Pregnancy, Prayer, and Abortion

I recently learned I am to be a grandfather for the first time. I have started praying for the baby, God’s blessing. Not long after starting to do that, the thought came to my mind that this is one thing those who contemplate having an abortion and those who believe in abortion cannot do. I had never thought about that.

How does one pray for a baby they plan to kill? How do those who believe in abortion pray for what they consider to be just a mass of blood and biological tissue, non-human? One might pray for a health problem they have, but that would be because one wanted life and health. In the case of those desiring abortion, they want death. Does one pray “kill this thing?”

If those who believe in abortion respond by saying we can pray for a pregnancy where no abortion is planned, then I say, how is there any consistency in that? Is that which is within the womb human if we plan on keeping it, but just tissue and blood, non-human, if we desire to rid ourselves of it? A fetus is a fetus in either case. I guess the difference is one is loved and desired while the other is hated.

“Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is his reward.” (Psalm 127:3 NKJV) Obviously, not everyone is willing to accept that.

What if the child is born out of wedlock? What if it is? Jephthah, the son of a prostitute (Judges 11:1), is listed in what we often call God’s hall of fame of the faithful in Hebrews 11:32. Based on the way his half-brothers cast him out, it seems very likely his father was never married to the prostitute mother. Lange’s Commentary reads as follows:

“If he had been the son of one who was properly a wife, his brothers would doubtless have been obliged to admit him to a share in the inheritance … But they maintained that his mother had not been a wife of their father at all, not even one of secondary rank,—that she was nothing but a harlot.”

No matter how a child is conceived, God is responsible for giving the life. In the womb, God is in the process of making us. “Did not He who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one fashion us in the womb?” (Job 31:15 NKJV) Jeremiah says the word of the Lord came to him saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” (Jer. 1:5 NKJV) Would it have been okay to abort Jeremiah while he was still in the womb? How about the apostle Paul? How about Jesus himself?

One never knows how a child will turn out, but we must remember the child is God’s creation, not our own. Man should not interfere with God’s work. God opens and closes wombs (Gen. 29:31, 30:22, 1 Sam. 1:5-6), and it is he who fashions us in the womb.

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Things God Cannot Do

The Bible teaches that there are things God cannot do. Why not? It is certainly not because he lacks the power or knowledge, but it’s a matter of who he is, his character. We can understand that. There are things you and I could do, but our character would never allow it. I thought it would be good to use an online Bible concordance for the New King James Version and type in the word “cannot” and see what came up. I was interested only in those things God cannot do. Here is the list I compiled.

(1) God says in Isa. 1:13, “I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.” (NKJV) At the start of this same chapter God, speaking through the prophet Isaiah, says of his people that they “have rebelled against me” (Isa. 1:2 NKJV); then, two verses later, they are referred to as a “sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a brood of evildoers, children who are corrupters!” (Isa. 1:4 NKJV) They were up to their necks in sin of all kinds and yet were still offering sacrifices to God (v. 11) and observing the assemblies (v. 13). They were a people full of hypocrisy.

God cannot endure worship directed to him when those offering it are full of sin that they are unrepentant of. Living a life of sinful indulgence and disregard for God’s word did not please God then, nor will it now, no matter how much playing church we do. Acceptable worship to God must be from a life of faithful living in spirit and truth.

We see what God cannot endure nearly everywhere we look if we have eyes to see. As an example, it is common to see congregations in which there are unscripturally divorced and remarried couples, couples living in adultery by the Bible definition, that are members in good standing. I personally knew of a man who left his wife of, I am told, 37 years, for another woman, married this woman, and now attends another congregation which seemed to accept him and her with open arms, unrepentant. It is also common to hear on the news of churches welcoming homosexual pastors or priests, as they call them. If you know anything about the Bible, you know God condemns homosexuality (1 Cor. 6:9-10). These are just a couple of examples, but God is still saying, “I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.” (Isa. 1:13 NKJV)

(2) Habakkuk says of God in Hab. 1:13, “You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.” (NKJV) Obviously, God sees or knows the wickedness of man; otherwise, how could he judge man? “There is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Heb. 4:13 NKJV) The Psalmist tells us in speaking of God that “he knows the secrets of the heart.” (Psalm 44:21 NKJV) So, there is no hiding wickedness from God, even wickedness in the heart. Habakkuk is saying in this passage that God cannot tolerate or endure wickedness or sin.

What is the message for today? “Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” (Gal. 6:7-8 NKJV) “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Cor. 5:10 NKJV) “Tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek.” (Rom. 2:9 NKJV)

The fact that God does not punish men on the spot and immediately for their sin does not mean he has not seen it or has overlooked it. If it seems we have gotten by with it, it is only because God is “longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 NKJV) There will be a day of accounting. God “cannot look on wickedness.” It is impossible for him to accept it.

(3) “God cannot be tempted by evil.” (James 1:13 NKJV) This is just a straightforward statement of fact. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life tempt men, not God. God is spirit. The same passage tells us that God tempts no one.

What does this mean that God cannot be tempted by evil? It means God will not lie to me, he will not cheat me, he will do me no wrong at all, for that would be evil, the thing God cannot be tempted to do. It means God cannot be bribed or bought off, for that would be evil. Evil, in all its manifestations, is absent from God. It means, as we are told in many places in scripture, that God is good. “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5 NKJV)

Yes, there will be problems that enter my life, but they will be for my growth and improvement. “Brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4 NKJV) “He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’” (Heb. 13:5 NKJV)

(4) God “cannot lie.” (Titus 1:2 NKJV) Titus tells us this in connection with a promise God has made to his people—the promise of eternal life. This is a great comfort and hope as time goes by in our lives and we see ourselves growing older. We know some day we must leave this world for the great unknown, but God has given a promise, and he cannot lie; there is such a thing as eternal life. What a joyous thought and hope.

But we must also remember that when we are told that God cannot lie, it pertains to everything God has said. We cannot choose what parts of the Bible we want to believe and obey. God cannot lie about anything he has said. If he has given a commandment you or I do not like, we must remember God was not lying when he gave us the commandment. He meant for it to be kept and obeyed. Next time you read a commandment that is hard to accept, ask yourself this question: Is God lying about this? Does he mean it?

Today, men and women are living in disobedience to plain commandments of God because, in their minds, he will not care, he did not mean it for us today, he knows times have changed. In other words, God did not mean what he said and will not count our disobedience against us as sin. We need to remember the words of Jesus, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” (Matt. 4:4 NKJV) We ought to emphasize from that passage the phrase “every word.” God “cannot lie.”

(5) God “cannot deny himself.” (2 Tim. 2:13 NKJV) Taken in the context in which this passage is found, the entire verse reads as follows: “If we are faithless, he remains faithful; he cannot deny himself.” This is very similar to the previous passage from Titus telling us God cannot lie. To be faithful means we keep our word. For God not to do this would make him unfaithful, and he would be denying himself, denying what he had previously told us.

This really means that you and I can take God’s word to the bank, as the old saying goes. It is good as gold, better than gold. There is no possibility of a failure or fault to be found with it. We need to have confidence in the word of God, for without it, when doubts start entering in, sin and falling away are not far behind. Jesus says, “The scripture cannot be broken.” (John 10:35 NKJV) God cannot deny himself.

It is wonderful to know the things God can do, but it is also wonderful to learn there are things God cannot and will not do.

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The Conscience As A Witness

A person can run from many things, but one thing that cannot be run from is one’s own conscience. Wherever a person goes, their conscience follows as closely as their shadow. It is a constant companion. It is an individual’s witness to himself and to God of his character as it relates to his willingness or unwillingness to abide in what he considers to be that which is right and good.

The conscience cannot be a person’s perfect guide, for it, like our intellect, must be properly trained to be useful. Throughout history men have committed atrocities in all good conscience against others. Men have burned other men at the stake, slit the throats of others, sacrificed their children as burnt offerings, committed genocide, all in good conscience because the conscience was misinformed and untaught in righteousness.

Just because one has been taught from childhood a thing is right, and has accepted it as fact, does not mean there is truth in the doctrine one was taught and came to believe. A conscience can be trained in error just as easily as in righteousness, for the conscience itself is unable to determine truth from error. It acts like a computer in the sense that it can do no more nor less than what it has been programmed to do. It judges based on its training.

Sometimes consciences need to be reprogrammed. If a person is in religious error, say, as an example, a militant Islamist who believes murder and terrorism are God’s will (I remember ISIS) his conscience needs to be retrained and educated in righteousness.

The only trustworthy guide man has to live by is not his conscience but God’s word. The Psalmist said, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105 NKJV) Man is to walk in (live by) God’s word. Jeremiah, under inspiration, wrote, “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.” (Jer. 10:23 NKJV) If it were in man to direct his own steps, then conscience might well be a suitable guide, but that is not what the scriptures teach.

Mankind’s guide needs to be what the word of God says, for only God knows what is perfect in goodness, holiness, and righteousness. Jesus said to the devil, but it is applicable to all, for it remains true, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’” (Matt. 4:4 NKJV) This was originally written in Deut. 8:3, by Moses, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

If it be said men have used scripture to commit atrocities, it is not scripture that led them to that. For example, where in your New Testament do you read of a commandment to burn men at the stake for heresy as was done in the Middle Ages? Christianity, properly taught, teaches us to love your neighbor as yourself. It never condones mistreatment of another.

No, we cannot ignore our conscience. I do not argue that we can, for we cannot. I only argue that our conscience must be trained by the word of God as found in the New Testament, God’s law for man today, and that we may need to retrain our conscience to bring it into accord with that word.

Saul, who was to become the apostle Paul, had to be retrained when he met up with Jesus on the road to Damascus. His conversion experience (read about it in Acts 9, 22, and 26) immediately convinced him that the things he used to believe and by which his conscience had been guided were error, and so he turned from them. Many today need to turn from their religious error which their conscience condones because it has been improperly trained.

The key to such a change is to be fully persuaded. One can change, without violating his conscience, when fully persuaded, like Saul was. No one can advocate violating one’s conscience when not fully persuaded, for that in itself would be sin. “Whatever is not from faith is sin.” (Rom. 14:23 NKJV) We need to read and study God’s word with an open mind and heart and be willing to accept whatever we find written there.

The conscience gives witness to the kind of heart we have, and God reads man’s heart (Acts 15:8, Jer. 17:10). It is only the pure in heart who will see God (Matt. 5:8). The conscience is a part of the heart (a part, not all). In John 8 we have Jesus confronted by those who have brought a woman to him caught in the act of adultery. They are trying Jesus, attempting to put him in a tight spot, but he turns the table on them and says to them that whoever is among you without sin cast the first stone at her (John 8:7). The Bible then says, “Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one.” (John 8:9 NKJV) What was convicting them? Their conscience, yes, but the conscience was the heart. Their hearts were pricking them.

We find the same thing on the Day of Pentecost when Peter preached the first gospel sermon and the first converts under the Christian dispensation were made. Peter preached to them in a way to convince them that not only was Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, but that they were guilty of putting him to death (Acts 2:23,36). The Bible says when they heard this “they were cut to the heart.” (Acts 2:37 NKJV) Their conscience was made to feel the guilt of sin. Until a man’s conscience is greatly bothered by sin, and he must be made to feel sin’s guilt for that to happen, he will not and cannot repent and be saved.

A guilty conscience is a blessing if a man will allow it and will heed its call and repent. The conscience is a witness to a man about the state of his heart. Thank God if you have a conscience that is not so hardened by sin that it does not bother you when you do wrong. Thank God it still works and is not seared.

The Bible tells us that the conscience can become seared.  It speaks of those speaking lies in hypocrisy “having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.” (1 Tim. 4:2 NKJV) If one continues to ignore his conscience, overriding its decision and doing what his conscience is telling him is wrong, eventually the conscience will cease to have any control over one’s self. Sinning becomes easier and easier.

I do not want to be misunderstood. It is never too late to repent and turn one’s life around even if one has been caught up in a sin that seems to have shackled him or her. What is being said is that it becomes easier and easier to continue in sin the more and the longer one continues to ignore and/or override a properly trained conscience. The ultimate end, if one continues on down that road, is no conscience at all. That is a scary, scary thought. As long as your conscience is bothering you there is hope of repentance. The great fear is that of coming to the point where the conscience no longer pricks one at all.

In Rom. 2:15 Paul speaks of the Gentiles who did not have the Law of Moses during that Old Testament dispensation of time and says in part of them, “who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them.” (NKJV) So we learn the conscience is indeed a witness of the heart, and it will either accuse us or else excuse us. The conscience gives rise to those thoughts for good or ill depending on how we have reacted to what we deemed to be right, thus bringing either peace of mind or the burden of guilt.

I said the conscience is a witness of the heart, which perhaps I ought to explain. Our conscience tells us about the state of our heart. When I see myself in my heart (my conscience making that possible) going off in the wrong direction, I need to act on that and turn again to righteousness. Conscience talks to us and, if properly trained, prompts us to turn around and return to God.

In Rom. 9:1 Paul spoke of his conscience “bearing me witness,” meaning simply his conscience was perfectly clean and pure in the matter about which he spoke. When we live the truth and tell the truth, our conscience becomes a character witness on our behalf. Men may not be able to read our conscience, but God can, and we know our conscience and thus are given confidence by its approval.

In 2 Cor. 1:12 Paul speaks of the “testimony of our conscience,” thus the conscience bears testimony. When it bears to us good testimony, we have peace and confidence, hope and faith.

Finally, I want to close with one last verse, 1 Peter 2:19, “For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.” (NKJV) Our hearts ought to be so tender towards God that we are willing to endure all wrong in order to maintain a good witness of our conscience before God.

Not everything can be bought with money. Some things, in fact many things, are of more value than money, things like a good name, good character, a good hope, love, faith, forgiveness, and a good conscience toward God. You can take these things with you when you die. These are the things that matter.

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Though He Slay Me

The title for this article comes from the Old Testament book of Job, chapter 13, verse 15, where Job makes the statement, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (NKJV)

The story of Job as told in the Old Testament is one of pain, suffering, and sorrow, of the loss of loved ones (sons and daughters), of possessions, of health, and very nearly of hope. His state got to be such that his wife’s advice was, “Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9 NKJV) Death was seen as preferable to life as it was. While Job agreed that his death was preferable to life, yet the idea of cursing God was anathema to him (Job 2:10).

In the next chapter he expresses a sentiment I became very familiar with in my own father’s last days, when life became more of a burden and a trial for him than a treasure to be held onto. Job says, “Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, who long for death, but it does not come, and search for it more than hidden treasures; who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they can find the grave?” (Job 3:20-22 NKJV)

There are questions we can ask that we will never have an answer to in this life; this is one of them. I have sometimes wondered if, in cases like my Dad’s, life was not prolonged for the testing and maturing of the caregivers, for our benefit, but who can say? None of us can. We only make wild speculations, but it is certain God has his reason.

God had a reason in the case of Job, and while the reason was never revealed to Job, we are given a glimpse, through the reading of the book, of what was going on behind the scenes and out of human sight. Who can say today what is going on behind the scenes and out of sight?

James talks about Job in James 5:11, where he says, “Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.” (NKJV) We say, as I did, that James said this. So he did. However, these were truly the words of the Holy Spirit speaking through James about Job.

Many hundreds of years after the fact, God saw fit to use James as his mouthpiece and reveal more of the purpose behind suffering that seemed without reason or purpose, even unjust at the time. Job was to be an example for mankind (along with the prophets—James 5:10-11) of the kind of patience and endurance we are to have, and it is made known to us that the end result of all such godly endurance is to be blessings from God who is “very compassionate and merciful.”

I am reminded of Paul’s words in Rom. 8:18, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (NKJV) He is speaking to Christians.

Do you ever despair in your life? I know Paul did at least once. He said in 2 Cor. 1:8-9, speaking of the trouble he had in Asia, “we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life. Yes, we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves but in God who raises the dead.” (NKJV) Paul speaks as though he was prepared to die at that point in time.

We can get to that point, to a point where we basically have given it all we can give, done all we can, and have come to the end of our rope. It can be in any area of life, not just concerning the matter of physical life.

Perhaps you have struggled financially, done all you can do, and have gotten nowhere, and now wonder what you will do, perhaps even reaching a point of desperation. You find no answers. In an article in a recent edition of the local area newspaper, I read of a woman who had been living in an alley with her two children, eating out of garbage dumps, until finally someone was made aware of her plight and came to her aid. Yes, we have desperate people living among us in despair, not knowing where to turn or what to do, who, like Paul, have nearly given up.

With others, it may be in family relationships. Every year, hundreds of families are deserted by a mother or dad, a husband or wife, through no fault of the innocent party (yes, there are some innocent parties). Desperation, fear, and despair set in. “How will we go on?” becomes the question.

One could list figuratively a thousand things that can happen in a person’s life where it looks like hope is gone and we have no options, and the point I want to make here is that there is no use in trying to smooth things over and say it does not get that bad, or it is just our imagination. Things can literally get that bad. Ask Paul (2 Cor. 1:8). Sometimes we just find ourselves in a situation where it is beyond any control or ability that we have to effect a positive change.

The question then becomes: what am I to do if I find myself in a situation that seems to be nearly unbearable and yet it is beyond my power to bring about change, as was the case with Job (and with Paul)? Paul said, trust in God (2 Cor. 1:9). Job said the same thing, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (Job 13:15 NKJV) We can trust in God no matter what comes, and we can pray.

I knew a lady once, a Christian woman, who said she prayed regularly, all of the time, and it did not do any good. I am convinced she prayed sincerely and was telling the truth about her supplications to God. Do we get to feeling the same way? Job did. He was praying fervently, and it did not seem God was listening to him.

One thing we can learn from Job’s experience is that while we may think God is not hearing our prayers, that is not the case. God is well aware of what is happening to us and what we are going through. He knew Job’s situation. We also learn that he will respond in his own time and in the way he sees best, and taking the long view of things, we can be assured his way is the best way for us, even though at the time it may not seem that way.

Things may well not get better for us as far as our earthly plight goes. Paul spoke of his thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet him, that he prayed three times that it would be removed from him, and perhaps would have continued on praying indefinitely about the matter had not God spoken to him. God’s answer was, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9 NKJV) This also may very well be the answer we must accept in our own lives.

In Hebrews 11, the Bible says, “Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.” (Heb. 11:36-38 NKJV)

Do you wonder if any of these people ever prayed for a change in their life’s circumstances? Jesus did for his. We remember his prayer in Gethsemane, “if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me” (Matt. 26:39 NKJV). Yes, I suspect many prayers were offered by those mentioned in Hebrews 11. God’s people are praying people by definition. Would you have prayed had you been in their shoes? You know you would have, and thus you know they did also.

James tells us, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” (James 1:2-4 NKJV) Here is good that can come from our suffering.

Although I consider the New Living Translation a paraphrase, if I think it accurately reflects the meaning of a passage to make it clearer, then I sometimes use it. This is one such case as found in 1 Peter 1:6-7:

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.” (NLT)

We can, if we are not careful, get to the point that we feel God does not care, but there is always a reason behind our suffering, even if unknown to us, as was pointed out earlier in reference to Job’s suffering.

We may have to suffer much in life, but if we remain steadfast through it, as Christians, then we will receive our reward, an inheritance eternally with Christ in heaven—life everlasting.

No, we do not understand. We know why Jesus had to die and what God’s purpose was behind that, but why did Stephen have to die so soon after the preaching of the gospel and the establishment of the church? Why did Paul have to suffer so much? Jesus had said he would: “For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” (Acts 9:16 NKJV) We have to believe God is being active behind the scenes and trust him, believe it will all work out in the end, even if we die getting to that end.

All of this brings us back to the beginning, to Job. What is going on? He did not know; he did not know why. He did know God had the power to intervene if he was willing. But it all came down to this in the end, “though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” (Job 13:15 NKJV)

So, how about me, how about you? What do we do when our world has fallen apart, and it seems as though God is not listening, and hope is almost a thing of the past? First, we remember we were not the first and only ones to be in that state. Others have been in the same boat as we, and many were not rescued other than by death itself. There is no guarantee that what we think is best is what will come to pass. We are in God’s hands. His will will be done, just as Jesus prayed in the garden of Gethsemane. Jesus’ prayer, in that respect, has to be our prayer, “not as I will, but as you will.” (Matt. 26:39 NKJV)

Second, as Job said, even “though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” To whom else can we turn? Who else can bring us out on the other side? We must be resigned to his will in our life, trust and obey, and believe that in the final settling of accounts, God will be merciful to those who love him, no matter what may come. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (Peter, John 6:68 NKJV)

I remind the reader that death is not an unmitigated evil. For the righteous, it is the end of suffering and the entrance way into glory. If that is the way God chooses to rescue us from our trial, so be it. He is taking us to a better place where there is no more sorrow or suffering. That is a pretty good answer to prayer, even if it is not what we were originally seeking when we first petitioned him about our trial.

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