Welcome back to Aspastor John. This summer Pastor John is out of the studio preaching in Belfast in Scotland before returning to the States for a 40-day writing leave to finish up a book on Providence on the sovereignty of God a book he started last summer and hopes to finish this summer I cannot wait to see it and all of it the travel the book writing in this very podcast is all made possible by you we are supported by the prayers and the funding of God's people so thank you for generously

investing in this important and eternal work so with Pastor John busy we're diving into our archive of 1500 episodes and this summer we're pulling out some of your favorites about once every 50 episodes we release one that touches a nerve and touches the 300,000 play mark these are the elite episodes in our six and a half year history we only have about 30 of them and here's one of them

a friend of the podcast who wishes to remain anonymous writes in hello Pastor John I'm a listener in the Middle East I slept with my girlfriend two days ago and now we are both left hurt and feeling dirty cheap and ashamed we cannot even look at ourselves

we're both born again believers in Christ but we got lured into temptation is there any hope that we might become pure again and be healed from our sin

I know the blood of Jesus covers every sin but how can we get back our relationships purity again where is that permanently gone what do we do now

I think this young man from the Middle East is beginning in the right place

he is a seems appropriately shattered meaning something has been irrevocably lost he and his girlfriend will never be able to go behind this sexual encounter and undo it

they have lost something very precious and I begin this way even though it may sound hard because I feel a tender and jealous concern for those who are listening

who have not lost their virginity it is very it is a very precious thing for man and women the world views it as weakness silly in fact God views it as a very great strength and beauty beyond compare

and I am just as eager to help listeners maintain their sexual purity and virginity before they lose it as I am to help those who have lost it recover the purity that Christ makes possible so that's why beginning the way beginning

so I think this young man is beginning in the right place he is broken he knows that a beautiful thing has been lost and he knows that the blood of Jesus covers every sin

so this is a good place to begin those who take their sins lightly and treat the blood of Jesus as a kind of quick fix

they've never seen the true costliness of what Jesus did to purchase their purity

so let me simply make a few observations that might prove redemptive and I hope hope giving to our friend from the Middle East and his girlfriend number one

I would simply draw attention to what he already knows only put it in biblical words first Corinthians 6, 18, flea fornication

God's will for unmarried people is that they abstain from sexual relations and God makes this possible by the power of the Holy Spirit through faith in His promises

and He gives sweet and special rewards to single people who honor Him in this way marriage has its special rewards for faithfulness

and singleness chased holy singleness has its special rewards for faithfulness married people can glorify God in some ways that single people can't

and single people can glorify God in some ways that married people can't this is not a matter of inferiority or superiority singleness and chastity are a very high calling in God's mind

that's the first thing second I would say our friend and he already knows this but again I want to put it in the words of scripture

so he can hear it from Christ and not just from me should hear truly I say to you this is Mark 328 truly I say to you all sins will be forgiven the children of man

and whatever blasphemies they utter but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness

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