The Battle For Life In
The 21st Century
Pastor David L. Brown,
Ph.D.
It’s been a little more than 33 years since the proverbial camel
poked "his nose into the tent" and now nearly the whole camel has
barged his way into the sanctity of human life tent, trampling the
sanctity of life each step of the way. Here is what I mean. On
January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down
the now infamous Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. When
I added up the abortion statistics over those 33 years I was
horrified to see the total… about 49,000,000 pre-born children have
been killed. But there is more. Regularly, partially born children,
children that are ¾ delivered, are killed in the most heinous way.
Infanticide is quietly practiced on imperfect babies or babies that
are "accidentally" born when the abortion is botched. And embryonic
stem cell research is widening. Christian friend, though some people
are taken aback when I say this, it is none the less true: Our
society is no better, and in fact is worse than Nazi Germany under
Adolph Hitler. About six million Jews were killed in the Nazi
Holocaust. Eight times that number have been killed so far in the
American Abortion Holocaust to date with more being killed daily. I
fear that many Bible believing Baptists either have become
calloused, or when they are confronted with such big numbers, they
have no perspective of the magnitude of the slaughter. Let me try to
bring the numbers into some understandable framework for you. If
terrorists or calamity were to kill every last person in Spain and
Portugal, wipe out the entire population of both countries, this
would be equivalent to the number of babies that have been killed by
abortion since Roe v. Wade. The equivalence of two entire countries
wiped out! We are beginning to see the ramifications of having 16%
of the American population killed by abortion. The effects will
worsen as the years go on, but that is a topic for another article.
So what are Christians to do? Many are tempted to throw up
their hands and say, "the problem is too great for me to do anything
that will help." That is not true. It was not that many years ago
when a handful of Baptist pastors and laymen got together and
started Baptists For Life of Wisconsin. To be sure we started small,
but little is much when God is in it! Today there are three Crisis
Pregnancy Centers and a fourth one in the works. Many babies have
been saved and literally hundreds of people have come to the Lord
through the witness of the workers at these centers. In fact, there
are many things you can and should do. Below are just a few.
First, seek to win others to the Lord. This is the command of
God (2 Corinthians 5:20). Those who trust Christ as Savior are less
likely to get an abortion.
Second, know the biblical basis for the sanctity of human
life and share it with others. We are "to shine as lights" in "the
midst of a crooked and perverse nation." Genesis 9:6 says, "in the
image of God made he man." Therefore one man is not to shed the
blood of (kill) another, even the pre-born. The Bible also indicates
that life begins before birth, at conception. We see this in
Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and
before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and
I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." Luke 1:15 says of
John the Baptist "For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord,
and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be
filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb." Dr. John
Gill says, "he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his
mother's womb" means, "whilst in his mother's womb." To put it
bluntly, it is not a blob of tissue, but a baby. We were fashioned
by God in our mother’s womb (see Job 31:15 and Psalm 139:13-16).
Third, we must know and share with others what the Bible says
about sexual morality. Premarital sexual relationships are sinful (1
Corinthians 6:18; 7:2; Ephesians 5:3). Adultery is sin (Romans 13:9;
Galatians 5:19). Homosexual relationships are sin (Romans 1:26-27).
While I do not know the exact percentage, I do know that many women
get abortions because they have been immoral.
Fourth, know some basic facts about the development of a
pre-born baby so that you can share them with others. Facts like
these…
The unborn baby’s heart begins to form 18 days after
conception.
There is a measurable heartbeat 21-24 days after conception.
The baby’s brain begins to form on day 23 -
brain waves are produced by 6 weeks.
At 8 weeks after conception, the stomach, liver, and kidneys
of the baby are
functioning, and fingerprints have formed.
At 9 weeks, the unborn child can feel pain.
At 9 weeks the unborn child squints, swallows, moves tongue,
and makes fist.
At 18 weeks the unborn child’s vocal cords work and the baby
can cry.
At 20 weeks the unborn child has hair on head, weighs one
pound, 12 inches long.
At 24 weeks, 56% of babies survive premature birth.
Finally, encourage your pastor and deacons to support our
fundamental Baptist pro-life outreaches by inviting pro-life
speakers, encouraging people to work in our crisis pregnancy
centers, supporting them financially, and praying continually.
|
