Charlie Kirk and the Enemies of God

By now I think it is safe to assume that the news of Charlie Kirk's assassination has reached most everyone, especially those in Christian and conservative circles who knew him best. Charlie Kirk himself was both a Christian and a conservative; and he really made his impact speaking to college students. I knew of him and watched some of his content, but I can't say I followed him all that closely. However, when I read the news yesterday I, like many of you, was shocked, saddened, and angry.

Murder is shocking, it is dismaying, and it elicits righteous anger. The blood of righteous Abel cried out from the ground against the brutal murderer Cain (Genesis 4:10). And so does the blood of every image bearer who is unjustly slain. God's Word tells us that "Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image." (Genesis 9:6). It is right to feel angry. It is right to call out to God for justice. It is even right to call out for the civil government to do their job and bear the sword against the evil doer – that is to carry out retributive justice according to the law of God (Romans 13:4). And yet we cannot rest our hope for justice on any earthly court. It is ultimately before God that we make our plea.

It is important to remember that it is the Lord who says, "vengeance is mine". In fact, this passage is worth considering in its context. In Romans 12, the Apostle Paul helps us with this very thing: how to deal with enemies and persecution in a godly manner. He writes:

"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.' To the contrary, 'if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:19-21)

We could add to this the words of Jesus as well: "But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" (Matthew 5:44).

The biblical picture is not one of being a pacifist or a doormat. We are not called to deny that evil exists, or to forego appeals to justice. Like we saw earlier, the state bears the sword. But even when all earthly justice fails us – we are called to leave it to the wrath of God. God will judge. In the context of the gospel and our personal justification we are slow to ask for justice, because we know that we are sinners too. And if God were to give us justice, we would perish under His wrath. However, there is a place in our prayer repertoire for imprecation, for appeals to justice, for appeals for vengeance and wrath and vindication. These are things that Paul expressly tells us to pray for. How do you leave it to the wrath of God? By bringing it before Him in prayer.

I would encourage every believer to take the time to pray this way today. Bring this injustice, this persecution, this martyrdom of our brother, before the Lord. Tell the Lord of how angry it makes you, how dismayed you are, bring all your heart before the Lord. And then leave it with Him. Know this, dear brother and sister in Christ, God cares about justice more than you and I do. He will repay. There is not one sin in the entire world, throughout all of history, that goes unpunished. Every sin will be perfectly punished – and it will happen in one of two places. Either, on the day of judgement, on the last day, before the judgement seat of Christ – or at the cross of Christ, where wrath and mercy meet, where the Saviour bleeds and the sinner goes free. We can rest, knowing that whichever way it goes for our current enemies and persecutors, justice will be done.

And so, we leave it with the Lord. Yet, we go one step further. We pray for those who persecute us, and we overcome their evil with good. The Christian is not permitted to wallow in self-pity, nor is he permitted to lash out in rage and anger. We are Christians. Meaning, we follow Jesus Christ. Peter says this about following Jesus:

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. (1 Peter 2:21-23)

We pray with Jesus and with Stephen (the first Martyr): "Father forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34; Acts 7:60).

Christian, do you know that our love is stronger than their hate? The enemies of God's people hate righteousness, they hate truth, they hate God, and therefore they hate us. But however strong their hate is we love God more, we love His kingdom more, and we even love the world, our friends, neighbours, and enemies included, more. And in the end, the love of God wins. When Christ died on the cross, hate was strong that day, but isn't it plain and obvious that His love was stronger still? There was never a stronger display of love. Jesus died in apparent weakness, but there was never a stronger man. The God-Man, Jesus Christ, conquered through His death. And we too follow Him in this.

When Paul considers the persecutions that we face he asks the question - Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." (Romans 8:35-36)

And then look at how he answers his own question. He answers with an emphatic "No!".

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39).

Friends, we win. We conquer through the One who conquered death for us. Death no longer has a sting for the Christian. Death no longer has the victory. The world can do its worst. It's absolute worst. And yet, they cannot stop this train. The victory march of King Jesus has already begun. The nations are streaming into His Kingdom. The after-party is already planned, and nothing will rain on this parade. Our King is the resurrection and the life. And so, His people, who are in Him, have nothing to fear, not even death itself.

As Martin Luther wrote in his great hymn A Mighty Fortress is Our God:

And though this world, with devils filled,
should threaten to undo us,
we will not fear, for God has willed
his truth to triumph through us.

Our brother Charlie has been killed, but the truth of Christ, which he loved and proclaimed, lives on. They may try to silence us, and sometimes they will appear to succeed, but know this – the Lord Jesus Christ will have the last word.

And so, let us continue to go out into the world with boldness and with the love of Christ in our hearts and on our lips. Later today I will take my place on the streets, much like Charlie, and proclaim the gospel in the public square. Is it possible that I too will be attacked by the enemies of God for speaking the truth? Yes, it is possible. Am I afraid? Not at all. For I am safe in the hands of God, even if I die. It's as the missionary Henry Martyn put it - "I am immortal until God's work for me to do is done."