The Charlie Kirk Murder: Why is the world both cheering and mourning?

How do you want to be remembered?

If I die, everything just goes away.

How would you.

If you could be associated with one.

Thing, how would you want to be remembered?

I want to be. I want to be remembered for. For courage, for my faith. That would be the most important thing. Most important thing is my faith in my life.

A man who was murdered for voicing his opinion in the public square, in front of his friends and in front of his family. And I cannot fathom what it must be like for them who are close to Charlie today. In fact, just even visiting those thoughts, trying to place myself in their position, it almost feels like a dangerous place to go, just in my mind. And so my deepest condolences and prayers go out to everyone that he has left behind. I know that Charlie was a believer. I know that he was someone who spoke of Jesus often.

I have 30 seconds left to live. I'm dying from a gunshot wound. But what would you actually want to tell me if I have 30 seconds left to live? Well, you got 30 seconds. In 30 seconds, you're about to meet eternal judgment. And there's only one way that you can get bailed out of that. It's not all the good things you did or the moral scorecard. It's whether or not you have Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior. That's the only thing that's going to matter. And so you got 10 seconds left or dying from a gunshot wound, and you ask the question, who is Jesus Christ? And the answer to that singular question, who is Jesus Christ? Is the most important question for everyone in the audience. Not how much money you have, not how much good stuff you do. It is, who is Jesus Christ? You might say, oh, Jesus was, you know, a teller of good tales, or Jesus was a good person, or Jesus was a historical figure. None of that's going to cut it. It's whether or not you repent and you ask Christ to come in as your Lord and Savior. That's the only thing that will save you from eternal damage.

And he even was a little bit of a different believer because he understood the importance of, wow, there's these 10 commandments, and they're all relevant. There's even this strange one that everyone has forgotten, which God said to remember the Sabbath. And Charlie even advocated and publicly encouraged people to return to obedience to that commandment.

The Sabbath is one of my favorite topics to talk about, honestly, because I'm so sick of talking about politics all day long. It's all I do. So it drives me crazy. This is actually way More important than that. And I could tie the two together if necessary, but we don't have to. I'm actually writing my next book on the Sabbath. It's called Stop in the Name of God, because Shabbat means stop or ceasing. So I'm not here to sell you a book. It's not even for sale yet. It's just something to think about. And it's honestly how the. The Sabbath saved my life and helped preserve my family and helped preserve my career. I will challenge the Christian Church because I believe this is the most ignored commandment of the Decalogue, to our own detriment. And I will go a step further, and then I'll stop talking, because I know we have a whole program which is that I believe that honoring the Sabbath is the commandment that allows you to honor the other nine commandments and that the enemy has gone after the honoring the Sabbath because then it is easier to weaken the other nine. And I'll prove it to you. If you're honoring the Sabbath, it's definitionally easier to honor your mother and father because you're not working that day and you're with family. If you're honoring the Sabbath, it's easier not to covet your neighbor's wife because you're not around your neighbor's wife, you're with your family, and you're filled with gratitude that day. When you're honoring the Sabbath, it's easier to have no other gods before God because that day is built in time as a temple, as a sanctuary to put God first, to not have idols, to not take the Lord's name in vain. The other nine commandments are made easier, are made more accessible for our broken fleshly depraved nature if we prioritize the Shabbat.

I don't know Charlie personally, and whether you agree or align with him politically on or on everything that he has said, it's quite irrelevant to this entire conversation. In fact, if he was on the the total opposite side of the spectrum on just about everything you believe politically, that would not change anything when it comes to the fact that he was murdered for what he stood for in a country that has been known for being advocates of freedom of speech. And Charlie that day wore a shirt with the word Freedom written upon it. He believed in freedom to express his opinion, and yet that freedom was not afforded to him that day. And one thing that I think we should pay attention to is how does the crowds respond to something like this? Because that is going to reveal the hearts of men like nothing else. If how you posture yourself towards this tragic event is going to reveal something in your heart. And this is part of what I want to discuss here, because immediately when I started reading about what people think and say when it occurred, even on the very day, people, some were saying that they are glad. Some were saying that, well, someone should have done it sooner or later.

There are a lot of people that are like, no matter what side of politics you're on, you should never celebrate something bad happening to someone. I, on the other hand, do cheer when bad things happen to bad people. Charlie Kirk just got shot. Charlie Kirk got shot and killed. How do you feel? Happy. Goodbye. Wow. Did you see that? Charlie Kirk just got shot and killed.

That's good.

Wow. That's good. That's good that people are getting shot just off a political view. Charlie Kirk gets shot and killed. Today, we're just getting people's opinions. How do you feel about that girl? Someone had to do it.

And that's how I feel at this point in time. These responses from some of the crowds was a joyful response to an unimaginably tragic event. An event that is not human. For to be in our humanity is to be walking in the image of Christ and God. That image that would never murder a fellow brother or sister. That image that would love, even enemy. Instead, we're seeing that image of what a human being is supposed to be. How we are to primarily love God and neighbor, we are seeing that break down in ways that we haven't seen in a long time in the West. The very society we've come to know is coming undone at its seams. And the hardness of hearts of men are being exposed this day by this event. And I think we should pay attention to it. For while I pray that things get better, the Bible says they will get worse. And if I trust my God and what he says will happen, then I have to today consider when this happens again. And it will. And if it were to happen to me or someone near me, how will I respond to that situation? I can tell you that some believers have even shocked me. Never mind what the enemies of Charlie have said. The believers, some, some, a few. Thankfully, this is not a majority or near that. But I have seen some believers saying they come in the name of Christ, having the name of God on their Facebook profile. And yet, immediately starting with the conspiracies, posting Charlie in his most vulnerable moment, pictures of him. And if you've seen any of those, I am sorry that you had to see it. There are the horrific position that he was in in that very moment when he was shot, those pictures being posted online, and then believers coming and trying to dissect it and saying, is this AI? And saying, oh, this was made up. And saying, oh, this is just. This is just Charlie trying to boost. Boost his social popularity to defile the name of the one you say you love by your false accusations, carelessness, and lack of love towards someone and everyone that was near that person that you absolutely defrauded, that you bore false witness of and publicized in their most vulnerable state to the world. I do not even know what to say except I condemn it and God condemns it. Of course he does. So let us be a people who are way more careful. Even if you think you're right, well, what if you're wrong? If you're indeed wrong about saying or posting such things, do you not understand the consequences? And the other thing worth mentioning is what does this reality that we have all witnessed mean for how we will move forward? For if we live in a reality where what you say can cost you your life, how will we respond to that? Because the early church quickly needed to learn how to deal with that. Now, I know that Charlie was a political figure, but Charlie was very outspoken about his faith. And I think we should be careful of getting lost in the weeds, of thinking, well, he was just a politician. He was not a politician. He was politically outspoken, of course, but yet he was a believer who was politically outspoken, and yet a brother in Christ who is politically outspoken. And I think so many want to just totally say, act like he wasn't really a believer because he was politically outspoken. Whether you agree politically or not, it's irrelevant. He was a believer and he was outspoken about that. So let's just remember this. And from there on, if the reality, the simple fact that what you say can get you killed, what does that do to your heart? Will that bring a fear into your heart? Will that cause you to be scared of speaking out, of being bold, of standing up for God and what God has said in His Word in a society that hates it? Or are you going to be emboldened to speak when everyone else is too scared to speak? Are you going to be emboldened to stand up for what is right when everyone is sitting down for what is wrong? We are living in a time and a place right now where, similar to the early church, we are being tested. And I want to read to you Acts 8:1. Stephen is murdered and Saul, also known as Paul, approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem. And they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea, Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and had made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. We are not facing this level of. Of religious persecution in America or in the West. However, I want you to put yourself in their position for just a moment, because Stephen has just been buried because he was stoned for what he has said. And how does that make everyone who are believers in Jerusalem? How does that make them feel towards this guy called Saul? Angry, Furious? Fearful? Sad? Feel like they want to give up, hopelessness. The press, the list goes on. But what does God decide to do? And look, guys, this word is going to be rough right now. I want you to just. Just bear with me for a second. What does God decide to do with this guy called Saul? I'm sure every. Every believer wants justice, and they should, and they will get that. And God comes and he gives justice, but he does it in a way that is very unexpected. So unexpected that the believers in Jerusalem initially don't really like the idea. And I'll read that here in verse. Acts 9, 13. Ananias is called by God to visit Paul. And Ananias says, lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name. I totally get Ananias. I feel like Ananias, I feel God, he's done so much evil, you know? And again, this. I'm not talking about a single man today. I'm talking about crowds who have. Who have cheered and crowds who have said. And crowds who have gone to say it's a good thing that Charlie was murdered. We are seeing that murder were in the hearts and are in the hearts of many. There are many murderers of Charlie Kirk. There is not only one, there are many. There are crowds of murderers of Charlie Kirk. Because murder begins in the heart. And so now we're dealing with that here. We're seeing all of that in front of us, and we're feeling like Ananias felt how much evil there is. And then the Lord said this. Go. For he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name. And so I am not stating anything about what I know God will do. But I will say this, that historically, God has always done the unexpected things and even sometimes things we cannot fathom or understand. And in this case, raising up this murderer, Saul, to be the one whom we read about so often in our Bible, who became one of the greatest New Testament authors, filled by the Spirit, but yet God said he must suffer. And Paul did suffer for all that he did. He himself wrote about that. But what I am asking you is that considering how God is so above our ways that he would even choose the most unexpected of unexpected people to use that person. Let us now pray for Charlie and his family. And let us now pray for all those who have had murder in their hearts yesterday, today, and going forward. Let us pray for those who are absolutely lost because they've been lied to. They have been told that it is okay to have murder in the heart. They have been told it's okay to believe that someone doesn't deserve to live because they have a different opinion than they have. They have been deceived by Satan himself and the demonic, and yet there is deliverance available for them all. The challenge that we face as believers is our own hearts, that when we face events that are so hurtful, we have to wrestle with. But God forgive them, for they know not what they do. Yeshua on a cross, bleeding out, his enemies pierced him. You can say they had demons. You can say they were led by Satan. You would be speaking the truth. And yet Yeshua says, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. And in that crowd was you and was me. Because our sin also placed Yeshua on the cross. We are also guilty of murder. For the one who has no sin can say, I am guiltless. But there is none who can say that my heart is breaking. And I ask that you mourn with those who are mourning and that you call out and hold other believers accountable, who dance on graves, who mock or who show disrespect when something like this has happened, transgressing the word of God and the name of God himself. Let us be a people who start standing up for what is right. Let us not be a people who walk forward in fear, but emboldened to speak the truth and even those things that society hates. Would you rather die as someone who was safe, who never did anything for the kingdom of God? Or would you, if God so willed it, die as a martyr because you were bold enough to say what no one else wanted to say in a way that no one else wanted to say? It and in a time where no one else wanted to say it, who will you be? That is what's going to set you apart at the end of the day from people around you. I know what my decision is today. I will speak the truth no matter the cost. I will not let a fear of losing life be what costs me my life. Because to lose your life truly is to be lukewarm. To not care for the kingdom of God enough, but to care to preserve your life more. Let's have grace on one another in this time, even as people have different opinions and are voicing them oftentimes out of hurt. Let us be a people who show love to enemy and friend. Thank you for joining me. God bless you, keep you, shine his face upon you in this time and.

Sometimes in the modern gospel we overemphasize the grace and we under emphasize the truth. So we are far too willing to say, hey, Jesus loves everybody. But we don't get to the second part of the conversation that says Jesus doesn't want you to live in sin.