NOTES:
1. Introduction borrowed from Johnny Small’s (Contributor ID 6865)message SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE (Sermon ID 42459)
2. My manuscripts are basically my thoughts on paper. Typically, I use them as a guide, not verbatim. Very rarely do I preach my message exactly the way I wrote it. If you would like to hear the message preached, please visit Abundant Life Fellowship’s multimedia page at http://www.abundantlife-lompoc.org/multimedia.html
September 11, 2001 is a day that will long be remembered as a day of tragic loss. Over 4,000 people needlessly lost their lives. They were future leaders of this nation, doctors who could have saved many, scientists who may have found a cure for cancer, evangelists who may have lead thousands to the Lord. Sadly their lives, their destiny, was cut short.
But something happened the following day and every day since that hasn’t made headlines. For you see on September 12, 2001 over 4000 people were killed and again on September 13 and 14 and 15. Every day over 4000 unborn babies loose their lives as a result of abortion. 4000 each day, 28,000 each week, 112,000 each month and 1,460,000 each year. By the time I am finished preaching, statistically 167 babies will die.
On September 11, 2001 terrorist killed over 4000 people, and the outcry for justice was great, the cry of pain was heard through out our Nation. Swift and accurate justice was rendered. 4000 unborn babies are being murdered everyday, but I see no weeping, no anger, and no outcry for justice and no one who cares. I have seen greater demands for justice for those who harm animals. But these are innocent children.
Today, as I had stated earlier, is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday. A day where, typically, we take pause to reflect on how precious life really is, and how tragic the loss of that life is, especially to the unborn. I believe that we as Christians have a mandate to stand up and be counted for these children. Solomon wrote in Proverbs the 31st chapter:
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those who are perishing. Proverbs 31:8
Believe it or not, I actually read an article from a well know physician who is trying to get legislation passed that states that a baby isn’t considered alive until 3 days after its born. Is life not sacred? There are those who will go to clinics, take pills, or by whatever means necessary to terminate the life that God created for the sake of personal convenience. Human life has become to some no more valuable than paper plates. We use them and we throw them away because it’s more convenient.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not a right wing extremist who advocates abortion clinic bombings and the like. However, I do believe that we should not take a back seat on the issue either. Often times Christians won’t speak up because of possibly being labeled as a non-tolerant, closed minded non-conformist.
But before we begin, we must understand that the “pro-choice” movement and those who support it are not our enemy. The doctors and nurses who perform and participate in these procedures, are not our enemy. We have only one enemy and his name is Satan. Who else would want to see innocent children murdered? If you don’t believe that the devil wouldn’t harm an innocent child, you have just made the worst assumption you could ever make. You just placed morals on a liar and a murderer. He is the ultimate destroyer of destiny. He is utilizing abortion among other things to destroy a generation who desires to worship the Lord like no other the world has ever seen.
Satan hates everything God represents. He despises life, but more so, what that life can do when it is purposed and empowered by the Spirit of God. Let’s look at out Scripture text.
"The Lord gave me a message. He said, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world.”" Jeremiah 1:4-5
There are few things found in this passage that I would like to draw your attention to. Because not only is physical life valuable to God, but also the spiritual life one lives.
1. You are a creation of God
Just as we see in our passage this morning that God told Jeremiah that HE formed him. I also love the fact that God said, “I formed you”. The use of the word “you” implies that God formed Jeremiah, a person, not a lump of tissue that only becomes a living child after exiting the mother’s womb. But God personally formed Jeremiah much in the same way He formed you and I.
Knowing that God is the Creator of life should be no surprise to us who believe that God is the Creator of all things. In the opening verses of Genesis we read the account of the creation of man.
And the Lord God formed a man’s body from the dust of the ground and breathed into it the breath of life. And the man became a living person. Genesis 2:7
Adam was formed out of nothing. The same Hebrew word for formed found here in Genesis, is the same word used in Jeremiah 1:4. The same way God formed Adam, He continues to form children in the womb.
As we see in this passage in Genesis, God formed the body first. The body is referenced by the article “it” when implies that the body isn’t a person. Man was formed, but lifeless. But God breathed into man’s lungs the breath of life. Life didn’t begin until God breathed it into existence. Mankind hasn’t stopped breathing since. So in essence we could say that not only is God the giver of life, but He is also the sustainer of life.
Isaiah 43:7 tells us
"Everyone who is called by My name, Whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him."
So not only were you created by God, but you were created to bring Him glory. This is yet another reason that the destroyer of destiny wants to eradicate human life.
God has sustained humankind so that we could carry out His plan and glorify His name. Which brings me to my second point.
2. You have a pre-determined destiny
The second and final point that I would like to leave you with this morning is that you have a pre-determined destiny.
Jeremiah is no different than you and I. Before the foundation of time, God knew you and He had a purpose for your life.
I want this to ring out from here today. To all those who are listening in this room, by audiotape or through the Internet. – You are a person of destiny, and so are those children God is forming in the wombs of mothers all over the world.-- You are not an accident. God has the ability to open and close a woman’s womb as He pleases (Genesis 30:22), meaning that you are here as a result of God’s divine plan, not mom and dad’s.
We see here in our scripture text that God told Jeremiah, “Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world”. Every life that exists, exists for a specific purpose. The destroyer of destiny, the devil, knows this more that anyone else. Why do you think he wants these pre-destined lives destroyed? But this goes far beyond the physical dimension.
Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” – John 10:10
The destroyer of destiny does not want you to have a fulfilling and effective spiritual life. He wants to stomp out any possibility of God’s people living for Christ. And the sad, but true fact is, the devil can use good Christian people to assist him.
Think about it. There are three stages of spiritual maturity – babes, young men (spiritual adolescence), and old men (spiritual maturity). These stages are not age dependant. When someone comes to Christ, they are, as the Bible says, “born again”. They experience a re-birth and become a “baby Christian”. Now in the same way a real baby depends upon others to feed him or her, new Christians depend on others to help them feed on the Word of God to grow spiritually mature.
A baby doesn’t know how to prepare a bottle. But they know how to ingest once someone gives them that bottle. New Christians may not know how to study the Bible or how to pray, but they know that there is something with in them that desires it. And if we are not helping them, we are no better off that those doctors who are killing innocent babies. If we are not pouring into our children and new believers, we are killing them spiritually. We then become a pawn in the destroyer of destiny’s sinister plan.
So what difference can I make?
So you may be sitting there asking yourself, what difference can I make anyway? I’m just one person. Let me tell you a story.
"It Matters to This One!"
A young man was walking along the seashore. Far ahead of him, he saw a distant figure: someone who, like him, was walking, but who paused every few steps, stooped down, and seemed to be throwing something into the sea.
His curiosity aroused, the young man hurried forward, his feet awkward in the sand, as he tried to catch up with the man. As he came closer, he saw that it was an old man, and the reason that he would stop every step or two was to pick up a starfish and fling it into the ocean. It was only then that the young man noticed the thousands of starfish that littered the beach for miles, stranded there by the tide.
The young man felt a rising sense of anger. What the old man was doing seemed so pointless, and he couldn’t wait to catch up with him to tell him so. By the time the young man came abreast of the older man, he was out of breath.
"Why are you doing this?" he gasped. "You can’t save all of these starfish! It’s useless! What does it matter?"
The old man paused for a moment, looking down at the crusty starfish he’d just picked up. He turned it over slowly, then answered.
"It matters to this one," he said, as with a slow deliberate motion he tossed it back into the sea, into life.
Much in the same manner as the old man in this story, we can make a difference by getting involved.
For the physical – get involved financially or volunteer your time at the Pregnancy Support Center.
For the spiritual – there are plenty of opportunities for you to pour into the lives of both the young and old here at ALF.
Despite what you may think, you can make a difference because you were created by God with a purpose to bring glory and honor to Him.
