When Wrong is a Right

Lead Vocalist (Mike L)

Welcome & Announcements (Psalm 68:4-5)

Good morning family!

If you received a connect card, please fill it out and put in offering plate

Announcements:

1) __________________________________________

2) __________________________________________

3) __________________________________________

Now please take a moment of silence to prepare your heart for worship.

Call to Worship (Addi Figgers)

Prayer of Praise (Strong God)

Strong God

Come Let Us Return to the Lord

Prayer of Confession (Joey Flowers), Failure to value human life

Assurance of Pardon (John 5:24)

I am Not My Own

Turn Your Eyes

Scripture Reading (Psalm 94)—page ______ in the black Bibles

Pastoral Prayer (Mike L)

Prayer for PBC—That we would speak courageously for the unborn

Prayer for kingdom partner—CareNet

Prayer for US—Against abortion

Prayer for the world—Tajikistan

Pray for the sermon

SERMON

For over a decade, we have devoted one Sunday each year to the sanctity of human life.

We don't do this because we belong to a political party.

Our allegiance is to Jesus Christ and the truth of His Word.

We do it because we believe abortion is the greatest injustice of our day: it takes what is most precious—human life, from those least able to defend it—the unborn.

So we pray, we support ministries like Care Net and House of Refuge, we call sinners to repentance, and we hold out the grace of Jesus Christ to anyone carrying the guilt and shame of abortion.

What's different this year is not why we're talking about this, but when.

Right now, Virginians are voting on an amendment that would fundamentally change abortion law in our state.

So rather than waiting until January, we're pausing our study of Revelation for one week.

Our prayer is that before the polls close next week, you understand what's at stake and are ready to act, to pray, and to trust the Lord whatever the outcome.

But first, I want to tell you about another Virginia law.

In 1958, two Virginians named Richard and Mildred Loving were arrested for the crime of being married.

Richard was white. Mildred was not.

They could either spend a year in prison, or leave Virginia and not return together for twenty-five years.

A married couple was forced to leave their family, their community, and their home simply because their skin was not the same color.

The law used to punish them was not called the “Keep Racism Alive Bill.” It had a much more respectable name. It was called the Racial Integrity Act.

“Integrity” is a good word. Who would want to oppose integrity?

But beneath that noble name was a wicked law that mistreated people made in the image of God.

Today we wonder how Virginians could have missed something so obvious.

But that is how moral blindness works.

Evil rarely introduces itself as evil.

It borrows better words.

It calls discrimination "integrity," oppression "order," and the denial of human dignity "freedom."

A legislature can pass an unjust law, a court can enforce it, and a majority of voters can approve it, but none of that can transform evil into good.

So what should God’s people do when wrong becomes a right?

Psalm 94 gives us an answer.

Psalm 94 belongs to a section of the Psalms that repeatedly declares that the Lord reigns.

Psalm 93 begins with those very words: “The LORD reigns.”

Psalms 95 through 99 repeatedly celebrate God as the great King and righteous Judge of all the earth.

But Psalm 94 confronts us with a troubling question: If the Lord really reigns, why are human rulers so unjust?

What should we do when those in authority use the machinery of government to give injustice the force of law?

Listen to how the psalm concludes...

Psalm 94:20–23—Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute? They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death. But the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge. He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the Lord our God will wipe them out.

The Big idea of these verses is simple:

We can trust God in an unjust world because man cannot overrule or escape the justice of God.

This morning, I want to show you Two Truths to Help us Trust God in an Unjust World:

First, the Laws of Man Can Promote Evil.

Second, the People of God Must Persevere in Faith.

Let’s begin with the sobering truth that…

1) The Laws of Man Can Promote Evil

I worded that sentence very carefully.

I am not suggesting that man’s laws always promote evil.

Even in a fallen world, many laws are just.

But it’s also possible for rulers to use the law to promote the very evil they were appointed to restrain.

Psalm 94:20—Can wicked rulers be allied with you, those who frame injustice by statute?

The psalmist asks God a rhetorical question: Do unjust rulers have God’s approval?

The answer, of course, is no.

Just because God allows injustice doesn’t mean He approves injustice.

God established government to restrain evil and promote good.

But sinful rulers can take that good gift and turn it upside down.

Instead of using the law to punish evil, they use the law to promote it.

They enshrine injustice in the law.

They take what is morally wrong and declare it legally right.

Now, we do not know the particular event that led to this psalm.

It does not identify its author, the rulers involved, or the unjust laws in question.

But the situation is painfully clear from the preceding verses.

In verses 3-6, these rulers are crushing God’s people.

They’re killing the widows, the sojourners, and the fatherless—three of the most vulnerable groups in that day.

Whatever form this injustice took, it ultimately led to innocent people being condemned to death…

Psalm 94:21—They band together against the life of the righteous and condemn the innocent to death.

The word “righteous” here refers to someone who is innocent of the charges brought against him.

Literally, the verse says they are condemning "innocent blood."

That phrase is the Old Testament's language for the most defiling thing a society can do.

Psalm 106 uses it for those who shed "the blood of their sons and daughters."

Hold on to that phrase. We're going to hear it again.

For now you need to understand that in this culture, the innocent are being slaughtered.

The same fundamental injustice occurs every day in our country through abortion.

An unborn child has committed no crime. He has harmed no one. He is utterly innocent and utterly defenseless. Yet our laws permit his life to be taken by the very people who should protect him.

And now Virginians are being asked to go one step further. We are being asked to expand that injustice and enshrine it in our state constitution.

Question 1 on your ballots asks whether the Virginia Constitution should be amended. If a majority votes yes, the amendment will become part of our state’s Bill of Rights—something far more permanent and difficult to change than an ordinary law.

The ballot gives you a summary of the amendment, but it does not give you the full constitutional text. We have included the full language in your bulletin so that you can read it for yourself.

Here are a few key sentences from the amendment…

That every individual has the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including the ability to make and carry out decisions relating to one's own prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, abortion care, miscarriage management, and fertility care. An individual's right to reproductive freedom shall not be, directly or indirectly, denied, burdened, or infringed upon unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means.

Abortion is already legal in Virginia. But this amendment does not merely preserve our current law. It expands and enshrines abortion law in our state.

We’re going to camp out here for a few minutes because this issue is so misunderstood, and yet so important.

Let me show you six evils that could be promoted by the passing of this amendment...

i) Pregnancy centers could face increased regulation.

The amendment says reproductive freedom cannot be denied, burdened, or infringed upon.

That could invite attempts to regulate ministries like CareNet because they are actively trying to discourage women from having abortions.

Pregnancy centers are already facing lawsuits in other states.

This amendment could provide another legal tool for those who want to silence or restrict pro-life work.

ii) Parental rights could be undermined.

The amendment gives this fundamental right to “every individual,” not merely every adult.

That opens the door to challenging Virginia’s parental-consent law as an unconstitutional burden.

Parents could lose the right to know about or consent to their teenage daughter’s abortion—one of the most consequential medical and moral decisions she could ever make.

iii) The number of abortions will likely increase.

Virginia already experienced an enormous rise in abortions after the Dobbs Decision in 2022.

In 2023, approximately 33,650 abortions occurred in Virginia.

In 2024, that number climbed to more than 40,000—an increase of nineteen percent in a single year. It remained above 40,000 in 2025.

Part of that increase has come from women traveling here for abortions. Before Dobbs, approximately seven percent of Virginia abortions involved women from other states. In 2025, it was twenty-one percent—more than one out of every five.

It is reasonable to expect that more access will lead to more abortions—and therefore more innocent lives lost.

iv) This would deepen a culture of death.

Laws do more than regulate behavior; laws teach.

When the state calls abortion a fundamental right, it teaches us to regard the destruction of unborn life as an essential freedom.

And when a society learns to measure the value of human life by whether it is wanted, convenient, healthy, or independent, that logic will not remain safely confined to the womb.

A society that refuses to protect life at its beginning will increasingly struggle to honor life at its end.

v) It could lead to the exploitation of human embryos.

The amendment protects a broad and undefined right to “reproductive freedom,” including what’s called “fertility care.”

That could make it much harder for Virginia to regulate the creation, sale, destruction, or experimental use of human embryos.

Human beings at their earliest stage of development could increasingly be treated as products to be manufactured, purchased, selected, experimented upon, and discarded.

vi) It could be extended beyond abortion.

The amendment gives “every individual” a fundamental right to “reproductive freedom.”

Because that language is not confined to pregnant women, advocates could argue it also protects procedures intended to alter or eliminate an individual’s reproductive capacity—including sterilizing procedures connected to gender transition.

Because minors are not excluded, parental involvement in those decisions could also be challenged.

Now, some of these consequences are hypothetical. And most of them would not happen automatically.

Lawyers would file lawsuits, judges would interpret the amendment, and individual statutes would be challenged one at a time.

But that is precisely the danger of placing language this broad into our constitution.

We would be creating a new fundamental right, defining the state’s interests so narrowly that the unborn child disappears, and handing courts a powerful tool for striking down the few protections we currently have.

This would not merely permit what is wrong. It would enshrine that wrong as a right.

So how should we respond to all this?

First, we must not allow the language on the ballot to do our moral thinking for us.

The government may call abortion “health care.” The amendment may call it “reproductive freedom.” But God calls us to defend innocent human life.

Christians do not determine what is right and wrong by asking what is legal, popular, or politically expedient. We bring every law, every candidate, and every constitutional amendment beneath the authority of God’s Word.

Second, we must act while we still have the opportunity.

If you are eligible to vote, I am asking you to vote no on Question 1.

Not because the Republican Party has told you to. Not because the Democratic Party is beyond the grace of God. And not because voting is the sum total of Christian faithfulness.

Vote no because your unborn neighbors cannot vote for themselves.

Vote no because God commands us to protect innocent human life.

Vote no because when rulers attempt to frame injustice by statute, God’s people must not help them do it.

In 2024, only 56% of voting-age, self-identified Christians voted. And since 2018, 660 elections were decided by 10 votes or fewer. 394 were decided by five votes or fewer, and 94 were decided by a single vote. [1]

Believe it or not, your vote can really make a difference Christian.

But what if the amendment passes?

What if a majority of Virginians vote to place abortion in our state constitution? What if judges strike down existing protections and lawmakers refuse to defend the unborn? What if wrong really does become a right?

Then we must remember the limitation of human law.

Human rulers can legalize evil, but they cannot make evil good.

They can redefine it, but they cannot make God agree with them.

They can protect it in our courts, but they cannot protect it from His court.

And that brings us to our second truth…

2) The People of God Must Persevere in Faith

The author of Psalm 94 didn’t have an election he could participate in.

The wicked rulers in his life and the unjust laws they passed weren’t on the ballot.

Perhaps there were times when he felt completely powerless to do anything to change the situation he was in.

And yet, he was still able to trust the Lord.

Psalm 94:22—But the Lord has become my stronghold, and my God the rock of my refuge.

Notice how verse 22 begins: “But the LORD.”

That little word “but” marks the turning point.

The rulers may be wicked. Innocent lives may be taken. Injustice may be written into law.

But the LORD.

The psalmist’s confidence was not rooted in his ability to change his circumstances.

It was rooted in an unchanging God.

The Lord was still reigning.

The Lord was still righteous.

The Lord was still faithful to His people.

The psalmist calls Him “my stronghold” and “the rock of my refuge.”

A stronghold was a place of protection that an enemy could not easily penetrate.

A rock provided a stable, elevated refuge when everything around you was dangerous and uncertain.

The psalmist is saying, “My circumstances may not be secure, but my God is. The laws may change, the rulers may threaten, and the innocent may suffer—but the Lord remains an immovable refuge for His people.”

Notice also that he does not say the Lord removed every danger.

He says the Lord became his refuge in the middle of the danger.

Faith does not mean pretending injustice is harmless. It means believing injustice does not have the final word.

Church, we should do everything within our lawful power to defeat this amendment. We should speak. We should pray. We should vote. We should serve women and children. We should continue supporting ministries like Care Net. We should plead with our neighbors to recognize the humanity of the unborn.

But our ultimate hope is not in an election.

Whether this amendment passes or fails, the Lord is our refuge.

Our God will still be sovereign. His Word will still be true. The unborn will still bear His image. Abortion will still be evil. The church will still have a mission. And Jesus Christ will still be King.

We can persevere in faith because our refuge is not found in Richmond, Washington, or the ballot box. Our refuge is the Lord.

But God does more than shelter His people from evil. He also promises that evil will not escape His justice.

Psalm 94:23—He will bring back on them their iniquity and wipe them out for their wickedness; the Lord our God will wipe them out.

Verse 21 describes wicked rulers condemning the innocent.

But in verse 23, the judges become the judged.

For a time, they may sit in judgment over others. They may write the laws, control the courts, and condemn the innocent.

But God sits in judgment over them.

The psalmist says that God will “bring back on them their iniquity.” In other words, the evil they inflicted upon others will return upon their own heads.

They may escape justice for a time, but they will not escape it forever.

And notice the severity of God’s judgment.

Twice the psalmist says that God will “wipe them out.”

This is not the uncontrolled rage of an angry man. This is the settled judgment of a holy God against unrepentant evil.

God sees every innocent life that is taken.

He hears every lie used to justify it.

He knows every lawmaker who promotes it, every provider who performs it, every activist who celebrates it, every voter who knowingly supports it, and every citizen who ignores it.

No one escapes His notice. No one outruns His authority. No one overrules His verdict.

Human courts may call the innocent guilty and evil good. But there is a higher court. And in that court, perfect justice is coming.

That should comfort us—but it should also humble us.

Because if God gave perfect justice to every sinner, none of us would survive.

We may not have written an abortion amendment. We may never have entered an abortion clinic. But we have all violated God’s law.

We have all failed to love Him with our whole heart.

We have all failed to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Apart from the grace of God, we are not standing safely beside the Judge, watching Him punish the wicked. We are among the wicked awaiting His verdict.

So how can this holy Judge become our “stronghold” and our “refuge”?

The answer is Jesus Christ.

In the gospel of Matthew, we’re told that all the chief priests and elders took counsel against Jesus to put Him to death (Matt 27:1).

And then Judas, seeing that Jesus was condemned, says to the rulers: "I have sinned by betraying innocent blood."

Innocent blood. The very phrase from Psalm 94.

And what do the rulers answer? "What is that to us? See to it yourself."

Then Pilate washes his hands and says: "I am innocent of this man's blood."

Rulers who condemn the innocent while declaring their own hands clean. That is Psalm 94:21 in a Roman courtroom.

But the innocent blood that was shed that day wasn't taken from Him. He gave it.

Jesus was dying on purpose, in our place.

The judgment of God fell on Him so that everyone who takes refuge in Him could be forgiven

And that grace is available to every kind of sinner.

It is available to the woman who has had an abortion.

It is available to the man who pressured her into it.

It is available to the doctor who performed it.

It is available to the politician who promoted it.

And it is available to every one of us who comes to Christ with empty hands and says, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”

When wrong becomes a right, the people of God must persevere in faith.

We persevere because the Lord is our refuge.

We persevere because perfect justice is coming.

And we persevere because at the cross of Jesus Christ, the righteous Judge has become the refuge of guilty sinners.

Richard and Mildred Loving eventually lived to see Virginia’s unjust law overturned. We do not know whether we will live to see abortion become unthinkable.

But we do know injustice will not have the final word. The Lord is our refuge, His justice is coming, and Jesus Christ is King.

We can trust God in an unjust world because man cannot overrule or escape the justice of God.

Prayer of Thanksgiving

We Receive

LORD’S SUPPER

Doxology

Benediction (Romans 16:20)

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