Sermon Tone Analysis
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Philippi was an interesting colony.
It wasn’t always part of Rome.
In 42 B.C. Roman soldiers were ordered by Anthony to live there after conquest.
Eight years later, Octavian forced some people from Italy to settle in Philippi.
It seems as if Rome was concerned that left to itself, Philippi would become rebellious to its new master.
Well, you can imagine that the Italians who were forced to live in Philippi were not to happy.
So, Rome gave these citizens what is called the “Italic right”.
The Italians, though living in Philippi and not Italy, were treated as if their land were part of Italian soil.
In other words, they were still citizens of Rome and enjoyed all the rights of that citizenship.
To these citizen/foreigners, Paul writes:
They uniquely knew what it means to be citizens of one place while living in another.
As I think about Philippi and the Roman citizens that lived there, I think of .
This chapter speaks of Old Testament saints and what they were living for.
All of Israel were looking for a city that would not be destroyed, that they could be a citizen of.
They were living on this earth, but they refused to consider themselves a citizen of this earth.
They recognized that even the most firmly established early cities are only encampments, compared to the kingdom that is to come.
All of Israel were looking for a city that would not be destroyed, that they could be a citizen of
All of Israel were looking for a city that would not be destroyed, that they could be a citizen of
Citizens.
A citizen is a legally recognized subject of a particular political system.
You don’t have to live in the place of your citizenship.
With this status, come certain rights and responsibilities.
In Christ we have a citizenship.
Let’s look at what this means for our rights and responsibilities.
Even the most firmly established early cities are only encampments
Philippi was a Roman colony (Acts 16:12).
After the Battle of Philippi in 42 B.C. some Roman soldiers were ordered by Anthony to live there.
Then in 30 B.C. Octavian forced some people in Italy to give up their homes and settle in Philippi and elsewhere.
These Philippian residents were given special privileges including the “Italic right.”
This meant that the colonists, in return for their displacement, were treated as if their land were part of Italian soil.
So the residents were citizens of Rome, their “mother city,” and enjoyed the full rights of Roman citizenship, including exemption from taxes.
So Paul’s words (Phil.
1:27) “conduct yourselves” (lit., “live as citizens”) and “our citizenship is in heaven” (3:20) had special meaning to the Christians at Philippi.
1A.
Rights of Citizenship
Every culture gives a certain amount of rights to their citizens, no matter how dictatorial the government is.
There are benefits to being a citizen.
We are privileged to live in the United States.
We have more rights than most other nations in the world.
What is neat about these rights is that I can go into any American consulate around the world and can receive those rights.
During one of my travels to Germany, I was able to visit the consulate in Germany.
I found the experience unique.
One moment, I was a foreigner in the land of Germany.
The next moment, I was an American citizen on American soil, and all the rights of being an American citizen was mine.
Paul knew about rights.
As a citizen in Rome, living most of his life around non-citizens, he uniquely felt the privileges of his status.
In his missionary travels, he would forego using his citizenship for the sake of the Gospel.
But, sometimes, he would use his citizenship.
This use is what landed him in a prison in Rome the first time.
A Roman citizen could choose before his trial whether to be tried in the place of offense or in Rome.
Paul chose to be tried in Rome, away from a society that was trying to kill him.
Paul who knew so much about citizenship, tells his readers that our citizenship is in Heaven.
Apart from Christ, our citizenship is this world, in mortality.
When we die, we are subject to an eternal state of conscious death, separated from God.
This is due to our state as sinners.
Sin separates us from God. Sin signs our citizenship papers.
When we turn from our sin and trust in Christ, our citizenship changes.
We immigrate from this world to the Heavenly Kingdom.
This is the kingdom that Jesus described as following:
This citizenship is ours the moment we place our faith in Christ.
We might be living in a different land, but we have citizenship in Heaven, looking forward to the day that we can move back home.
As citizens of Heaven, we have some amazing rights.
I can only list six of them right now, but the New Testament is full of rights that are ours as citizens of Heaven.
Due to time constraints, so that I don’t cut into dinner again, I am going to being hopping from verse to verse.
Write down the references if you want to look them up later.
I can only list six of them right now, but the New Testament is full of rights that are ours as citizens of Heaven.
Due to time constraints, so that I don’t cut into dinner again, I am going to being hopping from verse to verse.
Write down the references if you want to look them up later.
1B.
Eternal Life
The right that most people immediately think of is eternal life.
Before as citizens of this world, we were subject to eternal death.
In Christ, we have the opposite.
We have life now, and we will have the fullest of life, even after our physical death.
Christ will usher us into his kingdom, in all perfection.
And, we get to live with him forever on a perfected earth in our physical bodies with all our loved ones who have died in Christ, running, dancing, and shouting.
2B.
Freedom from Sin
I would say that this is my favorite right, but I can’t really pick a favorite out of all these.
We talked about this two months ago.
In Christ, we are not ruled by sin anymore.
We don’t have to sin, though we willingly choose to.
In Christ, we have victory over sin.
We can say “Sin, you are dead to me!”
That addiction that is holding onto us: we can break it’s chains, through Christ.
3B.
Power of the Holy Spirit
Everyone who has turned from their sin and trusted Christ is given the Holy Spirit, to strengthen them, to convict them, to guide them, to remind them.
Not only does the Holy Spirit give us help for this live, but it is the seal on our citizenship papers, guaranteeing what is to come.
We don’t have to buy insurance for eternity.
Our state is guaranteed!
4B.
Direct Access to God
Previously, and in most every other religion, one needed to go through another individual in order to talk to God.
A case in point: Jews going through their priest, with their sacrifice, in order to talk with God.
However, because of Christ’s sacrifice, we can talk directly with God.
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We can approach God’s throne with boldness, in prayer, at any time.
We don’t need to bring a sacrifice.
We don’t need to ask someone else to pray for us, because we can’t.
This is part of what some people call the personal relationship we have with God.
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