Sanctity of Life Sunday

What you're about to hear are the sounds of metal BB striking the side of the tin king.

! For every BB that strikes, it represents 10,000 lives lost in the wars of America's past.

The American Revolution.

The Civil War.

World War I.

World War II.

The Korean conflict.

The conflict in Vietnam.

September 11th and the war on terror.

Since 1973, the war will be under the shot.

The war will be under the shot.

The war will be under the shot.

The Holocaust.

Thank you.

God help us.

If you would join me in prayer again.

Great Father in heaven.

Lord, we come before you today.

With heavy hearts, Lord.

Knowing the travesty that surrounds us day by day, Lord.

And we see little change, God.

Lord, we thank you, Lord.

That you give us opportunity to become more aware of what takes place in this world that we live in, Lord.

Lord, we thank you, Lord, that by the shed blood of your son, Jesus, Lord, that we will one day be spared of the anguish and the pain of this earth, Lord.

Lord, we thank you, God, that we have you to lead us through this pilgrimage while we're here.

And we thank you, God, that your gospel will prevail.

Lord, I pray you meet with us this morning as we contemplate statistics and facts.

But most importantly, Lord, that you meet with us in your word.

For we know that is where your power resides.

We pray, God, that you open our hearts to hear what you have for us this morning.

And that we would be forever changed by your word.

And compelled by your Holy Spirit, God.

Thank you, Lord.

In Jesus' name, amen.

I don't think I'm alone in my emotion.

I just perhaps am not as good at suppressing it sometimes.

And I can't promise that it won't well open me again as I speak this morning.

But as we heard the compelling sound of the BBs hitting the tin can and what that represents,

there's more to add to that.

These numbers that I'm about to mention are difficult for us to wrap our mind around.

And they're rather large numbers.

Some of you might be surprised when you hear this, and some of this may be very familiar to you.

But in 2020, according to statistics provided by the World Health Organization,

worldwide, 42.7 million babies were killed in the womb.

That's approximately 125,000 per day.

And the BBs that you just heard represent since 1973 to when that DVD was released.

And at that point, it was approximately 53 million in the United States.

And at this point in our nation's history, that number is well over 67 million.

In the U.S., nearly one half of all pregnancies are unintended, and four in ten of those result in abortions.

That's 22% of all pregnancies in the United States end in abortion.

That's over 3,000 per day in the U.S. alone.

Here locally, Georgia keeps with the national average with approximately 100 a day,

which is over 36,000 a year just in our state.

Those numbers may be shocking to you.

I know that no one's going to find comfort in those numbers.

But because of the circumstances that we find ourselves in as a nation and really around the world with the COVID,

with this disease that's taken so many lives,

I think it is fair to note on Sanctity of Human Life Sunday,

I think it's appropriate that I can tell you that so far since January 1st,

there have been 200,000 COVID deaths worldwide.

There have been 2 million abortions by this point this year.

And over the past 12 months, in about a year,

there have been 2,032,835 COVID deaths as of this morning.

There have been 42.7 million abortions.

So I just say these things to bring to our sight,

to bring into view what we're up against.

And as the songs that we were just listening to

and the catechism that we were repeating,

though we know that we serve a great God.

we have knowledge of, saving knowledge of, a powerful gospel.

And the truth will prevail.

So, please, as we go and we continue through this,

although I want these statistics to ring clear in our minds

to prepare us for what we're up against,

I also want us to remember that our hope is in Jesus Christ.

And this is not a hopeless venture that we are encountering

as we go forward.

So, I want to emphasize that God does care about the pre-born.

We're told in Psalm 139,

there's going to be several texts that I turn to.

I invite you to turn there as well if you can keep up.

But for the sake of time, I'll be moving fairly quickly.

But in Psalm 139, this is probably familiar to a lot of you.

It says in verse 13 through 16, 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.

So, God cares about the pre-born,

and He is sovereign over our lives from conception to death.

He numbers our days,

and He determines when we will be born,

how we will be born,

and how long we will live.

I also want to note that in Genesis,

in the chapter 1 of Genesis, in verse 26,

it says,

And God said,

Let us make man in our image,

after our likeness.

Every human that God creates is created in His image.

These babies in the womb,

and all of us here,

are image bearers of God Himself,

of the Creator of the universe,

the Creator of all things.

We are image bearers.

And an abortion is a destruction of an image bearer of God.

And we also know that Jesus,

the Christ, the promised one,

came into the world through the womb.

He was conceived in the womb of Mary.

Which begs the question,

because it's a question that's often brought up

about when is a human life,

a viable human life.

And I would argue that it's at conception.

As Christians,

we think of the conception of Jesus Christ.

At what point was He the Son of God?

At what point was He incarnate?

At what point did He dwell among us?

And I would argue that He dwelt among us as a fetus

before He died for us on a cross.

Emmanuel, God with us,

came as a baby.

He came as a fetus.

He was born into this filthy place.

And He dwelt among us.

Another way that we recognize that God cares about the preborn

and cares about children

is He blesses the world with children.

All throughout Scripture,

children are always a blessing.

Never a curse.

Children are never given to someone

because God is angry with them.

It's because He wants to bless them.

It's because He wants to bless them.

Children are always a blessing.

And in fact,

throughout the Old Testament,

children were being sacrificed

to the God Magog and to Baal.

And God curses them for that.

He also curses those that have knowledge of this

and stand idly by.

And Jesus says that

it would be better to have

a millstone tied around one's neck

and be thrown to the bottom of the sea

than to cause

one of

the children that believe

to stumble.

So yes,

He cares about

children,

the born and the unborn.

He cares about His image bearers.

And He forbids murder

across the board.

The taking of innocent human life

is murder.

The definition of murder

is the pre-planned

intentional killing

of one person by another.

The definition of abort

is to terminate

or end.

When we think of this

in human terms,

abort, abortion,

it is the terminating

and ending of a human life.

which is strictly forbidden

by the God we serve.

The creator of that very human life.

So, therefore,

I will stand before you today

and I will stand

for this ongoing

is that abortion

is murder.

And I would also

make what I believe

wholeheartedly is a biblical argument

that it is murder

regardless of circumstances.

There is no biblical justification

for murder

regardless of circumstance,

not rape,

incest,

disease,

fetus that is deformed,

not economics,

population control,

and least of all,

inconvenience.

But in saying that,

I know that there is a

biblical

foundation

for hope.

And I know that it is very possible

just statistically speaking,

it is very possible

that more than one person

in this room

has been involved

in

the practice of abortion.

Whether male or female,

it is very possible.

And I want

whomever that might be

in this room

or anywhere else

to know

that Christ came

for broken people.

and that everyone

in this room,

regardless of your background,

you were broken.

Those that are not sick

do not need a physician

and I can assure you

we were all sick.

We were all sick

in our sin

and Jesus came

to save sinners.

And if you find yourself

in that seat

and if you feel like

I stood here

and just called you

a murderer,

let me tell you now

that God died

for murderers.

God died

for

the sake

of our souls.

He was born

of a virgin,

a virgin lived

a sinless life.

He died on the cross

bearing

the punishment

for the sins

of the world.

For my sins.

And then

He arose

victorious

after being buried

in the grave.

He rose

victorious over sin

and ascended to heaven

and at this moment

is praying

for us.

So there's great hope

in that.

So please understand

I am not

standing here

to condemn those

that

have fallen

into the

sin

of being involved

in that way.

In fact,

as we continue

I want to

let the church know

how God says

we are

to respond.

I think it's important

that we recognize

as we

as a church

as we

look forward

to how we may

proceed

as a church

when we are

fighting this battle

is that we must

recognize

that this is

a gospel issue.

Abortion

is a gospel

issue.

It is a

heart issue

and this is not

a war on people.

This is a war

on evil.

I personally

cannot think

of something

more evil

than taking

the life

of the most

defenseless

of humanity.

But be aware

this is

this war

against evil

and not

against people

is a spiritual

warfare

and

I had mentioned

that our hope

is in Christ

Jesus

and I want

us to look

at Ephesians

6.

If you will

turn there

with me

starting in

verse 10.

There are two

parts

that we should

look at

is that we

need to identify

our enemy

and we need

to be prepared

to face him

and neither

of these things

can we do

on our own.

it requires

the work

of Christ

to do

this.

I'll read

starting in

verse 10

finally

be strong

in the

Lord

and in

the strength

of his

might

put on

the whole

armor

of God

that you

may be

able to

stand

against

the schemes

of the

devil

for we

do not

wrestle

against

flesh

and

blood

but

against

the

rulers

against

the

authorities

against

the cosmic

powers

over this

present

darkness

against the

spiritual

forces of

evil in

the heavenly

places

therefore

take up

the whole

armor of

God

that you

may be

able to

withstand

in the

evil day

and having

done all

to stand

firm

stand

therefore

having

fastened

on the

belt of

truth

and having

put on

the breastplate

of righteousness

and as

shoes for

your feet

having put

on the

readiness

given by

the gospel

of peace

in all

circumstances

take up

the shield

of faith

with which

you can

extinguish

all the

flaming

darts

of the

evil

one

and take

the helmet

of salvation

and the

sword of

the spirit

which is

the word

of God

praying

at all

times

in the

spirit

with all

prayer

and

supplication

to that

end

keep alert

with all

perseverance

making

supplication

for all

the saints

and also

for me

that words

may be

given to

me

in opening

my mouth

boldly

to proclaim

the mystery

of the

gospel

for which

I am

an ambassador

in chains

that I may

declare it

boldly

as I

ought to

speak

I hope

as you

read along

with me

in that

that you

find

encouragement

in it

that God

does not

send us

alone

and he

doesn't

send us

unprepared

that he

is with

us

even to

the ends

of the

earth

to the

ends

of time

he's

commissioned

us to

go to

all the

earth

sharing

the gospel

and that's

what our

goal should

be

when we

are faced

with

a travesty

such as

abortion

we remember

all these

numbers that

I've spoken

of in

these

statistics

all of

these

things

that are

so

overwhelming

when we

think of

this

issue

that we

are

faced

with

that

a

tremendous

amount

of

compassion

is

called

for

because

people

do not

women

and men

alike

do not

enter

into

their

teenage

years

and into

college

and then

on

with the

idea

that

you know

what

I think

next year

I'm

going to

have an

abortion

it's

not

something

that they

seek out

it's not

something

they intend

to do

it's a

matter

of

crisis

it's a

matter

of a

circumstance

where in

a lot

of cases

they see

no other

way out

what they

need to

know

is that

there's

hope

there's

hope in

Christ

Jesus

and that

hope is

passed

through

his

church

to them

we are

called

to be

the voice

for those

that have

no voice

and I can

assure you

if you

look for

it

there is

plenty

of

opportunity

to be

that

voice

so when

we read

in

Ephesians

6

10

through

20

that I

just

read

then

please

hear me

when I

say

that God

is the

only one

that can

do these

things

God

can change

the hearts

of kings

kings

the way

that he

changes

the course

of a

river

he is

the king

of kings

and just

the very

I was

thinking

when

before I

walked up

here

about what

the word

ruler means

and it

is the

standard

that all

thing

all else

is going

to be

measured

by

so the

ruler of

a kingdom

he is

the

measuring

stick

for all

things

that

happen

in his

kingdom

he is

the

one

that

determines

what

will

and

will

not

be

lawful

what

will

and

will

not

take

place

in

his

kingdom

what

will

and

won't

go

unpunished

a good

king

is just

and a good

king

is

righteous

and I

can tell

you

that not

all

earthly

kings

even

aspire

to

that

and none

of

them

meet

that

criteria

but

there is

the

king

of

kings

the

standard

which

all

kings

are

measured

by

and

that

is

Jesus

Christ

and

I

can

promise

you

he

is

just

and

he

is

righteous

in

his

perfect

character

he

passes

down

judgment

so

that

is

the

king

that

we

have

hope

in

that

is

the

king

who

is

my

king

and

your

king

and

he's

the

ultimate

king

and

he

will

have

the

last

word

in

his

kingdom

I

hope

you

find

that

as

encouraging

as

I

do

and

as

I

did

as

I

was

contemplating

that

earlier

that

we

don't

serve

an

earthly

king

we

serve

a

king

whose

kingdom

is

not

of

this

earth

in

Matthew

9

36

Jesus

saw

the

crowds

and

he

had

compassion

for

them

because

they

were

harassed

and

helpless

like

sheep

without

a

shepherd

like

all

of

us

once

were

this

is

how

we

should

look

at

those

numbers

because

with

every

number

that

I

mentioned

earlier

in

those

statistics

there

is

a

hurting

woman

a

woman

that

found

herself

in

crisis

harassed

by

the

evil

one

lost

and

helpless

like

a

sheep

without

a

shepherd

secondly

besides

compassion

and

empathy

is

truth

truth

with

love

if

you

turn

to

first

corinthians

13

i

know

these

texts

are

familiar

to

you

but

they

bear

repeating

and

committing

to

memory

and

meditating

on

these

things

if

you

go

to

first

corinthians

13

the

first

three

verses

paul

says

this

if

i

speak

in

the

tongues

of

men

and

of

angels

but

have

not

love

i'm

a

noisy

gong

or

a

clanging

cymbal

and

if

i

have

prophetic

powers

and

understand

all

mysteries

and

all

knowledge

and

if

i

have

all

faith

so

as

to

remove

mountains

but

have

not

love

i

am

nothing

if

i

give

away

all

i

have

and

if

i

deliver

up

my

body

to

be

burned

but

have

not

love

i

gain

nothing

this

is a

call

for

us

to

bring

truth

by

all

means

we

want

to

bring

our

sword

with

us

into

battle

we

want

to

expose

truth

we

want

to

expose

what

is

made

in

darkness

we

want

to

expose

sin

with

god's

word

we

certainly

do

but we

do

so

in

love

we

do

so

with

compassion

and

empathy

my

homework

for

everyone

is

that

to

read

the

rest

of

chapter

13

because

god

teaches

us

how

to

love

through

the

apostle

paul

if

you

continue

reading

you

will

learn

what

love

is

and

we

should

remember

that

the

only

offensive

part

of

the

armor

of

god

the

only

thing

we

go

on

offense

with

is

the

sword

which

is

his

word

the

sword

of

the

spirit

is

his

word

so

if

we

are

to

offend

in

our

battle

against

the

evil

that

we're

faced

with

if

we

were

to

offend

with

the

gospel

offend

with

the

truth

of

the

word

and

not

with

our

own

opinions

and

not

with

our

own

judgments

!

But

with

the

word

that

God

has

given

us

to

fight

with

and

something

that

we

can

certainly

always

do

and

this

is

a

primary

approach

to

all

things

that

we

are

faced

with

but

specifically

with

abortion

we

are

to

pray

and

to

serve

to

make

ourselves

available

to

God

and

to

be

in

his

service

to

seek

first

his

kingdom

and

then

trust

him

that

he

will

provide

everything

else

we

should

pray

that

God

will

move

and

abolish

abortion

pray

that

he

will

send

workers

pray

that

he

would

turn

the

hearts

of

legislators

and

of

leaders

as

I

mentioned

before

he

is

more

than

capable

and

pray

that

he

will

bring

the

loss

to

repentance

that

is

a

primary

mission

that

God

gives

us

as

his

people

as

his

children

is

to

go

into

the

world

sharing

his

gospel

and to

pray

that

the

lost

will

come

to

repentance

he

grants

repentance

to

those

that

believe

and

we

have

to

remember

as

a

church

that

we

are

called

we

are

commanded

to

speak

for

those

who

cannot

speak

for

themselves

and

I

resist

bringing

a

political

tone

to

what

I'm

bringing

forth

this

morning

but

I

will

say

that

speaking

up

for

those

who

cannot

speak

for

themselves

if

there's

anyone

that

cannot

speak

for

themselves

I

would

say

it

would

be

the

unborn

in

the

womb

and

we

should

speak

up

for

them

in

the

halls

of

congress

on

street

corners

in

coffee

shops

and

in

front

of

abortion

clinics

our

goal

is

to

make

Christ

known

to

preach

him

and

him

crucified

to

preach

of his

resurrection

to

preach

of his

ascension

to

preach

of the

hope

that

comes

with

these

things

and

to

preach

that

he

promises

to

return

and

he

always

keeps

his

promises

that

our

hope

is

in

him

and

it

does

not

end

on

this

earth

it

ends

with

his

return

and

him

taking

his

children

home

to

the

place

that

he

has

gone

forth

and

prepared

for

us

this

is

what

we

have

to

share

with

the

world

this

is

what

we

have

to

share

with

those

that

are

considering

abortion

those

that

condone

abortion

those

that

actually

take

scalpel

in

hand

and

do

the

things

that

they

do

!

Christ

died

for

them

too!

And

just

remember

that

wherever

we

go

and

whatever

we

do

and

whatever

we

say

that

we

do

so

with

love

and

that

we

trust

God

with

the

results

he's

capable

and

we

should

never

be

so

confident

in

ourselves

but

we

should

find

our

confidence

in

him

we

should

never

boast

in

ourselves

but

boast

in

him

and

rest

in

the

finished

work

of

Jesus

Christ

the

work

that

none

of

us

could

have

done

because

we

don't

find

favor

with

him

by

the

things

that

we

do

we

find

favor

with

God

by

the

work

that

Christ

has

already

done

so

!

part

a

parting

couple

of

notes

is

one

there

are

numerous

ways

that

you

can

get

involved

because

I

am

certain

that

not

everyone

here

feels

called

to

stand

in front

of an

abortion

clinic

holding

a

picketing

or

necessarily

to

try to

convince

people

that are

walking

in

that

there's

another

way

we're

not

all

called

to

do

that

we're

not

all

called

to

stand

in

a

pulpit

or

preach

we're

not

all

called

to

be

a

vocal

advocate

that

goes

in

before

congress

but

we

are

all

called

to

join

the

fight

we

are

all

called

to

speak

up

for

those

who

cannot

speak

for

themselves

some

of us

will

only

pray

and

I

say

only

because

that

seems

so

small

the

reality

is

that

that

is

the

most

integral

and

overarching

part

of

what

we're

going

to

do

is

we're

going

to

plead

with

God

the

one

who

has

the

power

to

change

things

it's

him

that

we

should

call

on

so

if

praying

is

the

one

thing

that

you

can

do

then

do

that

relentlessly

faithfully

calling

on

the

Lord

to

bring

change

but

also

there

are

other

!

opportunities

you can

go door

to door

if that's

what God

calls you

to

you certainly

can

go and

stand in

front of

abortion

clinics

and

speak

for the

speechless

definitely

and I can

assure you

that God

has called

me to do

something

I'm doing

a small