Take a moment and offer to the Lord a prayer of adoration. Our intent in that is not to ask for anything, but just to give God the praise that he deserves. We've been singing this morning that day by day the Lord is with you, cares for you, bears your burdens. We heard the choir sing that God's faithfulness to us is great. I hope your minds and hearts have been engaged as we've been worshiping with those words. So I ask you, has God been faithful to you? Has God been faithful to you? He's met your needs. He's taken care of whatever problems you've had. There was one line of a song that says, you know, he'll quickly remove my problems, something like that. And, you know, maybe he won't quickly remove your problems. But has he been faithful to you? All right. He has. And I look at the faces of of this assembly. And I think of how he has gotten you through times of tremendous difficulty, how he's answered prayers for you. The update this week from John Cormican that his cancer is in remission. Praise the Lord for that. God has been faithful to you. And, you know, the Lord faithfully saw you through the time when you were battling that and it wasn't clear exactly how it would turn out. Has the Lord ever been faithful to you when you were dealing with a financial issue? Have you had financial strains, time of unemployment, times where you just didn't know how you would make it? Has God been faithful to you? Has God helped you to resolve relationship issues or has he helped you deal with sin and temptation? Has God been faithful to you? He's faithful. He has been in the past. And we can be confident he will be faithful in the future. There are those of you, you're not on the backside of a trial. You're right in the thick of it. And you might be facing things that I don't know anything about. I know several of you are going through some times of disappointment. Times of struggle and stress. God is faithful. He always has been. He will continue to be. Whatever you come in this morning that you're so concerned about, I ask you to bow your head and quietly pray. Thank God that he is faithful. Thank God that he has this covered. And instead of you trying to bear that burden alone, why don't you cast it onto the Lord and find that he can give you peace that passes understanding. He's faithful. Put your burden on him. Let's pray together. You pray quietly. Lord, as we just sang, we worship you. And we acknowledge that there is none like you. You're without rival. You are so great and awesome. You are so high. You're so powerful, you're so perfect, and we are none of those things. You're so far beyond us and yet you stoop to us. You have grace on us. You hear us when we call. You are faithful to us. We look back on our lives and we see times of financial provision. We think of times of our own spiritual failure. And you've been so gracious and forgiving. To forgive and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You have sent your son to bear the wrath that we deserve. So rather than us drinking it, the Lord Jesus himself drained the cup. You've been so faithful when we are heartbroken and there might be times that we think we just can't continue. We get so discouraged. Life seems so dark, but you're faithful. You never change and you get us through. We thank you. Now, Lord, we pray for those in our assembly that are dealing with challenges today, whatever they might be, whether they are emotional or spiritual or relational or financial, whether it's life decisions, whether it's disappointments. Lord, help your people. You always have and we're confident you will continue to do so. As we studied together on Wednesday night, there are times where we are in a cave and we're surrounded by darkness and enemies are pressing in like David as he hid from Saul. But you are in the heavens doing whatever you desire and you send us deliverance from heaven. You bless us so. We thank you. You've given us your own son and we are confident that with him you will give us all things that we need. That you will give us everything that is necessary for us. No good thing will you withhold from those who walk uprightly. We thank you. Lord, I pray that among the good things you give to us today would be the ministry of your word. I pray for you to teach us. Help me to communicate clearly. Help me to be thinking straight. That doesn't always happen, but help me to communicate your word with accuracy and precision and passion. I pray that it will be well received. I pray that you will grow your people. And I pray that any who don't yet know Jesus Christ the Savior today will be the day where they become aware of their need They realize they don't just need to be moral or religious. They don't need just to come to church They don't need just a pastor. They need a Savior. I Pray that you would draw people to salvation even today Show your power to forgive sins and to change lives to heal families to do amazing things that are so far beyond us But they're easy for you. So please show your power and bless the ministry of your word in this hour, whether it's here in the auditorium or in our children's church in the classes to follow. Show the power of the word. We believe it. We claim your promise that your word will not return void. It will accomplish the purpose that you sent it for. So do that, we pray. And we thank you in advance for answering these things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen. And turn your Bibles to Romans chapter 8, please. And I'm going to conclude the message that I cut short last week. Most of you probably know by now that I just had some mental glitch and thought that our service ended 15 minutes before it did. You might be thinking, Pastor, that worked. You should just do that all the time. Alright, good luck with that. I would like to finish this series up today and then God willing we'll be into Daniel next week. And I would encourage you, for you to really benefit from Daniel like you should, why don't you spend some time in the next week reading it and reminding yourself of the truth. It has so many cool stories. You know, you're familiar with flashcards and flannel graphs and color pictures and Bible storybooks. But the lessons that that book teaches are so pertinent to life for you today. Get back into the book of Daniel this week and prepare ahead for this series that's coming. I'm looking forward to starting that, Lord willing, next week. Today, I'm sure Bill is going to mention these things, but let me just give a reminder and encouragement. There are a couple opportunities that you need to take advantage of today. Many of you signed up for our Adult Bible Fellowship classes last Sunday, and we have those sign-up sheets available again today. We're starting in the Gospel of John in October. But we're trying to get people divided into classes. And if there's a group that you especially enjoy or a teacher that you enjoy, you'll want to take advantage of the opportunity to sign up for that. And then we're kind of mingling the classes from the past, hoping that you can build new relationships. And I think it's going to be a great thing. But take advantage of that today. Then also in your bulletin today, There's information about the goal scholarship, and I don't want to take a lot of time on that But I do want you to be aware. This is such an important part of what our ministry does Statistically there are 55 of our current students that benefit from receiving goal scholarship monies and some from our own church and some that are not but the Lord has sustained us through some difficult times of the economy and we have been able to maintain an adequate enrollment. If we didn't have programs like this, it would be very, very difficult for us. And we're not trying to fundraise, but the reality is your tax dollars that you pay to the state of Georgia are going to support education. They are, somewhere. And the choice is, do you just allow the government to decide where that goes, or do you just fill out some paperwork and have those dollars go to help Killian Hill Christian School? And it's something that is no cost to you except for a few moments of time, but it is a big blessing to us and it allows us to reach out to people who otherwise couldn't be here. So I won't say more about that, but I do encourage you to help us in what is a really important venture that is very good for our school, our families, and for the families of those who are able to attend because of that. We start in Romans chapter 8, and let me give a quick review of last week's truncated service. We are finishing a series that we've called Taking Aim at Godliness. The concept is that godliness doesn't just happen. It's not that some people just are genetically predisposed to being moral, to walking with the Lord. God provides all things necessary for life and godliness, but those means of grace like prayer and scripture and the church, fellowship, communion, those means of grace need to be applied by us. And the Bible tells us that we are to exercise ourselves to be godly. Don't just wish it were so. OK, you've heard me say on other occasions that hope is not a strategy. You can't just hope things improve. There needs to be some effort, some intentionality about that. And in your own growth and godliness, you need to be aiming. You need to be laboring. I said last week, as we conclude the series, I would never want you to compare your own growth and godliness to the idea of extreme makeover, where, you know, we have TV shows that teach you what not to wear, or they teach you how to lose a lot of weight, or how to improve your house or yourself in some way. You can do it, you just need to try harder. That is not the idea. Scripturally, the change that you need has to come from the inside out, and it's something that is beyond your pay grade. You can't just grow spiritually through determination and effort and optimism. There has to be a miraculous change in you. I use the illustration that there are people that might dress in a certain way or they might have certain standards or rules or appearances But if your idea of godliness can be achieved by those who are Mormons or those who are Muslims, then we have a defective view. It's something that even military people or OCD people that are really driven and disciplined in business. If that conception of godliness is what's in your mind, we need to change our thinking. What we need is something that is miraculous. Now, I'm not saying miraculous like you pray a prayer and God zaps you and you're changed. I'm saying miraculous in that God is doing something that you can't do. He's applying the gospel of Jesus Christ in its full orbed understanding. He's applying it to change your heart. It's David praying in Psalm 51, God forgive me, but create in me a clean heart, renew a right spirit in me, change me and use these means of grace and enable me as I exercise myself for godliness. We talk about Jesus. We talk about Christ-centered ministry or gospel-focused ministry. What we mean is Jesus is the source of Christian growth and the measure of Christian growth and the goal of Christian growth. So we read again from Romans 8, very familiar passage, Romans 8, 28 through 30. Read with me, please. If you're using a pew Bible, we're on page 944. And you're welcome to take that Bible home with you and make good use of it. Romans 8 28. We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. What is that purpose? Verse 29 tells us for those whom he foreknew, he also predestined To be conformed to the image of his son. In order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. It's a certainty. Those whom he predestined, he also called those whom he called, he also justified those whom he justified, he also glorified from beginning to end. Our salvation is as good as done because it relies on the faithfulness The power of God. Turn to the right a few pages to Romans 11-36. Paul finishes up the doctrinal section of this great book. After 11 chapters unpacking the Gospel, he concludes with this doxology. For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. So in finishing talking about salvation, From election to justification, to sanctification, to glorification. He wraps it up. He says all of that brings glory to God, not to anyone else. All glory to God in this, because it is all from him, through him. And to him. To review then a little further from last week, Jesus is the source of Christian growth. He talked about the work of Christ. The book of Romans, we are very familiar with the fact that Jesus paid sin's penalty. In fact, if you think of songs, we have so many songs that say that Jesus paid sin's penalty. He died in our place. He took the wrath that we deserve. He paid it all. But He also broke sin's power. And what I'm trying to say in this last message is we're not just the same people But our relationship to God and our relationship to sin and to the world has been drastically changed. You're not just forgiven, you're free. And so when we pray, we don't just say, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. But then we follow that and say, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. I don't just want to be forgiven for what's in the past. I want to see life change in the future. Thank God that when I drive in a ditch, He pulls me out. But I can pray, God, help me not to go back in the ditch. Because of the power of the Gospel, that's possible. Jesus broke sin's power. I said I love the hymn that says, He breaks the power of cancelled sin. And He sets the prisoner free. We have the work of Christ. We have our union with Christ. And really, our entire series is focused on this point. Justification enables sanctification. The condemned are now accepted, and because of our acceptance through Christ, we can grow to be like Christ. Spent a lot of time last week on this. Definitive sanctification enables progressive sanctification. If you want a more thorough understanding of that, then listen to last week's message or you can study it from some good resources. I'd be glad to recommend to you. We use sanctification as shorthand for Christian growth, and that's fine. But there is a point at which I have been completely sanctified in a definitive sense. When I am united to Christ, I have been set apart. I am holy, I am a saint. And I'm supposed to become more saintly. Somebody said that Christian growth is really the Christianizing of the Christian, and what it means is God has made you definitively holy. He's changed your relationship to sin, and now he's commanding you. To be holy. So we'll read in Scripture, you are holy. We'll also read in Scripture commands that we are to be holy. And I love this. Again, it's the synergism Leviticus 20, verses seven and eight. I'm indebted to my father for my appreciation of this text. My dad loves to preach on the names of God. And one of the names of Jehovah comes from Leviticus 20, where he says, I am the Lord who sanctifies you. I am the God who sanctifies you. I make you holy. My dad has preached that for my entire life, and he's pointed out in Leviticus 20, verses 7 and 8, God tells us to sanctify ourselves. But then he follows up and says, I'm the God who sanctifies you. And there is that synergism. We're not just waiting for Him to make us holy. We're striving after holiness. We're pursuing holiness. But we would be at the point of despair where we say, I can't do it. What do you mean make myself holy? I can't do that. I am the Lord who sanctifies you. I am the one who makes you holy. What I require, I provide. What I command, I enable. You be holy as I make you holy, he says. Definitive sanctification makes progressive sanctification possible. This is the point I would have made last week had I not wrapped up so early. Regeneration enables sanctification. OK, I've said justification enables sanctification, definitive sanctification. The fact that you have been made holy enables progressive sanctification. But this last one is so important to me. I know I've repeated it in several message in this in this series. Regeneration enables sanctification. The dead are now alive. You're different. If you have come to know Christ, the Savior, you're not just forgiven, you're changed, you're changed. You think, for example, of Second Corinthians 517, if any man is in Christ, he is you say it with me, if anyone's in Christ, he is. A new creature. You're new, you're different. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. And there is a sense that progressively old things are passing away and all things are becoming new. You're a new person. I wish I wish every Christian appreciated how radical the change in them at the moment of salvation is. We tend to focus, I say we, me, And I think Christianity at large, we tend to focus on people saying you were condemned. And now you're pardoned. OK, Jesus took your guilt, he died in your place, you were headed for hell, now you're headed for heaven, you were dirty, now you're clean. That is true and it's beautiful. But you were dead. You were dead, you had nothing you could do. You couldn't fix yourself. You had no pulse. And you have been brought to life. Regeneration means you've been born. You've been quickened. You've been given spiritual life through your union with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that doesn't just change your future. It doesn't just change your eternal destiny. It changes your life right now. You're not a walking dead man. You're not a zombie. You're not just forgiven. You're alive. You're alive. So we should write a hymn about that. There's been such a change in your very nature. And that change in your nature affects the way you live. God doesn't come to a worm and command it to fly and the worm tries its best. God comes to a caterpillar and changes it into a butterfly and says, now you're so very different, you can actually do this. You can be holy because you're alive. We studied a few weeks ago in 2 Peter 1 that because of Christ, you are a partaker of the divine nature. Now, listen, I know when you sit in church, it's easy to go glossy eyed and you just stop thinking. OK, pretend you're at work. Focus, pretend you're watching a football game, get on the edge of your seat and pay attention. If you know Jesus Christ, You are a partaker of God's nature. What he is has been infused into you through regeneration. And when we say the dead has come to life, it's not just some life, it's the very life of God, a partaker of the divine nature. It almost sounds heretical, it almost sounds heretical. To say that the Christian has a divine nature and you say, wow, that sounds like you're saying that we're becoming gods. We're not becoming gods. But we are the children of God. And we have a new nature in us. First, John three, nine, turn there for a moment. I refer to this quite a bit because it amazes me. The audacity of it. First, John three, nine, in saying that Christians shouldn't sin and can't just continue in sin. First, John three, nine. Says this, no one born of God and we are born of God, born of God. Dead, made alive, the divine nature is in you, you've been born of God. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning. It's not the habitual direction of life. For God's seed abides in him and he can't keep living the same way. Why can't he keep living the same way? He's been born of God. The seed of God, the nature of God, the life of God has been placed in you through regeneration. So when we say you're supposed to grow, when we say you're supposed to be resisting sin, you're not perfect, but you're making progress. When we say that's supposed to happen, it's not just pull yourselves up by your bootstraps. It's not just try harder. It's not legalism. It's living the life that has been infused into you through regeneration. You're such a different person. I've used this example. My kids have my DNA in them for better or for worse. All right. Sometimes I'm watching and sometimes you see it physically. You know, when they get hot, they get all red faced and most of them sunburn pretty well. Lori helps with those genes a little bit, but not much. And they just are a lot like me. Once in a while, I'll see my attitudes coming through them. All right, I'll see physical characteristics. I'll look at some of you and your children and they are like the spitting image of you and they might try not to be, but they can't help it. If you have been born of God, if God's seed is in you, God's life is in you, God's nature is in you, you will be becoming like him. There's hope for you. I'm not talking about passivity. I'm talking about hope. You can change. Regeneration makes sanctification possible, it makes it essential. A friend of mine, a mentor. Michael Barrett has written in his book Completing Him. I think I've given a couple copies of that book out. I'm out of it. But the seminary where he now teaches up in Detroit, I think it's Puritan, has made this book available at a discount price. I'll try to send it out in my email where you can get a link. Completing Him is a tremendous book on the work of Christ and how it affects you and I in real life. He says, without faith in the finished work of Christ, and our place in him, efforts toward sanctification tend to be guilt driven and doomed to frustrating failure. Now, be honest. Have you been there? Have you been there? You need to be a better Christian. You need to work hard. You know, come on. What's wrong with you? Let's pray. You know, come forward, bow down and you'll be forever changed until Tuesday. Have you been there? Honestly, have you been there? I've been there so many times I almost felt like I just quit. I quit. To trust in personal resolve and willpower is folly. To trust Christ, applying the truth of our union with Him to individual struggles, that means victory. The hope for your growth is not in you. It's in Christ. What He did at the cross. What he did when through the work of the Spirit, he brought you to life from the dead. You can change, you can grow. Because of Christ. I say again what I've been saying repeatedly. You are not the same old you, now just forgiven and determined to do better. United to Christ, you're a new person, now capable of practical godliness, enabled by the Spirit. But you can grow. You can obey. You can change. You can become, in practice, what you already are in your position and even in your nature. OK, just get this justification affected your position. It's beautiful truth. Regeneration affected your nature. Your nature, who you are. And progressive sanctification, it changes your conduct, your character, your habit, your life. The gospel is so much bigger than we have have understood it to be. I think in these terms, and I think it might be helpful to you, we've described it as the four states of man. Augustine is kind of known for having described it in these terms. These are Latin phrases. I meant to get with Dan before the service started so I could make sure my pronunciation was accurate. How many of you have taken Latin? See, I only have a few people to worry about. Before the fall, we talk about Adam and Eve and we say they were able to sin. OK, you want to say that for me so I don't mess it up. You don't. OK. The Latin term is posse picare. They were able to sin. After the fall, they were not able, not just them, but all humanity, unsaved humanity is not able not to sin. They are going to sin. It's not just a choice, it's their nature. And they act according to their nature. So sinners without Christ are not able not to sin. Non passe, non piccare. It's not possible for them not to sin. In Christ, we are now able not to sin. That's the point that I'm driving at here. We are able not to sin. So before you were saved, you couldn't change who you were. But now that you've been saved, it is possible for you not to sin. It actually is very comparable, pre-fall and conversion are both comparable. You're able to sin and you're able not to sin. And one day, by God's grace, when we are glorified, we will not be able to sin. It won't be possible for us to sin. The point is now because of Christ, because of regeneration, you don't have to live this way. You can change, you can grow. It's possible for you because of the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm going to go very quickly through this point, not to be done by 1115, but because I want to have some time for the last point. Jesus is the source of Christian growth, and that's been the lion's share of our attention. Jesus is the measure of Christian growth. What I mean is as you grow in godliness, you can because of Jesus. And and when you do, as you do, you will be measured by Jesus. You're compared to him. OK, let me just. Set your minds at ease. When you grow in Christ, my goal for you is not to be more like me. All right, isn't that kind of the nature sometimes in a church? You know, I want everybody to be as godly as me. Mercy, I don't want to be as godly as me. I want to be like Jesus. Okay, I don't have this image in my mind. Every godly lady will look like my wife. Every godly teenager will look like my teenager. You need a higher standard than that. Our focus is in conformity to some person or personality or, you know, my tics must become your tics. I'd spare you that. You need to be like Jesus. We read in Romans 8, that God's purpose for you is to conform you to the image of his son. You know, Romans 828 without Romans 829 is a pretty devastating verse. Somebody's going through hard times. Somebody loses a job. Somebody finds out about illness in their family. Don't just throw something at him and say, well, things work together for good. All right, don't do that. But we know. that God is using hard circumstances for good, for those who love Him, and He's accomplishing His purpose. And what is His purpose? You say, I don't know. Well, read the verse. The purpose for which God is using hard things in life is to conform you to the image of His Son. God is using your circumstances. Kind of as another means of grace. Have you ever thought about that? Hardships can actually be a means of grace through which God is conforming you to the image of a son. God wants you to look like Christ. All right. You've probably heard me pray sometimes. God, I'm so sick of being like Chris. I want to be like Jesus. All right, your goal is to be like Jesus. You're not trying to be like somebody else in the church. Don't set up somebody on a pedestal. You know, there's some lady. And if I could only be like her, act like her, talk like her. You want to be like Jesus. Ephesians four, which we studied a few months ago, says that sanctification is growth into the likeness of Christ. We will turn here just for a moment. Because such a powerful description, and it's funny, it's not a personal description. It's a description of the whole church growing in Christ likeness. Ephesians 4 13. It says God has given the church these gifts, including pastor to equip the body so it can build itself up. Verse 13 now says, here's the goal until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God. To mature manhood, what is mature manhood? To the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. So 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 that is into Christ. Think of it this way. Christ as the head of the body has no growing to do. He's not maturing. Christ is not growing in godliness. But if you picture it, it's like the body of Christ has this perfect head and the body is kind of scrawny, kind of boyish. OK, looks like Charlie Brown, nice big head, little bitty body. But we grow. And as we grow, we begin to fit our head more. We're growing up into him, becoming more and more like him. Verse 16, from whom the whole body joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped. When every part is working properly, it makes the body grow so that it builds up itself in love. OK, I've been focusing on your personal growth and rightly so. But Scripture says our whole body should be growing together. There's something encouraging about the fact that it's not just you doing your devotions in private, trying to grow on your own, but we're all growing. We're all working toward the same goal. We're all maturing in Christ. And Jesus accomplishes it. And he's gifted the church with a pastor to help you. But then the pastor's job is to get all of us functioning so every joint is doing its job. And we're all growing up together. And God willing, nobody is left behind. We grow as a church. God, help us grow as a church. Help us grow. What do you mean, get bigger? No. Get more like Christ. I'm idealistic enough to think if we grow spiritually, God willing, we will grow numerically. I think where there is vital Christianity, people want to be there and we'll see people converted and we'll see Christians who want to move here and be part of this. But our desire isn't numerical growth. It's spiritual growth. It's maturing into the image of Christ. That's what we are after. Christ does this. Look at the book of Colossians for just a moment. Turn to your right, Colossians 3. It's page 984 in your pew Bibles. Again, I don't have time to uncork on this like I wish I did. Talking about Christian growth, it says you can't live in the same old sin that you were saved out of. said, you used to walk in these things, verse seven, when you lived in them. But now your nature has changed and so your habit has changed. But now you must put them all away. Anger, wrath, malice, slander, obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices. You put on the new self. Which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. All right, I'm going to guess that for many, this will be a whole new concept, a way of understanding Christian growth. The new self, the change, the new nature that is creating new behavior, new character, what is happening in me when I grow? Is that God is restoring the image of the creator in me. OK. I put it this way, sanctification is the restoration of the fall marred image of God in us. OK, humanity was made in the image of God, right? All humanity, those who don't know Christ, they're still made in the image of God. But the Christian is being reclaimed, the image of God has been marred by the fall, morally marred. And as we grow, we say we're becoming like Christ. Beautiful. All right. But the language that Colossians uses is that we're being remade into the moral image of God that was lost at the fall. And what God is doing, he's making me like Jesus, which means he's making me like the perfect man. And he's restoring his image in me. So when I say, God, I want to be like Jesus, he's not just the standard by which I'm measured. He's actually the standard that is being recreated in me morally so that I reflect the image of God more perfectly. The fall has messed me up. The fall has messed up all of humanity. And how many times have we talked about this? What God is doing through the gospel, He's not just saving individuals. He's putting Humpty Dumpty back together. He's fixing what the fall broke. And part of that has to deal with a marred image of God now being repaired by God's grace. Sanctification, conformity to the image of Christ, it is growth and maturity into the likeness of Christ. It is the restoration of the image of God in us, not that fallen humans don't have it, but they have it in such an imperfect state. Morally, it's being recreated in us. Westminster, shorter, catechism asks a question. You imagine this is especially being taught to children. Ideally, what is sanctification? The answer given is sanctification is the work of God's free grace. whereby we are renewed in the whole man after the image of God. That is Colossians 3. We are being renewed in the whole man after the image of God and are enabled more and more to die unto sin and live unto righteousness. It's a great definition. Christ is the source of Christian growth. Christ is the measure of Christian growth. And we end on what I hope will be An inspiring note for us, Christ is the goal of Christian growth. OK, I'm speaking to Christians today and I'm not naive enough to think that everybody in the building is a Christian, but I'm addressing Christians today. OK, Christians, look at me just for a moment. How many of you want to grow? You know, we've studied for too much. How many of you want to grow? Of course you want to grow. I want to grow. Why do you want to grow? Why do you want to grow? Well, I don't know. It's a churchy thing to do. Of course you want to grow. What do you think I am? Of course I want to grow. Yeah, but why do you want to grow? When you have had times in your life where you've sought after growth, you've wanted to be more like Christ, you wanted to be a stronger, more mature Christian. What motivates you? Could it be personal satisfaction? Could it be a sense of perfectionism? Why do you want to become a better Christian? Because that's the kind of person I am. There's no weeds in my garden, I don't even own a junk drawer. My house is flawless and I am a growing Christian because I won't tolerate anything else. Well, amen. Seriously, there have been times where I have been motivated for Christian growth because because I'm just a good person and I'm not settling for less. That's not Christian growth. Maybe worse than that, maybe I want to be respected by other Christians. Call it pride of grace in his in his great book on sanctification, by the way, I'd recommend this to you book called Holiness by J.C. Ryle. Read read dead people, they have not all of them, but dead people have good things to say and they don't change their mind anymore. I had somebody endorse one of the gospel meditations books, and the more he speaks, the more I think, oh, no. You know, I wish I could adjust that. All right, J.C. Ryle is strong. He writes in holiness. He writes about pride. And he says there are people that have pride of grace, that is, they're proud of their spiritual accomplishment. He compares it to pride of race, pride of face. I think he says pride of place. He uses all these different images, things we're proud about, he says, but especially sinister is pride of grace. You're proud of your Christian accomplishments. Is that why you want to grow? You imagine we have a family conference. We're going to help people be better dads. We're going to help people be better husbands. Imagine we give a testimony time and I ask Robert, I say, Robert, why do you want to be a better husband? And he says, because I just can't live with myself if I'm not. Because I must be awesome because I'm generally awesome. And I'm going to be the best dad ever. You know, when they give out those mugs on Father's Day that say world's best dad, I will know deep down it's true. Okay. Robert wants to grow. He wants to be a better dad because that's just the kind of guy he is. Isn't that a bogus answer? Okay. Give me, give me a good answer. Why do you want to grow to be a better husband? Give me a good answer. Why do you want to grow to be a better husband? I'm not looking for a God related answer. Why do you want to grow to be a better husband? Because I love my wife. Why do you want to grow to be a better parent? I just want everybody to know how awesome I am. I want to have a reputation. When people see my kids, I want them to think I'm awesome. You say that's ridiculous. Really? I want to be a better dad because I love my kids. I want to be a better pastor. Why do you want to be a better pastor? Because I want people to think I'm an awesome pastor. Or because I love our church, I love our sheep. You don't become a better Christian Because you want to feel better about yourself. And the irony is, and again, Ryle says in his book on holiness, the more you grow, the more you're aware of how much you need to grow. The more you grow in humility, the more you're sickened by your pride. Now, I'll warn you, the more you grow, you're not going to feel like you're growing. You're actually probably going to feel like, man, I'm more grieved about my sin than ever. I'm not making progress. No, you probably are. And you don't despair. Why do you want to grow as a Christian? Not so you're awesome. You want to grow as a Christian because you love Jesus. You want to know him. You want to walk with him. Paul isn't doing a self-improvement program. So he can post pictures of of himself on his blog or so he can go on Pinterest and show how clean his his house is. He's saying, I want to grow. And he puts it in Philippians three. He says, I want to. Know Him. The power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering. I want to know Him. Jesus is the goal of Christian growth. I mean, God forbid you should use Christian growth as some excuse to make a spectacle of yourself. Christian growth is not a platform by which you can be made to look better. You grow as a Christian because you love Jesus. You say, what if nobody notices? He will notice he's good at those things. And the truth is, Paul tells Timothy that when you grow, he says your your your progress will be apparent, but not as a goal. What you want is to be closer with the Lord Jesus Christ. You want to grow for a relationship, not for a reputation. OK, I want our church to be genuinely godly. Corporately, I want us to be godly. I want us to be holy. I want us to be gracious. I want us to be loving when people arrive. I want them to see a sincerity about us that we're glad they're here. We're welcoming. We're not condemning. We're not judging. I want us to be mature. But not so that we have a reputation, I want us to be genuinely that so that we honor the Lord Jesus Christ. So again, I say we're longing for God himself. We're not just longing for godliness. God, when I say I want to grow, I'm not just saying I want to knock a few items off my to-do list. I want to know you better. I want to walk with you more. I want to bring more pleasure to you as you look at my life. I want to be more useful to you. Ultimately, we grow for God's glory, just like everything else. And that's where we read in Romans 11, everything is about Him. You grow through Him. You grow like Him. And you grow for Him. So we say that Jesus is the measure of Christian growth. He's the source of Christian growth, but he's the goal. I want to grow for Jesus sake. Christian, you're a part of a cosmic design, and I'm not exaggerating. There's a cosmic design whereby God is bringing everything under the feet of Christ. Everything in creation will acknowledge Him as the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess. God's cosmic plan is to bring glory to Jesus. And you're part of that. As you fight temptation, as you develop Christlike character, as you're not so petty and not so selfish and not so self-righteous, But you're more loving and you're more joyful and you experience peace and you share peace and you embrace grace. It's not just so that you have a better experience, it's not so you have a better reputation, it's for the glory of God. You grow for Jesus sake. Wrap up with these reminders. Christian growth is the only real proof of Christian life. Christian growth is your vital science. If you're not growing, you may still be dead. So, Pastor, what are you talking about? I've been a Christian all my life. If you don't have a pulse, if you don't have some indication that you're growing, why would we believe that? Some of you may be really religious and really good at following the system and the rules. But but your dad. And you need Christ. Christian growth is a miracle, it's not self-improvement, it's rooted in the full or gospel of Jesus Christ, especially regeneration, it's a miracle. And you're a participant. You're not merely a recipient, you are participating in this synergism of sanctification. God sanctify me. And I'm going to do everything in my power to pursue holiness. I've been speaking to Christians, but I say to everyone here today, if you don't yet know Jesus as your savior. I'm begging you to trust him today. Some of you say I would, but Christians are such hypocrites. Yeah. You don't need Christians to save you, you need Jesus. You say, I can't grow. Yes, because you're not born yet. Once you come to life, once you trust Jesus, you're forgiven, you're saved, you have a new nature. not through this church, not by becoming a Baptist. You need Jesus alone. If you trust him as your savior, repent of your sin and ask him to forgive you and save you, then you can start a life of growth and change. If you don't yet know Jesus, what are you waiting for? What are you waiting for? Today would be a great time for you to bow your head and quietly pray, Jesus, I don't understand the whole Bible. But I know I'm a sinner. My conscience tells me, the Bible tells me, I need a Savior. Jesus, you died for me. You rose again. I'm so sick of my life of sin. Jesus, save my soul. Right where you're seated today. You can pray say Jesus saved me You can pray it in English you can pray it in in Spanish or Portuguese or whatever language is of your heart you pray and say Jesus saved me and he will do it Jesus saved me. Let's bow in prayer, please Thank you Lord for the Bible Thank you that it is not the mere opinions of men. It is the living, powerful Word of God. I pray that you'll use it today to accomplish your purpose. And I don't have to guess what that is. Your purpose is to mature your people. I pray for that, myself included. Grow us in godliness. Individually and as families and corporately grow us, mature us, make us like Jesus for Jesus' glory. For any who don't yet know Christ as Savior, I pray that today will be the day when they confess their sin and say, Jesus, save my soul. I pray that people will be born again and experience the very life-changing power we've been describing from the Word. I pray, Lord, that you will win as we sing this concluding hymn. Wage war on our selfishness. Win. Conquer us. Grow us to be more and more like Jesus, and we will give you all the glory. We pray all these things in Jesus' name. Amen.