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Chained

Justin Dean · Tuesday, 28 July 2026 · 36:14 · 5,233 words

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In Philippians, Paul’s imprisonment shows how hardship can advance the gospel; he turned his chain to a Roman guard into an open door to share Christ. The sermon stresses that the gospel brings true healing and restoration, giving believers a new identity as God’s children. Listeners are challenged to seek that healing in their own lives and to view the people around them as opportunities to proclaim Christ. The call is to rejoice in the gospel’s spread and share it with those who are chained to us.

What this sermon is about

Ranked by keyness against every other sermon in the corpus. Each one is a word this sermon actually said — nothing here was written by a model.

chain 27 heal 24 identity 26 gospel 54 stuck 21 imprisonment 10 proclaim 19 guard 13 imprisoned 7 restoration 8 whether 16 philippian 10

Topics

The Gospel 15 Prayer 7 Atonement & Sacrifice 2 Faith 2 Salvation 1

Scripture referenced 16

Verified against the transcript. A reference the recording does not support is never listed here.

Philippians 1 1:47 Philippians 1 3:14 Philippians 1:12 3:17 Acts 28 4:17 Acts 28 4:20 Acts 28 4:22 Acts 28 4:32 Acts 28 4:44 Philippians 1:12-18 6:54 Matthew 28 15:22 Matthew 28:19-20 15:27 Matthew 28 16:05 John 1 23:12 John 1:12-13 23:12 Romans 10 24:00 1 Peter 2:24 29:13

Transcript

Every word, as spoken, with the second it was said. Each word links to its own entry in the index.

Pre-service announcement — 7 lines, 0:34. Excluded from every count and search on this site, kept here so nothing is hidden.

Hey everyone, my name is Zach, and thanks for checking out one of our sermons today.

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Thanks again for joining us, and we hope you are blessed by today's message.

I've been really excited about this series, specifically just getting a chance for us to walk through, piece by piece, a very incredible book of Scripture.

So we're looking at the book of Philippians, and specifically the church at Philippi.

Philippi is the city where this church was located.

And look at the joy that each of us receives when we devote our lives to God and to others.

That's what Paul is writing.

That's a big focus, a big chunk of what he's writing and why he's writing to the Philippian church.

And so I'm just excited to be able to go through this incredible book of Scripture and walk through it logically.

I feel like over the last several weeks, we've either tackled smaller chunks of Scripture,

or we've been tackling stories from Scripture.

And so to be able to walk through a letter that Paul is writing to this church,

he has to say to them why he's saying those things,

and then what that means for our lives, I think is super important.

So tonight, I'm excited.

We're excited we're in our second week.

We're going to be still in Philippians chapter 1,

and we're going to be talking about the reality of the gospel,

and specifically our perspective around sharing the gospel,

and why the gospel is so central to our life.

One of the things that Paul does at the beginning of this passage,

or at the beginning of this book,

is he really kicks off with this mindset that we should have as believers.

And he does that through giving the example of his mindset,

and how the Lord has utilized him for the sake of the gospel where he's at.

And specifically, how God can utilize the Philippians where they're at.

And so we're going to dive into that tonight.

But before we do, let's pray together.

If you bow your heads with me, Lord, we love you.

We seek you, Lord, I pray that tonight as we dive into your word,

you would encourage us, you would remind us of the truth of your word,

and you would push us to be motivated for the gospel.

Lord, we love you in your precious and holy name, Jesus name, amen.

And so one of the things that I talked about is that Paul wrote the book of Philippians.

He's writing this letter, right, to this church.

But where was Paul when he was writing this letter?

Well, Paul, he was imprisoned at the time.

And we actually see that if you turn with me to Philippians 1,

we're going to be starting in verse 12.

He highlights the reality of him being imprisoned,

but he uses that as an example to encourage the church of Philippi.

Now, Philippi had supported Paul.

They were familiar with Paul.

And so when they had heard that Paul had been imprisoned in Rome,

they were immediately,

they were completely discouraged, right?

Any reasonable person would be pretty discouraged.

If we had heard that one of our ministry from the River Church,

one of our ministry leaders had been imprisoned,

we would be pretty discouraged.

We'd be sad.

We'd be heartbroken for that person.

Why?

Because we would see that as a hindrance for the gospel.

That person was going and doing their ministry.

That person was going and proclaiming the gospel.

And for whatever reason, they were imprisoned.

And now the gospel is in chains.

But Paul, he writes and he says,

actually, nothing could be further from the truth.

And in Acts 28, we see,

we're not going to go to Acts 28,

but Acts 28 is oftentimes referenced as the piece of history, right?

The Acts of the Apostles record the history of the apostles' missionary journeys.

And so in Acts 28, you see that Paul goes to Rome and he's imprisoned.

And one of the things,

there are two real,

interesting things that you see there.

And people say that this,

during this time of his imprisonment in Rome in Acts 28,

is when he wrote the book of Philippians.

And the reason for it is because some of the wording there ties very,

very similarly to what Paul has to say here in verse 12,

that God was using that for a very specific purpose.

But one of the things that we see there is that Paul was imprisoned in house arrest.

The Romans were incredibly intelligent people.

And so they knew if they put this religious zealot into a prison,

that he's going to go in there and proclaim whatever his spiritual message is.

And he's going to convert all these prisoners and rile them up and start a riot.

And so whenever a religious zealot would come in,

or a religious fanatic, as they viewed, would come in,

they would put him in a prison.

They would put them in house arrest so that they were isolated and secluded.

But to make sure that that prisoner didn't escape,

what they would do is they would pair a guard with that prisoner.

And at all times, they would be chained together.

Like literally chained together.

So Paul, it's said that he's under house arrest.

He's there for two years.

And at one point it says that there is someone who's assigned with him, right?

And so here is this moment.

This moment, right, where Paul's isolated.

He's alone, except for this person that he's basically tied to.

Think about how discouraging that would be.

You're there to try and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

You're stuck with this guard.

And how demeaning is that, right?

You're everywhere you go.

Every meal you make.

Every time you go to the bathroom.

Every time you lay down to go to sleep.

There is literally someone chained to you.

You're stuck with them.

You are stuck with them in your...

Your life.

And they're not the people that you want to be proclaiming the gospel to.

It's this guard who is watching you all the time.

Here's Paul's perspective in the midst of that.

Philippians 1, 12 through 18.

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.

So that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my...

My imprisonment is for Christ.

And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment,

are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from goodwill.

The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.

The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition.

Not sincerely, but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.

What then?

Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.

So Paul looks and he says, there is a huge mess that is going on.

I'm in prison.

There are people who see me in prison, and they look to outdo me.

They look to say, well, Paul's over there stuck in prison,

and I'm over here saving all these people.

Or the gospel.

And they're doing it out of selfish ambition with a prideful heart.

Then there's other people who are encouraged by my prison look and say,

clearly, the gospel is moving and doing something incredible,

so much so that Rome wants to stop it, and they're imprisoning Paul.

And Paul looks and he says, whether it's me in jail,

whether it's these people who are proclaiming it for the wrong intentions

and the wrong reasons and with the wrong heart,

or these people who have the right heart and are out there,

doing the work of God for the desire to see people saved,

the gospel is being preached regardless.

And for that sake, I rejoice.

For that sake, I look and I say, thank you, Jesus.

Wonderful, good stuff.

I'm in.

I'm not discouraged at all.

In fact, I am hyped up.

He says, I will leave the judging of hearts,

to God.

I will leave the planning of circumstances to God.

I will be faithful to the gospel,

and I will celebrate when people hear the gospel.

And for me, I will do my part.

And I love what we see here in Philippians.

We see that there is an immediate outcome that happens from his imprisonment, right?

So he says, because of my imprisonment,

it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard,

and to the arrest that my imprisonment is for Christ.

Well, if Paul is in house arrest, how is he proclaiming the gospel?

Well, if you remember, even though he's on house arrest alone,

there's one person that is chained to him.

I once heard John MacArthur preach a sermon,

Pastor John MacArthur, the late John MacArthur,

preach a sermon on this passage.

And he said, where many of us, we would get this mindset

that would be, I'm stuck with this guard.

I'm stuck with them all my time.

Whether it's, you know, doing all those things,

whether it's the bathroom, whether it's sleeping,

whatever it is, I have to have this person here,

and I'm stuck with them.

How demeaning, how demoralizing, how terrible is this?

And he said, I think that Paul flipped that perspective.

It's kind of that adage of, I'm not stuck in here with you,

you're stuck in here with me, right?

Right?

That's what, I can imagine that is the perspective

that Paul has.

I'm not chained to this Roman centurion.

I'm not chained to this Roman imperial guard.

He's chained to me.

I have someone, I have someone who I can preach

the gospel to, and they cannot leave.

Think about that, right?

He looks, he says, for as long as this guard is on shift,

they're chained to me.

They can't go.

They can't go anywhere without me.

They're stuck with me, and as I proclaim the gospel,

I mean, they can turn their ears off, I guess,

and try to ignore me, but they're stuck

having this conversation.

They are chained to me.

I'm not chained to him.

There is this reality shift.

He looks and he says, the purpose for my imprisonment,

the purpose for anything that happens in my life

is so that I can proclaim the gospel.

And so whether I'm out in the world,

whether I'm in chains, in a prison,

whether I'm on house arrest, chained to a Roman centurion,

whether I'm in front of Caesar,

whether I'm in front of a judge or a prosecutor,

whether I'm on the stage or in the middle of the Colosseum,

I will use that for what God commanded me to do,

which is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

And so Paul uses this imprisonment as an opportunity,

to, we see what happens, Paul says,

this revival, for an opportunity to start this revival

within the imperial guards in Rome.

Because what happens, right?

We don't see exactly the nitty gritty details,

but imagine for me, for a second with me,

what happens, right?

You're this Roman guard.

You're chained to Paul for an eight hour shift.

And this guy is just talking your ear off

about this Jesus guy.

The first thing that you are gonna do

when you get off your shift and you go,

you go back to the barracks with all the other Roman guards,

you'll be like, have you been chained to that

like crazy Jesus guy yet, right?

What the heck is he even talking about?

Well, I was chained up to him yesterday

and here's some of the things he said to me.

Here's some of the things that he said to me.

I was chained up to him last week.

I was chained up to him a month ago.

I've been chained up to him every single Monday

for the last three weeks.

And here's the things he's been saying to me.

And guess what?

There's this conversation begins to start

and then all of a sudden,

they start looking forward

to their times chained to Paul.

So they can ask questions.

And so what starts off as what many people

would be discouraged in saying

as in something that inhibits the gospel,

Paul in his faithfulness uses it as a tool for the gospel.

In reality, he would not have access

to these elites in Roman society,

these centurions, these imperial guards.

But Paul looks and he says, this is my opportunity.

This is my opportunity to preach the gospel to these guys.

This is my opportunity to share Christ,

to help them to know, help them to be transformed.

And so Paul looks and he looks to the Philippian church

and he tries to amp them up.

He says, even in the instances where the world,

where the enemy tries to halt the gospel,

he only fuels it more.

Why?

Because our God is greater.

And so we should celebrate.

We should celebrate the faithfulness of people

to preach the gospel.

The gospel being heard, whether it's selfishness,

whether it's sincerity, or whether it's imprisonment.

And so he says, the gospel is salvation.

That's everything.

We're reminded in Matthew 28 of our mission, right?

Matthew 28, 19 through 20,

Jesus gives this declaration to his apostles.

He says, go therefore and make disciples of all nations,

baptizing them in the name of the Father,

the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe,

all that I have commanded you,

and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.

That is our command.

We may not be the apostles, the original disciples,

but as followers of Jesus Christ,

we are disciples of Christ.

We are following the teaching of Christ.

And so this declaration in Matthew 28,

this command, this commission is our mission as well,

to go and to make disciples

of all nations.

The gospel is this meaning

that we look and we say,

Christ went to the cross.

He died on the cross for our sins,

for our failures, for our evil,

the evil in our lives.

We were destined to hell.

We were destined for death.

Why?

Because we chose that pathway.

But God loved us enough that he sought our redemption.

And Christ came, lived a perfect life.

And he went to the cross as both God and man.

And he died on the cross to take the wrath of God.

He died upon himself so that he could pay for our sin.

On the third day, he rose again for the grave,

conquering death, showing that he is God.

The debt had been paid and that he conquered.

And Paul says in Romans,

if you confess with your mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord

and believe in your heart that he has risen from the dead,

you'll be saved.

That is the gospel.

And so we're called, as those of us who say,

we believe in this gospel.

We have been saved.

We have been forgiven.

We have been saved.

We have been saved.

The call is for us to go and to proclaim that gospel.

Notice that there's not a caveat that says

you have to be a Christian for a certain period of time.

Or you have to pass a Bible test

before you can go and make disciples.

You have to have this many scripture verses memorized

or you've had to read this much of the Bible.

There is simply a call.

If you have confessed with your mouth

that Jesus Christ is Lord

and you believe in him,

believe in your heart that he's risen from the dead,

the command that our Lord and Savior gives to you

is go and preach that truth

and see that others do the same.

And so the question becomes very similar to Paul,

who is chained to you, right?

Paul, there's this very visceral illustration,

this very visible image, right?

Of him chained to a Roman guard

and they're stuck for however long.

And Paul says, I'll make the best of this.

I'm gonna do this.

I'm gonna preach the gospel.

There are people in your life

that you view yourself as stuck with.

For some of you that's stuck with your boss.

You're like, man, I can't stand this guy,

but I'm stuck with him.

Maybe it's stuck with this coworker.

They just bother me and irritate me

and they frustrate me

and they don't do their job at all,

but for some reason they just don't get fired

and I'm stuck with them.

Maybe it's a person in your family.

You're like, man, I wish they would stop

showing up to the family reunions.

I wish they would just leave the family group chat forever

so they don't get fired.

So I didn't have to hear the drama, frustration.

Whoever it is in your life,

you view it as I'm stuck with them.

Maybe the perspective needs to change

and when you say, no, no, no, no, no, no.

They're stuck with me.

They're stuck with someone

who is going to demonstrate, proclaim,

and live the gospel so that they see every day.

So that when they have these problems and the issues

and they come and they wanna vent our ear off

or chew us out, we look and we say,

we will listen and we will proclaim the truth of the gospel

it is our mission to make a disciple

of Jesus Christ out of them.

Now, it doesn't mean that we just beat them over the head

with the Bible till they're numb and they leave us.

But what it does mean is we are this constant

and consistent demonstration of Christ

that we view every opportunity with them

as an opportunity to demonstrate Christ in them.

So when you're on your way to work and you're like,

I do not wanna spend another blanket

amount of hours with that person.

I cannot stand, I just can't do it.

The encouragement comes when you say,

I get to spend X amount of hours

as a demonstration of Christ to these people

or to this person.

And I want you to think about this person's name

because I know some of you in this room

have that person already in your mind.

And I want you to be moved in your heart

to pray for that person.

Maybe that's right now or maybe that's later tonight

or maybe that's every single car ride in the morning

or on your way to work.

Maybe that's on your way to see that person

to look and say, they are in need of the gospel.

And then to be reminded of what the gospel means.

How do we demonstrate the gospel?

The first thing the gospel means for us

is the gospel is identity, identity.

One of the things that I think a majority of people

in our culture right now are struggling with is who am I?

What is my identity?

Is my identity in my job?

Is my identity in my social media presence?

Is my identity in my politics?

Is my identity in my political party?

Where do I find my identity?

Who am I?

Where do I fit in?

Where am I accepted?

Who should I be and what is worth striving for?

And so when we look and we look to demonstrate

the gospel to the people in our lives,

we look and we say, our identity is

forgiven people who follow Jesus Christ.

My identity is in Christ Jesus.

When someone looks to say, who are you?

I look and say, I am a follower of Jesus Christ.

I am someone saved by Jesus Christ.

I am a child of God.

When we look at the beginning of John,

of the book of John,

John clearly lays out what the gospel

or what it means to follow Jesus

and how that ties into our identity.

John chapter one, verse 12 through 13.

He says this,

but to all who did receive him, talking about Jesus,

who believed in his name,

he gave the right to become children of God.

Who were born not of blood,

nor of the will of the flesh,

nor of the will of man,

but of God.

As we receive the gospel of Jesus Christ,

there is this fundamental change,

this shift in our identity where we look and we say,

we belong, we have become accepted.

We are children of God

through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

And so we're these wandering people

who have no identity and no purpose

and we are looking for it in all the wrong places.

And the only real way we can find it

is through what Romans 10, nine says.

That confession that Jesus Christ is Lord

and our belief that he's risen from the dead.

Because this defines us, it leads us,

it captivates us,

it brings us into something greater than ourselves.

This reality that we are saved,

we are children of God,

that we are people that are set out by God

for a holy purpose.

To proclaim his mercies and his forgiveness

and his goodness to live this life

that he's laid out for us

that's better than any life that we could find

or hope to stumble upon on our own.

And as people in our world,

these people who are stuck to us,

chained to us, as they look at us and they say,

how is it that you have this confidence,

this understanding of your identity?

I can't seem to figure it out.

And there's this frustration and,

and irritation and anger

and this restlessness in their spirit

where they're looking to all these places

and it's causing this strife in their lives.

And when they look at you,

they see these people

who have this understanding of purpose,

who have this understanding of identity

and they look and say, what is it?

And so as we live our identity as believers

and we're chained to these people,

there will become natural opportunities for us

to proclaim our identity.

To proclaim Christ, to speak Christ in.

When your boss looks and says,

why do you work with excellence?

Why is it that you are the only staff person I have

who's honest and trustworthy?

Why are you the only person who is caring and kind

both in front of the people that we're working with

and also behind their back?

Why is it that you are supporting me

and caring for me

and submitting to me as I lead you?

No one else is.

Everyone else is vying for my spot.

But you seem to care for me differently.

When your family member looks at you

and is like, I've burned you

time after time after time after time after time.

Why is it?

It can't just be familial love.

You can speak in those moments and say,

it's because of my identity.

It's because I have been forgiven.

It's because I follow Christ.

It's because he,

calls me to excellence.

It's because I serve him and not you.

There is this identity that captivates us.

It leads us.

And we look and we say,

this is who we live for.

We live for Christ.

And so in those moments, right?

Specifically when it comes to addiction,

where the people in your life look at you and say,

how could you overcome that?

What book was it?

What program did you go through?

My prayer is that the first thing out of your mouth

is not the recovery program.

I'm at the river church.

My prayer is that the first thing out of your mouth is I found Jesus Christ.

He is my savior.

He forgave me and he led me on new paths.

This new identity,

it gives us this new reality and this new identity.

It brings healing and restoration.

If we look at the people around us in our world,

I think more than not are in desperate need of healing.

I'm not talking about physical healing.

I'm not talking about miracles, though it is miraculous.

I'm talking about a spiritual and emotional healing.

There's so much hurt in our world.

There's so many scars for you just in this room.

We could go through our trauma and our stuff

and we would be here till next Tuesday night, at least probably months.

But the reason that we can look and we say we find healing,

we're not defined by those things, those traumas, those circumstances,

those hardships, those pieces of hurt is because our new identity brings

healing and restoration.

The first healing and restoration it brings is our relationship with the Most High God,

that we're restored to the proper relationship that we should have.

But in 1 Peter, we see there is this picture of healing that begins to happen in our lives.

And specifically, it references back to this Old Testament prophecy.

1 Peter 2, 24 says this,

He himself, Christ, bore our sins in his body on a tree,

that we might die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds.

You have been healed.

So this true healing, this true restoration, it only comes from the gospel.

Tonight, if you are looking for healing for whatever it is in your life

from anywhere else but Jesus Christ, you will not find it.

Now, I'm not knocking counseling or therapy or godly wisdom or time spent.

I'm not knocking counseling or therapy or time spent working through those trauma.

But if you are looking and you're only looking in those places

and you're not looking to Christ, you will not find true healing.

True healing, true restoration, it only comes from the gospel.

Healing between us and God, healing between us and others,

and healing within ourselves.

Healing from past hurts, forgiveness for past things,

direction towards redemption, protection from spiritual attack,

and truth in the midst of it.

The truth in the midst of the lies that we believe only comes from Jesus Christ.

From a life following him, from a life lived for the purpose of the gospel,

and one devoted to the ways that he calls us to.

And so my encouragement to you tonight would be to live in reality of your identity.

So you can say, I am a child of God.

I have been saved.

I follow Jesus Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ.

And what that means is declaration of truth and living truth.

Healing, restoration, protection, dedication.

And when we look and we say that's happening in our lives,

we can't say that we love someone or care about someone

and not want to lead them to that too.

When we experience that healing, when we experience that satisfaction,

when we experience that redemption,

we look and we see the people that we love or the people that are,

that are chained to us in our lives.

And we have a heart that is no longer irritated and frustrated,

but a heart that is broken for them.

And a heart that wants to see them come to know Christ,

not feels obligated to help them come to know Christ.

And so tonight I want to leave you with two things.

The first is, how can the gospel of Jesus Christ bring healing to you?

Maybe that's bringing some things to God that you've been keeping,

keeping hidden, keeping from him.

I'm going to tell you this, you can't keep anything,

hidden from God.

He knows.

So we need to lay those things before him.

Ask for forgiveness.

Ask for healing, redemption.

There'll be table leaders down front who'd love to pray with you,

who'd love to encourage you.

Maybe you're struggling with the words to say they'd love to pray for you.

The second thing would be, as Christ has changed your life,

who is it in your world that needs the transformative power of Christ in their life?

Who's chained to you this week?

Who can you proclaim Christ to?

Who can you demonstrate Christ to?

Who can you look and say, this is a person that God has placed in my path.

And though they may frustrate me, though they may irritate me,

though they may treat me as an enemy, like the Romans did to Paul,

I will proclaim Christ anyway, because I believe in their need for him.

Maybe that's a person you want to pray for.

Maybe during this next song, you just stay sitting and pray for that person by name.

Or maybe you come forward, pray with a table leader for that person in your life.

Pray for strength to win.

To witness to them.

To care for them.

To encourage them.

Maybe to invite them next week to come and sit by you here in this room.

Or on Sunday morning.

What does it look like to live the gospel identity?

And who is it that's chained to you this week that needs to know the gospel?

Let's pray.

Lord, we love you.

Lord, we turn to you.

Lord, I thank you for your gospel.

Lord, the transformative power, the healing, the restoration that it's brought to me, Lord,

and to so many in this room.

Lord, I pray for you.

For tonight, whoever is in this room who is in deep need of that healing, that restoration,

that love, that new identity, Lord, I pray that you would give them courage and boldness

to step out in faith.

Whether that's to come down front and talk to a table leader.

Maybe that's to ask some questions that they may be struggling with or work through some

doubt or things they don't understand with a table leader, with me, or wherever, Lord.

I pray that you'd give them boldness to step out in faith.

Lord, I pray for each one of us that we would look.

For that healing and that forgiveness in our lives daily, Lord.

As we sin, as we make mistakes, as we fail, Lord, inevitably as fallen people, Lord, I

pray that you would help us by reminding us of our identity as children of God, as people

Lord, but lastly, I just pray that you'd make it abundantly clear to us who it is in our

lives that we need to demonstrate Christ to, who we need to preach the gospel to, who we

need to care for and to speak truth, the truth of your word.

And what you've done in our lives to, Lord, that we would view it like Paul, not as a

hindrance, not as a frustration, but as a wonderful opportunity for the gospel and that

we would celebrate the proclamation of the gospel as we as people go out and live it.

Lord, we thank you for so many things.

You are savior.

You are mighty.

You care for us.

You see us.

You walk with us.

In your precious and holy name, Jesus name, amen.

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