Christmas Discipline: God's Loving Chastisement

Well, good morning. It's good to see you all again. We are thrilled to be here if you would open up again your copy of God's Word to the book of Luke. I will also be referencing -- I also will be referencing Psalms, and specifically if you want to go ahead and turn to Psalms 38. Our theme in a Christmas series has been the promises of the Christmas series. And the promise of God and God's faithfulness throughout the ages. So thankful that Jared sang the songs that he did.

The title this morning, "Christmas Discipline, God's Loving Chest-Eisement." Christmas Discipline, God's Loving Chest-Eisement." As Brother Jared sang, God's promises to Adam and to Abraham and the patriarchs, and God's promises through every chapter in every book of Scripture are completely filled and fulfilled in Christ. As we learned last week, God even promised to bless all nations, that through a few he would bless many. And even Gentile believers such as ourselves, non-Jews, and even Gentile Jews are receiving the full measure of God's great promises. Last week we saw that Boaz was a foreshadowing of Christ.

We saw that Boaz noticed Ruth. He noticed the poor, that's his mother, the harlot of Jericho, Rahab, was an outsider. She was welcomed in. We see that God notices sinners far better than Boaz could. And you know God has no problem keeping his promises. He doesn't suffer with the difficulties that you and I might struggle with to keep our promises. He doesn't have the knowledge problem. If we make a promise to our children, we may not know that something might happen, the weather might change. He doesn't have our problem. God lacks no thing. He doesn't have the sin problem. He's not going to lie to his children.

He doesn't have the integrity problem. And last week I gave you five challenges to help us not miss Christmas. I challenged you not to live in the moment. That has become a humanistic mantra. Live in the moment. But that's our problems, that we are confined to moments. God is unconfined. God is not confined by any of the things which keep us from being faithful. I challenged you to be fixated on his faithfulness. To see that the eternal God outside of time with no limitations has chosen to keep his promises in his child his son, the God-man. And this covenant keeping God is our God.

I challenge you to keep giving thanks long after November and to have a Christmas season full of repentance. So I thought it was a good idea to see someone who repented during Christmas. You might read over this story or you might skip it. But let's go to the text and I will skip around a good bit. I want to pick back up in Luke chapter one verse five. In the days of Herod, king of Judah, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron. Her name was Elizabeth. And they were both righteous before God walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord.

But they had no child because Elizabeth was barren and both were advanced in years. I want you to see that Elizabeth and Zechariah are two of the greatest people in the world. And I want you to see that Elizabeth is one of the greatest people in the world. And I want you to see that Elizabeth is one of the greatest people in the world. And I want you to see that Elizabeth is one of the greatest people in the world. And I want you to see that Elizabeth is one of the greatest people in the world. And I want you to see that Elizabeth is one of the greatest people in the world.

And I want you to see that Elizabeth is one of the greatest people in the world. And I want you to see that Elizabeth is one of the greatest people in the world. And I want you to see that Elizabeth is one of the greatest people in the world. And I want you to see that Elizabeth is one of the greatest people in the world. And I want you to see that Elizabeth is one of the greatest people in the world. And I want you to see that Elizabeth is one of the greatest people in the world. And I want you to see that Elizabeth is one of the greatest people in the world. And I want you to see that Elizabeth is one of the greatest people in the world.

And I want you to see that Elizabeth would walk in the spirit of Elijah. He would go before the Lord. He would prepare the way for the Messiah. He was old. He was of older age. He was advanced in years, Scripture tells us. And in his heart, he doubted. He questioned God's ability to bring this to pass. And so we see the account of the Lord's disciplining of the Lord's loving chastisement. You know, perhaps Zachariah thought that God was faithful and he was powerful enough to bring about childbirth for the aged. Abraham and Sarah. But perhaps he thought that God just didn't really care about him that much.

In our minds and our hearts play all kinds of tricks on us. We think that, yes, I believe in the story of Abraham, but God's just I'm not really that special and I'm not really worthy of all this fuss. The word chastisement is defined as an act of punishment intended to instruct and correct the character of a beloved child of God. You know, the father must correct his children as we must correct ours. And this is discussed several places in Scripture. I'd like to give you these listings and have you write the address down. Second Samuel 7 14. Deuteronomy 8 5. Deuteronomy 21 18. Proverbs 13 24 and Proverbs 19 18.

I want to encourage you to go back and read these. I picked one. Second Samuel 7 14. I want to read this for you. I will be to him a father and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes, the sons of men. And Isaiah, as we sang of, prophesied Isaiah's great light. Love the song and I love that line. But Isaiah prophesied the great light. Isaiah 53 5. Ultimately the righteous Messiah we celebrate at Christmas took our eternal chastisement. The punishment for our sinfulness, not just sinful actions, sinful character, the moral fiber, our thoughts.

The Psalmist asks, Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord. The words of our mouths, the meditations of our hearts are never acceptable to the Lord. I'll read Isaiah 53 5, but he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace. By his wounds we are healed. I want you to see the major truths this morning that Zachariah and Elizabeth worked faithfully. That Zachariah and Elizabeth worked faithfully. This was a faithful couple. Scripture gives them very, very high commendations and very high praise.

If you turn to your scripture in Luke chapter 1 5 through 6. In the days of Herod, the king of Judea, there was a priest. He was of the division of Abidjah and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron. What this means is that he was operating his office as a Levite. The Levites were divided according to the sons of Aaron. Certain sons were assigned and the lineage, if you were from a family line, you had a specific job. His job was to go into the temple by lot when it was his turn. They picked it kind of like a lottery. They picked his name out of the hat and he went in. But this was not chance.

He was exactly where he needed to be at exactly the right time. But scripture tells us that he was a Levite. He married a Levite. In our language, this was a born-again man who had a godly, biblical call to ministry and he had served faithfully in his local church for decades. For decades. They both were righteous. I'm quoting verse 6. They were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. Not some of the commandments and statutes, but all of them. I want to be clear about something though. To be blameless is not to be sinless. What this meant was that there was no hidden sin in his life.

There was no secret sin. There was nothing that he was trying to hide from others. God paid Job the highest compliment possible. He tells Satan in the book of Job that there was no one like him on the face of the planet. He said that I have no one else like Job. And yet we have three chapters at the end of the book where the Lord is chastening Job. So even though we are righteous and blameless because of the blood of Christ, it does not mean we are without sin. We see that Zachariah was a Levite. He was faithful. He and his wife were barren. This sermon is about Zachariah's unbelief and his sin.

But I think it should be noted that the couple's barrenness is not a result of sin. And I want to be clear that I say that again. Many mothers and fathers, we would say hopeful mothers and fathers dealing with infertility ask what did I do wrong? And it may not be a fertility issue. It could be any kind of barrenness, anything in your life that doesn't seem to produce fruit. It could be at the very simple, at the most simplistic failure to really be successful in life and work or failure to really break through. But in this case, barrenness was barrenness. You know, after the Lord answers her prayer, it says your prayers have been answered.

This was a prayerful people. This was a prayerful couple. They were not only faithful in the public work, they were faithful in the private work. Elizabeth speaks of her infertility as reproach. She lived with shame. You know, in this culture, if you did not have children, you were thought to have been cursed. You did something wrong. You did something wrong and therefore the Lord is punishing you because effectively you didn't have an heir. And if you didn't have an heir, your family line would be discontinued. We discussed last week the kinsmen redeemer.

It got so serious that if you had three brothers and the first two died, the other brother would marry his brother's previous wives to produce children, not for himself, but for his brother's line. It was an act of selflessness. And if you read scripture, men tasked with this role of kinsmen redeemer, they didn't like it. You know, their work and their effort and their parenting and all of their resources, they wanted it to go to their family line and not their brothers. You know, this is the beautiful thing about the kinsmen redeemer. Do you realize that Jesus went to the cross so that your line would not be blotted out?

Do you realize that he is our kinsmen redeemer? He is far greater redeemer than Boaz because he was perfect. He gains nothing from this act. The Lord Jesus gains nothing from my soul. I remember before I was lost, a friend of mine was speaking of his own testimony and he said, you know, the Lord could have thrown me to hell and been right for it. And that never, that never left me. The Lord was just in my punishment and by saving me, the Lord is not any wealthier. If you listen to our culture of popular Christian music, it almost seems as like God is lonely in heaven and he needs a buddy.

And he created us so that he could save us and pull him, pull us into his family so that he's not lonely. That couldn't be further from the truth. Our kinsmen redeemer takes away our reproach, not because he gains something. It's because he loves us. So I think it merits dealing with the doctrine of God's providence. You know, when you go through a great trial, it could be infertility. It could be losing a job. It could be family crises. We wrestle with God's providence. Lord, what did I do wrong to have this bad thing happen to me?

Martin Lloyd Jones says that creation brings all things into existence, but providence keeps them in existence and providence makes sure that all things conform to his will. I think of the song, the old rugged cross, in the old rugged cross, my shame and reproach he gladly bears. So I gather that Zachariah and Elizabeth were faithful in their barrenness, but I will take it a step further. I believe they were mature. You know, trial brings maturity. I believe they were mature believers, not just because they were advanced in age. Look at how long they were advanced in age and they had to endure social reproach, emotional guilt and reproach.

Self-criticism. What does James chapter 1 verse 2 through 4 tell us? Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and let steadfastness have its full effect that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. So Zachariah's problem was not in spiritual maturity, faithfulness, prayerfulness, or reading the word and Christian disciplines. His error was an unbelief. If you have endured trial for decades, I think you will know that sometimes it is as if you can't continue on if the Lord doesn't help you put one foot in front of the other.

Sometimes we ask the wrong questions. I tell my students the college where I teach, if you ask the wrong question, you get the wrong answer every time. And oftentimes we ask why do bad things happen to good people? Well, let's take the theology aside just for a second. There are no good people. But let's avoid that doctrinal discussion for a second. Do you know that the best people in scripture go through the worst things? The best people, God compliments Job and he lost everything. Joseph was the child of his father, was his favorite child, and he was faithful to tend to his father's sheep.

He was faithful in all things and his brother sold him to Egyptian slavery. The wife of Potiphar lied on him. He even got the steward to the king out of a jam, the cup bearer, and the cup bearer forgot him. So I want you to see that faithful Zechariah sins. So we know that faithful people go through trial and faithful people sin. I want us to look at Luke chapter 1. Let's go to verses 18 through 20. Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man. My wife is advanced in years." And the angel answered, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you, to bring you this good news.

And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time." Very sobering text. Zechariah asked the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years." And at the surface, if you are a student of scripture, this sounds a lot like what Abraham said. I haven't read this to you last week in Genesis chapter 15. The Lord actually puts him asleep and the Lord kills animals and separates the animals.

And the Holy Spirit in God's way of sealing a covenant passes right in the middle of two animals that have one animal that's been cut into two pieces. And this was a blood oath that ancient cultures practiced. But the Lord is saying, "I know, I can, I will." And God honors Abraham's questioning. You might even have read Luke 134 where the Virgin Mary asks, "How will this be since I am a virgin?" Ponderings is different than questioning. Pondering, the Lord's promise, marveling, wondering how it will take place is not the same as disbelief. We know that Zechariah sinned through disbelief because scripture tells us plainly.

In verse 19 and 20, the angel clearly says, "You will be silent, you will not speak for nine months because you have not believed the presence of the Lord." Gabriel names himself. There are other places in scripture he does not name himself and does not want to be named and wants no recognition. He only names himself when he says, "I'm Gabriel, I stand in the presence of God." I want you to see that unbelief is serious. You might think, "Whoa, he goes mute for nine months. That's a little over the top, right?" No. He was actually gracious and mercy. This was the correct punishment at the correct time.

Do you know God always punishes rightly unless he's merciful? In fact, when he's merciful, we don't get what we deserve. I want you to listen as I read Hebrews 3.12. "Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart." Scripture calls his unbelieving heart evil. When God says, "I will be your God, you will be my people, I will dwell in your midst." If you wonder if God's really here at church when you come to worship, the Bible says that's an evil, unbelieving heart. God is promised he will be our God, we will be his people, and he will dwell in our midst. And when we disbelieve him, we are committing evil.

The writer of Hebrews continues to explain to these first generation that the first generation of Israelites in the wilderness failed to enter the promised land due to their unbelief. The writer also says the early churches warned and dear friend, you and I are both warned that one thing that will clearly rob us of joy this Christmas is unbelief. The unbelief is serious and the punishment is serious. If we notice the severity of this discipline, we are encouraged to know the heart behind the discipline. I want us to notice that the Lord's disciples were unable to be faithful in ministry because of unbelief.

If you find yourself lacking faith, struggling to trust God, perhaps you could join with the Father who brought his son to the disciples so that his son could be freed from an evil spirit. The Lord's disciples were unable to cast the demon out of the boy and Jesus rebukes them, "O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you?" But what does the boy's father say? He comes to Jesus and says, "If you can, please heal my son." And Jesus in bewilderment says, "If you can, all things are possible for one who believes." And what does the father say? "I believe, but help my unbelief." This is the most honest prayer in scripture.

In other places, in the synoptics, the Lord honors this man for his honesty. And if you struggle with faith, if you struggle believing a promise of God, in your barrenness you don't see how God is going to produce fruit out of a relationship. Perhaps there is a family dynamic that you're dealing with that is so barren and so difficult and so tough and you don't know how the Lord could ever produce anything great from this complicated relationship. You could go to the Lord in prayer and say, "Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief." The Lord would honor that. He would honor your honesty and commend your accurate appraisal of the situation.

The third major truth that we need to see is that Zechariah is changed. What goes on in the nine months that he could not speak? I always thought it was funny when you read this account. People are making signs to him. There's nothing wrong with his eyes and there's nothing wrong with his ears. But they're trying to determine a name. But all kinds, if you read this section, all kinds of great things happen spiritually. Mary, the Virgin Mary, six months after this discipline is announced, she comes to visit. This is the first recorded women's spiritual retreat.

But Mary and Elizabeth get together and they start fellowshiping and they're praising God and they're writing worship songs. Do you realize that the Magnificat, when Mary is literally writing poetry, this is the Lord using Mary and she prophesies. This is one of the greatest praise songs ever penned. And Zechariah, I imagine him over in the corner just sulking. That here was the Levite who had served faithfully for years and now he is on the bench. This time last year I was unable to go to the Christmas Eve service. I was actually unable to go to any of our services in Christmas. We were renovating our house.

So we were living in the shop in our backyard. If you've seen it, it's not a place for five people to live. I was on vocal rest because of strained vocal cords. We had COVID in the house. It was the most miserable time I think in my life. There are a couple of other seasons that were challenging. But going around in my family and trying to whisper and trying not to talk is kind of comical. But I don't think I have anything on Zechariah. I remember my only heart and longing was just to come to church and sing and lead worship songs. That's my passion. That's my joy. That's all I wanted to do.

I actually went through three different seasons of vocal rest last year. And I can remember many times where I would just go and just during quarantine I'd walk, I got a decent sized backyard. I would just walk and kind of walk in my backyard and just pray and think of the lyrics that I'd want to sing. A season of barrenness such as that changes the faithful believer. So what goes on in the heart and mind of a godly man who is lovingly disciplined? I want to ask that question again. You might want to jot it down. But what goes on in the heart and mind of a godly man or woman who is lovingly disciplined?

We don't have any record of anything that he writes, that he says. We don't know of him feeling depressed. We don't know of him feeling despondent. We don't know of anything really. We just know around him there's a flurry of just amazing spiritual activity and he's not in on it. I think there is somewhere in scripture though where we could go to read about a godly man who's being disciplined and we could catch a glimpse of a heart, a man after God's own heart. You know scripture gives us the Psalms of David. David wrote seven penitent Psalms. There are seven Psalms where David is lamenting his own sinfulness.

Interestingly enough, Galileo got into trouble for his scientific theories and the state church sentenced him to prison for it and they forced him to memorize the seven penitent Psalms of David. So I don't know what these Psalms did for Galileo but I know what they do for us. When we read these Psalms we get a glimpse of what it is like to grieve our own sin. If you can, I'd like you to turn to Psalm 38. It shows us David's heart and mind. It shows us real penitents. I could have picked any of these seven penitent Psalms but this is the one I've been meditating on recently. I'll read verses 1 through 10 or 1 through 11.

"O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger nor discipline me in your wrath, for your arrows have sunk into me, your hand has come down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation. There is no health in my bones because of my sin, for my iniquities have gone over my head. Like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink and fester because of my foolishness. I am utterly bowed down and prostrate all the day I go about mourning. For my sides are filled with burning. There is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and crushed. I groan because of the tumult of my heart. O Lord, all my longing is before you.

My sighing is not hidden from you. My heart throbs, my strength fails me, and the light of my eyes has gone from me. My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague." The commentator Plummer, Plummer's commentary on Psalms, tells us that David wrote this song to commemorate his own failing and the Lord's discipline. God didn't need the reminder, so David's reminder was for himself. David is writing to complain about his own failure so that he will not fail in that way again. We don't know specifically what affliction David is speaking about, nor do we know the sin that brought it to the surface.

But as we study this song, we catch a glimpse of his heart. Some scholars suggest it was a physical ailment. He refers to his flesh. He actually describes the Lord's arrows. He's saying the Lord is at war with him and the Lord actually pierced him with arrows. And the Hebrew text gets specific. It uses a phrase "barbed arrows." This was a tactic in ancient warfare where they would take an arrowhead and they would chisel out at the end so it could not be removed without excruciating torture. He's saying that God's wounds can't be removed. God's arrows can't be easily fixed.

When God brings an affliction for the betterment of a sinful child, it's an affliction of comfort. Listen to the words of Plummer. It is both an affliction and a comfort to a good man to see the hand of God in all his troubles. An affliction is also a blessing inasmuch as it shows us how vile we must be. If the Lord would bring him through this great excruciating pain for the betterment of his soul so that he would feel not a physical pain but a spiritual pain, we know that Jesus bore our spiritual sin, our spiritual failing. The chastisement of the Father was upon him. We need this correction.

Scripture tells us that he disciplines those he loves. And if you've never been disciplined by the Lord, Hebrews 12.8 says that you're illegitimate. The multitude of his great sin, Zachariah's great sin, became a heavy burden for him, I believe. I believe he came to agree with David. More Hebrew scholarship says that the sentiment in Psalm 38 says this. I am miserable. I am afflicted. I fear greatly. I am crooked. I am distorted and hurt. I am withered. I writhe in agony. I go mourning all day. Sackcloth and ashes would have been the public sign of repentance. And we are told, do not despise the discipline of the Lord.

For the Lord chastens those he loves. Zachariah, I believe, went to the Word. He could have picked up the Psalms of David and he could have read all the penitent Psalms. I believe he could have committed them to memory. I believe he prayed. He's known for his prayer. Scripture tells us that his prayer went up before the Lord. The Lord heard his prayer. And the Lord heard his prayers of repentance for nine months. Have you ever apologized and repented before the Lord for nine months? Sometimes we say, I feel like my prayers are hitting the ceiling. No, the Lord hears them.

But he may not respond in giving the peace that passes all understanding until you understand something of the severity of your sinfulness. If our child, if we force our child to say, I'm sorry, it's probably not the kind of apology that they need. The kind of apology that the Lord produces is not surface. We do this all the time, really. Say I'm sorry to your brother. Say I'm sorry to your sister. And we understand that it is an act. It's an important act. We're teaching them to be repentors, but Christians make the best repentors.

And the kind of repentance that the Lord demands is the kind of repentance that he would send arrows into the spiritual heart of David. He pierced his own son. His side was pierced. The blood and water flowed so that you would be reconciled and restored. And we take the severity of God's discipline so flippantly that we think simply, oh, I'm sorry, God, for my sin. We think that that kind of trite prayer grasps the gravity of our crimes. Zachariah was changed through the word, and he was changed through prayer.

You know, I think it's perfectly acceptable in those times where you don't know what to pray or you feel your prayers are not getting through the ceiling. You could simply meditate and pray these, the promises. What were the promises of God? He said, I will be your God. You will be my people. I will dwell in your midst. I think it's perfectly acceptable to say, Lord, you got to help my unbelief here. I don't feel like you're dwelling in the midst of our people. When I'm at church, it just seems things seem cold, things seem dead. I don't seem to get anything out of this word. I don't seem to be changing. When I read the word, you still go.

You still pray. You still read the word, and you still repent. And when calamity comes, when barrenness comes, when discipline comes, you continue to pray those things. So we see that Zechariah, he worked faithfully. He was faithful, but he sinned. And he was disciplined, and he was changed. But finally, we see that Zechariah was restored in Luke chapter 1. Let's move to verse 59. "And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. They would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, 'So he shall be called John.'" Let's skip to verse 62. "They made signs to his father." Just always funny to me.

They could have just spoken to him. "Enquiring what he wanted him to be called, he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, 'His name is John.' And they all heard. And immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue loosened, and he spoke, 'Blessing God.' And fear came on all of their neighbors. And all things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea. And all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What then will this child be, for the hand of the Lord was on him?" This is John the Baptist who walked in the spirit and power of Elijah.

When we are disciplined by the Lord, we are brought into greater dependence upon his promises. We are brought into greater belief upon his promises. Undoubtedly, Zechariah recalled the promises of God. Sometimes it's just a matter of spiritually putting one foot in front of the other. Sometimes it is endurance. Sometimes it's just hanging on. And then you have a breakthrough when full restoration happens. What is it like to discipline your own kids when there is clearly a sin? There is clearly a correction? After the correction, perhaps you send them to their room?

And that moment when you walk into their room and they're crying and you put them on your lap, you just say, I love you so much. You just can't do that. And then, as is my habit, there's some joke or there's some tickling or there's some restoration, a full restoration of the relationship. And things are not just back to normal, but things were better than they were. If the kid really understands, if the child really gets it. And this is the case. When he says with the tablet, his name is John, he speaks, he begins prophesying. People are in fear. They're rejoicing. There is a full restoration. He has changed.

He has gone through nine months of the worst spank any ever got. I want to give you five promises for restoration. Five promises for restoration. First, God loves you. Believer in sin, God loves you. Proverbs three, 11 through 12. Please write that down and read it this week. Proverbs three, 11 through 12. My son do not despise the Lord's discipline or be weary of his reproof for the Lord loves. The Lord reproves him who he loves as a father, the son in him whom he delights. The second promise for restoration. God is slow to anger. Psalms 86 15.

But you Lord are God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. I want you to see that this was not a rash, impulsive punishment for Zachariah. The Lord had always seen and known of this unbelief. This was not the angel Gabriel punishing Zachariah. This was God punishing unbelief that was only brought to the surface through this event. The third promise for restoration. God sustains his people always. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. Isaiah 43 two and through the rivers they shall not overwhelm you.

The fourth promise for restoration promise that we hold on to God is compassionate. Lamentations three 32 through 33. Y'all this one got me. I got to be honest. This one got me reading from lamentation. But though he caused grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love for he does not afflict from his heart or grieve the children of man. And I highlighted this. He does not flicked from his heart. You know God's not a bully. You know God's not out here looking. I just want to get him.

I just want to make this guy not talk for nine months and let him sit over in the corner while Mary writes the greatest praise song ever. They go in there and have their their little women's retreat and I'm over here. Can't work. Can't prophesy. Can't preach. Can't go in and light the candle of incense. God is not afflicting humanity from his heart. He's not a cosmic bully. He's kind and compassionate and he knows that we are stubborn. And if we're not disciplined severely, we won't be corrected. And then we can't correct our children and our children's children. The fifth promise for restoration. God is the great promise keeper. James 112.

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial. For when he has stood the desk, he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love him. Now in conclusion, I just want to give you very quickly some things that I've learned. Some things that were on my heart. I want to challenge you to pray for wisdom, to discern the difference between trial and chastisement. There is a time God sends calamity and difficulty to build character, to build steadfastness. But punishment is when God is correcting a specific sin in your life.

And it can take spiritual maturity because otherwise when you go through this trial, you start thinking what did I do? What did I do wrong? Right? Job did nothing wrong. In fact, he was godly, he was upright. And we need wisdom and maturity to understand why these things are happening. Sometimes you won't ever know tale of glory. In hindsight, when this character is changed, when you're corrected, then we're not just mature, but we are useful. Ask God to help your unbelief this Christmas. Secondly, third, dedicate your barrenness to the church. In your season of trial and barrenness, would you dedicate this to the Lord's work?

You know, we understand in the South, we understand when people are going through a hard time, people understand this is for my good. It's greater than that. It's not just for your good. It's not just for the good of your neighbors. It's for the good of the church. The Lord put Joseph through prison for 17 years for crimes he didn't commit. He didn't deserve any of this. And he looked at his brothers and he said what you meant for evil, God meant for good. God will allow you to go through terrible things just for the benefit of his local church and his eternal kingdom purposes. And that's his prerogative and he is perfect in that.

Behind that is a heart of mercy. So dedicate your barrenness and your difficulty to the church. But fourth, confess your sins. Now we don't practice confession like our Catholic friends. There are very narcissistic ministers. One comes to mind here, who really was at the center of kind of forcing people to confess all their deep, dark sins to him. And he would then later use this to manipulate and to bully. You know, if I know the dirt on everybody, well then I've got power and control over people. This is not what we find in James 5-6. Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.

That doesn't mean confess your sins to everybody. Okay? You need wisdom and you need discernment. I have known people who thought the more I tell this heinous sin, the more liberty I'm going to have. No. There have been times where people have gone to Brother Chris, they've come to me. And I'll be honest, I don't know everything that people share with Brother Chris. And he doesn't know everything that people share with me. Because of, we have wisdom and discernment. And we have compassion. Because your failing is between you and the Lord and it is a serious matter.

Now I will say that when you sin and it's unconfessed and you bring it into the church, then it is our problem. Scripture tells us over and over, what about Achan's sin? Achan hid garments. He hid fine linen under his tent. And people died because of it. And I believe that God does not move in our churches more because we carry sin into the church and it is a serious issue. But you need wisdom and discernment in order to correctly confess and forsake your sin. And the last, pray for one another. Let's look at James 5, 16. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. If you do need to confess your sin, you need to confess it to someone who's righteous because that person will not be a gossip. And that person thinks first and foremost about the work of the kingdom. I think if it's a public sin, it needs to be confessed publicly. If it's a private sin, needs to be forsaken and confessed privately. I think that the people who are charged with this, Brother Chris and myself, we are responsible for your souls. We say this, Scripture holds us accountable for your souls. We are shepherds of your souls. And so sin is serious business.

One of my favorite lines of Scripture. And the Lord restored the fortunes of Joe when he prayed for his friends. We don't pray for people to be blessed, but when we pray for people, we're blessed. And restoration happens when we get our minds off of ourselves and start interceding. I'd like everyone just to close your eyes for a second. I want to talk to you for a second who are believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. You are saved. The Lord has changed you. You know your sin has been covered. But are you in sin this morning? Do you have unconfessed, unrepentant sin this morning? The sin needs to be confessed. It needs to be forsaken.

There's something about confessing sins that acknowledges your fallenness, your dependence upon a Savior. Perhaps you need a full restoration. Perhaps you are in barrenness in trial this morning. Perhaps you have lived with reproach. Others may tell you not to worry about it, but there's a shame and a reproach that you carry. Would you bring that to the Lord and lay that down at his feet this morning? Would you know that he makes all things wonderful and beautiful in his time? The third invitation I have is to the unconverted.

Dear friend, if you are in your sin this morning and it does not grieve you and it does not break you and you can continue, you are unconverted. You need a Savior. You need the one who was bruised for your transgressions. You have no Christmas this season. You have no hope without Christ. The chastisement for your sin is on your own head this morning. Would you please repent of your sinfulness? Would you come to Christ and depend on him?