Abortion - A Matter of Life or Death
God Gives Life…
… that Reflects His Image
Abortion ends a life that God gave
There is forgiveness for those who have been involved in an abortion
There is judgment for those who have closed their eyes to abortion
There is hope to overcome the culture of abortion
What can I do about abortion?
Speak for the unborn
Sacrifice for the unborn
Stand for the unborn
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Life. Life is an amazing thing if you stop and think about it.
It is something that is hard for even doctors to know what that intrinsic quality is that makes all of the cells of our body a living thing.
Think about that for a moment.
Our bodies are made up of all kinds of cells that are all working together.
But someone who has just died has all the same cells in his body that they had when they were alive a minute before, and yet that thing we call life has left them.
What is it that starts those cells working together and then keeps them working?
When is it that Life begins?
Today we are continuing our series entitled “too Hot to handle” and we will be discussing Abortion
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and what God thinks about this practice and
How we as Christians should respond.
First we want to see who it is who is the Giver of life.
In the Bible, we can read in the very first book Genesis about when God created the first man. It says in
Genesis 2:7
That “the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”
Here we see that
God Gives Life
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He gave life to the first man, Adam, by forming him out of the dust of the ground.
That doesn’t seem to be quite the way that God creates man anymore, because it appears that for Adam, He created a full grown man. It seems that subsequent life comes out as a baby.
When does life begin now and
is God still the giver of life or has he given that responsibility to man?
Turn with me to Psalm 139
This whole psalm is one of my favorites. We are going to be reading in verses 13-16 and see that God is still the One who gives life
Psalm 139:13-16
13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
Even before our bodies were formed, God saw us.
In fact God tells Jeremiah
Jeremiah 1:5 - "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you”
God is the one who creates us and knits us together in our mother’s womb and knows us as a person before we are even completely formed in the womb and gives us life there.
While man and woman are involved in the supplying the egg and the sperm that God has given them, it is God who knits them together and creates a life.
Human life is created
And not only is life created, but it is a human life.
Why is that significant?
Because when God gives humans life,
God Gives life…
…that Reflects His Image
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Genesis 1:26
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."
When God made mankind, he created us in His image with unique privileges and responsibilities.
We are to rule over the land and other animals.
We are to respect our role as image bearers.
Too often though we abuse our role along with our responsibilities.
We don’t rule over the land or the other animals in a way that honors our role as an image bearer of God.
Instead we seek to rule in our own way and make our own rules and laws and ultimately we seek to set ourselves up as god, sinning in the same way as Lucifer and our earthly parents Adam and Eve.
In our pride and desire to rule ourselves and everything in our own way, we have lost our regard as a society for the life that God has given to each of us in his own image.
And that loss of regard for the life He has given us has manifested itself in abortion, Because the simple fact is that
Abortion ends a life that God gave
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Listen to what God says in
Exodus 21:22-25
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. 23 But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
Did you hear that?
If a serious injury occurs to that unborn child and the unborn child dies, you are to take life for life.
That unborn child is a life as defined by God.
If we abort an unborn child, we are taking the innocent life of another person.
There is no greater right than the right to live.
And I know that there are times when we forfeit our right to life because of our actions.
But has that child forfeited his right to life by the simple fact that he is dependant on his mother for life?
The right to choose argument is a set up.
We don’t have the right to choose to kill someone else simply because they are dependant on us for their life.
And in actuality, the woman’s choice was already made when she had sex.
If she did not want to be pregnant, she could have chosen not to have sex.
But even if our desire is not to be pregnant, and we choose to have sex, we must be willing to accept the possibility of pregnancy and that God would create life from that act.
To have an abortion is to end a life that God has given and created in His own image.
Now there are probably
women in this room who have had an abortion and
men in this room who have encouraged a woman to have an abortion.
I want you to know this. Even though abortion is a sin, regardless of the legality of it,
There is forgiveness for those who have
been involved in an abortion
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1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
When we recognize what we have done is sin, we can confess it and agree with God that it is sin and be forgiven, be purified and cleansed.
You do not have to live with the guilt of abortion forever.
Receive forgiveness through Jesus Christ and confess your sin to Him.
I also understand that there is a lot of emotional trauma that goes on when a woman has an abortion. If you are here today and having trouble experiencing forgiveness, it may be helpful to seek post abortion counseling.
If you need some help in experiencing the forgiveness offered in Jesus Christ for having or being involved in an abortion, there is a resource on the back of your insert that you can contact for additional help.
But experiencing freedom from the guilt and emotional trauma begins with confessing our sins and receiving forgiveness.
Well, maybe you have never been involved in an abortion.
Maybe you believe that abortion is wrong. You see that it ends a life that God has created, but this topic is really too hot to handle for you.
You don’t want to upset others who may hold a different view than you.
You don’t want to seem overly political.
You don’t want to be associated with those who sin at the other extreme by taking lives and blowing up clinics. And yes, they are sinning.
But we cannot stand by and close our eyes to this and do nothing because
There is judgment for those who have
closed their eyes to abortion
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Let me read you what God says to the Israelites concerning the people who sacrifice their kids to Molech and those who don’t do anything about those who sacrifice their kids to Molech.
Leviticus 20:1-5
20:1 The LORD said to Moses, 2 "Say to the Israelites: ’Any Israelite or any alien living in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech must be put to death. The people of the community are to stone him. 3 I will set my face against that man and I will cut him off from his people; for by giving his children to Molech, he has defiled my sanctuary and profaned my holy name. 4 If the people of the community close their eyes when that man gives one of his children to Molech and they fail to put him to death, 5 I will set my face against that man and his family and will cut off from their people both him and all who follow him in prostituting themselves to Molech.
(from New International Version)
God is saying if someone sacrifices their child they are committing murder and society has a right and duty to punish this crime.
When we as a society do nothing, when we close our eyes to what is happening, we condone it.
Well that is the governments job.
We the people, are the boss of the government. We need to help our government and the rest of society to see this for what it is, a terrible holocaust that is killing our children.
We may not see it as a sacrifice to some false idol named Molech.
Our false gods have other names
Convenience – it is not convenient to have a baby right now
Choice – I decide what happens with my body and anyone attached to my body
Personal preference – I want a boy and this one is a girl.
And it is a holocaust.
It is estimated that around 1.5 million babies per year have been aborted since the legalization of abortion in 1973.
That is 50 million abortions.
50 million children sacrificed to these false idols.
During WW2, a total of 11 million people were put to death in death camps.
6 million Jews and about 5 million others.
Abortion has killed nearly 5 times the number who died in that holocaust.
And we stand by and watch.
We need to know that we will be judged for our silence and our in action.
Well, wait a minute, I am a Christian. Jesus took my judgment.
He took your judgment for you to have eternal life.
Even as Christians we will still face judgment to determine our rewards in heaven based on things we have done.
2 Cornthians 5:10
10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.
We as Christians cannot just say we are pro life but by our actions or really our inaction, proclaim that we are pro choice.
I read that John Piper’s church once took out an ad that read
“I am personally pro-life, but politically pro-choice” – signed Pontius Pilate
“Brothers we are not professionals.” John Piper, p. 212
I have faced a lot of conviction personally this week as I have faced my own inaction. As a pastor and leader, I have not raised high the banner of life for our church like I should have.
I have sought forgiveness and I ask for your forgiveness.
Even though this task seems daunting we need to realize that
There is Hope to overcome the culture of abortion
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Jesus has the power to change minds and hearts on this matter and to see this problem overcome.
Listen, before I was a Christian, I was pro choice. When Jesus saved me, he helped me to see the truth of the matter, and changed my heart.
As Christ works salvation, minds and hearts can be changed.
But we need to realize that He uses the church to do that.
Jesus said in
Matthew 16:18
I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it
Jesus will use his church to overcome the strongholds of Hades and change the minds and hearts of the people.
But the church is not just some entity that Jesus will wave over the situation and make it all better.
We are the church.
He is going to use His people, that is us, to see this culture of abortion overcome, but you need to allow him to use you.
“I don’t like to get involved in politics.”
This is not a political fight.
This is a moral obligation.
Kill babies up to a month old
If I told you that there was someone running for office that was in favor of allowing parents to kill a child up to a month after birth, would you seek to see him defeated?
“Well, yes, but nobody is going to support that.”
Well, let me tell you that even though nobody may be running for office yet with that belief, there are people who think that is a good idea.
Listen to what Peter Singer has written in a paper entitled “Killing Babies isn’t always Wrong.” He says, “Perhaps…we should have a ceremony a month after birth, at which the infant is admitted to the community. Before that time infants would not be recognized as having the same right to life as older people.”
Well, that guy is whacked, we might say, and I would agree.
Nobody is going to take him seriously.
Think again. This man is a Professor of Bioethics, University Center for Human Values, Princeton University.
He wrote that article before he was appointed to that position.
The people at Princeton seriously appreciate his study and scholarship on the issues of Human Values!
If that doesn’t scare you, I can’t imagine what would.
Abortion hardens us to the sanctity of the life that God has given so much so that if it is not ended, it will lead to further perversion and the taking of more lives
that society determines are not worthy of life or
that negatively affect those with the loudest voice in society.
Maybe babies a month after birth.
Perhaps kids who develop congenital defects.
Seniors who cost too much medically.
We as Christians have a moral obligation to take a stand on this issue of life.
What can I do about Abortion?
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We can
Speak for the Unborn
They are unable to speak for themselves.
Let me tell you, God is a God who looks after the helpless, those who have no voice in society.
We see throughout Scripture that he watches over the widows and orphans.
James tells us in
James 1:27
27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Basically he is saying we need to look after those who cannot look after themselves.
Who more so than the unborn who cannot speak for themselves?
How can we speak for them?
We live in a society where we speak with our votes and our money.
A person’s stand on this issue should always be a determining factor in our votes.
If you would never vote for a person who supported the right to kill a baby one month after birth, you should never vote for a person who supported the right to kill a baby before birth through abortion.
I can stand and say that without any sense that I am being political.
Society has tried to make this a political issue.
This is not a political issue.
This is very much a moral issue that Christians need to take a stand on.
Secondly, we can
Sacrifice for the unborn
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We can give our money to support Crisis Pregnancy centers.
We can seek to adopt unwanted children
Support homes for unwed mothers to be able to have their babies.
Missions Support
As we get our missions team going by the end of this year, I would like to see us a church support our local Crisis Pregnancy center, Pass, with part of our missions budget so we can help end this travesty that is occurring in our country.
You can do that too. Info on back of insert
Finally, we can
Stand for the Unborn
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Next week there is a life chain that we will be participating in as a church.
Life chain is a peaceful and prayerful public witness of pro-life Americans standing in unity to support and praying for our nation for an end to abortion. It is a visual statement of the solidarity by the Christian community
that abortion kills children and
that the Church supports the sanctity of human life from the moment of conception.
We will hold signs and pray from 2:30 to 3:30.
There comes a time when we have to take a public stand for righteousness.
Ezekiel
In the book of Ezekiel, the Lord spoke through the prophet about all the corruption and unrighteousness in the land at that time.
The Lord saw the wickedness of the leaders and the rest of the people and in
Ezekiel 22:30, it says this
30 "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.
While we are not Israel, we are a land that has enjoyed God’s blessing and hand. While we as a nation may have turned away from God, let it not be said about us that God could not find one of His people to stand in the gap for our country.
Let us be a people who are willing to stand in the gap for our land and pray and stand up for righteousness.
Chronicles says basically the same thing in
2 Chronicles 7:14
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Will you make a stand for the Lord?
Will you open your eyes to the sin of abortion that is slaughtering millions upon millions of our children?
Will we humble ourselves and seek forgiveness for our own inaction and then act so that we may see in our lifetime, the overcoming of the sin of abortion in our country?
Let’s humble ourselves and pray and seek his face and it is my hope that you will join us in taking a stand next week for the unborn.
Let’s pray.
