Yes, He was born, but more importantly, He died for us. Lord, we pray for this country and, Lord, the turmoil that it seems to be in and the division and things like that. We pray, Lord, that You would continue to look at this country, Lord, with mercy and grace as much as it is possible. We know that You have been long-suffering with us and we thank You for that and know that Lord, we're probably wearing out your patience. And Lord, we want your will done. We're going to preach again tonight on abortion and the unborn. And we pray for your will to be done. Help me to get out of the way. Guide, lead, and direct. In Jesus' name, forsake. Amen. You can be seated. Thank you again for joining with us here at Faith Independent Baptist Church. The title of my message, Part 2, is Abortion vs. the Unborn's Right to Life. Abortion vs. the Unborn's Right to Life. This morning's message, Part 1, ended with a quote from the Declaration of Independence stating, that all people are created equal and endowed with certain inalienable or unalienable rights. Some people don't know, but the Declaration of Independence actually had both of those words in there, and they changed from inalienable to unalienable rights. They both mean the same thing. Inalienable means that which cannot be given and cannot be taken away. It's inalienable. You can't make it inalienable. You can't give it and you can't take it away. That's what it is. And here's the preamble to the Constitution found in the Declaration of Independence. As I said this morning, we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, Liberty. and the pursuit of happiness. I think that's very important in the wording that went into that. Life, liberty, but it doesn't say happiness. You're not guaranteed, but you are guaranteed the pursuit of happiness. Now you think about that, that really has some deep reaching and deep rooted thoughts attained to it or attached to it. You have life. liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. By definition, these rights are not given by man. They are endowed or given by God and cannot be taken away. The writers and the signers of the Declaration of Independence pointed to the right to life as the first of these inalienable rights. Since all the signers of the declaration were God-fearing men, it is unimaginable that anyone would attempt to proclaim that these men sought to exclude a child, born or unborn, from the right to life endowed by God. I mean, there's just no excuse for it. The Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, the people that intended for these things to last all of these years, and to express truths that are not disputable, they are indisputable. These men would never have condoned abortion hundreds of years ago. If you look at the book of Acts chapter 17. Acts chapter 17. Babies in the womb are somebody's son or daughter. Somebody's grandson and granddaughter. Potentially somebody's sibling. Without question, these children are 100% innocent. Abortion is a gruesome procedure which causes the dismemberment of the unborn child. And those who support partial birth abortion are inconceivably wicked. That's partial birth abortion. Now since 2008 that has been an illegal procedure, but there are those in the government who want that to be a viable option for abortion. And basically that is you turn the child around, feet first coming out, you take the child out, everything except for the head, and then you puncture the head in order to make it smaller to come out, and you're shooting up the child with things, you're withdrawing fluid, and that's what a partial birth abortion is. Verse 25, the Bible says, neither is worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things. It's God that gives life. It's God that gives breath. It is God that gives all things. So it isn't an optional thing for me. I don't believe I have the right the wisdom to override what God determines. God says what is right. God says what is wrong. It is up to us to accept it. Whether we agree with it or not doesn't matter. Partial birth abortion is medically known as intact dilation and extraction, IDX. It's a method in late-term abortions that ends a pregnancy and results in the death and intact removal of what they call a fetus from the uterus. In 2008, the procedure was deemed illegal. Yet, like I said, some politicians would like that law changed. And it may happen in our lifetime, should the Lord not return soon. In the infamous Roe vs. Wade, Jane Roe, who was Norma McCorvey, and I'm not going to get into her life. She said she was pregnant through rape. She later said she was not. She converted to Christianity. then she converted to Catholicism, then in her deathbed she withdrew, you know, those statements said that she was used, abused, but I looked at it, she looked truly like somebody that was converted, whether she became used by the system or not, she probably was. She probably was. She appealed to the Supreme Court after she became pregnant, supposedly by rape, and she again said that she was not, She appealed to the Supreme Court to abort her child. She later admitted to fabricating the rape claim. And by the time the decision was handed down, she had already given birth and placed her child up for adoption. The decision was made on January 22, 1973. God treasures children. If you'll turn your Bibles to the book of Matthew, and we'll look at something in Matthew and Mark, and then we'll go over to Luke. But Matthew chapter 19, Jesus talks about children. And He likens the kingdom of heaven to children and says that the kingdom of heaven, well, let's just read the verse. Matthew 19, 14, But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not to come unto Me. For of such is the kingdom of heaven. For God to liken the kingdom of heaven to children is an amazing truth. In Mark 9, 42, let me just read it to you. You know the verse, Whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him than a millstone were hanged about his neck and he were cast into the sea. So nobody can say that God doesn't care about children. Children are important to God. He likens the kingdom of heaven to children. To children. Turn to Luke chapter 2. I'm going to develop a point that I made this morning. I mentioned this morning that there are only two biblical ways to describe a woman that is pregnant. She is either with child or she is great with child. We already looked at the ones with child. We'll see another one here in a minute. But in Luke chapter 2 verse 4, Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea under the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. She was great with child. When you look at those descriptions, with child and great with child, God considers that fetus, that embryo, that tissue in the body, as they say, a child. That's what the Bible says. So if the Bible is true, and we here believe it's true, but not everybody does, A pregnant woman is with child or great with child. Look at Exodus chapter 21. This is one of the most interesting things that I ever come to find out about abortion. It's one of the best indicators of what God thinks about abortion and it's found in the Old Testament economy. In your studying your Bible, I told you to turn to Exodus 21, but in Exodus chapter 20, God gives the Ten Commandments. In chapter 21, he delves a little deeper into the meat of the law with more specifics, and he starts talking about the teaching of an eye for an eye. So in Exodus 21-23, This is where it is, that if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. And everybody knows that's in the Bible. An eye for an eye. A lost person knows. The Bible says an eye for an eye. Now, we're not under the law if we're saved. Those that are not saved will be judged according to the law, and they are still under the law and still in the condemnation of the law. But a Christian is not under the law, just to make that clear. But when you're looking at an eye for an eye, what is the context of that teaching? Well, let's look at the verse before the eye for an eye, and that is verse 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 judge has determined. And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. The context of an eye for an eye, life for a life, is dealing with a premature deliverance or loss of a child that is in the womb. That's interesting. Now, I already said we're not in the law, so if somebody's collecting sticks on the Sabbath day, you and I have no right to stone them. But in the Old Testament, that can happen. A disobedient, rebellious children could be brought before the religious leaders and stoned. We're not under the law. You can't take the law and apply it to us. It was meant for the nation of Israel to make them peculiar so that they could have fellowship with God. Our fellowship comes in a completely different fashion. How do we have fellowship with God? Present your bodies a living sacrifice. That's what the Bible says. That's how we have fellowship, Romans 12.1. It's not about keeping a law. It's not about putting yourself under some list of rules. That is not God. That is not Christianity. That is not Bible. That was Israel in the Old Testament, and guess what it does to you? You become just like Israel when you do that. Your job and my job, your responsibility and my responsibility is to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God. And then you know what he says about that? Once you've given your body to God, your body to Christ, he says, which is your reasonable service. You look at that and you go, wow, man, I've done it. I have given my life to Jesus. I serve Him every day. I love Him and I live for Him. And then He says to you, okay, that's just reasonable. Why would that be reasonable? Because look at what He did for you on the cross. Look at what He did for me on the cross. He died for us so we can never get lifted up. We can never get proud. We can never get to where we think, oh, man, we've arrived. Far too many times those that stand in a pulpit will think that, whoa, man, I serve God every day. I read my Bible. I pray. I talk to others. I've done something. Just the reasonable service that all of us have. Every single one of us has the same responsibility to live in such a way as to present our bodies a living sacrifice, and then when you get done, he says, and be not conformed to this world. Verse 2, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. You know how you renew your mind? The Bible. That's what it's all about. That's what life is all about. When is it right to take a life. Logically, we have to push our thinking to its final conclusion. In other words, you know how some people say, oh, well, you're just taking it to an extreme. We all do that. I get it. But is it abhorrent to kill a weak, old child? Oh, yeah. How about a day-old child? Is it murder? The law would say. It's amazing. A woman is pregnant and she's murdered and the unborn child is also in the womb and they get for a double homicide. How can that be? The hypocrisy of this nation to think that they can go to that length and then not understand how That must look in the eyes of God. He doesn't like hypocrisy. Is it okay if the baby has reached nine months in the womb to take that life? How about eight? How about seven? How about six? How about five? How about four? How about three? At what moment does that life change from worthless to precious. Which of us has the wisdom or the right to make that call? None of us. All life is precious. All life matters. And that's what we need to keep in the forefront of our thinking. Look at Isaiah chapter 49. Isaiah gives insights into the extent of God's love for His creation. Remember, he knows the end from the beginning. 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. Look at verse 15. Can a woman forget her sucking child? That she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee? I told you this morning Or let me change it a little bit. In Matthew 24, talking about the last days, I believe that's after the rapture of the church. I have no doubt whatsoever. But he says, in those last days, the love of many will wax cold. Today, Timothy says, in the last days, men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection. I believe Isaiah 49, the compassion of a mother toward her child, whether born or unborn, is natural affection. When that is not there, that is unnatural and abnormal affection. But people are being conditioned for that. You just watch television some and the violence. They're conditioning people to see a murder and have no real reaction to it. You become cold to it. And they also do things on those shows that, you know, well, wow, you know, you go and you hit somebody over the head. Do you know, if you watch that, and you just watch it, somebody goes up and they hit him over the head, maybe it's an old, a western, I mean, even an old one. They hit him over the head. Do you know you can kill somebody pretty easily like that? But they all just knock him out. I know people that got in trouble with the law, took a frying pan, somebody came in the door, they were robbing and they would have recognized them, they hit them over the head. They had no idea they were killing, they weren't trying to kill them. They were just doing what they had seen time and time again and they killed them. And now they're a murderer. What a mess. Look at Jeremiah chapter 1, he's another of the major prophets. Something's different about a prophet. Remember John the Baptist, filled with the Holy Ghost in his mother's womb and all of that. Things are different for prophets, no doubt about it. And by the way, I'm not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet. Sometimes people get confused. Oh yeah, you're a prophet. No, I'm a preacher. Somebody asked me the other day, well how do I address you? Preacher, Reverend? I went, Preacher's good. Preacher's good. I said, Preacher, Pastor, whatever you want. Just not Reverend. You know, Reverend's in the Bible one time, and it speaks of God. Reverend is His name. Why don't people care about the Bible? Now, I know people will joke and come up and say, Hey, Reverend. Slap you upside the head. I'm thinking of Hollett because he's the one that comes to mind. I guess it could be John or just about any in here. Gary? No, Gary's more coof. But I mean, why would people call him reverend? I mean, yeah, jokingly, that's us. That's who we are. We call him Holy Reverend Doctor. In fact, we call somebody and say, hey, Holy Reverend Doctor. The whole point is you don't want any of that attached to you. But these prophets were a little bit different. Jeremiah 1.5, I'll show you. 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. Now, look at that. Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. Jeremiah 1.5. What are the implications of that verse? That maybe souls are eternal future and past. I don't know. I mean, does a soul just come into existence when life begins? No. The soul is in the child in the womb. But maybe the soul always existed. And that soul, God brings that soul into the womb. Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee. What an amazing story. Look at Luke chapter 1. You consider, and you all are familiar with this, the story about Mary and Elizabeth, John the Baptist and Jesus reveals so much for us to consider. Many believe that a child can hear in the womb. I too believe that. I believe you can play Alexander Scorby, reading the Bible. You can play music and songs. They can hear you fighting or laughing. The joy or the pain or the stress or the excitement When we look at Luke chapter 1, we see that a child moving in the womb is called a babe, B-A-B-E, or maybe baby, you can say it both ways. Again, the Bible refers to an unborn child as the fruit of thy womb, Luke 141. And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb. Now, they are related. The babe evidently heard the salutation of Mary. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and she spake out with a loud voice and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Another thing you ought to notice is that Mary is called the mother before the child is born. That's interesting. Mary is called the mother before the child is even born into the world. What does God think of abortion? I mean, you know what the Bible says about man ever learning and never able to come unto the knowledge of the truth? In the last days, knowledge shall increase. Just look at the internet. You can go just like this and find anything and everything. I researched Roe v. Wade. I watched some videos on McCormick. And I learned a lot of things I didn't know. Knowledge shall be increased. But that doesn't mean wisdom is increased with it. Look at the book of Judges chapter 13. Judges 13, I think this is important, too, that God gives instructions to the mother even before the child is conceived. Now, this was a Nazaretic vow, but I think it sort of applies somewhat to all. Judges 13, 4, Now therefore, beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine, nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing. You know, that's pretty good advice for anybody that's pregnant. You know, you shouldn't smoke. You shouldn't drink. You should watch what you eat. You should take prenatal vitamins. You should do these things that are good for you. But look at verse 5. For lo, thou shalt conceive and bear a son. God gave conception. God did it. Look at Psalm 106. I mean, just imagine if Samson here, I think we're talking about if Samson's mother believed in abortion. What if David's mother believed in abortion? I mean, David and Bathsheba. Unwanted pregnancy. The baby died, yeah. But I mean, that was God's choice and God took that child up to Him. The pain wasn't to the child, the pain was to those two that had an illicit affair. Psalm 106, abortion can be viewed as the shedding of innocent blood. Verse 36, Psalm 106 verse 36, 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. Thus were they defiled with their own works and went a-whoring with their own inventions. They sacrificed their sons. You know what people are doing today? Well, we can't afford a child. I'm a business woman. I have goals in life and I want to succeed in doing this or this or this and I want to be a great executive and therefore I can't have this child. Now, I know there are unwanted pregnancies. I know that there is rape and incest and all of those things. But listen, I know when I was in the church in Alabama, a young lady got pregnant. That was 1985. And she had the baby. 1985. And I know that grown-up now. What if the parents said, no, we're going to abort it? What if mom and dad of the young lady who, listen, back in 1985, that was still a pretty big disgrace, as it is today? There's a balance. And again, we've got to have the balance. She had to quit the Christian school, go to public school. She lost her opportunity of being in a Christian school. Because no matter how much you want to care, you still have to have consequences to sin. The young man also had to leave and leave the school. So don't think it's one-sided, although many times it is. The young lady is punished and the young man is not. But I remember that. I remember another one many years later. The dad was a deacon and the child in his home got pregnant. And he stepped down. You know what? I encouraged him not to do it. I did. I said, no, don't think that you have to. She was 25 years old. You can only do so much for your children. And she was raised right. That's the other thing. But there are consequences. When you look at this verse in Psalm 106, it said in Canaan, the land was polluted with blood. You know America is polluted. We've sacrificed our sons and our daughters on the altar of convenience. We have shed innocent blood. Look at Proverbs 6 to find out what God thinks about the shedding of innocent blood. Nobody should ever argue that that child in the womb is somehow not innocent. Let's say it's an unwanted pregnancy. The child's innocent. Rape, the child is innocent. Incest, the child is innocent. And that's what you have to keep in mind. You say, well, you're punishing the woman that was raped or had incest. These things are not easy, but life is life, and right is right, and wrong is wrong. And you can't make exceptions just because it's politically expedient. and say, well, you know, we've got to take the high road. No, the high road is to look in the Bible and say, that's a child. No exceptions. No exceptions. God hates the shedding of innocent blood in Proverbs 6.16. These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto Him. A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, and heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren." Boy, I'll tell you, if we could just get that verse in all of our churches and believe it, So with discord among the brethren, a false witness that speaketh lies. If that one passage there were believed across America and people cared about what God thought about their life and their sin and their actions, what a different world we would have. perspective. Because of promiscuity, pregnancy has been deemed a burden rather than a blessing. Look at Luke chapter 1 and let's see what God says about somebody that can't have children. We had a child and lost the child early in the pregnancy. We adopted two children. That was tough. It was hard. But God gave us peace. He was there. He was there in the hospital. I remember Judy was in I guess it's a DNC or something like that. The preacher came in and said, I'm so sorry. I just looked at him and I said, we're going to adopt. Now think about that. She is pregnant. We have a child, miscarriage. And I mean right there, I know we're going to adopt. And listen, the devil hated that. I'll tell you how I know. The next morning we were going to church and I was speeding because we were a little late. I don't think I would have been speeding if we weren't late. I said I don't think. I know I was speeding because we were late. And the guy gave me a ticket. And I could not say we just lost our baby yesterday and we were speeding to make it to church. I couldn't do it. Because if he would have said the wrong thing, I might not be here today. You just have to judge pretty quick your actions. I was so mad. I think it finally hit me. I looked at that police officer. I said, where were you? I'm behind you. I'm shooting a radar. It doesn't matter where I am. You were speeding. He gave me a ticket and then we're late for church. You know, it's one of those things. Everything is how do you react to things? How are you going to handle things? Let's say you find out somebody you love has made a mistake. How do you deal with it? You better be close to God because I guarantee whatever decision you make, the devil isn't going to like it if it's the right one. And He's gonna throw all He can at you because once He knocks you off of that course that you're on, off that path, out of that race, man, you gotta get back up and you gotta get back in the race and it may take weeks or months or years and you may spin your wheels for years after some event comes in your life. In Luke 1, verse 57, now Elizabeth's full time came that she should be delivered. She brought forth a son. And her neighbors and her cousins heard how the Lord had showed great mercy upon her, and they rejoiced with her. And it came to pass that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. They called him Zacharias after the name of his father. Elizabeth, barren. It's like the Old Testament example back there, and they take things in their own hands, and you've got Ishmael instead of Isaac, and all that situation. Listen, God knows what you need, when you need it, and when it's done His way, He gets the glory. When it's done your way, you end up with an Ishmael. That's where the Arabs come from. Bottom line is those performing the abortion procedures would cease today if they feared God. Look at Exodus 1. Exodus 1 verse 17. Remember that the Pharaoh wanted to have all of the men children killed when they were born. because he feared the Israelites and the land. He instructed the midwives to kill the children. We need some valiant men and women in medicine to stand up and be heard and say it's wrong for abortion. Exodus 117, but the midwives feared God and did not, as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men and children alive. If the abortionists feared God, they would not perform these abortions. It is a very, very lucrative field. Many a woman has been destroyed because of an abortion or abortions. Abortion is an assault on the sanctity of life. The moral relevantism of our time states that the decision is up to the individual to determine what is right and what is wrong, claiming no absolutes. I know before I got saved, I thought the same thing without the Bible. Everything's just sort of relative. Why is murder wrong? The Bible says so. That's why. But what if somebody is out to hurt your family, hurt your children? What's wrong? The Bible. Without the Bible, you have society doing whatever is right in their own eyes. The argument is that the woman should have the say over her own body. And I agree in principle. However, a woman cannot choose to do illicit drugs or attempt suicide. So society believes in limitation. Today in many states you can't choose not to wear a mask. Yet we think that a woman should be allowed to end an unborn baby's heartbeat. There are limitations everywhere in society. But it's all how you frame the argument. It's all in how you use words and terminology to come across and say, we're taking the higher ground. We're pro-choice. We believe that people ought to be able to have the free will to choose. And I do too, but not when it's killing a baby. I mean, I don't believe they ought to have the free will to choose to kill a one-year-old. Six-month-old. One day old, say, oh yeah, I agree with you there. Well, then what's the argument? The argument, is it a child in the womb? And the answer in the Bible is yes. Unequivocally, it is yes. In closing, I want to give you some points to ponder. A child is deemed viable at 28 weeks and sometimes as little as 24 weeks. That's five and a half months. Is it human because it looks like a human? If so, then a deformed person should die if they don't look real human. Is it human because it has potential? Then why not kill a weak old mentally challenged infant? Is it human when it becomes independent of its mother? And what happens with children that live at home? Some of them never become independent. Is it human when it becomes useful to society? This is problematic. Then what about senior citizens in nursing homes? Should we get rid of them? I mean, how are they contributing to society? They're on Medicare. And you know, I don't doubt if part of this thing in New York was that very thought process. Yeah. I don't believe you got a righteous and moral man that made that decision to send people back to nursing homes with a disease that was known to them to be highly susceptible. I don't accept that. One last verse, Psalm 127. Psalm 127. Very familiar verse in scripture is found in verse 3. Children are an heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is His reward. Children are an heritage of the Lord and the fruit of the womb is His reward. Abortion advocates point to the unplanned pregnancy and reproductive freedom and say, that's the most important thing. Children are an heritage of the Lord. If it's all about rights, what about the child's rights? The fruit of the womb is His reward. The argument should be and should be made that the innocent child must be equally protected. We must consider the personhood of the unborn baby. And if you do that, the argument's done. The argument's ended. The argument is, oh wait, when does life begin? I believe you have two living entities, an egg and a sperm that come together and life just a new life begins. And then if you start looking and he said, I knew thee and I formed thee before you were in the womb, you could go back and make the argument that God says that that soul is eternal in the past as much as it's eternal in the future. And by the way, all souls are eternal. Your soul will spend eternity in one of two places depending upon the decision that you make for Jesus Christ. If you have Jesus Christ your Savior, you'll spend eternity in heaven with God. If you reject that Savior, your soul will eternally spend that time in hell on the lake of fire. Maybe there's much more to it. We don't know. One day we'll know when we get to heaven. We'll understand it all. One last point. Following an abortion, some women are so guilt-ridden for the remainder of their lives. They never forget that. Now, they're being deadened to it by society, but it's still there. Our response as the church of Jesus Christ must be compassion, caring, and understanding. Because God has his way of coming out the victor in the end. We have to figure out how to deal with these situations in life that are very real, very delicate, very hurtful, very painful. And we have to encourage people to choose life. That's why adoption is so important. I wish our society was much more right morally. We have sacrificed so much on our altars and this is one issue that it's happened to. The Bible's very clear. That fetus is a child. That embryo or that tissue is a child. End of the argument. When you abort a child, you are killing a life in the womb. God forbid. God forbid that this country will once again allow partial birth abortions like it did before 2008. Up until the birth of that child, you could do a third trimester, nine-month partial birth abortion. God forbid. This country is accountable already for 50 million lives. I hope and pray that one day we'll be able to look and say, hey, it's over. You say, well, yeah, there's still going to be abortions. That's not the point. The point is when you have a law that makes it legal, you are responsible for the legal actions taken by a person with a child in their womb. Somebody that decides they're gonna break the law. You can't change the law just because you're gonna have a law breaker. There are people that drive drunk on the road. Are you gonna change the law and say, well, now it's okay because if he gets caught, they're gonna take his license and they're gonna fine him and they're gonna put him in jail and he's not gonna be able to work and he's got a family. Makes as much sense as that. Let's stand for truth, stand for right, pray for our country, pray for our leaders, and let's just pray that God will be merciful and gracious and continuing in His long suffering to this country. And I don't know that we haven't warned God out already. I hope and pray we haven't because we still have a lot to do with the gospel to get it around the world. Let's pray. Lord, we do thank you for your many blessings. I pray, Lord, that you would guide, lead, and direct, Lord, in hearts and lives. We thank you for all that you do and all that you are. Lord, we need you. We need to know right from wrong, morality from immorality. We need to know why we believe what we believe and then have an answer to those that ask us why we believe what we do. Help us, Lord. Help us, Lord, to have those answers to a world that is so, so confused. We pray this in Jesus' name and for his sake, amen. Can I have your attention up here, please? Thank you for choosing to be here today. I am so blessed by you being here. We will be going out of town. I've got a chaplain thing in, I fly into Omaha and then we're right across in Iowa. So pray for that and then we are gonna go.