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.
B. Reasons/Arguments that Abortion is Wrong
1. Fetal homicide laws—only difference is mom is pursuing
2. Fetal surgery is performed upon babies that can be aborted, picture of the baby’s hand coming out of the uterus during surgery and grasping the doctor’s hand
3. Babies can live outside the womb at 22-23 weeks, not a good criteria for personhood, can you kill preemies if they are only 23 weeks? Where you get oxygen and blood from not a good criteria either.
4. Size is not the criteria for personhood, Erika’s baby is about four inches long, By the end of the third month, your baby is fully formed. Your baby has arms, hands, fingers, feet and toes and can open and close its fists and mouth. Fingernails and toenails are beginning to develop and the external ears are formed. The beginnings of teeth are forming. Your baby's reproductive organs also develop, but the baby's gender is difficult to distinguish on ultrasound. The circulatory and urinary systems are working and the liver produces bile.
5. Reasoning is not the criteria for personhood, neither one month olds or certain mentally handicapped people can reason well or at all.
6. DNA is human and unique and present from conception day, makes distinctively human
7. At 8 weeks all major organs are present, same week that most abortions are done
8. The ultrasound has given us a new window into the womb. One writer said that one of the reasons that anti-abortionist are actually increasing, even among non-Christians, is that we are the first generation to keep the ultrasound pictures on our refrigerator. We are the ones, like Erika who have seen our 11-week old baby in the womb waving it’s arms and legs, and swimming around like it’s in a bathtub.
9. Legal principle, when two rights collide, the one that produces the least harm yields to the one that produces the most harm. Your right to go into a crowded building and yell, “fire” is trumped by their right not to stampede and kill one another.
10. Most abortion professionals admit they are killing babies
11. The biblical arguments are clear
C. Abortion Stats and Truths
1. talk about the types of abortion: Suction Curretage, Dilation & Evacuation, Sharp Curretage, saline poisoning, RU 486 (two doses), if the whole country watched an execution…
2. 1.4 mill ab in US a year, 50 mill since ’73 (more than the populations of Atl, Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, Phile, Seattle, Bos, Den, LA, NO, Phoenix, ST L, Chicago, Detroit, MIA, NY, SF, DC), 1.5 mill a day worldwide, 31K in GA, 93K in FL, 1 of 4 deaths in US is an abortion, leading cause of death in the world, 64X more than all our wars, 54K people died on D-Day but world kills that many in 9 hrs, lost 600 soldiers first year in Iraq but world kills that many in six minutes, today 90 babies killed in GA, 6000 worldwide, 1 baby every 26 sec in US
3. God wants you not to simply affirm theologically or ethically, He wants you to feel the pain, emotional heartache of the loss of 31K in GA, 1.4 million in the US.
4. Half of American women will experience and unplanned (and painful) pregnancy. 1 of 5 US pregnancies end in abortion
5. 80% of all abortions are for women b/t 18-24 years old, and also b/t 6-12 weeks
6. Planned Parenthood grosses over $94 mill a year, about $400 million is the profit of the industry.
A. Closing illustration: Play the video with the unborn child talking to its mother (YouTube), “Abortion, contrary to our president’s pleas during his speech at Notre Dame, is not an issue on which we can agree to disagree. We can no more agree to disagree on the abortion issue than we could have on the slavery issue. There is an ethical right and wrong here... there is no middle ground.” –Voddie Baucham,
B. I was talking to Darlene Barber this week, and she was really helpful, especially as it relates to GA statistics and to practical things that we can do personally for the unborn (tonight’s message), but I explained to her how I felt guilty for ignoring the situation for most of the year, in fact most of the last few years. And I think that feeling is from God (maybe heightened by the fact that we are pregnant now), but definitely from God. And still I feel overwhelmed, my prayer is that you allow that feeling to transform the way you think, the way you feel, and the way you act.
C. Lastly, I want to address some groups of people
a. Those who particularly sensitive to the issue: it’s OK to cry and weep for the unborn and for our country, in fact weeping is good, shows you care. But don’t let your weeping end when the service is over. Return tonight for how you can help. Repent like me of your apathy. And know the power of the mercy, grace, sufficiency and sovereignty of God.
b. Those who may have had or encouraged abortions. This text is incomplete! Jesus came to demolish sin, and guilt, and pain, and fear related to sin in your life. All our sins were nailed to the cross, “and I bear it no more.” And He won decisively over these things! And you are forgiven if you place your trust in His grace! And you may have to preach to yourself and remind yourself of these things.
c. Those who maybe be frustrated with people pursue or push this agenda, or those of you who may be frustrated with the governmental system because you want to adopt, but can’t; or those of you can’t have children, and would so love to have them: again turn to the sufficiency of Christ, He is your portion forever. He more than enough to satisfy. And pray, for those who are deceived and lost, for abortion minded mothers, for feminists who are deceiving others. Pray against Planned Parenthood and other provides. Pray against
D. Let me remind you that this is a spiritual battle, and we are to pull down arguments and strongholds, and vote for pro-life candidates, and push for pro-life legislation, but the battle is not won by simply enacting laws. We must aim for their hearts. We must win them, and this country to Christ. I don’t usually push for much political $$ to be spent on legislation, government can’t save you, or the US. The gospel saves, Jesus Christ saves! Abortion is about people needing Jesus, and we must share the gospel.
Additional Notes
• Is Christ Exalted, Magnified, Honored, and Glorified?
