All of us, in some way, have been affected by the legalization of abortion in the last twenty-five years. Even if you have never been involved in any way personally with this issue, nevertheless this is the moral issue of the twentieth century just as slavery was the moral issue of the nineteenth century, and it has affected (and continues to affect) our society in politics, in social policy, and public discourse concerning civic virtue and the moral foundations of our nation.

But more importantly, as Christians we have been given the commandment to "love our neighbor as ourselves." The sixth commandment, "You shall not kill," also has a positive meaning and a positive application, as stated in the Westminster Shorter Catechism.

What is required in the Sixth Commandment?

The Sixth Commandment ("You shall not kill") requires all lawful endeavors to preserve our own life, and the life of others. [SC #68]  And the Heidelberg Catechism says that, in the sixth commandment, God tells us, "to love our neighbors as ourselves" and "to protect them from harm as much as we can." [HC #107].

And, yes, in a congregation this size, it is likely that some of you have had a close friend or a relative, perhaps a daughter or a sister, who has faced an unwanted pregnancy and has contemplated or has had an abortion. Or perhaps you are the parents of a young man who has fathered a child in an unwanted pregnancy; or perhaps you, yourself, are that father. Or perhaps you yourself have had an abortion.

If so, I don’t know who you are. But I do know who Jesus Christ is. And I know that He is a wonderful Savior. And I know that I am a sinner who needs Him as my Savior as much as anyone in this sanctuary. And I know that my only hope and my only comfort and my only joy and my only peace is that He has fully paid for all my sins with His own precious blood. And if I didn't’t know that and believe that, then I would not’t be here today. I preach Christ crucified for sinners. And that means I preach Christ crucified, for all of us, no matter what our personal experience with abortion may or may not have been. The Westminster Confession gives us a terrible warning and a wonderful comfort in reminding us that, "Just as there is no sin so small that it does not deserve damnation, so there is no sin so great that it can bring damnation upon those who truly repent" (Westminster Confession of Faith, ch. 15.4).

We all need to turn away from our sin and turn to Jesus Christ and take hold of all the promises of the gospel again and again and again, in true repentance and faith. And so I want to pause, for just a moment, and invite you all, every one of you, to let the promise of the gospel take hold of your heart and soak your soul with grace and mercy:

"...Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1st Timothy 1:15); "...the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all our sins" (1st John 1:7); "There is, therefore, now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus" (Romans 8:1).

"Hallelujah, what a Savior! Hallelujah, what a Friend! Saving, helping, keeping, loving, He is with me to the end!"

Our wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ, reveals to us that the infinite, invisible, and eternal Creator is a personal God, who knows and cares for His creation, and who wills to live in a relationship of love with humanity. This is the gospel message of light and life which this dark and dying world so desperately needs to hear and believe.

God is the Creator and Author of life. Life belongs to God. As we read from Psalm 100, "It is He who made us, and not we ourselves...", and as Psalm 95 affirms, the LORD is "our Maker." The Bible reveals that human beings are distinct from all other creatures: "God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female, He created them" (Genesis 1:27). The "image of God" does not refer to any physical image or likeness, but to a rational and spiritual and moral likeness. God created humanity with the capacity to know God, to love God, to serve God, to live in fellowship and communion with God. Human life has special dignity because God created humanity in His own image, to reflect the glory of God, and even to share in the glory of God.

The Bible reveals that the unborn child is a human being, created in God’s image and known by Him. The word of the LORD came to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you ..." (Jer.1:5), affirming not only God’s personal act of creating Jeremiah, but of His plan and purpose in doing so.

Recent advances in medicine and in the scientific understanding of human biology confirm the uniqueness of the life of the unborn child. There is no longer any real debate over the question, "When does life begin?" or whether an unborn child should be considered human. At fertilization, when the sperm and ovum meet to form a single cell, a new human life is created. "The fertilized egg, called a zygote, possesses all the hereditary material necessary to control that individual’s growth and development for the rest of his or her life." The individual characteristics --- gender, eye color, other traits --- are determined at fertilization by the baby’s genetic code in the 46 human chromosomes.

Now, that’s the scientific way to talk about the human life of the unborn child that is created in conception, but Psalm 139 speaks of it, beautifully, affirming God’s marvelous work in the creation of individual human beings, saying:

...you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well (Psalm 139: 13-14).

And Psalm 139 also affirms that the unborn child is known by God as a distinct and individual person.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days for me were written in your book before one of them came to be (Psalm 139:15-16).

Psalm 139 is a beautiful expression of the joy and comfort and assurance that comes from living under the providence of God, from the moment of our conception until the moment of our death, and then for all eternity thereafter. What a wonderful blessing it is to know that our life is not meaningless and purposeless, not an accident in the cosmos, but a beautiful work of creation by God. And what comfort it is to be able to say, by faith, in whatever circumstances, "My life belongs to God."

But twenty-five years and some 36 million abortions after the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision, there is another creed which has captured the American mind and heart. It goes like this:

"My life belongs to me. My death belongs to me. My body is mine. My money is mine. My pleasures are mine. I belong to myself, and to no one else, and there is no higher authority over my life that has any rightful claim on my life, and nothing should stand in the way of my pursuit of my happiness."

That has become the American creed. And it threatens to become the creed of the American evangelical church. But that is not a philosophy of life and happiness. It is an idolatry which rebels against the God of life, and is, therefore, a philosophy of death and destruction. And now our society is also in turmoil over other life and death issues: infanticide, assisted suicide, "the right to die," euthanasia, and even human cloning. In the latest issue of WORLD magazine, Richard Seed, the physicist who has announced his intentions to clone human beings, is quoted as saying,

"God made man in his own image. God intended for man to become one with God. We are going to become one with God. We are going to have almost as much knowledge and almost as much power as God. Cloning and reprogamming of DNA is the first serious step in becoming one with God."

That sounds like the horrors of science fiction. But that is precisely the kind of idolatrous thinking that is at the heart of all of the issues --- abortion, assisted suicide, euthanasia, and human cloning --- human life is ours to do with as we please.

The world looks at these life and death issues in terms of "rights" --- that is, in terms of power, legality, and politics. Yes, these are political issues. But they are not merely political issues which can be resolved by the political process. Yes, I believe that we as Christians ought to be involved in the political process, yes, and seek legislation that protects the life of the unborn and upholds the dignity and sanctity of human life. Yes. But we must not stop there. Civil government is ordained by God to restrain evil-doing; and let us hope and pray that our civil government will restrain as much evil-doing as possible. But the goal of the gospel is not to restrain evil-doing; the goal of the gospel is to renew and to redeem the human heart and soul and mind into a relationship, a fellowship, with the living God. The goal of the gospel is to set people free to live in the liberty of the children of God --- "ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven" --- exulting in the goodness of God and rejoicing in the love of God.

And so, as we confront the issues of the sanctity of life, and as we work in the community and throughout the nation by whatever lawful means we believe God has called us to, let us do so in the name of Jesus Christ and only by the Spirit of Jesus Christ. What women and children need are deeds of love and mercy, the support of friendships, a community of love, someone who will go the extra mile with them, all in the name and in the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

And let us not think of abortion as something that simply takes place out there --- in the world. First Peter 4:17 says "the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God." Let us take a look at ourselves, and ask, "What are we doing to nurture a respect for human life and faithfulness to God in our own families?"

Fathers, are you teaching your sons what it means to be a Christian man? Are you teaching your sons what Christian masculinity is all about? What it means to love and cherish a woman in the covenant of marriage? Fathers, are you teaching your sons, and mentoring your sons, and discipling your sons to be sexually pure and chaste in singleness, and faithful in marriage? You know, abortion doesn’t have to do only with women in an unwanted pregnancy. It is time for men to repent, and to accept responsibility. Fathers, you may not be called to do any kind of public work in the pro-life movement, but you are called by God to raise up godly sons and daughters. Fathers, are you spending time with your daughters? Do you show them enough physical love and affection, appropriately, and an interest in them, so that they know and feel that you love them, and their relationship with you gives them everything they need emotionally, so that while they are single, they don’t need the fly-by-night affection of someone else?

Mothers, are you mentoring your daughters, teaching them what it means to experience the security and the joy of the covenant bond of marriage? Do you speak with them about how important it is that they not get seriously involved with anyone who is not a committed Christian? About how important it is that they not marry any man who will not lead his family under the Lordship of Jesus Christ?

And to our youth, college students, and single adults of any age, I would ask, "Do you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit?" If you are a believer, a Christian, the Holy Spirit --- the third person of the Trinity --- dwells in you, as a gift of God through Jesus Christ. Your body does not belong to you. The Scripture says, "You are not your own. You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body." Listen to that: Honor God with your body. You are not just another animal creature, with animal desires and urges that cannot be controlled. That’s what the world tells you you are --- not much more than a dog when it comes to matters of sexuality. No! Don’t believe that lie. Flee sexual immorality! Sexual immorality, sexual sin, defiles your body. Jesus Christ bought you with His own blood, so that you might glorify and honor God with your body. Have you made a vow, and committed yourself to honor God with your body, by abstaining from sexual relations until you enter the covenant of marriage? Make that vow, and by God’s grace and with God’s help, keep that vow!

And finally, dear brothers and sisters, do not fear the darkness. We are not alone. We are not left to ourselves. We belong to Jesus Christ. He is with us. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is the Light which shines in the darkness, which the darkness shall never overcome. To His name be all praise and glory. Amen.