THE BIBLICAL RESPONSE TO ABORTION
Genesis 1:27-28 So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, .......and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
Genesis 9:6 Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
Isaiah 44:24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I [am] the LORD that maketh all [things]; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
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In teaching this session I am aware that there are those that have had abortions in this room. ---> I must teach this in 2 ways...
1st: the problem 2nd: the solution
C. Everett Koop & Francis Schaeffer:
"Cultures can be judged in many ways, but eventually every nation in every age must be judged by this test: How did it treat it's people? Each generation, each wave of humanity, evaluates it's predecossors on this basis. The final measure of mankind's humanity is how humanely people treat one another."
The last issue to so pull at the American societal fabric was slavery!
It is volatile because of what's at stake => HUMAN LIFE!
THE ARGUMENT?
Abortionist claim that it is a "woman's right to private choice" (NONYA)
IT IS HER CIVIL RIGHT! ----> back off men, it's her body!
WELL IS IT HER BODY? --- Medically yes, spiritually no!
I Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
flows right into next chapter
I Corinthians 7:1-5 Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: [It is] good for a man not to touch a woman. Nevertheless, [to avoid] fornication, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. Let the husband render unto the wife due benevolence: and likewise also the wife unto the husband. The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife. Defraud ye not one the other, except [it be] with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.
( INCONTINENCY = lack of restraint & control )
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There is no question about the pro choice concept if we were discussing a
simple medical issue: gall stones, tumor, tonsils, kidneys
But when HUMAN life is at issue: it is everyone's concern!
WE DO HAVE SOME limited FREEDOMS:
I have freedom of speech... but I cannot yell fire in a crowded auditorium
( my freedom of speech ends where the endangerment of others starts )
ABORTION IS AN OLD ISSUE: Dates back over 2,000 yrs to Pagan cultures!
Ancient Greece etc...
There was obviously a public outcry at some point because of the following
clause in the Hippocratic Oath (400 BC)
"I will not give to a woman a pessary to cause abortion"
In Bible days children were looked down with disdain of sorts...
until Jesus elevated them to a significant level!
Luke 18:15-17 And they brought unto him also infants, that he would touch them: but when [his] disciples saw [it], they rebuked them. But Jesus called them [unto him], and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.
JESUS SHOWED THE TRUE VALUE OF CHILDREN!
Athenagorus was a late second century Christian that was called upon to defend the Christian faith against certain charges. He outlined the basic CHRISTIAN POSITION OF THE EARLY CHURCH as follows:
1. Abortion is considered murder
2. The guilty must give account to God
3. The fetus is a living being, the object of God's care
THE REASON THIS ISSUE IS ALIVE AGAIN IS THE HUMANIST SEXUAL REVOLUTION!
Humanism says: ---> Personal gratification repudiates Biblical morality!
To be "sexually free" has caused bondage in other areas though.
STD Decease, Aids, Divorce, broken families!
THERE ARE NO "FREE" CHOICES! EVERY CHOICE CARRIES A COST!
WHAT IS THE TRUTH OF OUR CULTURE?
Allen Guttmacher Institute - research arm of Planned Parenthood
1% of Abortions are due to incest or rape
1% is because of fetal deformities
4% were due to a doctor deciding the mothers life was in danger
50% woman said they did not want to be a single parent -
- they were having relationship problems
66 % said they could not afford a child
76 % said child would interfere with their lifestyle
--------> 95% of abortions are for convenience of the mother!
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LISTEN TO THIS STAGGERING FIGURE OF LEGAL ABORTIONS... (swindoll figures)
55 million babies are aborted every year worldwide
-- break down: 150,685 per day
6,278 per hour
105 per minute (- 12,556 during this Bible Study -)
IN THE U.S. : 1.6 million a year - 20 million legal abortions since 1973
More then died ; Revolutionary, Civil, Korean, Vietnam & WW1 & WW2 combined
THIS TROUBLES ME BECAUSE:
Exodus 20:13 Thou shalt not kill.
Exodus 23:7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
Numbers 35:33 So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye [are]: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.
Listen to the terrible condition described ...
Psalms 106:36-38 And they served their idols: which were a snare unto them. Yea, they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils, And shed innocent blood, [even] the blood of their sons and of their daughters, whom they sacrificed unto the idols of Canaan: and the land was polluted with blood.
THE ROOT OF THE DEBATE: - WHEN DOES LIFE BEGIN?
SOME SAY: ( unviable tissue mass - only "potential" life )
View a pregnancy as a "WHAT" instead of a "WHO"
Does life begin at conception?
MEDICAL CONCEPT: The moment of conception unites 23 chromosomes into 46
(- Full Human DNA is ready -)
19 days - develops eyes
24 days - regular independent heartbeat
4 weeks - trunk has 40 sets of muscles
6 weeks - skeleton fully developed (reflexes present)
43 days - Brain activity can be scanned with an EEG
(finger prints have formed)
8 weeks - Kidney, brain, liver, stomach fully functioning
10 weeks - Infant squints, swallows, hicupps etc...
BIBLICAL CONCEPT:
Job 31:13-15 If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me; What then shall I do when God riseth up? and when he visiteth, what shall I answer him? Did not he that made me in the womb make him? and did not one fashion us in the womb?
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Isaiah 44:24 Thus saith the LORD, thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I [am] the LORD that maketh all [things]; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself;
These verses show the medical truth of formation in the womb...
But what about the RELATIONAL CONCEPT OF LIFE IN THE WOMB?
Psalms 139:13 For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb.
Isaiah 49:1 Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The LORD hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name.
Jeremiah 1:4-8 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, [and] I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I [am] a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I [am] a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I [am] with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
Luke 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. --- John Baptist
Luke 1:41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:
Galatians 1:15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called [me] by his grace, (- PAUL
LISTEN TO THE JUDGMENT GOD PRONOUNCES ON EPHRAIM...
(no glory from Conception)
Hosea 9:11-12 [As for] Ephraim, their glory shall fly away like a bird, from the birth, and from the womb, and from the conception. Though they bring up their children, yet will I bereave them, [that there shall] not [be] a man [left]: yea, woe also to them when I depart from them!
THE LAW OF OUR LAND IS AN UMBILICAL VIEW: We need to honor the Bible!
Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
WE MUST MAKE BIBLICAL CHOICES!
Deuteronomy 30:19 I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, [that] I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing:
therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
Romans 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what [is] that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
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HUMAN LIFE IS MORE VALUABLE!
Peter Singer (Philospipher) says: "Humans who bestow superior value on the lives of all human beings, soley because they are members of our own species, are judging along lines strikingly similar to white racists who bestow superior value on the lives of other whites, merely because they are members of their own race."
---> this sounds enlightened at first
BUT CHRISTIANITY DOES NOT VALUE RACE OVER RACE, BUT HUMAN LIFE OVER ANIMAL
All life comes from God! ( we all share common creator, but not value )
**** Honda Corp. makes lawn mowers and Luxury cars: = VALUED DIFFERENTLY
All life was created by God... But only Humans bear his image
( in any stage of development )
Genesis 9:5-6 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.
God has set mankind apart among his creation: It is not self evaluation!
BOTTOM LINE:
Exodus 21:22 If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart [from her], and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges [determine].
To harm an unborn was looked upon the same as harming a already born child
Exodus 23:7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.
1 of the 7 things God hates in Proverbs: "hands that shed innocent blood"
WHAT SHOULD THE CHURCH DO?
Collectively, not much due to current laws. But as individual Christians
1. Become Informed!
2. Influence society in the arena of ideas
3. Make your feelings know to legislators
4. Try to help those in need
-- Volunteer at a pregnancy crisis center -- Take a pregnant teen into your home -- Adopt or become Foster Parents etc...
-- MINISTER COMPASSION TO YOUR CITY!
Psalms 127:3 Lo, children [are] an heritage of the LORD: [and] the fruit of the womb [is his] reward.
"WHEN YOU HAVE DONE IT TO THE LEAST OF THESE... YOU HAVE DONE IT UNTO ME"
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NOW THE SOLUTION
THOSE THAT HAVE MISCARRIED:
Do not blame yourself: Nature (God) makes choices for us sometimes
( This is a loss: But it should not be a devastating loss )
The loss is much greater for those that loose children they have held and bonded to: ( OKC Bombing - 1 yr old boy )
FOR THOSE THAT HAVE HAD ABORTIONS:
#1. Repent! (ask God for forgiveness)
#2. You need a revelation of Grace!
Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
#3. Forgive yourself! (But how do I release the pain?)
*** When a pregnant women is delivering... her desire to go forward has to outgrow her present pain! --> Then she gives birth to new life!
---> UNTIL YOUR DESIRE TO GO FORWARD BECOMES GREATER THEN YOUR MEMORIES OF THE PAST... YOU WILL NEVER HOLD THE POWER TO CREATE AGAIN!
Proverbs 29:18 Where [there is] no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy [is] he. ==> VISION IS THE DESIRE TO GO FORWARD!
The DEVIL wants you to live in yesterday... but GOD is calling you to today Satan draws your attention backward... God calls it forward!
Psalms 27:13 [I had fainted], unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living.
I MUST HAVE A SEED PLANTED IN ME TO CULTIVATE - THAT LOOKS FOR JOY!
Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
GET RID OF YOUR NEGATIVE SPEECH! --- YOUR DROWNING YOUR SEED OF FAITH!
AND WHEN YOUR DESIRE TO GO FORWARD IS GREATER THEN YOUR PAST PAIN...
YOU WILL BREAK THE CHAIN THAT HAS HELD YOU FOR YEARS
AND YOU WILL WALK IN THE LIBERTY & JOY OF THE HOLY GHOST!
II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
AUPC 5-10-95 (WED)
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