Taking It To the Streets

 

March 7, 2021                          NOTES NOT EDITED
Taking It To the Streets
Luke 14:15-35

SIS—If filling up God’s church with new believers who are loving and serving God is not your “top priority,” you are living in disobedience.

Today, we are going to look at the Greatest Invitation every given by the Greatest One Who Has Ever Lived to the Greatest Party that will ever be held. 

God has invited everyone in the world to attend a Great Banquet.  That Great Banquet is an eternal party that will take place for all eternity in heaven.  Our text reveals a shocking truth about this invitation:  many people simply did not respond.  This both breaks God’s heart and sparks His wrath.  Let’s read about this invitation: 

LUKE 14:15-24

Now, many sermons have been preached regarding the broadness of God’s invitation to salvation, and rightfully so.  In this parable God is represented as a man giving a great banquet.  That invitation represents an invitation to eternal life.  It is almost unfathomable to me that anyone could reject an absolutely free invitation to eternal life—but many, in fact most, have and will continue to reject that offer.

Today, I want to focus on the infinite passion for souls that characterizes God’s character, as evidenced by the fact that in verse 23 that God, represented by the master of the house, declares in what seems to be forceful language:

23 “And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled. 

This text gives mankind insight into the very heart of God Almighty.  What really drives passion of God?  What so moves the heart of God that “He sent His only begotten Son” to die on a cross to provide the means by which all mankind could be offered an invitation to eternal life?  We are told what drives the heart of God to do such a thing:

“For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son.” 

The Holy Spirit through the Apostle Peter declared boldly:

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 

From Genesis to Revelation the Bible unfolds the passion that God has for saving souls.  At the Cross—on the cross—the passion of God for reaching His lost children reached its zenith.   Nothing drives the heart of God more than His love for His lost children.  This is the message woven throughout this Parable of the Great Banquet. 

God’s passion is the salvation of men, women and children.  Knowing this, a church with more pew than people is an affront to God, Himself.  If filling up God’s church with new believers who are loving and serving God is not your “top priority,” you are living in disobedience.

Now, I realize that is a very, very strong statement and one that “stings” a little like salt on an open wound.  But, the truth is the truth and the sooner we as a church align ourselves with the truth of God’s Word in sacrificial obedience, then the sooner we will begin to see unimaginable blessings fall upon our church, our families, and our community—indeed, our world. 

Church is like a launching pad for believers sending us out into the highways and byways of life.  TAKING IT TO THE STREETS! is what church is all about.  This is what our text commands us to do and we simply must “get it done.”  God has given me 4 components from our text that are essential if we are going to see God’s blessing fall like rain from heaven with souls being saved regularly.

1.  There is a SPIRITUAL Component (v 15)

¹⁵ When one of those who reclined at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “The one who will eat bread in the kingdom of God is blessed!” 

The background for the Parable of the Great Banquet is an actual meal at the at “the house of one of the leading Pharisees” (14:1).  They were reclining around a low table as was the custom of the day.  When the Pharisee spoke about a “person being blessed who eats bread in the Kingdom of God,”  this indicates the Pharisees assumed that Jesus was talking about them.

No people on earth at that time that were more “religious” and “righteous” than the Pharisees.  Now, everywhere in the N.T. Jesus interacts with the Pharisees, for the most part, it is not a pleasant interaction.  In fact, some of the harshest condemnations Jesus ever spoke, He spoke to and about the Pharisees.

But, and this is important, Jesus did recognize that the Pharisees highly valued righteousness and were fastidious about religious details.¹ They were strict “tithers,” radically evangelistic, and kept every jot and tittle of the Law—at least in their own minds.  In one text Jesus remarks:

^{Mat5:  20} For I tell you, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

In the first century, if one turned to the Webster’s Dictionary under the heading, “righteous,” there would be a picture of a Pharisee.

Now, Jesus declared that one’s righteousness had to “exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees” in order to get into heaven.  I want to suggest strongly to you that there is “no way” you are going to compete with the Pharisees when it comes to “ritualistic righteousness.”  But, let me go back to our text in verse 14.

Jesus: ¹⁴“you will be repaid [for earthly service to the poor] at the resurrection of the righteous.  The self-righteous Pharisees obviously thought Jesus was speaking to them which is why one responded to Jesus in verse 15 with the boastfully pious remark, “The one who will eat bread in the Kingdom of God is blessed.” Jesus would then add the parable of the Great Banquet to show that “none of the self-righteous Pharisees” would be “eating bread in the Kingdom of God.” Jesus didn’t die on the cross to create a religion; He died to save souls!

You see, blessing, or being in the Kingdom of God is not something we “earn” or “gain” through our religious activities.  Entrance into the Kingdom of God is a “spiritual” matter, not a religious one.  True righteousness is “spiritual righteousness,” not “self-righteousness.”

“True righteousness” is imputed, or placed into us from the outside, not gained through ritual—however fastidiously we practice it.    It is a “spiritual transaction.”  The Bible says in 2Corinthians 5:21,

He made the One who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 

Therefore, “Taking It To The Streets,” has a spiritual component. It is a matter of complete and total surrender to God and obedience to His Holy Spirit on a day-by-day, moment-by-moment basis. 

The “spiritual component” involves prayer, Bible study (including a daily quiet time and Scripture memory), participation in the fellowship of God’s church as spiritual servants, and a Holy Spirit inspired compassion for lost people that motivates us to evangelize.

Without this spiritual component, God’s house will never be full of believers who love Him and are serving Him. 

2.  There is, then, also a HUMAN component (vv 17, 21, 23) 

Three times in this passage, the Master commands the servant to go.

1.  ¹⁷ and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited, ‘Come; for everything is ready now.’

2.  ²¹ “And the slave came back and reported this to his master  [that the original invitees had excuses for not attending]. Then the head of the household became angry and said to his slave, ‘Go out at once into the streets and lanes of the city and bring in here the poor and crippled and blind and lame.’

3.  ²³ “And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, so that my house may be filled.

These texts demonstrate two important truths:  ❶ God is passionate—infinitely passionate—about seeing souls saved and serving in His church; and ❷ God has limited Himself to work through human instruments to accomplish His will.²  The Word of God has made it clear:  the winning of those whom God has elected to save is the responsibility of those that have been saved.  In a sentence: we must realize that the gospel came to us on its way to someone else. 

Nobody can be saved unless they hear the Word of God, and they can’t hear the Word of God without a preacher.  Rom. 10:14:

¹⁴ How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?

Followers of Christ have an “absolute responsibility” to share the gospel.  Ezek 33:6: ‘But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.’ 

“Accountable for THEIR blood.”  Chilling.  Terrifying.  For some of you this is paralyzing.  But, it is the Word of Almighty God.

You say, “But I can’t.”  God says, “But we must!”  We simply “must” do everything within our power to see that our church is filling up with new believers who are loving God and serving Him, or we are “just flat out living in disobedience.” 

We all need to get on our knees and stay on our knees until “filling up His church matters as much to us as it does to Our Lord!”

“Taking It To The Streets” has a spiritual component and a human component.  It also has

3.  a FINANCIAL component (vv 25-27)

²⁵Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, ²⁶“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple 

Then it is summarized in verse 33: ³³“So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. 

I don’t know how to say it any clearer: if anything else, including your possessions, is more important than “filling up the House of God with new believers that are loving Him and serving Him,” then you are not headed for heaven—you have rejected God’s Great Invitation just like the three “excuse-givers” in verses 18-20.

Verse 18:  The first rejection came by someone who “had to take care of his own field.”  Verse 19:  The second excuse came from a man who “had to take care of his own livestock.”  Verse 20:  the third one doesn’t really say why, but for some reason “he could not come to God’s banquet because of his family responsibilities.”

When it comes to life you can either choose to be someone who MAKES EXCUSES, or you can be someone who MAKES A DIFFERENCE.

Jesus had a lot to say about riches and to rich people and it was always a sobering discussion.  Here Jesus states the matter as plainly as it can be stated:  obedience to God involves one’s “finances.”

“Taking It To the Streets” has a financial component.  Ministry takes money.  It’s that simple.  It is true, “God owns the cattle on a thousand hills,” but it is also true that many of His followers are “cattle rustlers.”  Many Christians have God’s cattle locked up in their own barns! 

The wisest payment, or investment, you can make is to give regularly and generously to the Kingdom of God through your local Church.

There is a saying in the English vernacular that describes a person of great generosity.  We say, “He’d give you the shirt of his back.”  Well, a chiropractor in Tampa, Florida in 1994 did exactly that for his ex-wife.  He had been paying alimony for many years, but finally the last alimony payment came due.  It would be for $182, not a staggering amount in itself but it represented years of grudgingly paying his ex-wife.  He decided to not only make the payment, but make a statement as well.  He made an arrangement with his local bank. He purchased a brand new, pinstriped shirt.  On the back of the shirt he drew a large scale check, complete with account number and routing number.  In the memo line of the check for $182 he wrote this message:  Here it is—the shirt off my back!  His ex-wife took the shirt to the bank and cashed it.

We should never give to God’s work grudgingly, but I wonder, how many of us would be willing to give God, “the shirt off our back.” 

“Taking It To The Streets and Filling Up the Church” involves a spiritual component, a human component, and financial component.  Add these components together and they make a “compelling” argument that supports my SERMON IN A SENTENCE:  If filling up God’s church with new believers who are loving and serving God is not your “top priority,” you are living in disobedience.

Look back at verse 23. The word, “compel,” in the NASB comes from the Greek word, “anankazō (ἀναγκάζω). According to a major Greek dictionary it means, “to cause or compel someone in all the varying degrees from friendly pressure to forceful compulsion” (TDNT).  It is a compound word formed from “agkalē” which means “bent or twisted” and the prefix, an(a). The prefix, “an(a)” refers to repeated action or intensity.  Our common expression in English, “twisting someone’s arm,” is a colloquial equivalent of anankazō. Fulfilling God’s will to fill up His church with new believers is a serious mission that requires making others “uncomfortable” at times.  That also makes us “uncomfortable.”  But, sharing the gospel is essential!

There’s one more essential component to becoming“fully devoted followers of Christ” working to fill up the House of God with other fully devoted followers of Christ.  the most important component is:

4.  a MEDICAL component (Lk. 19:41-44)

Now, I don’t mean “medical” in the typical therapeutic sense as with hospitals, doctors, medicine and such treating a physical ailment.  I’m talking about a different type of “medical” component—a broken heart!

I don’t know who said it first, but the most profound prayer any believer could ever pray in regard to the Kingdom’s Work is this:  “Let my heart be broken by the things that break the heart of God.”

Until our hearts are broken by what breaks God’s heart, churches like our will continue to float uselessly to the dock of apathy and never sail into God’s sunset of soul-winning.

I’m going to read one verse about how the lostness of mankind broke God’s heart, and then I’m going to play a video that should break our hearts. Luke 19:41 When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it [because the people did not accept Him as the Messiah and Savior].

VIDEO: Do We Care That People Are Going To Hell? Then, why
aren’t we telling them about Jesus?

Let’s commit together to “fill up God’s house!”

NOTES

1. The Righteousness of the Pharisees

(1)  evangelistic:  You travel over land and sea to make one proselyte,  and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for hell  as you are! (Mat 23:15).

(2)  tithers:  You pay a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin (Lk. 23:23).  The Law of God required everyone to give a “tenth,” or a tithe, to the work of God.  Even if a wild herb, like mint, dill, or cumin sprouted up along the walkway of a Pharisees home, he would pick one out of ten and take it to the temple for an offering.

(3)  ritualistic: You clean the outside of the cup and dish. (Lk. 23:25). The Pharisees followed every ritualistic requirement of their faith—and there were many.  There was even a debate as to whether it was more important to clean the inside or the outside of a cup—and we are talking about “religious” practice, not a hygienic one.  The Pharisees were rigid in their pursuit of religion, and their practice far exceeded all others.

2. The Self-limitation of God

The Self-limitation is difficult for us to grasp because we comprehend that Yahweh is Absolutely Sovereign and can do anything He pleases—but that sovereignty includes NOT doing something, if it pleases Him. 

The United States of Molech

 

February 28, 2021                    NOTES NOT EDITED
The United States of Molech

Psalm 106:37-38; Jeremiah 32:30-35

SIS: Until we reverse the practice of abortion on demand our nation is under a curse and will be judged harshly by God.

 There are three areas I want to cover in regard to the Churches response to abortion:  1.  Molech and America; 2.  Myths vs. Realities of abortion; and 3. the Church’s Mission and the conscience of a nation

1.  MOLECH and Israel America (Psalm 106)

Child sacrifice is as old as human history.  We know the Canaanites, as well as other prehistoric cultures, practiced child sacrifice. The Canaanite culture stretches back beyond pre-written history, at least 4000 B.C.  This is why God constantly warned the Israelites to completely annihilate the Canaanites. Instead, the Israelites intermarried with them and took on their horrendous, depraved customs, including sacrificing their Jewish children to the Canaanite (Ammonite) god of fire, Molech.  Even King Solomon embraced the practice (1Kings 11:5).  This evil practice of child sacrifice, such as to the idol, Molech,  among other evils, brought the hammer of God’s judgment down upon Israel and the nation was destroyed by King Nebuchadnezzar.  Jeremiah pronounced God’s judgement:  Jeremiah 32:30–35 

³⁰ From their youth, the Israelites and Judeans have done nothing but what is evil in My sight! They have done nothing but provoke Me to anger by the work of their hands” —this is the Lord’s declaration— ³¹ “for this city has caused My wrath and fury from the day it was built until now. I will therefore remove it from My presence, ³² because of all the evil the Israelites and Judeans have done to provoke Me to anger—they, their kings, their officials, their priests, and their prophets, the men of Judah, and the residents of Jerusalem. ³³ They have turned their backs to Me and not their faces. Though I taught them time and time again, they do not listen and receive discipline. ³⁴ They have placed their detestable things in the house that is called by My name and have defiled it. ³⁵ They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Hinnom to make their sons and daughters pass through the fire to Molech —something I had not commanded them. I had never entertained the thought that they do this detestable act causing Judah to sin! 

Molech was a “fire god” common among the inhabitants of the ancient Near East.  Canaanites, Moabites, and Ammonites all had a version.  Molech is mentioned at least ten times in the Bible. Idols of Molech were made of brass and a fire would heat up Molech’s outstretched arms.  The child was sacrifice by being placed in the superheated arms of Molech. Drums and loud singing accompanied the sacrifice ritual—most likely to drown out the horrible screams of tortured and dying children. All of this was to gain some future favor with the false god.

Now, we just hide the mess of abortion behind the closed doors of Planned Parenthood and other “killing centers.”

Most people repulse in horror burning children to death, but what happens during an abortion is just as brutal and just as horrendous, and in most cases, we now know scientifically that the child feels the pain of being butchered.!  Yes! Butchered. Murdered.  Tortured.  These are all appropriate words as hard as they are to hear.

Abortion is murder—the matter is as simple as that.  Not only is it murder, in most cases it is the most horrifically brutal murder you could imagine.  Murder is defined as the “premeditated killing of an innocent human being by another.”  The baby in the womb is certainly, “human,” as defined by what it is not—anything else.  The baby in the womb is most certainly innocent for she has committed no crime.  Abortion is “horrific, brutal premeditated murder.”

In order to fully comprehend the depth of American depravity in regard to abortion in America—the modern-day worship of Molech—we must understand the heights the nation, or any nation, reaches when they dedicate themselves to the service of Almighty God.  Psalm 106 shows us the heights from which our nation has fallen—a nation Founded upon the “laws of nature and Nature’s God” (DoI).

Psa 106:1–3  ¹ Hallelujah! Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His faithful love endures forever. ² Who can declare the Lord’s mighty acts or proclaim all the praise due Him? ³ How happy are those who uphold justice, who practice righteousness at all times.

“How happy are those who uphold justice.”  But, we in America have not upheld justice for the most vulnerable of our citizens, the unborn Americans.  We have sacrificed them on the “altar of abortion” for our own convenience.  Most Christians did not even vote in the last election which was a set-back for the unborn.  Justice continues to be denied for the most innocent, the most vulnerable, the Americans most full of human potential—the American in the womb.

“How unhappy,” therefore, we will be when God’s judgement falls upon us as surely as it did for those who sacrificed their children to the God of Fire, Molech.  The Psalmist goes on to point an accusing finger at America  (verses 34-38)  

³⁴ They did not destroy the peoples as the Lord had commanded them ³⁵ but mingled with the nations and adopted their ways. ³⁶ They served their idols, which became a snare to them. ³⁷ They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons. ³⁸ They shed innocent blood— the blood of their sons and daughters whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; so the land became polluted with blood.

Our land is polluted, not with plastic bags and drinking straws, but with the “blood of the innocents.”  The stink of our rebellion has reached the nostrils of God and His disgust has triggered His wrath.

Psa. 106:40-41:  ⁴⁰ Therefore the Lord’s anger burned against His people, and He abhorred His own inheritance. ⁴¹ He handed them over to the nations; those who hated them ruled them.

America’s place as a world power is going to come to end if we do not summarily appeal Roe v. Wade and repent of the “innocent blood” of 60 million (or more) American babies!  And . . . as we have learned from our study of the Bible’s silence in regard to America, this prophetic warning of Psalm 106 is taking place as I speak.

God did not tolerate the sacrificing of children to Molech in Israel and He will not tolerate it for long in America either.  Next, let’s consider 

2.  MYTHS versus Realities in regard to abortion

Let me lay a foundation for discussing myths associated with abortion. We live in a day when it is very hard, perhaps impossible without divine intervention, to discuss any matter civilly, reasonably, and biblically.  Isaiah prophesied of this day (Isaiah 5:18, 20):

¹⁸ What sorrow for those who drag their sins behind them with ropes made of lies, who drag wickedness behind them like a cart!

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

²⁰ What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark,

For most people in society, truth is as elusive as a Sasquatch riding a unicorn.  People have believed a lie for so long they don’t even know how to think, much less what to think.  The sins of people are so great they have to “pull them along in a cart.”  The very idea of  “Thus saith the Lord” is like a foreign language to most people.  So, the job of combatting the “myths” of abortion is no simple matter.

I’m not going to discuss every “myth” but I’ve chosen some common ones to demonstrate all these myths melt like a snowflake in sunshine when confronted with science and the Word of God. 

❶ Viability 

In the landmark SCOTUS ruling, Roe v. Wade,  the court established the viability rule, and reaffirmed the viability rule in the1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey decision.  The viability rule created by the Court provides that government “may not prohibit any woman from making the ultimate decision to terminate her pregnancy before viability.”  Originally set as after 27 weeks, viability has increasingly been pushed back to as little as 21 weeks (of a 40 week pregnancy).  Amillia Sonja Taylor, born in October 2006, at 21 weeks, six days. She weighed in at just under 10 ounces, and who, when fully stretched out, was 9 1/2 inches long, finally went home in February. She is among the youngest babies ever to survive. She beat the Supreme Court mark by six weeks.  The fact is, abortions are performed today even while the child is passing through the birth canal.  So the viability myth fails for two reasons:  1. Viability is not an exact science and will likely continue to shrink in the future, and 2. the abortion advocates don’t adhere to viability anyway.  It’s just a cloak of pseudo-science pro-abortion people hide behind.  The bottom line is:  either all life is sacred, or no life is safe. A human is a human, regardless of size or the need of care. How many one-year olds can survive outside the womb without care?  There are teen-agers who aren’t “viable” in the strict sense without the constant care of mom and dad.  When society can apply arbitrary rules to who is human enough to deserve life, we all suffer. This leads to another myth

❷ Size and Appearance

Like many “myths” offered in defense of abortion, this one is also arbitrary—that is, with no rational or scientific basis.  Some will defend early abortion by calling the baby, “just a clump of cells.” A fetus is a separate, unique individual from conception.  At 21 days, before the mother even knows she is pregnant, the first irregular fetal heartbeats begin—at 21 days!  At 45 days, when many early abortions happen, the child’s brain waves can be detected. By the 11^th week—about when the majority of abortions happen—the child can squint, swallow, move her tongue, has fingerprints, such his thumb, sleeps, feels, tastes and reacts to stimuli. Because of ultrasonic imaging, we now have a window into the womb and see the marvelous development of a baby. The baby is never just, “a mere clump of cells.”  Here’s a quote from the California Journal of Medicine:

“....[it has become] necessary to separate the idea of abortion from the idea of killing, which continues to be socially abhorrent. The result has been a curious avoidance of the scientific fact, which everybody really knows, that human life begins at conception and is continuous, whether inter or extra-uterine, until death. The very considerable semantic gymnastics required to rationalize abortion as anything but the taking of human life would be ludicrous if they were not put forth under socially impeccable auspices.” (Copied)

Size and appearance are arbitrary measures of humanness. Is a two-years old less human than a five-years old, or is a twenty-years old less human than a 40 years old?  Of course not.  Size and appearance do not determine humanness, nor does it determine value.

❸ Quality of Life

Again, this is an arbitrary standard. The argument goes something like this, “Unwanted children are often abused and tend to become abusers in adult life leading often to perpetual generations of poverty. There is NO (ZERO) evidence that popularizing abortion has reduced child abuse. In fact, data shows just the opposite.  Since Roe v. Wade child abuse rose dramatically and continues to rise.  Abortion kills the conscience as surely as it kills the baby and reduces the quality of life for all in society.  Isn’t it a bit odd to say that the never giving a child a chance to life is a means to prevent him or her from having a “poor quality” of life. That is as absurd as it is evil.  Here’s A STORY of a difficult family circumstance that would likely end in abortion today. This story was told in a class on the ethics of abortion.

The father has syphilis. The mother has T.B.. They already have four children. The first is blind. The second has diabetes. The third is deaf. The fourth has T.B.. The mother is pregnant again. The parents are willing to have an abortion if you decide they should. What do you think?”. The students say, it’s a no-brainer, counsel them have an abortion. “Congratulations”, said the professor, “You have just murdered Beethoven!”

The quality of life myths crumbles under the weight of its own irrationality—any quality of life must first begin with . . . well, life!

❹ Rape or Incest

This myth in support of abortion is a bit weightier than the first three. The question can be asked, “Should a woman be forced to carry the child of a man who has so violated her?" In the infamous Roe v. Wade,  "Jane Roe" claimed to have been the victim of a rape, became pregnant, and upon those facts appealed to the Supreme Court for the right to abort her child. Her real name was Norma Mccorvey. She died 4 years ago after becoming a Christian and staunch defender of life in the womb. She admitted she lied about being raped. Such a circumstance of rape or incest only account for 1-2% of all abortions.  But, that’s not the issue.  The issue is what we have said before:  if all life is not sacred, no life is safe!  God is the giver of life:  “Sons are an indeed a heritage from the Lord, children [are] a reward” (Psa. 127:3). Life begins in the Mind of God (Psa. 139:13-16), and as such is sacred apart from the method by which one is conceived. It is unjust to kill an innocent human being because of the crimes of his or her father! In such a difficult case, love is the key to life and healing—love and support for both mother and child.

❺ My Body/My Choice 

This myth is perhaps the most often cited defense for killing unborn children.  This is so absurd, irrational and unscientific, one wonders how it can persist as a support for killing children. Think of the absurd picture if the fetus is part of the woman’s body. Does she have 2 heads, 4 eyes, 4 arms, and 4 legs? Of course not. That is absurd. The baby is separate in every way. The child in the womb has her own genetic code that every cell in her body shares, but that is distinctly different from the mothers. As mentioned before, the child in the womb has a distinct—different from the mother’s—set of fingerprints. She has her own blood supply. The child’s life in every way is different and distinct from the mother’s.  The mother may die and the baby live.  The baby may die and the mother live.  They are wholly separate. As such, there is no “moral choice” to premeditatively kill that child.  It would be as we said before, “murder.”

❻ The Mother’s Life In Danger 

C. Everett Koop, formerly the Surgeon General under Reagan, stated that during his 35-plus years of practicing medicine, “Never once did a case come across my practice where abortion was necessary to save a mother’s life.”

There are times that a pregnancy may have a medical crisis in which the baby cannot be carried to term.  In these cases, every attempt is made to save both the mother and the child.  In some cases,  the baby cannot be saved. That is the sad reality of life and death—abortion is not a medial procedure for saving the mother.  Abortion is a clinical procedure for killing the child. To say otherwise is simply a “myth” concocted and spread to promote abortion.

❼ What about Capital Punishment?

This often comes up as an attack against a Pro-life position. It is a myth that capital punishment and abortion are the same.  Let’s review the definition of murder:  the premeditated killing of an innocent human being by another human being.  Abortion fits the definition of murder, and is in fact, murder—horrific, heinous, torturous murder in many instances.  What about capital punishment?  It does not fit the definition (either Biblically or judicially) for murder.  First of all, the person being executed is not innocent.  He or she has been found guilty of a heinous crime and after lengthy appeals with guaranteed legal counsel has been found “guilty.”  Second, capital punishment is carried out be the State, not an individual.  Romans 13 gives the biblical foundation for the right of the government to justly carry out capital punishment.  Abortion is murder.  Capital punishment is not.

These are just seven representative “myths” or arguments for abortion.  There are many others.  They all fail the test of science, morality, or reason, or perhaps all three.  The bottom-line is this:  THERE IS NEVER ANY JUSTIFICATION FOR ABORTION.

First, we examined the fact that the child sacrifices of Jewish children to the false god, Molech, for some future, perceived benefit, is no different from the sacrificing of innocent children to the false god of convenience in an abortion clinic. Second, we addressed the idea of the “Myths” offered to support the practice of abortion.  Now, let’s turn our attention to setting forth a positive “action plan” for doing something to end the evil practice of abortion

3. The Church’s MISSION and the Conscience of a Nation 

It is extremely rare for a sitting president to write and publish a book length essay.  That is exactly what President Ronald Reagan did in a feature length article in 1983, published in book form in 1984.  Adding to the intrigue of this writing is the topic President Reagan chose to write about:  “the most controversial issue of his time, and indeed our time as well.”

In 1983, Reagan wrote, “Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation.”  When published it would include a chapter by the venerable Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Cope and the esteemed British journalist, Malcolm Muggeridge.

In this radical verbal assault on abortion, President Reagan quotes the venerable Mother Teresa.  Mother Teresa rarely spoke in public forums without condemning abortion.  Mother Teresa said, “Abortion is a crime that not only kills the child but the consciences of all involved.”  Literally national, legalized, widespread abortion has “murdered the conscience of America.”  Reagan argued in this book, “Abortion concerns not only the unborn child, it concerns every one of us.”

In a chapter titled, “The Slide to Auschwitz,” Dr. C. Everett Koop, a board certified, respected pediatrician, compares the horrors of the abortion industry with the industrialized killing camp of Auschwitz and the monstrous policies of Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. There is no logical or moral difference.

It seems hypocritical for any in our time to condemn the Israelites and other ancients for “infant” sacrifice by the hundreds or thousands, if we sacrifice infants on the altar of the abortion table by the millions!  Indeed, our conscience as a nation has been so irreparably seared by decades of sacrificing to Molech, that we have no mental compulsion to any act.  Once a nation embraces murder as a judicial right and societal norm, there’s no downhill from the very bottom. 

If indeed our nation has lost its conscience to where even infant sacrifice has not only become permissible, but celebrated, what then is the Mission of the Church.  What CAN we do?  What MUST we do? 

I want us to commit to a simple “action plan” as individuals and as members of this Christian fellowship.  It is a simple plan, but can bring enormous results. 

1.  Pray—Really Pray! If the church of the last 50 years, perhaps more, has failed at anything, we have failed at prevailing prayer. It does not good for us to share our grievances about life with other persons until we have spoken of them to Our Heavenly Father. We are in the mess we are in in the U.S. because of a failure to “stay in constant touch with God through prevailing prayer.” Most Christians I’ve met over the years really do not know how to pray in a way that actually connects them with God in heaven.  I am trying so hard to spend more time in more fervent prayer—and I find it the hardest work that I do.  Will you commit with me to learning how to pray effectively and then . . . well praying—really praying?

2.  Study—the Word and the World

Hosea speaks of the importance of knowledge—particularly the knowledge of God’s Word.  He said  (Hosea 4:6),  ⁶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I will reject you from serving as My priest. Since you have forgotten the law of your God, I will also forget your sons.

God’s people always face destruction, despair, and even sink into depravity when we “forget” or “neglect” the serious study of God’s Word.  But, we also can become ineffective if we neglect to study God’s World.  When David was choosing men for his army the Word says that from the Tribe of Issachar he chose men, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do:. 1Chron 12:32

We must learn to read the news of current event through the spectacles of God’s inspired word.  We need to be the best informed citizens in the nation.  Will you commit to serious study? 

3.  Act.  All of the prayer we can pray, and all the knowledge we can gain will be impotent if we don’t DO SOMETHING about abortion.  Read carefully the words of Our Lord:  Matthew 5:16

¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.

Notice the words, “good deeds,” not “good doctrines.”  Doctrine that don’t lead to deeds are dead. 

We must “act.”  That means attending rallies and holding signs.  That means giving and volunteering at our Crisis Pregnancy Center.  That means joining with others to be the united face of the Pro-life, Pro-people, Pro-God movement. Most of all, it means voting knowledgeably and responsibly and supporting actively those running for office. When you discover someone who has fallen to the lie of the Devil and had an abortion, share the sin-busting, victory-giving gospel of Jesus Christ that can cleanse them and set them free.  Abortion is a failure, but it does not need to be final! There is forgiveness in the grace of God even for abortion.

Let me conclude by saying that America is under a curse.  We have become the United States of Molech and “innocent blood” is on our hands as a nation because we have embraced child sacrifice under the sterilized name of abortion.

If we don’t turn abortion around, we will never turn our nation around.  The only way for America to have any hope is to end the practice of child sacrifice we call abortion, repent, and turn back to God.