“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut the door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in the secret will reward you openly.” Matthew 5:6
One of the greatest truths of Christianity is that sinful, lost man, can come to actually KNOW God, and the reality of true fellowship with Him. The entirety of this concept, and truth, is based upon the eternal wisdom and goodness of God. That the Almighty, holy God would desire to bring men, women, and children into a living relationship with Himself, there to reveal to them the wonder and greatness of His goodness and love, is truly an incomprehensible miracle and marvel. And yet, the cross of Christ proves it, for on that cross the Son of God made it possible. By His humiliation, rejection by those whom He came to save, by His incalculable suffering, He created a singular way to the Father, whereby the born-again sinner can approach God in peace, and receive from Him Life by the Spirit. In the moment when the lost soul is brought by the grace of God to repent, turning from all that he would trust in to justify himself before God, and place all of his faith in Christ as Savior and Lord, God became to him the great, perfect Giver of Life in Christ by the Spirit, but also, the provider of every good and perfect gift. The greatest Gift was Christ Himself by the Spirit. Man became the receiver of that Life when Christ came to dwell in the heart by the Spirit of God. All had been prepared by the Father before the foundation of the world, accomplished by the perfect sacrifice, and work of Christ on the cross, then fulfilled by the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost. All this was to bring saved man into fellowship with God, into a oneness of Life, purpose, and provision, so that in the secret place, man might worship God in Spirit and truth, and there come to know Him. From that place man would go out into the world to walk with God, by the Spirit, being led by Him to accomplish the works that God had prepared for him, certainly advancing the kingdom of God, and accomplishing His good and perfect will. But what of this matter of “reward” of which the Lord Jesus spoke? What is this intended, promised reward that God the Father gives, and how is it to be known and received?
In Matthew’s gospel, we read, “If you, then being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him?” (7:11) In Luke’s gospel, he writes a little differently, “…how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirt to those who ask Him?” (11:13) In both cases we see the means to the realization of rewards: “…for he who comes to God must believe that He IS, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” (Heb. 11:6) The great reward of God to the individual seeker of God is seen in tangible ways, but most of all, by the revelation of Himself, the manifestation of Christ to the heart by the Spirit. God has provided in Christ for the seeking soul, who would come God’s way by faith in Christ, to come into the secret place of aloneness with Him. It is there in the transparency, and honesty of the moment, as the believer seeks God in prayer, that Scripture declares that God SEES him, knowing fully his heart. It is as the believer worships the Father in that place of certain good, that the Spirit of God reveals the things of God to the heart. The believer is brought increasingly to a greater and more profound personal knowledge of Christ, the Father, and the Spirit, according to the objective truth of God’s word, but also to communion with God by the Spirit.
Dear Father, Make us good receivers. In Jesus’ name, Amen.