Opening Illustration from Bella: Eduardos Story
I HAVE A DREAM OF THE RIGHT TO LIFE!
I am happy to present to you this day, a Pro-life message and a vision for tomorrow for this Nation Under God. Let us remember that on January 22, 1973 abortion was made legal by the Roe vs. Wade decision of the Supreme Court of the USA.
35 years ago a luminous cloud of darkness descended on our great nation.
We today, face the tragic fact that approximately 48,589,993 (figure from Right to Life website) babies have been slain by this dark luminous cloud of death. The unborn child lays mangled and lifeless in the waste baskets of clinics all over the United States. The nation rolls on its selfish quest but heaven anguishes and cries out in pain, "Stop the insanity choose life!"
America refuses to believe that a commandment has been broken. America refuses to believe that an injustice has occurred and that a life lies motionless.
America refuses to acknowledge its own Declaration of Independence which states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
America refuses to hear the words of a former President, "Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just for His justice cannot sleep forever."
I am here today at this hallowed place to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in apathy. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all God’s children. Now is the time to cast off this cloud of darkness and death. Now is the time to join hands across America and repent and cry out to God for mercy. Now is the time to gather together in brotherhood and stand on the solid rock.
It would be fatal for this nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the justice of the Lord God Almighty.
I believe that 2008 is not an end, but a beginning. There will be neither rest nor peace in America until the unborn child is granted his right to life and citizenship to this nation.
I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the past 35 years, I still have a vision. It is a vision deeply rooted in the Creator of the Universe.
I have a vision that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ". . . that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
I have a vision that one day on the hills of San Francisco there will be life and not death. That there will be cries of babies being born and not eerie silence of death.
I have a vision that one day even the city of Chicago, a desert city sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice, embracing the tiny hands of life.
I have a vision that my three children will one day live in a nation where they will not hear or see the holocaust of abortion.
I have a vision today.
I have a vision that one day the city of New York will be transformed into a place where all the tiny feet of life will embrace and walk together as brothers and sisters of life.
I have a vision for today.
I have a vision that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain be made low, the rough places will be made plains of righteousness and the crooked places of death will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is our faith. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of love and respect for life. With this faith we will be able to work together, pray together, struggle together to stand up for freedom together, to stand up for the right to life together, knowing that they will be free one day to be born and given a chance to live.
This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning, "My country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my Fathers died, land of the Pilgrims pride, land where life is right, from every mountainside, let freedom of life ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom of life ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom of life ring from the lake country of Minnesota. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York, let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania.
Let freedom of life ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the desert land of the Southwest. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!
But not only that but let freedom ring from the state of Massachusetts. Let freedom ring from the Cascade Mountains of Washington. Let freedom of life ring from the White House.
Let freedom of life ring from the Senate. Let Freedom of life ring from the House of Representatives. Let freedom of life ring from the Supreme Court. Let freedom of life ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside and plains of America, let freedom of life ring!
When we let freedom of life ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of that old Gospel song. "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, they are free at last!"
This speech was adapted from Martin Luther King’s speech “I Have a Dream.”
INTRODUCTION
This speech that I have shared with you this morning is a parallel to Martin Luther King’s speech. "I have a dream."
We see the similarity of the themes of Pro-life and the African American struggle for equality in the United States .
The struggle against slavery and equality for the African American has been accomplished to a degree. But we see that history is once again is repeating itself.
Mankind’s evil is still the same in the battle over abortion and in the battle over equality. There is much parallelism.
Last week I listened to Martin Luther King’s niece speak against abortion and show that the struggle is the same battle that the African American had faced. She noted that no woman has the right to kill another person whether it is in the womb growing or outside her womb. It is not her body and that has been proven by the science of DNA. But people are doing it by the millions today! This nation is so blind to the evil of abortion:
Scripture Text: The Word tells us about the world’s blindness in II Cor. 4:1-18;
1Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. 2Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God. 3And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. 6For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 8We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. 10We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. 11For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 12So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.13It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 14because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. 15All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 16Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
Note especially -- II Cor. 4:4:
“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers,
so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory
of Christ, who is the image of God.”
The world is once again blinded in seeing the truth about what is right and wrong when it comes to life and liberty: This country for many years was blinded by the legalization of slavery and there are a lot of parallels between slavery and abortion that show she is blind today in the face of the sin of abortion:
Information below taken from J.C. Willke’s book ABORTION AND SLAVERY:
Slavery:
Dred Scott 1857
7-2 Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that black people were not legal persons, therefore they had no legal rights.
They were the property of the owner. They could choose to sell, buy or even kill them.
Abolitionist should not impose morality on a slave owner
Slavery is legal
Abortion:
Roe vs, Wade 1973
7-2 Decision
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the unborn fetuses were not legal persons, therefore they had no rights.
They were henceforth, to be legally the property of the owner, the mother.
The owner the mother could chose to keep them or kill them.
Pro-lifers should not impose morality on a mother.
Abortion is legal
RESPONSE TO DECISIONS
The response of the Abolitionists was, "The ruling was outrageous", they said it was immoral and discriminated against an entire class of living Americans solely on the basis of skin color.
The response of Pro-lifers was "The ruling was outrageous," they said. It was immoral and discriminated against an entire class of living Americans solely on the basis of age (too young) and place of residence (still living in the womb).
DEHUMANIZATION
Courts ruled that a slave was biologically inferior and only considered three-fifths of a person. Courts ruled an unborn baby is a fetus or mass of tissue, an embryo not a person.
ECONOMICS
Why keep slaves?
Money was the bottom line reason.
Slaves’ worth – their life had monetary value to the plantation owner and their life was a tax revenue for the US government.
Why keep doing abortions?
Money is the bottom line.
Reduced social costs to the government and to the possible parents is a main reason it is legalized.
It is also a profitable business for the Doctors performing abortions - it’s a $400 million dollar a year business.
This business creates tax revenue for US government.
RESPONSES BY CHURCH
"It is shocking public policy to permit men to commit adultery and then enslave their own children, and a strange doctrine of the Christian Church that forbids ministries to condemn sin simply because it is authorized by the government." (Barrow)
“It is shocking public policy to permit men and women to commit adultery and then kill their own children, and a strange doctrine of some churches that forbids ministers to condemn sin simply because it is authorized by the government."
REVIVAL THE KEY
In 1825, a great Revival in western New York took place.
Charles Gradison Finney blazed a path with a message of salvation, repentance, and forgiveness of sins.
This Christian revival gave the anti-slavery movement an uncounted number of devoted apostles.
The first major group to oppose slavery, came from converts of Finney and his college in Oberline.
These leaders emerged - Tappan, Levitt, Wright, Berney, Stanton - devoted Christians, and men and women of exemplary character.
Revival in 2008!
I have a vision for revival! We need another Great Awakening in America to open the eyes of the deceived and the blind that will call them to repentance.
Let’s talk about reasons for abortion this morning:
I. The main reason for abortion is selfishness (93% of all abortions).
a. The information we have observed is enlightening when we learn that some of the reasons for justifying abortion and slavery were and are rooted in selfishness.
i. The sad fact is that most abortions are done for selfish reasons.
1. The excuses given to justify abortion are:
a. It will interfere with my career!
b. I’m too young to have a baby!
c. I have a bad marriage and I don’t need another problem!
d. I’m poor and the child will be too expensive to keep!
e. My mate does not want a baby at this time!
b. Here are the social reasons given on survey picked up by the Right to Life org. as to why individuals get abortions:
Social Reasons (given as primary reason)
- Feels unready for child/responsibility 25%
- Feels she can’t afford baby 23%
- Has all the children she wants/Other family responsibilities 19%
- Relationship problem/Single motherhood 8%
- Feels she isn’t mature enough 7%
- Interference with education/career plans 4%
- Parents/Partner wants abortion <1%
- Other reasons <6.5%
TOTAL: 93%
(Approx.)
"Hard Cases" (given as primary reason)
- Mother’s Health 4%
- Baby may have health problem 3%
- Rape or Incest <0.5%
TOTAL:
7%
(Approx.)
Poll Fact: An April 2004 Zogby poll found that 56% of Americans support legal abortion in only three or fewer circumstances: when the pregnancy results from rape or incest or when it threatens the life of the mother.
c. Today, many vote or make decisions based on how it affects them, but the Word makes it clear not to do anything out of selfish ambition.
i. Phi. 2:3: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves."
ii. James 3:16: "For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.”
iii. Prov. 18:1: "An unfriendly man pursues selfish ends; he defiles all sound judgment."
d. The Word clearly reveals how we should act and I also believe how we should vote:
i. Ps. 119:36: "Turn my heart toward your statutes and not toward selfish gain."
e. 93% of abortions are committed for selfish reasons and the sad statistics are:
i. Abortion in the United States - Statistics
1. There have been over 48 million abortions since 1973.
2. The annual number of abortions went from 744,600 in the first year of legalization, to a high of over 1.6 million in 1990. In 2003, there were 1,287,000.
3. There were over 3,500 abortions per day in 2003, 146 per hour, about one every 25 seconds.
4. For every 1,000 live births, there were 312 abortions in 2003.
a. The truth is Western Civilization is dying by the dark cloud of abortion.
b. The United States population is not growing from births in this country but from immigration.
c. The truth is this society is actually dying because the birth rate is at an all time low in America.
d. Time magazine projects that deaths will exceed births by the year 2014 and put our country on a economic slide.
5. There were more that 148,000 second and third trimester abortions in 2003.
6. In 2003, more children died from abortion than Americans died in the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean, Vietnam and Gulf Wars combined.
7. A 2004 survey of women seeking abortions indicated that only about 7% of women cited typical “hard cases” (rape, incest, or some health concern with either the baby or the mother) as the primary reason they were seeking abortion.
8. An April 2004 Zogby Poll found that 56% of respondents support legal abortion in only three or fewer circumstances: when the pregnancy results from rape or incest, or when it threatens the life of the mother.
9. At an average cost of $372, the abortion business is a $400 million a year industry.
10. Nearly half of all abortions are obtained by women who have already had at least one abortion.
a. Documentation and further details available on request from education@nrlc.org.
ii. There are 60,000 abortions a year in Illinois alone.
iii. Since the legalization of abortion child abuse has risen 1,000%.
iv. Illegitimacy has risen 400%.
f. Since 93% of the reasons for abortion are social and unwanted pregnancies “Since when does anyone’s right to live depend upon someone else wanting them?”
i. Should not every child have a right to life and be given the chance to live.
ii. I love what Mother Theresa said a few years before her death at a press conference in the USA, “If you don’t want your children then give them to me!”
iii. Mother Teresa said, "Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to love, but to use violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion."
T.S. – It’s a fact that 93% of all abortions are done for self-centered – selfish reasons with no regard for the life of the baby. The truth is only 7 % of abortions are done for what the majority in America consider legitimate reasons.
II. What about abortion for the other 7%:
a. 6% of abortions are done for medical reasons each year.
i. This would include mental health issues.
ii. This would also include physical and life threatening issues with the mother and or the baby.
b. The other 1% of abortions are done for rape or incest.
i. Ingrid’s story – Ingrid is going to come up and share her story with us today.
1. The truth is it’s easier to scrape the baby out of the mother’s womb than to scrape the memory of the bay out of her mind.
2. I guess the thought to think about here would be this:
a. Dr. Willke states, “Isn’t it twisted logic that would Kill an innocent baby - Unborn baby for the crime of its father?”
T.S. – Abortion is not the answer to the evils of society instead morality needs to be promoted and embraced through the government and the people of the United States.
III. This struggle is a spiritual struggle based on the concept of morals (right and wrong behavior).
a. Herbert Ratner MD stated, “The old law permitted abortion to save one life when two would otherwise die. The new law permits abortion to take one life when two would otherwise live.”
i. Wilkes notes:
1. Abortion was known and practiced in the world of Greece and Rome into which Christianity came. Judaism having developed a high respect for the family, for women, and for individual life, had condemned abortion but found certain exceptions to it. The Christian message brought a further dignity to the concept of the individual person and the value of life. The idea of an individual animate, immortal soul given by God to every human person, and hopefully, returning to him for eternity, was a powerful concept which transformed the Roman Empire within two centuries. The value of the unborn person became associated closely with a similar value granted to the born person and as Christian beliefs crystallized in writing and tradition, condemnation of abortion came to be ‘an almost absolute value,’ as Professor John T, Noonan of the University of California at Berkley says in his book “The Morality of Abortion.”
ii. The Bible clearly teaches that life forms at conception.
1. The Gospel account of Jesus’ conception in the womb of Mary was not a blob but the person of Jesus Christ God in the flesh.
2. When Mary met Elizabeth both pregnant John the Baptist leaped in Elizabeth’s womb because of the good news of Jesus in Mary’s womb and this reference points to living persons in their wombs not blobs.
3. If you go and study the teaching of the Church Fathers you discover quickly that abortion was called the sin of murder. (The following information from the book Abortion Questions and Answers by Dr. and Mrs. J.C. Willke)
a. Didache said, ‘You shall not slay the child by abortion.”
b. Clement of Alexandria condemned abortion.
c. Athenagoras said “those who use abortifacients are homicides.”
d. Tertullian said, “The mold in the womb may not be destroyed.”
e. The Council in 305 AD at Alivira excommunicated women in the church who committed abortions after adultery and would not even allow them back into the church.
f. Jerome condemned abortion.
g. Augustine condemned abortion.
h. St Basil stated, “The hairsplitting difference between formed and unformed makes no difference to us. Whoever deliberately commits abortion is subject to the penalty of homicide.”
i. Thomas Aquinas condemned abortion.
j. The truth is the Church’s view of abortion was remained consistent through time until the present day dilemma of some denominations and that was abortion was always condemned (page 180).
4. Willke notes, “The early Christians saw their attitudes about women, children, and the structure of the family as distinctive and revolutionary. The second century writing Epistle to Dionysius proclaims that Christians “Marry like everyone else, and they beget children, but they do not cast out their offspring” (pg. 177).
iii. The question proposed by Dr. Willke about the right to impose morality onto a woman was addressed when he said the following:
1. If this were a sectarian religious belief, there would be justice to such a complaint. In fact, this is not a religious question except in the broad sense of equal right, dignity, and justice for all. If any religious philosophy has been imposed upon a nation, it is Secular Humanism. The U.S. Supreme Court has defined Humanism as a religion. The officer corps of the pro-abortion movement is almost entirely made up of secular humanists who have imposed their beliefs upon our nation. I have the right to swing my fist, but that right stops at your nose. A woman has certain (not total) rights to her own body, but not over another living human’s body just because he or she still happens to live inside her. The Ten Commandments forbad murder and stealing. So do the laws of every civilized nation. Do those laws impose religious morality? Hardly! This is a civil rights issue. It is a question of whether an entire class of living humans shall be deprived of their basic right to life on the basis of age and place of residence. Perhaps the question should be turned around: What right does a Mother and He abortionist Have to impose their morality upon her unborn child…fatally! (pgs. 181,182).
b. Other Scripture texts to look at:
i. Listen to these scripture references:
1. The Psalmist in chapter 127:3 (NASB)
“Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior, so are children of one’s youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;
They shall not be ashamed, when they speak with their enemies in the gate.”
2. The New Testament speaks to us of the value of children, listen to the words of Jesus.
a. In Matthew 18, we read:
“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a little child and had him stand among them, and He said, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
b. Matthew 19:13: “Some time later in the ministry of Jesus… we read - “That little children were brought to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. When He had placed His hands on them, He went on from there.”
c. Matthew 18:10: “Jesus gave this stern warning; “See that you do not look down on (“despise”-NASB) one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” “See to it that you do not despise one of these little ones…”
c. Read these texts and see the parallels to abortion and how God views life and the taking of life:
i. Exodus 21:22-25:
1. 22“If men who are fighting hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. 23But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
ii. Leviticus 18:21:
1. 21“‘Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.”
iii. Isaiah 44:24:
1. 24 “This is what the LORD says—your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself…”
Conclusion:
Since the Bush administration has taken over Abortions have declined but they have not stopped! Our country is still killing off their babies at an alarming rate of 1,287,000 a year.
Video Illustration: Danny’s story from Sermon Spice
What are throwing away in America? - See picture of babies in a garbage can in an abortion clinic.
Here is a picture of my Grandsons in the womb of Tiffany – I am sure glad Tiffany did not choose to throw my grandsons away!
So what are you going to do about the holocaust of abortion in America? You do have vote in this matter and voice in this matter!
A DRASTIC CHANGE an illustration from sermoncentral.com
Dr. Bernard Nathanson was the leading abortion doctor in the United States in the 1970’s. He had campaigned vigorously for the legalization of abortion and he himself had performed 60,000 abortions. He even believed his intentions were good and that he was doing a righteous thing by providing a service that guaranteed a woman’s right to control her body.
But something changed Dr. Nathanson’s point view. It was a medical breakthrough called the ultrasound, introduced in 1976. This device literally opened a window on fetal development. The first time Nathanson saw an ultrasound in action, he was with a group of residents gathered around a pregnant patient in a darkened examining room watching a demonstration by a technician. The technician applied a conductive gel to the woman’s abdomen and then began working a handheld sensor over her stomach. As the screen clarified, Nathason was amazed. He could see a throbbing heart. When the technician focused closely on the image, Nathanson could see all four chambers of the heart pumping blood.
And during the scan Nathanson became convicted. He said that his mind had dropped the word fetus in favor of the word baby. Suddenly, everything he had been learning about the child in the womb since his entry into the medicine snapped into focus. He had known what took place in the womb but somehow seeing it for the first time changed everything.
Bernard Nathanson, the leading abortion doctor in America, became convinced that human life existed with in the womb from the onset of pregnancy. In an article he wrote for the New England Journal of Medicine he wrote, in abortion “we are taking life.” That fetus is not mere tissue it is human life. - Aaron Burgess
So my challenge to you at New Life is to choose life not death!
