Would you please now stand with me and turn with me as we read God's holy word from Micah chapter five verses one through five. Micah chapter five verses one through five. The word of the Lord says, now gather yourself in troops O daughter of troops! He has laid siege against us. They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek. But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from old, from everlasting, Therefore, he shall give them up until the time that she is in labor as given birth. Then the remnant of his brethren shall return to the children of Israel, and he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of his name, of the Lord his God, and they shall abide. For now he shall be great to the ends of the earth, and this one shall be peace. When the Assyrian comes into your land and when he treads in our places, then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princely men. May God add a blessing to the reading of his word. And now would you turn with me in the New Testament to the gospel of Luke chapter two. Luke chapter two. And we'll be reading verses 1 through 20, Luke chapter 2. And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord showed around them, and they were greatly afraid. The angel said to them, Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. and this will be a sign to you. You will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, laying in a manger, and suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly hosts praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. And so it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord had made known to us. And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe laying in a manger. And when they had seen him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child, And all of those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen as it was told them. All flesh is like grass, and all of its glory is like the flower of the grass. The grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord abides forever. And all of God's children said, amen. Please be seated. Would you pray with me once more? Lord, we thank you for your word. We thank you, heavenly father, that we can read it and enjoy it in peace. We ask, Heavenly Father, that you would give us ears to hear and eyes to see, Lord, that we might walk out of here looking to walk with you ever closer than we ever have before, that we would look to, by your grace and mercy, abide in you all the more and obey you all the more that worship you with our very lives. We pray, Heavenly Father, that you would give me what I need, Lord, in order to serve these, your people. We pray that you would be glorified and honored, for it is in your precious name we pray, amen. This morning, as it says in our bulletin, We are looking at Luke 2, verses 1-7. It is, as always, a very great pleasure to review with you the story of Luke 2 and how Jesus Christ came into the world. You may not know it, but upon reading at the beginning of the Gospel of Luke, In chapter 1, verses 2 to 3, Luke writes very briefly an explanation of why he wrote the gospel according to Luke in the first place. He writes to a man by the name of Theophilus. Theophilus is a Greek man, and not only is he writing to Theophilus, but he is writing to all of the brethren over all of time. But he writes something very interesting to Theophilus that you and I need to understand as we progress forward through the birth narrative of Christ our Lord. He says to Theophilus, to us, it seemed good to me also having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first to write to you in orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed." So he tells Theophilus something, us something very interesting at the onset of the gospel of Luke, that in what he has heard, we can assume in the preaching of God's word from the Old Testament, what he has seen in the life of Christ and of the apostles, that Luke has taken it upon himself to write under the regenerating work of God the Holy Spirit and of a gift that God the Father has given to Luke to write in such a way that we the brethren would know with certainty those things with which he writes is the truth of God's Word being given to His people. There is certainty to be found here. There is clarity. It did not come from Luke's general thinking. It did not come plainly from his research. It was breathed out by God to the brethren that we would know with certainty that the birth narrative and the life of Jesus Christ is so. that we may rest our hearts and our minds upon it, believing all that it has to say. Amen? Did you know that on February 6th, 1952, Elizabeth ascended, if that's the right way to pronounce that word, ascended, to the throne at the age of 25. upon her father's death, George VI. That is, she agreed to take the throne. On June 2nd then, almost a year later, 1953 at Westminster Abbey, Elizabeth had her coronation, and not only did the coronation itself in the church, but the parade for one day's activity cost one million $888,200 for one day. A million bucks. What can we do with a million bucks? Amen? During the service, Elizabeth took an oath. She is anointed with holy oil as the head of the Church of England, was vested with robes and regalia, and crowned Queen of the United Kingdom, of Canada, of Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and what is now Sri Lanka. We are told after the fact, obviously, that some 27 million people across Britain watched this event from home. We also come to find out that some of those 27 million people actually went out and either purchased a brand new TV to enjoy the event or rented one. Can you imagine that? Renting a television for the big event. Knights came to this coordination. Majors, generals, commodores, dignitaries from all over this world came to this event costing $1,888,200. Did you know that the crown that was put on top of her head had 2,800 diamonds on it? That it had 23,000 gemstones? It had a 105-carat jewel in the middle, and it had a 17-carat Turkish diamond. Can you imagine? I'd take that! 2,800 diamonds. The point to that story and the lavishness that was her coordination is met up against the humility that was the birth of Jesus Christ. There is no fanfare at the birth of Jesus Christ. There is no celebration. There is no one coming to Joseph and Mary's side to offer better accommodations for them. And what we need to know in the midst of that is that it occurs that no one comes to celebrate the birth of our Savior, even though Scripture is full of prophecy concerning not only the day, but the circumstances to which Jesus Christ, our Lord, would be born on. The Jewish world was given prophecy concerning when he would arrive and the situation surrounding his arrival, yet no one concerns themselves when he is born. Isaiah chapter 7 verse 14, the prophet says, therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and will call him Emmanuel. And as we know, Immanuel means God with us. We read earlier in Micah chapter 5, verses 1 through 5, and verse 2 in particular, the prophet writes, But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from old, from ancient times. many others. Here in Luke, what we're reminded in this simple seven verses is first of all, the sovereignty of God in bringing his purposes together while doing so in the humblest, most unsuspecting way. But secondly, we're reminded of why Jesus is coming into the world in the first place. Would you follow along with me as I read verses one through seven? Beginning in verse one, Luke writes, and it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. The census first took place while Qunarius was governing Syria So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. And so it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. and she brought forth her firstborn son and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and she laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. You notice, first of all, here in verse 1, And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. The detail that Luke writes with here concerning who was in power at the time of Christ's birth and what was happening politically isn't simply useful tidbits of information. He actually writes what's written here so as to establish that Christ's birth wasn't some kind of a myth, but it is a true story amongst real events that were happening at the same time involving very real people. The event that is happening, however, at Christ's birth in Bethlehem is none other than a census. A census, a decree, or an order from a man by the name of Octavian, whose title we're given is Caesar Augustus, or emperor of Rome, that verse three meant everyone was to go to their hometown to be registered. Well, who is Octavian, the emperor of Rome? A little bit about him. He is born in 63 B.C. and he dies on August 19, 14 A.D. He is adopted by his uncle, Julius Caesar, in 44 B.C., and he is the first emperor of the Roman Empire, and because he is viewed as a god, By that I mean a lowercase g, God. And as a savior, his life is seen as the one who will provide peace and hope and good news to not only Rome, but the entire world. He is credited as building libraries and the Roman Forum, which you may or may not know, but was actually used to persecute the brethren. but he's credited as having these, building these. And although we are skipping over a lot of detail in history, the point is that Octavian, Caesar Augustus, is at the very highest point of his power. The Jews are given exemption from serving in the Roman military, So in an effort to showcase his power, to sort of humiliate the Jews, Octavian, Caesar Augustus, tells every Jew who is living under the Roman military hostage to go from where they live all the way to their birthplace. The idea of them going, isn't simply, it says here, verse three, to be registered, because this word census, apografeste, reflects that what is happening has more to do with humiliating these people and taxing them, because Octavian has the ability to call everyone under the umbrella of his authority to go where he wants them to go. and not only go where he wants them to go, but pay taxes. In other words, if we can't get you to work for me militarily, I will get you to come to where I want you to go to pay me the little bit of money that you have. Notice here verse four, It says, so Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and lineage of David. Excuse me, Joseph and Mary are going from Nazareth to Bethlehem. But did you know that from Nazareth to Bethlehem is somewhere between a 100 mile trip to a 70 mile trip? And Nazareth, I'm sorry, Bethlehem is due south of Nazareth. The text says that they went up to referring to Nazareth being 1,600 feet above sea level, as opposed to Bethlehem, their destination, which is about 2,300 feet above sea level. So although they are going south from Nazareth to Bethlehem, they are going up by the number of miles above sea level to get there. Mary, we're told here, is betrothed, that is engaged to Joseph, and in this later stages of her pregnancy. The journey they take is on roads that are potentially full of robbers, murderers. The path is full of rocks. And as you know, they aren't driving a car. They're taking the four-wheel drive donkey. In other words, this trip is an uncomfortable one. It is a painful one, and humanistically speaking, it brings the issue of being robbed or even murdered. What's interesting here as we look at this text in light of God's sovereignty is that although Caesar Augustus is sort of flexing his muscles for the known world or in front of the whole known world, What he doesn't know is that the one behind his decision to have the census, the one who is moving all of these parts along in a direction that God has sovereignly decided for them to go, is, as we've already said, God himself. He is simply using Octavius, Caesar Augustus, to bring Joseph and Mary and whoever others he has sovereignly decided to move along, simply because that is what God has ordained to be. God the Father, maker of heaven and earth, uses Augustus and his desire to humiliate these Jews. He can't get to commit to his military so that Joseph and Mary will give birth to Christ in a town God said Jesus would be born in. The question that some of us may be asking is how do we know that this is God's sovereign hand moving things along in this particular direction? We know that because of three things. First off, as we have already read twice now, Micah 5.2, But you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to me the one to be ruler in Israel. Idea here is that God, through the prophet Micah, told us that you will be able to identify the promised Messiah because he will be born from one of the most obscure places on earth, the little town of Bethlehem. Secondly, we know that this is God's sovereignty because, again, in verse 4, it says that Bethlehem is the city of David, meaning this is where David is from. We know that David is from Bethlehem because of 1 Samuel 16, verse 1. Now the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehite, for I have provided myself a king among his sons." In other words, God comes to Samuel, who is grieving that Saul, the chosen king, was no longer king. That God was removing him sovereignly from his kingdom. But he tells Samuel, I have sovereignly called you to go to Bethlehem. And while you are there, you will meet a man by the name of Jesse. Jesse's sons will come before you and his youngest by the name of David will come and you will know that he is the one I have chosen sovereignly. It's interesting here because Joseph is from the lineage of the king of David. He is Christ's earthly adopted and legal father. Therefore, Jesus is the legal descendant of David and the king of God's elect people. Thirdly, 2 Samuel 7, verse 12, when your days are filled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you who will come from your body and I will establish his kingdom. Well, what does all of that mean? We talked a lot about a lot of good stuff. But that God has sovereignly promised that his people will identify the promised Messiah because he will be from Bethlehem. He'll be born of a virgin. He sovereignly planned to bring Joseph who was of the line of David and is from Bethlehem to Mary to adopt Jesus, making Jesus the rightful heir to David's kingdom and the spiritual king of God's elect people. Jesus is the one promised to David to eternally reign in David's kingdom. We know that this is the sovereign work of God because who else could have brought this together over time in such a perfect manner? Notice now that Jesus being brought into the world as the Old Testament fulfillment, as under the sovereignty of God, is coming about in the most humblest of ways. As we're reminded of why Christ has come into the world, verses 6 and 7. Luke writes, So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. We're looking now again at the humility that is the birth of Christ. What is so humbling about this? First of all, he's born in an inn. There is no room anywhere else. The thing about this inn, the Greek word katalima literally means guest room. In the guest room, the totality of the guest room, there is kind of a central middle room where you could sit and gather and then At one end of this giant room, there is a stable for animals, and then at the other end, there is a guest room. Well, what's humble is that Joseph and Mary are reduced to being in the stable where the animals are located. The issue here is that although the Old Testament predicts the coming of the Messiah, no one but the wise men will eventually come, and the shepherds will eventually come, and no one seems to know that our Savior has arrived. On top of that, Mary clothed Jesus in swaddling clothes. Literally, these are torn up pieces of clothing that are torn even more to wrap around the body of Jesus to keep him warm. Pieces of clothing that are torn and wrapped around him. Thirdly, that he is put in a manger. Now we can be sure that Joseph and Mary cleaned the manger out, but it is used literally to feed the animals that are in the stable. Why does any of this matter? Why does the humility to which Christ was born matter? Because theologically, the humble beginnings to Christ's birth refer to what is called his state of humiliation. That is, Christ left the splendor of heaven as the sovereign ruler, second person of the Trinity, and assumed the human nature so that he himself, the supreme lawgiver, becomes subject to the demands and the curse of the law so that as the one who will purchase the salvation of the elect, he might perfectly propitiate God's wrath for his elect people. It's humble because no one is worshiping him. It's humble because the place that he is born in is far too meek for our Lord to be born in. And yet he comes without sin that his own would live eternally. Listen to the question and answer number 36 from the Heidelberg Catechism. Question, what benefit do you receive from the holy conception and birth of Christ? The answer that he is our mediator and with his innocence and perfect holiness covers in the sight of God my sin wherein I was conceived. Again, going back to the beginning, Queen Elizabeth, who is as sinful as we are, Caesar Augustus, who is as sinful as we are, who moved the known world to fit his desire that the Christ is born in obscurity under the sovereign hand of God our Father. Jesus Christ doesn't receive a parade. He gets no worship. There are no thoughts of the beauty that is Christ finally coming as the fulfillment of the covenant of grace. He's simply here in meekness, being born and loved on by his father Joseph, or his adopted father Joseph, and his mother Mary. two points of application that I would like to leave you with as we think about this story. It's one of the more beautiful things that we need to get from this passage is that God has faithfully brought his son into the world as the fulfillment of the covenant of grace simply because in his faithfulness, he told us that he would. We need not take that for granted. We need not come to the conclusion that this is somehow something that we deserve. That the Father, being gracious to those whom He has elected, He sends His Son who is willingly to come, that He might suffer and die, that His own might live. And the idea here is that His people who look upon his word to hear what his intentions and his plans are, that his people might abide in his word all the more, because we see his precious promises in his word. Psalm 119 verses 9 and 10. Psalm this writes, how can a young man cleanse his way By taking heed according to your word, with my whole heart I have sought you. Oh, let me not wander away from your commandments." The psalmist says two very important things here. First of all, he says, by taking heed according to your word, with my whole heart I have sought you. The idea of taking heed is far more than flippantly opening up the Bible and finding a passage to read. By taking heed to the word of the Lord, what he's explaining and encouraging us with is the need for you and I not to simply read the Bible as something we have to do and cross off as a daily practice, but something that we must dive into headfirst. as one of the means of grace in the reading of His word, the preaching of His word, that we might know Him as best as we can. By His grace, He's given us this word that we might know Him. One of the ways that we can abide in Him is by reading it and meditating on it. He says something else interesting here. He says, let me not wander from your commandments. Idea that we should feel in part a burden to proactively keep ourselves from wandering off into things that we should not be involved in. But there's another thing here far more important that we see in this text That is that God sovereignly brought his plans together. If we're not careful, we will lose sight of the fact that as careful as God has been to bring his son into the world under the prophesied predictions of his arrival, we need to understand that God is as careful over our lives as well. We are not Jesus Christ. We will not suffer and die for other sins. Amen. And yet God, with the same careful watch, takes care of you and I. And when we look at this story, we need to be reminded that Christ was in fact sent into this world that we might live eternally and know Him and abide in Him. At the same time, the things that occur in our life don't happen happenstancely. but occur because of his grace and his mercy and his sovereign hand upon our lives. Jesus Christ has come. He has purchased the salvation of his elect. And now we walk in the freeness of that redemption. Amen. Let's pray. Lord God, we thank you again for your word. We pray, Heavenly Father, that we would not take for granted your grace and your mercy. We pray, Heavenly Father, that we would instead be filled with joy because you have come, you have purchased our salvation. And now as your beloved, we walk in the newness of life. I pray Heavenly Father that as this week continues and we reflect that reality, that Lord, we would not be filled with guilt and remorse and shame and condemnation, that we would not feel overwhelming sense of discouragement, but that rather we would know confidently that we are yours, that we would look to abide in you all the more, that we would, as Peter puts it, look to assure our election, to make our election sure. We pray these things in your precious son, Jesus Christ's name we pray. Amen.