"America's Greatest Sin”

“AMERICA’S GREATEST SIN”

(Moral Erosion Continues in America)

TEXT: Psalms 139:13-16 (NKJV)

“For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.”

INTRODUCTION:

Tragedy:

On September 11, 2001 almost 4,000 people were killed.

They were future leaders of this nation, doctors who could have saved many, scientists who may have found a cure for cancer, evangelists who may have lead thousands to the Lord and they were loved.

Yes, on September 11, 2001, radical Islamic terrorists killed almost 4000 people.

Tragedy:

But the sad truth is that many people don’t realize that on September 12, 2001 another 4000 people died … and again on September 13 and 14 and 15.

Every day over 4000 human lives are extinguished.

These are unborn babies- 4,000 each day, 28,000 each week, 112,000 each month and 1,460,000 each year.

I. OUR SOCIETY -- HUMAN LIFE IS CHEAP!

a) The Endangered Species Act

3 amphibians, 56 birds, 7 clams, 2 crustaceans, 29 fish, 8 mammals, 21 reptiles, 2 snails and 42 plants - and their unborn offspring. But not an unborn human baby.

b) Goodyear Tire spent $35,000

…to surgically attach fins on a pregnant loggerhead sea turtle which had suffered a shark attack. A spokesman for the company commented, "We’re doing this for motherhood."

c) A Florida man was arrested for stealing turtle eggs

1) He defended himself by saying that the eggs were not yet "life."

2) No good, he was convicted and fined.

3) To the law, a turtle egg is alive, but not an unborn baby!

d) And here are some fines recently levied by our courts:

1) $4,000 for killing cats.

2) $1,360 and 60 days in jail for torturing and killing rabbits.

3) $10,000 for killing a tree!

4) But no fines for killing a baby - even a partially born baby!

Abortion Illustration:

A professor in Duke University medical school once posed this

medical situation -- and ethical problem -- to his students:

“Here’s the family history: The father has syphilis. The mother has TB. They already have had four children. The first is blind. The second had died. The third is deaf. The fourth has TB. Now the mother is pregnant again, The parents come to you for advice. They are willing to have an abortion, if you decide they should.”

“What do you say?”

The students gave various individual opinions, and then the professor asked them to break into small groups for "consultation." All of the groups came back to report that they would recommend abortion.

"Congratulations," the professor said,

"You just took the life of Beethoven!"

II. REASONS FOR ABORTION

Why are children aborted? The Alan Guttmacher Institute (the research arm of Planned Parenthood) states:

1% are victims of incest or rape

1% had fetal abnormalities

4% had a doctor who said their health would worsen if they continued the pregnancy

50% said they didn’t want to be a single parent or they had problems in current relationships

66% stated they could not afford a child

75% said the child would interfere with their lives.

Abortion is one of the major contributors to the rapid decline of morals and values in America today, because it de-values the importance of human life.

The Message of Abortion:

Human life is de-valued in our society.

Over the years, this message continues to corrode the very foundation of our value system.

More and more people will throw away their lives through drug and alcohol abuse because of this message.

More and more killings will take place because the message of the non-importance of human life continues to be proclaimed in our dark and lost society.

III. HOW GOD SEES IT…

a) We are created uniquely in the image of God.

Genesis 1:26-27

“Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

b) God knows us even before we breath our first breath.

1. God knows each person intimately before conception.

Jeremiah 1:5

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”