ABORTION

It would be, I thought, a very good, indeed a very necessary thing to place in our church paper an article that appeared in the "Saambinder", the weekly church paper of the Reformed Congregations in the Netherlands and North America. It was sent to the government in connection with the abortion question. It was signed by the delegates from the Reformed Congregations:

and by the delegates of the Old Reformed Congregations:

the Rev. E. Du Marchie Van Voorthuisen

Mr. A. H. W. Bouwman.

It might be an instruction for us and for our nation that is sinking away in sin, since the texts quoted tell what an abomination abortion is in the eyes of God. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them" (Isaiah 8:20).

If murder is at all condoned, and is not punished according to God's Word, we can expect nothing else than that the judgment of destruction shall follow the judgment of hardening.

If this nation will not bow,

It shall soon be overthrown.

May the Lord humble us before Him. The Lord only knows how far this evil has penetrated the domain of the church of God. It is an evil that will eat as doth a canker, because the truth has very little effect on the conscience any more, and then there is nothing to stop the torrent of sin.

Only the fear of God can keep us from sin. May the Lord grant a prayer.

"Thou didst in trouble on Me call,

And I delivered thee.'' Editor

THE TASK OF CHURCH AND GOVERNMENT

As delegates of churches, the undersigned consider themselves obliged to serve the government by instructing them out of God's Word. It is not the intention of the churches to prescribe to the government what they must do, or what they must not do, what they must command or what they must forbid. The relation between church and state is not a question of power, but it is their intention to serve the authorities by giving a public explanation of the authoritative Word of God, the Bible.

This explanation does not intend to be a personal interpretation.

The obligation of the churches is to show the government that is bound to the Word of God, what its task and calling is in governing according to God's Commandments as the only, true, objective standards, not given by men, but given by God for all ages. This means emphatically that the churches are convinced that neglecting the clear testimonies of Scripture will incur the judgment of God upon our nation.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

One of the fundamental (10) commandments is: "Thou shalt not kill"; not take another's life, nor your own. Genesis 1:26 says, "And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness….", and verse 27: "So God created man in His image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them." Verse 31: "And God saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good." Therefore wilful abortion is a terrible assault upon God's work of creation, a destruction of the unborn. It is not man's prerogative to decide over life and death.

The Bible shows very clearly the relationship between God and the unborn child:

Psalm 139:14-16: "I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from Thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in Thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them."

Job 10:10, 11: "Hast Thou not poured me out as milk, and curdled me like cheese? Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews."

Jeremiah 1:4-6: "Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou earnest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child." Psalm 22:10: "I was cast upon Thee from the womb: Thou art my God from my mother's belly." Isaiah 44:2: "Thus saith the Lord that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, Which will help thee….."

By these texts it is very clear that God from the first moment of life gives His greatest attention and His most tender care to the life of a child. The child from the moment of conception is a human being, as well as a full grown person is. Whoever realizes something of the wonderful and miraculous work of our Creator at the beginning of life, must agree that even from the beginning the sixth commandment is in force: Thou shalt not kill. In Psalm 51 we sing:

"Behold, in evil I was formed,
And I was born in sin."

Does that not indicate life in the unborn child?

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