Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / The Sanctity of Life │ Msg 14 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living

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The Sanctity of Life │ Msg 14 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll Insight for Living · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: I want you to picture with me the large, thick tapestry,
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Speaker 1: the veil that hung in the Tabernacle of God. This beautiful,
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Speaker 1: ornate piece of fabric separated the.
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Speaker 2: Holy of Holies from the general public. The Book of
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Speaker 2: Ectodus says that this veil was woven together by hand.
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Speaker 2: Later in the Book of Psalms, the Lord uses that
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Speaker 2: same Hebrew verb to describe his work in weaving or
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Speaker 2: knitting together our bodies in our mother's womb. Think about that,
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Speaker 2: in your mother's womb. God put you together just as
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Speaker 2: it pleased him. All of your design, including your interests,
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Speaker 2: your abilities, your skills, your gifts, all the things that
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Speaker 2: you grew into as the years followed. These were originally
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Speaker 2: knitted together by God. They were carefully designed in a
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Speaker 2: specific pattern while you were yet unborn. Amazing, isn't it.
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Speaker 2: During the nine months between your conception and your birth,
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Speaker 2: God was hard at work. This process was so amazing
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Speaker 2: to King David that he wrote about it in the
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Speaker 2: form of a prayer found in Psalm one thirty nine.
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Speaker 2: Listen as I read verses thirteen through sixteen from the
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Speaker 2: New Living Translation. David prayed you made all the delicate
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Speaker 2: inner parts of my body and knit me together in
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Speaker 2: my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex.
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Speaker 2: Workmanship is marvelous, how well I know it. You watched
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Speaker 2: me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as
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Speaker 2: I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
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Speaker 2: You saw me before I was born. Every day of
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Speaker 2: my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was
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Speaker 2: laid out before a single day had passed. I plan
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Speaker 2: to speak twice on the subject of abortion. It is
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Speaker 2: not a subject that I have addressed directly and publicly before,
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Speaker 2: though I have thought long and hard about it, and
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Speaker 2: have held convictions just as strong as those who have
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Speaker 2: both spoken and declared themselves publicly in other ways. As
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Speaker 2: I do so, I want to be fair with the facts,
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Speaker 2: and I want to be careful with the way I
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Speaker 2: present them. I certainly must be true to myself, since
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Speaker 2: I have to answer to God for what I say
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Speaker 2: and how I say it. And certainly I have every
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Speaker 2: plan to be firm in the scriptures upon which I
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Speaker 2: base the foundation of my remarks. I don't know quite
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Speaker 2: how to describe a rather lengthy introduction today. Perhaps it
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Speaker 2: is a statement of clarification due to the nature of
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Speaker 2: the subject that I'm stepping into today. What I share
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Speaker 2: with you is not the result of someone's pressurizing me
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Speaker 2: to speak, or some organization or some group or some
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Speaker 2: other church. These are the truths that are held deeply
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Speaker 2: within my own heart. However, this means that what I
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Speaker 2: say will not satisfy everyone. Some of you will want
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Speaker 2: me to say much more than I plan to say.
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Speaker 2: Others of you will wish that I had said less
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Speaker 2: than I am going to say. And some of you
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Speaker 2: will regret that I have said anything at all, since
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Speaker 2: you feel this doesn't fit our pulpit or the style
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Speaker 2: of my ministry. The reason I know all of that
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Speaker 2: is I have already heard from you in writing, and
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Speaker 2: I appreciate your telling me what you think. I must
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Speaker 2: now do what I believe to be right. For sure,
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Speaker 2: I want to be I want to be accurate. I
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Speaker 2: am a pastor. I am not a deathspot. I hold
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Speaker 2: convictions that are mine, and it is my responsibility to
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Speaker 2: declare those convictions with the flock, not to come down
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Speaker 2: on you for the way you must apply them. And
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Speaker 2: just as I have no right to tell you how
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Speaker 2: to respond to what I say, neither does anyone else
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Speaker 2: but I am responsible to speak, and I will trust
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Speaker 2: the Spirit of God to take what I say and
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Speaker 2: to use it in your life to stir up within
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Speaker 2: you His desire for you. I am not today making
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Speaker 2: an edict, nor am I giving this congregation or anyone
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Speaker 2: who may hear this message and assignment. All that to
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Speaker 2: say that I hold very firmly to the pro life position,
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Speaker 2: always have even before we were married, and certainly throughout
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Speaker 2: the years of our marriage. While I am unequivocally at
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Speaker 2: that position in my life, I do not look down
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Speaker 2: on or disreguard those who disagree with that position. It
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Speaker 2: is not my interest to make them look foolish or
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Speaker 2: to poke needless fun at them. This is not a
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Speaker 2: funny subject, nor will I resort to exaggeration or sarcasm
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Speaker 2: to get my point across. My hope is to win
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Speaker 2: those who do not agree, and I do not speak
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Speaker 2: today therefore out of anger, but out of brokenness. I
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Speaker 2: come today as an individual who desires to communicate wisdom
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Speaker 2: and sensitivity and compassion, and not to have those things
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Speaker 2: eclipsed by my zeal and enthusiasm. I will have another
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Speaker 2: message as well that will comfort some who will be
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Speaker 2: disturbed because of guilt or regret over what you hear
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Speaker 2: in this hour. My second message is a message of
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Speaker 2: hope and compassion to go on having had an abortion
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Speaker 2: or having counseled someone else to do so, and now
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Speaker 2: living in the regret of that. But do not think
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Speaker 2: that my second message means that I am soft on
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Speaker 2: the things that I declare in this first one. It
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Speaker 2: does not. My statistics, my illustrations, even my use of
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Speaker 2: scripture of necessity because of time must be limited. And
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Speaker 2: now let me tell you the purpose of my messages.
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Speaker 2: I have listed four of them in my notes. First,
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Speaker 2: to inform you of what is happening. I'm convinced deep
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Speaker 2: within that most do not know what is happening. If
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Speaker 2: you were pressed to the issue to give facts and figures,
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Speaker 2: most of you could not. As it relates to the
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Speaker 2: dreadful condition of our country regarding abortion. You know it's
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Speaker 2: somewhat extreme, you know it is a bit of a
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Speaker 2: political football, but you would be hard pressed, most of you,
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Speaker 2: to know the real facts. So I want to inform Second,
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Speaker 2: I want to help you gain courage. If I can
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Speaker 2: stand alone, anyone can stand alone. I want you to
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Speaker 2: gain courage to say no before you are tempted to
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Speaker 2: get in bed with somebody who is not your marital partner.
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Speaker 2: I want you to gain courage to say, this is
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Speaker 2: where I stand on this issue, and I'm not ashamed
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Speaker 2: to stand there. Certainly others don't seem to be ashamed
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Speaker 2: to stand in their position. I hope my message gives
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Speaker 2: you that kind of courage. I want to give you
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Speaker 2: courage to go on in spite of decisions you have
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Speaker 2: made that you now are sad or guilty about, or
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Speaker 2: perhaps full of regret over. Hopefully, I hope this message
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Speaker 2: will give you courage to stay morally pure. By the way,
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Speaker 2: I plan next Sunday to address the issue of maintaining
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Speaker 2: sexual purity in our lives. Third, my hope today my
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Speaker 2: purpose is to stimulate and motivate you to be involved.
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Speaker 2: This is not the kind of issue that we simply
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Speaker 2: agree to pray about or not in agreement. That's where
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Speaker 2: I stand. This cause for action, the kind of action
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Speaker 2: God will lead you to do. I have no plans
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Speaker 2: to mass our church together in one great movement in
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Speaker 2: a particular and singular cause. The options are many, and
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Speaker 2: I will conclude this message by giving you some of them.
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Speaker 2: Long before abortion was a public issue, my wife and
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Speaker 2: I opened our home to unwed mothers. I'm sure if
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Speaker 2: situations were similar, we would do it again. That is
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Speaker 2: one kind of reaction, That is one kind of involvement,
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Speaker 2: only one of a number of different things you might do. Fourth,
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Speaker 2: my hope today, my purpose is to give comfort and
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Speaker 2: reassurance to you who live with the scars of regret.
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Speaker 2: Life does go on. There is no sin so great
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Speaker 2: but that God cannot and will not forgive, other than
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Speaker 2: dying in the sin of unbelief toward the Lord Jesus Christ,
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Speaker 2: that one you will pay for for eternity. But there
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Speaker 2: is no sin this side of death that causes God
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Speaker 2: to say, ah, that's too far, I will have nothing
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Speaker 2: more to do with you. This leads me into some
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Speaker 2: I would call them significant tensions and statistics that need
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Speaker 2: to come to our attention. First of all, the tensions,
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Speaker 2: and I'm representing both sides as I state that the
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Speaker 2: attention that this kind of message brings to us. First,
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Speaker 2: the appropriateness of discussing a subject this intimate and personal
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Speaker 2: from a pulpit. I mean, let's face it, few things
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Speaker 2: are more personal than one. Sexual life. Abortion is directly
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Speaker 2: related to sexual activities. I understand the sensitive nature, the
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Speaker 2: delicate nature of this message, and I will not be
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Speaker 2: overly or needlessly offensive in my explicit definition of things.
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Speaker 2: I will try to maintain the dignity that a pulpit requires. Second,
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Speaker 2: the ethical dilemmas created by extreme situation such as rape, incest,
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Speaker 2: and the health of the mother. I understand the uniqueness
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Speaker 2: of those situations. Due to the private nature of much
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Speaker 2: of this and the limited time I have, I'm staying
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Speaker 2: away from those subjects. And before you think I'm dodging
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Speaker 2: a major issue, just listen to the statistics a little later.
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Speaker 2: One percent, I will tell you ahead of time of
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Speaker 2: those who get abortions are victims of rape. One percent
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Speaker 2: of those victims of incest get abortions. So don't hide
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Speaker 2: behind that as a reason for not coming to convictions. Clearly,
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Speaker 2: over ninety five percent of the abortions are what I
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Speaker 2: would call convenient methods of birth control, and that's the
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Speaker 2: tragedy of it all. Third is the challenge to our
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Speaker 2: church's convictions that we focus on biblical and spiritual priorities
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Speaker 2: and avoid being caught up in political and social agendas.
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Speaker 2: That's a long way of saying, this pulpit is not
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Speaker 2: a political pulpit. I represent no political cause. You do
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Speaker 2: not know which side I am on or sides I
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Speaker 2: may be on as it relates to political issues, nor
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Speaker 2: will you when I am through. We are living in
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Speaker 2: a day where politicians can no longer stay quiet about
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Speaker 2: the issue. In order for a person to run for
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Speaker 2: a major office, that man or woman must declare himself
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Speaker 2: or herself as it relates to abortion. This can become
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Speaker 2: a political football and has become one. My concern over
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Speaker 2: the subject is not politics. My concern over it is ethics.
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Speaker 2: It is morals. It is the spiritual dimensions that abortion
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Speaker 2: brings to pass in one's life, and that's why we're
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Speaker 2: addressing it today. Fourth is the possibility of being intimidated
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Speaker 2: by well meaning people who want you to take up
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Speaker 2: the cause in their way. And I want to say
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Speaker 2: without reservation that if I, as your senior pastor, do
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Speaker 2: not enforce one particular method of involvement, neither does anyone
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Speaker 2: else have a right to do that with you. I
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Speaker 2: know whereof I speak. I was told over the phone
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Speaker 2: not long ago, because I didn't participate, as one individual
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Speaker 2: told me I should have, I will answer for it
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Speaker 2: in the judgment day. I don't think I will. He
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Speaker 2: thinks I will, and that's fine. He has every right
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Speaker 2: to think what he pleases. You must answer for your life.
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Speaker 2: And if God leads you to do certain things and
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Speaker 2: you don't do those things, God does hold you responsible
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Speaker 2: for that. But I do not know God's will for
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Speaker 2: your life in applying this message, nor will I hazard
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Speaker 2: a guess that is beyond my realm. The fifth tension
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Speaker 2: is the possibility of arousing enormous guilt and regret. I've
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Speaker 2: already spoken once on the subject earlier, and I had
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Speaker 2: three people come and tell me that they have had abortions,
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Speaker 2: and the guilt is overwhelming. My tension comes in arousing
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Speaker 2: enormous feelings of guilt in those who may have already
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Speaker 2: been forgiven. I need to go with their lives. Nevertheless,
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Speaker 2: truth needs to be declared. I want you to find
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Speaker 2: two verses of Scripture before I get into the statistics,
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Speaker 2: because I want to show you the times in which
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Speaker 2: we're living. Second Timothy, chapter three, the early part of
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Speaker 2: that chapter, and when you find that Romans chapter one,
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Speaker 2: the last two verses of that chapter, Romans one and
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Speaker 2: Second Timothy three. Both of these passages have to do
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Speaker 2: with the days in which we're living, the difficulties of
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Speaker 2: the times in which we find ourselves, called in scripture
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Speaker 2: the last days, and I just want to affirm that
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Speaker 2: as being a major reason we find ourselves in such
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Speaker 2: tragic conditions, as it relates to this national, in fact
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Speaker 2: worldwide tragedy of abortion on demand. Second Timothy three begins
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Speaker 2: realize this that in the last days, difficult times will come.
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Speaker 2: If I were writing that today, or if you were
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Speaker 2: writing it representing the day in which you live, you
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Speaker 2: would say, difficult times have come. The keyword is difficult.
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Speaker 2: It means grievous, tragic. It is a word rendered savage
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Speaker 2: elsewhere in scripture, and I think that fits in these
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Speaker 2: last days, savage times have come. If one embraces the
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Speaker 2: position on abortion that is popularly being represented today, one
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Speaker 2: will also be soft on euthanasia and the taking of
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Speaker 2: life later in years when that life becomes fruitless and
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Speaker 2: rather unproductive. But in these last days, tragic savage times
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Speaker 2: are upon us. Turn then to Romans one, where the
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Speaker 2: savage times are spelled out in four ways. We are
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Speaker 2: living in times that are Verse thirty one without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving,
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Speaker 2: and unmerciful. One man has given four synonyms for those expressions.
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Speaker 2: We're living in days that are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
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Speaker 2: And then the final verse of the chapter, although they
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Speaker 2: know the ordinance of God that those who practice such
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Speaker 2: things are worthy of death, they not only do the same,
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Speaker 2: but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
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Speaker 2: That's the kind of time in which we live, and women,
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Speaker 2: the mother's right seems to have eclipsed all other rights,
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Speaker 2: even the right of that independent life within her, which
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Speaker 2: she did not cause, God did, and what she and
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Speaker 2: her mate did not create God did. This issue is
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Speaker 2: no longer a private one. It now impacts three major
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Speaker 2: professions of our world, the legal, the medical, and for
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Speaker 2: sure the political. One hundred professors of obstetric signed the
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Speaker 2: following statement quote. It would be necessary for physicians to
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Speaker 2: realize that abortion has become a predominantly social as well
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Speaker 2: as medical responsibility. For the first time, except for cosmetic surgery,
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Speaker 2: doctors will be expected to do an operation simply because
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Speaker 2: the patient asks that it be done. Granted, this changes
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Speaker 2: the physician's traditional role, but it will be necessary to
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Speaker 2: make this change if we are to serve the new
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Speaker 2: society in which we live. Alas to all those who
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Speaker 2: signed such a statement, I agree with a man who
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Speaker 2: added this comment. Abortion is no more purely a medical
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Speaker 2: problem just because the physician wields the curate than chemical
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Speaker 2: warfare is purely a problem for pilots because they pressed
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Speaker 2: the lever releasing the chemical. I don't know if you
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Speaker 2: have noticed the unpopularity of the physician who declares herself
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Speaker 2: or himself as a doctor who will perform abortions. Many
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Speaker 2: obstetricians and gynecologists' acknoledge that they feel great conflict about abortion.
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Speaker 2: A doctor who is an administrator at the National Institutes
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Speaker 2: of Health and is forbidden to speak for attribution about
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Speaker 2: the time when she performed abortions said she used to
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Speaker 2: carry them out because she felt strongly that abortions should
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Speaker 2: be available. But she said she had to prepare herself
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Speaker 2: emotionally each time, and she often had a sleepless night
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Speaker 2: before a scheduled abortion. It's a very tough thing for
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Speaker 2: gynecologists to do, she said. The emotions it arouses are
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Speaker 2: so strong. She said that doctors don't talk to each
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Speaker 2: other about it. The doctor said she only lost control
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Speaker 2: once when she was aborting a thirty year old doctor
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Speaker 2: after she herself had just had a miscarriage. She had
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Speaker 2: been trying for seven years to become pregnant. After the abortion,
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Speaker 2: she said, I just collapsed on the floor, overcome by
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Speaker 2: her emotions. How widespread is the problem? How severe is
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Speaker 2: it is?
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Speaker 1: It?
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Speaker 2: Indeed much ado about nothing hardly Thanks to the assistance
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Speaker 2: of several trusted colleagues, I have come up with some
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Speaker 2: limited statistics that will take your breath away. Since you
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Speaker 2: were not senseless, faithless, heartless or ruthless us, these facts
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Speaker 2: will shock you. Medical authorities determine a person to be
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Speaker 2: alive quote unquote if there is either a detectable heartbeat
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Speaker 2: or brainwave activity. Children have detectable heartbeats at eighteen days
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Speaker 2: that's two and a half weeks after conception, and detectable
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Speaker 2: brainwag activity forty days that's a little over five and
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Speaker 2: a half weeks after conception. Essentially, one hundred percent of
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Speaker 2: all abortions occur after the seventh week of pregnancy. Why
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Speaker 2: are children aborted? Alan Gutmacher Institute, the Research arm of
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Speaker 2: Planned Parenthood states one percent are victims of incest or rape.
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Speaker 2: One percent had fetal abnormalities, four percent had a doctor
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Speaker 2: who said their health would worsen if they continued the pregnancy.
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Speaker 2: Fifty percent, that's five oh. Fifty percent said they didn't
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Speaker 2: want to be a single parent or they had problems
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Speaker 2: in current relationships. Sixty six percent stated they could not
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Speaker 2: afford a child, Seventy five percent said the child would
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Speaker 2: interfere with their lives. Three fourths of those stating reasons
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Speaker 2: for abortions said it was because the child would interfere
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Speaker 2: with their lives. The conclusion is clear. Ninety five plus
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Speaker 2: percent of children killed by abortion are killed for reasons
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Speaker 2: of convenience, not health, and sessed rape or the future
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Speaker 2: of the mother. When are children aborted fifty percent at
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Speaker 2: eight weeks, twenty five percent at nine to ten weeks,
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Speaker 2: fourteen percent at eleven to twelve weeks, five percent at
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Speaker 2: thirteen to fifteen weeks, four percent at sixteen to twenty weeks,
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Speaker 2: and two percent after twenty weeks. How many are aborted?
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Speaker 2: Some limited statistics worldwide fifty five million a year. Fifty
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Speaker 2: five million every year. You can't get your arms around
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Speaker 2: that number, and neither can I, so to help you
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Speaker 2: do so, let me break it into day's hours and
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Speaker 2: minutes around the world. Every day, one hundred fifty thousand,
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Speaker 2: six hundred eighty five children are killed by abortion, every
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Speaker 2: hour six thousand, two hundred seventy eight, and every minute
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Speaker 2: one hundred five. You're an American, no doubt, and or
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Speaker 2: perhaps and you're therefore you're greatly concerned about your nation
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Speaker 2: as I let me break it down to a national statistic.
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Speaker 2: One million, six hundred thousand babies are aborted every year.
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Speaker 2: These are the reported ones per day. That's four thousand,
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Speaker 2: three hundred eighty three per hour. That's one hundred eighty
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Speaker 2: three per minute. That is three every minute in America
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Speaker 2: children are aborted. If you happen to be using the
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Speaker 2: outline I gave you in the bulletin this morning, you
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Speaker 2: have already observed. The outline on the other side represents
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Speaker 2: what we have called American war casualties. I put it
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Speaker 2: in sort of a simple form thanks to the help
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Speaker 2: of the World Almanac, so you can see the lives
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Speaker 2: of those who were lost, the Americans who were lost
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Speaker 2: in the Revolutionary War and that tragic Civil War, the
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Speaker 2: First and Second Great World Wars, the Korean War, the
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Speaker 2: Vietnam War. They don't hold a candle to the war
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Speaker 2: on the unborn. And by the way, this is an
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Speaker 2: old statistic. If you multiply one million, six hundred thousand
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Speaker 2: by the number of years that have passed since abortion
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Speaker 2: was legalized in nineteen seventy three, you'll see that these
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Speaker 2: facts are a bit obsolete. Ladies and gentlemen, my friends,
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Speaker 2: future mothers to be and fathers. There is a war
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Speaker 2: going on that demands attention, an action based on convictions
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Speaker 2: from the scriptures. This is no minor skirmish that has happened.
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Speaker 2: This is war. And the tragedy of it all is
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Speaker 2: that those who are being killed cannot even represent themselves
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Speaker 2: or defend themselves. Lives are being interrupted, brutally, tragically and thoughtlessly. Now,
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Speaker 2: as I turn to the scriptures, I know some of
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Speaker 2: you might be saying to yourself, chuck, since your position
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Speaker 2: is so pro life, and since clearly this scripture presents that.
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Speaker 2: Just turn to the verse that says thou shalt not
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Speaker 2: get an abortion, and that's a slam dunk, that's all
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Speaker 2: we have to see. Well, if I had that verse,
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Speaker 2: I certainly would do that, but it isn't there, which
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Speaker 2: causes some critics to say, ah, you really don't have
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Speaker 2: scriptural support for the pro life position. Really, the pro
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Speaker 2: abortion position is just as viable. On the contrary, understand
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Speaker 2: that scripture carries with it principles and precepts that are
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Speaker 2: not always so clearly spelled out as the Ten Commandments.
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Speaker 2: When you think through the logic or if I may,
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Speaker 2: the syllogism of logic in the scriptures, you sometimes come
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Speaker 2: to positions that are indeed airtight, but you cannot necessarily
27:45
Speaker 2: find a verse that states it as you would wish
27:48
Speaker 2: you could find. Turn, for example, to Genesis chapter one,
27:53
Speaker 2: and let me develop the logic in a rather brief
27:55
Speaker 2: period of time. It isn't that complicated, but I hope
27:59
Speaker 2: that I can be clear and to the point Genesis
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Speaker 2: chapter one. Don't be afraid. We're not going to go
28:05
Speaker 2: all the way chapter by chapter to Revelation twenty two.
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Speaker 2: We'll just go from here to there and pick the
28:11
Speaker 2: passages that seem to help build the case. Genesis one,
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Speaker 2: twenty six. It's in the creative story. God has created
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Speaker 2: all life. He's begun by creating matter. He has separated
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Speaker 2: night from day, Earth from sea, mountains from valleys, plants
28:32
Speaker 2: from fish and fowl and cattle. And now he comes
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Speaker 2: to that epical moment where he creates human life, or
28:39
Speaker 2: there is the plan to do such. The Godhead speaking together,
28:44
Speaker 2: let us make man in our image. Uh huh. Never
28:48
Speaker 2: before has that appeared in scripture, nor will it ever
28:51
Speaker 2: appear related to animal, plant, or even life that might
28:57
Speaker 2: be in the stellar spaces. This is lit to human life.
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Speaker 2: Human life possesses the image of God. Let us make
29:06
Speaker 2: man in our image according to our likeness, and let
29:10
Speaker 2: man rule over the fish of the sea and the
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Speaker 2: birds of the sky, over the cattle, and over all
29:15
Speaker 2: the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on
29:17
Speaker 2: the earth. And God created man in his own image
29:22
Speaker 2: as lovely and beautiful and colorful and full of variety.
29:26
Speaker 2: As the animal kingdom may be. None of it is
29:28
Speaker 2: created in God's image. Only human life. Therefore, and it
29:34
Speaker 2: can be repeated time and again through scripture. If you
29:37
Speaker 2: take the scene that appears in chapter two of Genesis
29:40
Speaker 2: along with chapter three of Genesis, you will see that
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Speaker 2: only human life can walk with and talk with and
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Speaker 2: fellowship with the Creator. Animals cannot, plants cannot, the fish cannot.
29:56
Speaker 2: Only human beings Therefore, it stands to reason when you
30:00
Speaker 2: you get into the Book of Exodus, chapter twenty, verse thirteen,
30:04
Speaker 2: you read thou shalt not murder. Why because there is
30:10
Speaker 2: something distinctly precious and unique about human life. So precious
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Speaker 2: and so unique it must be protected. It must be preserved.
30:22
Speaker 2: It houses within it the image of God. This precious
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Speaker 2: human life is not to be treated violently by other
30:33
Speaker 2: human beings. This is sort of like God's way of
30:37
Speaker 2: saying life is important. Don't kill it, don't even hurt it,
30:41
Speaker 2: don't stop it, let it live. Because these individuals on
30:47
Speaker 2: earth represent My handiwork. My image is in mysterious ways
30:54
Speaker 2: stamped into human life. If you think that is an
30:58
Speaker 2: exaggerated statement, listen to the Psalmist. In fact, turn to
31:02
Speaker 2: Psalm number number eight, verses four and five. What is
31:14
Speaker 2: man that thou dost take thought of him? And the
31:17
Speaker 2: son of Man that thou ust care for him? Yet
31:20
Speaker 2: thou hast made him a little lower than God, and
31:24
Speaker 2: dost crown him with glory and majesty. I don't know
31:28
Speaker 2: fully what all that would include, But that is never
31:31
Speaker 2: said of an animal. That is never said of a
31:34
Speaker 2: plant as beautiful and full of variety as these creations are,
31:39
Speaker 2: none of it has ever said that it has a
31:42
Speaker 2: glory and a majesty that is a little lower than God,
31:45
Speaker 2: only human life. In Psalm number twenty two, the Psalmist
31:53
Speaker 2: writes that the Lord has been his God even from
31:58
Speaker 2: his mother's womb. Psalm twenty two, verses nine and ten.
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Speaker 2: Thou art he who dost bring me forth from the womb?
32:08
Speaker 2: Thou didst make me trust when upon my mother's breasts,
32:12
Speaker 2: upon thee I was cast from birth. Thou hast been
32:15
Speaker 2: my God from my mother's womb. Now look closely at
32:20
Speaker 2: that he is seeing himself. David is within the womb
32:25
Speaker 2: and coming forth from the womb as being answerable to
32:29
Speaker 2: the God who created him. While within the womb. Did
32:33
Speaker 2: you know that even the presence of sin, the sin
32:36
Speaker 2: nature within the heart of human beings, is present even
32:40
Speaker 2: within the life of the child of the womb. Look
32:44
Speaker 2: at Psalm fifty one. This is quite an eloquent statement.
32:49
Speaker 2: Psalm fifty fifty one five David says, I was brought
32:54
Speaker 2: forth in iniquity, in sin my mother conceived me. Some
32:59
Speaker 2: would that in say sounds to me like the act
33:03
Speaker 2: of conception was sinful. Now you misunderstand the amplified Bible helps.
33:09
Speaker 2: I was brought forth in a state of iniquity. My
33:12
Speaker 2: mother was sinful who conceived me, and I too am sinful.
33:18
Speaker 2: One of the brightest minds in the world today in
33:20
Speaker 2: the subject of biblical Semitics, the Semitic language is Bruce Walkee, PhD.
33:25
Speaker 2: From Harvard, one of my mentors in years past, and
33:27
Speaker 2: a man I dearly admire. He writes of this Psalm
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Speaker 2: fifty one to five passage, rather clearly quoting Doglish in
33:36
Speaker 2: his authoritative work on Psalm fifty one, concludes, the Psalmist
33:41
Speaker 2: is relating his sinfulness to the very inception of life.
33:45
Speaker 2: Now concentrate to the very inception of life. He traces
33:49
Speaker 2: his development beyond his birth, to the genesis of his
33:53
Speaker 2: being in his mother's womb, even to the very hour
33:56
Speaker 2: of conception. Bruce Walkee adds in tracing his spiritual condition
34:02
Speaker 2: to the time of conception. David goes on to note
34:06
Speaker 2: that already in his fetal state, the moral law of
34:10
Speaker 2: God was present in him. Even in an embryonic or
34:16
Speaker 2: fetal state, there was this sense of God's hand and
34:21
Speaker 2: God's accountability in my life without a doubt, the most
34:26
Speaker 2: eloquent passage in all the Old Testament of Life in
34:30
Speaker 2: the Womb is Psalm one hundred thirty nine. Will you
34:33
Speaker 2: turn there four verses right in the belly of that
34:38
Speaker 2: passage thirteen through sixteen. Psalm one hundred thirty nine thirteen
34:45
Speaker 2: the spirit of God takes a divine of fiber optic
34:50
Speaker 2: probe and reaches into the womb and reveals for all
34:55
Speaker 2: to see the hand of God at work in the fetus.
35:01
Speaker 2: This is God for you. God did form my inward parts.
35:06
Speaker 2: You did weave me in my mother's womb. Verse fifteen.
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Speaker 2: My frame. That's a reference to the bony structure, the skeleton,
35:16
Speaker 2: the bones, which would have to do with the height
35:18
Speaker 2: the stature. My frame was not hidden from the when
35:22
Speaker 2: I was made in secret. Verse sixteen. Thine eyes have
35:25
Speaker 2: seen my unformed substance, and in thy book they were
35:30
Speaker 2: all written the days that were ordained for me, when
35:33
Speaker 2: as yet there was not one of them. Incredible passage.
35:38
Speaker 2: I wish I had the time to describe to you
35:41
Speaker 2: the color, the variegated colors that are represented in the
35:44
Speaker 2: Hebrew words, as if the bones and the arteries, and
35:48
Speaker 2: the muscles and the structure of the body are all
35:50
Speaker 2: being woven together, along with personality and anatomy and facial conditions,
35:55
Speaker 2: and color of hair, and color of eyes, right down
35:58
Speaker 2: to toenails and fingernails, an eyelashes and eyebrows. Your hand
36:03
Speaker 2: was on me in my mother's womb. I am fearfully
36:08
Speaker 2: and wonderfully made, he says, in this very passage, when
36:12
Speaker 2: you move into the New Testament, you come to the
36:14
Speaker 2: story of the Lord Jesus and his birth. You recall,
36:17
Speaker 2: and the Angel comes to Joseph and says, that has
36:21
Speaker 2: been formed in Mary is from the Holy Spirit, and
36:27
Speaker 2: in fact you must look Matthew Chapter one. The Spirit
36:30
Speaker 2: of God directing Matthew's penn states that this one formed
36:35
Speaker 2: in her is in fact a child, not fetal tissue,
36:40
Speaker 2: not merely a pre birth blob of flesh, but a child.
36:47
Speaker 2: Verse eighteen of Matthew one. Now, the birth of Jesus
36:51
Speaker 2: Christ was as follows. When his mother had been betrothed
36:53
Speaker 2: to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to
36:56
Speaker 2: be with child by the Holy Verse twenty. When he
37:02
Speaker 2: had considered this behold, an angel of the Lord appeared, saying,
37:06
Speaker 2: Joseph's son of David, do not be afraid to take
37:08
Speaker 2: Mary as your wife, for that which has been conceived
37:10
Speaker 2: in her is of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit
37:14
Speaker 2: doesn't conceive blobs and fetal tissue. The Holy Spirit conceies life.
37:22
Speaker 2: Verse twenty one. She will bear a son. You will
37:25
Speaker 2: call his name Jesus. Verse twenty three. Behold the Virgin
37:31
Speaker 2: shall be with child and shall bear a son, and
37:33
Speaker 2: they shall call his name Emmanuel, which translated means God
37:37
Speaker 2: with us. Luke informs us that the Angel states to
37:43
Speaker 2: marry on another occasion, that that which has been formed
37:47
Speaker 2: within her is in fact the Holy offspring. And when
37:53
Speaker 2: Mary stands before Elizabeth, her relative and says to Elizabeth,
37:57
Speaker 2: I'm pregnant. I'm carrying the Messiah. Remember, Elizabeth, the baby
38:02
Speaker 2: within her leaped within the womb. Blobs don't leap, Masses
38:09
Speaker 2: and tissues and tumors don't move. Life moves, and life
38:15
Speaker 2: reacted to life. In summary, let me put it this way.
38:22
Speaker 2: God sets apart human life as distinctive and valuable. Second,
38:28
Speaker 2: because this is true, God preserves and protects human life
38:32
Speaker 2: as no other life is to be protected on earth. Third,
38:37
Speaker 2: that kind of life begins from conception and not even
38:42
Speaker 2: those who once denied it now deny it. There's too
38:45
Speaker 2: much scientific evidence that is a living human being inside
38:48
Speaker 2: the womb of the mother, whether she expected it, planned
38:53
Speaker 2: it or not. Therefore, if you follow the syllogism, since
38:58
Speaker 2: it's God's will that after birth be protected and preserved,
39:03
Speaker 2: then with the same sense of conviction, it is his
39:05
Speaker 2: will that life be preserved and protected before birth. Almost
39:12
Speaker 2: without exception. Today, the great argument is the woman's rights
39:17
Speaker 2: take over or take precedence over the life within her,
39:21
Speaker 2: as though she was responsible for the life within her.
39:24
Speaker 2: How often couples will have sexual relations again and again
39:28
Speaker 2: and again there's no life, and then one day Gone
39:32
Speaker 2: sovereignly brings to pass life for his purposes. They no
39:39
Speaker 2: more created that life than they have the right to
39:43
Speaker 2: take that life. What if her life is in danger?
39:48
Speaker 2: See Everett Coup during his thirty five plus years of
39:52
Speaker 2: practicing medicine, states, never once did a case come across
39:56
Speaker 2: my practice where abortion was necessary to save a mother's life.
40:02
Speaker 2: There is responsibility here, men and women. I came across
40:07
Speaker 2: a rather interesting editorial cartoon meant to make you think,
40:12
Speaker 2: not laugh. It's six panels of the same woman. First
40:16
Speaker 2: panel he kissed me and I melted. Second panel. My
40:20
Speaker 2: heart pounded at his touch. Third panel, his embrace scent,
40:25
Speaker 2: the blood coursing through my veins. Fourth panel. I was
40:29
Speaker 2: overcome with passion. I couldn't refuse. Fifth panel. Now I'm
40:34
Speaker 2: pregnant and I want an abortion. Last panel. After all,
40:39
Speaker 2: a woman should have control over her body. You may
40:47
Speaker 2: still not be fully convinced that there is life there.
40:49
Speaker 2: Testimony of Paul E. Rockwell, MD, should Help. Years ago,
40:56
Speaker 2: while giving an anesthetic for a ruptured tubal pregnancy at
40:59
Speaker 2: two months, I was handed what I believed to be
41:02
Speaker 2: the smallest human being ever seen. The embryo sack was
41:06
Speaker 2: intact and transparent. Within the sack was a tiny one
41:10
Speaker 2: third inch human male, swimming extremely vigorously in the amniotic
41:15
Speaker 2: fluid while attached to the wall by the umbilical cord.
41:20
Speaker 2: This tiny human was perfectly developed, with long tapering fingers, feet,
41:25
Speaker 2: and toes. It was almost transparent as regards the skin,
41:29
Speaker 2: and the delicate arteries and veins were prominent to the
41:32
Speaker 2: ends of the fingers. The baby was extremely alive and
41:36
Speaker 2: did not look at all like the photos and drawings
41:38
Speaker 2: of embryos which I had seen when the sack was opened,
41:43
Speaker 2: the tiny human immediately lost its life and took on
41:45
Speaker 2: the appearance of what is accepted as the appearance of
41:48
Speaker 2: an embryo at this stage, blunt extremities and so forth. Yes,
41:57
Speaker 2: it's life in your hearted's life. When you were formed
42:07
Speaker 2: in secret, God was at work on that which was precious.
42:13
Speaker 2: And you and I are here today because our mothers
42:16
Speaker 2: said yes, I'll have the baby. And there are thousand
42:22
Speaker 2: and one stories that would take our breath away if
42:24
Speaker 2: we told of the difficulties of our mother's pregnancy. Are
42:30
Speaker 2: the tragic conditions in which she bore us? What do
42:35
Speaker 2: I do? What kind of personal involvement can I have?
42:43
Speaker 2: Let me mention several may I then I'm through until
42:47
Speaker 2: we come together again for a second message. First of all,
42:53
Speaker 2: volunteer your time, energy and financial support. There are a
42:58
Speaker 2: number of excellent organ organizations that are clearly pro life
43:02
Speaker 2: who exist because we help support them with time and energy,
43:07
Speaker 2: volunteer work and financial assistance. Second, make your home available
43:13
Speaker 2: to unwed mothers and or support homes that are open
43:17
Speaker 2: to them. Maybe there are support group meetings in your neighborhoods.
43:23
Speaker 2: Open your home to that. Third, write letters, make phone calls.
43:30
Speaker 2: Get involved as a citizen in your government and in
43:35
Speaker 2: those who make a difference, who can make a difference
43:38
Speaker 2: in legislation. Fourth, participate in demonstrations of your personal preference.
43:46
Speaker 2: On this very day, there's a human chain of individuals
43:50
Speaker 2: that will be forming on beach Boulevard. I think from
43:53
Speaker 2: Ktella to another major intersection. That might be a way
43:57
Speaker 2: I understand a number from our church or doing so
44:00
Speaker 2: that is the way that they wish to express their
44:02
Speaker 2: disagreement and their convictions. It's not for everyone, it is
44:07
Speaker 2: for many. It may be for you, it may not be.
44:10
Speaker 2: But don't stop because something is not for you. Find
44:13
Speaker 2: something that is. Fifth, Participate in community projects. Be involved
44:21
Speaker 2: in the projects that are begone by neighbors and fellow citizens.
44:30
Speaker 2: Six And significantly, practice in your private life what you
44:34
Speaker 2: claim to believe publicly as it relates to moral purity,
44:40
Speaker 2: extramarital sexual involvements. Accepting what God chooses for you, whether
44:47
Speaker 2: you planned it or not. Seventh, and certainly not least,
44:51
Speaker 2: but I didn't want to name it. First, Lest you
44:53
Speaker 2: stop there, pray, pray, pray, and pray. If these statistics
45:02
Speaker 2: don't convince you of anything else, they convince you that
45:04
Speaker 2: there is a war on It's a war against those
45:08
Speaker 2: who cannot even speak for themselves. I close with a
45:17
Speaker 2: true story. A couple of the man middle aged, the
45:21
Speaker 2: woman in her late twenties, married during a time of
45:26
Speaker 2: great financial duress. Before they had been married a year.
45:31
Speaker 2: In fact, ten months after their wedding, the firstborn came.
45:38
Speaker 2: It was difficult, but they handled it fairly well. Before
45:41
Speaker 2: they had been married two years, a second child came,
45:45
Speaker 2: and lo and behold. Before their fourth anniversary, a third
45:51
Speaker 2: child came while the other two were still in diapers,
45:54
Speaker 2: tremendously difficult time financially. The mother's health was not that
45:59
Speaker 2: great or she wasn't that terrific with young children, and
46:03
Speaker 2: the time demands on the family were enormous. And it
46:07
Speaker 2: so happened that there was a real possibility of abortion.
46:14
Speaker 2: At that time, it was nineteen thirty ford, it was illegal.
46:19
Speaker 2: She and her husband convinced that they should carry through
46:24
Speaker 2: and see what God would have for them. Decided to
46:28
Speaker 2: have that baby. And I'm so grateful that they did,
46:32
Speaker 2: because I was that baby, and my brother and sister
46:38
Speaker 2: and my deceased mother and dad, and I knew a
46:43
Speaker 2: joy in family life that would never have been known,
46:47
Speaker 2: and little did anyone realize what God's plan for me
46:51
Speaker 2: would have been. And I am more grateful than I
46:55
Speaker 2: can describe to my mother for saying I'll have you,
47:04
Speaker 2: because I believe God is greater than my rights, and
47:08
Speaker 2: I believe God's plan is more magnificent in all of
47:11
Speaker 2: its mysteries than a few inconveniences. The kind of courage
47:19
Speaker 2: it takes to make that decision, of course, requires the
47:21
Speaker 2: courage of the living God. And that's why the Lord
47:24
Speaker 2: Jesus Christ has come for us, not only to take
47:29
Speaker 2: away our sins and to solve the many riddles that
47:32
Speaker 2: push us against the wall and make us wonder what
47:35
Speaker 2: life is about, but to give us courage to go on,
47:38
Speaker 2: to stand firm and to be people of integrity, people
47:43
Speaker 2: who believe that what God thinks is worth protecting and preserving,
47:47
Speaker 2: is worth every effort on their part. So as I close,
47:51
Speaker 2: I as always turn your attention to Him whom to
47:56
Speaker 2: know is life everlasting that's about to get there. Just
48:04
Speaker 2: as you were formed in secret, just as your first
48:08
Speaker 2: birth was a was a private thing, not done publicly,
48:13
Speaker 2: so this second birth is as well God privately and
48:18
Speaker 2: even secretly enters many a heart down deep in the
48:23
Speaker 2: chambers where the conscience beats, and where the heart knows
48:27
Speaker 2: it's it's it's of its vacuums, its loneliness, it's guilt,
48:34
Speaker 2: it struggles. The Lord Jesus Christ can come in and
48:40
Speaker 2: take residence forever. That you must invite him. Invite him
48:49
Speaker 2: to come in today, to begin a new life with
48:53
Speaker 2: new courage you've never known before. Our Father. We thank
49:00
Speaker 2: you for Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave himself
49:03
Speaker 2: for us. Thank you for Mary's faith in cooperating with
49:08
Speaker 2: this sovereign, strange, mysterious plan of a virgin conception and birth.
49:15
Speaker 2: I thank you for my mother, who loved me and
49:20
Speaker 2: took an additional responsibility in having an unexpected child. And
49:27
Speaker 2: I thank you for all of those who do the
49:29
Speaker 2: same today. And we pray for wisdom and for great
49:34
Speaker 2: courage in applying what we have heard and believe to
49:39
Speaker 2: be the truth. And I pray as a result, some
49:42
Speaker 2: would even come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as
49:46
Speaker 2: God and Savior. In his name, I pray Amen. The
49:53
Speaker 2: preceding message, The Sanctity of Life, was copyrighted in nineteen
49:57
Speaker 2: ninety twenty twenty fourteen and twenty twenty five, and the
50:00
Speaker 2: sound recording was copyrighted in twenty twenty four by Charles R.
50:04
Speaker 2: Swindall Incorporated. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted
50:10
Speaker 2: material for commercial use is strictly prohibited