Turning your Bibles to Luke chapter two. Luke chapter two, gonna read verses one through seven. Robin's already read the whole section for you, but I want us to read these verses as we'll spend the bulk of our time here this morning. Luke chapter two, verses one through seven. I'm gonna slow down and read them because I want you to catch the context here of what Luke is writing. Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Kyrenius was governor of Syria. and everyone was on his way to register for the census each to his own city. Joseph also went up from Galilee from the city of Nazareth to Judea to the city of David which is called Bethlehem because he was of the house and family of David in order to register along with Mary who was engaged to him and was with child. While they were there The days were completed for her to give birth and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end. As Luke begins this history for us of the birth of the Lord Jesus, he's writing in the context of An understanding of all of this was a promise. This was a promise that had come through the nation of Israel, through the line of Abraham, through the line of David. Everything that had been promised was coming full circle in the moment. And he's been writing about this in chapter one already from a context of the nation of Israel, God's people, the history of God's people. And he's been giving that in its sense. And even with Zacharias and the prophecy and that which was given to him, this is all in the context of what God was giving to the world through his people. Now, he takes a lot more time to develop that, say, than Matthew, who Matthew gives that context in just a genealogy, and then he states just pointedly that the Christ was born. Well, in that context of this background of the nation of Israel and all of the sense of that being worked out, this is what God promised to do, and now he has done it. But Luke also adds a little bit different perspective than Matthew. He gives a little bit of a Gentile perspective. He gives a sense for the Gentile to understand there was an ordering to the birth of Christ in the fullness of the context of the whole world. Yes, that nation Israel was used of God and yet it was not just the nation of Israel as though God only was the God of that particular ethnic people. Luke gives a context to show no, God is the God of all the heavens and the earth. God is the God of all the peoples of the world. There's absolutely no one that is not under God, not even Gentile rulers. Now hopefully we'll see how this ought to strengthen our understanding of the Christ and his coming. Hopefully we'll see how this ought to encourage us. As we note this morning in verses one and two, this Gentile context, this bigger picture is given by Luke when he says, now in those days, the days of the coming of the Messiah, The days that were promised of old. In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Kyrenius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Number one. Jesus was born in the time of imperial Roman reign. Jesus was born in the time of imperial Roman reign. Now, in a sense, you say, oh, that's neat history. Yeah, it's more than neat history. This is no small feat. This is no small feat. Jesus was born when Rome was at its height. The nation of Israel and all of Judea and Jerusalem had been subdued. Rome was at its height. Rome had spread far and wide. The Gentiles had taken over. The ones who were worse than dogs had taken over. One writer says, he was born at the time when the fourth monarchy was in its height, just when it was become more than any of the three before it, a universal monarchy, speaking of the monarchies of Rome. He was born in the days of Augustus Caesar when the Roman Empire extended itself further than ever before or since, including Parthia one way and Britain another way. so that it was called the empire of the whole earth. And even in our text, the writer says, it's called the empire of all the world. He says, for there was scarcely any part of the civilized world, but what was dependent on it. So that's a bold statement. Well, it's not just a bold statement, it's a real statement. The scripture is giving a context of the whole of the sense of how far and wide Rome had built itself. An understanding of how the Roman way, the Pax Romana, had built itself over time. And this peace of an age had come. Even what we know as the Silk Road or Silk Routes. they were of use in bringing the whole world in a sense together. Over a hundred years before Christ was born these silk routes were being used. Even the ideas of the God of the Old Testament being brought to even the Far East in some sense through these Silk Routes. One writer notes that the Silk Road is kind of a little bit of a misnomer. It wasn't just one road, it's often really called the Silk Routes. There were many routes to get to the Far East, all connecting this great Roman Empire to the Far East. There was much merchandise that would travel, the idea of the people themselves traveling, but many of the religious ideas would travel back and forth on these silk routes. And Jesus, the timing of his birth, was coming at a time when the Roman Empire was ruling this great part of the world, and yet it was connected to the rest of the world through these silk routes. So Jesus was born when Rome was at its height. It had spread far and wide and Rome ruled over. all of Judea. Now, that sounds like a simple statement. All of Judea is the context of where the people of Israel were primarily, and Jerusalem was under its rule as well. But this was no small feat. The Jews had been quite cantankerous. They had been quite a problem for the Roman Empire at different times, so much so that they just got to a place to where they didn't really want to deal with them. Many Roman leaders would actually acquiesce to the people of the region of Judea just trying to keep them quiet. There had been some great skirmishes since 200 BC and finally the Jews were kind of under the rule of Roman reign and they were quiet and there was peace in Rome. So much so that Jerusalem under its rule, as one writer says, it had been a place that had been taken by Pompey the Roman general and by over a period of time and degrees it was finally subdued. So much so were they subdued that they had a Roman governor by the name of Kyrenius or Cyrenius. There was so much under this Roman rule with this Roman governor that at this time that Luke is speaking of, that they were included in the call for a census. Now you may remember in the Old Testament, there was a time for a call of a census and that didn't go so well. And so the Jews had been against any idea of a census for many, many, many, many centuries. But now they had come so much under the subjugation of the Roman empire. that they were a part of this call for a census. The census was an ordering of the people and possibly even for a future tax. We don't get the full understanding of it in a sense, but we know that this was a full ordering of all the people under the Roman Empire. One writer says, for this was not levying a tax or imposing tribute upon them, but a taking an account of the names of persons and their estates and which might be in order to lay a tax upon them afterwards. For the payment of a tax, there may be no need in the moment, but it was coming due at some time. It was all of this order of the Roman Empire that we see Luke giving a context to that. He's trying to give us a sense of this was no small thing. And in all of the midst of this, he was bringing about the birth of the Messiah. He was ordering all of these things so that this Messiah would come at just the right moment, just the right time. That upon his life and his death and his burial and resurrection, that the whole of this gospel could go out to the world. The ordering of the census came at the appointed time by God. This is interesting because Luke just tells us, just point blank, give us the facts, the historical facts. He says, there's a census and they're all being called to it. But Augustus, Caesar Augustus, had planned the census to come earlier. But God had other plans. One writer says, such an enrollment had been determined on by Augustus 27 years before, but he was diverted from it by some disturbances in the empire so that it was deferred to this time. That's an interesting sense, isn't it? Caesar had it in his mind he wanted to do this census some 27 years earlier. But because of disturbances, he wasn't able to do the census then. Well you understand, the census being taken in the exact time that it ended up being taken in is the route and the way that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. all is prophecy foretold. Not only this, but the census was ordered during the governorship of Kyrenias. What's interesting here is Luke is a very good historian. Even mentioning this name Kyrenias, he's giving a real context to the history of what is taking place. Many people want to look at Jesus and his birth as a myth and Luke is not allowing that to happen. Luke is putting Jesus and his birth right in the midst of a known history throughout not just the context of the nation of Israel or the place of Judea, but he's saying this was taking place in the whole of Rome, and he's giving us some details to even this governorship of this Kyrenius, who is known as a real historic figure of the day. One writer says, in fact, with brief interruptions Kyrenius functioned as military governor or commander-in-chief in Syria from 12 BC to AD 16. So we have Jesus' life set not only in the grand picture of Judea, not only in the grand picture of the Roman world, but we have him in the time frame of Caesar Augustus and this governor Kyrenius. It's an amazing thing to think that God would set up and promise to send a Messiah, but his promising and his working of it was not arbitrary, and it was not something that was not particular and specific in the context of all of his purpose and all of his movement. Well, not only was Rome at its height, but Jesus was born when Caesar was at his height. Jesus was born when Rome was at its height and Jesus was born when Caesar was at his height. Caesar was a Roman ruler of great renown. Here's this historic setting. Luke's giving us this and saying, this is not myth. We're not throwing a mythical figure into all of this. I'm giving you the setting of the birth of Messiah in the context of this great Roman rule. And even in the rule of this Caesar Augustus, he was a ruler of this great renown. He's known in history in multiple authors note as Octavian. He was Roman emperor from 27 BC or a little earlier until his death later after the birth of Christ. Now this Octavian is an interesting figure because he's actually the grand nephew of Julius Caesar. He, according to one writer, his mother was Atiyah, was a daughter of Julia, the sister of Julius Caesar. And his grand uncle, Julius Caesar, thought highly of him. And another author says, showered gifts and honors upon him. When the great Roman statesman and general was murdered in 44 BC, Octavian learned that in his will, he, the grand-nephew, had been named Caesar's son and heir. He then changed his name to Gaius Julius Caesar. And later, after working his way up in governmental ranks, in the year 27 BC, the Roman Senate conferred on this former Octavian, now Gaius Julius Caesar, the title Augustus, or majestic, sublime, highly revered. And from then on, he was known as Caesar. He's of the reign of Julius Caesar, this great ruler and soldier and general of Rome, Caesar Augustus, the sublime one. This Caesar not only was great in name, was great in lineage, but he was great in world power with multi-level governmental structures and context to his work. One writer says, he began all kinds of building programs and set up a massive system, a centralized government regulating commerce and trade. He strengthened the military. And for his reign, his entire reign, Rome was at peace. Now, for a writer to put that about the context of Julius Caesar, or excuse me, of Caesar Augustus, to say for his entire reign that Rome was at peace, if you've read much Roman history, you know that's a pretty big deal. Rome always had something going on in the background. Different regions of the Roman Empire rising up and causing frustration. But during this reign of this Caesar Augustus, Rome was at peace. With his leadership was born, one writer says, that famous period known as the Pax Romana, the peace of Rome. They even recorded some of his words. He said, I found Rome in bricks and I made it marble. Now there's questions as to when he said this or exactly how he said it, but in the context of it, he saw himself as the one Roman ruler who raised Rome from this backward empire in some sense, which it was not that, but in some sense it had some of that to it. He raised it to where it was a federalism of work going on. Well, it gives you some background to the time of the Lord Jesus' birth. It's in a setting that's real and historical and it's in a setting that it's amazing that God could work all of those things to come about in that time. Think about that census being taken. They had to have the census at the right time. Caesar wanted to do it one time. God had a purpose and plan to do it another time because it was not the day or the time for the Messiah to be born. So it's not just that God made a promise through the nation of Israel and in the Old Testament context, we see those promises worked out and we're gonna talk about that for just a moment. But it's that even in the whole of the world, God orchestrated all of these things for the time and the place and the moment for the Messiah to be born. Even in such a great reign of Caesar Augustus, when Caesar thought he was in charge, God was in charge. Number two, Jesus was born in the place of prophetic purpose. Jesus was born in the place of prophetic purpose. Under this heading, Luke tells us a decree was issued by Caesar in those days. Now depending on the person that you read or the context of it, there's a sense in which many writers look at this and say Caesar wanted to number the people for power and pride. Caesar wanted to number the people for power and pride. And I think if you think about that for a moment, and hopefully I'll tie this together and you'll see why this is important, he viewed this census as the work of his own mind. He is in charge, he has this need to number the people of his realm, and he has this need, possibly after he numbers them each in his own city, he gets the names of these people registered, then he can tax them for the purposes of all the programs, the building, the aqueducts, all the things, the military programs, all of those things that he wanted to do. He viewed the census as the work of his own mind, and he viewed the census as the work of his own purpose. See, Caesar had a purpose in mind. He was working in and of himself, of his own will, to do that which he thought was best, and to work in his own mind and of his own purpose. I have this purpose for this, I have this purpose for this, I have this purpose for this, I'm doing this, and he's working out his will and his rule and his reign over the whole of the Roman Empire, and that impacts the whole of the world. Because remember, however he structures these things, it affects the movement of merchandise and foods and products and even ideas and how they're scattered through the Silk Routes over the whole of the world. So Caesar wanted a number of the people for power and pride, and Caesar wanted a number of the people for power and money. He had taxes in his purview, as we noted earlier. for future government programs. He had taxes in his purview for future military programs. It tells you a lot about the way government works, doesn't it? Government always thinks it has its own purpose. Government always thinks that it has its own way that it will accomplish the greatest things for everybody around. Now, I'm not making this a political dialogue here. I want you to get the picture. Here's, at the time, the greatest ruler of all the world making a decree for a census and in that census, in the background, he has the purpose in his own mind for that census and keeping the people of this empire together and in this Pax Romana. He says, I'm going to be the one to keep the peace for all the people and they're going to subjugate themselves to me and I'm going to lead them and I'm going to keep everybody together and everybody's going to live a happy life. Okay? Now we know ultimately Later Caesars were working way more for themselves than they were anybody in the Roman Empire. But Caesar Augustus seemed to have a real sense of the people. Certainly he was selfish and self-centered. All of the Caesars were and most great leaders are. But the fact of the matter is he still had some sense of what he was doing in the big picture. So he has this decree that he puts out His own mind, his own purpose, this own power and money and all of these programs were going to be built to make Rome the greatest and to keep everybody together. Well, letter B under there, if Luke tells us a decree was issued by Caesar in those days, prophecy, including the prophecy of Luke that was given earlier in chapter one, Prophecy tells us there was an eternal decree being worked out in time. Luke tells us the decree was issued by Caesar in those days. Prophecy tells us there was an eternal decree being worked out in time. Verses three and four give an instance of this, or really three through five, The decree went out from Caesar and everyone, verse 3, was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. Now, Luke gives a real summation in verse 3 of a whole picture of history. He boils it down in verse four and puts it in the context of Joseph and Mary, okay? But if you read verse three correctly, what you're seeing is, is Luke just make this statement to say, and everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. So all over the whole of the Roman Empire, the census had been decreed and all over the whole of the Roman Empire, each was ready and had to go register in his own city. Now what it tells you, if you think about it for a moment, it tells you that the working out of the census was not going to be by electronic email. It was going to take some time. People were going to have to move in different places. And so when you think about the movement of Joseph and Mary, don't just think about that in the sense of, you know, them getting in the family van and, you know, traveling from Nazareth down to Bethlehem. That's not how this worked. This was a big people-moving thing, and this census was going to take time to put all of it together, and people were going to have to go to different places. And verse four says, Joseph also, he was included in this and all of Judea. He went up from Galilee from the city of Nazareth to Judea. Now, when it says up from Nazareth, um, Bethlehem is actually South of Nazareth. Okay. So you have Nazareth here and Bethlehem is here. And to travel, even though they're traveling south, most of us southerners, we talk about going up north, we kind of do that. They're thinking more about this in topography, okay? Because from Nazareth, moving south to Bethlehem, you were moving up more in elevation, all right? So they're thinking about it more in topography. And so he says, Joseph also went from Galilee from the city of Nazareth to Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem. Now, this is as the crow flies is probably about 80 miles, but There was not a straight road there or an interstate. There was no hovercraft or anything like that. So this was winding roads, and they were traveling by foot and donkey or something. And so this was quite an arduous task to take your betrothed pregnant Mary and put her on this donkey and get her all the way up to Bethlehem. It's probably somewhere in the route of 75 to 90 miles probably. Now you and I travel that day, we don't think too much about that quite honestly. But in that day, that's quite a journey. Through the narrows, over the hills, you know, it's just a different journey. So you think about Joseph having to say, gosh, I'm under the rule of this crazy Gentile and now I got to pack this woman up who's pregnant over here and I got to get her all the way to Bethlehem. Well, all of that's a part of God's order. Now he was going all the way to Bethlehem because he was of the house and family of David. So what we have to say is, wait a second now, why is all of this necessary? Well it's a part of the eternal decree. Moses foretold of his birth. This morning in Bible study we spoke briefly about Genesis 3.15. Who was going to be the seed of the woman that would crush the head of the serpent? It was the Messiah. He had to come. The Messiah would crush Satan and his work. The Messiah would be born and overcome death. Not only did Moses foretell, Isaiah foretold of his birth. We read last week. He was to be born of a virgin, Isaiah 7, 13 through 14. Even in the context of Mary hearing about this in Luke 1, 34 and 35, there's the far away prophecy of Isaiah and there's the near prophecy that was given to Mary in Luke 1, 34 and 35. And we're even told of her being a virgin in Matthew 1, 18. Well, not only was he to be born a virgin, he was to be born as the coming eternal king. Scott read to you and gave you a context of that prophecy from Isaiah 9, 1 through 7. Those are some broader senses of it, but even specifically in the text here, it said they had to go to this city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David. Well, Micah foretold of his birth. He told of the city of his coming, Micah 5, 2. But as for you, Bethlehem, Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah. From you one will go forth for me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity." The prophecies of Isaiah are around 730 BC. The prophecies of Micah are in the context nearing there as well. Here we have these prophecies given some five to seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, telling that this little town of Bethlehem would be of great importance in the coming of the Messiah. And yet here we have Luke saying, ah, this census was called. And it was called at a time where this man Joseph, who is of the family of David in its context, he had to go. And he had to go to Bethlehem. John 7, 42, has not the scripture said that the Christ comes from the descendants of David and from Bethlehem, the village where David was? How do we know that's the case? Well, Samuel, the book of Samuel, foretold of his birth too. Samuel revealed the Davidic lineage and the city of David. 1 Samuel 17.12. Now David was the son of the Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah. That's interesting. Now remember in Micah 5.2, but as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah. See? Now David was the son, 1 Samuel 17, 12. Now David was the son of the Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse. And he had eight sons, and Jesse was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men. You see, Bible study this morning, we're talking about those genealogies and all of these connections. Well, even Samuel foretold of his birth. through this revealed divinic lineage in the city of David. 1 Samuel 26, 2 Samuel 5, 7 through 12. Nevertheless, David captured the stronghold of Zion, that is the city of David. So David lived in the stronghold and called it the city of David, and David built all around it. And David became greater and greater. Now what was the city of David? It was Bethlehem, that was his city. That was the city where David ruled and reigned and here it was, it had been, over the centuries, it had lessened in importance, it had been forgotten, and then Micah prophesies, oh don't you worry, you forgotten little city of David, don't you worry, I have purpose for you through the line of David. And then Luke says, Joseph, he had to go up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, and where did he go? To the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David. And in that sense, it shows us the connection Mary had to these things in verse five, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was with child. All of this background that he gives us, the great big picture of the Roman world. Now, I want you to think about it. What does right here today in Jackson, Georgia, the 90 whatever of us, I don't know how many of us is here. You know, I'll be Southern Baptist. All 200 of us. No, I'm kidding. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that. That was not kind. However many are right here. Jackson, Georgia We sit right here and we're considering all of these things week in and week out from the scripture And what does the rest of Georgia and the nation do primarily? They go about their business They just do whatever it is. They do every day Including the Lord's Day. They just do whatever it is they do The same is true here of the birth of Christ The Roman world was doing what it does. Even Caesar Augustus was ruling and reigning like he wanted to, doing all the things that he does. And with one decree in which he had his own mind and his own purpose, he didn't realize he was ushering in the eternal decree of God to bring about the Messiah, the one true living eternal king. It's even interesting that in the context of all that, as the world went on about its way, number three, Jesus was born in a place of poor estate. Jesus was born in a place of poor estate. The text says, while they were there, that is in Bethlehem, they're there for the census, the days were completed for her to give birth. Now, you ladies who have been through a pregnancy, you all know that A child coming is not something that you can dictate or that you have power over. Some of you have waited a few days or weeks past the due date. Some of you were given a due date and a child came 10 or so days earlier or two days earlier or whatever it may be. It's not as though you woke up one morning and said, I know I'll have this baby tomorrow. So it's kind of a hard thing to predict, right? But God himself put it together in verse six, while they were there in that place, the city of David, while they were there in Bethlehem, the place of prophecy, the place that was foretold by the prophets, while they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. Who alone could orchestrate that but God Almighty who creates the heavens and the earth? Wasn't it Paul that preached to the Athenians? It is God who gave you your days beginning to end and the boundaries of your habitation. So it was with the Christ. But this place where he was born was a place of poor estate. Letter A under number three. Discussions vary as to the type of place. The days were completed for her to give birth and she gave birth to her firstborn son. Now that's about the credence the world would have given to it. And she gave birth to her firstborn son. Well, there's been lots of those born all over the nation today and all over the world. But it says here, she wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn. The discussions vary as to the type of the place. Some say it was in the inn, some say it was not in the inn proper. Some say it was in a stable connected to the inn. Some say it was in a cave that was connected to the inn because that was the stable. I think we have to give some sense of understanding that in its most literal sense, Joseph and Mary had ended up at this stopping place, but there was no room for them there. Not to go in and have a room to themselves. There was just no room for them there. So they ended up. next to this stopping place. They ended up having to have this little baby in this little room and they put it and laid it in a feeding trough, wrapped in cloths In one sense, it doesn't matter whether it was a cave connected to the stopping place. It doesn't matter whether it was the lower room, a stable that was connected to the upper room of the inn. Some people say, well, there was an upper room of the inn, and off the upper room was a lower room, and this is where the stable was, and then Jesus was born here. Some of that archaeology may really be lost to us but that's okay because the scripture explains to us that it was a stopping place and in that stopping place was a feeding trough which means there probably were some animals nearby and with the cloths that they had They wrapped that little baby in those cloths and they put it in that little feeding trough and this was the birthplace of the Savior and King of the world. Well these discussions do not take away from the type of place because under this heading it was a place not known for hosting a king. It was a place not known for hosting a king. Whether an inn's stable or a stable in a cave, it was not your normal king's palace. If we were able to pinpoint it exactly and see it, that place where it was, It's not the place that most of the world would say, whoa, why not? A king could be born there. Gee, that makes sense. No. It was not a place known for hosting a king. And so much so, it was a place with no clothes for a king. They didn't wrap him in some great robe. They didn't wrap him in the purple robe of a king. They didn't have any gifts to adorn him with right there in that little stopping place. They just had some claws that they had with them and they wrapped him. in those little cloths and they put him in that little feeding trough and they did it all under the sovereignty of the one true living God. Now we know this king would walk among the people of Israel And he would grow in stature and nature and understanding in his humanity. And he would preach of his coming and he would preach of his purpose and he would preach of his person. And the Jews would hate him for it, most of them, but he had a little band that would follow him and would listen and they came to repent and believe in him. And he told just a few that he would have to die. And one day he did. He went and he died a sinner's death for sinners just like you and I. And he was raised again on the third day. And as they hung him there, they mocked him. He had a little sign called King of the Jews. But little do they know they mocked the king of all creation. I'll leave you with three observations. Number one. Recognize the authority of God in his decree being the first cause of all things. Recognize the authority of God in his decree being the first cause of all things. Caesar made a decree but God decreed first. Caesar made a decree but God decreed first. Caesar decreed for his purpose, but God decreed with greater purpose. Caesar could not even fathom that he was simply just a pawn for the one living God. He moved of his own will and mind and purpose but all alone he was a part of a greater purpose of the God of the universe who created all the heavens and the earth and all of mankind. Number two, recognize the sovereignty of God in ordering the world for his son's birth. Recognize the sovereignty of God in ordering the world for his son's birth. He didn't just order a family. He didn't just order one little lineage and line of a family. He didn't just order one particular small nation of ethnic people. He ordered the whole of the world for his son's birth. Everything, including this great Roman Empire and all of the empires that it would impact. We have some good information that gives us the context that the gospel went to the Far East through the Silk Roads or Silk Routes. This was not just for one little small place, this was for the world. And God was so sovereign in all of his work that he was able to use the whole of the world to order his son's birth. All the nations were ordered in the precise way to usher in Jesus Christ. You realize every people group that's ever existed, the time of its existence, how it would move, where it would go, it's rising and it's falling. All of that was to bring about the specific context of the birth of the Christ. all the rulers, not just the nations, all the rulers were ordered in the precise way to prepare the way for Jesus Christ. In one sense, we can kind of get a chuckle that Caesar thought he was in control of everything when he was merely a pawn. And yet, in another way, we can be amazed that God would use a ruler like Caesar Augustus for his own purposes. And we can give some credit and say, wow, thanks Caesar. God was using you, but thanks. Every ruler. He didn't do it with earlier rulers. He didn't do it when there were other nations who were in charge. It wasn't when the Persians were in charge, it was when the Romans were in charge. It wasn't when the Greeks were in charge, it was when the Romans were in charge. He ordered all of these things, all of these peoples, these nations, and their rulers. Well, thirdly, recognize the wisdom of God in using means in opposition to human perspective. recognize the wisdom of God in using means in opposition to human perspective. God does not need the means of a human king to set up his king. See, this was the way of all rulers in previous times was that they would try to fix things so that their family could take over the rule and reign. They would build their wealth and build their riches so no one could thwart it. Now they didn't always achieve it, but they tried. But God didn't even need any of those means. He didn't have the Lord Jesus born into the family of Caesar Augustus, did he? He had him born into the lineage of David, but born into a family of obscurity in an obscure little town of Bethlehem. And that's how he set up his king. God doesn't need the means of a human kingdom to set up his kingdom. Think about it just for a minute. It just shows us the sovereignty and power of God that he didn't need the means of some great kingdom to actually bring about his own kingdom because his kingdom is doing something quite different. He's changing the hearts and minds of women and children for eternity and no other king could ever do that. Every other king did their thing forcibly but they weren't changing hearts and minds literally. But this king would change the hearts and minds of people. When we come to understand the glories of this, we come to understand the greatness and the importance and the birth of the one true living king, the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope in this time of year you enjoy all your family outings and gatherings and you enjoy all your time together. But I also hope you'll remember the birth of the one true living King, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, you've been merciful to us to give us this day. May we glory in you as we come to the time of the table Help us to remember our need for the birth, the life, the death, and resurrection of your son. All glory and honor be unto you through him. It's in his name we pray, amen. O come, O come, Emmanuel