NO COMPROMISE! STAND FIRM!
Thesis: We cannot compromise the Word of God because Scripture
forbids us to (Rev. 22: 16-21)
Illustration Epigrams
Said William Penn: "Right is right, even if everyone is against it, and wrong is wrong, even if everyone is for it."
Stand With The Right
Never be afraid to stand with the minority which is right, for the minority which is right will one day be the majority; always be afraid to stand with the majority which is wrong, for the majority which is wrong will one day be the minority.
-- William Jennings Bryan
Introduction: Throughout Scripture the Christian believer is told to stand firm in his faith. We are exhorted by the Gospel and Old Testament writers to stand firm. I believe that this church as well needs to stand firm. We need to plant ourselves on the Word of God and stand.
I. IF WE STAND FIRM IN THE WORD, GOD WILL DELIVER US FROM ANY ENEMY. (Exodus 14: 13-14)
A. We can be assured that if we stand firm, God will deliver us and vanquish our enemies away.
1. Our two instructions are clear in Exodus.
a. Stand firm
b. Be still
2. As we do these two things God promises to fight on our behalf.
a. Assurance that victory is ours because God cannot and will not lose.
B. Example: II Chronicles 20: 1-30
1. Note Verse 17 Read
a. God will fight the battle.
b. He will bring the victory.
c. All you have to do is stand firm.
d. We are told not to fear or be discouraged but have faith in God and praise Him.
2. If we face the enemy and don’t run away, we will be victorious.
3. It does not matter how large they might be they cannot win if God is not on their side.
II. The battle over abortion and the Biblical view
A. We need to seek guidance of the Lord, He will reveal truth.
1. The Facts -God exposes the truth through prayer and direction in research. The following information taken from Donald Shoemaker’s book ABORTION THE BIBLE AND THE CHRISTIAN
a. What is the issue we face?
1.) It’s the issue of the change in American thinking reflected in legislation which started in 1967, and which culminated in the U.S. Supreme Court decision of January 22, 1973.
2.) The abortion trend represents a change in many basic values in North America.
a.) Whereas Scripture places a premium on the joys of the home, the worth of child-bearing and love for offspring it is being promoted as second best to the pursuit of a career, your own personal life, and a materialism which can seemingly afford almost everything except another child.
b.) The Bible gives warning that in the last days "natural affection" (normal affection between parents and offspring) will wane. I wonder if this is the case today.
3.) The "every child has a right to be wanted" is given as grounds for abortion without attempting to change basic attitudes which cause us not to want children. Overlooked is the tragedy of the dramatic drop in adoptable infants due largely to the abortion trend.
4.) To accept abortion our concept of "human worth" must be changed.
* The media is trying to do this in the United States.
2. The basic argument of Pro-Choice is that a woman has the basic right to do what she wants with her body.
a. The Bible’s response is:
1.) Only God has absolute rights. The only rights I have are really privileges God allows me to possess out of Grace. Mankind has no absolute rights.
2.) No one has rights to his own body. Whatever liberties God has extended to us, the freedom to do with our bodies as we wish, is not among them. The Christian is instructed: "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price, therefore, glorify God in your body." (I Cor. 6:19, 20)
a.) In marriage especially, one’s control over his or their own body is delegated to the marriage partner. "The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does." (I Cor. 7:4)
b.) Note even if the mother had rights over her own body, the developing preborn baby is not part of her body. This is a biological fact, the preborn child has a separate blood supply, separate brain waves, separate circulatory system, separate heartbeat, and its own separate will.
1.) Life magazine in the April 30, 1965 issue noted that from the day of fertilization the human embryo is antigenetically foreign tissue to its mother.
b. The Old Testament shows us the strong tendency to deal with the unborn as a definite personality and to protect his life from harm.
Texts: Job 10: 8-12
8 `Your hands have made me and fashioned me, An intricate unity; Yet You would destroy me. 9 Remember, I pray, that You have made me like clay. And will You turn me into dust again? 10 Did you not pour me out like milk, And curdle me like cheese, 11 Clothe me with skin and flesh, And knit me together with bones and sinews? 12 You have granted me life and favor, And Your care has preserved my spirit.
1. Isaiah 49: 1,5
49:1 "Listen, O coastlands, to Me, And take heed, you peoples from afar! The Lord has called Me from the womb; From the matrix of My mother He has made mention of My name. 2 And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, And made Me a polished shaft; In His quiver He has hidden Me." 3 "And He said to me, `You [are] My servant, O Israel, In whom I will be glorified.’ 4 Then I said, `I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain; Yet surely my just reward [is] with the Lord, And my work with my God.’ " 5 "And now the Lord says, Who formed Me from the womb [to] [be] His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, 5 "And now the Lord says, Who formed Me from the womb [to] [be] His Servant, To bring Jacob back to Him, So that Israel is gathered to Him ( For I shall be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, And My God shall be My strength),
Jeremiah 1:5 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations."
Psalm 139: 13-16 13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully [and] wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And [that] my soul knows very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, [And] skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When [as] [yet] [there] [were] none of them.
Psalm 51:5 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me.
Exodus 21: 22-25 If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges [determine]. 23 "But if [any] harm follows, then you shall give life for life, 24 "eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 "burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe
c. When we look in the New Testament, we find the same emphasis on the personhood of the unborn and also a continuing lack of differentiation between born and unborn existence.
1. Texts Matt 1:18, 20 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just [man], and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit."
Luke 1: 41, 44 41 "And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, "Blessed [are] you among women, and blessed [is] the fruit of your womb! 43 "But why [is] this [granted] to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 "For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy."
In the battles we face either abortion, or O.T.B. in Orland Hills. We need to stand firm in His strength and be still and let God who is stronger than any movement, legislation or city for He is able to bring victory.
T.S. The next dimension once we have stood firm and are still before God, is to listen to the Holy Spirit’s direction on the issue.
III. THE SPIRIT OF GOD WILL LEAD US INTO VICTORY AND TRUTH. (John 14: 15-31)
A. Jesus promised us that the Holy Spirit will counsel us and lead us into the truth, because He is the "Spirit of Truth." (Vs. 17)
1. I believe the main purpose of the Holy Spirit is to give us understanding.
a. The Holy Spirit understands God far better because He is God and He can impart understanding to us.
b. I believe everything the Holy Spirit does is to emphasize that attribute.
2. "Spirit of Truth" Remember what Jesus said in (John 8:31, 32) "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed: and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
a. Truth - Greek: Aletheia is defined as dependability, uprightness in thought and deed, the content of Christianity as the absolute truth, reality as opposed to mere appearance.
b. The Gospel of John uses the word truth 20 times. His emphasis is on divine truth. Revealing to us that the Holy Spirit is a reliable, stable guide to the things of God.
c. He reveals truth and lies.
1.) Example of "Word of Life Church".
2.) Illustration: Conscience, I believe is the Holy Spirit working in us.
After Hearing Billy Graham
Uncle Sam is $1,265 richer because four people got under conviction after hearing Billy Graham. Some time ago he got five $100.00 bills with the request that they be forwarded to the I.R.S.
In more recent days, three others sent $765 tagged as "restitution for shortages" in the past income tax reports.
"I have been a Christian, but I’ve backslidden", said a Florida resident, who enclosed $500. "Partly through lack of knowledge and also wrong advice from an accountant, I did not pay certain taxes in full", the letter went on. "But, God, has not let me forget it. So I want to get the money I think I owe into the treasury.. ." I hesitate to send cash to the I.R.S. Department, lest it be a temptation to anyone into whose hands it might fall. None of the letters were signed.
Alliance Weekly
3.) Some though, are not letting the Holy Spirit have full reign like this illustration.
Half-Hearted Clearance
Some Christians are like the man who wrote the office of the I.R.S. stating: "I can’t sleep, my conscience is bothering me. Enclosed find a check for $50.00. If I still can’t sleep, I’ll send you the balance!"
Augsburger
4.) Then there are some who totally reject their conscience.
a.) "Conscience", said an Indian, "Is a three-cornered thing in my heart that stands still when I am good, but when I am bad, it turns around and the corners hurt a lot. If I keep in doing wrong, the corners wear off and it does not hurt anymore."
B. The Spirit will lead even the unsaved to truth or conviction.
1. Ms. Roe or Wade getting saved.
2. The Holy Spirit will also convict those who receive abortions.
a. In a Canadian and British college study after polling women who said they had no problems mentally with the abortion ,went into a research grou. This was the conclusion: "It was demonstrated that the conscious, rationalized decision for an abortion can coexist with profound rejection of it at the deepest level. Despite surface appearances, abortion leaves behind deeper feelings, "invariably of intense pain, involving bereavement and a sense of identification with the fetus.
Kent - "Emotional Sequels of Elective Abortion" April 1978.
b. Does it ever lead to suicide? Suicide after induced abortion.
1.) In one report, two teenaged mothers, following induced abortions, attempted suicide on the very dates their babies would have been born.
2.) Pro-abortion suicide is slowly growing into a rather frightening phenomenon.
Suicides Anonymous reported in a 35 month period in Cincinnati, Ohio, that they counseled with 5,620 members. They described these individuals as those "suffering in depth, deep depressing, anxiety, stress, and fears they cannot overcome." Of these 5,620 people:
4,000 were women
1,800 had abortions of whom
1,400 were between 15-24 years old.
Report, Sept. 1, 1981
3.) Are there post-abortion psychoses? Yes, after legalization a repeat investigation in a larger series of the same problem gave the same result. "Of 199 postpartum depressive psychoses, with two exceptions, the prognosis was good." Of 34 post-abortive psychoses, 16 had an adverse prognosis.
Another report noted "The patients clearly functioned well before the abortion and later experienced psychoses precipitated by guilt after the abortion."
American Journal
Psychiatry, March 1978, pg. 364
4.) Post Abortion Syndrome This is the medical name given to the emotional and psychological distress experienced by many women who have had abortions.
a.) Cardinal feature is denial and suppression. This psychological protective mechanism usually works well for some years. Sooner or later, after 5-10 or more years many women can no longer handle it, and they become increasingly emotionally disabled.
b.) Guilt is constant, shame, lowered self-esteem, depression, insomnia, sorrow and hopelessness, anniversary reactions, dreams, nightmares, and reliving the abortion are all part of it.
c.) Often the results is she becomes suicidal, often sexually dysfunctional, perhaps unable to maintain a stable relationship, often gets into chemical dependency.
T.S. These people need help and forgiveness and Christ gives it as told in John 3:16.
Conclusion:
The Bible tells us that Satan has blinded their eyes but Christ and the Holy Spirit will open them and forgive them, but they must be told they were and are deceived.
II Thess. 2: 9-12 9 The coming of the [lawless] [one] is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
I Peter 5:8 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour
Summary Point #1
We need to stand firm and bring the message of the Gospel to this deceived society and show them the truth. But to show the truth we must do as Paul instructs us in I Cor. 15: 58 "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you . . ." We also need to be stil and know He is God and that He will be exalted.
Summary point #2
(Review 14 Steps:) Apply them to the fight with anything (Ex)OTB
