Text:  Jeremiah 1:4, 5

4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

5 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.

  • We have set aside today’s service to emphasize the sanctity of human life.
  • The actual National Sanctity of Human Life Day is this Friday, January 22.
  • It was on January 13, 1984 that President Ronald Reagan issued a proclamation designating January 22 as the first National Sanctity of Human Life Day.
  • The reason that particular day was chosen was because it was on January 22, 1973 when the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion-on-demand in all 50 states.
  • On this sacred day churches across America will do at least three things.
  • Number one, they will celebrate God’s gift of life.
  • Job 33:4 says, “The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.”
  • Secondly, they will commemorate the many lives lost to abortion.
  • Let’s be honest — abortion is a blight on American society!
  • It ought to break our hearts to think of the millions of unborn babies that have legally been put to death.
  • Thirdly they will commit themselves to protecting the sanctity of human life.
  • As one pastor has well said, “God has a heart for the unborn, and as His church, so should we.”
  • I want to begin this message by sharing some facts that ought to deeply trouble all of us.
  • Since the Supreme Court’s decision in 1973 with Roe vs Wade there have been nearly 60 million unborn babies legally put to death.
  • 85% of abortions are among unmarried women.
  • 50% of the women having abortions in the United States are younger than 25 years old.
  • It’s obvious from these stats that abortion has become our nation’s means of birth control.
  • 93% of abortions happen because of an unwanted pregnancy.
  • 35% of all women will have at least one abortion by the time they are 45.
  • Now for those of us who are pro-life, there’s some good news – abortion is actually on the decline.
  • A lot of the decline can be attributed to the work of organizations like Pregnancy Choices and also to modern technology that provides the ability to have ultrasounds.
  • Let me make one thing very clear – a baby is not a mistake, not a problem, not a burden, not an inconvenience, not a nuisance, not an accident and not a punishment.
  • A baby is a living, breathing miracle!
  • I believe at the very foundation of the abortion argument is a belief in the theory of evolution.
  • By the way the theory of evolution directly contradicts the written Word of God.

Genesis 1:27

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

  • Evolution teaches us that man is on the level of an animal – nothing more than a bundle of cells, a collection of molecules that has no special significance at all.
  • That’s why the abortionist likes to use that word “fetus,” because in their minds the word dehumanizes the unborn baby – making it no more than a blob of tissue.
  • But I want you to know that by the time an unborn baby is 18 days old its heart begins to beat.
  • At 42 days old brain waves are detected.
  • At 52 days old the baby will hiccup and yawn.
  • At 8 weeks old all of its organs are functioning.
  • When its 9 weeks old it has fingerprints.
  • At 10 weeks it can feel pain.
  • And at 12 weeks it can smile.
  • You see with evolution as his premise, the abortionist rejects the biblical truth that we are promoting today – the sanctity of human life.
  • It’s sad to say, but sex education in the public schools has done more to contribute to abortions than anything else.
  • Because instead of teaching abstinence, our public educational system is teaching our kids how to have “safe sex.”
  • Sex education in public schools breaks down any resistance to teenage sexuality, which in turn, increases the number of pregnancies, which in turn, increases the number of abortions.
  • Listen to me, because the choice of not having a baby comes before conception, not after.
  • It was Mother Teresa who said, “It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.”
  • Would you consider abortion in the following four situations?

Situation #1 – There’s a preacher and his wife who are very, very poor.

  • They already have 14 children.
  • Suddenly she finds out she’s pregnant with their 15th
  • Because of their extreme poverty, they really can’t afford another child.
  • And so considering their poverty, and of course, the excessive world population, would you consider recommending abortion to them?
  • If so, you’ve just killed John Wesley, one of the greatest evangelists of the 19th

Situation #2 – The father is sick and the mother has tuberculosis.

  • They’ve had four children.
  • The first one was born blind, the second one died, the third one was born deaf and the fourth one has tuberculosis.
  • She finds out she’s pregnant again.
  • Given the extreme situation, would you consider recommending abortion?
  • If so, you’ve just killed Beethoven.

Situation #3 – A family acquaintance rapes a 13-year-old black girl and she’s now pregnant.

  • If you were her parents, would you consider recommending abortion?
  • If so, you’ve just killed Ethel Waters, the great black gospel singer.

Situation #4 – A teenage girl finds out that she’s pregnant.

  • She’s not married, and her fiancé is not the father of the baby.
  • Would you consider recommending abortion?
  • If so, you’ve just murdered the Lord Jesus Christ!
  • Even though each situation may not make sense from a human perspective, we are never authorized to play God or to usurp the position that is rightfully His.
  • Although the Bible was written before abortion techniques were ever perfected, it’s absolutely clear as to where a Christian should stand on this issue.
  • The Bible gives us God’s perspective in regards to the status of an unborn child.

Jeremiah 1:4,5

4 Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,

5 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.

mfrazier@cantonbaptist.org