[0:00] Okay, good morning. I'm Steve Taberski. I'm glad to see a lot of visitors here. I'm glad to see my son and his wife and my son-in-law and my daughter and their families.
[0:14] And by the way, today is my little Emma's birthday today. So I want everybody to sing happy birthday to my Emma. Ready? One, two, three.
[0:25] Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, dear Emma. Happy birthday to you.
[0:45] Emma, how old are you, baby? Five. Good girl. Five years old today. I'm one of five speakers that speak here, so don't judge the service by what you hear today.
[1:02] Come back and listen to another one. And I think that you'll be blessed. Let's pray before I get started with this. Father, I thank you for the opportunity to stand up and proclaim your word.
[1:19] Lord, it's your word, Lord. And your word, Lord, is strong and true. Help me not to get in the way of your word being proclaimed. Help me, Lord, to have a clear mind and remember all the things that you've blessed me with as I was preparing for this.
[1:39] Lord, may the words that come out of my mouth be the words that would come out of yours if you were standing here in front of these people. Lord, these people you love and you died for.
[1:51] I pray, Father, that you'll bless them today. In Jesus' name, amen. So, let's...
[2:03] I'm sorry. I've got this article here. It says, Christmas in a Time of Fear and Tension.
[2:15] And it was written in 1959. Matt, I think I've given you a copy of this. But I'm getting a lot of my information about the beginning of this from this article.
[2:28] And then, you know, preachers, they embellish stuff from all kinds of preachers and commentaries and a little bit of the stuff that, you know, that we might get up here and talk about.
[2:40] It was God revealed this to me. But most of the stuff you probably heard from somebody else. And you probably even thought it yourself.
[2:51] But let's talk about this article here a little bit. Luke started out the...
[3:02] I'm sorry. Luke started out the Christmas story by saying, And it came past in those days that there went out a decree by Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.
[3:17] I've been studying Acts in our Sunday school class. And I have really been impressed with Luke's writing. He is so detailed when he writes.
[3:28] You know, he talks about we sailed here. Then we had to winter here. We had to wait for these storms there. Then we went here. We went there. It's just so detailed. So only a scholar and a person with a real passion for history would start out the nativity story with this sentence.
[3:53] And there went out a decree by Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. That sentence flings us, according to this guy in this article, is that literally flings us into the heart of the Roman history.
[4:13] And he says in this article that Caesar Augustus basically, literally, waded to the throne through a sea of blood.
[4:26] You see, back when Julius Caesar was brutally assassinated, there were three claimants of power that came forth.
[4:36] And they were vain for power. One of them was Octavius. Another one was Lipidus. And then there was Mark Anthony.
[4:50] So these three guys ended up settling their disputes. By the way, these are just statues, not pictures of them. They didn't really look. They settled it by forming a triumphant.
[5:07] They split the kingdom or basically into three parts, each one of them ruling a section. And then together, they formed the most, one of the most gross and ghastly things that's ever done.
[5:29] They drew up a list of like 2,000 knights and 300 senators. And all of those names that were on that prescribed list were assassinated and their properties were taken because of their greed for wealth and power.
[5:46] Well, it was a few years into this agreement that Octavius was able to eliminate Lipidus. And then about five years later, he eliminated Mark Anthony.
[6:03] Mark Anthony and Cleopatra were, you know, joined together and he got rid of them and claimed Egypt now for the Roman Empire. So Octavius then, in the year 30 BC, became the sole ruler of the Roman Empire.
[6:24] He was their first emperor. He, the Senate had decided to disregard Octavius' crimes and they honored him by giving him the name Augustus.
[6:44] So he became Caesar Augustus and for 45 years he ruled, he was the sole ruler of the world as we know it, as they knew it then.
[6:57] He was the ruler of the world. And it was this Caesar Augustus that made this decree that all the world was going to be taxed because he ruled the world. And it was because of this that everybody had to go to their hometown for the census to know what kind of taxes they're going to be paid.
[7:16] And that set on course Mary and Joseph because they were from Bethlehem to head to Bethlehem so that they can be counted and taxed.
[7:28] So Caesar Augustus was the one that started that but in reality high above his throne that he's sitting on over the seven hills of Rome was the king of kings and lord of lords the one most high.
[7:46] This is what his decree was. He said, But thou Bethlehem though thou be little among the thousands of Judah yet out of these shall come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel whose goings forth have been from of old from everlasting.
[8:05] So the king of kings and the lord of lords is the one that used Caesar Augustus to take Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.
[8:16] The birth of Jesus was unheralded in Rome. It wasn't even heard of. They didn't know anything about it.
[8:28] But how could Caesar in his strutting around in his palace could have known that born in one of his lowly outposts was going to be him that's going to be king over the world that's going to split time from before his birth and after his birth.
[8:46] He had no way of knowing but God used him. But before we can talk more about Jesus let's talk about this great God that has made this decree about Bethlehem.
[9:04] In Exodus I'm sorry first thing I want to talk about is Moses. Moses was we all know the story of Moses how that he ended up killing an Egyptian and having to flee and then he met God through a burning bush right?
[9:27] What did God say his name was during that time? I am. God said I am. Moses and God said Moses I have a mission for you I want you to go back I've heard the cries of my people in Egypt I want you to go back and I want you to free them Moses says who am I?
[9:50] Who am I that I would go before Pharaoh? And Moses started explaining to God how he wasn't qualified to it he wasn't qualified to go and stand before Pharaoh so I'm not eloquent enough I did some bad things I shouldn't be the one I can't do it I'm not the right one and God says Moses I don't I'm not calling you because you can do all of these things I'm all of those things and I'll be with you I can do those things but for what you're not I am and that's my name I am I am which is a funny name we call it Jehovah Jehovah and I am are the same thing and then but those words I am he usually will take those words and then put another attribute to himself for instance in Exodus when the
[10:52] Israelites were wounded and sick because of their sin God revealed himself as Jehovah Rapha meaning I am your healer in Leviticus when Moses had penned the Levitical laws that showed how you were to live an upright life before God and the people responded by saying who can follow all these rules no one can follow these rules no one can keep these commands and God responded by saying Jehovah Meketekism whatever that is I am your sanctifier I am the God who will enable you to walk with me and keep these commandments then in Ezekiel's day when the people felt scared and alone with enemies all around God revealed himself as Jehovah Shammah I am the ever present God
[11:52] I will never leave you when David felt lost and alone without a friend in the world where even his mighty men had turned against him and were one to kill him David was able to call God Jehovah Ra the Lord is my shepherd when Abraham faced circumstances where there didn't seem to be any possible way out God declared to him Jehovah Jireh I am your provider when Gideon faced an army a hundred times the size of his own he called God Jehovah Shalom the Lord is my peace when Jeremiah was so discouraged at the sinfulness of the people of Israel and wondered how they could survive God declared unto him
[12:54] Jehovah Tiskanu I am your righteousness when Isaiah didn't think that he could survive another day God declared unto him Jehovah Saba Hood I am your defender the God who fights for you so you see for everything Israel lacked for everything that they were not in themselves God was the great I am he was that for them so that's Israel in the Old Testament they had a special covenant with God God was their God they were his people so what about us today we have the same weaknesses we have the same troubles same fears we have so many things to be anxious about it would be really nice if we could have an
[13:57] I am God that could take care of the things that we aren't that can take care of the things that we can't do to ourselves and that brings us to Christmas the great I am has established a new covenant with us covenant of faith and grace the king of kings and the lord of lords chose to be born as a baby to limit himself as a man he did this so that he could come and save us from our sin and death the king of kings and lord of lords the great i am said there's there's no room for sin in my presence and he also declared that the wages of sin is death and he came to die that death for us so that we could live with him so jesus lived a perfect sinless life that we were supposed to live and then he died a death that we were condemned to die to that's the gospel in a nutshell it can be summed up in four words jesus in my place he took my place living a life that was perfect a life that i was supposed to live a life that we are supposed to live sinless but we can't he did it jesus did it he took our sins penalty he died for our sins because we couldn't die once we died we were gone but jesus was the great i am he could rise again from the death so he took our condemnation the name jesus is derived from the hebrew word yeshua meaning salvation so he is jehovah yeshua he's the god of my salvation not only is he my salvation you see he is jehovah rafa he's my he's my healer he was wounded for our transgressions he was bruised for our iniquities the chastisement of our peace was upon him and by his stripes we are healed jesus heals the broken hearted he's the great physician healing the mind soul and the body he's also my jehovah shama my everlasting god jesus said that i am with you always even to the end of the age he's promised to never leave me nor forsake me even though i might walk through the valley of the shadow of death i will fear no evil for he's with me he's my jehovah jire or my provider but my god shall supply all my needs according to his riches in glory he owns the cattle on a thousand hills his resources are limitless and he grants me access to all that he has because
[17:38] I'm his child he is my jehovah tiskanu my righteousness the bible says for he made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of god you see I don't have to strive for righteousness to be accepted by him god doesn't reward me for my righteousness he is my righteousness so he is my jehovah tiskanu he is my jehovah metekism my sanctifier says I am confident of this very thing that he which hath begun good work in me shall finish it to the end he will present me blameless on that day on the great day before god he will present me blameless he is my sanctifier he is my jehovah ra my shepherd jesus is the good shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep he's out there seeking and saving those that are lost and just as a shepherd knows what's best for the sheep jesus knows what's best for us sometimes we don't know it ourselves and we think we know but jesus knows what's best for us he is my jehovah shalom my peace jesus removed the wall of partition between us between us and god when we have faith in him we have peace with god we just talked about this in r&r recently in romans it says therefore being justified by faith we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ that's not that's not a feeling that's a fact there is a feeling of peace um bible says by whom also we have access by faith into his grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of god paul says for i am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of god which is in christ jesus our lord if that doesn't bring peace what will nothing will separate us from the love of god which is in christ jesus our lord and he is my jehovah solitude my defender the bible says greater is he that is in me than he is for us then who can be against this god he is my defender you see all that i am not all that we are not all of our weaknesses god is strong all of our not knowing god knows all of our fears god god can wipe those away he is i am i am i am all these things that you cannot be that you will never be in yourselves the question is is he all of those things to you if you've never received him as your savior he wants to be all these things but he's not going to force them on you the bible says but as many as received him to them gave you power to become the sons of god and once you are a
[21:38] son of god you are partakers of everything that god has I uh back in 1985 I don't think it was yeah Cheryl Lee Whitesides had the best day of her life that was the day she became a Taberski and when she became a Taberski she became one with me so everything that I have is hers everything that I am she is with me we are one and that's the way it is with God once we accept Jesus as our savior everything God has is at our disposal we he he so I urge you urge you if you don't know Jesus is your savior accept him as your lord and savior so that he could be all these things to you don't be fooled the world will tell you that it doesn't really matter you know
[22:54] Jesus is just one of the ways to get to eternal paradise it it's a lie Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life no man comes to the father but through me some people say as long as you're sincere as long as you're sincere some people say well if you go to church or some people say well if your good deeds outweigh your bad then that's good that's nothing he has to be your righteousness you can't be your own your righteousness are like filthy rags to him so don't believe those lies Jesus is the only way accepting his death for your sins and making him lord of your life is the only way that you can be saved and the only way that he can be these things to you maybe you are
[23:55] Christian maybe you are have accepted him but you've lost your way you've allowed the world and all the cares of the world to cloud out some of these things that Jesus is to you this Christmas think about what's going on here the king of kings lord of lords the creator of all almighty one that no one can understand no one can fathom became a human because of you because he loved you and he wanted you to be with him he wanted to pay your debt pay your sin debt so that you can be saved and be with him don't allow the world's cares and all the problems you're going to be let down you're going to be let down by people you love they're going to hurt you let
[25:00] God be your healer they're going you're going to be disappointed you're going to be and you're going to let others down believe it or not I have let people down as nice a guy as I am I have let people down before I've hurt their feelings and I just pray for forgiveness and hope that they find their peace with God so everyone in here today Merry Christmas God loves you and Christmas is him showing you that that's it