Why We Are Pro-Life, Pro-Humility, and Pro-Grace

Well, today is sanctity of Life Sunday. And this year I'd like to take the opportunity of this special Sunday to speak to the abortion issue and To give you some encouragements in this area. It was 48 years ago this month that the Roe v. Wade decision was handed down by the United States Supreme Court, and since that time, Almost 60 million children.

In our country have been aborted. Statistics show that 1 out of every 4 women. And our country will at some point make the choice to abort the child that is in Their womb, and that's a lot of children dying and that's a lot of women in our culture today along with the men involved in those decisions that are carrying the of the choices that they have made. As for me personally, I'm not sure that a day goes by that I am not reminded of the abortion issue, primarily because there is a Planned Parenthood clinic that is literally a 2 minute walk.

From my door of our house to the door of this clinic, 2 minute walk. Every other day I walk. My dog. Within 6 ft of the entrance of this clinic going one way and then about 3 minutes later I'm coming up the sidewalk in the other direction and encounter a group of 3 to 6 people who are standing out front and holding signs and praying and urging people not to get an abortion, and I enjoy my connection with these individuals that are standing out front.

And I seek to encourage them in the good work that they are doing. When I walk by the clinic every day or every other day, I join this group in praying that God will one day turn that clinic from a place of death into a place of life. Nowadays, women in our culture are encouraged to be proud of their abortions. and to tell their stories.

Of their abortions with pride, you can go to the website shoutyourabortion.com and read the stories of women who claim to be happy with the choice that they have made to abort their child. One woman on this website admits to crying a little bit after her abortion, but she attributes her tears to the fact that she was coming out of the IV sedation. After the procedure. But as she walked out of the clinic, she says, and I quote, the feeling of relief overcame me as I stepped out of the room, and I finally felt like me again.

Unquote. Other women, however, even women here in the Cornerstone family can tell you tearful testimonies of feeling very differently after their abortions. This is the world that we find ourselves in today, and it's important that we as Christians have a voice and that we use that voice and that we open our mouths and speak to this issue. And when we do speak to the abortion issue, we need to think about the content of what we say and we also need to think about the tone in which we say it.

Both the content and the tone of our speech, as well as our actions should be shaped by the gospel of Jesus Christ. And to ensure that this is the case, What I want to do this morning is I want to share with you 5 truths this morning that should govern our approach to the abortion issue and serve to explain why we here at Cornerstone are pro-life. Pro humility. And pro grace, and that's the title of the message why we are pro-life, pro-humility, and pro grace.

And you can find the sermon outline on the PDF document that also has the worship lyrics. 5 truths that I want to look at this morning that serves to explain our approach to the abortion issue. Truth number 1 is that human beings were created by God in the image of God. Human beings were created by God in the image of God.

The Bible begins in Genesis 1:1 with the words In the beginning God created. Teaching us right off the bat that there is a God in heaven, and that he is the creator of all that is. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And then what follows is the account of everything that God created in the heavens and the earth.

As for how mankind came to be. In Genesis chapter 1 verse 27, the Bible says God created man in His own image. In the image of God He created him, male and female. He created them.

So based on this passage in Genesis chapter 1 verse 27, who created men? God did and how did he create men? In his image The same truth is stated again in Genesis 9:6 where the text says, In the image of God, He made man. In James chapter 3 verse 9, James says men have been made in the likeness of God.

So based on these passages we observe that human beings were created by God. Which means that we are not the product of blind evolutionary chance. There is a God in heaven who brought us into existence, and when he did so, he created us specifically in his own image. Now to be sure, God created animals and they display the dazzling intricacies of God's wisdom and imagination.

But nowhere does the Bible teach us that God created animals in His image. God created the sun, the moon, and the stars, and we're told in Scripture that they display the glory of God in very powerful ways. But nowhere in the Bible are we told. That God created them in His image.

The apex of God's creation was on day 6 when God created Adam and Eve, and we're told that He created them in His image, and all of us have descended from Adam and Eve. Now, as important as this first truth is, We have to go a little bit further than establishing the truth that God created mankind in His image, because after God created Adam and Eve in His image, they disobeyed God and partook of the forbidden fruit and plunged the human race into sin, right? Through their sin, death entered into the world, and mankind has forever since been a corrupted and diminished version of what God originally intended for mankind to be.

So one might rightfully ask, Even though God created man in His image at the outset, does mankind still bear the image of God, even now, after the fall?

And this leads us to the second truth that serves to explain why we are pro-life and pro humility and pro grace. On the abortion issue. Truth number 2, even after the fall, human beings still bear the image of God. Even after the fall, human beings still bear the image of God.

Write down the reference 1 Corinthians 11:7. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11 verse 7, Paul is regulating the behavior of men as they pray and prophesy in the gathered assembly of believers, and he says this, and I quote, A man ought not to have his head covered since he is the image and glory of God. And notice guys, that he uses the present tense in his statement about men, saying he is present tense, the image of God, clearly indicating that man bears the image of God at the present time, even on this side of the fall.

Additionally, in James chapter 3 verse 9, James makes the statement that men have been made in the likeness of God.

Men have been made in the likeness of God, and the verb that is translated have been made is in the perfect tense. And by using the perfect hints, James is saying man was made in the likeness of God in the past with the abiding present result being that he is still. In the likeness of God. So based on these two passages alone, We can say with confidence that the image of God and man still endures even after the fall, even though marred and diminished.

Because of sin. And because this is true, we as Christians can look at our fellow human beings and see and celebrate the image of God in each of them. A person that we may be interacting with might be a Christian or a Hindu or a Buddhist. Or maybe a Christ denying atheist.

Who disagrees with us on just about every important issue, but they all still bear the image of God and should be treated by us as such. In fact, as we engage with people of this world, we do well to look for the evidences of the image of God in them and appreciate and celebrate those evidences of God's image. As they manifest themselves. The doctrine of the image of God in all people frees us up as Christians to find some common grace good in everyone.

And to honor that good. A nonbeliever may compose or perform a delightful piece of music, and we can celebrate the genius of God displayed in the giftedness of this nonbelieving image bearer of God. A nonbelieving woman may paint something beautiful on a canvas, and we can celebrate the image of God displayed in her giftedness. Someone who disagrees with us on every political issue still bears the image of God.

Let me say that again. Someone who disagrees with us on every political issue still bears the image. Of God and therefore they should be treated by us as such. Because they are a human being, they bear the image of God, and you are right to treat them with the dignity and the honor due to an image bearer of God.

Can I get an amen? I actually think this is the underlying reason that Peter calls upon us in 1 Peter 2:17 to honor all men. Nowhere in the Bible are we ever called to honor animals. It is only fellow human beings whom we are called to honor because our fellow human beings are created by God in the image of God, and they still bear the image of God even after the fall.

And we should honor them as such. Along those lines we come to a third truth that serves to explain why we should be pro-life and pro-humility and pro-grace on the abortion issue. 3. Let's say it this way.

Because humans bear God's image, it is wrong to murder or curse a fellow human being. Because humans, human beings bear God's image, it is wrong to murder or to curse a fellow human being. One of the 10 commandments is you shall not commit murder. But why is that wrong?

Why is murder wrong? why? Because of the image of God. In men In Genesis chapter 9 verse 6, you can write that reference down.

God says, Whoever sheds man's blood by man. His blood shall be shed, for in the image of God He made men. In this passage, God is saying if somebody takes the life of another human being, The person who did the killing should have his life taken. Why?

Because he did a terrible thing in shedding the blood of another human being who bears the image of God. Again, in Genesis 9:6, notice the reasoning. Whoever sheds man's blood, by man, his blood shall be shed, for in the image of God, He made man. That's the reason.

What we observe here is that God wants us to recognize His image in others, and He wants us to allow that image of God in our fellow man to cause us to do two things. Number 1, to refrain from killing our fellow man. And number 2, to bring justice to those who murder. A fellow human being.

That's clear from this passage. But as Christians, the image of God in our fellow man should cause us to do a little bit more than just refrain from killing them. Right? For example, it would make No sense for me to curse with my tongue a fellow human being.

And treat them like scum, but then say, but I would never physically kill them because after all they are in the image of God. That wouldn't make sense, would it? And we actually learned that this doesn't make sense from the Bible itself. You want to turn to James chapter 3.

In verses 9 and 10. James is talking about the tongue, and James says in verse 9, with it speaking of our tongue, we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the likeness of God. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. James is saying you cannot show up for church on Sunday and bless God with your tongue and then curse out a fellow human being at work the next day.

That's not appropriate. Why? Because that person that you just cursed out was made in the likeness of the God that you just blessed in your worship. God takes it personally.

If you curse an image bearer of His. He takes that personally. We as Christians should see the likeness of God, the image of God in every fellow human being, and that should keep us from Not only murdering them, but even killing them in our hearts through the sin of hate and anger, and it should also keep us from cursing them with our tongue and speaking to them and of them in a dishonorable way. And when James says what he says here, guys, he's obviously speaking about the very people whom we naturally feel the urge to curse, right?

He's speaking about the people who disagree with us and who make us mad. The people who mistreat us and who disrespect us, these are the people on the opposite end of the political spectrum as us, and it includes people who do not respect the image of God in us. Yet James would say whether they recognize the image of God in us or not, whether they respect us or not. We are to respect them as image bearers of God and treat them and speak to them and speak about them and behave towards them in a way that comports with that reality of them being image bearers of God.

Does all that makes sense. Let's come to a 4th truth that serves to explain why we should be pro-life and pro humility and pro-grace on the subject of The abortion Of the abortion issue #4. Because this is wordy, but let's say it this way, because God creates preborn human beings in His image, they are entitled to the full rights. of personhood.

Because God creates preborn human beings in His image, they are entitled to the full rights of Personhood. In Psalm 139, David. As a grown man is reflecting on God's creation of him and his mother's womb, and he says these words beginning in Psalm 139:13. He says to God, For you formed my inward parts, literally in the Hebrew.

He's saying, You formed my kidneys. And he highlights the kidneys because the kidneys were viewed as the deepest organs in The human body. You form my deepest parts, my most inward parts, he's saying. You wove me in my mother's womb.

I will give thanks to you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you. When I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth, your eyes have seen my unformed substance.

The book were all written the days that were ordained for me when as yet. There was not one of them. As David reflects upon his time in his mother's womb, In this Psalm, he uses the pronoun I, my, and me, clearly indicating that he does not view what he was in his mother's womb as something separate from what he is right now. He would say that person who was in my mother's womb was me.

As for God's creation of him, David marvels at how intricately and lovingly God was involved in fashioning him in his mother's womb down to the tiniest detail and the deepest organs of his body. God fashioned him together in his mother's womb, fashioning him from a single-celled being into A human Being bearing the image of God from the very outset, from a single cell being into a being composed of 15 trillion cells and boasting a dazzling array of intricacies which beggar the imagination.

And God did all of that. And he did it all within the cramped.

And dark confines of David's mother's womb. What a miracle God does. In a mother's womb with very little space to work with and no light, it's dark in there. And 9 months later we behold this beautiful thing that God has been fashioning.

Such contemplations provoke two exclamations from David in verse 14. Speaking to God, He says, Wonderful are your works, and that exclamation is preceded by another exclamation wherein David says in the new American Standard, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. And the Hebrew of this expression is is actually difficult to translate smoothly, but its meaning is clear. Literally we can translate David as saying this on account of your awe inspiring deeds in fashioning me, I am wonderful.

That's literally what he's saying. Now, it might seem strange to our ears to hear David's comment here on his own wonderfulness, but this is not arrogance at all. This is a deeply rooted God entranced creation-based self-esteem. David is saying, As a created image bearer of God, I am a wonderful and distinguished product of God's creative design.

And so he says, I will give thanks to you. I will give thanks to you. God gets all of the glory. Now David's train of thought here is useful to us.

Not just regarding how we see ourselves as products of God's handiwork, but it also teaches us. To see every other fellow human being. As a wonderful product of God's awesome handiwork, including the unborn who are still in their mother's womb being fashioned so lovingly and intricately by God. Based on what Psalm 139 is saying, we can look at a fetus in the womb and say this child is created by God.

This child is being right now fashioned by God with awe inspiring deeds, and therefore this child is a wonderfully distinguished person worthy of our highest respect. This train of thought is one of the things in my mind that exposes the horror of abortion. Because abortion intrudes upon this intricate and loving, awesome work of God in the womb. And violently destroys what he is fashioning.

As he is fashioning a distinguished and honorable being. In his very image. What we see And Psalm 139 is an example of how the scripture speaks of the unborn child while still even in his mother's womb. Yet you don't hear this exalted language.

From abortion advocates today, right? What you find instead is much less flattering language being used. Read the literature. Written by abortion advocates today, and you will find the child in the womb called things like a blob of tissue.

A tissue mass, a clump of cells. A potential life. A non-viable tissue mass. Or A fetal infestation.

These are all expressions that are used by abortion advocates. One thinker named Eileen McDonagh in her article entitled Breaking the Abortion Deadlock from Choice to Consent, describes the fetus in the womb as, and I quote, a massive intrusion on a woman's body, stealing her liberty. Unquote. And therefore McDonough believes that a woman who does not want her child has the right to meet this intrusion with deadly force in terminating the life of the child, and those words deadly force are her words.

Not mine. What all these descriptions that I just gave to you have in common is that they deny the personhood of the baby that is in the womb. Nancy Percy. Say it this way.

Virtually no ethicist denies that the fetus is human biologically, genetically, scientifically human, but in modern thought, simply being human does not confer any moral status. The turning point now is said to be the stage at which the fetus becomes a person. Unquote And that's part of what the Roe v. Wade decision was all about, essentially denying the fetus the right of personhood.

Let me read to you from some modern day thinkers on the subject of abortion, and I want you to notice how various abortion. Advocates make a distinction between a human and a person. Hans Kung, a liberal Catholic theologian, says, and I quote, a fertilized ovum evidently is human life but is not a person, unquote. Peter Singer, a professor of bioethics at Princeton University, says, and I quote, the life of a human organism begins at conception.

The life of a person does not begin. So early he then says, and I quote, I use the term person to refer to a being who is capable of anticipating the future, of having wants and desires for the future, unquote. John Harris, a professor of bioethics at the University of Manchester, says, and I quote, Nine months of development leaves the human embryo far short of the emergence of anything that can be called a person. A person is a creature capable of valuing its own existence.

Unquote. Evidently John Harris believes that an 8.5 month old fetus is not capable of valuing. Its own existence. I'm not sure how he knows that.

Susan Sherwin, a feminist thinker, gives this definition of personhood. Listen carefully. She says, and I quote, Persons are members of a social community that shapes and values them. And personhood must be defined in terms of interactions and relationships with others, unquote.

Did you catch What she's saying there If what she's saying is true, then it means that in her thinking, in order to be a person, you must have people in the social community who value you. If no one in the community values you, You are not a person. In her thinking, these are chilling. Distinctions that are being made here and some go even further.

Then abortion advocates go in their logic and they push for allowing for the death of a child even after birth. John Watson, who was one of the discoverers of the DNA double helix, believes that a child should be allowed to undergo 3 days of genetic and medical testing after birth and that parents should have that 3 day window. To decide if they want to terminate the life of their child, Peter Singer of Princeton University is similar in his thinking. In his book entitled Practical Ethics, he says, and I quote, Human babies are not born self-aware or capable of grasping that they exist over time.

They are not persons. Unquote Hence Peter Singer suggests that, and I quote, a period of 28 days after birth might be allowed before an infant is accepted as having the same right to live. As others unquote. Let's think about what these People are saying for a moment, all the various definitions and distinctions that I'm citing here amount to what we could call a philosophy of performance-based personhood.

Performance-based personhood. According to these thinkers, and many like them, in order to be a person, you have to be more than merely human. You must be human plus be able to do this or that, sweeping together all the various definitions of personhood, some of which I've just mentioned to you, and then others that people in our society nowadays propose. The personhood equation and their thinking can be depicted as follows.

To be a person you have to be a human being plus. Have wants or desires for the future. You must be a human being plus be valued by the community. You must be a human being plus have a desire to live in a way that we can perceive.

To be a person you must be a human being. plus be capable of valuing your own existence. To be a person you must be a human being. Plus have a mother who wants you and has the resources to raise you.

In the thinking of some to be a person, you must be a human being plus be the product of a consensual union. And not the product of rape. Now compare the pro choice calculus. that I've just given you.

To the pro-life equation. The pro-life equation is very simple. It's this to be a human being. is to be a person.

Now is that so complicated? To be a human being is to be a person. That's it. To be a person, all you've got to do is be a human being.

It's that simple. Maybe you consider yourself to be A liberal And if you do consider yourself to be a liberal and you cherish liberal ideals, is not liberalism all about inclusion and equal opportunity for everyone? If it is, one would think that the more liberal a person is, The more they would appreciate the pro-life position and the more offended they would be at the pro-choice position. Again, Nancy Percy says it this way.

Listen to what she says. The pro-choice position says that some people don't measure up. They don't make the cut. They don't qualify for the rights of personhood.

By contrast, the pro-life position is inclusive. If you are a member of the human race, you're in. You have the dignity and the status of a full member of the moral community. Simply because you are a human being.

She's right. In my mind, the pro-life position satisfies liberalism's highest ideals far more effectively. than the pro-choice position ever could. Now everything I've shared up to this point, guys, serves to explain why we are pro-life.

But why do we say that we're not just pro-life but also pro humility and pro-grace on the abortion issue? This leads us to the 5th and the final truth that serves to explain why we should be pro-life and pro-humility and pro grace. Number 5. As Christians, we know from experience that there is forgiveness for killing.

An innocent image bearer of God. As Christians, we know from experience that there is forgiveness for killing an innocent image bearer of God. We've talked about how God created mankind in His image, but if we're going to talk about the image of God this morning, we must not fail to talk about the ultimate image bearer of God. And that is Jesus Christ.

Write down this reference in 2 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 4. Paul speaks about how Satan, and I quote, has blinded the minds of the unbelieving that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, unquote. So there you go. Jesus is the image of God.

The writer of Hebrews goes even further in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 3, and speaks of Jesus and says that He is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of God's nature. So Jesus is the ultimate image bearer. Of God in a far truer sense than any human being ever has been, partly because he's divine and also because he's perfectly sinless in every way, thus displaying God's image in a way completely unmarred and undiminished by sin. Jesus is the ultimate.

And perfect image bearer of God. And here's my question for you guys this morning. What did mankind do with this perfect image bearer of God when he came to earth? We killed him.

We killed him on a cross. And the Bible actually teaches us that all of us here today are complicit in his death. Together, all of us. have been involved in killing the only innocent image bearer of God.

To ever live In Acts chapter 2. We find the apostle Peter standing before thousands of people on the day of Pentecost, and he levels a broad accusation against everyone. Assembled For having killed Christ. In Acts 2:33, he speaks of Jesus and says, this man, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men, and you put him to death.

And he restates his accusation in verse 36 of Acts 2 when he says, Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Peter speaks this accusation broadly to everyone. That is gathered and he doesn't even seem to entertain. The possibility that a person might raise their hand and object and say, I wasn't even in town on the day of His crucifixion, so I can't be guilty.

Peter speaks to all of them as if they are guilty. And the accusation that Peter levels at this crowd could be leveled at all of us. And we actually sang already this morning of the truth of that. Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers, right?

And we said it was my sin that held him there. You made that confession. When we sang that song earlier in our service. Martin Luther spoke the same way to people in his own day and said something to the effect of, don't even try to deny your guilt in crucifying Christ.

You have the very nails in your pockets. But don't take Martin Luther's. Word for it. In Isaiah 53:4.

The prophet Isaiah looks into the future. At the death of Christ on the cross, and if we translate the Hebrew literally, he speaks of Christ's death and he says literally he was pierced from our transgressions. He was crushed from Our iniquities. That's the autopsy report that Isaiah gives.

In advance, Isaiah is saying it was our sins that pierced and crushed and killed Jesus, which makes us violators of the sixth commandment. You shall not kill. Suddenly now, under the glaring light of the cross of Jesus Christ, we see our sin for what it really is. We see that the essence of all sin is murder, the murder of God.

As Charles Spurgeon says, Sin is deci. Every sinner, if he could, would kill God. Sin in its essence is the murderer of Emmanuel, God with us. We see this truth in the Old Testament in Psalm 14, 1, when the psalmist says the fool has said in his heart.

There is no God. The fool says this because he genuinely wishes that God did not exist. And so he tries to pronounce God out of existence. This is the murder of God that man has been committing throughout human history since the fall.

Deep down, every human person knows that there is a God, yet he suppresses that truth so that he can live whatever way he wants to live. And this is what's happening in modern times as well as we develop philosophies of life that remove God from our consciousness. The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche saw this in his own day in the latter half of the 1800s, observing how thinkers of his day were casting aside the Judeo-Christian ethic and view of God and replacing it with godless philosophies, Nietzsche said, and I quote, Whither is God?

I will tell you We have killed him, you and I, all of us are his murderers.

Unquote And what Nietzsche confessed to may sound very harsh to our ears, but the crucifixion of Christ proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that all of us at heart are murderers of God. What the cross shows us is that if God came into this world, We would kill him. What the cross shows us is That if a truly innocent image bearer of God came into this world and displayed God's image perfectly, We would kill him. And we have no argument against this charge because the cross.

of Jesus Christ proves this beyond a shadow of a doubt. We all, each one of us are guilty of taking the life of the only truly innocent image bearer of God who ever lived. But this is where things get really amazing. And this is the good news.

Yes, we killed Christ. But God raised him from the dead and seated Jesus at his own right hand. Where Jesus now stands ready to save the very people who were complicit in killing him. Yes, we killed Christ, yet at the very spot where we committed our ugliest act, God moved toward us.

In grace and forgiveness and brought us into his embrace as we believed in Jesus and called upon His name. As Christians, we discovered ourselves at the foot of the cross, and we came to see that we're far worse sinners than we ever knew before. But that revelation of our sinfulness was palatable to us. Only because in that exact moment we discovered the amazing love and the amazing grace of God towards us.

Yes, we are worse than we ever knew, but we're also far more loved. than we ever dared to imagine. And see, when we look at things in this way. From the foot of the cross, it humbles us.

It brings us down from our high horse. We can look at the woman. Who has had an abortion and honestly say to her, I have done something even worse than what you have done in aborting your child. I have killed the Son of God, and yet God has moved toward me and given me His amazing grace and forgiveness when I believed in Jesus Christ.

And I know that if God can forgive me for what I have done, I know that he can forgive you. For what you have done. And this, brothers and sisters, is why We are not just pro-life, but also pro humility and pro grace. There really is no substantial difference between me.

And the 19-year-old woman who has just aborted her child. We both have rebelled against God. We both have taken an innocent life. We both have contributed directly to the slaying of a human being who bears the image of God.

And so when I am speaking to this woman who has aborted her child, I need to make sure that I speak to her. As one sinner to another sinner, I dare not speak to her from a position of superiority. But rather as one who is on equal footing with her before the cross of Christ, and I can then point her to the same savior who has saved me. When we Christians speak to others regarding the abortion issue, We need to speak truth.

And part of the truth that we need to speak. is the truth of a confession about ourselves, a confession of our own complicity in killing the only truly innocent image bearer of God, Jesus Christ, and then we need to be equally vocal. And talking to others about the amazing grace of God that is available to sinners through Jesus. It is only from this position of humility and grace that I think we can speak.

The gospel And speak with gospel power regarding The abortion issue. God has not called us simply. To go into all the world and tell the world that abortion is sin. But to also tell the world that this sin is forgivable through Jesus Christ.

To those who confess their sin and look to Him for salvation, yes, abortion is a great sin. But the grace of Jesus is infinitely greater. Yes, abortion leaves a great stain. But the blood of Jesus is more powerful than that stain and can wash it away for all of eternity.

And so I say to you this morning, if you are here today and you have had an abortion. Please know that Jesus stands ready to save you and to forgive you. This very morning If you will believe in him today, your sin does not disqualify you from Jesus. It's the very thing that qualifies you for Him.

Jesus came into the world to save sinners. So if you're a sinner, that means you qualify for Jesus. Your sin is exactly the sin that Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood to provide atonement for. And you are exactly the sinner.

that Jesus came to save. Together with the rest of us who are gathered here today, run to Jesus. Believe in Him. Call upon His name, repent of your sin.

And place your trust in Jesus, and he will not just forgive you, he will be pleasured to forgive you. So that you don't have to carry your guilt. For another hour If you don't come to Jesus, you will have to carry your guilt throughout your lifetime. And sadly through the rest of eternity, And even in this life, that guilt will eat you alive and affect you in thousands of ways, large and small.

Lisa, Steve can Used to be a member of our church, and she once ran the San Bernardino Pregnancy and Family Resource Center. She once told some of us the story of a woman who came into their pregnancy center who had had 8. Abortions 8 abortions. And Lisa engaged her in conversation and asked her why.

She had done this, and this woman told her the answer. She told her that after she had had her first child, she aborted that first child. And then she believed that her sin of aborting that child was so bad that she no longer deserved to be a mother. Consequently, whenever she became pregnant thereafter, she aborted the child.

In her womb. So what was happening? With this woman. What happened was that her unresolved guilt over her first abortion ended up leading to the death of the next 7 children that were conceived in her womb.

In February of 2008, A talented English artist named Emma Beck. hung herself. Because she was so guilt-ridden over having aborted the twins. who were in her womb.

When she first discovered that she was pregnant, she was excited at the news, but her excitement disappeared when her boyfriend expressed his displeasure and began pressuring her to abort the twins that were in her womb. Against her better judgment, she gave in to his wishes. And over the next few months thereafter, the guilt consumed her. And on one awful day in February of 2008, she was found hanging from a rope.

In her home A suicide note was found nearby which contained the following message, and I quote, Living. is hell for me. I should never have had an abortion. I see now that I would have been a good mom.

And now it is too late. I died when my babies died. Unquote In the case of Emma Beck and the woman with 8 abortions, we observed that post-abortion, guilt. Kills In the first situation, the unresolved guilt contributed.

To the death of the succeeding babies in the womb of this post-abortive mother. In the second situation of Emma Beck, the unresolved guilt killed. The mother herself. Guilt does not always lead to these precise outcomes.

But guilt does always bring death on multiple levels. It kills relationships. It kills joy and it ultimately leads to eternal spiritual death, if not resolved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you have had an abortion, Or participated in a decision to have an abortion, you don't have to bear that guilt for another minute.

Jesus died to bear that guilt for you, and to deliver you from that guilt. Run to Jesus, confess your sins to him. Don't rationalize your sin, or try to minimize your sin, call it what it is. But then realize that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners just like you.

realize that he died so that he specifically can be your dearest friend and savior to empower you to live differently than you have lived. If you call upon Him to be your Lord and Savior, he promises that he will respond to your call. He says, Anyone who comes to me, I absolutely will not cast them. Away.

If you are a Christian and you Have an abortion in your past. You can hold your head high. Your tears of regret are precious to God. And you yourself are a precious daughter of God, forgiven in Christ.

Use your experience to be a help to others, as I know a number of you are doing. There are other ways you can make a difference in this area. Parents, raise your children to know and to love Jesus Christ. Teach them the sexual ethics of God's word.

Teach them to save sexual intimacy for marriage as God commands for the good and flourishing of mankind. Teach your sons how to respect. Women, teach your son to respect a woman so much that he will refuse to be sexually intimate with her until he has pledged his life to her. In marriage and teach your daughters to expect nothing less from a man.

Also pray Pray for our society, pray that God would bring about an awakening of conscience that will cause people to realize the evil of abortion. And many other sins so that they will come to the foot of the cross and find Salvation through Jesus. Along these lines, guys, realize that the single greatest, most pro-life thing that you can do for anyone is to declare the gospel to them and to call them to faith in Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the Life And then teach them to obey all things that Christ has commanded.

Realize that our primary calling as Christians is not to save babies, though that is a worthy calling.

But to save souls. And babies 10. To fare a whole lot better in the wombs of saved women who truly love Jesus and have been saved by him. The womb of such women is a much more hospitable place.

There are other things you can do also. You can get involved in helping out. At a pregnancy center near you like some people in our church do. And involve yourself as they are in counseling women and even men away from abortion and to help them to choose life.

You can also support such ministries through your giving. You'll be happy to know that just in the last three weeks, $3500 of the money you have given to the Agape Fund has been sent to the San Bernardino Pregnancy and Family Resource Center, a ministry that counsels women and men to choose life, the life of their baby over the death. Of their child and also provides spiritual and material help. To them and these choices.

Just recently we have become acquainted with another ministry with the Moreno Valley Health Center, which is a Christ-centered. ministry that is doing the very same thing in the city of Moreno Valley. Their purpose is not just to save the lives of babies, but also to save the souls of fathers and mothers through the gospel of Jesus Christ. And if you want to learn more about this ministry, just drop by the ministry table over here to my left and speak with Kathy Dane.

She'll be very enthusiastic to share with you. And answer any of your questions. Beyond that, we want you to know that any money that you donate to the Agape Fund. starting today through the Sunday of February 7th, everything you donate to the Agape Fund from today through the Sunday of February 7th will go to the Moreno Valley Health Center to resource them and encourage them in their ministry.

We hope you'll take advantage of this opportunity and again that you'll go by the ministry table to learn more about this ministry that we will be giving to in the coming weeks. By the way, another way that you can make a significant difference is by fostering or adopting children, as a number of families in our church have done. Adoption is a great way of helping to contribute to a culture of life in our communities, and it's a tremendous way of making an eternal difference in the life of the child or children that you have adopted.

Whatever we do as a congregation.

Let's walk in the good of God's grace. And let's be quick to share the gospel of His grace with others. And as we share that gospel with others, let's share as one sinner to another, pointing them to who has saved us. When we speak to others regarding the abortion issue, let's be quick to tell them the story of our own brokenness.

And then tell them the story of how God through Christ met us at our worst and forgave us through Jesus and how His love is now changing us day by day. and making us whole. And let's tell them that's the reason. That's the reason.

We are pro-life. And pro humility. And grace. Can you do that?

Let's pray and ask God to help us. Lord God, we thank you for your word that gives us a worldview that we can just start in your word and reason from. The text of the Bible. and reason our way to Having a clear perspective on these issues.

To know what is right and wrong. But also to break us afresh over our sin. When I think about how you created us in your image. And how Christ is the ultimate image bearer of God.

It breaks me afresh to know what I have done to Jesus. And then I'm I am freshly reminded of the staggering grace that you have shown to me. And to so many of us gathered here today. In forgiving us of our sins.

And clothing us in the very righteousness of the one. Whom we killed Preparing a place for us to live with you forever in heaven. And bringing us into right relationship with you so that we can relate to you as our Father. This is unspeakable grace.

To people that are so undeserving. And may we, Lord, as we reach out to others and speak with a voice regarding the abortion issue, may that voice be shaped. By The truth and the grace and the power of the gospel. And we pray that you would use us.

To be a light. In this area and on this issue where there is so much darkness. We pray for our nation, Lord, that You would look upon us as a nation with mercy, a mercy we do not deserve. With the incoming presidential administration, Lord, and those who will be filling seats in the Senate and the House, we pray that you would give them a heart of wisdom.

Regardless of what their intentions may be right now, we pray that you would turn their hearts. Towards you and your wisdom, bring them to repentance where repentance is necessary. And cause them, Lord, to lead righteously. Help us as a people to Honor to pray for.

Those that you have placed in authority over us. and help us to do our part. And being salt and light in this culture in which you have placed us. that we might glorify your name.

That souls will be snatched from the flames. And people will come to experience your amazing grace. As we have done We ask for your enabling in all of these things, Lord, in the name of Jesus, and all God's people said, Amen.