SANCTITY OF HUMAN LIFE
2nd in series of
Taking up Your Cross in Today’s World
On September 11, 2001 evil doers killed over 4,000 people. They were future leaders of this nation, doctors who could have saved many, scientist who may have found a cure for cancer, evangelist who may have lead thousands to the Lord and they were loved. Yes on September 11, 2001, evil doers killed over 4000 people.
On September 12, 2001 evil doers killed over 4000 people and again on September 13 and 14 and 15. Every day evil doers are killing over 4000 unborn babies. 4000 each day, 28,000 each week, 112,000 each month and 1,460,000 each year.
On September 11, 2001 terrorist killed over 4000 people, and the outcry for justice was great, the cry of pain was heard through out our Nation. Swift and accurate justice was rendered. 4000 unborn babies are being murdered everyday, but I see no weeping, no anger, and no outcry for justice and no one who cares.
Gen 1:27
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
(NIV)
God created us in His own image. We are a part of God and God creates every child that is conceived in His image. Even while that baby is in the womb, he or she is in God’s image. What gives us the authority to destroy innocent life? Let’s look at what God told Jeremiah.
Jer 1:5
5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
(NIV)
This verse tells us that God forms us in the womb. God causes the sperm of the man to impregnate the egg of the woman. God causes this to happen and nothing else. This verse also tells us that before we were born, while we were still in the womb, God has a plan for our lives. Jeremiah was appointed to be a prophet to the nations before he was born, while he was still in his mother’s womb. From the moment of conception God has a plan or calling for the unborn baby. Some are appointed for evangelism, others doctors, others ministers, others missionaries, others leaders of nations, and still others as disciples.
What would have happened if Jeremiah’s mother had aborted him? Would Jerusalem have been overthrown? Would the history of Israel be different today? Isaiah 44:2 again tell us that God forms us in the womb.
Isa 44:2
2 This is what the LORD says-- he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
(NIV)
These are living babies in their mother’s womb. They aren’t just globs of tissue, as the pro-abortion people would have you to believe. They are living human beings, created in God’s image. Human beings that God has given a purpose in life, innocent human beings that depend on us for protection and nurturing.
When did we become so evil, that we would send someone to jail for killing a litter of kittens, but would do nothing to someone killing human babies. God created animals too, but not in His image. Babies are created in God’s image with a body, soul and spirit. Even the Angels were not created in God’s image. An animal has no soul or spirit. So when did animals become more important than human babies?
On January 22, 1973 the United States Supreme Court handed down its famous Roe vs. Wade decision which unleashed a holocaust on the unborn. By a vote of 7-2 they declared the "shedding of innocent blood" to be a constitutional right. Since that time, over 40,000,000 babies have died. Over 4000 daily continue to be murdered. Only 4% of those abortions are for the sake of the mother’s life. 96% are for convenience of the mother. In other words 96% of the 40,000,000 abortions was performed for birth control.
Norma McCorvey was the "Roe" of Roe vs. Wade. In 1969 she found herself pregnant and on the streets. She sought an abortion, but could not get one in Texas because of the strong pro-life laws in Texas at that time. She found help in an ambitious young attorney named Sara Weddington. Sara convinced Norma to lie and tell the courts that she had been raped. (This means that the abortion case that destroyed every state law protecting the unborn was based on a lie).
In 1972 that case, Roe vs. Wade, was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court and in January 1973, this supreme court reversed not just the laws banning abortion in Texas, but in all 50 states. Before the case even went to the Supreme Court, Norma had already had her baby and given it up for adoption.
In 1989, she came out of seclusion and announced to the world that she was the Roe in Roe vs. Wade. The pro-abortion movement recruited her for their cause and a TV movie was made about her life. She then went to work for an abortion clinic in the Dallas area, where her life would change forever. She was killing babies for money and she knew this. But one day Operation Rescue moved in next door to the abortion clinic.
Norma said that she would watch the women handing out pro-life literature. Norma said that the pro-life people were always smiling and she was very curious about that. She began talking with the prolife Christians and they began witnessing to her.
Norma remembers a young mother who had 2 little girls. Emily was 7 and Chelsea was 3. Their mother, Rhonda, became pregnant soon after marrying and Rhonda’s relatives tried to convince her to have an abortion, because they said "Well Rhonda, that’s no way to start a marriage: with a problem." Rhonda had seen the results of abortions that some of her friends had and she refused to abort her first baby.
One day Norma was looking out of the abortion clinic window and saw little 7 year old Emily take literature from adults and she would just walk up to women and say, "I would like you to have this information and please don’t go in there and kill your baby."
Norma began talking with Pastor Flip Benham, director of Operation Rescue. She was lead to Christ in 1996 by these Pro-life protesters next to her abortion clinic and by a little 7-year-old girl named Emily. What if Rhonda had aborted Emily? Would Norma’s heart still have been touched and would Norma still have been saved?
Today Norma is a Christian working with Operation Outcry, trying to reverse the Roe vs. Wade decision that she had been a part of. God can forgive and change anyone who has committed an abortion or been part of the Pro-abortion campaign. All it takes is admitting that you are a sinner and repent of that sin. Just as Norma was guilty of starting the abortion revolution, if we have ever voted for any political candidate that supports the Pro-choice agenda, then we are just as guilty of the sin of abortion as anyone who has ever had an abortion. We need to ask God for forgiveness and repent. Repent means that we will never again vote for any candidate that supports the Pro-choice agenda.
I want to give you some facts on abortions. AGI is Planned Parenthood and CDC is the Centers for Disease Control. These are the figures that each agency has reported for the number of abortions performed for each listed year.
Abortions per year in the United States
YEAR (AGI) (CDC)
1973 744,600 615,831
1974 898,600 763,476
1975 1,034,200 854,853
1976 1,179,300 988,276
1977 1,316,700 1,079,430
1978 1,409,600 1,157,776
1979 1,497,700 1,251,921
1980 1,553,900 1,297,606
1981 1,577,300 1,300,760
1982 1,573,900 1,303,980
1983 1,575,000 1,268,987
1984 1,577,200 1,333,521
1985 1,588,600 1,328,570
1986 1,574,000 1,328,112
1987 1,559,100 1,353,671
1988 1,590,800 1,371,285
1989 1,566,900 1,396,658
1990 1,608,600 1,429,577
1991 1,556,500 1,388,937
1992 1,528,900 1,359,145
1993 1,500,000 1,330,414
1994 1,431,000 1,267,415
1995 1,363,690 1,210,883
1996 1,365,730 1,221,585
This is approximately 40,000,000 babies that have been murdered since 1973.
That is 1.5 million babies each year;
That’s 28,000 babies every week;
That’s 4,000 babies every day;
That’s 1 baby every 20 seconds;
That’s 120 babies during the time that I am preaching this sermon.
I can’t leave this subject without first talking about partial birth abortion. I can’t understand how anyone can say that this isn’t pre-meditated 1st degree murder.
If you don’t know how partial birth abortion is performed let me explain it to you.
A woman can obtain a partial birth abortion all the way through the 3rd trimester. That means that the full term baby could be delivered normally and lives without any respirator or any other life support system connected to it to preserve life. Partial birth abortions are performed on full term babies before they are delivered.
The procedure for the partial birth abortion is this.
1st The mother is given medication to induce labor.
2nd The doctor reaches into the birth canal and turns the baby so that it will be delivered breached (feet first).
3rd The baby is delivered completely except for the head which remains in the birth canal. The entire body of the baby is outside of the mother except for the head. The baby’s arms and legs are moving.
4th The doctor then take a pair of scissors and places them at the base of the infant’s skull inside of the mother’s birth canal. The doctor then punctures the baby’s skull. The baby jerks, becomes stiff and then becomes limp.
5th The doctor then removes the scissors, and put a suction tube into the baby’s skull while it is still inside the mother’s birth canal. The doctor then sucks the baby brain out, thus collapsing the baby’s skull. This is done for two reasons. One to make sure the baby is dead and the other is to ease the delivery for the mother.
Can anyone justify this? This is cold-blooded murder in the worst kind. Anyone who supports a politician that is against the ban on partial birth abortion is just as guilty of murder as is that doctor performing the abortion. It is hard for me to even talk to you about this without shedding tears.
When I was running for NM State Representative, I received a call one night from an elderly man. He said that he knew I was pro-life, but he wanted to know my position in the case of rape or incest. I told the man about James Robertson. If you don’t know him, he is an evangelist and missionary. He has lead many to Christ and has done great missionary work in Africa. His mother was raped and James was the product of that rape. There would be many less Christians today if his mother had decided to abort him. What men intend for evil, God uses for good. I told the caller that I was against abortion in all cases and situations. He said that that was what he had thought, but wanted to be sure and he thanked me.
All life is scared to God, because He made us in his image. God not only gave us a body but He created us with a spirit and soul. This He created in the womb at conception. Remember when Mary was pregnant with Jesus and she went to visit Elizabeth. The baby that Elizabeth was carrying in her womb jumped with joy at the sound of Mary’s voice. If these babies didn’t have a spirit this couldn’t have happened.
I get many e-mail alerts each day concerning pro-life issues. I wish I had time to share them with you today but I must move on. Abortion is a battle that we are losing because we (Christians) refuse to get involved and that worries me. We are commanded to stand up and speak out boldly against all that is evil. This evil has even gotten where your teenage daughter can obtain an abortion without your consent or even your knowledge. Your rights as an parent has been taken away from you and you may soon find that the government supersedes any rights that you think you may have over your own children.
The next subject I would like to talk about is "Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia." One would think that the 6th commandment would end this debate.
Exod 20:13
13 "You shall not murder.
(NIV)
What don’t people understand about "you shall not murder?"
Euthanasia involves the intentional killing of a patient by the direct intervention of a physician or another party, for the good of the patient or others. Euthanasia is illegal in the United States.
The act of physician-assisted suicide involves a medical doctor who provides a patient the means to kill him or herself, usually by an overdose of prescription medication. Physician-assisted suicide is illegal by statute or common law in most states. Oregon is the only state where physician-assisted suicide is legal.
Both of the above cases are murder as is abortion. God has appointed a time for all things and He is the one that knows when our work is finished here on earth. Let God determine the time that He wants to call us home. God never promised us that we would never suffer pain. He did promise that we would have everlasting life with Christ in Heaven if we accept Christ has our savior.
Paul told the church at Philippi that he desired to depart and be with Christ, but he knew his work was not finished and that his time had not arrived.
Phil 1:20-24
20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.
21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know!
23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far;
24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.
(NIV)
Why do Christian fear death so much? Even Paul in the above passage longed to be with Christ. If you have truly accepted Christ as your Savior, then you know you will live eternity in Heaven in the presence of our Lord. Didn’t Jesus tell us that we must hate this world and even hate our own lives. When we accept Christ has our savior, we then should look forward to the time that we will be physically with Him always. But until the time that God calls us home, we have a mission, just as Paul had, to witness to unbelievers. God is the one that decides when we should die. We are not to play God. When God decides that we have completed our role on this earth then He will call us home. We do have a purpose in life and that purpose for a believer is the great commission. Jesus didn’t give us an option; He gave us a commission.
Matt 28:18-20
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.""
(NIV)
As Disciples of Christ we too are to go out and tell the Good News and make disciples to the Lord. We are to teach others that they are to obey everything that Jesus has commanded. This is what this sermon series on "Taking up Your Cross in Today’s World" is all about. We are to obey Christ in all of His teachings and the teachings of His Apostles, because their words are the inspired words of Christ.
I want to leave you with this final scripture.
2 Tim 4:1-5
1 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge:
2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-- with great patience and careful instruction.
3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist,
(NIV)
We are all called to preach the Word to those around us. We are also commanded to correct and rebuke sins of others. The time that verse 3 and 4 tells about is here today. Even some Christians, Pastors and Churches are turning away from sound doctrines to teach what feels good for their own desires. The motto of our nation is changing from "In God We Trust" to "If It Feels Good, Do It." According to verse 5, we are to stay inform in everything that is going on in our nation and the world. We are to stand up and do the work of an evangelist, preaching the gospel and the repentance of sin, knowing that we will endure hardships all the way.
Are you taking up your cross? Are you walking the narrow path? The harvest is great, but the time is short. There are many Christians that needs to re-examine their walk with Christ. We can’t be half of a Christian. It is 100% or nothing. Let’s make a new commitment tonight that we will obey all of Christ’s teaching, not just the ones that suit our needs. Sara Groves sings a Christian song called "How is it Between Us." In the song she asks "Lord how is it between you and me?" If you asked God this question, what would be His answer?
If there are any here tonight, that hasn’t received Christ as their personal savior, now is the time to do it. What are you waiting for? You may not ever get another chance. If your heart is beating a little faster than normal or you breathing is faster, or your stomach has butterflies, you aren’t getting sick. That is the Holy Spirit calling you to surrender your life to Christ. I promise you that you will never regret it.
We talked about death tonight. Are you afraid to die? Maybe you need to make sure you have truly accepted Christ as your savior and not just gone through the motions.
I don’t want to die now, because I will miss my loved ones and I have just started in my ministry but I do desire to be in the presence of Christ and I look forward to that day.
