Luke 18.6 – But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned on the depth of the sea.
II Timothy 3.1, 3, 4 – This know, that in the last days, perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves…Without natural affection…fierce, despisers of those that are good…lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God…
It has been called “A Woman’s Right to Choose”. It is a topic that has divided many people, organizations, communities, governments, and, more than just one nation. Opponents call it murder, deeming it an atrocity worse than the Death Camps of Hitler’s Germany and the Gulags of Stalin’s Russia. Supporters say that the topic is the mother’s choice, her right to keep or end a pregnancy, and is fundamental to every woman of childbearing age. The topic for today’s lesson is Abortion. Though the word “abortion” does not appear in the Bible, what it has to say about abortion may be a surprise…
Point #1a – Man Sees “a Fetus”…: People often give words to things that are not liked, or are thought of as unwelcome or unwanted. A homeless person may be called “vagrant”. A teenager who looks different from what is thought of as normal may be given the name “hoodlum” or “punk”. This practice is not new. In Hitler’s Nazi Germany, undesirables – such as Jews – were called untermenschen, or, sub-humans. Even as early as the times of the Roman Empires, uncivilized people groups were called barbarians. Such is the case today with regards to the unborn. In the past, prior to the latter half of the 20th Century, a woman who was pregnant was often called an expectant mother and the baby inside her being called simply an unborn baby. Somewhere in the recent past, the baby ceased to be a baby and became a fetus. This dehumanizing of the unborn is not much different than the before mentioned German usage of the word untermenschen. Think about it: if a baby is no longer a baby, but instead becomes a non-human part of a woman’s anatomy (read: a fetus), it becomes easier to dispose of. After a generation or two of the word fetus being used instead of baby, getting rid of the unborn would consciously be no more immoral than getting rid of a diseased organ or a badly infected finger or toe.
Point #1b – …but God Sees a Baby: The fact of the matter is that God does not see a fetus, but a baby. The Psalmist has this to say:
For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. – Psalm 139.13-16
Jeremiah 1.5 further says this:
Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. – Jeremiah 1.5
The Bible takes seriously the life of the unborn. Even before Jesus was formed in Mary’s womb, he already had a name given to him (Matthew 1.21, Luke 1.31). The Judge Samson was also foretold before he was conceived (Judges 13.1-14). Elizabeth, the cousin of Mary, and her husband, Zechariah, were also told of their baby, his future life, and what even to name him before he was conceived as well (Luke 1.5-20). You see, God takes very seriously the unborn, and through the Bible he lets us know that he knows each and every baby, his or her future plans, even something as simple and basic as the name to be given to each.
Point #2 – Legalized Abortion is a Gateway: When the most innocent, most vulnerable of human life is dehumanized, and declassified as people, and rather become “part of a woman’s body”, it leads to such things as abortion. Abortion, in its turn is a gateway to declassifying and dehumanizing other stages and areas of human life. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a man named Jack Kevorkian, a medical doctor living in the State of Michigan, began the “medical ‘practice’” of assisted suicide. People who were terminally ill, or in a constant state of unrelievable pain, were suddenly allowed to have a medical practitioner give them aid in ending their lives. This has led to some US States enacting or passing “mercy killing” laws for those who are terminally ill, or in a terrible physical state. Following Dr. Kevorkian’s example, many assisted suicide and “death with dignity” groups, such as the Hemlock Organization, have sprung up, calling for state and federal laws allowing for assisted suicide in the form of doctor-aided overdoses for those who have incurable and/or painful disease. Finally, in 2005, the Terry Schiavo case exploded onto the international scene. A young woman, who had undergone some form of a brain-damaging injury, was allowed to starve to death following a lengthy court case in which the parents and family of Mrs. Schiavo contested the “death decision” her husband stated was her wish. The result of this was that a woman who happened to be deeply handicapped and brain-damaged was allowed to die due to her being in an alleged persistent vegetative state. These instances beg the question: would these cases have even appeared had human life from the womb not been so devalued? Would assisted suicide and the so-called action of “mercy killing” even be considered had Roe v. Wade been enacted as the law of the land in the United States?
Simply put, legalized abortion on demand is merely a gateway to a culture of “death”. Once the most vulnerable of life is degraded as less than human, and are killed off with the least of regret, then follows the questioning of what other areas are deemed as having a good quality of life. Such was the case in ancient Sparta and has been a part of every civilization since. The ultimate scene is the same as what happened with Nazi Germany. There “mercy killing” – which started at the levels of unwanted babies and for those who were declared terminally ill – ended in the putting to death of those who were a different race, simply disagreed with the government, or had made a lifestyle choice which ran counter to the government’s idea. Degradation of life in the womb always leads this way. Even further, legalized abortion is a sad result of people giving in to selfish desires and not really caring much about the consequences.
Point #3 – Legalized Abortion is Really the Height of Selfishness:
The simple truth of the matter is that Legalized Abortion on Demand is merely the highest point of selfishness. Many who defend the pro-abortion standpoint state that abortion is necessary in the cases of rape, incest, and/or the life of the mother being endangered. Yet in the face of these claims comes the sobering statistic that performed abortions due to those three said cases account for less than 1% of all abortions performed…that is 1% for incest, rape, and the life of the mother being endangered combined. So, if the total for those three instances is so low, for what reason, then, are the other 99% of abortions being performed? The only answer is because the either the father or the mother, or both, did not want the baby, and chose to end the pregnancy by killing the baby. Is this not selfishness at its basest and lowest? How can this be anything else than “men…be(ing) lovers of their own selves…”? (II Timothy 3.1) What baser and lower example of people being “without natural affection…”? No animal on the face of the earth will kill its own brood simply because they are not wanted. But people do, and the sole reason for 99 out of 100 abortions is pure selfishness, and nothing else.
To highlight this simple fact, one need only to reach back to the 1993 issue of U.S. News & World Report, the Special Edition commemorating the Roe v. Wade decision. In this issue, there was a story running profiles of four women who’d had abortions. In each case, the most common words were “I”, “me”, “I didn’t want…” and “my”. One young lady in particular had aborted her baby simply because she didn’t want to see in her baby the face of the man with whom she’d had consensual sex, calling him a “silly boy”. This woman had later encouraged her best friend to also go and get an abortion following a sexual encounter – which resulted in this friend becoming pregnant – with a less-than-desirable man. How much more selfish can a person be?
Conclusion – Abortion is Really Nothing More than the Death of a Baby for Mere Convenience:
Abortion – for all the friendly words, accepting phrases, and lies declaring it to be a harmless operation – is really no more than the murder of a baby thanks to bad choices on the part of the parents. God’s Word states very clearly his opinion on children, including the unborn, yet man – giving in to his selfishness and sinful desires – has made the womb of the expectant mother the most dangerous place for a baby, rather than it being the safest. In Proverbs, God states clearly that one of the seven things that are an abomination to him is the shedding of innocent blood. What blood could be more innocent in his eyes than that of the unborn? History has proven God’s Word true, in that the nations that so easily dispose of their children begin a rapid decline, and eventually pass into dust. Further, on a personal level, women and men who experience abortion speak of a guilt, of a heaviness, that nothing save the Blood of Jesus Christ can fully erase. Abortion as we know it is no more than the lowest form and highest pinnacle of selfishness. However, as with all sin, there is forgiveness for those who wish to erase the past. Reader, if you have had an abortion or encouraged someone to get one, you can be forgiven. God awaits to receive you to forgive you (Nehemiah 9.17, Psalm 86.5) through the blood of Jesus Christ (John 14.6). Christ will not cast you out if you come to him, no matter how many abortions you have had, encouraged someone to get, or performed. Please, trust in Jesus Christ today…
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, we pray for those who are perhaps considering abortion. We pray, LORD, that you will show them that what is in the womb is not just a mass of flesh, or a blob of goo, but is a person, the very hairs of whose head you already know. Give us all your wisdom, we pray, and for those who seek peace following an abortion, may they come to you and find salvation, we pray, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.