Well, please turn with me in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 21. Exodus chapter 21. I'll read verses 22 to 25. If men fight and hurt a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman's husband imposes on him, and he shall pay as the judges determine.

But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. Well, let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you again for the Word of God. We thank you that it speaks to all matters of faith and practice.

We ask God that the Holy Spirit would guide our study this morning. We ask that He would take this Word, write it upon our hearts, cause us to be a prayerful people as we look at a generation that so disregards life, those who are created in the very image of God Most High. Give us grace as the people of God to be prayerful, to be knowledgeable, to be faithful to what Scripture teaches concerning these things. As well, Lord God, forgive us again for all of our sin and anything that would block our understanding of Holy Scripture.

We would ask that you would just cause us to receive with thanksgiving your word, and while certainly this is a difficult subject, a painful subject, a subject all of us have been exposed to at least in one form or another, we just pray, God in heaven, that we would appreciate the reality that our sovereign God has spoken to these issues that we face in this daily life, and cause us to think your thoughts after you, cause us to be faithful, and to shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation, and give us boldness to hold forth your word of truth. For any and all God who have committed this sin, participated in this sin, may that precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ speak forgiveness and healing and remission and blessing to them. And may there be that encouragement that if we confess our sins, you are faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And as David said, pardon my iniquity, O Lord, for it is great.

We are great sinners, but there is a great Savior, and in this we rejoice. Continue with us now, we pray, through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Well, this morning we're gonna consider the Bible and abortion. And just prior to beginning the exposition, I just wanna sketch a brief history of abortion in Canada. 1968 and 69, the Criminal Law Amendment Act introduced by Pierre Trudeau's liberal government legalized abortion as long as a committee of doctors signed off that it was necessary for the physical or mental well-being of the mother. Now, that law was challenged in 1988. Now, you would think the law itself would be challenged to the effect that we don't think it's right to murder babies.

But that's not how it was challenged in 1988. It was challenged by saying, it's too restrictive. A woman shouldn't have to consult with a team of doctors. A woman shouldn't have to consult with that many healthcare professionals.

So, in 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in R v. Morgenthaler that the existing laws were unconstitutional and struck down the 1969 law. Again, let that sink in to you for a moment. What's unconstitutional is that it was too prohibitive upon a woman to engage in the act of abortion.

Through the course of the message, I will mention woman. But brethren, it is a male-female issue. Women don't get pregnant in a vacuum. They get pregnant because a man engages in that activity with them.

So there are two parties involved. If I say woman, please understand that I understand biology at least enough to know that a man was involved as well. So they struck down the 1969 law. The then governing progressive conservatives attempted but failed to pass a new abortion law.

Now listen to this, and since then, Canada has had no criminal laws governing the subject and abortion is a decision made by a woman with her doctor. So no laws whatsoever that prohibit the activity of abortion. Consider our current Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. He made this statement.

I have made it clear that future candidates need to be completely understanding that they will be expected to vote pro-choice on any bill. So much for freedom of speech, freedom of thought. If the man on high speaks, you must toe the line. Now, this particular prime minister touts himself as a feminist.

He is for women. But when pressed on sex-selective abortion, he will not answer. He then retreats to that so-called safe place. Well, it's between a woman and her doctor.

So that's a feminism that certainly is exclusive of those most innocent and most deserving of protection under the law. Consider the soon-to-be former president of the United States of America. A couple of years ago, Kermit Gosnell was found out as being a horrific practitioner of abortion. Remember this.

I've followed the story for quite a long time. right down to when the FBI raided his particular clinic. Just a horrific thing that was found there. That same week, Barack Obama spoke at a Planned Parenthood Federation meeting or rally, and ended his speech by saying, God bless Planned Parenthood. Now, remember that soon-to-be former president, Barack Obama, was a US senator prior to becoming the president.

Do you know that he three times voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act? Again, let this sink in. Some in the U.S. Senate wanted a bill that said that if a baby survives an abortion, then the medical practitioners must employ all means possible to try to preserve the life of that baby.

Hence the title, the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. What kind of a ghoul votes against such a piece of legislation. Now remember, President Obama, our soon-to-be President Obama, professes to be a Christian. Justin Trudeau professes to be a Roman Catholic.

This is simply unconscionable. I like what Jay Gressom Machen said concerning the civil government. He said, the civil government is not intended to produce blessedness or happiness. I'm not looking for Justin Trudeau or Barack Obama to make me blessed or happy.

You shouldn't either, by any stretch of the imagination. But listen to what Machen goes on to say. Government is not intended to produce blessedness or happiness, but intended to prevent blessedness or happiness from being interfered with by wicked men. It would be wonderful if we just got a belly full of that understanding of the role of government just seeking to prevent blessedness and happiness from being interfered with by wicked men.

Now on the specific topic of the sanctity of life, I also agree with John Murray. John Murray said, nothing shows the moral bankruptcy of a people or of a generation more than disregard for the sanctity of life. And if you have not seen this disregard, you're certainly not paying attention, because it is everywhere. It's not just abortion, it's euthanasia.

It is a wholesale repudiation of the sanctity of human life. So I want to do three things this morning. First, give a brief exposition of the Sixth Commandment. Secondly, I want to look at the sanctity of human life.

And then thirdly, I want to look at this specific application of the Sixth Commandment that we read in Exodus 21, 22 to 25, and see how it does speak to this issue of abortion.

The Sixth Commandment

But in the first place, the sixth commandment, if you're not familiar, you can turn back to Exodus chapter 20, you will see the sixth commandment. It simply reads, you shall not murder. You shall not murder. Now the basis for this commandment is God.

God is the creator of man. Genesis 1, 26 to 28, let us make man in our image. God fashioned Adam in a way that was unique and different from how he fashioned dogs and cats and horses and lions and all those sorts of things. He made man in his image, and as a result, God, as the creator, is also God the lawgiver.

And this commandment is found in the second table, which can be summarized as, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Now, when we look at you shall not murder, it does prohibit at least two things. First, the internal disposition. We're not supposed to hate people in our hearts.

We're really not. In fact, when you get to the New Covenant application or exposition of this particular command, you'll see it applied to believers. You'll see it applied to the people of God. Don't be murderous like Cain.

Well, I don't think John thinks that we bring guns to church and we're going to start shooting each other. It has to do with this hatred. The Lord Christ deals with this in the Sermon on the Mount. You have heard that it was said, you shall not murder.

But I say to you, if you call your brother Rachah or fool, you engage in name calling against him, it demonstrates that you've broken the commandment against murder in your heart. But as well, the external act is prohibited. You're not supposed to stop the heart of another human being. That's what God, as the supreme lawgiver, has spoken to His creatures.

We do not have the right, in an unlawful manner, to stop another person's heart. There are lawful instances of killing, one of them we're going to consider tonight, the Bible in capital punishment. But unlawful killing is defined as murder, and the Creator forbids us from engaging in such a thing. Kaiser comments on the verb used in the sixth word.

He says, while Hebrew possesses seven words for killing, the word here used appears only 47 times in the Old Testament. If any of the seven words could signify murder, where factors of premeditation and intentionality are present, this is the verb. And the Bible does this. It makes a distinction between a justifiable homicide and an unjustifiable homicide or a murder.

The specific illustration or analogy, the specific way that it's inculcated in the people of God is that illustration of the man who's chopping wood. He's got his axe, he goes into his backyard, he doesn't check the axe head, he doesn't realize that it's loose, and while he's chopping wood, that axe head flies off, and it hits somebody, it hits his neighbor in the head, and his neighbor dies. Well, the man chopping the log didn't have malice aforethought. He didn't have premeditation.

There was no anger, no hatred in his heart. But if that man waits for his neighbor to come home, he hides in a bush and he takes that axe and he buries it in his head, that's murder. The Bible makes that distinction, brethren. And if you don't understand that, you're going to lose your lunch when you're talking to people that are pro-abortion.

Because they're going to say, how in the world can you be against abortion and pro-capital punishment? because God very clearly has said, you shall not murder the judicially innocent. But he has spoken positively that in legitimate war, Deuteronomy 7, 1 to 7, in capital punishment and in self-defense, you may exercise lethal force to get the job done. There is a vast difference between murder and justifiable homicide. If the people of God do not have these distinctions that come straight from Scripture itself, then we can't mount opposition in this day and age.

And that's one of the problems, brethren. The prophet said, my people perish for a lack of knowledge. The people of God today don't know what the Bible says concerning basic ethical issues that we face constantly. Could you argue with a pro-abortion advocate that the Bible says that it's wrong?

You say, well, of course. Did you know that last week a collection of interfaith, including Christian, which I don't think for a moment they were Christian, but Christian and Hindu and Buddhist and Muslims, these interfaith clergy converged at a new Planned Parenthood in Washington, D.C. and blessed it. And we're not incensed against such things. We see such folly and such laziness on the part of people that should know better.

Brethren, the commandment is very clear. You are not supposed to stop the life of another person.

Sanctity of Human Life

Now notice, secondly, I'm gonna just run through some passages here, focusing primarily on the pre-born, but I wanna highlight that this commandment applies to man From the beginning, I don't mean Genesis, but from his beginning, his individual Genesis until he breathes his last. The Bible includes laws that protect every stage of human life. I like that sign that you see over there by Denbo. It shows the various stages of a human life.

Me, and it's a baby, and then me, and it's 15. Me, 50, and then me, 80, or whatever it is. I don't know the specific ages involved, but that's what the Bible speaks to. It protects man at every stage of his life, from gestation, from the womb, until he breathes his last.

We see the image of God displayed. I didn't spend time on this, but realize that I did quote Genesis 1. Man is the image bearer of God. We don't have time to develop all of this, but I want to show how that image is displayed in human life.

Image of God in Every Stage of Life

In the first place, it's displayed in the pre-fall state of man. Genesis 1, 26 and 27. God made man in his own image. As well, it's displayed at least in some sense post-fall.

Theologians dispute and debate the image of God in fallen man, but suffice it to say that it's there in some sense. James 3 tells us that we're not supposed to curse men who are made in the likeness or in the image of God. and at the same time bless our God. So we see it in both the pre-fallen and post-fallen state of man. We see the image displayed in children, and here we're not talking about babies in their mother's womb.

We're talking about children. You know what the prohibition of Leviticus 18, specifically verse 21, spoke to? Don't let your children pass through the fires to Molech. Do you ever consider that passage?

If you've been around here, you've probably heard the definition or the description of what Molech was. Molech was an idol. Molech was a pagan idol. And Molech's construction was quite intriguing, because he was this big statue of a man, and he had arms outstretched.

And they would light a fire at the base of Molech, and in religious worship, they'd throw their babies into the arms of Molech. It shouldn't take you long to realize that Molech couldn't catch. Remember what the psalmist says concerning the impotence of idols in Psalm 115? They have eyes, but they can't see.

They have ears, but they can't hear. They have mouths, but they can't speak. Well, they have arms, but they can't catch. They don't clutch babies to their chest.

So an act of religious worship with reference to Molech was to throw the child into the arms of the idol, and what would happen? Inevitably, it would fall off, bounce off, and land in the fire. You see, Israel was prohibited from doing that. In the New Covenant, we're supposed to show respect to the reality that our children bear the image of God.

You're not supposed to abuse them. You're not to sexually harass them or abuse them. You're not to hurt them. You're not to violate them.

They are image bearers of God. What does God say in Ephesians chapter 6? Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath. They're not your toy, they're not your shadow, they're not your property.

So many men and unfortunately women in our debauched age abuse kids. You're not supposed to do that. They're image bearers of the living and true God. As well, we see the image of God displayed in the handicap.

Notice in Leviticus 19.14. Again, I hope you see the pervasive reality that God's law covers every stage of human life. We're going to focus primarily on the pre-born in a few moments, but just to see this quick sketch. Notice the handicap in 19.14.

You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind, but shall fear your God. I am Yahweh. Why is that? Because they're image bearers of God.

Why is it that in Mark's Gospel, when Bartimaeus is told to be quiet, Jesus comes to him and says, what would you have me to do? Because he's an image bearer. You see, brethren, the Bible speaks from the womb to the grave in man's natural life, and at every stage of his existence, he bears the image of God, and he deserves protection afforded to him under God's law. As well, the image displayed in the sick.

Notice in James 5, James chapter 5, just a comparison of this sketch ought to show you just how fundamentally flawed at least North American society is in these days. We murder babies in their mother's wombs. We legislate laws so that we can murder old people. Or we legislate so that we can murder the infirm.

But look at how God says we are to treat those ill among us in James chapter 5. Notice specifically verses 14 and 15. A lot of things going on in the passage, but this much is clear. God, through James, says, care for your sick.

Love your sick. Be kind to your sick. Help your sick. Don't send them to that hospital that's going to give them an extra shot so that they can be put out of their misery.

No, they're supposed to be cared for by the people of God. James 5.14, Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up.

And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Respect given under God's law to every stage of human life, every condition of human life. Why? Because of Genesis 1, 26 to 28.

God made man in his own image. We talk about this a lot in our theology meetings, in our confession studies. Dogs are wonderful beings, but they're not created in the image of God. Some of you like cats and think they're wonderful beings, but they're certainly not created in the image of God.

Birds are amazing. Dolphins are amazing. I think I shared, I just recently read where dolphins and pigs apparently are two of the most intelligent animals in the earth. They're not in the image of God.

They're just not. That doesn't mean we as Christians should be godless, you know, haters of ecology and go out and destroy everything. No. We need to be responsible.

We need to exercise lawful dominion and all that sort of thing that God enjoins to us in the book of Genesis and in Psalm 8. But brethren, a dog isn't an image bearer. When Peter says meat is murder, it's not. Meat is not murder.

If it's human, it's murder. If it's cow, it's not. You may be personally offended by the reality that people ingest meat. You may think it's not the most healthy life, but it's not murder.

You can only murder an image-bearer of the living and the true God. Doesn't Jesus teach us? How much more value are you then than these sparrows? You're not supposed to dance around and worship the creature while you murder image bearers of the living God.

You're supposed to worship the creator and listen to what he says concerning these particulars. And then we see the image displayed in the elderly, Leviticus 19.32. In fact, let's just read that because I hope and pray that God's word takes to our hearts and we'll stop being so selfish, narcissistic, and concerned only about our felt needs. What happened to standing up in the presence of a gray-headed man?

What happened to helping a lady walk across the parking lot if for some reason her husband's not here? She's got a diaper bag. She's got a baby in a car seat. She's, you know, schlepping.

One of you young dudes can get out there and help, especially when it's icy like this. There's no respect. It's because we've lost sight that we bear the image of God. Look at what Leviticus says concerning the elderly among us.

Leviticus 19.32, you shall rise before the gray-headed and honor the presence of an old man and fear your God. I am Yahweh. Rise. Give up your chair at the buffet.

Give up your chair at the, you know, the fellowship lunch. Let the older folks go. You see, the Bible sees that we respect one another. Why?

Because of this fundamental proposition. We bear the image of the living God. Paul tells Timothy that he is not to rebuke an older man. He's to love him, he's to exhort him, he's to encourage him.

But when a young man arrogates to himself a position of authority over an older man and talks down to him, that is an affront, not only to the church of God, to nature itself. That's like saying, fish flying, birds swimming. Young men need to submit to their elders. You see, the image of God dictates.

Image of God in the Pre-Born

Now, let's focus primarily on the pre-born. Look at Genesis 25. I'm going to ask you to do something really difficult here. I'm going to ask you to remember what Genesis 25 says.

It's going to fall out later in our sermon. But right now, just demonstrating or highlighting the image displayed in the pre-born in the womb. Notice specifically in Genesis 25 at verse 19. This is the genealogy of Isaac, Abraham's son.

Abraham begot Isaac. Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah as wife, the daughter of Bethuel, the Syrian, a patent Aram, the sister of Laban, the Syrian. Now Isaac pleaded with the Lord for his wife because she was barren, and the Lord granted his plea, and Rebekah, his wife, conceived, but the children struggled together within her. Isn't that beautiful?

The children struggled within her together. Not the product of conception, not some undefined lump of cells, not some nebulous conglomerate of, you know, some, you know, random molecules that happen together. No, specifically, the children struggled together within her. And she said, if all is well, why am I like this?

So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb. Not even just two children, not even just two babies, but two nations are in your womb. Do you understand if there had been abortion back in the day and they were pressing it upon the people like they do today?

If this had been the case, two nations wouldn't have been in play. Two nations are in your womb, two people shall be separated from your body. One people shall be stronger than the other, and the older shall serve the younger. So when her days were fulfilled for her to give birth, indeed there were twins in her womb.

And the first, here's what I'm going to ask you to remember, came out. It's the language for childbirth, here at least in the book of Genesis. Notice what the text says, and the first came out. It's the language of childbirth.

I've noticed this among women. Now, I'm probably going to get tomatoes thrown at me, but you like to talk about, you know, the labor and the delivery story. And that's great. There's no greater thing in the world than having a child.

But if you were living in these days, you would say, and it came out. And that would be perfectly legit. In fact, it's perfectly legit today. He came out with his dad's nose.

He came out with a full head of hair. It's the language of childbirth. You need to appreciate that. Again, four later, right now, just seeing that the pre-born are considered image bearers.

They are humans. He was like a hairy garment all over, so they called his name Esau. Afterward, his brother, here's that language, came out, and his hand took hold of Esau's heel. So his name was called Jacob.

Notice Job 10. Again, some of these passages, I hope, are familiar. This sermon ought to be familiar to anybody who has been with us for any amount of time. Job chapter 10, specifically verses 8 to 12.

Your hands have made me and fashioned me in intricate unity, yet you would destroy me. Remember, I pray, that you have made me like clay, and will you turn me into dust again? Did you not pour me out like milk, and curdle me like cheese, clothe me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews? You have granted me life and favor, and your care has preserved my spirit." In Job 31, as this man is rehearsing the fact that he had not you know, willfully transgress the law of God, when it came to oppressing servants, what spoke to his heart was the reality that they too had been knit together by God in their mother's wombs, and as a result, they were image bearers and thus were to be afforded dignity.

Notice in Job 31.13, if I have despised the cause of my male or female servant when they complained against me, what then shall I do when God rises up? When He punishes, how shall I answer Him? Did not he who make me in the womb make them? Did not the same one fashion us in the womb?

And of course, Psalm 51. Psalm 51. Notice David's prayer of repentance. He's found out in his transgression.

Nathan the prophet comes to him. shows him that he is indeed the man. And what does David do? He repents. He forsakes his sin.

And he rehearses the reality that he is indeed a sinner. Note what he says in Psalm 51, 5. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. He doesn't mean the conjugal act between his father and mother was a sin.

It's not an evil thing. He is saying that as soon as David was David, he was a sinner. As soon as David was in play, he was a sinner. He inherited Adam's original sin.

But it is intriguing. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me. He traces back to the womb. Psalm 139, a passage that oftentimes is cited on Sanctity of Life Sunday. and well ought to be.

Psalm 139, specifically 13 to 16. For you formed my inward parts, you covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed, and in your book they all were written. The days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are your thoughts to me, O God!

How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand. When I am awake, I am still with you." And of course, Ecclesiastes 11.5, Jeremiah 1.5. The God of heaven and earth says that He calls Jeremiah to the prophetic ministry from his mother's womb.

Paul the Apostle says the same thing in Galatians 1. It pleased God to separate me in my mother's womb. They don't ever look at the womb as being this undefined place where undefined cells, where products of conception that are okay to terminate, exist. No, it's the place where David lived.

It's the place where Job's servants lived. It's the place where the prophet lived. It's the place where Paul the apostle lived. Note just a couple things in the New Testament.

Luke chapter 1. Specifically, verses 41 to 44. Luke 1, 41 to 44. And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb.

The word there is brephos. That's the Greek word, brephos. It's also used in Luke 18, 15, of out-of-the-womb children. You've got to understand that.

It's not like there's some, you know, special Greek word employed for the in-the-womb person, or non-person, or almost-person, or not-yet-animated, and then something outside the womb. It's the same word. When brefe were brought to the Lord Jesus to be blessed. But notice 41.

Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary that the babe leaped in her womb and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Now this is really powerful, verse 43, but why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? Where is the Lord at that present time?

He is in the womb, right? Jesus in the womb is the Lord. Jesus in the womb is Jesus. Jesus in the womb is the sovereign of the universe.

You see, the Bible does not know of this other category. If you are in the womb, you are a person. You bear the image of God. When you exit the womb, you are a person and you bear the image of God.

And at every stage of life, whether child, whether handicapped, whether elderly, whether infirm, the law of God provides protection. We have no right, we have no authority, we have no lawful ability to take these things and reject them or resist them or cast them away and somehow condone the practice of abortion.

The Humanity of the Unborn

Gordon Clark makes this observation. One argument abortionists frequently use to defend themselves against the charge of murder is the claim that the baby is not a human being. He says, but if the baby in the womb is not a human, what is it? Is it canine?

Is it feline? I think that some babies born 30 or 40 years ago have turned out to be asinine. I think Gordon Clark is absolutely right, and it's come to fruition, not only in the world, brethren, but in the church. You'll hear it.

You'll hear it. Not just those wackos that are over there blessing Planned Parenthood. But people say, well, it's up to a woman. No, it's up to God.

And God, the sovereign Lord, has legislated It is not up to the woman, or the man, or the medical professionals, or the MPs, or the Senators, or the Prime Minister, or the President, or the Pope himself. Thankfully, the Pope does. Well, he's kind of different on all that. But we need to understand The Bible dogmatically asserts that God Almighty abominates hands that shed innocent blood, Proverbs 6, 16 to 19.

Exodus 21:22–25 and Abortion

Well, let's look finally and quickly at the specific application to abortion in Exodus 21. What you have is intriguing in Exodus 19 to 24. I mean, the whole book of Exodus is just amazing, right? You could boil it down into three Ds.

First is deliverance. God delivers Israel from Egypt in Exodus 1 to 18. Then you have demand. God places demands upon his newly liberated people from 19 to 24.

And then that last D, 25 to 40, is dwelling. It's beautiful. Deliverance, demand, dwelling. 25 to 40 talks about God dwelling with his people. The largest section of the book is about God dwelling with his people.

Make me a sanctuary so that I can dwell in the midst of my people. It's beautiful, isn't it? But when you look specifically at the Sinai event in 19 to 24, you see God come in theophany and power and majesty, thunder, lightning, giving laws, commands to Moses that persons aren't even to get near the mount. Chapter 20, he gives the Decalogue or the Ten Words or the Ten Commandments.

The sixth is one of them, to be sure, you shall not murder. And then in 21 to 23, you see how those things are to be worked out in Israel's life in the land. You see how those things are supposed to be applied when they occupy Canaan. And then 24 is the ratification of the covenant where blood is sprinkled upon the persons.

The persons swear fidelity and fealty to the living God. They say all things that He has commanded we will do. Unfortunately, that was very short-lived and shows us the need for sovereign grace and forgiveness in that new covenant. But all that to say that 21 to 23 certainly or basically develop the moral law given in Exodus 20.

So all that to notice specifically verses 22 to 25.

Correct Translation of the Passage

We ought to observe in the first place the correct translation. The New King James in the ESV translates it properly. If men fight and hurt a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely. You can see the scene, right?

You got two men and they're going to fight. See, these laws are given so that people will pay attention and plan and think. You need to understand that if you two men cannot resolve your issues like grown human beings who can sit down and talk and discourse and exchange and come to some grip, if you break out in a fight and a woman is standing there, presumably one of the wives of the men who are fighting, and she gets hit, You're in big trouble. You are in big trouble.

This speaks certainly to things that we deal with today. Some of you say, I don't know what this means in our context, or this ox that gores. It shows us something about the reality that we need to plan, we need to think. We're not supposed to act like fools on city streets, because if we do, we could be charged with a felony.

We're not supposed to get drunk and operate a motor vehicle, because that's like having an ox that gores and not securing it, or going into a fight and not realizing that I may strike a woman who is pregnant. But know what the New King James says, the ESV again, if men fight and hurt a woman with child so that she gives birth prematurely. Some translations and some interpreters say that the word is miscarriage. If while these men are fighting, they smack a woman who is pregnant and she miscarries.

It changes the whole meaning of the text and it's wrong lexically. If it's miscarry, then you have to understand the trajectory. If no harm follows to her, but if it's translated properly, prematurely, yet no harm follows, it applies to the mother and the children. Does everybody get that?

Yes, if you're with me? If she miscarries and yet no harm follows, then a penalty will be imposed upon the offender. But if harm follows to her under this miscarry interpretation, then you require life for life. On the premature, which is the right translation and interpretation, you've got two parties or possibly three.

She's got twins. You've got the woman and the child or children and no harm follows to them. You see, this law specifically speaks to babies in the womb. Notice, specifically.

There is a Hebrew word for miscarriage, which is absent from this passage. There is a specific Hebrew word for the product of miscarriage, or one untimely born, which is absent from this passage. The language used here is literally, come out. Hey, he told me I should remember that, didn't he?

It's the language of childbirth. If these two knuckleheads are fighting and in the midst of their fight, they strike a woman and her literally children come out. It's not miscarriage. It's not one untimely born.

It's the language used of childbirth in Genesis 25 and elsewhere in the Old Testament. What is envisaged here is the premature birth of a child or children. And again, it's plural. She could be pregnant with twins.

She could have triplets. Who knows? But the law is comprehensive. It speaks to that eventuality.

And it speaks specifically to that baby or babies who come out after this premature birth.

No Harm: Penalty and Fine

So if men fight, hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows. to the mother or to the children. Notice what happens. He shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman's husband imposes on him, and he shall pay as the judge has determined. You see the logic.

You caused us some pain and suffering here. You caused us some real travail and some real trial and some real difficulty. So the man whose wife had been struck and yet no harm follows, the baby or babies are born prematurely but they're okay, he still has to pay. He still has to make things right because of his carelessness and his foolishness.

You see why you ought to think before you act? Because you may end up engaged in a felony crime because I just didn't think about it. Young people think, please, please, please, please, please, don't operate vehicles when you drink, don't use drugs, don't do things that two steps down the road are gonna be problematic or felonious and end you up in jail. Back to our text.

But notice, he shall pay as the judges determine. Now note verse 23, but if any harm follows, who are we talking about now? a woman and the child or children. Does everybody get that? I'm not, you know, pulling a rabbit out of the hat here.

It's child coming out language. If no harm follows to the woman and to her child or children, then monetary fine. Yet, if harm follows, we carry the thought, to mother or to child or children, then what? What is applied is to be what's called the lex talionis, and that simply means the law of retribution.

Now, I know persons read this language eye for eye, tooth for tooth, and they sort of envision in their own minds this hooded crowd of men that walked around the streets of Old Testament Israel, and they had instruments to pop teeth out and to gouge out eyes and to do all those sorts of nasty, heinous things. I mean, this is just an affront to us and our polished, sanitized, wonderful way of thinking to ever consider the reality that such a barbaric means would be applied in terms of governing society. The law simply means the punishment must fit the crime. Right?

You cause death, you are to be put to death. You cause permanent injury to a limb or an eye, then something equal is to be applied to you. The punishment must fit the crime. This is the very foundation for Western Jewish jurisprudence.

So before you start getting these ideas, you know, I'm going to work for that agency that pops out teeth and, you know, gouges out. Brethren, it's simply a law principle, the law of retribution, the lex talionis. The punishment must fit the crime.

Harm Follows: Life for Life

But intriguing, if the child or the children are dead, as a result of these two men's fight, you're to give life for life. This highlights the increased protection even for the pre-born. I mentioned that every stage of the game, God's law provides protection from the womb to the end. There's almost, well, there is an increased protection.

If you notice specifically in Exodus 21, 12 to 14, There is that distinction made between what we would call today manslaughter and murder. I know manslaughter sounds brutal and horrible, but it really just means an accidental homicide. But manslaughter and murder are distinguished here in Exodus 12 to 14. Notice, "...he who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death." However, if he did not lie in wait, you see, there was no malice of forethought.

There was no premeditation. He didn't wait for him. It was an accident. The axe head flew off and landed on the guy's head.

However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee. But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die." So you see, murder is to be punished by death, capital punishment. But accidental homicide, there would be cities of refuge set up so that a man could run there, flee the manslayer, and live there until his time was satisfied, and then he could return home. You see, in a case of accidental homicide, there was a place afforded for that person so that he would not die.

Not so here, because what's in view? You've got an accident. When these two men are fighting with each other, unless, and some interpreters see this, one of them was the man's wife, and the aggressor in this fight intentionally tried to smack her in the stomach as she's bearing a child. That's certainly an interpretation out there, but the text is general enough to see in it an accident.

Two men are fighting, and in the midst of their exchange of blows, they accidentally hit a woman. And her children come out, and harm follows. So you see, it's an accident in the sense that there was no intentionality. The guy didn't wake up that morning and say, you know, I want to really get to that woman and to her baby.

But in this case of an accidental homicide, which is an abortion, It's death. There's no city of refuge.

Implications for Intentional Abortion

Brethren, I think that in at least a survey fashion, this ought to show us if God thinks this way and has revealed himself this way concerning what we might call an accidental abortion, what's he think of states or civil polities who make laws not only to let it happen, but to federally fund it? What should we think of the intentionality of mothers and fathers who walk themselves into clinics that are set up to destroy babies in their mother's wombs? If God demands this sort of punishment for what we might define as an accidental abortion, we can understand why the prophet in his day said, in your wrath, remember mercy. Because our land is saturated with blood guiltiness, isn't it?

If the blood of righteous Abel cried out to God Most High, what do you think the blood of over 100,000 babies a year in Canada does? Or over a million babies a year in the United States? Our land is filled with blood guiltiness, and you've got so-called ministers blessing Planned Parenthood, or so-called Christians who say, well, you know, it's not really my place to say. You better start saying and you better start praying because God most high cannot just look the other way.

You know, that's what really makes me tremble when I ponder the amount of innocent blood that has been shed. I mean, remember the graphic horror we saw, was it last year or the year before when Planned Parenthood sold baby parts? They made money on it? Or when there's hospitals that use aborted babies in the incinerator to create a warm hospital?

What have we become? Do you understand why John Murray would say, when he said, writing in the 50s, nothing shows the moral bankruptcy of a people or of a generation more than disregard for the sanctity of life? Consider the schizophrenia. Aren't we hearing all over the place that, oh yeah, euthanasia, euthanasia, euthanasia.

And everybody's horrified by this nurse in Ontario. Was it just medical people don't like competition? Is that it? The government doesn't want anybody to kill its people for them?

See, on their humanistic, atheistic principles, they have no reason whatsoever to ever balk at any of this stuff. Consider the schizophrenia several years ago in Sacramento, California, when Scott Peterson's wife went missing. When they found her, she had been pregnant, and he was charged with two counts of murder. Isn't it intriguing?

She could have got up that morning and drove to an abortion clinic and had an abortion. And that's choice! We live in crazy days, and the church imbibes some of this. My people perish for lack of knowledge.

I don't know, I don't know, I don't think about these sorts of things. Wait all night. Capital punishment. Do you know how many Christians think that's horrific?

God commands it. When you're the creator of a universe, and you populate it with people, and you so choose to regulate without capital, more power to you. But this is God's world, God's universe, God's word, and he has spoken clearly to this situation. And for whatever reason, Christians say, well, I don't like it.

You don't like it? Who cares? Brethren, we gotta think, we gotta pray. The Didache, an early Christian manual, said, you shall not abort a child or commit infanticide.

This happened in the early church. You see, babies cost money, as all of you know, and thanks to all you moms and dads out there that you gave birth. Praise God Almighty. Best evidence of sanctity of life is that there's breathing human beings in this room.

But in the early Roman Empire, do you know what they did when they had a child that they could not afford or did not want? They just put it out with the trash. They practiced sex-selective abortion, too. Prime Minister Trudeau would have been back then.

They would ask him, well, what do you think about them putting baby girls on those trash? Well, that's between them and whoever. They just put it out with the trash. What do you think would happen when they were put out with the trash?

Boy babies would be scooped up and taken as slaves. Girl babies would be scooped up and taken as prostitutes. It was a huge problem. It's an early Christian manual, written probably as early as 8100 and possibly between 8100 and 150.

Some scholars put it very early. You shall not abort a child or commit infanticide. Justin, in his apology, condemns the practice of infanticide. John Calvin makes this comment concerning abortion.

If it seems more horrible to kill a man in his own house than in a field, because a man's house is his place of most secure refuge, it ought surely to be deemed more atrocious to destroy a fetus in the womb before it has come to light. It's worse to kill a man in his living room, isn't it, than in a field? You shouldn't kill him in the field either. That's not what Calvin's saying.

But it is worse. He's sitting on his couch, he's eating a bowl of noodles, and you come in and destroy him. It's worse than if he's in a field. How much more a baby in the mother's womb?

I worked with a guy many, many years ago at Northrop Grumman. He was a Mormon man and we definitely disagreed on that. We had some throw downs and some debates and that sort of thing. But he used to wear a T-shirt to work and it showed a picture of a dumpster and it said, America, this is no place for babies.

Certainly agreed with him in that sentiment. It's a terrible thing, brother. It's a terrible thing.

Application

In conclusion, we could probably stay here another couple hours just rehearsing what scripture says concerning this. In Genesis 4.9, Cain attempts to deny murder. Doesn't he? Doesn't he?

He tries to attempt to deny that he engaged in murder. By Genesis 4.23 and 24, his great, great grandson, Lamech, glories in it. It didn't take long for this aspect of sinful humanity to catch on. By Genesis 6, 11, and 12, the earth was filled with violence.

And after the flood, God arms the magistrate with the sword and the responsibility to execute murderers. Didn't take long for this sin to spread rapidly. It is a violation of the sixth commandment. It is an assault upon the image of God most high.

In fact, Gerhardus Voss, for you Saturday morning brothers, as we read through biblical theology, isn't this what Voss says? In life slain, the image of God is assaulted. So it's God first. the state and abortion. So I said a million plus in the US, 100,000 in Canada.

You know, there is at least in some of the states in the United States some trends or some positive things. Some say, well, you shouldn't be encouraged until it's eliminated 100%. Well, I agree with that sentiment, but it is nice to see at least some steps taken to try and protect a few of these little image bearers. So we see that trend, at least in some of the states in the US.

I don't see it in Canada. I haven't seen it. Perhaps you can educate me later, but it just seems like it's business as usual here. And those numbers are about the same percentage-wise. 100,000 in Canada.

We're so much better than America with a million. Population rates. 330 million in America and 33, 36 million in Canada? I mean, it's the same percentage. It seems we hate God and hate babies equally as our brothers to the South.

We hate God, we hate babies, we love ourselves, we love cash, we love convenience, we love all that stuff. Again, Machen says, the state exists for the repression of evildoers and the protection of individual liberty. Just to find Christians that agreed to that would be so exhilarating. Abortion is something that is both sinful and criminal.

Do you realize there are some sins that aren't crimes? Covetousness. When you covet, That's a sin against God and he's going to deal with you. The state doesn't punish covetousness, at least not yet.

And we ought to be very thankful at this point that they don't. Not all crime is sin. If you were in a Muslim country that forbids you to preach the gospel and you preach the gospel, you would violate a particular law. It would be a criminal act, but it wouldn't be a sin against God because God says, preach the gospel.

Abortion has that unique virtue, that sounds odd, of being both sinful and criminal. The state should be involved. Sometimes people, Christians, will say, well, the government doesn't make anyone have abortions. Oh, really?

So the government doesn't make anybody engage in a drive-by shooting that ends in the death of a child, but It's somehow okay that we have a drive-by shooting that ends with the death of a child. It's murder. It's murder. It's never okay.

The church and abortion. the prevalence of it, unfortunate reality. And one of the most excellent books on the subject of abortion, it's by the name for whatever reason has escaped me, Pro-Life Answers to Pro-Choice Questions. Who? Just say it.

Randy Alcorn, thank you. He highlights the reality that church is just as guilty. Professing Christians are just as guilty engaged in this particular activity Barty touched on the professing people of God and a lack of knowledge. I don't know what the Bible says about that.

Brethren, make it your aim to not have to say that when it comes to a matter of life and death. I don't know what the Bible says about that. I remember having a meeting with a pastor in town years and years ago, not long after I got here, and we were sitting in my office, and I said, so do you preach on abortion? Do you preach on death penalty?

Well, you know, abortion's really controversial, and, you know, the death penalty, I, yeah, I just, I don't know, for me, it just doesn't seem, I just shut down. I don't care what it is for you. Some of you won't like this message. You're not going to like capital punishment tonight.

In fact, some of you might not even come tonight because I don't want to hear that sort of stuff. You know what? The Bible speaks to that sort of stuff. Our exposition is pretty consistently in Matthew's gospel.

Some points along the way, we've got to open our eyes to those things that affect us on such a grand level. Not that Matthew's gospel doesn't, but looking at particular issues to educate the people of God so they can think consistently. The professing people of God and surgical abortion. It happens.

Young women, young men coming from professing Christian homes, going to abortion clinics trying to cover up sin. There's only one way to cover up sin or cover sin, and that's through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The professing people of God and the voting booth. Remember, when Barack Obama was voted into office, six million evangelicals voted for him.

Now, you may say, you're getting political here now. Just think of the logic for a moment. Imagine if you had a candidate who is okay with rape or pedophilia. Well, I can't vote for him, but he's okay for murder?

Yeah, but he's the lesser of two evils, or he's the bad... Brethren, in the voting booth, you have a responsibility to God to do what's right. The professing people of God and sexual immorality. You know what the surefire way is to prevent an abortion?

Yep, you got it. Don't engage in that activity. I was kind of thinking about this. Sexual immorality is like taking a fork and poking yourself in the eye with it.

No good thing comes from it. No good thing comes from it. Even pornography. Jonathan Van Maren, a few years ago, wrote an article on pornography and abortion.

You say, well, come on, that's a leap, isn't it? Is it? Pornography increases those particular desires, removes inhibitions, and slowly but surely breaks down barriers. Don't do it, young people.

Listen to Paul in 1 Corinthians 6 when he says, Don't do it. There is a surefire way to never be confronted with this issue in terms of your own life, in terms of your own responsibility. What persons call an unwanted pregnancy? Don't engage in immorality.

Control yourself. Whatever happened to that? Be like one of those old goat monks that would go live out in the wilderness to try to burn away their passions and desires. Certainly, they had problems as monks trying to earn their favor with God, but there's something very pleasant in the idea that instead of engaging in this activity, I'm going to go to a place and I'm going to buffet my body.

When did that ever become an option in our modern age? Buffeting the body, disciplining ourselves, controlling ourselves, exercising some sort of integrity and faithfulness and consistency? No good thing comes from sexual immorality. The professing people of God and the abortifacient methods of birth control.

Now he's really gone off the deep edge. The IUD, brethren, is designed, and I know I'm not a doctor. I get that. I know that.

No MD behind my name. But I think every Christian ought to be an ethicist, at least to some degree. And there is enough evidence to demonstrate that there are certain types of birth control that are abortifacient. That means they're not contraceptive.

They are abortifacient. The IUD is one, and the birth control pill. Now, it used to be thought that there were some kinds of birth control pills and other kinds of birth control pills. Read the literature.

It was that which opened up my eyes. Just the Pfizer manual on how their drug works. A birth control pill has three mechanisms, two of which are contraceptive, but the third is an abortifacient. It's just like the IUD.

What it does is it disturbs and irritates the uterine wall so that a fertilized egg cannot develop. Listen to their language. It's a fertilized egg. That means it's a conceptus.

That means it's conceived. It's a conception. We are those who argue that from conception, that person has a unique DNA code. They're a genetic human being.

And so if there is a drug design to alter the proper development of that new baby, You got to avoid that. It's an abortifacient.

Preaching Law and Gospel

The prevalence of abortion, we ought to respond with the preaching of the law. Yes, the law. I will end with the gospel, but for far too long, Christians have not made much of the law. Yes, we're under grace, and I praise God for that.

But that doesn't mean we can murder. That doesn't mean we can commit adultery. That doesn't mean we can steal. That doesn't mean we can commit idolatry or Sabbath breaking or insubordination against our parents.

Since when did being under grace mean that we can do whatever we want? You know what under grace means? It means doing what God commands. Isn't that what Jesus said in the upper room in John 14, 15?

If you love me, you'll do what? You'll disregard my command. You'll keep my commands. What's John say concerning the commandments of God?

They're not burdensome. They're not grievous. The true people of God don't say, oh, how I hate your law. It is my consternation all the day.

No, they say, make me like David who says, oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day. Carl F. H.

Henry made this statement. I think it's a very excellent explanation of what's called the first use of the law or the political or civil use of the law. You've been around here, we think of and we hold to the reformed understanding that there are three uses of the law. The first is the political or civil, the second is the pedagogical, and the third is the normative.

The pedagogical is that preaching of the law to bring the conviction of sin to send sinners to Christ. It's a pedagogue. It's a child tutor. The law comes and shows us our waywardness and our sinfulness, and it presses upon us the glory of the cross.

The normative is how Christians ought to live. The third use of the law, we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone. And when we are saved, the Spirit sanctifies us. How?

He points us to God's law. Jesus said, if you love me, you'll keep my commandments. The normative use, but there is that political or the civil use wherein the law of God is helpful for all of creation. Henry said, even where there is no saving faith, the law serves to restrain sin and to preserve the order of creation by proclaiming the will of God.

By its judgments and its threats of condemnation and punishment, the written law, along with the law of conscience, hinders sin among the unregenerate. It has the role of a magistrate, who is a terror to evildoers. It fulfills a political function, therefore, by its constraining influence in the unregenerate world." For whatever reason, we as believers have given up the reality that the Ten Commandments have application outside of the church. Well, he's a non-Christian.

That's why he commits sexual immorality. Do you realize that the creator of that non-Christian says don't commit sexual immorality? But you know, Justin Trudeau, he's not a born-again believer. Is he somehow exempt from the sixth word?

Is soon-to-be former President Barack Obama somehow exempt from the sixth word? Is there anybody out there that is exempt from the sixth word? So what should the church do? They ought to preach the sixth word once in a while, along with the first.

You ought not to be idolaters, along with the second. You really ought not to be idolaters, along with the third. You ought not to be blasphemers, along with the fourth. There was a man in the history of the church, John Elias.

He would hear of the particular sin of a particular town. He was an itinerant preacher. He heard it was Sabbath-breaking, so he'd go set up a pulpit in the city square, and he'd preach against Sabbath-breaking. Why?

Because he understood the usefulness of God's law. Sabbath-breakers, God-willing, are going to hear that, be convicted, and run to the Lord Jesus. Or they're going to be plagued in their conscience, and troubled in their hearts, and run away or do something. We're not supposed to be insubordinate.

We're not supposed to be murderers, adulterers, thieves, liars, covetous. This isn't just a Christian thing. Well, you know, the 10 commandments isn't for, it is for us. And the church needs to preach it, proclaim it.

And we ought to praise God for the power of the gospel. This is where persons find covering for this sin of abortion. The man years ago wrote a song. on the horrors of abortion, and one of the particular lines said, hey, young mother, a doctor's tool won't cure the shame. The only cure is Calvary.

We can amen that sentiment, can't we? Where does someone who has been involved in abortion go? He or she goes to the cross. He or she finds mercy from the one who is mercy.

He or she finds covering, not through some clinic, not through some method, not through some procedure, but through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I submit that within the church, brethren, abortion is probably more prevalent than we want to acknowledge. The church needs to preach the law against all sin, not just some pet sins, and the church needs to preach the freeness, the fullness, the excellency, the beauty, and the majesty of our Lord Jesus Christ and his ability to save sinners, even great sinners. Paul the Apostle was breathing threats and hatred against the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul the Apostle was dragging men, women off to prison. Paul the Apostle stood by and held the coats and the garments of those who were stoning godly Stephen to death. And Paul the Apostle was the chief propagator of the Christian faith. Grace, mercy, faith.

Closing Prayer

Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank you for the Word of God, we thank you for its comprehensive character, that it does speak to these issues in these areas. Grant us wisdom and grace to know the texts, grant us wisdom and earnestness to be in prayer, and give us wisdom and grace to live as we ought in light of such realities. I pray for our young people.

God in heaven, may they indeed, from their youth, believe the Gospel, May they know you, their creator, and may they love the Lord Jesus Christ, and may you set a guard over them. Watch them, keep them, protect them from going down these roads of wickedness and evil. Help them, God, to heed the word of truth that says to flee sexual immorality. to flee these sorts of practices, cause them to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, cause them, Lord God, to pursue that will of God, which is their sanctification, that they abstain from sexual immorality. Keep them, watch over them, protect them, and we pray these things through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Scripture References

• Genesis 1:26-28; 4:9; 4:23-24; 6:11-12; 25:19-26
• Exodus 20:13; 21:12-14; 21:22-25
• Leviticus 18:21; 19:14; 19:32
• Deuteronomy 7:1-7
• Job 10:8-12; 31:13
• Psalms 8; 51:5; 115; 139:13-16
• Proverbs 6:16-19
• Ecclesiastes 11:5
• Jeremiah 1:5
• Luke 1:41-44; 18:15
• John 14:15
• 1 Corinthians 6:18
• Galatians 1:15
• Ephesians 6:4
• James 5:14-15