Well, as you know, we typically do expository teaching, taking a passage of scripture and going through it, looking at it verse by verse. However, this time of year, month of January, many churches observe Sanctity of Life Sunday. Not all churches do, not all evangelical churches do. But many churches do because many of us believe that this is a subject that is so vitally important we need to keep it in view. The reason that January is the date that churches observe Sanctuary of Life Sunday is because it was in January of 1973, the Roe v. Wade decision was made by the U.S. Supreme Court striking down laws all across this land, basically saying that the laws that had been put in place by the citizens of the country were unconstitutional because a majority of the justices saw the shadow of a shadow on the US Constitution, which they regarded as basis for overturning laws all across the country and making it so that children who were still in the womb could be slaughtered. And along with the Roe v. Wade decision, they issued what was a companion decision in the Doe v. Bolton case. And in that decision, and this is very important for folks to understand, in the Doe v. Bolton case, the decision that was made was that abortion should not only be legal under Roe v. Wade, but it should be legal in any situation through all nine months that might jeopardize the mother's health and that health is defined as anything regarding her happiness and well-being. Which means, and most people still to this day don't understand this, so I want you to be educated. What that means is that in this country, if you can find two doctors who kill babies for a living and get them to agree that you would be happier not having this baby, then they can kill your baby. That's all it takes under the current legal situation in this country. Now, I've had doctors and lawyers insist to me, no, abortion is not legal through all nine months. But it is. Well, but only in certain cases. Well, no. if the mother's health is at risk, not the mother's life, not the mother's physical health, the mother's health as defined by the Supreme Court, which means anything, anything, anything at all. And when there have been attempts various times by Congress to tighten that and say, no, we don't intend for it to mean that. Those laws have not been accepted by the politicians in the White House at the time. Because we have a political party in this country that is committed as a holy mission to making sure nobody restricts abortion in any way. Now, this is not a political message this morning, and I'll tell you why. we're talking about something God says concerning life. And we're gonna, in a few minutes, go through and look at some of the scriptures concerning this. But I want you to be sure and understand the framework and the reason why we're departing from our usual expository messages day after day in order to focus on this topical message. In Jeremiah chapter one, We have one of the scriptures that will be referenced later. But Jeremiah chapter one, beginning in verse four, the word of the Lord came to me saying, 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. God says to Jeremiah, that he had a relationship with Jeremiah before forming Jeremiah in the womb. Now, pro-lifers like me like to hold that up and say, see, God cares about children even before they're born. But I want to point out to you that if you read this as it is written, God doesn't just care about children before they're born, God cares about children before they're conceived. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. This is not just a statement about pre-born children. This is a statement about our God. God who is not bound by time. And I want you to understand that the reason why abortion is a very serious issue that we need to understand is because of what God says about human life. But I also want you to understand that that same God loved the world so much that he gave his son to save us. And sometimes people are afraid to talk about abortion because they don't want to upset anybody. They don't want to say something that might be hurtful to somebody or bring up bad memories or cause people to feel guilty. But I want to submit to you that it is extremely unkind to fail to talk about something that is so serious. It is very unkind not to give people a solution for the guilt that many feel. You're not being kind when you just don't talk about it. I had a doctor years ago who I went to because I had a tumor in my neck and, you know, those aren't good. And the doctor was so shaken up about what he had to tell me that he couldn't bring himself to say the word cancer or the word malignant. And he was a cancer doctor, okay? But He just didn't want to tell me. I was a young, married guy with three small kids, one of them handicapped. It just didn't seem right to even say that it might be cancer. So what he said was this. I'll never forget his words. Now, Reverend Wood, I need to tell you that 80% of these tumors are benign. That's all he had to tell me. But it goes without saying that if 80% of these tumors are benign, 20% of them are not benign. Now, I mean, what was he doing? He was trying to put me at ease. He didn't want to scare me. He didn't want to say the C word. He didn't want to say malignant, which is a substitute for the C word. He just couldn't bring himself to say cancer. That didn't help me. It would have been much better, 100 times better, if he had just taken a chill pill and said, 80% of these tumors are benign. 20% are malignant. or cancerous, and we're gonna get in there and do our best to get rid of this thing. See, that would have been a much better message, but instead it was like he had to dance around it because he didn't wanna make it uncomfortable for me, so he made it 1,000 times more uncomfortable. When I've spoken about abortion in a church where you don't speak about abortion, As a matter of fact, I've never been invited back to that church where I used to speak several times a year because of the message that I gave there concerning abortion. I was flooded with women who came to me and said, thank you so much. Thank you. I've needed to hear this for years. Thank you. I had an abortion. One of them said I wanted to stand on the pew and shout amen, but I didn't want to embarrass my family. And she was Presbyterian. Now why? Why would she say that? Because week after week, month after month, year after year, the subject of abortion was considered so delicate that nobody would address it even delicately. That's a tragedy. And that's why we're talking about it this morning. Abortion is real. It's happening all across our country. It happens right here in our state, in our community. And there are people in churches who've had abortion and who don't know how to talk about it. and don't know how to think about it, and don't know how to find forgiveness and healing. Let me tell you, forgiveness and healing are offered in Jesus Christ. But please understand this, forgiveness is received by people who recognize they've done wrong. You don't get forgiveness for something you didn't do wrong. Okay? And if you can't process the fact that what you did was wrong, you're not gonna get forgiven. Not because God will withhold it, but because you aren't willing to open up and receive it. God offers forgiveness to sinners. Jesus tells the story of two men who went to pray. And one said, God, I thank you that I'm not as other men. I do this and this and this and this and this, and I don't do this, this, and this. The other man said, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. Jesus said it was that second man who went home justified. Why? Because he asked for mercy. So whatever your particular sin may be, I plead with you, be honest with yourself, be honest with God, be honest with others, and realize that God sent his son so that sinners like us could be forgiven. He didn't send his son to condemn the world, John 3.17 says, but so that through him the world might be saved. So, 1970s, 1973, was when the Roe v. Wade decision was made and the companion decision Doe v. Bolton. Doe versus Bolton. By the way, both the women who were used by pro-abortion lawyers to get those cases before the Supreme Court have since professed faith in Christ. and given testimony that the facts of the cases presented in the courts were untrue and that their lawyers knew they were untrue, but they doctored the facts in order to try and make a stronger case in the courts. And one of them even tried to bring a court case to get the decision overturned based on the fact that there had been falsehood in the presentation of evidence. Deliberate falsehood lies in the presentation of evidence. But of course the courts didn't want to hear it. Because many of the people who are judges in this land are committed to doing what the spirits tell them to do. Read Ephesians 2 and you find that until we came to faith in Christ, all of us were being led around and animated and motivated by the forces of darkness. That's what's going on in our land. And by the way, one of the main arguments that was used in order to advance the sympathy for abortion was that this would put an end to child abuse. Planned Parenthood had the slogan, every child a wanted child. But if you go back and you look at what has happened to the rate of child abuse in this country since January of 1973, it absolutely took off. There is much more child abuse per capita today than there was in 1972, or one, or 1970, or 1965, or 1960, or the 1950s. There's more child abuse per capita now than there was then. Because when you communicate that the highest court in the land thinks it's okay to brutally slaughter children, it doesn't encourage people to see children as precious, valuable, and worthy of protection. It's gotten a lot worse, not better. And yet Planned Parenthood is still a huge recipient of our tax dollars, and they're the largest provider of abortion in the United States. So what matters is not what the politicians say. What matters is not what celebrities say. What matters is not what preachers like me say. What matters is what God says. And so in the 1970s, My wife and I did a Bible study concerning abortion, which has been used by many organizations since. And we're always happy for it to be used. We haven't copyrighted it. We've just said, please spread the word. All we're doing is looking in a systematic way at some of the things God says about this subject. Let me give you seven basic statements concerning abortion. and some scripture that you can look at in order to back it up. Number one, God is the giver of human life. God is the giver of human life. I would submit to you that in scripture, conception, not birth, is referenced as the point at which God gives life. In Genesis 4.1, the Lord gives Cain to Eve. In Genesis 29.31, the Lord opens Leah's womb. In Genesis 30.22-23, God enables Rachel to conceive. In Ruth 4.13, The Lord gives Ruth her conception. Ruth 4.13. In Psalm 127.3, God states that children are blessings from the Lord. Children are not burdens that we bring on ourselves. A reward from the Lord is the way that God describes them. In Exodus 21, verses 22 through 24, God commands punishment for those who harm unborn life. Now, this passage, I will say, here's truth in advertising, some people look at this passage and they say, no, that's not what that means. Well, let me tell you, I've looked at this passage and looked at this passage and prayerfully and studiously looked at this passage, and I absolutely stand by the historically orthodox interpretation of this passage, which is when it refers to injury, it's referring to the child. Because if you look at the context, if it was the woman who was injured, you wouldn't need this law. If it was the woman whose injury was in view, then you wouldn't have to say eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life. That was already established. The question is, what if it causes her to give birth prematurely and there's injury? If there's no injury, OK. But if there's injury, the person who caused the premature birth is to be punished to the degree that they inflicted injury upon that child that was born prematurely, including life for life. So the only way you can say, no, that refers to the woman, is if you deliberately ignore the fact that this verse occurs in a larger context in which women were protected. God is the giver of human life. Second point, second major point. God interacts with the unborn. God interacts with the unborn. Psalm 139 verses 13 through 16 shows that God has an intimate role in the formation of humans. And even as he forms them, he has foreordained their lives. Psalm 139 verses 13 through 16. Let me read to you from that. For you created my inmost being. You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful. I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in a secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Furthermore, God views the unborn child as a spiritual being. The unborn child has a sinful nature, Psalm 51.5. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. God calls his servants while yet in the womb, Galatians 1.15. Luke 115, Isaiah 44, one and two, Isaiah 49, one and five, and Jeremiah one, verses four and five. We read from Jeremiah one a few moments ago. God, having his eternal perspective, sees the unborn human whom he loves in the context of his or her entire life. Isaiah 46 verses three and four, and Judges chapter 13 verses five through seven. Notice that in the passage from Judges, which is talking about the birth of a child, The mother is told that because he is going to be a Nazirite after he's born, she is to not consume any fermented drink, any wine, or eat anything unclean, even while she's carrying the child. Why? Because what she consumes is having an impact on the child in the womb. And God says, I've already set him apart. But it doesn't begin at birth. It's already underway in the womb. God, in fact, sometimes sees the unborn child in the context of an entire race that will spring from that child. Genesis 25, verses 21 through 24, and Hosea chapter 12, verse 3. Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was barren, and the Lord answered his prayer, and his wife, Rebecca, became pregnant. And the babies jostled each other within her, and she said, why is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of the Lord. The Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb, and two people from within you will be separated. One people will be stronger than the other. and the older will serve the younger. And when the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. In the womb, he grasped his brother's heel. As a man, he struggled with God." God sees not just what's happening right now, God sees the generations to come. Third major point, God began his journey on earth as a man at conception. This is the ultimate statement of when God views men as becoming human. Luke chapter one, verses 31 through 46. Matthew chapter one, verses 20 through 21. Now you know those scriptures. We studied them at Christmas time. But think about the fact that God became a little tiny child in the womb of the Virgin Mary. And when Mary went to see her relative, John the Baptist, who was in his mother's womb, jumped for joy because he was, even then, in a spiritual state, relationship with God the Father, and by the Holy Spirit, he recognized the presence of the Messiah from within the womb. How's that possible? Because God was there by his Spirit at work in John the Baptist's life before he was born. Last night, I had the privilege of going over to the hospital and saying hello to my eighth grandchild. It was a delight. He arrived safely, and we're thankful for that. But let me tell you something. God is the one who gives life. I know what it is to go to a hospital and say goodbye to a child that we had long waited for. God is the one who gives life. God is the one who knits us together in our mother's womb. God is the one who ordains our days. And we need to recognize that when we're talking about this subject, we're talking about holy things. Number four is God forbids the taking of innocent human life. God forbids the taking of innocent human life. Exodus 20 verse 13 says, you shall not murder. Human life is valued because it reflects God's image. Genesis 1.26, Genesis 5.1 and 2. God has final authority over life and death. Deuteronomy 32 verses 39 through 41 and 1 Samuel 2.6. This is what God says, see now that I myself am he. There is no God beside me. I put to death and I bring to life. I have wounded and I will heal and no one can deliver out of my hand. I lift my hand to heaven and declare as surely as I live forever. When I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand grasps it in judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries. and repay those who hate me. The Lord brings death and makes alive. He brings down to the grave and raises up." When people decide that they are going to violate God's law and take matters into their own hands and kill others, God not only says, do not commit murder, but God promises vengeance on those who do. Number five is what about the hard cases? What about the hard cases? First, low social status does not make us less valuable in God's eyes. God demands justice for the poor, no less than the rich, which were fashioned by him from the womb. Job chapter 31, verses 13 through 23. Deficient physical status does not make us less valuable in God's eyes. God designs those with handicaps and sometimes allows deficiencies into our lives. Exodus 4, 11, 2 Corinthians 12, 7 through 10. When our oldest child was born with multiple handicaps, this was a verse that God used to speak to us very powerfully. The Lord said to Moses, who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? You see, God doesn't agree with the prosperity preachers who say that if anything like that happens, it's just the devil, okay? God says no. I'm the one who makes blind people, and I'm the one who makes them blind. I'm the one who makes deaf people, and I'm the one who makes them deaf. I'm the one who makes the lame, and I make them lame. We don't like that, but that's what God says. God takes responsibility for his creation, and we are charged with valuing all life, even as God does. The Apostle Paul says, to keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me, but he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest upon me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." Third point under this hard cases subject, misery. does not justify abortion. Even though Jeremiah wished that his mother's womb had been his grave, God's plans for him, even while he was unborn, were entirely different. Jeremiah 20, verses 14 through 18, compared with what we looked at earlier in Jeremiah 1, verses 4 and 5. Jeremiah wished he'd been stillborn. But Jeremiah was wrong. God had a plan for his life. And he was one of the great heroes of the faith. Job, the once a loved and respected husband and father of great wealth and community acclaim, came to a point of cursing the day of his birth and the night of his conception. But that didn't alter God's view of him. Look at Job 3.3. Jesus was accused of being illegitimate by many in his day. But obviously, God's perspective is different. John 8, verses 19 and 41. So, main point number six, God's reaction to the shedding of innocent blood is wrath. Deuteronomy 27.25, 2 Kings 24.2-4, Psalm 106.38-45, Joel 3.19, and Jonah 1.14. God's reaction to the shedding of innocent blood is wrath. Point number seven. God demands that his people become involved in the fight against injustice, particularly the unjust taking of life. First of all, our responsibility is to warn a wicked society of the consequences of its evil ways. Ezekiel 3, verses 17 through 19. Our responsibility is to seek the deliverance of those who are being led away to death. Pretended ignorance is no excuse. Proverbs 24, verses 11 through 12. says, rescue those being led away to death, hold back those staggering towards slaughter. If you say, but we knew nothing about this, does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done? But our responsibility is also to provide alternatives that demonstrate the love of God. Matthew chapter 25, verse 40. The king will reply, I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me. Our responsibility is also to proclaim the good news of the opportunity for forgiveness and a new beginning, whatever our past sins may be. John 3, 16 and 17, Titus 3, chapter 3, verses 3 through 7, 1 John 1, verses 9 and 10, Romans 5, verses 6 through 8, and 1 Timothy 1, verses 8 through 17. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We live in a culture that doesn't want to think about what's going on. are surrounded by churches that don't want to talk about what's going on. But the fact of the matter is, those who know Jesus Christ have a solution, whether it's for a person who's pregnant and doesn't know what to do and where to turn and how to find help, or whether it's for someone who's had an abortion and is now wracked with guilt or someone who helped facilitate an abortion. God offers grace and mercy, forgiveness and cleansing, a new beginning, regardless of what our sin is. But folks, we'll never receive that until we come confessing our sins and receiving pardon from the God who sees and knows all things. I want to implore you. not to be unclear about this. Some people say, well, you know, there's a legitimate medical question. There is no medical question. The child that's in the womb is a child, even if you want to call it by some other name. You may want to use another term for it, but it's still a baby. And the fact is, it is alive. It's alive. It's not dormant, it's not dead, it's alive. It is not bovine or canine or feline, it's human. It is alive, it is human, and therefore it needs to be protected. And to pretend otherwise, to act as if it's just part of the mother, it's not part of the mother. The small intestine is part of the mother. The liver is part of the mother. The baby in her womb has its own DNA, its own fingerprints, its own heartbeat. The mother's heart is beating at a different rate. They don't just have different hearts. They have a different heart rate. It is not part of the mother. It is living inside the mother. But please hear that. It is living inside the mother. And we've got to take this seriously because we live in a culture that just doesn't want to know, just doesn't want to think. And I've talked with so many women who say, I wish somebody told me the truth years ago because I was lied to. I was told it was just a clump of cells. I was told it was undifferentiated tissue, which is a lie. I was told that it was just the product of conception. That's the term they used. Well, it is the product of conception. But the product of conception is a human being, if the folks doing the conceiving are human. So please understand, this is real. And if you put together all the people who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, In those conflicts, it doesn't add up to a fraction, just a fraction, of the number that are killed every year in this country through abortion. So people who say, I'm for peace and I'm against war, but I'm pro-choice, are not being honest. And politicians who say, well, it's a personal decision, we just have to leave this with the mother, are not being honest. Adultery is not just a personal decision, it impacts other lives. Incest is not just something to be privately worked out within the family. Abortion is not a private matter because it involves another human being. And therefore, we need to take it seriously and we need to stand against it. and we need to pray for God to bring repentance in this land. Let's go to the Lord right now. Father, we thank you that you are a God who sees and knows. We thank you that you are a God who not only forgives, but who provided that forgiveness at the cost of your son's life. You sent Jesus to the cross for us. He prayed, Father, if there's any other way, let this cup pass from me. But there was no other way. The only way that we could be forgiven was through his sacrificial death. And Lord, help us to realize that you loved us that much and help us to receive forgiveness and cleansing and new life that you offer in Jesus Christ. Father, none of us could stand before you apart from your mercy and grace. Help us to be honest and courageous and compassionate and faithful. and we'll give you the praise. For we ask it in Jesus' name, Amen.