Philippians Historical Background - The Philippians Effect

where do we find personal greatness is it here or here maybe it's here or maybe even here in the end we find that the more we pursue these things the more they leave us feeling empty and alone in the city of philippi they had it all and yet they eventually found that the path to true greatness comes not from status but from the exact opposite place they were looking two thousand years ago the roman empire was divided into two main classes of people those who were roman citizens and those who were not even though the roman empire controlled the mediterranean world at this time most people in the empire were not privileged enough to be a roman citizen most of those who had citizenship were born into it inheriting it from their parents some people were granted citizenship by performing a valuable service to the empire while still others paid a large amount of money for the privilege why was roman citizenship such a big deal this status granted people unique rights such as having access to special privileges under the laws of rome these included the right to appeal directly to the emperor himself for legal issues as well as certain tax benefits because of this special treatment roman citizens became prideful and tended to think of themselves as the superior class while looking down on non-citizens as the inferior bottom tier class for a long time philippi was a small insignificant macedonian farming community however that all changed in 42 bc when an important battle was fought there this battle would eventually lead to augustus becoming the new emperor of rome in honor of his victory augustus gave philippi a special status as a roman colony this new prestigious status granted them all of the rights privileges and favor of rome this status also made philippi an attractive place for roman citizens to settle and it became a major settlement for retired army veterans who were fiercely loyal to rome their status as a roman colony became a source of pride and prestige for the residents they all tried to make themselves look important by adorning themselves with the best clothes and boasting about all of their great accomplishments then one day into this proud little community paul showed up he proclaimed a message about jesus who was neither a veteran nor a roman citizen but a lowly jewish carpenter and yet many were attracted to his message while others felt that this was a disgrace to their status as roman citizens paul was eventually arrested publicly beaten by the magistrates and then forced to leave the city those who became followers of jesus continued to face hostility but despite this they were not deterred their history as veterans had conditioned them to be unwavering in the midst of uncertainty and steadfast in their faithfulness to paul and all that he taught them in fact they became one of paul's most consistent sponsors even during times of financial struggle now about 10 years after paul's initial visit they have learned that he's in prison in rome as they had done before they took up a generous offering for paul to help him at this difficult time and sent it with a faithful philippian christian named epaphroditus when he reached paul epaphroditus also shared a report about how the philippian church was doing the good news is that even in the midst of difficulty and opposition they were steadfast in their faith in jesus and continuing to grow and mature as christians unfortunately there was also some bad news as mature as they were in their faith and generosity there was still a part of their cultural behavior that they had never dealt with their pride some of them were still striving for personal status and prestige rather than serving and building up those around them this pride was driving them apart and weakening the church paul's concern is their pride and disunity is opening them up to a new threat there was a group of false teachers in the area who preyed on people's pride telling them that they can attain a higher status before god and gain greater honor before others this teaching all too easily tapped into the deep-seated roman arrogance of the philippians [Music] so how does paul say that we are to attain true greatness before god it's the simplest answer and yet one that takes a lifetime of work paul says that we are to imitate the humility of christ what does that look like it is not elevating ourselves in the eyes of others by trying to look the smartest being the best dressed or pretending that we are living a perfect life like jesus it's becoming a servant of those around us and seeking ways to make them better as we grow in humility to serve those around us we'll also grow in unity with one another and experience the philippians effect if you would like to help create free bible resources for people in all languages please consider making a tax-deductible donation by going to our website thebiblefact.com where you can also find more study resources also please remember to hit subscribe 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Id: axgYHkUQ19c

Length: 5min 44sec (344 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 09 2020