Church Revitalization... 7

18 "Three things are too wondrous for me; four I can’t understand: 19 "the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship at sea, and the way of a man with a young woman.” ()

I don’t know much about eagles, serpents, and ships, but I have observed (and experienced) that the ways of a man with a woman he loves are indeed often full of wonder.

In order to fulfill the requirements mandated by Laban for his daughter’s hand in marriage, the Old Testament patriarch

"...Jacob worked seven years for Rachel, and they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.” ()

Long years, even long distances are are irrelevant when a man delights in a woman.

I remember that Niki lived in Queen Creek and I lived in Mesa which were about an hour apart.

That hour drive seemed like nothing if I could see her.

On an infinitely grander scale, Jesus made an incomparable journey from Heaven and worked for more than thirty years for the delight of His eyes, the church.

25 "...Christ loved the church and gave himself for her 26 "to make her holy, cleansing her with the washing of water by the word. 27 "He did this to present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and blameless.” ()

Whitney, D. S. (2001). Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health (p. 82). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

So Christ Himself comes to live inside of His redeemed people (), then, like Christ, the Spirit indwelt person would love what Jesus loves and died for — His bride, the church.

So one of the best tests of whether we belong to Christ is whether we delight in His delight, namely, the people who comprise His church. Or as the apostle John put it:

"We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death.” ()

Delighting in Christ’s people is normal, healthy Christianity. So permit me to ask you this question to help you diagnose your spiritual health: Do you delight in the bride of Jesus Christ? Do you take pleasure in those who bring pleasure to Him?

The “marriage supper of the Lamb” () is an event with all Christians collectively, not with each believer individually. The truth of Scripture is better expressed by a congregation confessing, “We are the bride of Christ,” than by a individual Christian saying, “I am the bride of Christ.” Therefore, do you delight in the church, that is, in the gathering of believers, their corporate experiences and labor?

And yet, although Jesus’ joy is in one bride, she is made of millions of individual Christians with faces and names, including those of people where you live. It would be very strange to say that you love Christ’s church but dislike the people in her.

In short, delighting in “the saints who are in the earth” means finding irresistible joy in the presence and the ministry of Christ’s people, both in their congregational form and as individuals. Does this describe you?

DO YOU DELIGHT IN HER WILLINGLY?

A Davidlike delight in “the holy people who are in the land” () is a God-given delight poured into the soul from Heaven, not ground out from the grit of determination. This isn’t jaw setting and resolving.

What is David’s response to those who asked him to go to the house of the Lord? ________ ().

When God makes a Christian, He changes the person’s heart so dramatically that delighting in the followers of Jesus becomes as easy and natural for the soul as delighting in sunsets and hugs from children or grandchildren.

Something is amiss when a person participates in the life of a church only because of the forces of “ought.” Parental training, family expectations, long-term habits, the heavy weight of conscience, and a sense of duty are not the overriding compulsions of the Christlike as they arise on the Lord’s Day to gather with God’s own. That is not to say that rightly motivated worshipers have none of the other influences, for some of them are quite healthy. But the primary motivation for growing Christians is “want,” not “ought.”

Any true delight is always a willing delight, not a reluctant one. Delight in the people of God cannot be forced into the soul any more than parents can coerce their single adult son to delight in a potential mate who holds no attraction for him. Nor will anyone delight in the church primarily because we shame them for delighting in the NFL, a hobby, or something else more than the family of God. The church is not a taste to be acquired, a new preference developed by sheer resolve. Just as candy delights a child, so the child of God does not have to be persuaded to delight in the supernatural spiritual sweetness found only in God’s church.

DO YOU DELIGHT IN HER COMPANY?

Some things, simply by their nature, delight us with their company. How easy it is to delight in a baby who smiles at you over the shoulder of his or her mother. For the Christian, the presence of the “saints who are in the earth,” just by virtue of their being saints, stirs up delight. For what makes these people to be saints in the earth is the God in the heavens—the most delightful Being in the universe—living in them and working through them.

When authentic Christians assemble in a local church, the omnipresent God dwells in their midst in a special way. While it’s true that individual Christians are called the temple of the Holy Spirit (), that kind of language is far more often spoken of believers collectively. In the following God-inspired words of the apostle Paul, each use of the word “you” is plural, referring to the entire church to whom the letter was written:

16 "Don’t you yourselves know that you are God’s temple and that the Spirit of God lives in you?” ()

16 "And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” ()

16 "And what agreement does the temple of God have with idols? For we are the temple of the living God, as God said: I will dwell and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.” ()

22 "In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.” ()

22 "In him you are also being built together for God’s dwelling in the Spirit.” ()

So the reason why growing Christians so readily delight in being with the saints of God is the real presence of God Himself living within ordinary people we know. Ultimately, you are delighted by Him in them.

This is why haters of God and church, once they come to know God through Jesus Christ, begin to show new affection for the things of God, including the people of God. As lovers of God, they become lovers of the living temples of God.

This doesn’t mean that it’s perfect each time we come together. God dwells in people who still sin. Occasionally our mortal bodies will sit in the worshiping congregation of saints feeling sick or exhausted, not exhilarated. At times the company of believers that we keep can leave us feeling utterly drained. Overall, however, God’s people, when they are with others of God’s people, find their minds enlightened and their hearts warmed in ways they never do when with those who are not indwelt by the Fire of Heaven.

Whitney, D. S. (2001). Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health (p. 86). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

Whitney, D. S. (2001). Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health (p. 85). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

Whitney, D. S. (2001). Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health (p. 84). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.

Whitney, D. S. (2001). Ten Questions to Diagnose Your Spiritual Health (p. 84). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.