If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain, if thou sayest, “Behold, we knew it not,” doth not He that pondereth the heart consider it? And He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it? And shall not He render to every man according to his works? Proverbs 24:11-12
Those who know the Lord dare not be silent. Today in America, 1,800 lives will be snuffed out. In the last 40 years, 57.3 million innocent people in the U.S. have died by execution. They've had no trial or counsel, executed in a cruel, inhumane way. Almost every 30 seconds, a little baby will die in the United States.
Who are the conspirators in the crime? Those Supreme Court justices who found a right to abortion in the Constitution; physicians, responsible for prolonging life, who now take life for money; abortion providers like Planned Parenthood, who are reaping a windfall in this harvest of death; willing mothers and fathers who are having their offspring put to death. All these are perpetrators in this crime, but there are others—the silent ones who will not speak up. Are you one of those? We dare not, we must not, be silent.
Pharaoh, Hitler, and Herod the Great, taken together, cannot hold a candle to the 57.3 million who have been put to death in America since 1973. You can be fined $5,000 and face jail time for crushing an eagle’s egg, yet make a handsome salary putting babies to death.
It is now legal in America for any physician to kill a baby while that baby is in the mother's womb, even if the mother is in labor. Many are unaware that abortion was not only declared a “right” under the Constitution in Roe v. Wade, but in Doe v. Bolton was found legal up to and through the delivery date of the child!
Today in this land we ask God to bless, a junior high school girl or boy will be taught how to practice sex without the consequences of disease or pregnancy, be given contraceptives without parental permission, and the same school-based health clinic that cannot even dispense an aspirin without parental permission can send a teen to a clinic without her parents' knowledge or consent, to have her baby aborted. There's something very wrong in America.
I know this is distasteful. It's not an upbeat message, but I want to give you three reasons why we dare not, we must not be silent.
1. It is a matter of life.
13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.15 My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.16 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. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! Psalm 139:13-17
When a woman is pregnant, God Himself is forming a child in that mother's womb. That child is the subject and object of God's love and concern.
The Bible does not distinguish between prenatal and postnatal life. The child in the womb is as precious to God as the newborn baby.
“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; Before you were born, I sanctified you;” Jeremiah 1:5.
What some would call “just a blob of tissue,” God says was set aside and sanctified to be a prophet of God. I'm grateful Jeremiah was not aborted. And not just Jeremiah…
41 And it happened, when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, that the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 Then she spoke out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!... 44 For indeed, as soon as the voice of your greeting sounded in my ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.” Luke 1:41-44
John the Baptist, still in Elizabeth’s womb, and in the presence of the yet-unborn Lord Jesus Christ, was so filled with joy, touched by the Holy Spirit, that that he leaped for joy.
The word used here for “babe” is the Greek word brepos. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines brepos as "an unborn child, embryo, fetus, a newborn child, an infant, a babe." It means all of those things, not some of those things. Brepos, describing John in his mother’s womb, is the word for a baby, whether born or unborn.
According to the Bible, life begins at conception. But science makes it easy to see that.
- A human cell has 46 chromosomes, 23 each from father mother. That cell structure is as much a part of the father as it is the mother. No mother carrying a baby can logically say, "It's nobody else's business what happens to my body." It is not her body. There is a unique, separate creature in her, one with unique DNA, a separate circulatory system and perhaps even a different blood type from the mother.
- The baby is in a continuing process of development. A baby just conceived is a person. A baby developing in the mother's womb is a person. A baby just born is a person. The baby growing into toddlerhood is a person. The child at his first day of school is a person. Young people, adults, and those maturing in age—all are persons in a continuing stage of development, according to the Word of God and even to science.
How Does God Feel About Abortion?
16 These six things the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: 17 A proud look, A lying tongue, Hands that shed innocent blood,18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that are swift in running to evil,19 A false witness who speaks lies, And one who sows discord among brethren. Proverbs 6:16-19
Let me tell you how God feels about the abortion business. This is not something God is “not fond of.” He says He hates it.
Dr. Bernard N. Nathanson, an obstetrician/gynecologist, once an assistant professor at Cornell University Medical School, was director of the largest abortion clinic in the western world. But he changed his tune and became a leader in the pro-life movement after his clinic performed 60,000 abortions in 18 months. Dr. Nathanson resigned, saying, “I am deeply troubled by my own increasing certainty that I had, in fact, presided over 60,000 deaths.” “My certainty,” said this medical doctor. Doctors and nurses told him of nightmares and depression they were experiencing and personality changes developing among other personnel at the clinic.
2. It is matter of love.
If indeed that is a baby in the mother's womb, then how is it to be treated? Let Jesus tell you.
12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12.
The entire Bible is summed up by “doing to others as you would have them do unto you.” What mother would want to be killed by being dismembered? If you would not want someone to do that to you, don't do that to your baby. What doctor would like to be trapped in a cell and have his life taken by a corrosive acid poured over his body and forced into his lungs, left to convulse for hours until he was dead? Doctor, if you wouldn't want someone to do that to you, don't do that to someone else. What judge would like to be ripped out of his home, torn apart by some machine? Your Honor, if you wouldn't want that done to you, don't do it to somebody else. It is completely contrary to human instinct.
When God describes a society on its last legs, one mark is that people will be without understanding, covenant breakers, and “…without natural affection” (Romans 1:31). It literally means "without family love," lack of affection toward one's own children.
What is the whole abortion business rooted in? Selfishness. We have come to a generation without natural affection. Most women who abort are not teenagers but are over 20. More are white rather than from minorities. 43% are returning for their second, third, or fourth abortion. It is a matter of birth control for many. It's based primarily on selfishness, in contrast to the Word of God, which teaches love.
"Cursed is the man who accepts a bribe to kill an innocent person." Deuteronomy 27: 25.
The ultimate selfishness is the multi-million dollar abortion industry. There are doctors living lavishly in homes because they are in the grizzly business of taking lives. They're in the business of killing for hire. The curse of God is on it.
3. It is a matter of logic.
Have you heard these convoluted, high-sounding arguments?
- “It’s not a baby while in the mother's womb. Life begins with the first breath.”
- “But abortion may be necessary to save the mother's life.”
- “But what about all those babies conceived by rape or incest?"
- “But what if the baby is going to be deformed? Shouldn’t we abort?”
- “A woman's body is her own to do with as she pleases.”
- “But restrictive abortion laws are unfair to the poor.”
- “But what about the baby who's going to be the victim of child abuse if that child is brought into the world?”
- “A fertilized egg is not human life.”
We are out of space for this posting but in Part 2 of this article we will answer each of these objections.
In Summary
What must we do? We will deal with each of these more fully next time, but in a nutshell:
1. Become informed.
2. Work for and pray for a constitutional amendment that will make abortion on
demand illegal.
3. Teach biblical sexual morality at home, and yes, in the church.
4. Have more compassion for an unwed mother.
5. Speak out clearly. We dare not be silent.
“Cry aloud; spare not. Lift up thy voice like a trumpet and show My people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sin.” Isaiah 58:1
6. Refuse to be swayed by the high-sounding arguments of liberals, humanists, or
social planners.
7. Pray, asking God to have mercy upon this nation and send a spiritual revival.
8. Preach the glorious, saving gospel of Jesus Christ. Thereby, Christ as their
Personal Savior will change hearts and lives.
In a crisis we dare not be silent. Above all, keep your knees on the floor and pray to Almighty God.
Part 2 will address the arguments people often raise and provide answers you can use. Part 2 will post in January. Next month, December, will be focused upon our Savior’s birth.
To hear this message in its entirety, listen on radio November 25 and 26. Or call 1-800-274-5683 and request CD #1690 by the same title. On the air date and afterward, you can hear it anytime at www.lwf.org in our broadcast archives.
