The Great King - Philippians 4:22b

Scripture Reading

Please turn over in your Bibles with me to Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4 and we'll be reading verses 19 through 22. Philippians chapter 4 beginning at verse 19 can be found on page 1045 of your pew Bibles. Philippians chapter 4 beginning at verse 19. and my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those who are of Caesar's household. Thus ends this reading, this portion of the reading of God's word. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God endures forever.

Well, we live in charged times, don't we? We live in times where you can't turn on the news, open a newspaper, open your Apple news app without being flooded with political news. With news about things that are so polarizing that when we read them, we automatically, everyone has an opinion right away. Whether we read about the man this week who lit himself on fire in front of the White House, or a charged political election which has lots of religious undercurrents in it in both India and in Southeast Asia. We have such political world around us and such tension around us all the time as Christians that sometimes we just go along with the rest of the world and we think, well, we shouldn't talk about politics or religion because we just want to get along.

But there's one thing clear in scripture. And we've been looking at it all throughout Philippians in that you are, yes, a citizen of this country. But most of all, you are a gospel citizen. And we are to live our lives as Christian citizens. So when we look at Philippians chapter four, verse 22, in this final greeting, Paul just gives us one snippet of something going on in Rome. He says, but especially those who are of Caesar's household.

What if this letter was written today? And this was somebody, a pastor in Washington, D.C., or in Des Moines, who wrote you and said, you know, all the brothers and sisters in the church greet you, especially those who are members of the cabinet, especially those who are members of the legislature. You might think, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what? Who are you talking about? Give me more information. Who's on our side here?

But it's interesting that it doesn't give us this. just gives us this greeting. There are members even of Caesar's household. And so the question we have to ask ourselves is, what does this mean? And what does it mean in our lives as we live as gospel citizens? Well, first, we need to, in this journey of living as Christian citizens, we need to look at Paul's own life. Look at Paul's own life.

See, Paul writes from Rome, he's a prisoner in Rome, and he's there, and he writes this statement of even those, or especially those who are of Caesar's household, and we might automatically think, oh, this is someone real close to Caesar, but the word household is pretty broad at this time. And most scholars think this is most likely talking not about Caesar's wife, though it could be, Caesar's children, though it could be, but it's most likely talking about a broader array, people who serve Caesar, whether those are slaves, servants, or soldiers. And so we need to look at how did Paul interact with Romans? How did Paul interact with government officials and citizens and soldiers and servants of Caesar all throughout his life that he would be able to get close enough to them that they would want to send their greetings to the people in Philippi?

Well, it starts with the benefit that Paul had being a Roman citizen living in the Roman world. One of the blessings that Paul had at the time that advanced the spread of the gospel was the Roman road system. Paul was able to get all throughout what we call the Near Middle East, the Palestine area, and Syria, even into Macedonia, and through Asia Minor, and even in Rome itself. He was able to travel freely because of a road system he was able to travel upon. Because he lived as a Roman citizen during a Roman era. Just like you, driving down 61 on a US highway or driving on 80, you benefit from living in the society you live in. So did Paul. But Paul also, we see that he has some special perks of being a Greek-speaking Roman citizen.

Do you remember in Acts where Paul goes to Jerusalem? And when he's in Jerusalem, the people find out that he's there with two other Jewish Christians and they want to stone him. They start beating him to death and they take him out of the temple and they lock the gates behind him. And all of a sudden the Romans hear about it and they run from the fortress to Anatolia and they run towards Paul and they seize him up and they're taking him up the stairs to the fortress to Anatolia.

And Paul says in Greek, Not in Hebrew, in Greek, he says, can I talk to them? And the guards are, whoa, whoa, hold on. Aren't you this Egyptian who is causing all this rioting and trouble? And Paul says, no, no, no, no, no. That's not who I am. But because he speaks Greek, they allow him to turn and to preach the gospel to the very people that were trying to kill him. And when eventually the people turn on him, and they're tired of listening to him, and they want him killed, the Roman guards take him into the fortress at Anatonia, and they begin to stretch him out so that they can flog him. And you can imagine Paul looking over his shoulder at the people who are about to flog him, and he asks one question. Tell me, is it lawful to flog a Roman citizen? And they stop. And the guard, the captain of the guard is fearful. Do you remember?

And he says, well, how did you get your citizenship? I had to pay a lot of money for my citizenship. And Paul says, I didn't pay for my citizenship. I was born a citizen. Paul benefits because he's not able to be treated like a non-citizen. Paul interacts with Roman officials and he's not afraid to say, I'm a citizen and I have certain blessings because of that. This is the same reason why when he was flogged and when he was thrown in jail at Philippi, the people in the letter we're reading right now would have remembered this. Paul left the jail after he was released, but he wouldn't do it in secret. He said, I'm a Roman citizen. You're not just going to let me sneak out of here quietly. You guys are going to escort me out of the prison to show that I was not in the wrong and this is not how you treat Roman citizens.

Paul's a Roman citizen and he has benefits of being a dual citizen, both a citizen of heaven and a citizen of Rome. Paul also uses his Roman citizenship to appeal. When he's put on trial and he's able to tell that there's a mock trial coming and the Jews are going to try to just distort and try to get him killed because he's following Jesus, he appeals to Rome. He appeals to Caesar himself.

He knows that he has certain rights as a Roman citizen. But it's interesting, turn in your Bibles with me to Acts chapter 24. And look what Paul does when he's in front of these judges. Acts chapter 24. If you're using your pew bibles, that's on page 993. In Acts chapter 24, Peter is in front of Felix and his wife, Drusilla. Acts chapter 24, verse 24. Luke records for us, and after some days when Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.

Now as he, that's Paul, now as Paul reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, go away now. When I have a convenient time, I will call you. Meanwhile, he also hoped that money would be given him by Paul that he might release him. See, Felix calls him, and what does Paul do? Paul preaches the gospel to his Roman judge. And the Roman judge is afraid and says, whoa, okay, that's enough. What I really wanted was a bribe, okay? I didn't want to hear all that. But he does it again.

Turn over a page to Acts chapter 26 verses 24 again. Acts 26 verse 24. Paul's in front of Agrippa and his wife Bernice now. So he's going up the appeals ladder and here in Acts chapter 26, Paul uses his Roman citizenship as an appeal and he uses it to preach the gospel.

Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, you are beside yourself. Much learning is driving you mad. But he said, I'm not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. For the king before whom I also speak freely knows these things. For I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this was done not in a corner. King Agrippa, you believe the prophets. I know what you believe.

Then Agrippa said to Paul, you almost persuade me to become a Christian. And Paul said, I would that God not only you, but also all who hear me today might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains. And when he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor, and Bernice, and those who sat with them. And when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, This man is doing nothing worthy of death or chains. Then Agrippa said to Festus, This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.

Paul uses his Roman citizenship to start the appeal to save his life, but he uses that appeal to save his life, to preach the gospel of the good news of Jesus Christ, even to the Roman governors who are judging him. See, Paul, we know this is true of Paul, Romans 1, verse 16, Paul says it, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who will believe, first to the Jew and also to the Gentile. Paul is confident and not ashamed to even tell those who are in governing authorities the good news of Jesus Christ.

This is how Paul is interacting with the household of Caesar. And then, just turn over one chapter with me to Acts chapter 28. Paul is in Rome now, and he's in his own rented house, but even while he's in his own rented house, he goes and he teaches any of the Jewish leaders and members who will come into his house for teaching. And look with me at verses 30 and 31. Then Paul, Acts chapter 28, verse 30, then Paul dwelt two years in his own rented house and received all who came to him, preaching and teaching the kingdom of God and the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him. Paul is in chains. in his own rented house, he's allowed a certain amount of freedom, people are allowed to come and visit him, and he's preaching with confidence to anybody who will come.

See, this is how Paul dealt as a Roman citizen with Romans, prayerfully and peacefully. Paul, as a Roman citizen, didn't deny his citizenship, didn't hide it away, didn't suffer just for suffering's sake, but he wasn't ashamed of his citizenship. But even more importantly, he wasn't ashamed of the good news of Jesus Christ.

And you can imagine, as we've read about Paul in the book of Acts, where the soldiers and the sailors end up having a high regard for him and realizing that he's the one who actually knows what's going to happen, like when they got shipwrecked and he was the one who told them no one's going to escape. He was the one who told them how to weather the storm. You can imagine those Roman soldiers who had been at Paul's side and had been in the sea with him, standing at his door in Rome and just eavesdropping on the conversation. Just eavesdropping on his teaching and on his preaching. See, Paul lived as a Roman citizenship, not afraid and not ashamed of either his citizenship nor his gospel citizenship.

So how should we, how should we live out this dual citizenship that we have? as both citizens here and now, as well as citizens of heaven. Well, the scripture gives us plain language for this, how we're to interact with our governing authorities. And the first one of those is we need to pray for officials.

Pray for officials. Look with me at 1 Timothy chapter 2. 1 Timothy chapter 2, Paul tells the young pastor, Verse 1 and 2, Therefore I exert first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving thanks be made for all men, for kings, and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and reverence. What is the goal of praying for those who are in authority over us? It is not so we can set up our own making of a human utopia now. But 1 Timothy 2, verse 2 is clear. that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. We pray for those in authority because we just want to live our lives to God's glory.

And we pray towards that end. But some of you, again, we live in a highly charged political environment. And some of you might have someone in your head right now, a local, state, or national leader that you think, I'm not sure I can thank God for that person. Be honest with yourself. Some of us have a hard time thinking about that elected official and how we should pray for them. And yet here it is, a clear command.

We're to pray for them. with all supplication and intercession and prayers and giving thanks. We are to be those who are praying. One of the chief goals, Matthew Henry says, of Christian religion is to drum up the spiritual exercise of prayer. And if you can't pray for someone in this world somehow, there's a short circuit. Now some of those prayers might be hard prayers. Turn in the Psalms and see how some of those prayers come out.

Because some of those prayers and the intercessions and the pleading with God looks like, God, stop killing your own people. Lord, stop allowing your churches to be shut down. God, stop the mouths of those who have teeth like lions and who have intents like vipers and want to swallow up your own people. It looks like getting on our knees and pleading, God, stop the murder of the unborn.

It looks like us pleading with God because it's only God who can change hearts. Are we praying for our elected officials? Or do we just go to Facebook and Twitter and Instagram and let it known to the world? It's the same thing the pagans do. But do we go to the king of kings and take them before him? And this isn't a new issue in our own age.

There is a church father in North Africa, a Roman citizen himself, Tertullian. And Tertullian was faced with this very issue. Christians were being persecuted all throughout the Roman Empire. And Tertullian writes an apology, a defense of the faith. And as he's writing this, he talks about how Christians are being persecuted for a crime. And these crimes are being sought after, not like any other crime. People aren't even giving a defense for it. And one of the things is, is the people are saying, Christians don't even care about the Roman authority. And yet, Tertullian, in his writings in the first century, in the second century, sorry, points directly to 1 Timothy chapter two, verse two, and says, it is clear from God that we pray for the emperor, but we don't pray to the emperor.

Even in the height of persecution, Christians have prayed for the ruling authorities over them. Praying for virtues of righteousness, of justice, of wisdom, of goodness, of truth, of stewardship, of mercy. Christians have been on their knees pleading for the widow and for those who are oppressed. Christians for centuries have been pleading with God to bring about righteousness. But always knowing that it is not until the Lord Jesus Christ comes that that righteousness will fully be seen.

We should be praying for Davids and for Nehemiahs. We should be praying for men like Daniel and Ezra. We should be praying for men like Hezekiah and Josiah, who turn their hearts wholly to the Lord, who are statesmen in courts, even some in pagan courts, who are of such high esteem that even though they're not the people in power, they're members of the household, And they're able to sway policy and opinion. We should be praying for Christian statesmen. But we must submit to authorities. Living as gospel citizens, we must submit to ruling authorities. Look with me at Romans chapter 13. Romans chapter 13, beginning at verse 1. Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore, whoever resists the authority, resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.

For rulers are not a terror to do good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid. For he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is God's minister and avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore, you must be subject not only because of wrath, but also for conscience sake. For because of this, you also pay taxes. For they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing.

Render, therefore, to all their due, taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor. Tomorrow is tax day. I don't like it. I doubt you guys like it. But we must submit to the rulers in authority over us. 1 Peter 2, verses 13 and 14 say likewise. But you might ask, but what if they command me to do sin? What if the laws are unrighteous? What if what's going on in our country is just downright wrong?

You have a king who is above every other king. You have a ruler who is above every other ruler. Again, this is not a 21st century problem. This is a problem from the first century to the 21st century. In the very first century, right after Jesus is crucified, Christians are faced with a problem. Caesar demands, the king of the Roman Empire demands them to say, Caesar is Lord. Kaiser est in Curius. And the Christians won't say it. Because only Jesus is ultimately Lord. If there is a command, if there is a law that is against God's law, that is when you do quiet civil disobedience. But let's face it, 99% of all the laws we have don't fit into that category.

There's all sorts of laws that we are to submit to, all sorts of order that we are to follow. And God calls us to follow in that. That's how we live as dual citizens of both this country, where we live, as well as gospel citizens. But this is also, we just had a big political candidate come into our own area. This is also ramping up the new cycle of presidential election campaigns. And you're going to find all about you different political candidates who are going to make big, huge, grandiose promises, big life-changing promises that will make everything in your life better. Don't buy it for a minute.

Because there is only one King of Peace, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And so your last point is to look to Jesus, your King. As we live as gospel citizens and as citizens of the countries we live in, we look to Christ the King. Deuteronomy chapter 17 is clear that it is God himself who is the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Daniel chapter 7 verse 14 is clear that it is the Son of Man who is the King of Kings. Revelation chapter 19 says that it is upon the thigh and the robe of Jesus Christ that the title of King of Kings and Lord of Lords is written and it is to Jesus Christ you look to. in your life. It is Jesus Christ who is highly exalted, as Philippians chapter 2 verses 9 through 11 taught us a few months ago, that it is His name that is exalted above every other name. That it is at the name of Jesus that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Look to Jesus Christ. Don't be duped into a worldly messiah. There is no presidential candidate who is going to fulfill your greatest longings for eternity. It is Jesus Christ who sits on the throne of heaven and executes his royal decrees with righteousness and with justice. It is King Jesus who is good and true and loving and merciful and gracious to you. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is our Redeemer and the mighty one of Jacob. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who brings every nation to himself. Praise God for the Lord Jesus Christ.

Yes, pray for Christian statement. Pray for righteous leaders. Pray for just laws. But when all of them fail you, and they will, remember the words of scripture, placed not your confidence in princes. It is the Lord Jesus Christ alone who we have confidence in. Christ alone is Messiah. No president, no king, no queen can bring you ultimate peace. No government will fulfill your heart's desire for joy. Cling to Jesus Christ, Christian. That is your highest calling.

And so when we hear these words of Philippians chapter four, that especially those of Caesar's household, we rejoice that even in Caesar's household, Christians are saved. But we rejoice not because somehow the Roman government might become Christian, which it would in 300 years later, but because the Lord Jesus Christ can save sinners even out of Caesar's own household. and can transfer people, individuals, out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light. So as you live your life as a citizen of the gospel, live it praying for the civil authorities, live it in submission to those who are placed over you, but always rejoicing in Jesus Christ.

Closing Prayer

Let's pray. Lord, we thank you. We thank you for our great King and our Savior. Holy Spirit, we pray that you would indeed make our hearts bow to you, our Lord, our Master, our King. Lord, we pray that indeed every knee will bow to you and every tongue will confess that you are Lord God. Make that start in our own hearts. And Father, let us see it in our own land. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.