Worship Service & Sermon

Abortion
Scripture Reading – Psalm 139:13-16

1. Two weeks ago was “Life Chain” Sunday across America
  a. Mike Moore bought you an excellent lesson on the topic of “Abortion”
  b. Last year 1550 cities and towns here in the US participated
  c. Life Chain is a peaceful and prayerful public witness of pro-life individuals standing for 60 to 90 minutes praying for our nation and for the end of abortion.
    i. It is a visual statement of solidarity by the community that abortion kills children, that those involved supports the sanctity of life from the moment of conception until natural death.
2. Abortion is a highly emotionally volatile topic.
  a. In my 22 years as a Christian I have heard less than an handful of sermons that were wholly dedicated to the topic,
    i. It is not an easy topic to stand here today to preach on!
  b. Both sides are moved with passionate zeal to promote their cause
    i. Those who believe in the sanctity of life , the pro-lifer, believe that they must speak out or bear at least some of the guilt because of their silence
 “…to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” James 4:17
    ii. At the same time the Pro choice advocates are feverishly vocal for the sake of their own conscience to justify what they do and work to convince the pro lifer that they are not immoral
3. One of the jobs that a preacher is to accomplish is to build up and to edify the congregation,
  a. That can be a difficult task when taking on a controversial topic.
4. But also one of the preachers jobs is to preach and teach what is right and what is wrong
  a. Not that it is right or wrong in the preachers mind but if it is right or wrong in God’s mind.
5. Before we get too far into this lesson this morning I need to point out that this sermon is not addressed to just one gender, this is not a time of beating up on women,
  a. Men are very much involved in the abortion issue as well,
    i. Many many women have been coerced even forced into unwanted abortions by
      1. Fathers – boy friend’s and even husbands
        a. Some intentions are good,,,
   ii. A great many abortion providers are men
   iii. Many that sit on benches and make decisions about abortion and men.
  b. Both genders are involved, in the abortion debate.
6. In the end what truly matters is what God’s opinion of abortion is,
  a. Does God think abortion is right, or does He think it is wrong,
7. Abortion is way too big to be able to cover every aspect of it in just one sermon.
  a. So for this lesson we will try to determine if the pregnancy is in fact a human life or something else
I. Is a fetus a life, and if so is it a human? Science
  a. First let’s look at the term ‘fetus’
    i. It is a noun 1. an unborn offspring of a mammal, in particular an unborn human baby between its embryonic state and its birth. (Oxford dictionary)
    ii. In its origin, it is a Latin word which means ‘baby’, ‘young one’, ‘young child’
  b. This is part of the confusion,
    i. As a nation we have been told for years that it is not a ‘baby’ it is a ‘fetus’ but by definition fetus means human baby
  c. So what does science have to say in this regard?
    i. After decades of being told that the pregnancy is not a baby, it is a blob of tissue, or it is a fetus not a baby
      1. Listen to what we are starting to hear now
    ii. Dr. Jermoe L. LeJeune ( a brilliant geneticist who was the first to demonstrate a link between certain diseases and chromosomal abnormalities) testified before a U.S. Senate Subcommittee said this
      1. “To accept the fact that after fertilization has taken place a new human has come into being is no longer a matter of taste or opinion. The human nature of the human being from conception to old age is not a metaphysical contention, it is plain experimental evidence”.
        a. If you want to believe that a baby in the womb is not a person, then, you have to ignore the plain evidence
        b. LeJeune’s quote was way back in 1981, since then more and more evidence has been stacking up to show that a baby in the womb is most defiantly a human being.
        d. It has been a slow moving process to get this information out that a pregnancy is in fact a human life, but it is slowly getting out.
        e. The response to this message by the pro-choice side is pretty scary, listen to what some in the abortion industry have to say
            i. In 2013, pro-abortionist writer, Mary Elizabeth wrote an article titled, “So What if Abortion Ends Life?
              1. In her article she writes, “Here is the complicated reality in which we live: All life is not equal”
              2. Also ‘Fetus’ can be a human life without having the same rights as the woman in whose body it resides. She is the boss. Her life and what is right for her circumstances and her health should automatically trump the rights of the non-autonomous entity inside her. Always.”
                a. Apparently the baby has some rights but less rights
                    i. (Her health)
f. Those who know abortion the best are those in the business of abortion,,, listen to a few statements
    i. A British abortionist Judith Arcana had this to say:
      1. “It is morally and ethically wrong to do abortions without acknowledging what it means to do them. I perform abortions, I have had an abortion and I am in favor of women having abortions when we chose to do so. But we should never disregard the fact that being pregnant means there is a baby inside a woman, a baby whose life is ended. We ought not to pretend this is not happening”.
    ii. In an essay entitled “Why I Am an Abortion Provider” Dr. William F. Harrison has this to say: “No one, neither the patient receiving the abortion, nor the person doing the abortion, is ever, at any time, unaware that they are ending a life”
g. The scientific world openly admits that a pregnancy is a human life and that abortion is a killing of that life.
  i. I don’t need to present proof that a ‘fetus’ is a human life; the abortion industry presents that proof for me!

II. So what about God, does God view the pregnancy as a human life? Let’s look at some scriptures
  a. Hebrew – Old Testament
    i. Genesis 25:4, “The sons (bene, the sons) of Midian were Ephah and Epher and Hanoch and Abida and Eldaah. All these were the sons (bene, the sons) of Keturah.”
      1. The sons already born
    ii. Genesis 25:21-24, “Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren; and the Lord answered him and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 But the children ( bene, sons of) struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why then am I this way?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. 23 The Lord said to her,
“Two nations are in your womb;
And two peoples will be separated from your body;
And one people shall be stronger than the other;
And the older shall serve the younger.”
24 When her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.”
      1. God calls them people (children) while in the womb
    iii. Genesis 17:25, “And Ishmael his son (ben son) was thirteen years old when he was circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin.”
iv. Genesis 9:19, “These three were the sons (bene, sons of) of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.”
      1. In all of these verses the same Hebrew word was used for the unborn still in the womb, a teenager, and also of adult sons.
  v. Job 3:16, “Or like a miscarriage which is discarded, I would not be, As infants (o-lel, child) that never saw light.”
  vi. Lamentations 4:4, “The tongue of the infant (o-lal, child) cleaves To the roof of its mouth because of thirst; The little ones ask for bread, But no one breaks it for them.”
    1. The same Hebrew word was used here, for the still born and the young children
b. Greek – New Testament
  i. Luke 1:41, “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby (brephos, infant) leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.”
  ii. Luke 1:44, “For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby (brephos, infant) leaped in my womb for joy.”
  iii. Luke 2:12, “ This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby (brephos, infant) wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”
  iv. Acts 7:19, “It was he who took shrewd advantage of our race and mistreated our fathers so that they would expose their infants (brephos) and they would not survive.”
      1. in these verses the same Greek word was used whether the child was in the womb or already born
  v. Luke 1:36, “And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son (huios, son) in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month.”
  vi. Luke 15:11, “And He said, “A man had two sons (huios, sons).”
      1. Here again we see the same Greek word to describe a son in the womb and again to mention an adult, (the prodigal son)
      2. God sees the one in the womb as a human just as He sees the adult as a human being, God does not make a distinction.
So since both science, the abortion industry and God see the unborn as human life, how serious is this topic of abortion?
III. What does Exodus 21:22-25 reveal about the value of the unborn? READ
  a. “If men struggle with each other and strike a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet there is no injury, he shall surely be fined as the woman’s husband may demand of him, and he shall pay as the judges decide. 23 But if there is any further injury, then you shall appoint as a penalty life for life, 24 eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, 25 burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.”
  b. Note the phrase “yet there is not injury” this applies to both the woman and the unborn child. There is no reason to assume that this only applies to the mother. The child is just as much human as the mother.
    i. This text teaches us that if fighting men cause a pregnant woman to deliver early the guilty shall be fined,
    ii. But if the injury brings death to the mother or the unborn child this was punishable by death.
      1. To God the killing of the unborn is a big deal, worthy of capital punishment.
      2. If God dealt so severely with the accidental death of a premature infant, how do you suppose He feels about abortion, the deliberate, intentional taking of the life of an unborn child?
c. READ Exodus 23:7, READ Proverbs 6:16-17
  i. Exodus 23:7, “Keep far from a false charge, and do not kill the innocent or the righteous, for I will not acquit the guilty.”
  ii. Proverbs 6:16-17, “There are six things which the Lord hates,
Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him:
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood.”
  iii. God will not acquit the guilty, that is pretty serious (will talk about in the conclusion)
Conclusion
A. So what we have seen is that Science, the abortion industry itself and God’s word demand that a pregnancy is in fact not only a life but a human life.
B. God’s word tells us many many times that we are not to take the life of the innocent.
C. So what will we do?
  a. From the research I did this week, it appears that Gallup finds that some 26% of Americans believe abortion should always be legal under any circumstances
    i. Some 20% insist that abortion should always be illegal no matter what
    ii. Gallup states that the majority, some 52% opt for something in between.
        1. Most Americans believe that abortion is wrong but also believe that there are some instances in which it should be legal (rape/incest)
            a. (how about punish the criminal, not the innocent?)
  b. What will we do? We should stop fighting with the 26% who will never change and start educating the 52%.
    i. False messages have been taught to our population for decades,
    ii. We need to be aggressively teaching the truth about life, the human life of the preborn,
    iii. When we go to the polls we need to stop voting for economic plans, the person that looks the most presidential, the this or that of or voting habit,
      1. We need to go to the polls and elect leaders that will lead with godly principles,
      2. If we do this enough long enough more and more godly people will begin to run for public office,
  c. With godly education on the topic of abortion coupled with electing godly leaders in this country we can turn this thing around.
  d. I want to go back to this idea that God will not acquit the guilty.
D. When we look at the Gospel of Jesus Christ,
  a. We see that if one obeys the Gospel, that their sins can be washed away,
  b. God will not acquit the guilty, but thanks to the Gospel, through repentance the guilt of abortion can be washed away so that you won’t stand before God in guilt.
  c. In a crowd this size, especially when we consider the LiveStream audience,,, there is no doubt that someone who is hearing me speak today,,, has had an abortion.
    i. Someone listening today has coerced or even performed an abortion.
E. Part of the educating that the church needs to be teaching is that:
  a. Killing the innocent is wrong in the site of God but,
  b. There is forgiveness in Christ for this sin.
  c. Part of the teaching needs to be that if you have coerced or forced a
    i. girlfriend, daughter or wife, you are in the wrong also and need repentance and forgiveness,
    ii. If you are an abortion provider, you are in the wrong but with obedience to the Gospel, which includes repentance,,, you can be forgiven.
  d. We need to teach that sex outside of marriage is sin but to bring a child full term and delivering a living human baby is not sin.
    i. That infant in the womb was fearfully and wonderfully made!
    ii. That infant in the womb was created in the image of God
F. Many participated in the “Life Chain” two weeks ago,,,
  a. Will this make a huge difference?
    i. No, not by itself, but it is a perfect time for being focused solely on prayer to our Father about bringing this barbaric act of abortion to an end in this country.
  b. It may very well be the conversation starter with someone that starts the education that 52% of this country desperately needs.