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SPEAKER_02It was over 40 years ago this week, January 22nd, 1973. The Supreme Court of our country ruled by a 7-2 vote that the right to privacy under the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment extended to a woman's decision to have an abortion. And subsequently, in the 40 years since that day, over 50 million children have been aborted in the United States of America. And so I want to bring the word to bear upon us as the church in our culture, in this country. I want to be wise in the way I do that. I want to say from the start that I know there are women who are here in this room who have had abortions. And I talked with some of them this morning. I cannot presume to know what takes place in your mind and your heart as we address this topic. Abortion's been called a secret killer, not just of babies, but of moms whose abortions leave deep wounds, difficult scars, and I want to be sensitive. I want to be very sensitive to you, to your heart. Likewise, there are there are men here tonight who have encouraged wives and girlfriends to have abortions. There are family members and friends who have counseled women to do the same. And many of you, women, men, family friends, have repented of that. And my goal tonight is in no way to uncover old wounds that Christ in his mercy has healed. At the same time, I'm sure that in many such hearts, there's still healing that needs to be had. Some of you have had or been involved in abortions and no one else even knows about it. So if any of this is you, if you have had an abortion, been involved in abortion, my hope is, my hope is that as we talk about the seriousness of abortion before God, then in the end you will be overwhelmed by the love of God toward you in the gospel. So that's where all of this is headed. So if it's you, please just hang with me to the end. At the same time, this word is not just for women who might have had or might have considered abortions or family or friends around such women. This word is for all of us. And I am convinced needs to be heard by all of us. I titled this message, Not Popularly, Christ and Children in a Culture of Death. And I don't use that terminology lightly. Say, what do you mean, a culture of death? Is this some kind of political speech? No, not at all. I have no desire to give political speech. This is a biblical sermon based, I hope, purely upon the word of God. So let me read from God's holy word and then explain what I mean by Christ and children in a culture of death.
Matthew chapter 19, verse 13. In our Bible reading today, we come across these words. Then children were brought to Jesus that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked the people. But Jesus said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. And he laid his hands on them and went away. The simple reality of this passage is clear. Christ cherishes children. He loves them. He receives them. When the disciples around Jesus saw children as a nuisance to be avoided, Christ saw a treasure to be welcomed. He lays his hands on them. You can only imagine Jesus playing with them as he prays for them. The simple reality of Matthew 19, 13 to 15 is clear. Christ cherishes children. On the other hand, the devastating realization in our day is that where Christ cherishes children, our culture and our country murders children. A strong word, I know, but think about this with me. Every day, over three thousand babies are aborted in our country. Every day. And we think, well, women, these women don't realize what they're doing in these situations. If only they could see an ultrasound picture of that child. If only we could convince them this is not just a clump of cells, but a person, if only they knew that this was a human life, they would not do this. And that may be the case among many women.
But I want you to hear words from pro-choice, pro-abortion supporters in our day. And I want you to listen closely to the way they talk about it. So think Merle Hoffman, a major voice in the abortion rights movement, founder of Choices, a major center for abortions in New York City, wrote a memoir called Intimate Wars, in which she wrote that many pro-choice advocates claim that the fetus is not alive and that abortion is not the act of terminating. They choose to depersonalize the fetus, to see it as amorphous residue, say that it's only blood and tissue. But then she goes on to say, often goes on to say, this is not right. That indeed women do know what an abortion is. She writes about her patients and she says they know they're terminating a life. She says they know it. But my patients who make this choice also know that they are making the right choice. A decision so vital, it is worth stopping that heart. Do you hear that? It's chilling to hear abortion described as a decision so vital, it's worth stopping a heart. Similarly, pro-choice, pro-abortion advocate Mary Elizabeth Williams of salon.com, agrees with pro-life advocates that this is a child in the womb, that this is an unborn human life. Talking to other pro-choice advocates, she says, when we on the pro-choice side get cagey around the life question, it makes us illogically contradictory. I have friends, she writes, who referred to their abortions in terms of scraping out a bunch of cells, and then a few years later were exultant over the pregnancies that they unhesitatingly described in terms of the baby and this kid. I know women who have been relieved at their abortions and grieved over their miscarriages. Why can't we agree that how they felt about their pregnancies was vastly different, but that it's pretty silly to pretend that what was growing inside of them wasn't the same? Fetuses aren't selective like that. They don't qualify as human life only if they're intended to be born. So she's saying this is a life. It sounds like she's arguing a pro-lofe pro-life cause, but then she turns it around and she writes, but all life is not equal. 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. And so she can concludes that an unborn child in cases of abortion is, and I quote, a life-worth sacrifice. And these quotes play out practically. One article in Glamour magazine chronicled a group of abortion clinics that would encourage women to express their feelings by writing down on a pink-hearted, pink heart-shaped sheet of paper what they would say to their child. So hear the words of two moms in particular. One writes, For my little angel, although I say goodbye to you today, you will always be in my mind, heart, and soul. Please understand that this wasn't your time because you are better off in the hands of God than mine at this moment. My own creation, you are and forever will be beautiful and pure. I smile when I think of you, even if I cry. You have given me reason to be strong and wise and responsible. You will always be my baby. I will see you in heaven, sweetheart. I love you. Always and unconditionally, your mommy. Another writes, I didn't let your dad know about you simply because I'm ashamed. In my heart I will miss you, but physically I don't have the means to take care of you and your older sister. I will never label you a mistake because God obviously thought you should have been here, even though I beg to differ.
We live in a culture where we are choosing every single day to differ with God and to take away the lives of children. We live in a country where as many as one in three women will have at least one abortion. This is our culture. This isn't far off. This is our country. Emphasize our there because this is something of which we in this room are part. We, with our taxes, support an organization that did a record number of abortion procedures, over 300,000 of them this last year, called Planned Parenthood. We have healthcare laws that subsidize plans to cover abortions. Every year, millions of babies in our culture, in our country, are being murdered. I do not believe it is an overstatement to call abortion a modern Holocaust. I believe that's an understatement when you look at the sheer numbers. And just as German Christians did not need to hide from the reality of what was happening in concentration camps, we in this room cannot, must not hide from the reality of what is happening in abortion clinics all across our country. Maybe even some uncomfortable statements for some, but I want to show you why in the word. I want to show you why this is a biblical issue before it's a political issue. This is not, this is definitively not a Republican or Democratic for that matter speech. This is a Christian sermon sermon that applies to all Christians, regardless of your political persuasions. This is what we do as a church. We come together around God's word and we ask, in our culture, what has God said about this or that? So what has God said about uh abortion?
So with Matthew 19 before us, now turn back into the Old Testament to Psalm chapter 139. So we're not gonna have time to turn to every one of the scriptures I put below, but I want to show you, I want to show you how all of Scripture comes to bear on this issue. And I want you, I want you to be able to be equipped to think biblically about abortion, to speak biblically about abortion, and I want you to be able, I want you to be equipped to stand boldly against abortion. Not just if you're this political striper that, but as a follower of Christ, that you will be equipped to speak biblically about it and stand boldly against it. So let's start with God and a culture of death. What does God say amidst a culture of death where we are choosing to end children's lives? Hear the word of the Lord in Psalm 139. We'll start in verse 13. David, the psalmist, praise, 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, and your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.
Four verses. Three truths just bubbling over out of these verses and echoed throughout the rest of Scripture. Number one, abortion is an affront to God's sovereign authority as creator. Abortion is an affront to God's sovereign authority as creator. You formed my inward parts, you knitted me together in my mother's womb. So God did this. God is creator. Isaiah 40 is the creator of the ends of the earth. God is the giver of life. God gives life. Job chapter 12, verse 9 and 10. In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind. In his hand. Job 33, 4. The breath of the Almighty gives me life. God alone has the power and the authority to give life. A man and a woman can come together in an attempt to reproduce life, but only God can produce life. Only God. He's the giver of life, and he's the taker of life. Deuteronomy 32, 39. God says, There is no God besides me. I kill and I make alive. I choose when people live and when they die. Job 1.21, when Job's children die. He says, The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. It is God's prerogative and God's authority alone to give and take away life. Consequently, abortion is clearly an affront to God's sovereign authority as creator. Abortion says we're in control of life. Who lives, who dies. We decide when a child lives, and we decide when a child dies. No. No. God, our creator, alone makes these calls. Second, abortion is an assault on God's glorious work in creation. So, so see, not just the reality of God's authority as creator, but the glory of God's work in creation. Right after David confesses God's work in creation, he says, You formed my inward parts, you knitted me together, I praise you. For I'm fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works. That's echoed all across Psalm 104. So follow this. The way God creates people compels praise. The way God creates people compels praise. David says, the way you formed my inward parts, the way you knitted me together in my mother's womb, this work of creation evokes awe and amazement. And it does. I mean, David says this, he didn't even know what we know now. How God takes a little egg and sperm and brings them together, and how two weeks later a human heart is beating, circulating its own blood. In two weeks, got a heartbeat. Then a few more weeks, fingers are forming on hands, brainwaves are detectable. After just six and a half weeks, these inward parts are moving. Two weeks later, there's discernible fingerprints, there's discernible sexuality, kidneys are forming and functioning, then a gallbladder. By the twelfth week, all the organs of a baby's body are functional, and the baby begins to cry. All of this within three months, the first trimester, heart, organs, brain, sexuality, movement, reaction, and God on high is doing every detail of this. Doesn't this evoke awe, amazement, worship, wonder? So then to imagine, at that moment, in this process that God is doing, inserting a tool, taking a pill, undergoing an operation that takes the life God is designing and destroys it. This is without question an assault on God's glorious work in creation. There is no way around this. Most abortions take place between 10 and 14 weeks of gestation, what they call the optimal time for dismemberment and removal. The beauty of what God is doing, the intricacy of the person God is forming is ripped apart.
Now, this, this is in large part the crux of any debate concerning abortion. So some, maybe many, would take great contention with me calling abortion murder. But any debate, argument along these lines would revolve around what's going on in the womb of a woman. So what's going on in the womb? And the Bible's clear, crystal clear. According to the word of God, the womb contains a person formed in the image of God. According to Scripture, whether it's Psalm 139, Genesis chapter 1, in the womb, God is forming a person uniquely in his image. He's knitting together a human being. So people have argued and will argue what is what full personhood is? When does an embryo or a fetus become a person? And this is the most important question. Virtually every argument in the abortion controversy comes back to this one question. What is the unborn? What or who is in the womb? Because once this question is answered, every other question comes into perspective. Think about it. If the unborn is not human, then no justification for abortion is necessary. If the unborn's not a human, no justification is necessary. So some people say the unborn's not a human person. It's just a non-viable tissue mass. It's merely a part of a woman's body. Others say it's a potential human or a human that's not yet a person, whatever that is. And the reality is, if that's true, then the argument's over. Have the abortion. Just like any other surgery. No justification for abortion would be necessary if the unborn's not human. On the other hand, if the unborn is human, no justification for abortion is adequate. None. This is where I'm I remain indebted to Gregory Kugel, who wrote a great little booklet called Precious Unborn Human Persons. Just a great little resource that unpacks this issue. People say abortion is such a complex issue. There's just no easy answers when it comes to abortion. But if that which is in the womb is a person, this issue is not complex at all. Think about it. If. Now, I know for some, for many in our culture, some in this room, this is a big if that what's in the womb is a person. But let's assume for a second that what is in the womb is a person. If that's the case, then every single justification for abortion falls apart. Outside of situations where you've got tuple pregnancy where mom's and mom and child's life is in danger. I mean, so okay, aside from that, once you put that aside, if it's true that what's happening what's going on in the womb, there's a person that God's forming, every single justification for abortion falls apart. People say, but women have a right to privacy with their doctors. Well, certainly we all have a right to measure a privacy, but no privacy argument is ever a cover for doing serious harm to another innocent human being. We have all kinds of laws that invade our privacy when we start harming another human's welfare. Privacy is not the primary issue here. But women should have the freedom to choose. Well, some things for sure, but not all things. Yes, we have freedom to choose whether we have children or not, but we don't have the freedom to simply eliminate toddlers or teenagers for that matter who are inconvenient to us. No woman has the freedom to kill her child, if it's a child, right? But making abortions illegal forces women into back alleys with coat hangers. Well, if it's dangerous to kill a person, should we make it easier for them? If it's dangerous to rob a bank, do we make it more convenient for bank robbers? But more children will create a drain on the economy. When human beings get expensive, shall we kill them? You think about this. Kugel mentions a little girl named Rachel, the daughter of family friends of his. He describes her this way. Rachel is two months old, but she's still six weeks away from being a full-term baby. She was born prematurely at 24 weeks in the middle of her mother's second trimester. On the day of her birth, Rachel weighed one pound, nine ounces, but dropped to just under a pound soon after. She was so small she could rest in the palm of her daddy's hand. She was a tiny living human person. Heroic measures were taken to save this child's life. Why? Because we have an obligation to protect, nurture, and care for other humans who would die without our help, especially little children. Rachel was a vulnerable and valuable human being. But get this, Kukel writes, if a doctor came into the hospital room and instead of caring for Rachel, took the life of this little girl as she lay quietly nursing at her mother's breast, that would be homicide. However, if this same little girl, the very same Rachel, which was inches away, resting inside her mother's womb, she could be legally killed by abortion. This makes no sense. It's utterly ludicrous. If this is a person, if this is a child in the womb, everything, everything revolves around what's happening in the womb. And scripture is clear. The womb contains a person born in the image of God. You cannot believe God's word and deny this. And once this is realized, there is absolutely no adequate justification for abortion. That's why abortion is murder, because it's willfully taking the life of an innocent human being. Don't miss this. See this. Though the unborn is visibly hidden from man, he or she is never hidden from God. Job says, Your hands fashioned and made me, you clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and signage. So see what God sees in the womb. How God is working in the womb, how God's forming and knitting and creating and nurturing and shaping and crafting in a way that evokes praise and awe. And see how abortion is an assault on that glorious work of God. The way God creates people compels praise. And all of God's works, so follow this, all of God's works are wonderful. Psalm 139, 14. All, all, all your works are wonderful. This too is critical.
Because, think about it, part of, in a sense, much of the contemporary defense for abortion involves denying this reality. So abortions happen here and around the world for that matter, because people see childbearing in certain situations as inconvenient or costly. It's too much for a woman in a certain situation to handle. It's inadvisable for a woman in a certain situation to undertake. And with the advancement of medical technology, whether the ability we have now to detect sexuality, of course, which is huge in some countries around the world, or if you've got one child, it's advantageous to have a boy, so girls are aborted. Or India, where it's more expensive to have a girl because you lose money on dowry, so girls are aborted. Sexuality or disability, we know it's possible to determine whether or not a baby in a womb has Down syndrome or has some particular debilitating disease that will affect their life. So should abortion be permissible in such circumstances? Not if you believe Psalm 139, 14. Not if you believe that all of God's works are wonderful. Because when you believe this, when you know this, then you know that God's work is wonderful, even or especially in the case of disability. This guy's born blind. And Jesus answers, this is not his fault or his parents' fault. This happened so that the wonderful works of God might be displayed in him. God did this so that one day this man would see and declare and delight in his glory. Now, I don't presume to know all the difficulties that are involved with disabilities. I know for Heather and me, it did not take long in a special needs adoption process to have our eyes opened to the severe plight of orphans with disabilities all around the world. Yet to think that many children, because of their disabilities, were killed before they were even born. One article in ABC News from a pediatric geneticist at Children's Hospital in Boston said an estimated 92% of all women who receive a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome choose to terminate their pregnancy. Even or especially in disability. God has a design and a desire to use everything for the good of his people and the glory of his name. And it is wrong to play God in such situations by saying, We know what is better than him. We beg to differ. God's works are wonderful, even or especially in the case of disability, and even or especially in the midst of difficulty. God delights in taking difficult circumstances, even evil circumstances, and turning them into good. He takes all things, Romans 8, even what seems to be tragic things, and works them together for good. This is who our God is.
Now it's at this point that some people ask, well, what about cases of incest or rape? Is abortion justifiable then? And again, I cannot presume to know what it is like to be in such a situation. I shudder at the horror of that thought. And my wife. Any other woman for that matter? And I will not presume to know the physical and emotional toll this brings not only on a woman but her family. But come back to the fundamental question. Is the baby in the womb a person? If so, then everything changes. Would you murder a child who is outside of the womb because they were conceived by rape? Of course you would. Then why would you murder a child inside the room? Because they were inside the womb because they were conceived by rape. I didn't put it there, but Deuteronomy 24, 16. Why should a child pay for his father's crime? How ought we to treat a child, an innocent child, who reminds us of a terrible experience? With love and mercy, right? People say, well, what about the emotional toll on the woman? Think about it. If the rapist was caught, would we allow the woman to murder the rapist in order to have emotional relief? Absolutely not. Then why would we allow her to murder her innocent child to have emotional relief? I'm not saying this is easy. I'm not saying this is easy at all. I'm not saying this is popular. I mean, even the most staunch pro-life politician today always has to give a disclaimer, except for cases of incest or ape. Like to go the step further and say no abortion. The exception from mother's health, physical health, to go there. I mean, that's total political fallout. You'll never have a position. But this is the word of God. This is scripture saying. This is scripture reminding us that our God has a record of taking evil things and turning them for good. Our God. This is the gospel, right? Our God has taken the worst act of evil in all of history, the murder of his own son, and he's turned it into the means of our salvation. God is in the business of taking difficulty and turning it into good for glory. It's what Romans 8 is all about. We can trust God. Even when we can't understand his ways, we can trust his works that even the ones we least understand in the end will show themselves wonderful. Abortion is an affront to God's sovereign authority as creator, an assault on God's glorious work in creation.
And abortion is an attack on God's intimate relationship with the unborn. This reality just flows from all we've seen. You see it here in Psalm 139, think about in the rest of Scripture. See the intimacy of Psalm 139, 15. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven. Your eyes saw my unformed substance. You formed my days for me before one of them came to be. God's clearly not relating here to an embryo, but to a person and his relationship with that person from conception, from the forming of inward parts, is astoundingly intimate. And then you look at the rest of scripture and you see different places where God is described as relating to the unborn. He fashions them, Job 31.15, and values them, Exodus 21. Such as to hurt a woman who's pregnant and to hurt that child inside the womb is serious before God. God fashions them and values them. He knows them, Jeremiah 1.5, and relates to them, Psalm 22. God says to Jeremiah, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I consecrated you, I set you apart. He knows them, relates to them. He calls them Galatians 1. He names them Isaiah 49. He anoints them, Luke 1, 15 and 44. These are all pictures that we have in Scripture of God's relationship, relationship with unborn babies. You see the intimacy here. We realize how serious this is. Abortion. It's not, it's definitively not primarily a political issue or a social issue or a women's issue or a children's issue or a health issue. Primarily, abortion is a God issue. It's an affront to the character of God. It's an assault on the work of God, and it's an attack on the relationship that God has with precious babies He creates.
So that leads us then to the gospel and a culture of death. So how does God respond to this blatant, horrifying sin among us? Among us, our culture, our country. How does God respond? See his character in two primary ways. One God is the judge of sinners. God is a righteous judge. Genesis 18. Romans 2. God will give to each person according to what he has done. Ladies and gentlemen, God is going to judge us. We're going to be judged for this.
SPEAKER_01He hates taking an innocent life. And he judges those who are involved in taking innocent life.
SPEAKER_02I would propose that this includes mothers who have aborted babies, fathers who have encouraged abortion, grandparents who have supported abortion, and friends who have recommended abortion. This us includes doctors who have performed abortion. Doctors who have carried this out. This includes leaders who have permitted abortion. Those with leadership with influence in others' lives. So this would include pastors who have ever counseled people to have abortions. This certainly includes legislators and others who have worked to make abortion possible. I mentioned already. My goal is not, my desire is not to give a political speech, to preach the word, to proclaim what God said. But even here, when it comes to government, God spoke in here. That's why I put Romans 13 there. We don't have time to turn to it. But this is where the Bible addresses the role of civil authorities and our responsibility to those authorities. So let me let me read it to you.
So listen to the word of God. Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed. And those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. But you have no fear of one who's in authority, then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain, for he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Now there's so much there to unpack, but when it comes down to this, this much is simple and clear, yet missed in political discussion, even among Christians in the church, on issues like this. The Bible teaches that government, so very simply, government is given by God for the good of people. So government is given by God. It exists under the authority of God. It's instituted by God to be a terror to bad conduct. So those who do what is good are approved by the government, and those who do what is bad are not. That's God's design. Under God, the primary purpose of government is to protect and promote the good of its people. And the government does this by making and enforcing laws, which leads to the second part there in your notes. Government is given by God for the legislation of morality. Governments are given by God to affirm the good and condemn the bad. That's what Romans 13, 3 is all about, to ensure justice, to promote good for people. So this is foundational. Yet many people say, even in the church, well, it's not the state's job, the job of the government to legislate morality. But that's a sham argument, and we all know it. The state does have the responsibility of legislating morality, saying that stealing is wrong, lying is wrong, murder is wrong, and a host of other things are wrong. And when it comes to the issue of abortion, people immediately say, even in the church, well, we shouldn't take away someone's right to choose. But the government exists to take people's right to choose away all the time. You cannot choose to steal. If you do, there will be consequences. You cannot choose to do a whole host of things for which there are laws against. And it's good that government says these things. If everyone chose to do whatever they wanted to do, the inevitable result would always be anarchy. We're all free to do whatever we want. That's not good. And yet it's the basis by which many, many in the church might say, well, I wouldn't have an abortion, but I don't think we should take someone else's right to choose away from them. But we take people's right to choose evil away from them every day as a society. And this is a really good thing for all of us. It's good for us to say no one has the right to do evil. And it's absolute moral silliness, even cultural suicide, for us to say that everyone should have the right to choose to do whatever they want to do. So this is where I want to call you, Christian, out of a muddled middle road that says, Well, I don't think we should impose morality on someone else. I want to call you to realize we impose morality on others every day. That's a good thing for us all. When it comes to evil, it is right for us to oppose it, to wisely, graciously, firmly, humbly, boldly oppose it. The whole idea of pro-choice begs the question, pro-choice about what? Whether you have Mexican or Chinese food, where you live, what kind of car you drive, of course you are pro-choice. But you are not pro-choice about rape, and you are not pro-choice about burglary, and you are not pro-choice about kidnapping. So why are you pro-choice about killing children? Brothers and sisters, moral and political neutrality here is not an option for those who believe the Bible. Which leads me to include here that when when I proclaim from the Word that God is the judge of But I would include the reality that God is the judge of Christians who have done nothing about abortion. Which until very recently included me. So this is an issue about which for far too long in my life and in my ministry even I was shamefully passive. This is a battle raging in our culture. And if I, if you sit idly by while millions of children, individuals, people in the image of God around us are dismembered and destroyed, then we are directly disobeying God's command to speak and to work on behalf of the weak, oppressed, and innocent among us. Doing nothing is disobedience here. Randy Alcorn put it best when he said, to endorse or even to be neutral about killing innocent children created in God's image is unthinkable in the scriptures, was unthinkable to Christians in church history, and should be unthinkable to Christians today. We will stand before God as judge. He is the judge of sinners. Thankfully, that is not all that God is.
Ladies and gentlemen, God is also the savior of sinners.
SPEAKER_02Please hear this. Supported abortion, performed abortion, permitted abortion, or done nothing about abortion, done nothing about the murder of children in our culture and our country. Please hear this. God. The God whose whose authority we have rebelled against, whose work we have ripped apart, or done nothing about it being ripped apart. This God, the same God, has sent his son to save us from our sin. In his mercy, Titus 3, Jesus was born to save us from ourselves. He was born. God himself has come to us, born a baby from a womb as the boy. So that as a man, he might live the life none of us have lived. A life of perfect, total obedience to God the Father. He never turned aside from the Father's way to his own way. He never begged to differ with God as we do in thousands of ways across this room. And see it. See it. When you hear a woman having an abortion saying, I'm begging to differ with God. See in her words a reflection of every single one of our hearts. We've all, we've all turned aside from his way to our way. Said, our way's better. And I don't agree with that. We've all done this. But Jesus never did. He lived the life that we have not lived. And then, and then, and then he died. He was murdered. He gave his life on a cross in our place to pay the price for our sin. Think of it. God made him, 2 Corinthians 5, who had no sin to be sin for us. God put the sin of those who have murdered babies, those who have permitted that, who have performed that, who have supported that. He put that sin upon Christ on the cross. He's taken it in our place, the penalty for our sin for us. He's paid the price for our sin. He's died so that we might have life. So that you and I can be forgiven of all of our sin before God and healed in our souls by God. Hear this unfathomable, indescribable, glorious, wonderful gospel. For everyone who puts their trust in Jesus as the Savior of sinners and the Lord of creation, hear this. He forgives you entirely. And he heals you deeply. God forgives entirely. And by entirely, I mean entirely. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. Psalm 103. I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my sake, and I will not, I will not remember your sins. Isaiah 43. If we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1. Oh, to every woman in this room who has had an abortion, hear this. And he does not desire for you to live your life in pain and regret, but in peace and in joy. Yes, to hate the sin of your past. That's a good thing in any area of sin. The pain of sin from the past is oftentimes a powerful deterrent to sin in the future. But it cannot rob you. It cannot rob you of the peace that God has designed for you in the present. Remember what he said? Jesus said to a woman who lived the immoral lifestyle, Luke 7, your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you. Go in.
SPEAKER_01Peace. One peace.
SPEAKER_02God desires his peace to be your possession. He forgives entirely. He heals deeply. He restores completely and redeems fully. Romans 8. There is therefore now no condemnation. There's no condemnation. There's no, no, no condemnation for you in Christ. Trust in Christ. You're not guilty anymore. There's no condemnation for you. You do not walk around with a scarlet A on your chest. You're forgiven. And God does not look at you. Hear this. God does not look at you and see the guilt of abortion. God looks at you and sees the righteousness of his son. He remembers your sin no more. This is true for you if you've had one abortion or five abortions. This is true for you if medically performed thousands of abortions, you're legally permitted millions of abortions. God forgives, God heals, God restores, and God redeems. He redeems. This is so mysterious how God, Romans 8.28, works all things together for the good of those. All things. How God takes even the worst things in any one of our past. And he redeems. And he uses even the worst things. He brings about in the end. He uses for good.
So I wanna pause there and then pick back up for a reason. I don't want us to think, even in this gathering, that okay, celebrating the gospel, confession, grace. Oh, that was good. Alright. Now let's move on. What's for dinner? We got going this week. I want us to realize, okay, what does now, to use language from the book of Acts, what is what does it look like to show repentance with our deeds? So what is God now calling us to do? What are you going to do based on this word we looked at tonight? Right where you're sitting, what are you? What are you, what are you, what are you, what are you, what are you we, and what are you going to do? So I put James 1 there. We're fools if we look at the word and then do nothing about it. It's like looking into a mirror, forgetting what you look like when you leave. The Bible says we're fools if we do that. So God deliver us every week. Deliver us from a spectator mentality in this room that is content to look at the word and then just kind of move on with life as normal. We can't just move on. This is the word of God that He's spoken to us. We're in this culture. So what are we gonna do? And this is where I want to help you. We're gonna fly through this pretty quick. I want to just put some ideas out there, some thoughts out there to get you thinking. So it's not that you're gonna do one of these things, but but this is to get you thinking about things that you need to do, that God is leading you to do based upon his word. Now, how does that look in in practice? I put Ephesians 5, 7 through 11 there in your notes. Ephesians 5, therefore do not become partners with them. So don't participate with them in doing this. For at one time you were darkness, but now you're light in the Lord. So walk as children of light and try to discern what's pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead oppose them. So we realize what that means. We're not only supposed to avoid works of darkness, we're supposed to work against works of darkness. Okay? So this is not just holiness defined by what we avoid in this world. So I'm holy because I don't do this, and I don't do this, and I don't do this. So as long as I'm kind of keeping my distance from that, I'm holy. That's not holiness, it's active engagement in the world for the glory of God in Christ. And so what I want to call you to tonight, based on the Word of God, is active engagement in this world for the glory of God in Christ when it comes to what we've seen in the Word. I hope we've seen moral neutrality is a dangerous myth when it comes to this issue in the church. So what does this look like for me? What does this look like for you? And here's some here's some things to get you thinking.
One, look, look around. Look around. Look around and learn the facts about abortion. So let tonight be a start, but we need to know what's what's going on. I put even there, see the pictures of abortion. So I've I've not shown pictures, video tonight, but I I do believe that we need to know, to see, to feel the horror of abortion. Just as people did not need to hide from images in concentration camps in Nazi Germany because it was just too painful for them to watch. They needed to see it, didn't they? They needed to see it. They didn't need to pretend like it wasn't there. They needed to see it. We don't need to hide from images. We need to feel the weight of an unborn child's humanity to experience the horror of what's happening in 3,000 of their lives every single day. So, if it's been a while since you saw, watched, then see, watch. Learn, see, and listen to the victims of abortion. Listen to the victims of abortion. So walk with one another in the church in such closeness that your brothers and sisters find in you an open ear to talk about what's most often hidden way below the surface. So this is where go beyond just superficial, casual, hey, how's it going on in the beginning of a Sunday night or end of a Sunday night, but sharing life with each other. One estimate is that 95% of people in the church who've lost, who've had an abortion, have never really come to terms with it. And I don't know exactly how you measure a stat like that, but if it's anywhere near true, that makes me very concerned as a pastor. There are, I'm assuming there are a number of people hearing this message tonight who've who've never told a single person they had an abortion. And you are walking this road, suffering in silence. And so, Christians, I want to call you, church, I want to call you to listen, to be in relationship with brothers and sisters along these lines, and then I want to call those of you who've had a had abortions to step forward, to share your burdens from the past with brothers and or sisters. These burdens are not intended for you to carry alone. So find a brother or a sister who you can who you can share with, pray with, walk alongside. We have had numerous groups, small groups of women who have have walked through this journey together. And in the providence of God, so not knowing that this is what we're going to be diving into tonight, one of those groups is set to start in a couple weeks from now, in February. And so you can find information about that at the access corner to my right, your left when you leave. I think there's some cards in women's restrooms too, or you can call up or email the church office. But let me let me urge you, if if you've not already walked a journey alongside, you know, I mentioned God forgives entirely and he heals deeply. And the reality is that that forgiveness, that forgiveness happens at a point in time. This healing deeply is most often a process over time. And so I want I want to invite you to walk the process over time with others. And share your struggles in the present with brothers and our sisters. What I mean by that is if at any point now, now or in the future, you contemplate abortion, whether you've come in here tonight contemplating abortion or at some point in the future you contemplate abortion. Don't think, well, man, that was so strongly communicated against the Brooke Hills. Like, I just don't think I could ever even share that. I've had that thought with somebody. Don't think that. Share that thought with other brothers and sisters who can walk alongside you with the word and can be strength for you when you find yourself weakening when it comes to temptation. So step forward.
Then to all of us, speak up, all of us, so speak up two ways before God in prayer. So this is a battle that's intense in our culture, even in the church, and it requires, this battle requires prayer and fasting. I don't know what exactly this needs to look like in your life, but I want to challenge you. You have democratic privileges of free speech and representation and demonstration to press for legal protection of the unborn. So now, okay, look at your life. Look at your life. What are you gonna do? What are you gonna do? Don't just hear this word and walk away doing nothing. You'll be deceived.
SPEAKER_01Do what it says. Do what it says.
SPEAKER_00We hope you've enjoyed this week's episode of David Platt Messages. For more resources from David Platt, we invite you to visit radical.net.