The Golden Chain

Please remain standing now for the reading of

the word. We are in Paul's letter to

the Romans, and we're looking at chapter 8,

verses 28 to 30 this morning. Again, Romans

Romans 8:28–30

8,

verses 28

to 30.

It says, And we know that for those

who love God,

all things work together for good.

For those who are called

according to his purpose.

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.

And those whom he predestined,

he also called.

And those whom he called, he also justified.

And those whom he justified,

he also glorified.

The word of the Lord.

Thanks be to God. Please be seated.

Well, I think it is fair to say

that for many reasons,

millennials get a bad rap.

But we should admit that one of the

great contributions that millennials have made to society

is that they were the generation that first

embrace

and expanded the use of memes.

I do not know if we would have

made it through the COVID pandemic, for example,

without

the wonderful

levity and perspective that memes provided.

Most recently, the value of memes was demonstrated

during the Paris Olympics.

The fruitful harvest of which is still in

the beginning stages,

especially with a plentiful seed provided by the

breakdancing prowess of the distinguished doctor Reagan from

Australia.

Other notable memes coming out of Paris 2024

involve

Turkish shooter, Joseph

Dikec,

the silver medalist

whose ultra chill demeanor,

dad eyeglasses,

no frills t shirt,

hand in pocket shooting style, and overall,

I'm just a guy vibe,

captivated the imagination of meme artists from around

the globe.

You You know, to use an expression that

that millennials are yet to ever employ is,

in my day,

it was gold medalists

who earned fame and recognition.

In fact, that's one of the reasons why

they were awarded a gold medal.

Because gold,

with its great value, not only signified excellence,

but its great durability with its resistance

to tarnish and corrosion

symbolize the enduring nature

of Olympic glory.

Well, this morning we are considering one of

the most memorable texts in Paul's letter to

the Romans,

a text that displays

both the glory

and the enduring power

of God's redeeming work.

In fact, the main lesson that I want

you to impress upon you this morning is

this,

salvation is a golden chain

that is forged in God's eternal purpose

and secured around you by his unfailing love.

Again, salvation is a golden chain

that is forged in God's eternal purpose

and secured around you

by his unfailing love. And we're going to

examine this golden chain under 3 headings.

1st,

the chain's design.

2nd, the chain's designer.

And 3rd, the chain's durability.

So let's consider the first heading, the chain's

design.

A recent survey found that 6 in 10

young adults are living life without a clear

sense of meaning and purpose.

Can you imagine that?

At the very time in life

when one has the most energy, when one

is full of life, and and in fact

most of one's life is still ahead of

us, when the possibilities of what one might

accomplish

are as varied and as good as they

can possibly be,

one believes that life has no purpose.

Imagine that. Imagine believing

that life has no purpose,

living life without

meaning,

without a goal,

without direction.

This could easily

hurt your performance at work, for example. It

could easily hurt your personal relationships.

And it could even cause you

to withdraw from society altogether and become

isolated.

This is why so many people today, and

not just young people,

end up falling prey to

unhealthy coping mechanisms of all kinds, such as

substance abuse,

or unhealthy eating habits, or promiscuity,

or excessive screen time,

escapism

or even workaholism

because

you have to fill that empty void with

something.

But since these coping mechanisms don't address

the underlying issue,

this lack of direction

often leads to increased levels of anxiety

and depression

and even to hopelessness and despair.

Well, the good news is that the Bible

does address this underlying issue.

You may remember last

week that from last week, we looked at

verses 26 and 27 of Romans 8, and

we saw that the Holy Spirit reworks our

deepest longings

so that when the Father searches our hearts,

looking as he does through the benevolent lens

of Christ's grace,

he sees the prayer that we ought to

have prayed

proceeding from a heart that is conformed

to his will.

And this ensures that through the Holy Spirit's

intercession

and the ministry of Jesus on our behalf,

our petitions

before God's throne of grace are always received

in full accordance and agreement

with God's purpose.

This is why Romans 828

says,

and we know that for those who love

God,

all things work together for good, for those

who are called according

to his purpose.

People today are trained to believe that life

has no purpose, but that's a terrible lie.

You see, verse 28 tells us that we

are called according

to God's purpose.

In other words, not only is there a

design to life,

but there is a design for your life.

And not only that, but God because God

is sovereign,

verse 28 tells us that if you're a

Christian,

all things are designed

to work together

for your good.

Beloved Christian, I want you to allow this

verse

to wash away your anxiety

and your uncertainties.

I want you to put to rest the

notion

that your life is aimless,

that it is purposeless.

Now verse 28 teaches us that God has

a purpose for his creation, and more importantly,

verse 28 teaches us that God has a

good purpose.

Now Paul does not write that all things

work together for everyone's good.

He writes that all things work together for

the good of a specific group of people.

People who on the one hand love God,

and on the other hand are called by

God.

And in case this is not clear to

you, those who love God

and those who are called by God

are the same group of people.

This is the group of people for whom

all things work together

for good.

The Apostle Paul the Apostle John, sorry, writes

in 1st John chapter 4,

John 4 · chapter mention

that we love God

because He first loved us.

In other words, we love God because

He lovingly called us

into His love.

What this means is that loving God is

not a precondition

that must be met in order to be

the beneficiary of His benevolent design.

Life is not a choose your own adventure

book, where if you choose to love God,

then your character arc now becomes one of

blessing and good purpose.

Rather,

God calls you into his love,

effectively writing you into a story that is

specifically designed

to result

in your blessing.

Your love for God is a response

to his sovereign love for you.

It is the first evidence of his favor

toward you.

It is evidence that you have been called

according to his purpose.

It is the most pivotal instance

of all things working together

for your good.

In other words,

loving God is not a requirement for blessing,

rather it is the first result

of God's blessing.

In 2nd Timothy chapter 1 verse 9, Paul

affirms this very point

writing the following. He writes

that God saved us

and called us to a holy calling,

not because of our works,

but because of his own purpose and grace,

which he gave us in Christ Jesus

before the ages began.

That is to say,

because he loved you

before you loved him,

because he loved you even before the ages

began,

he called you in Christ according to his

own purpose and grace

to live a meaningful life

following a specific

and good

design.

Dear Christian, circumstances in your life may be

difficult

or tragic

or sad.

There might even be people who are trying

to intentionally

cause you harm.

But Romans 828 reminds you that God divinely

orchestrates events in such a way that no

evil scheme against you will ultimately prevail.

This does not mean that everything will work

out the way that you would like.

It does mean that everything will work out

for your ultimate good.

It does not mean

that all your prayers will be answered how

you intend.

It does mean

that your prayers will be answered according to

God's goodwill.

It does not mean that you will be

spared

pain and suffering in this life.

It does mean

that you will be spared pain and suffering

unto eternity.

So instead of wandering through life aimlessly,

as those who have no hope do,

deepen your love for God by studying the

instruction manual

that reveals God's design for creation

and for your life,

God's Word.

We need to devote ourselves to this book.

It is a blessing that God gives us.

And this by doing this, you will set

aside

your anxiety

about what lies ahead,

resting instead

in the assurance that by design,

all things will ultimately work together

for your good.

So So having considered the chain's design, let's

consider our second heading.

The chain's designer.

In verse 28,

we just learned that God has a design

for the life of Christians,

a design that results in their good.

In verses 29 and 30, we will see

that God's benevolent design

for Christians

is their complete and thoroughgoing salvation.

That is the glorious design that is in

view here.

Recall that the main point that I want

you to remember from this morning's sermon is

this, salvation is a golden chain that is

forged in God's eternal purpose and secured around

you by his unfailing love.

In verse 29, we see the first links

of this golden chain, and because of their

supreme and exquisite craftsmanship,

they teach us about the identity of the

master craftsman.

Look again at what verse 29 says.

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.

Notice the verbs in the first half of

verse 29,

to foreknow

and to predestine.

These verbs constitute the first two links

in the Golden Chain of Salvation.

And these two links by themselves reveal the

extraordinary craftsmanship

of the chain.

Here's what I mean.

The raw materials

or the root words

of each link

of foreknowledge and predestination

have been reshaped

and reworked

through the attachment of a prefix that denotes

temporality.

Look at the root of foreknowledge that is

to know.

The root of predestination

to destined.

The first link comes from taking the verb

to know

and hammering into it the temporal prefix

for,

creating the verb to foreknow.

This changes the meaning from merely knowing something

to knowing something before it happens, or even

before it is.

But there's another nuance to this link of

foreknowledge.

The late John Murray,

renowned professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster in

Philadelphia,

notes that in scripture, the verb to know

often refers to a loving

relational commitment,

especially in a covenantal context.

One instance of this usage is in Genesis

4, for example,

where we read that Adam knew Eve and

she conceived.

To know there means to love with intimacy,

within the intimate relationship of husband

and wife. It is covenantal in that sense.

Another instance of this usage is in Amos

Amos 3:2

chapter 3 verse 2, where God rebukes Israel

for disobeying him, promising to punish Israel as

he cries out,

you only

have I known

of all the families of the earth.

Obviously, God does not here intimate that he

is unaware of other nations,

but rather that Israel's sin is especially damning.

Because of all the nations of the earth,

they alone

have been in a loving

covenantal

relationship

with God.

God knows Israel, which is to say, He

loves

Israel. And their disobedience

has broken his heart

because he knows them,

because he loves them.

So you see in scripture very often to

know is to love, and this applies to

foreknowledge.

So that to foreknow

is to forelove,

that is to say to love

before

being loved.

Therefore we can reasonably conclude that the first

link in the golden chain of salvation carries

the meaning of setting one's love

on someone,

even before they set their love on you,

indeed even before they exist.

The second link comes from taking the archaic

verb

to destiny.

It's archaic, no longer used, which means to

determine,

and fusing into it the temporal prefix

pre,

creating the verb to predestine.

This transformation

changes the meaning from merely determining something

to determining something in advance or a priori.

Notice then what these two links in the

golden chain of salvation reveal

about the master craftsman who shaped and joined

them.

No mere creature

is capable of perfectly knowing what lies ahead,

neither does a mere creature have authority

to sovereignly mold someone's life into a shape

and for a purpose of his own choosing.

This means that God alone

has the capacity and right to forge a

golden chain of salvation

that has foreknowledge and predestination

as its first two links.

The first link tells us that God sets

his saving love on certain individuals

before he has even made them.

That's why he foreknows them and he foreloves

them.

And then having set his love on them,

God predestines them or predetermines their glorious destiny

before creating them.

This is how Paul puts it in in

Ephesians chapter 1 verses 3 to 5, where

Ephesians 1:3–5

he writes,

Blessed be the God and Father of our

Lord Jesus Christ,

who has blessed us in Christ with every

spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

even as He chose us in Him

before

the foundation of the world,

that we should be holy and blameless before

him. In love, he predestined us

for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus

Christ,

according to the purpose

of his will.

Notice that this work of foreknowledge and predestination

takes place before the creation of mankind even

before the foundation of the world.

Therefore, the kind of work,

this kind of work

literally requires divine intervention,

meaning that God alone

is the designer of the golden chain of

salvation.

Now

because of the uniquely glorious provenance of this

golden chain,

Christians throughout centuries

have struggled to accept this priceless gift as

is.

In fact, instead of simply and humbly

receiving the gift of this chain, many try

to add their own work to the chain,

and by so doing,

they end up tarnishing

the radiant splendor

of the original.

They rework the chain by adding their own

link to it,

right between the link of foreknowledge and predestination.

The link they add is the link of

personal faith,

effectively making the connection between foreknowledge and predestination

contingent

upon this new link.

They say, for God to foreknow you,

you must

show

somewhere in his knowledge that you will have

personal faith.

And if he knows that you will one

day have personal faith,

then God will predestine you

to eternal life.

They add this new man made link which

becomes the most important link in the chain.

And in order to fit this new link

in between the first two, they have to

reshape

both links.

So they readjust and open the first link,

so that instead of being foreknowledge by which

God sovereignly and freely knows and loves those

whom He will save even before they exist,

it becomes a kind of post knowledge.

Meaning that God will only set His love

on you

after knowing

that you will exhibit personal faith in Him

someday.

In other words,

the links in the reworked

chain of salvation

begin telling a different story.

They now say that God loves you because

you

first

loved him.

In the reworked chain of salvation, the link

of predestination

is also altered

to fit in the link of personal faith.

The link of predestination by which God predetermines

whom he will redeem according to his own

sovereign and free will,

instead has to become

post destination.

As God responds

to redeem only those who first exhibit personal

faith according to their free will.

The designer of this counterfeit chain of salvation

is no longer God, but man

who adds the link of personal faith between

foreknowledge and predestination

and proceeds to sell this new chain of

salvation

to whosoever

chooses

to believe.

Beloved Christian, don't settle for the counterfeit.

Salvation belongs to the Lord.

He is the master craftsman,

the designer of the golden chain of salvation,

and he has made this invaluable gift for

you.

Don't alter it.

Humbly receive it with a grateful heart,

and display this precious gift adorning it with

a godly life that brings glory to the

lover of your soul.

For you see, that is the purpose of

this gift.

The golden chain of salvation doesn't merely save

you.

It transforms

you into a beautiful and holy person that

God designed for you to be.

It conforms you to the image of Christ

so that your life will increasingly be marked

by his character and his godliness.

Remember that this is what Paul writes in

the second half of verse 29,

where we once again read, 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.

Is this not amazing?

The golden chain of salvation will transform the

person who wears it into the image of

Christ one day.

The affections of your hearts,

your character,

your thoughts

and your actions will be so conformed to

the image of Christ, your lives will so

resemble his,

that it will be clear that you are

his brothers

and his sisters.

You will bear the family resemblance.

That is the ultimate destiny that God predestined

for you before the world began.

This is the ultimate goal and purpose

for your lives,

Christlikeness.

So let us begin to cultivate the fruit

of the Spirit in our lives now,

confident that he who began a good work

in us will also bring it to completion.

The golden chain of salvation begins in eternity

past

with foreknowledge and predestination

as its first two links.

And now

we see that its effect results in a

glorious transformation

unto eternity future,

which brings us to our final heading,

the chain's durability.

Look at verse 30 with me.

And those whom he predestined,

he also called.

And those whom he called, he also justified.

And those whom he justified,

he also

glorified.

Whereas the first two links of the golden

chain of salvation,

foreknowledge and predestination,

originate before the foundation of the world and

therefore belong to the realm of eternity past,

verse 30 introduces the temporal links of the

golden chain where God's saving work is applied

and brought to fruition

in the lives of believers.

Now I want you to, first first of

all, notice

what other links are included

in this golden chain of salvation that is

displayed in verse 30.

Now I'll say this. The the chain presented

for us by Paul in Romans chapter 8

Romans 8 · chapter mention

is not complete,

but it is

a a good exemplar of what this chain

holds. And so look at what he includes

here. After introducing foreknowledge and predestination in verse

29,

verse 30 adds calling,

justification,

and glorification.

These are links

in the golden chain.

We said earlier that only God is able

to foreknow

and to predestine.

Well, in verse 30, we read that he

who predestined

is the same person who called,

and the same person who justified

and the same person who glorified.

In other words,

there really is no other designer

of the golden chain of salvation,

but God alone.

Just think of the scope of God's saving

work.

It begins with him foreknowing

whom he will save

before the foundation of the world, And it

ends with him

perfecting

believers

in glory.

He really does all the work, which means

that he rightly gets all the glory.

Look at how Paul puts it in Ephesians

Ephesians 2:8–10

chapter 2 verses 8 to 10.

For by grace you have been saved through

faith,

and this is not your own doing.

It is the gift of God, not a

result of works so that no one may

boast.

For we are his workmanship

created in Christ Jesus for good works, which

God prepared beforehand

that we should walk in them.

Remember I said earlier that

man tries to alter

God's golden chain of salvation by adding his

own link of personal faith

resulting in a counterfeit chain.

Well, as we just read in Ephesians 2,

faith really is an important link

in the chain of our salvation,

for we are saved by grace through faith.

However,

Ephesians 2 also teaches us that even our

saving faith

is a gift of God

and not a result of works, so that

no one may boast.

So the link of saving faith,

like every other link

in the golden chain is the work of

the master craftsman.

It is the work of God and not

our own.

This may not allow you to boast in

your faith, since it is not your work

but it is God's gift to you, but

it ought to cost a boost in your

faith,

knowing that since faith is a result of

God's work in you, your faith will endure

and ultimately it will not fail.

Paul does not here provide definitions for the

links in the golden chain.

But when he mentions that God calls,

we know that he is not referring to

the call

that God's Word makes to everyone,

the call that says that everyone

should repent

and repent of their sins and that everyone

should turn to Christ, trusting in Him alone

for salvation.

That's a true call from God's word that

is made to everyone.

However,

not everyone heeds that call.

In fact, few people heed that call,

and most people ignore

or even despise

that call.

And that's why we know

that that is not the call that Paul

is referring to here.

Because you see in Romans 8:30,

Romans 8:30

it states that, those whom he predestined,

he also called.

And those whom he called, he also justified,

and those whom he justified, he also glorified.

In other words,

from foreknowledge

to predestination,

to calling,

to justification,

and to glorification,

all these links of the chain

secure

the same group of people.

And those whom he predestined,

he also called.

And those whom He called, He also justified.

And those whom He justified,

He also glorified.

The group stays the same. It never changes.

Not one is lost.

When God foreknows you, that is to say

when God places his love on you before

the foundation of the world,

when you are secured

by that link in the golden chain here

described,

that link and every other link in the

chain

will hold.

It will never break.

It will never let go of you

so that you will certainly

go from being lovingly foreknown in eternity past

to being perfectly glorified

in eternity

future.

The Golden Chain of Salvation is unbreakable

because it was designed and forged by the

master craftsman

and secured around you by the lover of

your soul.

So the link that calls you is the

effectual call that you cannot resist.

It is the effectual call of the good

shepherd

who says that he knows his sheep, that

is to say, he loves them.

And he knows his sheep by name,

and he calls his

sheep, and they follow him because they know

his voice.

It cannot be any other way

because the good shepherd does not lose a

single one

of his sheep.

It is his design.

And the link of justification

refers to God's declaration that because his Son

has redeemed you with his blood,

then you are reckoned as righteous in his

sight.

It is a legal

matter of record.

It cannot be any other way.

And the link of glorification

refers to the full transformation of your soul

and of your body which will be completed

at the resurrection,

and which will result in the total

eradication

of sin,

and of illness,

and of pain, and of sadness,

and even of death.

And it will also result

in your full enjoyment of all the pleasures

at God's right hand.

And even though the full fruition of this

link lies in the future, it is nevertheless

written like every other link in the chain

in past tense

because it is just as certain

and as sure as every other link since

it is made by the same designer

and forged by the same master craftsman.

The links cannot fail because God never fails.

In Exodus 28,

we read that the high priest wore a

square breastpiece

that held 12 stones,

each representing 1 of the tribes of Israel.

Therefore, the breastpiece was known as the breastplate

of judgment.

Because whenever the high priest would put on

his garments to enter into the Holy of

Holies on the day of atonement,

he was figuratively

carrying on his heart

the sins of Israel

before

God's throne.

The breastpiece was fastened to the high priest

garments

using gold chains.

Listen, dear Christian,

Jesus is your high priest.

He ascended the cross with your sin firmly

fastened

to his heart,

And he atoned for your sin

with his own

precious blood.

He took the chains of your sin

and gave you the golden chain of salvation.

How good it is

to wear

this golden chain.

Regardless of your circumstances, let the golden chain

of salvation comfort you in your distress.

It cannot be broken.

It will never fail.

It is a chain forged in God's eternal

purpose

and secured around you with his unfailing love.

Let's pray.