Please turn with me in your Bibles to Psalm 127.

When I woke up Tuesday morning, with Mother’s Day just a few days away, I wondered what I would preach on this Wednesday night. As I checked the news God handed me the Wednesday night Bible Study. An article from a magazine called Politico entitled:

Supreme Court Has Voted To Overturn
Abortion Rights, Draft Opinion Shows

I quote: “The Supreme Court has voted to strike down the landmark Roe v. Wade decision, according to an initial draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito circulated inside the court and obtained by POLITICO.

The draft opinion is a full-throated, unflinching repudiation of the 1973 decision which guaranteed federal constitutional protections of abortion rights and a subsequent 1992 decision – Planned Parenthood v. Casey – that largely maintained the right. “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” Alito writes.

“We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled,” he writes in the document, labeled as the “Opinion of the Court.” “It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives.”

This is a first draft, and the opinion could be changed (according to the reporters). The final document is not expected to be released for about 2 months. Justice Samuel Alito, who wrote the decision to overturn Roe, was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil M. Gorsuch, Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett. Alito said that Roe was “egregiously wrong from the start. Its reasoning was exceptionally weak, and the decision has had damaging consequences. And far from bringing about a national settlement of the abortion issue, Roe and Casey have inflamed debate and deepened division.” If the majority of the Court holds firm, abortion laws would be left to the states – which is where they should be legislated in the first place.

I say, PRAISE GOD! Let’s stop killing babies!

Sadly there are many who are “pro choice”, who want abortion to continue to be funded by American tax dollars. Liberals – in particular liberal news organizations like NPR (National Public Radio) profess that the majority of Americans polled believe abortion should be a “right”. The truth is 22 states have laws in place to trigger a ban on abortion once Roe V Wade is overturned, with Montana expected to join in the ban soon.

Though the word “abortion” is not found in The Southern Baptist Faith & Message, in section XVIII. The Family we read:

“Children, from the moment of conception, are a blessing and heritage from the Lord.”

Southern Baptists do not believe in nor endorse abortion.

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, writing of the Supreme Court’s decision, said:

“Assuming it truly remains a majority opinion––which could still change––it means we are one step closer to ending the Roe-Casey abortion framework that has taken over 60 million innocent lives, fractured families, marginalized mothers and harmed this nation for nearly 50 years. If this majority holds, witnessing a day where that regime is ended cannot come soon enough.”

Some who profess to be Christian are pro-abortion, or as they say, “Pro-Choice”. A United Methodist Pastor Dave Barnhart craftily wrote:

“You can love the unborn and advocate for them without substantially challenging your own wealth, power, or privilege, without re-imagining social structures, apologizing, or making reparations to anyone. They are, in short, the perfect people to love if you want to claim you love Jesus but actually dislike people who breathe.”

What he is doing is what most people do when they are advocating for wrong. He is redirecting and twisting the truth. This is a common ploy among the lost liberal world.

No genuine Christian hates people who breath. Genuine Christians love all life.Life is a gift from God.

Genuine Christians love all, and consider all made in the “imago dei”, that is, “In the image of God” (Genesis 1:26-27). When God made “man in our image, after our likeness” He made them “male and female”. God gave His command to “man”, which was “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion”. God did not tell mankind to just “satisfy yourself sexually”. There is satisfaction in human sexuality – God made it so. God said:

Hebrews 13:4 Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

There is pleasure in human sexuality. But the intent of the pleasure is not just to give us joy, but to “be fruitful and multiply”. What does “fruitful” mean?

Psalm 127:3 Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.

Abortion became popular in America when individual pleasure became the norm instead of procreation. In short, humanity in America ignored the command of God.

In the ancient world abortion was regularly practiced. In Egypt the Pharaoh ordered the mid-wives – those who deliver the babies – that they be aborted once their gender was revealed. The King of Egypt, Pharaoh told the mid-wives who delivered babies:

Exodus 1:16-17 … When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live. 17 But the midwives feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the men children alive.

When the Pharaoh – representing the government – asked why the male babies were not aborted, the mid-wives said “because the Hebrew women do not need mid-wives. They deliver their own babies”. The mid-wives “feared God” more than they feared the government. So then the government of Egypt said, “Every son that is born ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter ye shall save alive”. You can read the whole story in Exodus chapter one.

Thank God that Moses’ mother
did not obey the government!

Abortion Is Murder. It Is Taking A Life.

When you take a life, you rob not just the life from an innocent, but whatever potential that child had to better society. That is the reason that God made murder a capital offense. When Noah got off the Ark God told him – and us:

Genesis 9:3-7 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. 4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. 5 And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man. 6 Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. 7 And you, be ye fruitful, and multiply; bring forth abundantly in the earth, and multiply therein.

To murder someone is to shed their blood. If you shed the blood of a human unlawfully, then your blood is to be shed according to God. God says in the Scripture “the life of the flesh is IN THE BLOOD” (Leviticus 17:11). The shedding of blood is murder. Now here’s a question for you:

God said “The life of flesh is in the blood”. God said, “If you shed blood, YOUR blood will be shed”, which is the basis of capital punishment. So here’s the question.

When is BLOOD formed in a fetus?

21 days from fertilization RED BLOOD CELLS are pumped through the heart and blood vessels of the embryo. Once more, God said “The life of flesh is in the blood”. God said, “If you shed blood, YOUR blood will be shed”. 21 days.

The Merck Manual in discussing the formation of the baby notes in the section, “Development of the Embryo”: “Most organs begin to form about 3 weeks after fertilization… At this time, the embryo elongates, first suggesting a human shape. Shortly thereafter, the area that will become the brain and spinal cord (neural tube) begins to develop. The heart and major blood vessels begin to develop earlier—by about day 16. The heart begins to pump fluid through blood vessels by day 20, and the first red blood cells appear the next day. Blood vessels continue to develop in the embryo and placenta.”

King David, writing under the inspiration of God, spoke of his own birth.

Psalm 139:12-17 Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee {O Lord}; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. 13 For Thou hast possessed my reins: Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. 15 My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 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. 17 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

While still in his mother’s womb, David believed that God not only made him, but designed him to be what he would one day be. Thank God that King David was not aborted by his mother. When the blood of the child is spilled, that life – with all its potential to do good on this earth – is ended forever.

What Did Early Christians Believe About Abortion?

Abortion Doctor Willie Parker has said, “I believe that as an abortion provider, I am doing God’s work”. The man professes to be a Christian, and has insisted – along with others – that early Christians had nothing to say about abortion. But this is untrue. Dr. Albert Mohler in his article “The Real Story of Christianity and Abortion” writes:

“The early church was decidedly, vocally, and courageously pro-life and opposed to abortion. … Both abortion and infanticide were common in the Roman Empire. Christians were forbidden to murder any child, born or unborn. … Michael J. Gorman states in Abortion and the Early Church: “All Christian writers opposed abortion.” Every mention of abortion in the early church rejects it forcefully.”

The Didache [pronounced DID-a-KAY]

Around 70-100 A.D. the early Church Apostles wrote a teaching called “The Didache” (meaning “The Doctrine or Teaching”). Didache 2:1-2 states “You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not seduce boys. You shall not commit fornication. You shall not steal. You shall not practice magic. You shall not use potions. You shall not procure [an] abortion, nor destroy a newborn child”.

It was not just Christians who rejected abortion, but Jews as well. The ESV Study Bible quotes the writing of the first century Jewish historian Josephus:

“The law {of God} orders all the offspring to be brought up, and forbids women either to cause abortion or to make away with the fetus” (Against Apion 2.202).

Early Christian writings like The Letter of Barnabas (A.D. 130) states, “You shall not abort a child nor, again, commit infanticide”. There are many other early Christian writings that condemn abortion. Tertullian, a lawyer who became a Christian and a theologian wrote: in his book “Apologeticum”:

“Murder being once for all forbidden, we [Christians] may not destroy even the fetus in the womb, while as yet the human being derives blood from other parts of the body for its sustenance. To hinder a birth is merely a speedier man killing; nor does it matter whether you take away a life that is born, or destroy one that is coming to the birth.”

Are There Other Texts In Scripture
That Address Abortion?

Yes, there are. The Prophet Jeremiah wrote:

Jeremiah 1:4-5 Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 5 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.

God knows us while we are yet in the womb. Some object, saying, “But this just applied to Jeremiah”. Yes, that’s true. But Jeremiah’s mother didn’t know his destiny when she was carrying him. But God did. God has a plan for every life. Every life has potential.

Another good illustration I can think of is the life of John the Baptist. John was born to parents that, like Abraham and Sarah, were childless and past the age when they could have children (Luke 1:7). While the priest Zacharias was fulfilling his duties, the angel of the Lord came to him and told him:

Luke 1:13-17 Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. 14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. 15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. 17 And he shall go before {the Lord} in the spirit and power of {Elijah}, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Before John was ever conceived, God had a plan for John’s life. John was to go before the Lord Jesus, to start ministering 6 months prior to the Messiah. He was to be the Herald of God the Son. John the Baptist fulfilled the prophesies of Malachi 4:5-6 and Isaiah 40:3-5 (see also Mark 1:2-5; John 1:23; Matthew 3:1-3). When the virgin Mary, the mother of the humanity of Jesus Christ heard that Elisabeth her cousin was with child, she quickly went to see her. The Bible says that when Mary called out to Elisabeth:

Luke 1:41 … the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

Elisabeth told Mary:

Luke 1:44-45 … lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. 45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

Thank God that Elisabeth did not abort John! Thank God that Mary, the mother of Christ’s humanity, did not abort her baby!

Crafty Lies The Devil Tells,
For He Desires To Make Us Fail!

In any discussion of abortion, there is always a wolf in sheep’s clothing (Matthew 7:15) used by the devil to trick the saints. In the Garden of Eden the devil crept in as a serpent, questioning God’s sincerity. Here’s some of the things I’ve been told as a Pastor – little lies from little serpents.

• Elective abortion should be lawful in the event a woman is raped, or a victim of incest.

This is a favorite of politicians. I received a letter from one candidate who said he was against abortion except in cases of rape or incest. Where abortions are tracked, we discover that 98% of abortions are from consensual sex. Some states track abortion statistics. For instance, in Florida in 2018 there were 70,190 abortions reported. From that report we find that “abortions due to rape composed 0.1 percent of the total in 2018 but have fluctuated from 0.08 percent (2015) to 1.6 percent (2012) of all abortions reported in Florida”.

Rape is a horrible crime against another human, for both men and women have been raped. Rapists were executed in ancient Israel (Deuteronomy 22:25). Rape carries with it a horrible scarring on the soul of the victim. Even so, should the child produced by the rape be punished for the evil? This is something the mother should certainly pray over before taking the abortive step. Killing the child will not kill the memory of the rape. Killing the child will, however, take a human life, while robbing the world of the potential that child had.

• Elective abortion should be lawful in the event it is necessary to save the life of the mother.

Referring to the same Floridastudy we saw earlier, we are told that “abortions categorized as due to the mother’s physical health jumped from 0.1 percent in 2016 to one percent in 2017 and 1.5 percent in 2018”. Most nations legal systems recognize that treatment to save a mother’s life is not the same as killing an unwanted child. Again, the mother should seek God’s direction through prayer before taking the life of her child. Loving my wife and children, I would gladly take a bullet for them that they might live. I believe that most mothers – if given the choice – would give their lives so that their children might live.

• When the fetus is aborted, it doesn’t feel any pain.

The Journal Of Medical Ethics produced an article by Neuroscientist Stuart W.G. Derbyshire and Army Physician Assistant John C. Bockmann entitled “Reconsidering Fetal Pain”. They wrote:

“Overall, the evidence, and a balanced reading of that evidence, points towards an immediate and unreflective pain experience mediated by the developing function of the nervous system from as early as 12 weeks. That moment is not categorical, fetal development is continuous and not an event, and we recognize that some evidence points towards an immediate and unreflective pain not being possible until later. Nevertheless, we no longer view fetal pain (as a core, immediate, sensation) in a gestational window of 12–24 weeks as impossible based on the neuroscience. … Given the evidence that the fetus might be able to experience something like pain during later abortions, it seems reasonable that the clinical team and the pregnant woman are encouraged to consider fetal analgesia {when performing abortions}. … Fetal analgesia and anesthesia should thus be standard for abortions in the second trimester, especially after 18 weeks when there is good evidence for a functional connection from the periphery and into the brain.”

• If abortion is not a constitutional “right”, tens of thousands of women will die each year from illegal “back alley” abortions.

When liberals learned that the Supreme Court had overturned Roe V Wade (though this is not settled as of yet), some of the comments were “Amazon is going to run out of coat hangers”. Dr. Bernard Nathanson who was instrumental in convincing America to repeal the abortion laws and to pass Roe, later wrote an essay called “Confessions Of An Ex-Abortionist”:

“The number of women dying from illegal abortions {before Roe V Wade} was around 200-250 annually. The figure constantly fed to the media was 10,000. These false figures took root in the consciousness of Americans convincing many that we needed to crack the abortion law. Another myth we fed to the public through the media was that legalizing abortion would only mean that the abortions taking place illegally would then be done legally. In fact, of course, abortion is now being used as a primary method of birth control in the U.S. and the annual number of abortions has increased by 1500% since legalization.”

I could go on and on, for the devil is very good at twisting the truth. The truth is – a truth we in America need to rediscover – is that life matters. ALL life matters. Black lives matter. Red lives matter. Yellow lives matter. White lives matter. Unborn lives matter. Regardless as to how loud the liberal screams and protests, regardless as to whether we see more “peaceful – but fiery protests” on television – life is precious. God has a purpose for every life. I pray daily that we as a nation would come back to this great truth.

Happy Mother’s day! For the glory of God, and the advancement of our great nation, I pray these words would touch your hearts. Pray with me that the Supreme Court will hold the line and overturn Roe V Wade, sending the question back to each state’s legislature. This is where the question should have been dealt with from the beginning. Through His Spirit, Amen and amen!