Guilty By The Blood You Have Shed Series

Text: Ezek 22:1-16, Title: Guilty by the Blood Which You Have Shed, Date/Place: NRBC, 1/17/10, AM

A. Opening illustration: video (YouTube) The Unknown Souls, most abortions statistically happen b/t 6-12 wk

B. Background to passage: There are many aspects that we could discuss regarding the sanctity of life: euthanasia, reproductive technologies, cloning, adoption, but this morning I want to focus on abortion. My aim is not to offend any of you, because this is a very sensitive issue. My aim is not to inflame bitterness against those who throw away children, while so many desire them. My aim is not to brand those of you who may have had an abortion (or those of you who may have encouraged an abortion) in a moment of weakness or in an unconverted state as “baby killers.” In fact, one of the things that I want to do this morning is to remind you that the blood of Jesus covers all sin; and that blood is also sufficient to heal the soul, bear your pain, restore you, and use your sin to bring Him glory. Tell the story about the mother and the memorial at the clinic where she aborted a baby in 1992. But I do not want us to be ignorant as a people (as we were with slavery or the holocaust) of the unspeakable evil of ripping pieces of a 21-week old unborn baby apart in the womb and vacuuming them out piece by piece.

C. Main thought: My aim this morning is to enflame a righteous anger against abortion, and to cause us to fan the flames of a passion for speaking for those who have no voice yet (because “passivity, apathy, and indifference” in believers is complicity to murder), and to firm up your commitment to life (because 37% of abortions are protestant and 18% are “evangelical/born again”) so that in a moment of crisis you will not waver in that commitment, and embrace life or speak for life.

A. Bloodshed and Idolatry (v. 1-5)

1. The link is related to the fact that they worshipped false gods and thus participated in human sacrifice. God says the world thought of Jerusalem as a violent, murderous place in comparison to other world cities and countries at the time to the point that they looked down upon them morally. According to verse five, they “defiled the Name” (literal translation of ‘infamous’) dragging the character and person of God through the mud. In Hebrew writing the first and last things mentioned are done so purposefully to give emphasis and significance. Talk about the word usage (abomination, despised, guilty of blood, defiled, etc), note the anger and gravity of God’s language. It says that He beats His fists because of the bloodshed that was “in their midst.” He is going to judge them, scatter them, so that they and the whole world would know that He is the Lord!

2. Ps 82:3-4, Ex 21:22-25, Deut 27:25

3. Illustration: “Israel’s individual immorality had left the collective morality of the nation bankrupt and under sentence of judgment. The sins mentioned were not intended to be an exhaustive list but represent the kinds of offenses that made divine judgment a necessity.” Sinners in the hands of an angry God,

4. We bow to the cultural idols of personal rights, convenience, financial hardship, familial difficulty, self-esteem and emotional well-being, self-justification, and thus we sacrifice our children. 93% of abortions are done for the mother’s desire alone. As a nation founded on a godly heritage, and viewed by the world as “Christian” we drag the Name of Christ through the mud as we kill 1.5 million babies in our country a year. And by the way there are over 2 million infertile couples who want to adopt. And God is angry about His name being dragged through the mud; angry about innocent children, adults, and babies that are slaughtered as they bear the image of Him. It is a righteous and holy anger from a righteous and holy God. Don’t think that our country is/will be under divine judgment, and don’t think that this judgment will not include Christians. We are collectively under the responsibility of the country in which we live for we are in part responsible for not making a nation that loves righteousness and hates murder. We have allowed politicians to be elected like our president who is the most radical baby killing legislator in Washington. You may not feel like you killed a baby but there will have been eight babies killed during this service in our midst (in GA). And we should be righteously angry about it along with Him, love what He loves, hate what He hates. This does not mean that we kill abortion docs or bomb abortion clinics; we still allow our scriptural convictions to dictate our behavior even though our passions and feelings are enflamed. But be ENFLAMED! Let your passion for the glory of Christ compel your passion to speak for the unborn, vote for the unborn, argue for the unborn with unending fire.