Satan's Extreme Lies: Family Planning Edition

This study exposes the extreme lies perpetuated by Satan regarding family planning. We examine scriptural references, particularly Psalms 127 and 128 and Genesis 1, to highlight that children are blessings from the Lord and the command to 'be fruitful and multiply' is a collective one for humanity, not an individual mandate. The discussion also addresses the false notion that bearing children is a prerequisite for salvation, using passages from Matthew 19, 1 Corinthians 7, and 1 Timothy 2. The episode concludes with a reminder to arm oneself with the truth from God's word to resist Satan's lies.

Transcript

 
The thing that I would like to highlight in our time of study is how Satan uses really extreme lies in order to trouble human beings. And we see many examples of this.
But the area of life that I'm going to be focusing on in this lesson is in the area of family planning. That's not a topic that we talk about a lot in our discussions or Bible study, but it is something that the Bible talks about.

Biblical Perspective on Family Planning

And to introduce this lesson, I'd like for us to read from Psalms 127 and 128.
These are actually some of my favorite parts of the scripture. We read there in Psalm 127:3. I do hope that you'll grab your Bibles and follow along with me as we engage in this study. Psalm 127:3 tells us, "Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward like arrows in the hands of a warrior. So are the children of one's youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. They shall not be ashamed, but shall speak with their enemies in the gate."
Psalm 128 has this to say, "Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, you shall be happy and it shall be well with you. Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house. Your children, like all plants all around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. The Lord bless you out of Zion, and may you see the good of Jerusalem all the days of your life. Yes, may you see your children's children. Peace be upon Israel."

Satan's Lies About Population

We're living in a time in which the truths that are revealed in scripture with regard to the family are being denied in our world. The human family is intended to be the foundation of society. And children, as they are described in this verse, are a blessing from the Lord.
But one of the lies of Satan in our culture today is to claim the opposite. There is a very strong voice in our society that we hear very often, "There are too many people on the world. Our planet is overpopulated, and we need to be taking any steps necessary to reduce the population of human beings, or at the very least reduce the rate at which the population is increasing.
And that's a direct denial of the truth of scripture being discussed here. When we think about it we realize that Satan [is] trying to deceive the world. That's one of his lies. In fact, it's one of his most successful lies in our lifetime, and it's having devastating effects on human population in many countries. And I hope to talk about that in more detail in a future lesson.

Extreme Opposite Lie: Mandatory Childbearing

But it was brought to my attention recently that at the same time that Satan is telling the world, there are too many people on earth and we need to do anything necessary to stop them. It is also the case that Satan is telling some people an extreme lie in the opposite direction.
There as a friend of one of our children whoum they met online, and had some religious discussions and my daughter said, " Do you want to talk with my dad about this and start an email conversation?" This young lady was sharing with me that some of her religious leaders and teachers were telling her that in order for her to be right with God and fulfill God's purposes in her life, she had to bear children. That was a necessity. That was God's intention for every human being.
Is that true? In fact, these verses that we just read were some that a group that identified themselves as Quivers Full Christians, [use to] promote these types of ideas.
And I don't know if that's the group that this young lady ran into in particular, but it was this type of idea that she was being troubled with. They were telling her, if you don't intend to be married and have kids, then you're going against God's will for your life and maybe even question whether you can be saved.
This text that we just read would be one of the ones that they would point to. And we want to look at several others in our lesson this morning in order to see: is this the truth or is this a lie of Satan?

Biblical Commands on Reproduction

The next place we want to go is Genesis 1, on the day that God made humanity and put them on the Earth. Read with me Genesis 1:26, God said, "Let us make man in Our image according to Our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air and over the cattle, and over all creeping things and everything that creeps on the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God, He created him, male and female, He created them. And then God blessed them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
So God made human beings, male and female, in His image giving them free will, giving them their ability to have communion and fellowship with the Creator who made them.
That's where we came from as human beings. And verse 28 gives us some information about what God's intentions were for us. There are two commands that we find there in verse 28.
Let's look at the second one first. He says that human beings are to have dominion over all creation. God who created everything out of nothing has ultimate authority and dominion over really all existence. But amazingly enough, we're told here that God gave human beings, he delegated the authority to rule the physical creation where God placed man. We have dominion over ourselves and over the things that we create. And so human beings have mined thousands of meters into the heart of mountains and they've raised up buildings, thousands of meters into the sky, exercising dominion in various ways.
But we also wanna look at that first command in verse 28, which really is core to the question that we have before us this morning. And that is when God said to humanity, "be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it." If we read the context there, we find God giving a very similar command to the birds of the sky and the fish of the sea and the land animals that they were to be fruitful and multiply and fill the domains in which God placed them. And He gives this command to mankind as well. Along with that command, he placed within all of these living creatures, the desire to reproduce, have offspring, and to fill the habitats in which they live. And so we see many aspects of life every population growing and bouncing off other populations. And of course, humanity has been doing the same thing: growing in population.
But if we notice that this is a command that really is the kind of the heart of the question that we have before us. What God told Adam and Eve is be fruitful and multiply.

Exceptions to the Rule

Now the question is is that command a command to each individual human being?
If it is, let's think about what that means. That means that every human being has the command to be fruitful and multiply. Is that the case? If it is, then God is giving a command to people that some people cannot fulfill. Isn't it the case that some people are born unable to reproduce? So what does that mean?
And I think one principle that will help us as we think about this is that God does not hold us responsible for things that we don't have control over. And so no a person is not sinning, if they're born unable to reproduce, they do not have the obligation to do. It's something that they cannot do.
God does not hold us responsible for things we cannot do, and God does not hold us responsible for things that we have no control over. Because, if we think about this command carefully one human being on their own cannot fulfill the command that is described here. Remember, it's not just to multiply, but it's to multiply and fill the earth.
Can single human being fill the whole earth? That's the command. Not just multiply, but fill the earth. That's impossible.
Also, fulfilling this command depends on the voluntary actions of other people . Because again, the command is to multiply, but one human being can't multiply by themselves.
It requires a male and a female volunteering agreement and an association that they're able to bear children, isn't it? And again, the principle is that God does not hold people responsible for things. They have no control over a person who wants to be married, but that has no one suitable or is not able to find someone willing to marry them. Are they obliged to bear children anyway? Somehow find some means of doing that. That's obvious that it's not the case.
And all of those observations help us recognize that this command is not an individual command, it's a collective command, the command to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it is a command for humanity as a whole, not a command for each individual member of humanity. And that's what we see happening when human society is healthy and valuing life. It is fruitful, it does multiply, and it does fill whichever part of the earth it is inhabiting.
But we should also make an observation that most people have the desire to marry and to have children. That's normal for most individuals. But we also see, as we already observed, that there are many who want to have children that can't. We see many examples of that in the biblical records. We can think about Abraham and Sarah, his wife, and Jacob and Rachel, his wife, and Hannah, and the Shunammite woman who showed hospitality to Elisha. And in the New Testament, Zacharia and Elizabeth.
Were these people violating God's command to be fruitful and multiply when they were unable to have children. And then when God providentially, or some cases miraculously enabled them to have children, now finally, they were acceptable in his sight. That doesn't make sense.
The general rule is that people are able to have children, but there are exceptions to that rule.

Jesus' Teaching on Eunuchs

And Jesus actually discussed several groups of these types of exceptional cases in the next passage that we want to look at which is in Matthew chapter 19 where the Jewish leaders are asking him about divorce and when he gives the law for divorce under the new covenant. And so Matthew 19:9, Jesus said, "'I say to you, whoever divorces his wife except for sexual immorality and marries another, commits adultery, and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.'
His disciples said to Him, 'If such is the case of the man with his wife, it is better not to marry.'
But He said to them, 'All cannot accept this saying, but only those to whom it has been given. For there are eunuchs who were born thus from their mother's womb, and there are eunuchs who are made eunuchs by men. And there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. He who is able to accept it, let him accept it.'"
So let's think about these groups that Jesus discussed in the context of our discussion here. He said that there are eunuchs who are eunuchs from birth. He's really describing the situation that we alluded to earlier, that some individuals have birth defects or other genetic abnormalities that make it impossible for them to bear children. And Jesus is describing them as being eunuchs from birth. Are these people, displeasing to God because they're not able to bear children? This is something that's out of their control.
Jesus also describes those who are made eunuchs by men. And sad to say, there's been a historical practice throughout much of human history of people being castrated or otherwise having their ability to reproduce taken from them, usually by force. If that happens to you, you're not able to bear children. You're not responsible for that.
And in both of these cases, many of the folks in those categories would most likely not end up being married and therefore not being subject to the marriage and divorce laws that Jesus had talked about just previously with his disciples.
But then He mentions a third group, those who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake. Let's think about those individuals. They're making a mental decision for themselves that for the progress of the gospel, for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, it would be better or more fruitful for them to remain single rather than getting married. So they have made a voluntary decision: I'm not going to marry, I'm not going to have children. Instead I'm going to devote myself to the kingdom of heaven in a more direct way or a fuller way in my life.
But in describing those who make themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven's sake one person that we can think of that would be in that category is the Apostle Paul. In 1 Corinthians 9, he acknowledges that most of the apostles and evangelists of his time were leading about a believing wife. But he elected not to do that, although he had the right to do that. And the reason was, is because he had decided to remain single rather than getting married.

Paul's Advice on Marriage and Singleness

And back in 1 Corinthians 7, which is where I'd like us to focus our attention next, he tells Christians that people ought to consider as a possibility to be like I am: to choose not to marry for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.
He says in 1 Corinthians 7:7, "for I wish that all men were even as myself, but each one has his own gift from God, one in this manner and another in that. But I say to the unmarried and to the widows, it is good for them to remain even as I am. But if they cannot exercise self-control, let them marry for it is better to marry than to burn with passion."
Most human beings have the desire to be married, to engage in sexual relations, and carry on their family to future generations. And so it would be a hardship. In fact, it would be a spiritual danger to them to try to live single without getting married and fulfilling those very natural and God-given desires. But Paul said, if someone is able to live single as I am, then that's something that they ought to consider.
Now in this chapter on marriage, there are a number of commands where Paul is telling these Christians, this is God's will, a matter of right and wrong with regard to marriage and how it should operate.
But when it comes to decisions about whether to get married or not, there are no commands. In fact, Paul takes the great pains to make it clear that what he is saying about the decision to marry or not marry is not a matter of right or wrong, but just a matter of the advice that he is giving and the wisdom that he is trying to share with them If it was the case that God intended every human being to marry and bear children, 1 Corinthians 7 would be a really good place to put that command. But that is not what we find. In fact, as we skip down to verse 25, where Paul, again is addressing the unmarried, he says, " Now concerning virgins, I have no commandment from the Lord."
Does he have a commandment from the Lord about whether to marry or not? He says, "I have no commandment from the Lord yet I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy. I suppose, therefore, that this is good because of the present distress, that it is good for a man to remain as he is. Are you bound to a wife? Do not seek to be loose. Are you loosed from a wife? Do not seek a wife. But even if you do marry, you have not sinned. And if a virgin marries, she has not sinned, nevertheless, such will have trouble in the flesh. But I would spare you."
Paul makes it clear that the advice that he is giving and the decision whether to marry or not is not a matter of right or wrong, but a matter of better or best. And what is best or wisest varies from person to person and even with regard to the social conditions at the time, as he makes mention of the present distress that was affecting this particular group of Christians.
So with that broader view of the scriptures on this matter we're ready now to look at what is, the most challenging verse to understand related to this topic.

Understanding 1 Timothy 2:15

And that's in first Timothy chapter two. In this passage of scripture Paul is laying out God's order for the church: that the intention for the teaching and leadership of the church to be male leadership and male teaching.
Some commentators have sought to diminish these instructions because this is a very controversial topic, not only in our society at large, but even among professing Christians.
And so some commentators would seek to diminish the scope of what Paul is saying here by making the claim that there must have been some specific women teachers there in the church at Ephesus that were causing trouble. And so Paul gives these instructions to address that specific problem, and so it wouldn't apply to other congregations or other places.
But we also notice that in one Corinthians chapter 14, Paul making the exact same instructions to the church at Corinth. And that is a parallel passage.
So some would instead then say Paul gave those types of instructions and made those limitations because he was sexist and would seek to minimize his teaching on that subject in that way. But I would make the suggestion that if we are going to decide which of Paul's instructions are sexist and should be rejected and which are acceptable, then we are setting ourselves up as the apostle of Jesus Christ instead of Paul. I would not advise that.
So Paul, as he's discussing here in one Timothy two this matter of male leadership within the church goes back to the beginning, the first sin and talks about Adam and Eve in verse 13 and 14
"Adam was formed first, then Eve and Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. Nevertheless, she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with self-control."
Adam and Eve are being discussed. They were the ones who transgressed that commandment of God and brought sin and death into the world. And it is that sin and death that Jesus came in the world to rescue us from.
The verse that is difficult and that we need to look at carefully is verse 15, when it says, "Nevertheless, she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness with control."
We need to use some of the same reasoning that we did in Genesis chapter one.
" She will be saved in childbearing" is that "she" referring to all women? Let's think about if that is the case. If that is the case then a woman who wants to be married but is not able to find a partner who is willing to marry her, can't be saved. She wanted to bear children, but she can only be saved in childbearing. No one was willing to marry her and so she can't be saved. But didn't we observe the principle that God does not hold people accountable for things they have no control over? It really doesn't make sense, does it?
And let's think about those categories that Jesus talked about in Matthew chapter 19. Those who are eunuchs from birth, who are unable to bear children because of physical abnormality that they were born with. This woman who is in that condition, is it true that she can't be saved because she can only be saved and childbearing? Again, that doesn't make sense.
Let's think about that second group that you just talked about, those who were made eunuchs by men. And so a woman maybe was born able to bear her children, but over the course of her life, some operation took place or some injury she suffered, or some other ailment that she suffered made it impossible for her to bear children. Is it really true that she can't be saved because she'll be saved in childbearing and if she can't bear children, she can't be saved? I don't think so. That doesn't make sense.
But what about this third category that Jesus mentioned, those who make themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom. Here is someone who is making a voluntary choice not to bear children, she's made herself a euch for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.
Is it true that she can't be saved because it's required to bear children in order to be right with God? If that is true, then she's not only sacrificing having a husband and children for the sake of the kingdom, she's sacrificing her soul's salvation. And when I say that doesn't make sense; in this case, I can actually definitely say that is wrong. That cannot be true.
And the reason I say that is because of Mark 10:29-30. " Jesus answered and said, 'Assuredly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters, or father or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for my sake and the gospels who shall not receive a hundred fold, now in this time: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.'"
Jesus is saying, if you sacrifice for the kingdom of heaven, you'll be rewarded in this life and the life to come. But one of the things that he mentioned that might be possibly have to be sacrificed for the kingdom of heaven is wife and children. And if they do that, if a person sacrifices having children, is it true that they can't be saved? What does Jesus say? They will be rewarded with a spiritual family in this life that replaces all the family that they didn't have. That's what he meant in that first part of Mark 10:30 They'll will receive a hundred fold now in this time. And what will be the result in eternity? Eternal life.
So with those words of Jesus in mind, and turning back to 1 Timothy 2:15 is it possible that this statement, " she will be saved in childbearing" , is saying that for a woman to be saved, she must bear children? No. That that is not the case.
If it can't mean that, what must it mean? That "she "in verse 15, must be referring to the other female mentioned in the text, which was Eve. And so Eve was the mother of all living. And let's think about what happened when God brought them all to account. Adam said, Eve gave me the fruit and I ate.
And the woman said, the serpent deceived me. I ate. And God took the serpent aside and cursed him to crawl on the ground. With regard to the woman, He said, you'll experience greater pain in childbearing. That was some of the consequences that she experienced because of that sin. But one of the bright lights of that sad day in which sin and death entered the world was the promise that the seed of the woman would have his heel bruised by the serpent, but the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent.
And that was a prophecy from the very beginning, that there would be someone who would come descended from woman who would solve the problem of sin and death that was brought into the world by Adam and Eve. And of course, that coming one was Jesus, who was the the seed woman in a very special way because Mary, his mother had no human husband that was part of that conception. What was conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit. And so Jesus was the seed of woman in a very special way, Eve by bearing children in spite of the increased level of pain connected with childbearing, through the ongoing chain of childbearing following her brought into the world the one through whom, not just Eve, but also Adam, and every other human being can be saved.
And all human beings aren't saved just because Jesus was born, but those who continue in faith, love holiness with self-control, can be saved through that chain of child bearing that began with Eve and brought Jesus, our savior and redeemer into the world. And that is the true meaning of 1 Timothy 2:15.
Is it true that we have to bear children in order to be pleasing to God? No it's not true.

Conclusion and Call to Action

But to back up a level and really help us to apply this lesson, no matter what stage of life we are in, I just want to again, repeat the observation. This error or this lie of Satan that was afflicting this friend of one of my children, enough that she was severely depressed and was feeling fairly worthless as a person.
Satan was spreading that lie at the same time as he's spreading this other lie, that there are too many people and people, in order to be responsible and do the right thing, need to choose to not have children or have very few children. Satan ought to be ashamed of himself because if I was saying something to one group of people so emphatically, and then I was saying the exact opposite to another group of people so emphatically trying to convince them in both cases of two totally opposite things, I would be ashamed of myself. I could not look myself in the mirror. And Satan ought to be ashamed because he actually doesn't really care about doing anything except sowing discord and causing trouble for mankind. And his primary tool for doing this lies he doesn't actually care which lie we believe. And so he will offer us whichever lie he thinks we're most likely to accept.
And we've seen these two extreme lies in the case of family planning. Those may not be tempting lies for you to accept. But I guarantee you that there are lies that Satan is trying to get into your mind and your heart and your world. Because his intention is to sow discord between God and man and between one man and his neighbor, and even between each of us and ourselves, and his lies are his primary tools for doing that.
So we'll end with this passage of scripture in John 8 where Jesus essentially tips Satan's hand and reveals to us what he is up to so that we can be on guard. Jesus here is talking to some very religious people, but who were rejecting Jesus at the same time that they were saying we're following God, in fact, God is our father.
And Jesus says to them in John 8:42, "If God were your Father, you would love Me for I proceeded forth and came from God, nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word." Why? Verse 44, "You are of your father, the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own resources for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me. "
Let's think about what Jesus is saying to us about Satan He is the father of lies. He does not stand in the truth. There is no truth in Satan Although he will borrow all kinds of truth and mix it with his errors if it'll help us accept even a little bit of his errors. And that is really his primary tool for getting strife between God and man is getting lies into our hearts and minds.
That's why we need to be on guard. Everything that we hear, we should ask, is this true? How will, how do I know? Everything, every thought that we think and thing that we say, we should be asking ourself before, we say it is this true? In fact the passage that was given to us at the end of the morning message Philippians 4:8 tells us, meditate on the things that are true. And that really is telling us if we notice something that we're meditating or thinking about that's not true, we need to fight against it.
How do we fight against that error? Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. And it is Jesus who is giving us along with the heavenly Father, the armor of God, among which is the shield of faith, which is able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
And so we need to compare what we are hearing with the truth, God's word, as it is revealed. And we've done that this morning. We've examined one error by the Word of God and realize this is not true. Let us reject it. And I hope my conversation with this young lady will be of help to her in resolving some of those difficulties.
And if you've been challenged by that concern or that error, I hope that'll be helpful to you,, as well. But my primary exhortation is to each of us is to arm ourselves with the shield of faith and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. So that we will not just take the lies of Satan, without resistance, but fight back against them and defend our hearts and our minds from the lies.
Because it's not just that he wants strife between us and God and our neighbors and ourselves. He wants that strife to be so significant that it eternally separates us from God. That is his ultimate goal. Guess what? God's goal is the exact opposite: for there to be enough peace between us and God so that we can be in fellowship with God for all eternity.
That's why when Satan worked so hard to get sin and death into the world, from the very first day that there were sin and death, God said, "There will be a seed of woman that will crush this serpent." And throughout that long chain of childbearing, he brought that seed of woman into the world to take care of sin and death for every single human being.
And so he intends for you to overcome sin in your life and you to completely overcome death in your life by participating in spiritual resurrection in this world, and to experience . ultimate resurrection when this life is over, when Jesus comes again and all are raised from the dead, and to be able to experience eternal life in heaven with God.
And so if you desire that in your life, desire to become a follower of Jesus and to have his victory over sin and death become yours then you need to turn your back on sin. And you need to confess your faith in Jesus Christ. And then you need to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, to have your sins washed away by the blood of Jesus, and then by living faithfully you can reach the heavenly home that God intends for you to share with Him in all eternity.
If that's your desire don't let anything stop you!