Has anyone ever gone through this?

[Blueridge Believer]

5. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes leave for a season his own children to manifold temptations and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they be humbled;a and to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support unto himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends.b

a. 2 Sam 24:1; 2 Chron 32:25-26, 31. • b. Psa 73 throughout; Psa 77:1-10, 12; Mark 14:66-72 with John 21:15-17; 2 Cor 12:7-9.

After 19 years has a christian man I found myself in a situation, because of terrible marriage problems that I thought would have been impossible to happen to me just a few years before. I brought shame on myself and testimony and worst of all gave great occasion to the ememies of Christ to blaspheme. But God in his mercy brought me out of it, restored our marriage (made it better than it ever was before) and brought me to a closer walk with him than I ever had before. Now 3 years later it all seem like a bad dream. I wake up some nights and wonder how something like this could happen. Still, at least once a month I grieve and cry for the shame of it for hours at a time. I write this to warn you brethren, take heed and watch for the devil, if God allows can make short work of you.
Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

 

[satz]

Thank you, that is wise and timely counsel.

 

[BobVigneault]

I've sure been there James. I know exactly of what you speak.

Eph 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

 

[Blueridge Believer]

Thank you brother Bob. It's a comfort to know that there are brethren who share the burdens of thier brothers in Christ and know what they have been through from experience. I hope that I can help others who go through this type of thing and can show compassion in bringing them to Godly repentence.

 

[caddy]

Where did you get this from Blueridge Reformer? "

5. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes leave for a season his own children to manifold temptations and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they be humbled;a and to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support unto himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends.b

a. 2 Sam 24:1; 2 Chron 32:25-26, 31. • b. Psa 73 throughout; Psa 77:1-10, 12; Mark 14:66-72 with John 21:15-17; 2 Cor 12:7-9.


I can speak to a similar experience as well. I often wonder why, but beyond that, I know I can only understand the dept of God's grace due to the depth of sin that I visited. I would have NEVER wanted or wished this time on myself, but there it is--a bad dream as you state--my past.

I can only thank God that He restores! I constantly pray for strength to stay firmly in the center of His will now. I constantly try to be watchful of the least thing that would get me close to "stradling" a fence, or anything that would result in softening my view of sin. "God help me" is my constant cry! I often wake up in the middle of the night tearful about my past, yet thankful that He has brought me to the place that I would even awake at night and think on Him. What a wonderful God we have!

Joel 2:25 25 "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you.

[Edited on 10-9-2006 by caddy]

 

[Blueridge Believer]

Originally posted by caddy
Where did you get this from Blueridge Reformer? "

5. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes leave for a season his own children to manifold temptations and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they be humbled;a and to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support unto himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends.b

a. 2 Sam 24:1; 2 Chron 32:25-26, 31. • b. Psa 73 throughout; Psa 77:1-10, 12; Mark 14:66-72 with John 21:15-17; 2 Cor 12:7-9.


I can speak to a similar experience as well. I often wonder why, but beyond that, I know I can only understand the dept of God's grace due to the depth of sin that I visited. I would have NEVER wanted or wished this time on myself, but there it is--a bad dream as you state--my past.

I can only thank God that He restores! I constantly pray for strength to stay firmly in the center of His will now. I constantly try to be watchful of the least thing that would get me close to "stradling" a fence, or anything that would result in softening my view of sin. "God help me" is my constant cry! I often wake up in the middle of the night tearful about my past, yet thankful that He has brought me to the place that I would even awake at night and think on Him. What a wonderful God we have!

Joel 2:25 25 "So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, The crawling locust, The consuming locust, And the chewing locust, My great army which I sent among you.

[Edited on 10-9-2006 by caddy]

GOD bless you caddy. This came from the WCF. It reads the same in the LBCF. I know exactly where you're at brother. I spend many of those night and mornings in tears wishing I could go back. But you can't.
Some things that did come out of it though have greatly helped me as well as my wife. I now rise an 4:30 am every morning for prayer and scripture reading. I cut out just about anything that takes my mind off of the mercy of Christ. This has allowed me for some time now to read my Old Testament through every 10 weeks and the New Testament through about once a month. In the evenings I spend my time reading great christian classics and teaching a Bible class in my home for some young adults about twice a week.
God has been so good to me. I never new just how good He was until psalm 51 became personal in a special way to me.
I'm so afraid now and stay on the watch at all times.
I hope and pray that no others will ever go through an experience like this but I know, because of the depravity of the flesh, they will. I just want to be there and help when like the prodigal son they "come to themself".
Don't know why the Lord put it on my heart today to write about this. Maybe there is someone here in pain who needs it.
Pray for me brethren that I'll always be tender about this.

 

[regener8ed]

I often wake up at night and am brought face to face with my sinfulness. It does indeed seem like a nightmare. It is truly terrifying to realize the weighty depths of my own depravity. I am thankful that God is gracious to reveal my sinfulness to me in piecemeal fashion. Praise God for His mercy and forgiveness.

Oh if only the world could see and understand the exceeding sinfulness of their sin before that great day. When I think about the many souls that will be faced with the full extent of their sin, laid out in order before them by a perfectly just and holy God; it brings great dread into my heart. Those that are not covered by the blood of the lamb will truly cry that the mountains will fall on their heads.

 

[Blueridge Believer]

Verses like this take on a special meaning to me now brethren:
1Jo 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

Luk 15:1 Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him.
Luk 15:2 And the Pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, This man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them.
Luk 15:3 And he spake this parable unto them, saying,
Luk 15:4 What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
Luk 15:5 And when he hath found [it], he layeth [it] on his shoulders, rejoicing.
Luk 15:6 And when he cometh home, he calleth together [his] friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
Luk 15:7 I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
Luk 15:8 Either what woman having ten pieces of silver, if she lose one piece, doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek diligently till she find [it]?
Luk 15:9 And when she hath found [it], she calleth [her] friends and [her] neighbours together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.
Luk 15:10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
Luk 15:11 And he said, A certain man had two sons:
Luk 15:12 And the younger of them said to [his] father, Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth [to me]. And he divided unto them [his] living.
Luk 15:13 And not many days after the younger son gathered all together, and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
Luk 15:14 And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land; and he began to be in want.
Luk 15:15 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
Luk 15:16 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat: and no man gave unto him.
Luk 15:17 And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
Luk 15:18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,
Luk 15:19 And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants.
Luk 15:20 And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Luk 15:21 And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.
Luk 15:22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put [it] on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on [his] feet:
Luk 15:23 And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill [it]; and let us eat, and be merry:
Luk 15:24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.

 

[caddy]

^^^
Which Chaper of the WCF ?

 

[BobVigneault]

Chapter 18.4.

 

[caddy]

Thanks Bob !

 

[Blueridge Believer]

Here's how its worded in the LBCF:
5. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes leave for a season his own children to manifold temptations and the corruptions of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled; and to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon himself; and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for other just and holy ends. So that whatsoever befalls any of his elect is by his appointment, for his glory, and their good.
( 2 Chronicles 32:25, 26, 31; 2 Corinthians 12:7-9; Romans 8:28 )

 

[Blueridge Believer]

Here's somthing written by the great Particular Baptist preacher J.C. Philpot that gave me some comfort in this matter. Hope it helps someone else here:


"And the servant abides not in the house forever--but the son abides forever." John 8:35

It is the irreversible blessing of a son, that he is never to be turned out of the house, that the union between the Parent and the child can never be broken, but that he is to reign with Christ through the ages of one everlasting day. This is a sweet consolation to God's family that "the son abides forever." How often is a child of God exercised, whether he shall abide forever, whether he may not draw back to perdition, whether some temptation may not overtake him whereby it shall be made manifest that he is nothing but a deceiver and deceived! But the Lord himself says, "the son abides forever;" let him be but a babe, let him have but the first beginning of spiritual life in his soul, he "abides forever;" he has the same interest in the affections of the Father, is a fellow-heir with Christ, and has a title to the same inheritance as those who are of longer standing, and those who are his elders in age.

But sometimes the son may get tired of the restraint of his Father's house. God is a wise Parent as well as a kind one. He will treat his children with the most tender kindness and intimacy, but he will never allow them to be guilty of disrespect towards him. Sometimes, then, the sons get weary of their Father's house; they are like the younger son in the parable, when he asked his father to give him his portion, and when he had gotten it, he went away into a far country, away from his father's house, from under his father's roof, and wasted it in riotous living. This is where many of God's children get. There is a restraint in God's house, where the soul is not really blessed with the personal and present enjoyment of gospel truth, and restraint being ever irksome, the vain, idolatrous heart thinks it can derive some pleasure from the world which is not to be found under the roof of the Father. And, therefore, he gradually withdraws his steps from his Father's house, seeks to derive some pleasure from the things of time and sense, erects some idol, and falls down to worship it.

But notwithstanding all this, "the son abides forever." The Father of all his people in Christ does not disinherit his dear children; and though earthly parents may disinherit theirs, God's family are never cast out of the inheritance. The true-born Israelite who had waxed poor and sold himself unto the stranger was to obtain his freedom in the year of jubilee (Leviticus 25:47, 54), and to return to his own house and his own estate. So the son who has departed from his Father's house, and sold himself under sin, and become a slave to that cruel taskmaster, when the year of jubilee comes, the year of restoration, and the silver trumpet is blown, shakes off his shackles and fetters, casts aside the livery of servitude, returns to his Father's house, and is received with joy beneath his Father's roof. O what a meeting! The forgiving Parent, and the disobedient child! The Father dissolved in tears of affection; the child dissolved in tears of contrition!

Whatever, then, be our wanderings of heart, alienation of affection, and backsliding of soul; however we may depart from God, so far as we are sons, we shall "abide in the house forever," and possess an "inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fades not away, reserved in heaven for those that are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." And it will be our mercy to abide in the house below as members of the family, without departing from it, until reunited to the family above, "the general assembly and church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven."

J.C. PHILPOT 1802-1869

 

[Ivan]

I can relate, brothers.

 

[caddy]

Question. Is there any current day English version to the WCF. Teaching H.S. Kids. There are times I would like to read some from the Confessions, but some of the English will no doubt through them.

 

[caddy]

Just found LBCF here:

http://www.creeds.net/baptists/1689/kerkham/1689.htm#Ch18

 

[Blueridge Believer]

“Jesus, let Thy pitying eye
Call back a wandering sheep;
False to Thee like Peter, I
Would fain like Peter weep.
Let me be by grace restored;
On me be all long-suffering shown;
Turn and look upon me, Lord,
And break this heart of stone.


“Look as when Thy grace beheld
The harlot in distress,
Dried her tears, her pardon seal’d,
And bade her go in peace;
Foul, like her, and self-abhorr’d,
I at Thy feet for mercy groan:
Turn and look upon me, Lord,
And break this heart of stone.


“Look as when, condemn’d for them,
Thou didst Thy followers see;
‘Daughters of Jerusalem!
Weep for yourselves, not me.’
And am I by my God deplored,
And shall I not myself bemoan?
Turn and look upon me, Lord,
And break this heart of stone.


“Look as when Thy languid eye
Was closed that we might live:
‘Father,’ (at the point to die
My Saviour cried,) ‘forgive;’
Surely with that dying word,
He turns, and looks, and cries, ‘’Tis done!’
O my gracious, bleeding Lord,
Thou break’st my heart of stone!”


Thus have we sought to win back to Christ the strayed one, and to help the returning wanderer heavenward. If the Lord has graciously given you to experience His restoring mercy, forget not one great reason why you are restored—that you might hate and forsake the cause of your departure. If we have succumbed to temptation, it is not enough that we have broken from its snare; if we have fallen into sin, it is not enough that we have escaped from its power. God would have you learn thereby one of your holiest lessons—the deeper knowledge of that which tempted and overcame you, that you might go and sin no more. Restored yourself, seek the restoration of others. Hear the injunction of Christ to Peter in view of his recovery,—“When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Seek to bring souls to Jesus. Let this be an object of life. Be especially tender, gentle, and kind to Christians who have fallen into sin, and are thereby wounded, distressed, and despairing. Extend a helping hand to lead them back to Christ. Your deep abhorrence of the sin must not be allowed to lessen your compassion and sympathy for the sinning one. This did not Jesus. If the Church has vindicated her purity and allegiance to Christ by a wise and holy discipline of the offender, “sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him,” (2 Cor. 2:6-8.) Thus charged Paul the church to which he wrote, and in so doing he but imitates his Lord and Master, who, with a look of forgiving love, could comfort and restore his fallen apostle Peter. “Be ye imitators of God, as dear children.”

OCTAVIUS WINSLOW
http://www.shilohonline.org/articles/winslow/backslider_returning.htm

I beseech everyone who has partaken in this thread to read this message. It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever read. Print it out and give it to pentitent backsliders.

[Edited on 10-10-2006 by Blueridge reformer]