There is Not Just a Child Being Killed, But A Mother is Involved
Over the last fifty years, millions upon millions of children have been killed by abortion. You can look up the statistics. With every abortion, though, there’s not just a child being killed. There’s a mother involved. There’s a woman bearing that child. That’s what I want to talk about here – the woman who has had an abortion. Like my own wife who had one when she was lost. That might be you. I want to talk about women who are in two different places today – the woman Christian woman who has an abortion in her past, and the woman who does not know Jesus Christ who has an abortion in her past. My counsel today will be fundamentally the same to both categories of women.
You may have had an abortion. Maybe you had one yesterday. Last year. Ten years ago. In the 1980s. What is your conscience telling you about what you did? Are you able to sleep well, or does your conscience keep you awake? Maybe you’ve been able to sear your conscience…. Most of the time. What about those times when your conscience breaks through that sear? Has this affected your relationships with other people?
Christians Speak So Strongly Against Abortion That Often Those Who Had One Cannot Speak Up
Let’s be frank here… we have done a very good job of proclaiming the fact that abortion is evil and it’s murder. We have done such a good job of demonizing abortion that we have some collateral damage to deal with and that’s this: the souls of the women who have had that abortion. Women who suffer guilt and shame and disgrace and heartache and so much more…. and these women are in our churches, brethren. Christian women. Maybe they’ve been converted after their abortion. Maybe they fell into sin and had the abortion after their conversion. It doesn’t matter. We have them in our church. You have them in your church.
You might be that woman. And in your church, you are the woman everyone looks up to because you’re mature and you’re a prayer warrior and you help other women in your church and inside… you’re dying. The guilt is soul-crushing. The shame is well-nigh unbearable. Outwardly you look like you’ve got it all together… but inwardly there’s a train wreck going on in your soul… you go home and you cry by yourself… and you don’t think you can tell anyone about it. Maybe you can’t even talk to your husband about it, if you’re married, because of the stigma attached to having had an abortion.
Abortion is Not An Unforgivable Sin
Sister, know this: abortion is not an unforgivable sin. It is not unforgivable. Honest. Jesus Christ paid the penalty on that cross for all your sins and yes, even abortion. Brethren, Jesus Christ paid the penalty for abortion on that cross for our sisters, didn’t He? Jesus Christ delivers the believer from the power of sin and the penalty of sin – even the sin of abortion! We sing that song where Horatio Spafford wrote these words: “My sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more!” Yes, even the sin of abortion! Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, O my soul!
Women will stand before us and bear testimony to those sins Christ delivered them from – and we embrace them for doing that. Fornication, adultery, substance abuse, violence, prostitution, and all manner of sin… but women are sitting there thinking they can’t bring up their abortion as they bear testimony. So they suffer. In silence. At least, silently when they’re around us. Their souls may be screaming but they suffer…silently. If that’s you – suffering as a Christian woman because you think the guilt and the shame of what you did is far too great to be discussed even amongst other women, please know that your sin, not in part but the whole IS nailed to the cross and you do NOT bear it anymore!
Brethren…as anti-abortion as we may be, let us not be stifling our sisters and their ability to enjoy true freedom in Christ! Like any other sin in our past, we don’t brag about it. We don’t speak proudly about any of our sins. But can the women in our churches speak AT ALL about their abortion? Or abortions, plural, so they can get help? So they can sleep at night? That child they killed will not disappear from their memory. Sister – you who have had an abortion, I repeat – you did not commit the unforgivable sin! You didn’t! Receive true peace and forgiveness by trusting your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ – you are secure in His hands and the hands of the Father – He loves you – He really does! When you received your salvation by turning from your sin – you received full payment for the penalty of your sin credited to your account! And brethren, since that’s true for our sisters who’ve had an abortion, please allow them to talk about it.
Even The Lost Agonize Over Having a Miscarriage
Recently a supermodel suffered a miscarriage. She has been very public about the emotional pain and torment she has gone through as a result of losing her child – and she knows that was a child that she lost. Our sisters who have had an abortion know that as well – they know what they have done to an image-bearer of God and that’s why they suffer. If we help our brethren through dealing with their pasts in all other matters, why do our sisters feel they must suffer in silence?
To The Lost Who Don’t Know Jesus: He Will Save You
Now I want to address the woman who does not know Jesus Christ. You, who are not a Christian and you have had an abortion and you know that you are separated from God due to your sin and your rebellion. You, who are miserable and your conscience is killing you or at a minimum, your conscience keeps tapping you on the shoulder and you keep trying to swat it away like the mosquitoes here in San Antonio during the summer… but just like the mosquitoes, your conscience keeps coming back, tapping….tapping.
You may be thinking what you have done is so, so bad you can’t be forgiven. I appeal to you to not listen to that voice in your head. That’s the devil speaking to you….“no, no…” the devil says… “you’re too bad”…“you’re so ungodly…your abortion has put you outside what Jesus can do for you.” I appeal to you to not listen to that voice… Satan tells you you’re ungodly…and I have good news for you – Romans chapter 5 tells us Christ died for the ungodly – people just like you! Jesus came to pay the penalty for the fornicators, the adulterers, the drug dealers, the prostitutes, the thieves, the drunkards, the idolators – yes, even blasphemers – the Apostle Paul says he himself was a blasphemer before Jesus Christ saved him in Acts chapter 9.
Yes, this can be yours…what you’ve done is not unforgivable…what you’ve done does not mean there is no hope for you…there is hope and you can have a living hope, Jesus Christ if you come to Him in faith now, leaving your past behind….you won’t forget your past…but you can leave all the guilt, all the shame all the pain right there at the cross of Jesus Christ and you can be free from those bonds of torment you’ve been living under…you can have a clear conscience before God…you can be one of those people about whom Jesus says are “free indeed” – freed from the penalty of all your sin, not just your abortion. You can have fellowship with the living God through faith in Jesus Christ! Yes, you – one abortion or ten – you can place them all upon Jesus Christ and He will bear your sin for you. Come to Him in faith today!
And brethren – embrace that woman who has repented of her sins even when those sins include abortion… allow her to deal openly with her past…this is one those bearing another’s burdens issues just like any other burdens our brethren have. Love that sister. Care for her with the love you have received from God. Love her. Amen.
