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We can turn with me in your Bibles 
to the book of Exodus, Exodus chapter 21. Today is Sanctity 
of Life Sunday. You've heard this sermon before. 
I'd love to not ever have to preach it again, but such is 
life in this present evil generation. Our focus will be on chapter 
21, verses 22 to 25. As I speak specifically concerning 
abortion, it's not to suggest that the other types of murder 
are acceptable, but that's one that's really out of sight and 
out of mind, unless you kind of keep up with pro-life issues 
or you're paying attention to the news, you don't really think 
much about it. I see made in the news quite 
a bit. I think that's relevant too to what I'm going to preach 
on this morning. But this is a crime and a sin 
that does display and reveal the fact that this is indeed 
an evil generation. So I want to read beginning in 
chapter 21 at verse 22. 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, 
and stripe for stripe. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
gracious God and Father, this is a serious and a sobering subject 
that we consider this morning. It is a difficult thing to wrap 
our minds around. We know that there is such lawlessness 
in the world. There's lawlessness in our own 
hearts. There is that prohibition in the sixth commandment that 
certainly does apply. to your people. God, we pray 
that you'd help us to think clearly concerning these things. Help 
us to understand the scripture so that we may give a reasonable 
defense for the hope that is within us. And God, as we consider 
your law, may we afresh appreciate the work of the Lord Jesus Christ 
on our behalf. We know that His blood shed is 
for the remission of sin, and that includes the sin of murder. 
And in this, we greatly rejoice. We pray now that Your Holy Spirit 
would guide us. We pray that You would give us 
grace to receive these things. And though, again, it may be 
difficult, may You help us to think clearly concerning Your 
Word and its application with reference to such things. And 
we ask this through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, as I said, 
you've heard this before. Hopefully it just seals the deal 
in terms of the things that you know concerning this from a sort 
of a scriptural vantage point. Now, with reference to this particular 
sin, it is an expression of the cruelty of man. I read recently 
John Owen. He's writing about the Lord Jesus 
Christ and the fact that he assumes our humanity and thus realizes 
the image of God in man. and commenting on the virtue 
of compassion. He says, with reference to Christ's 
compassion, he says concerning us, hence they are justly esteemed 
to be fallen into the utmost of degeneracy from our first 
make, frame, and state, and to be most estranged from our common 
original, who have cast off this virtue of compassion, where it 
may and ought to have its actual exercise. Nor are any more severely 
in the Scripture reflected on than those who are unmerciful 
and without compassion, fierce, cruel, and implacable. No man 
more evidently defaced the image of God than such persons." And 
then John Murray, writing a couple hundred years later, makes this 
observation in his Principles of Conduct. He says, nothing 
shows the moral bankruptcy of a people or of a generation more 
than disregard for the sanctity of life. And again, when it comes 
to the arena or orbit of abortion, it's already just accepted. We 
can't even question it. We can't even make that a part 
of the platform in conservative politics. It's unthinkable that 
we would even challenge the thought that every woman has a right 
to choose to abort her baby. It is unthinkable and it does 
express the cruelty of man. It does express the fact that 
we are indeed a debraved people. Christ speaking as wisdom in 
Proverbs chapter 8, he says in verse 36, but he who sins against 
me wrongs his own soul. All those who hate me love death. 
So the lovers of death express an anti-Christian sentiment. They expressed anti-Christian 
principle. They are those opposed to God, 
most high, who spoke his law relative to the protection of 
human life. Now that does not mean we disregard 
animal life, but animals are not created in the image of God. 
Man is. And as a result, there is a strict 
prohibition against taking the life of another human being. 
So I want to look at three things this morning. First, the sixth 
commandment of the Decalogue. Secondly, the sanctity of human 
life in the Bible. And then thirdly, the specific 
passage in the law of God that I read here in Exodus 21, 22 
to 25. But in terms of the Ten Commandments, 
you can go back to chapter 20, and the basis of the commandments 
is the fact that God made man. the fact that God created, the 
fact that God then governs and legislates, the fact that God 
is lawgiver, He is perfectly righteous and just, so He commands 
His creatures how they are to function in His world. Now with reference to the specific 
commandment in view, notice verse 13, you shall not murder. Now, 
by implication, we are taught that we should promote life. 
We should promote health. We should take care of ourselves. 
We should seek to take care of others. But the commandment comes 
from the hand of God specifically as a negative. It's a prohibition 
against murder. Now with reference to murder, 
later legislation will make a distinction. There's accidental homicide. 
If I swing an axe and the axe head falls off and I was just 
reckless and it finds its way into your head, I am not a murderer. Murder includes malice of forethought. Malice includes premeditation. 
Malice, or murder rather, includes malice of forethought or premeditation. 
Murder would be me waiting in your bush, knowing that you're 
coming home, jumping out and swinging the axe at your head. 
So with reference to murder, Webster's 1828 gives it a very 
basic definition and a good working one, to kill a human being with 
premeditated malice. Now there is a distinction made 
in God's law, I've already alluded to, the case of the swinging 
axe. If you do it accidentally, that 
is homicide, it's not good. there is stipulation in the law 
for you to go to a city of refuge, you're going to have your life 
a bit altered for a period of time, again, to teach that recklessness 
is frowned upon in the civil polity. But it's not murder. Again, it doesn't have malice 
aforethought. So there's a distinction made in the law of God between 
homicide and murder itself. And then this commandment not 
only speaks to the external act of burying an ax in somebody's 
head, but it speaks to the internal heart disposition. And you see 
that in Leviticus 19, 17 and 18, Zechariah 7, 9 and 10, Zechariah 
8, 17, and then most famously for our purposes is in Matthew 
chapter five, verse 22. The Lord Jesus is giving a series 
of antitheses there between what he teaches and what prescribes 
and the Pharisees taught. You've heard that it was said 
to those of old, you shall not murder. But I say to you, he's 
not pitting himself against Moses. Moses makes the same argument 
in the book of Leviticus in chapter 19. Jesus is pitting himself 
against scribal misinterpretation. Because as far as they were concerned, 
as long as you didn't bury an ax in somebody's head, then you 
were perfectly innocent. Well, Jesus says, no, if you 
hate your brother in your heart, if you call him fool or raka, 
if you engage in that inner disposition wherein you want to tear down 
the life of another person, that is as equally heinous. 1 John 
3.15, same sort of an emphasis. It is not righteous conduct for 
one to hate his brother in his heart. That is prohibited, that 
is forbidden by the sixth commandment. And then with reference to the 
text itself, you shall not murder. That's a good translation. The 
old King James has kill. But as I said, the Bible makes 
a distinction between killing and murder. All murder is killing, 
but not all killing is murder. And there are three instances 
that the Bible authorizes for killing. The situation of capital 
punishment, Genesis 9, 6, Romans 13, 1-4. God gave the civil magistrate 
the sword in order to punish evil doers, those who engage 
in evil works. It's not been suspended. It's 
not been abrogated. And again, this reflects our 
moral degeneracy. The Bible demands the execution 
of those who murder other people. The problem with our government 
isn't that they kill people. The problem is, is that they 
kill the wrong people. They kill babies in the womb. 
They kill the elderly. They kill the sick. all the while 
murderers are scot-free, engaging in the sorts of things that God 
Most High has said you need to restrict them from doing that. 
Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood will be shed, for 
in the image of God he made man. Capital punishment is an instance 
of authorized homicide. As well, self-defense. Exodus 
chapters 22, 2, and 3. And then Jesus assumes this principle 
in his teaching in the gospel narratives. It is not right for 
somebody to say, you don't have the right to defend yourself. 
That is innate, that is ingrained, that is a feature of our image-bearing 
of God Most High. We are to protect ourselves and 
defend ourselves and to use that force necessary, including lethal 
force, should it come to that, in order to stop a criminal offender. And then the third instance of 
lawful homicide is just war. Just war is indicated in Deuteronomy 
chapter 7 with reference to holy war. God says to the children 
of Israel to go into the land of Canaan and dispossess the 
land of the Canaanites. That wasn't by invitation, that 
wasn't by Facebook announcement, that was by killing them and 
destroying things. And then Romans 13, one to four 
again, the sword that the magistrate wields is for the punishment 
of criminal offenders within the civil polity, but defense 
against foreign invaders. And so there is a just nest to 
war. There is a time for war according 
to Solomon in the book of Ecclesiastes. Now, what looks like a just war 
is probably something you and I have not seen, but the principle 
in and of itself is in fact biblical. So with reference to the commandment 
of God, we see the definition, the distinction made between 
accidental or homicide and then murder, the disposition of the 
heart is included, and then the translation of our text is specific, 
you shall not murder. And what is at the basis of this 
besides the fact that God is creator and the fact that God 
is lawgiver, but the fact that we are image bearers of God? 
If you turn back to Genesis chapter one, The opening chapters of 
Genesis, as you know, is the account of creation. And in Genesis 
chapter 1, God makes all of the creatures who fill the sky, that 
fill the sea, that fill the land, but it's the creature called 
man that is the pinnacle of his creative activity. It is man 
that alone bears the image of God. It is man that comes from 
the hand of God as a rational soul, as one that can communicate 
with God. You'll notice in Genesis 1, there's 
not a stage or a progression where Adam sort of grunts, and 
he drags his knuckles, and then he figures out how to, you know, 
make fire and cook food. He comes from the hand of God, 
hardwired in the image of God. He's able to communicate with 
God. He's able to think about things around him. Well, why 
is that? Were there stages of evolution that brought him to 
this place? No, he comes from the hand of God as the special 
creation of God, and as I said, the pinnacle of God's creation. 
Notice in Genesis 1, 26 to 28, the mandate for Adam and Eve 
was to multiply and to fill the earth with additional image bearers 
to extend that garden sanctuary to encompass the entirety of 
the earth so that God would be glorified through mankind. Genesis 
126, then God said, let us make man in our image. I believe that 
to be a reference to the triune God. This us and our speaks of 
the plurality of persons in the Godhead. 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. You see, the anti-Christian approach 
to passages like these is to preach depopulation. As far as 
God's concerned, babies in the womb is a good thing. The multiplication 
of babies in the womb is a good thing. The population of the 
earth with image bearers is a good thing. The depopulation is contrary, 
it is anti, it is against God. And it seems to be those very 
things that our world is championing right now. So that's basically 
the sixth commandment. Let's move now to the sanctity 
of human life in the Bible. And I realize there's been a 
push to replace, thus saith the Lord, with, well, science says. That's to put a contrary where 
it doesn't belong. God, according to the psalmist, 
is the Lord God of truth. That includes nature and revelation. Science simply means knowledge. 
When you engage in science, you'll learn that what the Bible says 
is in fact true. Now, there's an antithesis between 
scripture and state-sanctioned science. when they twist science 
to make it fit what they have in terms of an agenda. But we 
ought not to be afraid of science so-called. We ought not to be 
afraid of knowledge. We ought not to discountenance 
the fact that God is sovereign in nature, light of nature, general 
revelation. These things bespeak the glory 
of God. We can move from the created 
effect to appreciate the glory of the creator himself. There's 
no antithesis between nature And grace, grace takes nature 
and perfects it. It's a wonderful thing that God 
does in terms of redemption. So when we look at the sanctity 
of human life in the Bible, we need to keep that image of God 
concept in our mind. We need to see that it applies 
at every stage. It's not just sort of, you know, 
when a child is two, well, then they've arrived at the image 
of God. When a child is two months, he's arrived at the image of 
God. When he's in utero, he's not 
the image of God. Well, the Bible says otherwise, 
and we need to understand what the Bible says. So with reference 
to the image of God displayed in man, you have first the image 
of God displayed in pre-fall man. And you saw that in Genesis 
1, 26 to 28. God makes man in a way that is 
different than the way that he makes the beluga, in the way 
that he makes the sparrow. Not in the way terms, logistically, 
he spoke and it came into being. But the dignity that they possess, 
man's is there because he's in the image of God. He's a rational 
soul. He's a body and a soul. He's 
reasonable. He's able to think. He's able 
to communicate. And that, again, doesn't denigrate the whales 
that are able to communicate to one another. But they don't 
do math. They don't parse verbs. They 
don't cook cakes or bake cakes. There's limitations in the animal 
kingdom. There are limitations in man's 
kingdom because we're creature, but we're creature that bears 
the image of God. And so the image is present pre-fall. The image, secondly, is present 
post-fall. Notice in Genesis chapter 5. 
Genesis chapter 5, after the fall of man in Genesis 2 and 
3, we have this statement again reiterating the image of God 
present. Genesis 5.1, this is the book of the genealogy of 
Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him in the likeness 
of God. He created them male and female 
and blessed them and called them mankind in the day they were 
created. And then it goes on to list a 
whole bunch of other people that descend from Adam by ordinary 
generation. The implication seems to be that 
they possess the image of God. James chapter 3 highlights this 
fact as well, or highlights this reality. Again, the degree to 
which we possess that image as fallen man, Owen uses the language 
of defacing the image. That's another argument or another 
discussion, to be sure, just giving you an overarching approach 
to what Scripture says concerning this image of God and how it 
separates us from the animal. Notice in James 3 verse 9, well 
verse 8, but no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, 
full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and 
Father, and with it we curse men who have been made in the 
similitude or likeness of God. So you see, the argument is, 
don't use your tongue to bash men who are made in the likeness 
of God. In other words, there's a dignity 
they possess. There is a rightness that they 
possess. They've come from the hand of 
God, and therefore, you're not supposed to curse them. With 
it, we bless men, and then we curse men. Thirdly, the image 
of God is present in children. Children, now I do subscribe 
to the older model, children are better seen than heard, just 
kidding. But I appreciate that they are 
image bearers. There's a prohibition in Leviticus 
18.21 that you're not supposed to throw your seed to Moloch. 
You're not supposed to let your descendants pass through the 
fire. Why is that? Because they're 
little image bearers. They're not sacrifices. They're 
not disposable. They're not arbitrary. You don't 
just chuck them in the fire to appease the pagan god, Moloch. 
And then, of course, in Ephesians 6, we're going to come to that 
passage, God willing, next Sunday night. What does Paul tell children? He says, children, obey your 
parents and the Lord for this is right. And he goes on to say, 
honor your father and your mother. So children are addressed as 
image bearers of the living and true God. And then fathers are 
told very specifically, do not provoke your children to wrath, 
but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. They're 
not for abuse. They're not for perversion. They're 
not for use. They are image bearers of the 
living and true God. Therefore they have dignity, 
intrinsic dignity, and you're supposed to treat them as image 
bearers of the living and true God. And then as well, fourthly, 
the Bible shows us that the image of God is in the handicapped. 
Again, Leviticus chapter 19, 14. Don't put a stumbling block 
before a blind man. That's absolutely positively 
wretched. Don't mock them. Don't engage 
in sport with them. Why? Because they are image bearers 
of the living and true God. What about the case of Bartimaeus, 
the blind Bartimaeus, who is begging by the side of the road 
and hears that Jesus is coming in the streets of Jericho. And 
what does Bartimaeus do? Bartimaeus says, Jesus, thou 
son of David, have mercy on me. And of course, all the crowd 
around him tells him to be quiet. Shh, be quiet. He doesn't have 
time for you. So what does Bartimaeus do? He 
lifts up his voice even louder and says, Jesus, thou son of 
David, have mercy on me. Do you know what's absolutely 
positively glorious in that scene? Is that Christ stops in the midst 
of the hustle and bustle, in the midst of the multitude, and 
he comes over to Bartimaeus and he says, Bartimaeus, what would 
you have me to do? Why does he do that? Because Bartimaeus is 
an image-bearer. Bartimaeus has dignity. Bartimaeus 
may not have his eyesight, but Bartimaeus is special in the 
sight of God Most High. And of course, Bartimaeus says, 
Lord, I want to see. And so Jesus heals him. So the 
image of God is present. We don't marginalize or we don't 
say, well, you know, maid's probably the best option for you. Maid 
would be what we would recommend to you. That is barbaric. That is degeneracy. That is cruelty 
that expresses our fallenness from God Most High. We see, fifthly, 
the image of God in the sick. Turn to the book of James. Well, 
you might be there. James 5, 14 and 15. James 5, 14 and 15. There may be some perplexing 
things about this particular passage. I can answer or try 
to answer questions later, but I just want you to see the point. 
Notice in James 5 at verse... Well, 13, is anyone among you 
suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? 
Let him sing psalms. 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. He's 
an image-bearer. That's not forfeit, that's not 
sacrifice, that's not gone because the man is sick. Sixth, you have 
the image of God in the elderly. The image of God in the elderly. 
Again, when we get to this discussion of medical assistance in dying, 
you need to see how barbaric this is. They're taking image 
bearers and saying, you know what? You're just not that important. Remember how offensive it was 
when COVID first started and we were told that the churches 
were not essential? What? Why did so many people 
accept that? Why do we, okay, yeah, let's 
shut down the church, but keep the bars open, keep hockey open, 
keep the movies going, keep all that going, but you know, church, 
it's not essential. Well, isn't that what made is, 
essentially? You're not essential. You have 
no value. You have no worth. There's nothing 
that you contribute now. What does God through Moses tell 
us in Leviticus 19? Rise in the presence of a gray-headed 
man. How does Paul treat Timothy when 
it comes to treating old men in the context of the church? 
Don't rebuke them. Don't come in with bravado. You're 30 and you know everything 
and that 70-year-old better get on board. No, you treat him with 
love and respect and with dignity. Why? He's an image-bearer of 
God Most High. Now, the particular application 
is the image of God in the pre-born in the womb. The image of God 
in the preborn, in the womb. It's good for us to go through 
these texts. Turn to the book of Genesis. Genesis chapter 25. 
Genesis chapter 25. Notice specifically at verses 
19 to 23. 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 of Paddan 
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 notice 
the language, the children. Keep that sort of in your mind 
right now. The children, 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, 
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, now this is language 
you need to consider as well, the first came out red. That's oftentimes the language 
of the Bible in terms of the birth process. Babies come out. Makes perfect sense, right? They 
don't stay in. After the gestation period, they 
come out. Now again, keep that in your 
head for when we go back to Exodus 21 eventually. So verse 25, and 
the first came out red. He was like a hairy garment all 
over. So they called his name Esau. Beautiful description. He's like a hairy garment. Here's 
your son. He looks like a hairy garment. 
Afterward, his brother came out and his hand took hold of Esau's 
heel. So his name was called Jacob. 
Isaac was 60 years old when she bore that. So we've got children 
struggling in the womb, according to verse 22. Not a lump of cells, 
mass of cells, a clump of things that we can just discard at will. 
No, they're children in the womb. Turn over the book of Job, Job 
chapter 10. Job chapter 10, verses 10 to 12, or 8 to 12. Job 10, 
8 to 12. Job 10.8, 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 with 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. Again, 
he's not saying what you did in the womb was to some product 
of conception or clump of cells, but it was me, it was Job in 
his mother's womb. Turn over to Job 31, where he's 
rehearsing his righteousness. And when I say that, there's 
probably problems with it, and certainly God upbraids him in 
some sense, but he's basically rehearsing that as far as he's 
been able, he's tried to be a lawful guy. He's tried to do what he's 
supposed to do. But notice what he says in 31, 
13 to 15. If I have despised the cause 
of my male or female servant when they complained against 
me, what then shall I do when God arises up? When he punishes, 
how shall I answer him? Did not he who made me, Job, 
in the womb make them the servants? Did not the same one fashion 
us in the womb? Again, this idea that it's just 
a lump of cells or a product of conception, that always is 
language designed to dehumanize and to separate and to make it 
okay, because we're not really killing a person. We're just 
kind of ridding this woman of some, you know, pesky cells. 
And then Psalm 51.5, David traces his native depravity back to 
his mother's womb. He's not saying that the conjugal 
relationship that obtained between his father and mother was sin. 
God ordained sexual union in the context of covenant marriage. 
What he is saying is that as soon as David was David, there 
was the presence of sin. David was a covenant theologian. 
He understood federal theology. He understood that Adam stood 
for man. Christ, the last Adam, stood 
for man. And that in Adam, all die. So 
notice in 51.5, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and 
in sin. My mother conceived me. Again, 
the accent isn't on the act. The accent is on David's depravity. So while David is in the womb, 
he's got this problem. And then Psalm 139, probably 
the most read Psalm on Sanctity of Life Sunday, specifically 
the bit that deals with babies in their mother's womb and how 
God puts them together. Psalm 139, verses 13 to 14. to 16, for you form 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. So David is celebrating the attributes 
or perfections of God. He deals with divine omniscience, 
verses 1 to 6, divine omnipresence in verses 7 to 12, and then divine 
omnipotence in verses 13 to 18. What's a good place to showcase 
God's absolute power? the womb of a mother. It displays 
God's power, it displays His glory, it displays His majesty. You could write down and look 
at later Ecclesiastes 11, 5, but one more Old Testament passage 
is in the prophet Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 1. Jeremiah chapter 1, 
he rehearses his call to the prophetic ministry. You see that 
in the prophets, Isaiah 6. Isaiah rehearses his call to 
the prophetic ministry. In the year that King Uzziah 
died, I saw the Lord lofty and exalted and the train of his 
robe filled the whole temple. He's telling us how he came to 
the place of being the prophet of God. Well, notice Jeremiah 
chapter 1, verse 4. Then the word of the Lord came 
to me saying, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified 
you. I ordained you a prophet to the 
nations. In other words, what God is saying 
is that in his sovereignty, he had ordained the prophetic role 
of Jeremiah, and that this was true of Jeremiah, even from his 
mother's womb. This was his future. This was 
his destiny. This was his mission in God's 
world. Turn over to the New Testament, 
specifically Luke's gospel, Luke 1. Luke 1. We've often referred to the word 
as pedobaptism. Pedo means children or infant, 
child baptism. There's a different Greek word 
employed here in chapter one, brephos, which is the baby in 
the womb, but it's applied to babies outside of the womb in 
Luke 18. So it's not like there's technical 
terminology for the pre or for the conceptus and it differs 
radically. No, what you find outside the 
womb is a baby or a child or an infant. What you find inside 
the womb is a baby or a child or an infant. And if you notice 
specifically at Luke 1 verse 15. Luke 1 verse 15. Verse 14, and you will have joy 
and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be 
great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither wine 
nor strong drink. He will also be filled with the 
Holy Spirit, even from his mother's womb. And again, how that applies 
to paedo-baptism is a different story. The kettle of fish I want 
you to see is that this is a baby in his mother's womb that is 
able to receive the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit 
of God. So it's not a product of conception to depersonalize. 
It's not a lump of cells to create prejudice, but rather it is a 
baby in its mother's womb that is capable of receiving the Holy 
Spirit. And then notice in Luke chapter 
one, specifically at verses 41 to 44. Well, verse 39, now Mary 
arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste 
to a city of Judah and entered the house of Zacharias and greeted 
Elizabeth. And it happened when Elizabeth 
heard the greeting of Mary that the babe, Not product of conception, 
not lump of cells. 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 note verse 43, but 
why is this granted to me that the mother of my Lord should 
come to me? The Word became flesh and dwelt 
among us. That was every much as true, 
every much as real, every much as present in the womb of Mary. He's the Lord in the womb. So there's no kind of concept 
or terminology that distinguishes between a real baby and a potential 
baby, a baby sort of on the way. No, the product of conception, 
if we're going to use that depersonalized language and define it rightly, 
it's called a baby. Just like fetus, that's another 
thing, to try to distance the... Listen, that just means infant 
or unborn baby in Latin. So this attempt to depersonalize 
is contrary to the Bible. And then one final text is Galatians 
1. something of a New Testament apostolic counterpart to the 
Old Testament prophetic ministry. Remember, we saw that Jeremiah 
was separated from his mother's womb for the call of God to preach 
his word. Well, Paul says the same thing 
concerning his apostolic ministry in Galatians 1.15, but when it 
pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called 
me through his grace, when it pleased God who separated me 
from my mother's womb and called me through his grace, So when 
we look at the Bible and we see this statement in Genesis 1, 
26 to 28, about man bearing, being the image of God Most High, 
and then we ask the question, what about a man at this state? 
What about man at this state? What about man at this state? 
What about man who's handicapped? What about man who's sick? What 
about man who's old? What about man who's young? The 
Bible's answer is the same. We are the image of God Most 
High. And so, as a result, you're not 
supposed to destroy it. You're not supposed to murder 
it. As Gerhardus Voss says in his biblical theology, he says, 
in life slain, it is the image of God, i.e., the divine majesty 
that is assaulted. And then Gordon Clark responds 
to this desire on the part of pro-abortionists to define away 
the humanity of a baby in its mother's womb. He says, 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? He says, I think 
that some babies born 30 or 40 years ago have turned out to 
be asinine. It is an attempt to evade the 
conscience that convicts. This is not confined to the arena 
of abortion. It's pretty much universal. If 
we're going to do something nasty and horrible, we've got to have 
a reason for it. We don't just go out and do nasty and horrible 
things. We've got to justify it. We've got to redefine. It's 
not adultery. It's, you know, playing around. 
It's flirting. It's not theft. It's, well, you know, I deserved 
it anyway. It's not idolatry. Well, yeah, I seek my comfort 
and safety and everything that is special to me in a creature 
versus the creator. Brethren, redefining things doesn't 
make it go away. And when it comes to this particular 
situation, there's a lot of redefinition that has come to pass. Now, not 
only do we have the image of God displayed in man, but we 
have the image of God displayed in the word of God. In other 
words, Jesus dignified humanity by taking on humanity. The apostle speaks to this in 
Hebrews 2, 14 to 18. He says, in as much then as the 
children have partaken of flesh and blood, he himself likewise 
shared in the same, that through death he might destroy him who 
had the power of death, that is the devil, and release those 
who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to 
bondage. And then in verse 16, he says, indeed, he does not 
give aid to angels. The better translation is he 
does not take on angels. That means he doesn't assume 
angelic nature to redeem the angels. But he continues, but 
he does give aid. Again, a better rendering is 
take on the seed of Abraham. What does that mean? He assumed 
our humanity for the work of redemption, so He could live 
for us, so He could die for us, so He could be raised again for 
us. As the Father said, whatever is not assumed is not healed. 
Jesus dignifies, through the Incarnation, man himself. He shows us that this isn't to 
be disregarded. We're not supposed to treat it 
cavalierly. We're not supposed to just kill or murder at will. Now the Bible puts a premium 
on man because man bears the image of God. Now go back to 
the book of Exodus where we see a specific passage in the law 
of God that speaks to this issue. Exodus chapter 21, verses 22 
to 25. Now Exodus chapters 21 to 23 
are something of concrete applications of Exodus 20. So in Exodus 20, 
you have what's called the Decalogue or the 10 words, the 10 commandments. God gives those 10 commandments 
in Exodus chapter 20, they're repeated on the plains of Moab 
in Deuteronomy chapter 5, but those 10 commandments give you 
prohibitions. By implication, they give you 
positive, you know, mandates. And with reference to the sixth 
commandment, you shall not murder. Well, the questions naturally 
arise, how do we take that principle and put it into practice in a 
civil society? How do we take that abstract 
principle, you shall not murder, and make it concrete in the day 
in, day out, ebb and flow, rubbing shoulders with one another in 
society where we live? Well, that's what Exodus 21 to 
23 does. It explains in detail how you're supposed to conduct 
yourself in the civil realm. And those are applications of 
the principle in Exodus chapter 20. You see this very clearly 
if you look at Exodus 21 verse 1. Now, these are the judgments 
which you shall set before them. You've got these 10 commandments, 
you've got these mandates from God, these words from God. Now, these are the judgments, 
these are the concrete applications, these are the specifications 
as to how you're supposed to deal with them in civil society. So when you get to about verse 
12, you have laws on homicide in verses 12 to 17. And again, 
that distinction is made between murder and homicide. Now again, 
all murder is homicide, but not all homicide is murder. So it 
makes that distinction between what is malice aforethought and 
your determination to rid the earth of that person that you 
don't want around anymore and an accident. So the laws on homicide 
in verses 12 to 17. And then you have laws on bodily 
injuries in verses 18 to 32. And so in this section, you have 
the occasion of two men who fight. You know, there is nothing new 
under the sun. If you're on social media, if you're on Twitter especially, 
you'll see all these fights all over the world. I mean, you can't 
go to McDonald's anymore without fighting your way out. You can't 
buy a donut without getting hooked from behind by somebody that 
wants to do you harm. So, you know, there's nothing 
new under the sun. There were guys back then that 
would fight, and that's what happened. If you notice, verse 
21, if men fight, that's the issue. That's a problem. I think there's a good take-home 
message here. Don't fight. Don't go out to 
McDonald's and, you know, exchange blows with some guy in the line 
behind you because you're going too slow. Well, let's fight. 
No, you're not supposed to do that. And here we notice that 
in the midst of this fight, a woman who is pregnant is struck. Now, 
probably she was a wife to one of the men that was fighting. 
Perhaps she was trying to get in the midst of that, trying 
to break him up. Honey, don't do this. That's not a good thing. 
You shouldn't fight in McDonald's. Not wise. You're going to be 
all over Twitter. People are going to see you. 
They're going to mock you. They're going to say, wow, look at that dummy. Just 
don't do that. So let's look at the text a bit 
more carefully. If men fight and hurt a woman 
with, it's plural, with children, this law envisages the possibility 
that she has more than one baby in her womb. She could have had 
twins. She could have had triplets. 
She could have had four, five, six, however many the Lord would 
give her. If men fight and hurt a woman 
with children so that she gives birth prematurely. You know what 
the language is, literally? So that her children come out. Just like Esau, came out. Just 
like Jacob, came out. The New King James here translates 
it well. What's in view is a premature 
birth. There are certain translations 
that use the language miscarriage. Now, I'm gonna tell you why that's 
a problem in just a moment, but know for the moment that there 
is a Hebrew word for miscarriage. There is a Hebrew word for one 
untimely born, but those Hebrew words aren't used here. It's 
the normal convention for childbirth. She gets struck and her child 
or children come out. In other words, she gives birth 
prematurely. See, if we adopt the reading 
miscarriage, when the penalty comes, it only covers her. Notice what the text says. So 
that she gives birth prematurely. Let's just read it for a moment. 
So that she miscarries, yet no harm follows. It tends to just 
cover her. The miscarriage is incidental. 
As long as she's not hurt, everything's okay. But the premature birth, 
the children coming out, means that the law covers them as well. 
So notice, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm 
follows to her or to her child or children that came out prematurely. If no harm follows any of the 
people that were potentially injured or potentially killed, 
if no harm follows, then notice the penalty. He shall surely 
be punished as the woman's husband imposes on him, and he shall 
pay as the judges determine. Right? It was an accident. It 
was a premeditation, a malice of forethought. But you're going 
to pay. You're going to pay, and you're 
going to learn that you shouldn't fight in McDonald's while there's 
a pregnant woman standing there. There's going to be a negative 
sanction imposed upon you such that the next time you go to 
McDonald's and you get the desire to go toe-to-toe with some other 
guy, you're going to think twice. You're going to be discouraged 
from doing that. So that's if no harm follows to the mother 
or to the baby or babies. But look what goes on. Verse 
23, but if any harm follows to the mother or to the baby or 
babies. See, they're covered by God's 
law. They're protected by divine command. They're protected by God's word. 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. In Latin, we call that the lex 
talionis, which is translated into English, the law of retribution 
or the law of retaliation. And as we've had cause to consider 
this in our studies on Wednesday night through the Pentateuch, 
it doesn't necessarily envisage that there was a squad of men 
in Old Covenant Israel that carried pliers to pull out teeth. or 
that carried pokers to gouge out eyes, or carried lighters 
to return burn for burn. The principle is the standard 
principle of justice that the punishment must fit the crime. The punishment must fit the crime. That's what that formula conveys. That's what that formula communicates. If no harm follows, financial 
penalty. If harm follows, death penalty 
if necessary. So the Old Testament envisages 
the dignity of the baby in the womb. And I want to just up the 
ante one bit more here. Go back for just a moment to 
verses 12 to 14. Exodus 21, verse 12. He who strikes a man so that 
he dies shall surely be put to death. 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." So you see the 
distinction? Murder. Manslaughter, murder, 
accidental homicide. He who strikes a man so that 
he dies shall surely be put to death. That's murder. However, 
if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand 
through providence, then I will appoint for you a place where 
he may flee. Notice in verse 14, 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. In other words, 
there's no ransom accepted for the murderer. And in this particular 
instance, it's, you know, there's the accidentalness. What happens 
when a guy accidentally kills somebody? Well, there's cities 
of refuge that he can flee to. When you drop down to 22 to 25, 
they're accidentally killing either the mother or the children. 
It's a case of accidentalness, but the penalty is stronger. The penalty is more severe. The 
penalty is up to and including the death penalty. So the Bible 
not only dignifies the baby in the womb, the Bible protects 
the baby in the womb. The Bible cares about the baby 
in the womb. It doesn't disregard the baby 
in the womb. When we consider the abomination 
of this particular practice, there was an early church manual 
called the Didache. It's early. It's probably, some 
scholars put it like 8100. So just on the heels of the apostles, 
they basically, whoever wrote the Didache basically wrote, 
you know, taking the scriptures and applying them for a handy 
handbook for life in God's world, God's church, God's, you know, 
society. Didache 2.2, you shall not abort 
a child or commit infanticide. That was very relevant in the 
Roman Empire. Very relevant in the Roman Empire 
when girl babies were discarded with the trash. Trash day at 
my house is on Wednesday. If you would have been in the 
Roman Empire and you had a baby girl on Tuesday night and you 
didn't want the baby girl, you just put it out with the trash. 
Well, what do you think happens to baby girls that are put out 
with the trash? Well, the dogs of the street either eat them 
or somebody takes them and raises them up for a life of unsavory 
things. This was a reality in the world 
that Paul preached. This was a reality in the world 
where John and Peter preached. We look at our own generation, 
we think, there's never been anything. Yeah, there has. I'm 
not justifying our present situation, but there was all the kinds of 
stuff facing them that faces us. Now, state-sanctioned surgical 
instrument sort of abortion may not have been going on as rampantly, 
but there was abortion and infanticide. So how does the early church 
respond? Reflecting upon the word of the living and true God, 
they make the mandate, you shall not abort a child or commit infanticide. 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. Brethren, that's true. And it 
is out of sight, out of mind. It is something that, you know, 
it's hard to think about. It's hard to preach about. I 
mean, it is. It's not like, wow, this is great. 
I get to go speak about the worst or one of the worst things going 
on, you know, in massive numbers all around us. It's horrific. There is judgment for those who 
engage, unrepentant in this practice. Proverbs 6, 16 to 19. These six 
things Yahweh hates, yea, seven are an abomination to Him. A 
proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood. Hands 
that shed innocent blood. That's a thing that God abominates. Revelation 21.8, but the cowardly, 
unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, 
idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which 
burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Murderers. Again, I say unrepentant because 
there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. We're going to end on that high 
note, but just a couple of thoughts by way of conclusion. In terms 
of the origin of abortion, we can bring it right back to the 
devil himself. Remember when Jesus is disputing 
with the religious leaders of his time? John 8, 44, he says, 
you are of your father, the devil, and the desires of your father 
you want to do. And then he goes on to express 
the problems with the devil. He says he was a liar and what? A murderer from the beginning. The manifestation of abortion, 
The devil is behind Planned Parenthood, the devil is behind state-sanctioned 
murder of babies, but it's ultimately a devilish thing. Ephesians 6, 
12, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against 
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness 
of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly 
places. So we need to understand the 
spiritual battle involved and be a prayerful people. I'm not 
suggesting we don't protest. I'm not suggesting we don't write. 
I'm not suggesting we don't preach. But I am suggesting we ought 
to pray about this subject. Secondly, we should consider 
the state in abortion. And by state, I don't mean Kentucky, 
I mean the civil government. With reference to the state and 
abortion, I've heard it said that, well, what's the big deal? 
The government doesn't make anyone have abortions. The government 
doesn't make anyone have drive-by shootings either. But they don't 
encourage drive-by shootings. They don't encourage wholesale 
slaughter of innocent people. To say, well, they don't encourage 
it, I'd argue they actually do with taxes and subsidies and 
all sorts of things, legislation. The criminality of abortion is 
a reality. Abortion is one of those things 
that is both a sin, sin against God, and a crime. It's always 
wrong to murder people in the civil policy. It just is. It's 
just always wrong to murder people in the civil policy. Not all 
crime is sin. It's a crime to preach Christ 
in Saudi Arabia. It's not a sin. Not all sin is 
crime, at least yet. You shouldn't be punished by 
the civil state because you covet. But abortion is both sinful, 
an offense against God, and criminal in terms of the body politic. 
And there's absolutely no reason why anybody should ever stop 
because there's no wherewithal in anyone to punish this particular 
criminal activity. Remember the purpose of civil 
government. They were never intended by God to be a nanny to everyone 
from cradle to grave. Civil government's duties are 
very delimited in the scriptures. And I think that Machen summarizes 
it well. He says the state exists for 
the repression of evildoers and the protection of individual 
liberty. and health care, and abortion, and drugs, and education. That's not what he says. I think 
he captures what the Bible emphasizes. The state exists for the repression 
of evildoers and the protection of individual liberty. He also 
said this, civil government is not intended to produce blessedness 
or happiness. I don't want anyone to have my 
back. Leave me alone. That's it. He 
also said 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. Your job isn't to 
make my life better. Your job is to leave me alone 
so I can pursue the better. Your job is to protect me from 
getting my throat cut in the streets or from being invaded 
by a foreign power. That's your job. You had one 
job. They don't do that, but they do everything else. And 
may I suggest they do it very poorly. Machen says, it is true. The attack upon liberty is nothing 
new. Always there have been tyrants in the world. Almost always tyranny 
has begun by being superficially beneficent. We're here to help 
you. We're here to serve you. And always it has ended by being 
both superficially and radically cruel. Now, whether you agree 
with that or not, you may not, and that's okay. We can agree 
to disagree on certain things when it comes to tertiary issues 
in the Bible. But I ask you to ponder it. I 
ask you to think about it. Was God's appointment of the 
civil state to hold you from the cradle to the grave? To restrict 
you from the cradle to the grave? to govern you every instance, 
every issue, everything in your life? Can you make a move today 
without thinking government? Can you put a shed in your yard 
without thinking government? Can you do anything? Again, you 
might say, well, that's exactly what the Bible envisages. Well, 
we can have that debate. I would suggest thirdly and finally, 
the church and abortion. You've got the Bible in abortion, 
the origin of abortion, state and abortion, and the church. 
It's prevalent, even within the professing church. It is prevalent 
even within the professing church. Brethren, these things ought 
not to be, because we don't think clearly. We don't think biblically. 
We don't think with conviction. This is not something we ape 
the world in. This is not something we follow 
after. The people of God, at times, 
have a serious lack of knowledge. That's not to offend you. It's 
not to disenfranchise you. It's not to make you feel bad. 
You've got to know what the Bible says. You've got to know what 
scripture says. The people of God in surgical abortion. Again, 
that's something that happens. Or the professing people of God. 
The people of God in the voting booth. You're just a one-issue 
guy. I can't imagine ever voting for a candidate that was outspokenly 
pro-rape or pro-pedophilia. I can't imagine that. Yeah, I'm 
going to stand on a platform where we not only permit, but 
we encourage rape through our city streets. Who would vote 
for that? Probably the people that would 
vote for murderers that are okay with abortion. It's disgusting. I'm not telling you how to vote. 
This isn't, you know, the GOP, yay, the conservatives. I'm not 
saying that. I'm not saying that, but I'm asking you to think through 
the implications of the checkmark as to who you are giving your 
tacit approval to in terms of governing our nation. The people 
of God and sexual immorality. Why do you think a lot of people 
have abortions? Probably it's in the vein of Proverbs 28. He 
who covers his transgression will not prosper. You don't want 
to be found out. David didn't want to be found 
out that Bathsheba was pregnant with his child. So what does 
David do? He tries to get Uriah to sleep 
with his wife. When that doesn't work, he sends 
Uriah to the hottest part of the battle so that he can die. 
He tried to cover it up. This happens. This is not the 
way to cover up sexual immorality. The way to cover up sexual immorality 
is through the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who cleanses 
us from all sin. The people have gotten chemical 
abortion. You'll find now reporting where 
there's abortions coming down. Yeah, because you can mail order 
abortion pills. You can get them at your door. 
You could do it in the privacy of your own house. So maybe the 
number of surgical abortions is coming down, which I'm not 
convinced, they're not lying, but the chemical abortions are 
skyrocketing. And then abortifacient birth 
control. Not all birth control is contraceptive in nature. Some 
of it is abortifacient. That means when a baby is in 
the womb, there are strategies in place to stop the baby from 
growing, to stop the baby from moving forward. We have to know 
these things. We have to understand these things, 
not at the level of a PhD, but at the level of a responsible 
Christian man or woman making decisions about things that are 
of life and death value. And then I would suggest the 
preaching of the law in abortion. See, it's a blessing and a privilege 
to be a minister of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, but 
that doesn't mean we never preach the law. You'll know if you're 
in our church, there's a reformed use of the law. You have the 
civil use, it restrains the wickedness of men. There's the pedagogical 
use, you preach the law so that sinners see their sin and flee 
to Christ for justification. And then there's the normative 
use of the law. Those who are saved by God's grace receive 
the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit says, this is 
how you're supposed to live according to the law of God. You don't 
have to make it up. You don't have to figure out what pleases. He's 
already told you what pleases Him. By God's grace, you seek 
to obey. Carl F.H. Henry made this observation 
about the preaching of the law. He says, even when 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 evil doers. 
It fulfills a political function, therefore, by its constraining 
influence in the unregenerate world. Someone has once said, 
the law does not change the heart, but it can restrain the heart 
less. Churches that don't preach the 
law, churches don't ever go to the commandments of God. Brethren, 
we're supposed to. We're supposed to preach the 
whole counsel of God. The law of God is good, it's 
wise, it's holy, it's a wonderful thing. It's wrong if we use it 
unlawfully. But what's the implication of 
1 Timothy 1.8? There are lawful ways to use the law. Civil, pedagogical, 
and normative. We see examples of that throughout 
scripture on how we're supposed to use the law of God. And then 
I would suggest the proclamation of the gospel in light of the 
sin of abortion. And here I want to consider Acts 2. What was 
Peter's target audience in the book of Acts in chapter 2 on 
the day of Pentecost? Well, Jerusalem sinners. the 
sinners that had crucified, to use Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 
2, the Lord of glory. In fact, Peter summarizes or 
ends his sermon on that note. He says, God has made this Christ 
whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ. And then on the heels 
of that, he calls them to repent, to believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ for the remission of sins. John Bunyan famously preached 
a sermon with this theme in mind. He called it, The Jerusalem Sinner 
Saved, good news for the vilest of men or a help for despairing 
souls. The doctrine that Jesus Christ 
would have mercy offered to the biggest sinners. That Peter uses 
that to bring conviction to them under the Spirit. He doesn't 
just go after, you know, you got gossip in your heart, which 
is bad and it's damnable. Or you've got, you know, this 
sort of petty theft. Again, damning, bad. But he speaks 
of their biggest sin. You crucified the Lord of glory. 
Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the 
remission of sins. In other words, he says, there's 
hope for Jerusalem sinners. The Jerusalem sinners saved by 
God's grace through faith in Jesus Christ. As much as we vociferously 
condemn the act vis-a-vis the law of God, we preach the remedy. through the gospel of God, namely 
the life and the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. We say with David, or point them 
to David, if thou, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who 
could stand? But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be 
feared. What about the blessedness and the goodness and the glory 
and the kindness of God in saving the Apostle Paul? What was Paul's 
before picture as Saul of Tarsus? He was arresting both men and 
women, taking them back to Jerusalem for their disposition, which 
could have included death. It could have included all manner 
of lawlessness. This is why in 1 Timothy 1.15, 
the Apostle Paul says, this is a faithful saying, It's worthy 
of all acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to 
save sinners. And then he says, of whom I am 
chief. There's hope for people who've 
had abortions, men and women. There's hope for doctors who 
performed abortions. There's hope for legislators 
that have endorsed abortion. There's hope for people that 
have engaged in the act of murder. There's hope in the cross of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. Preach, testify, proclaim, evangelize, 
announce, and declare. There is power in the blood of 
the Lord Jesus Christ to deal with sin. This is the blessedness 
of which we preach. Sin is gross. It is moral degeneracy. It is an act of cruelty. It is 
a vile expression of the godlessness of man. but there is forgiveness 
with thee that thou mayest be feared. Come to him by God's 
grace in faith to our Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be forgiven. 
You'll be cleansed from all unrighteousness. You'll be washed clean. Not just 
some of it, and then we're gonna have to purge out that abortion 
thing once you get to purgatory. No! The blood of Jesus Christ, 
His Son, cleanses us from all sin. And not only are you cleansed, 
But then you're clothed. He gives you the righteousness 
of Christ so that you can now be accepted in the beloved. You can enter into that kingdom. 
You will know eternal life and eternal bliss, that inheritance. What he does is he keeps you 
from that lake of fire and brings you into Emmanuel's land. Preach 
the law, make sure people know how odious this sin is, but preach 
the gospel so they know how glorious Jesus is to forgive to the uttermost, 
to save to the uttermost all who draw nigh unto God through 
him. Well, let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for your word. We thank you for its clarity 
on this particular issue, as well with reference to Maid and 
the various other assaults on the image of God that we see 
all around us. We pray that in your wrath, you would remember 
mercy. She would bless the preaching of the gospel today, that many 
would come out of darkness into marvelous light. confessing faith 
in our Lord Jesus Christ. We do pray you'd put the fear 
of God in the hearts of those in high places, put the fear 
of God in the hearts of those who engage in medical practice, 
put the fear of God in the hearts of people contemplating this 
particular act. And may they resist it and may 
they run from it. And may you indeed be gracious 
and glorious and wondrous to receive them. And we ask this 
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. We'll stand and we'll sing the 
doxology in praise to God. Then I'll close our service with 
prayer. And at that time, I'll pray that 
God blesses the food and we can go upstairs to eat. So 568 in 
your hymn book. you O Israel, hope in the Lord, for 
with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is abundant redemption, 
and he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. God in heaven, 
we thank you for the promise of the psalm. We thank you for 
the promise of God throughout scripture concerning the person 
and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for so great a salvation. 
We thank you for your mercy and your grace. We thank you as well 
for this time to fellowship together with one another. Bless and strengthen 
us with this food, and may we eat and drink for your glory's 
sake. And we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. After 
a brief time of meditation, please join us upstairs. If you didn't 
get the email or announcement that we were having a luncheon, 
don't let that keep you back. Please join with us. It's usually 
the case that people bring lots of extras, so there should be 
food up there.