The seventh identifying sign of the true church

7. The Church takes delight in the Lord 

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 The seventh identifying sign of the true church is that it takes delight in the Lord by following the Way of the righteous. For it is written; “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night” (Psalms 1:1-2).

According to the prophet Isaiah, delight is found in the Lord, “If we keep our feet from breaking the Sabbath, and from doing as we please on the Lord’s Holy day, if we call the Sabbath a delight and the Lord’s holy day honorable, and if we honor it by not going our own way, and not doing as we please or speaking idle words, then we will find our joy in the Lord, and He will cause us to ride on the heights of the Lord and to feast on the inheritance of our father Jacob.” The mouth of the Lord has spoken" (Isaiah 58: 13 - 14).

To facilitate in the process of taking delight in the Lord, the principle of tithing has been instituted, for thus says the Lord; “You shall truly tithe all the increase of your grain that the field produces year by year, and you shall eat before the Lord your God, in the place where He chooses to make His name abide, the tithe of your grain and your new wine and your oil, of the first-lings of your herds and your flocks, that you may learn to fear the Lord your God.”

‘But if the journey is too long for you, so that you are not able to carry the tithe, or if the place where the Lord your God chooses to place His name is too far from you, then you shall exchange it for money, take the money in your hand , and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses, and you shall spend that money for whatever your heart desires; for oxen or sheep, for wine or similar drink, for whatever your heart desires; you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.

“You shall not forsake the Levites who is within your gates, for he has no part or inheritance with you” (Deuteronomy 14:22-27).

So then, the principal objective of the tithe is to grant us the capability to come before the Lord with our households, to eat and drink and to rejoice at the Lord´s appointed festivals. The portion of tithe given to the priest is a heave offering which is 10% of the tithe, and every third year which is the year of tithing the tithe is given to help support the stranger, the fatherless and the widow who are within our gates.

The staggering thing however is that, the majority of those who are clamoring for the tithe do not observe the Lord´s festivals and furthermore, we are in the dispensation when we have an altar from which those who serve the tabernacle have no right to eat. The beneficial thing to do is to be generous and do good deeds: “Let him who is taught the word share in all good things with him who teaches”

Taking delight in the Lord is to be looking forward to the Lord's Sabbaths and coming before Him to honor and glorify Him as the Lord. For thus says the Lord, "You shall keep My Sabbaths and reverence My sanctuary: I am the LORD" (Leviticus 19:30; 26:2).

And by taking delight in the Lord's Sabbaths as a day which is holy and honorable to both the Lord and ourselves, then the Lord has taken an oath promising that we will find our joy and delight in the Lord, and He will cause us to ride on the heights of the Lord and to feast on the inheritance of our father Jacob. The choice is ours.

With brotherly love

Lucius Joseph