“But you (singular – directed to the individual), whenever you pray, go into your inner chamber and shutting your door, pray to your Father in secret and your Father, seeing you in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6:6).
We are made for fellowship with God; that is why we are made in His likeness. Fellowship with God is how we are to spend eternity; there are no magic circuses in heaven; what heaven offers is continuous and uninterrupted fellowship with God.
That being the case, why do most Christians prefer fellowship with each other to fellowship with God? If we shun fellowship with God in favour of fellowship with others, including the world, we can hardly be considered suitable candidates for heaven where the only thing available is fellowship with God.
It is true that when we are given new life in Christ, we are also given the Body in which to live it; but to believe that the visible Church in the world is the Body of Christ, as it is claimed, is to misunderstand scripture. The Body is a mystical Body; that is, it is held together by the Head, who is Christ.
Religion has made the Church the Body, but the Church is an organisation incorporated by men to give expression to the doctrines of their religion. Christ clearly, is not the Head of the various denominational Churches, each of which have worldly hierarchical structures.
In the Church, fellowship with others in the Church, is given more significance than fellowship with God; not in word perhaps, but in deed. Fellowship with others has become an object in itself, and many depend upon it for socialization and networking. This sort of religion relies upon Church membership rather than the Holy Spirit and will continue just as long as your Church membership lasts.
The truth is that we cannot have true spiritual fellowship with one another unless we have first entered the inner room and shut the door; it is there that our spiritual life must begin; it is there that it is strengthened; it is there that true intimacy with God is experienced; it is there that the secrets of our hearts are exposed to the Heart Searcher, who knows us better than we know ourselves. It is only there that it can be decided whether or not we will give God all of self, and only once that is resolved, are we fit for fellowship with others in a like state.
It is in the inner chamber that the Father is watching, and there that we give proof to God that we delight in His presence and so will enjoy fellowship with Him eternally.
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