Think about that for a minute…now consider what we generally refer to as “the house of God”.
God does not DWELL there!
It seems to me that gathering in church is vanity if the presence of God is undetectable in our houses, businesses, or public places. God can be found everywhere in His creation and attending a building with a pulpit is just another one of those places.
"The Pharisees and their scribes began grumbling at His disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:30-32)
Look closely at the Scripture and you will notice that it was often the religious "Pharisees and their scribes" who were called to repentance. The "sick" that Jesus was referring to was not those with whom he was eating and drinking. The "sick" were the judgmental self-religious Pharisees. Our words and actions are the only God that some people will ever see. And it is how we act toward others that will be judged.
“He made from one man every nation of humanity to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God… and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist…for we also are His children. Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man…” (Acts 17:26-29)
Look closely at the Scripture and you will notice that it was often the religious "Pharisees and their scribes" who were called to repentance. The "sick" that Jesus was referring to was not those with whom he was eating and drinking. The "sick" were the judgmental self-religious Pharisees. Our words and actions are the only God that some people will ever see. And it is how we act toward others that will be judged.
“He made from one man every nation of humanity to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God… and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist…for we also are His children. Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man…” (Acts 17:26-29)
Do not assume God will judge you righteous because you regularly gathered in a church. All will enter and see the new heaven and earth, but there will be no Temples to attend.
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God…But I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple." (Revelation 21:1-2, 22)