03_17_2019_wenamedhersierradawn2_donruhlDownload

We Named Her Sierra Dawn: Part 2 

How does a nation founded on Christianity later approve of abortion? 

Romans 1.18–32

Don Ruhl • Savage Street, Grants Pass, Oregon • March 17, In the year of our Lord Christ, 2019 

Prelude: 

  1. We gave her a name that sounded beautiful to us and 
    1. my wife always wanted to have a child 
    2. that had my middle name as the child’s middle name. 
      1. We never had boys, 
      2. so we settled for D-A-W-N 
        1. for our youngest daughter Melissa and 
        2. for the baby we lost at 7 months pregnancy. 
  2. We gave her a name because that is what humans do. 
    1. She was a human baby. 
    2. Couples today who know the sex of their baby before it is born, 
      1. will give the baby a name, but 
      2. they keep it secret since the gender is often known before birth. 
        1. These couples are like Abraham and Sarah, Joseph and Mary, Zacharias and Elizabeth. 
          1. Isaac had his name before birth. 
          2. Jesus had his name before birth. 
          3. John had his name before birth. 
        2. We likewise gave that 17-once girl 
          1. a name after her birth because 
          2. she was human just as much as Isaac, Jesus, and John. 
            1. We were not thinking that at the time, but 
            2. we certainly see that now. 
    3. That brings me to an important question. 
  3. Which Is Protected By Law in Our Country?
    1. An unhatched bald eagle? 
    2. An unborn child? 
      1. It is a $5,000 fine and 
        1. one-year prison sentence 
        2. for destroying a bald eagle egg. 
      2. It is a legal 
        1. multi-million dollar business 
        2. to destroy unborn human children. 
    3. We will 
      1. take money from you and 
        1. put you in jail, 
        2. if you destroy the egg of a bald eagle, but 
      2. we will give you money and 
        1. put you in a doctor’s office, 
        2. if you want to destroy unborn children! 
    4. I think it is right 
      1. that there are stiff laws against 
      2. the destruction of our national symbol, but 
        1. it is sin to legalize and 
        2. to promote the destruction of the future of our nation. 
  4. America Is Following the Course of Romans 1
    1. This chapter shows what happens when 
      1. atheism, 
      2. evolution, and 
      3. humanism, 
        1. run rampant in a nation. 
        2. Romans 1 also shows the results of an emphasis on the flesh. 
    2. Verses 18–23 show the history of a denial of God:

      18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, 21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.
      – Romans 1.18–23
      1. When people deny God: 
        1. they fail to glorify Him, 
        2. they fail to thank Him—
          1. for things such as children—
        3. their thoughts become futile, 
        4. their hearts foolish, and 
        5. they boast of their self-wisdom. 
      2. They then glorify creatures above the Creator. 
    3. Verses 24–32 reads like the daily newspaper.

      24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, {NU-Text omits sexual immorality.} wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, {NU-Text omits unforgiving.} unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
      – Romans 1.24–32
    4. This happens when evolution and secular humanism dominate our culture. 
  5. Abortion Has Been Legal Since January 22, 1973 (46 years) 
    1. Most estimates, from both sides of this issue, 
      1. say 1.5 million abortions are performed annually 
      2. in the United States alone! 
        1. It is a surgical procedure second only to circumcision. 
        2. There is one abortion for every two births. 
    2. 69,000,000 people between the ages 0–46 years old are gone. 
  6. VI.Abortion Can Lead to Other Things
    1. Infanticide 
      1. Already babies who survive abortions are killed. 
      2. Some are rescued. 
    2. Euthanasia 
      1. Abortion is one form. 
      2. Now we have physician-assisted suicide. 
    3. We legalize killing humans at one end of life. 
      1. The next step, which we have now taken, 
      2. is killing humans at the other end of life. 
      3. The next step is to legalize groups in the middle to kill. 
  7. VII.Objections 
    1. What if a deformity is known to exist before? 
      1. What if it is not known, should the baby be killed at delivery? 
      2. How perfect does one have to be to live? 
    2. The thought of carrying a rapist’s baby is horrifying. 
      1. [Express deep compassion] 
      2. Two wrongs never make a right. 
      3. If you found out you were the product of a rape, 
        1. do you wish that your mother had an abortion? 
    3. Unwanted children end up abused. 
      1. This is not always true. 
        1. Moreover, many “wanted” children are abused. 
        2. Should we kill them because they are abused? 
          1. Does it not seem odd that we kill the abused? 
          2. If anyone is killed, should it not be the abuser? 
      2. Abortion is the ultimate abuse. 
        1. Which is worse: 
          1. pouring boiling water on child 
          2. or drowning a child in a saline solution? 
      3. Celine Dion was the 14th child and her mother considered abortion. 
        1. She said about a priest who persuaded her mother to keep the baby:

          “He told her that she had no right to go against nature.”
      4. About her mother Celine said:

        “She loved me as passionately as she’d loved the last little ones.”
        – World, January 21, 2001, p. 10
    4. Invasion of privacy. 
      1. If a woman is about to kill her 4-year-old, should the police invade her “privacy”? 
      2. Are we going to take the rebellious heart of Cain and deny that we are our brother’s keeper? 
    5. As a fetus it depends upon its mother for survival, thus it is just a part of the mother, when it begins breathing, then it is human like Adam (Genesis 2.7). 
      1. Doesn’t a baby absolutely depend upon the mother for milk after birth? 
      2. Inside the baby is its own person, complete. 
        1. Mother supplies 
          1. protection, 
          2. nutrition, and 
          3. oxygen. 
        2. The mother is relatively passive at this stage. 
          1. After birth the baby gets its own air, but 
          2. the mother becomes much more active. 
      3. Adam was not a living soul at first, because 
        1. he was not only not breathing, 
        2. his heart was not pumping, 
        3. his brain was not functioning, etc. 
    6. Illegal abortion makes the poor to suffer and the rich still get it done. 
      1. The rich can always afford vices. 
        1. Shall we allow heroin to be legal? 
        2. Actually, some make this argument. 
      2. Yes, crime still goes on, like rape. 
        1. Shall we relax the laws and at government expense provide a place? 
        2. Sometimes governments do that in war. 
      3. Should the government provide clean “safe” instruments for heroin addicts by allowing it? 
        1. The government is now doing this also. 
        2. Once you start down this road there is no stopping. 
    7. Poor family. 
      1. Why not allow the parents to kill their present children 
      2. to alleviate poverty problems? 
    8. They will be criminals. 
      1. No one is omniscient or prophetic. 
      2. There are thousands of couples 
        1. begging to adopt children 
        2. who will give it a proper environment. 
    9. Motherhood is servitude. 
      1. We have to bear consequences of our actions. 
      2. Good thing our mothers took on their responsibility. 

Exhortation: 

  1. Teaching Against Abortion Is Not Enough
    1. Teach against 
      1. materialism, 
      2. self-worship, and 
      3. fornication. 
    2. Offer assistance to the poor, teach the gospel. 
    3. Pray: leaders, boldness, action. 
    4. Speak highly: 
      1. Of the glory of motherhood in marriage. 
      2. Of children. 
      3. Of virginity. 
  2. Words Are Not Enough
    1. Approach pregnant girls with concept of helping her. 
      1. Often they already have guilt and consider it their problem. 
      2. Show her you care for her and the baby. 
    2. Encourage adoption if she does not want it. 
    3. There is hope, forgiveness and compassion in Jesus Christ. 
  3. With what shall I come before the LORD,
    And bow myself before the High God?
    Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
    With calves a year old?
    7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
    Ten thousand rivers of oil?
    Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
    The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
    – Micah 6.6–7