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(This
message was given at Pines Baptist Church, Pembroke Pines on January 27, 2013)
Before we
begin I want to acknowledge that I understand that abortion is a controversial
subject, and may be difficult perhaps even painful for some to think about.
Statistics
would indicate that in most
audiences I speak to there will be individuals whose
lives have been touched by a abortion. I want you to know that I am aware of
that.
Perhaps
you have had an abortion or in some way were a participant in an abortion. You
pressured a girlfriend wife, daughter, granddaughter or niece into having an
abortion. Perhaps you paid for an abortion. Or you have lost a child, a brother
or sister, grandchild niece or nephew to abortion.
As followers
of Jesus Christ we must be willing to address this subject from the authority
of Scripture. But, as we take this journey we must do so in the context of two
very important Biblical truths.
Let me
illustrate it this way. (SLIDE 2) There
are two things a train must have to safely reach its destination. Two tracks. Two
tracks that run parallel to each other all the
way to its destination. A train will go nowhere without riding on both tracks at
the same time all the way to the end of the rail line.
In the
same way, we must communicate what God says about abortion in the context of
God's grace and God's truth. You see, theologically grace and truth always go
together. In fact, they are theologically inseparable. They are like the two
sides of the same coin. You cannot have one without the other.
And
here's why this is important. I've shared this with you before, but it bears
repeating. Pastor Randy Alcorn has written, (SLIDE 3)
"Grace
without truth deceives people, Truth without grace, crushes people."
You see,
we will never understand (SLIDE 4) God's
grace - apart from God's truth,
but God's
truth will always lead us to God's grace.
And as we
begin this morning let me impress this upon you. If your life has been touched
by an abortion, while you cannot escape the truth about abortion, nor some of
the consequences of your abortion, please know that there is forgiveness,
there is healing and restoration in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
There is
a way to resolve the guilt, shame and hurt that abortion will bring to the
human experience. And I want you to know that you are in the right place to
hear that Good News.
If your
life has been touched by an abortion in any way you are in a safe place in this
church. No one is here to condemn or judge you. On the contrary, we are here to
extend love and compassion and a message of forgiveness, restoration and hope available
to you because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on your
behalf.
We believe
that the gospel is the solution to America's abortion crisis. We believe that
as those who have been saved by grace and regenerated by the Holy Spirit we are to
live as "children of light." As Paul says in Ephesians 5:8. We are to
(vs. 10) "find out what pleases the Lord" and "have nothing to
do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather to expose them." As
Pastor John Piper says,
"Another
way to say this is that God calls his people to be the conscience of the culture. Our individual conscience probes into our behavior and either approves or
disapproves what we do. So the children of light are to probe into the life of
their culture and approve or disapprove what it does." (Exposing the Dark Work of Abortion)
This last Tuesday,
[January 22, 2013] we remembered the 40th anniversary of two U. S. Supreme
Court decisions, Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton. These two rulings of the court legalized
the deliberate, premeditated killing of unborn children at anytime during all
nine months of pregnancy right up to the moment of natural childbirth for
virtually any reason.
This plunged
America into a national tragedy that has proved to be unparalleled n our 237
years of history. It is conservatively estimated
that (SLIDE 5) nearly 56 million unborn children have lost their lives to
abortion in the U.S. in the last 40 years. That's an average of (SLIDE 6) 1,394,000
unborn babies each year. Over116,000 per
month nearly 27,000 per week or 3,820 per day for the last 40 years.
Several
years ago I read these words from Michael Spielman founder of abort73.com.
"The
domestication of abortion has made it tragically commonplace, so much so that we
seem to have lost our ability to be outraged by it. How is it that even we who
oppose abortion are not more overwhelmed by the fact that it is legal, in
the United States of America, to tear apart the tiny bodies of helpless
unborn children?” (“A Biblical Mandate to do Something About Abortion”)
The
questions I raise this morning are, how could this happen and how should we
respond? How could a civilized nation historically rooted in a Judeo-Christian heritage
and ethic abandon the metaphysical and scientific evidence that should lead to
the prohibition of taking the life of pre-born children?
I suggest
to you the answer to that question is found in a radical worldview shift that has taken place in America in the last
half century or more.
I have
spoken here each of the last three years for Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, making
the case for the sanctity of unborn human life from both a Biblical and
scientific perspective. The Psalmist wrote these stunning words, identifying
God as the creator of what John Piper calls "independent personhood."
Listen to what David wrote of his life in the womb. (SLIDE 7)
For you
created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mothers womb. …Your eyes
saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be. (Psalm
139:13,16)
Let me
summarize (SLIDE 8) the Biblical evidence that we have looked at in Previous
messages. The unborn are created by God and for God. They are created in His
image and likeness. That is, they resemble God and they represent God. They are
recognized by God as distinct and unique persons from the moment of conception. Therefore to take the life of a
preborn infant would constitute a violation of God's moral law, specifically
the sixth commandment "You shall not murder."
Three
years ago, we also identified the spiritual forces behind child killing. Jesus on at
least two occasions revealed the nature of
the Devil 's work (SLIDE 9) In John
8:44, He refers to the Devil as " a murderer" and "a liar and
father of lies," making
him the Architect of Abortion.
In John
10:10 Jesus said, (SLIDE 10) "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy," thus exposing Satan's murderous agenda.
As I
shared back in 2011 there is conclusive scientific evidence that human life
begins at conception. That debate ended years ago with the discovery of DNA present in the first cell of human development.
As Dr.
Jerome LeJeune, M.D. (SLIDE 11) summarizes,
"after fertilization has taken place new human being has come into
being."
You see, whether
you approach the issue of the personhood of the unborn from a Biblical or scientific
and biological perspective, the inescapable conclusion is that life begins at
conception. The unborn are distinct living persons while in the womb worthy of our
protection.
In light
of this evidence, how is it that abortion could remain legal for forty years? Just this
past week, (SLIDE 12) U.S. Congressman Chris Smith, posed the question this
way,
"Someday
future generations will look back on America and wonder how and why such a
seemingly enlightened society, so blessed and endowed with education, advanced
science, information, wealth and opportunity could have failed to protect
the innocent and inconvenient.”
To answer
that question we look no further than the prevailing worldview of our nation's institutions;
our public schools and state universities, courts and legislatures, government
agencies, medical, scientific, and business sectors, and our arts,
entertainment and media.
Our
nation is embroiled in a war of worldviews. Perhaps you remember back in November
we took some time to define what a worldview is. Here is Whitney Clayton's definition
(SLIDE 13) (“Basics: Defining Worldview”)
“…a
worldview is quite literally the filter through which someone interprets, defines,
and engages with the world around them. Your worldview assists you in making every decision throughout your day.”
At the
risk of being overly simplistic, the worldview issue centers around one question.
Who is in charge? Or to personalize it,
who do you recognize as being in charge of your world?
A
conflict of worldviews has been in play from the beginning of time. The stage
was set as recorded in Genesis 3:15 after Satan successfully deceived Adam and
Eve plunging mankind into sin. God said to Satan, (SLIDE 14)
"...I will put enmity between you and the
woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you
will strike his heel."
With that, the epoch struggle between good and evil
began. It continues today as varying worldviews compete for the heart and soul
of man. And Satan has been trying to kill the offspring of Eve ever since. He was successful in killing Jesus Christ. But the
blood Satan shed on that cross came back
to haunt him. As Paul said, (SLIDE 15)
"...having disarmed the powers and authorities, He [that
is Jesus Christ] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the
cross."
Satan's
work of evil became God's provision for His defeat and the salvation of sinful
man. So today, though one can identify many different worldviews there are
essentially only two. God's and Man's.
There is
a worldview chart - on a very helpful Christian apologetics website, that identifies
six different worldviews. Islam, secular humanism, Marxism-Leninism, Cosmic Humanism, Post modernism and Biblical
Christianity.
But there
is a sense in which there are only two worldviews because all of the five other
than Biblical Christianity are in conflict with God's revelation of Himself to
man through Scripture and the revelation of Himself by the historical intervention
of Jesus Christ in our time and space dimension through His incarnation.
So today
there are essentially two worldviews vying for control of every man and woman and
the fate of the unborn. One is a Biblical or Christian worldview that
acknowledges there is a God who is the Designer, Creator and sustainer of this
universe. In other words, He is in charge!
As Paul
wrote the Colossians, 1:16-17 (ESV) (SLIDE 16)
"For by him [that is Jesus Christ] all
things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities --all things were created through
him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold
together."
Friends
that is a worldview statement. That is a truth statement that applies to
believer and unbeliever alike. It declares in very unambiguous terms who is in
charge of our world!
He
created us. He sustains every breath we breathe. And ultimately we are accountable
to him and will face Him in the final day of judgment. Listen to the words of
Paul this time in Athens as he interacted with those who disputed the Gospel he
had proclaimed to them. It sparked their curiosity and this is part of
response: Acts 17:24-28 (ESV) (SLIDE 17)
"The God who made the world and everything
in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor
is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself
gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made
from one man (SLIDE 18) every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the
earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling
place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find
him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for ‘In him
we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,
‘For we are indeed his offspring.’"
Do you
see it? The Gospel is our worldview. That's why abortion is a gospel issue. God
created man in His image and likeness for his purposes. And because He values
each human life He sent His Son to the cross in an obedient act of sacrificial
love to pay the penalty for our sin that by faith we might be forgiven,
justified and adopted into His family where we will spend eternity in the
presence of He who is both our Creator and our Savior!
Note the
contrast, of the worldview that has become the dominant mindset in 21st century
America. Dr. Francis Schaeffer, defined it over thirty years ago, (SLIDE 19) in his book, A Christian Manifesto (pg. 24). Note the
stark contrast with what
I have just read from the Apostle Paul.
"The
term humanism...means Man beginning from himself, with no knowledge except what
he himself can discover and no standard outside of himself. In this view Man is
the measure of all things, as the Enlightenment expressed it."
In
essence, you have the deification of man according to this worldview. Man is
the center of his own universe. He has put himself in charge, accountable to no
one but himself! It parallels naturalism that denies the existence of God, believing
that matter is all there is. Therefore the cosmos, as someone has said, "...exists
as a uniformity of cause and effect in a closed system," a closed system that
excludes God, and his working in the affairs of man. As someone has said, Man
is but a complex machine "products of valueless processes" and the
afterlife consists of the "extinction of personality and individuality."
In other words, when you die - that's all there is. It's all over. Life is void
of any intrinsic meaning or purpose. This is the premise of Darwinian evolution.
As Dr. D.
James Kennedy & Jerry Newcombe have written, (SLIDE 20)
"Evolution
simply says that the whole universe is made up of nothing but matter; that
matter, time and chance -- the trinity of materialism--have brought all things into
existence. Therefore there is no God." (Lord of All, pg. 24)
This
mindset not only denies the inherent value of each human life but it denies any
notion of purpose to his existence. After all, if man is the product of random
chance he exists in the absence of any transcendent truth or moral compass that
would assign purpose and meaning to his life. This worldview has had a
significant impact on
the fate of the unborn.
The
Founding Fathers, in the Declaration of Independence wrote, (SLIDE 21)
"We
hold these truths to be self evident…that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life,
liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
The
Founding Fathers recognized that the Creator endowed man with the unalienable right
to life - not the Federal Government; not the Supreme Court; not the state of
Florida; but their Creator.
Again,
Dr. Schaeffer, (A Christian Manifesto
pg. 25-26)
"Those
who hold the material-energy, chance concept of reality...not only do not know
the truth of the final reality, God, they do not know who Man is...They have
reduced Man to even less than his natural finiteness by seeing him only as a
complex arrangement of molecules, made complex by blind chance. Instead of
seeing him as something great who is significant even in his sinning, they see
Man in his essence only as an
intrinsically competitive animal, that has no other basic operating principle than
natural selection brought about by the strongest, the fittest, ending on top. And
they see Man as acting in this way both individually and collectively as
society."
Friends,
here is the reason why a modern, educated, highly advanced society can
deliberately and legally kill its own off spring.
Some advocates
for abortion, are now acknowledging that life in the womb is human. But in an
attempt preserve their right to choose abortion, are sliding further and
further down the slippery slope of those who deny the intrinsic value of man. Listen
to the words written by Mary Elizabeth Williams that appeared this last
week (Jan. 23, 2013) in the progressive
online magazine Salon. The title of the
article? "So What if abortion Ends a Life" Subtitle:
"I believe that life starts at conception. And it's never stopped me from
being pro-choice." She
writes,
"While opponents of abortion eagerly describe
themselves as 'pro-life,' the rest of us have had to scramble around with not
nearly as big-ticket words like 'choice' and 'reproductive freedom.' The 'life'
conversation is often too thorny to even broach. Yet I know that throughout my
own pregnancies, I never wavered for a moment in the belief that I was carrying
a human life inside of me. I believe that’s what a fetus is: a human life. And
that doesn’t make me one iota less solidly pro-choice."
She goes
on to explain
"Here’s the complicated reality in which we
live: All life is not equal. That’s a difficult thing for liberals like me to talk about,
lest we wind up looking like death-panel-loving, kill-your-grandma-and-your -precious-baby
storm troopers. Yet a fetus can be a human life without having the same rights
as the woman in whose body it resides. She’s 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 of her. Always."
An astounding admission. A diabolical line of
reasoning. She continues,
"I can say anecdotally that I’m a mom who
loved the lives she incubated...If by some random fluke I learned today I was
pregnant, you bet your [expletive] I’d have an abortion. I’d have the World’s Greatest
Abortion."
When man
is considered to be nothing more than the product of a meaningless, random
evolutionary process over billions of years; or the result of a cosmic accident;
when he is no longer assigned the intrinsic worth given to him by His Creator; he,
therefore, becomes expendable in the struggle of the survival of the fittest. Might
becomes right. And when the Supreme Court gave women the right to kill their
unborn children the inevitable has taken place. You've just heard the admission.
The stronger, in every case the mother, has used her power to take the life of
the weaker, her unborn child, allowing millions of mothers and fathers to
sacrificed their own posterity to further their own convenience.
The
denial of transcendent truth has come at a very high price to our society. When man
becomes his own god, all hell breaks loose in society and the civility of a
civilization is lost.
Dr. Bernard
Nathanson, who helped to legalize abortion and who himself was responsible for 60,000 abortions before his
conversion, wrote,
"The abortion holocaust is beyond the ordinary
discourse of morality and rational condemnation. It is not enough to pronounce it
absolutely evil....The abortion tragedy is a new event, severed from
connections with traditional presuppositions of
history, psychology, politics and morality. It extends beyond the deliberations
of reason, beyond the discernment of moral judgment, beyond meaning itself....This is an evil torn free of its moorings in reason and causality, an
ordinary secular corruption raised to unimaginable powers of magnification and
limitless extremity."
(BernardNathanson,“Pro-Choice1990,”NewDimensions,
October 1990, 38 quoted in Innocent
Blood pg. 109-110)
I believe we are witnessing what the Apostle Paul spoke of in Romans
chapter one verses
eighteen through twenty-one. (ESV)
(SLIDE 22)
"18 For
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known
about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For
his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the
creation of the world, in the things that have been made [natural
revelation] So they are without excuse. (SLIDE 23) 21 For although they knew God, they did
not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their
thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened."
And verse twenty-eight,'And since they did not
see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought
not to be done."
Do you
see why this is a gospel issue? The Gospel has not failed abortion. The church
has failed to apply the gospel to the abortion debate. I have said it before; I know of
no greater issue facing our nation to wrap the gospel around than abortion. Just
turn the page in the book of Romans to chapter three and verses twenty-one
through twenty-six. Paul continues, (SLIDE 24)
"21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (SLIDE 25) 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."
"21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (SLIDE 25) 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."
A
propitiation is a blood sacrifice that covers sin, so that God’s wrath and judgment
will be averted! You see, Jesus died in our place. He paid the penalty for our sins; your sin and
my sin, any and all sin, the sin of abortion, the sin of pushing a girlfriend,
wife or daughter or granddaughter into an abortion, the sin of paying
for an abortion, the sin of performing an abortion, the sin of doing nothing
about abortion. It matters not what sin it is. We can be forgiven and justified
- declared righteous in God's sight - our sin no longer being held against us.
Listen to
what Don Schanzenbach posted just a few days agp [01-21-13] on his blog, "Mission
to Restore America" Roe
v. Wade -- 40 Years and Counting (to 55 Million Abortions), Part 1
"The science is on our side. The
supposedly scientifically-oriented secularists, are refusing to embrace the
science they purport to use as their source of absolute truth. Given the
trouncing they have received in these science-related categories, we would expect the battle should
long ago have turned in our favor. Yet, this has not been the case. Secularists
struggle on with undying emotion in their now scientifically disproven cause..."
He goes on to say,
"The unsaved do not have the
power to act righteously. Their minds are at enmity with God. As a group, they
will not turn toward the
civilization of Christ without His Spirit and prevailing influence... Our only
path to success is to preach and each Biblical truth as it applies to the
abortion issue. The only tool God uses to transform people is His word preached. The culture calls it foolishness, but we call
it the power and wisdom of God. God truly transforms men, and the societies of men,
through the word preached. This then, must be our chosen road for the future."
And I remind
you this morning that the advocates of abortion are not the "enemy." The
doctors who perform abortions and their clients, those associated with the killing of the unborn, and those who
defend a woman's right to kill their unborn are not the enemy.
Paul
identified the enemy when he wrote of the unseen reality behind this kind of
evil, Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)
‘...our
struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in
the heavenly realms.”
You see,
tragically those involved in the abortion industry are themselves the
casualties of Satan's deception and schemes.
To the
Corinthian church Paul wrote, chapter 4, verse 4, (NIV) (SLIDE 26)
“The god of this age has blinded the minds of
unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the
glory of Christ, who is the image of God."
This is
how we respond to 40 years of abortion. Unashamedly proclaim the gospel. But we
must also respond with mercy and compassion to the practical needs of those at
risk for abortion.
In Luke
chapter ten we have the parable of the Good Samaritan. A man on his way to
Jericho from Jerusalem was robbed and beaten and left half dead alongside the
road. Three different individuals had the opportunity to render him assistance
- in all
likely hood to save his life. Two failed to respond to the victim. In Jesus
day, the one
thought to be the least likely to help did so at personal cost to himself.
Jesus
then pointed out that the one who proved to be the neighbor was the one who had
shown mercy to the badly beaten traveller. He then said, "Go and do
likewise."
The Psalmist wrote, Psalm
82:3-4 (SLIDE 27)
"Give justice to the weak and the
fatherless;
maintain the right of the afflicted and the
destitute.
Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
Rescue the weak and the needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
Commenting
on this, Pastor John Ensor, in his book Innocent Blood (pg. 12) writes, (SLIDE 28)
"The commands of Scripture exist that we might
be compelled to do what does not come naturally.
The innocents whom God has commanded us to care
about are precisely the kind of people we are apt to overlook— and would prefer
to overlook...
These people have little or no claim on our love or
kindness. Their problems are not personal to us. They are usually strangers.
But they are personal friends of our God. In their plight they have
cried out to God for help. He has heard their cry. In response, God calls us
to look for them and drop everything, if need be, to come to their aid.
Lest innocent blood be shed."
On January 20, 2011, Rev. Flip Benham of Operation
Save America issued the following statement in a press release.
“Abortion will come to an end, when the Church of
Jesus Christ makes up her mind it will come to an end - not a second sooner.
The responsibility for ending abortion in America rests squarely upon the
shoulders of the Church of Jesus Christ.”
(c) James P. McGarvey All Rights
Reserved
