Offerings to the Spirit of the Age

Pastor Andy Davis preaches an expository sermon on Revelation 12. The main subject of the sermon is the way people make murderous offerings to the spirit of the age.

- SERMON TRANSCRIPT -

 This morning, the Sanctity of Human Life Sunday, I'd love to preach expositionally through passages, I'm not going to be exegeting Revelation 12, but we'll refer to it some. As we go through this message, I still remember the feeling I used to get driving away from the abortion clinics in the winter of 1989 and 1990, when I was involved in a pro-life ministry in the Boston area, we used to go to Brookline, Massachusetts, every Saturday. And we used to go and try to engage in discussions and try to change hearts and minds, we didn't believe... We weren't involved in Operation Rescue or the groups that were blockading clinics, we didn't think that that was the way to go, but we desired to try to persuade people to talk to them if they would talk to us, and it remains the scariest hardest ministry I've ever been involved in. I've been in many countries in the world, I've been involved in evangelism, I've witnessed some scary-looking people and I've been rejected in some interesting ways but none of those things compares with the feeling I used to get, the spiritual feeling I used to get on those Saturdays.

I remember one particular in which I was called upon to lead the Ministry, and we were to be there at 7:00 AM, 'cause these appointments are set up very early in the morning, and so we wanted to be there, and I arrived and there were about 30 or 40 of our counter protesters there, the folks that we join struggle with week after week, already ready to go, but there were none of our friends there, none of my friends. And I remember coming up in this characteristic kind of interesting green Volkswagen bus that we drove and everyone knew who we were and unloading, and they came around and started yelling things at me, and I was looking for some physical material help, I knew there were some angels but I needed some friends and we were unloading in it and I was terrified, I mean, not just physically, I didn't think they were gonna hit me, although that was possible, but just the intensity of the hatred there, and every Saturday I used to drive away from the clinics too fast. I would ride down the road that connected Brookline to Boston, and I was just driving too fast and I had to control my breathing and I had to slow down. I felt like I was being chased.

And I think after that, I would go home and Christi would chat with me a little bit, I might have a little lunch and I go to bed, I'll just sleep for a couple of hours, I was so exhausted, and I think only years later, as I look back in that, do I realized what was happening, that that abortion clinic in Brookline Mass was the most evil place I'd ever been to in my life. It was pulsating with wickedness and evil, and it drained me to be near it. Now, when I went to MIT, they didn't teach me about that, they taught me about my five senses and scientific inquiry and all that kind of thing, and they would describe things that you could discern by the empirical method, you can't discern these things empirically, but I knew it was true, and the Word of God describes them. And so my message to you this morning, basically has to do with Satan's involvement in the abortion issue.

I have four basic statements that I've laid out for you in the outline, the first statement is that abortion is essentially spiritual. Having its roots in the devil's hatred for the human race. The second statement I'm gonna make is that the devil's attack on humanity took its most powerful form in his attempt to kill the Messiah Jesus Christ. Thirdly, throughout history, the devil's hatred for the human race has incited people to sacrifice their own children, and the modern abortion issue is the 21st centuries version of this ancient practice. And forth, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is powerful over the devil's attacks and will some day crush him. Therefore, abortion is temporary and will be defeated someday. Amen. That is the glorious message, but it's not yet, there is a spiritual battle to be faced. Let's look at this first proposition or statement I make.

I.The Dark Spiritual Roots of the Abortion Issue

The dark spiritual roots of the abortion issue, that abortion is essentially a spiritual issue, having its roots in the devil's hatred for the human race. Now, there are competing visions for the root issue. People will tell us there are different root issues when it comes to the issue of abortion, and they'll talk about economics, they'll talk about the cycle of the poverty, they'll talk about inner city issues, they'll talk about people who have nowhere to turn to escape that cycle of poverty, others will cite the incredible lucrative business that abortion has become even especially now with medical research some talk about money. And so they say, No, the issue is economic. Others will say it's a societal issue, it has to do with the breakdown of the family, it has to do with women feeling abandoned by the men in their lives, boyfriend's, father's, husbands, who will not stand by them in their hour of need, or by just the general breakdown of the family, it's a societal issue, they'll say. Others will say it's a moral issue. We've lost our moorings morally, we don't know what's right and wrong anymore, people are willing to do therefore immoral things, both in terms of illicit sex and the outcome, abortion, because their consciences are seared.

"The dark spiritual roots of the abortion issue, that abortion is essentially a spiritual issue, having its roots in the devil's hatred for the human race. "

Others will say it's at root a judicial problem. The Supreme Court Justices in 1973 made a big mistake. Foolishly, they found something that had not even been found before the 1960s, some kind of shadow of privacy and extended it to the murder of the pre-born, so they made a terrible error and since then, 45 million have died. Others will say it's a political issue, if we could just elect enough pro-life senators and representatives and a vigorous active pro-life president, then the problem is solved. Well, sure, it would be easy for us. Wouldn't it just go to the voting booth in November, and then we don't have to worry anymore. It'll just be done. It's not that simple, but some people say it's political, others say it's ethical, it's gotta do with ethics, especially more and more with the research on fetal tissue and all that, the issue is ethics, if we had a right ethic, we understood life properly from an ethical background we would not be doing this. Others would say it's a legal struggle, if we can get enough bright pro-life lawyers go make the right case, we can win the day legally.

Some say it's educational, people just could study the biological evidences for the development of the fetus and could see how plainly human it is, education would just change everything and the abortion issue would just go away. Some say it's philosophical. They say that we just see things differently, we just have different world views, and if we could just get together on the philosophical issues, we'd be able to see this thing go away. Well, let me tell you something, each one of these things, I believe, factors into the issue. But it's not the root issue. The root issue is spiritual, the root issue has to do with the devil's hatred for the human race and for the way he induced us to join him in his rebellion against God. That's the root issue. Now, who is the devil? The devil, according to Scripture is a created being, he was an angel, he was a beautiful and majestic and powerful angel who noticed his own beauty of majesty and power and thought highly of himself and desired to kind of take over Heaven.

And the story of his ascending... Seeking to ascend is told in Isaiah 14, 13 and 14, in which it says, “You said in your heart, I will listen to Heaven. I will raise my throne above the stars of God. I will sit in throne on the Mount of Assembly on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the most high.” But the answer comes back, “You are brought down to the grave. Down to the pit.” The devil was put under an eternal death sentence, hell was created for the devil and his angels, and so he was thrown to Earth, and being the prideful ruler being that he is, he sought to rule here on Earth, he is called the God of this age of this world, it's kind of his kingdom here, and he doesn't want any rivals, and then the Lord creates man in his image, male and female, he created them in the image of God, and he told them, fill the Earth, rule over it and subdue it. Oh no, the devil says, This is my domain. And so he wants to subordinate what God's doing, he wants to come and attack the human race, he wants to try to draw them into his rebellion so that he can rule.

So he enticed Adam to join his rebellion. Jesus's key assessment of the devil, printed in your outline there is in John 8:44, Jesus speaking to some human beings, some people who wanted to kill him, but he saw behind their murderous intent, the devil's action. He says, “You are of your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Now, what is Jesus saying? He's saying the devil kills by lying. That's how he killed Adam, isn't it? Didn't Adam die 900 plus years later, and he died by believing a lie. The devil murders by lying. By creating a deceiving system, he's a murderer. Hates the human race. Jesus also said in another place, in John 10:10, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it to the full.” All the contrast. Death and life, it's so plain, the devil comes to kill. Jesus comes to give life, it's just the way it is.

II.The Devil’s Failed Attack on the Messiah

And so the origin of murder is an attack on the image of God by the devil himself. He's attacking God really. Now, abortion, therefore, in my opinion, is a root issue, a spiritual, it's a subset of the devil's hatred of the image of God, that each one of us bears, he hates the image of God in us, and so it's an attack on that. Now secondly, the devil's attack on humanity took its most powerful form in his attempt to kill the Messiah, and Jesus Christ, praise God it failed in the early stages, in the end, Jesus made himself vulnerable to the devil's attack and died. You remember how the devil came into Judas Iscariot and incited him to hand Jesus over and thus destroy his own kingdom. Isn't that marvelous? The devil can't handle Jesus. But early on, he wanted to crush Jesus in the cradle, he wanted to kill him right from the start, and that was always his desire, No, the devil was put under a prophecy in a judgment, in Genesis 3, after the fall occurred, the Lord spoke a prophecy and a judgment on the serpent. You remember what he said? “The Lord God said to the serpent, because you have done this, cursed at are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals, you will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life.

And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will crush your head and you will bruise his heel.” Do you think the devil puzzled over those words, he will crush your head, the seed of the woman is going to crush my head. Well, I better crush the seed of the woman. I'm gonna crush the serpents slayer before he crushes me. And so there's a promised Messiah, he will be born of a woman. A seed of a woman. Now, the devil had attempted to have an alliance between him and... The devil and the woman, he wanted an alliance, but the Lord breaks that apart, I'll put enmity between you and she. There's gonna be a break there, and a seed of a woman is gonna crush you, crush your head. Biological offspring, a human being is going to be born of a woman. And so the devil's strategy was murder, and I believe that Cain's attack on Abel was a subset of that. Now, I have no way to prove that it was definitely an attack on a possible Messiah, I don't know that, but it isn't very long after, it's the very next chapter, here is Abel, righteous Abel, offering up a gift and a sacrifice, he's righteous.

Could he be the seed of the woman? And so this is what it says in 1 John 3:12, “Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him, because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous.” Well, at a simple level, it's just jealousy, but perhaps it was an attack on the Messiah, all the information we have now, is this gonna be the seed of the woman? It could have been Abel, but then the Lord expands and gives more information. He says to Abraham, through your seed, through your offspring, all peoples on Earth will be blessed. Oh, I see. So it's gonna be not just the seed of a woman in general, but the seed of one of Abrahams descendants, a woman in the family of Abraham is gonna bring forth the serpent slayer. And so what does he do? But he contrives in Exodus 1:21, “Pharaoh gives the order to all his people, every boy that is born, you must throw him into the Nile, but let every girl live.” Now, does it say in Exodus 1 that this was an attack of the devil on the Messiah? No, but can you see the devil's handy work here? Can you see his attack on the seed of the woman, he will crush your head.

 It's gotta be a boy, and so all the boy babies are gonna get thrown in the river, but let the girls live, but then we have more information when David comes, the Lord speaks through Nathan the prophet and says the Messiah is gonna be a son of David. The Messiah is gonna be a descendant of David, so the devil concentrates his attacked there, he induced two of David's descendants, kings Ahaz and Manasseh to sacrifice their own children to Malek, more on that in a minute, but that was the direct attack on the Messiah, or how about this one? Athaliah, a wicked woman, the mother of Ahaziah, she saw that her son was dead and he hoped that she had a power was gone, so she proceeded to destroy, it says, 2nd Chronicles 22, “...the whole family of the house of Judah, but Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram, took little baby Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from the royal princes, from among the royal princes who were about to be murdered and put him and his nurse in a bedroom, because Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and the wife of the priest, Jehoiada was Ahaziah's sister, she hid the child from Athaliah so she could not kill him.”

Now, picture with me a nurse, a trembling nurse with little baby Joash, he's the only descendant of David left on Earth. The Davidic line got very thin and slender at that moment, but it was an uncuttable cord, the Word of God protected that little baby at that moment, but the devil is trying to wipe them all out, so there'd be no descendants of David left. Well, clearly the culmination to this happened after Jesus himself was born. What did the devil know? Well, had he heard the angels speak to Mary and give the prophecy that Jesus, the Son of God would be born? Clearly heard Elizabeth proclaiming as much, or Simeon, or Zechariah, or Anna speaking words into the air that anybody could hear, and information comes back to the devil and he says, this is it, this is the one. And so the Magi come to Bethlehem or they're looking for Bethlehem, they come to Jerusalem and they ask King Herod, Where is the Messiah to be born? Well, in Bethlehem, they find out. So they're gonna go and Herod says, Well, when you find him, come back and report to me so that I too may go and worship him.

But he has no intention of worshipping, King Herod has murderous intent. The Lord interferes with the Magi, they go back another way, they don't go back to Jerusalem, Herod realizes he's been out-witted by the Magi and he gives one of the most dreadful orders in history. He gives the order to kill all the babies in Bethlehem and its vicinity, who were two years old and under. According to the time that he'd learned from the Magi, he didn't wanna miss him. So he doesn't just go for Bethlehem, he's looking for the vicinity, and he's not just looking for a specific age, two years old and under, knowing full well he will slaughter innocent babies, the command necessitates that in the hopes that he can crush the Messiah and his own kingdom will be established. Now, you can say, I can see his reasoning. How can you see the devil in that? He doesn't wanna be threatened. Oh, I see the devil in it. And as a matter of fact, I think that John saw it in the book of Revelation, if you look in your text, if it's still open there in Revelation 12, verses 1-5, it's clearly a devilish attack on Jesus, 'cause you know the real jealous ruler, it's not Herod, the real jealous ruler is the devil, he is jealous of his power, he doesn't want the Messiah to crush his head, he wants to survive, he wants to reign, he wants to rule.

And so Revelation 12:1-5, “A great and wondrous sign appeared in Heaven, a woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet, a crown of 12 stars on her head, she was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in Heaven, an enormous red dragon with seven heads and 10 horns and seven crowns on his heads, his tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the Earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth so that he might devour her child the moment it was born.” Now, I tell you this stance, the pregnant woman about to give birth, the devil about to devour, it sums up all that I've been saying here, the devil's readiness to attack the Messiah and kill him as soon as he's born. But this is Mary now, she is the chosen one, and she gives birth to a son, and it says, “A male child who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter.” This is Jesus, he's the King of kings, he's the Lord of lords, and the devil tried to devour him right right out of the womb.

Well, he used Herod to do it. Now, the dragon's central purpose to devour the seed of the woman was to crush the serpent slayer the moment he was born, so that he could not grow up and in turn crushed his head, but he failed. Hallelujah, he failed. Jesus grew and took on the ministry God had for him and completed as he said in John 17, all the work that the Father gave him to do, and went to the cross and died on the cross and shed his blood for sins. And know the devil didn't take Jesus life from him.

No one takes my life from me. But I lay it down freely, of my own accord, I have the authority to lay it down and the authority to take it back up this command I received from my father, and so the devil supposedly motivated Pilate and the Romans to kill Jesus, and so they did the physical level, but it was Jesus that laid down his life for sins, and so the second point is that the most clear, the clearest most visible attack has been the attempt of the devil to kill the Messiah, and he failed. But then there's another more general attack, and it's been going on in every tribe and language and people and nation, not a specific attack on the Messiah because there's no promise that the Messiah will come in or Latin America or Europe or some other place.

III.Child Sacrifice: Past and Present: An Offering to the Spirit of the Age

There's a specific prophecy, and the devil did what he could to extinguish the Messiah, but now this is a more general attack on the human image, the image of God on the human race. And it extends to every tribe and language and people and nation, and it extends to every time, every era. And so the point is, throughout history, the devil's hatred has incited people to sacrifice their own children, and the modern abortion issue is the 21st century's version of this ancient practice. Child sacrifice is demonic worship. It's demonic. You see, not only was satan seeking to destroy the Messiah before he could destroy him. The first, in my opinion, basic state of mind of the devil is worship me, I want to be worshipped, I want to be adored, I want to be God. That's his basic state, that's what led to all of his sin. The second basic state is jealousy, I hate God, I hate the one who threw me down to Earth and I hate all those created in the image of God, and I want to oppose him no matter what, I want to be worshipped, I hate God and the image of God.

Do you see how these two come together, in child sacrifice and demon worship, they come together, they become one. All false religious systems are doctrines taught by demons. All idols were impersonated by demons. All strange miracles and manifestations that led people toward voodoo or toward Baal worship or Molech were all demonic in essence, and nature. It says in 1 Timothy 4:1 “The Spirit clearly says, That in later times, you will see some abandoned the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.” So it's the demons that teach these false doctrines, and all worship of idols is essentially worship of demons, it says in 1 Corinthians 10:19 and following, “Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an idol is anything or that an idol is anything no, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.” And then in Revelation 9:20, it says, “The rest of mankind that were not killed by these plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands. They did not stop worshipping demons and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood, idols that cannot see or hear or walk.” And so all worship of idols, all false religions, is essentially demonic.

Now, child sacrifice has extended throughout history, around the world and throughout time, in the Michael Card song, the lyric went like this, "Every age has heard it, this voice that speaks from hell, sacrifice your children and for you, it will be well." That kind of ties the whole thing together, the way it worked was, if there was a fertility god or goddess, something like that, you would sacrifice your child in the hopes of a good harvest. That which was most precious to you, you could give so that you could have a good life, economically you would be protected or prosper in some way, that was the root idea of child sacrifice, and it's been there again and again. The Aztecs constantly offered their children to the sun god to aid him in his rising as though he needed help, but the Aztecs would offer their children to do this. The Incas in Chile offered their best and most perfect children to the god Inti who also in their system was the sun god.

The traditional interpretation of these children sacrifices seems to be that this act provided youth and well-being for the Inca and thereby ensure the survival and health of the entire population, sacrifice your children and for you, it will be well. Celtic and Norman are Northern German tribes, the ancestors of the English and German-speaking peoples were barbaric pagan idolaters who sacrificed their own children to the mother goddess. Now folks, this is the same religion basis of Wicca and the witches and all that, that are involved heavily in these abortion clinics, I talked to them, they were there in Brookline, they're here in North Carolina, there in all places all over the US, more on that in a minute.

But George Grant gives a summary of all of this in his book, Third Time Around, he said, "Virtually every culture in antiquity was stained with the blood of innocent children, unwanted infants in ancient Rome were abandoned outside city walls to die from exposure to the elements, or from the attacks of wild foraging beasts. Greeks often gave their pregnant women harsh doses of herbal or medicinal abort efficients. Persians developed highly sophisticated surgical curette procedures, Chinese women tied heavy ropes around their waists, ancient Hindus and Arabs concocted chemical abortifacients that were put into the womb, primitive Canaanites threw their children on to great flaming pyres as a sacrifice to their god Molech. Polynesians subjected their pregnant women to horrible torture, so that they would abort. And none of the great minds of the ancient world, from Plato and Aristotle to Seneca, Quintilian, Pythagoras, Aristophanes, Livy and Cicero, from Herodotus and Thucydides to Plutarch and Euripides disparaged child killing in any way, as a matter of fact, some of them openly spoke of it as a benefit, they casually debated its sundry legal ramifications, they blindly tossed lives around like dice."

This is the way it's been. Every age has heard at this voice that speaks from hell, sacrifice your children. And for you it will be well, Israel heard it. They shouldn't have listened. But they heard the voice, before they entered the Promised Land, God spoke in Leviticus 18:21, he said, “Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God, I am the Lord.” And he says in Deuteronomy 1:10, “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the Fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens or engages in witchcraft.” Now, some Israelites defied these clear commands from God and engaged in worship of Molech.

It says in Ezekiel 16:21, “You slaughtered my children and sacrifice them to the idols.” This is God speaking, 2 Kings 17:17 says “They sacrificed their sons and daughters in the fire, they practiced divination and sorcery and sold themselves to do evil in the eyes of the Lord provoking him to anger...” as I mentioned Ahaz and Manasseh did that “Manasseh sacrificed...” It says,”..his own son and the fire practice sorcery in divination and consulted mediums and spirits, he did much evil in the eyes of Lord, provoking him to anger.” And the Lord was provoked to anger. And as a matter of fact, what Manasseh and what Israel was doing at the time was one of the main reasons that the Assyrians and the Babylonians were brought in to attack and clear out the Promised Land. Notice, by the way, the consistent link in scripture in Deuteronomy 18 and 2 Kings 17, and 2 Kings 21, between child sacrifice and witchcraft and divination, strong link. It exists today in America. Some abortion clinic owners and employees in the US, perhaps elsewhere as well, are witches their Wickens... I've talked to them, Salem, Massachusetts is the big basis of witchcraft, 3000 registered witches there. A lot of those folks would go down and talk to us on Saturday mornings, we'd talk to them, if you can call it a conversation, these are some of the scariest, most aggressive evil people I've ever met in my life.

I actually think about it often and think If I can do that, I can go witnessing today, they were some of the hardest people you could ever talk to, some of the darkest too. Judith Fetrow, who's now a sister in Christ, praise God. But used to be involved in Planned Parenthood, former abortion clinic worker, she said this as a Christian, speaking as a Christian, she said, "To understand Planned Parenthood and to love your enemy and to pray for them effectively, you must understand the women who work there. We were dedicated, we were dedicated to women's rights and dedicated to abortion, that dedication took an almost bizarre, almost religious twist. The abortion clinic was our church, abortion was the sacrament, the babies were the sacrifice. I say the clinic was our church, because the clinic was where we truly worshipped women's rights and reproductive freedom, reproductive freedom says to the woman, there are no consequences, there is no sin."

Now, you may say that's just a fringe element, that's just a handful of strange, bizarre people, why talk about the whole issue like that. Well, here's the deal, I saw the insight in a quote from CS Lewis in Screwtape Letters, This is what CS Lewis said. "There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence, the other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician. With the same delight." Do you see that? So you got the magicians, the witches on the one side, openly embracing demonic worship, small number, it's true, but then you got all the materialists that say the issue is not essentially spiritual, the devil isn't at work. The abortion clinic in Brookline was not one of the most evil places you've ever been in your life, it's all in your mind, is it? Or could it be that the devil somehow and the demon somehow gain some frenzy benefit from this kind of bizarre worship? Could it be that they have made it one of the major focuses of their work here in America? I think it is. And that's why, folks, it's not going away.

That's why it seems entrenched like a Himalayan mountain can't be removed. It isn't budging, have you noticed? But if I were on the other side and say, Why don't these Christians leave us alone? Why won't they go away? Why won't they give up? Put up their hands. Been 30 plus years. Why won't they just give up? We're not giving up. You know why? Because the Lord won't give up, he hates this. And so therefore, he's going to raise up people who will stand firm and say, no, it's evil and it's wrong, but I just want you as brothers and sisters in Christ, you're sheep like me. We're peace-loving people. But Jesus said, I've sent you out like sheep among what? Wolves, wolves, you wanna see how that works, go to an abortion clinic and start talking about pro-life, you'll see what sheep among wolves looks like in the physical material realm.

IV. The Final Triumph of Jesus Christ

The final triumph of Jesus Christ is beautiful. It's predicted, it's clearly stated. My statement is this, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is powerful over the devil's attacks and will someday crush him, therefore abortion is temporary and will be defeated some day. Oh, how I long for that day. Just like other wickedness like slavery and other things has been defeated, this thing can and will be defeated, it's not going to be any part of God's Kingdom. I can assure you of that. And so it says very, very plainly, in the scripture, it says, Your kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven.

We have to know and understand the infinite power of Jesus Christ. It says, Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in Heaven and Earth has been given to me, therefore go and make disciples. All authority in Heaven and Earth. Yes, all authority. Jesus rules, he reigns over all things. It says in Ephesians 1:20-22, “God raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms. Far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age, but also in the age to come.” Jesus is sovereign and rules over the devil and all of his forces. And then this one in Hebrews 1:13-14, “To which of the angels did God ever say, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” The devil is relatively weak.

Relative to us, he's strong. Way too strong for us. But relative to the King of kings and Lord of lords, he is infinitely powerful. He is a mighty potentate, the devil is a created being. The devil is a defeated being, he knows he cannot stand before the awesome power of the Son of God, and therefore Revelation 12:12 says he is enraged because he knows his time is short. He can't stand before Christ. In the past, Satan was thrown down from Heaven. If you still open Revelation 12, look at 7-9, it says there, “...there was war in Heaven, Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon, and his angels fought back, but he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in Heaven. The great dragon was hurled down, that ancient serpent called the devil, or satan, who leads the whole world astray, he was hurled to the Earth and his angels with him.” So the devil is thrown down. Like Jesus said, I saw, I saw satan fall like lightning from Heaven. And so he's a defeated being, but especially he was crushed at the cross and at the empty tomb. Colossians 2:15, it says, Jesus,“...having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” And Hebrews 2:14-15 says, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death, he might destroy him who holds the power of the death, that is the devil. And free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.“

Jesus victory at the cross, and his victory at the empty tomb has crushed Satan's head. And some day in the future, Revelation 20:10 says very plainly, “And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. And they will be tormented day and night. Forever and ever.” Now, what conclusion do I take from that? Abortion is temporary. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. It's temporary. Now, it seems powerful, doesn't it? And the reason is because the devil is powerful, but Realize this, Jesus came to destroy the devil. 1 John 3:8 says, “The reason the son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.“ Now, at this point, I wanna give to you, I'm delighted to give to you a word of gentle grace, I feel bound by the Lord to preach on this topic as long as abortion is legal in our country, I hope that you feel bound to keep praying concerning this matter and acting concerning this matter, as long as abortion is legal in our country, but I also feel bound to point you, all of you to the cross of Jesus Christ for grace. Let us approach the throne of grace. It says.

V. A Word of Gentle Grace

There's not a person, man or woman here that doesn't need the grace of Jesus Christ, but there are some folks who perhaps need a special measure of grace even this morning, perhaps you remember some sins in this matter, perhaps you have had an abortion, perhaps you've been part of the medical community, either a nurse or a doctor has been involved perhaps in the pharmaceutical industry, been involved, and you feel guilty and you wonder if Jesus can forgive you, he can. He came to forgive sinners, he came to restore sinners like me and you to a right relationship with God, all manner of sin and blasphemy. Jesus said, will be forgiven. You know why? Because he paid it all, he paid price. Think of what Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:15, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst.” That's just part of how we feel when we're convicted by God, I'm the worst sinner. Can I ever be forgiven? The Bible says Jesus Christ came to save sinners who feel that they are the worst sinner ever. It's grace, that's what Jesus came to give. So what is our application?

"The Bible says Jesus Christ came to save sinners who feel that they are the worst sinner ever."

VI. Application

Well, first and foremost, understand, our struggle on abortion is not with flesh and blood, it's not. It's not ultimately gonna be a matter of society or economy, or judicial or elections, political or ethics or morality or any of those things, all of that are gonna factor in, but our struggle is ultimately a spiritual one, and so Eric had beautifully read for us Ephesians 6 it says, “There, finally be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual force of evil in the heavenly realms.” That's who our struggle is against, and so put on your spiritual armor and fight in a spiritual manner, well, if our struggle is not against flesh and blood, then don't hate the people who oppose you, no matter how much they hate you. Don't hate them. Pray for them. I think frequently, what a great weapon you would be for God, if you would ever get converted, I thought about that frequently, its about the only thing that got me through some of those encounters, and I bet you some of those people have been converted, like Judith Fetrow, who used to work with Planned Parenthood, and now as a strong committed Christian working strongly for pro-life issues.

It's happened again and again. So pray for them. It's grievous to me, and I think it should be grievous to all of you when you hear pro-life people resorting to violent and un-Biblical methods to end abortion. That's not the way to go about it. That dishonors God. It's grievous also when Christians develop a bitter and hateful feeling about pro-abortion people...don't....don't. Pray for people see the issue spiritually and have a hopeful heart that God's grace can convert... If Saul of Tarsus seething with murderous threats against the Lord's disciples can be converted in one day on the road to Damascus, any of these folks can be converted. Amen. Any of them can. So praise God and be hopeful. 2 Timothy 2 says, “Those who oppose him, he must gently instruct in the hope that God will grant them repentance, leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape the trap of the devil who has taken them captive to do his will.” Pray that they'd be freed, but don't give an inch to them on the issue, we are not cowards, we don't cut and run when things get tough, Jesus is our Lord, we stand firm, we don't give an inch, but we do it in love.

Be confident. Therefore, of total victory. Thirdly, it says Romans 16-20, “The God of peace will soon crush satan under your feet. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you.” I'm looking forward to that, aren't you? The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. Well, I'm looking forward to that. Not just mine, but yours. I'm looking forward to seeing him low, seeing him down, the Lord has chosen to win his battle through us, isn't that wonderful? And so be confident of total and final victory, it's going to come. And fight a spiritual warfare. Using spiritual weapons. Though we live in the world, 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, “We do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world. Know they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” Is this not a stronghold in our age? This is a strong hold. But we have the Word of God and we have prayer. Use them, use them.