The Miracle and Hope of Life

I'm grateful that there are places some of you worked at some of these pro-life clinics where a mother who comes with a troubling pregnancy distress pregnancy people are there to say will will help you carefully will provide you with what you need will be here for your emotional support will help with financials. That's what were supposed to do if we know people one on one were supposed to help them as the body of Christ in the community were supposed to help those who are in circumstances that are distressing. This is family life to day.

Our hosts are Dave and Ann Wilson and Bob team. You can find us online and family life today.com. What does it mean to be pro-life in all senses of that term talk more about that today and welcome to family life to day. Thanks for joining us. We are noting the fact that this Sunday is sanctity of human life Sunday on this week were taking some time to think about what the Bible says about the issue of abortion. This has to be the most contentious issue of our generation. I can't think of another issue in my lifetime that has been as polarizing and as divisive as this issue has been that you would think it wouldn't be you would think everybody sees a baby in her mother's womb is a living human being, but they don't and so yeah I becomes explosive yet it's one of those topics very hard to talk about over the dinner table with their own family sometimes about you guys but when I hear the number 16 nearly in kind.

It takes my breath away and I think that's why our attention goes to Pat well and technology over the last 48 years since the row versus Wade decision was handed down.

We can see now in 3D ultrasounds. Yeah and what we can look at and go on my word.

This is life now working to hear part two of a message today. I actually preached on this at our church a year ago and preached on what the Bible says about life.

We've heard that already this week, but I also wanted to look at those objections that get raised against the pro-life position and so the second part of this message was trying to take those issues on and saying okay again.

Let's hear what people who would disagree with us had to say and let's consider their arguments and let's see if those arguments hold up. So let's listen together to part two of this message. I googled this I decided to Google and see what are the arguments that the pro-choice folks would make about how would they counter the argument that this is a life that is that that is precious and needs to be protected, and thus I got to this website how to argue pro-choice 11 arguments against abortion access debunked so they're gonna debunk the argument and just point out, you've seen the my body, my choice slogan before. It's not your body to different person different DNA if it was your body. I'm with you, you know, if you want to have your gallbladder removed all support you in that, but this is not your gallbladder. I would also say that any tissue in your body that does not have your DNA is not you and that baby does not have your DNA effect. If we were to crime scene and on the CSI investigators came up and said we found DNA what we would know that there was there was a person you can attach the person to the DNA so if if we said, well, that DNA that that was just part of my body, but what you talk about no unite is how we identify person I know that when undergoing all 11 some of you said there 11 arguments I hope is not doing all of my mouth. I'm just doing but argument number one. Let's walk through this so they put up your common argument.

A fetus is a human being on a human being has the right to life, so abortion is murder. That's what I'm saying to you this morning. That's my argument.

The pro-choice argument.

They say I'm probably not convinced you that a fetus is a life is that's basically the most intractable part of this whole debate so I'll be brief.

Just point out who the author of this article understands this is where it all rests. This is where it all falls or stands and so I wanted to make sure that I understood the word intractable so I looked it up in the dictionary intractable.

According to Cambridge English dictionary difficult or impossible to manage or control this part of the argument. We can't manage and we can't control.

In other words, the argument that the fetus is a human being has a right to life is according to this person. The hardest pro-choice argument.

People have to deal with. So, how they deal with the argument. Here's the first thing a fetus can't survive on its own.

It's fully dependent on the mother's body. Unlike born human beings, so they're saying you have the right to terminate because the fetus can't survive on its own.

I guess that we had five babies. Did anybody find that your three month old was able to survive on its own.

I mean really you're your one month old. If you say you're your own person. You just gotta take care yourself. No child can't survive without a caretaker can't survive without somebody loving and protecting and providing an nourishing and doing all of the things that you were doing when the baby was inside of you. Now the babies outside of you. You're doing it differently but it's the same thing follow that logic that feel advanced or because assert up up because a fetus can survive on its own. It's okay to terminate only those who can survive on their own have a right to life.

That's a scary thought is you live in a society where only those who can survive on their own have a right to life as barbaric. Here's the second point they make. Even if a fetus is alive the right to life doesn't imply a right to use somebody else's body. People have the right to refuse to donate their organs. For example, even if doing so would save somebody else's life. Okay, let's take that apart for first of all, the fetus is alive. It's us it's a human being it's not dead it's the right to life. That is what requesting does it have the right to stay alive in this right to use somebody else's body will now wait just a second.

What is it is your body or is it somebody else's body went on about two people are we talking about one person.

This is where were weaving out of logical consistencies for the sake of the argument is my body, my choice looks like you're saying this is a separate person is a three-month-old baby outside the womb have the right to your body.

It may still not still be attached to your body.

Although some others would say feels like my three-month-old is attached to my body right but any mama you know knows that her body is being used by that child regularly as or by the caretaker because the child needs the body to survive being brought into the world carries with it a basic human right to be cared for and protected. And if we say you are. You don't have the right to to demand my body be used. That's just ridiculous. Look at the second part of the argument about the organ donation now. The logic here is you can refuse to donate your womb or your uterus to your child. That's basically what they're saying because there's a baby there that baby has no right to claim rights on my uterus unless I choose to give rights to my uterus to that baby, I might ask the question, how did that baby find its way into your uterus in the first place. You were probably involved in that at some level, even in tragic circumstances here.

There was either an implied invitation weather was implied or not, that babies in your uterus. Can't we agree there's a difference between me, deciding I want to donate my kidney to somebody to help them live and me saying there's a baby in my uterus and I don't want you to live anymore, so I'm evicting you. Is there a difference between what I give you my kidney or I have picked you from my womb because I don't want you crowding my uterus. That's what it sounds like the argument here. To me, doesn't hold water for me. Here's 1/3 argument, the right to life also doesn't imply the right to live by threatening somebody else's body bearing children is always a threat to the life of the mother I'd I checked the data on this.

I want see how often is a woman's body in danger because of pregnancy or childbirth, so the most recent statistics I found 4 million births in the United States. There will be. There were less than a thousand women who died during pregnancy or childbirth.

As a result of complications of pregnancy or childbirth, so that's a .025% risk to a mother to carry a baby to term. Now I don't want to minimize the thousand women who died during childbirth, or, or during pregnancy. That's tragic right but maybe we ought to wait until the child is demonstrating harm rather than just saying oh I'm pregnant, there might be harmed. Therefore, I'm going to evict if we can determine that a pregnancy has a mother's life at risk then I would say there is a legitimate choice here to make to save the life of the mother against a baby that is threatening that mother's life. There is a legitimate choice to make that I'm saying.

Life will be just differentiate here because this is how language matters. A lot of times language will talk about life or health of the mother and then health of the mother stretched up to me and her emotional help, so she says it's can be stressful on me to be pregnant. Her health is in jeopardy. Therefore, abortion is I would say that's not the case. But if her life is in danger. That's a different issue. This is this is a little like saying there been two murders in my neighborhood.

So I live in a neighborhood where I'm at risk that I might get murdered. So if I see somebody walking by. I should be able to shoot but no wait and see if there's a threat to you right his last argument right to life is at the end of the day are right not to have somebody else's will imposed upon your body. Don't women have this right as well.

Yes, women have the right not to have somebody else's will imposed on their body. I would agree with that but you get what this is saying right if somebody is imposing on my body. I am justified in killing that person so that my body is not imposed on really. My point in going through all of this is to make the point that we have to keep coming back to the central issue were talking about a human being, talking about a life and whatever you decide is legitimate in the womb has to be legitimate outside the are there circumstances allowed in Scripture in our society where we can take the life of another person.

Yes, self-defense war, there are legitimate scripturally defined situations where it is okay. It is authorized for us to defend ourselves and to take the life of another person. If we have to.

But all of that is is last resort when there are no other options because the Bible routinely exalts and glorifies human beings. Soulmate says were made just a little lower than the angels we have the image of God were unique among creation and life is precious but that's not what's going on in abortion, it's not because a woman's life is in danger from a pregnancy it's because she doesn't want to be pregnant or doesn't want have to take care of a baby for whatever reason, I just need to say here. I quickly acknowledge there are circumstances where the news of a pregnancy for a woman does not bring tears of joy it brings tears of great grief and sorrow. We need to understand that there is a real burden that comes to some people with the news that they are pregnant and if you know a woman who is married or single, who is distressed because she is found out she was pregnant, God would call us to come alongside and be help and be of comfort and be a source of care and to help ease her burden not to dismiss it know there can be circumstances that make it very troubling and very painful. And if that's the case you need to be a part of of caring for that person physically, spiritually, financially, emotionally I'm grateful that there are places in central Arkansas. Some of you worked at some of these pro-life clinics were a mother who comes with a troubling pregnancy distress pregnancy people are there to say will will help you will care for you will provide you with what you need will be here for your emotional support will help with financial support.

That's what were supposed to do if we know people one on one were supposed to help them as the body of Christ in the community were supposed to help those who are in circumstances that are distressing to them. With all that said, I'll wrap up with three things this morning the first thing is is we looked up one passage this morning but just be aware there are many passages in Scripture that would support what were talking about here passages that talk about the fact that all human beings are made in God's image that's in Genesis 1, so we are image bearers the rest of creation does not bear the image of God, human beings do so let me just say the Bible would say that human life is more important than the life of animals or the life of trees or the life of insects. We just need understand in in our day. There are some pantheistic religions. Some people who would say trees are as valuable as people trees are valuable and not try to minimize that. But the Bible says people are exalted people bear the image of God. Trees don't they bear his creative mark, but they don't. They're not image bearers all human beings because we bear the image of God.

We are people of value and worth and dignity and every human life should be extended value worth and dignity of every human life that people in other countries that people in other cultures.

That's people who are may be enemies of one another.

Every human being is valuable and precious before God, and that includes babies in their mother's womb.

The Bible also teaches children are a blessing from the Lord. We need to have a biblical view of children. Children are a gift from God, a blessing can they be a burden and responsibility sure, but ultimately there a blessing, and the Bible says over and over again that the shedding of innocent blood is an abomination before the Lord. I could go on but my point is this. Ask somebody who's pro-choice say show me the verses that support your pro-choice position though. Get real abstract on you. They don't have a verses that talk about in utero.

Babies not being important fact I read this on one pro-choice website. They said we pray for a world in which every child is wanted, loved and cared for me to write and you pray for that. That every child would be loved, wanted, and cared for. Then they said because we believe in the sanctity of human life. We believe a child has the right to enter the world wanted and loved. Okay. But if a child is conceived and is not wanted or loved. Are you saying that then the result should be. We and that child's life. They don't have the right to enter the world unless somebody wants them or loves them is that the argument they going to say because we believe in the sanctity of human life.

We are sensitive to the effects of an unwanted pregnancy upon individual women upon their loved ones and families. Amen. I agree we should be sensitive to the stress of that.

Then they say and we recognize that they not, we must determine what is best for those directly concerned and involved well, okay, but if they determine that what's best for those directly involved is to kill a baby if if a mother said my three-year-old is just stressing me out. I can't take it anymore. We would all recoil at the horror of that mother's and I this is just such a stress on my family at financially and emotionally. We just decided to do away with the baby goat that's horrible.

The same argument is what's being made for a baby and the woman.

It's the same baby just a little younger. That's my first point. Here's my second point this morning I want to hear this. There is good news for people of had an abortion. I was working on this message. This week I read a blog post from a pastor in Alabama who talked about a time when he preached a message on the sanctity of life.

This was about 20 years ago. He said when he finished he felt good about his message felt like he had said what the Lord put on his heart to say, been faithful to what God had called him to do. He said that immediately after my message. An older gentleman approached me and handed me a note didn't say a word to me to smile and handed me the note. He walked away. I carefully open the paper. What I found inside. Bordered by mostly blank space was a single sentence that read where was the hope in your message.

For women, about abortions. Pastor said I was devastated. Actually said I was sick.

He said the man was correct in my zeal to champion the rights of the unborn. I had neglected to provide the one thing a Christian sermon should never lack Christ centered hope here was his advice to me as a preacher.

He said every Sunday. Whether you're preaching to 30 or 3000, the people gathered in our assembly are just like us.

They are riddled with guilt and shame over bad behavior over unkept promises, lapses in judgment. They're hurting their desperate in need of hope, our chief responsibility as preachers is to herald Jesus Christ. The good news in a world of bad news.

News of forgiveness through the faith in the person and work of God's son.

He went on to say that my job is to proclaim this to you this morning. Here's what is good news that for liars, thieves, blasphemers, pornographers, idol worshipers, adulterers, abortionists and women who had abortions. There is complete and total forgiveness in Jesus Christ the same grace upon which her on which we depend knows no limitations on his head again.

The same grace on which all of us depend knows no limitation look back through that list.

Your there.

He goes on to say.

The woman who has undergone abortion and this turned in faith to Jesus need never be concerned that God is against her or is looking to punish her. She's a daughter of the most high King and she is beloved but I want to make sure you hear that this morning. I will make sure that anyone who's here. If abortion is a part of your past.

I want you to know there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus Becerra say that together. I wanted to read aloud say with me and you see I see I just repeated a phrase in there a few times, so said aloud with me. There is therefore now no condemnation, no condemnation, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus for the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. The next time you are tempted to despair or to guilt or to shame for your past say that verse out loud. I say it often believe the gospel believe that in Jesus you are forgiven and set free. No matter what your past will again we been listening to the second part of a message about the sanctity of human life this Sunday sanctity of human life.

Sunday and we thought it was important to pull back and spend a little time this week just reflecting on that that truth that reality and reorient our thinking to be in line with what the Bible has to say thank you for going back to the gospel that were forgiving that Jesus has set us free, that he doesn't hold any of our sins against us. I had a friend that is had to abortions and then when she had her first child with her husband now and she saw ultrasound wracked her knowing that she had gotten rid of two babies and she spiraled for quite a while now.

She lives with God's forgiveness. God's grace God's mercy God's hope that she'll see them again Monday that man. I'm so glad that you offered that to us that he is there and he forgives us that was a perfect way to conclude you can tend to think of committed the unpardonable sin and it's not. It's covered by the blood of Jesus even that in the message. I showed our congregation a video commercial that General Electric did 20 years ago that was in ultrasound machine commercial and it's 1/62 commercial debt is it is an advertisement for the sanctity of human life and they were trying to advertise their ultrasound machine which was an amazing machine, but what they were advertising was the preciousness of life we got a link on our website@familylifetoday.com to that commercial. If anybody wants to go on any decry it yeah it is.

It's a powerful commercial. We've also got a link to the complete message that you heard a portion of today a message on the fact that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139 says you can go to family like today.com to download the audio or to watch the video of that message again. Our website is family life to day.com and let me quickly mention a great book by our friend David Platt. He wrote a book a few years ago called a compassionate call to counterculture in a world of poverty and same-sex marriage, racism, immigration, abortion, persecution, orphans, pornography, all of the hot button issues. How we deal with those issues biblically and compassionately.

That's what David's book is all about. That book is available in our family left at a resource center you can order it from us online@familylifetoday.com or you can call one 800 FL today to find out more about how you can get your copy of David Platt's book, and we should say that often times when we are dealing with issues related to marriage or family, or gender, and sexuality. Human life. These issues are countercultural, they're not always popular. We got the personal family life David Robbins here with us today and David is a ministry we are committed to talking about what the Bible teaches about all of these issues even when it's not popular to do so about no matter where the cultural currents are going.

We know that we stand on a foundation of Scripture is God's holy word God breathed and it is the source to instruct us to exhort us to convict us and that's what we're about. We're about standing on that timeless truth proclaiming that timeless truth how it practically plays out in our own lives. How that timeless truth is the sustaining factor that allows us to keep pursuing the relationships that matter most in our lives and we are going to keep standing on that truth and keep proclaiming that truth and I just wanted thank you, as listeners for giving and generously partnering with us to allow us to keep proclaiming the word of God, thank you for giving so we can be on this station.

If you're listening on radio.

Thank you for giving that enables us to release our new app that we did a few months ago and see that listenership in those digital platforms grow by 84% you are having impact in getting God's word out to more and more people and were so thankful for you Candide we are.

Thank you David for that and we hope each one of you has a great weekend. Hope you and your family are able to worship together in your local church this weekend and I hope you can join us back on Monday when we are going to spend some time with Dr. John Piper talking about the subject of God's providence.

How do we understand that how we teach our kids to trust in the providence of God, even in the midst of pandemics and all kinds of challenges we face in life. Got a new book out on that subject and will talk with him about it Monday. Hope you can tune in for that I want to thank our engineer today. Keep Lynch along with our entire broadcast production team on behalf of our hosts Dave and Wilson. I'm Bob Lapine. See you next time for another edition of family life, family life to day is a production of family life of Little Rock, Arkansas crew ministry help for today hope for tomorrow