Sanctity Of Life Sunday

Opening Comments:

Today is Sanctity of Human life Sunday.

In a January 13, 1984 proclamation, President Ronald Reagan designated January 22, 1984 as the first National Sanctity of Human Life Day. The date was chosen to coincide with the 11th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case that first recognized the constitutionally-protected status of abortion in the United States.

According to the Guttmacher Institute (an institute that tracks abortion statistics) there have been an estimated 59, 902,500 (through 2019). Abortion would be the number one cause of death in the US if it were counted. Just to give you some perspective:

Covid from 2020 to now 1,127,059

There has been nothing short of a holocaust upon the unborn in our country and those are just the statistics in the US. The WHO estimates that there are 40-50 million abortions a year globally. That should shake us to our core.

It would be safer to live in the Ukraine in a war zone than to be in a mothers womb right now.

On this Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, Im here to tell you that life is of immeasurable importance to God.

Christians need to pray for the prayers of God’s people are more powerful than politicians and judges.

We need to act. It is no longer acceptable to just say we are pro-life, its time to put our money where our mouth is. Thank God, Roe v. Wade was overturned this past year but the work isn't finished.

…we are supposed to speak out, raise our voices, to protect the innocent!

Proverbs 31:8–9 NKJV

8 Open your mouth for the speechless, In the cause of all who are appointed to die. 9 Open your mouth, judge righteously, And plead the cause of the poor and needy.

The Bible says that God hates the shedding of innocent blood…

Abel’s blood cried out to God when Cain killed him.

Revelation says the blood of the Christian martyrs cries out to God, “How long, O Lord, before you return and take vengeance.”

The victim in an abortion ranks as the most innocent victim ever sentenced to death.

Who will cry out for them?

The pro-abortion crowd yells and screams about freedom of choice. It’s my body…WHAT ABOUT THE BABY’S BODY?a

While you work tomorrow, an estimated 4,000 more innocent babies will be submitted to capital punishment, they will have no trial before they are executed. They have no attorney, and will not be granted the basic rights of even a prisoner of war. Not only will they not be treated humanely, not only will they not be afforded the basic anesthetics used by every veterinarian in the world, but they will die a torturous death, ripped apart by forceps and injected with toxins or being poisined to death by a pill, 4,000 per day...that’s a big number, and they are all precious in the sight of God!

It’s time the people of God rise up with some righteous indignation.

Violence is not the solution, but we have the opposite problem which is apathy, and natural forgetfulness.

But God hasn’t forgotten, and He is angry with the wicked every day!

Francis Schaeffer, that 20th century prophet and intellectual, warned us in the 70s that abortion was the beginning of a slippery slope of denigration of human life that would eventually lead to euthanasia and such things as physician-assisted suicides. People were skeptical then, but it looks like he was right.

This morning, I want us to examine the fact that life is sacred to God and why that is the case

I. Life is sacred . . . because God made it.

A. It was created by God.

Genesis 1:27 NKJV

27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Colossians 1:16 NKJV

16 For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.

B. It is protected by God.

Job 10:12 NKJV

12 You have granted me life and favor, And Your care has preserved my spirit.

Psalm 91:11 NKJV

11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.

C. It is valued by God

Jeremiah 1:5 NKJV

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

John 10:10 NKJV

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

II. Life is sacred . . . no matter what its condition might be.

A. Life is a challenge in a sin-tainted world.

It would be wonderful if God’s original plan had materialized, but unfortunately sin came into our world and with it came pain, imperfection, injustice, etc.

God warned us of these challenges and enables those who trust in Him to be victorious through Him.

1 Peter 5:7 NKJV

7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

James 1:2 NKJV

2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,

John 16:33 NKJV

33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

B. We must not overlook those who have challenges in this life.

I say this not only as the preacher today, but as the father of a child on the autism spectrum.

Jesus showed special concern for the lame, the blind, the woman with the issue of blood, the lepers. In our day we mustn’t forget to do the same.

Ill.--Some studies report that as many as 90% of couples faced with a report of probable Down’s Syndrome will choose to abort. Tests that also have a high false positive rating. And yet, do you know anyone with a Down’s child that doesn’t tell you that child is the light of their life, an absolute joy, the most loving person they’ve ever known?

C. Our Lord placed great value on those whom society has shuffled aside.

While on his knees, the leper begged Jesus to make him clean. The Bible says in

Mark 1:41 NKJV

41 Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.”

III. Life is sacred . . . because of its eternal nature.

A. Life exists before we enter the material world.

Psalm 139:15–16 NKJV

15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.

So technically, life begins even before conception!

B. There is life at new birth.

John 3:3 NKJV

3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

C. Our earthly life is simply a prelude to eternity.

Hebrews 9:27 NKJV

27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,

1 John 5:13 NKJV

13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

In other words, we can know and be assured of abundant life while on the earth, and everlasting life in eternity with Christ.

Let’s do our part to insure those same rights to the unborn!

And if you are here and have only been born once, the Bible says you have to die twice:

Revelation 20:14–15 NKJV

14 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

But if you’ve been born twice, you only die once, at most, and Jesus Christ took the sting out of that death, took our hell for us, and will take us to heaven when we die if we believe!

Conclusion:

Now what should we do about abortion, and putting an end to the big number of little ones who are dying?

What not to do: React in violence. It’s never right to do wrong.

What to do:

1. Be informed. We can’t bury our heads in the sand. Ignorance is bliss, right? Well, ignoring the issue doesn’t make it go away. There’s no better platform from which to proclaim this message than church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

2. Work and pray…Roe is no longer the law of the land. But, that doesn’t mean the work is over. There are still 18 states around the country that have free and open access to abortion even without parental consent for those mothers who are underage. Another 18, where there may be some restrictions but it is still accessible (including VA where the only restrictions are Medicaid funding and at least require parental consent). That’s according to the planned parenthood website as of 9AM this morning. (1/22/23). The work isn’t over.

***Work includes give. Talk about baby bottle campaign and adding AbbaCare to our missions giving in 2023.

3. Teach sexual morality in the home. We need to teach our kids a higher standard than “being safe”.

4. Have more compassion for the unwed mother. God loves them! And yes, we’ll preach against pre-marital sex. Once the mistake is made, she needs unconditional love right here within these walls!

5. Speak out clearly w/out apology.

Isaiah 58:1 NKJV

1 “Cry aloud, spare not; Lift up your voice like a trumpet; Tell My people their transgression, And the house of Jacob their sins.

6. Refuse to be swayed by the high sounding arguments of liberal politicians, and so-called “experts” in the scientific field who have no moral base to speak from. They are clueless and don’t even deserve our attention on this matter.

7. Pray for God to have mercy on America, and to give us space to repent…and to bring national revival.