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[0:00] When we refer to the sanctity of life, it's known as the sacredness of life. It's simply saying that life is sacred.

[0:11] When you say sanctity of life, you're insinuating that life is sacred. This refers to primarily that life has special value.

[0:26] Life has special worth. And we don't refer to an isolated political issue. This is far from a political issue. But rather, when we call upon the sanctity of life, as we recall that in our minds, it refers primarily to a biblical issue.

[0:47] Specifically dealing with man's rebellion against God's truth. We're reminded of this reality of that rebellion in Romans 1.

[0:57] Where it reads in verse 16. It should be up on the screen. For I am not ashamed of the gospel. For it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

[1:09] To the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith. As it is written, the righteous shall live by faith.

[1:22] Verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.

[1:34] Who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them. Because God has shown it to them.

[1:46] For his invisible attributes. Namely, his eternal power and divine nature have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world.

[1:58] And the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him.

[2:09] But they became futile in their thinking. And their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools.

[2:19] And exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images. Resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

[2:33] A passage like this reminds us of man's rebellion against God. Against the way that God has developed and revealed what reality truly is.

[2:43] And it was in the garden of Eden that the serpent whispered. Did God really say that? And then insinuating that we can become like God.

[3:01] It is the same echo of that crafty serpent that is driving this heinous industry today. And the aim of the serpent was to entice.

[3:15] The aim of the serpent was to persuade its hearer in effort of eradicating God's authority. That was the aim.

[3:27] And today, I hope we can understand a biblical worldview. And of the issue surrounding abortion. And understand first and foremost, number one, the reality that God created for us.

[3:41] This is an inspired philosophy. An inspired reality. Regardless if we like it or not. Number two, is the historic issue of abortion.

[3:55] That this is driven by uninspired philosophy. In conjunction with inspired philosophy. And then number three, what we as a church can do about it.

[4:08] Let's pray as we begin our time together. And look upon the truth of scripture as it guides our beliefs. And informs this heavy, debated, and emotionally charged topic today.

[4:23] Let's pray. Father, thank you for a time where we can look upon your word. And discuss an issue surrounding the sanctity of life.

[4:37] Father, this was never an issue that you intended for us to be living through. But Father, help us by the truth of your word. To help us to subject our opinions.

[4:50] Subject our feelings and emotions to your holy written word right now. And we pray that you will help us do that. And we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.

[5:01] Amen. The first reality today I'd like to define. Is that life is sacred and it's a gift of God.

[5:14] As we're developing, refining, and revisiting our biblical worldview. We must understand this one reality.

[5:25] One of the three today. The first being life is sacred and it is a gift of God. Contrary to popular science that claims that the human race is simply an advanced species.

[5:41] That we're basically super animals. Our ancestors were monkeys. Baboons. Whatever you wish, depending on your heritage. Sometimes we act like baboons, especially around the holidays.

[5:56] But we're reminded of life's beginnings. Regardless of what popular science may try to inform us. We're reminded in Genesis 1, verse 26.

[6:10] Where it says, Then God said, Let us make man in our image. After our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea.

[6:20] And over the birds of the heavens. And over the livestock. And over all the earth. And over all the creeping things that creeps on the earth. Verse 27. So God created man in his own image.

[6:32] In the image of God. He created him. Male and female. He created them. We know our origins.

[6:44] After the fall, mankind may not any longer be pure. But we are still a human. We are still image bearers. Even those who rebel against God.

[6:58] And the Bible makes it clear that not only life is sacred. But each and every person in this life is worthy of dignity.

[7:10] As image bearers. Think. You would not be sitting in a courtroom under trial of murder for running over a raccoon.

[7:22] Or a squirrel. Maybe that's coming. But you would be in there if you ran over a human being. If you all of a sudden ran over a crossing pedestrian at the University of YSU.

[7:37] You would be on trial for that. You see. Human life is given a sense of dignity that is superior. That is ingrained within the image of God at creation.

[7:49] That dominion. We see instances of that dominion. And it is within God's. This God's. God ordained design. That life is given meaning. Reality is affirmed.

[8:01] Philosophy intact. And each and every human being is created in the image of God. It contains a superior worth. A superior dignity than anything that's ever been made.

[8:13] Even when that life is hidden within the womb of a woman. Life begins in the womb. And where there is life, there is an image bearer.

[8:26] Job 31.15. I'm going to do rapid fire. I'm, I'm, this is Brent on caffeine today. Rapid fire. Job 31.15. Look it up later.

[8:36] Write it down in your notes. Job writes. It should be on the screen. Did not he who made me in the womb make him? And did, did not one fashion us in the womb?

[8:51] Psalm 139. One of the most popular references to this mystery and this miracle within the womb. It says in verse 13. For you formed my inward parts.

[9:02] You knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it very well.

[9:13] My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret. Intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance.

[9:24] In your book were, in your book were written every one of them. The days that were formed for me when as yet there was none of them. Isaiah 44 verse 2 says, Thus says the Lord who made you, who formed you from the womb and will help you.

[9:42] Verse 21 continues. Remember these things, O Jacob and Israel. For you are my servant. I formed you. You are my servant, O Israel.

[9:52] You will not be forgotten by me. And verse 24 continues. Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb. I am the Lord who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself.

[10:09] Jeremiah 1 verse 5 speaks of the womb as well. Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you.

[10:22] I appointed you a prophet to the nations. And lastly, Ecclesiastes 11 verse 5. As you do not know the way the Spirit comes in the bones of the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.

[10:43] Regardless of our opinion about when life begins, we can't argue against Scripture's clear teaching that life is not only sacred, but life is God's gift.

[10:57] And it begins in the womb, according to Scripture. Now, we might argue, when does that life begin? Is it four weeks?

[11:10] Is it eight weeks? Twelve weeks? Twenty-four weeks? Maybe after delivery. Maybe not until after delivery and cutting the umbilical cord. Well, a proper understanding of theology would inform us that God actually personally knows this being in the womb long before it became a being.

[11:35] And we see that in Psalm 139, that life is determined by the sovereign will of God before it even begins. Psalm 139 verse 16 says, Your eyes saw my unformed substance before there was anything in there.

[11:54] God saw the unformed substance. In your book were written every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

[12:06] There is life in the womb. Human life in the womb. Image-bearing life in the womb. Where there is life, there is worth and dignity, because life is a gift from God.

[12:28] I mean, obviously, you can't ignore what happens in Genesis 25 between Jacob and Esau. There was something going on inside that womb when they were wrestling around, and one came out, and they went back in.

[12:40] There's a ribbon, and there's something going on. You can't argue that there's no life in there. In fact, Genesis 25 refers to not only just two beings, but two nations, two people, is actually stated in Genesis 25.

[13:00] You see, in Luke 1, John the Baptist leaps. Something's going on inside of there. And Job would rather die at various times in the womb.

[13:13] How can you want to die if there's no life? There is life in the womb. Human life. Image-bearing life.

[13:23] Fingers and toenail life in the womb. And in that, we can rest assured that even a fetus within the womb is a gift of life.

[13:38] And life has been given worth and dignity by God, regardless if the society around us offers it to them. The society doesn't determine if the womb has dignity or worth, or that fetus has dignity or worth.

[13:58] God has offered it to them. Life is life, and according to Scripture, this is not up for debate. As we go into a second defining reality, we have to understand something.

[14:14] Is something else in addition to that, as we're kind of chronologically building a biblical worldview. The second aspect is that abortion is a dated issue.

[14:27] Abortion is a dated issue. Now, we can often turn on the television, or open the newspaper if that's a thing anymore in this day and age, or open up a news article, and we might see something that's new to us.

[14:44] Oh, the fall of humanity. Look what the government's doing here. Look what's happening here. Can you believe it over here? And then you get on the phone and tell everyone you know.

[14:56] It all seems new to us, but what's going on in our world today is literally a rerun through the eyes of God. There's nothing new to him. We have to remember a news headline may be new in our eyes, but it is a rerun in the eyes of God.

[15:11] There's nothing new under the sun. We see this issue that we're speaking about today, of the sanctity of life. We see that even in the early centuries, Greek physicians often opposed abortion.

[15:27] But it was the Greek philosophers, the guys sitting around thinking all day. It was the Greek philosophers who were the pioneers of legalized abortion.

[15:43] Plato recommended both abortion and infancy when it was deemed appropriate. Plato, great philosopher, right?

[15:54] Even if it extended into Roman law, for the most part, Roman law didn't outlaw abortion as well because the fetus wasn't considered a human being. You think that this is an issue today.

[16:07] Following the establishment of the early church during the first centuries, it was the truth of God that stood opposed to the man-made philosophies. We're reminded of that. Remember from Colossians 2, verse 8.

[16:19] See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy. An empty deceit according to human tradition, the elemental spirits of the world, not according to Christ.

[16:30] The issue with abortion stems from the thinking philosophy. That is thinking outside of the box, outside of this book, in complete disregard for this book.

[16:43] It's uninspired philosophy. And when the philosophic arena, with the philosophic arena, you have the same whispers in the garden.

[16:54] Did God really say that? Right? In recent centuries, in the mid-1800s, you had a rise of Darwinian theology, Darwinian philosophy.

[17:09] And through 100 years of its fermenting process, it seems like it kind of was growing in evolutionary thought.

[17:20] It hit the academic realms of universities and schools. And there seems to be a wave of the historic whispers.

[17:32] Did God really say that he created a male and female? Did he really say that he created life? Similar to the thinkers of Plato and the Greeks.

[17:46] This is when evolutionary philosophy was on the rise. All the thinkers and their ways of thinking that are superior to God, God just laughs at them. And after 100 years of fermenting in that philosophy, that lie that began to actually shape our culture, completely reform our society through those 100 years.

[18:11] And the serpent's whispers have seemed to come into full circle during the 60s, the 1960s, when the slogan was waved, everyone has the right to do his own thing.

[18:27] Yeah, bust out your bell-bottom jeans, right? Rebel against society. Do your own thing. And through the arts and music, specifically the Beatles, John Lennon, it was sort of this philosophy was ingrained within you, rebelling against the system, fueled by philosophy.

[18:50] And the culture began to promote a philosophy of living that originated through atheistic Darwinism. But in the 60s, it started to take a new shape.

[19:01] Not only did God really say, but now in the 60s, you see something shift. That you can become like God. Everyone has the right to do his own thing.

[19:17] Mom, Dad, you're wrong. I'm gonna wear these bell-bottoms, man. I'm gonna listen to the Beatles. And what you had was something called a rise of existentialism. You had an evolutionary philosophy and then went into existentialism.

[19:34] Existentialism is a philosophical theory that emphasizes the existence of the individual person as a free and responsible agent. Determine their own development through acts of the will.

[19:49] They aren't accountable to anyone except themselves. Only God can judge them, right? We have to be reminded, though, even just the slightest, small degree that a ship can set course off from its original target can lead over hundreds of years, hundreds of miles off course from its intended destination.

[20:15] And what you have is the thinkers that stem way back to Plato, way back to the Book of Judges, and way back to the Garden of Eden that God really say, oh, you can become like God.

[20:35] It's the crafty schemes of the serpent, of philosophical means that has created generations who are growing up in a university near us that do not know God, who determine their own reality and do what's right in their own eyes.

[20:54] natural law. Certain unchanged moral principles, you can throw that by the wayside. There's no natural law anymore.

[21:07] Human conduct, everything's subjective. Everything's kind of adaptive, just as evolutionary thought is, just as existentialism is. You can't question me.

[21:19] Well, then you look back at abortion. Well, it is simply a manifestation of this ethical crisis, isn't it? That dates far back to the Greco-Roman world, back to Judges, back to the Garden.

[21:36] There truly is nothing new under the sun. It is the same whispers of the serpents. Abortion is a direct affront upon God that is fueled by historic, philosophical thinkers.

[21:48] Remember what we read in the beginning, Romans 1, 21, for although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

[22:06] Claiming to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immoral God for images resembling mortal man, birds, animals, and creeping things.

[22:16] Church, when philosophy replaces doctrine, this is when rebellion begins. And this began long ago. If we could only have our Bibles open, we'd be able to preserve ourselves from falling for these historic lies.

[22:34] In the third reality to define today, we're reminded that the church is a vessel of truth.

[22:47] The church is a vessel of truth. And we can argue, we truly can argue around several complex cases that lead to abortion and the reasoning that mothers choose this route.

[23:00] There are very complicated, very serious situations that occur that inform a reasoning why mothers are choosing this route.

[23:13] However, we must not forget this. The fetus is either alive or not alive. A human or not a human. A person or not a person. This is an objective reality for the church who has their Bibles open.

[23:28] This is an objective reality regardless of the subjective nature the world treats the issue. I mean, I do everything to fight tooth and nail for women's rights.

[23:44] For them to be informed of their choices. That it's not just abortion. And not only that, but knowing that there's help to stand with them by partnering, by walking, by actually doing something about these issues.

[24:01] Church, I'd move heaven for that. This is one reason why we are coming behind Pregnancy Help Center and I believe why this church has voted to do such.

[24:16] But what the world thinks the fetus is, based on their uninspired philosophy, it does not determine what it actually is. Regardless of what the world thinks it is, it doesn't determine reality.

[24:27] It doesn't determine reality. Only God has that authority to do so and that fetus is a life. And according to Psalm 139, verse 16, that life has a name.

[24:40] Those fingers, those toes, those toenails, those fingernails that develop early on, those belong to somebody who has a name and that could have a future.

[24:53] The most dangerous place in the United States is not Compton, regardless of what 90s rap music may have insinuated.

[25:06] It's not Compton. It's not LA. The most dangerous place in the USA for a human being is inside the womb of a woman. Somewhere around three-quarter of a million of souls are swiftly brought into Jesus' arms at the command of their mother.

[25:27] No questions asked. When we look at the landscape of our society today and how upside down and toppled it is, while there's nothing new under the sun, it's quite abrasive at times to understand that people actually live with this disposition, that a parent can be accused of child abuse for assuming gender and be sitting before a judge today, but it wouldn't be child abuse to say, I don't want this baby inside of me.

[26:04] how corrupt we can be. To think of that society makes all of these provisions for disabled individuals who are handicapped.

[26:19] Front row parking spots at the grocery store, nice big spacious bathrooms with handles. They're quite nice. All these provisions, all these provisions, but the same society is deeming that it's appropriate, that claims that they care for the disabled, that are saying that you can abort this disabled child just because they're disabled, that they have no worth, that they have no dignity of life, because when it comes out, it's going to create a challenge in life.

[26:53] Really? You understand society is so two-faced. It's contradictory. And the womb has become a cell on death row.

[27:04] The inmate is summarily executed without benefits of trial, a word of defense. What is this called when your life is taken from you?

[27:17] It's murder. It's murder. Their execution literally involves being torn limb from limb.

[27:35] In fact, a mid-80s film depicts what's known as a silent scream. That it can actually be seen within the ultrasound of an abortion.

[27:53] This person, literally, you can tell that they're screaming, but you can't hear their scream. This is a truly heinous procedure that is murder because of our first defined reality today.

[28:16] That life is sacred. It is a gift of God. Some might argue, this is too graphic, Brent. This is too emotionally charged.

[28:27] And the world might call this inflammatory speech and provocative. It wouldn't be so if it weren't true. What makes this provocative is because it happens three quarters of a million times a year in our nation.

[28:45] Abortion is sometimes a quick fix, a clean solution to anticipated pain within a mother's life. And additionally, it is not only volatile, but complex because it relates to all sorts of different movements and connects to different issues of women's rights and the rise of feminism from the mid-60s, 70s.

[29:06] You see, Jesus has a high view of the sanctity of life. Even as far as saying, if you're angry with your brother, that you commit murder.

[29:17] Even if you're angry at your brother, if this side's mad at this side, mind you, this side's a little bit heavy today. This side's a little bit light, just so you know. I don't know, it's a little off balance.

[29:29] That's my ADD, kick it in. But if this side's mad at this side and you're angry, Jesus says that you're committing murder. And Jesus saw the law against murder not only including actual, the actual act of murder, but the potential of murder.

[29:51] And think, if Jesus taught it is unlawful to commit the potential of murder of an actual life, what then are the implications of committing the actual destruction of a potential life?

[30:10] Jesus had a high view of the sanctity of life. And now, many pro-abortion advocates may not deny that life is sacred. They are simply saying that a developing fetus fetus is not a human life.

[30:24] They're stripping it of its God-given and ordained image-bearing trait of worth and dignity. And this removes, obviously, that removes any emotion.

[30:35] That removes any conscience of murdering somebody. It makes it a little bit easier when you look at it as not a human life. But it is a manifestation of rebellion against God that is fueled by anti-God philosophy.

[30:48] It is untrue according to the Bible. The biblical reality drives the church to stand against the atheistic philosophies of the world, the elemental spirits of the world that often take the culture by surprise and sound enticing by the culture, but the church is not entertained by such nonsense.

[31:09] We know who we are, we know who we belong to, and we know the aim in life, we know where we're going. The world's still trying to figure it all out. There's one philosophy that brings eternal life.

[31:25] There's one philosophy that raises the dead to life. One philosophy, and the author is God. This is the reality of the good news of the gospel, that Jesus came because he upheld the sanctity of life.

[31:42] He died and gave himself for us as a ransom to give us life, forgiveness of sin. He died and hung upon a cross for the sanctity of life.

[31:54] Not only this life, but the life coming after. Today, we are proud to partner with the Pregnancy Help Center. And not to, like they said, not to necessarily make human traffic bumps and stops and lay ourselves across the street so nobody can pull into abortion clinics, but rather to inform that while abortion is a choice, there are other choices that are offered.

[32:24] and it comes through people actually caring to stand in that gap of saying, this isn't the only option.

[32:34] This is what your parents have told. This is what the enemy has been lying to you about all this time. But you have a support system. You have choices. You can give the child up for adoption to a loving, caring family.

[32:49] You don't have to go through with this. And it's honestly a miracle when I've spoken with Sally in the past of the disposition of the person who comes into the clinic who decided already before driving to the clinic that they're getting an abortion.

[33:09] Something changes when they see the actual ultrasound. That their whole demeanor changes. And many times a life is saved after that moment when they see the profile of that little tiny human baby.

[33:27] That's why we partner with them. So that women can know their options. So our reality church for us is defined that life is sacred in God's gift. A life is a life before conception because God knew the unformed substance before there were any days accounted to them.

[33:46] We see that abortion is a dated issue. It's a dated issue. Satan is influencing philosophy since Genesis 3 and it's all a direct assault upon the author of the ultimate philosophy God himself and the gospel.

[34:06] And lastly the church we're reminded that we are a vessel of truth. We support the truth regardless the cost. It's not going to be popular. I know the sermon I never step in the pulpit to appease your ears.

[34:19] I never step in the pulpit to appease the world and the culture around us. Yeah it's not going to be received often with love. But the philosophy of man is incompatible to compete with the sufficiency of the doctrine of God.

[34:36] The philosophy of man is incompatible to compete with the sufficiency of the doctrine of God. All philosophy are subject and accountable to this philosophy that is authored by God.

[34:52] And so on this the church stands with Romans chapter 1 verse 16 that we opened with for I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

[35:10]  For I am not ashamed of the gospel for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. Let's pray.