Do Not Be Deceived - God Is Not Mocked Part 3: Abortion Series

Do Not Be Deceived – God Is Not Mocked Part 3: Abortion

Scripture: Galatians 6:7; Exodus 20:13; 21:22-23; Psalm 139:13-16

Introduction

God has said:

“Thou shall not kill!” (Exodus 20:13)

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you…..” (Jeremiah 1:5)

“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap!” This is part 3 of my series “Do Not Be Deceived for God Is Not Mocked. This week I will be focusing on how we are mocking God with our stance on abortion. I will be addressing as a spiritual issue for Christians. Although we allow abortions to take place God is still not mocked. His stance on the sanctity of life has not, nor will it ever, change. Regardless of what we may personally feel about this issue, it does not change the fact of whether or not God approves of it. It is important that we know beyond a shadow of doubt that abortion is wrong in the eyes of God.

I have been in Church all of my life and I have never heard a sermon dedicated to the topic of abortion. I have been preaching for over 27 years and I have never preached a sermon on abortion although I would tell anyone that I believed it was wrong. Part of my struggle with this is very personal. I have stood on the fence in some cases believing that based on the circumstances an abortion could be okay. For example, what if it comes down between the mother’s life and the life of the baby? What if a mother is on medication to remain stable and could harm herself should the medication be stopped yet that same medication will seriously harm the child? What if the mother was raped and became pregnant because of the rape? These are difficult circumstances that on the surface would justify an abortion, and in all honesty in my past I could possibly have made the wrong choice. If my wife had been attacked and raped and conceived a child during the rape, as a man of flesh and blood, it would be extremely difficult for me knowing she was carrying the child of a rapist. It would be a battle to keep my flesh in control, my weakness does not make change God’s view. In these cases I have struggled internally. I could not preach one thing while knowing if given the opportunity, I would do something different. As I stated earlier, my weakness does not alter what God has said. So I stand before you today with all of my weaknesses and struggles to tell you that abortion is wrong and no matter how we justify it, it does not change that fact. I am not standing in judgment or condemnation of anyone who has had or agreed to an abortion in their past or those who think it is okay. I do not stand in judgment of you as it could have been me too – I understand. I just want us all to think about how God feels.

I. Roe vs. Wade

How did the United States arrive at where we are today, where abortions are legal and available in every city? For over 150 years, our nation stood against abortion and had laws on the books to protect the life of the unborn child – even the “unformed” fetus. But things have changed. Let’s go back and visit the Supreme Court ruling in Roe vs. Wade. As we look at this ruling, please understand that our laws are made to protect everybody, regardless of religious affiliation. Where our laws were once based on Christian principles, today they are a combination of moral values and the “popular” opinion of the majority. But I am getting ahead of myself.

In the mid 1820’s the human ovum of a female was discovered which led to the realization that human life was created through the fertilization of the ovum so that the woman was “with child” from the moment of conception. Because of this discovery and acceptance of the fact that life began at conception, states everywhere began to draft strict and specific laws prohibiting abortion. This idea began to change during the 1960s as America began to change and became what some would call more liberal. The teaching of evolution became a mainstay in major universities and colleges curriculums. If you recall, evolution taught that human beings were the product of chance and no more valuable than apes. As this teaching became more widespread and accepted by the masses, many states began to loosen their abortion laws. As we began to accept the notion that a child was conceived by chance; that there was not a link to God being involved; and the unborn baby was no more valuable than an ape, it did not take us long to arrive at the conclusion that life in it earliest stages was not necessarily important to preserve. By the end of 1970, eighteen states has passed statutes that allowed abortion in exceptional circumstances. There was a backlash against these states and it looked like the statutes would be overturned and abortion made illegal again. However, on January 22. 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States stepped in and handed down its decision in the infamous Roe vs. Wade case.