Rev.2:8-10 – “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write,
‘These things says the First and the Last, who was dead, and came to life: “I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Recently the world was shocked by the death of Charlie Kirk. It is rare to see such a public assassination, this has something to do with the impact Charlie’s death has had on the world. But is there more to the shocking affect Charlie’s death has had on the world? We all know it affected hundreds of thousands of young people, but his death also caused an uproar in the political world, the entertainment world, and the athletic world. Every news media outlet was drawn into the melee, rarely has any death had so much coverage. Which brings me to the question, why? Why was Charlie killed? Many say because of his strong political statements that he made. The assassin apparently was disturbed about Charlie’s outspoken view of the homosexual and transgender lifestyle. Is that really what was behind all of this? I hardly think so. My belief is that there is a spiritual undertone, after all everything Charlie Kirk believed he claimed was supported by scripture. I think there is a spirit in the world that hates Christians and what Christians believe and that Charlie’s killer was driven by a hatred that cannot be explained by politics alone, that hatred comes from the spirit of antichrist that cannot tolerate God’s word. Let’s face it, Charlie was killed because of his outspoken Bible beliefs, Charlie was killed for his faith.
Today’s scripture is about martyrdom, something us Christians in America are unfamiliar with. The pastor of the church Jesus was writing to in today’s verse was Polycarp. Polycarp was publicly burned because of his stand for Christ. The same hatred that killed Polycarp hated Charlie as well. So we may be shocked at the violent death of Charlie Kirk but we really shouldn’t be surprised. There is a growing hostility in the world against Christians, it often shows its ugly face when one stands for righteousness. That will probably change in the future when the masks come off and Christians are attacked because we are Christians. We came really close to that in the Covid debacle. So what is our response today? Be strong in the Lord, devour the scripture, be continually filled with the Spirit. When the evil one shows his head in our world we will be strong and make our stand for the Lord.
