me in God's holy word to the book of Romans chapter 8 and we will begin reading in Romans chapter 8 in verse 16. Hear now the word of the living God. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption, and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know what to pray for as we ought. But the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings, too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. For those who are called according to his purpose, or 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. Thus ends the reading of God's very Word. Let's pray. Lord God, as we again open Your Word, we are just amazed at who You are. And we pray that you would come now by your spirit and open these verses of scripture to us to have a better, a clearer understanding of who you are and who we are in Christ Jesus. And not only to have a better, a clearer understanding of this portion of scripture, But Lord, to write it upon our hearts that we would have increased love for you, increased love for one another in Christ, increased comfort, increased joy, increased strength in you, Lord, to live this week for your praise. And so come Lord Jesus, we beg. Save us. Come and walk in our midst. Come and bless us. Wield your sharp two edged sword that comes out of your mouth. And pierce our hearts with it afresh. And we give you praise. In Jesus, Amen. I want you to picture a chain, a chain, a safety chain, a chain that is strong, a chain that is forged in the glories of heaven, a chain that is unbreakable. And I want you to picture that that chain is what holds us in fellowship with the living God. You can picture this chain as an anchor. And instead of that chain like on a ship reaching down into the murky depths of the sea holding an anchor at the bottom of the sea, this chain is stretching upward into heaven. And that chain is what holds us and guarantees that those who are trusting in Jesus will make it to heaven. Well, let's look at this text and see how God describes His mercy and love and grace to us like a chain. A chain of God's incredible love A chain that is invincible, unbreakable, a chain that holds us. We see in verse 28, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good. For those who are called according to His purpose. This promise, all things work together for good, is for those, number one, who love God, and then we see that described at the end of this verse for those who are called according to His purpose. Not only our experience of loving God because He first loved us, but we see this reference now to God calling us according to His purpose. And verses 29 and 30 now take us to a pinnacle. up on the top of an amazing peak of God's mountain, and it's as if the Lord just stretches forth His hand and says, I want you to look at this view from this peak. This is a peak that we could not attain to in our own thinking, our own imagination. It is a peak that is a pinnacle of God's amazing grace. And God takes us there in this portion of the book of Romans so that we might be encouraged and strengthened to continue to glory in our God and trust Jesus our Savior. Verses 29 and 30 describe for us now this second category of those who are the rightful recipients of this promise. What does it mean? to be called according to the purpose of God. And it's as if the Apostle Paul, writing by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, says, well, I want to give you just a little glimpse from this bird's eye view of this amazing work of God. that our confidence for life is based ultimately on our great God himself and his work of redemption, planning our redemption, purchasing our redemption, applying our redemption, keeping us. There are three things that I want you to notice about verses 29 and 30. First of all, I want you to notice the verbs in these two verses. 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. These verbs that we see beginning in verse 29, for new predestined, down in verse 30, predestined, called, justified, glorified. Those are the verbs. Those are the action words that these verses reveal to us. And all of these verbs are in the aorist tense of the Greek. Now, the Greek language is a little different from English. It's very similar in many ways, but the tenses of these verbs are in the aorist tense, which basically is the closest to our past tense. In English, our three main tenses of verbs, past, present, and future. And in Greek, the aorist tense is sort of like our past tense, but it has an additional aspect to it. It is past tense because it is completed action. It is action that has been completed. The present tense in Greek is action that is started but continues on. And obviously the future tense in Greek is something that is yet to take place. And it is striking that all of the verbs in these two verses are in the aorist tense. meaning that this is completed action. And obviously, at the end of this series of verbs in our text, in verses 29 and 30, one of these verbs has not taken place yet. None of us have been glorified. None of us are in heaven because that's what glorification is. So how can it be completed action? Well, these verbs describe that these are events that God Almighty is doing or will do that are so certain. that they are put in this Aristens. It is so certain that these could be described by God himself and only by God as so certain that it is a done deal. It is completed. It is certain. That's the first thing that I want you to notice about these verbs. The second thing that I want you to notice is that God is the one doing them. God is the one who is doing these verbs. Look at the end of verse 29. For those who are called according to His purpose, who's the His? It's God. Verse 29, for those whom He, who's the He? It's God Almighty. He foreknew. He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. It is God who is doing these amazing works. redemption these various aspects of his amazing grace and love in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and those whom he predestined he also called God is the one who foreknew. God is the one who predestined. God is the one who called. And those whom he called, he also glorified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. Those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. God is the one who is doing the action. And then the last thing that I would draw your attention to is that these verbs take us from eternity past to eternity future. These action words are the chain of God's amazing grace that began before the world was and will take us to eternity future when time will be no more. This is an amazing God. who has planned, is doing, and will do an amazing work of redemption. And God is the one who is doing it. Now the last thing that I want you to see before we dig into these verses is that this action These verbs that are in the aorist tense that God has, is, and will do are all about God's love for us as his children. God's love is an amazing love. God's love is powerful. God's love is a saving love. God's love is invincible. And so, we see just this little summary now of these three truths about these verbs. Let's look at what these verbs mean, and then we'll make just a few applications in the few minutes that we have. We see at the end of verse 28, this qualification, those who have the right to own this promise, all things work together for good, is given to those who love God. It's given to those who are the called according to his purpose. And what does it mean to be the called according to his purpose? Well, we see two things at the end of verse 28 about this. We see the experience that we have. We love God. And as we saw last Lord's Day in 1 John 4, 19, we love him because he first loved us. We see the experience in this second phrase, for those who are called. A Christian is somebody who hears the voice of Jesus. Not an audible voice, but a voice nonetheless, where God is calling us to repent and believe in His Son. Why do we believe in Jesus? It is because Jesus has spoken. His powerful, sweet, gentle voice calling us out of darkness into His marvelous light. And we see God now says, according to His purpose. God takes us now behind the veil of our experience and gives us this little glimpse of why is it that we have experienced this tug on our hearts, this desire to believe in Jesus, this yearning to be right with the living God, this drive to turn from the world and all that is against God and turn to Jesus and embrace Him. throwing ourselves upon His mercy, receiving and resting upon Christ alone. Well, it is being called according to His purpose. And verses 29 and 30 now are going to describe for us the purpose of God. It's going to describe for us the plan of God, the will of God. All of those are synonyms that we could look at many other portions of scripture to see. And it begins in verse 29, for those whom he foreknew this matter of God foreknowing. It's not that God just merely has knowledge. The term know throughout the scriptures is used, yes, to include knowledge, and sometimes it's used to specify just knowing something or knowing something beforehand. But we see, for example, in Genesis chapter 4 that Adam knew his wife Eve. The Hebrew term for no, yada, is a term that can, yes, refer to just having intellectual knowledge about something, but obviously this Hebrew word that's used there in Genesis chapter four, Adam knew his wife Eve. It was not just intellectual understanding of his wife that is involved there. And we see God using this term, no, to describe God Almighty's saving love. Yes, it includes God knowing all about us. But for example, in Psalm 1, at the end of this Psalm, we see in verse 6, for the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish. God is not just describing that he has intellectual understanding of his people, but he has this dear love and heart of compassion for his people. Over in the book of Amos chapter 3 in the Old Testament, another passage where God describes His knowing His people. In Amos chapter 3 verse 2, He says, You only have I known of all the families of the earth. Here's a passage that God is not saying, now, I don't have intellectual understanding of any other people groups, any other families on the earth, but I do have intellectual knowledge of you. No. Here the term no is used in this intimate love where God has set his love. You only have I known of all the families of the earth and therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities. There was a special responsibility placed upon His people because they had the Word of God, they had the sacrificial system, they had the priesthood, they had prophets who had preached the gospel to them. All of that because of God's mercy and love. We see this also in an individual sense. For example, in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 1. Jeremiah chapter one. We read as God comes to Jeremiah when he calls him to be his prophet. In verse four, now the word of the Lord came to me saying, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations. And so in the New Testament, we see the same thing. We see God describing His love for His people, His love for His Son in terms of God knowing His people, knowing His Son. We see that the Lord knows His people. And so in Romans chapter 8 verse 29, is this verb being used to describe just God knowing something ahead of time or does it also include this aspect of God's setting His love, of God choosing to set His incredible love beforehand? Let's look at a couple of passages that I think help us. 2 Timothy chapter 3, 2 Timothy not chapter 3, chapter 1. And here we have in verses 8 and following, Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for his gospel by the power of God, who 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. In other words, God set His love upon us not because of any works that we have done, but just according to His own grace. And when did that take place? Before, before The world began before the ages began. What an amazing God. Over in Ephesians chapter 1, we see a passage where God describes His amazing love. And we begin reading in Ephesians 1 verse 3, 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, to the praise of His glorious grace with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven, and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. And so when did God make this plan? Well, before the world began, we read in verse four, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. And who was it that He chose? He chose those who were lost and dead in sin. And it is because of God's amazing grace that we are made alive. according to the plan and purpose of Almighty God. Oh, this chain of God's love, it is an amazing chain. It's about God's grace. Look at Titus chapter 3 and here we have a description of what we used to be and what we would still be had God not intervened. Our salvation is because of God's great work and all of our praise goes to God. In Titus chapter 3 in verse 1, remind them to be submissive, talking about Christians, to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people, for we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others, and hating one another. What changed you? What changed me from being such a rascal? to be those who believe in Jesus and love Him. Look at verse 4. But when the goodness and lovingkindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us. not because of works done by us in righteousness but according to his own mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior. And so what changed me from being someone who Hated God and hated my fellow man to being somebody who loves Jesus and loves God and loves my fellow man. The kindness and mercy of God. God set His love. He has regenerated and renewed us by His Spirit. Back to the book of Ephesians chapter 2. The apostle Paul describes us and why we no longer are what we used to be. Look at Ephesians 2 verse 1. What did I used to be? And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience. among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind." Who are we? We are people who are just like the rest of mankind. Left to myself, I'm dead toward God. Left to myself, I am a child of wrath, a son of disobedience, one who is walking according to the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, dead in my trespasses and sins. What changed me? What changed you? Was it that we were just smarter than other people? Was it that we figured it out? No, verse 4, but God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which He loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places. In the next chapter in the book of Romans, chapter 9, God describes this amazing work of Him taking from the same lump some people to form and fashion as vessels for mercy, and some that He leaves in their state of rebellion against Him. But notice it is the same lump. And so as we begin to think about this chain of God's amazing saving love here in Romans chapter 8, this work of God for knowing His people is not that God looks ahead and sees who chooses Him and that's who He plans to save. Because if that's how it worked, we've got two problems. We have, number one, that the creature does get to take credit. When I was a little boy, one of the things that I did was waste a lot of time watching the boob tube. And one of the cartoons that I watched was Jellystone Park. And there were two bears. There was Yogi and Boo Boo. And every episode of Jellystone Park was these bears, Yogi was the tall one, Boo Boo was the little short fat bear, they would get into trouble. At every episode, they would get into some kind of trouble. And every episode was Yogi, the tall bear, figuring out how to get them out of whatever jam they were in. And every episode ended with Boo Boo exclaiming, hey, hey, hey, he's smarter, talking about Yogi, than the average bear. That was the point of the show. And of course, we all cheered and rejoiced that Yogi was so smart. And poor little Boo Boo, who was just bumbling along in life, he is standing in amazement and awe at how Yogi has figured it out yet again. Hey, hey, hey, he's smarter than the average bear. And sadly, And I used to believe this. But sadly, there are people who think that the reason we're a Christian is because we're just smarter than other people. And we've figured it out. We chose Jesus. And don't misunderstand me, a Christian is someone who chooses Jesus. Amen. But why did I choose Jesus? And it is this amazing work of God Almighty to foreknow, to set His love upon a worthless rascal like Henry Johnson. even before the foundation of the world. And you can put your name in there. It's not that when we get to heaven, we pat ourselves on the back and we say, oh, living God, the reason I am here, even in a little part, is because I figured it out. And I'm smarter than the average person. The average person rejects the truth. No, when we get to heaven, we will take the crown off of our head and throw it at the feet of Jesus as an expression of our love and adoration and worship, acknowledging that, Lord, it is all of what you have done. That's the only reason I'm here. You planned my redemption. You purchased my redemption. You applied my redemption. You kept me in that state of redemption. And now here I am enjoying the glory of your presence. All praise goes to you. That's what we begin to see in Romans chapter 8. God is revealing His glory to us in these verses. And while yes, it is a humbling thing, it is one of the sweetest teachings for God's people. Because it means that my redemption ultimately depends on God and not me. You know, if something ultimately depends on me, guess what? We're in trouble. We're in trouble. How's your track record, child of God? How's your track record since you became a child of God? Have you struggled? Have you stumbled? And all of us who are honest, we must say, oh Lord, You are my Savior. I depend on You to keep me. I depend on You to hold on to me. And so as we go through these verses, we see those whom he foreknew, he also predestined. And those whom he predestined, he also called. And those whom he called, he also justified. And those whom he justified, he also glorified. We have this unbreakable series of actions by Almighty God that began even before the foundation of the world and now culminates in the glories of heaven. And so what do we say to all of this? And I want you to look in verse 31 of Romans 8. What then shall we say to these things if God be for us? Who can be against us? God is the one who is for us. How do we know for sure that this promise, all things work together for good, is always going to be true for the child of God? It is because, and notice, go back to verse 28, and we know. How do we know? because God tells us who He is. God tells us He's going to take care of us. God tells us He shows us His amazing grace. He reminds us that it was not because of our own goodness or wisdom that we are in Christ Jesus, but it is all because of God's grace and God who planned our redemption will surely take us to heaven. We have hope in Jesus because of who God is, because of his amazing promises to us. God is the God of our salvation. As we close this morning, Let me ask you, do you see this unbroken chain? That God loves us and he has a plan for us and his plan is to get his children to heaven. And so when we doubt, am I going to make it? We need to run to Jesus and appropriate this promise. God, you have promised to keep me. And even though my circumstances seem impossible, for this to be worked together for good. Lord, I know in your good time, I'm going to see how even this good is mine. My wife and I were talking about this and she reminded me of an event from the experience of Corrie Ten Boom. And they found themselves in a Nazi concentration camp because they had laid their lives on the line to protect Jewish people. And here now they are being horribly persecuted. And not only are they in a Nazi concentration camp, but the particular building that they were in had an outbreak of lice. And the German guards didn't care anything about these people, obviously. And Corrie ten Boom records in her biography, her autobiography, about how she just was so angry that even now she was being afflicted with lice. And her sister, Betsy, reminded her of an amazing promise, that God works all things together for good, even lice. And they began to think, and Corrie ten Boom came to realize that What first appeared to be a horrifying scourge, God was using as an incredible blessing because they had lice in that building, the guards didn't come around. And it meant, therefore, that they had the freedom to have Bible studies. None of the other buildings could have open Bible studies. But the people in that building, because of lice, the guards wouldn't dare come in there. They didn't want to get lice. And even though it was a difficulty in one sense, yet God used it for good. Now let me ask you, when you and I are tempted to doubt the goodness of God, when you and I face situations that are so difficult and hard and we think, I don't see anything good's gonna come out of this, what does God want us to do? He wants us to trust and obey Jesus. He wants us to rest in the providence of God, to know that our God, who has planned our redemption, the God who didn't spare His own Son that promises like Romans 8, 28, will be true for us. We may not see it at the time, but just keep watching. Just keep waiting. And in God's good time, God will show His glory. And so this chain of God's love, it is the guarantee of God Almighty that He's going to save His sheep. Oh, child of God, cling to Jesus. Child of God, don't let go of Jesus. Child of God, when you stumble, run back to Jesus. He alone can save us. And he will save his people for his glory. Let's pray. Father, we are humbled by this passage. Lord, we think of the passage over in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 where you told the Christians there in Corinth that you have taken the mighty and the wise and the noble and shown the world that it is not those things that are the reason why you have a people. You said there's not many wise among you, not many noble, not many mighty. But it is by your doing that we are in Christ Jesus. And so, Lord, we give praise to you, the God of our salvation. Oh, Lord, we are confessing this day praise to you for this chain of your love. And how we thank you that from the same lump of fallen humanity that you plan to set your love upon us and make us a trophy of your grace. And so we give praise and thanks to you. Lord, we thank you for this chain that you revealed to us in these verses. And Lord, that this is your doing. And we thank you, O Lord, that all praise goes to you. We thank you, O Lord, for the comfort and the hope and stability that you are to us. We thank you that this promise, all things work together for good. Indeed, it is true. Your word will always be found faithful. And so, Lord, in the midst of the storms and the battles and the difficulties, give us grace, Lord, to keep believing in you, Lord Jesus. And how we thank you that even though we feel many times like we're not going to make it, you hold on to us. We praise and adore you. Write these things upon our hearts and lives. And now bless as we sing and as we continue to worship. In Jesus we pray. Amen.