Let us open our Bibles to the New Testament to the Christmas Gospel in Luke chapter 2, the verses 1 to 7. We will read Luke chapter 2, the first seven verses, and these verses will also be the text for this morning's sermon. And it came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria, and all went to be taxed, every one into his own city. And Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth into Judea unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be taxed with Mary, his espoused wife, being great with child. And so it was that while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should 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. Thus far, our scripture reading and also our text for this service. Over the sermon, you can write as our theme, from the throne to the manger. From the throne to the manger. After all, in these first seven verses of Luke chapter 2, we are taken from the throne to the manger, from heights to depths. Yes, we begin at a high place in chapter 2 and we come down to a low place. We begin from a place of power and we move to a place of poverty. along this downward slope and descent, and along the way we meet with five persons. Augustus, Cyrenius, Joseph, Mary, and finally the Lord Jesus. We want to see the way God works and the lessons He would have us learn. In this account of the birth of the Lord Jesus, Luke takes us, yes, from the throne to the manger. He begins with the throne in Rome. He begins with Caesar Augustus. Right? That's how chapter 2 begins, boys and girls. It came to pass in those days that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. Luke introduces us, boys and girls, to this emperor in Rome. His name is Octavius. He's a nephew of Julius Caesar. a man who had gained a remarkable victory, militarily speaking, some years ago when he had become Caesar Augustus. Caesar Augustus. There are two titles. Caesar, that is the title of the highest ruler. Augustus means something like the exalted one. The month August is named after him. He received this title Caesar Augustus from the Roman Senate. Yes, he was a powerful ruler. He was quite a good organizer and a good administrator. Yes, a powerful ruler. Verse 1 hints at that in Luke 2 when it says that all the world should be taxed. It appears that he is supreme over the whole world. No doubt he was a great and he was a mighty emperor, boys and girls. He had also built an elite group around him, a security, a detail, the praetorium guard, and with great care he appointed his generals, and under him the people experienced a measure of prosperity and peace. But while there may have been more outward prosperity and outward peace, he couldn't bring the peace that we need with God. The peace that man misses by nature. Caesar Augustus. Yes, people put their trust in this emperor, but the Lord says something else. The Bible writes as, trust not in man who soon shall die, but on the living God rely. For all that this king could do, he could not bring us into favor with God. Well, it's Caesar Augustus who ordered a decree that everyone under his rule should be taxed should be registered, most likely, so that Caesar would increase the funds he would have for his government. And what he ordered took place. When Caesar decided something, there was action. People were set into motion. That's how it is here. The world's moving. It's set in motion. There are people traveling all over the place because Caesar has decreed something. And what would we have done? If we lived that time, it would have been not so nice to leave home, not for a vacation, but for a census. But Paul would urge Christians in Romans 13 verse 1, for instance, to be subject to the higher powers. True, it must have caused many headaches or problems for the people, but we're not called to rebel, but to submit. As Jesus himself would later on say, that we should render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Unless, of course, the government asks us to do something against God's law. But that can't be said here. The people are not being asked to disobey God's law here. In fact, Caesar, he doesn't know it, but some 700 years before God had revealed by the prophet Micah, and thou Bethlehem Ephrathah, out of thee shall he come forth, the Messiah would be born, the son of David must be born in the city of David. The Scriptures say that and the Scriptures must be fulfilled. And God's Word is reliable. Yeah, young people, it's trustworthy. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my Word shall not. It shall endure forever. That's reason, isn't it, young people, to take up and read? Because God is a God who makes promises and keeps them, who fulfills it. So that Micah 5 verse 2 must be fulfilled. Caesar is doing simply what God wants him to do. Boys and girls, do you see that? This mighty ruler, emperor there, he simply does what God wants him to do to get his son to be born in Bethlehem. Doesn't that speak of his greatness, children? I know. Caesar is demonstrating supremacy over the whole world, but there's one greater than him who rules all things, who is king over all, and God is simply carrying out His decree. In the words of Daniel 4 verse 35, He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. Proverbs 21 verse 1 says, He holds the heart of the king in His hand and He turns it whithersoever He will. Nothing happens apart from God's will. Even though Caesar is against the Lord and against the Lord's anointed, Psalm 2 speaks about God uses Caesar. to carry out his purposes so that the ruler in Israel would be born in Bethlehem. Just like he used years before Cyrus to let the people of Israel return to the land of Israel. J.C. Ryle says, little did the haughty Roman Emperor think that he was carrying out the eternal purposes of the king of kings. And he goes on to say, a true Christian should never be greatly moved or disquieted by the conduct of the rulers of the earth. He should see with the eye of faith a hand overruling all that they do to the praise and glory of God. They can do nothing but what God allows, and nothing which is not carrying out God's will. Next. We meet Cyrenius. After we've heard of Caesar Augustus, who he is, and that he's at the top with the political and military power in those days, we climb down a few steps to the governor of Syria, Cyrenius. The people to whom Luke is writing will have known who he was and when this happened. Yes, Cyrenius, governor of Syria. who served under Caesar Augustus and his rule receiving his power from the Caesar and having power over a region of Syria. He had this power as long as he would maintain order and he could set taxes and collect taxes for that region as long as he saw to it that there was peace and order for if things went wrong in the region of Syria boys and girls if there were problems in his region and the news of those problems would reach the ears of Caesar Augustus then Cyrenius would lose his position and maybe lose even his head That's how we meet these two first men here in Luke 2. How can we describe them? Maybe it's best described as self-made man. This is something of what man is able to do. Climb some ranks, get some power, have some status. Maybe they worked hard to get there just like someone like Trump or Putin or Bill Gates. They stand at the top of fame and power and they try to do in their own way what's good for society maybe and for the world, but for the most part they live without God and they live for themselves. They're not living to please God, but to please themselves. And so often they can look at what they've accomplished and they can say with Nebuchadnezzar, is this not great Babylon that I have built for my glory and for my honor? They don't realize what Jesus would later on say. What shall it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul? They don't realize that all that they have comes from God. And often people look to such political leaders to help them and to give them a good life and to make their country great again. And they don't realize that they need more than just making a country great again. We have a soul that is of greater value than the whole world. We need a greater deliverance, a greater salvation. Have you ever seen that? Have your eyes been opened to see that? That there's a soul to be saved or to lose, and you have only one? No, let us not put our trust in princes, but in the Prince and Savior who gives repentance and remission of sin, who's able to change us by His grace. And that He does, for we see that with the third person that we meet, Joseph. Yes, the step down from Caesar Augustus to Cyrenius was a few steps, but the step downward on this slope to Joseph is even a greater step. He is set before us as a regular man over against these two powerful rulers in the world of that day. Here's Joseph, a carpenter. He has to work hard to make a living. Joseph. He's not known among the rich and famous of his day. He's a son of David. But there's nothing left of the throne of David, is there? Except a promise from God. But no, we don't know that much about Joseph. The Bible never records any words that Joseph spoke, surely to indicate that Joseph was a man who did not open his mouth that easily. and did what James would later on call us to do, he was swift to hear and slow to speak. No, we're not told much about Joseph, but he was a righteous man. Matthew will tell us that in the opening chapter. And he was a man who lived by faith and who submitted to the Word of the Lord. Also when the angel came to him and instructed him to take Mary as his wife and to love Mary and to protect Mary and to provide for Mary because she's carrying the Lord Jesus. And he doesn't shrink back. But he obeys the Word of the Lord. It's proof of his faith in God. No, it's true. Not much is told us about Joseph. But he made his residence in Nazareth, a place about 150 kilometers north of Jerusalem. Nazareth, that was his hometown. It wasn't a city. It was a small village, a lowly place. Not a place where the spotlight is on like Rome or Jerusalem, or today like New York or Washington. Nazareth was an obscure place, a back country place that seemed to have nothing to offer. And it didn't have the best of reputations. No, everyone looked down on this town of Nazareth. Not just did they look down on it in Judea, but also in Galilee. Everyone in the surroundings looked down. on the town of Nazareth and its inhabitants. After all, in John 1 verse 47, we hear the question, can anything good come out of Nazareth? The expected answer is no, of course not. Nothing good can come out of that place. I mean, you look down on that place. It was an object of mockery and ridicule and apparently for good reason. For nothing good came out of Nazareth. Nothing morally good came out of that place. That's the way the word is used in the Greek. It was a place of injustice. It was a place of immorality. It was a village with a reputation of sin. From that place, Joseph came, and God had appointed Joseph to be the guardian of this child that was to be born. And in the years of his youth, to love him, and to provide for him, and to care for him. Yes, Joseph, many people would pass him by. They wouldn't pass Caesar Augustus by like they would pass Joseph by. Joseph was insignificant. so much unknown about him. And yet God used him. He was a true believer. And I wonder if that can be said of those who are in the workforce, those of you who are carpenters. Do you know what Joseph knew? Fear of the Lord. The grace of God in your life. that says, Here am I, Lord, use me. Joseph, who was diligent in his work, such a person God wanted to make and such a person God wanted to use in his service. Someone who was not seeking to be in a leading position, but was willing to be a servant. God, after all, does not call many mighty, many wise, not many noble, but God hath chosen the foolish. to confound the wise and the weak he hath chosen, to confound the mighty and those who are despised, that no flesh should glory in his presence, Paul would later on say, 1 Corinthians 1 verse 26 to 29. In a world with the rich and famous, like Caesar Augustus and Cyrenius, God puts his hand on someone like Joseph in order to make use of him and to teach him to name his son Jesus, and to teach him to trust in Jesus, in his person and in his work. Joseph, an insignificant man in the world who lived for the most part unnoticed and unseen by many, but who had an important place in the purposes of God. And then Mary, the fourth person we meet. You know who she is, don't you, boys and girls? Mary. She's the espoused wife of Joseph. Yes, she also lives in the town of Nazareth. Mary. She's young. A teenager. Maybe 15, 16 years old. And some might say, well, then you're too young for the grace of God. But that's not what God says. God has chosen her to be the mother of His Son. She has not had any marital relations with any man. She has become a seeker of the grace of God, and the angel could say that she has found favor with God, and she's a girl of faith. And I wonder if that can be said of you, young people, teenagers. Are you Girls. A girl of faith. Luke 1 makes it very clear that that's what can be said of Mary. She's taken up with the Word of God. When you listen to her song there in Luke chapter 1, we hear so many quotations from the Old Testament. She's quoting words from the Psalms and from the song of Hannah. She knows her Bible. Bunyan or Sturgeon said it once, she's a walking Bible. treasuring the Word of God, living by the Word of God, and seeking to keep herself unspotted from the world, even in that place where people are wondering if any good thing can come from Nazareth. And she has bowed before the Word of the Lord, and she's willing to be used by the Lord, that she responded to the angel, Behold, the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word. Young people, she knows submission. and surrender. And I wonder if you know that, that kind of submission, that has learned to say, Lord, I don't understand it, but Thy will be done. That's the answer of someone who loves the Lord, isn't it? I mean, when the Lord brings something unexpected your way in your life and in your family, in a special need, maybe in a sickness, maybe in a hardship, and then so many questions can fill your heart and your mind. But have you come to say, have thine own way, Lord? Thou art the potter. I am the clay. Mold me and make me after thy will while I am waiting, yielded. and still. That's what the Lord wants to teach also young people. It's what the Lord Jesus himself would pray in the Garden of Gethsemane, not my will but thine be done. And he can work this submission and this faith in your soul so that you say, Lord be it according to thy word. And you don't have to be old to have this. Marries a teenager. The Lord is able to give blessings to teenagers. Here is someone whom the Lord uses, someone who submits before the Lord, and the history of salvation does not revolve around a Caesar Augustus, and it doesn't revolve around a Cyrenius, but around two unknown people who simply bow before the Lord and His Word. even if it won't be easy for them, even if others will mock them. But they desire to serve the Lord and have what the Lord would give them, especially the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's the last person we meet in this Christmas account, the fifth person. We come here to the lowest place. the birth of a child in a manger, born of a young woman who did not impress the people of her day, who is engaged to a carpenter who no one knows. But here God comes with the birth of a child in weakness, who will confound the mighty and the wise, who will be the judge of the earth one day. Look at verse 7, 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. Here he is, Lord Jesus, Mary's firstborn son. Not her only son, she would have other children, but here is her firstborn son. And the firstborn son had a special task. Exodus 13 verse 2 tells us that the firstborn son was to be set apart for the Lord, was to be consecrated to the Lord. Luke 2 verse 23 will remind us of this very thing. The firstborn was to be devoted to the Lord. The firstborn was to be like a Samuel brought to the temple. Hear, Lord! Use Him in thy service. Someone who was to live entirely for the Lord. How many firstborn sons have been so consecrated to the Lord and have been so devoted to the Lord that they said no to sin at every turn and yes to the service of the Lord? Firstborn sons. Do you know like that? Wanting to live entirely for Him. There have been none. Cain was a firstborn son. No, he didn't want the service of the Lord. And that's how there have been these firstborn sons. But here, firstborn son of Mary, who would be completely set apart for the service of the Lord, the sinless Son of God, devoted to the Father at every turn. The firstborn son who was devoted to the Lord, but destined to die. Like the firstborn sons in Egypt. Yes, the Hebrew families in Egypt, if they had blood on the doorposts from the lambs slain in their house, then they would be safe because of the substitute. Now, here comes the firstborn son who is the substitute, who will die the substitutionary death. And that's why he came. He came to die. But He didn't just come, right boys and girls? He didn't just come as a 30-year-old and then begin His public ministry and die! He didn't come as a 30-year-old. He didn't come as a 15-year-old into this world. He came right where we begin. In order to save, you see, He needed to live our whole life over again. And we don't begin with sin at the age of 15 or at the age of 30. We begin with sin in the womb, at the moment of conception. And we need a mediator, not just for the sins of our adult years. We need a mediator for the sins of our youth. And also for the sins in which I was conceived and born. And Lord's Day 14 of our Catechism puts it. that Jesus in His incarnation with His innocence and perfect holiness covers in the sight of God my sins wherein I was conceived and born. He's born a baby, children, a helpless baby, a weak child that when boys and girls When you get to hold a baby brother or sister, then your mom says, be careful. Hold them careful. That's how the Lord Jesus comes into the world. He comes as a baby. He doesn't come into this world as a mighty king with a sword in his hand and an army at his side. He comes as a baby. He takes upon himself our human nature at its weakest and frailest point. You see, what if he had come as a mighty king with a sword in his hand, without any weakness? Then you would wonder, but does he know my weaknesses? Does he know my sorrows? And does he understand my pain? Does He know what it is like to grow up with imperfect parents? Does He understand my grief? He does. He is the sympathizing High Priest and He's touched with the feelings of our infirmities and to that end He came as a baby. And Mary, she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes cloths that poor people would wrap their babies in. Mary doesn't clothe them in ornate purple, but in swaddling clothes. He who would clothe her with a robe of perfect righteousness is wrapped by her in these swaddling bands. And while, because of his greatness and His special character in person. You'd expect Him to be born in a special place. He who would be great and called the Son of the Highest, we find Him in a stable among the animals, the donkeys, the camels. And He's laid in a feeding trough for the animals. And boys and girls, if you were to go into the barn in the next day or two, you wouldn't expect to find a baby there, would you? You wouldn't expect to find the Son of God there, would you? He who made the world, now in poverty. He who dwelt in the glory of heaven, now in a place of humility. Did it have to go this way? The Father wanted it this way. The Son wanted it this way. Do you know why? 2 Corinthians 8 verse 9 tells us that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. He became poor. He was born in a place of poverty. He wore rags of poverty. He cried for his food just like a baby would cry for its mother's milk. He comes in poverty and later on he would even have his clothes taken from him. He would hang on the cross and with dry lips he would say, At least here in Bethlehem there are these loving arms that he may feel, but the hour of his agony will come when he won't even have loving arms to hold his hand. He became poor. Sinners like you and me might be rich. I wonder this morning if you've ever seen how poor you are. Something of your guilt that you were poor and needy, deserving to perish and go to hell where you won't even receive a drop of water. The Lord Jesus became poor so that you might know His riches of forgiveness, the riches of His mercy, the riches of peace with God. the riches of His care and protection, of the riches of eternal life in the Father's house with the many mansions. That's why He's born in poverty. He who became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. And it means, let me mention another gospel lesson here, He's laid there in the manger of Bethlehem in poverty. It says, are you listening? It says He's approachable. You can come to Him. I mean, if He was born in the palace of Rome, or if He was born in the home of Cyrenius, the governor of Syria, Or if he was born in the home of the high priest in Jerusalem, do you think the shepherds would have been allowed to come and see him? Do you think they would have been allowed in? Oh, not the way they were. They would have had to make preparations. They would have had to make themselves worthy first. They would have had to wash themselves first. There would have been so many obstacles. But now he's born in a stable, and there are no obstacles in the way. No one is hindered from coming to the stable. There are no guards blocking the way. Christ is most approachable. What an encouragement that is for the sinner who has so many objections and who feels so filthy and says, but shouldn't I first improve myself? No. No. Why would you do that? Let Him come at once. But shouldn't I make myself more acceptable? No, Jesus in the manger says, Come and welcome. But don't I have to learn first how to pray? No. You may come. Just as you are. No one who comes will be sent away. Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. You don't, boys and girls, You don't need to be afraid to come into a barn, do you? To come to a manger, do you? Jesus born in the manger says, whoever you are, come and welcome to Jesus Christ. And when Luke records this, And he tells us that he was born and where he was laid, and at the end he tells us the reason why it was like this. Because, right children, there was no room for him in the inn. How do you think that went? Or was it maybe while Mary and Joseph were going into the inn to see the innkeeper, ask if there was a room for them, that someone looked at them and said, I don't think there will be any room for you. Did they knock at the door of several in the inn? They said, sorry, the beds are full. How it all went, I don't know, The answer that the innkeeper gives is, it's no room. Did Joseph maybe say, but my wife's about to have a baby? We don't know. And maybe the innkeeper tried to be kind and tried to be sympathetic, as sympathetic as he could, but he said, no room. the voice of the innkeeper, we hear the spokesman actually of the whole world. No room for the Lord Jesus. He's unwanted. Children, you know that there have been boys and girls who have been told that by their parents, they've been told, you really were not wanted. And that's how it is here. There's no room for Him. He's not wanted. Herod, when he found out that the king of the Jews has been born, he plots to kill and he leaves a bloodbath behind. Bethlehem. And Caesar, Augustus, he doesn't want people to say, Jesus is Lord. He wants them to say, Caesar is Lord. And is it any better among the covenant people of Israel? No. He came unto his own. and his own received him not. In Nazareth, his hometown, they wanted to throw him down a cliff in the region of the Gadarenes after delivering that demon-possessed man. Jesus isn't welcome in that place, and they urge him to leave. There is no room for him, and in the end, there was only one place for him, and it's on the cross, suspended between heaven and earth. There's no room for him. Is it any different today? Oh, I know there are many Christmas festivities taking place in many places, but is there room for him in our Parliament? Is there room for him in the Supreme Court? Is there room for him in the United Nations there in New York? There's room for him in schools of learning. I know there are some Christian schools, some Christian universities, but for the most part, there is no room for Jesus except to doubt his claims and to mock his name. Ah, but pastor, there are Christmas carols that are sung, and there's Christmas shopping, there's Christmas trees, there's Christmas lights, there's Christmas decorations. Yes, of course they want your money. They don't want Christ. They want your shopping, but they don't want the Savior. There's room for sin. There's room to take His name in vain. There's room for sports. There's room for entertainment. There's room for jokes. But is there room for Jesus? People say it. Christ just doesn't fit in my life. What about you? What about us? Is there room for Christ in our homes? In the midst of the busyness, is this maybe what we've forgotten? Is there room for Him in our conversations? Is there room for Him in your thoughts? Is there room for Him in your heart? I didn't ask if there was room for some religion. I'm asking if there's room for Jesus Christ in your heart and life. By nature, there is no room. Our hearts, by nature, are closed to Christ. Have you never discovered that? He came knocking. He came knocking in the gospel invitation and the gospel calls. He spoke to your consciences. He came to you through the preaching, but you tried to push it away. You tried to suppress it. Not now. You tried to ignore it. And your heart said, as it were, with a sign on it, no room. Please go. And he comes and he says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. And if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with me. But you keep the door shut. Another year is almost past and you've kept the door shut to him. I know we can do that politely. I know we can do it even with pious words, and we can say, but pastor, I can't open the door of my heart myself. But that still means the sign over your heart says, no room. But what is it in your heart that keeps him out? What has crowded into your heart? What fills that heart of yours that keeps Christ out? What is it? that there is no room for the King. You can say it to the Lord. But do you know what the wonder of Christmas is? That still the Lord Jesus came, that there was no room, and yet the Father made room for Him. made room for him in that dirty cattle stall. And the Father still does that in the hearts of sinners. So that you can say this morning, but my heart is so foul and my heart is so dirty. He comes to make room in unclean places so that the Lord Jesus doesn't just stand knocking at the door, but actually comes in And by the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, your heart goes open, and He comes and meets with you, and you may ask for that. Lord, make room. Come into my heart. Be born in us today. And He can do that for you too, boys and girls, so that the sign, No Room, gets tossed. And as one of our boys this past week says, the sign begins to say, come in. He's come to do that so that he can say something else. You had no room there by nature. Do you know what I'm doing? My father's house, many rooms. I go to prepare a place for you." And to that end He humbled Himself so low, the King of kings coming to this earth being rejected, despised, hanging on the cross in order to make room. There was no room for Him. If you look carefully though at verse 7, it doesn't say that. It says there was no room for them in the inn. I don't want to take away anything from what I've said so far. For there is no room for Christ, after all, he comes into focus here. But let's take note of it. If there is no room for Christ in this world, there is no room for his people either. When you become a disciple of the Lord Jesus, the world will shut its doors to you. You can expect that. Jesus said that if they've persecuted me, they will also persecute you. But isn't that discouraging, Pastor? I know. But, you see, the world and its closed doors towards the people of God is meant to make you homesick. and meant to drive you out to Him, for He wants to come and meet you in the persecution, in the midst of affliction, to say, this world is not your home. In my Father house are many mansions, and I go to prepare a room for you. And you don't need to be at the top then, and you don't need to be someone with power and position and possessions. After all, Mary sang it, he hath put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree. Instead he comes to gather a poor and needy people to himself, beggars who don't know how to deliver themselves. Let's not busy ourselves with the Trumps and Putins of this world. with the Caesar Augustuses and the other rulers. Instead, let us bow before King Jesus. Expect all from Him. For when the needy seek Him, He will mercy show. Yea, the weak and helpless shall His pity know. Amen. O most good doing and gracious Lord, gather us around the manger in Bethlehem by faith to the Lord Jesus who is so approachable, there to adore Thy sovereign love and grace, and to ask Thee, Lord, will Thou make room in our often crowded hearts and homes where there's room for so much pray thee will thou thyself come in. By thy grace and spirit grant that that may be the greatest desire worked by thy spirit in all of our hearts. It would be a poor Christmas without him. Thou apply thy word to all of our hearts and bring us down from our high and haughty places to fall at Jesus' feet. Give us a good day together in our families and homes, or if alone, Lord, have mercy. Pardon graciously our sins for Jesus' sake. Amen.