Gods Perfect Planning - Part 2 — Erlo Stegen

Jesus’ Birth in Bethlehem at the Appointed Time

Now, let's continue with the text from Luke 2, verse 6. And it came about that while they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and she wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.

We'll read thus far. I'm going to try and be reasonably brief. After all, some of our brethren are leaving and need to catch a plane. And we'll ask them to send our greetings to the brethren overseas.

There are some points which I'd like to touch upon which we've read in this chapter. The first being, it says, as they were there, while they were there. And it came about while they were there. That is of great importance, has a lot to explain.

As I was preparing the sermon this morning, I thought, well, I wish I could dwell just on this point. It happened while they were there. In Bethlehem. Mary was living in the wrong place with regards to the birth of the Messiah.

And it was just in the nick of time she was at the right place.

Had she been in Nazareth at the time of the Savior's birth, it would have been corrupting to the Bible, to the promises of the Word.

The Bible would have been failed for the first time. The Bible would have spoken a lie.

For the Bible had declared that he would be born in Bethlehem. But where was she living? She and Joseph in Nazareth. And you know, the circumstances around the reason why they were in Nazareth about that time of his birth.

Herod, Egypt, and God’s Preservation of the Messiah

We know. We mentioned last night how the wise men came with this wonderful news that the Messiah had been born. They arrived in Jerusalem with the news. And the Bible says that everybody was troubled.

Herod too. But he hid his feeling troubled and concerned with a deceitfulness, a cunningness. Pretended to be happy. And so Herod in his craftiness hid from them his true intentions when he said, tell me when you discover where he is born, I want to go and worship him too.

But they were warned in a dream by God to take another way to go home because this Herod sought his life. And the Lord also spoke in a dream to Joseph and said to him, now get up, take the child and the mother and go to Africa.

They're in Egypt where the child's life will be preserved. I'd said these days just a few days ago that may the Lord be gracious to Africa. It was Africa which gave a refuge to the Christ child. And the world is indebted to Africa today because it was Africa that protected Jesus.

If Africa had not given refuge to Jesus, we wouldn't have our savior. Do you hear Africans? Give Jesus refuge even today. Yes, you in this time that we live, because though Herod is dead, his demons have not died.

And even when it came to the time of Jesus passion and death, it was an African who helped Jesus carry the cross. And that is why it is Africa that gave him refuge. You too need to give him refuge, otherwise Africa will discard you.

And the Lord also spoke in a dream to Joseph and said to him, now get up, take the child and the mother and go to Africa. They're in Egypt where the child's life will be preserved. If Africa had not given refuge to Jesus, we wouldn't have our savior.

And the world is indebted to Africa today because it was Africa that protected Jesus. And at the last moment, God organized things and arranged that it would come about as the prophecies had said and the Holy Spirit had indicated.

God’s Sovereign Plan for Bethlehem

God in heaven had arranged and strategized that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.

God had arranged that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem.

From of old God had arranged from before the creation of this world, from eternities beyond, God had arranged that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem, conceived of a virgin. But Mary was a Nazareth. Joseph.

Joseph. This godly man, this dignified, God-fearing man, didn't after having that dream say, it's just indigestion, I've had too many potatoes at the meal or whatever. No, he saw God in it. He woke Mary up and they took the child instantly to go to Egypt.

Joseph, Mary, and Godly Character

Joseph. Mary. Mary Mary, being pure and innocent, got married to Joseph, who was a poor man, was nothing in the world, had no business, no car, no means, but she married him. Joseph. Other women Other women seek men of means.

They want husbands who've got possessions and cars. Yes, cars who pick up whores along the road. So you be careful of what you desire in your husband. Joseph. Joseph. Joseph. So I advise the young people, my own children, I say don't look at the outward comeliness of a person.

You see what is genuine and true and as long as that person is not sexually immoral. If I was a woman, I wouldn't like to get married to a man who has possessions and a car and he uses it to go to prostitutes.

Joseph. Women, wives come to me and complain, oh, my husband, he is so poor and hasn't got a job. I say, is he sexually immoral? And she would say no. I say, you thank God then. Joseph. You won't die of AIDS.

You won't die before your time has come. Joseph. If he hasn't got time for other women, go on your knees and thank God and say, Lord, you've given me a wonderful person. Joseph. Joseph. Now Mary got married to Joseph and she was very young.

Some say that she might have been as young as 16 or only 17. Her husband Joseph, they reckon, was probably a bit older. At least she had somebody older there. It wasn't just two youngsters together, but somebody who was more mature.

If they were both young, well, then they can be up to mischief. It's good if there is an older one. Isn't it like that? Joseph.

What matters is the will of God. It doesn't matter whether the man is bald or older or younger. Whatever it is, the will of God, that's what matters. Joseph. Now, to travel to a distant place is expensive.

Joseph. But God had already arranged that and he used the wise men to bring gifts to them so that they could use this as financial aid for them to get to Egypt. Joseph Joseph Now Joseph Joseph Joseph Now I give you some homework to do.

Returning to Nazareth and the Value of Bible Study

Then the Lord returned and said again to Joseph, now take the mother and the child and return home. Now he didn't go back to Bethlehem. Why was it? He went back to Nazareth, a more Gentile place. What was it?

Do some research, some Bible study. If you don't have a Bible, Brother Bruno says that the Bible League, we still have Bibles from them, just two rand for a New Testament. Cheaper than a tin of coke.

That's why I say if you haven't got a New Testament, it's a sin. It's a crime. If a bottle of coke costs more and you don't even have a New Testament.

Joseph. Now, speaking of soft drinks, we handed out and I gave to our neighbors. People could come freely and get a Kwele here at the shop. And we gave it firstly in just little containers, then bigger and bigger till people were coming almost with drum size where they there was so much available, but none came to say thank you.

And so I feel like rather next Christmas, taking it to the lorry and handing it out in another place. Although there was one who said, well, we come on behalf of others to say thank you. And I felt better after that.

But I keep it by another eight. But I'm not going to teach you, teach you, teach you. You're not going to do that. And I went wrong.

And from Egypt, they they went and lived in Nazareth. So it had almost happened that the Messiah was born in the wrong place. So you go and do some Bible study at home and discover why they went back to Nazareth.

Why were they there? Was Joseph perhaps fearful? Maybe was it to fulfill some prophecies? You go and seek the answer yourself. I can't spoon feed you always. It's good that you grow up and eat for yourself too.

God’s Heavenly Blueprint for His People

At any point in your life, you have to have a blueprint. You have to have a blueprint. You have to be an architect. You have to be a biographer.

This verse also shows us that God had a plan. He had an exact heavenly blueprint, like an architectural plan, a blueprint where everything is already measured and decided before the building even starts.

While Moses was still on the mountain, God revealed his exact plan for the tabernacle. He said, Moses, make sure that all that I've shown you, you carry out exactly and precisely. The color, the type of wood, all that I revealed to you on the mount, Moses, do it perfectly.

And indeed, Moses was faithful in that.

He continued to do exactly what Moses had done, and in the same way, he did exactly what Joseph had done, and in the same way, he did exactly what Joseph had done.

And God also has an exact blueprint for His church. So you ministers and preachers don't take lightheartedly what God has decided should be what His church is like regarding the men, the women, the children, and all that He wants in His church.

Ministers, don't play around lest you find yourself and your congregation in hell.

God had a blueprint for the Messiah, for Mary, for Joseph. Now just think what commotion! What would it have been like if things wouldn't have gone according to the heavenly blueprint, if Jesus would have been born in Nazareth?

The Bible would have been a book of lies! If you don't live accordingly, the Bible won't be a book of lies. You will be the liar and deceiver, the wrong one.

And I don't imply by that that Mary was mistaken or had purposefully been in Nazareth.

Maybe it was of no intention of her own. Maybe they didn't have the money and the means to buy a house in Bethlehem. Maybe they didn't have the money, that place, and go to that place. I don't say she did it purposefully, and Joseph as well.

I don't say she did it purposefully, and Joseph as well.

Obedience to God’s Guidance in Uncertain Circumstances

We Christians walk around like blindfolded people. That's why we've got to stay close to God, that He can shunt us around, and lead us to the place He wants us.

And we've got to be obedient. Maybe they were aware of Jesus needing to be born in Bethlehem, but maybe not. Thus, we can be blindfolded, but we need to be close.

That was the reason why they needed a godless Augustus to lead them there. They had to have a dictator to get them to the place where He wants them. Because they went there, where God wanted them. And that's why He used Augustus to force them there.

And that's why He used Augustus to force them there.

It's good to be wholly surrendered to God, so that whatever the circumstances, whatever may come, you are fully surrendered to Him. And God worked through this ruthless dictator, this brutal man, so that they would come about this law that they would have to go the 70-mile distance to the town.

It doesn't matter who is reigning, even if it is a Caesar Augustus, God is able to guide.

Events to perfectly fulfill his plans. Augustus, in other words, means the greatest, the highest, supreme authority, God, the God, he was a God, a God.

But God had preordained that they would be there in Bethlehem, and I'm not surprised that there shouldn't be any room for them. After all, Mary wasn't exactly mobile, she couldn't rush to get to places in her state of pregnancy.

And then it's not surprising that they came last, and the place was full.

The Lord’s Doing and the Right Timing of Christ’s Birth

But all that of Augustus and the census, all that pertains to Augustus and the census is amazing. Psalm 118, from verse 22, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing, it is marvelous in our eyes.

This matter of the birth of our Savior in Bethlehem is marvelous in our eyes. Continuing to the next verse, this is the day which the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. We too should rejoice and be extremely glad that the Savior has been born for us in Bethlehem.

And she was expecting there in Nazareth, it was the time of her delivery, but you know what, she didn't exactly know, and doctors are like that, they don't exactly know, they might predict the 23rd and it happens on the 25th or on the 18th, unless of course the doctor does a Caesar, could be born on the way.

And all this movement could have shaken up the child. But God was ruling supreme with the exact timing of this occurrence. And so the time of her delivery then happened right there and then as God had planned.

You too, give yourself wholly into God's hands that He would bring about things at the right time in your life. Remember that even your life is in His hands, even your life span. And everything must happen according to God's will, according to the right place, the right timing as He has planned.

The Firstborn Son Belongs to God

Now I've finished the first point, and yet time has gone and after all I had said that it would be briefer so that those who are leaving would be able to leave in time. But let me make haste. The second point, and she gave birth to her first born son.

The first point, no child had been born before.

The second point, and she gave birth to her first born son. The third point, and she gave birth to her first born son. The fourth point, and she gave birth to her first born son. The fifth point, and she gave birth to her first born son.

She did have other children after that. Remember though the significance of the first born. God had declared as a law that the first born is mine. Woe to you if you are the first born. Woe to you for time and eternity if you mess around with your life and you're not surrendered to God and you're the first born.

It's like if you take somebody else's car and you just use it. You drive around where you like, you smash it, you crash, you just do. You treat that car as your own and you've stolen it. It belongs to somebody else.

And you'd be guilty. You, the first born, are God's.

I am not the first born in my family, but I am indebted to God. I have an obligation to Him and you too. Christ has died for you and therefore your life belongs to Him. Jesus was the first born.

God had brothers after Him.

There was James, Judas, Simon, and sisters. Sisters whom we don't know, we aren't told their names. I wonder what type of lives they lived. Now let's leave the first born. For it says, when her days were completed, she gave birth to her first born son.

So too, God needs to completely bring about what He has perfectly planned in your life. Born in God's time.

It is the practice of God. That's why you can't afford many children. You've got no father. Just an earthly father. And maybe he's dead. Or maybe he's poor. But blessed is the man who's got a rich father in heaven.

Here is a marvelous point, that when her days were complete, she gave birth to her first born son.

Not Joseph. Not Joseph. Not a daughter. Not a daughter. She didn't give birth to any daughter. She was an earthly father, not a father. She gave birth to her first son. And who was his father? Belial and Dawon.

And Zin-Neot. He was the firstborn. Not Joseph. He was the firstborn.

We men must congratulate Joseph, this was a real man, notice his discipline, his self-discipline regarding Mary, it says that he did not touch her till she gave birth to her son, are you a man who is disciplined, self-controlled, or are you one who has no discipline, you mess around, you're sexually immoral, but here is one who respected the child, who honoured the Christ child.

The child dear, the saviour, my redeemer, your redeemer. And I say Mary, you got married to the right person. A real man, self-controlled, where are the men today who have self-control? Whether you're living in singleness, or you're married, or you're a widow, widower, but that you live a self-disciplined life.

Jesus in the Manger and the Absence of Room

When he was born, she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger. It was the practice there in the Middle East that when a child was born, that they would wrap it tightly in cloths, it would feel secure and protected.

It says Mary got up and wrapped the child. Wasn't there a helper?

A good business man. He didn't have a card, but he had authority. Authority. He wouldn't have to go to the city and make money. He didn't have to go to the city to make money. He could have taken a bus and taken a bus, but he didn't have authority.

He would have taken a donkey, a donkey and taken a donkey, he would have taken a donkey.

Everybody was busy with their own private things. They were not interested at all in this. There wasn't a single person who had time to help Mary. Just think if there had been somebody who had devoted her time to help her, to wrap the child.

But no, there wasn't one. And so too in your Christian life, there are times when you will feel all alone and you have to go it alone. Make the best of it. Don't be a pessimist.

Oh, now I'm alone. Nobody helps me. It's too much for me. I can't anymore. And the baby suffers shame on you. He was born in a stable.

It was just an inn. Car. Very holiday inn. Very inn. Inns. We have a car. For travelers, it wasn't that there was a farmer who was there to milk his cows. It was just for those passing by. Now, it was a traveler's inn.

So there would have been those coming with horses or with their donkeys or whatever. It might have been that the innkeeper even had a cow or two. It might, the possibility exists that there might have been horses that had been tied there for the night.

And so this manger was a place where the animals could feed at night. It was also cold. It was also cold. And it was probably dark inside. It could be also that those who owned the animals were coming and going because they needed to come in to feed the animals.

They were not like a person who is troubled by nerves and needs to be prayed for where they, even if the door opens, they cannot sleep again.

Most probably, they had no private place. People walked in and out. They could have been a nuisance. And she could have felt, I'd like to have some sleep after this long journey. Most probably a week's journey.

And Joseph.

But they were not upset because they had the child. They had the heavenly child. Figure it. And so there was no room in the inn and they had to settle for this manger. And it was fulfilled as it's written in John 1 verse 11.

He came unto his own and his own received him not. That story of that play, that nativity play done in a school in Germany where they had arranged that the children would be playing this nativity scene.

And there was a sickly boy who was mostly absent who then came to the teacher and said, but I don't even have a pot. Can't I also participate in the play? She said, all right, you'll be one of the servants.

You'll have to say, there is no room here. Go. Next will affect the second service.

The first one will say, no place. Carry on. And he would be the second one just to second what he had seen.

What? So, on the actual day of the play at the part where he was meant to say there is no room, he was just overwhelmed by the situation. And seeing Mary come, he couldn't say there is no room. He said, there is room.

And if there isn't, we'll make space for you. The teacher afterwards said it was a mistake that he said that. But let's learn the lesson. We need to have that attitude. And you too. That's the attitude, the heart attitude that God blesses, making room for Jesus.

Receiving Christ as the Son of God

Jesus came to his own and his own received him not. But as the verse continues, those who did receive him, he gave them the power to become the sons of God. Are you part of them? Let's pray. Lord, may your word deeply penetrate us and completely change us so that we would live according to your heavenly plan.

And Lord, may your grace, the grace of you, Lord, who, though you were rich and though you had everything, you left it and forsook it all to come and be poor for us. Amen.