Psalm 106

[0:00] Alright, this morning we're going to be, our home base is going to be Psalms 106. So if everybody could turn there.

[0:11] ! We're going to read it and then I'm going to lay some of the groundwork for that. So Psalms 106.

[0:30] Just to lay some groundwork for this Psalm. This is a Psalm and it basically covers the Jews from their exile from Egypt until their Babylonian captivity.

[0:52] So it's a long span of time and a lot happens. And it's just kind of pointing all of that out. So let's read it together.

[1:03] Praise the Lord. Oh, give thanks to the Lord for He is good. For His loving kindness is everlasting. Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the Lord?

[1:13] Or who can show forth all His praise? How blessed are those who keep justice. Who practice righteousness at all times. Remember, oh Lord, in Your favor towards Your people, visit me with Your salvation.

[1:27] That I may see the prosperity of Your chosen ones. That I may rejoice in the gladness of Your nation. That I may glory with Your inheritance. We have sinned like our fathers.

[1:39] We have committed iniquity. We have behaved wickedly. Our fathers in Egypt did not understand Your wonders. They did not remember Your abundant kindness. But rebelled by the sea, at the Red Sea.

[1:52] Nevertheless, He saved them for the sake of His name. That He might make His power known. Thus He rebuked the Red Sea and it dried up. And He led them through the deeps as through the wilderness.

[2:04] So He saved them from the hand of the one who hated them. And redeemed them from the hands of their enemy. The water covered the adversaries. Not one of them was left.

[2:15] Then they believed His words and they sang His praises. They quickly forgot His works. They did not wait for His counsel. But craved intensely the wilderness. And tempted God in the desert.

[2:28] So He gave them their request. But sent a wasting disease among them. When they became envious of Moses and the camp. And Aaron, the Holy One of the Lord.

[2:39] The earth opened up and swallowed Dathan. And engulfed the company at Abram. And a fire blazed up in their company. The flame consumed the wicked.

[2:51] They made a calf in Horeb. And worshipped a molten image. Thus they exchanged the glory for the image of an oxen that eats grass. They forgot God their Savior.

[3:02] Who had done great things in Egypt. Wondrous in the land of Ham. And awesome things by the Red Sea. Therefore He said He would destroy them. Had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him.

[3:14] To turn away His wrath for destroying them. Then they despised the pleasant land. They did not believe in His word. But grumbled in their tents. They did not listen to the voice of the Lord.

[3:26] Therefore He swore to them that He would cast them down in the wilderness. And He would cast their seed among the nations and scatter them in the lands. They joined themselves also to the Baal Peor.

[3:41] And ate sacrifices offered to the dead. Thus they provoked Him to anger with their deeds. And a plague broke out among them. Then Phinehas stood up and interposed.

[3:51] And so the plague was stayed. And it was reckoned to Him for righteousness to all generations forever. They also provoked Him to wrath at the waters of Merhub. So that it went hard with Moses on their account.

[4:07] Because they were rebellious against His spirit. He spoke rashly with His lips. They did not destroy the people as the Lord commanded them. But they mingled with the nations and learned their practices.

[4:17] And served their idols which became a snare to them. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons. And shed innocent blood. The blood of their sons and their daughters. Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan.

[4:31] And the land was polluted with the blood. Thus they became unclean in their practices. And played the harlot in their deeds. Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against His people.

[4:42] And He abhorred His inheritance. Then He gave them into the hands of the nations. And those who hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also opposed them.

[4:53] And they were subdued under their power. Many times He would deliver them. They, however, were rebellious in their counsel. And so sank down in their iniquity. Nevertheless, He looked up.

[5:05] He looked upon their distress when He heard their cry. And He remembered His covenant for their sake. And relented according to the greatness of His loving kindness. He also made them objects of compassion.

[5:18] In the presence of all their captors. Save us, O Lord our God. And gather us from among the nations. To give thanks to Your holy name. And the glory in Your praise.

[5:29] Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel. From everlasting to everlasting. And let all the people say, Amen. Praise the Lord. So before we delve into this.

[5:43] I want to point out some things. And just lay some groundwork. We have a dog. His name is Cavu.

[5:53] And he's a boxer. And we love him. He's the best dog. He's really smart. He can do a ton of tricks. We can tell him, Go get your squirrel. And he'll get his toy that's shaped like a squirrel.

[6:05] He can say, Get your ball. He'll get a ball. He knows all these things. And he's a great dog. We really enjoy spending time with him. But there's something different in the way that we love Cavu.

[6:20] And then in the way that we love our new son, Elijah. And the main thing is that Elijah is our child. And Elijah is a human being. Elijah was created in the image of God.

[6:31] Whereas Cavu was not. Another thing. I like to watch the Discovery Channel. I like watching Animal Planet. Things like that.

[6:42] I've always grown up loving animals. Being outdoors. Being around wildlife. And one time we were watching the Discovery Channel. When me and Tiffany had just started dating.

[6:53] And it was about the Arctic. And so they were showing these penguins. And they're playing out on the icebergs. And Tiffany's talking about how cute they are. And how much she liked them.

[7:04] And then this leopard seal comes up out of nowhere. And it eats the penguin. And Tiffany hated that. It was devastating to her. Because the penguins are so cute. And so she was so mad at this leopard seal.

[7:16] And as the documentary went on. The leopard seal is out. Sitting and relaxing after its meal on the iceberg. And these three killer whales come up. And they start pounding the iceberg.

[7:28] They knock the leopard seal off. And they eat the leopard seal. And she was horrified at that point. When the killer whales came. She decided that she really liked the leopard seal.

[7:39] And so she's rooting for the leopard seal. And so she was devastated again. There are things that we face. That nothing else created by God faces.

[7:52] Because we are made differently. The leopard seal. When it was sitting on the iceberg. It wasn't thinking about how regretful it was for killing the penguin. It wasn't thinking.

[8:03] Oh no. I did it again. I just can't control myself. I don't know what happens. I just get this urge. And I have to kill this penguin. The leopard seal was content. It was happy.

[8:13] Because it got a meal. And it's whole purpose and drive is to survive. Same thing with the orcas. When they attacked the leopard seal. They weren't thinking about the harm that they were causing.

[8:27] They weren't facing regret. They weren't doing any of that. That is an emotion specifically for humans. And the reason for that is because we were created in the image of God.

[8:39] Our dog Cabu was not created in the image of God. The lions aren't created in the image of God. No other creature on the earth is created in the image of God. To show that we're going to.

[8:51] I'm going to read. You don't have to turn there if you don't want to. Genesis 1. 26 through 28. This is also known as the Imago Dei. Which is image of God. So Genesis 1.

[9:03] 26 through 28. Then God said. Let us make man in our image. According to our likeness. And let them rule over the fish of the sea. And over the birds of the sky. And over everything creeping.

[9:13] That creeps on the earth. God created man in his own image. And the image of God he created them. God blessed them. And God said to them. Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it.

[9:25] And rule over the fish of the sea. And over the birds of the sky. And over every living thing. That moves on the earth. And so here. God creates Adam. And then God.

[9:36] Ordains Adam. To rule over. And to subdue. All the other creatures on the earth. And so. We see that Adam is created. In this Imago Dei. This image of God.

[9:47] A good word for that. Is spirit. Adam has a spirit. God is spirit. And Adam. Has a spirit. We have a spirit. We have a conscience.

[9:58] We wrestle with things. And so. We see that we have a spirit. With the sanctity of human life. The thing that always.

[10:10] Initially would come up is. When do we get that spirit? As a human being. Do we get that spirit when we're born? Do we get that spirit in the womb? At what point in the womb do we get that spirit?

[10:22] And so. We're going to just look at that really quickly. The first thing. Is Psalms 51. Verse 5. David. Is writing this psalm.

[10:32] And what he says is. Behold I was brought forth in iniquity. And in sin my mother conceived me. And so we see here. That. When he was brought forth and conceived.

[10:43] It was in sin. The thing with that. This is showing. That we're born into sin. Animals. They. They don't wrestle with sin. Like we wrestle with.

[10:54] That's a spiritual matter. And because we are born. In the image of God. We are born. Wrestling with sin. Because of Adam's. Guilt. We are. Guilty before the Lord.

[11:04] And so we. We deal with and we wrestle with sin. And this shows us that we do that. He says. I was brought forth in iniquity. And in sin my mother conceived me. So at conception.

[11:16] There's this idea. Of wrestling with sin. And then. The other perspective of it. We're going to look at Luke 1. 26 through 44. And this is the story of Mary.

[11:28] When Gabriel announces. That Christ is going to be born. And then when she goes to her aunt's house. And so. Starting in verse 26.

[11:39] Of Luke 1. It says. Now in the sixth month. The angel Gabriel was sent from God. To a city in Galilee. Named Nazareth. To a virgin engaged. To a man. Whose name was Joseph. Of the descendant of David.

[11:50] And the virgin's name was Mary. And coming in. He said to her. Greetings favored one. The Lord is with you. But she was very perplexed at this statement. And kept pondering.

[12:01] What kind of. Salutation this was. The angel said to her. Do not be afraid Mary. For you have found favor with God. And behold. You will conceive in your womb.

[12:11] And bear a son. And you shall name him Jesus. He will be great. And will be called the son. Of the most high. The Lord God. Will give him. The throne of his father David.

[12:21] And he will reign. Over the house of Jacob forever. And his kingdom. Will have no end. Mary said to the angel. How can this be. Since I am a virgin. The angel answered. And said to her.

[12:32] The Holy Spirit. Will come. Upon you. And the power of the most high. Will overshadow you. For this reason. The holy child. Shall be called. The son of God. And behold. Even your relative.

[12:43] Elizabeth. Has also conceived. A son. In her old age. And she who was called. Barren. Is now. In her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible. With God. And Mary said.

[12:53] Behold. The bond slave of the Lord. May it be done. To me. According to your word. And the angel. Departed from her. Now at this time. Mary arose. And went. In a hurry. To the hill country.

[13:04] To a city. Of Judah. And entered the house. Of Zacharias. And greeting Elizabeth. When Elizabeth. Heard Mary's greeting. The baby. Leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth. Was filled with the Holy Spirit.

[13:16] And she cried out. With a loud voice. And said. Blessed are you. Among women. And blessed is the fruit. Of your womb. And how has it happened. To me. That the mother. Of my Lord. Would come to me. For behold.

[13:27] When the sound. Of your greeting. Reached my ears. The baby. Leaped in my womb. For joy. And so what's happening here. Is. Mary's. Sitting in her house. And an angel. Comes to her. And says.

[13:39] Even though you're a virgin. The Lord. Is going to. Put a child. In your womb. And. She says. How can that be. He describes it. And so. Right after that.

[13:49] She leaves. It's about a two day journey. To where she was going. And so. From the time she left. To the time she got there. Which is about two days. She's already. Got a baby forming.

[14:02] In her womb. When she gets there. Elizabeth hears her voice. And John the Baptist. Leaps for joy. At the presence. Of Jesus Christ. And so. Just as he will.

[14:13] Continue to do. When he goes before the Lord. And says. I'm not worthy. To. To unstrap your sandals. And so. What we see here. At two days. That Jesus being.

[14:24] 100% man. And 100% God. Has the spirit of God. Inside of him. Two days after conception. And so. We see from. From conception. That.

[14:35] We are made in God's image. And. And so. When we. Talk about abortion. We're talking about. Destroying.

[14:46] Men and women. Created in the image of God. From conception. Before we were born. The Lord knows us. He knows. The hair on our head. And. And so.

[14:58] When we talk about abortion. That's what we're talking about. Just some stats. Real quick. That I've. Pulled up. Since Roe v. Wade. In 1974.

[15:10] There has been. Between. 40 and 50 million abortions. And that's according to the. Who website. The World Health Organization. Since January. The 1st. 2014.

[15:22] There's. I've got. 1 million. 500,000. Nathan said. 1 million. 200,000. Somewhere. In between that. There's been. That many abortions.

[15:32] Since January. 1st. Of last year. And that's roughly. The size. Of the population. Of San Diego. To kind of put this. Into perspective. This. Past year.

[15:43] 2014. Was the largest. Ebola outbreak. Recorded in history. And. According to the CDC. The total death. Number. Was 8,371.

[15:55] And so. With the. 8,371 deaths. That occurred. It was all over the news. It was all over. All media. Social media. People were talking. About it. And we're talking.

[16:06] About 8,371 deaths. While that's. A tragic. And horrible thing. 40 to 50 million deaths. Is a lot more tragic. And it's. It's a lot more horrible.

[16:17] With that being said. One out of four women. Statistically. Will have an abortion. And with. With that ratio. It's likely. That there are.

[16:28] Women here. That have had an abortion. Or will have an abortion. And. I don't want somebody. To leave here. Thinking. That. We're beating up. On them. Or that.

[16:39] The church. Doesn't love them. Or that God. Doesn't love them. As. As we look. In Psalms 106. We see that there's no sin. That God. Cannot overcome.

[16:50] That we are all sinners. And Christ died for us. In our sins. We see that if we. Confess our sins. He is faithful. And just. To forgive us. Of our sins. And to purify us. From all unrighteousness.

[17:01] And so. As we talk about this today. If you have. Experienced an abortion. Or. If you experience an abortion. Down the road. That's not the impardonable sin.

[17:12] God can forgive you. God. Will forgive you. If you call upon his name. And. And so. As we deal with this. I do want to tread lightly. With that. Knowing that there could be people here.

[17:23] But. When you talk to people. About abortion. Today. Science. Has. Advanced. Greatly. Since.

[17:34] 1974. And. Science. Is really. On. The. Pro-life. Side. Here. So. When you talk to people. It's. Today.

[17:45] It's not. About the science. Like it used to be. Now. It's more. About. The freedom. Of choice. And. And. So. Just to. I gave you some stats. Let's look at some of the things.

[17:56] That science has. Shown us. In 1974. There were no 3D ultrasounds. Or sonograms. Now. We can have 3D ultrasounds. With. With our son. Elijah.

[18:06] We went and paid for a 3D ultrasound. And. And. We could see him. He was sucking his. His thumb. He was. Making the same faces. That he makes now. His hand positions. Were the same as when he sleeps now.

[18:19] And. And. You could see. A visible. Manifestation. Of. Of Elijah. In the womb. And so. With that technology. People have been able to see that.

[18:31] At 8 weeks. Organs are developing. But they're functioning. All of the major organs. Are functioning. In an 8 week old. Embryo. A fetus. And. That the baby.

[18:42] At that. Stage. Will. Recoil from pain. So. If they have to. Draw blood. Or things like that. The baby can. Can feel pain. And it will recoil. From pain.

[18:53] At. At that stage. It's also. Worthy to note that. The 8. From 8 weeks. And on. Is when the majority. Of abortions happen. At 28 weeks.

[19:06] The. There is a. Extremely high chance. Of survival. Outside of the womb. And so. A 28 week year old. A 28 week. Child. Can survive. Outside of the womb. They will have to go to.

[19:19] Neonatal. And things like that. But. From 28 weeks. And on. It's a 90% chance. That the child. Will survive. Some other things. 50 states.

[19:30] Have. Laws. Against. The abuse. Of animals. It's illegal. To torture. Or to kill animals. Just. For. A person's. Desire.

[19:42] And so. That's illegal. In all 50 states. Another interesting thing. Is that 38 states. Have. And enforce. Laws. On fetal homicide. And so. What that is. Is.

[19:54] Say a lady. Is driving. To an abortion clinic. To get an abortion done. That day. If she gets hit. By a drunk driver. On the way. To the abortion clinic. That driver. Will be charged.

[20:05] With. A fetal homicide. If the baby dies. If. She makes it there. And then aborts the baby. There's. There's no laws. Against that. And so. The laws.

[20:17] That we have. And that we enforce. Don't match up. With. Things like this. Like fetal homicide. And so. As I started studying this. And getting into this.

[20:28] I started to see. That we're really. No longer battling over. A fetus. Being a life or not. I know. In. In Roe v. Wade. In 74. And really.

[20:39] When I was in high school. And they would talk to us. About things. The battle was. That it's not just a bunch of cells. But that it's a life. Today. We're. We're not battling that.

[20:50] We're battling something different today. January 23rd. 2013. A pro-choice advocate. Mary Elizabeth Williams. She wrote. A blog.

[21:01] And it was titled. So what if abortion ends life? I believe that life starts at conception. And it's never stopped me from being pro-choice. I'm going to. I took out two excerpts.

[21:11] Just to read to you. So we can get an understanding. Of. What we're facing. When we. When we deal with. Pro-life. Versus pro-choice. Today. First thing she said is.

[21:23] I know that throughout my own pregnancies. I never wavered for a moment. In the belief that I was carrying a human life inside of me. I believe. That's what a fetus is. A human life.

[21:33] And that does not make me one iota less. Solidly pro-choice. Then the other thing she said is. Here's the. Complicated reality in which we live.

[21:44] All life is not equal. That's a difficult thing. For liberals like me to talk about. Lest we end up looking like. Death panel loving. Kill your grandma. And your precious baby stormtroopers.

[21:57] Yet. Yet a fetus. Can be a human life. Without having the same rights. As the woman. In whose body it resides. She's the boss.

[22:07] Her life. And what's right for her circumstances. Should automatically trump. The rights of the non-autonomous entity inside of her. Period. Always.

[22:18] Period. And so what happened there. She understands that a fetus is a life. And she understands that. Abortion is.

[22:28] Is killing. A person. It's taking life. But what she says is that. Yet a fetus can be a human life.

[22:39] Without having the same rights. As the woman. In whom's body it resides. She is the boss. Her life. And what's right for her circumstances. Should automatically trump. The rights of the non-autonomous entity.

[22:50] Inside of her. I was listening to. John Piper sermon. And he was talking about. That it's no coincidence that we have.

[23:02] The sanctity of human life. And then the following. Week we celebrate Martin Luther King. Because we're facing the same issue here. We're facing. People.

[23:13] That have. Rejected God. They've rejected. The sovereignty of God. And. They've rejected that. That we are all. Subject to his lordship.

[23:26] What's happening here. Just like what happened. When. Black people were said. That they did not have the right to vote. Or when women did not have the right to vote. Is. We look at.

[23:37] The individual's rights. And how we are in control. We are. We are better. We are. The God of our universe. And we have the right to choose. What is important.

[23:48] We have the right to choose. Who gets to live. And who gets to die. She is the boss. Her life. And what's right for her circumstances. Should automatically. Chump the rights. Of the non-autonomous entity.

[23:59] Inside of her. The question is. Who. Gets to decide that. For us as Christians. We stand on the word of God. We stand on the whole counsel of the word. We know that all of scripture.

[24:09] Is God breathed. And. And so we can stand on that firmly. And we see that. That God is the one that decides that. He lays it out very clearly. That.

[24:19] That he is the creator of all things. And. And he decides. Who lives and who dies. It's. It's not up to us. It's not our choice. We have no say in the matter.

[24:30] We didn't create ourselves. And we didn't create the child. Elijah was our first child. And it was just. It was such a blessing. To see the miracle that is life.

[24:41] We did nothing to create the child. The child was being created. And fashioned by God in the womb. And it was. You could see it every single time. That we would go and get an ultrasound. Or every single time.

[24:52] That we would measure Tiffany's belly. And see the child growing. To the boy that he is today. That wasn't anything that we were doing. She would take prenatal vitamins.

[25:04] And try to eat right. And live a healthy lifestyle. And get checkups. And all that stuff. But there was nothing that we could do. To sustain life. There was nothing that we could do. To create that life. It was completely created by God.

[25:15] And so. If we can't create it. We have no right. To decide to end a life either. And so that brings us to Psalm 106. And.

[25:27] We're going to look at. There's. Ten major sins. I broke it up. Into these ten sins.

[25:39] That it talks about. And then we're going to look at. God's response to that as well. I do want to point out. That the very beginning. Psalms 106. 1 through 5.

[25:50] And then the very end. I'll read them real quick. It says. Praise the Lord. I'll give thanks to the Lord. For he is good. For his loving kindness is everlasting. Who can speak of the mighty deeds of the Lord.

[26:02] Or who can show forth all his praise. How blessed are those who keep justice. Who practice righteousness at all times. Remember me oh Lord. In your favor towards your people.

[26:12] Visit me with your salvation. That I may see the prosperity of your chosen one. That I may rejoice in the gladness of your nation. That I may glory with your inheritance. And then at the end.

[26:24] We see. Save us oh Lord our God. And gather us from among the nations. To give thanks to your holy name. And glory in your praises. Blessed be the Lord. The God of Israel. From everlasting to everlasting.

[26:36] And let all the people say. Amen and praise the Lord. And so we see here. That. Despite all of these sins. That we're going to talk about. God is greater than all of them. God overcomes all of them.

[26:47] God sees his people through. And. And so we can. We can take hope in that. And have. Heart in that. That the Lord is going to equip us. To do what he's called us to do.

[26:59] But the first thing that we're going to look at. The first sin. It starts in verse 7. Says. Our fathers in Egypt. Did not understand your wonders. And they did not remember. Your abundant kindnesses.

[27:11] But they rebelled by the sea. At the Red Sea. So. In Egypt. They did not understand. The wonders of God. And they. Did not remember. The abundant kindnesses.

[27:21] But they rebelled. And a major reason for this. Is. When they were in Egypt. They were in bondage. To the Egyptians. And they lost. A lot of who they were. They. Started to drift away.

[27:32] From the Lord. And they started to. Resemble more. Of. The Egyptians around them. They let culture dictate. The way that they. Thought about God. Because. They were filling their minds.

[27:44] With the culture around them. As opposed to filling their minds. With who God is. And remembering what he has done. The next thing. In verse 13. The second thing we see.

[27:54] They quickly forgot his works. But they did not wait for his counsel. They craved intensely the wilderness. And tempted God in the desert. And so. They are not waiting on the Lord. They are forgetting what the Lord has done in their life.

[28:07] And they are not waiting on the Lord. And this happens to us a lot too. When we. The Lord will do something mighty in our life. He. Brings us on this mountaintop.

[28:19] Where he delivers us from sin. And how quickly we forget. The Bible tells us that. The law of the Lord is like a mirror. It shows us our reflection. But we tend to walk away.

[28:30] And we tend to forget what we look like. When I was in Iraq. When I was in the military. When I was in Iraq. We had no mirrors over there. We. We didn't see our reflections very often.

[28:40] And there is about a. Three month time. When we first went in. That we didn't have showers. We didn't have. Food. We had the MREs. But we had no.

[28:50] Hot meals. And. And so for three months. We're sleeping in the dirt. We're. Doing mission. After mission. After mission. And. We didn't have mirrors. So I didn't get to see what I looked like.

[29:00] But once we got to Kuwait. And we were about to fly back home. We all. Got to take hot showers. And they had these big mirrors. And when I looked at my face. It was. A lot thinner. And. And I just got to see myself.

[29:11] In the dirt. And the filth. That was. That was on me. That I didn't know was there. Because I hadn't. Seen my reflection. In a long time. And I think a lot of Christians. Tend to do that. We.

[29:22] We see. Our reflection. In the word. And. We get away from that. Because we don't want to see. The filth. We don't want to see. That our hair is messed up. That. That we have dirt on our face.

[29:33] All these things. We don't want to see the sins in our life. We don't want to be shown. That we deal. And that we have these sins in our life. And so we don't. Deal with the word. And the Lord. Just like what happened to the people here.

[29:43] Where. They craved intensely the wilderness. The longer we're apart from the Lord. The more we crave the things of this world. And. And so. We have to be in the word.

[29:53] We have to. Look at that mirror. So that we can see. The filth in our life. To get it off of us. The third thing. In verse 16. When they became. Envious of Moses in the camp.

[30:04] And Aaron. And. The holy one of the Lord. The earth opened. And swallowed up Dathan. And engulfed the company of Abram. And so. They became envious of.

[30:15] Moses. And of Aaron. And what the. That the Lord was speaking through them. They didn't want to listen to them. And so. The earth opened up Dathan. And swallowed them. A fire blazed up in their company.

[30:27] And a flame consumed all of the wicked. So. Because of that. Because of their envy. This happened to them. The fourth thing.

[30:37] In verse 19. They made a calf. And worshiped the molten image. Thus they exchanged the glory. For the image of an oxen. That eats grass. This is something that we do.

[30:50] A lot. We might not go. And make an idol. But what they were doing here is. A calf would represent. One. A calf is young.

[31:01] And then. Calf were very. The oxen were very strong animals. And so. They're. Understanding that their God. Lives forever. And that he's strong. But.

[31:11] What. What they did is. They took God. And they gave. They were worshiping. Physical attributes. They were. Worshiping things that he created. And the Lord said that he does not desire to be worshiped like that.

[31:24] And so they're worshiping these things. They're making this. Image. And worshiping this image. As opposed to worshiping God. In spirit. And in truth of his word. And so. We do that all the time.

[31:35] There are people. That grow up in church. And. They confess to be believers. And. When you ask them what that means. Or you have them talk to you about. Who God is.

[31:46] God is a God of love. And. And that's predominant. Even though I sin. God loves me. He's not going to send me to hell. He won't send people to hell. Because God is a God of love. And so. We take part of God's truth.

[31:58] And we worship that. Without worshiping the full counsel of God's word. And that's a very dangerous thing to do. We have to worship God. Fully. As he desires to be worshipped.

[32:09] We can't make an idol. We can't make God. Think and say what we want him to. We have to. Die to ourself. And live to what he says. Also. The fifth thing in 21.

[32:21] They forgot God their savior. Who had done great things in Egypt. Wondrous in the land of Ham. And awesome things at the Red Sea. So they are forgetting again. All that God did. The sixth thing in verse 24.

[32:32] They despised the pleasant land. They did not. They did not believe in his word. But grumbled in their tents. And did not listen to the voice of the Lord. The seventh thing in verse 28.

[32:44] They joined themselves also to Baal Peor. And ate sacrifices offered to the dead. So they are joining themselves to this little G God. And eating sacrifices.

[32:58] The eighth thing. They also provoked him to wrath at the waters of Merhab. So it was. So that it went hard with Moses. On their account. Because they were rebellious against his spirit.

[33:10] He spoke rashly with his lips. The ninth thing in verse 34. They did not destroy the peoples. As the Lord commanded them. But they mingled with the nations. And learned their practices.

[33:21] And served their idols. Which became a snare to them. And that led to the tenth thing. They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters. To the demons. And they shed innocent blood. The blood of their sons.

[33:32] The blood of their daughters. Who they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. And the land was polluted with the blood. And so. This is the main reason I picked this passage. To talk about today.

[33:43] Because. The ninth and the tenth thing. The ninth thing. They didn't destroy the people. But they mingled with them. And they learned their practices. And they served their idols.

[33:54] And. That led to. The shedding of innocent blood. They sacrificed their sons and their daughters. To the demons. And then they sacrificed them.

[34:05] To the idols of Canaan. And so. The way that. We were talking about. The conversation. Between pro-choice. And pro-life. Has changed.

[34:16] From scientific. To. A woman's right to choose. Is. What this is talking about here. The church.

[34:26] Has. Has. We all. Have culture. No matter where you live. Culture is around us. And culture affects. Our daily lives. If we don't have.

[34:37] A spiritual filter. A biblical filter. To the culture around us. Then. What is normal. For those around us. Becomes normal. For us. And it eventually. Becomes normal.

[34:48] For the church. Church. There's. Tons of examples. Of that. But. One of the. The great examples. In our generation. Is. Abortion. The fact. That there has been.

[34:58] Forty to fifty million. Babies aborted. And that the church. Has not had as big of a voice. As it should have had. There are people. That stand up. There are people. That do things. But the church. In general.

[35:09] Has. Become very apathetic. To. The. Issue of abortion. And. We think. Well. I'm not going to get an abortion. And so. I'm good. I'm supporting.

[35:20] Pro-life. But that is not. What God calls. Calls us to do. Is to just. Withhold. We have to present truth. We have to speak truth. In love. And so.

[35:32] There's a mingling. With the nations. Learning their practices. And that leads to the sacrifice. Of sons and daughters. To the demons. And the shedding of innocent blood. The blood of their sons. And their daughters.

[35:42] Whom they sacrifice. To the idols of Canaan. And so. This is happening. By the. Like what Nathan said. Every 26 seconds. There's an abortion. There's. This sacrifice.

[35:54] Sacrifice. Of. Of. Human blood. And. And it says. It's a shedding of innocent blood. The blood of their sons. And their daughters. Whom they sacrifice. To the idols of Canaan. And.

[36:06] What happens. Because of that. Is. In verse 39. It says. Thus they became unclean. In their practices. And played the harlot. In their deeds. Therefore.

[36:17] The anger of the Lord. Was kindled against his people. And he abhorred his inheritance. Then he gave them to. Into the hands of the nations. And those who hated them. Ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them.

[36:28] And they were subdued. Under their power. Many times. He would deliver them. They however. Were rebellious. In their counsel. And so sank down. In their iniquities. Something.

[36:39] That's also worthy. To bring up right now. Is. While America. Was founded on Christian principles. America. Is not God's chosen nation. The church.

[36:50] Are God's chosen people. And. The church in America. Are God's chosen people. The church. In China. The church. All around the world. Are God's chosen people. America. Is not God's chosen nation.

[37:01] And so. A country. That. That leads in abortion. That leads in the slaughtering. Of innocent life. The Lord. Is not going to bless that country. The Lord. Is going to do the same thing here. They became unclean.

[37:12] In their practices. And played the harlot. In their deeds. Therefore. The anger of the Lord. Was kindled against his people. And he abhorred his inheritance. And he gave them. Into the hands of the nations.

[37:23] Those who hated them. Ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them. And they were subdued. Under their power. But then. Verse 44. Nevertheless. He looked upon.

[37:34] Their distress. When he heard their cry. And he remembered his covenant. For their sake. And relented. According to the greatness. Of his loving kindness. He also made them objects. Of compassion. In the presence.

[37:44] Of all their captors. Save us. Oh Lord. Our God. And gather us. From among the nations. To give thanks. To your holy name. And to glory. In your praise. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

[37:56] The God of Israel. From everlasting. To everlasting. So the final thing. That I want to talk about here. Is how do we respond. To this today. Today. We understand.

[38:08] That there is. Millions. Of innocent life. Being killed. How do we. As Christians. Respond to this. Or how do we.

[38:19] Everybody sitting here. In this room. How do we respond. The first thing is. If you're here today. And you have had an abortion. How do you respond to that. The Bible says. That if you confess your sins. He's faithful and just.

[38:30] To forgive you of your sins. And to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Romans 3. 23 through 25. It says. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

[38:46] Being justified as a gift. By his grace through the redemption. In which. Is in Christ Jesus. Who God displayed publicly. As a propitiation in his blood. Through faith.

[38:57] This was the demonstration. His righteousness. Because in the forbearance. Of God. He passed over the sins. Previously committed. And what. Paul is saying here in Romans. Is that.

[39:07] Everybody is sinned. Everybody is guilty before God. We all fall short. Of his glory. But. For those of us. That believe. We've been justified. As a gift from God. And Christ.

[39:20] Publicly became our propitiation. What that word. Propitiation means is. When Christ died on the cross. He. Not only took our guilt. But he gave us his purity. He gave us his sinful. Sinlessness.

[39:30] Sinlessness. He took our sinfulness. And he gave us his sinlessness. And so. For. When the Lord sees me. He doesn't see Matt the sinner. He doesn't see. All of the horrible.

[39:42] Wicked things that I've done. But he sees the blood of Christ. That covers me. And it's the same thing. For all believers. Christ sees. When God the Father. Looks at us. He sees Jesus Christ.

[39:52] Blood covering us. Just like. The Passover. In Egypt. When. The death angel came through. Those that were covered with the blood. They lived. Those that did not have the blood on the door.

[40:04] Their firstborn died. It's the same thing. When we stand before God the Father. If we're covered in the blood of Christ. He sees. Christ's purity in our life. And Christ took our guilt. And so.

[40:16] Like I said. Abortion is not. The one. Unpardonable sin. Sin. We all sin. We are all guilty of sin. But Christ loved us enough.

[40:27] To come and die for us. And so. If you. Confess. With your mouth. That Jesus is Lord. Believe in your heart. You shall be saved. And. For believers. If you confess your sins. He's faithful and just. To forgive you.

[40:38] And to purify you. And so. You have to do that. You have to confess of your sins. What about everybody else? What. How do we respond to this?

[40:49] The first thing is. We have to stop being apathetic. We can't be complacent to this. We can't. Um. Stick our head in the sand. And hope that this goes away. We have to. Um.

[41:00] Stand up for this. And so. The. What. What are some ways that we can do that? Reach out to. These women that are. Considering abortions. Reach out to these women that have had abortions.

[41:12] Um. We. We need to be. Looking for. People to share with. Um. Um. An interesting thing. When Christ went to.

[41:22] The woman at the well. The disciples were in town getting food. Uh. To meet up. Um. To meet physical needs. But Christ saw. A spiritual need. And he.

[41:33] Talks to the woman. At the well. And then they come back. And they say. Lord we brought you food. He said I've already eaten. They said where. Where did you get this food? He said I've got food that you know not of. And um.

[41:43] Um. Uh. I was reading through this. Back when. Chick-fil-a. Um. Was under attack for. Speaking out against homosexuality.

[41:54] And um. And then. A bunch of people started going to Chick-fil-a. To support. Their stance on. Uh. Gay marriage. And. And I started thinking about this. The people that were going.

[42:06] Some of them were going with good intentions. But. They were doing exactly what the disciples did. They were thinking about. Going and supporting. Uh. Against gay marriages. Instead of doing what Christ did. And that's going to.

[42:17] The homosexual in love. And loving them. And showing the love of God to them. Speaking truth in their life. Um. And so. It's the same thing with this. We can't just. Make these stands.

[42:29] And support these things. Oh well this person's. Pro-life. So I'm going to support them. And in doing that. I'm supporting. Uh. Pro-life. We have to go to people that are in sin. That are in darkness. And we have to show the love of Christ to them.

[42:41] That's what he's called us to do. Uh. The second thing. Um. Reaching out to them. Also ministering to them. And then finally. Um. Adoption.

[42:51] We need to. If. If. Abortion. Were to be eradicated. That's 40 to 50 million children. That. Mothers did not want them. And. And so there.

[43:01] There has to be. Places for these people. And so we have to. Um. Start thinking about living a lifestyle. That. That we would be able to do that. That we could. Adopt a child. That we could give a home.

[43:12] That we could foster a child. Things like that. The church needs to step up. Um. In Corinth. Corinth. That the. Paul writes to the Corinthian church.

[43:23] In first and second Corinthians. But. That was. Corinth was a filthy city. It was said that the. Uh. Sewage of Corinth leads to Rome. That the sin.

[43:33] And that the. Things that were going on in Corinth. Is what led to Rome. And ended up corrupting Rome. Um. But the. The Christians in. In. Corinth. Were the first ones to be called Christians.

[43:44] And they were. Uh. Christians. It was little Christ. And it was a derogatory thing. Um. Christ had. Had recently been killed. And they're saying. You're just little Christ. You want to be like this guy. And.

[43:55] Uh. They took that. And they. Uh. They ran with that title. But it was said. Um. That the. Um. Leprosy had broke out in Corinth. And mothers.

[44:07] With children that had leprosy. They would leave them in the streets. In the sewers. In the gutters. Uh. Because the family didn't want to get leprosy. They didn't want to die. And the Christians would go out. And they would pick up these little children. And they would love them.

[44:18] And nurse them back to health. And they would raise them. In the admonition of the Lord. And. That is. The same heart that we need to have. We need to be these little Christ. These. Christians that are. Um.

[44:28] Looking after. The orphans. And the widows. And. And so. Um. The second thing that we need to do. Is we need to cry out to God.

[44:40] For the sins of our generations. If we look at. Psalms 106. 23. We see. Therefore he said that he would destroy them.

[44:50] Had not Moses his chosen one. Stood in the breach before him. And turned away his wrath from the. From destroying them. Also in verse 30. We'll start in 29.

[45:02] Thus they provoked him to anger with their deeds. And plague broke out among them. Then Phineas stood up. And interposed. And so the plague was stayed. We as believers.

[45:12] Have to stand in the gap. We have to do. What Moses did. We had to do what Phineas did. Um. We are God's chosen ones. We need to. Be in the breach before him.

[45:24] And. Um. We need to. To cry out to the Lord. For the sins of our generation. We need to cry out to the Lord. The reason that. People around us. Are being.

[45:35] So blinded by the God. Of this world. Is because. The church is. Is not being the light. That it needs to be. And so. I'm going to end. With a prayer. Out of Daniel. And then.

[45:46] We'll close. Alas. O Lord. The great and awesome God. Who keeps his covenant. And loving kindness. For those who love him.

[45:57] And keep his commandments. We have sinned. We have committed iniquity. We have acted wickedly. And rebelled. Even turning aside. From your commandments. And ordinances. Moreover.

[46:10] We have not listened. To your servant. The prophets. Who spoke in your name. To our kings. Our princes. Our fathers. And all the people. Of the land. Righteousness. Belongs to you.

[46:21] O Lord. But to us. Open shame. As it is this day. To the men of Judah. The inhabitants. Of Jerusalem. And to all Israel.

[46:32] Those who are nearby. And those who are far away. And all the countries. To which you have driven them. Because of their unfaithful deeds. Which they have committed against you. Open shame belongs to us.

[46:43] O Lord. To our kings. To our princes. Our fathers. Because we have sinned against you. To the Lord. Our God. Belongs compassion.

[46:54] And forgiveness. We have rebelled against him. Nor have we obeyed his voice. The voice of the Lord. Our God. To walk in his teachings. Which he has set before us.

[47:06] Through his servants. And the prophets. Indeed. All Israel. Has transgressed. Your law. And turned aside. Not obeying your voice. So the curse. Has been poured out.

[47:17] On us. Along with the oath. Which is written. In the law of Moses. The servant of God. For we have sinned. Against him. Thus he has confirmed his word. Which he has spoken against us.

[47:28] And against our rulers. And those who rule over us. Bringing us great calamity. For under the whole heaven. There has not been done anything. Like what was done in Jerusalem.

[47:39] As it is written. In the law of Moses. All this calamity. Has come on us. Yet we have sought. Not sought the favor of the Lord. Our God. By turning from our iniquities. And giving attention.

[47:50] To your truth. Therefore. The Lord has kept. The calamity. In store. And brought it on us. For the Lord our God. Is righteous. With respect to all his deeds. Which he has done.

[48:00] But we have not obeyed his voice. And now. Oh Lord our God. You have brought people. Out of the land of Egypt. With a mighty hand. And have made. A name for yourself.

[48:12] And it is this day. We have sinned. We have been wicked. Oh Lord. In accordance with. All of your righteous acts. Let now. Your anger. And your wrath. Be turned away. From your city. Jerusalem.

[48:23] Your holy mountain. Because of our sins. And iniquities. And our fathers. Jerusalem. And your people. Have become. A reproach. For all those around us. So now. Our God.

[48:33] Listen to our prayer. Of your servant. And of his supplication. And for your sake. Oh Lord. Let your face shine. On your desolate sanctuary. Oh my God.

[48:45] Incline your ear. And hear. Open your eyes. And see our desolation. And the city. Which is called your name. For we are not. Presenting our.

[48:55] Supplications before you. On account of any merit. Of our own. But on account of your great compassion. Oh Lord. Hear. Oh Lord. Forgive.

[49:07] Oh Lord. Listen and take action. For your own sake. Oh mighty God. Do not delay. Because your city. And your people. Are called by your name. Amen.