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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to Exodus chapter 21. Exodus chapter 21, just two 
things by way of introduction. The first, the books on the table 
in the back are free. Please help yourself to those, 
especially the thickest one. That's a great reference tool, 
a great book to have in terms of this issue concerning abortion. 
It's pro-life answers to pro-choice objections. And the author, Randy 
Alcorn, takes pains to deal with all of the potential, all of 
the arguments that are leveled against those who maintain that 
life does begin at conception and that God does have a vested 
interest in the people. So that, by way of introductory 
comment. And then secondly, we will not 
cover new ground this morning in terms of our Exposition, if 
you were here last January, the material that we consider in 
the exposition will be the same. It will be familiar to all of 
you. I'm convinced that if you as Christians, you as God's people 
know three things concerning this issue from the Bible, you're 
well able to make the decisions and to counter the sorts of arguments 
that you'll meet on a regular basis. So this morning, we're 
going to look at the value of man as the image of God, the 
status of the pre-born. And then thirdly, the application 
of the law of God to this particular crucial issue. There will be 
some new information in terms of application. So I invite you 
to pay attention as this is most important material. Just read 
Exodus 21 verses 22 to 25. If men fight and hurt a woman 
with child so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm 
follows. He shall surely be punished accordingly 
as the woman's husband imposes on him, and he shall pay as the 
judges determine. But if any harm follows, then 
you shall give life for life. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, 
hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, 
strike for strike. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for the Word of God and the fact that it applies 
to all areas of our life, to all matters of faith and practice. And we pray now that you would 
just fill each one of us with your Holy Spirit as we consider 
a very difficult topic, as we consider a very tragic event 
that occurs on a daily basis in our nation. We just pray, 
God, that you would give us eyes to see, ears to hear, hearts 
that are receptive to your truth. May we indeed think your thoughts 
after you, Lord God, and may we indeed sigh and cry over the 
abominations that go on in our nation. May you indeed cause 
us to be prayerful concerning these issues and to be well-educated, 
to be informed. We ask now that you would forgive 
us for all of our sins and our unrighteousness. We thank you 
that we have the blood of Jesus. We thank you for that perfect 
sacrifice at Calvary. We thank you for atonement in 
and through him. We thank you that he said, it 
is finished. We pray that even now, God, you would wash us and 
purify us and cleanse us so that we may indeed bring glory and 
honor and praise unto you. We ask in the name of the Lord 
Jesus Christ, amen. Well, John Murray well said, 
nothing shows the moral bankruptcy of a people or of a generation 
more than disregard for the sanctity of life. John Murray, former 
professor of systematic theology at Westminster Theological Seminary, 
he has gone to be with the Lord. But I believe this statement 
does, in fact, abide well in our own generation. 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 at verse 36, he said, But he who sins against 
me wrongs his own soul. All those who hate me love death. 
Remember Jesus' statement in John 8, 44, you are of your father, 
the devil. And then he describes the devil 
as a liar and as a murderer from the beginning. Those things go 
hand in hand, lies and murder, with reference to the way the 
devil operates. So we need to think clearly. 
We need to think biblically. We need to think in an informed 
manner with reference to this issue of the sanctity of life. 
This is not to suggest or submit that the only ones in danger 
are babies in the womb. I am well aware of euthanasia. I'm well aware of other forms 
or other manner of killing people that do not deserve to die. But 
our topic this morning specifically is reference to abortion. So 
let's look first at the value of man as the image of God. the 
value of man as the image of God. Secular scientists even 
agree, and biology has taught man that life begins at conception, 
the moment that the egg and the sperm meet, that time of fertilization 
is when this person comes into being. Again, secular science 
recognizes this particular truth. But the Bible informs us as to 
what actually is taking place in terms of that being. That 
person bears the image of God. Your heart is lost. Well said 
that in life slain, what is attacked ultimately is the image of God 
in man. That's why it's a theological 
nature. First and foremost, it is primarily 
biblical. It is primarily religious. I 
know there's a lot of debate going on in terms of at least 
the American political scene. We often treat this subject of 
abortion as if it's a political thing, as if it's a political 
platform, or it's a platitude that certain men discuss just 
to try and achieve status. It is a theological issue to 
the core, and we need to remember that. Life slain or in life slain, 
what is ultimately assaulted is the very image of God Most 
High. Science tells us what is, doesn't 
always tell us what ought to be. We turn to the scriptures 
and we see that God not only defines for us what is, but then 
he tells us based on that reality what ought to be. So, man is 
created in the image of God, and that is true of man before 
the fall. Genesis chapter 1, verses 26 
and 27. Again, I hope there's no new 
information here. I hope you could recite these 
texts. I hope that you could say, oh, I know where the Bible 
teaches that man is the image of God. Genesis 1 is foundational. Verse 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. Now, Israel was not unique in 
the peoples of the of the ancient Near East. All the people surrounding 
Israel had their image bearers as well. There were images, there 
were functional representatives of the God. That's why you have 
golden calves. That's why you had a figure called 
Molech. That's why you had little idols 
called Baal. They were imaging the God that 
they were supposedly serving and adoring. Well, biblical revelation 
or the religion of Israel, and hence the Church of Jesus Christ, 
is unique. Who bears the image of God but 
his creation? Man, woman. bear the image of 
the living and the true God. That is why we argue concerning 
the sanctity of life. Man has value. Man has dignity because he bears 
the image of the living God. Man was to multiply the image 
of God through procreation. He was to fill the earth with 
the image of God and expand what was a garden temple to cover 
the entirety of the earth. He was to expand vice regency 
through the earth by having men rule over the creation. So God 
stations Adam in the garden as the prophet, as the priest, as 
the king, to rule successfully over the world, to extend that 
garden temple and to bring glory and honor to God. Of course, 
the first Adam fails, so the second Adam comes and he is successful 
in all that he takes on. But it's important for us to 
get this down. Man is an image bearer of God. 
Man retains the image of God. In other words, at the fall, 
he didn't lose that image. At the fall, it wasn't completely 
erased or completely removed. James, in the book of James, 
chapter 3, verse 9, he says that we ought, or he's condemning 
an ungodly use of the tongue. He's condemning this idea, with 
our tongue we praise God, and then with it we curse men who 
have been created in God's image. On the other side of the fall, 
on the other side of Genesis chapter 3, man retains the image 
of God. He never fully loses that. Now obviously in Christ we're 
being remade, we're being renewed in the image of the one that 
is most perfectly the image of God. So it is true of man before 
the fall, it is true of man after the fall, it is true of the pre-born. We will look at that in more 
detail under our second point. It is true of children. Children, 
that's good news. You bear the image of God. This 
was part of the prohibition against the people of Israel throwing 
their children to Baal or throwing their children to Moloch. They 
were image bearers of the living and true God. In Ephesians 6 
and Colossians 3, fathers have a responsibility not to provoke 
that image bearer. They're not yours to use, they're 
not yours to abuse, they're not yours to brutalize. They bear 
the image of God, and therefore, as fathers, you must treat them 
with dignity. This idea of the image of God 
is true of the handicapped as well. The handicap, Leviticus 
chapter 19, you may turn there so we can see this. I know oftentimes 
our society, the world seeks to marginalize and seeks to highlight 
the differences and that brings them to a place of less favor. Leviticus 19 at verse 14, you 
shall not curse the death, nor put a stumbling block before 
the blind, but you shall fear your God. I am the Lord. What's at the heart of that or 
the core of that or the root of that? That the one who is 
handicapped bears the image of God. You don't mock them, you 
don't make sport of them, you don't engage in folly or wickedness 
or ungodliness toward an image bearer. That simply cannot be. 
Remember that handicapped man, Bartimaeus? He got an audience 
in a hearing with the Lord of Glory in that crowded city of 
Jericho when he said, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy 
on me. Jesus stopped in his tracks, 
went over to Bartimaeus and said, what would you have me to do? 
And Bartimaeus says, I want to see. Jesus says, well, that's 
just, you know, that's not heard of. You're a handicapped person. 
You're marginalized. You're not worth anything. No, 
the handicapped, the ill bear the image of the true and living 
God. This is true of the elderly as 
well. We don't have the right. We don't 
have the right to say, we've outlived your usefulness, and 
so now you can go and die. That is simply ungodly. Again, 
the same law of God in the book of Leviticus says that we are 
to rise in the presence of a gray-haired man. You treat them with respect 
and dignity. Again, you don't marginalize 
them or shuffle them off or try to hide them from your life, 
but rather you involve them and you love them and you care for 
them. We are to identify the fact that the image of God is 
born in each of these particular classes or statuses of people. And then we see it true of man 
with relationship to animals. Man has more dignity. I'm not 
advocating the willy-nilly execution or the killing of animals just 
for pleasure or fun or whatever. We need to be responsible citizens. We need to be responsible as 
God's creatures in this world. but man has more dignity. Man 
values, is more valuable than the whale. Man is more valuable 
than the dog, than the sparrow. Man has intrinsic worth because 
he's imago Dei. He bears the image of God. You 
trace through the six days of creation, not once does God say 
of any of the animals that they are in his image. It is highlighted. It is isolated upon man himself 
as the image of God, the one who would be his vice regent 
in this creation, who would seek to exercise godly rule in this 
world. Man has more value than the sparrow. Man has more value than the cow. Man has more value than the cat. As much and as good as these 
animals can be in terms of their usefulness and help, their camaraderie, 
they can never take the place of an image-bearer of God Most 
High. The value of man as the image 
of God is the first thing you need to get down. Secondly, the 
status of the pre-born. Again, people will tell us that 
it's not until three months or it's not until they're outside 
of the womb that the actual being in the womb becomes a human. 
No, we are Christians. We believe that, again, at that 
time when the sperm and the egg meet, and I'm not trying to be 
crass or carnal. I'm sure that, you know, we speak 
in word appropriate, age appropriate to children. These are not ungodly 
concepts. It's just the reality. When this 
takes place, there is a unique being that comes into being with 
his own DNA. The sperm ceases, the eggs ceases. What we now have is a unique 
being with his own genetic code. Scripture maintains that the 
Scripture highlights that Genesis chapter 25. We have Isaac and 
Rebecca. They have Jacob and Esau. What's 
he say of them? You have children in your womb, 
but he said you have nations in your womb, not lumps of cells, 
not undefined masses. But what you have are children. Job chapter 10. Again, these 
are passages that you ought to have down in your mind and in 
your heart as it reflects upon this issue of the sanctity of 
life. Job chapter 10 verses 8 to 12. Your hands have made me and fashioned 
me an intricate unity that you would destroy me. Remember, I 
pray that you have made me like clay. And will you turn me into 
dust again? Did you not pour me out like 
milk and curdle me like cheese, clothed me with skin and flesh 
and knit me together with bones and sinews? And you have granted 
me life and favor in your care has preserved my spirit. He says 
essentially the same thing later on in Job chapter thirty one. 
He says that your hands fashion me just like they fashion my 
servants. Psalm 139. Again, a very familiar 
passage of Scripture. The divine weaver is seen here 
in his activity in putting men together, putting women together 
in their in their mother's wombs. Psalm 139, verses 13 to 16. 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 went as yet there were none of them." In 
Psalm 51, as David is tracing his native depravity. He doesn't 
trace it back to the time outside of the womb. He doesn't trace 
it back to his third month in the womb. He said, in sin, my 
mother conceived me. It doesn't mean the act that 
David's mother and father engaged in was sinful. It means the moment 
there was a David, he was a sinful David. Jeremiah highlights his 
call to the prophetic ministry. When did God separate him to 
be a prophet to the nations? He called me from my mother's 
womb. The New Testament affirms this as well. The same word that 
is applied to the babe Christ in the womb. He's a brephos, 
the Greek word for baby. That same word is used in Luke 
18 when the children, the brephae, the pluriform, are brought to 
the Lord Jesus Christ so that he may bless them. You see, what 
we have in the womb is an image bearer of God Most High. The 
Bible states it. Honest secular scientists admit 
it, not the whole image of God part to be sure. The fact that 
when the sperm and the egg come together, what happens is there's 
a unique being with its own genetic code. When Paul is rehearsing 
his call to the apostolic ministry, where does he trace it back? 
He's already mentioned the roads of Damascus, but he says, it 
pleased God to separate me. from my mother's womb." You see, 
if the pro-choice advocates had their right, then nations would 
have never been. The prophet Jeremiah would have 
never been. The apostle Paul would have never 
been. And the Lord Jesus would have 
never been. You see, you can't deny this 
reality. The status of the pre-born is 
their image bearers of the living and true God. We've seen the 
value of man as the image of God, personhood of the pre-born. Turn back to Exodus 21 to see 
a particular application of God's law to this issue. A particular 
application of God's law to this issue. The Ten Commandments are 
given in chapter 20, those general principles. Those reflections 
or that revelation, rather, of God's moral law, God's moral 
will. Our confession of faith states 
it rightly. This is the law that was written 
upon Adam's heart. It is not some new thing at Sinai, 
but rather it's codified there. It's summarized there. It's stated 
there for all of Israel. So that's Exodus chapter 20, 
21 to 23, and then the case law applications of those general 
principles. In other words, how, when we 
go into the land, are we supposed to conduct ourselves? Each of 
these case laws, if you trace back to the general principle, 
you will see one of the Ten Commandments. Men have recognized this, even 
a dispensationalist named John MacArthur says this is a combination 
of case law and apodictic or direct command, precepts laid 
down as a detailed engagement of the Decalogue, or rather a 
detailed enlargement of the Decalogue, the framework for judging and 
resolving civil disputes in Israel. You see what he highlights, the 
Ten Commandments of the Core, the Essence, the Substance, the 
Moral and Revealed Will of God. What 21 to 23 is, is the enlargement 
of the Decalogue and its application for life in Israel. Walter Kaiser 
says, while these judgments deal mainly with temporal matters, 
they nevertheless are based on one or another express commandment 
in the Decalogue. 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 sat alongside the Decalogue. The two belong together in time 
as well as in interpretation. In other words, the coming of 
Christ, the redemptive work of Christ, should not alter the 
way that we approach these things in terms of their equity for 
us. The civil code reflects to us what God thinks in terms of 
the application of his law. And what we have in Exodus 21, 
22 to 25 is an example of two men who have fought, or two men 
engaged in a fight, which is terrible. You shouldn't do this. 
Deal with your disputes in a manly way. You sit down and talk. You 
go out in the city square, out in the middle of the street, 
start pounding one another. It's absolutely uncalled for. If your beef is that heavy, go 
to the state. Go to the authorities. Take it 
to the appropriate place. You don't fight in the midst 
of the streets. I was every bit as barbaric in 
this situation as it would be for us. Sometimes you approach 
the Mosaic Law and people say, well, it's for a primitive people. 
No, it isn't. It's for the image bearers of 
God and how they're supposed to conduct themselves in day-to-day 
life. And they're not supposed to go 
out on the street and beat each other up. It's not a primitive 
code. If it was a primitive code, it 
would say, well, don't do it on the street, but there's rings 
set up all around Israel. You know, take your brass knuckles 
and take your clubs and take your mace and go into those rings 
and just brutalize one another the way they do in certain other 
animal societies. That would be primitive. I tell 
you, the law of God is not primitive and it's not barbaric. We're 
primitive and we're barbaric and we need the law of God as 
a rule and a guide. Humanism is barbaric. Killing 
babies in their mothers' wombs is barbaric. Not advocating their 
protection, not citing God's holy law, not appealing to the 
law and the testimony and saying, wait a minute, let's ask what 
God does say to this issue. Barbarism, when we abolish or 
when we do away with God's holy law. So what we have are two 
men, they've come to fight. And here's what we find, verse 
22, if men fight and hurt a woman with child so that she gives 
birth prematurely, yet no harm follows. I hope that you could 
rehearse what I'm about to say because it's important. The older 
version of the New American Standard and some other translations say 
that if she is struck in the midst of this brawl and she miscarries, yet no harm follows, then the 
rest of the law applies. You see, there's a big problem 
with that interpretation. If the woman is hit, again, envision 
the scene for me. Two guys are fighting. Their 
target isn't the woman. Now, there are some commentators 
that believe perhaps there is an intentional desire to perpetrate 
abortion upon the woman. But the rank and file most accepted 
interpretation is that these are two random guys fighting 
in the streets. One of the random guys' wife 
happens to be standing there, probably saying, don't do this, 
honey. You know, random guys' wives are lots smarter than random 
guys at times. Don't do that, honey. Don't fight. 
Well, she's standing there with child. So in the midst of this 
confrontation, she gets hit. If we accept that if she miscarries 
and yet no harm follows, then the law and the penalties come 
to pass. We've missed the point of the 
text. The New King James and the ESV translate it rightly 
so that she gives birth prematurely. And yet no harm follows to her 
and her child. You see, they're protected by 
the law at that point. If she's miscarried, yet no harm 
follows. Which is even a bad interpretation 
as it goes. Ask a woman who's miscarried, 
was there harm in that event? Absolutely. You see, if we translate 
it as miscarried, the baby's not protected. If we translate 
it and interpret it properly, the baby is protected under the 
fullness of God's holy law. You see, if she gets belted, 
and then her child is born prematurely and yet no harm follows to either 
one of them, then it's just a financial recompense. It's a big difference. The message 
Bible is particularly terrible. When there's a fight and in the 
fight, a pregnant woman is hit so that she miscarries, but is 
not otherwise hurt. It's terrible. It's terrible for several reasons, 
not because Jim Butler says it is, but because there is a word 
in Hebrew for miscarriage that's absent in Exodus 21. There is 
a word in Hebrew for one untimely born that is absent from Exodus 
21. In fact, the convention that 
God through Moses uses is the typical statement, the typical 
frame of reference of the typical verb, rather, for healthy, normal 
birth. The ESV is to be applauded because 
it gets it right even more than the New King James. The language 
is really this. If she gets hit so that her children 
come out. Children. She might be standing 
there with twins. She might be standing there with 
triplets. She might be standing there with quintuplets. She might 
be standing there with a whole brood of children in her womb. 
The noun used is plural to protect each of the children that comes 
out. The language coming out is used. We've already referenced 
it in Genesis 25. Esau came out. and he was red. It's the typical normal language 
of childbirth that is used here in Exodus 21, 22 to 25. The plural form of the word envisages 
the thought that there might be children in her womb. And as a result of two random 
guys throwing blows on the street, if she is belted and her children 
come out, Yet no harm follows, then there shall be a financial 
penalty. But if harm follows, which we'll 
get to in just a moment. First, we need to consider the 
increased protection for the pre-born even in the law. Go 
back for just a moment to Exodus 21, 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. And then notice 
in verse 14, excuse me, 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. What's the law doing? Making a distinction, isn't it? 
Making a distinction between what we might call manslaughter 
and murder. Manslaughter happens at times 
accidentally. Manslaughter happens at times 
if we are not paying attention and we are not focused on our 
task or we are paying attention and somebody runs out and we 
run them over with our car. If they die, it is homicide. That's the death of a human being. 
But we didn't intend to do it. We didn't mean to do it. It wasn't 
an enemy that we were premeditatively wanting to run down. The law 
is making that distinction. If there's not premeditation 
in one's heart, if it is an accidental homicide, then this is what the 
cities of refuge were specified for. If a man engages in accidental 
homicide, God would create cities so that he may run to those cities 
and be freed from the vengeance of the family. There's no city 
of refuge for a murderer. There's no city of refuge for 
a man who sees his enemy and who speeds up the gas and who 
runs him down in cold blood. There's no city of refuge there. 
That is an act of murder. So you see, the law makes a distinction 
in the shedding of blood. There is homicide or accidental 
homicide, and then there is murder. Well, notice that in this particular 
law, a man accidentally kills somebody. He has recourse to 
the city of refuge. In Exodus 21, 22 to 25, he accidentally 
killed the baby. He didn't enter into fight with 
random guy number two so that he could beat this woman up. 
In the midst of his fight with random guy number two, the woman 
gets hit. So, in a sense, that's an accidental 
homicide. He was not intending to murder 
that particular baby. But there's no recourse to the 
city of refuge. There is no recourse for escape. Let's continue on in the text. 
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 determined. But if any harm follows 
again to mother or children, 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. Now, if the scenario of Exodus 
21, 22 is an accident, the fight was between two men and a woman, 
presumably a wife, was struck accidentally, there's no recourse 
for this man to the city of refuge. He will pay with his life. The 
lex talionis, the law of retribution, the law of retaliation. That's 
how much value God puts upon that baby in the womb. Now, it's 
not a tough stretch to say if accidental abortion is condemned 
in the scriptures, if accidental abortion is forbidden in the 
scriptures, If the effect of accidental abortion on the part 
of the guilty is his death, how much more the kinds of abortion 
that are going on right now. So accident involved. There is 
a conspiracy to commit murder. Starts from the legislation all 
the way down. It is conspiracy to commit murder. And if the law of God speaks 
to the accidental abortion, certainly it speaks to state-licensed physicians 
invading the place where a baby ought to be the most safe and 
terminating it, murdering it, killing it. 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 
in Latin, unborn baby. Those are the kinds of terms 
that are applied today, so we don't think of baby, right? Fetus 
is a lot more clinical. Zygote is a lot more clinical. 
Blastocyst is a lot more clinical. Fertilized egg is a lot more 
clinical. Biblical parlance teaches us 
that a fertilized egg is a human being that bears the image of 
God Most High. And the law speaks to this issue. 
This is a hard sermon to preach. because of the blood guiltiness 
of the land in which we live. The blood guiltiness of the church 
of Jesus Christ. Pastor Cam in his prayer said, 
Lord, enable us to enjoy or engage in joyous worship. This isn't 
a joyous topic. I guarantee you read your way 
through Randy Alcorn's book, you're not going to be singing 
a jig. You're not going to be singing 
zippity-doo-dah. It's tough to know and to realize 
that these things are taking place in Canada about 100,000 
times a year. But in the United States, it 
takes place about a million times per year. That means that 4,400 
times a week, You work your way through the 
law and you'll find in the book of Numbers, God says that there 
is nothing, no payment, no restitution that can atone for blood guiltiness. You see, some people think the 
death penalty, which we're going to consider tonight, is simply 
a social convention that men have fabricated in order to rid 
themselves of the nasty element in society. God mandates execution 
of vile offenders. because the blood of the innocent 
pollutes the land, according to the book of Numbers. You say, well, they didn't understand 
this. They did. They knew. Proverbs 6.17 says that God abominates 
hands that shed innocent blood. I don't make a mistake. Solomon 
affirmed and taught total depravity. When we maintain Proverbs 617, 
it's not a denial of first point of Calvinism. What it is, is 
an affirmation that there are judicially innocent people and 
a baby in the womb is judicially innocent. Though David says, 
in sin my mother did conceive me, meaning that in the womb 
David himself was subject to the doctrine of total depravity, 
he was not morally culpable for death at the hands of other men. You see, God speaks to this particular 
issue. Well, I hope that you are instructed. 
I hope that you see the value of man as the image of God, the 
status of the pre-born and a particular application of God's law to this 
issue. I want to close with a few thoughts 
and then we'll conclude. The first is simply this. Is 
it ever right to perform an abortion? Is it ever right to perform an 
abortion? It's good. Shake your head because 
it's not. The Bible specifies there's three 
instances of lawful killing. Again, we'll deal with that tonight. 
Remember, the law itself makes a distinction between killing 
and murder. Abortion is murder. It's not a just war. It doesn't result from a desire 
for self-defense. And it's certainly not the execution 
of civil death penalty. It's never right. It is never 
lawful. I've already mentioned with the 
current presidential election and debates going on in the U.S. 
and it happens here in Canada as well, just this happens to 
be the time in America, there's a lot of discussion about pro-life, 
a lot of discussion about abortion, a lot of discussion about this 
particular issue. It's theological in nature. Don't succumb to the temptation 
to tune out a message like this and say, well, that has to do 
with politics. Imagine if there was a day allotted 
in Israel for the prophets to come and preach against Moloch 
worship or Baal worship. See, an aspect of Moloch or Baal 
worship was human sacrifice of your children. It wouldn't do 
you any good to say, well, I don't do that. I don't engage in that. I've never performed such an 
act. So I really don't need to pay 
attention to this. Well, the fact that it's going 
on in Israel around you ought to elicit prayer from your heart. Randy Alcorn says that the church 
professing evangelicals. The so-called people of God. 
Are getting surgical abortions at staggering rates. Sometimes 
you'll see a man, a candidate for political office, say something 
like this. I personally oppose abortion, 
but I don't want to interfere with a woman's right to choose. 
You ever heard that? That happens, doesn't it? I personally 
wouldn't commit murder, but I don't want to interfere with the right 
of a woman doctor and her husband and her boyfriend to conspire 
to murder. We just say that's crazy. Or I personally, you know, I'm 
not into rape, but I wouldn't want to interfere with the rapist's 
desire to engage in that which is well-pleasing in his sight. 
That's crazy logic. And we as the thinking people 
of God accept it. Or what about the candidate who 
says, I oppose abortion except in the cases of rape and incest. That happens too. I think it's 
horrendous. I think it's wretched. I think 
it's wicked except in the cases of rape or incest. Imagine that same politician 
saying this in public. I oppose discrimination. I think all persons ought to 
have a right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, 
except those who are born as a result of rape or incest. We'd say this guy's a hack. This 
guy's nuts. This guy's a madman. This guy 
can't hear himself. What's his issue? What's his 
deal? We shouldn't as God's people. 
He does oppose it 98% of the time. That's fine if you're not 
that 2%. God hates hands that shed innocent 
blood. People who have been born as 
a result of rape or incest grow up to be healthy, happy and productive 
persons. Remember, it's an image of God's 
thing. It is what Gerhardus Voss recognized. 
To destroy a living being is to assault the very image of 
God Most High. Now I'm going to deal with something 
else. The birth control pill. Not birth control per se. That's another topic for another 
time. But there are certain types of 
birth control that have an abortifacient mechanism. It'd be nice just to sing Kumbaya 
right now and leave. The church's primary temptation, 
though it is a reality, is not the surgical abortion. The chemical 
one, though, may go on far more than we understand. Again, the 
issue is not birth control per se. That's a discussion for another 
time, but rather there are forms of birth control which are abortifacient 
in nature. There's one called the IUD, the 
intrauterine device. The purpose of this device, which 
before people said, it works, but we don't know how. Christians 
do not operate that way. Ask how? Purpose of the iudea, 
one of them, is to irritate the lining of the uterus so that 
a fertilized egg cannot implant. See, remember, we've already 
covered the ground. The fertilized egg, in biblical parlance, is 
a human being, an image bearer of God. There's a six day window 
that occurs between fertilization and implantation. Now, pill makers 
have drawn the line back and said, well, pregnancy begins 
at implantation. Christians are not supposed to 
draw that line. The birth control pill. Uses 
three mechanisms to start a pregnancy. The first two are contraceptive. That means it seeks to stop conception. It's the third one that's abortifacient. The third one functions similarly 
to the IUD. It irritates the uterine wall 
so that implantation is more difficult. Not saying impossible. Some will say, well, the use 
of the pill doesn't always produce abortion. But the statement implies 
that it sometimes may. And as Christians, dear brothers 
and sisters, we should err on the side of caution. This is not hidden information. I need to publicly repent that 
I haven't dealt with this in years past. When I did some research, and 
the book is back there, read Randy Alcorn. Before you write 
me off as a wingnut, read Randy Alcorn. Check the references. Just look. I was reading that 
book, and through and through he keeps saying, I hope this 
is wrong. I hope it can be shown I'm wrong. 
I hope this abortifacient property of the pill isn't true. But Brethren, 
the manufacturers of the pill, when you ask the question, how 
does it work? Gives three mechanisms. The third 
is the problem. The third is the abortifacient. 
The third creates an environment of inhospitality to a fertilized 
egg. So in the midst of the research, 
I thought, well, I should start looking around online. My first 
Google search was, how does the birth control pill work? The 
second one on the list, the first, I think, was an ad probably for 
the birth control pill, then a link, and then a link. You 
know what this one was? Kidshealth.org. The answer to how does the pill 
work It's specified, it's right there, all three mechanisms. 
They didn't hide the third one. Sometimes manufacturers try to 
hide that third one from the consumer. The actual drug companies, 
when they have to list the fine print, it's always there. Kidshealth.org, 
in their teen section, how does the birth control pill work? 
They don't have to spend hours and hours slugging through an 
old library, blowing off dust, you know, dusty files right there. 
It's a problem. We have a fertilized egg, again, 
an image bearer of God, six day window. It goes to implant. The effect of the pill is to 
reduce the implantation success rate in that fertilized egg. Which, by way of an aside, On 
kidshealth.org, teen section, how does the birth control pill 
work? I have a suggestion for all teens. I know a foolproof way. I know 
a hundred percent success rate. Don't have sexual relations outside 
of marriage. It'll never happen. The most 
amazing barrier method there could be. This is what Paul says 
in 1 Thessalonians 4, 3. This is the will of God for you, 
that you abstain from sexual immorality. This is one of the 
encroaching effects of biological evolution, teaching our teens 
that you're like all the other animals out there, that you can 
just let these things fly and run however you want. You're 
an image bearer of God Most High, built with the equipment to control 
yourself. That's much better. Control yourself. You can't, or you won't. You must. You say, well, you know, you're 
pressing this. Remember Matthew 5, 21 to 26? 
It's a legit application of the sixth commandment that you don't 
call your neighbor a rocker, a fool. Certainly, it's a legit 
application of the sixth commandment to investigate the data that 
exists concerning a pill that may chemically be aborting our 
children. Certainly, that's a legit application. I hope you'll grant 
that. Again, to say it doesn't always prohibit implies that 
it sometimes does. Ask a farmer. What's the best circumstances 
for growth in your field? Rich, nutrient-laden soil. Oh 
yeah, you can see a plant grow in the crack of a sidewalk to 
be sure. It happens. One of the specific mechanisms 
involved in the pill is to reduce the soil, if you will, from having 
a successful implantation. Do the research, please. Just 
look into it. Again, it won't do you any good 
to say, well, you know, I'm old now and I don't have babies or 
I'm retired now. You know what? Moloch worship 
is going on. Pray. Learn the scriptures. If your kids or your grandkids 
ask questions, tell them no! There's a margin for murder there. You're out hunting and you see 
something rustling in the bush. I think it's a moose. You should 
probably check, shouldn't you? Could be another hunter. Take 
the time to investigate. Take the time. It's 200 pages. Read it. He invites criticism. Randy Alcorn does. He invites 
writing into him. He invites positing your case 
against it. Let's work through this, please. A third application we need to 
understand is that there is forgiveness with Jesus. Who's loved that? Always. We should never tire 
of the cross. God be merciful to me, this sinner, 
and ask mercy. There's grace, there's forgiveness. 
I'll quote Alcorn here. He says, we must not stay away 
from this subject for fear of laying a guilt trip on women 
in our churches who have had abortions. On the contrary, we 
must address it for their sake. You know, research is showing 
it's not just women, it's the men involved. The man who encouraged 
his wife or his girlfriend. The man who paid for it, the 
man who took her to the clinic, the man who stood by her side, 
he's as affected from this act and as much laden with guilt 
as she is. It's not just a woman thing. 
You hear that all the time. Oh, it's a bunch of men protesting 
this because men are guilty. We must not stay away from this 
subject for fear of laying a guilt trip on women in our churches 
who have had abortions. On the contrary, we must address 
it for their sake. There can be no healing without 
forgiveness, no forgiveness without confession and repentance, no 
confession and repentance until abortion is clearly seen to be 
a sin. If we don't speak out, our people 
will continue to suffer and continue to kill their babies without 
knowing the forgiveness and healing of Christ. The sorrow that comes 
in facing the reality of abortion is not to be avoided. It is a 
godly sorrow that leads to forgiveness and leaves no regret. Without 
it, there can be no healing and wholeness. There's post-abortion 
studies that suggest that it's good for a woman to write a letter 
to her baby. I don't want to get into the 
psychology of that. The best thing for a woman is to go to 
the cross. The best thing for a man is to go to the There is 
forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. There's always 
mercy in the cross. Always mercy in our Lord. Always 
mercy in the redeeming King. That's what we need to remember. 
That's the way to deal with guilt. That's the way to deal with what 
is termed as an unwanted pregnancy. The solution is not to inflict 
more harm. It's to man up and to be responsible 
and to confess it and forsake it. Go to Jesus Christ. In terms of solution to this 
issue, as I said, there's a spiritual dimension here. The devil lies. 
The devil is a murderer. He's behind the scenes. We don't 
wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and 
powers. Dr. Albert Moeller recently commented 
about an abortionist or somebody involved in the business, if 
you will. maintaining that there were certain 
things or commitments that were already in this person that must 
stop the beating heart of the baby in the womb. When you start 
looking at the evidence, you start amassing a wealth of data, 
you cannot come away and say, well, you know, this is a gray 
area. It's not gray. It's not gray at all. You say, 
how are we going to deal with this Everest? How are we going 
to ever scale this mountain? How are we ever going to make 
an impact? I don't have all the answers. I certainly don't have 
all the solutions, but I do know this. We need to preach the law 
of God. The law doesn't save. The law is powerless to save, 
but the law serves to restrain men from their wickedness. The 
law is absolutely crucial. That first use, that political 
or that civil use of the law is crucial. Carl F.H. Henry said this, 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 regenerate. It has the role of a magistrate 
who is a terror to evildoers. It fulfills a political function, 
therefore, by its constraining influence in the unregenerate 
world. Another man said, the law cannot 
change the heart, but it can restrain the heart less. We have churches that are antinomian 
to the core. God have mercy on us that we 
misread Jesus so blatantly. You have heard that it was said, 
but I say to you, is he preaching? He's preaching the law. But it's the gospel too. We need to preach the law. We 
need to proclaim Sinai and the Sermon on the Mount. We need 
to proclaim God's will with reference to this issue of abortion. But 
we need to be there preaching a crucified and a risen Savior. 
We need to preach the glory of the cross. We need to preach 
that powerful statement that God is in Christ reconciling 
the world to himself, that this man receives sinners and eats 
with them, that this man has died and risen again so that 
all who look to him may have everlasting life. We must preach 
the good news. We must proclaim the gospel. 
We must back it up with deeds of compassion and mercy. We must, 
as God's people, shine his light in a crooked and perverse generation. 
We must be prayerful. We must be helpful. We must be 
those people can trust when it comes to the issues of life. Well, brethren, let us close 
in prayer. And again, I'll recommend and encourage you to take those 
books. Take one of each. Each household, there's plenty 
there. Don't feel like you're going to get someone else. You 
get one and you read and you search and you compare it with 
the word of the living and true God. Father, we thank you for 
your word. And God, we confess behalf of 
our own selves and our own nation, the sinfulness of this act. We 
ask God in heaven that you would pity this nation, that you would, 
in your wrath, remember mercy. Father, you would bless your 
people. Cause your churches, cause Christians to think your 
thoughts after you. Always, God, in all matters of 
faith and practice, we ask Lord in heaven that there would be 
legislation enacted that would criminalize this offense, that 
would criminalize this activity, that there would be no more murder 
in this way. There would be no more surgical 
or chemical abortion going on. God have mercy, we pray. And 
Lord, bless us as your people and help us, Father, to truly 
engage in works of compassion and kindness and love to others. 
Help us to be a prayerful people. Help us to be like the psalmist 
who said, rivers of water run down from my eyes because men 
do not keep your law. We just thank you for this time 
together. We just pray that you would bless our Lord's Day. We 
pray that you would be with those who are unable to be with us 
this morning. We pray that you would encourage your people and 
cause your peace to be upon the Israel of God. We ask in Jesus 
name. Amen.