{"id":83,"date":"2005-06-27T12:16:37","date_gmt":"2005-06-27T17:16:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bostoncommoner.com\/blog\/archives\/2005\/06\/27\/i-can-touch-you\/"},"modified":"2005-06-28T11:11:52","modified_gmt":"2005-06-28T16:11:52","slug":"i-can-touch-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.bostoncommoner.com\/blog\/archives\/2005\/06\/27\/i-can-touch-you\/","title":{"rendered":"“I Can Touch You.”"},"content":{"rendered":"

In recent weeks I\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2ve experienced a dramatic shift in the tides of a certain spiritual battle within my flesh. Temptation to this one particular sin in my life comes in transient waves dependent upon various circumstances within and without myself, but the decision to dive headlong into an approaching crest is entirely my own and without excuse. So many times I\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2ve not even considered standing against the crush; or, when I do decide to stand, I overestimate my strength and lose my footing as the sandy ground is literally swept out from under my feet. The undertow is always stronger than the wave itself, and in an instant I\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2m engulfed and sucked out to open water.<\/p>\n

I\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2ve done the various brain gymnastics over the years where this sin is concerned: \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cIt\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s disgusting; I must simply rise above it because I\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2m really not as disgusting as this sin would reveal me to be\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u00a6 It\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s normal, everybody does it; what does God expect me to do, if He made me this way\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u00a6? It\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s only a problem if X or Y is going on around me or if God places Z in my path; if I change the circumstances, I won\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t have to struggle with it\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u00a6 It\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s only a certain aspect of it that\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s really sinful; maybe I can find another outlet , or just cut my indulgence short before it goes to far \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u00a6 It\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s a matter of the will, so if I can just decide enough is enough, temptation itself will become a moot point\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u00a6This time I know that this brings me no happiness and breaks fellowship with God, so now I know I mean business when I say I repent. I bet the 3rd billionth time\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s the charm, and I really won\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t even be tempted to do this again\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u00a6\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d<\/em><\/p>\n

With each rationalization or decision to place confidence in circumstance or self, I sense a certain calm in the waters. Even after some revival-like experience of fellowship with God, I can fool me into thinking I\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2ll never see another crest again, so I turn my back and take my eyes off the waters entirely \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u00a6 Enter tsunami.<\/p>\n

But above I said I\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2ve experienced a shift in the tides of this spiritual battle. For better or for worse? Something is definitely different; this morning I opened my eyes and looked around and noticed a change that has been lingering in the air for weeks, now. Noticing it all at once, however, in retrospect, took my breath away. It\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s more than a simple cessation of sin. It\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s an entirely new perspective on the nature of the sin itself along with the motivation for and the means with which to stand against it. Through various means the Lord has been challenging me in His mercy and grace to be holy, for He is holy, and to know and believe that I can\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t stand holy against a wave of defilement unless He\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s giving me the grace and the strength to do it; unless the foundation of His Spirit replaces the sand beneath my feet; unless I ask Him to stand with me, waist-deep in the dirty water.<\/p>\n

Wait\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u00a6ask GOD to stand with me in the rank unrighteousness of my flesh? Yes. I tried to articulate what is different, what has led to such a relatively LASTING relief from\/victory over this sin recently, despite the fact that the waves keep coming. I tried to put it into words, and this was the best I could come up with: at my \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cbest\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d moments in the past, I\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2ve walked along the beach of my life with the Lord, sometimes even hand-in-hand, wading in the shallow parts of the surf where I\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2m not as embarrassed by the small temptations washing over my toes, where it\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s easy to squeeze His hand and rely on His grace to keep walking and to ignore the pull.<\/p>\n

But the tide rises, and something happens. I let go of His hand. He never abandons me, but I refuse to keep Him with me as the larger waves approach. I either try to escape to higher ground, where I can ignore the reality of the waves for a while longer, or I refuse let Him stand and face those filthy waves with me – as if He couldn\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t see them from the shore, or as if a Holy God simply couldn\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t, or shouldn\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t, be able to wade out that far into the morass of my spiritual darkness.<\/p>\n

I forget that He already did. He took on every possible wave of defilement for all of mankind when He hung on the Cross. Did He drown? Was He sucked under and contaminated? No; the full, swollen tide of human depravity rose up and engulfed Him, but it did not knock Him over and suck Him under; He rose out of the tomb precisely because His holiness was such that it could not be defiled by what He must face on our behalf. He did it once and for all at Calvary to effect our justification; why was I then treating Him as if He could not face my depravity with me daily to effect of my sanctification? Where did I get the idea that I could, or even should, effect my own? I would never advise anyone else that it were even a possibility, for I\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2ve read my Bible and I know better. But in practicality, especially with this sin, I would not take Him with me. It was just too shameful.<\/p>\n

Several weeks ago I listened to an audio sermon that spoke about the spreading fame of the King<\/a>. One point illuminated to me something about Christ\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s special ministry as the God-Man that I had never thoughtfully considered beforehand. The speaker related the account of the woman with an issue of blood from Matthew 9:20-22. He pointed out the gravity of this woman\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s disease in light of Jewish religious law and custom: she would have been viewed as entirely defiled by her disease, unable to worship openly in the temple and basically treated as a social outcast, as anyone who had contact with her, or even ate a meal with her, would also be considered unclean and unfit for temple worship for a certain period of time that would constitute purification. She reaches out and touches Christ\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s garment as He passes, believing–perhaps somewhat desperately–that He is that powerful to cleanse and heal the defiled. She doesn\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t ask Him directly though; why not? Perhaps she fears He\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2ll shun her or avoid contact with her, as her religious culture is compelled to do under the Law? If He is God, after all, He mustn\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t be defiled by her disease, even as she attempts contact with Him to be rid of it.<\/p>\n

But He IS God, and so He knows what has happened to Him. Is He angry with her? Does He judge her for \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cdefiling\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d Him in this way? No. He tells her to \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cbe of good cheer,\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d for her faith has \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cmade her whole.\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d In effect, as the preacher put it, Christ tells her what no one else could tell her, and what no one expected to hear from a Holy God: He tells this diseased and defiled woman, \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201cI can touch you.\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d<\/strong> And what\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s more, His touch could, and did, heal her.<\/p>\n

The character of the God-Man is such that He can reach out and touch the sinner without compromising His own holiness. And in this ministry of \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c5\u201ctouching\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u009d us in our defilement, he is able to cleanse us from it — and to stand strong FOR us against the approaching waves that would defile us again.<\/p>\n

So, what\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s different? In the past weeks, I\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2ve begun to believe<\/strong> this about our God: through Christ, He indeed can touch us, even as we face the continual onslaught of temptation arising out of our own lusts. He\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s not only a Refuge to which we run for safety; He\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s a Commander who insists on fighting right there in the frontlines with us in the fray. <\/p>\n

And when we finally ask Him to stand with us, He \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00c2\u00a6 does. The waves still come, but He\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s waist-deep with us, holding us up with HIS righteousness. We still feel the crush, we still feel the tugging tides beneath us, but more important is the promised Grace, the overarching Love and Power of the Almighty, Who has everything at stake where our sanctification is concerned. <\/p>\n

I hesitate to call it a victory. I\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2ll likely fall again when I in my weakness forget these truths and resort to old habits. But here\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s another blessed truth: this isn\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2t about me, it is about Him. It\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s about what can He can do. It\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s about the security of His promises:<\/p>\n

Philippians 1:6 (KJV)<\/strong> Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In recent weeks I\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2ve experienced a dramatic shift in the tides of a certain spiritual battle within my flesh. Temptation to this one particular sin in my life comes in transient waves dependent upon various circumstances within and without myself, but the decision to dive headlong into an approaching crest is entirely my own and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-83","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-in-the-word"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bostoncommoner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bostoncommoner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bostoncommoner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bostoncommoner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bostoncommoner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.bostoncommoner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.bostoncommoner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bostoncommoner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.bostoncommoner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}