This evening let's read Exodus
chapter 21. And there's a passage here in
verse 22 through verse 25 when a woman is caused to lose her
fruit or her fruit depart. And let's look at that and what
the Bible might say about that. Then flip to Psalm 139 and a
few of the verses there we will read. All right, first of all,
the one in Exodus 21 and verse 22 through verse 25. Here is
one of the many various laws that were put in place in Israel. It covered almost everything
imaginable, everything that you could think about, every contingency
and all of those kinds of things. So here is one, verse 22. if
men strive, that is, they get in a tussle or a fight, if men
strive and hurt a woman with child so that her fruit depart
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 is 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, and strike for strike." We're right in the 139th Psalm. Let's see how God views us when
we are from our conception unto our birth. Verse 1 says, O Lord,
thou hast searched me and known me. Then jump to verse 13 through
15, please. For thou possess my reins, thou
hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee, for
I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works,
and that my soul knoweth. write well. My substance was
not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously
wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Now let me tell you
up front that this time we basically just lay the foundation. We look
at the historical origin of present-day abortion. We need to know that. We need to understand how it
came to pass. And when we do, I think we'll
have a better understanding of the whole matter. So today we
will, number one, historically lay the foundation as how it
came to be. Look at the history of it in
our society, in our generation, our nation, and our time. So, in doing that, Let me say
that on January the 22nd day, 1973, in the United States of
America, the Supreme Court of the United States struck down
the Texas anti-abortion law. Actually, the case that they
ruled on went up from Texas. We'll talk about that in a moment. was overturned and legal abortion
was constituted in America. The court even went so far as
to declare abortion on demand to be a, quote, constitutional
right, unquote. And in that decision, seven of
the nine members of the United Supreme Court voted to overturn
the law against abortion and make abortion a legal nationwide
all across the country. Only two justices, they're not
around anymore, William Rehnquist and Byron White, opposed this
law. and voted against overturning
it. Now before we develop the matter
any further, let us meet an objection that might be raised, well, is
almost sure to be raised against our preaching on this subject. We might meet this objection
head on and have some attempt to stifle us by saying that we
are dabbling in politics, that we have crossed the line between
church and state, that we ought to stick to the business of religion
and scripture, that we ought to keep our noses out of legal
matter. We would like to remind them
in return that moral issues are biblical issues for the child
of God. We must obey God rather than
men. Acts chapter 5 and verse 29. We are to let God be true and
every man be a liar. Romans 3 and verse 4. Because
for us, the children of God, the Scripture is the final answer
and settles every matter. Now, some Bible issues have become,
quote, political, unquote. Issues in our very day, such
as, which is the true and the living God? It's now politically
incorrect in our nation and world to preach that there is only
one God, only one religion and only one way of salvation. But to the Christian, that's
not a problem. There is one God, there is one
Bible, one religion and one salvation. Homosexuality is another matter
that has been highly politicized. Until now we are seeing same-sex
partners put on an equal footing with a heterosexual marriage. The question of the death penalty.
might be another issue that we might mention, raise, and bring
up. And we believe that the Bible
supports it. That's where we got our conviction
about it, was from the Scripture. Now, of course, the hottest potato
of all is the matter of abortion, and the breach is very wide,
and I believe that the enmity is irreconcilable, and it is
too deep and too strong. For those who support abortion
say, we cannot know exactly when life began. This is one of their
arguments and they use it all the time, whether it is a person
or not. We can't know that for a while
or treat the baby as only a mass of fetal tissue up to a certain
point in its development. We believe, however, that God
views a person from the time of their conception and forward. Therefore, abortion is the deliberate
murder of a human being. That He knew all of us. He knew
all of us before we were ever born. Even according to Scripture,
from our conception, God's eye and God's mind was upon us. Well, let's go back to that abortion
ruling made by the U.S. Supreme Court. The case that
the Court ruled on, January 22nd, 1973 came up from Texas and you may
remember it was known and still known as Roe versus Wade. Now Jane Roe was the pseudonym,
that is the fictitious name to hide one's real and true identity,
of a woman by the name of Norma McCarvey who lived in Texas. She was pregnant with her third
child and it was her and her case that they used to challenge
the Texas law against abortion. Wade, of course, was Henry Wade,
who at the time was the district attorney in Dallas County, Texas,
who enforced the Texas law against abortion, which McCarvey challenged. Now, to help her challenge that,
there were two young, very liberal female lawyers named Sarah Weddington
and Linda Coffey. And they persuaded Ms. McCarvey
to let them file a suit in her behalf and in behalf of American
women to lead the plaintiff and be Jane Roe in this suit. Now this is the case that went
up before the Supremes and upon which they ruled 7 to 2 that
abortion was a, quote, constitutional right, unquote. Under the right
of privacy in the Constitution is where they pigeonholed it.
The nine justices on the court when it made the Roe versus Wade
ruling were the seven who voted for abortion on demand Chief
Justice Warren Burger, William Douglas, Potter Stewart, William
Brennan, Thurgood Marshall, Lewis Powell, and Harry Blackmon. And as I said, the lone two who
voted against it were William Rehnquist, who at the time was
Chief Justice, and Byron White, who rightly wrote that this ruling
allowed abortion for any reason or for no reason at all. Norma McCarvey at the time, was
pregnant with her third child with no husband, but she never
had that abortion that the case was ruled on. She wound up adopting
the baby out. And later, I saw this lady on
TV, and she had renounced altogether abortion and claims to have become
a Christian since that time. However, there are rulers swirling
about lesbianism, so I don't know. But since the suit, abortion
is the law of the land. And since that time, there have
been millions, yea, untold millions of babies who have had their
being snuffed out by abortion until it finally came that abortion
is among the most commonly performed medical procedures in our country. And if the truth be told, high
among the leading causes of death among society. Now let me lay
a charge against our present American society that such issues
as homosexuality and abortion and the Hollywood culture are
but instruments that are used to challenge and overthrow the
last vestiges of Christianity and to challenge it to the very
limit so as to overthrow it and get it out of public life altogether. These are eras of paganism that
have been let loose into the soul of Christianity and the
truth of our blessed Lord. One indeed wrote a book and said,
a culture war for the soul of America is what we are seeing. Kenneth Gentry, a preacher, in
his book, The Christian Case Against Abortion, defined it
much more succinctly when he said in 1982, he wrote these
words, quote, America is in the midst of a radical de-Christianization
Again, he said, quote, American social mores are being shifted
from their traditional Christian ethical base to the wholly secular
humanistic one, unquote. Historically, this movement really
gained its strength, or a lot of its strength, from those 1960
radicals as documented by Robert Bork in his book, Slouching Toward
Gamara, is the name of the book. Documents that very well, that
this really took a great rise in the 1960s. I know you've run
across or you've heard of that quote from one of those bedbugs
in England, the Beatles, John Lennon said, In an article in
the London Evening Standard, March 1966, he said, and I'm
quoting, Christianity will go, it will vanish, and it will shrink. I'm right and will be proven
right. We're more popular than Jesus
now." Where is John Lennon now and where is the Lord Jesus Christ
now? We must not fail to see the relevance
of these things mentioned under Christianity. And in the case
of abortion, a law professor at the University of California
at Berkeley, Hugh, named David Luisell, said upon the ruling
by the Supreme Court, and I'm quoting, Roe was almost the perfect
challenge to Christianity, unquote. Roe was almost the perfect challenge
to Christianity. Harold Brown wrote, Roe versus
Wade. has confronted us with a formal
challenge of paganism. And even Justice Harry Blackmun,
the old goat who wrote the strong opinion for the majority of the
court, admitted the strong influence of Christian principle on the
anti-abortion position. That it was strongly influenced
by Christian belief and Christian theology. Then, in his opinion,
however, he set aside every argument against abortion that was based
upon Christian belief and Christian theology, contending that, quote,
ancient religion did not forbid abortion, unquote. He also set
aside the Hippocratic Oath taken by the physician, not to do any
harm and not to cause an abortion. So exactly where does abortion
conflict with and where does it attack Christianity? How are
the two things antagonistic one toward the other? Well, I think
we answer very clearly at the point of the preciousness and
the sanctity of life. That life is not a process of
evolution. That life is a work and a gift
of God. Christianity recognizes that
life is the gift of God. That there is no life apart from
Him. and that each and every conceived
being is given a living soul. And the strongest of all is that
from conception, as we have read and will read, God views such
a one as a real person in his sight. Psalm 51, verse 5. Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse
4 and 5. Psalm 139 that we read from and
will refer to later. Those human secularists and atheists
view the conceived one as only a part of a trillion year process
of evolution going on. A human animal that evolved up
from some earlier form of life or lower life up to the human
level with no regard to God or for the authority or the author
of our life. In fact, Justice Blackmun further
wrote, we need not resolve the difficult question of when life
begins." He, it seems to me, from reading his opinion, believed
that only at some point between conception but before the birth
that the fetus or the embryo formed or become recognizably
human. only at some point in that nine-month
process. So for the rest of this first
study, let us turn to the Scripture to enlighten us on the manner
of life and the origin of human life. Will Scripture give us
any guidance? Can we find any help or any direction
on this matter? Does the Bible have anything
whatsoever to say about it? What about us before we ever
saw the light of day, from that conception unto that birth? Now, let's focus first of all
on the passage in Psalm 139. And we begin with verse 1 that
we read, Thou hast searched me and known
me. Now that's a familiar statement
in our English. James A. Alexander in his commentary
on the psalm, pointed out that the word search that is used
here means to dig. That means it means to search
with intensity in search of a thing. It means to make a thorough and
a complete investigation of a thing or a matter. So having stated
then in verse 1, O Lord, Thou hast digged, O Lord, Thou hast
searched, Thou hast known me in every way." The psalmist then
extols two of the great attributes of our God, sovereign attributes
of our God. First of all, in verses 2 through
6, Psalm 139, he speaks of the omniscience of God, the all-knowing
of God. in personal regard to Him, the
psalmist, David, that human being. In verse 2, Thou knowest my down-sitting,
mine up-rising, my thoughts afar off. Verse 3, Thou art acquainted
with all of my ways. In verse 4, not a word in my
tongue, O Lord, but you know it altogether." Verse 5, look
at it, "...thou hast beset me behind and before." And verse
6, a confession, "...such knowledge is too wonderful for me." So
he draws on the omniscience of God, that God is all-knowing. He knows all there is to know,
but he knows all about us, even from our conception. Secondly, in that chapter, in
verse 7 through verse 12, he speaks of the omnipresence of
God. Not only the omniscience, but
the omnipresence of God. Listen, Whither shall I go from
thy Spirit? Whither shall I flee from thy
presence? Can I go to heaven? or Sheol,
or the remotest part of the sea in verse 8 through verse 10,
or what if I hide in the darkness? What if I run out in the midnight
darkness?" And then he said, well, the light and the dark
are both the same unto God. The night and the day make no
difference in God being able to observe or to be present. This inability to hide himself
from God or to flee from God's presence causes the psalmist
then to reflect upon his being while he were yet in his mother's
womb. And you'll see that in verse
13 through verse 16. He applies these two attributes
of God, omniousness and omnipresent, to what some have called his
antinatal development. As if to exclaim in wonder and
confess in humility, Even when I was but a developing fetus,
you knew me and you saw me. Even in the darkness of the womb,
even as I was made and curiously fashioned, even when none of
my members It yet did exist. Yet, even then, verse 15, my
substance was not hid from thee. Verse 16, thine eyes did see
my substance yet being unperfect. That is, when they were not yet
formed or not yet fully formed. And then notice how the psalmist
used this term to describe himself while still in the womb before
his birth. Verse 13, my and me. He speaks of himself as a person. In verse 15, my and I. And in verse 16, my. Those same traits that were common
and familiar unto him. Now supposing that supposed,
quote, difficult, unquote, question, when did life begin? When is
it a human being? When is this a baby child that
is in the womb of a woman? I might remind you, we did not
have this issue before abortion came along. This was not a question
that ever was raised before the issue of abortion was to be justified. Life begins at conception. If not alive, it would not grow
and develop any further. Therefore, it is a human being,
while yet in the womb. If it's not a human being, then
what in the world is it? It was begotten, it was conceived
by a pair of human beings. What else could it be? How could
it be a fish, a bird, or a vegetable, or any such likeness? How is
it that the child bears the features that are present in their gene? The characteristics of their
parent will have a disposition of the same strengths and weaknesses
in health as their parents have or are having. and will inherit
the traits of their particular parent. For example, as soon
as conception occurs, the heredity factors are set, then and there,
the heredity factors are already set. As a French researcher,
Jules Carles wrote in JAMA, Journal of American Medical Association,
December 7, 1970, issued, quote, If we know the nature of the
spermatozoid and the chromosomes involved, we could at that point
predict the characteristics of the child, the color of its hair,
as well as the illnesses to which it will be subject during its
lifetime, unquote, because As he said, in that first cell,
the profound dynamism and precise direction of life appears and
is there present. Now, abortion occurs, of course,
while the baby is still in the womb, at which point some are
content to claim that is not yet an actual person. But God
views all such as person and declares Himself to be active
in the formation of such in the womb. What did He tell Jeremiah? Jeremiah 1 and verse 5, "...before
I formed thee in the womb." Not only so, but the purpose of God
is also fixed with regard to each one before they are born. Romans 9, verse 11, election
according to grace. Jeremiah 1, 4 and 5, the case
of the prophet. Paul, Galatians 1.15, separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace. Not only so, but the authors
of the Scripture confess that God was actually overseeing the
conception and their formation in the womb. For example, Job,
in cursing the day that he was born, remember chapter 3 and
verse 1, spoke there in the third verse of the night that said,
There is a man-child conceived. in Job chapter 10 and verse 8
and 9 and 10 and along in there. He calls himself the work of
thy hand. Verse 10 and 12 is very interesting. By what Matthew Henry calls an
eloquent similitude, Job speaks of his origin. Look what he said,
Thou has poured me out as milk and curdled me like cheese. I take that to be a modest euphemism
for his conception. Then God clothed me. God fenced
me with flesh and skin and bones and sinews. so that then in verse
12, you granted me life and preserved my spirit. And Job's point in
this is, you have done all of this only to destroy me now. You have done all of this. You have seen me. You've watched
me. You've known me. You've given
me life and breath, and have you done so only in order that
now you are to destroy me?" As regards those who support abortion,
the abortion position, their reasoning seems to be something
out of this order. The earlier we abort the mass
of tissue, the least likely that it is a real and literal human
being. However, they admit, it has the
potential to become a person. The earlier it is done, then
the less, perhaps, they think of it as a human being, and the
less they think of it as the taking the life or the killing
or the murder of a human being. And this takes away some of the
stigma. It is not a breathing, crying,
withering baby, only an embryo. It's not a baby, two, four, six
pounds, only a few ounces of tissue, only an embryo. No wonder then that Justice Blackmun
wrote, quote, we need not resolve the difficult question of when
life begins, unquote. for by this admission that life
is present at conception, it would be fatal unto them. If
life were present prior to the actual abortion, it would be
fatal unto their argument, and hard to sell, and hard to convince. And thus the court ruled, based
upon the argument of viability, Keep that word in your mind.
The argument of viability, which Justice Blackmun defined as being
between 24 and 28 weeks, or approximately seven months, quote, potentially
able to live outside the mother's womb, unquote. Viable, viability. This argument of viability is
absurd, illogical, arbitrary, and downright stupid. There is a U.S. congressman who
is also a physician. I have his book. It's entitled
Abortion and Liberty. And he said, the viability argument
is medically worthless. Viability is completely arbitrary
and totally unscientific. Unquote. Why? Well, for the simple
reason, the infant is no more viable after birth than before. all newborns would die, and die
soon if not tended to, if not given medical care, and if not
fed. If left to themselves, it would
be just a matter of time until they would die. Before birth,
the infant is dependent upon the placenta after birth, the
breast and the bottle, and the necessities of life provided,
medicine and food and protection and such like. By the way, there
will come a time when all of us will not be viable? We will need medicine, we will
need surgery, we will need medical equipment to stay alive. Does
this mean that we are not to be considered any longer a real
person because we are not viable in our own strength? How about
surgery? You're not viable there for a
while either. So the conclusion is this, the
Bible declares life to be the gift of God. We have a moral
standing before God, Psalm 51, verse 4 and verse 5, that we
are formed according to the purpose of God. David could say, I am
fearfully and wonderfully made in this 139th Psalm. Job declared, chapter 33, verse
4, the Spirit of God hath made me. The breath of the Almighty
hath given me life. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes
11, And verse 5, speaking of the mystery of how the bones
do grow in the womb of her that is with child. Physical life
is the gift of God, and He directs the life of one and all. He gives life, He develops life,
He sustains it, and He is the author and the giver of life. And our final point for today
He reserves unto Himself the right to direct that life unto
its end. For example, He appoints the
number of our days, Job 14 and verse 5. And each of us can say
with David, O Lord, Thou has searched me and known me. Thou has digged down. Thou has
investigated. Thou has known me. Thou did see
my substance being yet unborn. Thou has possessed my reign.
Thou has covered me when I was in my mother's womb. Now, the great thing to establish
is that life begins at conception. And if you notice, that's what
the abortion crowd does not want to grant. They do not want to
grant that at all. And they brought up this stupid,
illogical argument. We can't know when life begins. And that's one of their strong
points. But if we can establish from
the very first, from conception that it is a human being, that
it is to have God's guidance and that God is developing it
and His eye is upon it, then we have a strong argument indeed. Thus, our laying of the foundation
today for the others that are to follow.