The Privileges of Kingdom Citizenship

Sm—Passport for The Kingdom Citizen

Acts 22:1-29

What’s in Your Wallet?

British Passport

Government of Bermuda

On behalf of Her Britannic Majesty’s Secretary of State

the Governor of this British Territory

requests and requires in the name of Her Majesty

all those whom it may concern

to allow the bearer to pass freely

without let or hindrance,

and to afford the bearer such assistance and protection

as may be necessary.

Without let or hindrance = without obstruction or impediment, or interference.

My passport says, “The Holder is Registered as Bermudan.”

I am a naturalized citizen of Bermuda.

My passport declares that my place of birth is the United States.

Yes, I am a citizen of two countries.

Several years ago, I qualified to apply for naturalization because of my marriage to a Bermudan.

But I am also a citizen of two worlds.

Through my marriage to Jesus Christ, I am a citizen of the Kingdom of God.

But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.

Philippians 3:20

always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,

Colossians 1:12-13

They do not belong to this world any more than I do. John 17:16

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.

Ephesians 2:19

When traveling between different countries, a passport is required to gain access and cross the country’s borders.

Passports are a form of legitimate identity, mainly because of the procedure that people must follow to get one. Most countries require an original birth certificate as proof of citizenship and identification.

That Paul was a Roman citizen is one of the most celebrated biographical details that is known concerning him (Acts 16:37). Unlike others in his time who had to buy their citizenship, such as the Roman commander in Acts 22:28, Paul was born a Roman citizen (Acts 16:37). Paul’s status as a Roman citizen by birth benefited him greatly as he traveled on his missionary journeys to fulfill Jesus’ words that he would be a “chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel” (Acts 9:15).

The privileges of citizenship explain how Paul escaped flogging in Acts 22:25–27 and was able to appeal for a hearing before Emperor Nero in Acts 25:10–11.

Jesus Gave the Hallmarks of Kingdom Citizenship

1. Be Ambassadors of the Kingdom of Heaven.

An Ambassador: An official envoy especially a diplomatic agent of the highest rank authorized as the resident representative of his or her government or sovereign and on a temporary diplomatic assignment in a foreign territory.

This is How Kingdom Ambassadors Represent:

a. Be Salt and Light. Jesus said, “Be in the world, but not of the world.” John 17:14-15

As believers, we should be set apart from the world.

Ambassadors are set apart to a higher standard of living a holy, righteous life. We are not to engage in the sinful activities the world promotes.

b. Love Your Neighbor as Yourself (The Golden Rule; Going the Extra Mile like the Good Samaritan).

Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls.

Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors.

Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

1 Peter 2:11-12

I Recount my experience at the bus stop with my new UK phone. When I got on the bus, I was conscious of being observed and hoped that my good deeds would be observed. Perhaps the teenagers might acknowledge that goodness is a character of my citizenship. It was as though God had arranged for them to have front-row seats to watch one of His sons.

2 Corinthians 5:18-20

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.

The Assignment of an Ambassador

2 Corinthians 5:18-20

The word for ‘reconciliation’ in the original Greek language is KATALLAGE. It means to make enemies into friends.

Suppose that a king wanted to forgive rebellious subjects in an act of great mercy (kindness). The king would choose some of his most reliable and senior officials (called ambassadors in verse 20). Those ambassadors would go to the king’s enemies, and try to negotiate for them to return in peace.

Acceptance of God’s kind offer results in access to a right relationship with him. This is because of Christ’s death. We should not delay.

2. Get Your Passport Stamped. Every time you cross a border, your passport gets stamped.

Jesus’ passport was stamped multiple times:

· He healed the Syrophinecian woman (stamped);

· Gave the Samaritan woman at the well living water (passport stamped);

· Touched and healed the lepers (passport stamped);

· Invaded and plundered Satan’s domain, casting out devils (passport stamped)

· Ate with sinners, drunkards, and tax collectors (passport stamped);

· Offered Paradise to a dying criminal and salvation to the undeserving (passport stamped).

Every stamp embedded on his passport is a collection of accounts to inspire us to cross borders and get stamped.

⁃ We gather to worship, Jesus sends us out to serve.

Get your Passport Stamped.

“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Matthew 25:34-36

Your Passport is stamped by the people and places you impact. When you cross borders..,

3. THE RIGHT TO APPEAL TO THE KING

If I have done something worthy of death, I don’t refuse to die. But if I am innocent, no one has a right to turn me over to these men to kill me. I appeal to Caesar!” Acts 25:11

Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.” Acts 26:32 (cf. 25:11)

Paul played his Roman Passport like it was a “Get out of Jail Free Card”.

We travelled all the way to London with British passports, but we were not invited to Buckingham Palace.

We were there for 11 days and no one from the Royal Family reached out to us…not even a text message. Can you believe that?

Same thing happened last year. We were in the DC area but no one from the White House reached out to us…

So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Hebrews 4:16

The greatest privilege of being a Kingdom Citizen is you get to hold court with the Sovereign of Heaven and Earth. No appointment is needed. Daily access, multiple times a day.

After being arrested, Paul was transported to Caesarea where he would go before Festus, the Roman governor. Paul pled his case to Festus, and that’s when things went awry. In the same way that Pontius Pilate once privately declared Jesus innocent but then handed Him over to be crucified, so also Festus declared Paul innocent yet did not set him free.

Instead, he kept Paul until Agrippa, the Jewish King, could come down and hear him too. What Paul did, when allowed to face Agrippa, was astounding. He did not plead his case legally. He did not argue his innocence, though he did make it clear that he was innocent. He did not try to argue the law at all. Instead, Paul gave full testimony to why he followed Jesus and why everyone else in the court should too.

The most natural thing for Paul to do would have been to try to save his own life. But what he did instead tried to save the souls of everyone present. Agrippa even scoffed at Paul, asking if he thought he could convince Agrippa to believe, in such a context and in such a short time.

Paul’s response? “I absolutely hope so!”

Paul was drawing on the promise that God does not forget His saints and that the Lord gives power to His people at the moment they need it. He trusted in this and he declared it. He did not fear or cower or try to manipulate.

In the end, Paul was sent to Rome to face Caesar. It was legal, but it was not right. He was innocent but he was condemned. A Roman governor conspired with a Jewish king to kill an innocent man for honoring God. And the innocent man went willingly.