FORGIVENESS: A NEW WEAPON
AGAINST ABORTION
By
Jerry Falwell
A. INTRODUCTION: WHAT HAVE WE TRIED?
We all agree that Roe v Wade 1973 was a terrible decision by our Supreme Court. Notice what the Church has tried to do to reverse this terrible decision:
1. We preached and taught that abortion is murder.
2. We’ve written our Congressmen to pass legislation to prohibit abortion.
3. We’ve picketed abortion clinics (I agree with legal picketing, not some of the illegal things that have been done).
4. The March of Life is where our church members, along with thousands of others have lined the streets of our cities to make a statement about abortion.
5. The Right to Life March in Washington, DC, has had as many as a hundred thousand march every January 22 anniversary to focus our nation’s attention on this travesty of Roe v Wade.
6. Some have illegally bombed clinics.
7. Some have illegally murdered abortion providers (it is never right to do wrong in order to make something right). So I abhor murder and violence to stop abortion in the name of Christ.
8. We built the Liberty Godparent Home, and thousands of others have provided the same type of alternative.
9. We’ve instituted pregnancy hotlines for young girls to get biblical counseling when they are pregnant.
10. We’ve tried to pass a constitutional amendment to outlaw abortion.
Today I want to suggest a spiritual power that we have not tried: FORGIVENESS.
B. I WANT US TO DO THREE THINGS AS A RESULT OF THIS SERMON.
1. I want us to confess the sins of this nation for the sins of abortions our nation has committed. Even though the Church is not responsible for the abortions, it is up to the Church to confess the sins that are done in this nation.
2. I want us to forgive those who have sinned against our nation by carrying on the abortion atrocities. If we are spiritually right with God, then He will hear our prayers and stop the killing of the unborn.
3. I want us to pray God’s blessing on those who have had an abortion . . . on those who have performed an abortion . . . on those who judicially approved an abortion . . . and on legislators who voted to keep abortions. Obviously, I don’t want them to be blessed in their abortion activities, but I want them to be saved and walk in God’s will.
C. THERE IS POWER IN CONFESSION OF SIN.
There is a new movement in America called Identificational Repentance, where God’s people confess the sins of our nation so God might remove His curse or judgment against our nation.
This is what I believe:
1. I believe our murder of unborn children is a sin against God.
2. I believe our murder of unborn children will be punished by God.
3. When God punishes this nation, not only will the abortionists suffer judgment, I believe it could hurt the entire nation financially, militarily, and spiritually. When God judges our nation, the Church and Christians will suffer financially and physically. Therefore, the Church should be motivated to stop the judgment of God against America.
There is biblical basis for the people of God confessing the sins of the sinner. Daniel was a man of God, and there is no sin in the Bible recorded about Daniel’s life.
We know that Daniel sinned, because the Bible says “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). When Israel sinned against God, He judged the entire nation sending them into the Babylonian captivity for 70 years. After the 70 years were over, Daniel a man who was not responsible for the sin, nor did he participate in the nation’s sin, prayed, “We have sinned and committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and thy judgments” (Daniel 9:5). Daniel identified with the sin, repented for the nation, and confessed for the nation. Daniel exercised identificational repentance.
As Daniel took responsibility for the sins of Israel, I believe the Church should take responsibility to confess the sins that America has committed in abortion.
Nehemiah was also a godly man who saw what God did to Israel by punishing them with 70 years of captivity. After the 70 years of punishment were over, Nehemiah prayed,
“We have sinned against thee” (Nehemiah 1:6). He explained his sin, “We have dealt very corruptly against thee, and have not kept the commandments nor the statutes, nor the judgments which thou commandest thy servant Moses” (Nehemiah 1:7). Just as Nehemiah confessed Israel’s sins, the Church must confess the abortionists’ sins, even the sins of our courts, our legislator, and our President.
PRAYER: FATHER, I CONFESS THE ABORTION SINS OF AMERICA. WE HAVE SINNED. OUR YOUNG GIRLS AND MEN HAVE COMMITTED SEXUAL SINS. OUR DOCTORS, NURSES, HOSPITALS, AND CLINICS HAVE COMMITTED ABORTION SINS. OUR PRESIDENT AND LEGISLATORS HAVE COMMITTED JUDICIAL SIN. OUR SUPREME COURT HAS COMMITTED LEGAL SIN. O GOD, OUR NATION HAS COMMITTED THE SIN OF SILENCE. I CONFESS WE ARE SINNERS. PLEASE HAVE MERCY ON US ALL. IN JESUS’ NAME, AMEN.
D. THERE IS POWER IN FORGIVENESS
1. Forgiveness gives us power in personal cleansing and living.
Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.” In this simple prayer, we see the power of God and His love manifested. Obviously, God doesn’t make a bargain with us to forgive us because we forgive others. The only basis for forgiveness is “The blood of Jesus Christ, God’s son, cleanses from all sin”(I Jn. 1:7). But if we are truly repentant of our sins and we truly confess our sins and we truly ask God to forgive us our sins . . . then we have a new heart attitude that motivates us to forgive others as we are forgiven.
2. Forgiveness gives power to others.
When we forgive other people, we release them for spiritual blessings from God and power for their Christian living.
There is an illustration in Luke 7:36-50 of the woman who was a sinner who came to a feast to anoint Jesus’ feet with an expensive alabaster box of perfume. The Bible says that she, “Stood at His feet behind Him, weeping, and began to wash His feet with tears, and then wiped them with the hairs of her head, and kissed His feet and anointed them with the ointment” (Luke 7:38).
When people rebuked the woman for wasting her money, Jesus responded, “Her sins which are many are forgiven: for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little” (Luke 7:47). Jesus is saying the one whose sins are forgiven--they experience forgiveness--they are the ones who love God the most. The more you realize your sins are forgiven, the more you will love God.
If you are forgiven a debt, you should be grateful. If you are forgiven for not keeping your promise, you should be grateful. Anytime you are forgiven, it should produce a great response in your heart.
PRAYER: LET US NOW STOP AND PRAY, “OUR FATHER, WE ASK FOR YOUR FORGIVENESS FOR WHAT OUR NATION HAS DONE AGAINST YOU AND AGAINST THE CHILDREN AND AGAINST THE HOME AND AGAINST THE FUTURE. WE HAVE SINNED AGAINST YOU, DEAR FATHER. WE ASK YOU TO FORGIVE US OUR SINS, TO FORGIVE OUR YOUNG WOMEN WHO HAVE ABORTED THEIR BABIES, TO FORGIVE THE HOSPITALS AND CLINICS, TO FORGIVE OUR DOCTORS AND NURSES, TO FORGIVE OUR LEGISLATORS, AND MOST OF ALL TO FORGIVE THOSE SUPREME COURT JUSTICES WHO ALLOWED THIS CRIME TO CONTINUE AGAINST YOU. DEAR GOD, FORGIVE AMERICA HER SINS.”
E. THERE IS POWER IN PRAYING FOR OUR ENEMIES.
Jerry Falwell is known for being bold, and standing for the truth. Many people think I am an “attack dog” of the Radical Right because I take a stand for righteousness and will speak out against sin. But today, I want to emphasize a different side of Christianity. It’s a difficult side of my personality. I want us to pray compassionately for our enemies. Remember, Christianity has two sides, like every door has two sides. Christians are taught to love the sinner, yet we are told to stand against their sin. That door has two sides, you cannot condemn the sin of a sinner without loving the sinner. When you see a Christian who only loves without condemning the sin, they are not honest. At the same when you see a Christian who only condemns sin without loving the sinner, they are not honest. It is impossible to do one without the other, just as it is impossible to open a door without opening both sides.
Listen to the words of Jesus, “Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you” (Luke 6:27,28).
Some who are against abortions have resorted to murder, that is not what Jesus commanded. Some who are against abortions have resorted to bombing clinics, that is not what Jesus commanded. I cannot pray for “God to bless them as they perform an abortion, but I can pray for God to bless them with salvation so they will experience love, joy, grace, and that God would bring them to Himself so that they might enjoy His fullness.
Again, Jesus said in the same sermon, “If you love them which love you, what thank have ye? For sinners also love those that love them . . . but love your enemies” (Luke 6:32, 35).
Paul gave us some of the same advice. He told us, “Recompense to no man evil for evil” (Romans 12:17). When it comes to bombing clinics, Paul would say, “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written, vengeance is mine; I will repay saith the Lord” (Romans 12:19) When we pray for our enemies Paul tells us, “For in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head” (Romans 13:20). Then we are doing what Paul will have us do, “Be overcome not with evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).
So today as we look at what the Church can do for these people, I would say we must do them good by praying for them. Let’s stop right now and pray,
PRAYER: DEAR LORD, WE PRAY FOR EVERY YOUNG GIRL WHOSE HAD AN ABORTION, THAT SHE MAY GET SAVED. WE PRAY FOR EVERY YOUNG BOY WHO HAS IMPREGNATED A YOUNG GIRL, THAT THEY EACH MAY BECOME A CHRISTIAN AND ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THEIR LIFE. WE PRAY FOR EVERY DOCTOR, NURSE AND HOSPITAL THAT HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN AN ABORTION, THAT THESE PEOPLE MAY BECOME CHRISTIANS, MAY BE FORGIVEN AND MAY WALK IN YOUR GRACE. WE PRAY FOR LEGISLATORS WHO HAVE VOTED FOR ABORTION, THAT YOU WOULD GIVE THEM INSIGHT TO SEE THEIR SIN, AND THAT THEY WOULD COME TO THE CONVICTION OF LIVE AND THAT THEY WOULD VOTE THEIR CONVICTION. WE PRAY FOR SUPREME COURT JUSTICES WHO VOTED WRONGLY, THAT THEY MAY BECOME CHRISTIANS AND CHERISH LIFE AS YOU CHERISH LIFE. WE ASK THESE THINGS IN JESUS’ NAME, AMEN.
F. FORGIVENESS DOES NOT MEAN . . .
Even though we forgive those who have committed this great sin of abortion, we still have not changed our minds about abortion.
1. I believe abortions still destroy life.
I have been teaching from this pulpit ever since Roe v Wade that abortion destroys life. Opponents ask the question, “When does life begin?” Life doesn’t begin in the womb, there has always been life since God breathed into Adam “the breath of life.” Then, the life of the mother and father passes on to the child. When the Bible says, “The two shall be one flesh,” this is the statement that we use in marriage ceremonies to describe a man and a woman becoming one before the Lord. But when they have a baby, in a real sense; the two become one flesh . . . one baby . . . one life. The soul of the father and mother passes to the child at conception to become a new soul before God.
2. I believe the Bible still teaches that personality (persons) begins in the womb.
“I knew thee before I formed thee in the belly” (Jeremiah 1:5). “For thou has possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hide from thee when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth” (Psalm 139:13-15).
3. The horrors of abortion still make it wrong.
On several occasions I have described some of the terrible things that abortionists do in scraping, and hacking up a fetus and inserting needles into the head of a small baby. All of these horrors make me against abortion.
4. I still believe abortion violates the legal rights of the child.
Our nations protect children once they’re born, but we refuse to protect children when they are in the womb. But listen to the United Nations (an organization I don’t always respect), in the United Nation’s Declaration of the Rights of Children, “The child by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.” Note the phrase, “before as well as after birth.”
5. I still believe abortion violates our legal due process of law.
As I have said on many occasions, abortion has never been voted into law, but a decision by Supreme Court justices (7-2) allowed abortion to become one of the most pervasive laws of all times. Immediately when the Supreme Court approved abortion, they invalidated laws in 50 individual states, and I might add, laws that were voted upon were overturned without a vote.
6. I still believe abortion violates our society.
When we allow any part of our society, i.e., our abortion doctors to abort babies, that brings a curse upon all of us. That means that when our society approves abortion, we all suffer the consequences of that decision. When we de-emphasize life, we de-emphasize the rule of God in our nation. Listen to what Albert Schweitzer said,
“If we lose respect for part of society, we lose respect for all of society. When we violate any part of society, we violate all parts of society.”
CONCLUSION:
Today I have asked that we take spiritual steps to deal with our problem of abortion. I have asked that we:
1. Forgive those responsible for the sin of abortion.
2. Confess our national sin of abortion.
3. Pray God’s blessing and salvation on those responsible for abortion.
However, I want to leave with you 10 practical things we must continue to do in addition to our prayer for forgiveness.
(1) Continue to teach our children the sanctity of life and the preciousness of sex.
(2) Support church agencies for pregnant girls.
(3) Support adoption. There is no such thing as an unwanted child, they are just misplaced children.
(4) Support motherhood, it is the greatest calling in life.
(5) Show love to unmarried pregnant girls, whether they are in our church or out on the street. While we don’t approve of pregnancy out of wedlock, we love the girls because God loves the girls; and we love their babies.
(6) Tell your friends about your biblical stand against abortion and why you have these convictions.
(7) Continue to communicate with your legislators about your stand against abortion. Ask them to vote against abortion.
(8) Support pregnancy crisis centers.
(9) Pray for those who are involved in abortions that God would work in their lives.
(10) Forgive their sins as God forgives you your sins.
“Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there remembers thy brother have ought against thee: leave there thy gift there before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift” (Matthew 5:23,24).
If you have never really accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, would you do it right now? Do not delay or put it off. If you would like to receive Christ by faith, pray this simple prayer in your heart:
Dear Lord, I acknowledge that I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins on the cross, and rose again the third day. I repent of my sins. By faith I receive the Lord Jesus as my Savior. You promised to save me, and I believe You, because You are God and cannot lie. I believe right now that the Lord Jesus is my personal Savior, and that all my sins are forgiven through His precious blood. I thank You, dear Lord, for saving me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, God heard you and saved you. I personally want to welcome you to the family of God.
