May I turn in your Bibles to Exodus chapter 21? Exodus chapter 21.

Introduction and Overview

This morning we're going to look at the evil of abortion and its gracious remedy through Jesus Christ our Lord. Today is Sanctity of Life Sunday. By choosing to speak on abortion, I'm not trying to minimize euthanasia, drive-by shootings, or any other form of murder. but am seeking to focus upon those who are indeed most vulnerable in society. The proverb says, open your mouth for the speechless in the cause of all who are appointed to die.

Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy. So I want to read Exodus 21, 21 to 27. I'm sorry, to 25, and then we'll pray.

Scripture Reading: Exodus 21:22–25

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. Amen. Well, let us pray.

Opening Prayer

Father, we ask now that you would guide us in our study of the scripture. We pray for the ministry and the aid of your Holy Spirit. We know that he is necessary to give us illumination. God, our hearts are naturally dark, our way is naturally bent toward those things which are sinful and lawless in your sight, so we pray that you would overcome that will, that you would overcome that natural inclination, that you would guide us by the Spirit of God. and that you would give us eyes to see and hearts to receive your truth on this most important matter.

We ask that you would forgive us for all of our sins, forgive us for all of our unrighteousness, forgive us for all of our lawlessness, and we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Introduction

Well, this message will be similar in terms of content to the message last January about this same time. and it will be similar in content to the message two years ago at about this time. I want you to trust me in this. This is material and information that every Christian needs to have in their minds and hearts. I don't speak this as your president, or as your king, or as your emperor, but as a friend, as one who is set apart to study the Word, as one who is set apart to preach the Word, and as one who, as an individual, stands out on street corners holding up signs, I urge you to pay attention to the material, because I think, as Christians, we honor God when we think His thoughts after Him.

We dishonor God when we don't think His thoughts after Him. And so the content of the message this morning is similar to what you've heard in the past. Repetition is helpful. Repetition is good.

Repetition hopefully will instill this information in your hearts and in your minds. And with that information you will then hopefully be prayerful. Hopefully, you will be like those men in Ezekiel 9, who sighed and cried over the abominations of the land. You'll be like that prophet when he considered hazael, ripping open the wombs and destroying babies.

That man of God, Elisha, wept when he considered such a prospect. As well, hopefully, as individuals, you'll write letters, you'll speak up, you'll testify. and you will declare the truth of God's holy word on this instance or on this issue concerning abortion. John Murray, professor of systematic theology at Westminster Seminary in the earlier part of the 20th century said this, nothing shows the moral bankruptcy of a people or of a generation more than disregard for the sanctity of life. I often marvel when I hear people say, I wonder if God's going to judge us as a nation.

I wonder if God is going to bring sanctions upon us as a nation. A nation that revels in blood guiltiness is already under the judgment of God. Make no mistake about it. Make no mistake about it whatsoever.

As Murray says, nothing shows the moral bankruptcy of a people or of a generation more than disregard for the sanctity of life. Christ speaking as wisdom in Proverbs 8 said, but he who sins against me wrongs his own soul. All those who hate me love death. We live in a death culture in so many ways.

And so this morning, I want to demonstrate three things from the scriptures concerning abortion.

The Sanctity of Human Life

First, the sanctity of human life. And by sanctity, I mean its separateness, its sacred character, as seen in the fact that we are created in the image of God. There's something different about us and deer. There's something different about us and whales.

There is something different about us in the Baltimore Oriole. We are image bearers of the living and the true God, and that's why abortion is an assault upon the divine image, and it must be called out. Secondly, we'll look at the personhood of the pre-born. In other words, when does life begin according to the Scripture?

Now, science answers the same way. Philosophers answer the same way. My intent this morning is that you know what the Bible says. And then thirdly, the prohibition against abortion as seen in the Scripture vis-a-vis specifically what we find here in this case law in Exodus 21, 21 to 25.

But let's first look at the sanctity of human life, the image of God stated.

Imago Dei in Creation

Genesis chapter 1 verses 26 to 28. Please turn with me to these passages. I think as you involve more senses, hopefully these things will stick in your mind and in your heart. The sanctity of human life is seen in the fact that man is created in the image of God.

This is displayed in the garden. Genesis 1.26, then God said, Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image.

In the image of God, he created him. Male and female, he created them. Then God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it.

Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. So in the creation week, when God gets to man, God creates man in his image. He doesn't do that with cattle. He doesn't do that with birds.

He doesn't do that with water life. Rather, God has made man as the pinnacle of his creation. We are image bearers of God Most High. And we find here the mandate.

Man, Adam specifically, was to multiply the image of God through Procreation. Adam was to multiply that image of God and to extend this garden temple that he operated in. A lot of times we come to Genesis 1-3 and we see that Adam was a tiller of the ground and we think what is being taught there is that we ought to be farmers. That's the most noble way to work.

We derive a work ethic from Genesis 1-3. What Genesis 1-3 demonstrates for us is that God creates a temple. God creates a place wherein he can dwell with man. And so Adam, the image-bearer, was to multiply and to extend that garden temple to encompass the entire earth so that God and man could commune with one another.

Of course, Adam fails in that, so the last Adam comes, and when we get to Revelation 21 and 22, what do we see there? This garden temple comes down out of heaven, and paradise is restored. God has a plan for his image bearers. They were to expand vice regency through the earth by having men rule over the creation.

We are image bearers. God did not give this task to the animals, but rather to man. Our Confession of Faith highlights this with reference to creation. It says that after God had made all other creatures, He created man, male and female, with reasonable and immortal souls, rendering them fit unto that life to God for which they were created, being made after the image of God in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness.

I gotta tell you, the other day as I was thinking about this whole idea of the image of God that we possess, the very foundation upon which the sanctity of life is seen, I was thinking about a good Puritan quote. I'm sure one of those brothers had a way of depicting the image of God that man has, or the image of God that man is, rather. I'm sure that Watson or Owen or one of these brothers wrote some glowing terms concerning this concept of the image of God. David did it best in Psalm 8.

Look at what he says. We read this, when I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have ordained, what is man that you are mindful of him and the son of man that you visit him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels and you have crowned him with glory and honor. There's no better description or depiction of what it means to bear the image of God than what David records here in Psalm 8.

You have made him to have dominion over the works of your hands. You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas. I think it's not necessarily a good idea to try to run animals over. In fact, oftentimes when I'm driving to the church in the morning, squirrels run across the street here.

I try not to hit them. But you know, if I do hit them, there is something substantially different from that squirrel than from the neighbor girl next door. We're not dealing with a lump of undefined cells in the womb. We're dealing with the image of the living and true God.

We'll see that clearly in just a moment. You see, for the humanist and for the evolutionist and for the Darwinist and for the non-theist, What do we have in man? Nothing so special. Nothing that good.

Nothing but a bunch of random molecules and electrons and things that sort of stick together. But you see, from the biblical vantage point, we ought to marvel. We ought to say with David, when I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you have made, what is man that you are mindful of him? It's the reality that God breathed life into him.

It's the reality that God made man in His own image. That is what the sanctity of life means. That is what the sanctity of life is all about. That is what we need to argue from.

We need to be convinced of the truth of Holy Scripture. Remember that science can simply tell us what is. It never tells us what ought to be. This is where Christians fundamentally make mistakes.

They appeal to science and to fact and to data and to empirical observation. Science tells us what is. Those pictures of the ultrasound demonstrate or affirm or tell us what is. It never tells us what ought to be.

You see, there's people who, with all that empirical data, nevertheless engage in abortion. You see, if we understand the image of God, if we understand what's at stake, if our minds are rightly in tune with the scriptures, then we will always prohibit this act. The image of God is seen in man before the fall into sin. We see that in Genesis 1, 26 to 28.

But the image of God is still in man after the fall. Genesis 5 and verse 1. So we cannot say that after the fall of Adam, no more does man possess the image of God. We certainly do possess that image.

It's just deformed, it's warped, and it's twisted.

Image of God Across All Life

The image of God is seen in the pre-born. We'll detail this in just a moment. The image of God is seen in children. Leviticus 18, there's a prohibition by God through Moses to the children of Israel.

They were told not to let their children pass through the fire. They were not to offer up their children as human sacrifice to Molech. Why is that? Because they bear the image of God.

We see in the New Testament documents, fathers do not provoke your children to wrath. Why not? Because they're image bearers of the living God. You don't treat them that way.

This image of God is seen in the handicapped. Leviticus 19, a curse is pronounced upon those who put a stumbling block before the blind, who make sport of those who are mentally handicapped. We see Jesus recognizing the image of God in blind Bartimaeus. Remember that instance or that scene.

Jesus is passing through Jericho. Blind Bartimaeus gets word of it. And what does he say? He says, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.

What do the crowd say to Bartimaeus? They say, be quiet. He doesn't have time for you. He's a busy man.

He's Jesus. They try to silence blind Bartimaeus, this beggar. So what does Bartimaeus do? He raises his voice and he shouts out again, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.

I love the text. It says that Jesus stopped. Jesus walks over to the man and he says, what would you have me to do? And Bartimaeus says, I want to see.

So Jesus heals him. You see, the handicapped, the mentally handicapped, bear the image of God. Sick people, bear the image of God. The terminally ill, bear the image of God.

Those who are in compromised situations, bear the image of God. You cannot miss that in the Scripture. It is true of the elderly. Leviticus 19.32, what are young men told to do? rise in the presence of the gray-headed man.

Why? It's respect, it's reverence, and it's esteem for one who has a gray head. When Paul comes to deal with Timothy in 1 Timothy 5, as Timothy is to deal with various persons in the church, he says, do not rebuke an older man. Do not rebuke him.

Do not treat him like he's inferior. Do not treat him like he's a child, but rather esteem him and instruct him in a way that is consistent with his station and his place in life. The image of God is seen in man with relation to animals. We have dominion over the animals.

Again, I believe that dominion ought to be exercised properly. It ought to be exercised responsibly. The proverb says that even a righteous man, a righteous man even has regard for his animal. You don't make sport of animals.

You don't abuse animals just because you have this station or position of authority. But nevertheless, the scriptures are clear. Man, as the pinnacle of creation, man is the image-bearer of God, man is God's vice-regent on earth, is to exercise dominion over the animals. And then ultimately this image of God is seen in the last Adam.

In fact, Jesus is described this way in the scripture. He is the image of the invisible God. He took on flesh and blood. He came to renew man so that we would be renewed in the image of God in knowledge and righteousness and true holiness.

So, you see, the Bible sets forth the sanctity of life as primarily seen in this issue of image bearing. When we bear or as we bear the image of God Most High, this is wherein the sanctity of life is seen.

The Personhood of the Pre-Born

Now, let's look at the personhood of the pre-born. The pre-born. That's those little babies in the womb before they're born. Let me just quote a couple of men who wrestled or who thought we didn't have information concerning this situation.

Associate Justice Harry Blackman, the author of Roe versus Wade, the majority opinion. He says, we need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins. Well, it seems to me that if you're going to sign into law something that results in over 50 million abortions since 1973 in the United States of America. You ought to answer that fundamental question.

It's almost like me being out in the bush with my 30-06 poised. I'm not sure if that's a man or a deer. I can't really be sure one way or the other. What's the answer?

Go ahead and shoot. Go ahead and shoot? How about you verify that target before you go ahead and shoot? I gotta tell you, if I was the man being mistaken for a deer, I would want the person on the business or on the other end of that 30-odd-six to verify one way or the other.

This is unconscionable. Absolutely unconscionable. Christians Anyone ought to err on the side of caution. If we're not sure if it's a human or not, let's not legislate this piece of law.

Blackman says we need not resolve the difficult question of when life begins. When those trained in the respective disciplines of medicine, philosophy, and theology are unable to arrive at any consensus, the judiciary at this point in the development of man's knowledge is not in a position to speculate as to the answer. Then candidate Barack Obama, when asked, when does life begin, or does he agree that life begins at conception, says, this is something that I have not, I think, come to a firm resolution on. I think it's very hard to know what that means, when life begins.

Is it when a cell separates? Is it when the soul stirs? So I don't presume to know the answer to that question. What I know, as I've said before, is that there is something extraordinarily powerful about potential life, and that that has a moral weight to it that we take into consideration when we're having these debates.

So he'll go as far as to say there's potential life, but his voting record indicates that he does not give one rip about potential life. I'm more inclined to agree with the Christian philosopher-theologian Gordon Clark. who wrote this. One argument abortionists frequently use to defend themselves against the charge of murder is the claim that the baby is not a human being. But if the baby in the womb is not 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. The youngest child sitting in this room can understand what the scriptures say.

The youngest child can look at my backpack and see the little feet. The model of feet at 10 weeks old. No child in this room will say, those look like flippers. Those look like paws.

They say they look like feet. I watched a video this past week. If you want the link, I'll send you the link. It's horrifying.

It shows babies cut up. I don't know of any little child in this room that would say, that arm doesn't look human. That hand doesn't look human. This is politic speak.

This is rhetoric. This is to hide the hideous truth that in these civilized societies we are murdering people.

Old Testament Witness to Pre-Born Life

The scriptures are clear. When Rebecca's pregnant, it speaks of the children in her womb. Job makes two references, Job 10, Job 31, to life knit together in the womb. When David is tracing his native depravity back, he goes to the womb.

He says, in sin my mother conceived He doesn't say the conjugal relationship between his parents was sinful. He says that as soon as David was, he was an Adam. Psalm 139 speaks of the divine weaver knitting us together in our mother's wombs. Again, I want you to think through these passages.

I want you to take them down. I want you to email me. I'll send you the notes. All of the texts are written on this page.

Ecclesiastes 11.5 demonstrates this reality that God knits men together in their mother's wombs. The prophet Isaiah, speaking of the servant of the Lord, which we know to be Jesus Christ, in Isaiah 49 says that in my mother's womb he separated me. Jeremiah the prophet, according to Jeremiah chapter 1 and verse 5, where was he called to the prophetic ministry? Or where was he separated?

From his mother's womb. Interestingly enough, in the Old Testament, it wasn't a product of conception. It wasn't an undefined lump of cells, but rather it was Jeremiah. Rather it was Jacob and Esau.

Rather it was David. Rather it was Solomon. Rather it was what we know it to be, a human being that bears the image of the true and living God.

New Testament Witness to Pre-Born Life

The New Testament is no different. In Luke chapter 1, we learn that John the Baptist is filled with the Holy Spirit when? In his mother's womb. Interestingly enough, later in Luke's gospel, Luke chapter 1, 41 to 44, the Greek word applied to the baby in the womb, which is John and Jesus, is the same Greek word applied later in Luke chapter 18 to out-of-the-womb children.

Everybody follow that? Everybody with me? We don't have one category identifier over here and then a different one over here. They are children, whether they are in the womb or they're out of the womb.

They are little ones, whether they are in the womb or they are out of the womb. They are babies, whether they are in the womb or they are out of the womb. And interestingly enough, Luke 1, 41-44, what Elizabeth says to Mary, when Mary comes to visit Elizabeth, what does she say? She says, how is it that the mother of my Lord should come to see me?

Where was her Lord at that time? Her Lord was in Mary's womb. That's what the text says. That's what the text specifies.

That's what the text stipulates. Galatians 1.15, the apostle Paul says that it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb to be an apostle to the Gentiles. You see, any child can understand this information. Any child can watch a 3D ultrasound and not sound like Blackman or Obama and say, we just don't know when life begins.

Oh, yes, we do. We most certainly do. The personhood of the pre-born is established clearly throughout old and New Testaments. And we need to understand the grisly reality that if Rebecca, Job's mother, David's mother, Jeremiah's mother, Mary, and Paul's mother lived in the 21st century, and the pro-abortion advocates had their way, nations would not have been born, King David would have never ruled Israel, the Apostle Paul would have never preached the gospel to the Gentiles, and worst of all, we wouldn't be saved.

I speak as a man. Jesus was Lord in the womb.

The Prohibition Against Abortion

Go back thirdly now to the prohibition against abortion in the Bible. We have looked and I hope you've seen the sanctity of human life. We have looked and I hope you have seen that the Bible teaches that the pre-born are human life. and therefore they are or they possess sanctity and therefore they possess or deserve protection from the law. But you see, not only those two things are taught in the scripture, but there is a positive prohibition against this act, against this atrocity.

The Sixth Commandment

We see, generally speaking, in the Decalogue. shall not murder." That sixth word. If, as we've argued, the Bible recognizes that that little one in the womb is a human being, the sixth word forbids killing. The sixth commandment is the showstopper. If you followed the biblical logic up to this point, if you've been tracking, if you've seen the sanctity of life, if you've seen the personhood of the pre-born, if you've seen that it was David in his mother's womb, if you've seen that it was Job in his mother's womb, if you've seen that it was Paul and Jeremiah and Jesus in their mother's wombs, if you have corroborated this, if you have seen a 3D ultrasound or you've seen a 2D ultrasound, It's not an animal in the womb.

It's a baby. Everybody knows that. You can't miss it. You can't deny it.

You can't get away from it. Those little ones in the womb suck their thumbs. They respond to stimuli. They punch their mother's stomachs, not in a harmful way.

They grow, they develop, they're nurtured. Sometimes the argument is, well, they can't survive on their own. Neither can someone that is severely handicapped. What's the answer?

Well, if we're going to be consistent with the logic of abortion, then no one's safe. No one is safe. But there is a specific law. I read it here in our hearing in Exodus 21, 21 to 25.

And there's several things we need to understand about this particular text. Remember that 21 to 23 are the case law applications of the Decalogue. In other words, the 10 words are given in Exodus chapter 20. You shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Honor your father and your mother. you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, and you shall not covet.

That is the sum and substance of the law. Not just Israel's law, but the law that was written on Adam's heart at creation is codified and summarized in the giving of the law at Sinai. This is the moral law of God Most High. It reveals who He is.

It is His unchanging standard It is the thing that all men everywhere in every instance and in every time is subject to. In old covenant Israel, they took that Decalogue and they applied it, or they put it into practice. Let's flesh it out. Let's make it concrete.

How do we live in the land that the Lord our God is giving to us? Well, Exodus 21 to 23 answers to that. In the book of Deuteronomy, after the giving of the law in Deuteronomy 5, chapters 6 to 26 answer how we take this law and how we apply it in society. We take these general principles spoken by God through Moses on Sinai, and this is how we flesh them out in society.

One scholar, one commentator says, well, these judgments speaking about the case laws deal mainly with temporal matters, they nevertheless are based on one or another expressed commandment in the Decalogue. Our studies in Deuteronomy, we've seen the necessity to build a parapet or build a fence on the roof. What does that flow out of? It flows out of the sixth word, you shall not murder.

Not only are you not to kill people, you're to try and promote life. You're to build fences. You're to cover swimming pools. You're to do things that try and promote life rather than destroy life.

So the case law are applications of those principles stipulated in the Decalogue. This man says, it is most appropriate, therefore, that these judicial and political regulations given by God to Moses when Moses approached the thick darkness where God was should be set alongside the Decalogue. The two belong together in time as well as in interpretation. Chapter 21, verses 12 to 32 deal specifically with murder, manslaughter, and bodily injury.

And in chapter 22, there will be property laws. How do we protect property with those 10 commandments in the land that the Lord our God is giving us? Everybody with me? Give me a nice nod.

Yes, we're with you.

Exodus 21 as Case Law

You need to understand something about Exodus 21, 21 to 25. It deals with accidental abortion. So I'm led to imply that if accidental abortion angers God the way this text specifies, then what about intentional abortion? What about state or provincial or federal licensed abortion clinics where lots of money is transacted?

Lots of people get rich. How much more does this infuriate the living and the true God? Let's look more closely at Exodus 21, 22 to 25. The text literally says, if men fight and hurt a woman with child and her children come out, yet no harm follows.

The New King James is good as it translates, so that she gives birth prematurely. Some translations render it miscarriage. That's a miscarriage of translation. There is a Hebrew word for miscarriage or one untimely born that doesn't appear in this text.

The New King James is right. It is a premature birth that is in view here. And I'll show you that in more detail as we move along. The text literally says, if men fight and hurt a woman with child and her children, it is plural.

Why is it plural? Anticipating twins. Anticipating the possibility of triplets. Anticipating the possibility of, is it quadruplets?

Quintuplets, sextuplets, however many children are in there, are protected by the law. The language comes out, again, the literal, the Hebrew text, is language used of Jacob and Esau. Remember, Esau came out and he was hairy. Very often in the Old Testament, that is the language for birth.

They come out of the womb. We're not dealing with a miscarriage. You see, if we read the text in that light, then the law only protects the woman. You see, if the case is that these two men fight, and they accidentally strike a woman who is pregnant, and she miscarries, or the baby dies, yet no harm follows to the woman, then it's only a monetary fine.

But if we translate the verse the way we ought to, if we translate the verse the way that God through Moses stipulated, and we see that the woman's children come out, yet no harm follows to the mother, to be sure, and to the child or the children that have come out. Does everybody get that? Yes, please, tell me you see that. The Message Bible is terrible.

It says, when there's a fight, and in the fight, a pregnant woman is hit, so that she miscarries, but is not otherwise hurt. You see, the focus and the onus is simply on her. But this law, by God, through Moses, specifies protection under God's law to the child or the children that comes out. Again, it's important to understand the context.

What you have in this verse are two fools. Two men that do not have self-control. And so they're going to fight in the city street. And in their fight in the city street, a woman gets hit.

Presumably the wife of one of the two fools. I think this law would have stipulated, hopefully this law would have discouraged fighting in the street. You see, if when you're fighting in the street, you engage in some sort of activity like this, you will be held liable. You will be held responsible.

But notice the context. Two men are fighting. Me and Howie. Go to blows.

One of the pregnant women come up, and in the midst of our going to blows, we accidentally strike her. Look at what the law stipulates. The children or the child comes out, yet no harm follows to the woman or to the child or children who have come out. If that is the case, then a monetary fine is imposed.

We have to pay. We've caused her grief. We've caused her hurt. We've caused her damage.

We've caused her hardship. She hasn't had time to set up the nursery yet. She hasn't had time to get the changing table ready. Her little baby's here now.

Because of this inconvenience in terms of these fools fighting in the street, we have to pay and make sure that she receives some compensation for this particular transaction. But if in the midst of our fight we strike her, her child or her children comes out, and either her or the child or children dies, it's not monetary compensation anymore. It's death. It's a capital offense to engage in murder.

Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood will be shed, for in the image of God he made man. Previous in Exodus chapter 21, there is a differentiation made between murder and manslaughter. Accidental homicide. If I'm chopping wood in my backyard and my axe head flies off and hits my neighbor and he dies, that's accidental homicide.

I've killed him, but I didn't mean to. I didn't premeditate it. I didn't have malice aforethought. Now, if I hide in my neighbor's bush, and I see him pull up his car, and I'm ready and waiting, and I bury my axe head in his head, then I am guilty of the crime of murder, because there was malice aforethought, there was premeditation, there was hatred in my heart.

You see, the law stipulates in the case of accidental homicide, there's a city of refuge for me to flee to, and I can live there until the death of the high priest, and then I can return home. But you see, in this instance of accidental homicide, what is required? What is the retribution? What is the stipulation?

But if any harm follows, verse 23, to mother or to child, 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.

The Lex Talionis

That is called the lex talionis. That is simply the Latin term for the law of retribution. And that law bothers people. In fact, there are many Christians who go to this passage to argue against abortion, but they don't like the penalty that is attached.

But you know, the lex talionis, or this law of retribution, is in operation today. We call it the punishment must fit the crime. That's all it means. And in the case of murder, according to the scripture, execution is mandated by God.

It's about this time a lot of Christians say, well, you know, that's just too far. We can't be, you know, too minded on this. Either the law applies or it doesn't. Just a couple of observations here.

If this text speaks of accidental abortion and the penal sanction, that means the punishment attached is execution, and it demonstrates or it highlights the offensiveness of this particular crime or sin in the sight of God, again I say, how much more in a so-called sanitized environment in a subsidized environment when this crime or this sin is perpetuated. Over 50 million in the United States since 1973. Just to kind of put that into some sort of perspective, every US war From 1775 all the way up to Iraq and Afghanistan, there's been less than 3 million casualties. Now, that's an atrocity.

That is wretched. That is gut-wrenching as well. But just to give you some idea of what is in view here. And I'm just dealing with North America today.

If I was in China, I'd go to google.com and look up the Chinese statistics. If I was in India, I would go to google.com and look up the statistics in India. Because I'm in North America, focusing on our particular area. The numbers hover in the United States around one million per year.

Now, before you as a Canadian say, those wretched Americans, those bloodthirsty barbarians, consider that the numbers hover around 100,000 in Canada. I had to check from my son to get some mathematical help. But you take 300 million population in America, and you say 100 million per year. I think he worked it out to 0.33%.

I hope his math is accurate. Now scale that back down to 30 million in Canada with 100,000. I think the math works out to be the same, percentage-wise. So before you look at those bloodthirsty, wretched Americans, realize that in Canada, it's just as bad.

It's just as bad. Calvin said, 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. Fetus simply means unborn baby. The commentary on the Decalogue illustrates God's antagonism to murder.

The law, the prophets, and the writings all declare God's hatred for murder. When the prophets came to sue Israel, more often than not it was because of violence, it was because of murder. When God describes through the writings these six things Jehovah hates, yea, seven are an abomination to him, one of them is hands that shed innocent blood. And something I was thinking about in terms of this commentary on the Decalogue is our Lord's teaching in Matthew 5.

You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder. But I say to you, if you say fool or raka to your neighbor, You are in danger of hellfire. What about abortion? What about the lawlessness of abortion?

What about executing image bearers in the womb, in that place where they should be most safe? Do you think God's gonna judge us? I think the signs are everywhere that we're under judgment. What does Paul say in Romans chapter 1?

God gave them up. God gave them up. God gave them up. I think the Apostle's logic is simple.

When we reject God, when we refuse God, when we despise God's law, He gives us up. What we think is our freedom, what we think is our liberty, what we think is a sexual environment that I can really strut my stuff in, is a sign and signification that we, as a culture, are under God's judgment. It's terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

Application and Conclusion

Well, that's our exposition. A couple of thoughts in conclusion. First of all, the Bible and murder. Something very shocking about the early chapters of Genesis.

What happens? God makes man in his own image. Man then defies God, man rejects God, man refuses God, man says no to God, yes to Satan, and then the very next scene we see Cain kill Abel. But it's interesting, there's at least some sense of guilt in Cain.

Remember when God comes to deal with him? Am I my brother's keeper? He's trying to hide the fact. He's trying to hide the reality.

You get to the end of the chapter and Cain's great, great grandson, a man by the name of Lamech, is glorying in murder. I have killed a man for wounding me. He's celebrating it. You see, when sin enters the world, it doesn't take long for it to get going.

What is one of the marks of the pre-flawed world? It is exceedingly corrupt and filled with violence, according to Genesis chapter 6. So much so that when Noah and his family come out of the ark, God stipulates, God says, there will be the sword given to the magistrate so that he can execute offenders. We live in a murderous world.

We live in a corrupt world. We live in a sinful world. We don't do anybody any favors as a church by neglecting that reality. We don't do anybody any favors by saying, well, you know, we need to speak concerning righteousness and self-control and the judgment to come.

Until people see themselves as sinners, they will never see the need for Jesus. We live in a culture where Lance Armstrong goes on TV to confess his sins to Oprah! We need to preach! Confess your sins to Jesus!

What was the answer to that sin-cursed world? It was the answer of the Son of God's love. The remedy to man's guiltiness, the remedy to man's sinfulness, the remedy for a murderer is the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son. The cross alone is what the church has to offer.

Yes, as families we ought to take people in. Yes, we ought to consider adoption. Yes, we ought to consider helping pro-life organizations. Yes, we can stand out there and preach the law through signs.

Yes, we can do all things. But in the final analysis, the answer of God to guilty sinners has never changed. There is a fountain open for sin and uncleanness. And it's in Jesus' blood and righteousness.

You see, that's the good news. There actually is some good news in terms of the pro-life movement. At least in the United States, several pieces of legislation have been enacted in 2012 that hopefully reduce the amount of abortion. Now, reducing a million to 900,000 is wonderful, but we ought not to rest content until it's unthinkable in a civilized society that we'll murder our babies.

It's the cross that the church has. It's the cross that we preach. It's the cross that we have found salvation in. Klaus Bachmuel said in his book on the Ten Commandments, the church needs to preach the law, needs to preach against abortion, needs to do so sternly, needs to do so seriously, needs to do so earnestly.

He didn't say it just like this, I'm amplifying a little bit. But the church also needs to speak graciously to those who have had abortions, to those who have engaged in abortion. There is a fountain open for sin and uncleanness. There is hope for sinners in the gospel.

Martin Luther said it this way, Jesus Christ is not a sham Savior for sham sinners, but he is a real Savior who offers real atonement for real sin, for gross crimes, for shameless offenses, for transgressions of every sort and every size. Isn't that beautiful? Consider two men, one in the old, one in the new, King David of Israel. What was his claim to fame?

Yes, the territory expanded under his rule. Yes, he was a man after God's own heart. Yes, he engaged in a righteous rule for the most part. Do you know what else he did?

He committed adultery and murder. Guess who's going to be at the marriage supper of the Lamb? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David. It's the blood.

It's Jesus. What about the Apostle Paul? What was his job when Stephen, the martyr of God, was being stoned to death? Paul held the garments.

He held the clothes. He held the robes of those who were throwing stones at this man, Stephen. Paul says he sought men out, he wanted to imprison men, he wanted to murder men. Paul later will describe himself in 1 Timothy 1.15, it is a worthy statement, it deserves all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world, sinners to save, and then he says, of whom I am chief.

What does an abortionist need to hear? He needs to hear the law. He needs to hear Proverbs 6. He needs to hear that God hates those, or hands that shed innocent blood.

He also needs to hear that Christ came, and lived, and died, and rose again, and that everyone who looks to Him in faith will have everlasting life. What does a woman need? What does a man need who is engaged in this particular sin? Any Christ.

That's what we have. It's what the church preaches. That's what we're about. So the Bible and murder is very clear.

Just a couple of thoughts on the state in abortion. It's always hard to preach a sermon like this, not only because of the subject matter. It's one of those weeks that you really don't, you know, I confess, this is probably the week that I don't like the most in the year. I feel constrained to speak on God's law concerning this particular issue.

It's that week where you try to fill your head with the images, you try to look at the stuff, you reread stuff, you look at the stats, you look at the statistics. It's staggering. It is staggering. It is horrifying.

The Criminal Law Amendment Act in 1968-69, 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. In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in R v. Morgenthaler that the existing laws were unconstitutional and struck down the 1969 law. The then-governing progressive conservatives attempted but failed to pass a new abortion law, and since then, Canada has had no criminal laws governing the subject, and abortion is a decision made by a woman with her doctor.

It's easier to have an abortion, in some instances, than to get a prescription for certain medications. I don't know how to be. Machen, in the early part of the 20th century, says the civil government is not intended to produce blessedness or happiness, but intended to prevent blessedness or happiness from being interfered with by wicked men. He said, the state exists for the repression of evildoers and the protection of individual liberty.

I wonder what Machen would think if he got a tour of 21st century North America. Do you realize that that's what the Bible says concerning the limits and the function of the state? Christians sound just like humanists today. We have forgotten that the primary emphasis of the governing authorities is the repression of evildoers, not the financing of evildoing, not the propagation of murder, but the repression of evildoers and the protection of individual liberty.

That's it. The church and abortion. These statistics are staggering. The prevalence among so-called born-again people, 20% have abortion.

Six million evangelicals voted for President Barack Obama. I'm not here to debate fiscal policy, which is moral, by the way. Let's just focus on the murder. Fiscal policy is moral, too.

The same god of the sixth is the god of the eighth. You shall not steal. Four times, as a senator in Illinois, he voted against the Born Alive Infant Protection Act. That is what it says.

The law was written, or the act was proffered, so that if a child survived an abortion, medical staff would be required to assist that person. Then Senator Obama voted four times against that act. because he saw that it might hurt Roe versus Wade. He voted against the Partial Birth Abortion Act. If you don't know what that is, ask me after and I will tell you.

These are things that radical democratic liberals voted against. I remember prior to the election, on the Sean Hannity show, he had a group of Democrats that were unhappy about President Obama. They were unhappy about a whole host of reasons. You say, what does this have to do with it?

It has everything to do with it. When Christians go into the voting booth and vote for the most pro-abortion man that's ever served in the presidency, that's unconscionable. Anyways, this man was on there. He was a minister.

He was complaining about the four years and the first term. I thought, how is a minister who should have voted in the first place? What's happened to us? What has become of us?

How have we fallen? Why does this not matter? Why don't these things affect us in any substantial way? But not only the church with surgical abortion that happens, the church with the voting booth that happens, but the church with certain forms of birth control.

I pointed this out last year. There is a mechanism in the birth control pill that is abortifacient. Again, it's the whole idea of, is it a deer or is it a man? Err on the side of caution.

Look into these things. Investigate these things. Don't just be satisfied that it works. Ask the question, how does it work?

The third particular mechanism in the birth control pill is stipulated as being something that irritates the uterine wall of the woman so that it cannot host the fertilized egg. In biblical parlance, a fertilized egg is a human being. Think. Ask.

Consider. The information is there. All you gotta do is click birthcontrol.com. Kidshealth.com.

We need to make sure that we think biblically about these issues. Why do you preach on this every year? So that the people will know what we need to think. The Bible is relevant.

The Bible is practical. We have this idea that it's over here, and we're over here, and how do we bridge the gap? They were dealing with the same sorts of things, the same sorts of issues, the same sorts of challenges, the same sorts of evil. There's nothing new under the sun.

The same Word of God applies. The same Word of God appeals to man and sin. We need to think, brethren. We need to be conscious of these realities.

We need to understand what the scriptures declare concerning the truth of God's Holy Word. With reference to the church and abortion, it is unfortunately prevalent, but as well, the church and abortion has, or we have the remedy. I've already stipulated this. The cross of Jesus Christ is the remedy for sin and evil.

And you may be in here this morning and say, well, I've never had an abortion. I've never known anyone who had an abortion. I never did anything like abortion. I must be okay." No, you're not.

See, if it wasn't abortion, it was self-righteousness. It's not self-righteousness, it's this particular sin. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. There is no one who does what is righteous.

There is no one who seeks after God. There is no one who has the fear of God in their heart. All of us are level. It's not abortion, it's this sin.

If it's not this sin, it's this sin. If it's not this sin, it's this sin. All of us, dead, trespasses and transgressions and sin. Every single one in this room.

We all need the same Savior. We all need the same blood. We all need the same gospel. We all need the same Jesus.

That one whom Luther said is not a sham Savior for sham sinners. He is a real Savior for real sinners. And the Bible says that everyone who believes in Him will have everlasting life. You are not good enough to get yourself to heaven.

You cannot just morally reform a little bit. You can't just clean up your act. You can't just try a bit harder. You need Christ to save you from your sins.

You need Him, who God made to be sin for us, so that He may execute Him, so He may punish Him, so that we could have His righteousness, we could have forgiveness, in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. So the law says you shall not murder. The gospel says, come ye murderers to my son, the Lord Jesus, and in him you will find everlasting life. It's good news.

Good news answers to a horrible topic.

Closing Prayer

Well, let us pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for its clarity on this crucial issue facing us in our own day. We do pray for governing authorities.

We pray for those in high places. that they would consider their decisions, they would consider their ways. And Lord God, I pray for the church, I pray for Christians, I pray for your people, that we would, in fact, think your thoughts after you, that we would be those who give an answer, who give defense, who give testimony concerning the realities of law and gospel. Go with us now, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Scripture References

• Genesis 1:26-28; 5:1; 6; 9:6
• Exodus 20; 21-23; 21:22-25
• Leviticus 18; 19; 19:32
• Deuteronomy 5-26
• Job 10; 31
• Psalm 8; 51:5; 139
• Proverbs 6:16-19; 8:36; 31:8-9
• Ecclesiastes 11:5
• Isaiah 49:1
• Jeremiah 1:5
• Ezekiel 9
• Matthew 5:21-22
• Luke 1:41-44; 18
• Romans 1
• Galatians 1:15
• 1 Timothy 1:15; 5
• Revelation 21-22