God's Church Is Pro-Life!
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God’s Church is Pro-Life!
It’s mother’s day, and today I am going to talk about the life that Mothers are privileged to bring into this world. This week, the news has been full of the issue of what can be done with babies in the womb.
This Morning, We are going to talk about the Sanctity of Life. When we hear the term sanctity of life, the focus is usually on abortion and our opposition to it. But Sanctity of life means all life, from the womb to the tomb as some would say. So not only are we pro-life in being opposed to abortion, we are also opposed to euthanasia, or doctor assisted suicide as well. If we believe in God’s Word, and want to live it as Christians, then we need to understand why God’s Word not only commands respect and honor for human life, but also requires that God’s people take an active role in fighting for life at all stages.
This morning, I am focusing primarily on pro-life in regards to the unborn, but most of what I am going to present to you from scripture as well as from historical and contemporary sources, will also have application to euthanasia and other life related topics as well.
Monday evening, as I was waiting for grocery pick-up with Karena in the car, I brought up some news on my phone and saw that this leak had come from the Supreme Court, an opinion not yet formally released, to the effect that the court was going to strike down Roe V Wade. I told Karena and a moment later I began to cry. She said “I knew you would cry”. She knew this because she knows that this issue is a very emotional one for me. I told her that for nearly 50 years, Christians have been fighting against Roe v Wade. I grew up immersed in the pro-life movement. My Mom was actively in the pro-life movement, my sister and I attended pro-life events. For as long as i can remember, the issue of abortion has weighed heavily on me, and it still does today.
But the church did not just wake up and become pro-life after Roe v Wade was decided in 1973. The church has been pro-life since its very beginnings. I will share with you in a bit about that. I clearly was not the only one emotional about the news I read Monday night. For the rest of the week, there were emotions on both sides, and some of this is not unexpected.
One person said that abortion has become a religious ordinance for many who call themselves pro-choice. So for some, any law that may restrict abortion is the equivalent of denying religious rights. That may not be true for all who call themselves pro-choice, but it certainly seems the case for some. How could people be so outraged over the fact that someone wants to legally protect the lives of unborn children? How can it seem so outrageous to some that we insist that mothers be mothers, and deliver the child they are responsible for?
I am totally not surprised at the response of secular people to this issue. What bothers me even more is when those who call themselves Christian are apathetic about this issue. They may say they are personally against abortion, but we shouldn’t be engaged in this, people can make their own decision. Yet that logic doesn’t hold up! You wouldn’t say, for example, that I personally am opposed to arson, but it isn’t my place to tell others what to do. Or I am personally opposed to people assaulting others, but it isn’t my place to tell others what to do. Yet on this very critical issue of abortion, many Christians take that very position.
So it is my hope this mother’s day to explain what the Bible teaches us and what God’s response is. God does not allow us to take a neutral stance on assault. He is against, so should we be as Christians. Scripture has much to say about the mistreatment and harm to the innocent and the helpless. God hates abortion, and so should Christians.
My message is going to cover 3 main areas:
First, people are made in God’s image. We will see what scripture says about this and what it means in light of taking another’s life, especially one who is innocent.
Second, in his rebellion, Satan has perverted God’s ways, and led many people into his service of rebellion against God.
Third, what the response of the church should be to abortion and other life issues.
First, let us look at the most compelling reason that scripture offers for us to view human life in all of its stages, as sacred and worth protecting. And that is that human beings are made in the image of God. We begin in the creation account, when God created the first humans.
Then 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 birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
Now, when we hear the word image, we think of a picture, or visual representation of something. However, this is not exactly what is meant here. After all, scripture tells us that God is Spirit, he cannot be seen. Yes, Jesus was fully man and fully God, and he said those who had seen him had seen the father, but what about the rest of us? Those who first read the creation account up until today, with the exception of a relatively small population who were present during the advent of Christ, have not seen God, that is, with our eyes. No, people being made in the image of God is not about our physical appearance.
Then what is it? Well, It means that God put his own special imprint on our very souls, and in our emotions, and in our ability to relate to him and to each other. Human beings share many of God’s attributes, even though ours are not perfected. In Genesis, we are reminded again that Adam was made in the image of God:
This is the book of the generations of Adam. When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God.
and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Again in Colossians:
Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
So each person is made in the image of God; sin taints that image, but in Christ, we have the hope and promise of a restoration of the perfect image of God in us. James writes, in his discourse on the dangers of the tongue, that it is sinful even to use our words to curse another person who is made in the image of God:
With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
This, James says, is a contradiction. How can one bless the Lord with the same tongue that they speak evil about someone who bears God’s image?
So every person is made in God’s image. Think of the person in your life who has been your biggest tormentor, your biggest pain. Yes, they are made in the image of God. Or to go even further, and consider someone like Vladimir Putin, or Kim Jon Il. Made in the image of God.
Now, hopefully, we could conclude based upon this alone, that God has made people in his image, that we would see that human life is special and worth preserving, since God is the creator who makes each person special. But we do not need to rely on our intuition to know this, because God specifically links this concept, being made in the image of God, to protection of life.
“Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by man shall his blood be shed,
for God made man in his own image.
“Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death.
“Whoever takes a human life shall surely be put to death.
Moreover, you shall accept no ransom for the life of a murderer, who is guilty of death, but he shall be put to death. And you shall accept no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the high priest. You shall not pollute the land in which you live, for blood pollutes the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed in it, except by the blood of the one who shed it.
So while people are not free to decide for themselves about killing another, since it is forbidden, God has ordained the death penalty for those who have shed the blood of innocents. This is another topic altogether, but let me say that scripture lays out the requirements for this to happen, including fair trials and eye witnesses that can attest to a murder. And scripture also differentiates from self defense that leads to a death, and even manslaughter. We are actually going to look at that in our next part of Deuteronomy. And of course, the commandment to not bear false witness was given as a preventative to people lying to bring wrong blame on another.
Now, I won’t spend too much time on the science of when life begins, because if anything, science has done enough to prove that the unborn child is indeed a separate human being from the mother. By the time the mother can even know she is pregnant, the child has already began to take form and has a heartbeat. It is not a clump of cells, which is a lie that has been told to many women one the years. In fact, from the very moment of conception, when egg meets sperm, an entirely new human DNA code is written, and there is a unique being. There are people this week still saying we can’t know when life begins or when it is time to protect it. That is such bologna.
A common chant among abortion supporters is “my body, my choice”, but the science is clear, that infant inside the mother is not part of her body, but rather a vulnerable dependent who needs protection and care.
Now, we have looked at what the bible says about humans being made in the image of God, and scripture tells us that even in the womb, God knows us and knows the plans he has for us. For a believer who carefully considers the whole of Scripture, there can be no alternative to arrive at other than the fact the we are compelled to defend innocent life. I will touch on that towards the end some more, and I have scripture to back all of this, so that what I present this morning is not merely my opinion, but the only conclusion possible in light of scripture.
Now, we have looked at what the bible says about the image of God, now let us look at how Satan perverts every good thing of God and twists it into evil. First of all, what do we know about Satan? He is the ultimate rebel. Whenever you may be tempted to call yourself a rebel, remember that is not necessarily a positive thing. Satan wanted to usurp God. He wanted complete autonomy, complete freedom. And he has convinced many of his followers, those who follow him willingly, and those who follow him ignorantly, to declare that no rules apply.
Everyone has a right to do what makes themselves happy. There is no greater than self. And like Satan, many want to live a life without rules imposed on them, certainly not rules imposed by God, but rules based on social norms, or human law either. But Satan isn’t satisfied with only disobedience, he wants to pervert God’s ways, and make mockery of that which is holy. So let’s consider a few of the ways that Satan makes a mockery of Holy things. Take marriage, for example. God ordains it, it is a holy union that is for us, a visible representation of the perfect unity found in God, it is a metaphor for our relationship for him, and for Christ in the church. What does Satan do to pervert marriage? Well, you probably know of some answers already. First, there is adultery and fornication outside of marriage, there is easy divorce, there is polygamy, there is homosexuality.
Another example. I read the scripture a bit ago. God made humans male and female. But that is not good enough for the rebels, now people can choose their own gender, or identify as a cat, or come such foolishness.
How about worship? Here, Satan has accomplished much. We use music and devotion to worship God, and Satan twists those into worship of depravity. The church of Satan even has many buildings that look not much different than ours, with upside down crosses, and the people bow at his altar to worship him. Satan perverts everything.
And in his perversion of God’s ways of worship, he has mockingly imitated some elements. Let’s see some examples of this in scripture:
You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord.
What is Molech?
Molech was a demonic god. To please Molech, child sacrifices were made. In some cases, there would be a metal statue of Molech, with his hands held out as though to receive something. These metal hands would be heated to being red hot, and a baby or infant laid onto those hands. Why would they do this? Well, they believed that if they pleased Molech, they would have good harvests. You see, they were sacrificing children so that their lives would be little easier. Isn’t interesting that today, over 92% of women surveyed about admit they had an abortion have given some selfish reason for why they did it. Career, finances, looks, and so on.
Josiah, one of the kings who tried to reform Israel, tore down the altars to Molech:
And he defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, that no one might burn his son or his daughter as an offering to Molech.
Jeremiah preached against the worship of demons:
They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.
In celebration of the goodness of God and his faithfulness, the Psalmist commended God for being faithful, even when His people did not honor him with obedience:
Psalm 106:34–39 (ESV)
34 They did not destroy the peoples,
as the Lord commanded them,
35 but they mixed with the nations
and learned to do as they did.
36 They served their idols,
which became a snare to them.
37 They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to the demons;
38 they poured out innocent blood,
the blood of their sons and daughters,
whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan,
and the land was polluted with blood.
39 Thus they became unclean by their acts,
and played the whore in their deeds.
Sacrificing innocents at the altar of Satan, whether in the form of Baal, or Molech, or any of the many forms he has taken throughout history, is a total perversion of what God had ordained. God ordained sacrifice, but the blood of man was sacred, and even the animal blood was never to be consumed. But Satan is worshiped though the sacrifice of innocents, and abortion and infanticide has always been one of those ways that Satan has perverted the good things of God.
Former Satanist and High Wizard, Zachary King, who is now a Christ-follower, has been sharing about the link between the church of Satan and abortion. I’m going to read some excerpts from an interview he did, taken from an article by Michael Hichborn:
King – Just after I turned 14 […] There was a [..] party with all the male members between 12 and 15 and a female member over 18 and her purpose was to get pregnant, and then she was going to have an abortion in 9 months. When I asked about what an abortion was to the coven members, I said I don’t know what I have to do here, they explained that there’s a baby in the womb and you are going to kill it. There will be an abortion doctor there to help you and there will be a nurse because it’s a full medical procedure. My first question was, “is that legal?” The response was, “Yes it is, as long as it’s in the womb. As long as the baby is still inside the woman, you can kill it.”
That’s how it was explained to us. It was also explained that, ‘You are killing a baby.” They didn’t say that we would be killing a fetus or killing some cells in a body. None of that. It’s a baby.
Now, I don’t think I would have been okay with killing a baby outside of a woman’s body, but knowing that I could kill as much as I wanted to if someone was inside the body … in satanism, killing something or the death of something is the most effective way of getting your spell accomplished. As far as trying to get satan’s approval, to give you something that you want, killing something is the best way to go. Killing something is the ultimate offering to satan, and if you can kill an unborn, that is his ultimate goal.
[…] I’d estimate I’ve done about 20 ritual abortions inside these facilities, but I never counted. I just know that I’ve been in a lot of them… all the ones I went to, doing abortions in them, were terribly unsanitary. They looked like a house of horrors…(regarding some of the organizations that fight for abortion rights, King said: a lot of those people are wiccan, and the wiccans, though they profess to have a stance for the preservation of life, they’re allowed to “smite” or “smote” anyone who goes against them in any way, which is to say that they’re allowed to destroy them by any means necessary, which is through magick for them. For instance, as Christians, we pray for their conversion. Well, they see that as open season on Christians. They as well see the female figure, the woman, like Mother Earth, or Gaia. So, they have this womanly figure that they worship and they imagine that as she is the goddess, a child takes away from that, and so abortion is a satanic sacrament so to speak.
So, just as Catholic men will join the priesthood because they are attracted to holiness and to working for God, an abortion facility attracts Satanists for the satanic priesthood.
More than once, we’ve had a baby defy the odds and survive the abortion. One time, I arrived at the abortion facility and there were people on two sides of the street. On one side, there were people praying and calling out against abortion, and on the side I was on were people who were obviously for abortion, and they were yelling all kinds of obscenities at the people across the street. When we went inside and looked across the street, we saw all the people on the other side of the street on their knees. That day, the abortion we had scheduled for a ritual did not go through. I think this happened to me about three times, and all three times … it’s funny, but that never really clicked for me that all three abortions that were thwarted by what can really only be attributed to the prayers that were going on outside.
If you want to read more about the Satanic connection to abortion, I can provide that to you, send me an email and I will let you read it for yourself.
There is a video online called “Abortion: A Doctrine of Demons”. I could not even show it here, but it clearly lays out the connection that Abortion has to Satanism and the occult. In the video, Lucien Greaves, spokesperson for the church of Satan is interviewed, as well as a lady named Jax Blackmore. Blackmore says that Satan “inspires a rebellion in mankind against a tyrannical God”
The video shows how pro-life protestors are attacked by people who yell “Hail Satan” and physically attack. One young man was in such a frenzy to destroy the signs of the pro-life group he looked possessed. The video says that Satanic temple considers abortion to be one of the “rites” of Satan’s church. And the Satanic temple teaches its members that “Defending Abortion access is a worthy form of worship” to Satan, and that Satanists should “Worship through activism”
Of course, you have heard of the abortion clinics selling the parts of babies, but what we have not seen in the news is that satanic rituals are going on in many of those same clinics. Just as a church might have a dedication ceremony for a new sanctuary, many of the Planned Parenthood clinics have had “prayer services” to dedicate them. In some cases, apostate so-called Christian priests attend these, calling the work of the abortion clinic the work of God, all while standing side by side with those who do the murderous work.
God declares his will, Satan perverts everything. So what should be the response of God’s church?
Simply this: The church should do whatever it can to bring dignity to life. We should be pro-life, not just for the unborn, but for all stages of life. We should be pro-life for those with disabilities. We should preserve life when we can by feeding the hungry, we should offer alternatives to abortion and speak out against it. If the church of Satan considers defense of abortion rights as acceptable worship, then what acceptable worship can we offer God in opposing the work of Satan?
In scripture, there are over 40 mentions of the “fatherless”. God commands protection of the fatherless, we are supposed to fight for justice for the fatherless, provide for the fatherless, protect the fatherless. It is an old testament principle renewed in the new testament church. In fact, you may not know that abortion and infanticide were much more common around the world before the church.
In Rome, no rights were provided whatsoever to children. A parent could kill their own child, sell it, leave it in the sun to die, throw it in the river, all without any legal consequences. When the gospel spread through Rome, however, so did a new attitude about life. Early Christians worked to preserve life. Christianity basically invented the hospital and the orphanage. Christians would seek for the children, mostly infants, left to die in the elements in order to save them. they would search the riverside for babies that had been thrown in the river to drown. In time, Christianity impacted all of Rome and ended infanticide there
St. Patrick, in his mission to Ireland, eventually had such an impact that the Celts stopped aborting and committing infanticide. Over and over, wherever the gospel has traveled, hearts have been changed, and inevitably that changes attitudes regarding the sanctity of life. For how can one submit to Christ, who commands obedience to His Word, without seeing that God has commanded each of us to fight for life?
You see, the command to fight for life is found in a command that encompasses so much more.
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. What has Christ commanded that has to do with life? Much! In fact, everything he taught comes back to this. God is the author of life, and as his servants, we are stewards of all creation. So we must be for life.
We heard a lot about what Satan wants, and it stems from what is sometimes referred to as the sin of Satan: Pride. selfishness, anarchy. For the worshipers of Baal and Molech, personal desires, for food and wealth, drove them to sacrifice their children. Today, the pride of Satan is what drives the vast majority of abortions. I’m not ready for a child, I can’t afford it right now, we just bought a house. I can’t put my career on hold. I don’t want to lose my figure. Self, self, self.
In ancient times, humans, sometimes children, sometimes elderly, sometimes the handicapped, were killed on the altar of the “benefit of society”. In order that someone not be a burden, the undesirable was killed. Today, people have elective abortions because they fear something like down’s syndrome. Abortion has been openly discussed as a potential remedy for climate change. Since some concerned with climate change think the problem is too many people, naturally the idea comes out that one solution is abortion. I don’t think, if that is your position, you are that far off from getting rid of the old people and the cripples as well.
I have good news, though. The church has the answer. Faith, hope, and love. Satan offers freedom to sin, God offers freedom from sin. That is what the good news is all about. We have that good news to share with everyone, from the one considering an abortion to the one who has already had one, God offers forgiveness and hope for the future. We have a responsibility not only to share the gospel, but to make use of those rights we have to push our government to bring back morality. Morality is under assault, but we need not throw up our hands and say it is too late to change the culture.
Our approach must be 2 pronged: To share the gospel and pray that God would convince others of his truth, and also to do our best to convince others that life is worth defending.
Finally, I hope you have seen this morning that this most assuredly is a spiritual battle, and for a spiritual battle, we need spiritual weapons and spiritual armor.
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.
There is hope, and it is in Christ. Wherever the gospel has taken hold, entire cultures have been changed. History has shown this, the bible promises it, and we have the confidence that His Word is true. Our charge then, is to not only defend life where we can through whatever means we can, but to bring forth the gospel of Jesus Christ. You will never convince an unregenerate person of the true evil of abortion. However, if we share the gospel, for those who God draws to himself that respond in faith, their eyes will be opened and they will be able to see things biblically, with the help of those believers who will bring them forward.
We are not to look at the world and the lack of morality in it with despair. Rather, the entire world is our mission field!
Today, we celebrate mothers. And from the newest mother among us to the great-grandmother, we honor you and your sacrifice to your children. God has given to mothers a special privilege, and you are blessed. Through the struggle to raise up those precious children, and in the midst of the pain that comes with it, is a glorious blessing from our Lord.
Before I close, I want to say to those of you who may have felt convicted by this message this morning. Maybe you were one who defended abortion rights. Maybe someone here has participated in an abortion. If your heart is broken over these things, know this: King David was confronted with his sin. His response to being confronted with his sin was a broken heart, and he brought his broken heart to the Lord for healing. One of his prayers in response to this is found in Psalm 51
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
You see, David sinned greatly and saw the consequences of that sin. His sins included adultery and murder to cover up that adultery. And yet, God said David was a man after his own heart. And David was blessed with a man who was willing to look him in the eye and say “you are the man” (who sinned greatly). David repented and received the mercy of God. You see, David was made in God’s image, just as you and I are. God has created us with the ability to be drawn to him.
If you have sinned in participating in abortion, or supporting it, and if your heart is broken over this sin, there is hope for you, and mercy abundant. Turn your sorrow into joy. That joy comes when we bring to God the sacrifice of a broken spirit. God will receive with joy the truly repentant sinner. May God grant each one of us here and those listening online to be broken over our sins, so that we may rejoice in his mercy and grace.
This sermon had some very heavy parts, I know. I debated whether to even share some of the darker parts, this being Mother’s Day. But the light of Dawn shines the brighter after the darkest night. All we need to do is to follow the light.
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”