When Jesus Is King: A Biblical Answer to Abortion

Thank God for his word. Amen. You know, we have to decide, church,

we have to decide whether we are going to accept the culture's word on an issue

or if we're going to the almighty word of God.

That when we sang that song earlier, you are my king, you do realize that if

Jesus is your king, he calls the shots. You don't get a vote.

It's not a democracy in the kingdom of God. God is the King.

God is the King. And so remember that today, if Jesus is not your King, you're not a Christian.

Okay. Remember that. And if God's word is not your authority and your source of truth.

You have a serious issue and you need to repent.

You need to repent. And that's our challenge today as we talk about the sanctity

of life today and these life issues.

And this very first question today is just simply, what's the biblical response to abortion?

I told you this is a hot button topic today. So as we go to this first slide,

as you see this question here, you know, there are many powerful arguments against

pro-abortionist claims, some of which will be presented later in this message.

But if these arguments, again, are rooted in anything less than the rock of

God's holy word, all that's actually happening, church, is a comparison of one

person's ideas to another.

That's man's view, right?

That's our culture's view. But with that in mind, again, there are at least

three fundamental questions concerning abortion that must be biblically addressed.

When does life begin? What is the entity in the mother's womb?

What is its value? And a quick survey of scripture actually reveals to us that

God has authoritatively addressed each of these issues in his word.

Remember the scripture I read earlier?

It says, for you formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works.

My soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being

made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

Your eyes saw my unformed substance. In your book were written every one of

them, the days that were formed for me when as yet there was none of them.

That's Psalm 139, 13 through 16. I want y'all to notice in that passage all

the personal pronouns. Do you see it?

That's used by the psalmist to describe God's interaction with him before his birth.

God is unmistakably here in his word engaging a person, a human being inside the mother's womb.

Every single time the Bible speaks of the unborn, they're referenced as a person,

a living human being. I want you to listen to this.

This is from Exodus 21, verses 21 through 24. Listen closely.

Exodus 21:21–24

When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman so that her children come

out, but there is no harm,

the one who hit her shall surely be fined as the woman's husband shall impose

on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine.

But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye,

tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.

God sure thinks it's a person, right?

Let's talk about a pregnant woman, right?

John, excuse me, Job 31 verse 15 says, does not he who made me in the womb make

Job 31:15

him and did not one fashion us in the womb?

Jeremiah 1 5 says, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

And before you were born, I consecrated you.

I appointed you a prophet to the nations.

In Isaiah 49, 1 through 5, listen to this church.

It says, listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar.

The Lord called me from the womb.

From the body of my mother, he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword.

In the shadow of his hand, he hid me. He made me a polished arrow.

In his quiver, he hid me away. And he said to me, you are my servant Israel

in whom I will be glorified.

But I said, I've labored in vain.

I've spent my strength for nothing and vanity. Yet surely my right is with the

Lord and my recompense with my God.

And now the Lord says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant,

to bring Jacob back to him that Israel might be gathered to him.

For I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has become my strength.

And then Luke chapter one, listen to this. Luke 1 verse 39 through 44 says,

Luke 1:39–44

in those days, Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a town in Judah.

And she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.

And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb and

Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she exclaimed with a loud cry,

blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb.

And why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears,

the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

The psalmist, y'all, declares that not only did God form and know him in the

womb, God knew all the days and details of his life before they began.

In fact, this sentiment in a passage we just read earlier, Jeremiah 1.5,

God tells Jeremiah, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you.

So not only does life begin at fertilization, but each person is known in the

mind of God from eternity past according to the Word of God.

So if you believe God's word, if you're a Christian, then you will stand on the word of God.

Now, if you want to go the way of this world and this culture,

and you want to trump by man's words over God's words, then you just choose

your own path because that path is going to lead to destruction.

What's the value of every person Eastwood known and formed by God during their stay in the womb?

Biblically, the value and personhood of an individual inside of the womb is

never differentiated from somebody outside of it in Scripture.

As established by Genesis 127, every person, no matter their age, one second to 100,

or location, by the way, in the womb or on the moon, is made in the image of God.

Every human church is stamped with the Imago Dei and thus has intrinsic,

permanent, God-appointed value and dignity.

Human life is so unique, so precious. If somebody purposely takes the life of

a human being, the cost in scripture is their life, no exceptions.

God declares in Genesis 9-6, Whoever sheds human blood, by humans shall their blood be shed.

For in the image of God has God made mankind.

The God's word is clear, Eastwood.

What exists in the mother's womb is a person made in the image of God.

The Imago Dei, known by their maker, before fertilization even,

purposely taking that life at any point, church, is murder.

According to God's word. You don't like it? That's okay.

If you don't like it, you go your own way. But if you want to follow Jesus,

if you want to be a follower of Christ, then you have to follow his word.

Because just saying the name of Jesus, just wearing a t-shirt saying,

I love Jesus, does not make you a Christian, okay? I want you to get that today.

Those who keep his word prove they're disciples, right?

Those who follow his word, those who hold fast to God's word.

Every human is stamped with value. In fact, God, the giver and sustainer of

life has not left us guessing.

This is not something that's hard to actually tell the world and each other

what God's Word says about it.

There's no gray here. It's black and white.

Well, that brings us to our next question today. You probably hear this one a lot.

Isn't abortion a woman's legal right and choice?

It's often said that abortion is a complicated issue.

It's really not, like I told you. Now, the circumstances surrounding abortion

can be horrendously complex, but not abortion itself.

If the unborn isn't a person, abortion is a non-issue.

But since it's known conclusively from God's holy word that the unborn is a

person, abortion is murder.

And with the beginning and value of life definitely defined by the author of life himself,

answering the plethora of questions, if you will, you know, of pro-abortion

or pro-choice arguments is remarkably easy in light of God's word.

But you hear this one. You hear this as well under this. Abortion is a woman's

right and choice, right?

Nowhere in the Bible, I want you to know Eastwood, or in civilized legal codes,

around the world, does a man or woman have the legitimate right to choose to

murder an innocent human being, no matter where they reside?

Well, as you see on this next slide, a woman can do what she wants with her body.

The Bible vehemently denounces this.

God, the author and sustainer of life, has given clear instructions on what

humans can and cannot do with their bodies.

No one, get this today, church, no one has total autonomy regarding their body

because everybody is accountable to God for how they use the gift of their lives

and bodies in accordance with his word.

And additionally, and erotically, I think many man-made laws,

just think about it for a minute, just limit what people, women included,

can do with their bodies.

One example is that public nudity in America is illegal. Aren't you thankful, right?

But here's the other major issue. In the mother's womb lives an entirely different

person who's not part of the mother's body.

The Bible always addresses the womb-residing baby as a distinct and unique person.

Biology, by the way, we need to get back to some real science,

right? Biology, by the way, and genetics bear this out.

Come on, let's think a minute. Consider that roughly half of the babies living

in the mother's wombs are males.

And also recognize that each baby in the womb represents unique combination

of genetic information never before seen and never to be seen again.

Well, what about this one? In some places, some states, or we just experienced

this not long ago, abortion is legal.

Well, the word or idea of abortion appears nowhere in America's Constitution. Did you know that?

It was legalized in 1973 when a majority of Supreme Court justices interpreted

the Constitution in a particular way.

But being legal, hear me out, does not make something right.

For many years, it was legal to own slaves in America and illegal,

by the way, for them or women to vote.

Pretty much everything that Hitler did in Nazi Germany was legal.

Anybody want to reasonably argue today that Hitler was morally right?

As an aside, y'all, in the culturally dominant worldview of secularism that

we see today, why would it matter if a woman or anybody else had their rights

stripped away and their bodies abused?

Because in evolution, women like everyone else are just bags of random chemical reactions.

Who cares what one set of chemical reactions does to the other set, if you believe that?

And if life is all about survival of the fittest, church?

It makes perfect sense for males who are generally stronger to dominate females

who are generally weaker.

If there's no God, church, morality is utterly relative and might makes right.

Don't miss this. The idea that women are equivalent to men in value is only

consistently found in the Christian worldview,

starting way back in Genesis, where both are made in God's image, Imago Dei.

How about this? Isn't it just a fetus, unviable outside the womb?

Again, if the Christian engages these questions with a biblical worldview,

you, they're not that hard.

So this is just a fetus or a clump of cells.

As we discussed earlier, church, this is biblically impossible.

What's in the mother's womb, according to the Bible? A baby,

a human being, a person made in whose image?

God's image. Who says? God does.

And since He's omniscient and the creator of life, church. He authoritatively knows.

But it's unviable outside the womb. True, the unborn baby cannot survive on its own out of the womb.

Neither can the newborn carry to full term, by the way.

Would it be okay, y'all, to kill a newborn baby because they can't survive on

their own? How about a toddler?

They need just as much help, right? What about a teenager? I mean,

see, my voice is even cracking with that.

Some parents are convinced, y'all, that their teens would die on their own, right?

And if some adults were honest sitting here today, most adults need help in surviving in life too.

The point, autonomous survival, viability, and even one's contribution to society,

y'all, doesn't establish humanity or value.

God determined the significance of every person when he made them in his image.

What if it's conceived in rape or incest, as we see on the screen here?

Although abortion itself, I said earlier, isn't complicated,

sometimes the circumstances around it are heinous and appallingly complex.

The grief, think about it, the brokenness and the emotional stress of the victim

of such horrific crimes are real. They do scream for justice.

They also demand the utmost love, church, care and wisdom.

From trustworthy people. However, the reality of the pain of the victim does

not change the reality of the person in the womb.

A unique individual adorned with God's image, innocent of the events leading

to their existence, dwells in the mother's womb.

Neither the circumstances of conception nor the moral bankruptcy of the father,

nullify the humanity of the baby in the womb.

In no way would justice be served by killing the unborn child for the crimes of the father.

Instead, punish the rapist.

It's worth noting, though, listen to this, it's worth noting that the percentage

of abortions related to rape, incest, or endangerment to the mother's life,

we're going to cover that next, is less than one percent of all abortions.

Did you know that? Less than one percent.

Well, that leads us to this question. What if the mother's life is endangered?

This is another example, as we've been studying about on Wednesday nights,

of the consequences of living in a broken and cursed creation.

They're extremely rare situations, y'all, where pregnancy or complications during

pregnancy genuinely put the life of the mother at risk, the child's life at risk, or both.

In these scenarios, the primary goal is what? To save both lives,

as both are made in whose image?

God's image. If that's not possible, everything should be done to save the mother's life.

If the child tragically dies during the process of saving the mother's life,

it is a heart-wrenching consequence of living in a fallen, sin-cursed world.

But think about this. It's also justifiably possible that the mother could choose

to risk her life to save her child's life.

Obviously, the life and health of both is preferred, but when a choice must

be made, there's no greater love than to lay down one's life for another.

And what a powerful display, by the way, of the gospel that would be.

Well, we're talking a lot about abortion. Let's talk just a moment about this

question because this comes up more and more in our society.

Shouldn't people have the right to die?

Suffering and death, as we've been talking about on Wednesday nights,

are two unavoidable realities that every human regrettably faces. Isn't that right?

Why? Well, Genesis 3.

Death and the curse entered this world because of Adam's sin,

just as God had borne in Genesis 2.17. Listen to this.

But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat.

For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely what?

Die. You shall surely die.

You see, Adam's sin nature was passed on to all of humanity,

resulting in every person sitting here today being born a sinner by nature and

consequently by choice. Listen to this, Romans 3.23.

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of who?

God. Romans 5.12 coming up.

The plague of death was spread to all. Romans 5.12 says, Therefore,

just as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin,

and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

Romans 6, 23 says, for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is

eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In Hebrews 9, verse 27, listen, church, it says, and justice is appointed for

Hebrews 9:27

man to die once. And after that comes what?

Judgment. Judgment. You see,

what's the appropriate response when suffering and death come calling?

Well, enter the issue of euthanasia, the intentional ending of a life to relieve pain and suffering.

Some call it mercy killing, but the Bible actually calls it murder, church.

Acceptance of this practice is rapidly growing, and Christians need to be ready

to respond. Again, euthanasia at its core, Eastwood, is the desire to actually

take something that doesn't belong to humanity. Hear me out.

Control. A yearning to be like God all the way back in Genesis 3, 5.

Listen to this. For God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened

and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

In other words, you'll become your own little God, little G-O-D, right?

The thinking is that people can't dodge the certainty of death, can we?

But at least they can control this how and when.

And that reflects that secular doctrine of autonomy that we talked about earlier.

It's my life. Have you ever said this or heard this? It's my life.

I live it on my terms and I'll end it on my terms.

And in evolutionary secular thinking, that makes sense.

People are just highly evolved animals. And if they want to die,

fine. Their death really is no different than the death of a roach or a fern.

Actually, their death would free up resources for others to consume and enjoy, right?

It could be argued, and some people do, by the way, that those consuming too

much of society's resources without adequate contribution have a duty to die.

Y'all, don't miss this today. These are the ideas. Those are the ideas of fallen, fallible, finite men.

What does the authoritative word of God say?

Humans aren't animals, are they? Every person, again, church,

reflects God's image, and each life is precious beyond human comprehension to God.

No one has the right to intentionally take the life or to murder another human

being, even if it's with good or merciful intentions, even if the person requests death,

even if the person takes their own life, murder is the verdict in each case.

The Bible explicitly forbids murder, Exodus 20, 13.

In fact, God takes it so seriously, as we saw earlier, that if you murder,

you die. The biblical bottom line, each life church, even your own, belongs to who?

God. As sovereign creator, he's the giver and sustainer of life.

Listen to this, Acts 17, 25 and 28. Listen, he says, now is he served by human

hands as though he needed anything,

since he himself gives to all mankind, listen, life and breath and everything.

For in him we live and move and have our being, even as some of your own poets

have said, for we indeed are his offspring.

And he's also the apporter of death, by the way.

Hebrews 9, 17, for a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force

as long as the one who made it is alive.

And also, as sovereign creator here, God decides when life begins and how it ends. Listen to Job.

Job 14.5 and Job 33.4. Listen to this church. Don't let distractions rob you.

Since his days are determined, and the number of his months is with you,

and you have appointed his limits so that he cannot pass,

the spirit of god has made me and the

breath of the almighty what gives me

life gives me life y'all this jurisdiction here is the creator's alone and since

he's omniscient since he's omnipotent and he's perfect in love mercy goodness

and justice his judgments are always right church.

Many biblical passage, they proclaim the bad news of death because of sin.

But you know what they do? They go immediately into the gospel,

into the good news. I want you to listen to just a few.

Romans 5, 12 through 21 and Romans 6, 23 again, it says, Therefore,

just as sin came into the world through one man, that was Adam, right?

And death through sin. And so death spread to all men because all sinned.

For sin was indeed in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.

Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not

like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come,

talking about Jesus, the second Adam.

But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's

trespass, that's Adam's sin, Much more have the grace of God and the free gift

by the grace of that one man, Jesus Christ, abound for many.

And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin.

For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation,

but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification through Jesus, right?

The second Adam. For if because of one man's trespass, death reigned through

that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the

free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness

by Jesus leads to justification in life for all men.

For as by the one man's disobedience, the many were made sinners,

so by the one man's obedience, the many will be made righteous.

Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased,

grace abounded all the more, hallelujah, so that as sin reigned in death,

grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Listen to this couple of verses quickly. 1 Corinthians 15, 21, 22.

For as by one man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made what?

Alive, alive. And then 1 Corinthians 15, 26 just simply tells us that the last

enemy to be destroyed is death, is death.

Well, it leads us, I think, to an important lesson today. And I'm closing with this, that we learn.

Go back one, please. That we learn from Rehoboam for Christians today.

You know, and hang with me here. In 1 Kings chapter 12, Solomon's son,

1 Kings 12 · chapter mention

Rehoboam, becomes king. You get the picture.

The people of Israel tell Rehoboam they'll gladly serve him if he actually lightens

their workload Solomon had placed on them.

So Rehoboam actually says, return in three days and we'll talk.

And during those three days, church, he actually gets counsel from the older

advisors of his father and then from his friends.

The older advisors actually say, listen to the people. And his friends actually tell him, guess what?

He's the man now, and he'll be tougher than his father he needs to be.

And Rehoboam gladly listens to his friends.

The people reject him as king church, and the kingdom splits as a result of

it. That just gives you a little backdrop.

And if you're reading the account, it's apparent church that Rehoboam didn't

value the advice of the elder advisors.

And that brought me up a question. Why talk to them at all?

It would seem, don't miss this, that's what he's expected to do procedurally as a new king.

It's what he's supposed to do, in other words, so that's what he does.

But get this, church, as soon as Rehoboam checks that box and hears the advice

that he's not a fan of, immediately he goes to those who will tell him what

he wants to hear and probably what he was already thinking.

Here's the connection. Don't miss it.

How often do we as Christians treat the Bible the way Rehoboam treated the elder advisors?

We have or are asked a question, church, about the origins of life,

morality, sexuality, homosexuality, marriage, gender, salvation, abortion, you name it.

And we may initially go to the Bible for an answer, but because that's what

Christians are supposed to do, right?

We check the box, in other words, like Rehoboam. but

yet as soon as the bible's answer isn't what

we expected or what we wanted or what seems

it seems too controversial or we just close that outdated book and we quickly

seek the advice of who our friends our other peers and our culture those around

us whose ideas are more modern less combative or maybe even an agreement with

the culture and probably in line with what we're already thinking.

Of course, I want y'all to get this today. That's exactly how Christians are not to treat scripture.

God's word, Eastwood, is not a buffet.

I'll have some of John 3, 16, and some of Jeremiah 29, 11, typically out of

context, but I'll pass on Genesis 1 through 11, and Matthew 19, 4 and 5.

Church, the word of holy God is not optional.

It's the absolute authority and truth for every topic, every topic.

Either we bow and submit to what the Bible says on any given issue or we are

in rebellion against it.

Your choice, you're gonna follow man, the culture, or you're gonna follow God and his word.

Let's not be like Rehoboam, who went to the elder advisors, y'all, just to check the box.

Let's be sure, church, that we're training ourselves and those under our care

to sincerely seek answers from God's holy word as the final authority.

Remember, you are my king, is he really?

Whether we intuitively like what it says or not, we make every thought bow to

scripture and obey Christ the King.

Listen to this. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against

the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to what?

To obey Christ, to obey Christ.

When Christians do this church, it's then and only then that we have powerful

answers to today's scientific and moral question,

because unleashing the truthfulness and authority of all of God's word,

we demolish arguments raised against the knowledge of God,

effectively contend for the faith, we encourage the believer,

we challenge the skeptic, and we clear a path for what?

The gospel, the good news, amen?

Listen to these last few verses. Jude 1, 3 says, beloved.

Although I was eager to write to you about our common salvation,

I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that

was once for all delivered to the saints. Are you contending for the faith today, Eastwood?

2 Timothy 2, 24 and 25 says this, and the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome,

but kind to everyone, able to teach,

patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness,

God may perhaps grant them repentance, leading to a knowledge of the truth.

The last one, Colossians 4, 6, let your speech always be gracious,

seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer every man.

You see, y'all, we really love people. We tell them the truth.

If you love somebody, you tell them the truth, but you do it in kindness and

grace and gentleness y'all god's word is not silent on this topic.

God values life. And I want to say this as we invite and come just a moment to the invitation.

Let me just say, because I read this at the end here about salvation.

When God's judgment is talked about, there's always that salvation.

I want you to know today that there's good news, because if you,

if there's somebody here or somebody you know who maybe has had an abortion,

you can be made right with God. You can be forgiven.

Your life's not over. You can ask God to forgive you.

And you can ask God to change you from the inside out. And maybe you just didn't

know at a certain time. Maybe you didn't realize what God's word really said.

I'm just saying, look, sins can be forgiven. That's why Jesus came.

Don't think you're hopeless and helpless because maybe you've been involved.

It wouldn't just have to be an abortion.

It could actually be in 1 Corinthians 6. We read this long list of stuff this morning.

I mean, just listed it all out, talking about all these sins and dealing with

murder and homosexuality and covetousness and all that and stealing and all

this sexual immorality.

Doesn't matter what it is because it's said in that passage,

and such were some of you.

But now you've been washed, you've been sanctified, you've been cleansed by

the precious blood of Christ. You can be forgiven today.

I wouldn't want you to leave this place thinking that the condemnation is sitting

on your head, but you've offered forgiveness today.

And now that you know the truth, church, you have a responsibility.

Are you going to be a warrior of Christ? Are you going to be in God's army?

Are you going to stand for the unborn?

Are you going to stand for life? Are you going to do what's comfortable with the culture?

It's up to you. It's up to you. I make no apology with standing on the authority of God's word.

What I just preached to you today in many circles, even in the United States

today, will be called hate speech.

But I submit to you that it is the love of Almighty God in action.

Because if I told you a lie, I would hate you if I didn't tell you the unadulterated

truth of God's holy word.

You can be forgiven. Your heart can be changed.

Some of you may, it may not be the issue of life or abortion.

It might actually be you've read something in God's word and you don't like it.

You're just going to check the box or you're going to obey your king.

That's the question today. Is Jesus really your king?

Because a king calls the shots.

The king reigns. And we have a king who is good, a king who is loving,

and a king who will be worshipped and adored. Amen. Let's stand to pray.