Its highly likely, since I’ve not heard every sermon ever written or spoken, that sermon’s against abortion exist and are prevalent. As a forty-year veteran of church sermon listening, I can state with certainty, that I have never heard a sermon given with the expressed purpose of condemning abortion, a subject which seems to be low hanging fruit for any Christian pastor. Is there anyone in the pews who would disagree? It seems as clear a topic for any Bible believing Christian: killing an innocent, unborn baby is morally wrong. “Thou shalt not murder” seems to be a very clear directive straight from Yahweh’s stone etching stylus. Why would pastors not give this sermon? Are they worried about offending a woman in the church who’s had an abortion? Are they concerned with young ears in the audience who may not be ready to hear the graphic nature of what goes on? Some suggest that pastors are concerned with losing their 501c3 tax-exempt status wherein a sacred ritual of leftists is called on the carpet? Simply put: I don’t know. In light of Roe v Wade being overturned and baby murder being illegal in some states, now is the time to act to save innocent life. Though the point of this sermon is to speak truth, it also serves as a loving wake up call to pastors and Believers alike, to act. We should be more concerned with obeying our Savior, Jesus the Christ. So, here’s the sermon I’ve never heard about abortion.
The anchor text is from Leviticus. Leviticus 20:1-5 ESV. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death. The people of the land shall stone him with stones. I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech, to make my sanctuary unclean and to profane my holy name. And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.
This is a more detailed description of Leviticus 18:21 You shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech, and so profane the name of your God: I am the Lord and Deuteronomy 18:10a There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering,
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying,“Say to the people of Israel, Any one of the people of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn in Israel who gives any of his children to Molech shall surely be put to death.
If you can believe it, God was expressing these laws, like with all laws, because someone was already breaking them. There’s no mystery here. Sacrificing your child is punishable by death both for a citizen of Israel and anyone else in the land. The murders were gruesome. Giving your child to Molech involved placing them on the outstretched arms of a Molech statue that was super heated by fire beneath it so as to burn the child alive. Drums were played loudly to cover the screams in the most horrific description. This accounts for the further references to child sacrifice with the term “pass through the fire” in Leviticus 18:21, Ezekiel 23:36-39, 2 Kings 21:6, and Jeremiah 19:5 to name a few. If murdering a child is punishable by death, that is one way Yahweh places the utmost importance on life. If life didn’t matter, it would not hold such a severe punishment for ending an innocent life. Psalm 127:3 says Behold, children are a gift of the Lord,The fruit of the womb is a reward. Very straight forward. One wouldn’t trample on a gift or destroy it. Life is precious in God’s eyes, especially children. Look at the compassion Yahweh gave to so many in the Scriptures that could not have children early in their lives: Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel… the mothers of the pillars of our faith! Hannah, the mother of Samuel. Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist all cried out to God in their infertility. There are more than five specific healings of children by Jesus. He chastised the disciples for restricting the children from Him in Matthew 19:13-14. Jesus places incredible importance on life and especially, the life of a child. Yahweh knew us well before we were born. In John 17:14, Jesus said, Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. We were known by Him since before Creation. In Jeremiah 1:5, he tells Jeremiah Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations. He had a plan for Jeremiah before he was conceived. He consecrated him; he set him to a holy purpose. Paul states the same about himself in Galatians 1:15. Genesis 1:27 states So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God creates humans in his image. The innocent life in the womb is also in His image. There’s no reason to think God would want others to destroy His image in its most innocent form. David wrote in Psalm 139:13-14 For You formed my inmost being;You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Yahweh is given specific credit for creating a baby in the womb. Our Creator is very specific in his plan for us, before we are conceived, and during our gestation within the womb. There is no mistake that if God places importance on us long before we are even conceived, and takes special care to “knit us together” in our mother’s wombs, then that life is important, sacred, worth protecting, a gift directly from Yahweh.
The people of the land shall stone him with stones…
Yahweh places such importance on life, that He prescribed a painful death for someone who takes it. Proverbs 6:16-19 provides another perspective. There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies,and one who sows discord among brothers. The Lord hates hands that shed innocent blood. That’s the obvious connection to abortion. Planned parenthood and abortion fit all seven things the Lord hates, things that are an abomination to him. I’ve seen plenty walk arrogantly into planned parenthood, screaming at Christians trying to save them and calling them names. Abortion providers lie consistently, which has been proven in court. They obviously shed innocent blood. People are running in haste to the evil that is within each abortion mill and then bear false witness about their experiences or their reasons. It certainly sows discord when the church is silent on this issue. Some Christians even claim abortion is not sin! Yahweh hates these things. Since Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, Jesus hates these things, even though he provides forgiveness and redemption, he still hates abortion. Abortion is tops on his list! And before you tell me “Well Justin, sin is sin in God’s eyes.” Proverbs 6 disproves such foolish ideas, and John 19:11 disproves it when Jesus tells Pilate he will be committing a lesser sin than the Jews who are shouting crucify him. Child murder is about as bad as it gets. This Proverb is abundantly clear and more than devastating to the evil of abortion.
I myself will set my face against that man and will cut him off from among his people, because he has given one of his children to Molech. To set one’s face against someone is to strongly condemn them, so if the creator of the universe strongly condemns you, something painful is about to happen. This term is used elsewhere in Scripture. Leviticus 20:6, one verse after our main passage says“If a person turns to mediums and necromancers, whoring after them, I will set my face against that person and will cut him off from among his people. Lev 26:17 states: I will set my face against you, and you shall be struck down before your enemies. Those who hate you shall rule over you, and you shall flee when none pursues you. Drastic punishment. Ezekiel 14:8 states And I will set my face against that man; I will make him a sign and a byword and cut him off from the midst of my people, and you shall know that I am the Lord. Ezekiel was condemning them for idol worship, and the punishment was banishment in this case. Ezekiel 15:7 says And I will set my face against them. Though they escape from the fire, the fire shall yet consume them, and you will know that I am the Lord, when I set my face against them. They will not escape God’s wrath when He had set his face against them even if they escape the wrath of men. Perhaps the strongest use of this term, besides our current passage, comes in Jeremiah 21:10 For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the Lord: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. Yahweh set his face against Israel before Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed. When God tells you He is going to set his face against you, you are in for major destruction, and your sin is on par with hundreds of years of collective idol worship. Take note that the punishment for Israel’s hundreds of years of idol worship is the same as the punishment for sacrificing one’s child to the devil because they are one in the same.
Because it speaks of the situation prior to the Babylonian captivity as compared to modern times, it makes sense to compare child sacrifice in ancient times to abortion. How much difference is there? As reported by the Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of planned parenthood, in 2004 over 92% of abortions were elective in the United States. In Florida, where all abortion reasons are recorded, in 2020, more than 97% of in-womb baby murders were for elective reasons. The largest elective reason given was for social or economic reasons. Why were the ancient Israelites murdering their children? For economic reasons. They thought it would help their crops grow! How different is that today when an unborn baby is murdered because the pregnant mother thinks she can’t afford the child or that it would interfere with their career? There is no difference. Growing crops in ancient times was their money maker, no different than driving to the office is today. When one considers that around 19% of all pregnancies are aborted, it begs the comparison between the percentages of children murdered in ancient times versus today. Clearly, with the populations of the earth being far smaller, just in the United States, we have far surpassed the number of child sacrifices in ancient times with our insistence on abortion. Were they murdering more than 80 percent in 1200 BC? Unlikely, since they had to look those children in the eye and send them to Molech, and they would have been decimating their workforce and hurting their production, the exact thing they were trying to avoid with the child sacrifice. If we are made in the image of Yahweh, murdering the most innocent and vulnerable among us is as cowardly and evil an act as possible because it destroys the temple of the Holy Spirit talked about 1 Corinthians 3:16
Verse 3b To make my sanctuary unclean and to profane God’s name. Yahweh equates child sacrifice with a violation of the first commandment. Being “unclean” was punishable by banishment, and “profaning” the name of The Most High is punishable by death under the Law according to Leviticus 24:16. So, sacrificing your child is sin in a multitude of ways.
Yahweh puts the utmost value on innocent human life. Though there are many instances where he commands the taking of life, those people were never innocent. All of the wars between the Israelites and the Egyptians and Canaanites were commanded. God fought for them. He commanded Elijah to slaughter the priests of baal after Mt Carmel. However, He spared the life of Isaac on the altar. He saved the life of the Israelites on Passover. He listened to the prayers of Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Hannah, and Elizabeth to bring them life. He gave his life on the cross to save ours. There is no doubt our Creator places the utmost value on not so innocent life, so it seems even more so on innocent life. All have sinned and fall short, but Christ died for us all. Is there any doubt of Christ’s love for us and our value to Him, even from before conception? Jesus has known us, as we are told in Revelation 17:8 from the foundation of the world, long before even Cain was conceived.
On the sidewalk in front of the local planned parenthoods is both fulfilling and disturbing at the same time. To serve Jesus is our call. To spread the Gospel is our purpose. That happens every day just by the presence of Christians in front of the gates of hell. Jesus was clear that following him would require sacrifice and bring on persecution. So, to go an hour in front of planned parenthood without seeing multiple middle fingers is rare. Middle fingers come from young women, young men, old women, and old men. Vile profanities come from their mouths. They call you names; they spit. They throw things. I have personally had signs ripped from my hands, and cars charge at me for intimidation. I have had pepper spray squired in my face. I have had the cops called on me. My friends have been assaulted all because we stand and attempt to speak for the unborn. This is part of the territory. These incidents are nothing compared to watching an adult woman walk a young teenager into planned parenthood. Your heart is broken to see young women walk in wearing sweatpants with a backpack, only to see them emerge three hours later walking as if they had just lifted weights for two hours. You are moved to righteous anger when people say they are glad that over 1300 babies were aborted in Franklin County since 2009 or when someone stops to tell you they just donated a hundred dollars to planned parenthood because of your presences on the sidewalk. How can people be so cruel as to say such things? How can people be so ignorant as to realize that all of their arguments fail and the precious science they’ve used to justify covid jabs destroys every position they could possible take to justify abortion. There are even so called Christians who justify abortion using Genesis 2:7 which talks about God giving life to humans when he breathed life into them! How foolish! I’ve personally witnessed dozens of people drive up with I-in-Him stickers, Christian fish decals, and crosses on their vehicles only to stroll confidently into the gates of hell. I’ve had conversations with so-called Christians justifying their use of planned parenthood. It is heart breaking! It is maddening! The pro-abortion crowd promoting the scared teenager as the majority of those who use planned parenthood is a gross exaggeration in my experience of who uses that place. The vast majority are nowhere near victims; they are brazen and bold as they walk in to murder their unborn children.
Many of the argument are failures because they lie to cover up the base reason for abortion to average person: I just want to have sex whenever I want without consequences. At best, abortion is for the scared pregnant teenager; its worst for the truly evil, it is about intentionally sacrificing children to satan, but is either reason less evil?
Verse 4- And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death, 5 then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech.
Yahweh not only places a severe punishment of death in one of the worst ways possible for the father of a victim of child sacrifice, but it places banishment for those who fail to carry out the punishment of execution! No other sin is as specific in Scripture in terms of its punishment than child sacrifice. Murder is already mentioned as punishable by death. Child sacrifice is punishable by a specific death and for Yahweh to cut clansmen off from among their people if they don’t execute the father is an extra step not mentioned in Leviticus or Deuteronomy. He goes so far as to cut off the entire clan for not punishing the offender. Of course, in ancient Israel on many occasions, as with many other ancient cultures, the majority of the population was participating. So can we condemn the entire citizenry of Israel for these crimes? While its likely not everyone was participating, Adonai is clear- execution was required and was to be carried out by the clan. So Yahweh not only punished the parents and the executioner, but those who looked the other way. Are we not guilty? Usually, at the beginning of any talk of abortion in the church, there is the disclaimer so as not to offend any women who have taken part in abortion. It is my contention that if you have repented of that sin, women aren’t offended, and if one hasn’t repented, they need to hear the truth in love, not sugar coated. It is sin, one of the greatest of sins according to Leviticus. But are those who sit by less guilty? Somewhat, but not free of guilt. How does Jesus describe the lukewarm in Revelation 3? Something to be spit out of his mouth! How are we less guilty for sitting by and doing nothing to help the unborn? Just voting Republican is not enough! What have Republicans done over all for the unborn in the last 48 years? Not much. There are godly men like Brad Klippert and Matt Shea who have written bills calling for the abolition of abortion in Washington, but the Pasco City council has sat idly by and allowed planned parenthood to sit on Court street for thirteen years. The Kennewick City Council has sat on their hand and allowed an abortion mill to function on their busiest street for almost two decades. The Tri City Herald recently reported before Roe v Wade was overturned, that planned parenthood in Kennewick was preparing for more “business” when Idaho inevitably and effectively bans abortion. They seemed proud in the article to “serve” people from Texas who wanted to murder their babies in the womb. Republicans have done almost nothing. The silence is deafening from the pulpits as well. Granted I am not in every church to hear if these sermons are being preached, but I have yet to see more than two evangelical christian pastors in front of either planned parenthood, and one isn’t even from the Tri-Cities! The church should be standing firm against this evil! There are more than fifty Protestant churches in the Tri-Cities. A conservative estimate, based on national data would put the number of Christians in the Tri-Cities at around 45,000. If a Christian gave up just thirty minutes a month to come to a planned parenthood and pray, sign hold, or talk to people, that would equal just 642 Christians needed to place someone in front of both Pasco and Kennewick planned parenthoods for every minute they were open. 642 is an astoundingly low number of 1.43% of Christians. At this point, there are fewer than fifty who regularly spend any time out front. Even counting the volunteers and workers at You Medical and Hope Medical, the number of Christians in this fight is exceptionally low. So I return to Leviticus 20:5 And if the people of the land do at all close their eyes to that man when he gives one of his children to Molech, and do not put him to death,5then I will set my face against that man and against his clan and will cut them off from among their people, him and all who follow him in whoring after Molech. Of course I’m not calling for anyone who has had an abortion to be put to death, but the greater picture is for the consequences of those who sit by and watch. Have you repented for your part in abortion?
“You say, well, Justin, I’ve never had an abortion.” I might ask- have you used birth control pills? Have you used plan B? If life begins at conception, which it does, you have participated in it. My wife and I used them for almost three years! How many babies did I kill with my ignorance, with my believing the world instead of seeking the truth! How many times did I drive by the planned parenthood and not even stop to pray! How many times did I curse Democrats and let Republicans have a pass because they paid lips service to this evil?
“Don’t blame me, I’m pro-life” was the the name of the article written by coach Dave Daubenmier. He explains the cry of the lukewarm. There is no room for the lukewarm in this war. Proverbs 24:10-12 is extremely clear. If you faint in the day of adversity,your strength is small. Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it, and will he not repay man according to his work?
There are Christians who are not lukewarm, who are fighting are spreading the Gospel while defending the unborn. Just in the Tri-Cities, In Andrews Steps is in front of the Kennewick planned parenthood every Monday preaching the Gospel, handing out tracts, offering to help people entering, and has been for years. You Medical and Hope Medical offer all the services planned parenthood offers except, of course, for birth control and abortion. Hope Medical is literally a block away from the Kennewick abortion mill. 40 Days for Life is in action right now, though a mostly Catholic organization, they have been fighting against abortion for locally for several years. Abolish Abortion Washington is active in our state politically and on the front lines in front of planned parenthood “clinics” and abortion mills. A quick search will reveal multiple state wide and nation wide pro-life/anti-abortion agencies. Not to mention the pro-adoption agencies run by Christians and Catholics state wide and nation wide. With all that said, where are the churches?
It likely that many churches are diverting funds to local pro-life organizations like You Medical, but what should they be doing? Speaking directly against abortion regularly and encouraging serving in front of abortion mills and “clinics” run by planned parenthood. But churches are like companies in many respects, run by boards and pastors who may not want to publically commit to open peaceful assembly against this evil and to witness and try to help the victims. The individual can only encourage the church, but, since we are the church, we must stop waiting for pastors to lead and take the lead our selves. In many respects, this sermon is a call to pastors to preach, but it is more about what the individual follower of Christ must do.
First of all, repent of your part in abortion. If you are a woman who has had an abortion, repent of your sin but be grateful that the Redeemer has paid the price for you, so you don’t have to be stoned to death! However, if you have not repented until today, you are likely suffering more and more every day. Your sins can be forgiven! Jesus wants you to come to him and accept him and find peace. If you encouraged or looked the other way when a loved one killed their baby, especially if you were the father, repent! Jesus can forgive you and give you peace. If you have used birth control, repent! If you vote Democrat, repent! If you have ignored the Holy Spirit telling you to join those on the streets, or volunteer at a pro-life/anti-abortion organization, repent! If you knowingly have spent money with companies who support planned parenthood, repent! If you knowingly injected yourself with the COVID jab that contains or was tested on aborted babies, repent! Jesus will forgive you and will save you. Yahweh redeemed the Israelites to prosperity and peace when they repented with the Judges, and with David, Solomon, Hezekiah, Josiah, and Ezra and Nehemiah. Jesus redeems us from our sin and has fulfilled the law so we don’t have to face this consequence. You will feel the greatest sense of peace when you tell the truth, when you confess your sin, and then work against it.
Defend human life, human life created in the image of Yahweh, our creator, our Savior, our Lord and Master.
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”“What is written in the Law?”he replied.“How do you read it?”He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’“You have answered correctly,”Jesus replied.“Do this and you will live.”But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”In reply Jesus said:“A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him,“Go and do likewise.”
How does this fit?
Jesus told his disciples in Matthew 18:6 But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Such a severe punishment would not be needed