Growing into Christ: The Journey of Discipleship

So years ago, Chelsea and I lived in Louisville, and we went there for the purpose of me to attend seminary.

And the first chapel I was uh walking down the aisle to find a seat, I heard my name uh behind me, and I turned around, and it was a uh friend from college that I had no idea he was now in Louisville, and he was in his final year of seminary.

And as a result, we began to spend some time together.

We'd meet weekly for coffee, and a great uh brother in Christ, and he invited Chelsea and I out on a Sunday night uh to hear him preach.

And so we went and we attended, and it was a great service and it was a great opportunity.

And so the following Tuesday morning, I meet up with him for coffee.

And the first question he asked me is, What'd you think?

Naturally, right?

That that would be any of our question, what'd you think?

And I replied, I couldn't tell, and to preface this, we had a good relationship and um it went back to college, we joked around a lot with each other and had a good relationship.

I replied, I said, I couldn't tell if I was watching and listening to John Piper or I was watching and listening to you preach, which he replied with laughter and a comment, I guess I need to stop watching so many John Piper sermons, which makes complete sense.

The more you watch and listen to someone, the more you become like them in their beliefs and how they communicate, how they talk, with their hand gestures, and all of that.

And that is what being a disciple is.

You see, this morning we're continuing our series, Bearing the Marks, and we're focusing our time today on being a disciple, a disciple of Jesus Christ, which is just a different phrase for a follower of Jesus Christ.

Here at Sacred Mission, we believe a disciple of Jesus is someone who is learning to be with Jesus, be like Jesus, and do what Jesus did.

And when I listened to my friend preach that day, I discovered that he had become a disciple of John Piper.

This is why he imitated him, even down to his hand gestures and the way he paused and how he phrased wordings.

And he's just so you know, he's a lead pastor today in Texas, and he's a phenomenal preacher.

He's he's learned and he's moved on from that.

But the same should be true of us as followers of Jesus Christ.

When people see us, they should see Jesus.

Because the more time we spend with Jesus, the more we will learn to be what it is, like Jesus, and do what Jesus did.

And to understand this a little better, we're going to be in the book of Colossians this morning, specifically verses 24 through 29.

Just to give a little brief background, this letter was written to the church in Colossae.

And if you don't know where that is, that's modern-day Turkey.

Not only that, but the letter was written around A.D.

62, not 1862, A.D.

62, about 30 years after Jesus had died and resurrected.

I love how the ESV Study Bible states the overall theme for Colossians.

It says, Christ is Lord over all of creation, including the invisible realm.

He has secured redemption for his people, enabling them to participate with him in his death, resurrection, and fullness.

And I think that overall theme really helps set up our passage today as we come to verses 24 through 29 this morning.

See, right before we get to our passage, Paul opens up with a greeting to the church.

He goes into thanksgiving and prayer for the church there, and then he comes to Colossians 1, 15 through 20.

And typically, if you ever hear someone talk about the book of Colossians, quite frequently these are the verses they talk about because they're just incredible.

Listen to what Paul says in Colossians 1, 15 through 20.

He says, He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him.

And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together, and he is the head of the body, the church.

He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

See, back in December of twenty twenty-two, the Atlantic published an article titled Seeing Earth from Space Will Change You.

And right after they focused on William Shatner, had just come back from orbiting Earth, and he's standing there, and there's champagne bottles popped, and excitement, and people are thrilled, and he's quiet and calm.

And with tears streaming down his face, he says, he turns to Jeff Bezos and he says, What you have given me is the most profound experience I can imagine.

It's extraordinary.

Extraordinary.

I hope I never recover from this.

In 1962, Alan Shepard, an astronaut, also said, No one could be briefed well enough to be completely prepared for the astonishing view that I got.

And I found this fascinating because if we as created human beings can be overwhelmed with seeing the earth the way very few have experienced, then what should that do for us when we read verses like Colossians 1, 16 through 17?

For by him being Jesus, all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him, and he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

If we can be overwhelmed by creation, and we should, then we should be driven to be in awe of Christ.

Which sets us up this morning for our text in verses 24 through 29, because our focus this morning is on being a disciple.

And I believe that according to verse 28, that being a disciple of Jesus Christ means continuing to mature in Christ.

And as we jump into our passage this morning, I took an overall summary of verses 24 through 29.

And what I want to do is give that summary, and then we'll kind of work our way through the passage from that summary.

This is what I found.

We rejoice in our sufferings through Christ, our hope, as He works within us to bring about our spiritual growth.

So as we come to our passage this morning, it's going to be broken down into three sections.

What it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.

So let's start by jumping into verse 24, which our summary of verse 24 is this we rejoice in our sufferings.

We rejoice in our sufferings.

So immediately, if you're reading this, you might be caught off guard.

You might think to yourselves, How can I even relate to anything that Paul says?

Because he starts out by saying, I rejoice in my sufferings.

That's not something typical that a person says.

We typically aren't in conversations with people and they talk about the difficult issues they're facing or the hardships they're going through with a positive spin.

In fact, if you have ever been in a conversation with someone and they begin to share struggles or hardships and that they're going through, and then they say, But I've had so much joy.

It catches you off guard.

Maybe you've never experienced anyone make that type of statement.

You'd be surprised.

And if you have experienced that, you want to know more.

It draws you in to ask further questions.

And I believe this is a result of what is molding and transforming us.

What are we being molded to?

What are we being transformed by?

There's really only two options for you and me today.

Either the culture around us is molding and transforming us, or the gospel is molding and transforming us.

If the culture is molding and transforming us, then we will seek comfort.

We will seek all of the things that drive us to ease, and we won't be able to rejoice in hardships or when we suffer.

But if we are continuing to be molded and transformed and to mature in Christ through the gospel, then Paul's statement here makes much more sense for all of us.

Here are a passage.

Paul is not just rejoicing in his suffering because he loves to suffer.

Give me what else I can have.

Like, it's not him.

I don't believe any person truly loves to suffer just for suffering's sake.

Paul doesn't say, I rejoice in my sufferings and then just move on.

No, Paul says, I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake.

Paul rejoices in his sufferings for the sake of the body that is the church, the bride of Christ.

He rejoices in his sufferings for the benefit of others, not himself.

If we dig into verse 24, we understand a little bit better why this benefits us as the church.

He says, I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body.

Now, is Paul claiming to do something that Christ did not do?

Is Paul claiming to be better than Jesus?

Is Paul claiming that Jesus' afflictions were not enough?

Because if you just glance at that, you might be led to think, is that what Paul's saying?

No.

What Paul is saying here is that when he wrote this to the church, it's because you can no longer see Christ suffering.

I, being Paul, will now be a visible demonstration of what Christ suffered out of love for his bride, the church.

Paul doesn't just tell us how Christ suffered.

Paul shows us, he demonstrates it throughout his life, and he rejoices because of it.

He rejoices in the fact that when he suffered, others knew that it was for Christ.

Listen to what Peter said in 1 Peter 4, 12 to 13.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

I love that.

I love how Peter just phrases it.

Don't be surprised.

Don't be caught off as if something's strange, like you're shocked, you're caught off guard at this.

But what?

But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

We should not be shocked when we suffer.

It should not catch us off guard.

Peter tells us to rejoice that we're able to share in Christ's sufferings.

Listen to what Jesus said in John 16, 32.

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.

In the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world.

Whatever kind of suffering you may be going through or experiencing this morning, remember Jesus has overcome the world.

I think there's something important here for us all to grasp.

Like when we see the world going like crazy in chaos, like there's times where as Christians we're caught off guard by that.

We're shocked.

We shouldn't be, because Jesus has overcome the world.

That is our hope.

That's why we we live in a fallen world, meaning sin has impacted everything.

Sin has reached in and gripped everything around us.

Put its fingers in and white-knuckled it.

Because of sin, we might in the moment stop and wonder or even question how we can rejoice in the sufferings we're going through.

I mean, think about it.

Are you or a loved one going through and dealing with cancer right now?

A neighbor?

A friend?

Are you struggling to make ends meet financially and you don't know how each paycheck is going to get you there?

Are you at a job day in and day out that weighs heavy on you?

Do you have unsaved family members who not only have rejected the gospel but are rejecting you as a result of the gospel?

Now, I believe sufferings and hardships are some of those things, but I also want to make the case too that these sufferings that Paul is dealing with here are because of the gospel.

We have to also remember that.

If you're suffering because you're a jerk to people, that's not what Paul's talking about.

If you're suffering because you just have a viewpoint that's not the gospel, it's something outside of the gospel, like that's not necessarily, but we can talk about those sufferings as well.

Because we are going through hardships.

We shouldn't be caught off guard when they come, when they happen.

But take heart this morning.

Because remember, Jesus has overcome the world.

The one who died for you experienced unimaginable suffering.

Jesus left his glory, he left his throne.

He took on human flesh, he lived a perfect life.

He never sinned and died in our place under the wrath of his father who abandoned him.

He died for our sin.

In Christ, we have the greatest example of how to suffer well.

Paul here in our passage is saying that I want you to see how to suffer well, that in your suffering you can rejoice.

When we suffer well, when we rejoice in the midst of our sufferings, we demonstrate to everyone around us, including those who are not followers of Christ, that Jesus is better than any pain or difficulty we might go through.

There is an aspect of suffering and hardships that when you are facing something difficult, the world will respond a certain way.

And when you don't, and you respond with joy and hope, they will ask questions.

And you have the opportunity to proclaim the gospel, to proclaim Christ.

When they ask questions like, How can you face this?

Jesus.

That's it.

And they're gonna be shocked and they will want to know more.

We want to demonstrate that Jesus is more glorious than any suffering we might face, and that ultimately Jesus Christ is our hope.

That's why I believe Paul pinned what he did about Jesus Christ in verses 15 through 20, right before we get to our passage today.

Because Paul is showing us how incredible Jesus Christ truly is, and that is who we put our hope in.

Not our circumstances, not our trials, not our sufferings.

We put our hope in Christ, which leads us to verses 25 through 27, and our summary is this hope in Christ.

Hope in Christ.

Now, Paul explains here, starting in verse 25, why God was using him the way he is, to make the word of God fully known.

Now, here's what's incredible about Paul.

Before he was the Apostle Paul, he was a different man entirely, meaning he acted different, he believed different things, and he hated Christians.

He was Saul.

Acts 9 tells us about his conversion.

Who was Saul?

Acts 9, 1 through 2.

But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priests and asked him for letters in the synagogue to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

When it says any belonging to the way here, that referred to followers of Jesus Christ, those who had professed faith in the gospel.

And when Paul was Saul, he was a man who hated Christians.

You can read about him at the stoning of Stephen.

He was someone who was standing there holding the coats of those who were stoning Stephen, the first martyr we have accounted in the New Testament for the gospel in that way.

So how was he changed?

Well, on his way to Damascus, he meets Jesus on the road there.

Such an incredible moment that when Jesus appears to Saul, he falls down and is blinded.

And for three days, Paul can't see anything, he doesn't eat, he doesn't drink anything, and the Lord comes to a man named Ananias and tells him to go find Saul and tell him something.

Tell him what he's about to go through.

What purpose could God have for a man who hated his followers?

Good reminder for us that no one is too far gone from the gospel.

Listen to Acts 9, 15 through 16.

But the Lord said to him, to Ananias, Go, for he, being Paul, or who will become Paul, is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.

For I will show him, I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.

Now when we come back to Colossians 1, remember what Paul said here in verse 24.

I rejoice in my sufferings.

Paul knew that this was what God had for him.

Acts 9, 16, for I will show him how much he will suffer for the sake of my name.

And Paul did suffer tremendously.

Prisoned multiple times, beaten, tortured, shipwrecked, abandoned.

But for what purpose?

Just to suffer?

No, he was chosen to proclaim the name of Jesus to who?

Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel, meaning the Jewish people.

To come back to the end of Colossians 1:25.

Colossians 1:25

To make the word of God fully known.

To make what in the Word of God fully known?

We have to ask that question.

Verse 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but is now being revealed.

So God had been holding something back for ages and generations, but now the time is come.

Now think about it.

If you're a fan of Apple products, I remember listening to Pastor Justin talk about this.

He he loved Apple keynote speeches.

Every year they do a keynote, right, where they reveal all of the products they've been working on for years and they've been secretive about, and they reveal all the products that they're about to release.

It's been a mystery forever.

But now they're revealing what has been hidden.

Maybe you're a big sports fan, and every year you wait for draft day, right?

Because you you think you might have an idea what they're gonna do, but that front office has been working in secret for a long time, and they don't let you in on what they're gonna do until they call out the name.

Maybe for you growing up, or even still today, your birthday is a big deal.

And you wait expectantly.

Because you know your parents are gonna get you something, you just don't know what it is, or maybe you have an idea, but until that moment comes, at the right time, you don't know what it is.

And in the same way, there has been this mystery for ages and generations, but now it's time.

What is this mystery that has been hidden for ages and generations?

Is that for ages and generations God's people were the Jewish people, were Israel.

But now the Gentiles had been, they're being brought in.

But this was always God's intention.

We can we can look back and see how God had planned this.

If if you look back at the first book we have in the Bible, Genesis, in Genesis 12, 3, God is speaking to Abraham.

He says this I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you, I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.

When God says, In you, all the families of the earth shall be blessed, who was God referring to?

Well, Paul pins a letter to the church in Galatia, and he said, the following to help us understand what God was actually talking about in Genesis 12, 3, Galatians 3:8.9, he says this, and the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, In you shall all the nations be blessed.

Galatians 3:8

So then those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

So what does God do?

Listen to verse 27, back in Colossians 1.

To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery.

What is the mystery?

Christ in you, the hope of glory.

This is far greater reveal than any Apple keynote, any draft day, or any birthday you could ever experience as a kid.

Why?

Because it's a reminder to us today that our hope is in Christ.

But I want us to examine which type of hope we have.

How do you define hope?

The way the world defines hope or the way Paul defines hope in Colossians 1.

Worldly hope says, I hope this works out, meaning a wishful thinking or a desire, but you don't know for sure.

Think about the way you used the word hope as a kid or even as an adult as an adult today.

I hope I get this job promotion.

I hope my team wins.

I hope my kids don't get sick.

But all of these ways are just wishful thinking.

Because how does Paul define hope?

It's about confidence.

Why?

Because it's not about me, it's about Jesus Christ and what he did through his life, death, and resurrection.

It's true gospel hope.

Verse 27, the hope of glory.

Worldly hope says, you can save yourself.

You got this.

Just do more good than bad, and things will work out for you.

Just do enough good that you'll tip the scales so that God will have to bless you.

God will have to honor what you've done.

But the Bible tells us that apart from Christ, we are dead.

Our hope is not in ourselves at all.

It's in Christ who not only saves us, but takes us all the way to glory.

And what is glory?

First, it's being with Jesus.

Paul explains this in 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 through 18.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And so we will always be with the Lord.

Therefore, encourage one another with these words.

And so we will always be with the Lord.

So it's about being with Jesus.

But then secondly, it's about being where Jesus is.

Listen to Revelation twenty one, one through four.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem.

Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.

He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more.

Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.

This is why our hope is in Christ.

He saves us, and he takes us.

If you go back to the Old Testament, you go to the second book of the Bible in Exodus, you learn about the people of Israel who are enslaved in Egypt.

And what does God do?

He sends Moses to rescue and save his people and then lead them all the way to the promised land.

It's a smaller picture, a smaller version of what God is doing with us.

Where Israel were slaves in Egypt, we are slaves to sin.

We were.

Where Israel was being led to the promised land, we are being led to the new heavens and the new earth.

Jesus saves us, and then he takes us.

But guess what?

We're still here.

We are in the time between where we have been saved, but we are not fully with Christ, arriving to glory.

So what does that mean for us now?

Well, Paul goes on in verse 28, helping us understand that after Christ saves us, he calls us to grow in Christ's likeness, becoming more and more mature in Christ.

This is what it means to be a disciple, to be a follower of Christ, and do what?

Grow in Christ's likeness.

We mature in Christ.

This is our summary of verses 28 through 29.

We mature in Christ.

We mature in Christ.

I think sometimes being a disciple of Christ, we can get frustrated with the timing of the growth and our maturity.

It can take time.

It's not an overnight process.

If we were to examine ourselves daily, right, and say, Well, how did I mature in Christ today from last night?

We might end up being frustrated because we can't always see that growth daily.

But if we look back over a year or years, we get a better grasp of the growth that has taken place.

Now that my oldest child is 13, I can have conversations with her that I could not have when she was four or five.

Because she's matured, she's grown.

And that's a good thing.

And it's the same idea for being a disciple of Jesus Christ.

Paul's goal here in Colossians 1.28 was not just a profession of faith.

We shortchange the gospel when that's what we preach.

Just believe this and move on.

Paul's goal was maturity in Christ.

Listen to what Paul says in another letter he wrote to the church in Ephesus in Ephesians 4, 14 through 15, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes.

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head into Christ.

That truth and love is speaking about Jesus.

If you go back to the example of my children, and if I were to compare my 13-year-old to my five-year-old, there's a big difference.

I could sit my five-year-old Sammy down and I could convince her of some crazy things, right?

I could make up some wild stories and she'd be like, wow, it's incredible.

And I could sit my 13-year-old down and I could convince her the same thing.

I'm just kidding.

Like she would catch on very quickly, like, that's not true.

Uh that's a little crazy.

Like, that's crazy.

And it's because she is more mature.

Why?

Because my five-year-old is a child and is not as mature as my 13-year-old.

She doesn't understand as much.

She hasn't lived as much life.

She hasn't grown.

And this is the same for a new disciple.

This is why at Sacred Mission, we believe a disciple is someone who is learning to be with Jesus, be like Jesus, and do what Jesus did.

Did you catch that?

Learning to be a disciple.

That's a focus there.

Learning.

That means we're growing.

So what does it mean to mature in Christ?

Well, it said in Christ.

It starts with our foundation being Jesus Christ.

If we are not growing in our love for Jesus, if we are not growing in our awe of Jesus, then we are not maturing.

You could quote every verse in the Bible to me by memory, and if you don't love Jesus, it does not matter.

Quite often, we as a church love to applaud behavior modification.

Now don't get me wrong, we should be growing, meaning our behavior should reflect how our growth and maturity is.

But if if we're just applauding behavior modification over the foundation of Christ, we're missing the point.

It doesn't start with behavior modification, it starts with Christ.

Christ is our firm foundation.

I love that song that we sing here called Firm Foundation.

Christ is my firm foundation, the rock on which I stand.

When everything around me is shaken, I've never been more glad that I put my faith in Jesus because he's never let me down.

He's faithful through generations.

So why would he fail now?

He won't.

This is why Paul, before he gets to our passage, lays out the supremacy of Christ in verses 15 through 20.

He is the image of the invisible God.

All you could ever want to know about God is found in Christ.

If you ever ask yourself the question, I wish I knew what God was like, look to Jesus.

When we look to Jesus, we see maturity.

A couple of weeks ago, Pastor Tim, when he started out our series Bearing the Marks, he referred to a book and he recommended a book called Gospel Fluency by Jeff Vandersel.

I also would highly recommend that book to you.

It was fascinating because after recommending that book, that's one of the few that I had not read by him.

And so my wife and I started reading it that following Monday.

And I left thinking to myself, man, as I started to engage in that book and read through it, started asking myself the question, like, do I really love Jesus?

At one point in the book, he says this it is God's intent that every person who comes into a relationship with Him through Jesus Christ eventually will grow up into maturity.

And maturity looks like Jesus.

He is the perfect human, providing an example of what we are meant to be.

A mature Christian is one who resembles Jesus Christ in thought, attitude, emotion, and behavior.

If maturity looks like Jesus, then how do we understand what maturity looks like?

And the best place to go is the fruit of the spirit in Galatians 5.

The Apostle Paul lists out nine different fruits of the Spirit.

And all nine of the fruits of the Spirit were evident in the life of Christ.

Now it's interesting, when you think about the fruit of the Spirit, the Spirit doesn't work individually on those fruits.

If you're excelling in one and you're like terrible in the other, you need to ask the Spirit why?

Because they should all be growing in the same way.

All nine of these were evident in the life of Christ.

Love.

Jesus said, Love one another as I have loved you in John 13.

Joy.

For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, Hebrews 12 tells us.

His joy was not based in his circumstances.

Peace in John 14, he says, My peace I give to you.

Patience.

Jesus was patient over and over and over again throughout his earthly life.

One great example is when he's dealing with Thomas, as he's doubting, in John 20.

Kindness to those who labor and are heavy laden.

Jesus offers rest in Matthew 11.

How kind is that?

Goodness, when Jesus looked out and saw the people as sheep without a shepherd, he had compassion on them.

He was good to them in Matthew 9.

Faithfulness.

Jesus was faithful to the end all the way to the cross in John 13.

He didn't give up when things got hard.

Gentleness.

Jesus tells his followers that he is gentle in Matthew 11.

Great book, Gentle and Lowly.

We have three copies if you want to take one.

Self-control.

Over and over again, Jesus showed self-control, time and time again.

And one of the best examples we have of that is when Jesus is tempted by the devil in Matthew 4.

See, Jesus perfectly lived out all of the fruits of the Spirit.

That's why it's called the fruit of the Spirit.

They're all growing.

Remember, a disciple is someone who is being mentored by someone.

We are being mentored by Christ.

If you want to grow in your maturity, then you must grow in Christ's likeness.

And growing in Christ's likeness is living by the fruit of the Spirit, the Spirit who works powerfully within us.

At the end of the passage where the Apostle Paul is laying out the fruit of the Spirit, he says this in Galatians 5, 24 through 25.

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

To be a disciple of Jesus means we first belong to Him, then it means we are being led by the Spirit.

We live by the Spirit.

This is why they're called the fruit of the Spirit.

Think about the process of growing fruit.

You have to prepare the soil.

You have to plant the seed or the tree.

If you're not good at growing seeds, go with a tree.

You have to water it over and over again, or you need rain, you need sunshine, you need pollination to happen.

You need the fruit to grow.

You are involved in the cultivation process, but it's not up to you alone.

In order for a farmer to be successful, they are reliant upon forces outside of their control.

It's the same for us as a disciple of Christ.

We are involved in the cultivation, but it's the fruit of the Spirit growing in our lives.

The cultivation is us putting in the work, the work of spending time in the Word of God, the work of spending time in prayer, the work of delighting in the Lord, the work of serving others.

It was the same way for my friend who preached like John Piper.

He had cultivated that through putting in the work of listening to sermon after sermon after sermon.

Spend time in his word.

If we want to grow in Christ's likeness as a disciple of Jesus, then we will spend time in his word.

We'll spend time in prayer.

We'll spend time together as Christians.

We'll spend time talking about Jesus.

I love how Jeff Vandersel in Gospel Fluency goes on to say at one point the more we love Jesus, the more we will talk about him.

And the more we talk about him, the more we will love him.

So this morning, you need to ask yourself this question, as I have been asking this to myself the past few weeks, do I love Jesus?

Seriously, pause and answer that question.

Do I really love Jesus?

Or do you love the things of Jesus?

I mean, if we go back to when Jesus was walking on this earth in human flesh, the religious leaders he interacted with, they loved the Old Testament.

They loved to pray, but they missed Jesus.

John 5, 39 through 40, Jesus is actually talking to them and he says this you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life.

And it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

They loved the scripture because it elevated them and made them more prominent.

They loved to pray in public because it made them look better.

When all along it was pointing them to Jesus.

What about you?

Are you a Christian who loves the Bible because you do it, you read the Bible, and you check off a box and you feel good about yourself?

Or is it making you love Jesus more and more?

If we come back to the summary I started with this morning, we rejoice in our sufferings through Christ our hope, as he works within us to bring about our spiritual growth.

And we come to the final part as he works within us to bring about our spiritual growth, as a reminder from the passage where Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5, 24 through 25, and those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Because we belong to Christ and continue to look to crucify any sinful desires, we now live by the Spirit.

We must worship Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit, adoring him until our hearts find him more beautiful than the object we felt we had to have.

As we do that, we will put to death our old sarks, meaning flesh nature, clearing room for the fruit of the Spirit to grow, and we will find that fruit growing, changing us more and more in the people we long to be, and God desires us to be.

As we leave this morning, as we conclude our time in the Word, I encourage you to know Jesus more fully, to love Him more deeply, which will then help you to worship Him more freely.