Iscariot is named here as “the son of destruction,” a title that signals his destiny for judgment. His loss was not a failure of Christ’s protection but a fulfillment of Scripture, demonstrating that even betrayal occurs within the sovereign plan of God. Jesus knew from the beginning who would betray Him (see John 6:70), and He did not pray for Judas to be kept in the same way He prayed for the eleven. The exception proves the rule: those whom the Father gave to the Son are kept securely, and none of them are lost.

    The implication for New Covenant believers is clear: if Jesus kept the eleven (excluding Judas) during His earthly ministry, how much more does He keep His church through His heavenly intercession? The same Name that was invoked over the disciples is now invoked over every believer, and the same Father who heard Jesus’ prayer continues to answer it. The Spirit, who applies the work of Christ to our hearts, ensures that we are kept in that Name until the day of redemption. As Jesus said earlier in this chapter, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world” (see John 17:14). Yet the hatred of the world cannot undo the keeping of the Father, for we are sanctified in truth, and the truth that sets us free is the truth of the Son who protects His own.

    Reflections John 17:11–12 assures us that the protection of the Lord is rooted in the eternal intercession of Christ, who keeps us in the Name of the Father for the glory of God and the unity of the church. As we navigate a world that often opposes the Gospel, may we rest in the truth that the One who prayed for His disciples in the upper room continues to pray for His church today, ensuring that those who belong to Him are guarded by the Father’s power and preserved by the Son’s love unto the end.

  • 1 Corinthians 10:13 — Protection in Temptation

    1 Corinthians 10:13 — Protection in Temptation

    The apostle Paul writes to a church divided by faction, tempted to indulge in idolatry and immorality, and prone to testing the Lord. In this passage, he addresses a specific aspect of protection that is often overlooked: God’s guarding of His people from the overwhelming power of temptation. While many prayers for protection focus on physical danger or outward trouble, this verse reveals that the Lord’s care extends to the hidden battles of the heart, where the enemy seeks to destroy faith from within. In the New Covenant, this promise finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ, who was tempted in every way yet remained faithful, and who now intercedes for His people so that their faith may not fail.

    “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” — 1 Corinthians 10:13

    The opening words remind the believer of their solidarity with humanity: “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man.” The Greek word for “temptation” encompasses both trials and enticements to sin, covering the full range of human struggle. Paul does not isolate the Corinthian believers as unique sufferers but places them within the universal experience of fallen humanity. In the Old Testament, Israel repeatedly faced temptations to idolatry, immorality, and distrust, and each failure became a warning to the next generation (see 1 Corinthians 10:6-11). But in the New Covenant, this solidarity takes on deeper meaning, for Christ Himself was tempted in every way as we are, yet without sin (see Hebrews 4). Because He understands our weaknesses, He is able to help those who are being tempted, and because He overcame temptation, He secures for us the victory that we could never win on our own.

    The foundation of this protection is stated with unmistakable clarity: “God is faithful.” This is not a description of our constancy but of His. Under the Old Covenant, Israel often proved unfaithful, cycling through rebellion and repentance while the Lord remained true to His covenant promises (see 2 Timothy 2). In the New Covenant, this faithfulness is even more certain, for it rests on the finished work of Christ, who secured an eternal redemption by His own blood (see Hebrews 9). The Lord’s faithfulness means He will not abandon us in the face of temptation; He will not allow the enemy to do what He has forbidden; He will remain loyal to His purposes even when we falter. The Spirit, who indwells the believer, is the living proof of this faithfulness, sealing us for the day of redemption and ensuring that the work God began He will bring to completion (see Philippians 1).

    The next clause defines the limit of the assault: “he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability.” This is not a promise that temptation will cease, but that it will be measured. The Lord sets boundaries around every trial, determining precisely how much the enemy may press and when he must stop. Job learned this lesson when Satan sought permission to test him, and the Lord drew the line that Satan could not cross (see Job 1-2). For the New Covenant believer, this boundary is drawn even more precisely, for Christ has disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public spectacle of them (see Colossians 2). The ability referenced here is not our natural strength but the capacity that God supplies, and He supplies it generously to all who ask (see James 1). The Spirit empowers us to resist the devil, and when we do, he flees from us (see James 4).

    The final promise reveals the Lord’s provision: “but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” The “way of escape” does not necessarily mean removal from the situation; it means a path through it that preserves the soul. Sometimes the escape is deliverance from the trial itself; sometimes it is endurance within the trial. The word “endure” suggests a standing firm, a bearing up under pressure without collapsing. In the Old Testament, the Lord provided manna each day for the wilderness journey, a fresh supply for each day’s need (see Exodus 16). In the New Covenant, the Lord provides grace sufficient for every moment of temptation, for His power is made perfect in weakness (see 2 Corinthians 12). The escape route is always open because Christ has already walked the path of obedience through suffering, and He invites us to follow in His footsteps (see 1 Peter 2).

    Furthermore, this passage highlights the communal nature of protection. Paul writes to a church, reminding them that they are not alone in their struggles. The temptation that overtakes one believer has overtaken many, and the way of escape that God provides is available to all. In the New Covenant, the church is not a collection of isolated individuals but a body where the members bear one another’s burdens and strengthen one another in faith (see Galatians 6). The Spirit distributes gifts to each member for the common good, ensuring that the protection of one contributes to the protection of all (see 1 Corinthians 12). When one believer is tempted, the whole body is called to pray, encourage, and stand with him, for the faithfulness of God is demonstrated in the faithfulness of His people to one another.

    Reflections 1 Corinthians 10:13 reminds us that God’s protection extends to the deepest battles of the soul, where temptation threatens to undermine our faith. The Lord who is faithful will not allow us to be tried beyond what we can bear, and He always provides a way through the fire so that we may emerge with our trust in Him intact. As we face the temptations of this age, may we rest in the assurance that Christ has already overcome the world, and that the same Spirit who raised Him from the dead lives in us, supplying the strength and the escape we need to endure unto the end.

  • Psalm 125:1–2 — Mountains Surrounding Jerusalem

    Psalm 125:1–2 — Mountains Surrounding Jerusalem

    Among the songs of ascent sung by pilgrims climbing toward the holy city, this psalm captures a vision of security as natural and immovable as the geography of Jerusalem itself. The mountains surrounding the city are not merely scenic but symbolic of a deeper reality: the Lord’s encirclement of His people. In the New Covenant, this imagery finds its fulfillment in Christ, who is both the mountain of God’s presence and the One who encompasses His church with a protection as constant and unshakable as the hills that ring Zion.

    “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.” — Psalm 125:1–2

    The psalmist begins with a comparison that elevates the believer to the level of a mountain: “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.” Zion, the city of David, was not the highest peak in the region, yet it was chosen by God as the place of His dwelling and the seat of His kingdom. Its significance lay not in its elevation but in its election. To say that those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion is to say that their security is rooted not in their own stature but in God’s choice. In the Old Testament, Zion represented the throne of Yahweh, the place where the Ark of the Covenant rested and where the Lord reigned as King over His people (see Psalm 2). In the New Covenant, this imagery is transformed. The writer of Hebrews tells believers that they have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (see Hebrews 12). This is not a future destination but a present reality for all who are in Christ. The believer is as secure as the mountain of God, not because of personal strength but because of union with the One who reigns from the heavenly Zion.

    The verb “cannot be moved” speaks of stability in a world of instability. Throughout the Old Testament, the nations raged and the kingdoms tottered, yet Zion remained because the Lord was its foundation (see Psalm 46). The same promise holds for the New Covenant believer. The winds of false teaching, the storms of persecution, and the floods of cultural pressure may beat against the church, but she will not fall, for she is founded upon the rock of Christ’s words and His redemptive work (see Matthew 7). The promise “but abides forever” extends this stability into eternity. Under the Old Covenant, Zion’s security was national and territorial, bounded by the limits of earthly kingdoms. Under the New Covenant, the security is spiritual and eternal, rooted in the indestructible life of the risen Christ, who holds His own in the palm of His hand (see John 10).

    The second verse expands the image from the individual mountain to the surrounding range: “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.” Jerusalem sits in a basin, encircled by hills that form a natural barrier against invasion. To approach the city, an army had to descend into the valley and climb the slopes, exposing itself to the defenders above. The psalmist sees in this geography a parable of divine protection. The Lord does not merely stand beside His people; He encircles them, forming a perimeter of defense on every side. This is not a single wall but a range of mountains, layer upon layer of protection that the enemy must penetrate before he can reach the city. In the New Covenant, this encirclement is the presence of Christ, who is before us and behind us, beside us and within us. Paul describes this reality when he says that the love of God has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (see Romans 5), and that nothing in all creation can separate us from that love (see Romans 8). The Lord surrounds His people as completely as the hills encircle Jerusalem, and His surrounding presence leaves no gap for the enemy to exploit.

    The temporal scope of the promise is breathtaking: “from this time forth and forevermore.” This is not a seasonal protection that lasts only in prosperity or in times of faithfulness. It is an eternal encirclement that begins the moment a sinner trusts in the Lord and extends through every trial, every transition, and every epoch of life into the unending ages of glory. In the Old Covenant, the Lord’s protection of Zion was often conditional upon the people’s obedience, and when they rebelled, the Babylonians breached the mountains and destroyed the city (see 2 Chronicles 36). But in the New Covenant, the protection is secured by the obedience of Christ, who fulfilled the Law on our behalf and shed His blood to establish a covenant that cannot be broken (see Hebrews 8). The Spirit, who is the seal of this eternal covenant, ensures that the encirclement of the Lord is not interrupted by our failures, for our security rests on His faithfulness, not ours (see Philippians 1).

    Reflections Psalm 125:1–2 steadies the heart with the image of mountains that cannot be moved and a God who surrounds His people on every side. Our security is not measured by our own strength but by the immovable grace of the Lord, who encircles us as the hills enclose Jerusalem. As we journey through the uncertainties of this life, may we rest in the truth that the Lord surrounds His people from this time forth and forevermore, keeping us secure in the unshakable kingdom of His beloved Son.

  • Christ and the Identity of the New Covenant People

    Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

    I write to you as a fellow believer — one who shares your love for God’s truth, your grief over the moral decay of our nation, and your deep desire to see Christ honored in every corner of life. I do not write to you as an enemy, but as one who believes the very gospel we both cherish speaks with urgency and clarity to the vision you are pursuing.

    You have looked at the ruins of a post-Christian culture and said: something must be done. That impulse is not wrong. The Bible does not call us to indifference toward the societies in which God has placed us. We are told to seek the welfare of the city where we live (Jeremiah 29:7), to pray for kings and all in authority (1 Timothy 2:1–2), and to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). Responsible civic engagement is not a compromise — it is faithful stewardship.

    But I must speak plainly, because the stakes are eternal.

    The Temptation We All Face

    What I want to lovingly but firmly contend is this: the Christian Nationalist project, whatever its varied forms, tends toward a fusion that the New Testament warns us against with unmistakable clarity. It joins the identity of Christ’s people to a particular nation, political movement, or cultural heritage so closely that the two begin to appear inseparable. And when that happens — when an American flag and a cross become visually, emotionally, and theologically indistinguishable — something has gone catastrophically wrong. Not because the flag is evil, but because the cross has been reduced.

    Paul’s words to the Galatians cut to the heart of this. He writes to churches being pressured to fuse faith with ethnic and national identity. The Judaizers were, in essence, the first “Christian nationalists” — insisting that to be truly right with God, Gentile believers needed to take on Jewish national identity, circumcision, and the markers of a sanctified nation. Paul’s response was not mild disagreement. He said:

    For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. (Galatians 2:19–20)

    And later:

    For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. (Galatians 6:15)

    Paul did not say Jewish identity was worthless. He said it could not define the people of God. Only Christ does that.

    What the Gospel Creates

    The gospel does not recruit Gentiles into a sanctified version of Jewish nationalism. Nor — and this is the point I most need you to hear — does it create a new Gentile nation that replaces Israel as an earthly political people. What it creates is something the world had never seen before: a New Covenant community drawn from every tribe and tongue and nation, whose defining identity transcends every earthly boundary because its members are united to a crucified and risen Messiah.

    Paul labors to make this unmistakable in Ephesians 2:14–19:

    For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation… so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace… Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.

    And John, caught up in worship, sees the culmination:

    You are worthy… for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God. (Revelation 5:9–10)

    Notice what John sees in heaven. He does not see a sanctified nation. He sees a people gathered from the nations. Their unity is not a shared passport, a shared ancestry, a shared political platform, or a shared cultural heritage. Their unity is the blood of the Lamb.

    The Relativizing of Every Allegiance

    Now here is what must be said with both conviction and tenderness. This does not make Christians indifferent to the societies in which God has placed them. You are still Americans. You are still citizens. You still vote, serve, build, and contribute. None of that is taken from you.

    But the lordship of Christ relativizes every earthly allegiance beneath it. That word — relativizes — is deliberate. It means that your national identity, your political convictions, your cultural heritage, and your love of country are all real, but none of them is ultimate. None of them sits on the throne of your heart. None of them defines the people of God in the place that belongs exclusively to Christ.

    No national identity — not even the most liberty-loving, God-referencing, historically blessed nation on earth — can become a badge of superior Christian authenticity. No political citizenship can function as a boundary marker of the New Covenant people. Baptism, not birthright, marks the people of God. Faith, not flags, defines the household of God. The Lord’s Table, not any nation’s table, is where Christ’s covenant community is recognized and fed.

    A Brother’s Appeal

    I know that some of you will hear this and think: But surely you see what is happening to our country? Surely you understand that if we don’t act, everything will be lost?

    Brothers and sisters, I do see. And I grieve with you. But I must ask you to consider whether the medicine you are reaching for is, in fact, a poison dressed as a cure. When the church binds herself to a nation’s political destiny, she does not exalt the nation — she diminishes herself. She trades her prophetic voice for political access. She trades her identity as the body of Christ for the role of chaplain to a political movement. And history — including our own Reformation history — testifies that whenever the church has sought worldly power to protect her witness, she has ended up losing both her power and her witness.

    The early church conquered Rome not by seizing its government but by refusing to let Rome define them. They were crucified, thrown to lions, and burned as torches — and they sang hymns as they died. Their identity was not Roman. It was not counter-Roman. It was Christ. And that was enough to turn the world upside down.

    It is still enough.

    Christ alone is the identity of His people. May we be found faithful to that singular, glorious, sufficient identity — and may we never trade it, for any nation, for any cause, for any crown but His.

    In Christ’s grace and truth,
    Moe Bergeron
    (moebergeron.com)

  • Zechariah 2:5 — A Wall of Fire Around Her

    Zechariah 2:5 — A Wall of Fire Around Her

    In a vision given to the prophet Zechariah during the post-exilic restoration of Jerusalem, the Lord reveals a promise of protection that defies every earthly standard of defense. Jerusalem will not need walls of stone, for the Lord Himself will be her enclosure—not a barrier that hides but a fire that consumes whatever approaches with hostile intent. This promise, given to a battered and rebuilding community, points forward to the New Covenant, where Christ is both the foundation and the firewall of His church, and where the Spirit of God burns within and around the people of God as an unconquerable presence.

    “And I myself will be a wall of fire around her, declares the Lord, and I will be the glory within her.” — Zechariah 2:5

    The Lord speaks with emphatic personal commitment: “And I myself will be a wall of fire around her.” The repetition of the first-person pronoun underscores that this is not a delegated task but a direct divine action. In the Old Testament, the Lord frequently appeared as fire—burning the bush before Moses (see Exodus 3), descending on Mount Sinai in smoke and flame (see Exodus 19), and leading Israel through the wilderness as a pillar of fire by night (see Exodus 13). Fire in Scripture communicates both the consuming holiness of God and His active presence among His people. As a wall of fire, the Lord becomes both a barrier and a weapon: a barrier that the enemy cannot cross, and a weapon that destroys whatever draws near with malice. In the New Covenant, this fire is the Holy Spirit, whom Christ promised to send upon the church. At Pentecost, the Spirit appeared as tongues of fire resting upon each disciple (see Acts 2), and that same fire now surrounds and indwells the body of Christ, forming an invisible but invincible perimeter of divine protection.

    The image of a wall would have resonated deeply with Zechariah’s audience. Jerusalem’s walls lay in ruins, and the returning exiles lived in vulnerability and shame. The neighboring peoples opposed the rebuilding effort (see Nehemiah 4), and the temptation was to trust in hurriedly constructed fortifications rather than in the Lord. But the Lord declares that He Himself is the wall—no thickness of stone required. This does not mean the Lord abandons prudence, but it means that the ultimate security of His people never depends on human ingenuity. In the New Covenant, the church is built not upon walls of mortar but upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone (see Ephesians 2). The protection of the church is as sure as the character of the God who surrounds her, and no gate of hell shall prevail against her (see Matthew 16).

    The second half of the verse shifts from perimeter to interior: “and I will be the glory within her.” The Lord does not merely surround His people; He dwells among them. In the Old Testament, the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle at its dedication (see Exodus 40) and later filled the Temple under Solomon (see 1 Kings 8). That glory was the visible sign of God’s covenant presence, the assurance that He had chosen to make His dwelling with Israel. But in the New Covenant, the glory of God is no longer confined to a building. Paul declares that God has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (see 2 Corinthians 4). Christ is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature (see Hebrews 1), and through union with Him, the believer becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 6). The glory within is the Spirit of the risen Christ, who transforms us from one degree of glory to another (see 2 Corinthians 3), ensuring that the interior of the believer’s life is as secure as the exterior, for God Himself fills it.

    The combination of fire around and glory within creates a picture of complete protection. The enemy cannot breach the perimeter because the Lord is the wall; the enemy cannot corrupt the interior because the Lord is the glory. This dual safeguard reflects the New Covenant promise that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus (see Romans 8). The church is surrounded by divine fire and filled with divine glory, and this two-fold reality ensures that every assault from without and every temptation from within is met by the presence of God Himself. The believer who is united to Christ shares in this protection, for to be in Christ is to be enclosed by the very presence of God, kept secure by a fire that does not harm the people of God but purifies them and consumes every enemy that dares to approach.

    Reflections Zechariah 2:5 reveals that the Lord Himself is both the wall that surrounds us and the glory that fills us. No enemy can breach the fire of His presence, and no corruption can invade the temple of His Spirit. As we live as the church of Jesus Christ in the midst of a hostile world, may we rest in the assurance that our safety does not depend on the structures we build but on the God who surrounds us with fire and dwells within us with glory, keeping us secure until the day of His return.