Cedarville Magazine, Spring 2020

CHAPEL NOTES GOD'S MIRACLE OF LIFE The following is an excerpt from a January 15, 2020, chapel presentation fromWilliam Lile. Listen to his full message at cedarville.edu/lile . Forty-seven years. 62 million babies have lost their lives just here in the United States. That's the population of California's 40 million people and Florida's 20 million. We've lost every man, woman, and child in the state of California and Florida due to abortion. Did God know who you were in the womb? Sure did. Did He know you would be coming to Cedarville? He sure did. That you were going to be trained with excellent skills for your chosen profession? He sure did. But He also has a way that you can serve His kingdom when you finish up here. Look at Paul: “But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles” (Gal. 1:15–16). Paul recognized this. He says, “You knew who I was when I was still there on the inside.” “Person” is an amazingly important word. Why? Throughout history, if you want to take advantage of another group of people, you just say, “I'm a person, but you are not a person.” In Roe v. Wade in 1973, they said the word “person” as used in the Fourteenth Amendment did not include the unborn. They were wrong then. Can it be corrected? Yes. A patient is a person, no matter how small. That’s my motto. My wife and I were over on Pensacola Beach, Florida, last year during one of the holidays, and I took this picture, “Do not disturb sea turtle nest.” You can be fined $100,000 and spend a year in jail if you disturb a preborn sea turtle. Can anybody here in the front row see the year that the U.S. Endangered Species Act was passed? 1973. Yet in that same year, the U.S. Supreme Court said we're not going to give those same rights and values to the preborn on the inside. Why are you here today? Maybe it's to be involved in pro-life work. At the very least, what I really want is for you to figure out where God wants you to serve His kingdom. Mordecai said to Esther, “Who knows whether you have not come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” (Est. 4:14). Maybe that's why you’re all here today. You want to figure out where you are going to serve. This University is about to prepare you for Kingdom service. Yes, to be a great teacher, preacher, doctor, lawyer, nurse, physician assistant. But it's also about how you are going to use that knowledge and skills to serve His kingdom. Our goal should be to have Jesus say directly to us as He looks in our eyes, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to be a voice for the voiceless. I'm going to be a defender of the defenseless. And I'm going to stand up for those who can't stand for themselves because it is the right thing to do. But it's also about Kingdom service, letting people know that that life in the womb is something that is precious and needs to be defended. William Lile is a board-certified OB/GYN and the founder of ProLifeDoc.org. I'll tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to be a voice for the voiceless. Watch Chapel on Your Smartphone or Tablet With CUChapel+ Livestream chapel and access other Cedarville videos on demand with the CU Chapel+ app. Learn more at cedarville.edu/cuChapelPlus . Cedarville Magazine | 33