We ask you, Lord Jesus, to be with
us.
Speak to us through your word.
Open the eyes of our mind that we
may see marvelous things from your word.
Our word for this evening we find in
Luke, chapter 2, from the first verse.
Until the seventh verse.
In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree
that a census should be taken of the
entire Roman world.
This was the first census that took place
while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
And everyone went to his own town to
register.
So Joseph also went up from the town
of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem,
the town of David, because he belonged to
the house and line of David.
He went there to register with Mary who
was pledged to be married to him and
was expecting a child.
While they were there, the time came for
the baby to be born.
And she gave birth to her firstborn, a
son.
She wrapped him in clothes and placed him
in a manger because there was no room
for them in the inn.
We'll end reading there.
It says, in those days, the
time had come for the Messiah to come
into the world.
The time was fulfilled for our Savior to
come into this world.
And when the time came for him to
be born, Caesar
Augustus issued a decree.
Caesar
Augustus
was the very first Caesar in
the Roman Empire.
His real name was not Augustus, but
Caius Octavius.
That was his real name, Caius Octavius.
He was the son of a woman
named Ophelia.
Ophelia was his wife.
Philip was her uncle.
Philip was her great-uncle.
Ophelia
was
her
great-uncle.
Now, he was, or let's put it this
way, Julius Caesar was his great-uncle.
And there's a reason why he was called
Caesar Augustus.
Now, Augustus was a title that he was
given, August.
He was given that title or name of
Augustus.
And then with some, that title fell away
and he was just called Caesar.
Caesar was a title given to a ruler
that ruled over a whole empire of nations.
And this Augustus was a brilliant man.
Very powerful and strong.
He was a strong person and also a
strong warrior.
And he had his rank, Imperator, so he
was actually a military ruler.
And as he was going to be confirmed
as ruler, the Senate wanted to give him
a title.
He said, I don't want you to call
me a dictator or to be known as
a dictator.
Is it for a dictator is known for
the fact of not ruling for very long
but just for a very short period of
time?
He said a dictator is only in office
for a short time, temporary.
I also too would not like to be
called a king, he said.
He said because that title is too degraded,
too low down, because it means that person
is just the ruler of one nation.
And then he was given the title Augustus
or August.
And that was the title given to him
which meant that he was the most powerful
ruler, the most high, so to say.
The last one, the highest, 40.
He wasn't only the political leader but also
the spiritual leader.
And in other words, he almost took the
place of God.
Not almost, he claimed deity.
And that name, Augustus, has a meaning.
And had the meaning that he was God
because the Caesars ruled as if they were
God.
And he also ruled over the Pope.
Julius Caesar was born about 100 years before
our Lord.
And when Caesar Augustus ruled, he didn't only
rule over the Roman Republic but he extended
the borders to the whole known world of
that time, the whole of civilization, right up
to England and far afield.
He ruled the whole known world.
He wasn't an elected ruler but he was
the one who had all the power and
who ruled as God.
He was the first Caesar, a
great and powerful man.
And he came into power as a military
ruler.
And this was the Caesar Augustus who then
proclaimed that a census should be taken of
the entire Roman world.
It's also said that this was the first
census that took place.
And even the Jews had to be counted
for they were under the Roman heel and
under the heel of Caesar Augustus.
And the Bible also tells us at what
time this was.
At what period?
It was while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
Because they were governors over the different parts
or provinces of the empire.
This mighty and powerful man who didn't want
to be called king, it was too low
down for him who said that I am
Augustus, the revered one.
In other words, he said, I am God.
He said, a census should be taken of
the entire Roman world.
Now we don't know what was his motive
for proclaiming or issuing this decree that a
census should be taken.
Perhaps it was because of him wanting to
know how many people there were in his
empire that he could say that he rules
over so many people.
Perhaps it might be that he wanted to
know how many people there were that people
would understand how great he was because of
his pride.
That all the nations would fear him.
That it would be known how many people
he ruled.
It's possible that he also wanted to know
that amongst all those that the census would
be taken of, that he would know how
many warriors there were.
How many soldiers?
Now not that the Jews entered the army,
they didn't, but they had to pay tax.
Because even though people might be against those
and oppose those, people who have the money
and they don't like those people, but they
like the money that they've got.
Maybe.
They hated capitalism, but they liked the capital.
They liked the money.
Even poor people like money.
And so Caesar loved the money of the
Jews, even though they didn't enter his army,
but he wanted to have their tax, their
money.
Maybe it was a combination of all those
various motives.
So he issued a decree, and that was
a powerful law, seen as God's law that
was proclaimed, and anybody who would oppose that
did it at the risk of his own
life.
Even though he didn't want to be called
a dictator, that is what he in actual
fact was, because woe to that person who
didn't bow to his law and didn't obey
his command.
And so he said that since they had
to be taken, every person had to go
to their hometown, to their town of origin,
where they were born.
And Joseph was from the royal line of
King David.
And Mary as well.
Mary too was also descendant of David.
She was also in the royal line.
Both of them were descendants of King David,
even though it branched in different directions, but
eventually they came together again as both being
descendants of King David.
David had two places, or two towns.
The city of Jerusalem was known as the
city of David.
And Bethlehem was also known as the town
of David, because that is where David was
born.
When they had to be counted and go
for the census, they didn't go to Jerusalem,
that mighty city of glory, the symbol of
the rulership, of Israel.
No, they went to Bethlehem.
Jerusalem was that glorious city, that city which
was the capital, the emblem of the rulership.
The royal city, the city of kings.
Bethlehem was a despised little town, a town
of shepherds.
When Jesus came into this world, He didn't
come to Jerusalem, that city of kings.
He came to Bethlehem, a town of shepherds,
for He is the good shepherd.
When the Magi from the east came and
they followed that star, they didn't go to
Bethlehem, they went to Jerusalem, that royal city,
that city of kings.
And asked, where is he who was born
king to the Jews?
And the whole of Jerusalem, together with Herod,
were greatly disturbed.
They said, where is this king?
And I said, now who told you about
this king?
They said, we saw his star in the
east from far away and we've come a
long distance to him.
And so Herod asked his fortune tellers, he
said, tell me, where is this king going
to be born?
And then he asked his scribes and the
Pharisees, those who knew the scriptures, and they
then said, he will be born in Bethlehem.
And so he was born in
Bethlehem.
And when he came to Bethlehem, he said
to his scribes, He said to his scribes,
tell me, where is this king going to
be born?
And they said, because it is written in
Micah 5 verse 2, But you, Bethlehem, in
the land of Judah, are by no means
least among the rulers of Judah, for out
of you will come a ruler who will
be the shepherd of my people Israel.
And so Herod sent them to Bethlehem.
And he said, go and make a careful
search for the child, and as soon as
you find him, report to me, so that
I too may go and worship him.
He said, I too want to bow down
to this child and worship him.
Little did they realize how hypocritical he was.
He didn't want to go and worship the
child, he wanted to kill him.
He said, I want to go and worship
the child, and as soon as I find
him, I
will kill him.
And so Herod said,
if a
person
doesn't have any discernment, No matter how great
a Christian you might be, but you'll make
mistakes, serious mistakes, you'll stumble.
Because, yeah they were, and they heard that
King Herod also wants to go and worship
the child.
And one could say, oh my, what a
mighty revival, that even Herod wants to give
his life to the Lord.
Little did they realize what a snake he
was.
He only wanted to kill the child and
destroy him.
And until today, it's the same.
So you children of God, cry to God
for discernment and wisdom.
Lest you too fall into a hole, and
you are deceived, and go astray with those
who are deceived.
There are many who are easily deceived in
this world.
Where even parents are deceived by their own
children.
In fact there aren't people that are deceived
as much as parents being deceived by their
children.
But you children of God, cry to God
for discernment and wisdom.
Lest you fall into a hole, and you
are deceived, and go
astray with those who are deceived.
There are many who are easily deceived in
this world.
Where even parents are deceived by their own
children.
But let's leave Herod to the side for
the time being.
They remained where they were.
They weren't like the shepherds who said, let
us go and see this Christ child and
go and worship Him.
Let's consider the chief priests,
the teachers
of
the law.
Let's consider the chief priests, the teachers of
the law.
They are like road signs who point the
way, but don't go to that place.
They don't go to that place.
Do you know such Christians?
They know the truth.
They can tell you the truth.
But it doesn't do anything to them.
It doesn't change their lives.
They don't take any step to be obedient
to it.
They could quote from Micah 5 verse 2
and say that out of you will come
for me one who will be ruler over
Israel whose origins are from of old, from
ancient times.
Just that word alone should have caused them
to go there and to bow down to
Him.
But they stayed where they were.
Let's consider the chief priests, the teachers of
the law.
They remained where they were.
They weren't like the shepherds who said, let
us go and see this Christ child and
go and worship Him.
Who thinks that He is so great and
that He is God, but the true God
was coming to this world.
You will always get that
which is
genuine and that which is false.
And you need to have discernment lest you
go for that which is false thinking it
is the genuine thing.
Let's leave Augustus, the great emperor who makes
himself out to be God.
He thinks himself to be so important and
in charge like the man who is head
of a home and he says, well I
am the ruler of my house.
My wife, my children, my grandchildren, they all
have to obey me and do as I
say.
I remember a sick woman.
I remember
a
sick woman.
The man said to this woman, he said,
so and so, I am going to kill
you.
I am the man of the house.
You must do what I tell you.
He said, you are not going to the
service.
You will stay put.
You will stay right here.
I am the head of this home.
And so she quickly went and she took
a little wooden stick.
And she took a stool, low stool and
she got an axe and she put the
stool down there close to him and she
lay with her neck on that stool and
said to her, my husband, then you better
get to business and you better do it
now.
Take the axe.
Cut my head off.
And he said, my husband, then you better
get to business and you better do it
now.
He said, my husband, then
you better get to business and you better
do it now.
He said, my husband, then you better get
to business and you better do it now.
And so this man said, go off you
silly woman.
You women are so troublesome.
And he let her go.
Nothing happened.
But today, when the husbands don't allow their
wives to be Christians, they say, well what
can I do?
My husband doesn't want to allow me to
be a Christian.
You see how wishy-washy and jellyfish-like
Christians have become today.
And then you also find that parents, their
daughters go off and then they have illegitimate
children and then they bring their children home
and then they leave them here with granny
to look after them so that they can
go off and have the next one.
They're like incubators.
And then the grandmother says, well, you know,
what can we do?
Christians, it mustn't be said of us that
we throw these little babies away.
We don't take care of them.
But that just encourages the young people to
carry on with their moral lifestyle.
And if you allow that in the church,
that's enough.
So we Christians are despised.
We need to return to God's standard so
that the whole world will understand that in
that church, in that congregation, you can't fool
around.
Now, some people, they are very firm and
strict when it happens to other people and
other families, but when it happens to their
own family, then their knees turn to water.
Know that in KwaZulu, there was the custom
that virgins were tested and examined.
And when the Nkosi would call all the
virgins together, all the young girls to be
examined and it was found that one wasn't
a virgin any longer, then the people would
spit to the ground and saying she's dirty,
she's defiled.
And then the father would be fined a
beast because he didn't bring up his daughter
in a proper way.
And that has defiled the nation.
And when the Nkosi would call all the
virgins together, all the young girls to be
examined and it was found that one wasn't
a virgin any longer, then the people would
spit to the ground and saying she's dirty,
she's defiled.
And when the Nkosi would call all the
virgins together, all the young girls to be
examined and it was found that one wasn't
a virgin any longer, then the people would
spit to the ground and saying she's dirty,
she's defiled.
They had two flags, a white flag and
a black flag.
White flag at the king's palace.
And if the girl was found to be
a virgin, she would jump like a calf
relieved from the stall and dance and jump
up trying to touch that flag so happy
that she's found to be a virgin.
And everybody would rejoice.
But on the other hand, if it was
found that the girl was impure, no longer
a virgin, she'd have to go out to
the black flag with her head hanging, wanting
the earth to swallow her up, ashamed because
of being impure.
Virginity was respected and honoured.
It was a precious thing amongst the Zulus
in the past.
But today, they've all become as immoral as
the white men.
Say they like a white man, well like
white people, they've got a dress and that
dress covers everything.
A dress, a nice dress covers everything.
Even dead bones.
Where would Aids have found an entry if
the Zulu nation would have kept that good
custom?
It would have been like an island protected
from Aids, where people would die left and
right, but this nation would have been untouched.
What do I say it?
I say to the Zulu people, I say
to the Zulu people, I say to the
Zulu people, I say to the Zulu people,
I say to the Zulu people, I say
to the Zulu people, I say to the
Zulu people, I say to the Zulu people,
I say to the Zulu people, I say
to the Zulu people, I say to the
Zulu people, I say to the Zulu people,
I say to the Zulu people, I say
to the Zulu people, I say to the
Zulu people, I say to the Zulu people,
I say to the Zulu people, I say
to the Zulu people, I say to the
Zulu people, I say to the Zulu people,
I say to the Zulu people, I say
to the Zulu people, I say to the
Zulu people, I say to the Zulu people,
I say to the Zulu people, I say
to the Zulu people, I say to the
Zulu people, I say to the Z ul
people.
As time went on, this custom was no
longer kept, and fewer and fewer tribes kept
this custom.
Eventually, only one Ngoseh, thereby the Baka tribe,
kept this custom, where the virgins were tested.
Then, it was found that his own daughter,
had been immoral, and had become pregnant out
of wedlock and then he dropped that custom
he left and he said no we won't
any longer have virginity testing because his own
daughter if he had said because I my
own daughter was found to be immoral I'll
find myself not only one beast but two
or three we would have honored that in
Corsi but today we can only serve him
oh what what a bad thing he did
he could have Corey carried on with it
and his tribe wouldn't die now just a
little thing I said gas say my party
if you in Zulu say gas say Durban
then you say this side of Durban so
not one of the Barkas but this side
of the Barkas there was a chief who
did it all right so when it doesn't
touch us it's good but it touches my
family my
family it concerns my family then I melt
like butter and butter in the hot
sun
or like chocolate there
was a man who was the leader of
an organization that stood for moral standards and
he was against abortion but then his own
daughter fell pregnant not married and so he
said to her now go for an abortion
and others came to me said how can
you do that how can you you were
against it he said well that was when
it concerned others but now it concerns me
what else can I do so when it
concerns others we've got strict laws but it
when it concerns this us wishy-washy now
I wouldn't like to make the service too
long because I've spoken for a long time
I said that the evening services should usually
usually be approximately half an hour but this
evening service is a special service a point
looking now the last point old I'm a
gay jungle junga my father is obey port
goons of Java take win what are we
don't be like the Pharisees just like a
road sign that points to Durban Maritzburg great
town but you don't go there you've got
the right teaching the right theology you can
quote scriptures but they here and here and
not here when is important day so as
you see they got a zeal and I'm
Jay I'm learning you know footing a quarter
in Gishana my verse a Bible got a
good lime learning a Google answers when there's
a picture petal hair my pet la hair
mark who has a good tea in do
yes in qua you'll find him in Bethlehem
the word Bethlehem with the name Bethlehem means
house of bread how funny look what he
has a little a corner no by a
now cobalt okay we sink was so pina
it was footing for him to be born
there for he himself is the bread of
life and he is the bread which came
down from heaven what's a little one in
a nice cottage car August when was he
born in the time of Augustus welcome to
a shouting a barley I get Kobe make
was melena Nangu Maria who's a cool a
wake up so we Scott songs are so
funny little booty so again as a rater
I am a pet la hair ma who
goes sooka a pet la hair and as
a rater who go a pet la hair
oh my who turns in town on TSA
who fun a new bungalow sugar love we
at a queen and so Caesar Augustus issued
this decree that census had to be taken
nobody could go against that law and even
Mary who was far advanced had to go
to Bethlehem from Nazareth to Bethlehem as the
crow flies is as far from here to
Durban her time had arrived the baby could
be born any moment maybe Joseph said oh
Mary now we've got to walk walk from
here to Durban on foot if you walk
fast three four days if you go steadily
just not in a hurry it can take
a week to get there Yamakoshi
we haven't said Benzene so I'll ghost what
do you find a new booty in me
now in him fuck more your booty at
a barley woman who knew booty as a
little Nazareth in poverty a pet la hair
they could have found fault they could have
murmured and said oh just look at how
cruel this Caesar is that we've got to
walk all the way now to as far
as from here to Durban on foot and
maybe this child will be born on the
way we don't know what's going to happen
but in the meantime God who is sovereign
God who is the ruler over all hell
is was just using Augustus to make the
decree because the child had to be born
in Bethlehem and not in Ezra's when you
are in God's hands and surrendered and committed
yourself wholeheartedly things can't go wrong even if
you think oh my it's going in
heaven is in control and he ordains things
exactly as they have to happen things aren't
out of control it's exactly as God wants
it to be and so things didn't go
wrong that child wasn't born on the way
the child was born in if
you're in God's hand then everything will go
according to God's plan times are in God's
hands and here God only used Augustus so
that his plan could be fulfilled people had
never been counted there had never been a
census it was the first census but God
said this child must be born in Bethlehem
and not in Nazareth and that's why God
only used Augustus to fulfill his own plan
that's why people had to be counted because
things were going wrong Jesus would have been
born in Nazareth and not as the scripture
says in Bethlehem and even the mistake of
the wise men that the children were slaughtered
was a fulfillment of the Bible because the
Bible says Rachel Rachel is lamenting because of
her children that have been slain it's
wonderful to commit yourself wholeheartedly to the Lord
for you be led on the way everlasting
have you surrendered yourself already fully to the
Lord saying Lord may your will be done
may my will come to an end shall
we pray we thank you Lord marvelous
is your matter even
though
people might make out to be God in
this world and yet the true God is
in heaven and he is in control of
all things keep us alert not to be
like Augustus keep
us alert from being like the scribes and
the Pharisees who had head knowledge of the
truth and yet it didn't stir them it
didn't change their lives
keep
us from being like the wise men who
followed their own common sense their own wisdom
and went to Jerusalem instead of keeping the
eyes on the star which would have led
them to be able to thank
you
Lord Jesus that you came down from heaven
as the bread which comes from heaven which
comes from God may we eat you may
we digest you that you'd give us life
Lord continue with us in this evening grant
us heavenly wisdom and discernment that we won't
be Christians who are false Christians who are
only led astray who are blind