Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Listen! I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest. He who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit that leads to eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together. For in this is the saying true, ‘One sows, and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap a crop for which you did not labor. And you have benefited from their labor.”
John 4:34–38
It’s interesting how discussions go. This was part of our small group Bible study earlier this week. The discussions around it were intriguing and eye-opening. Hopefully, you will gather some encouragement from it, too.
This part of the Scriptures is where Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman. It is after His encounter with her that His friends were encouraging Jesus to eat. He said He had food they didn’t know about. He heard their murmuring and He answered them as above.
Now, I am going to tell you that Charlie Kirk lived to do the same as Jesus, His Father’s will. He would be at it until the work was complete. Charlie was taken home this last week, signifying his work is finished. He now enjoys the rewards of it.
The rewards of the work are not going to heaven and escaping Hell. No, those are on top of that free gift that He has from the Holy Spirit.
Like Jesus having His life cut short, Charlie’s was, too.
Like those Jesus spoke to, we Christians today are going to get the same benefits. The fields are ripe. Charlie sowed much, and the harvest is here. It’s our turn. Jesus sends us all to reap a crop for which we did not labor.
Are you ready to do that?
I think there is a bit more here… Remember those two witnesses who will come during the Tribulation?
When they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the bottomless pit will wage war against them and overcome them and kill them. Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. Those from every people and tribe and tongue and nation will see their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not allow their dead bodies to be put in graves.
Revelation 11:7–9
Well, there seems to be a small bit of parallel, or maybe we all had a sneak-peak at the future as one might say.
When Mr. Kirk did what he did best, he prophesied. No, he didn’t predict future events. New Testament prophets speak God’s truth plainly and forthrightly. There is little argument that he did just that. He did it boldly, without fear, and without trepidation.
Yes, there are prophets in the church.
God has put these in the church: first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, and various tongues.
1 Corinthians 12:28
I consider this an ordered list of value. There are no apostles today, well, probably not. (Ask me about the apostle John one day.) Apostles were eyewitnesses to the life of Jesus. Which disqualifies virtually everyone alive today from being an apostle. The gifts of the Spirit are real, and as here, there is an amplified list elsewhere…
He gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, for the equipping of the saints, for the work of service, and for the building up of the body of Christ,
Ephesians 4:11–12
These offices are for the equipping of the church. These exist until the church reaches maturity.
That was a bit of a diversion, but back to those two prophets in the future… And Charlie Kirk.
I think the parallel is the aftermath of what happened. There were plenty of people rejoicing over the death of Charlie. It almost resembles a precursor to the fallout that occurs after the two prophets are overcome.
Those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
Revelation 11:10
I tell you, last Wednesday… I expected God to raise Charlie up, just like he had those two prophets. He didn’t, yet it was expected.
Perhaps that was just a precursor to my small group study, and eventually to all that I write here. I think that what we encountered after Charlie was murdered was a small shadow of the attitudes of the masses of people in the future. These people celebrate the deaths of the two prophets. The outpouring of that kind of inhumanity is alive in an astonishing number of people even today. It’s like things are ramping up to that time, as the attitudes become firmly cemented in hearts. These are those who hate the Truth, so they eliminate those who are truth-tellers.
Back to revelation…
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
Revelation 3:22
In the seven epistles Jesus gave to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, this phrase is used in all of them. Intriguingly, it is the closing line on the last four letters.
When considering the way Revelation is constructed, a chronological timeline of church history seems to be included in the seven epistles. Intriguingly, any other order and that chronology would not exist. Concerning the last four, these are present today. Thyatira would represent the Catholic era and the churches that are part of it today. Sardis represents the reformation era and the churches from that era. Likewise, Philadelphia, being the great awakening era, and Laodicia, bringing in today’s seeker-forward-style church. These types of churches make up the bulk of Christianity today.
Back to that last line, which is included as such in the last four letters.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Revelation 3:22
The appeal is for the free man to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The name Charles means free man. The word Kirk is an old Scottish word for church. Make of that what you will.
But when you consider that Charles James Kirk was taken out suddenly and unexpectedly, shocking the world. And that Charlie’s life could be summed up simply as he wanted men to be free and to be part of the body of Christ, His church. He lived up to his own name… While pointing to Jesus Christ.
I’ve already told you that Charlie means free man. And that Kirk is church. But James is the English form of Jacob. We know Jacob means heal catcher, but there is a different meaning in that name. It is the one who follows.
Considering his sudden removal, could Charlie’s sudden removal from earth announce the next thing for the church?
Is it the one that follows the free man following the church, or is it the free man that is the one who follows the church?
Let that sink in for a moment.
