God's Design in Christ's Birth

Gokaluka 2, Satshugu 6b, Luke chapter 2 Kwa chingalezo zintzugu kwa puma ismeme zelo kwa kikukesare augustu So guba gubalwe izwe longke And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered Loko gubalwa gokala wenziwa ukureniu Engumbu siwase siria The census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria Bon kaba e gubalwa ilona lo emzi nwagubo So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city Ngaye ucho sefa, ngaye ucho sefa Wakupuga e pume kalile Emzi niwasena zarete wae chutia Emzi ni gata vitoti wae petlehema Nguguba wae nguwe ntuno zalo luga ta vite 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 Nguyo balwa kanyenu maria O wae miselewe Nguguba be ngumngake e kulelewe To be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child Kwa tige e besela poza, pelintu uguzo guba abe lete So it was that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered Wazibula ngen dota na wae mbesa wae lalise mkombeni Nguguba abantu linda wenli niye zahambi 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 Wakona be lusi kulelozwe aba bechte zente Belinda umshambi wabe psu Now they were in the same country shepherds, living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night Inge lozi enkosi ema pangwabo Inka zimulu enkosi aba kanyesa ngazonke Besaba ngukwe sabu kulu

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them And they were greatly afraid Inge lozi atigubo nga sabi nguguba pegani nginbige linde zindabe zintle Zoktogo zokkulu oguza guba guba ntubo onke Then 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 Uguti nizalelu ena muta umsindisi ongu kristu Enkosi emzingatavit For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord Ngalokukwisboni sogili niafumana umtoa nimbisi welelem kombini And this will be the sign to you, you will find a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger Masinyane wabakona oganye nenge lozi ukaba luebansa And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the

heavenly host praising God and saying Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men So it was when the angels had gone away from them into heaven that the shepherds said to one another Let us go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in the manger And when they had seen him they were made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this child And all those who heard marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart It's an amazing story It's wonderful There's nothing anywhere in the world, not nothing even on the internet which you can compare to the story If you are

more interested in the internet than this, you don't know what it's all about, you are lost Now the story starts with the decree that went out from Caesar Augustus Why does the Holy Spirit start with this particular point?

Because we can say what is Caesar Augustus going to do with this? He was one of the worst heathens But this is amazing that he should be mentioned It was through his doing that Jesus ended up being born in Bethlehem Caesar Augustus C is Augustus, Augustus wasn't his real name He had many names He just grew up, he was accepted into the royal household, grew up there and later he became Caesar, he was the first one He was the very first Caesar in this world Octavius They said all his other names, Octavius and whatever other names they said, they weren't good enough He should be honored as a god And he ruled the earth He was truly great in earthly terms and he had to be obeyed So he ruled the world at that time And so as he was in that position, he then passed this decree that a census should be held So it was written into law, a decree was passed that the whole world should be counted, a census should be held He had hundreds of thousands of soldiers in his army They said he had a spectacular palace, they referred to it as the palace of gold It was splendor second to none, inside and out It was a palace of gold Remember when the Lord Jesus was tempted by the devil, he also showed him the splendor of the world And all the lusts of the eyes and of the flesh, even the glories of Rome Rome was known for that Now Caesar wanted the census held that he could get an idea of how many people there were And also what they possessed and obviously ultimately how much income tax he could get out of them It was the first time that such a thing was ever done He knew nothing about the Bible or the word of God and what the prophets had written He knew nothing about God at all, he knew nothing at all about that, about spiritual things And then he passed this law and said, well if someone doesn't comply Everyone in his kingdom had to go through the census Joseph and Mary at that time were Nazareth And it was time for her to be delivered Now the Bible had specifically said that the baby would be born in Bethlehem But they were Nazareth Had he been born in Nazareth, we could have discarded the Bible, thrown it away, and said it's a book of lies, there's no truth in it Joseph and Mary had not yet been born in Bethlehem But they had been born in Nazareth That's why they were born in Bethlehem Joseph wouldn't have been prepared to do that to his wife, to go all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem It was about a 25 hour journey, non-stop, to get there So you can imagine, it would have taken them a few days just to get there, and she was in that condition Now here we find this king, Caesar, passing this decree Now one could have said, well what a nuisance What do the politicians, what are they getting up to now?

They're just always full of nonsense What do they expect from us now again? They're just full of nonsense What do the politicians, what are they getting up to now? Joseph and Mary had not yet been born in Bethlehem All the time God in heaven noticed what was going on And he realized that things going normally, the child will be born in Nazareth Many things are written in the Bible, we're not even aware of them And yet every word has meaning, and is meant to be there And as I said, if there was one word that didn't go into fulfillment, then the Bible could be disregarded So they had no option, they were forced to go to Bethlehem, because Caesar had spoken So off they went They went to Bethlehem, because the child needed to be born there Born of Mary, that virgin, who had never had any contact with a man Born of Mary, that virgin, who had never had any contact with a man So they got to Bethlehem in time When they got there they asked for a place to stay The people just turned them away, they said there's no place Why did they say there's no place?

Can we say it was because the tribe was great, the descendants of David And there was just no place because of the huge number of people arriving Well perhaps, there's some things But they didn't know They didn't know that there was no place Because there was no Mary Maybe they thought Maybe they thought there was no place They would obviously not be able to pay either for the accommodation And they just weren't prepared to convert their room into a labor ward either They said no, we can't do this But then they pointed them to the stable, they said there's a place Now they say the stables at that time were usually underground That's where the cattle and the sheep were kept They said we have no place for you unless you go into the stable There's no place for you in the stable You can't go in there There's no place for you Mary and Joseph accepted it gratefully, they said rather in the stable than just outside under the stars It's far from a palace It's not like the palace of Augustus And there were no soldiers around All the splendor was not there It was dirty, dung all over With hay They were all standing around And they were all going to the labor ward They said we have land And we won't take it They said, here we have a place for you You go into the labor ward The innkeeper, when he saw them, he said, sorry I can't help you this time, but had they arrived in a chariot with six horses and with an escort in their BMW or their Mercedes, then you would have made a plan.

Now they, like many today, could have complained and said, oh well, just because it's us, because we are poor, that's why we have to sleep in the stable and not in the inn. So down they went into the stable and they looked around there and then they found a corner where they could make themselves comfortable.

And Mary probably commented and said, I think the child's about to arrive. It's around the corner. And Joseph looked around and saw the hay and he said, well, let's take some of this and put it in the manger and prepare a place.

And then the child arrived. There was no midwife, no doctor, no nurse. She was still very young and inexperienced.

And Joseph the same. He had been faithful. He had had no relationship with any girl before.

So he tried the best he could, making that bed of hay, trying to make it so that the hay would not hurt the child. And he tried to keep the sheep and the cattle one side and they on the other side. So he prepared this best he could.

And then the child was born. The son was born. And Mary wrapped the child as best she could with what she had, just that the child would be comfortable in that hay.

And Joseph wasn't like many Christians today, um, who would have sulked and moaned and complained because things hadn't gone the way he had expected. But Mary and Joseph were overjoyed. Their eyes were fixed on this child.

And then unexpectedly, the shepherds arrived. Not even the owners of the sheep, but just the shepherds who had been hired to look after the sheep. But the amazing thing is these shepherds were believers.

They served and feared God. Now you'll, you can say, ah, where did you read that? It's not written anywhere in the Bible. That's just a fairy tale.

No, it's not a fairy tale. The archangel was sent to those shepherds to direct them to Bethlehem. Now the angel's clothing was shining more than the, brighter than the sun.

His face like lightning. There was a bright light all around them, far brighter than outside here today. They were struck with fear.

The angel said to them, do not be afraid. Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy for all people. This is good news I bring.

Of great joy. For there is born to you this day, a son. They were expectantly waiting for the Messiah to come.

And they probably spoke about it and prayed for it. Not like many young people today when they together, they are rotten. Boys speaking of girls and girls speaking of boys.

It's because they are rotten, but not these people. And as they were there out in the field speaking, suddenly, oh, and as the angel spoke, there was a huge heavenly host, probably millions of angels because the hosts of heaven are huge. But there was such rejoicing in heaven that the angels couldn't contain themselves.

They didn't even want to stay in heaven. They wanted to get to earth to see this marvelous thing that had happened, that God had become man. God said to them, I bring you good tidings of great joy for all people.

This is good news I bring. For there is born to you this day, a son. They were expectantly waiting for the Messiah to come.

And as they were there out in the field speaking, suddenly, oh, and as the angel spoke, there was such rejoicing in heaven that the angels couldn't contain themselves. They didn't even want to stay in heaven. But there was such rejoicing in heaven that the angels couldn't contain themselves.

They didn't even want to stay in heaven. But there was such rejoicing in heaven that the angels couldn't contain themselves. They didn't even want to stay in heaven.

But there was such rejoicing in heaven that the angels couldn't contain themselves. They didn't even want to stay in heaven. But there was such rejoicing in heaven that the angels couldn't contain themselves.

They didn't even want to stay in heaven. But there was such rejoicing in heaven that the angels couldn't contain themselves. They didn't even want to stay in heaven.

But there was such rejoicing in heaven that the angels couldn't contain themselves. They didn't even want to stay in heaven. But there was such rejoicing in heaven that the angels couldn't contain themselves because they worshipped continuously had now gone to earth to save mankind.

because they worshipped continuously had now gone to earth to save mankind. They said glory to God. They said glory to God.

This is This is What about mood? What about I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I don't know what to say, I The angels were deeply moved by this event. Not like many people today. When God does something, even when there's a service, they stay in the rondavel, they go and look at the pigs rather.

They don't even come to the service, but these angels said, such an important event, such a great thing happening, we've got to go down and see this miracle. They said, praise be to God, God who is love, who loves men so much that he came down to earth, and they praised God there in this wilderness which was Bethlehem. They said, glory to God and peace on earth.

And goodwill to toward men, those who rejoice about this. And the angel said, don't fear, this is good news we bring to you and this is for all men. Now this happened in Bethlehem, we right down here, the most tip of Africa.

So God came and he came for all of us, every single one. It's enough reason to rejoice, and no matter what background, what nationality we are, God has come for us all and that's why we all gathered here today, for this child is the Savior and he has come to save us from our sin, that we can be forgiven our sin. You rejoice greatly when you receive something big.

Just imagine if you were on an ocean liner, passenger liner, with thousands of people on board, and it strikes a rock and that ship starts sinking, everyone is doomed, and then another ship arrives, and to save to the last person on that ship, wouldn't those people rejoice? Surely they would rejoice greatly, and if you had been on that ship, you wouldn't be able to talk about anything else, you'd forget about the boys and the girls and everything else. You would just rejoice and tell the story of your salvation. They've been saved from sure death.

They've been saved from sure death. If you're in a prison, imprisoned for life, no way of getting out, and someone comes and opens the door and says you're free now, wouldn't you rejoice? Well isn't there reason to rejoice? If you had been on the ship of sin that is sinking and the Savior comes and he saves you, he sets you free, shouldn't you rejoice? If you're in a prison, imprisoned for life, no way of getting out, and someone comes and opens the door and says you're free now, wouldn't you rejoice? If you had been on the ship of sin that is sinking and the Savior comes and he saves you, he sets you free, shouldn't you rejoice? I read an article about some Palestinians that were released from prison by the Israelis, and I think it was about 180 of them, and you could see on the photograph where these prisoners went out rejoicing, and the one was weeping and embracing another. Why was he weeping? Because he had been set free.

Hardened, cruel Palestinians, crying like a baby on the shoulder of another. Strong men, they've been saved. Young men, are you saved? Are you saved and you still look at rubbish, things from hell? It doesn't fill your heart.

You don't rejoice. Have you cried because of salvation? Because Jesus has forgiven you your sins? Because he set you free? Have you? Then I want you to know, if you haven't, you're a raw heathen, worse than Augustus. You're a raw heathen, worse than Augustus, worse than Augustus, worse than Augustus, worse than Augustus, worse than Augustus, worse than Augustus, worse than Augustus, worse than Augustus, worse than Augustus, worse than Augustus.

But today people are not moved by the fact, by what the Lord Jesus did for them. They call themselves Christians, but it does nothing to them. It doesn't move them.

They feel nothing for it. A person is depressed, he has no joy year after year. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas. You haven't experienced Christmas.

You haven't experienced Christmas you like, but we don't go with you. You're going to hell. You've experienced the Lord Jesus, that's the greatest joy you'll have ever known.

The angels sang, they had a song in their hearts, do you have a new song in your heart? Do you know what to sing about praising God? I've tried to compare it with that ship or that prison. What else do you need that I try and illustrate it to you? Do not be afraid, be filled with joy, rejoice, we've brought you glad tidings for all men. Have you experienced that joy yet? That it fills your heart? When the angels had finished their work, they returned to heaven and the shepherds said, let us go at once to Bethlehem to go and see.

They didn't drag their feet as though their feet were full of lead. They ran and the angels had said to them, you'll find the child, the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. They found the child, I don't know how.

They didn't find him in a five star hotel either. These were poor. They were poor people and that's how they found them.

Mary and Joseph and the child. They found them as the angels had told them. And there they came and there they beheld and met their Savior who had come to take away the guilt of their sin.

And the burden of sin. They saw something wonderful. Augustus wasn't there, he was in his palace.

He wasn't experiencing all this and yet God had used him as an instrument to direct him and his thoughts so that his will will be fulfilled even though he didn't know why. God is great and his word is true. There's not one word in this Bible that has no meaning.

If God sees that things aren't going according to his eternal plan, he can use anyone and he can direct even that heathen king's thoughts so that he passes a law so that God's eternal plan goes into fulfillment. In verse 16, they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph and the babe lying in a manger. Now when they'd seen him they made widely known the saying which was told him concerning this child.

Once they'd experienced this and experienced the child, they could not keep quiet. They made it widely known. You cannot keep quiet when you've experienced him.

All who heard the story were amazed. The shepherds couldn't keep quiet. They went from one house to the other.

They couldn't keep silent about what they'd experienced. If this child is born in our hearts, we'll never be able to keep quiet. You can only keep quiet because Mr. Devil is in your heart, not the Lord, but we will rejoice greatly if he's in our lives and we will not be able to keep silent about him or the marvelous things he has done.

For you have seen the Messiah, the Savior, the one who forgives your sins, who wipes out your past. They say long ago there was someone in Africa who heard that the white man's God forgives sin. Now he had a huge burden of sin.

He had no joy. He had no friends because the devil was in his life. But if the Lord's in your life, you'll have lots of friends.

I hope that you English-speaking people have heard that. Don't blame others. You are to be blamed because you're still allowing the devil in your heart.

Out with him! And this man said, how can I get to England to find out more? And off he went to the harbor. When he got to the harbor, he went there and spoke to people and said, please help me get to England. He said, well, you'll have to pay.

He said, I can't pay a fare. He said, I can't pay for my fare, but I'm prepared to work on the ship. I'll do the cleaning, cleaning the toilets, any job, just get me there.

They said, okay. So he got his job on the ship, and they got to London eventually. He was thankful.

When he disembarked, for eight days after he had disembarked from that ship, he went up and down in London, speaking to different people, saying, please tell me where I can find your God who forgives sin. For eight days, from morning till night, asking one white man after the other, a woman, where's your God who forgives sin? And in eight days, there wasn't one, one, even if he's got a white collar, who could tell him about the God who forgives sins. What a shame.

What a disgrace to the Londoners. Because, because the Messiah wasn't in the heart. He had been born there in that stable, lying in the manger, but he was not in the heart.

Because you haven't confessed your sin, your sins haven't been forgiven. You're like a pig still wallowing in its mud. And they didn't know what to say.

Cursed people, damnable people. The shepherds sought him and they found him, and then they couldn't keep quiet. They went and they shared what they had experienced with others.

Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them. As they had been told. Now Mary took all this to heart.

She kept it in her heart. A woman can be terrible, but can be wonderful too. And I hope that you will be like Mary.

Do you realize what Christmas is? How wonderful, how great this story is. It's the greatest story. And they marveled about this child.

They marveled about this child. Does it make you marvel what this child has done? Have you experienced it and it makes you marvel that you just want to go out and tell the world? Friends, I forgot now. I'm a bit older than what I was yesterday.

When the first man put his foot on the moon, when he arrived there, I've forgotten. A few hours, not days. It was less than a day.

After some hours, the whole world knew about it. America has sent their men. The first man has arrived, put his foot on the moon.

And it's 2,000 years that Jesus came into this world. And there are still millions of people, maybe billions, that don't know that the Savior has come to save us from our sins, to set us free. You still there thinking of going to university? Thinking to go there? Have you gone there? Have you gone to tell them that the Savior has come? I'm not speaking nonsense to you.

When you burn in hell, you remember me. I don't say don't go and study. You can study as much as you like.

But if you haven't started where you should start, telling the godless that God has come to save them, you're more stupid than an S. And what was you? Well, if you die and you haven't gone out and to tell this marvelous story, and maybe you say, well, I haven't experienced it yet. Well, then open your heart that Jesus can come in and be born in your life. Call out to the Lord.

Tell Him you're on this ship that's sinking or this prison where you're going to rot and die. And ask Him to come into your life to save you. And He will.

Let us stand and pray. If you don't have the strength, you can stay seated. Lord, we pray for all those that haven't experienced Christmas.

Those who haven't been saved from that sinking ship and out of that terrible jail. Those that may have the theory and know the theory of Christmas but haven't experienced it, that you will show them grace and mercy. Those who haven't been forgiven their sins or that you will change them, that they will become new creatures, that their mouths will be opened.

May this Christmas be like that Christmas in Bethlehem. Amen.