The following message was given at Grace Community Church in Mendon, Nevada. Well, if you'll take your Bibles, we're going to break from Romans for one Lord's Day and turn to Psalm 139. This is the reading of God's Word starting at verse 13, for you formed My inward parts 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. And in your book were all written the days that were ordained for me when as yet there was not one of them. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God abides forever. Amen. You may be seated. So as a father and as a grandfather, I'm very thankful for the outcome of the election last Tuesday. It was a very important election in the life of our country. And I hope that you understand this is not a partisan statement. This is a statement regarding that which is good and that which is evil. the party of death, the party of gender and sexuality insanity, the party of wokeness, the party that is willing to mutilate children, the party of crippling inflation was in fact defeated, and for that I thank God. The historic results of this election on Tuesday seem to me to be clearly a mercy of God, a reprieve, if you will, from the Almighty. And so, we don't know what the future is going to hold, and we are under no illusion that politics can save anybody. But I am thankful for the sake of my children and especially my grandchildren and for the country that I love. And so I would exhort all of us to pray for our leaders more than ever. First Timothy 2 1 to 4 says, first of all then I urge that in treaties and prayers and petitions and thanksgivings be made on behalf of all men for kings and all who are in authority so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. But I also want to say this morning that there's another side to this election that, in fact, I cannot ignore. And Wednesday morning, as happy and relieved as I was, this would not leave my mind. And that is, we cannot ignore the plight of the unborn. And although there were many bright spots in this election, there is also a dark cloud and we dare not forget it or minimize it. There were 10 statewide votes on pro-abortion legislation, 10 statewide votes. Florida had a radical bill that failed, but I want to point out that it required 60% to pass. It got 57. Now, South Dakota had a pro-abortion bill, and it failed badly. Thank God. 63.4% of South Dakota's population voted no on a radical pro-abortion bill. Missouri passed a pro-abortion bill, but it only required a simple majority, and it was passed by 53%. In our own state, question six passed with 63.8 of our state's population voting yes. Douglas County, it failed, but only by a thin margin, 51.7 to 48.3. Now let me read you question six. All individuals shall have a fundamental right to abortion performed or administered by a qualified health practitioner until fetal viability or when needed to protect the life or health of the pregnant patient without interference from the state or its political subdivisions. Now, I want to point something out. In almost all of the bills that were set forth, this language of fundamental right was used. There's a reason why the language of fundamental right is used, and it's used to make it a pre-constitutional right that must be then enshrined or protected by the Constitution. And notice, even though it says it will be administered up to fetal viability, it also has the qualifications that unless, of course, it is the health of the mother. Now, I want you to understand that the health of the mother not simply the physical health of the mother it also could be the so-called emotional health of the mother so all that basically needs to be done in order to have unrestricted abortions in Nevada is to say that this pregnancy is going to really stress me out and it's going to create all kinds of anguish for me and then there will be nothing that can stop it now Similar bills passed in seven other states. And so in light of the good news last Sunday, let's not forget the unborn. Albert Moeller noted earlier this week, he says, as someone who has been fighting for the pro-life cause in the United States for my entire adult life, this is a very sad place to be. At the same time, we do have to understand that we didn't join this as a cause because we care about abortion as an issue. We join this as a cause because we believe that the sanctity and dignity of human life is a moral priority. It's not an issue that we believe in. It is a truth that we recognize and therefore a truth that we must defend. So this morning, I want to give you four Biblical truths about life and abortion. And I want to urge you, don't forget the unborn. Number one, all of life is made in the image and likeness of God and therefore has intrinsic value. You understand that all of humanity is made in the image and likeness of God. All human beings are image bearers. China itself is facing an unbelievable crisis because for almost 50 years, the one child policy actually created a dilemma of unintended consequences because The most dangerous place in the world to be was to be a little girl inside of your mother's womb in China. Millions upon millions upon millions of baby girls were aborted in China and each and every one of those baby girls are made in the image and likeness of almighty God. On top of that, because of wonderful technology, prenatal technology, that in many ways serves people well, it is also used now to make sure that babies with downs are overwhelmingly aborted in the womb. Sex selection is becoming more common in the United States as a cause of abortion. We wanted a boy, not a girl, or we wanted a girl, not a boy. And I would remind all of us today that the passage that we read from Psalm 139 tells us that that baby is actually the handiwork of Almighty God. And it is human life. That's not even a debate anymore. Do you understand that maybe 20 years ago, people were debating about what it was. Well, okay, only people who refuse to open their eyes debated what it was. Anybody with any common sense knew that it's human life. And it bears the image of the one who created it. the womb and the image of God is what makes life sacred at what it's what gives life dignity and value the image of God bestows on humanity its dignity no matter even the context of conception Solomon was conceived under or the baby that died was conceived under some pretty suspicious situation right and and so understand this that although we want to protect the sanctity of human sexuality we want to dissuade to discourage premarital sex and You have to understand this, no matter what the context in which that baby was conceived, you still have a human life that is absolutely sacred. Christians should be unswervingly pro-life and staunchly oppose abortion because the sin of abortion is ultimately a violent assault against the image of God. By the way, the war against God is seen in the war against His creation ordinances. It is seen as a war against not only the sanctity of life, but also man as male and female. Our culture does everything it can to wage war against the God who made us and in whose image we bear. Let me just say something else about this. I just said Christians should be unswervingly pro-life in their conviction. Do not buy into this quasi pro-life movement among evangelicals who say that we have other things that we should be considering other than just simply the life in the womb in order to be pro-life. By the way, you do know that there is in fact a very strong movement in the pro-life movement that's now saying, well, you have to understand there are nuances. There are the nuances of economics. There are the nuances of societal implications. And I wanna say there is no nuance when it comes to shedding the innocent blood of an unborn baby. John Murray wrote many years ago, he says, nothing shows the moral bankruptcy of a people or of a generation more than the disregard for the sanctity of human life. So, reminder number one. All life is made in the image and likeness of God and therefore has intrinsic value and dignity. Number two, God prohibits premeditated murder and the shedding of innocent blood. Exodus chapter 20 and verse 3 is straightforward and simple. You shall not commit murder. Mark Rooker, who is an Old Testament scholar, commenting on this verse says this, he says, any act of violence against an individual out of hatred, anger, malice, deceit, or for personal gain, whatever circumstances and by whatever method that might result in death must be classified as murder. The root of the Hebrew word is thus used to refer to premeditated murder and it is viewed as forbidden. so the Bible would make exceptions for such things as capital punishment and make exceptions for such things as self-defense but the idea of pre-meditated murder is absolutely prohibited and it again is in fact a assault on the image of God so after the flood God gives Noah a covenant and in Genesis 9 6 this is what he says if anyone sheds man's blood by man shall his blood be shed for in the image of God he made him okay now let me just say something quick about capital punishment, it's actually capital punishment that preserves the dignity of life. Because the punishment fits the crime. The minute that we protect murderers, what we're saying is the lives that they took has no impact on whether or not they keep theirs. And so it is actually a view of the intrinsic dignity of human life that says, if you're going to wantonly take human life, you forfeit your own. The Bible also furthermore forbids the shedding of innocent blood. Not just murder, but the shedding of innocent blood. In fact, in the six things that God hates, seven which are an abomination to Him, in Proverbs 6, 17, it is the shedding of innocent blood that God hates. And in fact, later in Psalm 106 and verse 38, giving the history of Israel, it says, but they mingled with the nations and learned their practices. They served their idols which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons and shed innocent blood. The blood of their sons and their daughters whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan and the land was polluted with blood. Make no mistake about it. That same wicked, evil, idolatrous practice of sacrificing our children to our idols is still with us. The idol may not be a Canaanite idol, but it could certainly be the idol of a career, or the idol of convenience, or even the idol of persuasion and coercion by those around us. And so let us be clear that the Bible prohibits premeditated murder, the shedding of innocent blood, and therefore, Unequivocally, abortion is murder and abortion is the most grievous type of murder because it is shedding innocent blood. Number three. The Bible prescribed the death penalty when one caused the death of an unborn baby now the old NAS the 1977 NAS actually translated Exodus 21 22 to 25 badly the 95 update fixes it I'm going to read it to you from the ESV This is Exodus 21, 22 to 25. When men strive together and hit a pregnant woman so that her child comes out, but there is no harm, the one who hit her shall be surely fined, as the woman's husband shall impose on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if there is harm, you shall pay life for life. What the Mosaic Law prescribes here is that if two men are in a fight and a pregnant woman is injured in that process, and she gives premature birth, but the baby lives, the perpetrator shall be fined. But if the baby dies as a result of the injury, It is life for life. This is why we should support fetal homicide laws. If you kill somebody in a drunk driving accident and that person is pregnant, you've not killed one person, you've killed two and should be held liable. John Calvin on this text, and remember, this is the 1550s. He says, the fetus, though enclosed in the womb of its mother, is already a human being. And it is an almost monstrous crime to rob it of the life which it has not yet begun to enjoy. If it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man's house is the place of his most secure refuge, it ought to surely be deemed more atrocious to destroy a fetus in the womb before it has come to light. Calvin's Calvin's observation the thing that makes going into somebody's house and killing them so horrible as opposed to maybe accidentally killing somebody in a field is that there was Intentionality to go into that very place that is supposed to be a place of safety and refuge for a person you violated that of safety and refuge and Calvin says if it is horrible to go into somebody's house and murder them how much worse to enter into the womb to kill the baby because the womb should actually be the place of the greatest safe safety and security for any human being number four the Bible is opposed to to oppression, injustice, and evil. Thus, God is opposed to oppression, injustice, and evil. And abortion is the worst form of oppression. Why? First of all, it victimizes the truly helpless. The magnitude of oppression is measured by the helplessness of its victim and the unborn are doubtlessly the most helpless in our society. And so abortion as a form of oppression steals by force the most fundamental human right, which is the right to live. Another thermometer of the magnitude of oppression is that what is taken and how much force is used determines the magnitude of the oppression. And so what is taken in abortion? The ultimate is taken in abortion, human life. How is it taken? It is taken in the most violent of ways. If the magnitude of oppression is determined by what is taken and how much force is used, we have to understand that abortion, therefore, is the most aggressive, violent form of oppression that exists in the entire world. It's not just taking human life. It is often taking human life in the most violent of ways, invading a womb in order to burn or dismember with edged weapons or chemicals in order to end the life of that baby. And also it is incredibly oppressive because oftentimes, not always, but oftentimes it deceives, intentionally deceives those whom it claims to help. So this is oppression of the worst kind. And it is a moral evil in this world. There are other reasons why abortion is the worst form of oppression. Abortion in this nation has racist roots. Listen carefully if you don't know this. The architect of Planned Parenthood was Margaret Sanger, who was such a notorious racist, Hitler admired her, and so did the Ku Klux Klan. She came up with an approach called eugenics. which actually was nothing less than genocide. Now here's an interesting thing that we seem to have massively forgotten in our own nation, and that is the early civil rights leaders were all anti-abortion because they sought for what it was, which was genocide against the black people of the United States. Margaret Sanger, whose eugenics program was used to curb the growth of minorities in the United States, especially blacks, ends up being one of the most darkest chapters in our history as a nation. Margaret Sanger is the patron saint of the left. She sought to limit fertility, not only among minorities, but also among the physically and mentally deficient. You say, well, certainly that's not where we're at today. Well, I would remind you, as a nation, in our country, a black woman is three times more likely to have an abortion than a white woman. And when you realize the disparity in population between blacks and whites, that is absolutely horrific. Planned Parenthood strategically goes into low-income areas, into minority areas, and actually victimizes the unborn. Hispanics are 2.5 times more likely to have an abortion than a white woman. And so, understand abortion is genocide and it is evil. Abortion is, in fact, the worldwide holocaust. And it is, in fact, the most insidious evil that there is in this world. And so why, why should we be shocked at the trafficking of children after they're born when we celebrate murdering them before they are born? We are absolute hypocrites as a nation. If you're going to protect life, you protect life in the womb and out of the womb. And the very impulse that causes us to want to stop human trafficking, especially among children, should be the same impulse that says abortion is murder and it should be outlawed today. Christians ought to strongly oppose it. I'd remind you if you look in the bulletin at the quotes the church has opposed abortion since the first century the Romans were notorious aborters And they were notorious for their infanticide. If you had a little girl, you wanted a little boy, guess what you'd do? You'd actually put it out to be in exposure, so either die of exposure or to be eaten by wild animals. Do you know what Christians did in the first century? When they would hear those babies crying at night throughout those Roman neighborhoods, they would go and take those babies and take them home and raise them up as their own. So, I will tell you that I didn't really want to preach this sermon this morning. I would have much rather just proceeded on in Romans. But my goodness, who's going to speak up for the unborn if it's not the church of our Lord Jesus Christ? I want to conclude with just three points of application. Number one, if you have ever had an abortion, I want you to know today that there is free and full forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ. Jesus is in fact a merciful and compassionate Savior to those who are brokenhearted over their sins. And the gospel actually brings real healing to the heart and in turning to Christ there is grace and forgiveness and new life. And what you need to hear today is that as horrible as abortion is, it is not the unpardonable sin. Jesus' grace is greater than all of our sins. And so for those who are sometimes tormented, Now let me just say something to those that aren't tormented. You should be. You should be. For those who had an abortion and didn't think twice about it, you should. You have guilt on your soul and that guilt is taking a human life. but if you agonize over what you did and you wish you could turn back the clock and tell that boyfriend to go to hell and stand firm against your parents and against your peers If you wish to God, you could turn back that clock and change that decision because you realize it was the worst decision of your life and you understand that it is a stain. I wanna tell you that there is a resurrected Savior who will wash that stain away and make you clean. full, free forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Maybe, maybe you are the boyfriend who coerced that young woman to get an abortion. You too need to repent. you too have the blood of innocence on your soul staining you and you too need to make a beeline to the cross of Jesus and seek forgiveness from him because you were complicit in a murder and just as sure as the fountain is open for sin and uncleanness for all who repent of their sin so there is forgiveness for you, man. But you need to repent. One of the best, one of the best things about life choices and life nets and ministries that are in our communities that people hate and would like to see shut down, one of the best things is that they're able to tell people not only about the dignity of life, but they're able to tell people about eternal life, which is in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Number two, We need to support pro-life ministries, and I mean real pro-life ministries. And we need to support those who stand in the gap for the unborn. And why do I say real pro-life ministries? Maybe you actually have found out. It's all right, the sermon's almost over, it's not that bad. Maybe you have actually learned that the pro-life industry is in fact an industry. And this is why incrementalism is so popular among pro-lifers. It keeps the money coming in. Support ministries that are truly pro-life. Many of you serve in our own Life Choices Center, and I applaud you. You're standing in the gap for moms. You're standing in the gap for the unborn. We applaud you. Some of you are actually on the front lines. We've had men with wonderful stories who have stood out in front of the abortion clinic, ministering to those who are going in. And so here's the bottom line, is that we cannot simply sit by and do nothing. We need to give, we need to pray. When those emails come out that we send out faithfully, pray. When those emails from Life Choices come out, stop what you're doing and pray. There is a life and death situation happening right then, oftentimes, and it is your prayers beseeching the God of heaven that is the intervention to save a life. Pay attention to legislation. People do not read. Okay? People do not read. I could go on quite a bit about some of the other questions that passed in Nevada to prove to you people don't read. But here's the thing, pay attention to the legislation. Pay attention to the slippery language of the pro-aborters. Okay? remember Proverbs 24 11 and 12 deliver those who are being taken away to death and those who are staggering to slaughter Oh hold them back if you say see we did not know this does he not consider it who weighs the heart and does he not know it who keeps your soul and will he not render to a man according to his work When our troops got to Auschwitz, do you know one of the things that they did? They took the people that lived in that town and could smell the burning flesh and they marched them through that concentration camp to see the heaps of bodies. They knew what was going on. Understand what's going on and do your utmost. Finally, teach your children and model for them the sanctity of human sexuality. Teach your children the sanctity of human sexuality. Let's prevent unwanted pregnancies by having young men and young women who value the sanctity of sex. Where are they going to learn it? They're not going to learn it at school. They're not going to learn it from, what's his, the pervert P. Diddy or P. Daddy or whatever. They're not going to learn it from the movies, they're not going to learn it from the music, and they're certainly not going to learn it when they get into university. By the way, this is for free, but we really ought to rethink sending our kids to be educated by Nebuchadnezzar. Marriage. Teach them the sanctity of marriage. and then teach them the sanctity of the family and then teach them the sanctity of life and tell them there is no such thing as little people. There are no little people. There's just people made in the image and likeness of God. Teach them the sacred nature of life. Teach them to cherish life. Teach them to hate abortion. Raise them to be courageous. I remember I was about 12, 13 years old and my mother sat me down and she had pictures and she said, this is what we're doing in our country to unborn babies. I was 12 or 13 years old. Do you think our children should be taught about the Holocaust or do you think that should be something that we just kind of that was a very unpleasant thing so let's just kind of take that out no because guess what's on the rise anti-semitism in spades okay so you teach them about the Holocaust you teach them about the horrors of anti-semitism and I want to say teach them the horrors of abortion Do you know why the pro-aborters don't actually want you to see pictures? Do you know why they don't want you to see through ultrasound what happens as that little baby tries to get away from those forceps? Because they know once you see it, you have to be one seriously hardened, cold human being who barely qualifies. If you can see that and not have your heart moved for that innocent baby. And so, no pictures. Teach your children the horrors of abortion. At roughly 70, 73 million, just in our country. Forget what goes on in Mexico or China. We're talking billions. Teach your children, why? Because kids, listen carefully to me. You're gonna grow up in a society and a culture that is worse than the society and culture that your parents have grown up in. And the forces of evil are going to be more in your face, more blatant, and have more momentum than they did for us. And so kids, be strong in the Lord. Have a backbone. Stand up for the unborn. Young people, maybe you're not even old enough to vote. Be determined right now where you sit. I will not rest until abortion is ended in my lifetime. May our children and our grandchildren be uncompromising warriors in the fight for life. And may they be uncompromising warriors because they know God. Because Daniel 11.32 tells us, those who know their God will be strong and do great exploits. I honestly never thought that in my lifetime would I see the overturn of Roe v. Wade. mean seriously how many of you thought you that would ever happen well guess what it happened and now the forces of death are trying to make sure that they capitalize state by state and so don't in the midst of all of your jubilation and happiness and Ariel and I sat there Tuesday and she's the craziest person to watch election results with. I didn't know whether I needed to lay hands on her or what. But regardless of the level of joy, don't forget the unborn. Don't forget the unborn. Albert Moeller, He says, the Christian worldview says that there are no ultimate political victories. Here, I'm sorry, let me read that again. The Christian worldview says that there are no ultimate political victories. There are no ultimate political defeats until Jesus comes. Until Jesus comes, we have to be determined that in our own time, we will be found faithful. And so brothers and sisters, let us be found faithful by remembering and by serving and by defending the unborn. Let's pray. gracious God we find it absolutely heartbreaking that even in our own state so many people voted to make abortion a fundamental right father what a depraved society Father, what kind of depravity says you have a fundamental right to kill an unborn baby? Have mercy on us in this. Father, we certainly, we do not despise the mercies that you've shown, but we would plead with you that you would show us more mercy that you would turn the hearts of mothers and fathers, turn the hearts of the next generation to life. And Father, we pray that abortion would become absolutely unthinkable. We ask this in the name of the one who was actually an unborn baby at one time. We ask this in the name of the virgin-born Son of God. Amen.