Isa 17:6-8
6 Yet gleaning grapes shall be left in it, as the shaking of an olive tree, two or three berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost fruitful branches thereof, saith the Lord God of Israel.

7 At that day shall a man look to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One of Israel.

8 And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his hands, neither shall respect that which his fingers have made, either the groves, or the images.

“But God in his sovereignty He wants me in the Church I am currently in, I just wish I knew why….I do not grow there and mostly I get discouraged. Is it permanent? I dont know, maybe not.”

Perhaps it is just to increase your thirst for the very person of Christ Himself. Kind of like drinking salt water. It never satisfies the thirst, all it does is cause one to crave fresh water even more.

The forms don’t cut it, the fellowship doesn’t cut it, but they can be the means the Lord uses to cause you to seek out in solitude that which they fail to provide.

I know what you are going through at you church, it is such a hard time even though you are within a community of people you still feel alone and in isolation…no one understands you and if you try to share your heart and struggles, it like you are talking to a wall. It took a while for us to know it was time to go. And you will know when it will be your time if the Lord allows it. Hang in there…!!

Mike

Mike I can identify with your wife so much. I too seem to grow more and learn from the Lord more when I am outside the visible Church, its always been the case in my walk. Again I have no idea what the Lord is doing or why he lets me walk in the wilderness, but I know that He leads me. In the wilderness I seem to flourish and spread my wings freely, in the visible Church all people try to do is stop me from spreading my wings, they try to silence me. But God in his sovereignty He wants me in the Church I am currently in, I just wish I knew why….I do not grow there and mostly I get discouraged. Is it permanent? I dont know, maybe not.

Its cool! Many blessings and prayers your way! Thanks for the conversation.

And therein lies the problem.

There are different positions of Christians throughout the world, some only see theirs.

To All
Antichrist will be the head of both a political and religious system. For this to happen as it must, the endgame is that we are heading to zero Christians in the visible church, yet the church must remain fully functional to be used of the Antichrist during the Tribulation period. That can only mean that as the pulpit and pew in the visible church are completely taken over by the heathen, more and more Christians will be facing this problem of nowhere to fellowship.

Make no mistake about it, the church will hand out the mark of the beast during the Tribulation period. It will be through replacement theology and sleight of hand with Rev 7:3-4 and 13:16. Those who are secular will receive it in the hand from the government, and those in religion will receive it in the head from their church. To do this the church will have to be fully functional, including pastors, elders etc. giving reason for it to be trusted. Part of that strong delusion in 2 Thess 2:10-12.

Pretty easy to see that the Rick Warrens, Joel Osteens and Benny Hinns will still be here preaching. It gets harder to admit when it may be one whose doctrine aligns much closer to our own. Nevertheless, the ditches of formalism, legalism and hypocrisy are just as deep as the ditches of antinomianism, easy believism, and strange fire.

Therefore I also try to provide some heads up for those who will become Christians after the rapture. Some might be friends, others might be family, either way I hope to be able to help them as well.

Just wanted to clarify a different position that may have not been thought about. No harm no foul.

I thank you for your concern and for taking your time to voice it. But as you probably realize, I fully understand the ramifications. May the Lord judge between me and thee.

I think what you guys are missing how God leads His own children through the wilderness and most often, it is alone. You have been provided fellowship because you need it, and as you have inferred, without it you would fall. You were not meant for the wilderness.

The wilderness is reserved for those who God wants to go straight to the well, rather than the bucket. No man chooses the wilderness naturally, it is thrust upon him as the winds on the forest. These in the wilderness are the trees at the edge of the forest who take the wind and grow stronger. Cut these trees down and the inner rows fall at the slightest breeze. You live in the inner rows, snuggled in amongst the trees and are thankful for your safety. Nothing wrong with that. However some will always have to be on the outer edge to take the wind with little protection, other than that they have seen the wind enough to have grown strong enough to withstand it. I understand your fear of the edge, and were I an inner tree I would fear it too, but having been an outer tree for quite some time now, the blowing winds have caused strength where there was no strength. Some of that strength I came here to pass on for other trees on the edge. If that frightens you, move on, or sit back and listen, because others need the help in this time of the greatest apostasy.

In Canada things are much different than you will imagine, I believe China may be in better condition. You will be thankful that you don’t live here where we get a front row seat of the apostasy.

Here is the last paragraph from my opening page.

“When Christ came the first time the visible Jewish church was in total apostasy, even crucifying the Lord of Glory; when Christ returns the second time the visible Gentile church will be in a similar condition; with all indications pointing to that time being very near. There may be some of Christ’s Bride still amongst the various visible churches and denominations, but there will not be many of His Bride in any particular church or denomination. With the apostasy nearly complete amongst the visible church, my hope is to help prepare you to stand alone, firmly grounded in Christ; a full member of the “Invisible Church”. May the Lord make this site a blessing to you. ”

BTW You can be just as alone inside your church as outside (IE Jean), as Tozer put it so well.

http://www.theinvisiblechurch.ca/invisibly/The_Saint_Must_Walk_Alone.html

“The man who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. A certain amount of social fellowship will of course be his as he mingles with religious persons in the regular activities of the church, but true spiritual fellowship will be hard to find. But he should not expect things to be otherwise. After all, he is a stranger and a pilgrim, and the journey he takes is not on his feet but in his heart. He walks with God in the garden of his own soul and who but God can walk there with him? He is of another spirit from the multitudes that tread the courts of the Lord’s house. He has seen that of which they have only heard, and he walks among them somewhat as Zacharias walked after his return from the altar when the people whispered, “He has seen a vision.””