Jeff Durbin: Establishing Justice & Answering Objections | EAN

Alright trying to keep this moving so that we don't abuse you and your time if you would open your

Bibles to Isaiah chapter 1 Isaiah chapter 1 I'd encourage you pastors to spend a lot of time here now

Getting right into this Isaiah chapter 1 is a passage that God Has used in my life to expose my own selfishness

To expose my own inconsistencies to challenge me as a hypocrite and So that's why

I'm giving it to you. I hope the same for you This particular passage

Is something that God used years ago in my life to challenge me as a pastor and just as a follower of Christ in terms of We've got abortion mills right down the street from our church building and for where we gather for worship from my home

Some of these abortion mills would do upwards of 50 some -odd abortions per day Years ago when we first got started

God used this particular text years ago when he was challenging me on adopting my son

Augustine and I Think what's said here is important for us to take into consideration.

I here's what's powerful about this moment There's a room full of pastors and believers men and women in this room from across,

Iowa I don't know which churches you're from I know these weird dudes are from their presby's

Okay, I was complimenting their clothes saying you look like a reformed Baptist. They were like they actually defended that I said they were a foreign

Baptist They were like Presbyterian. I'm like oh the superior theology. I got it

Just joking No, but what's interesting? It's being playful, but I don't know where you're from.

I don't know your denomination my Hope is that you hold to the essentials of the gospel the triune

God the authority the ultimacy of the scriptures Sola scriptura were saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone that we're together on the essentials

Jesus is coming back. There is a day of judgment all of that. We're unified, right? But what's powerful is that there are differences we understand between us

Right Pato baptism credo baptism, which one's right? We all know

You know You know But we can see look it was funny. I'm doing this on purpose

We can laugh about that because we don't understand there are tertiary issues There are Addy off for a side issues that we should handle that way serious about them when we're together

We take them seriously. We know there's consequences. We want to win each other over to the truth, but we recognize

We're part of the body of Christ. We love the same. We love the same Savior We have the same Word of God underneath us and what's interesting about this particular text.

I want to make this point brothers is That though there may be differences between us denominationally as Christians what we have as a unified truth that we surround and grab hold of is that God's nature is unchanging

God does not change and So what I want to challenge you on in terms of I don't know where you're at and The scope of God's law how much of God's law is abiding and relevant today, you know

Are you you know hardcore theonomist? Are you theonomist light? Are you not even into that thing?

that's not really the point what I want to point to here is that God is unchanging and What he says here in Isaiah chapter 1 should challenge us all because whatever your position is on eschatology

Whatever your position is on the abiding relevance of God's law today in terms of to what extent and and what what comes over today?

What's abiding today? What we can agree on is that God's nature is unchanging and So what he says here in Isaiah chapter 1 is how

God is It's how he is he's unchanging So in Isaiah chapter 1 verse 10

Hear the word of the Lord Here's what God says Hear the word of the Lord you rulers of Sodom give ear to the teaching of our

God you people of Gomorrah And we all understand that that is the highest level of insult and cutting

To say to the covenant people of God the professing believing people of God to say to the church

Sodom and Gomorrah is The highest level of insults they understood they know their scriptures they know what

God did to Sodom and Gomorrah they understand The high hand of sin of Sodom and Gomorrah and so for the covenant people of God who worship

Yahweh who are involved in getting Together who are involved in all the religious ceremony and all that religious practice who are professing faith in Yahweh Like to call them

Sodom and Gomorrah is is a severe serrated edge But God says it to him he says give ear to the teaching of our

God you people of Gomorrah What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices says the

Lord? I've had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well -fed beasts I do not delight in the blood of bulls or of lambs or of goats

When you come to appear before me who is required of you this trampling of my courts bring no more vain

Offerings incense is an abomination to me new moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations

I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates

They have become a burden to me. I'm weary of burying them when you spread out your hands I will hide my eyes from you even though you make many prayers

I will not listen your hands are full of blood

Wash yourselves make yourselves clean remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes here it is cease to do evil learn to do good seek justice correct oppression bring justice to the fatherless

Plead the widow's cause Now I mentioned where we unified Unified in the nature of God were unified around the scriptures the authority of scripture were unified on so many essential

Christian truths And we're unified on God's unchanging nature. This is the God that we worship

He doesn't cease being like this this he doesn't lose this aspect of his character and concern for justice

Because now we're under the new covenant. We're all under grace and God's done with all that law stuff He's not concerned with justice anymore because now we have

Jesus We're broken we are broken as a church if we think that that's what

God is like if We understand the law of God and the grace of God in that manner then we have missed the point in Scripture and so what we have here is this example in Israel's redemptive history and the covenant history the people of God they're doing all the stuff

They have the worship services. They have the convocations. They have the prayers. They look like religious people on the outside They look like they're doing everything right?

I mean, that's the point two of you would have asked them like beyond your profession the fact that you Confess Yahweh is

Lord. Like how do you show it? They would say we have convocation. We have new moons. We have Sabbaths We have all these prayers

We have all these things that we're doing and here's what God says to it all in his in his perfect Holy, holy, holy character.

He says to his own covenant people the professing believing people of God He says my soul hates this and he says you can pray all you want

I'm not gonna respond. I won't even listen This is how

God responds to professing covenant believing people When there is so much blood on their hands and injustice in their midst and here's what's powerful about this passage when it first hit

Me it was something that really impacted me because I already knew the next part and so do you so do you especially if you

Were like a 90s contemporary Christian who like went to Berean Christian bookstore or something like this is all over the walls and like oil

Paintings and it's on cards. It's this was you know It's a famous verse for Christians and it ought to be you already know it the next verse

Come now let us reason together saith the Lord though your sins are as scarlet.

They shall be what? White as snow you already knew it you weren't even looking at the page So you already know the reference is beautiful It's precious to us

God washes of us or of washes of all of our sin and though our sins are as scarlet They'd be white as snow. He says

He'll forgive us and we know that verse but what is that verse? It's on the heels of an indictment upon the covenant people of God Now it's

God's nature unchanging It's unchanging and so he says to the covenant people of God.

He says to the professing believing Church He says this Wash yourselves make yourselves clean remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes.

We say, okay, I understand that I understand repentance I understand turning to you God and then he says this now cease to do evil learn to do good

Seek justice correct oppression bring justice to the fatherless is

God's nature unchanging is This how God still is Yes Yes God is holy.

Holy. Holy. His throne is established on justice the judge of all the earth will always do right so much of our

Bibles is about justice and Righteousness and holiness the cross of Jesus Christ only amplifies

God's concern of justice and holiness and righteousness It doesn't just it doesn't discard it It's proof that God is concerned with justice and righteousness and holiness.

We have a cross Do you see? So this bootleg version of the gospel and Evangelism today that says that do

I have the cross now? God's no longer God of justice or of holiness or of righteousness He'll never pour out wrath on a nation again because we have the cross of Jesus.

What a fiction What a fiction Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He also has all authority

He's on his throne today, and he is judging nations today Historically and this nation

America doesn't represent Christianity This nation can go under the boot of Jesus in a moment and get absolutely crushed

Now I am I am begging God. I know many of you are God be merciful to us as a nation, please

I know your wrath Lord is weird. We're deserving of it long ago You have been so merciful to us

God, please give more mercy. Please just more time Lord Like are you praying those kinds of prayers like that we're asking

God those kind of it's just 50 righteous How many are in this room right here Lord 50? Like you're asking

God for that because it's true. You understand that we are a nation that is visibly under God's judgment right now

Well, how do you know that someone's under judgment? Well, you know It's at least to one degree in Romans chapter 1 God gave them over and if you have people in our nation loving their sin loving unrighteousness loving injustice

Mutilating their bodies men with men women with women people loving the murder of children

We are already under God's judgment and and brothers and sisters The only way that we're gonna resolve this is not through a

Christ less Conservatism it is going to be and I am not just trying to give you a pithy slogan.

Listen to me It is going to be through a full -throated pure undefiled proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ Please hear me on that.

That's not a motivational speech. That's what has to come from us as ministers of the gospel everywhere around us every sphere and especially to the legislature

We've acted like and here's the main issue. We've acted like in this whole this whole debate over abortion.

We've acted like Well, you know, yes Jesus King of Kings and Lord of Lords and yeah, he said when he ascended

Matthew 28 18 through 20 He said all authority in heaven and on earth has been past tense earth and heaven past tense

Given to me and on that basis go make disciples of all the nations baptizing them and teaching them to obey

I know he said that but in reality the Christian message the gospel itself the authority of Jesus is something that's like for within the walls of the church

Bible studies and basements that kind of a thing but Jesus doesn't have anything really to say as authoritative to our legislature

Funny thing God already spoke to that long before Jesus ministry in Psalm chapter 2 He says to the kings of the earth be wise

Obey the Son kiss the Son Lest he be angry and you perish the father says to the

Son and this is one of the most amazing one of those amazing moments of like Trinitarian theology in the Old Testament like before we see this this this thing blossom in the

New Testament and just go all there It was the whole time in Psalm chapter 2 the father says to the Son He says ask of me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance the very ends of the earth for your possession

One of my favorite Bible teachers in my own personal history Said it asked a challenging question to me.

He said do you think Jesus forgot to ask? The father says it's not ask of me I'll give the nations for your inheritance the very ends of the earth for your possession

Do we think Jesus forgot to ask clearly not because the last words he said as he ascended is okay

All the authorities mine now have an earth and so now go get them You see we've forgotten

That that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords part is not just a pithy Christian slogan

You see here's the problem in the United States of America. It's not hard for us It's not challenging for us to go out on the street corner right now

I imagine we could walk with good coats warm coats outside right now At least

I would We could go out there right now We can stand on the street corner and we can start saying Jesus is

Lord He's King of Kings and Lord of Lords. You can raise your voice. You could do it outside of an abortion mill

You could say Jesus is Lord He has all authority and people are gonna walk by mostly ignore you you might get a few offensive hand gestures

You might even get some honk -honk thumbs up from the fellow believers in town who agree with you on the Lordship of Jesus Christ But the point is it's not very dangerous in our nation to proclaim the

Lordship of Jesus Christ because of the work of faithful Christians behind us who preached the gospel and established standards of justice

Based upon the law word of God in our culture and society and I know I realize we all recognize

Absolutely, all those standards are hanging by a thread right now people don't even understand what they really are where they're from I get it, but it's not dangerous right now in the

United States Generally to proclaim Christ is Lord anywhere. Is it? safe Safe, I could do it on tik -tok.

Well, I can do it on Twitter Or X I can do it on Facebook I mean them I think they might try to shadow ban me or something like that and they have but I'm safe I can say

Jesus is Lord anywhere Why were the early Christians killed? Why were they killed because they believe

Jesus is Lord. No, that's pagan Rome. You can worship anything you want stones stubble Hey gold doesn't make a difference

Rome doesn't care that you worship a different God What they cared about was that you recognized the ultimacy of the state

They recognized Caesar is Lord and so now you have Christians going around when let's be honest

Let's be honest in their context. It did not look like Jesus was Lord Like think about it just for a moment now.

Let's go with me. And yes, this is leading in what I'm saying about abortion You're gonna catch this is really the main thing When Jesus ascended

Matthew 28 18 through 20, we see it as this glorious moment because we'll come back on it We know the prophecies. We know who

Jesus is. We look back and out like that's the Ascension Like he he's going to the right hand of the father to be seated on his throne

He's interceding for us and you see it as this glorious like halo moment, right? There's all the angels are there you see it as a climax

But let's be honest for those very confused disciples in that moment 2 ,000 years ago when

Jesus says all authority in heaven and on earth

Has been given to me for those very confused disciple the handful of them that were there to witness that for those very confused disciples

It did not look like Jesus was Lord of heaven and on earth because you know with an earshot of Caesar This is being said

Essentially Jesus is Lord of heaven and on earth. He has all authority all authority above Caesar He would have something to say about that.

He'd disagree and he did But for those early Christians, they weren't speaking in a post

Christian America where there's still safety and Christians sort of Everywhere Christians all over the globe there's a handful of followers of Jesus at that moment and Jesus has the audacity to say that he has all

Authority not some not most all Authority in heaven and on earth and then he ascends says go get the nation's now teach them to obey me

When they dispersed from that moment It looked like a crowd of people going to lunch

There's not many. What is that? It's not a stadium full of people It's not a lot of people but they went with their marching orders.

All right, he has all authority He's the king over all things Everybody let's go proclaim the gospel

Let's call the world to repentance and faith and let's say that Jesus is the king and he's the ultimate you must trust in him for salvation and eternal life and everybody must obey

Jesus Including Caesar and so Christians in the first century are going around They're saying

Jesus is Lord and we wonder why is room killing him? We're just saying Jesus is Lord because they were saying when saying

Jesus is Lord that Jesus has authority over Caesar That's why they were killed

And so when Christians today modern even jellyfish Christians will say things like no Christians aren't supposed to get in politics

I want to say read your Bible the start of the church is Christians being Persecuted because they had the audacity to say to the political realm of that day in the state

Jesus has something to say to you you must obey Jesus and for that they were killed

We don't want to die Let's be honest We don't want a Christianity that causes us difficulty where we lose things we lose relationships and we're vilified

We don't want a Christianity that throws us in jail. We like a safe Evangelicalism that has an occasional, you know sort of poke towards homosexuality right a safe one on social media

We don't want to lose our status our platform Like we like this stuff that's sort of like the very easy safe stuff

But we don't want to do what the early church did that turned the entire world upside down upside down and proclaimed that Jesus Christ Is judge over all the earth.

He is the ultimate he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords Every me must bow to Jesus. We don't want to proclaim that kind of gospel.

It gets us in trouble one more word pastors, I was deeply moved and convicted challenged years ago years ago when pastor

Wang Yi in China was Arrested and he is somewhere we think in China today in some dungeon or some jail

Imprisoned I was so challenged by his testimony this Christian in China who was

It's amazing how somehow the state understood Because when they brought the charges against pastor

Wang Yi's a Presbyterian pastor faithful man of God preached the gospel When they brought the charges against pastor

Wang Yi and they arrested him and he is again, maybe somewhere in China, maybe alive I don't know. He's suffering up for the cause of the gospel right now

They said that the reason he was being arrested was because he threatened He threatened the authority of the

Chinese state. Well, how did he do that? He was living as a law -abiding citizen.

He wasn't causing Revolution and burning down cities and taking down statues and and destroying property in those three.

He wasn't doing anything like that No He was saying that Jesus actually had rule and authority over the

Chinese Communist Party and for that He is suffering in jail today. Would you and I do that?

I Mean his family's outside of jail would would you and I be willing to do that? Would we be willing to say to the state that Christ has authority of you over you?

You must obey him would we be willing to sit in a jail cell for this many years and all you have to do is just say all right,

I I Changed my mind you you do have more authority than Jesus Maybe I'll just pretend to believe that so I can go home to my wife and my kids

You know, how much how much courage and strength do I have to live that kind of life?

But the Chinese state recognized immediately Oh that Christian message there that says that Jesus is actually

Lord and we must obey him. Yeah, that can't be preached here You're going to jail for that one. You see he understood it.

Why don't we? we think that the legislature has No responsibility to obey the triune

God of Scripture and I want to just say to you that's a foreign Worldview to Scripture Jesus is

King of Kings. Do you believe it? Lord of Lords and that means if you if you confess to that that means that you believe that This legislature in the state of Iowa must obey

Jesus They must obey God's law and that brothers and sisters is not the position of the pro -life industry they say loudly and Proudly that they are not

Christian organizations. They are not operating on the basis of Scripture They are not calling people to repentance and faith.

They say we are arguing this case on a Biological level and they say that very very proudly.

We're not doing it as Christians. We're not doing because the Bible We're not preaching Jesus We're doing it just on biology if we could just convince people that what's in the womb is is is human from fertilization

Then their minds were will change have we noticed something about our culture today? How lost it is?

Have we noticed something that they're not very concerned with biology? Right Isn't that like on the surface like obvious to all of us it pro -life.

It sounds no not Jesus We just do biology. And so if we could just prove to them that it's human from fertilization

They'll see their minds will change and then you see that actually know the Bible has something to say about it

The problem isn't biology. It's the heart that is wicked and has turned from God. It's a rebellious people

It's people that don't love God that actually Romans 1 says are haters of God The problem is not biology, it's sin and suppression of the truth, which means the only way that gets broken is through the

Proclamation of the gospel and the call to repent and believe that's the only way that breaks Biology isn't the issue and if you have been outside of an abortion mill for any length of time

You know that that these people don't care that it is a baby They tell you they know it's a baby and they'll say

I have the right to kill my baby It's not the first one I've killed I'm gonna kill more we hear that on a regular basis.

It's not biology Does the biology scream image -bearer of God and human from fertilization?

It's irrefutable It can't be controverted all biological science screams human from fertilization.

There's no way out of it They can't they can't overcome that argument, but it's not the problem

The problem is that people believe because of very sinful hearts and rebellion that a mother and a father

Ought to be able to murder their child in the womb if they want. That's the issue. It's a moral issue

It's a sin issue. It's a call to repentance issue. It's the only thing that's going to transform this world and So I want to challenge you with this

And many of you guys maybe already know this history, but you need to know this we I won't go into all the history of apology at church and doing this except to say that of course we were in the pro -life

Camp as Christians early on and we did our sanctity of life Sunday sermon We talked about abortion as murder in our churches and at our you know at coffee and fellowship and all those things

But we had these abortion mills next to us We did nothing about it and we were ultimately challenged through the testimony of a sister in Christ named

Lisa Metzger Metzger who was going to abortion mills and she had saved over 300 babies in one year

Her testimony challenged our church and then we saw the film babies are murdered here we were challenged by the the testimony and the faithfulness of Tony Miano and John Barros and Rusty Thomas and that really that really challenged our church

We saw them and we said oh it can be done And so we started going and so since that time as a local church

We started doing the work lives are being saved preaching the gospel at the mills And then we started end abortion now to actually equip churches to do exactly the same thing

We said we don't want a thing from your church. We'll supply everything to you. We'll give you all your resources We'll give you training just go out with the gospel with your local church and save lives and since that time

Nearly a thousand local churches. It's now global Northern Ireland the Republic of Ireland Germany now we just started it's it's all over the world

But mostly in the u .s. Tens of thousands of children been saved this point We don't know how to even keep track of it, but God's been faithful in that work but then we also started bringing the message of the gospel and God's standards of justice to legislators and so since that time

God has Allowed us to be a part of so many bills of equal protection and abolition that have gone in across the country

Some of them are our bills. We've actually helped to get in some are bills of faithful pastors and other organizations

We're helping them and giving support But it's happening all across the country and I need to tell you that the greatest enemy to the abolition of abortion the greatest enemy to the abolition of abortion at this point for the church is the pro -life establishment is the pro -life industry and I know that sounds nuts.

I Know it sounds conspiracy theorists. I understand that It's a truth and I could prove it to you without question with their own words with their name on the dotted line

They're proud of it They they're proud of their position that says a mother who willfully with malice of forethought kills her child in the womb is

Never to be seen as criminally liable She is to have impunity and she must be able to do it in the womb with impunity and immunity

She must not be punished. She must be protected under the law to do it That's their position and they believe that the woman who murders her child in the womb again willfully with malice of forethought

That she is not guilty. She is a victim just like her child

That is their position they boast in the fact that that is their position and I need you to understand something as Pastors as ministers of the gospel and as just Christians in this room the people who have killed every single one of our abolition bills

By the way, I've adopted twins Little girls and so you'll notice

I'm kind of stumbling over my words a bit here That's because I haven't slept for four months. Stop judging me. Okay I'll tell you about them in just a moment, but I'm having a hard time

My lips are like getting ahead of me and I'm like, what's wrong with me? Oh, yeah I haven't slept very well, except I did sleep last night

Pray for my wife. She's at home right now But I'll give you two

I just by way of two examples I can give you a list and I'll give you the names of the people and exactly what they did

But in two examples, Louisiana We had an historic moment where we had a bill of equal protection just like Zack put in here and I we had a bill of Equal protection that went into the legislature and glory to God somehow the pro -life establishment missed this one

It went to hearing They block it from getting a hearing at almost every single state that we go to who

Planned Parenthood Nope, pro -choice organizations.

Nope It is every single time I can give you the name of the person who they talked to and how that conversation went down They went to legislators.

They kill it. They don't even give it a hearing. Don't let it be heard It just happened to us in Arizona We had a bill they worked behind the scenes to kill the bill before it could even be put in They worked as a legislature.

They were so terrified of it in Louisiana it went to the hearing and it passed the hearing 7 to 2 why it was very simple.

It said what's in it's in the womb is human from fertilization Image of God equal protection the legislators pro -lifers

Look at it and go. Well, that's how we raise money That's what we say. It's human from fertilization.

All life is sacred. All life must be protected. That's what the bill says This is crazy. We're getting a bill to end this now They were like absolutely and that's what one of the legislators

Alan Sebaugh said you can hear it on the on the recording Yay or nay to let it get to the floor to vote.

He didn't say yes. He said Absolutely one week later one week later on the floor he was the greatest opponent to the bill after he said absolutely because he was told by Senator Mike Johnson and Louisiana right to life and national right to life in all these organizations

Do not pass that bill of equal protection Because it would lead to the prosecution of women who kill their children in the womb and we don't want that One week later.

We had all yes votes every vote We needed to pass it in Louisiana to establish justice of the pre -born and it was the major pro -life

Organizations that came in and killed that bill They were so dedicated to killing this bill of abolition and equal protection that the day of the votes

They made sure that our legislators had a letter in their hands. We watched them walking around with it at the

Capitol They had it on their desks over 70 of the major Pro -life organizations national and state level came together with a completely unified effort together to write a letter to legislators across the country and specifically to ours in Louisiana to say that we

Do not want you to pass bills of equal protection that would lead to the prosecution of a mother who kills the child in the womb

They're opposed to this Which is to say brothers They're opposed to the message of the scriptures on this issue of abortion

They do not hold to our worldview from the very earliest stages of the Christian Church We've had creeds and confessions and the earliest creeds and confessions of the

Christian Church when they mention Abortifacients or the issue of abortion they say with a unified voice.

It has always been the case They say abortion is murder and whoever is who participates in it is guilty of murder and they need repentance and faith

They have to turn to Jesus that has been the universal Voice of the church regarding abortion from the earliest stages of the church, which is to say that the pro -life establishment believes heresy

Which is to say that brothers and sisters we cannot compromise Because listen and Zach already said this if we are saying to women who murder their children in the womb that they are not guilty

Then we are saying that they don't need to repent and turn to Christ from their abortion They don't need Christ's forgiveness for abortion because as if we know our

Bibles if you are a victim You don't need to ask for forgiveness It is perpetrators who are the guilty ones and victims who are the innocents

And so if you tell a woman who has killed her child in the womb willfully, you're a victim sweethearts You don't need to be seen as guilty.

Then what you're saying to her is that she doesn't need the gospel and Brothers pastors, I'm assuming that your life has been like mine

How many women have sat in front of you in your office who are grieving with tears over the murder of their own child and abortion how many women have you ministered to have come to you and have told you that they're grieving because ten years ago or five years

Ago or twenty years ago. They had one or two or three abortions and they can't get it out of their heads How have you talked to them?

I'm assuming it's the same way as me You've told them sister if if you turn to Christ in that if you have his righteousness you are washed you are cleansed you are justified because Jesus died for murderers, too and If we say to her you're a victim we are robbing her of the gospel brothers and sisters we cannot

Compromise with the pro -life establishment on this issue of the woman being a victim if she's a victim.

She doesn't need Jesus She doesn't need forgiveness. Is that our message? Is that the message of the Christian Church? You don't need

Jesus sweetheart You're a victim like your child but more than that When they have that message of the woman being a victim and not needing forgiveness and she's a victim like her child

It leads them to come against the Christian Church and ministers of the gospel like us at the legislature

They go to the legislature with that doctrine with that heretical belief and they say no no, no

No, this would mean that she'd be seen as guilty And as that pointed out you can just very easily walk up to them and say well

Can I ask you a few questions important ones? Didn't you say that it's human from fertilization? Yes, I did

Didn't you say that all life is sacred and must be equally protected? Okay. Yes, I did. Okay, great

So you do believe it's human from fertilization. Yes. All right now if a mother kills her five -month -old with malice and forethought and willfully

Should she receive criminal prosecution? What will the pro -life pro -lifer say every single time?

Yes All right now Let's go back to the baby in the womb human Fertilization all life is sacred if the woman with malice of forethought willfully takes the life of that child in the womb

Should she see any criminal prosecution and they will say? No Why because she's a victim do you see the inconsistency leads to the murder of so many children?

Let me just say this to you the pro -life establishment I will say this with boldness and I don't say this for myself at all.

I mean this before God I'm terrified for them the pro -life establishment senator

Mike Johnson Louisiana right to life national right to life all those organizations the blood of every single child

That's been killed in Louisiana since that bill was killed is on their hands Because that bill was going to pass they had all yes votes

It was the establishment that came in and killed that bill. And did you know they were saying? Well, we're a trigger law state.

We're a trigger law state That means then when Roe is done like we're an abortion -free state like we have no more abortion bills

Do you know that since Roe versus Wade has been overturned and the trigger law goes into effect

Louisiana's abortions are rising Past where they were when

Roe was still in effect. Why? Because of the doctrine of the pro -life Establishment that is actually enshrined in law in Louisiana That the woman is allowed to kill her child in the womb with impunity and immunity

Abortion pills are on the rise freely given. So here's the problem pro -life establishment

Has no problem with DIY abortions do -it -yourself abortions are

Allowed and even protected by the establishments all they're simply saying is we don't want the abortionist to do it

But let me just remind us all of something and this is important. I want to say this to you humbly I don't remember ever seeing or hearing about any example of abortion doctors running around local neighborhoods looking for babies to kill

Have you ever heard of that? No abortion doctors have air -conditioned facilities to do it in Abortion doctors put advertisements out on social media and in the phone book to kill babies it is mothers and fathers who bring their babies in to kill them and Here's what's important when you talk about a bill of equal protection.

We're talking right now a lot about the mother and The only reason that we are I want you to hear this very important the only reason we're talking a lot about the mother right now is

Because when we put a bill of equal protection in that says human from fertilization It's in the image of God protect every human in Iowa equally from the moment of fertilization as soon as we put that bill in the response is

But that would mean that the mother would be seen as guilty and what does it reveal?

It reveals something the bill says nothing about gender or class or anything all it says is what's in the womb is human for fertilization and So when the pro -life establishment resists it and says but what about the mother it reveals something

There's a presupposition that comes right to the surface. And what's underneath is that I don't think she's guilty for killing her child.

I Don't think she needs Jesus Our bill says not one word about class or gender

The fact that they respond with but that would mean she's guilty Means that they don't think she's guilty when she murders her child in the womb and therefore she doesn't need

Jesus and then on and On we go doctrinally into all the failures Now Zack did a wonderful job of really going through the issues of partiality.

Listen brothers and sisters Here's the here's the important element if you stand on the Word of God if you're a faithful minister of the gospel if you use the

Bible as the guide if it's the Plum line if it's the standard then you will look at the legislative moves that have come come out of 50 years of Roe vs

Wade of kill these children, but not these children you can use these tools to kill but not these tools to kill

You can't kill a child for the specific reason of a genetic abnormality

But you can kill the healthy kids. You must give the child a proper burial those kinds of bills

God says he hates those bills So when you say like well, why are you really opposed to it? Isn't it just a methodological difference?

No, it's a principal difference God says he hates partiality. Do not show partiality.

God says that he hates and abominates Unequal weights and measures two stones, right one stone away, but you really have a secret stone over here, right?

And so you trick the guy by putting the secret stone up over there two stones unequal weights and measures God says it's abominable and his nature does not change

And so he says don't show partiality He says don't use unequal weights and measures and brothers and sisters very simply if on the last day

Let's be honest with ourselves and and I don't mean this in any way to be arrogant Let's be honest with ourselves and let's just say we have failed we have failed we have compromised we have been weak

We have been cowardly on the last day when you put these bills before the throne of God These bills of partiality that say you can kill these kids

But not these kids in the womb that are coming from the pro -life establishment I just have a question I think we could answer it simply if you put the bills of Partiality before the throne of God on the last day does he hate them or love them?

He hates them He hates them he already says he abominates unequal weights and measures and that's what these bills equate to so when people say well

If you can find a heartbeat, well, then you can't kill those kids, but maybe the other ones We're leaving it by the way up to the abortion facility that makes the money

We're leaving it up to them to find the heartbeat to find I'm sorry I couldn't find a heartbeat today. We have ultrasound techs that are friends that have said exactly that it's you know

Easy it is to not find a heartbeat You want to you want to leave it to the assassin to find a heartbeat to save a life?

He gets paid to not find a heartbeat Do you see the point? Also? I I'm sorry.

I thought that biblically as Christians I thought I thought that what makes us distinct and gives us dignity and value is

That we are made in the Imago Dei and it says that God knits us together in our mother's womb he saw my unformed substance

Right that God knits us together He creates us uniquely and specially and especially and I thought that being in the image of God is what made me valuable

Being human is what made me valuable not a working heart You see it's a slippery slope, isn't it?

If we start saying well we can You know, we can do this stuff with kids with like a working heartbeat

Well, what happens we get later on in life and we don't have working hearts anymore Do we lose our human value because our hearts don't work anymore

You know, even when someone dies of a heart attack in our nation today, we still give them a proper burial with dignity we still even treat their human body as Something that must be respected even when their body has ceased working.

It's not the pumping organ that gives you value It's that you are in the Imago Dei You are human and that's why you're valuable

But these are bills of partiality God condemns those Deuteronomy 16 19 Exodus 23 23

Leviticus 19 15 God condemns iniquitous decrees in Isaiah chapter 10

Isaiah chapter 10 iniquitous decrees God says woe to you who write iniquitous decrees that make the fatherless pray

And let me just say you've heard that word at least twice tonight, right fatherless pastors

Have you have you noticed? I'm sure you have How many times in Scripture when God is like judging a people?

He will name their sins list their sins and talk about why he's confronting them and why he's judging them

Have you noticed how many times God? Seems to put a cherry on top of this condemnation of a people

With how they treat the fatherless the orphans and the widows it's like it's like how he gives it the climax and what you do with the fatherless and I can't think of any more fatherless child a child who has no representation and he has no protection

Then these innocent image -bearers of God in the womb are being slaughtered. I can't think of more of an orphan and fatherless child and God commands us to protect them and I want to just encourage you to remember

Unequal weights and measures are an abomination to God. So what we do to these fatherless children matters to God We can't show partiality.

We can't say kill these ones, but not these ones we must say We have to establish justice and protect them

Also God says in Proverbs 17 15 that acquitting the guilty is an abomination

He says whoever condemns the righteous is an abomination. We go all the crucifixion of Jesus.

I get it They condemn the righteous that was an abomination or anytime somebody goes before the courts and they are brought up on charges that are

Unfair there's injustice. We say that is an abomination But God says equally an abomination is when you acquit the guilty and you say to the guilty.

You're not really guilty So as Christians, can we support a movement that does that I would argue no

And I want to just say to you quickly a couple responses I'm gonna do this as fast as possible because I want to again.

I want to respect your time But I want to make sure that I do my duty and prepare you for what you're gonna see

The bill is simple Equal protection for all humans from fertilization. I want all humans in the state of Iowa to be given equal protection

Who's gonna argue with that? That's kind of how we did away with slavery Which by the way slavery was abolished through the work of the

Christian Church and the gospel itself It wasn't through compromise And I mean people wanted to compromise for a long time and it ultimately led to like bloodshed and all the rest

But let's be honest It was the Christian abolitionists in the south and the north who were preaching faithfully over a generation calling people to repentance

Saying this isn't the image of God and that's what led to a cultural change and mind change It was because of the

Word of God being pumped into the culture consistently And by the way, sorry, I'm gonna bring this up.

I think it's powerful William Wilberforce. We go. Oh William Wilberforce We like to think about him going before the

Parliament, right? He's like image of God. That's my brother Created equal he's appealing to Scripture We like to think about this big moment of like Parliament like tear in their clothes sackcloth and ashes and they're like Oh, thank you.

William Wilberforce. That's not how it happened William Wilberforce preached the truth stood on the

Word of God challenged all of Europe and When he went to Parliament for the first time this man is preaching a three -hour sermon

He's preaching for three hours against the evil of slavery. He's appealing to Scripture and the response of Parliament was overwhelmingly

No Never and so William Wilberforce goes back before Parliament every year

To do the same thing to beg and plead and use Scripture and challenge and 20 years is what it took of going to Parliament before finally

Parliament Broke and so the slave trade was ended because of the work of the Christian Church and the basis of the

Christian scriptures But it took faithfulness in that proclamation Even at Parliament and it was rejected and rejected and rejected and rejected and you can watch the numbers too on a chart

It's like it's like 90 % overwhelmingly rejected than 80 % then it goes down and down and down and finally freedom

How because equality under the law justice no partiality. That's the biblical foundation

We have to be committed to it. And that's all the bill says You're interviewed by the news media here. Why do you want this bill?

You're trying to punish women I just want every human in Iowa to be treated with equal justice no matter their color no matter their size

No matter their gender equal justice equal protection for every human in the state of Iowa Try arguing with that Try arguing with that It's an unassailable position.

It is unassailable The arguments you are going to hear they're gonna come

We've already faced them They're gonna be coming from the pro -life establishment

Of course the pro -choicers will want their day as well, but they're gonna be using the same essential arguments against the bill

What they're gonna say is that this bill would Criminalize miscarriages

No, it would not a miscarriage is not an abortion at will with malice of forethought and miscarriage is a tragic situation where there is heartache and there is brokenness and it is a natural occurrence not something that is done with malice of forethought

It is a fiction to say that it is not true They'll say also as they did against me in Missouri I sat down in Missouri before the legislature with the

Bill of Equal Protection It was Bradley Pearson myself speaking in favor for the bill and then next to us was two of the largest pro -life

Establishment organizations in Missouri they stood against the bill of Missouri standing behind us was a representative of the pro -choice movement

They came to testify against the bill and they saw oh, they're already arguing against the bill

I don't need to the pro -life establishment did their work for them They fought against the bill and what they lied about in Missouri is they said we don't want a woman to be punished we don't want to be seen as guilty and they said and Also, some women are coerced into abortion and we don't want to see them punished for that and I'm going

This is amazing It is your position. It is your position that is protecting coercers because right now

If you don't give equal protection to the child in the womb and recognize that they must be protected

Then that means that coercion is still legal Meaning that's the sex trafficker or that evil boyfriend or husband that is coercing and forcing the woman

Has no consequences right now all given to you on a silver platter by the pro -life establishment

Protecting it against equal protection Do you get the point? The only way to stop women from being coerced into abortion is to provide equal protection for all humans from fertilization it means now

We can actually protect that victim woman who is truly a victim if she's being threatened to kill her child

We can protect her by going after the coercer Because it's illegal to kill another human being and to coerce another to do it

So coercion by the way, thankfully Bradley Pierce amazing attorney

He actually wrote into your bill because we're so tired of hearing them misrepresent these bills He wrote into your bill that this bill is to protect women from coercion

So they can't use that argument anymore. It's literally in the bill Zach. Make sure you appeal to that Bradley hates that he has to write that in there because you don't really need to do that It's already in the state code, but he's like, let's just put that in there just so they can't say that anymore

They'll say this will do away with the IVF industry No Actually, it doesn't even do that What it does say is that the

IVF industry that says that it is about the creation Protection and preservation of human life

Has to use standards that comport with that position Meaning you cannot just create human life willy -nilly to destroy it

If you're gonna have an industry to help people to have children who can't have children on your on their own

You must stick to your presuppositions That say that you want to create protect and preserve human life not destroy it

Because if you really believe that this is human life You need to protect and preserve and help it to actually flourish if you really believe that you will not just create it and destroy

It this bill just says equal protection meaning Do what you say? That's all now.

I know Christians have disagreements and IVF and everything else, but that's not the point This bill doesn't really do anything except solve the problem for all of us

No matter our disagreement to say that you must protect and preserve that human life not destroy it.

That's all it does It's a lie Retroactive. Oh my gosh, this would mean that all these women in America 65 million of them at least

You put this into effect and every woman in Iowa that's had an abortion is he brought up on charges That's against the law

That's you see I'm saying it's a fiction. There's nothing there's no substance to these arguments. It is against constitutional law

To put something in place and then retroactively punish people that's against the law. That's a fiction You're not even allowed to do that What we are saying is that abortion is murder all those women who have killed their children need

Christ his grace is there it is Available they need Jesus. We want them to have forgiveness, but we want to justice

We want justice established now so that the killing stops Do you know how many women?

Have told ministers of the gospel that if it had been criminal and against the law I never would have gone to the abortion mill.

I would have my child today if it was against the law That's what we're trying to do That is what we're trying to do

There's no retroactive punishments people will say all you just want to punish women. No, it's you that's talking about the woman

This bill show me in the bill where it says woman Show me in the bill where it says any class or anything the bill criminalizes conduct

It's you that's talking about the woman I'm talking about the child in the womb.

I'm saying it's human for fertilization. You cannot overcome that that's what the Bible says That's what all biological science says it's unassailable.

It's human for fertilization and you keep talking about women Why is that is it because you believe that women should be able to kill their children with impunity?

Yes, that's actually why you're mentioning women because this bill just criminalizes conduct next

People will say but guys I had a legislator call me begging me to pull my bill in Arizona Last week begging me trying to make a deal with me cut a deal

Jeff. If you just pull the bill I'll give you this. I'll give you this. I'm like you you're talking in the wrong realm brother

This is not a career. I'm not a politician. You're talking to a pastor all pastors shouldn't be manipulated like that You know, it says you're in the wrong place, but he says but but okay

Jeff. I agree with you This man is a professing Christian. He says okay. I agree with you like it is murder

We need to abolish and I agree with you But don't you agree at least a little bit with the establishment when they say that she still is a victim of the circumstances in The environment where she's been told by the culture you can kill your child for so long

She is kind of a victim and I'll say yeah, I understand Of course, you know bad company corrupts good morals scripture talks about that And if yes if the culture largely believes you can live this way

It's gonna influence the mind of the image bearer of God But I don't believe the image of God is erased in any woman who kills her child.

She still knows the same God She knows what's in her womb. She knows ultimately what she's doing, but I don't think that you really believe that victim

Mentality about you what she's a victim. So she'd be she should be permitted to do it without consequence Because I'll give you a challenge

So you have an environmental thing circumstances people are preaching and so that person's a victim that couldn't help what they're doing

Great now do Chicago think about it don't we all recognize that the fatherlessness in Chicago is

Directly responsible in many ways for the collapse of Chicago and the murder and the shootings and the theft and the breakdown

Don't we recognize that all of that can be can be pointed to you say it. Well, it's the environment.

It's fatherlessness It's the bad. It's gangland. It's the it's the people influencing and to some degree

We all recognize that that gangbanger who is firing random shots into houses as they're driving by We all recognize to some degree.

Yeah, there's some kind of a victim of their culture and their surroundings, but nobody argues that the man who fired a bullet through a window and shot that infant in the crib and Taken the life of that infant.

Nobody argues that he shouldn't be punished for his actions He may be

Impacted by his culture around him, but he is guilty under the law for taking the life of that child, right?

So we don't really believe that and I'm gonna end with this We have so many resources available for all of you and I know so much what we said tonight was like It's up here.

Like you're thinking like you're thinking theological thoughts. You're connecting the lines You're thinking about standards and principles and it's up here and I know that when you throw out the number of 65 million plus It's far greater than that.

We don't even know how many have been taken through pills and everything else I know that it's it's it's incomprehensible, right?

We all recognize that if you saw The the first film babies are murdered here that had such an impact on on us

There was a portion of that film where it was stated that like, you know 65 million You can't really you can't there's a compute for any of us emotionally.

You can't understand it take it in It's incomprehensible. And so it was said that you have to think about it as one baby at a time right

Because you can give the numbers for Iowa and say well How many babies are gonna be murdered in Iowa this year and you can put together like past numbers you can think about how many?

Pills are being bought and you can try to do it and let's say let's say you were around Let's just say it throw it out for like some state.

You were at 10 ,000 babies dead Some states are significantly more than that. But let's say it was 10 ,000 babies slaughtered in that state even that number is

Can't can't do it. You can't think about it It loses some some of its meaning and punch because it's just too much for the mind to comprehend

So in my own life, I just want to share this with you Some of you guys may be familiar with the story of Augustine in my life

Augustine was presented to us in the womb months before he was born Birth mom came to us and it was a quick situation where?

We didn't make a decision in a couple of days because the state was gonna get involved to essentially take over And if we didn't make the decision quickly and have something in place they'd have been involved and have been hard to adopt him or even impossible to adopt him and He had and we have all the ultrasounds and medical records of all this he had the worst stage of spina bifida

That there is there's like four stages He was on the best end of the worst stage and what they were saying was huge hole in his spine

Ultrasounds has showed us big black hole They said it's significant and we're gonna have to when he comes out immediately seal that hole

No one could touch him for at least two to six weeks. He's gonna come out put him on his belly

We're gonna wheel him immediately into a surgical room and close that up We got to give him a brain shunt possibly do some stuff to his feet club feet

They said it, you know, we have a surgical team ready to go and candy and I my wife and I decided this is our son

We're gonna lay our lives down. We're gonna take him. He's my son There's a million little miracles that happen leading up to this, but I'll leave that out for tonight.

But to the point we said we'll adopt him and Two months later or about a month and a half later

He was born via c -section with the surgical team ready to go to do the two to six weeks of surgeries

And he came out of the womb through c -section and he was completely whole Completely healed and we have he's in he's in like medical stuff today like we have the

Ultrasounds doctors said this is we have no explanation for this. We've never ever seen this

And the doctor who was the leader of the team said he'd been doing this for 35 years And he's never once seen anything like this.

He said this is I've never seen anything like this take place They were even challenging each other in the hallway with the pictures of the ultrasounds and the medical records just to say like no

We didn't make a mistake. Look right here and they were like, you know saying this can't be explained It can't be explained but he was healed

From his spina bifida. He is the most amazing gift that God has given to our family We all feel like he's the most special thing in the world.

I love him and He's my son and what we learned After Was that his birth mom tried to kill him not once and not really twice

But many times she had appointments. She was ready to go to the abortion mill She was gonna kill him at five months in the womb because when she learned she was pregnant

She said no one's gonna want this baby. And so she went to kill him She was stopped by a Christian named Tabitha who knew her took her into her home said

I'll pay for everything go to all your Doctors appointments we will find a Christian family to adopt him She goes to her next appointment and finds out he has spina bifida

She says nobody's gonna want this boy and she fought Trying to go to the abortion mill for weeks and Tabitha said at one point it was every single day

She was like blocking the door Essentially saying just one more day just one more day.

Please don't kill your child. Don't murder your son We will find somebody and then she found us and we adopted him but his throat his life

Augustine's life was threatened via abortion a Number of times and what stopped it was a

Christian faithfully telling the truth and standing in the way He's only alive today because of Tabitha Standing in the way sacrificing herself saying

I'll give you anything. Don't kill your son So Augustine's alive because of Tabitha a

Christian who stood in the way Then I will really condense this to get to a point that really just hit me recently

Then through a series of circumstances some more miracles I would love to tell you about we found ourselves in Wisconsin on October the 4th of last year in Wisconsin and We were standing in front of two

NICU beds and incubators with two babies

Piper and Nora each one of them could fit completely in the palm of my hands like this from finger to palm 29 weeks premature

We only found out we were gonna adopt twins one week before this and then they were born 29 weeks premature

And I could hold them in my hand. I've never seen a human being so small in my life. I've seen pictures

I'd never seen one up close. It was terrifying. It was absolutely undeniably terrifying

So then we returned home after three days of being Wisconsin. We're like we're gonna get our homes ready We were not ready for this

We got to do all come million things and we came home three days later to try to start getting stuff ready But they're gonna be in a

NICU in Wisconsin for like two months Because they're 29 weeks. They had to be there to like 40 weeks

They have to like basically be in the womb of the incubator for two months Next thing, you know, I get a phone call from the hospital and they said this is not good

Piper got neck Meaning she got the necrotizing disorder that preemies will get in their their their intestines because they're not ready to take food

But you have to give them food and then it can turn basically into gangrene So they say we're airlifting her to a different hospital.

And so I immediately got on a plane in two hours I flew overnight across the country to different layovers to get to the hospital in the morning

I get to the hospital. They were just wheeling her out. The surgeon told me she maybe had an hour left

She's as sick as a human being could possibly be she maybe had an hour left He said I removed 20 centimeters of her small intestines 10 centimeters of her large intestines

He said I'm confident if that's just it she'll leave a nor she'll live a normal happy life But I left her open as you can see and you see tiny little body

Open he said left her open because I have to go back in and on Friday He said if I go back in on Friday Jeff, he said

It was a rough week He said if I go back in on Friday and I find any more dead intestines

Not sick dead. He said we have to have a different conversation He said you're gonna have to let her go so I went between two hospitals every day two hours apart driving back and forth to two different NICUs to be with both girls and They went back in on Friday and the cert there was 10 minutes

Came out and I didn't know if that was good or bad that it was 10 minutes took a check He said it's good.

He said there's no more sick intestines He said but I have not sealed her up and I haven't even put her intestines back together again

I'm gonna go back into Monday It may take months to get her fully sealed up to close stuff up goes back in and Monday wheels are back out

She's completely closed up. He says I don't know man. He said everything's closed up He said I was able to put her completely back together

But we had to go back and forth between hospitals for two months My wife and I took turns flying back and forth to Wisconsin Living in hotels going back and forth every day between the

NICUs watching these two little girls Get 24 hour care around the clock with their own personalized nurses sitting literally at their bed staring at them watching them

Their life was in their hands doctors around the clock standing around their bodies feeding tubes breathing tubes

Everything's being monitored for two months Piper's life was almost ended numerous times through this as a result of all the inflammation in the surgery

She has a cerebral palsy. We don't know if it's gonna be mild or severe. It's looking like it's gonna be very mild

So, please pray for Piper She almost lost her life and a number of times We had a drive across country with two preemies one on oxygen from Wisconsin to Arizona You might think while you're amazing

No, I was mean and and and and selfish the whole time because it was an awful trip and pray for me because it was

It was horrible But I wasn't really mean Maybe to other drivers

Maybe to other drivers that were not being safe. I was a mean there. Okay, but here's why I'm bringing this up to you so I get home and listen doctors around the clock surrounding

Piper and Nora but mostly Piper because she was her life was constantly in the balance

For two months 24 hours a day every single moment every detail if the machine made a weird noise the nurse came running in Every moment staring at the machine looking at her touching him.

Okay. All right All right, it's all about preserving her life preserve her life preserve her life the day of her surgery She had doctors and nurses and surgeons and respiratory

Therapists surrounding her little incubator and like walking like this with her little body walking like this down the hallway

To the surgical place to save her life. It was all about saving her life saving her life. That was at 30 weeks the birth mom

Wants me to tell you this She called me and she said please tell people this

I said are you sure she said yes, please tell them She said that She had tried to kill them twice

She said I took the abortion pill and I swore that I had an abortion because the very next day

I was cramping I was pouring blood and bleeding and she said and then I took it again

She took the abortion pill twice and God preserved their lives.

So Piper and Nora are alive right now at my home

They're my daughters and they're amazing They're alive right now and their birth mother again wanted me to tell you that she tried to kill them twice with the pill it wasn't successful and Now that I've put a face on it

And a name on it Augustine His mom tried to kill him.

He's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. And so were these girls and In both cases one was at the abortion mill.

They tried to kill him there and the other is through pill and my daughters So when you think about whether this is worth your life you think about August and you think about Piper and you think about Nora please

Because it's not just in theory. This is happening. These are real human beings and God knows their names