God's Perfect Control in the Events of Life — Erlo Stegen

The Birth of Jesus in Bethlehem

Let's read our text for today, from the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 2. In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.

And everyone went to his own town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David.

He went there to register with Mary who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. When they were there, the time came for the baby to be born. And she gave birth to her firstborn as son.

We'll end reading there. Shall we bow our heads once again? We pray Lord that you will now work through this word which has been read amongst us. May we receive heavenly mysteries from you. And may this service and this message not be in vain.

But may it bring forth much fruit. Amen. Now this month is the month of Christmas. During Christmas we remember the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It is a great celebration and feast. Now by that we do not proclaim that he was born on the 25th of December, but that is when we celebrate the birth of Christ our Lord.

Many celebrate Christmas. Some use a Christmas tree. Some give gifts. Giving one another gifts. Now some people think that Christmas is a time to get drunk and to do all sorts of abominable things. Now some people think that the Christmas season is a time when they can go and stand in the middle of the road and block the traffic and stop the cars doing that while they are drunk.

And so many accidents happen. You ask them why are you doing it? They say well it is Christmas. Some use it as a time for spring cleaning when they clean their yard and everything because of Christmas.

Christmas as God’s Gift of His Son

But it is a great day. A day greater and different to any other day. When God the Father gave us a gift greater than any other. Because of the great love with which he has loved us. He gave us his only begotten son.

The one whom he dearly loved. There was no one whom he loved greater than his own son. And he was willing to give us his son. Gifts that we give to one another, they come to an end. They perish. They don't last.

But the gift which God gives us does not perish. It is everlasting. It doesn't come to an end. It does not wither. This is the celebration of our Father in heaven. Where he demonstrates his great love for you.

So the coming and the birth of the Son of God is the beginning of all things. If it wasn't for that, we wouldn't have Christmas. We wouldn't have Good Friday. We wouldn't have the day when we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.

Easter Monday or Sunday. We wouldn't have even where we celebrate Pentecost. All of that wouldn't be there if Jesus hadn't been born.

In 2009,.

In 2009, 2009, 2010. We wouldn't be writing our dates as we do, that it's the year 2009 if Jesus hadn't been born. Because that means it's 2009 years since the coming of the Lord Jesus into this world.

Now some people say, well Jesus never lived. Those people, what can you say about them? Their minds are absent. Because they'll be condemned to hell just by the fact that they wrote the date where they said so many years since the coming of Jesus into this world.

Things were revolutionized and changed by the coming of the Lord Jesus into this world. Has your life been changed yet? So I say the coming of the Lord Jesus to this world was the beginning of all things.

The Incarnation and the Believer’s Exalted Position

It was the beginning of our salvation. Jesus descending from heaven, being born into this world of sin. Coming to a people that are corrupt and depraved. And His flesh became like that of us. But His blood was not like that of our blood.

His blood is divine. And He came to be born for you and me.

I don't know what His coming means to you.

But it should mean more than anything else in your life. That God became flesh. The God of heaven and earth, our creator, that His flesh became like our flesh. And in Hebrews 2 verse 11 it says that He is not ashamed to be called our brother.

Now we wouldn't be so audacious that we would call Him our brother and be flippant in that manner. But He is not ashamed according to God's word to call us His brothers. For He is from God. And if we are born again from God and we are sanctified, then He is not ashamed to call us His brothers.

He is not ashamed to call us His brothers.

Now that is amazing. One cannot fathom it. There are no words to describe and to declare that. And our minds cannot grasp that. That God whose eyes are like flames of fire and His face radiates like the sun in its brilliance.

That He is not ashamed to call us His brothers.

More than the sun in its brightness. And He is not ashamed to call you His brother and to call us His brothers. What kind of people should we be? What kind of people should we be?

Living Worthy of Being Called Christ’s Brothers

What kind of people should we be? Such a high and exalted position that is indescribable and yet you trample it underfoot. You get drunk. You get involved in immorality. You can even steal. And you become a child of Satan and you despise that exalted position to which you have been called.

And you become a child of Satan and you despise that exalted position to which you have been called. And you become a child of Satan and you despise that exalted position to which you have been called.

And you become a child of Satan and you despise that exalted position to which you have been called. And you become a child of Satan and you despise that exalted position to which you have been called.

Read about His life. How He went about healing the sick, raising the dead, making the lame to walk, and He calls us His brother. But if you are ashamed of Him, He will also be ashamed of you. And there should be a hell for people like you that despise the rejected Lord Jesus.

There is only one place fit for you and that is hell.

And there should be a hell for people like you that despise the rejected Lord Jesus.

You should burn in hell forever if you reject such great grace where Jesus came to raise us up out of our sin, out of that miry clay of sin, to plant our feet on a firm rock, to cleanse and sanctify us where He calls us His brother.

It should be the easiest thing in this world for us to deny ourselves of everything, to sacrifice and to surrender all for Him who gave His life for us to save us. I've got a question. Do you remind yourself of that every day?

That Jesus calls you His brother. Are you mindful of that? But will He still call you His brother if you sleep with a prostitute? If you get involved in drugs and things like that? I doubt it whether He'll call you His brother.

He'll vomit you out. He'll spit you out of His mouth. Do you remember that He calls you His brother? Or do you love sin? Do you love worldliness where that looks attractive to you? You're attracted to this world.

You need to wake up. You need to repent, you child of hell. He makes men holy. He sanctifies us. And then He's not ashamed to call us His brothers. That ought to cause a fire to burn in the heart of each and every one, whether you're colored, whether you're black, white, Indian, no matter which race.

It should warm our hearts. But if that is not the case, then you're a liar. You're a hypocrite. And you take after Satan, your father, who is a liar. You're a liar. You're a hypocrite. You're a hypocrite.

The Cost of Treating Grace as Cheap

If you hear that Jesus is not ashamed to call you his brother in front of the heavenly angels the heavenly host and his father in heaven that ought to cause you to rejoice to jump like a calf released from the stall to dance for joy to say there is no one with such a great privilege as I have but why is it that we make the faith to be so cheap if we don't do it with our words we do it with our lives with our deeds there is irritability there is getting angry and your last of the fish where do they come from not from your father in heaven don't they come from this world.

Gabriel and Michael the archangels in heaven when they look down do they say.

There are our brothers the brother not our brothers the brother of our master of our Lord of our God that should mean more to you than anything else. Everything else in comparison should be like done and it should be a small thing to you to deny all and to forsake all even your father mother brother sister your own wife and.

Paul says I'm a Hebrew of the Hebrews and I'm the most eminent amongst them.

But because of Jesus Christ I consider all that as done. Jesus was great to him the most important more than anyone else tell me. Is Jesus important to you to such an extent that you say I cannot disappoint.

Him I cannot turn my back on him he that calls me his brother John the.

Apostle wrote in his letter behold what great love God has lavished on us that we are called the sons and the children of God. There's nothing more sad than that that a person turns his back upon the faith.

Like God's wife like demons who love the world.

Salvation Through the Son of God

Jesus was born the son was born to bring us salvation and that we might be.

Called his brothers. I don't call him a child. A son has been given to us not like other children is the Son of God the Christ he came to bring salvation to us all and when we receive him then he who is holy and we who are sanctified he isn't ashamed to call us his brothers.

I cause a gal and oh I say gaggy it's unfathomable and indescribable. Make fun. A new booty. Lorna low. I've been up. She's in his way. I've been on voodoo who they had to pen to hisology and each one.

Should be a flame in their hearts as if they got converted just yesterday.

Uncool uncool. Ooh. Oh stand a gun gaga. Wassypa is a poor sabbath sappagatti is a poor is in a movie you is a poor is in a booty you feel a paga day what is.

Increased. And God who loved us so much gave us this great gift which does not perish it is eternal it does not wither eternal life through Jesus Christ our.

Lord back mail or booty. Lorna. Low no motion or mental. As a last thing. You know when he's back I'm Valerie says when he I think I knew was a man so God knew was a nyama. God knows there's way. I'm not scotty.

Meet Oleg. He cuckoo alien. Kulu gunani. It should be that because of that.

Everyone young and old would cast himself at Jesus feet and say all the rest is worthless. The last of the eyes the last of the flesh the last of the world all of that is nothing in comparison to this great treasure which.

God gives me or has got that still got an attraction to you. No more local. Are you still tempted. By date. We suck. Don't ask you the question who are you. In reality I get the impression that you the child of the devil.

Good thing don't. Uncle uncle. About moon to a full nook. Was seen this as in whalesey see the same day. Needy can cool see I see B's on woody sing about for.

Up. So let us remember them that Christmas is not for getting drunk or being immoral but it's for remembering that God became man to save us to sanctify us that we might become members of his family that he would call.

Us his brothers. No my donkey call. It is a live law is y 'all can go boy I said sweetie you know when they are cool gooby new love. We were to pull a tale.

Of Lassie that even if you had all the gold and silver of this world but that would be an easy thing for you to throw that aside for his sake. But what do you seek? You seek to get a job, to earn a big salary, earn a lot of money, you want to have education and degrees and position and all of that means more to you than the one who has called you and who wants to call you his brother.

Caesar Augustus and the Historical Setting of Christ’s Birth

And this month we will remember his coming into this world. So let us briefly look at the circumstances into which Jesus was born. He was born during the time of Caesar Augustus. He was the first and according to many the greatest Roman emperor.

He was like a king of kings and even worshipped as God. The Roman emperors or the Caesars were worshipped as God. And Caesar Augustus was the first Caesar who ruled over the whole known world of that time.

He was Caesar Augustus.

He was a heathen. Knowing nothing about the faith. Knowing nothing about the Bible. Knowing nothing about salvation. He was a raw heathen. Considering himself as God where everybody had to pay homage to him.

All the nations, all the other kings, nobody could contradict his word. His was the first and the last word. Ruling from Rome which was the capital city of the world. It was a great and glorious city with no city that could compare to it.

It was a great and glorious city with no city that could compare to it. Remember where Satan took the Lord Jesus and he showed him the glory and the glitter of this world. And he said if you would bow down to me I would give you all of that.

Rome was part of that which he showed Jesus. And Rome lived a life in total contradiction to God and his will and his word. And the palace of the emperor was called the golden palace. It glittered with gold and there was no other palace that could be likened unto that one.

And one day this king, this emperor went into his office. Seated on his throne, on his seat with his desk there, I don't know if it was clad in gold or not. And he took some paper scrolls and he signed.

And he made a law which was the first of its kind.

In history of all mankind the Bible says it was the very first.

And he signed this decree that everybody had to be counted. And he sent it out to all the nations. Each one had to return to his town of birth and there had to be counted. For various reasons. He wanted to know how many people there were in his empire.

He wanted to know how many eligible young men there would be for his army. Even though the Jews didn't serve in his army. But he had tens and tens of thousands of soldiers in his army from all the different nations.

He wanted a full census to be taken. Also to know what the income was of the businessmen. How many heads of cattle did the farmers have. And all of that wasn't just that he would know about it. He wanted by that to extract some taxes from them.

And anyone who did not obey that law would be decapitated. Would be executed. Or any way to go against that law. And so he signed that decree into law that he wanted each and everyone to go to their town of birth to be counted there.

Joseph, Mary, and the Journey to Bethlehem

And for that reason Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem. So Joseph being from the house of David had to go to Bethlehem. Now we don't know whether it would have been like that because there was no longer any king in Israel.

No Jewish king because they had discarded and turned their backs upon the true king. But if they would have remained true to God we don't know. Maybe Joseph himself would have become king because he was of the royal line even though he was so poor.

The royal family of David in spite of the fact that he was so poor.

God removed that kingship from Israel and later on even no stone of the temple remained on another. Everything was destroyed. Everything was destroyed. Even the birth registers and the genealogies that kept a record of who gave birth to who.

All of that was destroyed.

That which belonged to the world was utterly destroyed and burned.

It all turned to ashes. Woe to you. You who reject that which God had given you. You would lose all of that and your generations after you as well. And so Caesar Augustus placed his royal seal on that document which was sent out to all the furthest corners of the world.

That everybody had to go back to their hometown and to be numbered there and that would be the first census. Worldwide census. Joseph was from the town of Nazareth and he was there. So was Mary who was betrothed to Gideon.

Mary was with child without having known a man. And when Joseph took her as his wife he never had any marital relations with her. Until after she gave birth to her first son. And that is the way in which Joseph honored the one who was to be born of her.

That even though he was with her and you would be called husband and wife but he didn't touch her. And the time came for her to give birth. And here this heathen emperor signed this decree into law that everyone had to go to their hometown to be counted.

Having no knowledge whatsoever of the Bible and the prophets and the promises of God and the prophecies.

And that is the way in which Joseph honored the one who was to be born of her. And that is the way in which Joseph honored the one who was to be born of her.

And here was this law now that they had to go there to Bethlehem but Mary was about to give birth. But there was nothing they could do about it. He had to take Mary and they had to travel a distance which would probably take them about 25 hours to get there.

Caesar Augustus had spoken, make or break they had to obey. Now some women if they were with child they are so sensitive they can almost not even get up from their bed. They can't go to work and so they've got so many things that they can't do.

But here was Mary, she was with child about to give birth and she had to travel all that distance. There were no taxis at that time mind you, she had to either walk on foot or go on donkey. And so Joseph spoke to Mary and said Mary we have this problem, we've got to travel all the way there to Bethlehem.

There's no other way, there's no way out of that and remember they had to either walk on foot or travel by donkey.

I don't know what Mary answered whether she said yes indeed. Joseph really that's unfortunate and there's no one who will suffer like I will.

But Caesar Augustus has spoken and we've got to do it. Maybe the child will even be born on the way, not in a hospital or not there where you have midwives available. And Joseph said there's no other way we've got to go.

And so off they went, I don't know how many days they traveled and Mary was heavy with child. Until they arrived there. And remember when they got there, there was no room for them in the inn, there was no place for them anywhere.

The only space they could get was there in the stable. Having nothing to do with the child that was to be born. Because they should have opened their best hotel and the best room in that hotel and said here is place for the king of kings to be born.

But no, they said let him be born there in the stable in the cattle dung. I don't know for how many hours they had just arrived to be there in Bethlehem and then Mary gave birth to a son. Whether it was even a number of days, I don't know the time, but when they and while they were there, Mary gave birth to a son.

They went there to be numbered. In the meantime, whilst they went there for the census, it was God who was in control. God was in control even of Caesar Augustus. God had all the reigns of the world in his hands and even Caesar couldn't move his finger without God telling him to do so.

You don't need to be a believer in order for God to reign and rule over you. No, God rules over each and everyone, whether it be a donkey that kicks, no matter whom you might be. And if God would remove his hand from you, your lips would turn to dust.

And if God would remove his hand from you, your lips would turn to dust. And if God would remove his hand from you, your lips would turn to dust.

God’s Sovereignty Over Human Rulers

Now here was Caesar Augustus with a thought coming to him that there had to be a worldwide census. And what his main motive was, we don't know, but what we do know is that it was God who inspired him to do that.

For Jesus had to be born in Nazareth, sorry, he was going to be born in Nazareth. But Micah had prophesied many hundreds of years before that, that you, Bethlehem, are not the least amongst the cities of Judah, for in you will be born the one who is everlasting.

Whose beginning is from everlasting to everlasting.

And almost, a mistake almost happened, that Jesus was born there in Nazareth. Joseph and Mary were short sighted in that, they could only see close by, they couldn't see that which was further away.

What a tragedy that would have been, if Jesus would have been born in Nazareth. This book would be a book of lies, a book of lies. And God in heaven said, my children are so blind sighted, I'm going to move the emperor of the whole world.

And get him to work, to bring about the fulfillment of God's word. We may say, Joseph should have known. Mary should have known. That no angel appeared to them to tell them, he's got to be born in Bethlehem.

But now he's born in Nazareth. And God undertook moving the biggest heathen, the hardest sinner. The one who calls himself a God. And brings him into communication with the child, the son that's going to be born.

And he had a part in it. And he sighed, that baby has got to be born in Bethlehem. He didn't put it in those words. But, that was the crux of the matter.

As a lay lay Bethlehem. And so God said, because of his son, who had to be born in Bethlehem. He said to Caesar Augustus, now you get up, get dressed, go to your office, go to work. Sign that document into law.

That there has to be a worldwide census. So that my son will be born in Bethlehem and not in Nazareth.

Just at the right time. At the right time. Not before, not after. But, he was on time. Just in time. God planned it, that there should be an emperor, Augustus, in Rome. God knew what he was doing. Putting that heathen into power.

He knew he needs that man. That godless man. That heathen. To bring about the fulfillment of his word.

Divine Providence and the Need for Faith

God is great and awesome. And so is the son, who causes everyone to be stirred.

From the smallest to the greatest. Everything is in his hands. Not one of your heath will fall to the ground without him. And without him, we can do nothing. Nothing.

You won't even be able to lift your foot from the ground if he does not allow that. And when you pass from this world, then you will not even be able to chase a fly from your nose. It will sit there and it will even lay its eggs there and they will hatch.

And you won't be able to do anything about it.

Those that will be the maggots that will eat you. And you can't do anything to it. Your body, with the beautiful hairstyle, makeup, with all your beauty. You, if he takes his hand from you, will go down the drain.

You, if he takes his hand from you, will go down the drain.

Some people think they are great. And you look at them and say, my, what a fool you are. Some think they are beautiful. And you can say, what a fool that girl is. In Germany, there was a young girl and she was pestered, so self-conscious, thinking she is like the best of the princesses, so beautiful.

And she went to a man of God and said, is it a sin that I am so beautiful?

Is it a sin that I am so beautiful?

Is it a sin that I am so beautiful? He said, no, it's not a sin. It's just a mistake.

She said, well, he said, it's not a sin, it's just some mistake. It's deception.

She was deceived. Blown up in her own eyes.

The Bible says, heaven and earth will pass away, but not even one iota, even a full stop from the Bible.

The Bible says, heaven and earth will pass away, but not even one iota, even a full stop from the Bible.

God’s Purpose in the Trials of Life

Now you might feel so sorry for yourself. You might say, well, I've got so much bad luck in my life and things are so terrible. And you don't realize that God has revealed His will in His Word. And all of those things you need to use that God might bring into fulfillment that which He has planned for you, that you might be called His brother.

Then you don't moan and groan, why, why, why? It will be the end of wise without being wise. If you are wise, then you say, to those that love God, everything works together for good. And you'll be able to give sense for everything.

If you are wise, then you say, to those that love God, everything works together for good.

So with the birth of the Son, God stirred the hand, moved the hand of that greatest Emperor. And that He signed that law, that He said, He's got to go there. He didn't know why He did that, but God was bringing His Word into fulfillment.

We don't say He was the greatest Emperor, but the greatest at the time when He was on the throne. He was the greatest. And the greatest heathen, I say. And God used all that, isn't it marvelous, to be in the hands of God.

He says, Christ, the Son of God is great.

Is He great to you as well? Is He great in your heart? Or are you going to go out of here as a fool? Let's bow our heads and pray. Work, Lord, through Your Holy Spirit. Open the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, that they might see wondrous things from Your Word.

Amen.