Welcome to a firm foundation presented by Princeton ministries with Dr.  Ken Smith.  This is Carol Smith, Ken’s wife.  Please enjoy.

Our God and our father.  I ask now that the words of my mouth, the meditations of our hearts. 
Would be acceptable in your sight, for. Ask it in Jesus’ name.  Amen. 

Abortion is probably the most important single moral issue that is facing our time.  Some have called it the American Holocaust.  It’s hard to believe that it was only in 1959 that the United nations adopted a declaration of the rights of children, and I quote from that document, this insisted that children need special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection before as well as after birth, unquote.  From the United Nations.  According to the center for Disease Control, which is based in Atlanta, Georgia, since the decision of Roe versus Wade, which occurred some 13 years ago, which allowed abortion in America, there have been some 17 million abortions.  Now, this time last year, I said that there were 15 million abortions.  They are occurring at a rate of some 4500 every day. 

And of those millions of abortions, according to this neutral source, the center for Disease Control, over 90% of all of the abortions that are being performed in America, in the United States today are being performed for nonmedical reasons of convenience.  And we have reached the sorry state where 60 out of every 1000 women, by the time they are 18 years.  Old, have had an abortion. 

Now, there is a lot of rethinking that is going on in the part of those who are supporters of abortion.  I speak of Representative Henry Waxman, who is a strong advocate of abortion in the Congress, and recently he made this remark, and I quote, people are genuinely troubled by the large number of abortions taking place and the convenience of those abortions, unquote.  By and large, the Church of Jesus Christ has been virtually silent on this great moral dilemma that faces our nation, and it is difficult to separate.  Is the question of abortion a political question, a legislative question, a moral question, a personal question?  It depends upon how and to what extent you place the emphasis that you would answer that question. 

But ultimately, if you have been listening to any of the discussions that have been occurring about the abortion question, the doctors refuse to say if it is moral or not.  The politicians refuse to talk about the morality of abortion.  And over and over again, when they reach that point in their discussion, they say, we leave the morality of the question primarily up to those institutions that would talk about morality.  We leave that up to the ethicists.  We leave it up to the philosophers.  We leave it up to the church to talk about the morality of abortion.  Richard Newhouse observes in his book the naked Public Square comment about the church.  He says, the church is the particular society within society that bears the institutional witness to those transcendent moral values to which society is held accountable. 

And it is the church that is to transmit the traditions by which right and wrong, truth and falsehood are to be measured.  It is the responsibility of the church to speak about the morality of the activity of abortion.  Well, if were to look to the scriptures, what do the scriptures say about the unborn child, that child in the womb?  Well, we find that there are hundreds of references that specifically talk about the.  Child, and in particular the unborn child. 

And there are some principles that we want to maintain as christians to understand the morality of abortion.  The first is to be found from the first words of the scripture that in the beginning it was God who created.  We find that in Genesis chapter one, verses 26 through 28, reference is made that God created man in his own image.  And that phrase is repeated over and over again in the image of God we have been created.  And so, it is certain from scripture that as God created us, he created us with certain moral and spiritual capacities.  Our value as human beings is not based upon what we can do for other people. 

It  is  not  based  upon  our  quality  of  life,  but  rather  it  is  because  of  who  we  are  and  the  fact  that  God  has  made  us  in  his  image  that  becomes  one  of  the  foundational  teachings  about  the  sanctity  of  life  from  the  moment  of  conception  to  that  moment,  that  a  person  would  die  and  leave  this  world.  We speak also about the commandments.  The 6th commandment is that thou shalt not murder.  And we are all very aware of that prohibition.  But also, within that prohibition is to be found a positive statement.  And that is that someone who would wantonly take the life of another person, the violent act of murder, that God sees that as such a grievous activity, that he would declare that the life of that person should be taken.  And why would God declare the ultimate penalty? 

It is because God sees and knows that every individual has within them the sanctity of life, the presence of God, to the point that we are created in his image, and that we have the capacity for moral living, the capacity to worship him and to honor him.  Jesus reiterates this teaching when he says on the sermon on the Mount in Matthew 521 through 26.  He  insists  not  only  as  the  act  of  murder,  a  violent  act,  and  one  that  declares  the  greatest  penalty  and  judgment  of  God,  but  he  carries  it  even  a  step  further  and  says  that  anyone  who  would  even  want  or  think  in  their  mind  about  being  so  angry  that  they  would  murder  in  their  mind  their.  Neighbor, that they too have committed before the Lord that act. 

If we look at scripture, we find too that there is a great emphasis and concern on the part of the Lord for any abuse towards children.  I think especially of two kings, chapter 17, verses 16 through 20.  Israel had fallen to such a depraved and immoral state that they began to build idols to false gods.  They worship those idols.  And one of the great abominations, that word is such a grievous word that.  The Lord would use. 

But one of the abominations that would occur is the sacrificing of children to these false gods.  The Lord declares that woe be to anyone who would even cause a child to fall.  It would better that a millstone be tied about your neck.  And  there  is  a  great  place  in  the  mind  of  the  Lord  for  all  children,  for  the  sanctity  of  those  children,  for  the  responsibility  of  those  who  have  voices,  to  be  able  to  speak  in  defense  of  those  children,  for  those  who  have  arms  to  be  able  to  protect  those  children,  for  those  who  can  walk,  to  walk  in  defense  of  those  children.  And one of the responsibilities of parents is to protect and to nurture and to love that holy gift that God.  Might give you as a family of a child. 

The scripture  teaches  that  God  has  created  us,  according  to  Ephesians  210,  as  his  workmanship,  his  poetry,  that  when  he  looks  upon  each  of  us,  he  sees  us  as  a  potential  workman  for  him,  that  he  would  want  us  to  come  to  a  knowledge  of  his  son  and  to  be  able  to  serve  him.  Another important principle of scripture is that.  The unborn child is primarily owned by God. 

Every christian parent knows that a child is merely lent to you, that it is a gift to you from our heavenly Father.  It is a gift which we are to train and encourage and teach.  But it is a gift that is separate from us.  It is a gift that does not belong to the state.  It is a gift that does not belong to society or to the government.  Ultimately, it is a gift that does not even belong to the parents.  It is a gift to parents given from God.  And each father and mother have a responsibility before the Lord as to how they teach and encourage and instruct and protect their children.  Children are not ours to treat as we please, but rather children have a great value. 

And it amazes me, as I look occasionally at news pieces that will show people getting highly emotional about the killing of seals in the Arctic, and they will gather by the hundreds, and they will send petitions.  And yet, when was the last time that you saw that concern expressed by many who had come and say, what about these children?  Christians have a responsibility and the privilege of being able to speak a word in defense of those children.  And thank God that there are multiple thousands of christians who are waking up to what is happening in this holocaust.  Another principle from scripture is that God is not only active in the event of conception, but God is also involved in all aspects of the child’s development between conception and birth.  Psalm 139, verses 13 through 16. 

David reflects upon the fact that God had knowledge.  It is God’s wisdom that formed his.  Substance while he was yet in his mother’s womb.  Verse 16 uses a Hebrew word, golem.  It is important that we understand that word, for that word is translated embryo or fetus or unborn child.  That while was being shaped in our mother’s womb; God was at work.  And that God watched over from beginning. 

To end that process.  And that’s the reason that Jeremiah would say in chapter one, verse five, I was formed in the belly of my mother by God.  If were to look at scripture and exhaustively study God’s word, there is not a single verse that even remotely suggests the possibility of abortion as being a solution to an unwanted pregnancy.  In the New Testament, when we look at the teaching, we find that John the Baptist was filled with the Holy Spirit while he was yet in his mother’s womb.  And when Mary came with that precious babe in her womb, Jesus, we read that John, while yet in his mother’s womb, leapt for joy.  Jesus, the incarnate son of God, was given his name even before he was conceived. 

And the angel said, you shall conceive, and you shall call and you shall bear a son, and you shall call his name, Jesus.  And if ever there was a teacher who taught of the sanctity and the importance of the children, it was Jesus Christ.  The early church was unanimous in its.  Desire to protect the unborn child, and. 

We could look at multiple hundreds of references.  In the second century, we find a book of the Twelve Apostles in which we find these words, killers of the child who abort the mold of God, along with murderers and adulterers, all embark on the way of darkness.  Barnabas in the second century said, thou shalt not destroy thy conceptions before they are brought forth, nor kill them after they are born.  We can find references in Clement and Tertullian and Basil and Chrysostom.  Augustine taught that it was the fetus.  That was conceived by the power of God.  We find Luther, the father of the Lutheran church.  Speaking of the sanctity of the child, we find John Calvin talking about the.  Sanctity of that child. 

As a matter of fact, it was George Williams, professor from Harvard in church history, who said this.  2000 years of Jewish christian history maintain that the fetus is a person with the right to life.  We know very well that what has happened in conception is the emergence of a new being, and all that it is needed is time.  For 20 centuries, the church has stood together declaring that this unborn child should be protected.  It is only in recent decades that the church has crumbled, seemingly under the power of the culture.  George Schneider, who is a pro life activist, says this of the church.  The church has responded to the abortion issue like a great big wimp Unquote. 

How many there are, who, when they find out that you are talking about the question of abortion and morality, will say, I don’t think I’ll come.  That’s an issue that I’ve already settled.  And yet within the church at large, we find in the reunited Presbyterian church, USA, that recently this statement was adopted.  Abortion in some cases can be considered a responsible choice within a christian framework, unquote. 

Now, as we look at it on the face, we say, how could that happen?  But then when you realize there were 21 overtures as an attempt to overturn that overture, with one of those overtures being the request, perhaps we ought to go back and rethink our position.  All of those overtures were overturned, and the one that stands is the public declaration.  Abortion in some cases can be considered a responsible choice within a christian framework. 

There are many myths about abortion.  Perhaps one of the most common is that abortion is simply an issue related to the mother.  We hear this often, and certainly we.  Feel great sympathy for a woman who.  Would find out that she is pregnant and did not want that child.  But I think we must also ask the question, is it possible  for  any  child  to  come  into  this  world  and  the  only  one  who  is  affected  is  the  mother?  Of  course  not.  There  is  a  father  who  is  affected. 

There  are  grandparents  who  are  affected.  There  are  studies  now  that  are  even  showing  that  in  families  that  have  decided  for  convenience  to  abort  a  child,  and  they  have  decided  not  to  tell  the  children.  According  to  one  study,  the  clinical  Social  Work  Journal  of  1984,  that  the  children  in  homes  where  abortions  are  occurring,  that  those  children  are  aware  of  an  abortion  even  though  the  parents  are  trying  to  keep  it  a  secret.  And  so  there  is  a  great  consequence,  one  that  the  vote  is  still  out  and  we  are  waiting  for  the  results  as  a  generation  of  children  are  growing  in  the  midst  of  this  moral  decision.  And  actually  our  society,  if  we  are.  A  humanitarian  society,  if  we  are  concerned  for  our  neighbor,  then  we  ought  to  be  concerned  about  the  death  of  literally  millions  of  potential  future  citizens  of  our  nation. 

There’s  another  myth,  and  that  myth  is  that  the  fetus  is  not  a  human  being.  In  September  1970,  the  California  Medical  association  saw  that  there  was  a  great  problem  if  abortion  was  ever  to  be  introduced  into  the  mainstream  of  the  United  States.  They  realized  that  there  had  to  be  a  separation  between  the  act  of  abortion  and  calling  it  murder.  In  that  periodical,  I  quote,  it  will  become  necessary  and  acceptable  to  place  relative  value,  rather  than  absolute  value  on  such  things  as  human  life.  It  is  necessary  to  separate  the  idea  of  abortion  from  the  idea  of  killing,  which  continues  to  be  socially  abhorrent,  unquote.  Now,  that  is  from  1970.  And  you  ask,  well,  how  did  they  go  about  creating  the  myth  that  what  is  formed  in  that  mother’s  womb  over  nine  months  is  really  not  a  person?  Well,  it  was  a  very  clever  ploy. 

They  no  longer  called  it  an  unborn  child.  They  called  it  a  fetus.  And  so  if  you  read  very  closely  the  arguments  in  favor  of  Abortion,  you  will  never  find  reference  to  the  description  of  that  child  in  the  womb  as  an  unborn  baby.  Instead,  the  word  is  used,  fetus.  Now,  that’s  an  interesting  word,  and  it  is  a  mysterious  word.  It  is  a  latin  word.  And  what  does  it  mean?  Unborn  baby.  And  so  we  have  talked  about  the  fetus  as  something  that  is  less  than  a  human  being,  and  few  would  say.  That’S  an  unborn  baby.  And  yet  the  term  means  unborn  baby. 

Martin  Luther  knew  in  the  Reformation  that  it  was  important  to  translate  the  latin  scripture  into  the  language  of  the  people.  He  knew  that  if  the  scripture  remained  in  Latin,  nobody  would  understand  it.  And  so  the  movement  of  the  Reformation  was  to  take  the  scriptures,  which  only  were  in  Latin,  and  to  translate  them  into  the  vernacular  of  the  people.  The  abortionists,  on  the  other  hand,  knows  that  it  is  very  important  to  translate  english  words  into  Latin  so  that  no. 

One  will  know  exactly  what  they’re  doing.  And  so  we  have  aborted  not  17  million  unborn  children.  We  have  aborted  17  million  fetuses  there’s  another  myth,  and  that  is  that  a  woman  has  a  right  over  her  own  body.  Well,  that  is  true  as  is.  It  is  equally  true  that  a  man.  Has  a  right  over  his  own  body. 

But  that  is  within  limits.  I  do  not  have  a  right  over  my  own  body  if  I  want  to  use  my  body  to  punch  you  in  the  chin.  I  do  not  have  a  right  over  my  own  body.  If  I  would  commit  suicide,  there  are  many  things  that  I  do  not  have,  ultimately,  a  right  over  my  own  body.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  that  is  exactly  what  civilization  is.  It  is  the  gathering  together  of  people  with  the  understanding  that  we  have  to  give  up  certain  rights  to  function  together.  And  if  were  to  live  in  a  world  where  everyone  had  the  right  to  murder  everyone,  if  I  simply  disagreed  with  you  and  I  could  pull  out  a  gun  and  shoot  you  and  say,  that’s  my  right,  why,  it  would  be  ludicrous.  We  would  have  a  society  that  has  gone  mad. 

And  yet,  as  one  of  the  common  refrains  of  those  who  support  abortion  is  that  a  woman  has  a  right  over  her  own  body.  And  it  is  interesting  also  to  find  out,  according  to  the  American  College  of  Obstetrics  and  Gynecology,  that  child  that.  Is  formed  within  the  womb  technically  is  not  part  of  the  mother.  The  assumption  is  that  because  this  baby  is  growing  within  me,  I  have  a  right  over  that  which  is  part  of  me.  According  to  the  College  of  Obstetrics  and  Gynecology,  the  baby  in  the  womb  has  its  own  blood  system.  It  has  a  different  blood  type.  It  is  a  baby  that  even  produces  its  own  food  source  through  the  umbilical  cord  and  the  placenta.  And  in  at  least  half  of  the  cases,  the  babies  are  of  a  different  sex  than  their  mother.  It  is  the  decision  of  those  who  are  looking  very  closely  that  certainly  this  child  is  a  separate  entity  unto  itself.  Elizabeth  Elliott  said,  a  mother  can  say,  my  arm  hurts,  but  she  is  unaware.  If  her  baby  hurts,  that’s  because  it  is  separate  from  that  mother. 

Another  myth  about  abortion  is  that  it  should  be  allowed  because  of  the  frequency  of  the  occasions  where  the  mother’s  life  is  at  stake,  or  possibly  rape  or  incest.  If  we  look  at  the  figures,  we  find  less  than  1%  of  abortions  are  performed  to  save  the  life  of  a  mother.  Less  than  1%  of  abortions  are  performed  because  of  the  incidence  of  rape,  and  less  than  1%  of  abortions  are  performed  because  of  the  incident  of  incest.  And  as  a  matter  of  fact,  over  90%  of  abortions  are  simply  performed  for  convenience  reasons.  There  is  another  myth,  and  that  myth  is  that  a  mother  has  a  right  to  choose.  As  soon  as  someone  declares,  I  have  a  right  to  choose,  that  is  an  emotional  argument.  Notice  that  is  a  sentence  without  a  predicate.  I  have  a  right  to  choose  what?  And  that  is  where  there  is  silence. 

And  so  the  argument  simply  is  presented.  I  am  a  woman,  and  I  have  a  right  to  choose.  Well,  I  am  a  man,  and  I  have  a  right  to  choose.  And  if  I  should  take  out  that  gun  and  shoot  you,  I  have  made  the  wrong  decision  and  our  culture  will. 

Send  the  police  and  I  would  be  put  in  prison.  A  man  does  not  have  ultimately  the  right  to  choose  to  do  anything  that  he  likes.  Nor  does  a  woman  ultimately  have  the.  Right  to  choose  to  do  anything  that  she  likes.  It  is  time  for  Christians  to  awaken  from  their  slumber  and  to  pray  that  God  would  cause  us  to  be  concerned  for  this  great  tragedy,  that  we  would. 

Pray  and  humble  ourselves  and  seek  his.  Face  and  ask  for  his  forgiveness,  that  he  will  forgive  us,  he’ll  heal  our  land.  And  I  would  ask  you,  as  a  Christian,  do  you  pray  about  the  tragedy  of  abortion?  As  a  Christian,  do  you  speak  up  a  word  lovingly  in  season  of  a  christian  principle  for  the  value  of  the  life  of  this  child?  As  a  Christian,  are  you  willing  to  stand  and  make  your  voice  be  known?  For  as  a  citizen,  we  have  that.  Right  within  certain  parameters  and  we  would  always  want  to  exercise  that  responsibility  within  those  parameters.  But  ultimately,  do  you  believe  that  what  is  formed  as  the  result  of  conception  is  the  human  being  who  bears  the. 

Right  and  the  responsibility  to  be  born.  The  privilege  to  come  into  this  world  that  God  has  created,  the  fetus,  the  unborn  baby,  that  child  might  grow  and  be  given  the  freedom  of  life.  That  life  which  by  the  power  of  God’s  grace  might  be  used  to  instruct.  That  child  about  Jesus  Christ.  That  life. 

That  as  we  listen  today,  God  himself  wants  to  declare  to  you,  be  concerned  about  that  child,  but  be  equally  and  more  so  concerned  about  the  reason  that  Jesus  Christ  came  into  this  world  to  save  sinners,  to  introduce  them  to  a  new  way  of  life,  the  forgiveness  of  their  sins  because  of  his  death  on  the  cross,  his  resurrection,  that  he  offers  to  all  who  would  receive  him  new  life.  May  it  be  that  as  Christians  we. 

Are  concerned  about  the  new  life  in.  Christ,  the  sharing  of  that  word,  and  that  we  are  concerned  about  the  protection.  Of  the  rights  of  that  unborn  child.  May  God’s  name  be  forever  praised.  May  he  use  us. 

Amen. 

Our  God  and  our  father  we  give  thee  thanks  that  you  are  working  And  father,  we  would  pray  that  you  would  sweep  from  our  land  this  tragedy  Of  abortion,  that  you  would  cause  Christians  by  the  hundreds  and  thousands  to  stand  and  to  speak  and  to  say  no  more.  These  are  children  formed  in  the  image  of  God  and  we  must  speak,  we  must  protect  them  And  father,  we  pray  that  by  the  working  of  your  spirit  that  you  would  Cause  us  to  show  that  concern,  to.  Pray,  to  speak,  to  show  the  love  of  Christ  to  the  end  that  his  name  might  be  honored  for.  We  ask  this  in  Jesus’s  name,  amen. 

Thank  you  for  listening  to  a  firm  foundation  presented  by  Princeton  Ministries.  This  programming  is  supported  by  you,  the  listener.  You  may  go  to  our  website,  princetonministries.org,  or  send  your  donation  to  Princeton  ministries  post  office  box  2171,  Princeton,  New  Jersey  8543.  That’s  Princeton  Ministries  post  office  box  2171,  Princeton,  New  Jersey  8543.  The  Lord  bless  you  and  Dr.  Smith  looks  forward  to  hearing  from  you.  We  would  like  to  thank  Rones  web  development  company  for  making  this  webcast  possible.  You  can  find  their  link  at  the  bottom  of  our  website,  princetonministries.org