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Howdy, Pastor Mark here,
all sweaty

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got done just yelling,

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got to start the 
Ten Commandments series,

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really excited.

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We got, of course,
10 weeks together

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going through the
Ten Commandments

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and I wanted to thank you;
you are part

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of our extended family
of Mars Hill Global.

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Many of you pray for us,
many of you podcast,

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many of you give
generously and faithfully

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thank you, thank you, thank you

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you're helping us
introduce people to Jesus,

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get solid Bible teaching out,
see lives change.

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The band is playing 
behind me right now,

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people are giving 
their lives to Jesus.

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If you hear some cheering

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it's 'cause they're getting
baptized right now.

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And our extended family goes
really all around the world.

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At 4 o' clock today,
at our last service

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at the Bellevue location
where I'm preaching live

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we've got a guy in from China.

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And apparently 
he can't get baptized

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where he's at in China
because the legalities

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and for some reason
he's in the U.S.,

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he's part of our
extended family

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and we're gonna baptize him here
from China at 4 o' clock.

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We love the opportunity
that technology affords us

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to get the Bible teaching about
Jesus out to the world.

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Somebody else 
getting baptized right there;

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I hope 
you can hear the shouts.

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Sincerely thank you,
thank you, thank you.

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If you're not already
part of the extended family

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or if you wanna invite
others to join us

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and know what's going on
and be kept up to speed,

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marshill.com/global

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is the easiest way 
to sign up for an account.

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And for those of you
who want to follow along

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in the Ten Commandments,

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we did put together 
a study guide.

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You could do this individually,

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you could do this
with your family

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you could do this
with a small group.

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All the proceeds 
go back to the church

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I'm not putting 
my hand on the till

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and it was all written 
by people in the church

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who love Jesus; men,
women, single, married,

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serving and using their gifts
to help serve our church

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and I want to thank you

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for being an extended
member of Mars Hill.

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So thanks a bunch 
and be praying.

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I'm pretty fired up
to be in the Ten Commandments.

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The people of God
were stuck.

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For centuries,
they lived as slaves

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to terrifying task masters

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whose cruelty was
only exceeded by their power.

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In these dark days,

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God's people
gave birth to children

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who would inherit
nothing more than misery.

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Their strongest ally
was a God

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who they had assumed
had forgotten them.

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Far from forgotten,
the people of God

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were rescued by the might
of his hand.

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He put their masters
to open shame

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and led them
into the wilderness.

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Though they were set free,
they weren't yet living free.

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They started to live as slaves
to their own sin.

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What happened next

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reverberates for over
3,000 years of history

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to this current day.

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Like a loving
and patient Father,

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God instructed his children,

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giving them
the Ten Commandments.

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Today, we decide
who lives and who dies.

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Open your Bibles.

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We're going to be continuing our
series in the Ten Commandments.

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Today, we find ourselves
in commandment number six,

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in Exodus 20:13.

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Here's the commandment.

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We'll read it together.

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It's very simple
and very complicated.

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"You shall not murder."

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In the Hebrew--this is
originally written in Hebrew.

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It's been translated
into English;

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don't let that bother you.

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This is the best translated book
in the history of the world.

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It's actually two words,
"No murder."

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The first word,
not really debated.

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My entire sermon
will be on the second word.

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We're going to spend the better
part of an hour together looking

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at the meaning and implications
of one word in the Bible,

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because all Scripture is
God-breathed and profitable,

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and Jesus said that every
single word matters and counts,

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and arguably, very few
matter as much as this word.

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There are some
eight different words

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that I found
in the Old Testament

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studying this week
that referred to killing

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of various sorts and kinds.

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The question is, what does
God mean exactly by murder?

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Part of the confusion comes
in the King James Translation

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of the Bible, which is another
good English translation,

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but it's older style of English.

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It's an older translation.

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It says, "Thou shalt not kill,"
and most people are familiar

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with the sixth commandment in
the terms and the language

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of the King James Bible.

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"Thou shalt not kill."

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What this could lead to is
all kinds of false thinking,

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that you should never
defend yourself,

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that you should hold
a position of extreme pacifism,

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that if someone
breaks into your home,

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you should let them
harm your family

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rather than take their life.

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Those kinds of things
are the implications

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of the misunderstanding
of one word of the Bible.

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God is not a pacifist.

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The Bible does not
present God as a pacifist,

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does not present
God's people as a pacifist.

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Only a very selective,
prejudicial reading of some of

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what the Scriptures say could
lead you to that position.

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The Bible does not tell us,
"Thou shalt not kill,"

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it says that we should
not murder. Not murder.

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And so this word
is very important.

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It refers to such things
as manslaughter,

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violent
and unauthorized killing,

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personal vengeance
and revenge, and yes,

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just good old fashioned murder.

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So, we'll use
a few case studies.

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You tell me whether or not
this constitutes murder.

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Accidental death, self-defense,
a soldier in a just war,

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a police officer returning fire.

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Yes or no, that qualifies
as murder, yes or no?

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No, no.

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How about infanticide, suicide,
physician-assisted suicide,

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euthanasia,
and acts of terrorism?

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Does that constitute
murder, yes or no?

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Yes, and so there are ways that
taking a life is justified.

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There are ways that taking
a life is unjustified,

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and part of the complexity
is we can't simply say,

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"You should never kill anyone,"
but the truth is we want to put

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some restrictions on that so
we don't have mass murder,

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and terrorism,
and anarchy, and unjust war,

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and the state out of control,
slaughtering innocent civilians.

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So, we're going to unpack
exactly what God means by this

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word, that there are occasions
when human life is to be taken,

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but those occasions are rare

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and they are specified
by God himself.

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I'm sure this leads
to a number of questions,

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and my hope today--and this
is going to largely be

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an emotionally expensive time of
instruction--is to answer

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some of the more common
questions and objections

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around the sixth commandment.

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Here's one of the first
and perhaps the most important.

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Why is murder wrong?

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We live in a day of situational
ethics where we believe that it

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is not God who is the center,
but we are the center;

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that laws are not binding all
peoples, times, and places;

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that ethics are situational;
that we do not turn out to find

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the truth, we turn in. And so
we find authority to be internal

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instead of external.

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What we're finding in
the Ten Commandments is that

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the way that God is trying to
orchestrate and organize

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our hearts, and our
lives, and our minds,

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and our cultures is God-centered
with laws and truth

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that is external.

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Here's why:

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God is the author of life.

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God is the one who is
sovereign over life.

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God has all authority
over human life.

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That's exactly what it's
going to say in Genesis 9:6,

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"Whoever sheds the blood of man,
by men shall his blood be shed,

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for God made man
in his own image."

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In the previous
book of the Bible,

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in the book of Genesis,

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it says you should not
kill anyone--murder anyone,

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to be more specific--you
should not murder anyone,

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and if you murder someone,
then you should be murdered

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because people bear the image
and likeness of God.

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So, this is biblical thinking;

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this is not evolutionary
thinking.

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In evolutionary thinking,

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human beings are
just lucky animals.

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In biblical thinking,
they are image-bearers of God.

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All the way back in Genesis,
that God made animals,

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and he loves them, he provides
for them, he cares for them.

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It talks about
the birds of the air,

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the beasts of the field,

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and the fish of the sea
in the Scriptures.

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But then, God alone makes man
and woman in his image

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and likeness, so human beings
are in a category below God

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and above the animals.

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This is a sermon.

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We're going to get into
politics, and anthropology,

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and history, and we're going to
get into ethics, and theology.

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We're going to go
a lot of directions.

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This is the anthropological
portion of the sermon.

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There is God above us
and animals beneath us,

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and we occupy a place
under God and over animals.

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Those who are exclusively
evolutionary in their thinking

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don't believe that.

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The founder of the organization
P.E.T.A.,

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People for the Ethical Treatment
of Animals,

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had a famous phrase:

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"A pig is a dog,
is a rat, is a boy.

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A pig is a dog, is
a rat, is a boy."

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We don't believe that.

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I've got five kids
and a German shepherd.

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We love the German shepherd,
I'm nice to the German shepherd,

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I don't believe
in animal cruelty,

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I even feed it treats
and play Chuckit! with the dog,

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so I'm--OK, so all you
people that are liberals,

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just come along for the ride.

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I have a pet that
I'm nice to, OK?

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But if my house was
on fire and I ran in,

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let's say four of my kids
got out and one was still in,

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and there was the child
and the dog

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and I could only get one,

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what I would not
do is flip a coin.

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If I could get both,
I would get both.

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If I could only
get one at a time,

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I would get the child first
and try and go back for the dog.

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If it was down to
the dog or the child,

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I would no longer have a dog
because the child bears

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the image and likeness
of God, the animal does not.

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It doesn't mean we should
mistreat animals or be cruel

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to them--not advocating
that at all,

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but I'm saying that human life
is of higher value

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than animal life.

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There's no indication
that an animal has a soul.

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There's no indication that
Jesus died for animals.

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There's no indication that
animals will receive

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the resurrection of the dead
and the eternal kingdom of God.

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But human beings bear
the image and likeness of God.

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Jesus died for people, and that
people will be judged by God

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and live forever because
they possess a soul.

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They're not just material,
they're immaterial,

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that we endure forever,
for life or for death,

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that people alone bear
the image and likeness of God.

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So, when it comes to
the issue of murder, God says,

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"Don't kill anyone," not
because, well, that's not nice

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or, you know, that's rude
or that's inconsiderate.

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It's actually a bigger
issue than that,

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"because they bear my image."

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So, to murder a person is not
only to do violence against

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the person, but to do violence
against the God who made them.

245
00:11:41,500 --> 00:11:44,833
This is where the Bible does not
distinguish between those things

246
00:11:44,917 --> 00:11:48,958
that are sinful and those things
that are criminal

247
00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:51,500
when it comes to
the Ten Commandments.

248
00:11:51,583 --> 00:11:57,417
To murder is not just a civic,
social issue, it's a God issue.

249
00:11:57,500 --> 00:11:59,833
It's an offense not
just against the person,

250
00:11:59,917 --> 00:12:02,167
but it's an offense against God
who made them

251
00:12:02,250 --> 00:12:04,500
in his image and likeness.

252
00:12:04,542 --> 00:12:08,000
So, when you murder a person,
you're also declaring war on God

253
00:12:08,083 --> 00:12:11,125
because you're attacking
the person who bears the image

254
00:12:11,167 --> 00:12:14,500
that he bestowed on them.

255
00:12:14,542 --> 00:12:18,583
Some of you are going
to be very inconsistent.

256
00:12:18,667 --> 00:12:24,417
You're going to argue for
animal rights and abortion.

257
00:12:24,500 --> 00:12:29,833
You're going to argue for
treating people kindly while

258
00:12:29,875 --> 00:12:33,500
holding to an evolutionary
position that says that only

259
00:12:33,583 --> 00:12:37,083
the fittest survive, and that
those who are weak, and elderly,

260
00:12:37,167 --> 00:12:39,500
and infirm,
or struggling, or poor,

261
00:12:39,583 --> 00:12:42,833
that perhaps they should be
killed because,

262
00:12:42,875 --> 00:12:46,708
after all, they're a burden
to the rest of us.

263
00:12:46,792 --> 00:12:51,500
God says, no, people are made
in his image and likeness.

264
00:12:51,542 --> 00:12:54,125
They bear particular
dignity, value, and worth.

265
00:12:54,167 --> 00:12:56,792
They are to be treated with
love, and value, and equality,

266
00:12:56,833 --> 00:12:58,708
and justice, and respect.

267
00:12:58,792 --> 00:13:02,833
And if you don't--let
me just say this--

268
00:13:02,875 --> 00:13:06,000
if you don't believe the Bible,
you have no right to be yelling

269
00:13:06,042 --> 00:13:08,083
about tolerance,
and diversity, and justice.

270
00:13:08,167 --> 00:13:11,708
You're just a hypocrite
to your own worldview.

271
00:13:11,792 --> 00:13:14,583
If might makes right,
if the fittest survive,

272
00:13:14,667 --> 00:13:20,292
and we're no more than lucky
animals, then stop whining.

273
00:13:20,333 --> 00:13:23,125
And if you would like justice,
if you would like equality,

274
00:13:23,167 --> 00:13:28,000
if you would like dignity,
well then, believe the Bible,

275
00:13:28,083 --> 00:13:30,833
because apart from
the anthropology of the Bible,

276
00:13:30,875 --> 00:13:32,708
you do not get
equality, dignity,

277
00:13:32,792 --> 00:13:34,667
and value for human life.

278
00:13:34,750 --> 00:13:39,417
You just don't.
You can't. You can't.

279
00:13:39,500 --> 00:13:43,708
Well, when it comes
to this issue of murder,

280
00:13:43,792 --> 00:13:46,000
this is actually
a demonic issue,

281
00:13:46,042 --> 00:13:48,000
it's not just a social issue.

282
00:13:48,083 --> 00:13:51,000
Jesus says in John 8:44
of a certain group that want

283
00:13:51,042 --> 00:13:54,500
to kill, murder him, he says,
"You're like your father.

284
00:13:54,542 --> 00:13:57,000
"Your father is the devil
and he's been a murderer

285
00:13:57,042 --> 00:13:58,708
since the beginning."

286
00:13:58,792 --> 00:14:00,167
Murder is a demonic issue.

287
00:14:00,250 --> 00:14:03,125
God makes life,
and Satan takes life.

288
00:14:03,167 --> 00:14:06,500
Satan loves it when people
are put to death wrongly,

289
00:14:06,583 --> 00:14:09,125
and prematurely, and unjustly.

290
00:14:09,167 --> 00:14:14,708
Jesus says, "In the beginning,
the Father made us,

291
00:14:14,792 --> 00:14:20,000
and in the beginning,
Satan was a murderer."

292
00:14:20,083 --> 00:14:22,708
It harkens all the way
back to the first two brothers.

293
00:14:22,792 --> 00:14:24,417
What are their names?

294
00:14:24,500 --> 00:14:26,000
Cain and Abel.

295
00:14:26,042 --> 00:14:28,792
Abel was a godly man.

296
00:14:28,833 --> 00:14:33,708
His brother, Cain, murdered him.

297
00:14:33,792 --> 00:14:36,667
Murder begins with
the first two brothers.

298
00:14:36,750 --> 00:14:40,625
Murder has a long history
in the world, and Jesus says,

299
00:14:40,667 --> 00:14:42,792
"This is demonic;
this is what Satan does."

300
00:14:42,833 --> 00:14:45,917
He is trying to get people
to kill one another,

301
00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:48,125
and he's been that way
since the beginning.

302
00:14:48,167 --> 00:14:52,417
Well, today, we have become
so adept at murder that we've

303
00:14:52,500 --> 00:14:57,000
actually created words like
genocide to explain mass murder.

304
00:14:57,083 --> 00:14:59,417
Those of you who think
that we are good,

305
00:14:59,500 --> 00:15:02,500
let me just submit to you that
every technological innovation

306
00:15:02,542 --> 00:15:07,125
tends to be for the subjugation
or termination of other people.

307
00:15:07,167 --> 00:15:09,167
We may be advancing
technologically,

308
00:15:09,250 --> 00:15:12,875
but we're not advancing morally,
so we use technology to murder

309
00:15:12,958 --> 00:15:15,333
more efficiently.

310
00:15:15,375 --> 00:15:20,833
So, we create words like
genocide for Bosnia,

311
00:15:20,875 --> 00:15:24,417
for Rwanda,
for Nazi Germany.

312
00:15:24,500 --> 00:15:28,667
We have ideology like
ethnic cleansing,

313
00:15:28,750 --> 00:15:31,083
which is the result of
evolutionary thinking.

314
00:15:31,167 --> 00:15:33,667
These people are more
evolved than these people,

315
00:15:33,750 --> 00:15:37,583
so we should kill
them, murder them.

316
00:15:37,667 --> 00:15:40,583
The result has been

317
00:15:43,375 --> 00:15:50,333
4 men taking 175 million lives

318
00:15:50,375 --> 00:15:53,000
in the 20th century,

319
00:15:54,167 --> 00:15:58,417
4 men taking 175 million lives

320
00:15:58,500 --> 00:15:59,917
in the 20th century.

321
00:16:00,042 --> 00:16:01,708
The 20th century
is the most bloody

322
00:16:01,792 --> 00:16:03,875
in the history of the world.

323
00:16:03,958 --> 00:16:08,125
Those four men: Hitler,
Lenin, Mao, Stalin.

324
00:16:08,167 --> 00:16:14,208
Bible-believing, evangelical,
Jesus-loving Christians,

325
00:16:14,292 --> 00:16:16,000
yes or no?

326
00:16:16,083 --> 00:16:22,167
No, atheistic Communism
and various aberrations of it.

327
00:16:22,250 --> 00:16:25,000
You don't come from God; you
don't have particular dignity.

328
00:16:25,083 --> 00:16:27,208
God is not in charge;
the state is.

329
00:16:27,292 --> 00:16:30,583
God is not sovereign
over life; the state is.

330
00:16:30,667 --> 00:16:34,375
And the state has the right to
just end the lives of any people

331
00:16:34,458 --> 00:16:36,333
that it deems are
unwilling, unequal,

332
00:16:36,375 --> 00:16:40,417
or unfit for any reason.

333
00:16:40,500 --> 00:16:47,208
That is more people than
the UK and France combined.

334
00:16:47,292 --> 00:16:50,000
That's about roughly two-thirds
of the population

335
00:16:50,083 --> 00:16:52,167
of the United States of America,

336
00:16:52,250 --> 00:16:58,583
murdered by four men overseeing
governmental regimes.

337
00:17:01,167 --> 00:17:02,625
Proverbs has a great line.

338
00:17:02,667 --> 00:17:04,000
I'll read it to you.

339
00:17:04,083 --> 00:17:05,417
It's Proverbs 8:36.

340
00:17:05,500 --> 00:17:10,375
God says this:
"All who hate me love death."

341
00:17:13,167 --> 00:17:15,917
The further you get away
from the God of the Bible

342
00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:18,333
and thinking like
the God of the Bible,

343
00:17:18,375 --> 00:17:23,833
the more prone you are
to move toward murder.

344
00:17:23,875 --> 00:17:26,833
The more you read your Bible,
the more you have the mind

345
00:17:26,875 --> 00:17:32,292
of Christ, the more you
will be pro-life.

346
00:17:32,333 --> 00:17:34,000
Some of you would
say, "Pastor Mark,

347
00:17:34,083 --> 00:17:36,708
I see where this is going,
and I disagree with you."

348
00:17:36,792 --> 00:17:41,208
No, you don't.
You disagree with God.

349
00:17:41,292 --> 00:17:43,667
And I don't want
to overstate my case.

350
00:17:43,750 --> 00:17:47,333
I would say, though, that
what we're dealing with is

351
00:17:47,375 --> 00:17:51,625
an increasingly desensitized
culture to murder.

352
00:17:51,667 --> 00:17:54,333
By the time they graduate,
the average young adult--

353
00:17:54,375 --> 00:17:57,000
by the time they graduate
from high school at age 18--

354
00:17:57,083 --> 00:18:00,167
they have witnessed, between
television, video games,

355
00:18:00,250 --> 00:18:05,375
and movies, 80,000 murders.

356
00:18:05,458 --> 00:18:07,375
Some of you say,
"Well, it's not real."

357
00:18:07,458 --> 00:18:09,625
True or false, some
movies are very realistic,

358
00:18:09,667 --> 00:18:11,708
some TV shows are very
realistic, and increasingly,

359
00:18:11,792 --> 00:18:16,500
some video games
are very realistic.

360
00:18:16,583 --> 00:18:21,500
To see 80,000 murders,
I would submit to you,

361
00:18:21,542 --> 00:18:25,708
has the strong potential of
desensitizing someone

362
00:18:25,792 --> 00:18:31,792
to the horror of murder
and to the sanctity of life.

363
00:18:34,250 --> 00:18:37,583
It leads to another question:

364
00:18:37,667 --> 00:18:42,083
Can the state take a life?

365
00:18:42,167 --> 00:18:45,500
I just told you about states
that do so in a way that is

366
00:18:45,583 --> 00:18:51,708
godless, and unjust, and wrong,
and that certainly happens.

367
00:18:51,792 --> 00:18:56,000
The answer to an abuse of
authority is not an absence

368
00:18:56,083 --> 00:18:59,417
of authority,
but the right use of authority.

369
00:18:59,500 --> 00:19:03,625
So, God not only tells us
not to murder individually,

370
00:19:03,667 --> 00:19:07,667
he gives commands to
governments nationally.

371
00:19:07,750 --> 00:19:10,500
One of them we find
in Romans 13:1-4:

372
00:19:10,583 --> 00:19:13,417
"Let every person be subject
to the governing authorities."

373
00:19:13,500 --> 00:19:15,292
These are political leaders.

374
00:19:15,333 --> 00:19:17,833
"For there is no
authority except from God,

375
00:19:17,875 --> 00:19:21,333
"and those that exist
have been instituted by God.

376
00:19:21,375 --> 00:19:25,000
"Therefore whoever resists
the authorities resists what God

377
00:19:25,083 --> 00:19:29,208
"has appointed, and those who
resist will incur judgment.

378
00:19:29,292 --> 00:19:35,083
"For rulers are not a terror
to good conduct, but to bad.

379
00:19:35,167 --> 00:19:38,500
"Would you have no fear of
the one who is in authority?

380
00:19:38,542 --> 00:19:41,208
"Then do what is good, and you
will receive his approval,

381
00:19:41,292 --> 00:19:43,500
"for he is
God's servant for your good.

382
00:19:43,542 --> 00:19:45,208
"But if you do wrong,
be afraid,

383
00:19:45,292 --> 00:19:47,917
for he does not bear
the sword in vain."

384
00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:49,583
Here's what the Bible teaches:

385
00:19:49,667 --> 00:19:53,083
God is in ultimate authority
and he has delegated

386
00:19:53,167 --> 00:19:56,000
some authority to the state.

387
00:19:56,083 --> 00:20:00,708
Apart from a Biblical concept
and notion of a sovereign God,

388
00:20:00,792 --> 00:20:03,250
what you end up with in
the absence is either

389
00:20:03,333 --> 00:20:06,833
the sovereign individual
or the sovereign state.

390
00:20:06,875 --> 00:20:08,708
The sovereign individual is,
everyone does

391
00:20:08,792 --> 00:20:10,125
whatever they want.

392
00:20:10,167 --> 00:20:12,542
Judges talks of this, saying,
"Everyone did what was right

393
00:20:12,625 --> 00:20:14,958
in their own eyes."

394
00:20:15,000 --> 00:20:18,167
It's either sovereignty
of the individual

395
00:20:18,208 --> 00:20:20,250
or sovereignty of the state.

396
00:20:20,333 --> 00:20:23,167
The government is in highest
authority and then has

397
00:20:23,208 --> 00:20:25,750
a tendency to abuse its
authority because government

398
00:20:25,833 --> 00:20:27,750
is run by sinners.

399
00:20:27,833 --> 00:20:30,458
So it's either sinners are
in charge of their own life,

400
00:20:30,500 --> 00:20:33,042
or sinners collectively
in a governmental capacity

401
00:20:33,125 --> 00:20:35,167
are in charge
of our collective lives,

402
00:20:35,208 --> 00:20:37,833
or God who is sovereign over
everyone and everything,

403
00:20:37,875 --> 00:20:40,167
he's the one in the position
of highest authority.

404
00:20:40,208 --> 00:20:42,667
And the Bible teaches that God
is in the position

405
00:20:42,708 --> 00:20:44,042
of highest authority,

406
00:20:44,125 --> 00:20:46,250
and that God speaks
to us through his laws,

407
00:20:46,333 --> 00:20:48,500
and that God's laws
are binding on all peoples,

408
00:20:48,583 --> 00:20:50,167
times, and places.

409
00:20:50,208 --> 00:20:53,333
That's how we get true justice,
that's how we get true equality.

410
00:20:53,417 --> 00:20:57,417
Those things that those who
would hate God cry out for

411
00:20:57,500 --> 00:21:00,625
are things that only God can
provide--justice and equality--

412
00:21:00,667 --> 00:21:04,458
and it comes through laws
that oversee all nations,

413
00:21:04,500 --> 00:21:07,167
times, places, races,
cultures, peoples,

414
00:21:07,208 --> 00:21:08,667
and sexual orientations.

415
00:21:08,708 --> 00:21:11,000
Yes, I said it.

416
00:21:11,083 --> 00:21:13,125
And that God calls people
to repent

417
00:21:13,167 --> 00:21:15,500
and to live in obedience
to his commands.

418
00:21:15,583 --> 00:21:19,250
And then all other authority
is not innate authority.

419
00:21:19,333 --> 00:21:21,458
All right, a government does
not have innate authority.

420
00:21:21,500 --> 00:21:23,208
A father does not
have innate authority.

421
00:21:23,292 --> 00:21:24,958
A pastor does not
have innate authority.

422
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:27,042
A professor does not have
innate authority.

423
00:21:27,125 --> 00:21:29,417
A business leader does
not have innate authority.

424
00:21:29,500 --> 00:21:31,917
All authority, then,
is derivative authority.

425
00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,458
It's borrowed from God;
it's on loan from God.

426
00:21:35,500 --> 00:21:38,667
And then leaders are bearing
particular responsibility

427
00:21:38,708 --> 00:21:40,250
to operate, and to lead,

428
00:21:40,333 --> 00:21:42,250
and to make decisions
in such a way

429
00:21:42,333 --> 00:21:44,458
that honors and agrees
with God, and his word,

430
00:21:44,500 --> 00:21:46,333
and his laws, and his ways.

431
00:21:46,375 --> 00:21:47,958
And that includes the state,

432
00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:51,000
and God hands the
state a sword

433
00:21:51,083 --> 00:21:57,542
to oversee its citizens,
to bring justice.

434
00:21:57,625 --> 00:22:00,833
This is not just
the taking of life,

435
00:22:00,875 --> 00:22:03,583
this is the creating
of a context in which life is

436
00:22:03,667 --> 00:22:09,583
sacred so that life
can flourish.

437
00:22:09,667 --> 00:22:13,500
So, this leads
to two tangential questions.

438
00:22:13,542 --> 00:22:17,708
Capital punishment--does
the state have a right to,

439
00:22:17,792 --> 00:22:20,708
on occasion, according
to the teaching of the Bible,

440
00:22:20,792 --> 00:22:25,208
enact capital punishment, taking
the life of one of its citizens,

441
00:22:25,292 --> 00:22:27,333
yes or no?

442
00:22:27,375 --> 00:22:29,125
Yes.

443
00:22:29,167 --> 00:22:33,833
There are over two dozen,
in Old Testament, occasions

444
00:22:33,875 --> 00:22:39,833
on which capital punishment
was sanctioned by God.

445
00:22:39,875 --> 00:22:42,292
Now, some of you say, "Well,
the courts are imperfect,

446
00:22:42,333 --> 00:22:45,417
and mistakes were made," and I
would say, "I agree with you."

447
00:22:45,500 --> 00:22:51,500
Any system than includes
sinners will have flaws.

448
00:22:51,583 --> 00:22:55,792
The answer is not to not
have a system for justice,

449
00:22:55,833 --> 00:22:59,125
but to always be working on that
system of justice to bring it

450
00:22:59,167 --> 00:23:03,792
in accordance with God's
standards of justice.

451
00:23:03,833 --> 00:23:07,208
Yes, God does
delegate to the state,

452
00:23:07,292 --> 00:23:08,917
based upon Romans 13

453
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:10,833
and the example of
the Old Testament,

454
00:23:10,875 --> 00:23:14,292
the right for
capital punishment.

455
00:23:14,333 --> 00:23:19,708
This is to discourage vice
and to promote virtue.

456
00:23:19,792 --> 00:23:22,708
This is to say that there is
such a significant consequence

457
00:23:22,792 --> 00:23:26,000
for certain law-breaking that it
should help maintain

458
00:23:26,083 --> 00:23:27,792
some civic, social order.

459
00:23:27,833 --> 00:23:30,500
Imagine today if we got rid
of all the police officers,

460
00:23:30,542 --> 00:23:33,625
all the courts,
and all the jails.

461
00:23:33,667 --> 00:23:37,292
That would not lead to
human flourishing and life.

462
00:23:37,333 --> 00:23:40,917
That would lead
to anarchy and death.

463
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:44,833
And so that threat of punishment
helps to keep

464
00:23:44,875 --> 00:23:50,208
some unrepentant sinners
restricted in their conduct.

465
00:23:50,292 --> 00:23:53,417
In addition, this also
helps to mitigate against

466
00:23:53,500 --> 00:23:55,500
person vengeance.

467
00:23:55,583 --> 00:23:58,500
If you can't call the police,
and if you can't get your

468
00:23:58,583 --> 00:24:01,500
proverbial day in court, and if
there's not a prison system or

469
00:24:01,583 --> 00:24:05,000
capital punishment, what you're
going to do is to try and take

470
00:24:05,083 --> 00:24:10,125
justice into your own hands--
vengeance, retribution.

471
00:24:10,167 --> 00:24:14,500
The result is a very dangerous
culture in which

472
00:24:14,583 --> 00:24:17,708
angry people take lives.

473
00:24:17,792 --> 00:24:21,667
And if there's a process for
which justice can be pursued,

474
00:24:21,750 --> 00:24:27,125
that helps to mitigate that
kind of personal vengeance.

475
00:24:27,167 --> 00:24:33,000
So yes, God does sanction
capital punishment.

476
00:24:33,042 --> 00:24:35,292
He does.

477
00:24:35,333 --> 00:24:39,583
And don't let
the universalistic, pacifistic,

478
00:24:39,667 --> 00:24:43,000
false Bible teachers tell
you, "Jesus was totally nice.

479
00:24:43,042 --> 00:24:45,208
All he ever did
was turn the cheek."

480
00:24:45,292 --> 00:24:50,125
The Jesus of the New Testament
is the God of the Old Testament,

481
00:24:50,167 --> 00:24:53,833
and I'll tell you,
it's one bloody book.

482
00:24:53,875 --> 00:24:57,417
It's one bloody book.

483
00:24:57,500 --> 00:25:00,458
The animal rights activists
don't like the sacrifice of

484
00:25:00,500 --> 00:25:02,917
animals foreshadowing Jesus.

485
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:08,625
Those who are pacifistic do not
like the fact that God's people

486
00:25:08,667 --> 00:25:10,833
are given commands.

487
00:25:10,875 --> 00:25:13,500
Those commands do
include permission

488
00:25:13,542 --> 00:25:17,000
to have capital crimes tried
and punished with,

489
00:25:17,083 --> 00:25:20,500
yes, even capital punishment.

490
00:25:20,583 --> 00:25:23,167
Not only that, God himself
in the Old Testament

491
00:25:23,250 --> 00:25:25,625
kills a lot of people.

492
00:25:25,667 --> 00:25:27,833
He floods the world
in the days of Noah.

493
00:25:27,875 --> 00:25:31,833
He sends fiery road tar out of
the sky for Sodom and Gomorrah,

494
00:25:31,875 --> 00:25:36,000
obliterates two perverted,
adjoining towns.

495
00:25:36,083 --> 00:25:38,333
It's a bloody book.

496
00:25:38,375 --> 00:25:40,333
It's a bloody book.

497
00:25:40,375 --> 00:25:42,125
And sometimes those
people who would say,

498
00:25:42,167 --> 00:25:44,792
"I don't think that God
has the right to take life,"

499
00:25:44,833 --> 00:25:46,292
it's because
they're the criminals,

500
00:25:46,333 --> 00:25:50,708
and criminals
never like justice.

501
00:25:50,792 --> 00:25:55,000
The second question that comes
up practically, what about war?

502
00:25:55,083 --> 00:25:56,792
Does the state,
does a government,

503
00:25:56,833 --> 00:25:59,500
does a nation ever have
a right to go to war,

504
00:25:59,583 --> 00:26:01,125
yes or no?

505
00:26:01,167 --> 00:26:02,583
Yes.

506
00:26:02,667 --> 00:26:04,333
You see this
in the Old Testament.

507
00:26:04,375 --> 00:26:06,125
And I'm not saying
we're theocratic Israel,

508
00:26:06,167 --> 00:26:09,000
but there are occasions
where God's people go to war,

509
00:26:09,083 --> 00:26:13,125
and there are even war heroes
in the Bible like King David.

510
00:26:13,167 --> 00:26:19,333
He's celebrated for his
ability to kill a lot of men.

511
00:26:19,375 --> 00:26:23,208
Now, historically, studying the
Scriptures in their totality,

512
00:26:23,292 --> 00:26:27,500
not proof-texting, biblical
Christian theologians

513
00:26:27,583 --> 00:26:30,625
have come up with something
called the concept of just war.

514
00:26:30,667 --> 00:26:33,667
And this is to say that, yes,
certain wars are murderous,

515
00:26:33,750 --> 00:26:36,000
but others are not.

516
00:26:36,042 --> 00:26:38,333
And generally speaking,
there are some conditions,

517
00:26:38,375 --> 00:26:40,000
like, is it
a legitimate authority,

518
00:26:40,083 --> 00:26:43,208
meaning is it a government, or
it is just a band of rebels,

519
00:26:43,292 --> 00:26:47,167
or anarchists, or terrorists,
not a legitimate authority?

520
00:26:47,250 --> 00:26:50,833
Is it defensive, not offensive,
that you're not the one

521
00:26:50,875 --> 00:26:55,375
who is instigating hostility but
is defending your citizenry?

522
00:26:55,458 --> 00:26:58,333
Number three, is it
for a noble cause?

523
00:26:58,375 --> 00:27:01,708
If it's just because it
could affect your GDP,

524
00:27:01,792 --> 00:27:07,500
might I submit that is
not entirely a just cause.

525
00:27:07,542 --> 00:27:10,125
Is it proportional force?

526
00:27:10,167 --> 00:27:15,083
All right, if we drop a nuclear
bomb on 27 terrorists,

527
00:27:15,167 --> 00:27:17,000
that's not proportional force.

528
00:27:17,042 --> 00:27:21,375
We send in
the Navy SEALs for that.

529
00:27:21,458 --> 00:27:25,000
Are soldiers and not
civilians targeted?

530
00:27:25,083 --> 00:27:28,417
Are there a bunch of innocent
people who really are caught

531
00:27:28,500 --> 00:27:32,875
in the middle but not
the source of the trouble?

532
00:27:32,958 --> 00:27:36,167
Number six, does it ultimately
preserve more lives

533
00:27:36,250 --> 00:27:38,500
than it takes?

534
00:27:38,583 --> 00:27:40,500
And number seven,
is it a last resort?

535
00:27:40,583 --> 00:27:42,208
We've tried diplomacy

536
00:27:42,292 --> 00:27:44,833
and everything we
can conceive of.

537
00:27:44,875 --> 00:27:49,375
Admittedly, these are
difficult decisions.

538
00:27:49,458 --> 00:27:54,083
Theologians will debate every
time a nation goes to war

539
00:27:54,167 --> 00:27:57,375
whether or not it
constitutes a just war.

540
00:27:57,458 --> 00:28:02,125
In an age of terrorism,
in an age of nuclear weaponry,

541
00:28:02,167 --> 00:28:06,375
in an age of preemptive
first strikes,

542
00:28:06,458 --> 00:28:10,792
I'm not going to pretend
that this is not complicated.

543
00:28:10,833 --> 00:28:14,167
That's why the Bible says that
we need to pray for our leaders.

544
00:28:14,250 --> 00:28:17,167
We need to pray that even
if they don't know the Lord,

545
00:28:17,250 --> 00:28:19,375
that they may have some
wisdom from the Lord,

546
00:28:19,458 --> 00:28:25,292
because that's what these
kinds of cases require.

547
00:28:25,333 --> 00:28:27,208
So, who have we
offended thus far?

548
00:28:27,292 --> 00:28:32,708
Animal rights activists,
pacifists, peace-niks--

549
00:28:32,792 --> 00:28:39,417
we'll just call them hippies,
all right; we'll just simplify.

550
00:28:39,500 --> 00:28:43,583
But murder is what
we're talking about,

551
00:28:43,667 --> 00:28:45,333
and it's important
to talk about it,

552
00:28:45,375 --> 00:28:47,333
and I would encourage
you not to think,

553
00:28:47,375 --> 00:28:49,000
"Oh, well these are
political issues."

554
00:28:49,083 --> 00:28:51,500
Actually, they're not.
They're theological issues.

555
00:28:51,542 --> 00:28:53,500
They're life-and-death issues.

556
00:28:53,542 --> 00:28:55,375
They're very important
issues,

557
00:28:55,458 --> 00:29:02,333
with some political
implications.

558
00:29:02,375 --> 00:29:07,333
Here's the hardest part
of the sermon.

559
00:29:07,375 --> 00:29:11,167
This is where I will spend
a great deal of time.

560
00:29:14,042 --> 00:29:17,792
Many of you will want
to leave right now.

561
00:29:17,833 --> 00:29:23,000
Hundreds of you will probably
leave and never return.

562
00:29:23,083 --> 00:29:26,792
I would encourage you to
consider what I have to say,

563
00:29:26,833 --> 00:29:30,167
to go home and study what
the Word of God has to say,

564
00:29:30,250 --> 00:29:34,583
and do not make a hasty
decision, but make a prayerful,

565
00:29:34,667 --> 00:29:40,500
careful, biblical decision
about this following issue.

566
00:29:40,583 --> 00:29:42,125
Here's the question:

567
00:29:42,167 --> 00:29:46,250
in regards to murder,
is abortion murder?

568
00:29:54,583 --> 00:29:58,583
The issue is not choice,
the issue is murder.

569
00:30:03,500 --> 00:30:07,958
Don't let semantics
confuse you.

570
00:30:08,000 --> 00:30:09,958
Do you not believe in choice?

571
00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:12,000
I don't believe in murder.

572
00:30:12,083 --> 00:30:18,708
What we're talking about
is not choice but murder.

573
00:30:21,083 --> 00:30:25,833
When does life begin?

574
00:30:25,875 --> 00:30:30,042
Friends, life begins
at conception.

575
00:30:30,125 --> 00:30:34,000
Scientifically and medically,
it's incontrovertible.

576
00:30:34,083 --> 00:30:37,542
It just is.

577
00:30:37,625 --> 00:30:39,333
I'll read something to you.

578
00:30:39,417 --> 00:30:41,750
I brought a few quotes.

579
00:30:41,833 --> 00:30:46,667
Robert P. George,
Princeton professor,

580
00:30:46,708 --> 00:30:50,958
former member of the President's
Council on Bioethics,

581
00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:54,333
"Human embryos are
not some other type

582
00:30:54,375 --> 00:30:57,458
"of animal organism
like a dog or a cat.

583
00:30:57,500 --> 00:31:00,833
"Neither are they part of
an organism like a heart,

584
00:31:00,875 --> 00:31:03,042
"a kidney, or a skin cell.

585
00:31:03,125 --> 00:31:05,750
"Nor again are they
a disorganized aggregate,

586
00:31:05,833 --> 00:31:09,000
"a mere clump of cells awaiting
some magical transformation.

587
00:31:09,083 --> 00:31:12,208
"Rather, a human embryo is
a whole living member of

588
00:31:12,292 --> 00:31:15,250
"the species, Homo sapiens,
in the early stage

589
00:31:15,333 --> 00:31:17,833
"of his or her
natural development.

590
00:31:17,917 --> 00:31:20,250
"Unless severely
damaged, or denied,

591
00:31:20,333 --> 00:31:22,458
"or deprived of
a suitable environment,

592
00:31:22,500 --> 00:31:25,042
"a human being
in the embryonic stage will,

593
00:31:25,125 --> 00:31:28,833
"by directing its own
integral, organic functioning,

594
00:31:28,917 --> 00:31:32,458
"develop himself or herself
to the next more mature

595
00:31:32,500 --> 00:31:36,167
"development stage,
i.e., the fetal stage.

596
00:31:36,208 --> 00:31:40,042
"The embryonic, fetal child in
adolescent stages are stages

597
00:31:40,125 --> 00:31:43,500
"in the development of a
determinate and enduring entity,

598
00:31:43,583 --> 00:31:45,333
"a human being,

599
00:31:45,375 --> 00:31:49,000
"who comes into existence as
a single-celled organism,

600
00:31:49,083 --> 00:31:52,333
"called a zygote,
and develops, if all goes well,

601
00:31:52,375 --> 00:31:54,958
"into adulthood
many years later.

602
00:31:55,000 --> 00:31:58,917
But"--here's our question--"does
this mean that the human embryo

603
00:31:59,000 --> 00:32:02,125
"is a human person of
full, moral respect?

604
00:32:02,167 --> 00:32:05,917
"Must the early embryo never be
used as a mere means for

605
00:32:06,000 --> 00:32:09,833
the benefit of others simply
because it is a human being?"

606
00:32:09,875 --> 00:32:14,083
The answer is yes.

607
00:32:18,333 --> 00:32:22,875
Life begins at conception.

608
00:32:22,958 --> 00:32:26,667
It may be a little person,
but it's a person made in

609
00:32:26,750 --> 00:32:30,333
the image and likeness of God,

610
00:32:30,375 --> 00:32:36,792
and every mother who's had
an ultrasound knows this.

611
00:32:40,667 --> 00:32:43,417
I've been present for
the ultrasound of five

612
00:32:43,500 --> 00:32:45,667
of my children.

613
00:32:45,750 --> 00:32:49,500
One of the things that
has helped to underroad--

614
00:32:49,583 --> 00:32:52,500
or I should say,
erode and undermine--

615
00:32:52,583 --> 00:32:57,917
this strong commitment
to abortion is the innovation

616
00:32:58,000 --> 00:33:02,000
and the distribution
of the ultrasound.

617
00:33:02,042 --> 00:33:08,875
Once you see,
you see it's a baby.

618
00:33:08,958 --> 00:33:11,625
I've been there,
all five of my kids.

619
00:33:11,667 --> 00:33:13,667
"Oh, there's the head.
There's the arms.

620
00:33:13,750 --> 00:33:15,292
"There's the hands.
There's the feet.

621
00:33:15,333 --> 00:33:16,833
"Do you see the heart?

622
00:33:16,875 --> 00:33:19,333
"Oh look, five fingers
on that hand

623
00:33:19,375 --> 00:33:20,833
"and five fingers on that hand,

624
00:33:20,875 --> 00:33:23,833
and five toes on that foot
and five toes on that foot."

625
00:33:23,875 --> 00:33:25,708
Guess what it is?

626
00:33:25,792 --> 00:33:28,500
It's a person.

627
00:33:28,542 --> 00:33:33,125
That's why those
who are pro-death,

628
00:33:33,167 --> 00:33:38,875
they fight against showing
ultrasounds to pregnant women

629
00:33:38,958 --> 00:33:42,333
considering an abortion, because
they know that it will affect

630
00:33:42,375 --> 00:33:47,500
their decision,
as the truth always does.

631
00:33:51,667 --> 00:33:54,375
Scientifically,
medically speaking,

632
00:33:54,458 --> 00:33:56,917
life begins at conception.

633
00:33:57,000 --> 00:33:59,917
Biblically, life
begins at conception.

634
00:34:00,042 --> 00:34:04,500
Let me give you
seven reasons why I believe--

635
00:34:04,583 --> 00:34:08,583
I don't believe--why life
begins at conception, God says.

636
00:34:11,583 --> 00:34:13,375
It really doesn't
matter what I believe.

637
00:34:13,458 --> 00:34:16,708
It matters what God says.

638
00:34:16,792 --> 00:34:22,833
Psalm 51:5 says that we are
sinful from our mother's womb.

639
00:34:22,875 --> 00:34:27,875
So, a baby in the womb is not
just a person, they're a sinner.

640
00:34:28,875 --> 00:34:31,292
They're just waiting for
an opportunity to show

641
00:34:31,333 --> 00:34:33,500
this fact is true, OK,

642
00:34:33,542 --> 00:34:37,125
and the birth
provides that opportunity.

643
00:34:37,167 --> 00:34:41,125
They're a sinner
who needs a Savior.

644
00:34:41,167 --> 00:34:44,917
So, you understand that only
a human being in the Bible

645
00:34:45,000 --> 00:34:47,000
is called a sinner.

646
00:34:47,083 --> 00:34:49,208
All right, it's people
that are sinners,

647
00:34:49,292 --> 00:34:52,417
and people need a Savior.

648
00:34:52,500 --> 00:34:56,500
Number two,
Isaiah and Jeremiah,

649
00:34:56,583 --> 00:34:58,208
two great
Old Testament prophets,

650
00:34:58,292 --> 00:35:00,583
both tell us that they
were called for their

651
00:35:00,667 --> 00:35:06,083
prophetic ministry from
their mother's womb.

652
00:35:06,167 --> 00:35:08,708
They were set apart
for prophetic ministry

653
00:35:08,792 --> 00:35:12,125
from their mother's womb.

654
00:35:12,167 --> 00:35:17,083
Luke 1:15--this is
point number three--

655
00:35:17,167 --> 00:35:19,625
John the Baptizer, we are told--

656
00:35:19,667 --> 00:35:23,208
this is Jesus' cousin--quote,
"will be filled with

657
00:35:23,292 --> 00:35:28,792
the Holy Spirit even from
his mother's womb."

658
00:35:28,833 --> 00:35:34,500
So, a baby in their
mother's womb is a sinner

659
00:35:34,542 --> 00:35:36,500
who needs a Savior.

660
00:35:36,583 --> 00:35:38,708
They can actually
be saved in the womb.

661
00:35:38,792 --> 00:35:43,708
God the Holy Spirit can apply
the work of Jesus to them

662
00:35:43,792 --> 00:35:46,000
and save them in the womb.

663
00:35:46,083 --> 00:35:49,208
And like Isaiah and Jeremiah,
God can actually call them

664
00:35:49,292 --> 00:35:52,417
into ministry from their
mother's womb.

665
00:35:52,500 --> 00:35:58,417
These are only things
that God does for people.

666
00:35:58,500 --> 00:36:02,125
God knows what's
going on in the womb.

667
00:36:02,167 --> 00:36:05,000
He speaks of this,
Psalm 139--

668
00:36:05,083 --> 00:36:07,833
this is point number four--
verses 13 and 14.

669
00:36:07,875 --> 00:36:11,208
"For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together

670
00:36:11,292 --> 00:36:15,000
"in my mother's womb.

671
00:36:15,042 --> 00:36:19,292
"I praise you, for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made.

672
00:36:19,333 --> 00:36:25,333
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it well."

673
00:36:25,375 --> 00:36:28,375
The Bible teaches that God
is involved in the womb

674
00:36:28,458 --> 00:36:32,583
of the mother, knitting
the child together.

675
00:36:32,667 --> 00:36:37,500
There are still many aspects
of conception and growth

676
00:36:37,583 --> 00:36:42,500
that the medical world does not
fully know or understand.

677
00:36:42,583 --> 00:36:45,125
We're continuing
to explore and to learn,

678
00:36:45,167 --> 00:36:49,333
but God knows and God sees, that
God knits us together

679
00:36:49,375 --> 00:36:51,000
in our mother's womb,

680
00:36:51,083 --> 00:36:53,625
he sees that we are
sinners who need a Savior

681
00:36:53,667 --> 00:36:56,083
from our mother's womb, he
can send the Holy Spirit

682
00:36:56,167 --> 00:36:58,000
to regenerate us
in our mother's womb,

683
00:36:58,083 --> 00:37:01,417
and he can call us to a life of
ministry from our mother's womb.

684
00:37:01,500 --> 00:37:04,292
This means that just because
the child is not yet born

685
00:37:04,333 --> 00:37:06,375
and does not yet have
a particular kind

686
00:37:06,458 --> 00:37:08,333
of relationship
with their mother and father,

687
00:37:08,375 --> 00:37:10,167
that God the Father
still has

688
00:37:10,250 --> 00:37:15,750
a particular relationship
with that unborn child.

689
00:37:19,500 --> 00:37:22,167
Number five,
under biblical reasons,

690
00:37:22,250 --> 00:37:24,417
we believe that life
begins at conception

691
00:37:24,500 --> 00:37:27,417
because the Bible teaches it.

692
00:37:27,500 --> 00:37:29,708
In the New Testament--
New Testament is written

693
00:37:29,792 --> 00:37:34,667
in Greek--there's a word
for kids, for children.

694
00:37:34,750 --> 00:37:36,500
It's "brephos."

695
00:37:36,583 --> 00:37:39,500
In Luke 18, there's an occasion
where a whole bunch of kids

696
00:37:39,583 --> 00:37:40,917
come to Jesus.

697
00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:42,333
You remember that one?

698
00:37:42,375 --> 00:37:44,333
It's like one of the most
beloved stories

699
00:37:44,375 --> 00:37:45,708
in the whole Bible.

700
00:37:45,792 --> 00:37:48,375
Here's Jesus and all the kids
come to him like Santa

701
00:37:48,458 --> 00:37:49,875
at the mall at Christmas time.

702
00:37:49,958 --> 00:37:51,625
Like, "Ahhh," they're all
running to Jesus,

703
00:37:51,667 --> 00:37:53,625
and people are bringing
their kids to Jesus.

704
00:37:53,667 --> 00:37:55,625
And you kind of
get the idea, like,

705
00:37:55,667 --> 00:37:58,833
all the kids want to sit on
Jesus' lap, and play with Jesus,

706
00:37:58,875 --> 00:38:01,625
and wrestle with Jesus,
and you know, pull on his beard,

707
00:38:01,667 --> 00:38:03,000
and hang out with him.

708
00:38:03,083 --> 00:38:04,417
It's a great picture, right?

709
00:38:04,500 --> 00:38:06,208
I mean, even you non-Christians,
you're like,

710
00:38:06,292 --> 00:38:07,625
"I like that one," right?

711
00:38:07,667 --> 00:38:09,708
Santa Jesus, who doesn't
like Santa Jesus?

712
00:38:09,792 --> 00:38:14,375
That's amazing, all right.

713
00:38:14,458 --> 00:38:17,125
The word for those kids that
are singing, and dancing,

714
00:38:17,167 --> 00:38:20,208
and playing, and wrestling,
and hanging out with Jesus

715
00:38:20,292 --> 00:38:23,167
is "brephos."

716
00:38:25,250 --> 00:38:26,667
Luke 18.

717
00:38:26,750 --> 00:38:33,625
You go back to Luke 1, same--or
Luke 2:12 rather, same book.

718
00:38:33,667 --> 00:38:38,500
It says that there's a young
woman named Mary who has

719
00:38:38,583 --> 00:38:44,333
in her womb a "brephos,"
a child.

720
00:38:44,375 --> 00:38:48,958
His name is Jesus Christ.

721
00:38:50,667 --> 00:38:54,500
The Bible uses the same
word for the unborn Jesus

722
00:38:54,583 --> 00:38:57,208
or the preborn Jesus

723
00:38:57,292 --> 00:39:01,000
and all the kids who come
to hang out with him

724
00:39:01,042 --> 00:39:03,208
after he was not aborted

725
00:39:03,292 --> 00:39:10,125
by his poor, teenage,
rural, single mother.

726
00:39:10,167 --> 00:39:13,500
Since Jesus was not
aborted but lived,

727
00:39:13,583 --> 00:39:19,583
he grew up to be a man and
"brephos" came to play with him.

728
00:39:19,667 --> 00:39:22,417
Children came to be with him.

729
00:39:22,500 --> 00:39:25,333
The Bible sees no difference
between the child in the womb,

730
00:39:25,375 --> 00:39:28,500
right, and the child on the lap.

731
00:39:28,542 --> 00:39:31,875
The Bible sees no difference,
uses the same word.

732
00:39:31,958 --> 00:39:34,500
And the Bible has other words
that it could use

733
00:39:34,542 --> 00:39:38,208
and it intentionally
uses these words.

734
00:39:38,292 --> 00:39:44,625
Number six, God became
a baby in a mother's womb.

735
00:39:44,667 --> 00:39:50,167
Sometimes the theologians
will say, "God became a man."

736
00:39:50,250 --> 00:39:52,917
Eventually he did,

737
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:57,875
but first he was a baby

738
00:39:57,958 --> 00:40:00,833
that, like all of us,

739
00:40:00,875 --> 00:40:07,167
he grew in his mother's womb,
was birthed into the world,

740
00:40:07,208 --> 00:40:11,750
and then grew
to become an adult.

741
00:40:11,833 --> 00:40:17,167
I can't think of anything
sanctioning life and the rights

742
00:40:17,208 --> 00:40:22,750
of the unborn more than
God becoming a baby,

743
00:40:22,833 --> 00:40:25,250
God entering into human
history--God could have entered

744
00:40:25,333 --> 00:40:30,333
into human history
any way that he chose,

745
00:40:30,417 --> 00:40:34,542
but the eternal God entered into
history and he chose that his

746
00:40:34,625 --> 00:40:38,917
entrance would be through
the womb of a mother,

747
00:40:39,000 --> 00:40:43,708
that he would grow up
as a child as we do.

748
00:40:43,792 --> 00:40:48,417
This is where Jesus identifies
with the unborn and the preborn.

749
00:40:55,625 --> 00:41:01,542
And I would submit to you
that it's an issue

750
00:41:01,625 --> 00:41:05,750
in our day of human rights.

751
00:41:05,833 --> 00:41:08,458
What did the political leader
try to do to Jesus

752
00:41:08,500 --> 00:41:11,958
when he was just a little baby?

753
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:15,333
Kill him.

754
00:41:15,417 --> 00:41:19,208
Satan has been trying
to kill kids.

755
00:41:23,000 --> 00:41:27,042
It really is
a human rights issue.

756
00:41:27,125 --> 00:41:32,458
I'll give you a quote
from Alveda C. King.

757
00:41:32,500 --> 00:41:37,000
She's the niece of
Martin Luther King Jr.

758
00:41:37,083 --> 00:41:42,833
"How can the dream survive
if we murder the children?

759
00:41:42,917 --> 00:41:46,250
"Every aborted baby is
like a slave in the womb

760
00:41:46,333 --> 00:41:48,958
"of his or her mother.

761
00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:53,667
The mother decides
his or her fate."

762
00:41:53,708 --> 00:41:57,708
It's a human rights issue.

763
00:41:59,208 --> 00:42:04,208
And number seven,
God is a--

764
00:42:04,292 --> 00:42:09,125
God is a Father.

765
00:42:09,167 --> 00:42:13,917
God could have chosen any word
by which to reveal himself

766
00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:16,917
and he chose "Father."

767
00:42:17,000 --> 00:42:23,125
What do you think the Father
heart of God is toward children?

768
00:42:23,167 --> 00:42:26,000
There's a difference
between a father's heart

769
00:42:26,042 --> 00:42:29,167
and a murderer's heart.

770
00:42:29,250 --> 00:42:33,917
A father will do anything to
protect the life of the child.

771
00:42:34,000 --> 00:42:39,000
A murderer will do anything
to take the life of a child.

772
00:42:39,042 --> 00:42:45,500
God is a Father;
he's not a murderer.

773
00:42:45,583 --> 00:42:48,333
Let's use a biblical case study.

774
00:42:48,375 --> 00:42:53,208
We're in Exodus 20.

775
00:42:53,292 --> 00:42:56,500
I'll show you a verse from
the next chapter of the Bible.

776
00:42:56,542 --> 00:42:59,708
We're not going to go far.

777
00:42:59,792 --> 00:43:03,708
Here's a case study.

778
00:43:03,792 --> 00:43:08,625
"When men strive together"--
so two guys are fighting--

779
00:43:08,667 --> 00:43:12,708
"and they hit a pregnant woman."

780
00:43:12,792 --> 00:43:15,708
Maybe the guy's
drunk and missed.

781
00:43:15,792 --> 00:43:18,917
Maybe he goes to tackle a guy,
and they slam into a woman

782
00:43:19,000 --> 00:43:20,917
who's an innocent bystander.

783
00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:26,833
Maybe they're at a party
or a bar in close quarters.

784
00:43:26,875 --> 00:43:28,625
"So that her children come out."

785
00:43:28,667 --> 00:43:34,625
OK, again, this is
the Hebrew word for live birth,

786
00:43:34,667 --> 00:43:36,833
not a miscarriage.

787
00:43:36,875 --> 00:43:39,083
So, there's a pregnant woman,
two guys are fighting.

788
00:43:39,167 --> 00:43:42,000
Somehow they slam into her, bump
her, hit her, something happens.

789
00:43:42,042 --> 00:43:46,208
She goes into premature labor
but the baby lives.

790
00:43:46,292 --> 00:43:50,833
The baby doesn't die,
the baby lives, OK?

791
00:43:50,875 --> 00:43:54,125
"But there is no harm,"
the baby's OK.

792
00:43:54,167 --> 00:43:57,417
"The one who hit her
shall surely be"--what?

793
00:43:57,500 --> 00:43:59,167
"Fined."

794
00:43:59,250 --> 00:44:01,583
You're going to pay for this.

795
00:44:01,667 --> 00:44:04,667
"As the woman's husband
shall impose on him,

796
00:44:04,750 --> 00:44:07,167
and he shall pay
as the judges determine."

797
00:44:07,250 --> 00:44:09,917
You take this to court
and that guy's got to pay,

798
00:44:10,000 --> 00:44:12,125
pay for your medical bills,
pay for your care,

799
00:44:12,167 --> 00:44:14,833
pay for your pain and suffering.

800
00:44:14,875 --> 00:44:20,333
"But"—-are you ready--
"but if there is harm,

801
00:44:20,375 --> 00:44:23,333
"then you shall pay life
for life, eye for eye,

802
00:44:23,375 --> 00:44:26,375
"tooth for tooth, hand for hand,
foot for foot, burn for burn,

803
00:44:26,458 --> 00:44:30,375
wound for wound,
stripe for stripe."

804
00:44:30,458 --> 00:44:33,292
Meaning if two guys
are fighting,

805
00:44:33,333 --> 00:44:37,167
and one guy somehow
harms a pregnant woman,

806
00:44:37,250 --> 00:44:41,000
and the child dies, we do to
that guy exactly what happened

807
00:44:41,083 --> 00:44:47,167
to that child,
and that's justice

808
00:44:47,250 --> 00:44:49,708
because the baby
in the mother's womb

809
00:44:49,792 --> 00:44:54,917
has legal rights
in the sight of God

810
00:44:55,000 --> 00:44:56,708
because they're a person

811
00:44:56,792 --> 00:45:00,583
that bears the image
and likeness of God.

812
00:45:00,667 --> 00:45:06,000
Now, I will use this to show
that our culture is insane.

813
00:45:08,167 --> 00:45:13,917
It's insane.

814
00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:15,583
Let me give you a case.

815
00:45:15,667 --> 00:45:19,292
It was recently in the news.

816
00:45:19,333 --> 00:45:22,083
Here's the news story,
I'll just read it.

817
00:45:22,167 --> 00:45:25,292
"Last June, Remee Lee found
out she was pregnant

818
00:45:25,333 --> 00:45:27,333
"and was over the moon.

819
00:45:27,375 --> 00:45:30,875
"But her euphoria soon turned to
despair when the man she knew

820
00:45:30,958 --> 00:45:34,500
"as her boyfriend secretly
killed her fetus.

821
00:45:34,583 --> 00:45:38,125
John Andrew Welden
didn't want children."

822
00:45:38,167 --> 00:45:41,000
You guys who want
sex but not children,

823
00:45:41,042 --> 00:45:44,708
you're on the path to murder.

824
00:45:44,792 --> 00:45:49,917
You may not be there yet, but
you're on the path to murder.

825
00:45:50,000 --> 00:45:52,125
"John Andrew Welden
didn't want children,

826
00:45:52,167 --> 00:45:54,625
"and so he tricked Lee into
taking an abortion pill,

827
00:45:54,667 --> 00:45:57,625
"causing her
to miscarry at 6 weeks.

828
00:45:57,667 --> 00:46:00,792
Welden, 28, pleaded
guilty to killing their"--

829
00:46:00,833 --> 00:46:06,000
here's what the article
says--"unborn baby.

830
00:46:06,042 --> 00:46:10,000
"In order to trick Lee,
Welden told Lee that her

831
00:46:10,083 --> 00:46:12,333
"blood tests had shown
that she had an infection

832
00:46:12,375 --> 00:46:14,333
"and needed to take amoxicillin,

833
00:46:14,375 --> 00:46:17,875
"and that she'd need to
take it for 3 days.

834
00:46:17,958 --> 00:46:21,917
"But instead of the antibiotic,
Welden gave Lee Cytotec,

835
00:46:22,000 --> 00:46:24,667
"a drug that first
causes contractions,

836
00:46:24,750 --> 00:46:28,417
"followed by miscarriage.

837
00:46:28,500 --> 00:46:30,667
"Lee ended up being
rushed to the hospital

838
00:46:30,750 --> 00:46:32,708
"with abdominal pain
and bleeding.

839
00:46:32,792 --> 00:46:35,500
"Doctors discovered the pills
were not antibiotics

840
00:46:35,583 --> 00:46:37,917
but abortion pills."

841
00:46:38,000 --> 00:46:41,417
Yes, the kind that junior high
kids can get at school

842
00:46:41,500 --> 00:46:44,125
without parental consent
in some places

843
00:46:44,167 --> 00:46:49,208
even though they
can't get an aspirin.

844
00:46:49,292 --> 00:46:52,292
"He accepted a plea deal
that could send him to prison

845
00:46:52,333 --> 00:46:55,917
"for at least 13 years.

846
00:46:56,000 --> 00:46:59,417
"Welden was indicted under
the rarely used federal

847
00:46:59,500 --> 00:47:02,208
"Unborn Victims of Violence Act,

848
00:47:02,292 --> 00:47:07,583
a murder charge that
carries a life sentence."

849
00:47:09,833 --> 00:47:16,375
This is an application of
the principle in Exodus 22.

850
00:47:16,458 --> 00:47:21,333
The baby is a person,
and if you murder the baby,

851
00:47:21,375 --> 00:47:24,667
you deserve punishment
from the state

852
00:47:24,750 --> 00:47:28,292
because you are a murderer.

853
00:47:28,333 --> 00:47:30,917
The article uses
these amazing words.

854
00:47:31,000 --> 00:47:36,833
They use the word "unborn baby,"
"abortion pills," and "murder."

855
00:47:40,583 --> 00:47:45,292
Are you telling me that
an unborn baby is a person

856
00:47:45,333 --> 00:47:50,583
with rights and that
abortion pills cause murder?

857
00:47:50,667 --> 00:47:53,875
Yes.

858
00:47:53,958 --> 00:48:00,458
And I'm particularly
perplexed by this rarely used

859
00:48:00,500 --> 00:48:03,000
Federal Unborn Victims
of Violence Act.

860
00:48:03,083 --> 00:48:08,625
Yeah, you're not kidding
it's rarely used.

861
00:48:08,667 --> 00:48:12,125
See, if the woman would have
taken the pill and murdered

862
00:48:12,167 --> 00:48:15,917
the child, we would
have had a parade,

863
00:48:16,000 --> 00:48:19,875
but because the man tricked
her and gave her the pill,

864
00:48:19,958 --> 00:48:22,833
we sentence him
to prison for 13 years.

865
00:48:22,875 --> 00:48:27,708
My question is, was
it murder or not?

866
00:48:27,792 --> 00:48:30,500
If it was murder, then it
doesn't matter who murdered.

867
00:48:30,542 --> 00:48:33,917
It's still murder, and I
agree with the decision,

868
00:48:34,000 --> 00:48:36,500
and I'm praying for the woman.

869
00:48:36,542 --> 00:48:38,667
Her baby was murdered
by her boyfriend

870
00:48:38,750 --> 00:48:40,708
and the child's father.

871
00:48:40,792 --> 00:48:47,500
He's a murderer,
but he's not alone.

872
00:48:49,750 --> 00:48:54,083
Does this seem crazy to you?

873
00:48:54,167 --> 00:48:56,917
That a man could walk up
and hit a pregnant woman.

874
00:48:57,000 --> 00:48:59,375
If she miscarries, he could be
charged with murder

875
00:48:59,458 --> 00:49:05,417
unless he's a doctor
and the mother asks for it.

876
00:49:05,500 --> 00:49:07,917
It's insane.

877
00:49:08,000 --> 00:49:12,583
Again, the question is not
choice; the question is murder.

878
00:49:12,667 --> 00:49:17,833
The issue's not choice;
the issue is murder.

879
00:49:17,875 --> 00:49:21,125
I feel the resistance
in the room.

880
00:49:21,167 --> 00:49:23,125
You know why you feel guilty?

881
00:49:23,167 --> 00:49:25,375
Maybe because you're guilty.

882
00:49:25,458 --> 00:49:27,208
You know why you feel bad?

883
00:49:27,292 --> 00:49:29,083
Maybe you've done bad.

884
00:49:29,167 --> 00:49:32,583
Maybe the reason you don't
like the word "murder"

885
00:49:32,667 --> 00:49:36,250
is because
you've committed murder.

886
00:49:41,292 --> 00:49:46,667
We are a murderous culture.

887
00:49:48,667 --> 00:49:52,333
Since Roe v. Wade
was legalized in 1973,

888
00:49:52,375 --> 00:49:56,583
there have been
between 50 and 55 million

889
00:49:56,667 --> 00:50:02,042
documented abortions,

890
00:50:02,125 --> 00:50:06,542
just in the US.

891
00:50:06,625 --> 00:50:10,167
Let's say it's 55 million.

892
00:50:10,208 --> 00:50:14,708
That's 17% of the US population.

893
00:50:14,792 --> 00:50:19,667
Fifty-five million people is
greater than twenty-five states'

894
00:50:19,708 --> 00:50:23,208
total population combined:

895
00:50:23,292 --> 00:50:25,167
Kentucky, Oregon, Oklahoma,

896
00:50:25,208 --> 00:50:29,250
Connecticut, Iowa, Mississippi,
Arkansas, Kansas, Utah, Nevada,

897
00:50:29,333 --> 00:50:31,500
New Mexico, Nebraska,
West Virginia,

898
00:50:31,583 --> 00:50:33,458
Idaho, Hawaii, Maine,

899
00:50:33,500 --> 00:50:36,500
New Hampshire, Rhode Island,
Montana, Delaware, South Dakota,

900
00:50:36,583 --> 00:50:40,125
Alaska, North Dakota,
Vermont, and Wyoming.

901
00:50:40,167 --> 00:50:44,333
If we murdered everyone
who lives in those states,

902
00:50:44,375 --> 00:50:47,333
we would be
at about 55 million.

903
00:50:47,417 --> 00:50:49,958
If right now,
terrorist hit the US

904
00:50:50,000 --> 00:50:53,458
and killed 55 million people,

905
00:50:53,500 --> 00:50:56,333
it would be a problem.

906
00:51:00,500 --> 00:51:06,750
Instead, we have parades.

907
00:51:06,833 --> 00:51:09,708
Fifty-five million people
is greater than

908
00:51:09,792 --> 00:51:14,917
the entire population
of 219 countries.

909
00:51:15,000 --> 00:51:17,833
It's more people that live--more
people have been murdered

910
00:51:17,875 --> 00:51:21,042
through abortion than the total
number of people who live in

911
00:51:21,125 --> 00:51:27,333
South Africa, or South Korea,
or Spain, or Poland,

912
00:51:27,417 --> 00:51:33,625
or Canada, or Australia.

913
00:51:38,500 --> 00:51:42,833
"You should not"--what?

914
00:51:42,917 --> 00:51:47,958
"Murder."

915
00:51:48,000 --> 00:51:54,625
I was not just pro-choice, but
pro-abortion until I met Jesus.

916
00:51:54,667 --> 00:51:56,708
I believed in
Malthusian eugenics,

917
00:51:56,792 --> 00:51:58,500
forced population controls.

918
00:51:58,583 --> 00:52:01,375
Research the issue, some of you
know I've shared this before.

919
00:52:01,458 --> 00:52:04,167
I argued persuasively
in high school

920
00:52:04,250 --> 00:52:07,500
and early in college
for abortion.

921
00:52:07,583 --> 00:52:09,500
And then I met Jesus,
read the Bible,

922
00:52:09,583 --> 00:52:11,625
had a change of mind,
change of heart,

923
00:52:11,667 --> 00:52:14,333
change of life.

924
00:52:14,375 --> 00:52:19,375
If you're here today,
I want that for you.

925
00:52:19,458 --> 00:52:23,500
I want that for you.

926
00:52:23,583 --> 00:52:26,292
And I was thinking about
this yesterday when I hung out

927
00:52:26,333 --> 00:52:28,333
with my five kids.

928
00:52:33,292 --> 00:52:37,375
I'm glad they're all alive.

929
00:52:37,458 --> 00:52:40,583
For those of you
who are murderers,

930
00:52:40,667 --> 00:52:46,208
not just pro-choice
advocates--words matter.

931
00:52:46,292 --> 00:52:51,083
For you murderers, you men who
have driven girlfriends or wives

932
00:52:51,167 --> 00:52:55,500
to the clinic, you men who
have encouraged, or forced,

933
00:52:55,583 --> 00:52:58,417
or paid for the abortion,

934
00:52:58,500 --> 00:53:00,833
you women who have
killed your own child,

935
00:53:00,917 --> 00:53:06,000
murdered your own child.
Some of you are murderers,

936
00:53:06,042 --> 00:53:12,375
and some of you are
accessories to murder.

937
00:53:12,458 --> 00:53:16,208
The good news is that
Jesus died for murderers,

938
00:53:16,292 --> 00:53:21,375
that Jesus was murdered, that no
one is more innocent than Jesus.

939
00:53:21,458 --> 00:53:25,125
The unborn are absolutely
the most innocent human beings,

940
00:53:25,167 --> 00:53:29,792
but Jesus, the perfect, sinless,
God-man completely innocent.

941
00:53:29,833 --> 00:53:33,792
And he went to the cross,
and he was murdered.

942
00:53:33,833 --> 00:53:37,000
And one of the things that he
said as he was being murdered

943
00:53:37,042 --> 00:53:39,333
was, "Father"--what?

944
00:53:39,375 --> 00:53:41,125
"Forgive them."

945
00:53:41,167 --> 00:53:45,708
Jesus forgives murderers,
Jesus forgave his own murderers,

946
00:53:45,792 --> 00:53:50,083
and Jesus died so that
murder could be forgiven.

947
00:53:50,167 --> 00:53:52,292
So for those of you
ladies who are here,

948
00:53:52,333 --> 00:53:55,000
and you're holding back tears,
and this is a traumatic moment,

949
00:53:55,083 --> 00:53:58,083
and you feel like I've
dropped a bomb on your life,

950
00:53:58,167 --> 00:54:03,333
you're a murderer,
and Jesus forgives murderers,

951
00:54:03,375 --> 00:54:07,500
so you need Jesus, and you
need him to forgive you

952
00:54:07,583 --> 00:54:14,125
for your murder, and he will.

953
00:54:14,167 --> 00:54:17,208
For some of you that have
a very tender conscience,

954
00:54:17,292 --> 00:54:20,500
I assure you my goal today
is not to beat you up.

955
00:54:20,542 --> 00:54:24,125
But there are also many who will
hear this and they do not have

956
00:54:24,167 --> 00:54:26,792
a tender conscience, they have
a tough, hardened conscience,

957
00:54:26,833 --> 00:54:31,917
and I need to soften it up.

958
00:54:32,000 --> 00:54:36,333
And I know that immediately
certain objections come to mind.

959
00:54:36,375 --> 00:54:39,125
Some of you would say, "Well,
I personally would never have

960
00:54:39,167 --> 00:54:41,875
"an abortion, but I just don't
think we have the right

961
00:54:41,958 --> 00:54:43,375
to impose our politics
on others."

962
00:54:43,458 --> 00:54:48,417
What you're saying is, "I know
it's wrong; I'm just a coward."

963
00:54:48,500 --> 00:54:51,417
It's like saying, "I would never
commit an act of terrorism,

964
00:54:51,500 --> 00:54:56,792
but I don't think we should
impose our morality on others."

965
00:54:56,833 --> 00:54:59,667
When you say, "I would never do
that," what you're saying is,

966
00:54:59,750 --> 00:55:05,417
"Deep down, I know it's wrong."

967
00:55:05,500 --> 00:55:08,083
Some of you would say,

968
00:55:08,167 --> 00:55:11,500
"What about the tough cases,
rape, incest?"

969
00:55:11,583 --> 00:55:13,833
I would say, well, it doesn't
constitute 55 million,

970
00:55:13,875 --> 00:55:17,292
so how about if we get rid of
the mountain of cases and then

971
00:55:17,333 --> 00:55:20,000
we'll deal with the hard
ones one at a time, lovingly,

972
00:55:20,083 --> 00:55:21,417
prayerfully, biblically,
considerately,

973
00:55:21,500 --> 00:55:25,125
patiently, affectionately?

974
00:55:25,167 --> 00:55:27,833
Some of you'd say, "Well,
what about those who have

975
00:55:27,875 --> 00:55:29,583
birth defects like
Down syndrome?"

976
00:55:29,667 --> 00:55:31,000
Really?

977
00:55:31,042 --> 00:55:32,708
Because there are
members of our church

978
00:55:32,792 --> 00:55:34,875
with Down syndrome
who love the Lord Jesus

979
00:55:34,958 --> 00:55:37,875
and would tell you that they're
made in the image and likeness

980
00:55:37,958 --> 00:55:41,417
of God, and they would tell you
that they don't think

981
00:55:41,500 --> 00:55:45,792
that they should be murdered.

982
00:55:45,833 --> 00:55:50,000
We did a series of studies
across the US that I've been

983
00:55:50,083 --> 00:55:53,000
reading the transcripts for,
and on the issue of abortion

984
00:55:53,083 --> 00:55:56,417
it was pretty horrifying to
read, because in one city,

985
00:55:56,500 --> 00:55:58,000
it literally was
just said,

986
00:55:58,083 --> 00:55:59,500
"Well, of course
we need abortion.

987
00:55:59,583 --> 00:56:02,000
"What are we going to do
with all those people

988
00:56:02,083 --> 00:56:03,417
that have Down syndrome?"

989
00:56:03,500 --> 00:56:06,500
The assumption is we'll
just kill them all.

990
00:56:06,583 --> 00:56:08,917
And do you see
the haughty arrogance in that?

991
00:56:09,000 --> 00:56:14,125
See, because we are the way
people should be, they are not.

992
00:56:14,167 --> 00:56:15,917
That's a huge assumption.

993
00:56:16,000 --> 00:56:18,417
There's plenty of people that
don't have Down syndrome

994
00:56:18,500 --> 00:56:20,167
that act like animals

995
00:56:20,250 --> 00:56:26,000
and are not a real blessing
to the rest of us.

996
00:56:26,083 --> 00:56:29,333
In addition, I've been doing
ministry--now I'm entering

997
00:56:29,375 --> 00:56:31,833
into my 18th year.

998
00:56:31,875 --> 00:56:33,833
It started very early
on in Mars Hill,

999
00:56:33,875 --> 00:56:36,833
I'd get a call at the office
from a very distraught

1000
00:56:36,875 --> 00:56:39,917
pregnant woman, usually
a first-time mother.

1001
00:56:40,000 --> 00:56:43,292
"Pastor Mark, they said that
my child has Down syndrome."

1002
00:56:43,333 --> 00:56:47,833
I have heard that hundreds
of times for 17 years

1003
00:56:47,875 --> 00:56:51,000
and have yet to see a child
born with Down syndrome.

1004
00:56:51,083 --> 00:56:53,708
If they're born, love them,
praise God for them, raise them.

1005
00:56:53,792 --> 00:56:55,917
They're made in the image
and likeness of God,

1006
00:56:56,000 --> 00:56:57,417
they're fearfully
and wonderfully made,

1007
00:56:57,500 --> 00:57:01,083
there are no second-class
citizens in the kingdom of God.

1008
00:57:01,167 --> 00:57:04,208
But what happens is, in our day,
because most people abort their

1009
00:57:04,292 --> 00:57:07,875
child with Down syndrome,
the doctors don't want to take

1010
00:57:07,958 --> 00:57:09,875
the liability oftentimes.

1011
00:57:09,958 --> 00:57:12,875
So they will tell you, "Well,
there's a chance your child has

1012
00:57:12,958 --> 00:57:16,833
Down syndrome," because then
it removes the litigious burden

1013
00:57:16,875 --> 00:57:21,000
from them, and if by chance,
even if it is a minor percentage

1014
00:57:21,083 --> 00:57:24,000
opportunity that your child
will be born with Down syndrome,

1015
00:57:24,042 --> 00:57:26,000
if you just go
ahead and abort it,

1016
00:57:26,042 --> 00:57:28,625
well then, they're off
the hook, or if you have it,

1017
00:57:28,667 --> 00:57:31,000
at least they told you,
and they're not responsible,

1018
00:57:31,083 --> 00:57:32,875
and you can't sue them.

1019
00:57:32,958 --> 00:57:35,500
I've seen hundreds of
mothers traumatized, thinking,

1020
00:57:35,583 --> 00:57:38,333
"Oh my gosh, my child has
some sort of birth defect,"

1021
00:57:38,375 --> 00:57:41,833
not even Down syndrome, and
then see a healthy child born.

1022
00:57:41,875 --> 00:57:44,125
A guy on staff
literally went in,

1023
00:57:44,167 --> 00:57:46,917
they said to his wife--this
was not their first child--

1024
00:57:47,000 --> 00:57:49,000
"The child may have
Down syndrome."

1025
00:57:49,083 --> 00:57:53,208
"OK, so?
It's our child."

1026
00:57:53,292 --> 00:57:57,375
Doctor scheduled the abortion
without even consulting them.

1027
00:57:57,458 --> 00:57:59,375
They got a call from
the medical provider,

1028
00:57:59,458 --> 00:58:01,917
"Yeah, just reminding you
of your abortion."

1029
00:58:02,000 --> 00:58:05,333
"Wait, abortion--wait, no!
We don't want an abortion.

1030
00:58:05,375 --> 00:58:08,333
We're a Christian couple.
This is our child."

1031
00:58:08,375 --> 00:58:10,792
They didn't show up
for the abortion,

1032
00:58:10,833 --> 00:58:14,500
and they got billed for it,
and so they had to fight.

1033
00:58:14,542 --> 00:58:16,500
"We didn't sign up
for the abortion,

1034
00:58:16,583 --> 00:58:18,625
"we didn't show up for
the abortion because

1035
00:58:18,667 --> 00:58:20,417
we don't believe in abortion."

1036
00:58:20,500 --> 00:58:23,917
The child was born without
genetic birth defects.

1037
00:58:24,000 --> 00:58:26,000
The baby's fine.

1038
00:58:34,667 --> 00:58:41,333
See, I'm not an ethics professor
at a college, where I tell you

1039
00:58:41,375 --> 00:58:44,125
a few things, you graduate,
and I never see you again.

1040
00:58:44,167 --> 00:58:47,333
I'm your pastor.

1041
00:58:47,375 --> 00:58:48,708
I'm supposed to be here

1042
00:58:48,792 --> 00:58:51,708
for the next 30
or 40 years of my life.

1043
00:58:51,792 --> 00:58:55,708
The leaders that are with me,
many of them will be here

1044
00:58:55,792 --> 00:58:58,500
for the next 30 or 40 years, too.

1045
00:58:58,583 --> 00:59:02,500
We need to be there for
those tough decisions.

1046
00:59:02,542 --> 00:59:05,917
Meet your baby.

1047
00:59:06,000 --> 00:59:10,500
Meet your baby's baby someday.

1048
00:59:10,583 --> 00:59:16,208
See, we don't live in this world
of hypothetical but actual.

1049
00:59:16,292 --> 00:59:22,500
And we certainly don't believe
we have a right to be God.

1050
00:59:22,542 --> 00:59:28,792
Single people, don't marry
anyone who's pro-choice.

1051
00:59:31,042 --> 00:59:34,500
Don't marry anyone
who's pro-death.

1052
00:59:34,583 --> 00:59:36,708
Don't marry anyone
who's pro-murder.

1053
00:59:36,792 --> 00:59:39,167
I'll give you the same
counsel I give my kids.

1054
00:59:39,250 --> 00:59:41,375
If my daughter brings
home a guy, he says,

1055
00:59:41,458 --> 00:59:46,708
"I'm pro-abortion,"
I'm pro-breakup.

1056
00:59:46,792 --> 00:59:49,125
All right?

1057
00:59:49,167 --> 00:59:52,000
I'm not handing my daughter
to some guy who thinks

1058
00:59:52,083 --> 00:59:57,708
it's a possibility to murder
my grandbaby. No way.

1059
00:59:57,792 --> 00:59:59,875
One of my sons
brings home a woman.

1060
00:59:59,958 --> 01:00:01,250
"Dad she's a great gal."

1061
01:00:01,333 --> 01:00:02,833
What do you think
about children?

1062
01:00:02,917 --> 01:00:04,333
"You know, I believe in abortion

1063
01:00:04,417 --> 01:00:05,833
and everybody's
got to make their--"

1064
01:00:05,917 --> 01:00:07,250
OK, that's great.

1065
01:00:07,333 --> 01:00:08,750
Hey, guess what, son?

1066
01:00:08,833 --> 01:00:12,542
This is a real short
dinner at the Driscoll's.

1067
01:00:12,625 --> 01:00:17,542
All right, like, because unless
there's a change of mind,

1068
01:00:17,625 --> 01:00:20,542
this is irreconcilable.

1069
01:00:20,625 --> 01:00:23,542
Good luck trying to put a family
and a future together with

1070
01:00:23,625 --> 01:00:29,167
two people who don't even agree
on the issue of unborn life.

1071
01:00:29,208 --> 01:00:30,667
Now, immediately,
some of you women,

1072
01:00:30,708 --> 01:00:33,917
because you were raised
in feminist folly

1073
01:00:34,000 --> 01:00:35,917
and not biblical wisdom,

1074
01:00:36,000 --> 01:00:40,333
you think, "Well, this
is a women's empowerment issue."

1075
01:00:40,417 --> 01:00:46,042
OK, so we encourage women

1076
01:00:46,125 --> 01:00:48,458
to kill unborn women

1077
01:00:48,500 --> 01:00:51,250
to empower women?

1078
01:00:51,333 --> 01:00:56,750
Half of the abortions were
women, they were females.

1079
01:00:56,833 --> 01:01:00,500
In the name of women's
empowerment, we've slaughtered,

1080
01:01:00,583 --> 01:01:04,458
let's say 27-28 million women.

1081
01:01:04,500 --> 01:01:10,000
I don't know how one woman
murdering another woman results

1082
01:01:10,083 --> 01:01:14,833
in the empowerment of women,

1083
01:01:14,917 --> 01:01:20,458
because it's the murder
of women.

1084
01:01:20,500 --> 01:01:24,000
In addition, I could tell you
pastorally that women who have

1085
01:01:24,083 --> 01:01:29,000
an abortion, it haunts them
for the rest of their life.

1086
01:01:29,083 --> 01:01:32,000
There are women right now
that are crying hearing this.

1087
01:01:32,083 --> 01:01:34,458
There are women who are trying
to hold it together

1088
01:01:34,500 --> 01:01:36,333
until they get to their car.

1089
01:01:36,375 --> 01:01:39,417
There are women who have a date
on their calendar every year

1090
01:01:39,500 --> 01:01:42,167
that feels like a funeral
because it's the day that they

1091
01:01:42,208 --> 01:01:44,250
murdered their child.

1092
01:01:44,333 --> 01:01:47,917
There are women who
aborted--murdered their child,

1093
01:01:48,000 --> 01:01:50,708
and then later become mothers,
and every time they look at

1094
01:01:50,792 --> 01:01:53,042
their babies, they realize
that one is missing,

1095
01:01:53,125 --> 01:01:54,958
and they are devastated by that.

1096
01:01:55,000 --> 01:01:59,208
I know these women, I love these
women, I pastor these women.

1097
01:01:59,292 --> 01:02:03,125
There are women who, every time
they see their grandchildren,

1098
01:02:03,167 --> 01:02:07,000
they're haunted and reminded.

1099
01:02:07,083 --> 01:02:09,417
There are women who have
aborted their children,

1100
01:02:09,500 --> 01:02:12,417
and then gotten married, and
then hoped to become mothers,

1101
01:02:12,500 --> 01:02:16,917
and for some reason have been
unable, and they're haunted.

1102
01:02:17,000 --> 01:02:19,792
They're devastated.

1103
01:02:19,833 --> 01:02:23,500
See, the big myth is that
abortion doesn't harm women.

1104
01:02:23,583 --> 01:02:26,167
As a pastor, I can assure
you that it haunts them,

1105
01:02:26,250 --> 01:02:28,917
that women are made in
the image and likeness of God,

1106
01:02:29,000 --> 01:02:31,667
that women are made to nurture
the life of their child,

1107
01:02:31,750 --> 01:02:34,333
not to end the life
of their child.

1108
01:02:34,375 --> 01:02:37,333
And when a woman suppresses
the truth and she fights against

1109
01:02:37,375 --> 01:02:40,208
the way that God made her--I
know that all of this is

1110
01:02:40,292 --> 01:02:43,000
very offensive, and here's
the bottom line:

1111
01:02:43,042 --> 01:02:46,333
it's not about the attendance,
or the giving, or my ratings,

1112
01:02:46,375 --> 01:02:47,917
or popularity.

1113
01:02:48,000 --> 01:02:53,000
What really we're talking about
is who lives and who dies.

1114
01:02:53,083 --> 01:02:57,125
There can be so little that
elevates to this level

1115
01:02:57,167 --> 01:03:01,042
of importance and significance.

1116
01:03:01,125 --> 01:03:06,000
And I pastor haunted women.

1117
01:03:10,333 --> 01:03:13,333
And there will come a day when
Jesus will wipe every tear

1118
01:03:13,375 --> 01:03:15,333
from their eyes, but
between now and then,

1119
01:03:15,375 --> 01:03:17,708
there can be no
condemnation and no shame,

1120
01:03:17,792 --> 01:03:22,417
but there can be remorse,
and regret, and tears.

1121
01:03:22,500 --> 01:03:25,500
And some of you men, you know
exactly what I'm talking about

1122
01:03:25,583 --> 01:03:27,333
because you come
to Mars Hill Church

1123
01:03:27,375 --> 01:03:29,917
with blood-soaked hands.

1124
01:03:30,000 --> 01:03:36,125
You wanted sex and not marriage.
You wanted sex and not children.

1125
01:03:36,167 --> 01:03:42,000
And you are
accessories to murder.

1126
01:03:48,542 --> 01:03:51,833
This is the law.

1127
01:03:51,875 --> 01:03:55,000
The law shows us our sin.

1128
01:03:55,083 --> 01:03:59,292
The law shows us our failings,
and our faults, and our flaws.

1129
01:03:59,333 --> 01:04:02,167
It shows us that we have someone
other than God

1130
01:04:02,250 --> 01:04:04,625
in the center of our lives,
usually ourselves.

1131
01:04:04,667 --> 01:04:09,708
It shows us that we worship
things like sex and pleasure,

1132
01:04:09,792 --> 01:04:16,375
and that we are all
capable of murder.

1133
01:04:18,292 --> 01:04:22,792
The Bible not only has law,
it also has gospel, good news.

1134
01:04:22,833 --> 01:04:26,000
Here's the good news:

1135
01:04:26,042 --> 01:04:29,000
God is the living God.

1136
01:04:29,042 --> 01:04:35,208
Our sin brings death.

1137
01:04:35,292 --> 01:04:40,333
God became the man Jesus Christ,
and he started as a baby

1138
01:04:40,375 --> 01:04:45,125
in his mother's womb, and grew
up to hang on a cross

1139
01:04:45,167 --> 01:04:51,208
and to be murdered. And among
his final words were,

1140
01:04:51,292 --> 01:04:54,792
"Father, forgive them."

1141
01:04:54,833 --> 01:05:01,500
And Jesus died so that murderers
could be forgiven and changed.

1142
01:05:01,583 --> 01:05:08,333
And he rose, conquering death,

1143
01:05:08,375 --> 01:05:15,167
that God's final word was not
murder but resurrection.

1144
01:05:19,458 --> 01:05:25,417
I hope, and I pray, and I
believe that the child

1145
01:05:25,500 --> 01:05:32,000
that Grace miscarried
and I'm still haunted by--

1146
01:05:32,042 --> 01:05:34,042
somebody's missing him.

1147
01:05:43,167 --> 01:05:47,000
Somebody's missing
at my dinner table.

1148
01:05:51,667 --> 01:05:58,375
Whether it's a miscarried
child or an aborted child,

1149
01:05:58,458 --> 01:06:02,333
I believe that upon
the resurrection of the dead,

1150
01:06:02,375 --> 01:06:04,792
there'll be a lot more kids
dancing around Jesus

1151
01:06:04,833 --> 01:06:08,167
than were in Luke 18.

1152
01:06:13,167 --> 01:06:17,625
And the hope is
in the resurrection,

1153
01:06:17,667 --> 01:06:21,417
that we murdered God
and he conquered sin and death,

1154
01:06:21,500 --> 01:06:27,875
and he brings
forgiveness and life.

1155
01:06:33,042 --> 01:06:37,000
Ecclesiastes says that a sad
face is good for the heart.

1156
01:06:37,083 --> 01:06:40,500
I think I'll just
leave it there.

1157
01:06:40,542 --> 01:06:42,625
In silence, we'll collect
our tithes and offerings.

1158
01:06:42,667 --> 01:06:47,583
I'm going to give you
an opportunity to sit,

1159
01:06:47,667 --> 01:06:50,500
and to think, and to pray.

1160
01:06:50,542 --> 01:06:53,125
And before you jump up
and go get your kids,

1161
01:06:53,167 --> 01:06:57,125
pray thanking God that
you have kids to go get.

1162
01:06:57,167 --> 01:06:59,708
Father, thank you for
an opportunity to teach

1163
01:06:59,792 --> 01:07:02,333
the Bible at Mars Hill Church.

1164
01:07:02,375 --> 01:07:06,292
And God, thank you
that you are a Father,

1165
01:07:06,333 --> 01:07:09,125
and thank you for
all the children

1166
01:07:09,167 --> 01:07:12,083
that call Mars Hill home.

1167
01:07:12,167 --> 01:07:16,125
And we pray for those who are
missing, and we pray for those,

1168
01:07:16,167 --> 01:07:19,625
Lord God, who would be
coming in the future,

1169
01:07:19,667 --> 01:07:22,708
that they would make it
out of their mother's womb,

1170
01:07:22,792 --> 01:07:25,417
and they would make it
into our church family.

1171
01:07:25,500 --> 01:07:27,625
And God, as we collect
our tithes and offerings,

1172
01:07:27,667 --> 01:07:31,917
I invite you, Holy Spirit, to
rest heavily upon your people

1173
01:07:32,000 --> 01:07:36,125
and then to compel our hearts to
rejoice in hope of the gospel

1174
01:07:36,167 --> 01:07:39,875
of Jesus Christ in whose
name we pray. Amen.

1175
01:07:42,333 --> 01:07:45,292
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1176
01:07:45,333 --> 01:07:48,375
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1177
01:07:48,458 --> 01:07:51,000
This ministry is generously supported

1178
01:07:51,042 --> 01:07:53,625
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1179
01:07:53,667 --> 01:07:57,167
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1180
01:07:57,250 --> 01:08:00,250
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1181
01:08:00,333 --> 01:08:03,167
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