A Biblical Case for Life

Listen Online:

Transcript:

We’re going to be in two different places today. We’re going to look at a number of scriptures, hopefully fairly quickly this morning. So if you want to turn with me to Psalm chapter 139, and you might also put something to mark your place at Proverbs chapter 6, we’ll look there a little bit as well this morning.

You know, there are anniversaries and observances, things that we can participate in and remember that go on just about every day. I know this week one day I came in to class and the morning announcement sheet I had said it was National Hot Sauce Day. And I really enjoyed that because, well, I normally buy the half-gallon jars of bottles of the Louisiana Hot Sauce because I go through it so fast. I think it was Tuesday was Corn Dog Day.

What that means, it’s some kind of observance called Best Friends Day. And so Sonic ran a special where they had the 50 cent corn dogs. And so Benjamin was excited all day about corn dog day.

He was upset after school because he said, I tried to tell my friends in my class that it was corn dog day, and they didn’t understand it. So we went and got about two dozen corn dogs that night. They’re two for a dollar.

Why wouldn’t you? You know, we used to put on the church calendar when we’d do it for the church in Fayetteville, put the birthdays and anniversaries and things. I’d go look and if it was National Fried Chicken Week we might put that on there and I remember I said something about a Wednesday coming up being National Ice Cream Sandwich Day and we ought to do something about that we had a first time visitor in the congregation who raised her hand and said well I could bring ice cream sandwiches on Wednesday and I said for everybody she said yes well welcome home we’re glad to have you here so there are observances what I’m getting out there There are observances and anniversaries that we remember all the time.

There’s something every day that we can think of. And we remember things like we remember 9-11, and we observed that with a moment of silence. We’ve got the 20-year anniversary of the Oklahoma City bombing coming up in just a couple months, and they’re already making plans to observe that.

Pearl Harbor Day is still remembered. There was an anniversary this week that passed without much fanfare, but I think we would do well as believers to remember what happened on that day. Thursday, which was January 22nd, was the 42nd anniversary of the Roe v.

Wade decision, which effectively struck down abortion laws not only in Texas, where they were fighting the case, but effectively struck down abortion laws all over the country. And ladies and gentlemen, since that has happened, since that happened, It seems like such a, you know, for some people, some people say, why do we care about this anymore? Well, we care about it for starters, or I care about it.

I’m assuming most of you in here don’t care, excuse me, I’m assuming most of you in here do care about it. Those who don’t, maybe I can help you care about it a little more. But I care about it because since that time in the last 40 years, somewhere between 45 and 50 million children just in the United States have been aborted.

Now, folks, that’s a serious problem. You don’t have to be a rabid pro-lifer like I am to see the tremendous potential that’s been lost for our country and for the human race. 50 million fewer people just in one country alone.

Now, this is not the only argument against abortion. It’s not even the strongest, but I can’t help but think, over the last 40 some odd years, How do we know that maybe we aborted the one who was supposed to cure cancer or the one who was supposed to solve the economic crisis that our country finds itself in? Who knows the potential that God sent our way and that we squander?

Because I’m here to tell you, the circumstances that they’re born in may be rough. The circumstances they’re conceived in may be rough. But a child is never a mistake.

You hear me? A child is never a mistake. Sometimes we find out they’re coming and we can’t afford them.

What are we going to do? It doesn’t matter. They’re never a mistake.

And we’ve got a heart problem in this country, ladies and gentlemen. Abortion is merely the symptom. If you think I’m just going to talk about abortion this morning, that’s not all it is.

There’s more to it. There’s a heart problem in this country. There’s a heart problem in the human race, as a matter of fact.

Because somewhere between 45 and 50 million children have been killed before they could even draw their first breath. We see children and we see elderly people being abused and neglected until they die. We see that on the news, don’t we?

At least once a week, it seems like, we hear about something like that on the news, and I’m sure it’s more frequent than that. There are countries in the world where if you outlive your usefulness, they kill you. Every week, dozens of people are killed in cities all over this country, shot in gang violence.

Ladies and gentlemen, even if they’re not involved, just shot down in the streets. I remember when all of the protests were going on about Trayvon Martin and the man in Ferguson. I’ve forgotten his name.

And the president came out and made a statement about it. And somebody raised the point, where’s the outcry for, I think the number was 40-something, people who were shot in Chicago just that particular weekend. In gang violence, they were not even part of it.

It was just the crossfire. But people are killed in this country unnecessarily. People are conveyed into human trafficking for slave labor or for worse.

And most of our country goes on about its business as though this is not going on. Now I’m not saying I want to ruin every day of your life, make you think about these sad things, but we do need to think about them sometimes because it’s indicative of a problem in this country. And it’s not a problem with, well, we’ve got too many pregnancies, and so we need to deal with that.

It’s not a problem of we’ve got too many guns on the streets, and so we need to deal with that. It’s not a problem of too much poverty, and that’s why people are selling other people into slavery. Ladies and gentlemen, it is a heart problem.

It is a heart problem with the human race that God puts such stock in life. God puts such value on life. God puts such value on each of us.

And yet mankind treats each other the way we do. And I want to look at some passages this morning that talk about the way God sees us and the way God made us. And look at what our response should be.

And yes, it does apply to the abortion issue. It also applies to how we as a church, how we as churches, how we as Christian individuals respond to the issue of unplanned pregnancies or people living in poverty. How we deal with any of the issues that I’ve brought up.

Please understand what I’m talking about this morning is not, well, we need to work harder for government solutions. I try very hard not to inject my political views too much into my preaching. But whether you believe in a big government or whether you believe in a government, you have to look through a microscope to see which would be the end of the spectrum I end up on.

Whether you believe in whichever end of the spectrum you’re on, we can’t forget the fact that government can’t do everything. And it takes individuals and it takes churches and it takes God’s people doing what he put us here to do to take care of those who need help, to take care of those who can’t do for themselves, and to stand up for those who have no voice. It’s very easy to get apathetic about these kinds of issues, especially the abortion issue, because we live in a state that has some of the most restrictive laws, which ordinarily I’m not a fan of, but when it comes to the abortion issue, I think that’s a good thing.

We have some of the most restrictive laws, and so we may think, well, there’s not much left to be done. There are only a few of these things going on in Oklahoma. but ladies and gentlemen, a few is a few too many.

A few is a few too many. When you realize we’re not just terminating a pregnancy, but you realize what goes on for an unborn person, a few is too many. On the 30th anniversary, I was a junior in high school and ran the school newspaper.

I wrote an editorial about the 30th anniversary of Roe v. Wade and described, tried not to be too graphic, describe some of the procedures that are used in abortion, because I thought people need to know. And just even a description of this had to be heavily edited, because it’s horrifying.

And folks, a few is a few too many. We need to pray, we need to work, and we need to take care of those who need help so that people are not pushed into these kinds of decisions. And we need to scream from the rooftops and live it as well.

the value that God places on the individual. Let’s look at Psalm chapter 139. We’re going to look at verses 1 through 18. We’re going to look also at Proverbs chapter 6 for a moment this morning.

But Psalm chapter 139 says, O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting and my uprising, and thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.

There is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.

It is high, I cannot attain unto it. And what he’s saying up to this point, this is King David writing, and he’s talking about the fact that the Lord knows him. Now this is not the only passage in the Bible that deals with these issues, but it’s one of the most poetic.

And folks, it explains the whole thing that God knew us before we were born. God knows how many hairs are on your head. The Bible tells us that.

God knew how many were on your head this morning. He knew how many fell off when you brushed your hair. Now, is that the most important thing God’s got going on to know how many hairs are on your head?

No. But it tells us something about the value He places on the individual. That He knows you so well. You’re not just a face and a number in God’s system.

He knows you. We go to deal with government issues. I’m about to have to start my taxes.

I may be in a bad mood next week. The government doesn’t know who we are apart from that social security number. We could be anybody.

You have to put that number on everything. The bank, for the most part, especially if it’s a big bank, doesn’t know or care. You’re that number.

When I went to school at OU, they need that number. Otherwise, we don’t know who you are. We don’t care.

You’re the number. Folks, we are not just a number in the system for God. He knows you and He knew you before you were born.

He knows everything about you. It said, there’s not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. God knew everything you were going to think today.

Well, that’s a scary thought, isn’t it? God knew every word we were going to say and everything that we were going to do. And not only did this morning start with God knowing what we were going to do today, God knew everything about us before we were ever conceived.

And God knew everything about us before the world ever began, before He created us. God knows you. God knows me.

God knows that we’re not as good as we look on the outside, and yet he chose to create us anyway, knowing how we were going to turn out. But he said, you’ve compassed my path and my lying down, and you’re acquainted with all my ways. Folks, God knows everything about us and chooses to love us still.

So many people are afraid to let other people get to know them. That’s why people go on first dates, and they sometimes embellish. That’s never a good policy.

You’re just going to get caught. But they embellish, and they only put the best foot forward because, oh, if I let them see the real me on the first date, they’re going to run away. For some people, it’s not just a first date kind of thing.

There may be people you’ve known for 30 or 40 years, and they don’t know the real you because sometimes we’re afraid to let people know who we really are. They might not love us anymore. That’s the fear anyway.

God knows more about us than we know about ourselves, and He loves us anyway. That is incredible. And that’s why He says in verse 6, such knowledge is too wonderful for me.

It’s high. I cannot attain to it. He gets the idea that God knows everything about Him, but try to wrap your mind around that simple fact, and we can’t do it, because God knows more about us than we know about ourselves.

If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. I don’t understand all the logistics of this.

Of course, if He goes up to heaven, God’s there. If he goes down to hell, God’s there too. Folks, I don’t know in this instance if he’s talking about literal fiery hell.

That raises some questions for me. But what I do know from this is that in the best circumstances of his life, God is there. In the absolute worst circumstances of his life, God is there.

That’s true for David 3,000 years ago. It’s true for you and me as well today. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.

So he flew up into the air and flew off to the furthermost, flew far, far away over the sea. It’s terrible when you forget a word, mid-word, isn’t it? Flew far, far away into the sea.

There’s nowhere he could escape from God’s presence. Thy hand shall lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me.

Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee. But the night shineth as the day. The darkness and the light are both alike to thee.

And now there are a lot of times when the Bible talks about the light and darkness as good and evil. And he’s not making an equivalency here and saying, Well, good and evil, they’re all the same to God. He’s fine with whatever.

What he’s saying is, if I think I’m hiding in the dark, if I think I’m hiding in obscurity over here, and I’m just going to retreat a little bit from God, and He won’t see what I’m doing. He says, even the darkness is as light to me. You’re going to see and know everything I’m doing.

Even in the darkest corners of our mind, where nobody knows what we’re thinking, God sees and knows. That can be a comforting thought, that can be a terrifying thought, depending on where we are in that part of the day. But nothing is hidden from God.

And the reason for this, He says in verse 13, For thou hast possessed my reins, thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. Now to possess the reins means to be in charge of where they go. I don’t know much about horses, but I do know that you put the reins in the bit and use that to steer them and tell them where to go.

That’s probably not even the right terminology for it. But you tell them where they need to go using those things. And so God from the very beginning has been in charge of King David.

God from the very beginning has been in charge of us. And he says, you covered me in my mother’s womb. I’ve had four children.

Most of you know this. I’ve had four children, only two of whom have survived to be outside the womb. And just this week started talking to Benjamin.

Madeline’s not old enough to even begin to understand yet, but just this week it came up and started talking to Benjamin about his two older brothers who live with Jesus now. But having been through that four times, and it being the first two, Every one of them was considered a high-risk pregnancy. So where most people go for one or two ultrasounds during the course of pregnancy, we were doing two or three a week and getting to watch on the screen how the baby grows and progresses.

I have so many ultrasound pictures of Benjamin and Madeline, and now I can’t tell which is which. Even the 4D ultrasound, that’s incredible. But hearing each week how the heartbeat grew stronger, and once it was there it was faint and it would grow stronger, and then it was just beating so fast because they beat so fast in the beginning.

And then as they get closer to being born, they start to slow down, and they’re more on par with the way ours beat. And to know, okay, they have websites. I don’t know if any of you, I know the Internet was not around for most in this room when you had kids, but maybe you’ve looked at some of these things as your grandkids were coming along or something.

They have websites that will tell you if you’re this many weeks along, okay, your baby is the size of a kumquat. Had to look up how big a kumquat is. I don’t know that I’ve ever had one.

Or your baby is the size of a peanut. Or your baby is the size of an eggplant. Or a small eggplant, maybe.

This week, they have eyelashes. This week, the heart should start beating. This week, their ears are starting to form.

And out of all of that, and out of getting to see how it progresses, and getting familiar with, I could almost, if I could handle blood and icky stuff, I could almost go into midwifing at this point because I’m familiar with the process and how this works now after four years and being in the doctorate office that much. After seeing all of that and seeing literally day by day how it progresses, the one thing I do know is that there is still so much we don’t understand about how this works. There is so much that’s still mysterious.

After a miscarriage and a stillbirth, we talked to a doctor who said, you know, the miscarriage at least is more common than we realize. But a lot of times women have miscarriages before they even knew they were pregnant. And had a doctor tell me it’s, she said from a medical standpoint, it’s miraculous that there are human beings at all.

That any of us make it to 40 weeks of gestation. It’s miraculous, ladies and gentlemen. The fact that we survive in the womb at all, the fact that we develop the way we do, you can’t look at those pictures and not be convinced.

I believe you can’t be convinced that God’s hand is not over us, covering us in our mother’s womb. The fact that we survive that process, guys, it’s so complex, so intricate. God covers us in our mother’s womb.

God develops us into the people that we grow to become. God preserves us and God protects us and God shelters us. So he says thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb.

Even before the baby is just two cells, God already knew that child. Already had a plan. Already was protecting the baby.

I will praise thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right well. David says I will praise thee.

I have so much to praise God for because of the way he made me. I am fearfully and wonderfully made. It is incredible to me the way all this happens, the way babies grow and develop.

This passage, speaking of where he said that such knowledge is too wonderful for me, this passage is almost too emotional for me to read ever since having kids. But we are fearfully and wonderfully made. He makes all of us different.

He makes all of us different, not just only in the way we look, but in the way we’re wired, our personalities. He makes us all for a purpose. He says, my substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect. And in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. He says, before I was even formed, you knew all about me.

Now, I have spoken before on this subject and tried to explain one reason, not just because the Bible tells us that human life is precious. That’s a good enough reason for me. When the Bible says that life is precious and we’re made in the image of God, that’s enough reason for me to be pro-life.

But I understand that not everybody puts the same emphasis on Scripture that I do. There are scientific and medical reasons, I believe, that actually correspond to Scripture. The question is raised, well, when is it a human life?

When is it a baby? And some people will say at birth it becomes a human life. Some people will say when the heartbeat is there, when this, when that.

Okay, the Bible does refer to when before my substance was formed, God knew me. We get into a very slippery slope when we start saying, well, it’s this arbitrary point. It’s this arbitrary point.

It’s birth. It’s this. Because I know people who say, yeah, based on their philosophy, that you should be able to take your child’s life up until they’re 18.

That’s not a joke saying, you know, I brought you into this world. I can take you out. I’ve heard philosophy professors say, we should go back to the Roman system where you could kill your child.

Folks, we get into a very slippery slope when we start trying to set our standard for when does life begin. Biologically, life begins at conception. When does it become a unique human being?

I maintain that it’s at conception as well. Because at the moment those two cells merge, at that point, DNA from one parent and DNA from the other parent are combined, and it becomes unique DNA for the first time. And from that point on, that DNA stays the same throughout our lives.

That is the only time in the process, biologically, where we could say there is a change into a new life form, is at the moment of conception. everything else is arbitrary I believe there’s not only a biblical reason but a medical scientific reason to say life begins at conception and while we are still unformed while we are just a few cells of DNA God already knows us and all of that genetic information that we will have for the rest of our lives what our nose will be shaped like, how tall we’ll be what color of hair and eyes we’ll have folks, that information is already in there and God knows it even when we can’t see the cells that are there. From the moment of conception, it’s a unique human being who God knows.

And the story of who we’re going to be is already written. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being imperfect. Not that he was flawed, but that all the potential that was in there was not yet realized.

It was not formed yet. And all my members were unwritten. Before the fingers and toes were there, and yet God knew us.

Verse 17, how precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand.

And when I awake, I am still with thee. We’re going to stop there in Psalm 139. So we get this picture from Psalm 139 where God created us, God made us, he designed us, and he knows us, and he loves us.

And he didn’t just slop us together. But the Bible says we are fearfully and wonderfully made. We are God’s handiwork, as it says in Ephesians.

And so we see from this, well, what are we supposed to do? we turn to Proverbs chapter 6, and we see some things that God hates. You’ve probably heard these before.

Proverbs chapter 6, starting in verse 16, These things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him, a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among the brethren. God is not okay, ladies and gentlemen, with us shedding innocent human blood, with us ending innocent life, whatever the circumstances. And folks, I’m not here today to say that if somebody has had an abortion, that we need to treat them badly.

That’s not what I’m saying. Some people do those things before they understand what’s happening. Some people are forced into making those choices.

Some people, I don’t know their circumstances. What I do know is that it’s a sin and that we need to stand against it, but that God also offers forgiveness for those who have involved themselves in that sin, and so should we. And the church, instead of condemning women who’ve done this, ought to be there with open arms to help them find healing and restoration in Jesus Christ. My quarrel is more with the abortion doctors and, quite honestly, the men who push the women into these decisions, that there’s forgiveness for them also in Jesus Christ. We see in these passages that God created man in his own image.

Part of the reason why this issue is so important is because God designed us in his image. And he said very early on that we were created with a purpose. Well, you know what?

We got that idea from Psalm 139, but it says several places in the Bible. It talks about being created in his own image. In Genesis chapter 1, verses 26 through 27, it says, And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

When he talked about creating man, he said, let us, that’s the Trinity speaking amongst themselves, let us make man in our own image. Does that mean we look like him in physical form? Maybe.

I think it’s speaking to spiritual issues, that we are a living soul, and he created us in his image. Genesis chapter 9 says, Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed, for in the image of God made he man. God again reminds us, we were created in his image.

And in that day that Cain murdered Abel, the first time innocent human blood was shed, God said, whosoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood will also be shed, because I’ve created you in my own image. You’re not supposed to take away innocent human life. It says in 1 Corinthians, For man indeed ought not to cover his head for as much as he is the image and glory of God.

And James chapter 3 says, Therewith bless we God, even the Father, and therewith curse we men which are made after the similitude of God. Now that’s talking about how can we bless God and curse man who’s made in his image. But even though it’s talking about blessing and cursing and the hypocrisy of it, it reminds us again that we are created in the image of God.

God’s word is very clear on this. If we believe as the Marxist and the atheist and the materialist that mankind is just a blob of tissue that evolved over many years, first of all, that takes a lot more faith for me to believe than just to believe the Bible. Call me an ignorant fundamentalist, but that’s the way I see it.

But if we were to believe that, then yeah, there’s no reason why it’s a problem to take human life. But if we believe as the Bible says, and I believe there is no room for a gray area between the Christian and the other side to say, either you’re made in God’s image or you’re not. Either you’re an animal or you’re not.

It can’t be both. But if we maintain, as the Bible says, that we are made in God’s image, then there are consequences for taking innocent human life. God created human life in his own image, and God forbids the taking of innocent human life.

Now, notice I keep saying innocent. There is a death penalty prescribed in the Bible for the shedding of blood under due process, not just vigilantes, well, you killed my brother, so I’m going to kill you. Then we’re both murderers.

There’s due process in the Bible. There’s due process in law that we have to abide by. But he forbids the shedding of innocent human blood.

And guys, even at that, I believe we as Christians, the death penalty is biblical, but I don’t believe we as Christians ought to be cheerleaders for the death penalty. What I mean by that is it needs to be done, but we should never be the ones on Facebook saying, Now fry him. Let’s get him.

I found myself feeling this way last week. They were talking about the, I think it was last week or the week before, they were talking about the man who was executed here in Oklahoma after being convicted of the rape and murder of an 11-month-old girl. And up until that point when they were talking about it on the radio and saying he’s set to be executed tonight, I had never heard what he was convicted of.

All I could think of was my daughter at 11 months. And I thought, they need to put that sucker down. And I thought, whoa, what he did was horrible.

But here I am a Christian and I’m thirsting for blood. Why not pray that this man. .

. Yes, they need to carry out the death penalty one way or the other. Why not pray that this man finds God’s mercy?

It wouldn’t take any more grace to save him than it did to save me. The crimes he committed may have been worse than what I’ve ever done. But he’s a sinner just as I’m a sinner.

And so, yes, that’s a little bit of a rabbit trail, but there is a death penalty that is appropriate, but we should not be the cheerleaders for the shedding of blood, innocent or otherwise. It should be something we carry out sorrowfully. It has to be done, sort of like when you spank your kids.

I have to remind Benjamin, I don’t like spanking you. This is not fun for me, but it has to be done. But God forbids the taking of innocent human life.

He doesn’t allow it to be taken without just cause, We should oppose folks taking anyone’s life if there’s not been a crime that justifies it. Abortion, death through child abuse, euthanasia of the elderly or the sick, murder, suicide, folks, they’re all unacceptable according to God’s word. And we need to stand against those things.

I don’t mean we stand against them in the sense that we condemn everybody who participates in those things. Those who are repentant should find grace. I mean, isn’t that biblical?

And they should find grace here and they should find forgiveness and love and people who will help them discover the mercy that God offers us through Jesus Christ. But we can preach mercy and also preach the gravity of sin. As a matter of fact, if we don’t preach the gravity of sin, there’s no room for preaching about mercy. Why does the world need mercy if they haven’t sinned against God?

So I see no contradiction there to say we’re going to stand against abortion. And we’re going to say this is a sin. We’re going to say this is murder.

We’re going to stand against euthanasia. But you know why the Nazis got away with the Holocaust? It’s because they cowed the churches into submission.

I watched another documentary about it last nig