Why I Am Pro-Life

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We’re glad to bring you this message from Loveworth Finding Ministries with Adrian Rogers. We trust you’ll be blessed as you apply these biblical truths to your daily life.

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Isaiah chapter 5, one of the most poignant verses in all of the Bible, that describes our day as much as any one single verse in all of the Bible. Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil. that put darkness for light and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Why I am pro-life. Now we have people who say they are pro-choice, but that’s unfinished. Tell me what you choose. Now, if they say, I believe in the choice to kill a baby in the mother’s womb, then it doesn’t sound quite so good. But they call themselves pro-choice. It is the choice to take an innocent life in the mother’s womb. It is really a choice between life and death, and God’s Word says clearly in Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse 19 that we are to choose life. In America, if you crush the egg of a bald eagle, you can be fined $5,000 and spend a year in jail, but you can make a handsome living killing babies in the mother’s womb. It is now legal for any physician to kill a baby while the mother is in labor and the baby is partially delivered, partially out of the birth canal. Now, what did Roe v. Wade say in 1973? Would you like to hear the law? Here’s what the court ruled. A state is forbidden to prescribe, that means forbid, abortion any time. Now, notice the term any time prior to the birth. If in the opinion of one licensed physician, and abortion is necessary to preserve the life, now watch this, or the health of the mother. Now, few would argue about the life of the mother. But what do we mean now by the health of the mother? Well, let’s let the court tell us what they meant by that. They said, the medical judgment may be exercised in the light of all factors, physical, now watch this, emotional, psychological, familial, and the woman’s age relevant to the well-being of the patient. All of these factors may relate to health. Now, let’s get some illustrations. It includes such matters as when the pregnancy would, number one, force upon a woman a distressful life and future. Number two, produce psychological harm. Number three, tax mental and physical health by child care. Next, bring the distress associated with an unwanted child. You say, if I don’t want this child, then that’s a mental health condition that says the child can be put to death. Next, bring a child into a family already unable psychologically or otherwise to care for. That is, we can’t take care of the baby, kill it. Next, bring the continuing difficulties and stigma of unwed motherhood. Look, we didn’t get married. So we’re not married. We’re pregnant. Kill the baby. Woe unto them that call good evil. That put light for dark. A teenage girl can, in schools, many schools, receive amoral sex education in school-based health clinics. And they can even be given, in some public schools, contraceptives. WITH GOVERNMENT MONEY, AND IF THE CHILD, IN SPITE OF THE CONTRACEPTIONS AND THE LECTURING IN THE SCHOOL-BASED SEX CLINIC COMES UP PREGNANT, THE CHILD CAN BE TAKEN TO A PLANNED PARENTHOOD CLINIC, AND THERE, WITHOUT HER PARENT’S KNOWLEDGE OR CONSENT, THEY DON’T EVEN KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT IT, CAN HAVE THE UNWANTED PREGNANCY ABORTED. YET IN MANY OF THESE SAME SCHOOLS, The school administrators would not dare give an aspirin without parental consent. I’m telling you that, friend, that is barbaric and it is also crazy. It’s also crazy. Now, I want to tell you why I’m pro-life. I want to give you three reasons why I’m pro-life. And I pray God will write these upon your heart. First of all, I am pro-life because it is just that, a matter of life. What is being put to death in the mother’s womb is a human life. When the ovum and the sperm are united, it becomes human life. It is a human life. And yet, to all of the components of life being there, some say that is only some sort of a blob. They say it is not human life. Well, let me ask you a question. Is it life? Of course, it’s living. Let me ask you another question. What kind of life is it? Is it animal life or vegetable life or human life? Of course it is human life. It is not a part of the mother’s body. Mothers talk about having the right to their own body. It’s not a part of her body. It is a new life, altogether different, may have a different blood type than the mother, certainly has a different DNA than the mother. And it is life, and it is life from God. Put in your margin. Psalm 139, beginning in verse 13 says, The psalmist is speaking of his development in his mother’s womb. For thou hast possessed my reins, that is, the things that control my life. Thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. Notice this, me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought. In the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance. Yet being unperfect. And in thy book all my members were written. Which in continuance. Oh what an important word. Which in continuance were fashioned. When as yet there was none of them. Now this is a very beautiful verse. When a mother is pregnant. God himself is forming a child within her. And according to this psalm. It is both wonderful. and awesome. Wonderfully and fearfully made literally means awesomely made. And it also tells us that that little baby being formed in the mother’s womb is the object of God’s love and God’s concern. The Bible, listen, the Bible does not distinguish between prenatal and postnatal life. The Bible speaks of babies in the womb as people and persons. Put down Jeremiah chapter 1, verse 5. Jeremiah the prophet heard God say to him, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. And before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Now, I was ordained as a 19-year-old man. Jeremiah was ordained in his mother’s womb. Now, you don’t ordain a blob of tissue. God said, I knew you, Jeremiah. You are my prophet. I have ordained you to be a prophet. John the Baptist. Jesus said there’s not a greater born of woman than John the Baptist. John the Baptist was in his mother’s womb, Elizabeth, when his cousin, according to the flesh, Jesus died. was there in Mary’s womb. And the two mothers are visiting. Put down Luke 1, verse 41. And it came to pass that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, in other words, Mary says, Hello, Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her wounds and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost. Now she’s carrying around a little baby. Mary says, Hello, Elizabeth. And John the Baptist leaps in his mother’s womb. Now, notice the phrase there. It says here, and the babe leaped. The word for babe is brepos, B-R-E-P-H-O-S, if you want to anglicize it and spell it, the Greek word. There’s lexicon, the Greek-English lexicon, that’s just a fancy name for a dictionary, says this. The word brepos is an unborn child, embryo, fetus, a newborn child, an infant, a babe. Whether in the womb or out of the womb, the Bible uses the same word. For example, in Luke chapter 18 and verse 15, speaking of bringing children to Jesus, and they brought unto him also infants that he would touch them. And the same word for infant is the same word that is used for John the Baptist in his mother’s womb. What I’m trying to say is this, that the Bible, the Bible language does not distinguish between prenatal and postnatal life. When does life begin? Well, let’s consider not only an argument from the Bible, but an argument from science. The nucleus of a human cell is composed of 46 chromosomes. 23 are furnished by the father and 23 are furnished by the mother. So it is not merely a part of the mother’s body. It is much a part of the father as it is the mother. Well, you say, Pastor, it is a fetus. I agree it is a fetus. Do you know what the word fetus means? It’s just a Latin word for child. That’s all it is. That’s all it is. To say fetus is to say child in Latin. Listen, no matter how small, it is a child. We all are in a continual process. Each age is only a part of it. Some are newly conceived. Others are developing in the womb. Some are just born. Some are toddlers. Some have completed the first day in school. Others are in adolescence. Others are adults. Some are elderly. There is a gradual development. But one is no less a person than the other. Don’t pick on people because they are little. Don’t pick on them because they are young. When a baby is conceived, he is as small as a grain of sand, but the father’s sperm enters into the mother’s egg and a new human being has begun. Now, why am I pro-life? Well, very simply this. I believe the Bible, and I believe that it is a crime against Almighty God to kill innocent life. Proverbs 6, verses 16 and 17, These six things doth the Lord hate, yea, seven are an abomination unto him, a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood. I’m telling you, the taking of life in the womb is an abomination to Almighty God. Menard N. Nathanson, who was an obstetrician, gynecologist, once an assistant professor at Cornell University Medical School, a leader in the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws. That is, he was opposed to laws that proscribe abortion. Not prescribed, but proscribed. Keep us from having abortions. And he was the director of the first and largest abortion clinic in the Western world. Dr. Nathanson. Here’s what happened to him. He had his eyes open. He suddenly changed his tune after his clinic had performed 60,000 abortions in 18 months.

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60,000!

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He resigned and he lamented. Here’s what Dr. Nathanson said, I am deeply troubled by my own increasing certainty that I had, in fact, presided over 60,000 deaths.” Think of it. Doctors and nurses told Dr. Nathanson of nightmares and depressions that they were experiencing and personality changes. Among them, another personnel at the clinic because of the taking of innocent life. Friend, I am pro-life because it is a matter of life. Second reason. I am pro-life because it is a matter of love. Abortion… transgresses the golden rule. What is the golden rule? Matthew chapter 7 and verse 12, Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. For this is the law and the prophets. Jesus said, you want to take the entire Old Testament and let me give it to you in a sentence? Whatever you want people to do to you, how you want people to treat you, then you treat them in the same way. Well, mother… The one who’s carrying the baby in her womb. Would you want to be put to death? Then don’t put that child to death. Mother, would you want to be killed by being dismembered by some vacuum device? Then don’t do that to a child. What doctor would want to be trapped in a cell somewhere and have some corrosive acid poured on him and some substance poured on him that’d be forced into his lungs and stomach and be left to convulse for hours until he dies? What doctor? If you don’t want that to happen to you, don’t do it to somebody else. Whatever you would do to what you would have others do to you, then do to them. Think about partial birth abortion. You talk about something that’s grisly. That takes place in America. You know now, it’s known as intact dilation and extraction. Doesn’t that sound good? Well, what is happening is it is a gruesome disregard for human life. Partial birth abortion is legal in America. Pre-born babies developing at the fifth month of their development. The child is partially delivered. The little feet are out. The baby’s turned around, so it’s a breech birth. The little hips are out, the stomach, the chest, the arms, up to the neck. The neck is still in the birth canal. And at that time, in the head, at that time, the doctor takes a blunt pair of scissors and stabs the baby in the base of the skull and makes an opening that allows access to the baby’s brain And then the baby’s brain is sucked out. And the head collapses. The baby dies. The body is removed. You say, Pastor, no. Yes. Yes. You say, well, what if it’s necessary? May I tell you what? Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop said, who’s a medical doctor, with all that modern medicine has to offer, partial birth abortions are not needed to save the life of a mother. Now I’m saying, what mother would like to be treated in such a way? I’m saying, what doctor would like to have an instrument put in the back of his skull and have his brain sucked out? I’m saying, what judge… would want to be torn from his home and ripped apart by a powerful machine. No, friend, it transgresses the law of love. It is absolutely contrary to basic human instinct. One of the signs of the last days is written in Romans chapter 1 and verse 31. The Bible speaks of a generation without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable and unmerciful. The word natural affection… You know what that means? It’s the word astorgos. And what it literally means is the lack of love and natural affection toward one’s own children. The basic maternal instinct is to protect the unborn. The basic maternal instinct is to protect the born. But the last days, the last step on the road down is sexual perversion and a lack of love for the unborn. It is contrary to basic human instinct. The abortion business is based primarily, not altogether, but primarily on selfishness. Now, we’re told that… that the way it used to be, overburden the poor. 53% of those who have abortions have no other children. Most over 20. Most are white and middle and upper class. Over one-third of women who’ve had abortions are going back for the second, third, and fourth abortions. These people in many instances have conceived through illicit sex or professional women who do not want their profession interrupted or by people who just don’t want to be bothered with a child. And the ultimate selfishness is the grisly abortion business itself which pays good money. It is a multi-million dollar industry. Many of the abortionists are living lavishly. But I want to tell you that every brick in that home is a child’s bone and all the mortar is baby’s blood and they are in the business of killing for hire. It’s a terrible thing. Now, the Bible says in Deuteronomy chapter 27, verse 25, “‘Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person.'” and all the people shall say, Amen. Listen to that verse. Deuteronomy 27, verse 25. Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person, and all the people shall say, Amen. Now, I tell you, when a doctor is in the business of taking human life, I can tell you without any stutter, stammer, apology, fear of contradiction, the curse of God is on him. Now, I know some people don’t like this. I don’t even like preaching. But the Bible says, lift up your voice like a trumpet and spare not and show my people their sin. How can we ask God to bless America when we do what we do in America? I am pro-life because, friend, it is a matter of life. I am pro-life because it is a matter of love. We’re to do to others as we would have others do to us. Thirdly and finally… I am pro-life because it is a matter of logic. Logic. There’s such illogical reasons that the pro-choice people have. Silly reasons like life begins with breathing. The baby is already alive. The oxygen comes through the umbilical cord. Another, they say, abortion is sometimes necessary to save the mother’s life. That may be true in rare instances. But let me tell you what Dr. Jerome Lejeune, a world-famous geneticist, said. This is great. Now, I want you to listen to it. “‘I would do everything I could to save the life of the mother.'” but I would never attack and kill an unborn child. So he said, I don’t set out to kill a child. I may set out to save the life of a mother. And if in the process the child dies, tragic, but I would never attack and kill an unborn child. And with today’s medicine, an abortion to save the life of a mother is extremely rare. Ethel Waters said, WAS NOW IN HEAVEN, SANG MANY TIMES IN THE GREAT BILLY GRAHAM CRUSADES, GREAT GOSPEL SINGER, WAS BORN OUT OF A PREGNANCY THAT WAS DUE TO RAPE. WHO WOULD SAY THE DEATH OF WATER SHOULD NOT HAVE COME INTO THE WORLD TO BLESS THE WORLD? RUTH, WHO IS AN ANCESTORESS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, WAS A DESCENDANT OF MOAB, WHO WAS BORN OUT OF AN ANCESTROUS RELATIONSHIP. YOU CAN’T PLAY GOD IN CASES LIKE THAT. LET ME ASK A QUESTION. If there’s a baby that is one month old in the crib that was born to a victim of rape, would you kill the one month old baby? Well, if you wouldn’t kill the baby when it’s one month old, don’t kill the baby when it’s one month before being born. This is an argument that is raised that does not hold water. Of course, rape is a terrible, horrible, heinous, hateful crime. but the baby didn’t commit the crime. Somebody says, well, there may be a danger of deformity. Well, there may be. Are we going to eliminate everyone we feel is defective or deformed? Here’s a question. How perfect do you need to be in order to be allowed to live? And if we eliminate the deformed in the womb, why don’t we eliminate the deformed after birth? And if we’re going to eliminate the deformed, where do we stop? No, these arguments don’t hold water. Somebody says, well, a woman’s body is hers to do with as she wishes. She has freedom of choice. She does not have freedom of choice, in my estimation, in God’s sight, to kill another person, even if that person is living inside her body. I have no right to kill an unwanted guest in my home. They may cause me inconvenience, but I have no right to put them to death. No mother has a right to kill her own children. You say, well, I choose not to have this baby. No, you already have a baby. Your choice is, are you going to choose a live one or a dead one? You already have a baby. That is the point. Now, no woman has a right to kill her own children. Well, I believe I have a right over my own body. No, you don’t. Do you have a right to ingest crack cocaine? Tell that to the sheriff’s department and see what happens. Do you have a right to be a prostitute? No. then why do they arrest people for prostitution? Well, she says, it’s my body. No, we have a law against that. Number one, it is not her body. It is a child, different, completely different. But even if it were her body, she does not have complete control over her own body. Well, unwanted babies are victims of child abuse. There’s no proof that they are more apt to be abused. Besides that, there are many loving parents who are standing in line and say, give us that baby. We will love it and take care of it. Well, somebody says the abortion laws are unfair to the poor. The poor do not have the access to abortion or medical help, or it’s easier for a rich person to break any law. And it is. It’s easier for a rich person to get hold of heroin than it is for a poor person. So if it is, does that mean that we ought to be supplying heroin to the poor? No. because the rich can get it easier? Of course not. The arguments are so foolish. Oh, well, pastor, there’s so many people. We need to be concerned about the population explosion. Who knows who we may be eliminating? We may be eliminating the person who has the answer to AIDS, the cure for cancer, or whatever, because we put them to death. Well, I’m going to tell you, every argument that the pro-choice people have, in my estimation, is fallacious and wicked. Woe unto them that put good for evil, evil for good, light for darkness, darkness for light. That we have it upside down, sweet for bitter and bitter for sweet. What a crazy age we live in. Conclusion. Number one, be informed. I know, I know that there are people out there who are seething who don’t like this message. I’m sorry. I’ve not come to antagonize you. But I must say it. I must say it. My people perish for a lack of knowledge. Number two. We need to vote for life and work for a constitutional amendment. And there are those who begin to see the first gleams of that on the horizon. I’m telling you, the tide is turning, and thank God for it. Number three, we need to teach sexual morality at home and in the church. The one voice that needs to be speaking the most is often the most silent. Next, We need to have compassion on the unwed mother so that she is not afraid to come to us. So often we drive these unwed mothers into the arms of the abortionists. Surely sex outside of marriage is wrong. But we need to have love and compassion and forgiveness and not a hypercritical spirit. Next, we need also to have compassion and teach forgiveness to people who’ve had an abortion. I’m not here to put you down, to hurt you. I don’t want to do that. But I want to tell you there is mercy and forgiveness and grace with Almighty God. God will remove the guilt. He may not remove the pain, but He will remove the guilt. We need to have that compassion and show the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Next, and here’s why I’m doing what I’m doing tonight, we need to speak out clearly. Isaiah 58 and verse 1, “…cry aloud and spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Now people say, I don’t believe in this kind of preaching. Well, let me read that verse again. Isaiah 58, 1. And then a sister verse. Proverbs 24. Proverbs 24. Verses 11 and 12. If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death and those that are ready to be slain, if thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not, doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? And he that keepeth thy soul, doth he not know it? And shall he not render to every man according to thy works? Speak up. speak up in the office, speak up on the street, speak up at the ball game, speak up in the Sunday school class, refuse, refuse to be swayed by the high-sounding arguments of the liberals and the humanists and the social planners and the experts? What do they know? They haven’t got a clue. They do not have a clue. Woe unto them that put good for evil and evil for good, light for darkness and darkness for light, bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. They are absolutely mixed up. Isaiah 5.20, Woe unto them that call evil good, good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Next, we need to pray that God will give us time as a nation to repent. But friend, We need to bring this nation to God in repentance and say, God have mercy on us for the shedding of innocent blood. And then last and finally, we need to teach and preach Jesus Christ. When people come to know the Lord Jesus Christ, then their eyes are going to be open. They’re going to be able to take this book and read it. Their understanding is going to be enlightened. And they’re going to live with the compassion and love of Jesus.

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Do you know the Jesus Adrian Rogers spoke about? You can know abundant, eternal life through Jesus Christ right now. Say yes to Jesus. Ask him to save you. Fully trust in Christ today. You might pray something like this. Lord Jesus, I know I’m a sinner. And my sin deserves judgment. But you died to pay the penalty for my sin. So I repent of those sins now, Lord. I ask you to forgive me. Come into my life. Make me a new person in you. Thank you for saving me, Jesus, and help me to live for you from now on. Amen. And today, if you give your life to Christ, you’ll want to learn how to walk with Him each day. We want to help you with materials that will encourage and strengthen you as a new believer. Just write us at Love Worth Finding, Box 38600, Memphis, Tennessee, 38183. In Canada, you can write us at P.O. Box 152, Maple Ridge, B.C., V2X7G1. And if you have more questions about what it means to begin a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, visit our website, lwf.org. Click on the Discover Jesus link on our homepage for more information. If you’d like additional copies of this message or information about other resources, just visit our online bookstore or call 1-800-274-5683. Thank you, and may God richly bless you.