Sanctity of Human Life
This is a very emotional sermon for me to preach. Maybe it is because of the many mistakes that I made with my elderly parents and the many mistakes that I made with my own children.
Last year at this same time I preached a Sanctity of Human Life sermon and most of you were here. January of 2002 I stood up here and told you that evildoers killed over 4000 people on September 11, 2001. Again on September 11, 2002 evildoers killed over 4000 people. Everyday since 1973 over 4000 unborn babies are being murdered in the United States. During the time that it takes me to preach this sermon 120 babies will be aborted. On September 11, 2001, when terrorist flew two airplanes into the twin towers, killing about 3000 people, there was a cry of outrage, which even continues to this day; 1 year and 4 months later. Since abortions became legal in the United States, there have been over 40,000,000 babies killed by abortions. Where is the outcry for justice? Last year I explained to you how abortions became legal in this country and the techniques used to perform abortions including the so call “partial birth abortion”. I am not going to get into that today. Today I want to talk about the sanctity of all Human life.
All life is precious to God. Whether it is a baby in the mother’s womb, a child, a youth, an adult or an elderly person. We are all precious to God.
Let’s read:
Ps 139:13-16
13 For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.
(NIV)
God is almighty. He is the giver of life. He decides who will have children and how many. He decides what they will look like. He decides if they will be healthy or lovingly special. God knows even before you are born how long He will have you live here on this earth. Our names were written in His Book of Life when He formed us in our mother’s womb. It is only when we do not accept His son Jesus Christ as our Savior that our names are blotted out of His Book of Life. God has a will for each baby that He forms. How can we sit back silently and allow the murdering of these precious babies?
We get upset when we see animals abused or slaughtered. Are animals more precious that human life that was created in God’s image? We hurt inside when we hear on the news that another child has been abducted, raped and killed. Why is it that we feel nothing when 4000 babies are killed each day? I cannot understand this! That child in their mother’s womb is a sacred human life created by God in His own image. Maybe we don’t understand who we are! We are sacred and wonderfully made by God, to fellowship with God and to do God’s will. Is it God’s will that we allow the murder of his children? Many of us may know someone who has had an abortion. Did we do all that we could to stop them? Are we now doing all that we can to comfort them? God is a loving God and He does forgive those who repents and ask for forgiveness.
If a so call expert doctor tells us that our unborn baby will be born with a defect, then we are ready to abort the baby. How many times are healthy babies aborted because the doctor was wrong? I know because the doctors told my daughter that her baby had Down syndrome and would probably be physically handicapped. My daughter chose not to have an abortion, and she delivered a normal healthy baby boy on December 24, 2001. Are doctors more knowing and more powerful than God. I don’t think so.
Now we are even killing babies so that we can perform stem cell research so that others may live a better quality of life. I don’t think I would want to live knowing that an innocent baby was killed so that my quality of life would be better. Because we have Christ living in us, we are to be different from the world. I would rather die and be with my Lord than to have my earthly life prolonged at the expense of an baby conceived to further medical research. My life is less important than the life of that baby. I have lived a good life. That precious baby was just beginning it’s life.
Now it was just in the news that two babies have been cloned. How dared we play God? How dare we try to be like or greater than God? There was once someone else that wanted to be greater than God.
Let’s read about him:
Isa 14:12-15
12 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."
15 But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.
(NIV)
Lucifer was once a beautiful mighty angel who wanted to be like God. God cast him down to the debts of the earth. How much longer will God tolerate the sins of our Nation? How much longer will we allow the murder of innocence babies to continue? You ask what can I do, I have never aborted a baby. I have said this before and many didn’t like it, but I will say it again. If you have knowingly voted for a political candidate that supports abortion, then you are just as guilty of the sin of abortion as the woman who did get an abortion or the doctor who murdered the baby. Here in our state we have one Senator (Senator Bingaman) who has voted repeatedly against the ban on partial birth abortions. President Clinton also opposed the ban on partial birth abortions. So if you voted for either one of these men, then you voted to keeping partial birth abortions legal.
The good news is that God is a forgiving God. If you are guilty of this secret sin of abortion or voting for someone who is pro-choice, God loves you and is ready to forgive you if you haven’t all ready asked for forgiveness. God will forgive this sin too. All you have to do is to ask and then repent. Repenting means turning away from supporting abortions in any way and working to educate and counsel people against abortions, stem cell research and cloning.
Let’s read:
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)
We were all created in God’s own image. He breathes life into us. He gave us a soul and a spirit. In Psalms it tell us that we are wonderfully made. This is talking about all people. As the song says, “Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight.” God created all people of all races in His image. The beggar standing at the street corner is created in God’s image. The elderly in the nursing home is created in God’s image. The child with Down syndrome is created in God’s image. The murderer sitting on death row is created in God’s image. There are really only two types of people: the saved and the unsaved. Sometimes it is difficult for people to recognize who is who. Can unsaved people see Christ in us or do they see someone who teaches the word, but lives like the world?
Why do we treat people so badly? Why do we look down on the elderly as if they were a burden upon us? Today we are legalizing euthanasia, so that we can decide when a person should die instead of God’s appointed time. Again we are playing God. The elderly should be honored instead of being tossed to the side. They have given their all for us. They have raised us. They have taught us. Some have even fought for our freedom that we today enjoy. Why then do we put them out to pasture and now even want to kill them so that they won’t be a burden upon us?
I look back at my life and remember the good times that I had with my grandparents. I actually longed to spend more time with them than with my own parents. My Grandfather was a big strong good man. He was the fire chief in our hometown and I loved to spend time with him. Well, I grew up and married and had children of my own, but there was one big difference. My children didn’t have a grandfather to look up to. My wife’s father left her while she was still a baby. My father committed suicide before most of my children were born. Our children grew up without knowing the joy of having a granddad to look up to. All life is scared. When my dad killed himself, he was playing God. He had no right to take his own life. He denied my children from the pleasure of having someone to call grandpa. We must learn that all life is sacred. Your life is sacred. Even if you don’t see a purpose for your life, someone else does see it. God has a plan and a will for all of us. We are all important to God. For us to be sanctified, we must get the sin out of our lives and follow God’s will for us. I ran from God’s will for me for 40 years, until I finally surrendered to His call to the ministry. I think often of all of the time that I wasted by running. Most of us also have secret sins in our lives that prevent us from being sanctified and doing God’s will.
Tonight I want you to examine your lives. Your life is important. Your life is sacred. You are created in God’s own image as is the person sitting next to you and as is the 4000 unborn babies that are murdered every day in this nation. Is there secret sin in your life tonight? Have you had an abortion that you have not asked God for His forgiveness? Men, have you supported your wife in having an abortion, or have you suggested to your unmarried daughter to have an abortion when she became pregnant? Is there some other secret sin in your life? Are you addicted to drugs or alcohol? Are you involved in adultery or pornography? Are you suffering from the sin of pride? Is there someone that you dislike? Is there someone you can’t forgive? These and many more sins may be secret sins in your lives. Remember God knows about them and is waiting to forgive you. Sometimes we are unable to forgive ourselves and believe that if we can’t forgive ourselves then God can’t forgive us either. This isn’t true. God loves us. There is nothing that He won’t forgive, but we first have to ask. We must be willing to forgive ourselves.
Tonight the invitation will be a little different. We are going to play a song entitled “My Secret Sin”. With your heads bowed and eyes closed, I want you to listen to the words and ask God to forgive that secret sin that is in your lives. If you need someone to pray with you, we will be here for you. If you want to fall to your knees at the altar, then you come. Now with bowed heads and closed eyes, listen to the words of “My Secret Sin” and get your life right with God tonight.
