Hope Amidst Despair: Continuing the Work of Charlie Kirk

I'm a Christian, and I'm a conservative.

And when the news broke that Charlie Kirk had been assassinated, it hit me like a thunderclap.

I felt shock.

I feel grief.

And honestly, I feel a lot of deep confusion.

I started thinking to myself, how could this happen?

Why would God allow such a bold voice for truth be silenced?

And bigger than that, I started thinking, what do we do now?

And if you've been asking those same questions, you're not alone today, because I've been asking them, too.

But here's what I want you to hear today.

When a Christian leader falls, and Charlie Kirk was absolutely a Christian leader, the gospel doesn't fall with him.

When one voice is silenced, God raises others.

And if you're listening right now, if you're watching this right now, that other might just be you.

So let's talk about these questions and our response to this tragedy today on this bonus episode of the show.

Welcome back to Truth Unveiled with Ralph.

I'm Ralph Eastep Jr. And this is the place where we uncover God's perspective on the issues that shake our world.

And yes, yesterday's news was shocking.

But more importantly than that, we need to understand how to process it, how to respond to it.

And it's my intention today to share with you exactly how I think we need to do that.

Because the assassination of a Christian leader like Charlie Kirk forces us to face some really hard realities.

And for some of us, you might be one of these people right now.

It sparks deep despair, because, trust me, I'm feeling that myself.

You start to think to yourself, they've taken away a defender of truth, Ralph.

Who's going to stand now?

And for many of us, anger.

You start to think to yourself, they've silenced him.

So we need to stand up and fight back with fury, Ralph.

And for many others, if we're being honest with ourselves, I'm probably one of these people, too.

It creates fear.

You start to think to yourself, if someone like him could be targeted, what about me?

Could I be the next of that target?

Listen, I do a Christian conservative podcast.

Could I be a target of this?

And I want you to understand right now, these emotions are real, but they can't be where we remain.

And trust me, it'll be real easy for us to stay right there, to stay in those emotions of fear and anger and not really knowing what to do next.

Be really easy to stay there, wouldn't it?

But history proves this.

When leaders fall, God's kingdom keeps moving forward.

And as I prepare for this special bonus episode, Today I thought, what can I say that would be impactful?

And I went to the Bible and I found the Book of Acts, chapter seven.

When it talked about Stephen, now here Stephen was stoned.

For him, it looked like the end.

But the church scattered, and what did the Lord do?

But even in that, the Gospel spread across the known world.

See, the enemy thought he had won.

And for so many people today, that might be feeling the same emotions that I'm feeling.

You might be thinking the enemy won as well.

But look back to Stephen.

God multiplied his mission, and that same could be true today.

You may be like Ralph, okay, but where do we start with this?

I think the only place we can truly start today is we got to anchor our hearts in God's Word.

So let's get right into God's word today because this is where we really need to remain and where we really need to find strength today.

Because I know, listen, it's hard to find strength today, but let's get into God's word.

Let's look at the Book of Psalms, chapter 90, verse 12.

Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

As I thought about that, Charlie's life reminds us of this truth.

And you got to hear this right now.

None of us is promised a tomorrow.

We're just not.

The question isn't how long we will live, but how faithful we live the days we're given.

When Charlie decided to go on this campus tour, he understood that he did not have a promise tomorrow.

Now, he had a relationship with Jesus Christ.

And we'll talk about that in a couple minutes.

But what does the Book of Psalms tell us?

Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Because, listen, it's not about how long you live.

It's about how faithful you live when you're given those days.

And we need to understand it.

We need to really take that to heart.

How are we living our lives right now?

We all can fathom that there's only a certain number of days we have, but how are we living them?

Are we living them with a wisdom for God?

Let's look at the book of second Timothy, chapter four, verse seven.

And this one was really reassuring to me as I thought about preparing for today.

Again, this is second Timothy, chapter four, verse seven.

It says, I have fought the good fight.

I have finished the race.

I kept the faith.

See, right there, That's a testimony of a faithful life.

And it's the legacy that Charlie left behind, of life, of courage and a life of conviction.

That's his testimony.

I have fought the good fight.

I have finished the race.

I have kept the faith.

When you ask Charlie about his Christianity, he was very bold about it.

We've got to do the same thing.

Let's look at the Book of John, chapter 16, verse 33.

In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart.

I have overcome the world.

Now, that's powerful right there, isn't it?

When you're feeling down, when you're feeling about.

What are we going to do, Ralph?

What are we going to take with.

What are we going to learn from this?

Well, Jesus told us plainly trouble is going to come.

It came yesterday in Utah.

It came to Charlie, came to Charlie's family, came to all those people that were there.

But what else did Jesus tell us?

Victory is already ours in him.

And I want you to hear Charlie's own words.

This is something he spoke in an interview.

He said, I mean, I'm nothing without Jesus.

I'm a sinner.

I fall incredibly short of the glory of God.

We all do.

I gave my life to the Lord in fifth grade, and it's the most important decision I ever made.

And everything I do incorporates Jesus Christ.

Again, that's directly from Charlie Kirk.

Think about the humility in that statement, that clear declaration of faith.

And if you think he wasn't courageous, you can just feel it in that statement where you can see where his.

His courage came from.

So again, I come back.

What do we learn from today?

What is our main takeaway from today?

How do we move forward with this?

And I've got a couple of points I really want to relate to you today.

The first thing we've got to do, we've got to live a life of conviction that inspires others.

That's where we've got to start.

If you learn nothing else about this situation, live a life of conviction that inspires others.

That's what Charlie Kirk wasn't afraid to speak as boldly and speak his mind as a First Amendment person.

And whether you agreed with every position or his or not, his courage inspired things.

Thousands of young people, young people found confidence in him.

Christians found renewed boldness in him.

And that's what conviction does.

Live a life of conviction that inspires others, just like Charlie did.

Think of one candle in a dark room.

Just picture this in your own mind.

You've got this one room completely dark.

Just got one candle in the center of that room.

That candle doesn't just provide light for itself, it gives courage for other lights on their own.

And Charlie once said this.

He said, I want to be remembered for having courage for my faith.

All I can say to that is, wow, that's powerful.

You didn't hear him say he wanted to be remembered for fame.

You didn't hear him say he wanted to be remembered for influence.

What did he want to be remembered for?

Courage for Christ.

So as you're listening this or as you're watching this right now, your conviction matters as well.

You might not have a stage, you might not have a microphone like I have, but you can have courage in your family, you can have courage in your workplace, and you can have courage in your community.

And that courage can inspire others to stand when it's time to stand.

So it starts there.

And now you might be saying, ralph, okay, well, we got to respond to this.

And I agree with you.

We do need to respond to this.

But our response has got to be rooted in hope, not in fear.

It's so easy to live in fear right now.

A Pew research study found that 4 in 10Americans say fear of violence shapes their willingness to speak publicly about politics or faith.

Four in ten Americans are afraid.

They have fear about speaking about publicly about their politics or faith.

But what does scripture say?

You got to write this on your heart today.

This is from second Timothy, chapter one, verse seven.

Scripture says, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love and a sound mind.

Mind that is so reassuring right now.

We can't continue to live in fear.

We've got to see the hope.

And that hope comes to us.

Like Charlie knew from the life of Jesus Christ and having that relationship with Jesus.

And the early Christian church knew this well.

When leaders like James were killed by Herod, when Paul was imprisoned, the church didn't shrink back.

It grew stronger.

And it carried that message further and further and further to today.

So our response is not despair.

And listen, it's not revenge either.

I hear a lot of knuckleheads out there talking about, we gotta avenge this, we gotta have revenge.

Ralph, that's not where our response needs to be.

Our response need to be hope in Christ.

They might be saying, ralph, what can I do?

Well, here's what you can do.

You can carry that torch forward.

See, God's plan was never dependent on one person.

All through scripture, it wasn't about one person.

Not Paul, not Peter, not Billy Graham, one of my favorite preachers of all time, and not Charlie Kirk either.

See, the kingdom advances because God empowers ordinary believers.

Just like you, just like me.

And Charlie was Outspoken about why he believed this matter.

This is what he said.

One of the reasons we're living through a constitutional crisis is that we no longer have a Christian nation, but we have a Christian form of government, and they're incompatible.

You cannot have liberty if you don't have a Christian population.

That's right from Charlie Kirk.

And in another moment, he declared this.

He said, this is a Christian state.

I'd like to see it stay that way.

So whether or not you agree with every word, what's clear is this.

Charlie lived with fire in his bones.

He lived with a passion for faith, and he lived with a passion for freedom and a cause worth fighting for.

And friend, right now, as you're listening or watching this, the question now is, who will carry that torch forward?

Will you carry that torch forward?

Think of Elijah in First Kings, chapter 19.

He thought he was alone, but God reminded him there were still 7,000 who had not bowed to Baal.

So in the midst of this sadness, you might be feeling really small right now.

You might be feeling insignificant, you might be feeling unqualified.

But let me tell you something right now.

God doesn't call the qualified.

He qualifies the called.

And that's so important that you got to hear this.

You know, Billy Graham once said this.

He said, courage is contagious.

When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.

And that's exactly what we see here today.

Charlie's courage stiffened the spines of many.

I want to challenge you.

Now it's your turn.

Reminds me of C.S.

lewis.

C.S.

lewis wrote this during the Second World War.

He said, courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point.

And so you need to hear this right now.

This is a testing point for us in so many ways.

This is a testing point for us.

Will we choose to live in fear?

Because we could stay there.

We could live in that constant state of fear.

Or on the other hand, will we live with faith filled courage?

That's the question you've really got to ask.

If you want to get past this, you've got to ask yourself that very simple question.

Are we going to continue to live in fear?

Are we going to live with faith?

Faith filled courage?

Make your choice.

Because this is what culture tells us.

This is why I do this show.

Unveiled with Ralph.

Truth Unveiled with wrath.

Because culture says when a leader dies, the movement dies.

Well, I can tell you right now, Charlie Kirk and Turning Point did not die yesterday.

And in Matthew 16:18, Jesus said this.

He Said, the gates of hell will not prevail against my church.

We can't let the gates of hell.

We can't let the enemy prevail against us because one of our people has died.

The movement remains.

The movement continues.

Jesus will not allow the gates of hell to prevail against his church.

I talked a few minutes ago about outrage because culture says, well, respond with outrage.

Go out there and be outrageous.

But that's not the teaching of Jesus.

In the same book of Matthew, Jesus said this, and this is Matthew, chapter 5, verse 44.

He said, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

One of the things that I know about Charlie Kirk, and he, not somebody I knew a lot about, to be very honest with you, I knew a little bit about him.

But he in so many times said, let's debate, let's talk.

Because he said, when debate stops and talking stops, that's when violence happens.

But we've got to love our enemies and we got to pray for those who persecute you.

And that is really hard to do right now.

I'm struggling with that right at the moment as I deliver this.

But Jesus told us to do this, and we've got to do this.

And at the same time, culture tells us, be afraid.

Live in fear.

Worry about whatever's going on around you.

But Jesus says something so much more brilliant than that.

He says, take heart, for I have overcome the world.

Think about that for a second.

Take heart, for I have overcome the world.

So, friend, today is not the end.

Yes, it's the end for Charlie and his earthly body.

But let me tell you right now, he is in glory with the Father right now.

But this is not the end for us.

This is the beginning.

And Charlie Zeif reminds us of something.

One person with conviction, just one person, can make a huge difference.

But his death also reminds us of something.

Every believer has got to carry the mission forward.

So here's your one action step for today.

I want you to pray this simple prayer with me right now, Lord.

Where do you want me to be bold this week?

Where do you want me to be bold this week, Lord?

And then take that step of courage.

Let's pray together, Father.

Today we grieve.

We grieve the loss of a bold voice, Lord.

We grieve the brokenness of this world.

But we don't grieve as those without hope, Lord, because our hope is in you.

So right now, Lord, we pray that you would strengthen the church, raise up men and women of conviction, just like Charlie was Give each of us courage to carry that torch forward, Lord.

And Lord, we take comfort in knowing that when Charlie entered your presence, he heard the words we all long to hear.

Well done, good and faithful servant.

Come and share your master's happiness.

And Lord, we just ask that that would be true for our lives as well.

Help us to live faithfully, Lord, so that when our race is done, we too will hear those words.

And friend, if you're listening right now and you've never given your life to Jesus, this is the moment for you because you might not have another chance.

And if you've never accepted Christ as your personal savior, I'm going to encourage you right now.

Pray with me right now.

Lord Jesus, I know I'm a sinner and I believe you died for me and rose again.

And I trust you today and forever as my Savior.

Come into my life.

Forgive me Lord, and make me new.

I choose to follow you starting today and for the rest of my life.

And we ask all these things in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

I just want to thank you for spending time with me today.

And if today's message has encouraged you, I want you to share it with somebody else who needs so we are all are feeling so many emotions right now, but we can provide hope for somebody.

So please do me a favor and share this message with them.

And as I close today, let's live in such a way that one day we too will hear those words.

Well done, good and faithful servant.

God bless you.