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“Christians & The Problem Of
Abortion" • 3.24.19 • Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- In the summer of 1969, a 21 year
old woman from Dallas Texas unexpectedly became pregnant with her third child.
- Norma McCorvey's life prior to
this moment was one of great difficulty, paternal abandonment and verbal abuse.
- At that time, Texas law allowed
for the termination of a pregnancy in the case of rape or incest and only then,
for the purpose of saving the life of the mother.
- Being unable to prove such a case,
and thus abort her baby, she was put into contact with two female lawyers who
argued that her constitutional rights to privacy were violated.
- That case lost at the state
level, but these two lawyers appealed the case to the Supreme Court, who had
several similar cases on the docket at the time.
- Ultimately, the supreme court
voted in favor of Mrs. McCorvey, known by her pseudonym as "Jane
Roe," by a majority vote of 7-2 and abortion was declared a legal right in
the United States.
- The case began December 13th,
1971 and was decided by the Supreme Court on January 22nd, 1973. I was born in
November of that same year, my wife, born in March the year after.
- Abortion has never been illegal
in my lifetime. It has been a reality that the majority of our nation has
endorsed.
- Depending on who you believe,
abortion has either claimed the lives of 60 or 2 million. In either case,
millions of lives have never seen the light of day on account of abortion.
- Statistically speaking, those who
have aborted children were never in any danger of losing their own lives.
- These are single mothers between
the ages of 20 and 30, whose reason for aborting, was merely to avoid social stigma or economic inconvenience.
- There is no other way to put
this: Abortion is an evil that has stained the soul of America and is in itself
a judgment upon her. Why is this the case? How could such wickedness prevail?
- This leads us to our first
consideration and that is the "Misunderstanding Of The Nature Of Mankind."
Turn in your Bibles to Romans 1.
Text
• Romans 1:18-24 : "For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress
the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God
has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal
power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God,
they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their
thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became
fools, and
changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible
man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to
uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among
themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for
the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is
blessed forever. Amen." :
The subject of God's wrath is often relegated in our minds to a future time.
- The Apostle Paul however, understands that
God's wrath is already being revealed now! The courts of heaven have already
ruled and the justified anger of God is already being meted out.
- His anger is a response to men's lack of
honor toward Himself, ie., ungodliness, as well as their lack of honor toward
men, ie. unrighteousness.
- They have acted this way because of their
unwillingness to accept the truth of the reality of God's existence. They have
"suppressed" the truth regarding God's transcendant morality.
- They have detained, hindered or held it away.
Instead of witnessing to the evidence of God's existence and thus glorifying
Him, recognizing Him in His rightful place, they have exalted self.
- Their thoughts, without a basis in reality,
have become empty in their own deliberations and their hearts have been
shrouded with darkness!
- There is an inability in human kind to think
themselves out from under the darkness that their reasonings have led them to.
The result is idolatry, the worship of self, embodied in created nobility.
- The result is a judgment of God to allow men
to follow the dictates of their own choices.
- In many ways, Romans 1 is a commentary
on the life of unbelievers seen at the time of Paul's stay in Corinth. It is
also a relevant commentary on the history of mankind since Genesis 3!
- The fall of mankind ushered in all sorts of
wickedness, almost immediately after Adam and Eve's failure and subsequent
expulsion from God's Royal Garden.
- Within just three chapters, there is murder,
polygamy, sociopathetic behavior, issuing in God's decree that man's thoughts
are only wicked continually!
- When the flood wipes out all of humanity and
God re-starts with the righteous basis of Noah's family, we discover that they
are not the answer either. Sin's stain survived the flood!
- Noah becomes drunk. Ham, Noah's youngest son,
either performs a homosexual act or involves himself in an incestous
relationship. Soon, all of humanity has again allied itself against God.
- The Tower of Babel, the precursor to Babylon
itself, becomes the monument that humanity built to say, "We don't need
God and we won't obey Him!" What does this have to do with abortion?
- If a group of humans decides to suppress the
truth about God, they will refuse to acknowledge Him as the Creator, leaving
the door open for theories like evolution or naturalism.
- If God is not the Creator and humanity is the
result of random chance, then why conform oneself to a transcendant moral code,
leaving the door open to relativism.
- If God is not the originator of marriage and
sex, then humanity sees only the fulfillment of it's most base pleasures,
leaving the door open to sexual revolutions.
- And that leads to the consequence of fetal
development, known properly to the scripture as human beings formed in the
womb, known before conception and carriers of the image of God!
- If you do not understand the idolatry of
mankind, you will not comprehend any of the movements of mankind which have
crossed through the national consciousness.
- Whether you talk about euthanasia, eugenics,
infanticide or abortion, all of these are possible outcomes to a world of
people who are bent against the knowledge of God!
- This isn't to say that every person is as
depraved as they can possibly be. That is not the case. Rather, society is moved
generally and is ruled primarily, with this overriding rejection in place!
- As such, you and I must understand that this
world, will only continue it's free fall into greater and deeper forms of
depravity because it rejects God and His principles. Think I'm crazy?
- 11 months ago, Madeline Van Der Bruggen gave
a Ted Talk encouraging the world to embrace paedophilia because it was the
sexual orientation of 0.3 percent of the world!
- This leads me to my second point and the "Misunderstanding
Of The Definition And Mission Of The Church." Please turn in your
Bibles to I Timothy 3.
- We'll read a few verses in succession in
order to receive the full picture.
• I Timothy 3:14,15 : "These things I write to you, though
I hope to come to you shortly; but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought
to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God,
the pillar and ground of the truth." : Paul calls the meeting place of believers, the "House of
God." This is the assembly of the living God, which is the pillar and
ground of the truth.
- The Ephesians that Timothy was surrounded by
boasted an ancient architectural achievement in the Temple of Diana.
- One of the 7 wonders of the world, it was surrounded
by 127, 60 foot high marble pillars.
- It was magnificent, but it did not present
the truth about God. That is what the assembly, the church meeting was meant to
do. Turn over a few pages to chapter 4:13.
• I Timothy 4:13-16 : "Till I come, give attention to
reading, to exhortation, to doctrine. Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you
by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership. Meditate on these things; give
yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the
doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and
those who hear you." :
Timothy's job as a Pastor was to immerse himself in study in order that he
might encourage and reinforce the doctrines of the church.
- This was his gift, but it was also a skill
that should not have been neglected. Notice the aim: In doing this he would
save himself, as well as those that heard him!
- This one word, "salvation," speaks
to the entire work of salvation for the Christian, from justification, to
sanctification and even onto the shores of glorfication!
- A person coming into the church for the first
time needs to hear doctrine related to conversion. A person who has been coming
to church needs to hear doctrine related to holiness.
- A person who is leaving this earth needs to
hear the doctrines related to assurance. In short, every person that comes to a
church needs to hear doctrine from the pulpit!
- Please turn your Bibles over to final words
that Paul would write to his protege Timothy or to anyone else. II Timothy 4.
• II Timothy 4:1,2 : "I charge you therefore before God
and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His
appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince,
rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching." : Paul's "charge" is not a casual
suggestion, but an Apostolic command!
- Timothy and every Pastor since his days, is
called upon by God to proclaim the Word in it's totality, in every season,
convincing, rebuking and exhorting!
- When Paul was about to leave his beloved
Ephesians, he said that he was innocent of the blood of all because he had
"not shunned to teach them the whole counsel of God!" (Acts
20:27)
- When we assemble together, when we
"church" together, this music stand will never be the place where my
personal feelings or political leanings will be exposed.
- The pulpit is not the place for political
platform or for social rebuttal. It is the primary place for proclaiming all
that God has to say to His children.
- People have asked, "Why doesn't the
Pastor say anything about..." and you can name the issue. I pray that you
see now that whatever comes up in scripture will be the agenda of the day!
- That being said, what is all of this
scripture teaching leading to? That brings me back to the definition and
function of the church. Turn with me to Ephesians 4.
• Ephesians 4:11,12 : "And He Himself gave some to be
apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for
the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ," : The purpose of God's provision of
servants in the church, whether Apostles or Pastors, is for equipment.
- Every week that you assemble together here,
you are given a new tool, a new answer, a new perspective, a new illustration.
In some cases, you are given a new understanding of passages.
- The more that you faithfully attend, the
natural outcome is spiritual maturity and growth. That is not the end in and of
itself. You are being equipped for ministry!
- That new tool is meant to help restore the
foundation of a life that you are involved in. That new answer will be for that
person who will confront you with a "difficult question" they have.
- You are the ones who administer the Word to
Your World, ultimately leading to the edifying, the building up, the adding to,
the body of Christ!
- As we go out, the representatives of those
who have "churched," the Holy Spirit through us will naturally
restrain the evil that would otherwise live freely.
- Someday very soon, the world will get to
learn just how bad it can be, when that which restrains is removed!
- This leads me to my final point and that is
the "Means And Methods By Which We Engage The World." Turn now
if you will to Matthew 28.
• Matthew 28:18,19 : "And Jesus came and spoke to them,
saying, 'All authority has been
given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching
them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.' Amen."
We have
seen that we are commanded to "come to learn." Then, we are commanded
to "go and tell."
- This is the authority that Jesus has
received. There is no Kingdom that can stand against Him. There are scores of
people that belong to Him and His Kingdom will be made full!
- On that account, because that is true,
"Go therefore!" This statement reminds me of the statement made by
the King, who informed His servants to receive His Son's wedding guests.
- When those people refused to come, the King
realizing that His Son deserved to have the respect of the citizenry, made this
statement.
• Matthew
22:7-9 : "Then
he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were
not worthy. ‘Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to
the wedding.’ So those servants went out into the highways and gathered
together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled
with guests." : This is the heart behind
the Lord's words here in chapter 28! Jesus has the go-ahead! It is time
to gather men, women and children into His Kingdom!
- We are to do so by "making
disciples of all nations." Notice: DIsciples, not converts.
- Certainly, evangelism is
important because one cannot teach a carcass, regardless of their abilities!
Evangelism is to teach men about God's saving work through Jesus Christ!
- Even in evangelism, there is
teaching! That's the implication behind the word "disciple." It
refers to one that is taught. This is to happen among every nation, or
literally, ethnicity!
- We are to seek out every
ethnicity and any person that will be willing to sit with us to learn.
- Once they have been converted to
Christ, they are to be led to baptism, to publically identify with the Lord in
His death and resurrection.
- Your goal, given by the Lord
Himself, is to invite people to trust Christ, to publically identify as Christ
followers and then to live a life that reflects His person!
- Jesus tells His disciples to
teach them "to observe all things that I have commanded you!"
When we read it in English, we are missing a little something.
- Literally, Jesus is telling them
to teach these new disciples to always be in the process of keeping an eye upon
that which the Lord commanded them!"
- What has Christ taught His
disciples? Where do we discover that information? Is it not the instruction
from the epistles that these same disciples conveyed to the New Testament
church?
- Is the New Testament not merely a
commentary, an expansion, the completion of the Old?
- Friends, my point is that we
cannot fulfill the Great Commission without being fully dedicated to the Bible!
Unfortunately, I'd contend that this is the greatest failure of the mainstream
Church.
- Because the church has become a
clown show, peddling itself to the lowest common denominator, the people that
are supposed to be the best educated are the most illiterate!
˚ "Fewer than half of all adults can name the
four gospels. Many Christians cannot identify more than two or three of the
disciples. According to data from the Barna Research Group, 60 percent of
Americans can’t name even five of the Ten Commandments . . . Multiple surveys
reveal the problem in stark terms. According to 82 percent of Americans, “God
helps those who help themselves,” is a Bible verse. Those identified as
born-again Christians did better–by one percent. A majority of adults think the
Bible teaches that the most important purpose in life is taking care of one’s
family . . . Some of the
statistics are enough to perplex even those aware of the problem. A Barna poll
indicated that at least 12 percent of adults believe that Joan of Arc was
Noah’s wife. Another survey of graduating high school seniors revealed that
over 50 percent thought that Sodom and Gomorrah were husband and wife. A
considerable number of respondents to one poll indicated that the Sermon on the
Mount was preached by Billy Graham."[i]
- If this is in fact the case with
most Christians, what are they leading with in their conversations with those
of a pro-abortion ethic?
- I've seen appeals to morality in
the statements couched by people who proclaim, "In my Grandparent's
time..."
- I've also noted the near militant
cry of people who are married to their political allegiances and their supposed
functional saviors, with their campaign promises for change.
- Still others have brought out
their Bibles, but have not embodied much of it's teachings in their way of
presentation! Folks, Jesus made sinners feel at home and He was the God-Man!
- Christians without a commitment
to the gospel, without a knowledge of His commandments in the Word, are merely
pushing for behavior modification or political alteration! That won't work!
- Christians who are committed to
the gospel, who live and breathe the Word of God, are going to see the one
thing that can change a person and that is soul transformation!
- Think about it: Jesus, the
Apostles, and Paul lived in a time when slavery was legal. Did they preach
against it? Not once! Why? Because it wasn't important? No. Because it was
symptomatic!
- The Gospel of Jesus Christ alone
reaches the heart and changes the morality, focuses the political orientation
and brings dead men and women back to life!
- The effects, those that believe
in slavery or abortion, are cut off at the knees when the Holy Spirit rules and
reigns over their lives! That's how we are called to address any evil we face
in this life!
Conclusion
- Mankind
without God will continue it's precipitous fall. Christians armed with the
truth of God's Word and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, remains the restraining
hope as God gathers His bride in!
- What are we
to do? It's a given that we are to pray with lament for the reality of this
world's evils. Our souls like Lot, should be vexed every day by what we are
seeing!
- Let us be
marked by the Lord as ones who "sigh
and cry over all the abominations that are done within." (Ezekiel 9:4) Our cries for justice and
righteousness should daily rise to heaven!
- When we meet
those that are pro-abortion, let us be careful to engage them personally,
privately when possible, gently sharing the convictions born out of scripture.
- We must begin
with the gospel of Jesus Christ and share with them that our view of life comes
from His value of life. He created life and HIs image is found in life! Share
this:
- "Jesus
lived a perfect life before God and died a sinner's death to extend that
perfection to those who were in need of it. That's why I am the way that I am
and that's why I vote to protect life!"
- When you
share that over coffee or in a private chat, ask them if they believe this!
- Finally, when
an abomination before your eyes becomes an obsession that goes beyond prayer
and personal apologetics, find a positive outlet. Serve alongside those who are
fighting well!
- Don't wait
for the body of believers to give you the idea or offer you the outlet. Find
those who are in the trenches and get in there with them! Come to church and
then go be the church!
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