0:10 As many of you know, this upcoming Saturday, we as a church are preparing to head and make our way into the heart of the city in partnership with Love Life Ministries with the purpose of being the light of Christ in a very dark place. And that dark place is just outside of one of the largest abortion clinics in Chicago. And our hope and prayers that our presence, our worship, our supplication, and the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ will penetrate whatever darkness abides and will even grip the hearts of those who are planning to head into that very clinic to exterminate gifts of God, those who bear his image, those who have been created for a purpose. And with that mission and view, it seems appropriate for us to come under God's word this afternoon and to hear a message that will hopefully awaken our hearts, awaken our hearts to not just realize the great opportunity that we have before us, but to realize our mandate as believers in Christ. So my my goal in this, my prayer in this is not that you would be riled up or, inspired for a single event, but that through the word, you would be equipped, you'd be inspired, you'd be sharpened in your day to day context, in your conversations, and in your encounters, especially with those who believe very differently than you and I do concerning this issue.
1:51 And before we dive in, I want us to begin by pointing you to a verse that will serve as a reminder to what one of our duties are as followers of Jesus Christ. Ephesians five down here in verse 11. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. If you ask believers today, what practically has changed in your life after you have experienced the new birth?
2:25 You might get a summary like this, at least in the first part of verse 11. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness. They would they would explain that they no longer participate in the deeds of the flesh. They no longer associate with ungodliness. They might even elaborate and explain how their desires concerning sin and righteousness have been marvelously altered because of the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit.
2:52 And all of that is right. That would be correct. That would be one of the signs that the Lord has indeed changed you and transformed you. But that's only half of what Paul has said. Paul says here in the second part, but instead expose them.
3:08 He explains in this one verse how Christian responsibility is defined by much more than what you no longer do. He says that we are also known for what we actively engage in. And so as a born again Christian, I not only testify and confess, what I used to do, I now avoid. That's that's half of your reality. Moreover, you might equally and may, must equally confessed, what I used to ignore, I now do.
3:43 And that's exactly what we see here. There is this holistic view of what the Christian is, and we see here that there is a work. One of the duties of the believer is to expose, is to expose. And the word expose there is used in many ways in the New Testament in the ESV. It's the same word used for rebuke.
4:03 It's the same word used for reprove. It's the same word used for convict. It denotes the call to point out fruits of darkness and to call it out for what it is, and that can be done in two ways. There is the direct approach, and there is the indirect approach. And you can argue that in Ephesians chapter five, Paul is making a case for exposing the works of darkness indirectly.
4:35 Indirectly. Where do I get that from? We'll look back here at verse five. And it says here, let there be no filthiness, excuse me, for you may be sure of this that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure or is covetous, that is an idolater, has no inheritance has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.
5:02 Therefore, do not become partakers with them for at one time you were in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. When the scripture uses the word walk in your spirituality, it speaks of daily behavior, daily conduct. And here we see that with the backdrop of walking as children in light, he exhorts the people of God to expose darkness. You know what that means?
5:32 It's very simple. That your honesty, your purity, your generosity, your selflessness, your gracious speech contains convicting power. It is able to disturb the darkness around you, And that calls for us to be very mindful of how we walk. Because the less that my walk is in accordance with the character of Christ, the more of this indirect influence becomes muddied and dimmed. And that's why he says here, it's confirmed in verse 13.
6:15 He says, but when anything is exposed by light, it becomes visible. For anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says, awake, oh sleeper, and arise from the dead and Christ will shine on you. Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise, but as wise. Be careful because there is an element indirectly of how your presence and your practice can actually draw people away from darkness.
6:43 And so Paul's primary exposing work here, what he has in view is more what I just said. Presence and practice more than merely preaching and pleading. Nevertheless, you can take that truth and it can lead you in the wrong direction. And there are people who comfort themselves by by saying, well, if if that has the power to actually cause darkness to tremble, to cause people in darkness to see light, to be convicted by the warmth of that light, then there is no need for me to verbally deal with this. There is no there is no need for me to speak out against these things directly and clearly, and that would be terribly wrong.
7:31 Terribly wrong. Your silent testimony and mine, though it is effective, in many cases can only go so far. It can only go so far and it can only do so much. And there are times and many times where exposing includes the open challenge and confrontation of evil. Jesus said in John seven seven, the world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.
8:05 I testify. I bear witness. I explicitly say about the works of this world that it's evil, and that's why the world hates me. A lot of people who are not Christian are willing to tolerate with your niceness and your gentleness and your holiness in terms of not participating in what they participate in. But the moment you say something, the moment you speak out, the moment you address it, that's where persecution really really really takes on a new level.
8:39 And yet it is still our responsibility. It's the duty of the believer. And one of the reasons why this is absolutely crucial for Christians to understand is because in this battle between truth and lie, in this war for souls, the devil is constantly attempting to keep sin in the dark from not coming to any light. And he has many cleverest ways of doing this, and one of the most subtle things that he does concerning sin is he loves to, in every generation, repackage its label to give it new language, to remove the sting of certain things so that it's it's more palatable and digestible for the sinner. And so we're not we're not hearing about fornication anymore, we hear about recreational sex.
9:33 What we would consider adultery is not really adultery for many, it's an open relationship. You talk about pornography being shameful and disgusting. No. No. It's not pornography.
9:48 It's adult entertainment. Abortion? Is it murder? No. It's a woman's right to choose.
10:00 And so there's a catalog of examples of how the enemy is constantly working around the clock to keep sin in the dark. And to convince that sin is not unfruitful, that it's fruitful. And so he changes the language around it, he blurs the consequences of it, and he promises empty rewards with it always. And based on what Paul's words are here to the church, we are according to the spirit, somewhat the conscience of the culture. The conscience of the culture.
10:38 And so when the culture constantly through its different means attempts to justify wickedness and repackage it and falsely promise things with it and dismisses the dangers of it, both in this life and in the life to come, It's the church's duty to say, no. This is what it really is. And this is why it is wrong and evil. And this is what will happen if you continue in it. We are the one who rings the alarm in society.
11:09 And so if you silence the church, you silence the conscience of the culture. If you shut down the church, so many things will occur as a result because the very DNA of this amazing institution is to be a source of preservation. Preservation and healing. And so there are so many angles. I know you can there are so many ways of approaching this subject in preparation for this Saturday.
11:36 I I just want to maybe help you think about something that you haven't thought about. Because quite honestly, even among believers, not everybody is very passionate about this issue. Not everybody is on board with why this is absolutely vital to take on and to expose. And I want to change your mind according to the word of God. Not because of my personal passions and desires, not because what I am I'm fired up about necessarily, but because of what God's heart is.
12:07 And so I wanna just separate our thoughts in a very brief time together in three ways. Very simple. I hope you won't forget it. We're just gonna look at the problem, the cause, the solution. The problem, the cause, and the solution.
12:21 Since 1973, more than 60,000,000 I mean, we throw these numbers around, and we don't just take a breath and digest what that really entails. Over sixty million abortions have taken place in this country alone. In 2020, approximately twenty percent of pregnancies in The United States ended in abortion. Twenty percent, not two, two zero. One researcher calculated that fifty one point five percent of pregnancies in the District Of Columbia were terminated were terminated in the year of 2020.
13:08 So a little over half of the pregnancies in DC ended up in abortion. A little over than half. Nine hundred and sixty one thousand abortions took place in The US in the year of 2021. Close to a million babies were slaughtered just two years ago. And I can go on and on and on with statistics from different angles on this, and it will shock you, I'm sure, and maybe even cause you to be appalled, but I want you to think deeper.
13:42 What makes this specific holocaust so diabolical? What is it about this bloodshed, apart from the obvious, that should cause our hearts to boil with righteous indignation? And there are many thoughts to consider, but allow me to give you just one that I don't think we hear enough in our discussion as believers. At the core of it all, beneath the layers of politics and science and medicine and philosophy, abortion is ultimately a vicious assault on the glory of God. It is an attack.
14:21 It is an attempt to overthrow God's glory in many ways. And if you and I are a people, okay, you're not passionate about this issue, you're not as concerned about it, fine. But if you are a person who is passionate about the glory of God, then you will take this subject, this issue very seriously. We will hate it because we love the glory of God. We will denounce it because we are people who promote the glory of God.
14:53 We will seek its end because we are a people who seek to expand the glory of God. But what's the connection? What's the connection between the preborn being terminated and God's glory, and the Bible says many things in connection to it. And one of the things that your heart and mind go to, I'm sure, is that how the Bible describes the Lord of the author of life, and the canvas of his handiwork is the womb. In fact, that was the theme of David's praise, at least one of the themes in that masterpiece of Psalm one thirty nine when he contemplated that nine month project that takes place thousands of times a day across this globe.
15:45 The meditation of it caused explosive praise, and it should for you and I as well. Turn with me to Psalm one thirty nine verse thirteen and fourteen. The psalmist says something that you know very well. For you formed my inward parts. You knitted me together in my mother's womb.
16:09 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works. My soul knows it very well. Listen. This is much bigger than fuzzy sentiments in a journal entry.
16:28 There is massive implications about how mankind perceives who God is in light of the miracle that takes place in the womb every second of our day. Life in the womb is a means for God to receive glory. It testifies of his wisdom. It declares his power. It reveals his majesty.
16:53 It challenges the one who might deny intelligent design, and yet at the same time, it comforts the heart of the believer who is reminded that he was created and she was created with and for purpose. It's manifold in its message. That one thing is manifold in its message. And here's another glorious snippet of this in another Psalm. You're there in Psalms?
17:20 Go to Psalm 71 verse five. Psalm 71 verse five. What a beautiful sound this afternoon. For you, oh, Lord, are my hope, my trust, oh, Lord, from my youth upon you. I have leaned from before my birth.
17:48 You are he who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you. Do you see this? Here's a psalmist now contemplating on God's faithfulness, and he is contemplating it because he needs to be reminded of it in the very moments that he is penning these words. He's rehearsing.
18:11 And what does he look back to to console his soul of God's providential goodness in the today? Well, God's providential goodness at his most vulnerable stages in life. He looks back and he says, even from my youth, you are my trust, and I leaned upon you from before my birth. What is the Holy Spirit conveying here? Here is this man expressing that he knew the hand of God's provision and protection before he even entered into this world, so to speak.
18:50 And David says the same thing in Psalm 22 verse nine and ten. He says it so clearly that from the womb, God was his God. And that he trusted in his God even as he nursed at his mother's breast. Think about the the just the amazing wisdom of that. Here the Psalmist saying, if I need to if I need to bring relief to myself now, wondering where God is in his leadership of my days, Oh, that I can just look back to when the days I was in my mother's womb, and how I was totally dependent upon everything for my survival and my growth and my nourishment.
19:33 God was there. God was there then. And if he was there for me then, surely he will be with me now. And Satan wants to destroy that message. He wants to erase that message.
19:48 He wants people not just to see the glory of God in creation, but the faithful of God faithfulness of God in creation, in the development of his creation. And so this is an all out assault and affront to God's character in so many ways. The bible makes the connection so clear between our development in the womb as a testimony of his loving faithfulness that we can trust throughout our lives. And when that thought is firmly fixed in your belief system, when it's there, you're able to recognize abortion as something more than the elimination of a human life as grotesque as that is. You also see it as an attempt to delete God's fingerprint in our world.
20:32 Beneath all the layers, this is a satanic plot. Birth in hell, birth out of a hatred for our God that seeks to mute the glorious testimony that comes through God's most prized and crowned creation, those who are made in his image. And as I meditated on this, I thought to myself, well, it's not only an assault on the glory of God in his creative work through human life, but also in his purposes that are performed through life. How many times in the Bible are we told of destinies that were determined in the womb? In the womb.
21:16 How many times do we see both an old and new God establishing callings while those babies are being woven together? And the one that came to mind is one of the earliest examples of that with Isaac and Rebecca. And in Genesis twenty five twenty two, we're told the children struggled together within her. Notice how the Bible describes Jacob and Esau in the womb. The children.
21:46 Not the tissue, not the clump of cells, the children. The children struggled together within her, and she said, if it is thus, why is this happening to me? So she went to inquire of the Lord. She went to pray about this jostling that was occurring in her belly. And God hears her prayer because God cares about what's taking place in that womb.
22:13 And in verse 23, it says, and the Lord said to her, two nations are in your womb and two peoples from within you shall be divided. The one shall be stronger than the other. The older shall serve the younger. So you and I read verse 22 and we we confirm, we believe, yeah, those are children in the womb. And God goes beyond that.
22:31 He he says, it's not just children, those are nations. Those are nations. Those children in the womb have a purpose beyond their own life. Generationally, I have a plan for these two. And it's already been set that their service unto God and their relationship to one another has been has been sealed in some sense.
22:59 And so God's mind in the womb is is beyond just creating a masterpiece. Right? Fearfully and wonderfully made. No. There's actual callings and destinies that are being developed as well.
23:12 And these callings, these two nations in the womb played a role in God's grand redemptive plot and storyline in history, and Satan knows that. Satan knows that what takes place in the womb are potential agents and actors for the glory of God. And so he wants to destroy it before he even has a breath to give. He wants to hijack it. He wants to sabotage it because he knows not only in that womb is God glorified in the creative act, but that God could potentially be further glorified in the lives that come from that womb, and walk in his ways and trust in him, and live for his name's sake.
23:57 And so viciously, Satan attacks. What is this really all about? What let's just get to the to the bottom of it. It's about God's glory. The bloodshed is horrific.
24:08 It's an atrocity. It's unjust. Yes. All of that is true, but God's glory God's glory is at what's stake here. And we see that God has a different attitude about what these babies are all about and what they are to him.
24:28 I was I was just looking over some verses and thinking about this. I I stumbled upon a verse in a book that is often ignored. And when I read two simple words, it struck my soul and moved me to the core. And I want you to see with your own eyes in your Bibles. And this is Ezekiel chapter 16, and I want you to go to verse 20.
25:00 Here's the Lord condemning his people for their own version of child sacrifice. And in Ezekiel sixteen twenty look at this in his confrontation through the prophet. Ezekiel sixteen twenty. And you took your sons and your daughters whom you had born to me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whoring so small a matter that you slaughtered, here are the two words, my children.
25:41 You slaughtered my children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them. My children. Could've said your children, that would've been right, but he wants to clarify something. They're mine. Now you can argue this from the covenantal standpoint that God had with Israel because there was a dedication of the firstborn, but I think it's beyond that.
26:05 Clearly, there was a disgusting disregard for the innocence and the beauty of these little children. And though this generation had no ounce of conviction concerning the life and the sanctity of these babies, fine. You don't wanna see them as your children? They're mine. They belong to me.
26:32 And so all these people chanting and parading, it's my body. I can do what I what I want, and you can obviously clearly debate that. Right? It's not your body. But even if you wanna go with that, even if you wanna claim autonomy, here's what God says.
26:51 You don't want them, they're mine. Amen. They belong to me. Whether you regard it, whether you wanna accept the gift that I've given you with them, they belong to me. If that's true, then we're in a lot more trouble if we're dealing with God's children.
27:13 I'm not talking about the the theological concept of becoming children of God through Christ and exclusively through Christ. This is speaking about God being the father of all spirits. Right? That he is the creative authorship over all creation, especially those created in his image. And so what we're seeing out there is not just women getting rid of their offspring.
27:37 We're we're seeing the massacre of my children. That hasn't changed since Ezekiel's day, and Satan knows that. And Satan hates our God. He hates those who are creating his image, so he wants to destroy them. This is this is the core problem here, and this is why we should be prayerfully passionate because it deals with the glory of God in many ways.
28:04 But what's the cause? If that's the problem, what's the cause? Do pro choice advocates really have this in mind when they perform and support the murder of children? Not necessarily. And even if they are informed, we wouldn't be surprised that though they are committing cosmic treason, that they would reconsider their ways and that they will continue to persist in their gross disobedience.
28:26 That's unfortunately true. But why is that? Why the determination? Why the dedication? Why the argumentation?
28:34 Why the debate? Why the protests For something that seems so obvious and clear. And what we can say as the underlying motivation, the heartbeat, so to speak, behind this movement in our modern day is one simple word. You ready for this? Idolatry.
28:51 Idolatry. The mass murder of innocent children as a cultural practice is not a foreign concept to the bible. The bible is very familiar with it. Neighboring pagan nations around the people of God Israel openly practice this. And unfortunately, at some point Israel adopted this for themselves and you read it in Ezekiel, God held them accountable for it.
29:19 But why did they do that? Why did those neighboring nations, recreationally almost, give up their children to the flames? And I wanna prove it to you in one verse. In Deuteronomy twelve thirty one, the Lord gives his holiness code to his people before they enter into the promised land. And he says in Deuteronomy twelve thirty one, you shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, For every abominable thing that the Lord hates, they have done for their gods, for they even burn their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.
30:00 Notice with me how false worship is intertwined with child sacrifice. That that is the essence of ancient children being slaughtered. It's in the name of religion. It was done with the false premise, a false understanding of how these deities worked. And so if you wanted something to be done beyond your control or if you wanted to prevent something to be done, you would show your desperation, you would show the extent of you wanting that to be realized by even giving up your offspring to these gods.
30:41 The lord says that's not how I'm worshiped. That's not how you get your prayers answered from me. That's not how you experience my grace, my blessings. Don't copy them. Don't demonstrate your desperation in such a gruesome way.
30:58 This was an act of worship. And it was at the expense of the lives of precious little children, and I wholeheartedly believe that abortion in our day is a modern version of child sacrifice. Not because people are walking into planned parenthood to meet with Moloch or any other strange demonic entity, but because the idol they are really worshiping is self. That is who is being worshiped in this act. That is who is being acknowledged and praised.
31:33 Self. Even secular statistics can't hide it. As much as they would want to, they can't. If you even just go and make a simple search, you will realize that a majority of the pie of why it is that abortions are committed is purely for personal relief. You don't hear that on the media.
31:55 You don't hear that on podcast. You don't hear that from the other side of the argument. No. It's always extreme rare examples that are in the forefront of the conversation. What about those who have been raped?
32:06 And what about those who have been incest? Yes. They're horrible crimes. And we don't deal with evil by committing more evil. But that's not even the main issue.
32:17 You again, you look at the you look at the charts and what you see, it's all about personal relief. I don't want this to interfere with my career. I am not emotionally or financially prepared to raise a child, and so I will put this gift on the altar of convenience, because this is really all about me. And if there's something I want to see realized or I want to prevent, then like the pagans of old, they will go to the extent of giving up the life of a child. The underlying drive for many pro choice advocates is that they want pleasure without responsibility, sex outside of covenant, and convenience rather than Christ like sacrifice.
33:19 That's what it boils down to. When Roe v Wade was overturned two years ago, we saw the articles, we saw the outcry, and one of the things that stood out to me from the insider was the title of one article, and I couldn't even I thought it was satire. Thought it was a joke. I honestly thought that this was just some kind of a a trick. And this was the title, woman on TikTok.
33:42 That's where you're already like, oh, okay. What's going on? TikTok. Woman on TikTok say hookup culture will be absolutely decimated if Roe v Wade is overturned. Hookup culture will be absolutely decimated if Roe v Wade is overturned.
34:01 Oh, so that's what it's really about. What about the charge about rape and incense? Incense. No. No.
34:08 No. Hookup culture will be decimated to which I said good When I read that article, good. Think about that decision more. Reconsider it. It says a lot about what people are truly concerned about when it comes to this issue.
34:29 It's not about people's suffering. It's not about complicated circumstances. It's about convenience. And that statement, among many other statements, shows not just what people believe about this issue, but what they believe about themselves in this whole issue. A preacher made a brilliant observation, so simple but so brilliant at the same time.
34:55 He said, it is illegal to take the life of the unborn if the mother wants the baby. But it is legal to take the life of the unborn if she doesn't. In the first case, the law treats the fetus as a human with rights. In the second case, the law treats the fetus as non human with no rights. One secular physician said that this is a kind of schizophrenia.
35:23 We're in the same hospital, you can kill a 21 old baby, but in another room you're trying to save its cousin or his cousin in the womb of another woman. And so that same preacher says, we know exactly what we're doing. We know exactly what we're doing. And so this is more than just, this is what I really believe about this issue. Moreover, it's this is what I believe about myself and wanting this to be legal and wanting this to be championed.
35:55 What people truly desire is the prerogative that belongs to God alone. And that is the prerogative of taking human life when he wills. No man has a right to do that especially when it comes to innocent life. So the crime of all of this is not just stripping God's glory from him, but deifying yourself at the same time. So it's not just erasing God's glory, it's trying to glorify yourself.
36:25 I have the right to do this. I deserve this. And so it's not before the hands of Molech or any other Canaanite deity, it's ultimately the worship of self. That is the cause. And that is the root issue.
36:40 You can you can legalize it, make it illegal, whatever you want. Ultimately, if the heart doesn't change, if it doesn't put God where he belongs and put us where we belong, you will find a way to worship yourself one way or another. And so what is the solution? I told you this would be short. The solution is very simple.
36:58 Let me address first the believer. Let me make this a full circle thing. Speak up. Right? You may not be a preacher.
37:07 You may not be a part of Love Life Ministries, but you're a believer who lives in this world, who comes into contact via social media and even in face to face dealings with people who believe very differently than you do. And when the conversation comes and when things take place in the media and things take place in a political sphere, don't be quiet. Don't be quiet when your job is to expose. Now, let me give you a disclaimer. Your job in exposing, according to Paul's words, is not to dig up the dirt on non believers and to create blogs and podcast.
37:41 Okay? You don't want that to be the the theme of your ministry or your witness, just finding skeletons in people's closets and making them public. That's not what it means to expose. But there is a level of confrontation. There is a level of speaking out because God has designed the church to again be the conscience of the culture.
38:01 And I'll show you a brief testimony. There's a young lady who doesn't attend here regularly, who comes once every few months, maybe years even. And this young lady came once and she sat with me after the service and just looked absolutely distraught, just broken because she fell into sin. And out of fear, fear in her family, fear for her reputation, fear for her unpreparedness, she was ready to do exactly what we're talking about. And right there, I just felt the intensity of the conversation.
38:35 This is a matter of life and death now. This is a matter of rescue now. And you have preachers today who would say, well, that's your personal thing, and if you wanna deal with it on your own, that's between you and God. And so just in that few ten minutes, just going back and forth, encouraging, promising, but also sternly warning, I did not get an answer. I wanted one.
39:00 I I wanted the, you're right. I I can't believe I thought this, and thank you and just and just even if I don't see you, at least I have that verbal confirmation and it wasn't there. All I saw was even what seemed to be more distress and realizing what God has to say about this. And and there was a war for a life. And not just that baby's life, but this young lady's life.
39:32 Weeks go by. Months go by. And one day, I see that person again in this very sanctuary. But I see a different face while I'm on the pulpit, and I'm so curious, so curious what happened. And when I went to the door, as we usually do every single week, I didn't just see a face, I saw a big belly.
40:02 And it wasn't the same face, a face full of hope and joy and life because you can never go wrong when you obey God. Never. Satan will tell you otherwise. He'll tell you that there is fruit in darkness. And Paul says, expose the unfruitful works of darkness.
40:28 You say, you're a pastor. What does that mean? You you know people that I don't know. You have a reach that none of the elders might have. You have your own world, your context.
40:42 Say something. Say it directly to a person that needs to be hearing it. Say it out loud if you have the chance to say it with grace and love. And who knows what your words, your stance can do in the life of another. I'm sure brother Juan has amazing testimonies of his ministry, of his presence in one place, and how people have made a different turn because of his obedience to the Lord.
41:09 So it's a simple exhortation. Right? I'm not trying to make this complicated or trying to make this sophisticated. Just be freshly inspired to be bold. To be bold.
41:19 But perhaps you're here today and your heart is not elated. It's extra heavy. And what I just shared as a testimony didn't really help much because at some point in your life, you made the opposite decision when you were in the same dilemma. And you didn't listen to your conscience, and there was others who, unfortunately, didn't speak hope into your life, but encourage you to to do what the Bible says not to do. And when you hear messages like this, or when it comes to a certain time of the year, or when you even see somebody else around your age holding a baby and you've made the internal calculation would have been the same age of your potential baby, you fall apart and you try to keep yourself together.
42:04 You are haunted by that sin. And that is frequently the case for many who have at some point committed abortion. It's not too late because I wanna tell you in closing, there is hope, and not just hope, massive hope. Massive hope for you. And the nature of the sin is bloodshed, is it not?
42:27 It's bloodshed. It is murder. We we can't dull it. We have to say it as it is. And God doesn't ask you to dismiss the severity of such a sin, but he does ask you to bring that severity to something so much more supreme and superior to it.
42:47 Final text, Hebrews 12 verse 24. Hebrews twelve twenty four. There's a lot of blood in the book of Hebrews, and the author by the spirit is making a case of how the blood of Jesus is superior to the sacrificial blood of goats and bulls. And then interestingly, he makes a turn in this contrast of blood as he as he preaches and writes about the blood of Jesus Christ. Hebrews twelve twenty four, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
43:34 Now what does that mean? Well, this is why you need to know the Old Testament. Because when you look at the Old Testament and you look at the account of Abel, you realize that when his blood was shed, the first murder in human history, in Genesis four ten, the Lord said to Cain, what have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. Blood speaks.
43:59 And and what the Lord is saying is, I hear the cry of vengeance from your blood brother's blood. I hear it. It's calling on me to act injustice against you. Now if that was true, I thought about that. That was the blood of one man early in our world's history.
44:18 What does the sound of 60,000,000 babies sound like in the ears of our God and his throne? What does that sound like when 60,000,000 babies through their blood are crying out for vengeance? And yet, he says, as loud as that voice is, as strong as that voice is, there is blood that speaks a better word, a more convincing word, a more persuasive word, a more compelling word. See, the blood of Abel cries vengeance. The blood of Christ cries mercy.
45:06 Right? The blood of Abel says repay him. The blood of Jesus says it's been paid. And so the understanding here is for the bloodshed that you might have committed, there is a blood that can cleanse that stain from your hands. There is a blood that if applied speaks a better word and secures your salvation, and not only that cleans your conscience.
45:34 In Hebrews ten twenty two with the same language of sprinkling of blood, the author says, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience. It's not theoretical. It's not merely theological. There is power in the blood of Jesus Christ. And when you call upon that fount, that fount that runs with the blood from Emmanuel's veins, and you plunge yourself in that act of mercy and grace, it not only gives you assurance of faith, it removes that burden of guilt.
46:12 It frees you. It empowers you. It causes you to worship and love and trust in him and to realize that even after such a thing, there is still hope, purpose for your life. And so I call you not to look at the blood that you might have shed, but to the blood that was shed on that cross two thousand years ago that still runs with mercy and grace. You can know it for yourself.
46:40 And so believers speak up for the person who committed this. Maybe even as a confessing believer, speak up as well. Cry out to the Lord. Trust that he embraces you, he receives you, he calls on you, and he is ready to clean you and to secure a relationship with him that you might have not enjoyed for years. Because the same Satan who might have convinced you to do such a thing now convinces you that you're finished, and it's long gone now.
47:14 And you're in the peripheral of God's kingdom, and, you just stay there and make sure that you impress God and that you make up for what you did, and all Christ is saying is, let me cleanse you. I will wash you and forgive you. And so church, as we as we prepare for this Saturday Saturday, have confidence in the powerful work of Christ's blood, and trust that people people are fighting their conscience every single time they enter into these places. It may not seem so. It may it may seem like it's dead end.
47:45 It may seem like they have no conscience for them to even consider that, but you don't know the wrestling that takes place within. And all it takes is for a bold Christian to make something of their Saturday morning to say, there's a hope for you. And God has a plan for that baby. And even though it wasn't planned, even though it was accidental, even though it's through a means that you did not hope or or anticipate for, God is a master at taking messes and making glorious messages and masterpieces out of. Lord, we thank you for this session.
48:16 Lord, we pray that if we are low in our energy, low in our understanding of what it means to be advocates for life, help us realize, again, it's about the glory of God. And help us realize the root cause ultimately is idolatry, the worship of self. And the only thing that can deal with the worship of self is not legislation, is not politicians, it's not philosophical arguments, it's the blood of Christ, the cross of Jesus Christ. And so thank you for the reminder of the simplicity of our mission. It's to bring the truth, the exaltation of Christ, and also his humiliation and coming into this world to pay the price even for bloodshed.
49:06 And, Lord, even now as we worship you in light of this word, help us be prepared to be equipped by our brother, and may you be further glorified in our time. In Jesus' name, amen. We're gonna sing. As we sing, you can sing about many things, how you are fearfully and wonderfully made. You can sing about fact that you've entered into this world because God has a purpose for you, a purpose beyond what you might even know.
49:34 You can sing about God's forgiveness, and that there is a second chance, a third chance, a fourth chance, a fifth chance, no matter what sin you have made. You can sing that God has given us the opportunity to be a church with a voice. You can sing that God will be glorified this Saturday. And so let's stand together and sing.
