Listen to this Sermon: 01272013WhatYouCanDoAboutAbortionDonRuhl

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What You Can Do about Abortion 

If abortion is truly the killing of innocent children, what can we do about it?

Luke 1.31

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • January 27, In the year of our Lord, 2013

Scripture Reader and Reading: Carl Peugh – Luke 1.26–30

Song Leader and Song Suggestions: Kevin Michael – Songs on love

 

Prelude: 

  1. And Gabriel continued to say to Mary,

    31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus” (Luke 1.31).

    1. Jesus did not become a son, a boy, after coming out the womb, but
    2. from His conception,
      1. He was a male child,
      2. which means He was a human being.
  2. We can now ask most women with child, 
    1. “Is it a boy or a girl?”
    2. Has any woman answered, “Neither one; it is just a ‘product of conception’”?
  3. Yet, which do we protect in our country: 
    1. An unborn child? or
    2. an unhatched bald eagle?
      1. We will give you money to destroy the unborn child, but
      2. we will take money from you for destroying an unhatched bald eagle.
  4. Since January 22, 1973, 
    1. America alone has aborted about 1.5 million babies annually, or
    2. 55 million since that time.
      1. No wonder our government has garnered over 16 trillion dollars in debt,
      2. so that your share is over $52,000,
        1. we are not adequately replacing all the people who keep retiring.
        2. We are missing millions of potential taxpayers.
  5. Don, abortion is not your concern, nor the church’s! 
    1. Abortion is a religious issue, because we are made in the image of God.
    2. Abortion is a political issue, because the Supreme Court legalized it.
    3. Abortion is a civil rights issue, because we are unjustly killing humans.
    4. Abortion is a military issue, because we have fewer warriors.
    5. Abortion is a social issue, because who will take care of the old people?
    6. Abortion is a tax issue, because we have fewer paying into the system.
    7. Abortion is an employment issue, because there are fewer workers.
    8. Abortion is an economic issue, because it costs billions of dollars.

Persuasion: 

  1. When Does It Become a Human Being? 
    1. It is not a question of when does it start living.
    2. At conception, 23 chromosomes from both parents unite to form 46.
      1. That determines everything physically about the child.
      2. It only needs:
        1. time,
        2. nutrition, and
        3. development.
    3. Psalm 139 shows what God thinks,

      13 For You formed my inward parts;
      You covered me in my mother’s womb.
      14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
      Marvelous are Your works,
      And that my soul knows very well.
      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.
      (Psa 139.13–16)

    4. Consider three writings from Luke, the physician.
      1. First, would Mary have pleased God to have an abortion?

        31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus” (Luke 1.31).

      2. Second, notice what Elizabeth called what was inside of her,

        41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 But why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? 44 For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy” (Luke 1.41–44).

      3. Third, notice the terminology Luke used instead of “pregnant,”

        4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child (Luke 2.4, 5).

        1. She was not merely with a fetus, but a child in the fetus stage.
        2. A tomato seed is not a tomato.
          1. Nor is the flower.
          2. The flower dies and the tomato begins to form.
            1. It is a tomato, though not ready for picking.
            2. So it is with a child.
    5. Exodus 21 reveals the severe penalty
      1. for a man who caused a woman to abort her baby,

        22 “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. 23 But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life…” (Exo 21.22, 23).

  2. The Repercussions of Abortion 
    1. Once you decide that you can terminate one class of people,
    2. later you will decide that you can terminate another class of people.
      1. Oregon has declared that you can now use a doctor to terminate your life.
      2. Where will it end?
  3. Objections 
    1. What if the couple learns that the baby has deformities?
      1. What if they only discover the deformities at birth?
      2. How perfect does one have to be to live?
    2. What if the woman had been raped?
      1. Our hearts go out to her, but also to her baby.
      2. Two wrongs do not make a right.
    3. Unwanted children end up abused.
      1. Not always.
      2. Some “wanted” are abused.
        1. Shall we kill someone because they might be abused?
        2. Do you see the contradiction in that?
    4. Restricting abortion invades a woman’s privacy.
      1. Shall we invade a woman’s privacy, if she is about to kill her four year–old?
      2. Are we going to say that we are not our brother’s keeper?
    5. A fetus depends upon its mother for survival, but when it breathes on its own, it becomes a human.
      1. Does not the baby absolutely depend upon someone after birth?
      2. Ask a mother whether her new baby needs her or not.
  4. What Shall the Lord Do about Abortion? 
    1. Second Kings 24 reveals what finally moved the Lord
      1. to send Nebuchadnezzar and Babylon against
      2. Jerusalem and Judah,

        2 And the Lord sent against him raiding bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of the people of Ammon; He sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord which He had spoken by His servants the prophets. 3 Surely at the commandment of the Lord this came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done, 4 and also because of the innocent blood that he had shed; for he had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon (2Ki 24.2–4).

    2. Amos 1 shows that the Lord was not only concerned with Israel, but
      1. any nation that destroys unborn children
      2. shall pay a price,

        13 Thus says the LORD:
        “For three transgressions of the people of Ammon, and for four,
        I will not turn away its punishment,
        Because they ripped open the women with child in Gilead,
        That they might enlarge their territory.
        (Amos 1.13)

  5. What Shall You Do about Abortion? 
    1. Get the facts, because
      1. you do not want to misrepresent anyone, and
      2. the truth persuades some people
      3. who have never heard argument against abortion.
    2. Offer assistance to girls and women facing a decision.

      15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? (Jam 2.15, 16).

    3. Pray.

      1 The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord,
      Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes.
      (Pro 21.1)

      1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence (1Ti 2.1, 2).

    4. Write.
      1. Politicians
      2. Newspaper
      3. Other sources

        15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear (1Pe 3.15).

    5. Encourage adoption.
    6. Vote.
    7. Teach that sex is for marriage.

      4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge (Heb 13.4).

    8. Put a message on your car.
      1. “Abortion stops a beating heart.”
      2. No one can argue with it.
    9. Donate pro-life books, DVDs, and other materials to the local library,
      1. along with non-abortion issues
      2. so that you are not perceived as a kook.
    10. Help me find out whether we can get, Bloodmoney: The Business of Abortion on any kind of local television.
    11. Have a pro-life booth at the county fair that is sponsored by the church.
    12. Establish a memorial stone to the pre-born in a local cemetery or on church grounds.
    13. Change your terminology:
      1. Do not use the expressions,
        1. “going to be a mother (or father),”
        2. “expecting a child,” or
        3. “a child on the way” when speaking of pregnancy, but
      2. speak as the Bible speaks, and say that a woman is with child.

        Gen 16.11
        And the Angel of the LORD said to her:
        “Behold, you are with child,
        And you shall bear a son.
        You shall call his name Ishmael,
        Because the LORD has heard your affliction.

        Gen 19.36
        Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.

        Gen 38.24, 25
        And it came to pass, about three months after, that Judah was told, saying, “Tamar your daughter-in-law has played the harlot; furthermore she is with child by harlotry…”

        Exo 21.22
        “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely…

        1Sa 4.19
        Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, due to be delivered…

        2Sa 11.5
        And the woman conceived; so she sent and told David, and said, “I am with child.”

        2Ki 8.12
        And Hazael said, “Why is my lord weeping?” He answered, “Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: Their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword; and you will dash their children, and rip open their women with child.”

        2Ki 15.16
        Then from Tirzah, Menahem attacked Tiphsah, all who were there, and its territory. Because they did not surrender, therefore he attacked it. All the women there who were with child he ripped open.

        Ecc 11.5
        As you do not know what is the way of the wind,
        Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child…

        Isa 26.17
        As a woman with child
        Is in pain and cries out in her pangs,
        When she draws near the time of her delivery…

        Isa 54.1
        “Sing, O barren,
        You who have not borne!
        Break forth into singing, and cry aloud,
        You who have not labored with child!

        Jer 30.6
        Ask now, and see,
        Whether a man is ever in labor with child?

        Jer 31.8
        Behold, I will bring them from the north country,
        And gather them from the ends of the earth,
        Among them the blind and the lame,
        The woman with child
        And the one who labors with child, together;
        A great throng shall return there.

        Hos 13.16
        Samaria is held guilty,
        For she has rebelled against her God.
        They shall fall by the sword,
        Their infants shall be dashed in pieces,
        And their women with child ripped open.

        Matt 1.18
        Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child…

        Matt 1.23
        “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son…”

        Luke 2.5
        …to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.

        Rev 12.2
        Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

    14. Work with me to organize an annual, semi-annual, etc.,
      1. event that addresses this issue,
      2. as well as related issues, such as family, marriage, et al.
    15. Start a blog.
    16. Put a pro-life message in your e-mail signature.
    17. Lay down the right foundations in the lives of others.

      3 If the foundations are destroyed,
      What can the righteous do?
      (Psa 11.3)

      1. If you lay down the right foundation,
      2. it will cover a multitude of sins without even having to address them.

Exhortation: 

  1. If you truly want to do something about abortion, 
    1. Second Corinthians 8 will give you something to think on.
    2. While Paul spoke of our financial contribution to the church,
      1. consider the spirit of what he said, and
      2. how it can relate to another good work, this matter of abortion,

        5 And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God (2Co 8.5).

  2. Offer yourself to the Lord and to His people, 
    1. He will put you in the best place possible,
    2. opening doors of opportunity for you.
  3. Let every Christian hear what Paul said in Romans 12,

    1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (Rom 12.1).

    1. If you hope to save the body of an unborn child,
    2. present your body as a sacrifice to God.