(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

There in Matthew chapter 1, the part of the chapter I want to focus in on is beginning in verse 18 where it says, Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise woman, as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together, she was found child of the Holy Ghost. Now of course it's a very key and doctrinal verse regarding the virgin birth of Christ. We see here that she was espoused to Joseph and it was that before they came together, meaning before they had that physical union that is proper in marriage, that she was found the child of the Holy Ghost. And then it says down there, let's go over to verse 23, It says in verse 23, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son. Now of course, the birth of Jesus Christ was a miracle. Christ's birth was a miracle. We just got through the Christmas season, that's what we celebrate every Christmas, is the virgin birth of Christ. And that's a miracle in and of itself. That Jesus Christ came and that he was born of a virgin. That a woman could bring forth a child without having known a man. That is a miracle. That's never happened before in history, and that will never happen again. That's a one time thing. But even within this miracle, there is a miracle that we do see on a regular basis, and that is the conception of a child. And that in itself is a miracle. Now that's the title of the sermon this morning, is the miracle of conception. You see, the virgin birth of Christ was a miracle, but not just that. It was just the conception of a child alone is a miracle. Now, the virgin birth of Jesus Christ was a very great miracle, no doubt about it. It's very unique. There's nothing like it. It'll never happen again, as I said. But we see a miracle taking place in our lives from time to time, and often even in our churches among our friends and families, and that is the miracle of conception. That a woman could even conceive a child to begin with. Regardless of the fact that it's not even Christ that you're bringing forth, you're not bringing the Savior into the world, that's the great miracle, right? But let's not make light of the fact that even conceiving a child is a miracle. That's what I want to talk about this morning, the miracle of conception. Now it's important to note here in Matthew chapter 1 that we get what it means to be with a child. What does that term conception mean? You don't need to turn there, but if you would turn over Romans chapter 4. But in Isaiah chapter 7, the Bible says, Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign, behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and call his name Emmanuel. So when Matthew quotes it, it says, behold, a virgin shall be with child. And it's quoting Isaiah chapter 7, where it says a woman shall conceive. So we see then that the Bible defines conception, or conceiving a child, as being with child. So when you conceive a child in the womb, that means in God's eyes, you are with child at that point. It's not when the baby draws its first breath, it's not when the baby is at certain amounts of gestation, it's not when the heart begins to beat, no, in God's eyes, a child becomes a child when it's conceived in the womb. At that exact moment, a child becomes a child. That is where life begins, we believe. And that's a biblical definition from the word of God. That's not just something I pulled out of thin air. That's something that the Bible makes crystal clear when you compare Isaiah chapter 7 with Matthew chapter 1, when God's eyes, conception begins, or life begins at conception in the womb. And that's important to understand, as we'll see here in a little bit, but the point I want to drive in today is that every conception is a miracle in itself. Again, the birth of Christ, very unique, great miracle, a virgin with child, bringing in the Son of God in the world. We have to also, I want to use this as kind of a springboard to remind us that even our children that we have, they are a miracle when they are conceived. The Bible is full of examples of miracle babies, if you were to go through and look at them. There's many, many examples of people who just them having a child, just them having conceived a child is considered a miracle. Mary was very unique in that she was able to bring forth the Son of God in the world and that she was a virgin when she conceived. But there's also many other examples in the Old Testament that if we were to look at, and even a few in the New Testament, where just the fact that somebody became conceived a child was considered a miracle. And one of them would be, of course, probably the first one that comes to everybody's mind is Abraham. Abraham, who was promised the seed of Isaac and had to wait many, many years. You're there in Romans chapter 4, look at Romans chapter 4, beginning in verse 17 where it says, As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations, before him whom ye believed, even God, who quickened at the dead, and called those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, but when he was about a hundred years old, neither he had the deadness of Sarah's womb. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that what he had promised he was able to perform, and therefore it was imputed unto him for righteousness. So we see that this passage is telling us about the fact that God promised Abraham that he would bring forth his son in the world, that he would give Abraham a child in his old age. And Abraham, it says that he believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now did he believe God when that child came? That's the question I want to ask. The Bible makes it clear that he received that child, that Isaac was born unto Abraham when he was about a hundred years old. But that's not when the promise came to Abraham. The promise came to Abraham that he would have a son years before that. So the question is, when did Abraham believe the promise? When did Abraham believe the promise that he would receive that miracle of conception and having Isaac? If you would please turn to Genesis chapter 21. So we see in Romans chapter 4 that God made a promise to Abraham, and Abraham received that promise when he was about a hundred years old. And it says that when Abraham believed that promise, he was imputed unto him for righteousness. The Bible says in Genesis chapter 21, And the Lord visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did unto Sarah as he had spoken. For Sarah conceived and bare Abraham a son in his old age, at the set time which God had spoken to him. So God performed what he said, upon Sarah, as he had said, he did unto Sarah as he had spoken, Sarah conceived and bare a son in his old age, at the set time which God had spoken to him. Meaning, God had made this promise to Abraham that he would have this child many years before. If you would turn back to Genesis chapter 15, we'll see that, where God makes this promise of a seed. Now it's interesting, in Romans 4, it says that God speaks of those things, but called those things which be not as though they were. And in Genesis chapter 15, actually if you were to turn back to Genesis 14, you'll see where God actually names the child that he's going to give Abraham. He calls him Isaac in Genesis chapter 14. God already knew that he was going to give that child, and not only that, he already knew that he was going to call that child Isaac. That was the name God had for him. So he speaks of those things as though they already were. Now in Genesis chapter 15, we see, after these things, the word of God came unto Abraham in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. And Abraham said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless? And the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus. And Abraham said, Behold, to me thou is given no seed, and lo, one board of mine house is mine heir. And behold, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, This shall not be thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bow shall be thine heir. And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward the heavens, and tell the stars. If thou be able to number them, and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. And he believed in the Lord, and it counted to him for righteousness. So he brings forth Abraham. You know, Abraham's doubting, he's saying, Look, when am I going to get this kid? You know, when is this child going to be given to me? You told me in Genesis, or yeah, Genesis chapter 14, you know, they were going to give me this son named Isaac. You know, and then it says, after these things, all these things take place in Genesis 14, and can't really develop it for the sake of time. But God says, Okay, Abraham, you're starting to doubt, let me show you, he says, Hey, number the stars. I'm not only going to give you a son, but I'm also going to make your seed as the stars. If you can count them, so shall thy seed be. He says, that's the multitude of people that have come forth from your own bowels. And the Bible says in Genesis 15, verse six, And he believed in the Lord, and it counted to him for righteousness. You see, Abraham believed the promise of that miracle that his wife Sarah would conceive and bring forth the son. He believed that many, many, many years before it happened. And it takes faith to believe in a miracle that hasn't happened. I mean, we can look back and look at all the great miracles of the Bible. It's very easy for us to just believe that. When we say we just believe the Word of God, that we just take it as it says it. I mean, we can look back at the Red Sea crossing, one of the great notable miracles, right? Where God splits the Red Sea and the children walk over and escape the armies of Pharaoh on dry land. We say, amen, I believe that. But it took a lot of faith there for those people to probably walk through that, you know, with the water built up on each side. It's one thing to walk through a miracle, and it's another thing to just look back on it and say, oh yeah, that happened. And Abraham here is showing us a great display of faith. He had faith in God. He's showing us that God promised him this child many years before it came to pass. And he believed God. And that's the thing. A lot of people, they get frustrated. It's very easy for us to just say, hey, believe the miracle of God, that God will give you a child one day. It's real easy to say that, but it's hard when you're the one who's waiting on that child. Now, it's interesting that Isaac had this faith, and it came very easy to him. That's probably because of the fact that he was, you know, the product of that miracle. Genesis chapter 25, I can read it to you. And Isaac was 40 years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel, the Syrian of Panedram, the sister of Laban, the Syrian. And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife because she was barren. So Isaac, you know, he instantly knows where to go. He probably heard the story of how he, you know, his birth story, you know, mom's always like to write down the birth story and read about it. Well, Isaac had a pretty interesting one, didn't he? In fact, it might have been kind of long. He probably didn't have a few pages, probably more of the novel. You know, he had like a birth novel. It took so long for him to show up, right? So Isaac, he already knows that he himself is a miracle. He himself is already somebody that is the product of God's promise. He was a miracle baby. So when his wife isn't bearing children, when she's struggling to conceive, Isaac knows exactly where to go. Hey, quiet down. Isaac knows exactly where to go. He goes right to God. It says that he entreated the Lord and it's Rebekah, his wife, conceived. So he didn't have to wait that long time, did he? He didn't have to wait like his father did many, many, many, many, many, many, many years. You know, that child came, it sounds like it came pretty quickly. And that's probably because Isaac, you know, he had that faith and there's a whole other reason why God probably took as long as he did to give Abraham his wife to make sure that they knew that this was, hey, this was in fact a miracle. That a woman who's, you know, the Bible said that Sarah and Abraham, they were well past childbearing years when Isaac was born. You see, Isaac believed the miracle of conception because he was the product of that. He was, he was a miracle of conception. And if we believe in the miracle of God, why do we doubt his ability to give us children? I mean, why can't we be more like Isaac? You know, Isaac, it was very easy for him to understand that, hey, God is the one who opens and shuts the womb. And he was very easy for him to just believe that God would give him that child when he struggled and his family struggled to conceive, he knew exactly where to go. If we believe in the miracles of God, why do we doubt his ability to give us children? Why is that such a struggle for us? We believe all these great miracles. We believe that, you know, Jesus Christ was the son of God, that he was born in the world of a virgin, that he lived a perfect and sinless life, that he did many great miracles that no other man could ever do, and that he died for our sins, that he was buried, that his soul went down into hell for three days, and that three days later he came back out of the grave and it's that same body, that he bodily arose and came out of the tomb. And that 40 days after that, you know, the disciples saw him ascend into heaven, into a cloud. And we believe that Jesus Christ one day is going to come again, we would never doubt that. We would say, yeah, I believe that, I believe that's going to happen, and we take those things and we have great hope for that. But when it comes down to the nuts and bolts of our life where something as serious and important as buried children, you know, to God, it would seem like that would be a very small thing for God to give somebody a child. Why do we struggle in believing that God has the ability to give us children? And I wonder a lot of times, if it's not necessarily a struggle to believe, but we're just impatient. And that can be a frustration. The Bible says that in Proverbs, Psalms 127, Lo children are an heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is his reward. It's God that gives children, it's God that gives a child, it's God that opens and shuts the womb. It's God that gives children to folks. Now it's one thing to know the promise of God, isn't it? It's one thing to know that God, you know, the fruit of the womb is his reward. It's one thing to know that God does these great miracles, but it's another thing to have to trust in that. It's another thing to have to put your faith in that. It's another thing to have to say, you know what, be like Abram, and say, you know what, God promised us way back when, but I'm going to continue to believe it. It was one thing for Abraham to say he believed that, but it's another thing to be Abraham and have to have lived that life of waiting those decades for that child to come, just trusting and becoming impatient even at one point, and understanding that God is going to come through on his word. And that's the case for a lot of people, I believe. A lot of people, they end up here in their life. They end up at the point, you know, we know people personally, and we've even made perhaps to some degree, experiencing it with ourselves, is that, you know, when are we going to conceive? Why are we having children? Why are we struggling to bear children? Why is this happening to us? And we have to just trust. It's hard to just trust and say, well, God knows. And also, even on the flip side of that coin, it's also hard for people today to trust that God will, you know, it's almost like they're afraid that God's going to give them more children. They're afraid that, you know, how am I going to take care of all these kids? How am I going to, should I really be multiplying and being fruitful like God has told me to do? You know, it doesn't help that you've got the world saying, no, don't do it, or people saying, hey, when are you going to stop? You know, three's enough, four's enough, five's enough, six's enough. When are you going to stop having children? And you just say, well, when God stops, when God tells us, either, you know, when I grow old and we can't have children anymore, or God's just closest to women, we can't conceive. So it's, having children is an act of faith, it really is, and it's an act of faith to trust that God is going to give children when children aren't coming, and it's an act of faith to trust that God is going to help you provide the children that God does give. So the point I'm trying to make here is that, even though that can be discouraging, it's natural to be discouraged in that situation, where you're trying to have children, and you're struggling to bring children into the world, you're struggling to conceive, but, and that's natural. I mean, I wouldn't fault anybody for becoming discouraged by that, or getting down in the dumps about that. It's hard. It's a hard thing. I mean, especially for women, I mean, you know, if they're godly, if they're the type of woman who wants to keep her at home, you know, if they want to raise their children, you know, if they want to take up children, they identify with that, you know, they find a, that's where they find their sense of self-worth, you know, that's where they find their meaning in their life is through their children, and that's great, that's important, that's the way it should be. What a great thing. I mean, if a woman raises godly children, that's a credit to her. That's a powerful testimony. That's a, you know, a gold star on her character, but, so we can see how it's easy to become discouraged. We can see how when somebody's struggling, when a woman is struggling to have a child, she can become very discouraged, and that's perfectly natural. I don't think somebody becoming discouraged about it is in sin necessarily. You know, if they're getting to the point where they're going to go out and take alternative means to conceive a child, if they're going to go out and use unnatural, unbiblical methods to conceive, you know, it would be just the same as somebody who didn't want to have children taking, you know, the unnatural things to prevent having children. It's kind of the same thing. That would be a sin, but to just, a woman or a man to just feel frustrated as Abraham did, you know, that's natural. That's never an excuse to commit sin, though. You know, Abraham, if you recall, went into his wife's hand-made Hagar and had Ishmael, and that was a sin, and he shouldn't have done that. Now, a perfect example of somebody is Hannah, Hannah in the Bible, 1 Samuel chapter 1, we'll see somebody who we see becomes very discouraged, yet is still given that child. The Bible says in 1 Samuel chapter 1, there was a certain man of Rathaim-zophim of Mount Ephraim, and his name was Alkanah, the son of Jehoram, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zeph, and Ephratite, and he had two wives, the name of one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Penaiah, and Penaiah had children, but Hannah had no children. This man went up out of the city yearly to worship and to sacrifice the Lord of Hosts and Shiloh, and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the Lord, were there. And when the time was that Alkanah offered, he gave to Penaiah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters portions, but unto Hannah he gave a worthy portion, for he loved Hannah. But the Lord had shut up her womb, and her adversary also provoked her sword, for to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb, and as he did so here by here, when she went up to the house of the Lord, so she provoked her, therefore she wept and did not eat. Then said Alkanah to her husband, Hannah, why weepest thou? Why use thou not? And why is that heart grieve? Am I better to thee than ten sons? Well this shows, I don't want to say I chuckle at it, but it's always just kind of struck me as odd. Alkanah, the character of this guy, I'm sure he wasn't an all that bad of a guy, well, number one he was a polygamist, so he wasn't probably the best guy, right? But the fact that he would say that to his wife just shows, I mean it's kind of an insensitive answer. But as a matter of fact, you're not better to me than ten sons, you're trying to compare apples to oranges. We just had our first son, and I've got to be honest with you, I'm getting a little jealous of the guy. I'm a little worried that I might be getting usurped in my own home by this little blonde haired, blue eyed boy that's, you know, there's another man in my wife's life now, and he's stealing an infection, I'm just kidding, but I just think it's funny that he would say such a thing like that. Am I not better to thee than ten sons? Kind of a kind of like, aren't I good enough, you know, it's just kind of this stupid statement. And I think that's a really good point for men, you know, if we have a wife that's struggling to conceive, you know, try to show a little sensitivity, try to put yourself in her shoes, try not to have this attitude of like, well, what's the matter, or you know, especially if you've already had children. Well, we've got all these other kids, I mean, what's the big deal? You know, I mean, we've already got these kids. It's a traumatic experience, I mean, I think as men we can't really understand what it's like at all, and that's fine with me, but the point is that Al-Qaeda, you know, it kind of had a bit of an insensitive answer here, he was kind of being a little bit of a jerk. And then it says here that Hannah, verse 9, so Hannah rose up after they had eaten in Shiloh and after they had drunk. Now Eli the priest sat upon a seat by the post of a temple of the Lord, and she was in bitterness of soul and prayed in the Lord and wept sore. So there's a lot here in this verse. So we see Hannah as a woman who goes on, if you read chapter 2 of 1 Samuel, you know, her prayer is written down in the Word of God. We see God answer her prayer and give her that child, and her child grows up to be that great prophet, Samuel. And Samuel is one of the greatest prophets that ever lived. And what the Bible says specifically in verse 6, that the Lord had shut up her womb. It says that in verse 5 and verse 6, the Bible makes it very clear that the reason why Hannah was struggling to conceive was because the Lord had shut up her womb. The Lord had shut up her womb. Now looking back, we can see God's purpose. We can see God's purpose now. We can read the story from a third person perspective and understand and know the beginning from the end, even as God does in a sense, and understand why perhaps God is shutting up the womb. You know, He wanted to get her to do something special with that child. But Hannah didn't know that. Hannah was just an ordinary mother in Israel who just wanted to have a child. She was just like anybody else. I mean, can we expect that Hannah would have known why God had shut up her womb? All she knew was that her womb had shut up. The Bible says that Hannah wept and did not eat and was in bitterness of soul. And that's, again, that's a natural reaction for somebody in that predicament. Somebody's going through that kind of a struggle or a trial, I think it's natural for them to weep. It's natural for them to get to so sad a point where they don't even have an appetite anymore. Where they're in bitterness of soul. You know, that's a very hard thing to go through. It's a natural reaction that Hannah had. I don't believe she was in sin for this. But Hannah wasn't without hope. That's the point I want to make here about Hannah. Because a lot of women can find themselves, a lot of couples can find themselves in the position of Hannah. Where they're struggling to conceive where it seems that God has shut up their womb. And Hannah, you know, they can find themselves like her. Weeping. Bitterness of soul. Being depressed. Being down. Being frustrated. Being discouraged. But the thing about Hannah was that she wasn't without hope. In verse 10 it says she was in bitterness of soul and she prayed unto the Lord and wept sore. So even though she was in bitterness of soul, she did not allow that drive a wedge between her and God. As a matter of fact, I believe that's what brought her even closer to God. I think a lot of times God lets these kind of things happen in our lives. He lets affliction. He lets tough things come into our lives so that we will be drawn closer to Him. See, Hannah's affliction gave her a deeper spirituality than perhaps those around her. She had a deeper spirituality by the things that she went through. You see that in 1 Samuel 11 that she vowed to vow, she vowed to vow and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou will indeed look upon the affliction of thine handmaid and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but will give unto thine handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor upon his head. So Hannah finds herself in this predicament where she wants to have a child desperately and God has shut up her womb. And she gets depressed, she gets a bitterness of soul, she weeps, she's not eating. But she does not allow that to become a wedge between her and God. The Bible says that she prayed unto the Lord and cried and wept sore, right? And then she vows that vow. She says, you know, I want this child so bad, God, but if you'll give me this child, I'll give him right back to you. That's a deep spirituality, to say, I mean, how does she know she's going to have another child after that? And she wants so desperately to have that child, to have that, and I believe it's because she wanted to have that sense of self-worth as a woman, to show that she could bring forth children, that she was fruitful, that she wasn't unbarren. And she brings forth, she's saying, I'll even bring forth this child if you'll give me God and I'll give him right back to you. That takes a deep spirituality. I mean, how many of us could say that? You know, if we went through some trial or affliction that if God, if we say, hey, if God, if you'll just answer this prayer, you know, then I'll just give right back to you. I mean, how many of mothers would be willing to make a prayer like that? Especially with their first child, say, hey, you know what, I haven't had children, I've been struggling to have children, but if God gives me a child, I'm going to give him right back to him. And she literally did that. That wasn't just, you know, just a bunch of talk. She literally gave him back the Lord. She took that child, Samuel, and when he was old enough, took him to the temple Lord and dedicated him to God and Samuel grew up in the temple. The Bible says that she visited him year to year and brought him a little coat. So we know, if you know the story of Samuel, she did exactly what she said she was going to do. That took a lot of faith. That took a lot of spirituality. That took a lot of self-sacrifice. To go through that trial, to go through that affliction, and be willing to make that sacrifice, that shows a very deep spirituality on Hannah's part. She's a great example of somebody who, yes, became very frustrated, yes, became very depressed and bitter of soul, but was never without hope and allowed that trial and affliction to draw her closer to God. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes chapter 7, It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for that is the end of all men, and all the living will lay it to his heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of murder. You know, it was better for Hannah to go through that, not mourning, it was better for Hannah to go through that hard season in her life, it was better for her to go into the house of mourning than the house of feasting, it was better for her to have sorrow than laughter. She was made better by it. She was made better by those trials and afflictions that she went through to the point that she was even willing to make a great spiritual sacrifice by giving her own son to the service of God. You see, we can better appreciate the miracle of conception when we understand that it is of God. You know, a lot of people, they have this just mistaken notion that, you know, it's just this, it's all biology, it's all just, you know, it's all just nature's way. Actually it's God that opens and shuts the womb. Whether people want to acknowledge that or not, it's God that has created that entire system, it's God that has made that possible to take place. He is the one who designed conception. And people, whether they realize it or not, have to understand that it's God that opens and shuts the womb. And when we understand that, when we understand that conception, that conceiving a child is a miracle, then we can understand that it is of God. And we can better appreciate God for who He is. And when one finally, when one, like Hannah, finally does conceive, as every woman, every barren woman who prayed in the Bible was given a child, that should give us great hope. And when that woman finally is able, like Hannah, to conceive, they can praise God all the more when they finally do. Now, you know, and I don't want to say, like, women who've never really struggled with this, they just don't appreciate their children like the woman who does. Because that's just not the case, you know, and if there is, that's probably not the reason why they don't appreciate their children, that's just a whole other thing. But I'm just saying, you know, it would make sense that the woman who struggles to conceive when she finally has that child, you know, whether it be her third child or fourth child or fifth child, whatever it is even, if they struggle to have that next child, when that child finally comes, there's all the more happening for it. You know, it was better for them to go into the house of mourning. It was better for them to have sadness of heart, because they're made better by it. The Bible says in Psalm 139, For thou hast possessed my reigns, thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made marvelous of thy works, that and that my soul knoweth right well. So we see that, you know, David understood this, that it was God who gave the miracle of conception to women. It's God who gives people the ability to conceive children. And many today, they don't take the miracle of conception for the miracle it is. They take that miracle for granted, don't they? You know, Hannah was not one who took that miracle for granted. She understood who it was. The Bible says that she prayed to the Lord. Isaac, when his wife Rebecca conceived, or struggled to conceive, when she was barren, you know, he didn't run off to get some kind of treatment at some kind of fertility clinic. The Bible says he went to the Lord, and she was able to conceive. And many people today, they take that miracle of conception for granted, in both ways. They take it for granted in the fact that, well, they believe in God, they believe it's God that opens up the womb, but they really don't believe that God's going to fulfill His Word. That if they had treated God, that God would open the womb. They become frustrated and they go to unnatural means to conceive children. But even worse than that, that is the same, but even worse than that is the abomination of abortion. I mean, people that would take the miracle of conception for granted to the point where they would butcher their own children in the womb. And we already saw earlier, at the beginning of the sermon, that the Bible is very clear that when a child is conceived in the womb, it is called a child at that exact time. Meaning the exact moment when the man's seed and the woman's aid come together, and that first cell splits. That is a child, by a biblical definition. And that is very important to understand that because once people, if you allow people to take that definition and change it, then, you know, from what the Bible says, then abortion doesn't seem quite so bad, does it? And people want to make light of it. And what they're doing is they're making light of the miracle of conception. That the fact that something like that can even take place is a miracle. And we're living in a country today that just, and in a world, in fact, that has just gone so far beyond the norm, it's just, the numbers are staggering when you consider the people that are having abortions today, when you look at these statistics. I went to the CDC very quickly last night, and looked at the abortion surveillance findings and reports from 2014, and 2014, 652,639 legal-induced abortions were reported to the CDC from 49 reporting areas. So that's probably not even all the areas, right? The abortion rate for 2014 was 12.1 abortions per 1,000 women, aged 15 to 44 years. For every 1,000 women, there's 12.1 abortions. You say, that's not so bad. Well, hey, just one is ending a life. Just one. This one is somebody ending life in the womb. Them going out of their way to have their children destroyed in the womb. Compared with 2013, oh, and the abortion ratio was 186 abortions per live births. So for every 1,000 children that are born, there's 186 that are aborted. That's a staggering number. And that, you know, I mean, what, I mean, 186. And that's, and people, I mean, and we could become so just, you know, just callous to these numbers. We just become so inundated with information. We just become so, oh, it's just a number on a page, but you've got to understand, one of those 186 was a miracle that God made, that God gave somebody the ability to conceive in the womb. That is a miracle. What if it had been you? What if it had been a me? What if it had been one of us? That we just, you know, we're just a number on a page. Some creature's nose, 186 abortions, and we can just listen to these numbers and they just fly over our head. We have to understand something, that conception is a miracle, and when you're living in a country that doesn't treat it as such, you end up with people doing things like this. Bible says, or the Bible, the report says, compared with 2013, the total number and rate of reported abortions from 2014 decreased two percent. Whoa, great news, should be a hundred percent, and the ratio decreased seven percent. Now, it says here that women in their twenties accounted for the majority of abortions in 2014 and throughout the period of malice. That's very interesting, that it's the women in their early twenties. It's the women who are in that time when they're going off to college and earning their degree and getting their career. They're not doing what the Bible says, being keepers at home, you know, and that's fine. If you want to go off to college and forget what the Bible says and earn your degree and be a woman of the world and just fit in with the world, I get it, that's what they all do. That's the way of the world. But as a Christian, you've got to reconsider your values. If you want to go do that, you want to live that life, can you at least do us a favor and not be a whore while you do it? Can you at least do us a favor and not abort your children while you're out there pursuing your career? Instead of settling down and letting a man take care of you and maybe living a little bit more of a meager lifestyle. And it's so funny, the world is so messed up and backwards, it's just not set up. I get it, it's hard. The world isn't set up for a single family income. It's hard. It's a struggle to make it. It's difficult for a man to provide today on his own income. But you know what, you just have to make sacrifices. Maybe you don't need that cable television. Maybe you don't need the smart phone. Maybe you don't need the second vehicle. Maybe you don't need to have nice new clothes all the time. Maybe you need to eat a little less food. Maybe you need to do whatever it is you need to do. Maybe you've got to live in an apartment instead of a house. Maybe you've got to live a little bit closer to work where you can walk. I don't know what it is you've got to do. But the Bible is very clear that men should be providers and that the women should be keepers at home. And today we have women that are going out and you know what, if they want to go out and just... I get it. That's the way the world is set up. You've got to have dual income. And we've got to have 1.8 children and we've got to have a three acre lot with a three story house and geothermal ventilation and all this other stuff and all these crazy things that everybody, you know, they just have to have all the nicest and the best things. Fine. But could you at least not be a whore while you do it? Could you at least not go out there and shed innocent blood and bring God's wrath upon this country while you're doing it? That would be a really great thing. You'd be doing the rest of us a favor. The Bible says, and it says that 91.5% of abortions were performed at 13 weeks gestation. At 13 weeks. What is that? Four months? A little over four months? No. That's 60. That's three months, right? Right around there. So, let me just tell you this real quick. At 13 weeks pregnant, the baby is as big as a lemon. 91% of the abortions that were performed were when a child was big enough to fit in the cup of your hands. That's when they did it. It wasn't the plan B pill. When you went out to the club the other night and got drunk and went home with some dude you didn't know and got knocked up, because you're playing a whore, and if these words offend you, these are Bible words. This is the way God looks at it. And we need preaching like this to, God forbid anyone of my daughters should ever grow up and be a part of this statistic. And thank God that they're not one of the ones that ended up aborted. Thank God that there was someone that had enough of a backbone to get up and call what it is and put some fear into the heart of some women that we know so that we have some children to preach to that are part of this number, this 186 per 1,000 live births. And God forbid my children, my daughters, should ever grow up and live as a harlot and go out and get knocked up and decide that they don't want that child and they abort it. That child is wicked. And that's why we need preaching like this, to put that fear in them, to help them to understand that that is wicked in the sight of God. And we're going to see just how wicked it is and what God thinks of it here in a minute. But the point I'm trying to make here is that when that child, 91% of abortions is at 13 weeks of gestation, that's when that child is just big enough to fit in the palms of your hand. And it says that they're 2.89 inches long at that time. They weigh .81 ounces. So it's not just, you know, they're just taking the plan B. It's not just that they're, you know, doing whatever. You know, it doesn't matter. That one's just as wicked, you know. But it just goes to show you how callous they are in their own mind already. They say, well, they don't know. That's a bunch of bologna. And if they want to know, they can find out, hey, at 13 weeks, what's the baby look like? I mean, I found it in seconds on Google, right? We really think it'd be that hard for a woman in her 20s to understand what it is that's growing inside of her. What she has when she goes down to the abortion clinic and has it butchered. Now God will judge those that make light of His miracles. And we see that. We see that throughout all of Scripture. When people take God for granted, He judges them. I mean, you look at the children of Israel, they're the perfect example. And they saw all the miracles that God did. And then they still disobeyed. God judged them for it. And it's no different with people that are going to take the miracle of conception lightly. The Bible says in Deuteronomy chapter 19, Wherefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt separate for thee three cities, three cities for thee, and if the Lord thy God enlarge thy clothes at the assort of thy fathers, and give thee all the land which he promised to give unto thy fathers, if thou shalt keep out the commandments to do them which I command thee this day, to love the Lord thy God, to walk ever in his ways, then thou shalt add three cities more for thee, besides these three, that innocent blood be not shed in thy land. So God's telling these people and setting up the law and saying, look, He's so concerned about innocent blood not being shed in the land, He's saying, I want you to dedicate entire cities to this. There are going to be specific locations throughout your land, these cities of refuge, that are going to serve, you know, obviously, that's where people are going to be regarded as pieces, but these cities are going to be called cities of refuge, and they have a very specific purpose, but they would prevent people from shedding innocent blood in the land, that innocent blood be not shed in thy land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance, and so blood be upon thee. See, when innocent blood is shed upon a land, that blood is upon the people of that land, whether they're the ones that shed it directly or not. But if any man hate his neighbor and lie away from him, and rise up against him, and smite him mortally that he die, and fleeth into one of these cities, then the elders of this city shall send and fetch him thence, and shall deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood that he may die. So if a guy rises up and commits second, first degree murder, and intentionally goes out and kills a man with intent, it's premeditated, it wasn't an accident, it wasn't manslaughter, he goes out and purposely kills a man, and then flees into one of these cities, God says no, you need to deliver that man, because there's innocent blood that's been shed, and that man needs to pay for it, lest that blood come upon thee. The elders of this city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood that he may die. Thine eye shall not pity him, but thou shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from Israel, that it may go well with thee. See, it's for your sake, he's saying it's for your sake, saying you need to put away the guilt of innocent blood. And then it goes on and says, well I kind of ended it there, but the point of that is to show us that God takes shedding of innocent blood very seriously. That's not something, I mean he dedicated entire cities to that point, so that people would have somewhere to go. The Bible says in 2 Kings 24, in his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up and Jehoiakim became his servant three years, and turned and rebelled against him. And the Lord said against him, bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servants the prophets. Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight for the sins of Manasseh according to all that he did. So there were the sins that this guy Manasseh did that were so bad that God said, I'm going to remove Israel out of my sight, and he took bands of all these different nations and sent them against them to remove them out of his sight, for all that Manasseh did, and what it was that he did, and also for the innocent blood that he shed, for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, which the Lord would not pardon. God is not going to pardon innocent blood. God makes it very clear that if innocent blood is shed, the one who shed it is to be shed, his blood is to be shed. That's the only way to get innocent blood pardoned in our land. You can't just say, oh, oops, our mistake, we're sorry. No, that innocent blood will continue to cry out unto God as Abel's did, and God will avenge that innocent blood. Bible says in Exodus chapter 21, if men strive and hurt a woman with child so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow, he shall surely be punished, according as a woman's husband will lay upon him, and he shall pay the judges as the judges determine. Isn't that interesting, that if two men are striving, and a woman is by standard, she gets hurt, and she's with child, and she miscarries as a result, but it wasn't done intentionally, there's still going to be a punishment. Then he goes on a sentence that says, if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life. So he's saying, look, if it becomes evident that this woman was struck, that her fruit was caused to depart from her, you know, she miscarried, and it was done intentionally, the man that caused that to happen, the one that struck her, is to be dead. You say, well, what does that happen? I'll tell you what, I know specifically something that happened. When I was younger, when I was a teenager, I had a friend, she became pregnant, and she went and told another friend, a guy, that she was pregnant, and you know what he did? He socked her right in the gut, didn't even say anything to her, just said, hey, I'm pregnant. Bam! Right in the gut. Now, she didn't end up, the fruit didn't depart from her, but you know what, what if it had? You know what the Bible, if we were following this today in our country, that man would have been taken and killed for what he did. That just shows you the callousness of people, even teenagers, and young people today, that they are so calloused towards the miracle of conception, that they have no problem doing something like that. They have such a disregard and ignorance of God's word today, that they don't understand the severity of what they're doing. Shedding innocent blood brings God's wrath upon people. The Bible says in Exodus 21, if any mischief followed, there shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe. When you think about this, and I don't want to get graphic about it, but what should happen to the abortion doctor? What should be the one who takes the miracle of conception for granted? The one who's willing to do the butchering that he does down at the abortion clinic? What should happen to him, according to the Bible? Eye for eye, tooth for tooth. I think a stoning or a hanging would be merciful to the guy. I think he should go the same way he caused others to go. And for the sake of children and the women, I won't get graphic about it. I mean, we understand what takes place down there. Maybe we should do that to them. Maybe we should do the same thing, but I'll move on before I get into that. You see, we've got a lot of people today, I mean the fact that there's even a man that says, you know, what do you want a girl to be one day, so I think I'll work in an abortion clinic. That's why all these doctors, they're all the rejects from the medical world. They're all the people who couldn't hack it to be real doctors, so they had to go down to the abortion clinic. They're a bunch of just, you know, washed up, no good losers. But there's people today that think, well that's a noble profession, that's good enough for me. There's people that think they're doing us a public service. I mean, I just saw a tweet the other day that the Planned Parenthood put out that said, it's safer for a black woman to have an abortion these days than it is to actually have a child. That's what they said. They said it's safer today for a black woman to have, go ahead and just have an abortion than to actually carry that child through to birth. Can you imagine if Pastor Anderson tweeted that? Can you imagine if I tweeted that? Can you imagine if, you know, I hate to use it if you give me any kind of credit, but Donald Trump said something like that, then the place would blow up, right? They'd have a field day with that, but Planned Parenthood could say it. Planned Parenthood could just come out and say it, oh, you know, it'd be better for all you black ladies to just go ahead and get an abortion. I mean, that's racist, that's wicked, that's evil, but that's where we're at in this country where people could just see things like that, and people would just go down and they'd think that they're doing us a great public service by just aborting children. It's wicked, friend, it's innocent blood and God is going to judge it. It cannot be pardoned, it has to be repaid. You say, well, what's the big deal, I mean, what's the big deal about why is God taking so seriously? Because conception is a miracle? Because it's a beautiful, wonderful miracle? Because children are blessing their God? Well, there's such a burden. Well, you know what, yeah, maybe they are a bit of a burden, but burdens are what make us stronger, aren't they? Burdens are what make it worth it. I mean, there's nothing more satisfying for a man to come home after a long day's work. You know, if I have a slow day at work where there's not a lot to do, it's depressing. I want to go, I start thinking about, man, maybe I should go start shoveling again. Maybe I should go get a job where I know at least I'm going to be roofing or doing something hard every day, whether there's not, you know. So if children are such a burden, well, great, that should give you some kind of sense of self-worth, that you are able to bear a burden. Now, at least you have some kind of meaning in your life, you know, instead of just, you're just here to just consume things. You're actually here to take care of, you know, bring life in the world and to care for it and to raise it up. Conception is a miracle of God that makes Him worthy of praise. When we make light of this miracle of conception, what we're doing, we're robbing God of glory. We're stealing glory from God. We're stealing, robbing Him from the praise that He's worthy of. The Bible says in Isaiah 44, Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer, and he that formed thee from the room, I am the Lord that maketh all things, and stretcheth forth the heavens alone, and spreadeth abroad the earth by myself. What a great verse. God puts having formed Him in the womb in the same verse as stretching forth the heavens alone and spreading abroad the earth by Himself. He's saying me giving you life in the womb, it's as great a miracle as me spreading abroad the earth or stretching out the heavens. Jeremiah 1 says, Then the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. And before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee and ordained thee a prophet of the nations. God told Jeremiah that He knew who He was even before He formed Him in the womb. It's God that forms the child in the womb. The Bible says in Ecclesiastes, Thou knowest not what is the way of the Spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with the child, even so, though knowest not the works of God that maketh all. God makes everybody and He does it all the same way. He's the one that caused the bones to grow in the womb. He's the one that does it. And when we make light of it, we're robbing God of the glory and the praise that He deserves for the miracle of conception. You see, we understand what conception is. We understand what it means when we say somebody's conceived or somebody's pregnant. We understand everything that's taking place on a physical level, but we can't explain why it does that. I can't explain it, but science can't sit down and tell you why a cell divides after the seed of the man and the man and the woman come together. They can't tell you that. They can't tell you why that just takes place. They understand, oh, this is how it happens, but why? Why does it do that? What causes that to happen? They can't explain it. It's a miracle. Conception is a miracle, the fact that it even takes place. You know, it's like you're heart beating. Well, it's got, why does my heart just beat involuntarily? How does it just know to beat it? Well, you know, there's an electrical signal between your brain and your heart. Okay, well, how did that get there? Well, you know, there comes a point where you just can't explain it. It's like trying to explain where did God come from, which is a foolish question, by the way. You know, it's one of those things where you just come up against a wall. Yeah, I understand, you know, the man gets together with the woman, the seed, the egg, cells divide, you know, the body begins to develop inside the womb. Yeah, but why? You know, thou knowest not, you know, how the bones do grow in the womb of her that was child, even so thou knowest not the works of God that maketh all. You can't understand it. It's a miracle. And it's only a culture of death. It's only people that hate God, and that love death, that would regard the blessing of children as a curse. They would say, man, that miracle of conception, that's a curse. You know, it's only a backwards people that would consider a curse a blessing. And that's what Hosea said to these, he says, ask for Ephraim, thy glory shall fly away like a bird from the birth, from the womb, from the conception. Though they bring up their children, yet I will breed them, that there is, there shall not be a man left. That's a curse. When God begins to breed you of children, when you cannot conceive, a lot of times that's God cursing people. Now I'm saying that everyone that experiences that is cursed with God. Okay, there's a lot of other reasons, that's a whole other sermon in and of itself. But I'm just saying, it is one of the ways God's cursed people. You know, Ephraim, as I saw in Tires, is a pleasant, is planted in a pleasant place, but Ephraim shall bring forth his children to the murderer. Give them, O Lord, what will thou give them? Give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts. In Hosea's eyes, that was a curse. He was cursing these people. He's saying, you know what, give them a miscarrying womb. There's a lot of people in this country today, they would say, yeah, give us a miscarrying womb, they would appreciate it. Save them the hassle. Save them from having to be accountable for their actions. Save them from having to come up with the money to pay somebody to do it for them. Just give me a miscarrying womb. It's a backwards country that we're living in. It's a backwards society, it's a backwards people, that would consider the miracle of conception to be a curse. And it's the backwards people that say, look, a curse like that would be a blessing to us. But that's the society we live in. And I know it gets kind of to be a little bit of a heavy subject to talk about, and it's unpleasant, but it needs to be preached about, that this is taking place. And ultimately, it should be an encouragement, especially, that's really the point of sermon, is that those that are struggling to conceive would be encouraged, and understand that it's God that opens and shuts the womb, and God will give them in due time. The child that they desire, we just have to be faithful, and we have to understand that it's perfectly natural to become discouraged. It's perfectly natural to weep sore and be bitter about what's taking place if you're struggling to conceive, but understand that that child does come, and they come. We know people that have struggled for years to have children. That child finally comes. And that person that brings that child into the world, they're rejoicing all the more. They appreciate that child so much more, and the people around them do, too. The people that have been praying for that couple, the people that have been praying and hoping and asking God to give them that child, they can look at that child and be blessed by it, too. So we should not always just become discouraged. We can be like Hannah, and those are natural reactions, but we should never lose hope. And understand, ultimately, that when God opens the womb, when God allows someone to conceive, that it's His miracle, and that because of that, He is worthy to be praised for it. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I ask now that you would just be with us as we go, Lord, help us to be mindful of these verses and to always remember, Lord, that life is precious, that life is a gift given from You, Lord, that it's You who caused the bones to grow, that You opened the womb, Lord, that help us to always just trust in You for that. And Lord, though we might grow discouraged, though we might have trials and difficulties in this area, help us to never, Lord, just throw in the towel and not seek You. Help us to draw closer to You, help us not draw a wedge, Lord, but help us between You and us, but help it to always bring us closer to You. And Lord, we just thank You for all the children that we have, and Lord, the others that will come, and Lord, we just pray that You help us to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, that they would live a godly life and serve You with their lives and be honoring to You, and Father, that our children would never be part of the number of those that would shed innocent blood. And Lord, I ask that You would, Father, in Your wrath, remember mercy. We live in a wicked nation that takes this miracle that You've given us for granted, and Father, honestly, I don't know what to say. I ask that Your will be done there, Lord, it needs to stop, and Lord, I know that Your wrath will come upon this nation because of the blood that's been shed. And Father, I pray that You would wake up those that are in that industry, wake up those that passed legislation regarding that wicked abortion industry, Lord, that they would understand that they are meddling with the very finger of God, that they are taunting You, Lord, and that You will bring vengeance upon them. And not only that, Lord, but those, the bystanders, those that perhaps have never taken a part in that wickedness, will be collateral damage. I believe that, Father. I pray that You would remember to show mercy on those that have decried this wicked sin, those that have lifted up their voice and called it out for what it is, and Lord, I pray that You would just help us as we go our way, Lord, to always trust in You, Lord, no matter what trial or tribulation we're going through, that we would understand that You often led us to go through those things that would be made better for it. Pray ask these things in Jesus' name, Amen.