Abortion, Idolatry & God’s Glory | Pastor Daniel Batarseh

I need you to just turn with me to Ephesians Chapter 5 in our

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

Bibles together and Ephesians Chapter 5.

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

As many of you know, this upcoming Saturday we as a church

are preparing to head and make our way into the heart of the

city and partnership with Love Life Ministries with the purpose

of being the light of Christ in a very dark place.

And that dark place is just outside of one of the largest

abortion clinics in Chicago. And our hope and prayers, that

our presence, our worship, our supplication, and the message of

the gospel of Jesus Christ will penetrate whatever darkness

abides and will even grip the hearts of those who are planning

to head into that very clinic, to exterminate gifts of God.

Those who bear His image, those who have been created for

purpose. And with that mission and view,

it seems appropriate for us to come under God's word this

afternoon and to hear a message that will hopefully awaken our

hearts, awaken our hearts to not just realize the great

opportunity that we have before us, but to realize our mandate

as believers in Christ. So my my goal in this, my prayer

in this is not that you would be riled up or inspired for a

single event, but that through the word you would be equipped,

you'd be inspired. You'd be sharpened in your

daytoday context, in your conversations and in your

encounters, especially with those who believe it very

differently than you and I do concerning this issue.

And before we dive in, I want us to begin by pointing you to a

verse that will serve as a reminder to what one of our

duties are as followers of Jesus Christ Ephesians 5 down here in

verse 11, take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness,

but instead expose them. Take no part in the unfruitful

works of darkness, but instead expose them.

If you ask believers today what practically has changed in your

life after you have experienced the new birth, you might get a

summary like this, at least in the first part of verse 11.

Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness they would

They would explain that they no longer participate in the deeds

of the flesh. They no longer associate with

ungodliness. They might even elaborate and

explain how their desires concerning sin and righteousness

have been marvelously altered because of the indwelling work

of the Holy Spirit. And all of that is right.

That would be correct. That would be one of the signs

that the Lord has indeed changed you and transformed you.

But that's only half of what Paul has said.

Paul says here in the second part, but instead expose them.

He explains in this one verse how Christian responsibility is

defined by much more than what you no longer do.

He says that we are also known for what we actively engage in.

And so, as a born again Christian, I not only testify

and confess what I used to do, I now avoid.

That's that's half of your reality.

Moreover, you might equally it may must equally confessed what

I used to ignore, I now do. And that's exactly what we see

here. There is this holistic view of

what the Christian is, and we see here that there is a work.

One of the duties of the believer is to expose is to

expose. And the word expose there is

used in many ways in the New Testament, the ESV, it's the

same word used for rebuke. It's the same word used for

reprove. It's the same word used for

convict. It denotes the call to point out

fruits of darkness and to call it out for what it is.

And that can be done in two ways.

There is the direct approach and there is the indirect approach.

And you can argue that in Ephesians chapter 5, Paul is

Ephesians 5 · chapter mention

making a case for exposing the works of darkness indirectly,

indirectly. Where do I get that from?

We'll look back here at verse 5 and it says here, let there be

no filthiness. Excuse me, for you may be sure

of this, that everyone who is sexually moral or impure, who is

covetous, that is an idol that has no inheritance, has no

inheritance in the Kingdom of Christ.

And God. Let no one deceive you with

empty words. For because of these things the

wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

Therefore do not become partakers with them.

For at one time you were in darkness, but now you are light

in the Lord walk as children of light.

When the Scripture uses the word walk in your spirituality, it

speaks of daily behavior, daily conduct.

And here we see that with the backdrop of walking his children

in light, he exhorts the people of God to expose darkness.

You know what that means. It's very simple that your

honesty, your purity, your generosity, your selflessness,

your gracious speech contains convicting power.

It is able to disturb the darkness around you.

And that calls for us to be very mindful of how we walk.

Because the less that my walk is in accordance with the character

of Christ, the more of this indirect influence becomes

muddied and dimmed. And that's why he says here it's

confirmed in verse 13, he says. But when anything is exposed by

light, it becomes visible. For anything that becomes

visible as light, therefore it says a Waco sleeper and arise

from the dead in Christ will shine on you.

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as

wise. Be careful, because there is an

element indirectly of how your presence and your practice can

actually draw people away from darkness.

And so Paul's primary exposing work here, what he has in view,

is more what I just said, presence and practice more than

merely preaching and pleading. Nevertheless, you can take that

truth and it can lead you in the wrong direction.

And there are people who comfort themselves by by saying, well,

if if that has the power to actually cause darkness to

tremble, to cause people in darkness to see light, to be

convicted by the warmth of that light, then there is no need for

me to verbally deal with this. There is no there is no need for

me to speak out against these things directly and clearly.

And that would be terribly wrong.

Terribly wrong. Your silent testimony and mine,

though it is effective in many cases, can only go so far, can

only go so far. It can only do so much.

And there are times and many times we're exposing Includes

the open challenge and confrontation of evil.

Jesus said in John 77, the world cannot hate you, but it hates me

because I testify about it that its works are evil.

I testify, I bear witness. I explicitly say about the works

of this world that it's evil, and that's why the world hates

me. A lot of people who are not

Christian are willing to tolerate with your niceness and

your gentleness and your holiness in terms of not

participating in what they participate in.

But the moment you say something, the moment you speak

out, the moment you address it, that's where persecution really,

really, really takes on a new level.

And yet it is still a responsibility.

It's the duty of the believer. And one of the reasons why this

is absolutely crucial for Christians to understand is

because in this battle between truth and lie, in this war for

souls, the devil is constantly attempting to keep sin in the

dark from not coming to any light.

And he has many clevers ways of doing this.

And one of the most subtle things that he does concerning

sin is he loves to and every generation repackage its label

to give it new language to remove this sting of certain

things so that it's it's more palatable and digestible for the

Sinner. And so we're not, we're not

hearing about fornication anymore.

We hear about recreational sex. What we would consider adultery

is not really adultery for many. It's an open relationship.

You talk about pornography being shameful and disgusting.

No. No, it's not pornography.

It's adult entertainment. Abortion.

Is it murder? No.

It's a woman's right to choose. And so there's a catalog of

examples of how the enemy is constantly working around the

clock to keep sin in the dark and to convince that sin is not

unfruitful, that it's fruitful. And so he changes the language

around it, he blurs the consequences of it, and he

promises empty rewards with it. Always, and based on what Paul's

words are here to the church, we are, according to the Spirit,

somewhat the conscience of the culture, the conscience of the

culture. And so when the culture

constantly through its different means, attempts to justify

wickedness and repackage it and falsely promise things with it,

and dismisses the dangers of it, both in this life and then the

life to come, it's the Church's duty to say no.

This is what it really is, and This is why it is wrong and

evil. And this is what will happen if

you continue in it. We are the one who rings the

alarm in society. And so if you silence the

church, you silence the conscience of the culture.

If you shut down the church, so many things will occur as a

result because the very DNA of this amazing institution is to

be a source of preservation, preservation and healing.

And so there are so many angles. I know you can.

There's so many ways of approaching the subject.

In preparation for this Saturday, I I just want to maybe

help you think about something that you haven't thought about

because quite honestly, even among believers, not everybody

is very passionate about this issue.

Not everybody is on board with why this is absolutely vital to

take on and to expose. And I want to change your mind

according to the word of God. Not because of my personal

passions and desires, not because what I am fired up about

necessarily, but because of what God's heart is.

And so I want to just separate our thoughts in a very brief

time together in three ways. Very simple.

I hope you won't forget it. We're just going to look at the

problem, the cause, the solution.

The problem, the cause and the solution.

Since 1973, more than 60 million.

I mean, we throw these numbers around and we don't just take a

breath and digest what that really entails.

Over 60 million abortions have taken place in this country

alone. In 2020, approximately 20% of

pregnancies in the United States ended in abortion. 20%, not 2

201 Researcher calculated that 51.5% of pregnancies in the

District of Columbia were terminated were terminated in

the year of 2020. So a little over half of the

pregnancies in DC ended up in abortion.

A little over than half 961,000 abortions took place in the US

in the year of 2021. close to a million babies were slaughtered

just two years ago. And I can go on and on and on

with statistics from different angles on this and it will shock

you, I'm sure, and maybe even cause you to be appalled.

But I want you to think deeper. What makes this specific

Holocaust so diabolical? What is it about this bloodshed,

apart from the obvious, that should cause our hearts to boil

with righteous indignation? And there are many thoughts to

consider. But allow me to give you just

one that I don't think we hear enough in our discussion as

believers. At the core of it all, beneath

the layers of politics and science and medicine and

philosophy, abortion is ultimately A vicious assault on

the glory of God. It is an attack.

It is an attempt to overthrow God's glory in many ways.

And if you and I are a people, OK, you're not passionate about

this issue. You're not as concerned about

it, fine. But if you are a person who is

passionate about the glory of God, then you will take this

subject, this issue very seriously.

We will hate it because we love the glory of God.

We will denounce it because we are people who promote the glory

of God. We will seek its end because we

are people who seek to expand the glory of God.

But what's the connection? What's the connection between

the preborn being terminated and God's glory?

And the Bible says many things in connection to it.

And one of the things that your heart and mind go to, I'm sure,

is that how the Bible describes the Lord of the author of life

and the canvas of his handiwork is the womb.

In fact, that was the theme of David's praise, at least one of

the themes in that masterpiece of Psalm 139 when he

contemplated that nine month project that takes place

thousands of times a day across this globe.

The meditation of it caused explosive praise, and it should

for you and I as well turn with me to Psalm 139, verse 1314.

The Psalma says something that you know very well, 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. Listen, this is much bigger than

fuzzy sentiments in a journal entry.

There is massive implications about how mankind perceives who

God is in light of the miracle that takes place in the womb

every second of our day. Life in the womb is a means for

God to receive glory. It testifies of His wisdom.

It declares His power. It reveals His Majesty.

It challenges the One who might deny intelligent design.

And yet, at the same time, it comforts the heart of the

believer who is reminded that he was created and she was created

with and for purpose. It's manifold in its message.

That one thing is manifold in its message.

And here's another glorious snippet of this in another

Psalm. You're there.

And Psalms go to Psalm 71, verse 5.

Psalms 71:5

Psalm 71, verse five. What a beautiful sound this

afternoon. For you, oh Lord, are my hope,

my trust, Oh Lord, from my youth upon you I have leaned from

before my birth. You are he who took me from my

mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.

Do you see this? Here's a psalmist now

contemplating on God's faithfulness.

And he is contemplating it because he needs to be reminded

of it. And the very moments that he is

penning these words, he's rehearsing.

And what does he look back to, to console his soul of God's

providential goodness in the Today?

Well, God's providential goodness at his most vulnerable

stages in life, He looks back And he says, even from my youth

you were my trust, and I leaned upon you from before my birth.

What is the Holy Spirit conveying here?

Here is this man expressing that he knew the hand of God's

provision and protection before he even entered into this world,

so to speak. And David says the same thing as

Psalm 22, verse 9 and 10. He says it so clearly that from

Psalms 22:9

the womb God was his God, and that he trusted in his God even

as he nursed at his mother's breasts.

Think about the the just the amazing wisdom of that here.

The Psalmist saying if I need to, if I need to bring relief to

myself now, wondering where God is in his leadership of my days,

oh, then I can just look back to when the days I was in my

mother's womb and how I was totally depended upon everything

for my survival and my growth and my nourishment.

God was there. God was there then, and if he

was there for me then surely he will be with me now.

And Satan wants to destroy that message.

He wants to erase that message. He wants people not just to see

the glory of God in creation, but the faithful of God,

faithfulness of God in creation, in the development of his

creation. And so this is an all out

assault and affront to God's character.

In so many ways, the Bible makes the connection so clear between

our development in the womb as a testimony of his loving

faithfulness that we can trust throughout our lives.

And when that thought is firmly fixed in your belief system,

when it's there, you're able to recognize abortion as something

more than the elimination of a human life, as grotesque as that

is. You will also see it as an

attempt to delete God's fingerprint in our world beneath

all the layers. This is a Satanic plot.

Birth in hell. Birth out of a hatred for our

God that seeks to mute the glorious testimony that comes

through God's most prized and crowned creation, those who are

made in His image. And as I meditated on this, I

thought to myself, well, it's not only an assault on the glory

of God in his creative work through human life, but also in

his purposes that are performed through life.

How many times in the Bible are we told of destinies that were

determined in the womb? In the womb?

How many times do we see both an old and new God establishing

callings while those babies are being woven together?

And the one that came to mind is one of the earliest examples of

that with Isaac and Rebecca. And in Genesis 2522, we're told

the children struggled together within her.

Notice how the Bible describes Jacob and ESA on the womb.

The children. Not the tissue, not the clump of

cells, the children. The children struggled together

within her. And she said, if it is thus, why

is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of the

Lord. She went to pray about this

jostling that was occurring in her belly.

And God hears her prayer because God cares about what's taking

place in that womb. And in verse 23 it says, And the

Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb and two peoples

from within you shall be divided, the one shall be

stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.

So you and I read verse 22 and we we confirm, we believe, yeah,

those are children in the womb. And God goes beyond that.

He says it's not just children, Those are nations.

Those are nations. Those children in the womb have

a purpose beyond their own life. Generationally, I have a plan

for these two, and it's already been set that their service unto

God and their relationship to one another has been has been

sealed in some sense. And so God's mind in the womb is

is beyond just creating a masterpiece, right?

Fearfully and wonderfully made. No, there's actual callings and

destinies that are being developed as well.

And these callings, these two nations in the womb played a

role in God's grand redemptive plot and storyline in history.

And Satan knows that. Satan knows that what takes

place in the womb are potential agents and actors for the glory

of God, and so he wants to destroy it before he even has a

breath to give. He wants to hijack it.

He wants to sabotage it because he knows not only in that womb

is God glorified in the creative act, but that God could

potentially be further glorified in the lives that come from that

womb and walk in his ways and trust in him and live for his

namesake and so viciously Satan attacks.

What is this really all about? What?

Let's just get to the to the bottom of it.

It's about God's glory. The bloodshed is horrific.

It's an atrocity. It's unjust.

Yes, all of that is true. But God's glory, God's glory is

at what stake here. And we see that God has a

different attitude about what these babies are all about and

what they are to him. I was was just looking over some

verses and thinking about this. I I stumbled upon a verse in a

book that is often ignored, and when I read two simple words, it

struck my soul and moved me to the core.

And I want you to see with your own eyes and your Bibles.

And it's Ezekiel chapter 16. And I want you to go to verse

Ezekiel 16 · chapter mention

20. Here's the Lord condemning his

people for their own version of child sacrifice.

And in Ezekiel 1620, look at this and his confrontation

through the prophet Ezekiel 1620.

And you took your sons and your daughters whom you had born to

me. And these you sacrificed to them

to be devoured where you're whoring.

So small a matter that you slaughtered here the two words

my children, you slaughtered my children and delivered them up

as an offering by fire to them. My children could have said your

children, and that would have been right.

But he wants to clarify something.

They're mine. Now, you can argue this from the

covenantal standpoint that God had with Israel because there

was a dedication of the first born, but I think it's beyond

that. Clearly, there was a disgusting

disregard for the innocence and the beauty of these little

children. And though this generation had

no ounce of conviction concerning the life and the

sanctity of these babies, fine. You don't want to see them as

your children. They're mine.

They belong to me. And so all these people chanting

and parading, it's my body. I can do what I want.

And you can obviously clearly debate that, right?

It's not your body. But even if you want to go with

that, even if you want to claim autonomy, here's what God says.

You don't want them. They're mine.

They belong to me. Whether you regard it, whether

you want to accept the gift that I've given you with them, they

belong to me. If that's true, then we're in a

lot more trouble if we're dealing with God's children.

I'm not talking about the the theological concept of becoming

children of God through Christ and exclusively through Christ.

This is speaking about God being the father of all spirits,

right? That he has the creative

authorship, overall creation, especially those created in his

image. And So what we're seeing out

there is not just women getting rid of their offspring, we're

we're seeing the massacre of my children.

That hasn't changed since Ezekiel's day, and Satan knows

that. And Satan hates our God.

He hates those who are Koreans and miss, so he wants to destroy

them. This is this is the core problem

here, and This is why we shouldn't be prayerfully

passionate, because it deals with the glory of God in many

ways. But what's the cause?

If that's the problem, what's the cause?

Do prochoice advocates really have this in mind when they

perform and support the murder of children?

Not necessarily. And even if they are informed,

we wouldn't be surprised that though they are committing

cosmic treason, that they would reconsider their ways and that

they will continue to persist in their gross disobedience.

That's unfortunately true. But why is that?

Why the determination, Why the dedication?

Why the argumentation? Why the debate?

Why the protests For something that seems so obvious and clear

and what we can say as the underlying motivation, the

heartbeat, so to speak, behind this movement in our modern day

is 1 simple word You ready for this?

Idolatry? Idolatry.

The mass murder of innocent children as a cultural practice

is not a foreign concept to the Bible.

The Bible is very familiar with it.

Neighboring Pagan nations around the people of God Israel openly

practice this and unfortunately at some point Israel adopted

this for themselves and you read it in Ezekiel.

God held them accountable for it.

But why did they do that? Why did those neighboring

nations recreationally almost give up their children to the

flames? And I want to prove it to you in

one verse. Endure on me. 1231 The Lord

gives His Holiness code to His people before they enter into

the promised Land, and He says, endure on me. 1231 You shall not

worship the Lord your God in that way.

For every abominable thing that the Lord hates they have done

for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their

daughters in the fire to their gods.

Notice with me how false worship is intertwined with child

sacrifice, that that is the essence of ancient children

being slaughtered. It's in the name of religion.

It was done with the false premise of false understanding

of how these deities worked. And so if you wanted something

to be done beyond your control, or if you wanted to prevent

something to be done, you would show your desperation.

You would show the extent of you wanting that to be realized by

even giving up your offspring to these gods.

The Lord says that's not how I'm worshiped, That's not how you

get your prayers answered from me.

That's not how you experience my grace.

My blessings. Don't copy them.

Don't demonstrate your desperation in such a gruesome

way. This was an act of worship, and

it was at the expense of the lives of precious little

children. And I wholeheartedly believe

that abortion in our day is a modern version of child

sacrifice. Not because people are walking

into Planned Parenthood to meet with Molech or any other strange

demonic entity, but because the idol they are really worshipping

itself. That is who is being worshipped

in this act, That is, who is being acknowledged and praised

self. Even secular statistics can't

hide it. As much as they would want to,

they can't. If you even just go and make a

simple search, you'll realize that a majority of the pie of

why it is that abortions are committed is purely for personal

relief. You don't hear that on the

media. You don't hear that on podcast.

You don't hear that from the other side of the argument.

No, it's always extreme, rare examples that are in the

forefront of the conversation. But what about those who have

been raped? And what about those who have

been in since? Yes, they're horrible crimes and

we don't deal with evil by committing more evil, but that's

not even the main issue. You again, you look at that, you

look at the charts and what you see.

It's all about personal relief. I don't want this to interfere

with my career. I am not emotionally or

financially prepared to raise a child, and so I will put this

gift on the altar of convenience because this is really all about

me. And if there is something I want

to see realize, or I want to prevent, then like the pagans of

old, they will go to the extent of giving up the life of a

child. The underlying drive for many

prochoice advocates is that they want pleasure without

responsibility, sex outside of covenant, and convenience rather

than Christ like sacrifice. That's what it boils down to.

When Roe V Wade was overturned 2 years ago, we saw the articles,

we saw the outcry. And one of the things that stood

out to me from The Insider was the title of one article.

And I couldn't even. I thought it was satire, thought

it was a joke. I honestly thought that this was

just some kind of a a trick. And this was the title.

Woman on TikTok. That's where you're already

like, oh, OK, what's going on? TikTok.

Woman on TikTok Say hookup culture will be absolutely

decimated if Roe V Wade is overturned.

Hookup culture will be absolutely decimated if Roe V

Wade is overturned. Oh, so that's what it's really

about. What about the charge about rape

and incense And said no, no, no. Hookup culture will be

decimated. To which I said good when I read

that article. Good.

Think about that decision more. Reconsider it.

It says a lot about what people are truly concerned about when

it comes to this issue. It's not about people's

suffering. It's not about complicated

circumstances. It's about convenience.

And that statement, among many other statements, shows not just

what people believe about this issue, but what they believe

about themselves. In this whole issue, a preacher

made a brilliant observation. So simple but so brilliant at

the same time. He said it is illegal to take

the life of the unborn if the mother wants the baby, but it is

legal to take the life of the unborn if she doesn't.

In the first case, the law treats the fetus as a human with

rights. In the second case, the law

treats the fetus as non human with no rights.

One secular physician said that this is a kind of schizophrenia.

We're in the same hospital. You can kill a 21 week old baby,

but in another room you're trying to save its cousin or his

cousin in the womb of another woman.

And so that same preacher says we know exactly what we're

doing, we know exactly what we're doing.

And so this is more than just this is what I really believe

about this issue. Moreover, it's this is what I

believe about myself and wanting this to be legal and wanting

this to be championed. What people truly desire is the

prerogative that belongs to God alone, and that is the

prerogative of taking human life when he wills.

No man has the right to do that, especially when it comes to

innocent life. So the crime of all of this is

not just stripping God's glory from him, but deifying yourself

at the same time. So it's not just erasing God's

glory, it's trying to glorify yourself.

I have the right to do this. I deserve this.

And so it's not before the hands of Malik or any other Canaanite

deity. It's ultimately the worship of

self that is the cause, and that is the root issue.

You can, you can legalize it, make it illegal, whatever you

want. Ultimately, if the heart doesn't

change, if it doesn't, put God where he belongs and put us

where we belong. You will find a way to worship

yourself one way or another. And So what is the solution?

I told you this would be short. The solution is very simple.

Let me address first the believer.

Let me make this a full circle thing.

Speak up right You may not be a preacher, you may not be part of

Love Life Ministries, but you're a believer who lives in this

world, who comes into contact via social media and even in

face to face dealings with people who believe very

differently than you do. And when the conversation comes

and when things take place in the media and things take place

in a political sphere, don't be quiet.

Don't be quiet. When your job is to expose.

Now let me give you a disclaimer.

Your job in exposing, According to Paul's words, it's not to dig

up the dirt on non believers and to create blogs and podcasts.

OK? You don't want that to be the

the theme of your ministry or your witness.

Just finding skeletons in people's closets and making them

public, that's not what it means to expose.

But there is a level of confrontation.

There is a level of speaking out because God has designed the

church to again be the conscience of the culture.

And I'll show you a brief testimony.

There's a young lady who doesn't attend here regularly, who comes

once every few months, maybe years even.

And this young lady came once and she sat with me after the

service and just looked absolutely distraught, just

broken because she fell into sin and out of fear.

Fear in her family, fear for her reputation, fear for her

unpreparedness. She was ready to do exactly what

we're talking about. And right there I just felt the

intensity of the conversation. This is a matter of life and

death now. This is a matter of rescue now,

and you have preachers today who would say, well, that's your

personal thing and if you want to deal with it in your own,

that's between you and God. And so just in that few 10

minutes, just going back and forth, encouraging, promising,

but also sternly warning, I did not get an answer.

I wanted one. I I wanted the.

You're right. I I can't believe I thought this

and thank you and just and just even if I don't see you.

At least I had that verbal confirmation and it wasn't

there. All I saw was even what seemed

to be more distress and realizing what God has to say

about this and and there was a war for a life, and not just

that baby's life, but this young lady's life.

Weeks go by, months go by. And one day I see that person

again and it's very sanctuary. But I see a different face while

I'm on the pulpit. And I'm so curious, so curious

what happened. And when I went to the door, as

we usually do every single week, I didn't just see a face.

I saw a big belly. And it wasn't the same face.

A face full of hope and joy and life.

Because you can never go wrong when you obey God.

Never. Satan will tell you otherwise.

He'll tell you that there is fruit in darkness.

And Paul says expose the unfruitful works of darkness.

You say you're a pastor. What does that mean?

You you know people that I don't know.

You have a reach that none of the elders might have.

You have your own world, your context.

Say something, say it directly to a person that needs to be

hearing it. Say it out loud if you have the

chance to say it with grace and love.

And who knows what your words, your stance, can do in the life

of another. I'm sure Brother Juan has

amazing testimonies of his ministry, of his presence in one

place and how people have made a different turn because of his

obedience to the Lord. So it's a simple exhortation,

right? I'm not trying to make this

complicated or trying to make this sophisticated.

Just be freshly inspired to be bold, to be bold.

But perhaps you're here today and your heart is not elated.

It's extra heavy. And what I just shared is a

testimony didn't really help much, because at some point in

your life you made the opposite decision when you were in the

same dilemma and you didn't listen to your conscience.

And there was others who unfortunately didn't speak hope

into your life but encourage you to to do what the Bible says not

to do. And when you hear messages like

this, or when it comes to a certain time of the year, or

when you even see somebody else around your age holding a baby

and you've made the internal calculation, would have been the

same age of your potential baby, you fall apart and you try to

keep yourself together. You are haunted by that sin.

And that is frequently the case for many who have at some point

committed abortion. It's not too late.

Because I want to tell you in closing, there is hope and not

just hope, massive hope, massive hope for you.

And the nature of the sin is bloodshed, is it not?

It's bloodshed. It is murder.

We we can't dull it. We have to say it as it is.

And God doesn't ask you to dismiss the severity of such a

sin, but He does ask you to bring that severity to something

so much more supreme and superior to it.

Final text Hebrews 12, verse 24 Hebrews 12/24.

Hebrews 12:24

There's a lot of blood in the book of Hebrews and the author

by the Spirit is making a case of how the blood of Jesus is

superior to the sacrificial blood of goats and bulls.

And then interestingly he makes a turn in this contrast of blood

as he as he preaches and writes about the blood of Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 12/24 and to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and

to the sprinkle blood that speaks a better word than the

blood of Abel. Now what does that mean?

Well, this is what you need to know the Old Testament.

Because when you look at the Old Testament, you look at the

account of Abel, you realize that when his blood was shed,

the first murder in human history in Genesis 410, the Lord

said to Cain, what have you done?

The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the

ground. Blood speaks and and what the

Lord is saying is I hear the cry of vengeance from your blood

brother's blood. I hear it.

It's calling on me to act injustice against you.

And I thought I was sure. I thought about that.

That was the blood of one man early in our world's history.

What does the sound of 60 million babies sound like in the

ears of our God and his throne? What does that sound like when

60 million babies, through their blood, are crying out for

vengeance? And yet, he says, as loud as

that voice is, as strong as that voice is, there is blood that

speaks. A better word, a more convincing

word, a more persuasive word, a more compelling word.

See, the blood of Abel cries. Vengeance.

The blood of Christ, Christ, Mercy, right.

The blood of Abel says, Repay him.

The blood of Jesus says it's been paid.

And so the understanding here is for the bloodshed that you might

have committed. There is a blood that can

cleanse that stain from your hands.

There is a blood that, if applied, speaks a better word

and secures your salvation. And not only that, cleans your

conscience. In Hebrews 10/22, with the same

language of sprinkling of blood, the author says let us draw near

with a true heart and full assurance of faith, with our

hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience.

It's not theoretical. It's not merely theological.

There is power in the blood of Jesus Christ.

And when you call upon that fount, that fount that runs with

the blood from Emmanuel's veins, and you plunge yourself in that

act of mercy and grace, it not only gives you assurance of

faith, it removes that burden of guilt.

It frees you. It empowers you.

It causes you to worship and love and trust in him, and to

realize that even after such a thing there is still hope,

purpose for your life. And so I call you not to look at

the blood that you might have shed, but to the blood that was

shed on that cross 2000 years ago that still runs with mercy

and grace. You can know it for yourself.

And so believers, speak up for the person who committed this,

maybe even as a confessing believer.

Speak up as well. Cry out to the Lord.

Trust that He embraces you, He receives you, He calls on you,

and He is ready to clean you and to secure a relationship with

him that you might have not enjoyed for years.

Because the same Satan who might have convinced you to do such a

thing now convinces you that you're finished and it's long

gone now, and you're in the peripheral of God's Kingdom.

And you just stay there and make sure that you impress God and

that you make up for what you did.

And all Christ is saying is, let me cleanse you.

I will wash you and forgive you. And so, church, as we, as we

prepare for the Saturday Saturday, have confidence in the

powerful work of Christ's blood and trust that people, people

are fighting their conscience every single time they enter

into these places. It may not seem so.

It may. It may seem like it's dead end.

It may seem like they have no conscious for them to even

consider that. But you don't know the wrestling

that takes place within. And all it takes is for a bold

Christian to make something of their Saturday morning, to say

there's a hope for you and God is a plan for that baby.

And even though it wasn't planned, even though it was

accidental, even though it's through means that you did not

hope or anticipate. For God is a master at taking

messes and making glorious messages and masterpieces out of

while. We thank you for this session,

While we pray that if we are low in our energy, low in our

understanding of what it means to be advocates for life, help

us realize again it's about the glory of God.

And help us realize the root cause ultimately is idolatry,

the worship of self. And the only thing that can deal

with the worship of self is not legislation, is not politicians,

it's not philosophical arguments.

It's the blood of Christ, the cross of Jesus Christ.

And so thank you for the reminder of the simplicity of

our mission. It's to bring the truth, the

exaltation of Christ, and also as humiliation and coming into

this world to pay the price even for bloodshed and Lord.

Even now, as we worship you in light of this word, help us be

prepared to be equipped by our brother and may you be further

glorified in our time, in Jesus name.

Amen. We're going to sing.

As we sing, you can sing about many things, how you are

fearfully and wonderfully made. You can sing about how the fact

that you've entered into this world because God has a purpose

for you, purpose beyond what you might even know.

You can sing about God's forgiveness and that there is a

second chance, a third chance, a fourth chance, a fifth chance.

No matter what sin you have made, you can sing that God has

given us the opportunity to be a church with a voice.

You can sing that God will be glorified this Saturday.

And so let's stand together and sing.