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We have a tough subject to talk about this morning,

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so it's good to start with prayer and with worship.

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We're talking about the issue of life in the womb

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and the issue of abortion in our culture today.

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When you engage with people today

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about the issue of abortion

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and you come at it from a biblical perspective,

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one of the responses you will often hear from people is,

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well, abortion isn't found anywhere in the Bible.

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And we know why hostile people do this.

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It's because they haven't really studied the issue,

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nor have they actually studied the Bible.

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Most of the time, what they've done

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is they've seen a couple of social media posts

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or they've listened to a podcast,

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and now they believe they're informed.

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And so they're ready to throw out that silly statement.

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The Bible never mentions abortion,

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not realizing that the word abortion is a modern word,

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not used until the 1500s

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to describe what we would call today a miscarriage.

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And not found in any medical textbook until the year 1823.

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These are the same kind of folks who will say to you,

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dinosaurs aren't in the Bible

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because I don't see the word dinosaur,

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even though that is a word that wasn't actually coined

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until the year 1841.

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The other thing that arguers don't usually realize

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is that abortion in the sense that we know it today

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was very rare in the ancient world,

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primarily because the medical technology

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was not there to do abortions.

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But in the historical record,

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you will find scattered records

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of some type of, some form of abortion,

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and mainly among the elite women of Roman society

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who would do it one of two ways,

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either through a potion using certain plants or herbs,

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or try to abort their child

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through dangerous physical exertion.

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But the more common practice in biblical times

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was actually infanticide through the abandonment of a baby

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after its birth.

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That shows up quite often in the ancient writings,

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and in fact, Roman law and Roman religion, for example,

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saw nothing morally wrong with abandoning a newborn baby

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in a garbage dump,

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letting them die of exposure,

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babies who were unwanted or sickly or deformed in some way,

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or even just the wrong sex.

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Primarily in that day, girls would be abandoned

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much more than boys because they were born

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more than boys because they were seen

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as less valuable to the family.

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Men who we often call great historically

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actually promoted infanticide as a benefit to society.

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Cicero, for example,

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the great Roman first century statesman and order.

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Also the Stoic philosopher Seneca,

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who once wrote, and I kid you not,

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this hideous statement.

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He wrote, mad dogs, we knock on the head.

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Unnatural progeny we destroy.

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We drown children at birth who are weakly and abnormal.

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Aristotle in his day recommended that babies

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should be compelled by law to be exposed until death

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if they had a birth defect, compelled by law.

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Later, the historian Plutarch agreed saying this,

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it's neither for the good of the child itself

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nor for the public interest that it should be brought up

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if it did not from the very outset

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appear to be healthy and vigorous.

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That is the depravity of man on display.

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But from the beginning,

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Christians saw this issue differently,

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and we can be very proud of the historical record

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when it comes to our ancient brothers and sisters

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who fought the righteous battle in their day

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for the value of human life.

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Tertullian of Carthage, the great second century theologian,

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tells us in his writings that Christians

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would seek out the tiny bodies of newborn babies

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from the dung heaps and the garbage dumps of ancient cities.

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And they would do one of three things.

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Number one, if the child had already passed away,

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they would give it a proper burial.

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Two, if the baby was sick and dying,

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they would care for it until the last breath.

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Or, best case scenario, they would actually take them in,

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adopt them, and raise them as their own.

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And in fact, even today, if you go to Rome

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and visit the catacombs under the city,

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you'll find places that look like this.

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Many Christian burial tombs with inscriptions

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that read the adopted son of or the adopted daughter of.

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And these correspond with the many babies

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and young children Christians rescued

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from the trash heap over the centuries.

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In one catacomb alone, the Catacomb of Penphilo,

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there are 111 tombs, 83 of them.

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83 of 111 were tiny spaces reserved for babies and children.

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And as you know, the appalling practice

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of discarding human life like trash is alive and well

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in the country we call home today.

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It is the great moral issue of our day.

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It's the closest thing we have to the moral failure

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of slavery that was taking place

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in the colonial days of this country.

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Yes, it's that big a deal.

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And the statistics are stunning.

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Since 1973, when Roe v. Wade was established

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get this as a federal law, can you imagine?

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The lives of more than 45 million unborn babies

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have been extinguished in our country.

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So as horrified as we are at the Greco-Roman culture

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by their callous nature, that pales in comparison

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to the way our culture where we live today

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views life in the womb.

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According to Planned Parenthood's own numbers,

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they admit this, in 2020,

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in 2023 there were 1,026,700 abortions.

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That is 2,800 babies each and every day.

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Let that number sink in.

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And just to give you perspective,

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every seven and a half months in this country,

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more babies are killed than the number of American deaths

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in the Revolutionary War, the Korean War,

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the Vietnam War, World War I, and World War II combined.

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Every seven and a half months.

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Takes us less than a year to match those horrific numbers.

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And for me, when I sit back and look at it,

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as somebody who tries to process things

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both biblically and logically,

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it's the wicked inconsistencies that our culture adopts

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about an issue of life and death that is, for me,

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the most frustrating part.

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The intentional blindness that they show.

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The failure to deal with the reality

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of murdering a baby in the womb,

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turning away, refusing to look at the gory details

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of what an abortion looks like.

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It makes you sick to your stomach

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if you stop and process it for too long.

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Everybody understands medically

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that a person is deemed to be alive

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if they have either a detectable heartbeat

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or a brainwave activity.

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Things that in a baby in utero

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happen between five and six weeks

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from the point of conception,

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and yet virtually all abortions take place after that.

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You may not know that.

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Between eight and 20 weeks is when most abortions take place.

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By any universally agreed upon medical standards,

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outside of scripture, medical standards,

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that is snuffing out the life of a human.

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And by the way, that's why there are laws

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in the books in every state that apply manslaughter

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and even murder charges when an unborn child is hurt

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or killed with premeditation.

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And we cry out, doesn't that happen every day

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in our abortion clinics?

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None of it makes sense unless you factor in

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what the Bible says about human nature.

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The depravity of man, the fallen nature

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of the world we live in, and absolute spiritual blindness.

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So why does the state not call abortion murder?

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Well, it's because of who brings about

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the death of that baby.

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Listen to this now.

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You can catch a murder charge for taking the life

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of an unborn child if the mother wants the baby.

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But it's perfectly legal to kill that child

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if the mother doesn't want the baby.

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Make it make sense.

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In the first case, the law applies the right to life

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to the unborn child, but in the second case,

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the law says that child, because it's unwanted,

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has absolutely no human rights whatsoever.

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The only difference is whether the child is wanted or not,

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which think about it now, means the mother

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has the sole power to declare that that life

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is human or not.

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That's why you'll often hear our opponents say,

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it's not a baby, it's just a fetus.

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As if applying that different label changes the moral

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situation whatsoever.

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The fact is the baby has no power,

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no authority to cry out, please let me live.

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I'm a human being.

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Instead, what is it that we affirm that the older,

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stronger person prevails?

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The weak and the vulnerable suffer at their hands.

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And in every other situation our culture faces,

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we reject that equation.

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But in the case of abortion, we celebrate it.

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That the older, stronger person

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prevails over the weak and the vulnerable.

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And that raises just another huge inconsistency.

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If our culture were intellectually honest,

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our opponents would acknowledge that according

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to their little G God, which is science,

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a baby in the womb is a separate and unique human life

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apart from the mother.

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Separate and unique life apart from the mother.

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Now obviously that mother is hosting that life

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through an exchange of not only the child,

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but the mother is hosting that life through an exchange

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of natural processes.

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But for a woman to claim it's my body

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is not scientifically accurate.

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The baby's heartbeat is not the mother's heartbeat.

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The baby's body parts are not the mother's body parts.

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That baby has a unique set of fingerprints

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that do not belong to the mom.

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Her DNA, his or her DNA characteristics

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are different from the mom.

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It is a separate and unique human life,

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which means as close as that bond is between mom and baby,

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and we love that, she has no right,

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biblically or legally, to choose to end that life.

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And really the only difference between a baby developing

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in the womb and a baby developing outside the womb

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is time and location.

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That's it, time and location.

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The essence of that life, the humanness of that life

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is no different from there to there.

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We need to understand these issues, friends, as Christians,

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because we're all having conversations about this

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or we should be.

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When you dig in and examine the reasons and motivations

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behind the so-called choice movement,

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you begin to see why so many in our culture

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are literally grasping onto abortion

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as if it's the most important right that they have.

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Imagine that.

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The most important right I have

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is the right to kill my child, imagine.

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But it's rooted in their own selfish wants and desires.

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James talks about this.

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James 4 literally speaks to this.

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What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you?

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Don't they come from your passions

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that wage war within you?

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Look how pressing this next statement is.

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You desire and do not have, so you commit murder.

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You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and wage war.

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Here's what that looks like.

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You want to fight and you want to kill.

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You want to fight and you want to wage war.

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Here's what that looks like.

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Why are children aborted today?

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Again, Planned Parenthood gives us the statistics.

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In spite of this being the most consistent argument

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against the Christian position, only 1% of abortions

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in the US are products of incest or rape, 1%.

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Another 1% happened because of fetal abnormalities.

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4% because the doctor recommended an abortion

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and we have to remember that is the second

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most common objection we get.

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But altogether, that's how many?

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6% of abortions.

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94% are rooted in issues of personal wants and desires.

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94% from the source itself, the ones doing the abortions.

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I don't want to be a single parent.

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I can't afford a child.

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Having a child will destroy all of my life plans

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and I'm not here to pass judgment.

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I'm sure some of those situations are heartbreaking

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and difficult, they're very real,

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but to use reasons like that as a justification

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to slaughter another human being is beyond comprehension

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and we need to understand that.

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And of course this all points back to basic

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biblical principles about sex, about family,

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and about the consequences for sin.

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83% of all abortions are a product of sex

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outside of the marriage covenant, 83%.

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So it turns out there are consequences

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when a culture begins to trivialize recreational sex,

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when it begins to reject the notion

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of a biblically ordered family.

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Who knew?

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Well God did, God knew.

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And by God's grace we know, don't we?

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Grab your Bibles, long introduction.

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Sorry.

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Okay, grab your Bibles, let's turn to Psalm 139.

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I'm just glad I got through that

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00:13:47,980 --> 00:13:51,240
because last night as I was writing I was just in tears.

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This is heartbreaking.

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It's heartbreaking.

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Psalm 139, by the way it's no accident

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that we're at this particular passage on the same weekend

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00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:05,160
as the Santa Clarita Valley Pregnancies Walk for Life.

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No accident that this is happening on the same day

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that we dedicated two babies.

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00:14:10,560 --> 00:14:13,000
No accident that Adam and I just did a podcast episode

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on the issue of abortion in the church.

300
00:14:15,540 --> 00:14:16,800
But here's the amazing thing.

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When I was sketching out the Psalm series,

302
00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:20,280
I put this down on the calendar,

303
00:14:20,280 --> 00:14:23,280
I had no clue about any of those things happening.

304
00:14:24,480 --> 00:14:27,040
God completely orchestrated the timing on this.

305
00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:29,380
He is involved, he is sovereign over all the details.

306
00:14:29,380 --> 00:14:30,320
Amazing stuff.

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00:14:31,420 --> 00:14:34,080
Now this morning we're gonna study verses 13 to 18,

308
00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:35,520
but I wanna read them in context

309
00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:37,200
so let's go back up to verse one.

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00:14:37,200 --> 00:14:38,700
So we're making the right connections

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00:14:38,700 --> 00:14:40,860
between the first two stanzas and the one

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00:14:40,860 --> 00:14:42,440
we're gonna study today.

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So here's the word of the Lord.

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00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:45,740
A Psalm of David, verse one.

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00:14:45,740 --> 00:14:48,140
O Lord, you search me and know me.

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00:14:49,100 --> 00:14:51,680
You know when I sit down and when I rise up.

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00:14:51,680 --> 00:14:54,640
You understand my thought from afar.

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You scrutinize my path and my lying down

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00:14:57,080 --> 00:15:00,620
and are intimately acquainted with all my ways.

320
00:15:00,620 --> 00:15:02,480
Even before there was a word on my tongue,

321
00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:06,260
behold, O Lord, you know it all.

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You have enclosed me behind and before

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00:15:08,460 --> 00:15:09,820
and laid your hand upon me.

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00:15:09,820 --> 00:15:12,800
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me.

325
00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:16,260
It is too high, I cannot attain it.

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00:15:16,260 --> 00:15:17,940
So if you were with us last Sunday,

327
00:15:17,940 --> 00:15:20,500
you know that we summarized these first six verses

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00:15:20,500 --> 00:15:22,340
under the title of God's Omniscience.

329
00:15:22,340 --> 00:15:24,900
The fact that God sees and knows everything

330
00:15:24,900 --> 00:15:27,640
about David's life, his thoughts, his motivations,

331
00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:30,840
his words, his actions, all of it.

332
00:15:30,840 --> 00:15:33,820
And then as we get to the second stanza from seven to 12,

333
00:15:33,820 --> 00:15:35,780
we're gonna see a second great attribute of God,

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00:15:35,780 --> 00:15:37,320
his omnipresence.

335
00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:39,720
The equally amazing truth that God is present

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00:15:39,720 --> 00:15:41,460
everywhere all at one time.

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00:15:42,760 --> 00:15:45,600
And always present with his servant, David.

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00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:46,420
Verse seven.

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00:15:47,600 --> 00:15:49,860
Where can I go from your spirit?

340
00:15:49,860 --> 00:15:51,900
Rhetorical question, right?

341
00:15:51,900 --> 00:15:53,560
Where can I flee from your presence?

342
00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:56,200
If I ascend to heaven, you are there.

343
00:15:57,200 --> 00:15:59,300
If I make my bed in Sheol or the grave,

344
00:15:59,300 --> 00:16:02,120
behold, you are there.

345
00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:03,680
If I take the wings of the dawn,

346
00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:06,140
if I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

347
00:16:06,140 --> 00:16:08,480
even there your hand will lead me

348
00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:10,720
and your right hand will lay hold of me.

349
00:16:12,020 --> 00:16:13,920
If I say surely the darkness will overwhelm me

350
00:16:13,920 --> 00:16:15,760
and the light around me will be nigh,

351
00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:19,860
well even the darkness is not dark to you.

352
00:16:19,860 --> 00:16:22,500
And the night is as bright as the day.

353
00:16:22,500 --> 00:16:26,740
Darkness and light are the same, are alike to you, oh Lord.

354
00:16:28,660 --> 00:16:29,800
So what comes next?

355
00:16:29,800 --> 00:16:31,400
How do you top that, right?

356
00:16:31,400 --> 00:16:34,040
Well in the next six verses, David now turns

357
00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:36,880
to emphasizing a particular aspect of both

358
00:16:36,880 --> 00:16:38,580
God's knowledge and his presence.

359
00:16:38,580 --> 00:16:41,380
He goes back to life in the womb.

360
00:16:41,380 --> 00:16:42,920
Life in the womb.

361
00:16:42,920 --> 00:16:44,920
And once again, we're gonna see how personal

362
00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:47,120
and intimate his words are.

363
00:16:47,120 --> 00:16:49,260
And it starts with the word four in verse 13,

364
00:16:49,260 --> 00:16:52,260
a very important causal particle, a key in Hebrew,

365
00:16:52,260 --> 00:16:55,200
but it's very important because it connects the stanza

366
00:16:55,200 --> 00:16:57,300
to what's come before it.

367
00:16:57,300 --> 00:17:01,260
Verse 13, for you formed my inward parts.

368
00:17:01,260 --> 00:17:03,900
You wove me in my mother's womb.

369
00:17:03,900 --> 00:17:06,000
I will give thanks to you for I am fearfully

370
00:17:06,000 --> 00:17:07,800
and wonderfully made.

371
00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:12,640
Wonderful are your works and my soul knows it very well.

372
00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:15,520
My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in secret

373
00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:18,420
and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth.

374
00:17:18,420 --> 00:17:21,480
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance

375
00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:24,320
and in your book were written all the days

376
00:17:24,320 --> 00:17:25,960
that were ordained for me,

377
00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:28,160
when as yet there was not one of them.

378
00:17:29,360 --> 00:17:31,900
How precious also are your thoughts to me, oh God.

379
00:17:31,900 --> 00:17:34,360
How vast is the sum of them.

380
00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:37,400
If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand.

381
00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:40,540
When I awake, I am still with you.

382
00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:43,080
So do you see it here?

383
00:17:43,080 --> 00:17:45,740
God's intimate knowledge of David as a human person,

384
00:17:45,740 --> 00:17:47,040
even in the womb,

385
00:17:48,220 --> 00:17:50,520
before he was physically brought forth into the world

386
00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:52,880
and then God's intimate presence with him,

387
00:17:52,880 --> 00:17:56,020
shaping and forming who David would become

388
00:17:56,020 --> 00:17:59,020
and ordaining all the days and years of his life.

389
00:17:59,020 --> 00:18:01,300
So even though all of that process in the womb

390
00:18:01,300 --> 00:18:04,600
was hidden from human eyes, God saw it.

391
00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:07,240
In fact, God was orchestrating all of it.

392
00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:08,500
So let's dive deeper.

393
00:18:08,500 --> 00:18:09,940
Go back up to verse 13.

394
00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:12,940
And I'll just sort of walk you through

395
00:18:12,940 --> 00:18:15,880
with a bit of an outline on the screen.

396
00:18:15,880 --> 00:18:18,620
Verse 13, you formed my inward parts, you wove me,

397
00:18:18,620 --> 00:18:21,880
or we like to say you knitted me together.

398
00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:23,680
How many of you guys knit?

399
00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:25,360
Anybody knit?

400
00:18:25,360 --> 00:18:26,620
It's a pretty cool process, right?

401
00:18:26,620 --> 00:18:28,180
Very intricate.

402
00:18:28,180 --> 00:18:31,500
You knitted me together in my mother's womb.

403
00:18:31,500 --> 00:18:34,300
So friends, listen, for every believer

404
00:18:35,500 --> 00:18:39,640
who plans someday to engage in a discussion

405
00:18:39,640 --> 00:18:43,340
with a family member, a friend, a coworker,

406
00:18:43,340 --> 00:18:47,140
this simple, straightforward verse has to be memorized

407
00:18:47,140 --> 00:18:49,180
and absorbed deeply into the heart

408
00:18:49,180 --> 00:18:51,680
if you're gonna speak biblically about the issue

409
00:18:51,680 --> 00:18:53,120
of human life and abortion.

410
00:18:54,280 --> 00:18:56,620
Memorize it, know it.

411
00:18:56,620 --> 00:18:59,320
Again, the Bible never mentions abortion, they say, right?

412
00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:02,120
But this verse and others like it are direct

413
00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:05,300
and compelling evidence that God has spoken clearly

414
00:19:05,300 --> 00:19:07,060
on the issue of life in the womb.

415
00:19:07,060 --> 00:19:08,800
It's right there in black and white.

416
00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:13,400
He's told us about his care and his concern

417
00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:16,100
and his sovereignty over every moment of our lives

418
00:19:16,100 --> 00:19:18,240
and that starts long before we're physically born

419
00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:19,900
into this world.

420
00:19:19,900 --> 00:19:21,740
He's actually known believers from before

421
00:19:21,740 --> 00:19:23,440
the foundation of the world, right?

422
00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:26,100
David affirms that God formed all that is within us,

423
00:19:26,100 --> 00:19:30,140
every inward part and then in this beautiful poetic form,

424
00:19:30,140 --> 00:19:32,780
he describes God as like a skilled craftsman

425
00:19:32,780 --> 00:19:37,220
who gets in there and is working his divine power

426
00:19:37,220 --> 00:19:41,220
to intricately weave us or knit us together.

427
00:19:42,220 --> 00:19:44,320
But above all, make sure you see this fact

428
00:19:44,320 --> 00:19:48,600
that God sees, that God knows, and that God is present with,

429
00:19:48,600 --> 00:19:53,600
listen, a unique individual human person

430
00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:55,140
in his mother's womb.

431
00:19:56,140 --> 00:20:01,140
A unique individual human person in the womb.

432
00:20:01,140 --> 00:20:03,740
That's what God affirms in this passage.

433
00:20:04,940 --> 00:20:07,140
Now, deep breath.

434
00:20:07,140 --> 00:20:09,780
We're gonna go off on a theological rabbit trail here.

435
00:20:10,980 --> 00:20:12,860
And some of you guys know what I'm about to talk about

436
00:20:12,860 --> 00:20:14,720
because I like to talk a lot about this issue

437
00:20:14,720 --> 00:20:16,620
because to me, first of all, I had to write

438
00:20:16,620 --> 00:20:18,920
a massive paper on this back in seminary.

439
00:20:18,920 --> 00:20:20,500
And it was so hard.

440
00:20:20,500 --> 00:20:22,160
But it's a really important issue and it squares

441
00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:24,660
with what we're talking about here today.

442
00:20:24,660 --> 00:20:26,540
So let me build a foundation.

443
00:20:26,540 --> 00:20:28,940
We know from the creation account in Genesis

444
00:20:28,940 --> 00:20:31,500
and other passages of scripture

445
00:20:31,500 --> 00:20:34,140
that human life comes from the hand of the creator

446
00:20:34,140 --> 00:20:37,180
and that each one of us is made in the image of God, right?

447
00:20:37,180 --> 00:20:39,140
That's a very important statement.

448
00:20:39,140 --> 00:20:41,080
The Imago Dei, the image of God.

449
00:20:41,080 --> 00:20:43,820
That means that we as humans are the pinnacle

450
00:20:43,820 --> 00:20:45,660
of God's creative works.

451
00:20:45,660 --> 00:20:48,660
We are the pinnacle, the height.

452
00:20:48,660 --> 00:20:51,520
And that means we are the highest possible value

453
00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:53,700
in his eyes.

454
00:20:53,700 --> 00:20:56,860
We also know that man is unique among all of God's creatures

455
00:20:56,860 --> 00:20:59,340
because we have both a material body

456
00:20:59,340 --> 00:21:02,640
and an immaterial soul that allows us

457
00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:04,380
to commune with our maker.

458
00:21:05,840 --> 00:21:07,840
We're the only species that can do that.

459
00:21:07,840 --> 00:21:11,640
So there's an image and likeness that we have from God

460
00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:14,320
that mirrors him, although very imperfectly,

461
00:21:14,320 --> 00:21:18,480
our intellect, our emotions, our will, our moral framework.

462
00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:21,360
We've also been given certain communicable attributes

463
00:21:21,360 --> 00:21:26,360
that again mirror in part God's attributes.

464
00:21:26,360 --> 00:21:29,000
Obviously not nearly as perfect as his,

465
00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,100
but things like we have a capacity to love,

466
00:21:32,100 --> 00:21:34,140
to show mercy, to seek justice,

467
00:21:34,140 --> 00:21:37,800
to be truthful, to relate to others in fellowship.

468
00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:39,880
Those are communicable attributes from God.

469
00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:41,840
So having established all that,

470
00:21:41,840 --> 00:21:43,440
let me now ask you a question.

471
00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:44,940
Let me now ask you a question

472
00:21:44,940 --> 00:21:47,280
that perhaps you've never thought of before.

473
00:21:47,280 --> 00:21:48,780
Where did your soul come from?

474
00:21:50,580 --> 00:21:51,980
How did you get your soul?

475
00:21:54,060 --> 00:21:56,920
And if your knee-jerk reaction is God,

476
00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:00,060
because that's always the right answer, right?

477
00:22:00,060 --> 00:22:02,060
Well, God created my soul.

478
00:22:02,060 --> 00:22:04,400
I want you to go a little bit deeper

479
00:22:04,400 --> 00:22:06,400
and think about the implications of that.

480
00:22:07,860 --> 00:22:09,940
Because your soul is tainted with sin, right?

481
00:22:09,940 --> 00:22:13,620
What part do parents play in multiplying the human race?

482
00:22:15,020 --> 00:22:18,660
Do parents create just the physical aspect

483
00:22:18,660 --> 00:22:20,060
of their children, their bodies,

484
00:22:20,060 --> 00:22:23,020
or are they involved in creating the soul as well?

485
00:22:23,020 --> 00:22:27,060
Or does God create the body and the soul

486
00:22:27,060 --> 00:22:29,500
and exclude the parents completely,

487
00:22:29,500 --> 00:22:31,540
or is there some middle ground?

488
00:22:32,740 --> 00:22:35,300
By the way, this question has puzzled theologians

489
00:22:35,300 --> 00:22:37,300
since the beginning.

490
00:22:37,300 --> 00:22:38,940
And there's great disagreement

491
00:22:38,940 --> 00:22:40,780
so I'm gonna give you my opinion.

492
00:22:40,780 --> 00:22:42,780
I think what makes the most biblical sense,

493
00:22:42,780 --> 00:22:44,340
but just know that there are some

494
00:22:44,340 --> 00:22:45,980
different opinions on this.

495
00:22:45,980 --> 00:22:48,180
Let me explain the conundrum here, okay?

496
00:22:48,180 --> 00:22:49,780
Couple important principles.

497
00:22:49,780 --> 00:22:52,660
Romans 5, Paul tells us that sin and death

498
00:22:52,660 --> 00:22:55,420
entered the human race through one man

499
00:22:55,420 --> 00:22:57,260
and therefore death spread to all.

500
00:22:58,300 --> 00:23:00,460
That is a part of all of us.

501
00:23:00,460 --> 00:23:01,960
And a part of my offspring,

502
00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:04,260
and any offspring you might have.

503
00:23:04,260 --> 00:23:06,500
David says in Psalm 51 that he was brought forth

504
00:23:06,500 --> 00:23:09,100
in iniquity, he was already sinful

505
00:23:09,100 --> 00:23:10,340
at the point of conception.

506
00:23:12,500 --> 00:23:14,580
What does that say about God creating

507
00:23:15,540 --> 00:23:16,620
our body or soul?

508
00:23:18,620 --> 00:23:19,920
Now the vast majority of Christians

509
00:23:19,920 --> 00:23:21,180
will usually guess at this.

510
00:23:21,180 --> 00:23:23,020
They'll say, well, okay, here's what I think happens.

511
00:23:23,020 --> 00:23:25,780
The parents pass along the physical aspect

512
00:23:25,780 --> 00:23:28,860
of their children, but it's God who creates the soul.

513
00:23:28,860 --> 00:23:30,820
But that leads to some troubling questions.

514
00:23:30,820 --> 00:23:33,500
Because again, the soul is tainted with sin.

515
00:23:33,500 --> 00:23:35,660
God doesn't create tainted things, right?

516
00:23:35,660 --> 00:23:37,860
He doesn't create sinful things.

517
00:23:39,860 --> 00:23:42,100
Okay, well maybe the parents produce the body,

518
00:23:42,100 --> 00:23:43,700
which is tainted with sin,

519
00:23:43,700 --> 00:23:45,980
but then God creates a perfect soul

520
00:23:45,980 --> 00:23:49,940
and then boop, drops it into the tainted body,

521
00:23:49,940 --> 00:23:51,540
thereby tainting the soul.

522
00:23:53,140 --> 00:23:55,020
That's one explanation you might hear.

523
00:23:55,020 --> 00:23:57,880
But if that's true, and this term is called ensoulment,

524
00:23:57,880 --> 00:23:59,860
when does God do ensoulment?

525
00:24:01,020 --> 00:24:02,460
When does that happen?

526
00:24:02,460 --> 00:24:04,820
It's not described anywhere in the Bible.

527
00:24:04,820 --> 00:24:06,820
We're not given any details about that.

528
00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:09,660
Now I'll give you a couple of objections to that idea.

529
00:24:09,660 --> 00:24:11,260
First of all, in Genesis two,

530
00:24:11,260 --> 00:24:14,740
we're told that God rested from creating on day seven.

531
00:24:16,240 --> 00:24:17,900
When did he start creating again?

532
00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:22,640
Did he start creating on the eighth day?

533
00:24:24,440 --> 00:24:26,020
Is there any mention anywhere in the Bible

534
00:24:26,020 --> 00:24:29,220
that God started to create souls after that day of rest?

535
00:24:29,220 --> 00:24:32,560
365,000 people are born each day on planet Earth.

536
00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:34,760
Is God creating souls at that pace

537
00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:36,560
and then boop, dropping all of them

538
00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:39,600
into tainted physical bodies?

539
00:24:41,940 --> 00:24:45,360
Interestingly, I cannot find any place in scripture

540
00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:48,600
where it tells me that God began to create again

541
00:24:49,880 --> 00:24:51,180
after the seventh day.

542
00:24:52,680 --> 00:24:54,340
Adam and Eve are commanded to do what?

543
00:24:54,340 --> 00:24:56,720
Multiply and fill the earth with the earth.

544
00:24:56,720 --> 00:24:59,440
Adam and Eve are commanded to do what?

545
00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:00,820
Multiply and fill the earth.

546
00:25:00,820 --> 00:25:02,380
No mention of God creating souls.

547
00:25:02,380 --> 00:25:04,380
And then we're given two very interesting statements

548
00:25:04,380 --> 00:25:07,360
early in Genesis about procreation.

549
00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:08,820
In Genesis four, Eve says,

550
00:25:08,820 --> 00:25:13,720
I have created a male child with the help of the Lord.

551
00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:15,560
That's instructive.

552
00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:17,040
But then in Genesis five, we're told,

553
00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:21,200
look at this, Adam fathered a son in his likeness

554
00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:23,480
according to his image and named him Seth.

555
00:25:23,480 --> 00:25:25,880
And all of Seth's genetic and biological information

556
00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:28,520
would have been present at his conception

557
00:25:28,520 --> 00:25:30,520
because we know Adam and Eve were creating

558
00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:32,680
or producing full human beings.

559
00:25:32,680 --> 00:25:35,060
To be fully human is to be dichotomous,

560
00:25:35,060 --> 00:25:37,620
made up of two parts, both body and soul.

561
00:25:37,620 --> 00:25:39,920
And that's what Adam and Eve were producing.

562
00:25:41,120 --> 00:25:42,800
And that is something that Christian theologians

563
00:25:42,800 --> 00:25:45,760
have fought for, what we call the psychosomatic unity

564
00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:46,960
of our personhood.

565
00:25:48,160 --> 00:25:49,800
That we can't separate body and soul.

566
00:25:49,800 --> 00:25:51,000
The Gnostics did that.

567
00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:52,740
They divided the physical body and soul

568
00:25:52,740 --> 00:25:54,980
and divided the physical and the spiritual,

569
00:25:54,980 --> 00:25:56,140
creating a duality.

570
00:25:56,140 --> 00:25:58,740
But Christian theologians have always fought about that,

571
00:25:58,740 --> 00:26:00,340
saying no, we are a unity.

572
00:26:00,340 --> 00:26:02,740
We are one body and soul.

573
00:26:02,740 --> 00:26:03,920
So how does this happen?

574
00:26:05,380 --> 00:26:07,660
What I believe the correct theological solution

575
00:26:07,660 --> 00:26:10,120
to all this is a position called traducianism.

576
00:26:12,120 --> 00:26:14,160
You're all gonna Google it when you get home.

577
00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:15,400
That's fine.

578
00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:17,000
Very interesting to read about.

579
00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:19,440
Comes from a Latin root that means to pass along

580
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:20,740
or transmit.

581
00:26:20,740 --> 00:26:22,600
And it's a very simple solution.

582
00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:23,960
This is how it's stated.

583
00:26:23,960 --> 00:26:26,900
Both parts of a person, body and soul,

584
00:26:26,900 --> 00:26:29,640
are passed along by the parents to their offspring.

585
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:33,140
Both parts, body and soul, are passed along

586
00:26:33,140 --> 00:26:35,020
or transmitted to their offspring.

587
00:26:35,020 --> 00:26:37,840
That is the only acceptable way to explain

588
00:26:37,840 --> 00:26:40,260
how inherited corruption and sin

589
00:26:40,260 --> 00:26:42,420
is transmitted through all generations.

590
00:26:43,480 --> 00:26:45,060
It's the only way to explain how David

591
00:26:45,060 --> 00:26:46,820
could have possessed a sin nature

592
00:26:46,820 --> 00:26:48,600
at the point of conception.

593
00:26:49,800 --> 00:26:51,460
Because his body and soul were inherited

594
00:26:51,460 --> 00:26:52,560
from his father.

595
00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:56,040
So the way a traducian looks at this is

596
00:26:56,040 --> 00:26:58,540
as the pinnacle of God's creative work

597
00:26:58,540 --> 00:26:59,840
made in the image of God,

598
00:26:59,840 --> 00:27:01,340
his highest creation,

599
00:27:01,340 --> 00:27:03,040
we have been granted the privilege

600
00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:05,920
and the authority to generate both body and soul

601
00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:06,980
in our children.

602
00:27:07,940 --> 00:27:10,240
And that that privilege was built into Adam and Eve

603
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:11,320
from the very beginning.

604
00:27:14,580 --> 00:27:16,660
Now, if your blood pressure's now rising,

605
00:27:18,260 --> 00:27:19,660
because you're like, I've never heard this before.

606
00:27:19,660 --> 00:27:20,600
This is freaking me out.

607
00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:22,360
I'm gonna give you two bits of information

608
00:27:22,360 --> 00:27:23,200
that might help.

609
00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:24,860
First of all, I'm not making this up.

610
00:27:24,860 --> 00:27:29,860
Some of the, I mean, you should ask that question, right?

611
00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:33,900
Some of the best theologians in church history

612
00:27:33,900 --> 00:27:37,000
were strong on this issue of traducianism.

613
00:27:37,000 --> 00:27:41,320
Guys like Tertullian, Augustine, Luther,

614
00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:44,220
Jonathan Edwards, today, Norm Geisler.

615
00:27:44,220 --> 00:27:46,220
There's some really brilliant guys.

616
00:27:46,220 --> 00:27:47,560
The only thing I hate about this

617
00:27:47,560 --> 00:27:49,420
is Calvin did not hold to this

618
00:27:49,420 --> 00:27:50,560
and I hate being on the wrong side.

619
00:27:50,560 --> 00:27:51,400
Calvin.

620
00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,560
But so there's disagreement on this.

621
00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:57,700
Second thing, make sure you hear what I'm not saying.

622
00:27:57,700 --> 00:28:00,260
I'm not saying that only the parents are involved

623
00:28:00,260 --> 00:28:02,300
and that God is shut out of the process

624
00:28:02,300 --> 00:28:04,200
because that would be impossible.

625
00:28:04,200 --> 00:28:06,080
He's completely sovereign over everything.

626
00:28:06,080 --> 00:28:08,800
So listen now, the Lord is the primary cause

627
00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:13,080
of all things that happen in time and space, right?

628
00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:14,220
And as with other things,

629
00:28:14,220 --> 00:28:17,920
he uses secondary causes like parents

630
00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:19,920
to fulfill his decreed will.

631
00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:21,420
So our bodies and our souls

632
00:28:21,420 --> 00:28:25,160
are still providentially superintended by God.

633
00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:28,160
They're produced by him.

634
00:28:28,160 --> 00:28:30,160
As David affirms here in verse 13,

635
00:28:30,160 --> 00:28:32,500
the Lord is at work in us,

636
00:28:32,500 --> 00:28:35,540
not in any way that connects him to human sin.

637
00:28:35,540 --> 00:28:38,080
That's really the big issue, right?

638
00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:40,240
He is at work, but not in any way

639
00:28:40,240 --> 00:28:42,940
where he is touched by sin,

640
00:28:42,940 --> 00:28:45,080
working first, listen now,

641
00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:47,740
working first through the natural process

642
00:28:47,740 --> 00:28:49,180
of human multiplication

643
00:28:49,180 --> 00:28:51,220
and then weaving us together

644
00:28:51,220 --> 00:28:53,560
according to a sovereign purpose and plan.

645
00:28:55,260 --> 00:28:58,060
I already see some of you guys on your phones.

646
00:28:58,060 --> 00:28:59,700
You're Googling it, aren't you?

647
00:28:59,700 --> 00:29:02,500
No, hopefully it's still your Bible,

648
00:29:02,500 --> 00:29:03,760
but I get it, I get it.

649
00:29:03,760 --> 00:29:05,760
It's a very, it's the type of thing

650
00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:06,840
that will rock your world.

651
00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:09,500
And you say, Jeff, why are you sharing this with us?

652
00:29:09,500 --> 00:29:12,480
Because guys, when we deal with hard things,

653
00:29:12,480 --> 00:29:14,900
we have got to not just lay on the surface of it.

654
00:29:14,900 --> 00:29:17,180
Let's dig in and try to make sure

655
00:29:17,180 --> 00:29:19,640
that our faith is reasonable and defendable,

656
00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:21,880
that we understand how these things work.

657
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:23,880
So I'll just let that sit for a while,

658
00:29:23,880 --> 00:29:25,180
but let's keep going.

659
00:29:25,180 --> 00:29:27,580
I want to break down the most famous verse in this section.

660
00:29:27,580 --> 00:29:28,860
Look at verse 14.

661
00:29:34,660 --> 00:29:36,140
I will give thanks to you,

662
00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:39,400
for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.

663
00:29:39,400 --> 00:29:40,660
Wonderful are your works,

664
00:29:40,660 --> 00:29:43,280
and my soul knows it very well.

665
00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:44,700
My frame was not hidden from you

666
00:29:44,700 --> 00:29:46,440
when I was made in secret,

667
00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:48,880
and skillfully wrought, or I like the term,

668
00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:51,920
intricately woven in the depths of the earth.

669
00:29:51,920 --> 00:29:53,480
So let me deal with verse 15 first,

670
00:29:53,480 --> 00:29:55,320
and then we'll come back to 14.

671
00:29:55,320 --> 00:29:58,460
Verse 15 just continues the very same theme

672
00:29:58,460 --> 00:30:00,880
that we just studied in verse 13.

673
00:30:00,880 --> 00:30:03,460
God's knowledge and presence with life in the womb.

674
00:30:03,460 --> 00:30:06,120
Only here, what's interesting is the emphasis is on

675
00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:08,560
something that happens in secret.

676
00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:10,540
And by that, David is talking about

677
00:30:10,540 --> 00:30:12,500
how a baby develops in the womb.

678
00:30:12,500 --> 00:30:14,700
Now, we're talking about 1,000 BC.

679
00:30:14,700 --> 00:30:19,640
No ultrasounds, no sonograms.

680
00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:22,740
So to the ancient person, this was completely hidden.

681
00:30:22,740 --> 00:30:25,080
So much so that he compares it

682
00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:26,820
to being in the depths of the earth.

683
00:30:26,820 --> 00:30:28,920
Or as we would say, it's deep underground.

684
00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:31,220
It's hidden from human eyes.

685
00:30:31,220 --> 00:30:33,380
But David's saying, but God's not a human.

686
00:30:34,420 --> 00:30:35,620
God doesn't have human eyes.

687
00:30:35,620 --> 00:30:37,360
He sees everything.

688
00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:39,320
He knows everything.

689
00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:41,860
Things that take place in places that human beings

690
00:30:41,860 --> 00:30:45,200
have no clue about, God completely knows it.

691
00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:48,140
And he cares, and he guides the process.

692
00:30:48,140 --> 00:30:50,400
He sees all these things in the secret place.

693
00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:52,080
And David says, my frame, and in Hebrew,

694
00:30:52,080 --> 00:30:54,340
that literally means my bones.

695
00:30:54,340 --> 00:30:58,420
My frame was visible to you as I was developing in the womb.

696
00:30:58,420 --> 00:31:01,420
And even more than that, the entire structure of my being

697
00:31:01,420 --> 00:31:02,980
was not just seen by you,

698
00:31:02,980 --> 00:31:06,080
but was being skillfully woven together.

699
00:31:06,080 --> 00:31:08,760
It's beautiful poetry here.

700
00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:10,320
Again, what's the point to describe

701
00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:13,800
that God is intimately involved in life in the womb?

702
00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:16,140
And that that is a separate and unique person

703
00:31:16,140 --> 00:31:19,240
apart from the mother, known by God.

704
00:31:21,300 --> 00:31:22,740
Now, even back in David's time,

705
00:31:22,740 --> 00:31:25,140
people recognized the absolute wonder

706
00:31:25,140 --> 00:31:26,640
of pregnancy and birth.

707
00:31:26,640 --> 00:31:28,780
I mean, I'll never forget the first time

708
00:31:28,780 --> 00:31:30,880
Tani and I, well, Tani had a baby.

709
00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:34,580
I was really good at giving her ice chips.

710
00:31:34,580 --> 00:31:36,520
I was master of ice chips.

711
00:31:38,620 --> 00:31:40,060
When Chandler was born, you stand back

712
00:31:40,060 --> 00:31:43,220
and you go, what?

713
00:31:43,220 --> 00:31:46,060
It just, like, I can't believe this.

714
00:31:46,060 --> 00:31:49,600
This is, it's the, look, if you're not a parent yet,

715
00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:52,600
trust me, it is the wildest thing that you will experience.

716
00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:55,500
The wonder of it is crazy.

717
00:31:55,500 --> 00:31:57,180
And this is what David, he's marveling

718
00:31:57,180 --> 00:31:59,680
over the mysterious and divine process.

719
00:31:59,680 --> 00:32:01,980
First, he describes being made as fearful.

720
00:32:01,980 --> 00:32:05,620
And what he means by that is it's just so awe-inspiring

721
00:32:05,620 --> 00:32:07,540
to consider, to reflect upon.

722
00:32:07,540 --> 00:32:09,460
And then he calls it wonderful,

723
00:32:09,460 --> 00:32:11,260
which is a word that basically says

724
00:32:11,260 --> 00:32:14,420
it produces in us amazement and praise.

725
00:32:14,420 --> 00:32:17,120
We are fearfully awe-inspired

726
00:32:17,120 --> 00:32:20,300
and wonderfully with praise made by God.

727
00:32:21,500 --> 00:32:23,000
And so David says, I'll give thanks to you.

728
00:32:23,000 --> 00:32:25,860
I will praise your name for the miracle of human life.

729
00:32:25,860 --> 00:32:28,300
And guys, that's what a believer does.

730
00:32:28,300 --> 00:32:29,740
Those of us who belong to God,

731
00:32:29,740 --> 00:32:32,740
we see the Lord's knowledge and presence all around us

732
00:32:32,740 --> 00:32:35,640
and we are thrilled by the fact that God is with us.

733
00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:37,720
Thrilled by the fact that his eye is upon us,

734
00:32:37,720 --> 00:32:39,240
that he is guarding us.

735
00:32:39,240 --> 00:32:43,380
And guarding us even back before we came into this world,

736
00:32:43,380 --> 00:32:45,220
back in the womb.

737
00:32:45,220 --> 00:32:46,920
And look what he affirms at the end of verse 14.

738
00:32:46,920 --> 00:32:48,260
My soul knows this very well.

739
00:32:48,260 --> 00:32:52,420
I have no doubt about what I'm declaring to you today.

740
00:32:53,700 --> 00:32:56,760
Do you realize what a wonder the human body is?

741
00:32:56,760 --> 00:32:58,160
I started researching it this week.

742
00:32:58,160 --> 00:32:59,400
Tanya walked in a couple times like,

743
00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:00,540
what are you looking at?

744
00:33:00,540 --> 00:33:03,200
I'm like, the human body's amazing.

745
00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:05,180
It really is.

746
00:33:05,180 --> 00:33:07,880
Every single person who has ever lived on the earth,

747
00:33:07,880 --> 00:33:09,640
millions of people,

748
00:33:09,640 --> 00:33:13,720
every person has their own unique fingerprint.

749
00:33:13,720 --> 00:33:14,920
Seriously?

750
00:33:14,920 --> 00:33:17,980
How many patterns could there be?

751
00:33:17,980 --> 00:33:19,320
That is bonkers.

752
00:33:20,860 --> 00:33:21,700
The only,

753
00:33:23,160 --> 00:33:26,660
every one of us has in our bodies itself,

754
00:33:26,660 --> 00:33:30,760
sufficient evidence to believe in a creator.

755
00:33:30,760 --> 00:33:31,600
Seriously.

756
00:33:33,240 --> 00:33:34,540
If you've known anybody that's gone through

757
00:33:34,540 --> 00:33:35,800
any amount of med school,

758
00:33:35,800 --> 00:33:36,980
nurse or doctor,

759
00:33:36,980 --> 00:33:38,940
how could they come out not at a minimum

760
00:33:38,940 --> 00:33:42,040
believing in intelligent design?

761
00:33:42,040 --> 00:33:42,880
It's wild.

762
00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:44,420
Look how complex we are.

763
00:33:44,420 --> 00:33:46,140
How finely tuned we are.

764
00:33:46,140 --> 00:33:50,480
How our systems work together in harmony to sustain life.

765
00:33:50,480 --> 00:33:51,880
And for anybody to stand back and go,

766
00:33:51,880 --> 00:33:53,720
oh, this was random chance.

767
00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:55,300
This just happened.

768
00:33:56,700 --> 00:33:57,920
What?

769
00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:00,160
It's ludicrous, is it not?

770
00:34:01,100 --> 00:34:02,360
Blindness.

771
00:34:02,360 --> 00:34:04,560
Augustine knew this in the fourth century.

772
00:34:04,560 --> 00:34:06,600
Look what Augustine said in the fourth century.

773
00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:10,780
He said, men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains,

774
00:34:10,780 --> 00:34:12,680
at the huge waves of the sea,

775
00:34:12,680 --> 00:34:14,680
at the long courses of the rivers,

776
00:34:14,680 --> 00:34:16,520
at the vast compass of the ocean,

777
00:34:16,520 --> 00:34:18,520
at the circular motions of the stars.

778
00:34:18,520 --> 00:34:19,720
Look at this.

779
00:34:19,720 --> 00:34:23,160
And they pass by themselves without wondering.

780
00:34:24,320 --> 00:34:26,960
Augustine knew that in the fourth century.

781
00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:29,120
The blindness of humanity.

782
00:34:30,660 --> 00:34:34,900
Today the population on earth is around eight billion people.

783
00:34:34,900 --> 00:34:36,040
Eight billion people.

784
00:34:36,040 --> 00:34:40,040
And every one of them has a unique fingerprint.

785
00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:44,440
You have somewhere around 36 or 37 trillion cells

786
00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:45,640
in your body.

787
00:34:45,640 --> 00:34:48,480
Each one is a tiny factory that scientists

788
00:34:48,480 --> 00:34:51,560
are still studying and learning about.

789
00:34:53,020 --> 00:34:57,160
Your body replaces around 330 billion cells each day.

790
00:34:57,160 --> 00:35:00,600
3.8 million new cells every single second.

791
00:35:02,760 --> 00:35:04,460
And if you want to know how vast and complex

792
00:35:04,460 --> 00:35:08,640
your DNA structure is, Ross Anderson is your guy.

793
00:35:08,640 --> 00:35:10,340
Talk to him after the survey.

794
00:35:10,340 --> 00:35:13,440
He literally specializes in genetics and DNA.

795
00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:16,880
How the amount of terabytes of information

796
00:35:18,240 --> 00:35:20,620
in every single DNA molecule.

797
00:35:20,620 --> 00:35:22,240
It's crazy.

798
00:35:22,240 --> 00:35:23,820
How about the brain?

799
00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:27,120
You've seen the brain, the physical brain,

800
00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:30,660
but all that happened, fearfully and wonderfully made.

801
00:35:30,660 --> 00:35:33,420
Every second more than 100,000 chemical reactions

802
00:35:33,420 --> 00:35:35,800
that take place in your brain.

803
00:35:35,800 --> 00:35:38,960
Probably a little more listening to this sermon.

804
00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:40,060
Traducionism.

805
00:35:40,060 --> 00:35:43,900
Like some of your chemical reactions went wah.

806
00:35:46,780 --> 00:35:51,180
I mean part of your brain is regulating voluntary matters.

807
00:35:51,180 --> 00:35:53,120
Things you choose to do, muscle coordination,

808
00:35:53,120 --> 00:35:54,420
thought processes.

809
00:35:54,420 --> 00:35:56,980
But at the very same time, another part of your brain

810
00:35:56,980 --> 00:36:00,120
is doing all the things that you don't have to pay

811
00:36:00,120 --> 00:36:02,620
attention to like breathing.

812
00:36:02,620 --> 00:36:03,460
Right?

813
00:36:03,460 --> 00:36:04,300
It's amazing.

814
00:36:04,300 --> 00:36:06,320
Like digestion, like heart rate, like blood pressure.

815
00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:07,700
All at the same time.

816
00:36:07,700 --> 00:36:10,200
Your brain has 10 million nerve cells

817
00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:12,940
to record everything that you're seeing and hearing

818
00:36:12,940 --> 00:36:15,240
and your nerve impulses travel at a speed

819
00:36:15,240 --> 00:36:17,080
of 400 feet per second.

820
00:36:18,480 --> 00:36:19,740
Oh, no big deal.

821
00:36:21,740 --> 00:36:23,220
All that information comes to your brain

822
00:36:23,220 --> 00:36:24,680
through the miracle of the eye,

823
00:36:24,680 --> 00:36:28,480
which has 100 million receptor cells in each eye.

824
00:36:28,480 --> 00:36:31,220
Altogether the system makes billions of calculations

825
00:36:31,220 --> 00:36:32,780
per second.

826
00:36:32,780 --> 00:36:35,860
Billions of calculations per second.

827
00:36:37,300 --> 00:36:39,200
Before an image even gets to the optic nerve

828
00:36:39,200 --> 00:36:40,660
and then once it reaches your brain,

829
00:36:40,660 --> 00:36:43,060
the cerebral cortex has more than a dozen

830
00:36:43,060 --> 00:36:45,660
separate vision centers in which to process.

831
00:36:45,660 --> 00:36:49,200
I had to read that because I don't get it.

832
00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:50,400
I just don't get it.

833
00:36:50,400 --> 00:36:51,240
It's wild.

834
00:36:52,640 --> 00:36:54,640
Did you know your human eye can distinguish

835
00:36:54,640 --> 00:36:57,340
between 10 million different colors?

836
00:36:57,340 --> 00:36:58,180
What?

837
00:36:58,180 --> 00:37:00,080
God made that.

838
00:37:01,780 --> 00:37:04,380
The human heart, are you kidding me?

839
00:37:04,380 --> 00:37:07,380
The human heart beats about 100,000 times a day

840
00:37:07,380 --> 00:37:09,760
pumping gallons of blood through your body,

841
00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:12,400
travels 12,000 miles a day in your body.

842
00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:18,400
If you were to lay out, oh this one.

843
00:37:18,400 --> 00:37:19,660
I had to triple check this one

844
00:37:19,660 --> 00:37:21,360
because I thought it was bonkers.

845
00:37:21,360 --> 00:37:24,000
If you were to lay out all the blood vessels in your body,

846
00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:28,480
capillaries, arteries.

847
00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:32,980
I'm looking at Ross, all of those things.

848
00:37:35,340 --> 00:37:38,020
They would stretch 60,000 miles

849
00:37:39,080 --> 00:37:41,980
twice around the earth in your body.

850
00:37:44,160 --> 00:37:45,520
I triple checked it.

851
00:37:46,460 --> 00:37:48,060
Ross before the service even said,

852
00:37:48,060 --> 00:37:49,260
yeah that's about right.

853
00:37:49,260 --> 00:37:54,260
You take around 22,000 breaths every day

854
00:37:55,440 --> 00:37:58,440
and your lungs take in 2,000 gallons of air,

855
00:37:58,440 --> 00:38:00,800
automatically breathing in the right amount

856
00:38:00,800 --> 00:38:02,940
to give you life healing oxygen

857
00:38:02,940 --> 00:38:05,340
and the perfect proportion to our atmosphere.

858
00:38:05,340 --> 00:38:08,820
Your kidneys filter 200 quarts of blood every day.

859
00:38:10,480 --> 00:38:13,020
Your stomach has 35 million glands

860
00:38:13,020 --> 00:38:15,020
which secrete the right amount of juices

861
00:38:15,020 --> 00:38:17,320
to allow your body to digest food

862
00:38:17,320 --> 00:38:20,120
and convert it into stored energy.

863
00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:23,460
And then so that it doesn't digest itself,

864
00:38:23,460 --> 00:38:27,440
your stomach produces a new lining every three days.

865
00:38:27,440 --> 00:38:28,740
Who came up with that?

866
00:38:30,900 --> 00:38:32,140
Who?

867
00:38:32,140 --> 00:38:32,980
God.

868
00:38:34,040 --> 00:38:35,980
I mean I could go on, I should go on.

869
00:38:35,980 --> 00:38:37,580
The body's immune system.

870
00:38:37,580 --> 00:38:40,340
Your immune system is constantly fighting stuff off

871
00:38:40,340 --> 00:38:42,580
that are just trying to harm you.

872
00:38:42,580 --> 00:38:45,120
All the time it's fighting for you.

873
00:38:45,120 --> 00:38:48,700
From the most minor repair like a DNA thing

874
00:38:48,700 --> 00:38:52,700
to recovering from a major accident.

875
00:38:52,700 --> 00:38:55,040
You're not even gonna know until you get to heaven

876
00:38:55,040 --> 00:38:56,800
how many times your immune system

877
00:38:56,800 --> 00:38:58,400
saved you from certain death.

878
00:39:01,340 --> 00:39:05,340
The skin of a human being regenerates itself every 40 days.

879
00:39:06,880 --> 00:39:10,860
We shed 30 to 40,000 particles of skin every hour.

880
00:39:10,860 --> 00:39:12,460
Excuse me, excuse me.

881
00:39:14,460 --> 00:39:17,960
One square inch of your, just a couple more.

882
00:39:19,100 --> 00:39:20,460
It's wild.

883
00:39:20,460 --> 00:39:24,640
One square inch of your skin has 625 sweat glands

884
00:39:24,640 --> 00:39:27,240
and 19,000 sensory cells

885
00:39:27,240 --> 00:39:29,400
all working in coordination with your brain

886
00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:32,920
so that you'll maintain a 98.6 degree temperature.

887
00:39:34,920 --> 00:39:37,420
And then so that it doesn't digest itself,

888
00:39:37,420 --> 00:39:39,080
your body's immune system

889
00:39:39,080 --> 00:39:41,080
will have a higher temperature.

890
00:39:42,360 --> 00:39:43,760
Oh, that's not precise.

891
00:39:45,620 --> 00:39:48,800
The human nose can recall 50,000 different scents.

892
00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:51,600
And by the way, just like fingerprints,

893
00:39:51,600 --> 00:39:55,840
the pattern on your tongue is specific only to you.

894
00:39:59,340 --> 00:40:01,040
Now wouldn't you think all of that data,

895
00:40:01,040 --> 00:40:03,740
that's what we call hard science,

896
00:40:03,740 --> 00:40:05,940
might get the attention of an atheist?

897
00:40:07,640 --> 00:40:09,020
It should.

898
00:40:09,020 --> 00:40:10,980
It requires more faith.

899
00:40:10,980 --> 00:40:13,980
Seriously, this is a question you need to pose

900
00:40:13,980 --> 00:40:15,780
to your friends when you're talking to them.

901
00:40:15,780 --> 00:40:18,960
Which option requires more faith?

902
00:40:18,960 --> 00:40:21,360
Because atheism, don't let them lie to you

903
00:40:21,360 --> 00:40:22,960
and say it's not a religion.

904
00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:27,100
No, it has its own principles.

905
00:40:27,100 --> 00:40:28,460
Does it require more faith to believe

906
00:40:28,460 --> 00:40:31,500
that all of that came about by random chance

907
00:40:31,500 --> 00:40:33,280
or by the hand of a loving creator?

908
00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:35,300
Come on, come on.

909
00:40:35,300 --> 00:40:39,540
And that's just the physical part of us.

910
00:40:39,540 --> 00:40:40,640
I haven't even talked about,

911
00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:42,380
you can make a stronger case

912
00:40:42,380 --> 00:40:43,940
that the immaterial part of us,

913
00:40:43,940 --> 00:40:47,280
the human soul, points back to a creator.

914
00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:48,920
Because all these questions now,

915
00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:51,480
if we're just evolutionary creatures,

916
00:40:51,480 --> 00:40:52,720
why do we love?

917
00:40:54,280 --> 00:40:56,120
Why do we show mercy?

918
00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:57,520
Why do we forgive?

919
00:40:58,820 --> 00:41:00,360
How do we instinctively know right from wrong?

920
00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:01,800
Where did that come from?

921
00:41:01,800 --> 00:41:05,960
Why do all people across all ages worship?

922
00:41:07,940 --> 00:41:10,100
Why do they all speak of an afterlife?

923
00:41:10,100 --> 00:41:11,740
Where did that come from?

924
00:41:11,740 --> 00:41:14,540
The immaterial part is actually a stronger case

925
00:41:14,540 --> 00:41:18,120
than the material and the material is wild.

926
00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:24,120
All right, is that enough fearfully and wonderfully made?

927
00:41:24,120 --> 00:41:25,760
Are we good?

928
00:41:25,760 --> 00:41:27,120
Okay, let's keep going in our passage.

929
00:41:27,120 --> 00:41:27,960
We'll do this quick.

930
00:41:27,960 --> 00:41:28,800
Verse 16.

931
00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:30,800
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance

932
00:41:30,800 --> 00:41:32,800
or when I was formless.

933
00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:34,800
And in your book were written all the days

934
00:41:34,800 --> 00:41:36,460
that were ordained for me.

935
00:41:36,460 --> 00:41:37,560
And this is so awkward.

936
00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:39,240
I'm just gonna read it from the CSB.

937
00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:43,040
All my days were written in your book

938
00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:46,280
and planned before a single one of them began.

939
00:41:47,440 --> 00:41:48,720
Let me read it again from the CSB.

940
00:41:48,720 --> 00:41:50,920
All my days were written in your book

941
00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:54,080
and planned before a single one of them began.

942
00:41:54,080 --> 00:41:55,680
This is just more evidence.

943
00:41:55,680 --> 00:41:58,960
That God is claiming to be aware of life at the moment

944
00:41:58,960 --> 00:41:59,800
of conception.

945
00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:05,100
While the human embryo is still what David calls unformed.

946
00:42:06,060 --> 00:42:07,560
And the larger point he's making here

947
00:42:07,560 --> 00:42:10,300
is that the Lord has marked out the exact number

948
00:42:10,300 --> 00:42:13,500
of his days going back to his formless embryo,

949
00:42:13,500 --> 00:42:16,380
to the physical last moment of his life

950
00:42:16,380 --> 00:42:18,680
and then on into eternity.

951
00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:22,240
God has marked all of it out and for you too and for me.

952
00:42:22,240 --> 00:42:26,220
Every detail decreed by God written in his book of life.

953
00:42:26,220 --> 00:42:29,620
All of God's plans to work through David,

954
00:42:29,620 --> 00:42:31,460
to accomplish certain things through David,

955
00:42:31,460 --> 00:42:33,160
he will finish that work.

956
00:42:34,660 --> 00:42:37,520
This is spoken of not just by David but of Jeremiah.

957
00:42:37,520 --> 00:42:39,960
Jeremiah also of Isaiah,

958
00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:42,640
also of Paul in the New Testament who says,

959
00:42:42,640 --> 00:42:44,840
I was set apart from my mother's womb

960
00:42:44,840 --> 00:42:46,800
and called by grace.

961
00:42:46,800 --> 00:42:49,280
This is how God operates through his son.

962
00:42:49,280 --> 00:42:52,340
And so then as David closes this, stands out,

963
00:42:52,340 --> 00:42:55,520
he ends predictably, he ends with what?

964
00:42:55,520 --> 00:42:56,680
With praise.

965
00:42:56,680 --> 00:42:57,520
Right?

966
00:42:57,520 --> 00:42:59,320
Over and over again we've seen this in the Psalms.

967
00:42:59,320 --> 00:43:01,980
How precious are your thoughts to me, O God.

968
00:43:01,980 --> 00:43:04,560
How vast is the sum of them.

969
00:43:04,560 --> 00:43:05,860
If I should count them,

970
00:43:05,860 --> 00:43:08,520
they would outnumber the grains of sand.

971
00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:10,800
When I awake, I am still with you.

972
00:43:13,040 --> 00:43:14,560
And this is the reality for us, friends.

973
00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:16,100
If we stop long enough,

974
00:43:16,100 --> 00:43:17,900
we're gonna be able to see the truth.

975
00:43:17,900 --> 00:43:19,540
And this is the reality for us, friends.

976
00:43:19,540 --> 00:43:21,940
If we stop long enough in this crazy,

977
00:43:21,940 --> 00:43:23,440
fast-paced world we live in,

978
00:43:23,440 --> 00:43:26,040
if we stop and take stock of who we are,

979
00:43:26,040 --> 00:43:27,620
how we've been designed,

980
00:43:27,620 --> 00:43:30,120
how God has sovereignly weaved us together

981
00:43:30,120 --> 00:43:31,420
and sustained us,

982
00:43:32,780 --> 00:43:34,360
we would just break out in praise.

983
00:43:35,860 --> 00:43:37,520
The problem is our life moves so fast

984
00:43:37,520 --> 00:43:39,520
that we don't often do that.

985
00:43:39,520 --> 00:43:40,760
To just stop and praise him.

986
00:43:40,760 --> 00:43:42,400
How precious, David says,

987
00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:43,860
are all God's thoughts of him.

988
00:43:43,860 --> 00:43:47,240
How valuable are God's intentions toward him.

989
00:43:47,240 --> 00:43:49,960
How much of a basement and adoration here.

990
00:43:49,960 --> 00:43:54,980
Guys, imagine the Creator knowing you personally.

991
00:43:57,980 --> 00:44:00,880
How immense is God.

992
00:44:02,280 --> 00:44:04,480
Yet he knows you by name.

993
00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:06,680
He knows where you live.

994
00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:08,680
He knows the number of hairs on your head.

995
00:44:08,680 --> 00:44:11,220
He knows what you had for breakfast this morning.

996
00:44:11,220 --> 00:44:13,520
He knows what he's gonna accomplish through you next.

997
00:44:13,520 --> 00:44:15,400
He knows it right now.

998
00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:17,600
He knows the final day of your life on this planet.

999
00:44:17,600 --> 00:44:18,500
He knows it all.

1000
00:44:20,660 --> 00:44:25,440
Guys, the Lord God thinks of you all the time.

1001
00:44:26,600 --> 00:44:28,440
He thinks of you continuously.

1002
00:44:29,980 --> 00:44:30,940
Yeah, him.

1003
00:44:32,080 --> 00:44:33,140
And yeah, you.

1004
00:44:33,140 --> 00:44:34,280
God thinks of you.

1005
00:44:34,280 --> 00:44:36,980
That's what David's saying, all the time.

1006
00:44:36,980 --> 00:44:38,120
Listen to what Spurgeon,

1007
00:44:38,120 --> 00:44:39,380
this is a great quote from Spurgeon.

1008
00:44:39,380 --> 00:44:40,620
Look what he says.

1009
00:44:40,620 --> 00:44:43,720
He says, you know that people are very proud

1010
00:44:43,720 --> 00:44:46,760
of the fact that a king has merely looked at them.

1011
00:44:46,760 --> 00:44:49,460
I have heard of a man who used to boast all his life

1012
00:44:49,460 --> 00:44:51,760
that King George once spoke to him.

1013
00:44:51,760 --> 00:44:53,800
Now he only said, get out of the road.

1014
00:44:55,260 --> 00:44:57,400
But it was a king who said it.

1015
00:44:57,400 --> 00:44:59,540
So the man felt greatly gratified.

1016
00:45:00,780 --> 00:45:03,340
But you and I beloved can rejoice that God,

1017
00:45:03,340 --> 00:45:06,280
before who kings are grasshoppers,

1018
00:45:06,280 --> 00:45:10,020
actually thinks of us and thinks of us often.

1019
00:45:10,020 --> 00:45:11,860
Amen.

1020
00:45:11,860 --> 00:45:12,680
Whew.

1021
00:45:13,860 --> 00:45:16,620
Man, put that verse on your mirror at home.

1022
00:45:16,620 --> 00:45:19,260
And just be reminded of God's care and concern for you.

1023
00:45:20,600 --> 00:45:21,460
All right, so let me close.

1024
00:45:21,460 --> 00:45:23,640
I'm just gonna run down a quick summary of

1025
00:45:25,540 --> 00:45:29,080
sort of the steps that every true follower of Christ

1026
00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:31,880
has to have in his or her mind

1027
00:45:31,880 --> 00:45:33,680
to oppose the practice of abortion.

1028
00:45:33,680 --> 00:45:36,680
And before I do that, let me just say something

1029
00:45:36,680 --> 00:45:38,240
that I wasn't sure I was gonna say,

1030
00:45:38,240 --> 00:45:39,620
but I'm gonna say it now.

1031
00:45:39,620 --> 00:45:40,720
If you're here this morning

1032
00:45:40,720 --> 00:45:44,260
and you've had an abortion in your past,

1033
00:45:44,260 --> 00:45:47,220
God's grace is sufficient to cover that sin.

1034
00:45:48,060 --> 00:45:51,660
This message is not intended to condemn you

1035
00:45:51,660 --> 00:45:53,360
or to hurt you in any way.

1036
00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:55,700
God's grace is sufficient for all of our sin.

1037
00:45:55,700 --> 00:45:56,540
Amen.

1038
00:45:57,540 --> 00:46:00,140
But, Christians, let's talk about this.

1039
00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:03,240
Remember, we believe in the sanctity of life.

1040
00:46:03,240 --> 00:46:05,840
What God knits together, we dare not destroy.

1041
00:46:05,840 --> 00:46:08,080
And that conviction comes from multiple places

1042
00:46:08,080 --> 00:46:09,280
in scripture, right?

1043
00:46:09,280 --> 00:46:10,740
We see it in the creation narrative.

1044
00:46:10,740 --> 00:46:11,780
We see it in the prophets.

1045
00:46:11,780 --> 00:46:13,040
We see it in the psalmist.

1046
00:46:13,040 --> 00:46:15,080
We even see it in the authors of the New Testament.

1047
00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:16,220
That's number one.

1048
00:46:16,220 --> 00:46:19,180
Number two, we hold a fundamental belief,

1049
00:46:19,180 --> 00:46:23,220
there it is, that human beings are the pinnacle of creation,

1050
00:46:23,220 --> 00:46:24,560
made in the image of God,

1051
00:46:24,560 --> 00:46:26,500
and therefore every human life

1052
00:46:26,500 --> 00:46:29,360
must be fought for and protected, period.

1053
00:46:30,700 --> 00:46:33,140
Number three, Christians believe that human life

1054
00:46:33,140 --> 00:46:35,100
does not have to be protected.

1055
00:46:35,100 --> 00:46:38,600
Human life does indeed begin at the point of conception.

1056
00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:41,680
And friends, wherever unbiased science is done,

1057
00:46:41,680 --> 00:46:43,140
that truth is born out.

1058
00:46:44,340 --> 00:46:47,380
I say unbiased for a reason, but that is true.

1059
00:46:48,520 --> 00:46:50,680
Number four, we believe that if a woman is pregnant,

1060
00:46:50,680 --> 00:46:52,480
a life has begun in her womb,

1061
00:46:52,480 --> 00:46:54,580
and that life must be protected,

1062
00:46:54,580 --> 00:46:58,800
regardless of the circumstances that led to the pregnancy.

1063
00:46:58,800 --> 00:47:01,120
We have got to be consistent on this.

1064
00:47:01,120 --> 00:47:05,460
I understand the emotional argument of incest and rape.

1065
00:47:05,460 --> 00:47:07,160
I understand the emotional side,

1066
00:47:07,160 --> 00:47:09,440
but the principle of life stands.

1067
00:47:10,700 --> 00:47:14,700
We dare not compromise that principle.

1068
00:47:16,440 --> 00:47:20,120
Number five, that life must be protected,

1069
00:47:20,120 --> 00:47:21,580
even if it's shown that the baby

1070
00:47:21,580 --> 00:47:23,180
may end up with special needs,

1071
00:47:24,180 --> 00:47:26,380
or likely has some type of deformity.

1072
00:47:26,380 --> 00:47:29,560
None of that information changes the basic principle

1073
00:47:29,560 --> 00:47:33,260
behind the value of life in the womb, period.

1074
00:47:35,320 --> 00:47:37,100
Number six, Christians believe

1075
00:47:37,100 --> 00:47:38,200
that children are a blessing.

1076
00:47:38,200 --> 00:47:41,060
Children are not an inconvenience.

1077
00:47:41,060 --> 00:47:43,040
Children are not a liability.

1078
00:47:43,040 --> 00:47:45,800
Children are not a problem.

1079
00:47:45,800 --> 00:47:49,880
A child is a gift from God and worth sacrificing for.

1080
00:47:49,880 --> 00:47:51,780
It is hard.

1081
00:47:51,780 --> 00:47:53,280
Being a parent is the hardest thing

1082
00:47:53,280 --> 00:47:54,680
that God has given me to do.

1083
00:47:56,080 --> 00:47:57,580
It's worth sacrificing for.

1084
00:47:57,580 --> 00:47:59,540
And finally, Christians advocate

1085
00:47:59,540 --> 00:48:03,120
for alternatives to abortion.

1086
00:48:03,120 --> 00:48:04,980
We not only argue against abortion,

1087
00:48:04,980 --> 00:48:08,620
we argue for fostering and adoption.

1088
00:48:08,620 --> 00:48:10,060
For this simple reason,

1089
00:48:10,060 --> 00:48:11,620
A, life is precious,

1090
00:48:11,620 --> 00:48:14,800
and B, the best path in life for every child

1091
00:48:14,800 --> 00:48:16,600
is one that ends up with a family

1092
00:48:16,600 --> 00:48:18,560
and a home that is filled with love.

1093
00:48:20,240 --> 00:48:22,700
We argue against snuffing out that life

1094
00:48:23,900 --> 00:48:25,900
and praying that God will put them in a home

1095
00:48:25,900 --> 00:48:29,380
where they will be filled with love

1096
00:48:29,380 --> 00:48:30,940
and with the message of Christ.

1097
00:48:32,140 --> 00:48:34,940
And there are stories after stories you can read about

1098
00:48:34,940 --> 00:48:37,820
of people who, their mothers were going to abort them

1099
00:48:37,820 --> 00:48:40,060
and then didn't, and they are game changers

1100
00:48:40,060 --> 00:48:41,460
in this world we live in

1101
00:48:42,460 --> 00:48:44,820
because their mothers made the right choice.

1102
00:48:44,820 --> 00:48:45,660
Amen?

1103
00:48:46,760 --> 00:48:50,460
May the Lord continue to grant us more and more victories

1104
00:48:50,460 --> 00:48:52,900
in this worthy fight.

1105
00:48:52,900 --> 00:48:53,740
Let's pray together.

1106
00:48:53,740 --> 00:48:54,660
Let's pray together.

1107
00:49:01,480 --> 00:49:05,580
Father, I thank you for our time this morning,

1108
00:49:05,580 --> 00:49:08,120
Lord, just to scratch the surface

1109
00:49:08,120 --> 00:49:12,160
of the difficulty of this subject.

1110
00:49:12,160 --> 00:49:13,820
Because it is so emotional, Lord,

1111
00:49:13,820 --> 00:49:17,120
it is so filled with past experiences

1112
00:49:17,120 --> 00:49:21,500
and logical inconsistencies.

1113
00:49:21,500 --> 00:49:25,360
And Lord, our desires of the flesh mix in there as well,

1114
00:49:25,360 --> 00:49:26,740
and so this is difficult, Lord.

1115
00:49:26,740 --> 00:49:29,480
I pray that today has been helpful,

1116
00:49:29,480 --> 00:49:34,480
that David speaking in your word into this subject

1117
00:49:35,720 --> 00:49:37,080
might be clarifying for us,

1118
00:49:37,080 --> 00:49:39,620
and may your spirit continue to drive us

1119
00:49:39,620 --> 00:49:42,680
into deeper levels of truth about this.

1120
00:49:42,680 --> 00:49:47,700
Father, we are grateful that you are aware

1121
00:49:48,900 --> 00:49:49,920
of all that takes place in the womb,

1122
00:49:49,920 --> 00:49:52,700
that you are caring, that you are concerning,

1123
00:49:52,700 --> 00:49:54,160
that you are at work there.

1124
00:49:55,260 --> 00:49:57,000
And we thank you that your grace is sufficient

1125
00:49:57,000 --> 00:50:00,140
for those who have stumbled and sinned in this area,

1126
00:50:01,180 --> 00:50:04,840
but are redeemed because of the blood of Christ.

1127
00:50:04,840 --> 00:50:06,320
So thank you for our time this morning, Lord.

1128
00:50:06,320 --> 00:50:08,820
May we praise you now as we come back to singing,

1129
00:50:08,820 --> 00:50:12,120
praise you and thank you for how glorious you are.

1130
00:50:12,120 --> 00:50:20,120
We love you, in the name of Jesus we pray, amen.