A Call to Arms
2 Chronicles 32:6-8
And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them, saying, Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
In 701 BC, the king of the Assyrian Empire, Sennacherib, conducted military campaigns in the western part of the Empire. Judah’s king Hezekiah incited by Egypt and other disgruntled officials of Assyria, renounced his allegiance to the Empire along with other small states in the area. Sidon, Ammon, Edom, and Moab all were taken by force and paid tribute without resistance. Sennacherib then turned his attention to Jerusalem. Hezekiah had told the Israelites before the battle that all the Assyrians had was arm of flesh but they had God on their side and would fight for them. The people believed their king. The Assyrian king besieged the city and gave the surrounding cities to vassal rules in Gaza, Ekron, and Ashdod, but could not breech the walls of Jerusalem. When faced with the threat of war, Hezekiah called the people together and reminded them that God was there to fight for them and against the might of the Assyrian Empire they prevailed. The Israelites believed God would not allow the Assyrians to win and that was what happened.
It is this faith, this belief in God, which all Christians need to have; the belief that with God with us there can be no one who can stand against us. It certainly is the one belief God wants us to have. In Luke 18:27 Jesus told us “What is impossible with man is possible with God.” Can we have any more reason to believe God can indeed do anything in to aid us in whatever course of action we take? In today’s reading, we are told that the Assyrian army, which was vastly superior to what they faced in Jerusalem, could not capture the city. We read in Judges Chapter 7 that Gideon defeated the combined armies of Midian and the Amalekites with just 300 men! There should be no argument that with God on our side there is nothing we Christians cannot accomplish!
It is not my desire to get political; the pulpit is here for the proclamation of God’s Word, and that is all! But there are times when the world of politics overlaps with the Word of God and you cannot talk about one without talking about the other. In May of 2019 the state of Georgia signed a bill into law that stated an abortion cannot be performed once a baby’s heartbeat can be detected, which is roughly six weeks into the pregnancy. The law is scheduled to go into effect on the first of January 2020, but it first must face the many hurdles of judicial review in State and Federal courts.
What is the result of the passing of this law in Georgia and other states (nine states have passed similar legislation this year)? All flights to Georgia from Los Angeles have been banned. Many actors, actresses, and movie companies are refusing to travel and work in states these heartbeat laws. On the 10th of June, representatives from over 180 companies representing over 108 thousand employees signed a petition against Georgia’s heartbeat law stating the law was “against their moral standards” and “bad for business”.
The only question I have to ask is why is this an issue? As soon as the mother’s egg cell and the father’s sperm cell unite there is a human life growing in the womb. There are many who try to disprove this simple statement, but it is true none the less! According to the Dorland's Medical Dictionary for Health Consumers copyrighted in 2007, life is defined as “the quality or principle by which living things are distinguished from inorganic matter, as manifested by such phenomena as metabolism, growth, reproduction, adaptation, etc.” Within hours the single cell divides and begins to grow. Within just a few short weeks the baby will have a metabolism. With the union of the egg and sperm cell, we have the 23 human chromosome pairs every human has. The baby is human in its chromosomes, down to its DNA. What else is needed for the baby to be considered a living human?
The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” And in truth this battle about abortion rights is one of ideals. Even though it is the baby’s flesh and blood that is in the crossfire, it is a battle of politics, a battle about what is alive, a battle about what is human, a battle about what is right and what is wrong. With all this talk about battles, I can believe many, if not all, are asking “Are we at war?”
Well, yes we are! We are at war and have been ever since the devil fired the first shots in the Garden of Eden. With those shots the devil caused us lose our perfection. While he carries some blame for our condition, it is our fault we are where we are today. Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s one rule; do not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. From our ancestors, we inherit our sinful condition. Because of this we commit our sins; we do our own disobedience against God. All people, all of God’s children, have become infected with sin. Because we are sinful we should not expect anything more than God punishment, both now and through eternity. We are told in Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death”; both physical and spiritual death.
But it is the second part of the Romans 6:23 that bring us hope; “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus the sins of all people can be forgiven; for all those who believe and trust in God’s promise of mercy through Christ our Lord will have their sins forgiven and we will enter into eternal bliss with God. Even though we sin, even though our actions, thoughts, and deeds are evil, even though, because of sin, we are enemies to God, He reconciled Himself to us. God thought so much of us, loved His creation so much that He did everything necessary to make sure we could spend eternity with Him.
We were given the armor of God to fight against our foes. Why would God outfit us with the breastplate of righteousness, the belt of truth, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, having our feet covered with the gospel of peace, and giving us the sword of the Spirit unless He intended us to use them? God knew we would have to fight against the powers of the devil and the evil of the world, and He has given us the means to do it! But we have taken our armor and put it in our closet, making sure we do not put nicks or dents in it. Our sword is on the mantel of the fireplace, nicely framed and displayed prominently.
We Christians have been silent for far too long. We have been concerned about not being offensive with our faith, making sure we do not force our faith and beliefs on others. And this is commendable; the unbeliever is not going to listen to the Gospel if we continually beat them over the head with it. But while we have been respecting the beliefs of others, the nonbelievers have not respected us and have been forcing their beliefs on us. Concerning the issue of abortion we are at the point now where in the state of Virginia the parents have the right to abort a baby after it has been born! For 180 companies this is part of their morality, part of what is good for business. I have to wonder if a Virginia couple finds their child is, let’s say 15 years old, too much of an problem or burden if they would have the right to “abort” him or her.
It is time we believers had a call to arms. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the use of a call to arms I mean is “a summons, invitation, or appeal to undertake a particular course of action”. God loves us enough to give His life to save our soul, to save that baby’s soul; shouldn’t we as Christians love God enough to try and save the physical lives of His babies? With all the ungodliness happening in this country what have we done to reverse, or even stop, what has happened?
For most of us, we will realize that we have not done enough. We certainly have done some, but we realize we can do more. I know there are times I say to myself “I’m only one man”. But this is wrong thinking, I’m not just one, because God is with me, and He is with every believer, making us at the bare minimum two. And if all Christians stand together with God and His Word, we are millions!
Does this mean that we are free to act as we want? That we can jump up and down and yell and scream and act the lawless fool? To quote the Apostle Paul; “Heaven forbid!” God has given us our instructions in His Word. We are to behave as lawful, respectful men and women of God. How can we expect the unbeliever to honor and respect God and His Laws if we do not? God has given to us the Ten Commandments to show us who to act as Godly people. We respect and follow the laws of the country we choose to live (as long as the laws to not go against the Laws of God); we are respectful of authority figures regardless of how they act or our personal opinion of them; we do not destroy other’s property or take other’s lives in an unlawful manner; we treat others as we would want them to treat us. While we might believe we know how to best bring the battle to the unbeliever, God is our leader, our general. In the animated movie of Dr. Strange, the world is being attacked by strange, dimensional creatures. Those in opposition to the creatures are lead by the powerful magician called The Ancient One. He told his plan of attack to his student named Mordo; but he thought another course of action would bring much better success. The Ancient One told Mordo “Think as you will, but do as you are commanded.” I thought this was a great military response (I served 4 years in the Navy). Our Leader has given us our commands, the Ten Commandments; we need to follow them completely, or as completely as we can.
We read in the book of Daniel chapter 3 King Nebuchadnezzar set up a golden statue of himself and forced his subjects to worship it. When the king heard three of Daniel’s friends, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, would not worship the idol he summoned them and asked if their God could save them from a fiery furnace and his hand. The men replied “O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” While respectful to the king, the men would not break the Laws of God and worship an idol, and accepted their fate as to breaking the laws of men, and should all believers. I would not want anyone to be arrested for standing up for what God tells us is right, but it is something we might have to face.
For those of us who live in countries that allow it citizens to vote; use that power! We are called to work within the system, elect officials that have the same morality as we do and take the same stance we do. We can call for laws that are in line with what the Bible teaches. We can demonstrate—PEACEFULLY—against ungodly laws and lobby for their repeal. For those businesses and individuals who support ungodly laws, we can boycott them. And not just boycott them, but explain to these businesses why we won’t support their product. I subscribe to Netflix, but as they are in support of abortion and those who will not film in states with heartbeat laws I feel it is time I cancel my subscription with them. I will tell them exactly why I am leaving. They won’t listen to my one voice, I know that, but I guarantee you they will listen to the voices of millions. I don’t believe that our boycotting will turn the people of these companies into Christians, but they may not be as vocal in their support of ungodly laws and actions.
We can make those states that have heartbeat laws our vacation destinations. Help offset the losses from one source with another. If our state does not have a heartbeat of law, we can distribute petitions to stop movie companies from filming in our state. We can stop supporting the movie industry altogether! I know I could use some more time reading books, especially the Bible! How about the rest of you?
In all of this, the most important action we can take is the spreading of the Gospel! The more people that are brought to faith, the more that will hold to and support God and His Laws, the less likely that ungodly laws will be passed through the Government. The spreading of the Word is everyone’s responsibility. Romans 10:14 tells us “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?” People must be taught the Word of God, and the teacher must be those who believe! It then becomes the believer’s duty to learn as much as possible of Scriptures.
One of the most idiotic arguments I have heard to be in favor of abortion is that those who support the death penalty must therefore support abortion; both issues are about the taking of a life. Let’s look at this closely for a moment. Capital punishment, the death penalty, is to be used when a person’s crime is so monstrous and so against society the perpetrator must pay for that crime with the forfeiture of their life. I ask those who agree with this argument; what crime has that child committed, while still in the womb by the way, which is so heinous and so against the people that it must pay for that crime with their life? I cannot think of any crime the child can even commit while in the womb, not one. Please enlighten us as to the crime.
There are some who oppose the heartbeat law for reasons of incest, rape, and the life of the mother. God has told us through His Word that children are alive; when Mary was pregnant with Jesus and she went to see her cousin Elizabeth, who was carrying the child who would grow to become John the Baptist, the baby John leapt in the womb at the approach of his Lord; nonliving pieces of tissue don’t do this, but living humans do. As a man I will never be the victim of a rape and I will never have the emotional and mental agony of such action. I cannot even begin to imagine what a woman might go through carrying a child of rape or incest to term.
There also is the issue of the life of the mother being in danger because of the pregnancy. I was told a story of a woman with a husband and three children with this issue. The mother was told the baby would die in childbirth and she more than likely would. The mother agonized over the decision to abort the child or not; being a faithful Christian she knew abortion was a sin but she had a family and she did not want to die. She asked the pastor if in this case abortion was all right to which the pastor said “no, it is not all right; but it is forgivable.” At the suggestion of the pastor the woman sought a second opinion, which was not as bad as the first and she decided to carry the child to term. The last this pastor heard both mother and child were doing fine. I cannot promise the news will be good in every case.
All I can give for these issues is God’s Word; one which tells us abortion is a sin; but also one which tells us all sins with the exception of the rejection of the Holy Spirit, the rejection of faith, are forgivable. All I can ask is that you consider the life that would end in the abortion and you keep God’s Word in your mind and follow your conscious. Seek out councils that are trustworthy and faithful and pray about all decisions before action is taken.
I do apologize if I have gotten too political in today’s sermon. I did what I thought was my best to stay in God’s Word while addressing this very secular topic. We are at war with the powers of hell and those of this world, and abortion is only one battle. The question of abortion is not an issue that Christians support. This is not an issue about the right to choose but of the murder of a baby, the taking of an innocent life, and a life that was not included in the decision of its own death. Brothers and sisters in Christ, God is being systematically removed from our country and our laws, and we, as a whole, have sat back and watched it happen. But no longer! We have God’s armor to protect us, God’s sword to wield against our foes, the Ten Commandments to guide us, and God leading us; we cannot lose. I do not expect everyone to fight in every battle; no one has the time, resources, or energy for that. There is a wisdom in picking one’s battles, choose those you are passionate about and don’t stop fighting until the battle is won. For those who have heard this sermon, pray for strength for yourself and all others. We are going to have to endure many adversities for our stance, ridicule, mockery, bigotry, perhaps even the loss of friends and family, among others. It is my prayer that none of this happens to anyone. But regardless of what happens, we must remain faithful to God and His Word, for the Christian this must be the most important aspect in our lives because everything we are grows from this and because as God is with us no one can stand against us. It is also my prayer that all Christians answer a call to arms. Amen.
