Let me begin this morning by just pointing out the fact and giving you some explanation as to why it is we're taking a break from the book of Mark.
As we have been verse by verse preaching through Mark and we are in chapter 4 right now.
The parable of the sower and the soils which I am incredibly excited about.
It's one of my favorite parables and really looking forward to preaching on it.
Last week Clay very graciously gave me a little break as I had so much going on last week and so we didn't talk about it then.
And this week as I continued to prepare for it and as I try to be sensitive every week to what God would have me preach on, I was led elsewhere.
In great part because some of you may not know but January is National Right to Life Month here in the United States.
And today is actually this Sunday is Sanctity of Human Life Sunday.
So as some of these things were working in me this week, that was brought to mind.
And I said, well maybe there is where we need to head today.
And so I would just ask that you join me in a word of prayer and then I'll show you where we're headed this morning.
Father God, we do thank you for the blessing of your church that we might come together, sing praise to your name, hear preaching from your scriptures,
and glorify you as we go out into this world.
And I just pray, Father, that this day as we come together amidst the distractions of the morning,
as many of us are tired as it's starting to feel a bit warm in here,
I just pray, Lord, that you will give us keen ears to hear by your spirit and apply the truth from your scripture to our living every day.
We desire to see this happen because we want to see your praises sung amongst the nations.
And so we pray this in Christ's name. Amen.
So we're going to look a bit today in John chapter 17 and we're going to go some other texts as well,
primarily be in John chapter 17 today.
And you really are asleep if you haven't noticed that I carried a garbage can up onto the stage
and that I also have a cardboard box sitting on the lectern below me where my water would normally be.
So I may get a little bit parched this morning.
In this cardboard box are 80 plus little figurines that are 12 week old baby-ish, I will say.
Kind of a cheap recreation of one, so it's not terribly accurate.
But this is about the size of a 12 week old infant that would be in its mother's belly.
It has arms and legs, toes, fingers.
It has all of its organs.
The kidneys have actually begun to purify the system and excrete urine.
This little one pees in its mother's womb.
Eyes and nose, they begin to play with their umbilical cord.
They do acrobatic tricks inside the womb already at this age.
Often around this time, moms are starting to get really sick because of all this motion going on inside their tummies.
The sad thing is that here in the United States, 1.2 million unborn children are aborted each year.
Since Roe v. Wade was passed 40 years ago, that means that there have been over 50 million children aborted in this country since 1973.
And if we take that number, which was last year's number, 1.2 million children aborted,
and we start to apply a little bit of math to that to get some picture of the scope of what that would look like,
it breaks down to 3,288 children a day,
137 per hour,
2.3 per minute,
and to keep our math simple,
that's one every 30 seconds.
Now, I would assume that this morning there aren't many or any abortion clinics open,
so we may not actually be experiencing abortion at this rate right now.
I'm very aware of that,
but it's difficult for us to wrap our minds around what 1.2 million looks like.
And I've endeavored over this past year to find something that I could afford to purchase 1.2 million of.
It's a challenge.
The best thing I've come up with so far was BBs,
little metal BBs like you'd shoot from a BB gun,
but I don't have five grand to buy that many BBs.
1.2 million is a staggeringly high number,
and it's so difficult for us to understand.
And I think as a result,
both with this social issue and with many others,
we tend to kind of push it off.
We kind of out of sight, out of mind.
We think about it.
It may have some effect on us.
We say, well, 1.2 million, that's a staggering number.
And then we lay it to the side,
and we go about the everyday troubles.
We deal with the things that are in our little sphere,
and we don't really think beyond to the world around us.
Now, there are two types of sin.
There are sins of commission,
and those are those things that we've been commanded not to do,
and yet we do them anyway.
Most of you work very hard at not participating in sins of commission,
but there's also another type of sin,
and that's the sin of omission.
There are things that we are commanded to do,
and we just don't do them.
And many of us neglect these things altogether.
And I think that most American Christians,
and I can't point a finger at any individual person in this room,
but I certainly can point a finger at myself
and say that most of us are guilty of sins of omission
by not being more active in seeking justice in our world.
I would sum that up for myself with the simple term apathy.
I just get lazy about the problems of this world.
I just get comfortable with the day-to-day,
and I don't break for the things that are happening in each day in this world.
One child every 30 seconds.
I tend to preach for about 45 minutes.
Hope that doesn't turn any of you off right now.
And so here's what I'm going to try to do.
I don't know if I can do it,
so we're going to make it a grand experiment this morning.
Every 30 seconds,
Reese, who's sitting where?
There he is, in the back corner,
is going to put his hand in the air.
I gave him a timer this morning,
and he's going to put his hand in the air,
and I'm going to drop one of these figures into this trash can.
And here's the reason I'm trying to do that.
I have no clue what it'll accomplish,
but here's what I'm hoping it will accomplish.
Is that as we sit here together and we study from the Word of God,
we're reminded constantly that the Word of God must have some effect in our lives for this world.
And I think that if our church errs,
we err to the side of sitting and listening and learning,
being all deep and theological,
and not actually doing anything with what we know to be true.
We come and we sit.
We gain it.
We're in our little Christian bubble.
We go off.
We hang out in our Christian bubbles.
And we don't consider the fact that the gospel was made for the world.
So I hope this morning it'll serve that purpose,
that it will be, in fact, a bit distracting to you.
Hopefully not too much to me.
Maybe why I stopped doing it altogether,
but that I will continue to preach to you as this goes on.
So, Reese, you ready?
We have to ask ourselves,
what is this life for?
When we became children of God,
why did God not just bring us home with Him?
It's a good question to ask.
I ask that question often.
I am tired of being in this world.
This world is messed up.
I am sick of being here.
I'm sick of experiencing pain.
I'm sick of dealing with the sin that plagues me so often.
I want to go home.
I want to be with Jesus.
But yet we're here, living between two worlds.
And so, why?
Why is that the case?
James 4.14, James says,
What is your life?
For you are a mist that appears for a little time,
and then vanishes.
And I can tell you that we will look back on our lives
at the end of all things,
and we will not regret
not having spent more time with video games
or watching movies
or looking at Facebook,
playing or watching sports,
whichever category you fall into there.
30 seconds comes fast.
We will not regret any of those things.
But I do believe that we're all going to look back at our lives
and we'll regret not having done more
for the kingdom of God.
That we're going to wish that we had just done a little more
for some of these causes.
That we had shared our faith more readily.
That we will have done more things that count in eternity
versus just flittering away our time
with things that make no sense whatsoever.
Either here or there.
Makes no sense at all.
John 17, beginning of verse 13.
This is aptly dubbed the high priestly prayer.
Jesus knows that his death is imminent
and he's praying now on behalf of the disciples
and his believers, his followers beyond that as well.
And he says,
But now I am coming to you,
and these things I speak in the world.
This is verse 13.
That they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
I have given them your word,
and the world has hated them
because they are not of the world,
just as I am not of the world.
I do not ask that you take them out of the world,
but that you keep them from the evil one.
They are not of the world,
just as I am not of the world.
Sanctify them in the truth.
Your word is truth.
As you sent me into the world,
so I have sent them into the world.
And for their sake,
I consecrate myself,
that they also may be sanctified in truth.
I do not ask for these only,
but also for those who will believe in me
through their word.
Now recognize that this prayer
is primarily aimed at the apostles,
but he broadens this whole prayer out for us
in verse 20.
So this prayer is for us,
and we can learn some things from it, right?
As many of us would prefer
to be taken out of this world,
look at what Jesus says in verse 13.
I'm coming to you,
I, Jesus, am coming to you, God,
and speak these things in the world
that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
It is hard to recognize this
and to wrap our minds around this
to really understand what that means
that in this day,
as we deal with the troubles of this world,
that we might have the joy of Christ in us.
But this is what Jesus is saying, right?
He is asking for these things for his disciples
so that we will have his joy fulfilled in us.
I think some of this is expressed
by Paul in Philippians chapter 1,
verses 21 through 25,
where he says,
For to me, to live is Christ,
and to die is gain.
If I'm going to live, I get Christ.
I gain Christ.
But to die is a greater gain.
That's what he says there.
If I'm to live in the flesh,
that means fruitful labor for me.
Yet which will I choose?
I cannot tell.
I'm hard-pressed between the two.
My desire is to depart and be with Christ,
for that is far better.
But to remain in the flesh
is more necessary on your account.
Convinced of this,
I know that I will remain
and continue with you all
for your progress and joy in the faith.
Right?
Paul understood this conflict
that was happening within him.
That there was a joy that was his now
and a greater joy that was to be his later.
And here we see that that's true of us as well.
For whatever reason,
we're left here to work out
the coming of the kingdom of God
as the hands and feet of Christ.
And this is for our joy.
Notice that Jesus asks
not only for their divine protection
in verse 14.
We see you make this request.
Jesus knows that there will be hostility
towards his disciples.
Right?
He has already experienced this to be true.
He's about to experience it
in the greatest way.
And as those who follow Jesus Christ,
he knows there will be hostility towards them.
So he prays in verse 14 and 15 and 16
for divine protection for them.
Right?
So that Jesus would spare them
from the evil one.
That he would keep temptation at bay.
And we have to learn later
throughout our New Testament
how it is that this comes about.
But he doesn't only ask for that.
But he also asks
for their divine sanctification.
Verse 17,
verse 18,
and verse 19.
Right?
Firstly, we can see
the request that he makes of God,
which is verse 17.
Sanctify them
in the truth.
Your word
is truth.
So if these people
are to live
in this world,
be left behind
in this way
for your glory,
I ask that you
sanctify them
in the truth.
And he clarifies for us
what that means.
Your word
is truth.
These scriptures here,
this is the way
in which we are set apart
for the purposes
of God.
A great example
of what it means
to be sanctified.
When Sam and I
got married,
she bought a plate
that was on sale
at Lifeway.
And it's a red plate
and it's got some bright colors
in the middle of it
and around the outside edge
it says,
you are very special.
Right?
And we decided
that plate for us
was going to be
the plate we were going to use
in our family
to celebrate a big thing.
So we use it on birthdays,
I,
once a year,
I've never gotten it
any other time,
but once a year
I get the
you are very special plate.
I imagine when there are
some graduations
that happen
and we want to build
a tradition
with this special plate.
We'll bring it out
for that very purpose.
And it would be horrible
to do anything else with it.
That is what
is it intended for.
And that is the same way
that we are set apart
for God.
Sanctified in that way.
So we've been set apart
but then there's also
a working out
of this reality as well.
As we've been set apart
we are being set apart
from this world.
Sanctified for a very
specific purpose
and that is to serve
the glory of our Lord.
And we're sanctified
in the truth.
So we should be theological.
That's important.
I mentioned earlier
that sometimes our church
may err to the side
of being theological
without being missional.
We should be theological.
We cannot dismiss that.
In fact,
we must be properly theological
if we're going to be
properly missional at all.
We have to do this.
This must take place.
Sunday morning preaching.
Bible studies.
Immerse yourself in it
as much as you possibly can.
Study the Word of God
on your own.
Use all of the vast amount
of aids that are available
to us to understand
this precious book.
We must be sanctified
in the truth.
We must be properly theological
if we're going to be
properly missional.
Going to the world.
Jesus makes a request
but there's a reason
for the request.
He asks that the disciples
will be sanctified
in the truth
because of verse 18.
He says,
As you sent me into the world,
so have I sent them
into the world.
So have I sent them
into the world.
Remember the life of Jesus?
We're in Mark
and we're only really gone
through the first three chapters
and Jesus has done
a massive amount
of social work
in the community.
He has done tons of healing.
And we know that
He was doing that
with the primary purpose
of validating the message
that He was bringing.
We don't minimize the message
in this way at all.
I'm not talking about
a social gospel.
I'm talking about activity
that supports
and gives evidence
that we are, in fact,
people who believe
in the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
We are people that understand
that the gospel
of Jesus Christ
includes the redemption
of souls
but also includes
the redemption
of other things
as well.
The corruption
that sin has brought
into this world.
And so He knows
as they've been sent
into the world,
as He was sent
into the world,
that they're going
to receive trouble.
They're going to have
to be set apart
in a very specific way.
And that's why
they must be sanctified
in the truth.
And we can see
in verse 19
the basis
for His request.
He says,
And for their sake
I consecrate Myself.
That word consecrate
could also be read
as sanctified.
I set apart Myself
that they also may be
sanctified
or consecrated
in the truth.
Because of what
Christ has done,
those who are followers
of Christ
can be
sanctified in the truth.
Can be sent
into the world
to accomplish
the great ends
of glorifying God
to the ends
of the earth.
So the basis of it
is the person
and the work
of Jesus Christ.
So we must be
properly theological.
We must be
properly theological.
But if we're doing so,
we are going to be
properly missional.
We will in fact
go out to the world.
We will go
change things.
The world ought to be
a better place
because we're here.
because we have
the light of Christ
within us.
It ought to be
a better place.
The University of
North Georgia,
I have to tell you
my notes say
UNG and that's
the first time
I've typed it.
Weird.
UNG should be
a better place
because all you
students are there
at the University
of North Georgia.
The towns we live in,
this region,
should be a better place
because of the grace
of God that's working
in us.
And do you think,
do you think
that people are saying
of us,
well I don't believe
what they believe.
I hate the message.
Not a fan of this
gospel message
that they're going
around preaching
all the time,
but I'm sure glad
they're here.
Man am I glad
they're here.
They make this world
a better place.
This should be true
of us.
Because while we have
a salvation that comes
by faith alone,
hear me clearly,
our salvation has
nothing to do
with our works.
Our works are
as filthy rags.
There is nothing
we can do
to earn our salvation.
Our salvation
comes by faith alone,
but the good deeds
do matter
because they're
the evidence
of our salvation.
Those who are Christ
will necessarily
live that out
in practical
and real,
tangible,
measurable ways.
We will be able
to see fruit.
It's the language
constantly used
in the scriptures,
the analogy
that's used of us.
Classically,
Matthew 7,
verses 17 and 18.
So every healthy tree
bears good fruit,
but the diseased tree
bears bad fruit.
A healthy tree
cannot bear bad fruit,
nor can a diseased tree
bear good fruit.
This is true
of those who are Christ.
And the immediate question
must be,
but wait a minute.
You're tossing
figurative children
into a trash can
every 30 seconds,
and I've not done
anything in my life
to stop this issue.
Does it make me
not a Christian?
Not necessarily.
All of us
wax and wane.
All of us
go through great times
of fervor in our lives
where we're devoted
to the Lord,
and at times
where we're not
so much.
But the encouragement
here is that
we must pursue
good works.
We must press
into these things.
We must fix
our eyes on Jesus
so that the things
of this world
will grow strangely dim.
I'm glad they played
that song
right before I preached.
That we fix our gaze
in that direction
so that we will be
actively looking for ways
that we can better
this place.
1 Peter 2,
verse 12.
Peter says,
Keep your conduct
among the Gentiles
honorable,
so that when they speak
against you as evildoers,
and they will,
they certainly will,
they may see your good deeds
and glorify God
on the day of visitation.
These deeds matter.
Paul,
in writing to Titus
in chapter 3,
says,
Remind them to be submissive
to rulers
and authorities,
to be obedient,
to be ready
for every good work,
to speak evil
of no one,
to avoid quarreling,
to be gentle
and to show courtesy
toward all people.
4 We ourselves
were once foolish.
Here's the reasoning.
Here's the gospel motivation
for living in this way.
We should live like this
because,
verse 3,
we ourselves
were once foolish,
disobedient,
led astray,
slaves to various passions
and pleasures,
passing our days
in malice and envy,
hated by others
and hating one another.
But when the goodness
and loving kindness
of God our Savior appeared,
He saved us,
not because of works
done by us in righteousness,
but according to
His own mercy,
by the washing of regeneration
and renewal
of the Holy Spirit,
whom He poured out on us
richly through Jesus Christ,
our Savior,
so that being justified
by His grace,
we might become heirs
according to the hope
of eternal life.
So now notice,
as Paul's writing to Titus,
he says to him,
do good works.
Here's why,
this gospel message,
right?
I'm not going to take the time
to sum all of that up
for you today,
but because of what God
has done on your behalf,
in Christ Jesus.
And then look how he finishes it up.
Verse 8,
the saying is trustworthy,
and I want you to insist
on these things,
so that those who have believed in God
may be careful to devote themselves
to good works.
These things are excellent
and profitable for people.
For those who are believers,
certainly,
but for people in general.
This was the general Greek term
for mankind,
for humanity.
It is good
for those who know Christ
to devote themselves
to good works
for the good of everybody.
One of the greatest ways
we can show this world
their great need
of a Savior
is to live in this way,
to bring about social change,
to show them
the error of their ways,
and then show them
the right way
to live,
to preach the law
to them
so that they know
they're sinful,
so that they know
they need a Savior.
We must be about this.
James said it this way,
religion that is pure
and undefiled
before God the Father
is this,
to visit orphans and widows
in their affliction
and to keep oneself
unstained from the world.
So to avoid the things
of the world
and to visit orphans
and widows
in their affliction,
which we should be about.
Hear me,
we should definitely be about
visiting orphans and widows.
The reason he uses
these two particular people groups
is that these would have been
the most infringed people group.
These were the people
that had no rights whatsoever
of their own.
A widow without a husband
had no property ownership,
had no rights at all.
Orphans had no rights
because they didn't have a father.
So these were people
who were defenseless.
And in our day and age,
there are many,
many defenseless
who are being murdered
every day.
One every 30 seconds.
I think I'm getting
an internal clock now,
Reese.
I know when to look up at you.
Galatians chapter 2.
I want you to turn there with me.
Galatians chapter 2.
This is another really wonderful
example of this.
As we see Paul
commending himself
to the Galatian church,
establishing once again with them
the purity of his gospel.
Because you remember that
in Galatia,
the Judaizers had come in
who had said
that Jesus is good.
This new faith you found
is good,
except you need to be circumcised.
There's still some aspects
of the Old Testament law
that we need you to keep.
And this was diluting
the gospel message.
They thought that they were
saved by faith in Christ
and circumcision.
And he writes the letter
to the Galatians
to set that straight.
So he's reestablishing
the purity
of this doctrine.
And beginning in verse 1
of chapter 2,
he says,
So he went.
He's talking about
this past tense thing.
After 14 years,
he went to present to them
the gospel as he was
preaching it to the Gentiles,
which was justification
by faith alone.
He was saying to them,
you do not need
to be circumcised.
There's no need
for outward religion
for you to be saved.
So he goes up
to be sure
that he was getting it right,
that he was getting it straight.
Verse 3,
But even Titus,
who was with me,
was not forced
to be circumcised,
though he was a Greek.
Yet because a false brother
secretly brought in,
who slipped in
to spy out our freedom
that we have in Christ Jesus
so that they may bring us
into slavery,
to them we did not
yield in submission
even for a moment
so that the truth
of the gospel
might be preserved for you.
And from those
who seem to be influential,
what they were
makes no difference to me.
God shows no partiality.
Those, I say,
who seemed influential
added nothing to me.
On the contrary,
when they saw
that I had been
entrusted with the gospel
to the uncircumcised,
just as Peter had been
entrusted with the gospel
to the circumcised,
for he who worked
through Peter
for his apostolic ministry
to the circumcised
worked also through me
from mine to the Gentiles.
And when James
and Cephas,
or Peter,
and John,
who seemed to be pillars,
perceived the grace
that was given to me,
they gave me
the right hand of fellowship
to barn us and to me,
that we should go
to the Gentiles
and they to the circumcised.
Now, catch what's happening here.
They're having
a theological debate.
He has come back,
presented this gospel
that he's been presenting
to the Gentiles
to make sure
that it was pure.
He's gone to those
who seemed influential.
I like that he adds,
not that it mattered
at all to him,
but they seem to be influential,
so those are the ones
I went and talked to.
And they go and they have
this theological debate.
And the conclusion of that
we see in verse 10.
So they extend
the hand of fellowship.
Yes, this gospel
you're preaching is pure.
We're going to the circumcised.
You continue to go
to the uncircumcised.
Verse 10,
Only they asked us
to remember the poor.
The very thing
I was eager to do.
So right on the heels
of this having this
theological debate
about the purity
of the gospels
they were preaching,
they say,
Don't forget
to do practical things
to show the grace
of God to us in Christ.
You catching that?
Now, yet we've not seen
any specific instructions
to plead the cause
of the unborn.
I recognize that.
There's a clear biblical case
for what is and isn't life.
And I'm not going to make
that case to you today.
I'm going to assume
that all of you
believe that to be true.
It's self-evident,
I would say.
But we can see here
that we're both supposed
to speak for those
who can't speak for themselves.
The widows and the orphans
given to us in James.
And here we see in Galatians
this record of them
asking to speak
on behalf of the poor.
Now, the poor in this day
would have also been
primarily disenfranchised people,
not landowners,
unable to make much money
on their own.
But even if we just define
poverty the way we do
in our current day,
it's important to know
that 57%
of all abortions
are had by women
who live below
the poverty line.
You know what the poverty line is
in this country?
If you're a single person,
it's $11,490.
So, college students,
are you guys all
below the poverty line?
I think you are.
Now, you can add
to that simple little equation,
add to that $4,020
for each person
you add to the family.
And if you do the math,
if you have four people
in a family,
the poverty line
is $23,550.
That's an incredibly low line.
I don't know a family of four
that can live on $23,550.
Introduce me to them
if you find them.
I want to learn from them
and how they spend their money.
So, family of four,
$23,550.
57% of abortions
are happening
with women that are
categorized as below
the poverty line,
which means that
a vast number of abortions
are happening above that line
for people that really are
what we would consider
traditionally as poor,
low-income,
impoverished individuals.
So, this is a rampant thing
that's happening
in our country.
In fact,
by the age of 45,
one in three women
will have had an abortion.
At least one.
By the age of 45,
one in three women
will have had an abortion.
And that means a lot for us
because that means
that there are probably people
that we know
who have had abortions.
We may not know that they have,
but they have.
That means there's probably
somebody in this room
that's had an abortion.
It's likely
that that is the case.
And I can't possibly,
if you have had an abortion,
justify your actions.
But what I can say to you
is that there's great grace
for every sin.
And we can praise God
for that together
because all of my sin
is just as horrible
as yours.
And we have an opportunity
to preach the gospel
to people who have had
abortions.
That's a great need
in this country as well
as this wrong,
this endemic cultural wrong
has affected so many,
in fact, in some ways
victimized a lot of women
who have had abortions.
Abortion's not good for women.
Health statistics,
we've been able to amass
a bunch of them now
since it's been 40 years
since Roe v. Wade.
Let me just give you a couple.
Health-wise,
women who have had abortions,
depending on the study
you look at,
are at a higher risk
of breast cancer,
50% and up to 300%
more likely to have
breast cancer.
And this is correlated back
to the abortive procedure.
Massive, massive damage
to a woman's body.
Psychologically,
post-abortion patients
in a study,
eight weeks after
their abortion,
44% of them reported
having a nervous disorder,
36% of them a sleep disorder,
and 11% of them
had been prescribed
psychotropic medicine
eight weeks
after having had
an abortion.
There's a lot of damage
to a woman.
I would say to you
that the pro-life movement
is a pro-woman movement,
not an anti-woman movement.
Further,
women will be held
accountable for their actions.
Romans 14,
verses 10 and 12
says,
We will all stand
before the judgment seat
of God.
For it is written,
As I live,
says the Lord,
every knee shall bow to me
and every tongue shall confess.
So then each of us
will give an account
of himself to God.
There's a spirit issue
at place
with this problem.
And we must be
preaching the gospel to it.
We must be speaking
to these young ladies.
We must be warning them
of the judgment
that will come.
Right?
As we need to be warning
all people of this.
Abortion is not good
for our nation.
We are a nation
that was founded on liberty.
We still claim to have some.
Maybe that's slipping
in your opinion
as we hear about
all the scandals
and things that are going on.
It's quite likely
you're feeling a little less liberated
than you may have before.
But we at least say
that we're a nation
that believes in freedom,
that believes in liberty.
I would argue to you
that this is a biblical
right that is granted to us.
One of my favorite
presidential candidates
by the name of Ron Paul
is quoted as saying,
if you can't protect life,
then how can you protect liberty?
The greatest minority
is the individual.
There's no other Nathan Rayner.
And if my rights
aren't going to be protected,
then how is anybody's rights
going to be protected?
We're having the wrong conversations
on the political scale, right?
If we can't protect life,
then how can we protect liberty?
Abortion's obviously not good
for babies.
1.2 million this year.
I think it's 54 million and counting
since Roe v. Wade was passed
have been avoided.
And abortion is not good
for our church.
Abortion is not good
for our church.
If we're going to be people
who are properly theological,
who care about making
a difference in this world,
who want this world
to say of us,
I am glad that
Christ Family Church exists,
then this issue
is not good for us.
Because we need
to be getting engaged with it.
We need to be actively
finding ways
that we can bring about
redemption
in these situations.
And so the question
is raised then,
what should we do?
What should we do?
I hope that your heart's moving
in this direction.
What should we do?
What can I do?
What an immense problem.
1.2 million children a year.
How is it possible
that I could ever be involved
in bringing about change
in this situation?
Let me say to you firstly,
pray.
Clay said rightly
last Thursday evening
that prayer
is the thermometer
for our Christian life.
How many of you
would admit
that your life,
your Christian life
is cold?
Pray.
Have your heart broken
that this is an issue
in our country.
And pray.
God uses the prayers
of His people
to accomplish
His will.
1 John 5
verse 14-15
John writes,
Listen, this is the confidence
that we have toward Him.
That if we ask anything
according to His will,
He hears us.
And if we know
that He hears us
in whatever we ask,
we know that we have
the request
that we have asked
of Him.
If we ask anything
in the Father's will,
we know that He hears us.
It doesn't always answer
the way we want answered,
but we know that He hears us
and we know that He's
working things out
in His perfect timing.
And we can take comfort
in passages like Amos 5, 24.
But let justice roll down
like the waters
and righteousness
like an ever-flowing stream.
I tell you this morning
that God cares
about the unborn.
He cares about what's happening.
And He certainly
could come down now
and judge everyone
and save all of those babies.
I don't understand
why He's working things out
the way He is.
I can't wrap my mind
around why God
is accomplishing His fame
the way He's accomplishing it.
But I know this,
that He's given it to us
to be moving and active,
to be used by Him
to accomplish His will.
And it starts with prayer.
Prayer is the foundation
for anything effective we do
in our Christian lives.
It is pointless
to try to do anything
without first setting it
to prayer.
So pray.
Gosh, you can do that easily.
All of us can be involved
in bringing about change
in this way.
You don't have to run
in spheres.
You might live in a country
someday that abortion
is not even.
an issue.
But you can still pray
this would be something
that would be brought
to reckoning
in our lifetime.
Secondly,
be politically responsible.
Be politically responsible.
Young people,
be politically responsible.
I know that your one vote
doesn't feel like much
in the wide range
of things.
But if everyone
has that attitude,
they're not going to take
the time out of their day,
not going to do
their research.
If everyone does that,
which many people do,
then people get elected
that we may not want
to be elected.
This has happened recently,
hasn't it?
Be politically responsible.
This is a responsibility
that has been given to you
to search out candidates,
not just at the federal level,
but at the local level as well.
We need to be vetting
the people that represent us.
Get to know your district.
We've got congressional elections
coming up in 2014.
Do you know?
Do you know what district
you live in?
Do you know who represents
your district?
You should find that out
and you should do it ASAP.
And you should figure out
not just if they're pro-life,
but if they're actually
doing something about it.
I've heard the argument
that Roe v. Wade
doesn't actually have
to be overturned,
that the Supreme Court
wouldn't actually have
to overturn it,
but that Congress
could simply pass a law
defining life,
which would therefore
make abortion illegal.
Now, more than likely,
the Supreme Court
would take that law
and want to overturn it again.
But could you imagine
just the pace
that things work at?
If Congress would pass that law,
we might have a year
where abortion is illegal
and clinics would shut down.
A year would be
a wonderful gift.
1.2 million children
would be spared in that year.
And those clinics
may or may not
even be able to start up.
Even if that, right?
We need to be
politically responsible.
We need to be doing
what we can
to put men in power
who will not just say
I'm pro-life
so that I can appeal
to my constituency,
but I'm pro-life
to the point
that I will do something.
I will do what I can
about the issue.
So be politically responsible.
Thirdly,
educate yourself
and others
with a great deal
of compassion.
Educate yourself.
Some of you
may be surprised
to even find out
this morning
that this many children
are aborted.
We tend to stay
fairly oblivious
to things like this
and I know
the world you're living in.
I know the way
information is coming at you.
I'm right in the midst
of it all too.
It's coming
absolutely a mile a minute,
all the stuff
that's going on
out there in the world.
Inform yourself
about this issue.
There are so many causes
that the Christian church
can get behind
and we should.
A great example
of that right now
is the End It movement
to stop
sex slave trafficking.
Good, good cause
to be a part of.
But if we've got to pick one,
this is the one.
Those are tragedies,
massive tragedies.
I don't want to make small
of that kind of atrocity.
This is the big one though.
If Christians are going
to get behind something,
this is the one
we should get behind.
So educate yourself.
Understand why
life is life.
Get that.
Learn how to make
a very clear,
compassionate argument
in that direction.
Right?
The world around us
is being inundated
with cultural messages.
Right?
Inundated with it.
Over years,
40 years of trying
to convince people
that this really isn't
an issue of murder,
but it's just simply
an issue of convenience
or ethics.
Right?
That's not the case
with it.
We've got to educate,
we've got to unwind
that kind of thinking.
We have to be able
to compassionately
have arguments,
recognizing that we may
never win the arguments
at the time of the argument.
It may not be
until somebody walks away
and considers the things
that have been said to them
and lets it sink down
into them that they
change their mind.
I'm thankful in this day
that there's quite a bit
of movement.
Previously,
last year,
1.2 million.
The year before that,
1.3.
Praise God,
100,000 children
were not aborted
last year
or fewer women
got pregnant.
I don't know which,
but the numbers
have been going down
and there's some great
movement in this direction.
People are beginning
to see the fallacy
in the arguments.
I've read some articles,
two sides.
I read an article
by two bioethicists
who said,
if we can abort children
in the womb,
the argument cannot be made
that they're not life,
we should also be able
to abort children
after they're born.
Unfortunately,
they weren't doing this
rhetorically.
Unfortunately,
they really meant it.
You have a child
that's born
with special needs,
you don't think
you can handle that child,
you can make that decision
at that point.
They're making this argument.
I've read another article,
a lady who basically said
to the pro-choice movement,
stop saying it's not a life.
That is such a dumb argument.
It's an obtuse argument.
What we need to be saying is,
one life is more important
than the other life.
Right?
So their logical argument
is breaking down.
They themselves
are beginning to see
how flawed it is,
and we've got to step in
with a great deal of love
and help them understand
the reality of that.
Right?
We've got to come up
with solutions.
What do we do
with 1.2 million children
who are unwanted
in this country?
54 million
in the last 40 years.
What are we going to do
with those people?
I don't know
the answer to that.
I really don't know.
How do we alleviate
that kind of population explosion?
I have no idea,
but the solution
is not abortion.
It's not abortion.
So educate yourself
and others
with a great deal of passion.
Next Sunday afternoon
at 1.30,
I'm going to be here
and I'm going to help
walk you through
that process,
present the common arguments
to you
and the rebuttals to them.
So if you'd like to join me
for that,
I'll remind you again
later about that,
but I'll be here to help
with that process.
We may even be able
to sharpen each other
in that way.
Fourthly,
get involved
with a local
pregnancy care center.
There's work happening
right where we are,
right in our community
to this end,
trying to counsel
with Christ-centered
counseling
with a great deal of love
women who are pregnant,
who are in a crisis situation.
The one we have here in town
is great.
It's called
the Dahlonega Care Center
and they do a lot of work
in this county.
I somehow managed
to get myself
to be the chairman
of the board of directors.
I do not know how
and I don't say that
to boast to you,
but I say that to you
so that you know
I need your help.
I need your help
with leading the care center
and being passionate
about it,
for throwing into
the efforts
that we're trying
to accomplish
to raise the funds
that are necessary
so that these ladies
can sit with these
young ladies
and counsel them
through this process.
Get involved.
They need all kinds
of help
and we're going to be
bringing you the options.
We're doing work days
up there.
We just peeled weeds
off the side of the building
the other day.
Another great family,
the Wadsworths
went out there
and replaced trim work
and cleaned the inside.
They need that kind of stuff.
The folks that are
in the ground,
in the trenches
doing that kind of work
need somebody
to come along
and sweep up
behind them sometimes
so they can keep
on working
with these people.
They need money.
It takes money
to run anything.
And we hold
so tightly to it.
We do so many things
that are so frivolous
and stupid
with our money
and I can tell you
at the end of your life
you will wish
you had spent it
on greater causes.
Things that will have you
gain more of Christ
in that activity
versus more stuff
for yourself.
They need
that kind of support.
So get involved
in those ways.
I want you to reach
we're going to stop
the timer now.
Thank you.
I want everybody
to put your hand
over your heart.
I'm not about to make
you make a pledge
so don't worry.
You feel that?
If you're up here
you may not be able
to feel it.
It's about right here.
They're right there.
You feel that?
Just thumping away, right?
It just keeps on going.
I heard John Piper
in an interview one time
say that this cause
needs coronary Christians.
I want you to get that
phrase programmed
into your head.
It needs coronary Christians.
Christians who are just
going to continue
to work and work
and work
to end
this tragedy.
Just keep on working.
Movements are great.
I mean,
praise God for movements.
God has used movements
in so many ways
where everybody gets
super excited about a cause.
It flares up.
Everybody goes gung-ho
after it
and then it peters out.
You guys remember
Invisible Children?
Those of you who were young
about the tragedy
in Darfur?
Right?
A movement.
Right?
It flared up.
Everyone was super stoked
about it
and I haven't heard
anything about
Invisible Children
in years and years
and years and years.
Right?
We need coronary Christians.
Hear this.
Our hearts keep us alive.
Right?
Our hearts are pumping
blood to our brains,
oxygenating our brains,
allowing our brains
to function.
But you've got to get to
that our brain
is sending a signal
to our heart
to keep pumping.
Isn't it?
Just keeps on
thudding.
I don't think about
my heart beating.
It just does it.
My brain does this
as an automatic function.
Right?
So there's a cycle
that's going on here
and the gospel
should be working in us
in the same way.
As we've made new creations,
it should be automatically
feeding us into good works.
We should be doing
that kind of thing
and our good works
should be feeding our faith.
It should be coming
right back in
as we get to see
and experience God
moving and working
in this world.
We need coronary Christians
around this cause.
We need to hear
the gospel truth
every day.
We need to hear it.
Not just the narrower version
of it,
which is so important
for the redemption
of our souls,
but the larger
expansive version of it
that Jesus has come
to make all things new.
That he's setting
everything straight.
That he's going to return us
once again to Eden
where everything was perfect.
Where sin and sickness,
death, abortion,
none of these things
existed in this state.
He's getting us back
to that place.
This is the gospel message
and we need to be
so invigorated by it
every single day.
And every moment
of every day
if we're going to live
this way.
If we're going to be
about the cause of Christ
in this world.
C.S. Lewis in
Mere Christianity said,
We have to be continually
reminded of what we believe.
Neither this belief
nor any other
will automatically
remain alive
in the mind.
It must be fed.
We hope every Sunday
we feed you
with the good news
of Jesus Christ
and that that moves you
to work to his glory
in the world.
once a Sunday,
once a week
is not enough.
After lunch
you may need to feed
the gospel
into your mind again.
You're going to need
to do it throughout the day.
You need to do it
throughout the week.
Meet with us other times.
None of that is enough.
You've got to delve
into the scriptures
sanctified
in the truth
because we've been
sent into this world
with a mission
just as Jesus
came into the world.
Let's pray together.