The call to stand for life is one of the great calls upon the church for all time, but especially in our day. With that I say welcome to the second half of our two-part sermon series, From Womb to Tomb, as we look at what it means to be pro-life. And before we move on, I must remind us that this is the last online message before we get to meet in person for the first time in our new worship center. Who's excited?

Yeah.

I couldn't be more excited. But right now, let me start with these words. Today is the day that the Lord has made. So let us rejoice and be glad in it. And can I get an amen? Amen.

Today is not just the day that the Lord has made. This is also Sanctity of Life Sunday, a day where churches and people who love life pause and recognize that all people, born and unborn, people who are part of your religion or not, people who are part of your ethnicity or not, that all people are made in the image of God, making all human life a sacred thing. And so we do value life, from fertilization to our final breath, from womb to tomb.

And that's our call. That's what it means to be pro-life. Last week we looked at our great call to care for our widows. And so on the Sanctity of Life Sunday, we're going to talk about what it means to bring justice into the conversation for what it means to care for the most defenseless among us,

the fatherless, the orphans, and specifically today, the unborn and the issue of abortion. So please, in your Bibles, would you please turn to the 82nd Psalm as we look at justice for the fatherless Now Psalm 82 is unlike any other song the Psalms are songs for sure But Psalm 82 at just eight verses long is not a song of praise a sense Thanksgiving or laments

It's not speaking to God. It's mostly God himself speaking and as you're going to see in a moment, it is also one of the most confusing, confounding settings of any passage in the Bible. Again, we'll discuss that in a moment. But if there is a theme to this psalm, it most certainly is one of judgment,

but more than that, justice. And so, without further ado, would you hear God's word, the 80-second psalm.

Psalm.

God has taken his place in the divine council. In the midst of the gods, he holds judgment. How long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? Selah. Give justice to the weak and the fatherless.

Maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy. Deliver them from the hand of the wicked. They have neither knowledge nor understanding. They walk about in darkness. All the foundations of the earth are shaken.

I said, you are gods, sons of the most high, all of you. Nevertheless, like men you shall die and fall like any prince. Arise, oh God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit the nations.

Amen.

This is God's word.

Let's pray and we'll continue. Let's pray. Father, we need your help this morning. As you call us to stand for the defenseless, for the weak and for the needy, we need your grace, truth, and your spirit as we seek to be people who uphold the value of life from womb to tomb. And we pray this in the name of Him who was also born of a woman, in the name of Jesus, amen and amen.

So we are to be pro-life from womb to tomb. And I think a beautiful way that the Bible helps us to think about this is in the Bible's numerous calls to care for the widows and the orphans. Let me remind you of our main idea from last week as we looked at this.

Last week we talked about how our main idea is that God's people are to share God's heart to care for those who can't care for themselves. And today on Sanctity of Life Sunday we're going to complement this thought by looking at this one main idea. That God's people are to share God's heart to give justice for those who can't defend themselves. And as we consider God's judging in true justice we're going to

see three things from our passage and we're gonna start with this one, as we consider God the God of justice. And this first one is this, that God is the supreme judge. Now, before we talk about the cultural debate

surrounding abortion, let's talk about the God overall, the supreme judge. But as we get into our Psalm here, we have to ask what is verse one even talking about? Let's read it again. Psalm 82, verse one, says this.

Says, God has taken his place in the divine counsel. In the midst of the gods, he holds judgment. So what is the divine counsel and what does the scripture mean about in the midst of the gods? So there is so much more than what can be said

for our purposes here today. But briefly, here's our options as we consider this. The Bible's either talking about the divine counsel as a group of spiritual and or angelic beings which God presides over, hence the lowercase g, gods, lesser gods, other spiritual beings who are under God's command. That's maybe an option here.

And when we look at incredible scenes from Isaiah, Ezekiel, Job and Revelation, this certainly makes it plausible if it's even a fantastic notion or the divine counsel here is a poetic way to talk about the human rulers of the world National leaders may be from Israel or the surrounding nations who God's given authority But did not uphold that call to maintain justice Or maybe God is speaking to all of his people to all the Israelites Meaning that lowercase g gods referred to the fact that God's people were meant to be his agents on this planet

But they fail to uphold God's justice on earth. And so God is going to bring judgments. But wait, you may say, if you've read your New Testament, doesn't Jesus quote this song? Does that shed light on this? He certainly does. In John chapter 10, we see Jesus say the epic line, I and the father are one.

This was a clear claim to be God and so the Jewish leaders they pick up stones to immediately kill him for blasphemy but Jesus he goes on to defend himself by quoting this song by quoting Psalm 82 and John 10 34 to 36 here's what happens Jesus answered them and said is it not written in your law I said you are gods and then he goes on to say, If he called them gods to whom the word of God came, and scripture cannot be broken,

do you say of him who the Father sent into the world, you are blaspheming? Because I said, I am the Son of God? Now listen, there's a lot to unpack right there. But what's important to know for right now, is that it appears that Jesus is assuming

that Psalm 82 is written to human people. Which leads many people to think that Psalm 82 is about God judging human authorities for their lack of ensuring justice for all. Clear as mud, right? Again, there's a lot, there's much to unpack here. I know this is confusing.

So what's, what's the simple answer, Pastor Ryan? Well, what I'd say for us right now is that I think we have to step back and consider if we are asking a question the Bible isn't seeking to answer. Are we looking for details to the detriment of actually missing the actual point? It's not, is it not that the larger idea that whoever the divine counsel is, isn't the point here that God is the Supreme judge who wants to see justice prevail over the earth?

Because that's where I ultimately land, at least for our purposes today. Maybe I'll join Pastor John for that's a good question We can talk more about this because it's a fun discussion but ultimately where I land here is that the notion the emphasis here is that God wants justice upon the earth and He is given his people the responsibility to be his agents to see this justice enacted on the planets Why because God is good and that's the second thing that we see first

God is the supreme judge, but we also see that God is the righteous judge. So in verse one, we see God assert his authority over all. And then we see God himself speak. Verse two, how long will you judge unjustly and show partiality to the wicked? So here in verse two, for you Bible students, we see here that God gives the thesis statement for his concern that he wants justice on the planet. But in the next

verse, in the next verses, God lays out specific directions for this because what ends up happening is that people hijack justice. They hijack the word justice and we want to apply it in our human way. God certainly wants justice but he wants it done his way and so he's going to detail for us what he means by justice. Verse 3, give justice to the weak and the fatherless. Maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute.

So God wants justice, and listen to me, that's not just a cultural buzzword. Justice is a true biblical word, and Christians should be champions of justice. When people are exploited, it's unjust. When orphans are not taken care of, it's unjust.

When orphans are not taken care of, it's unjust. And we're not just to take care of them. The Bible says here to rescue them. Verse four. Verse four says, rescue the weak and the needy. Deliver them from the hand of the wicked.

And right there we see God draw a line in the sand that those who commit unjust acts are wicked. And the Bible says this about them verse 5 says that they have neither knowledge nor understanding they walk about in darkness all the foundations of the earth are shaken meaning they have no moral grounding they are immoral they have no sense of right and wrong but God doesn't just judge the wicked we like when God judges the wicked but he doesn't just do that God also

He also judges those who do not uphold justice.

Yikes.

God says to them in verses six and seven, he said, I said you are gods, sons of the most high, all of you, nevertheless, like men, you shall die and fall like any prince. God is saying, I gave you authority,

mission and an identity, but you failed. And so you will fall from your special place that I've given you. And so we must ask ourselves here and now in our day, are we guilty of the same? Have we violated, verse 3,

have we denied justice to the weak and to the fatherless? A child in the womb is most certainly weak, and in a sense, it's fatherless, for a father has no rights as to whether or not a woman decides to have an abortion. Our culture has said it's her choice.

Listen to me. I love our freedoms in America. I am thankful for those who fought and died to maintain them. We should continue to fight to maintain them. But I have to wonder at times if our freedoms have blinded us to what is ultimately right before God. In our desperation to give women the right to an abortion, have we

thus denied children the right to be born? This is the moral dilemma of our time. This is the moral dilemma. Is it an injustice to deny women the right to an abortion or is it an injustice to deny children the right to be born. Our new president, who starts in January, has not taken a true stance on this. His mantra is to throw it back to the states. If we're going to end abortion, the abortions that happen every day, if we're going to bring justice to the weak, to the fatherless and to the unborn, it will not ultimately be through laws. For the justice

that we, the church, are to bring isn't something that can only be enforced by the police, by judges, or by the courts. We are to bring and model a greater justice in the world. So hear me on this. The longer that the discussion around abortion centers around laws and access to abortion and women's rights, the longer and the more bitter it will become. This conversation needs to shift from what is lawful to what is loving.

Hear me on this. Yes, changing laws will help save the unborn, but changing hearts is how we end abortion. I want to live in a world where if life is an option, then life is always the choice. Because this is right.

This is good. And because of the last thing that we see in Psalm 82, and it's this, that God is the final judge. This last verse of Psalm 82 is a dangerous cry.

Verse 8,

Arise, O God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit all the nations. I don't want God to judge the earth. The US has around 1 million abortions a year. And the state of Michigan accounts for almost 30,000 of those, roughly 30,000 of those. God will not see this as a victorious display of women's rights. He'll see it for what it is, the unjust and innocent death of the unborn, infants who

are placed upon the altar of our own rights and ambitions offered in sacrifice of the pursuit of our own self-fulfillment. God will judge those who take innocent life. The Bible says here that God shall inherit the nations because we see this in scripture that the earth is the Lord's and it's his to judge but listen it's not the Father who judges the earth it's the Son. I think sometimes we forget this Jesus Christ is the judge and he will judge with all

righteousness for Jesus Christ himself says John chapter 5 verse 22, He says this, For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.

Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. I thought Jesus was the all-loving guy. Well, He is. But He's also the righteous judge. God the Father has entrusted the judgment to the Son, to Christ,

for it is Him that we will stand before. And Jesus himself says on that day that he will separate people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. It's Christ that will stand before at the end of days. Abortion is a grievous injustice. It's the mutilation and destruction of those who are the weakest.

And God will judge the unjust nations that not only allow this, but who celebrate it and champion abortion. My friends, and He'll also judge those who He sent to be His agents of justice,

but failed to do so. For those of us who fail to stand for and uphold God's justice, God will bring judgment. The world is wicked, and we have failed, and woe is us. But, but thanks be to God that the gospel does not end with our condemnation, for there is yet

hope for all of us. There is hope for all of us, those who have had abortions and those who fail to stand against it, those who are silent in the face of it. For Jesus continues in this very same passage, the very next line, Jesus says this,

"'Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word "'and believes him who sent me has eternal life. "'He does not come into judgment, "'but has passed from death to life. "'There is hope, and that hope is Jesus Christ and Him alone. Because of the life, death and resurrection of our Savior, our sins can be atoned for.

Our destiny is not lost to the fires of judgment. We can believe in Jesus, all of us, and have eternal life, for His blood covers any and all blood that we've spilt. All the injustice that we've committed in Christ, we see that His grace is greater than all of our sin. Christ saved us when we couldn't save ourselves.

And now we are called to be part of God's gospel work in this world, which means spreading His message of love and forgiveness and working towards His justice on earth, because, because God's people are to share God's heart to give justice for those who can't defend themselves. Amen?

Amen. Amen. Let's pray.