Dear Audience,
"I came back to reality with a sickening thud. Nothing was funny now. I wasn’t drunk anymore. The party was over and I felt sick, cheap, and dirty..."
My heart broke when I read the rest of her letter. She was a teenager crying out for help. And yet she is not alone. Sharing her plight scores of men and women wrestling with the same emotions. They are hurt, angry, guilty, and confused.
Over the years my wife and I have met some of them. Pregnant girls, young men, middle-aged women, prostitutes, homosexuals, and even some ministers who strayed sexually. In every case we felt their pain and tried our best to comfort and counsel them. But at the same time we knew that their greatest need was not us, but Jesus. They needed His forgiveness. They needed His cleansing. They needed His grace.
If you have your Bible handy, read the account of the adulterous woman in John 8:1-11. Dragged before Jesus, the religious leaders suggested stoning her. But His kind answer to her was: "I do not condemn you; go and sin no more." Like so many people today she had messed up sexually and was guilty. But before Jesus she received forgiveness and grace. What good news there is in the gospel: Through the blood of Jesus you and I can be cleansed of all our mess ups and mistakes.
But don't miss Jesus' parting words to the woman: "Go and sin no more." In the Bible you will find many warnings to keep from sexual sin. For example, 1Corinthians 6:18 says: "Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body." Hebrews 13:4 adds, "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral." If you are presently engaging in any form of sexual sin, including pornography, repent. Instead of making excuses, confess it to God. If you are not sure if you are saved and have eternal life, then invite Jesus to be your Lord and Saviour with this promise of God: "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life" (John 3:36).
Finally, realize that it is possible, even in this debased and sexually confused age, to live a life that is pure and upright before God. As you seek His help, Christ is able to give you self-control and the power to resist sexual sin. Today, ask God to keep you from temptation by filling you with His Spirit, His goodness, and His grace.
In His strong love,
Demitri
A message from Calvary Community Church.
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