I'm going to turn in the word of God this morning to 2 Corinthians and chapter 4 and our text is verse 6, 2 Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 6. For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. What a wonderful thing to have the light of God's glory shining in our hearts. Have you ever been grateful for the shining of a light in the darkness? I remember coming out of a house once where I'd been visiting and I walked to the gate up some dangerous steps and then the front door closed and everything was pitch black. The light of the doorway had led me to the gate. The gate led me out onto a very narrow lane. Once the door was shut, it was pitch black. And I had a little way to walk before I could get to the main road. And I began to be a bit frightened. And all kinds of stupid thoughts arose in my mind. Supposing someone would jump out on me. Who? Yeah, who would do that? And if I can't see them, how could they see me? Stupid thoughts, but it was frightening. And the road was so narrow, I could feel my way by the curvature of the little lane. I could put one foot one side and think, oh, that's sloping that way, and one foot that way, and that's sloping that way, so I must be in the middle of the road. And I'll avoid any brambles that are sticking out or branches. So I'll keep to this center. And then after, I don't know, it seemed like a mile and a half, probably only about 50 yards, I saw a glimmer of a streetlight. And it gave me such hope. It didn't shed any light on my pathway at that point, but it gave me hope. That's where the path is leading. And then once I got nearer to it, there were other lights beyond that. but the joy of light in the darkness. I felt it on that occasion. In life, we often pass through times of darkness. Isaiah in Isaiah 50 verse 10 says, who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his God. So Isaiah knew that many times a Christian, a believer, somebody who trusts in the Lord can walk in the darkness and have no light. See, everything is pitch black in life. And then it's so wonderful when there is a glimmer of light that begins to shine. It gives you hope that the darkness will not be forever and you will be brought out of it. And our text here in 2 Corinthians 4 verse 6 tells us about the light of the glorious gospel of our gracious God shining into darkened hearts. God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Paul compares the light of the gospel to the time when God commanded light to shine on that first day of creation. God had created the heavens and the earth, the earth is sphere of ocean, all engulfed in darkness. And then God unveils it all with this wonderful command, let there be light. And as the light shines for the first time, this heaven and the earth is revealed. Maybe the angels have been watching, what's going on? What is God doing? And then let there be light and something of this still yet to be finished creation is revealed. And it's this creative light that unveils what God is doing. And God who commanded the light to shine then and unveil the creation, shines into our hearts with recreating light. When a person becomes a Christian, they do so by the recreating work of God. And he commands the light of his glory to shine in the face of Jesus Christ. And to these hearts of ours, which were in the darkness and death of sin, God shines. And as he shines this creative light, He shines it and illuminates the face of Jesus for us. And as people see Jesus through the darkness, then salvation comes to them. That's how we are brought to living faith in Jesus Christ. We're in darkness. We don't understand why we do what we do. We don't understand our condition. We don't understand our position before God. But then God begins to shine. And as he shines, then he leads us to Jesus Christ. He draws us to Jesus. And as he shines the light of the Spirit upon Jesus, then we begin to see. to see the Saviour for all His beauty and glory. And as we see Him, the hope is illuminated in our hearts. The direction we need to go is made clear. We then, instead of being children of the darkness, become children of the light. We live in the light and the joy of that light. Some Christians, may seem to have the gospel light shine immediately into their hearts. I was quite struck recently. I remember fluorescent tubes. Can you remember fluorescent tubes? We had a lady in the church who objected to the fluorescent lighting in the church because it always just sort of flickered. I don't know whether she was prone to epilepsy or what, but the light. We stayed in a house recently. a light on and instantaneously the light. That's not an old fashioned fluorescent tube. They've improved the design. It came on instantly. No flickering, no buzzing into action, just instant light. And there are some Christians who come to faith instantaneously as the gospel is presented to them. You think of Cornelius, as Peter preached to Cornelius. He was in the flow of his sermon, And he was about to say the next sentence, but he didn't need to. Because he said, and the prophets say that whoever believes upon the Lord will be saved. And they believed immediately. And the spirit came down upon them and everybody knew that they'd been saved. Instantaneously. Maybe you're a person like that. You were in the darkness, you heard the gospel, immediately. The light came on, as it were, and God shone the light of his glorious grace, the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and you were saved. For other people, the light may come on gradually, as if it was on a dimmer switch, and suddenly somebody is turning the dimmer switch, the spirit is turning the dimmer switch on, brighter and brighter and brighter. these low-energy light bulbs. You switch them on and you think, well, I thought I bought a bright one, but this is quite dark, but then it gets brighter and brighter and brighter. And maybe you're a person who's become a Christian like that. The gospel didn't dawn on you instantaneously, but it grew and grew. You can scarcely pinpoint the point where you saw the glory of God in its fullness. It was so gradual. If you go near the equator, then the sun, the sun rises very quickly. It can be dark, and before too long it's broad daylight. If you go to Scotland, and the sun seems to rise so gradually, it's light, light, light, light, light, the sun still hasn't risen, light, light, light, sun still hasn't risen. It's the same sun, The same concept of dawning, but one dawns instantaneously and the other dawns gradually. I wonder what sort of Christian, I wonder what sort of experience you had in coming to faith in Jesus. Was it a equator moment of illumination, sun rising, the daylight of the gospel, filling your heart with joy and peace? Or was it an Icelandic, gradual sunrise. It didn't matter which one it was really, does it? It was God, commanding the light of the glory of his knowledge to shine in your heart in the face of Jesus Christ. There's a song that's sung often at Christmas time by Mark Lowry and Buddy Green. Mary, did you know? It has a line in it like this. Mary, did you know? When you kiss your little baby, you've kissed the face of God. When you've kissed your little baby, you've kissed the face of God. Quite a beautiful song. In a very real sense, that's true. Jesus is God, manifest in the flesh, 1 Timothy 3, 16. When the eternal son of God took himself human form, the invisible Trinity then had a human face. Because Jesus is God-man in the one person. He's the second person of the Trinity who's taken to himself human form, a human face, and from his face shines something of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. The glory of the Father radiates from the face of Jesus Christ, and our text, points us to this. God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So this morning I want us to think about the face of the Lord Jesus Christ as it's revealed to us in scripture. And to see something of the glory of the knowledge of God shining in the face of Jesus Christ. Especially If we're in darkness, if there's darkness engulfing us, we need to see the light of the glory of God, the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. In the passage, Paul has been comparing the Old Covenant, the Old Testament, with the New Testament, the New Covenant. He's saying, well, the old covenant was light and glorious, but it had no glory in comparison with the new. The new covenant is full of the knowledge of the glory of God. It's a rainbow of God's gracious promises given to us and secured for us by Jesus Christ. In chapter three and verse seven, Paul is talking about the ministration of death written and engraven in stones. That was glorious. So glorious that the children of Israel couldn't steadfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance. So you see the Old Covenant, and the Old Covenant is linked so closely to the shining, radiant face of Moses. Moses had been up the mountain, he'd received the Ten Commandments, engraved in stone, he'd come down and smashed them, He goes back up the mountain, he asks God, show me your glory. God shows him something of his glory. God also gives him again a second set of the Ten Commandments engraved in stone. He comes down from the mountain and as Aaron and the children of Israel see him, as they listen to him, his face is so radiant, they can't bear to look upon him for very long. They do look upon him. They listen to him as his face is shining. The shining of his face impresses upon them the glory and the majesty of what he's talking about. The glory and the majesty of these 10 commandments. And this covenant that God was making with them at Sinai. But Moses does something. What he does is he knows that this glory of his shining face and the glory of the Ten Commandments and the Covenant is a fading glory. So having spoken to the people and having impressed them with this shining radiance of his face, having been in communion with God, bringing them these ministrations of the Old Covenant, he then covers his face with a veil because He doesn't want the people of Israel to see that the glory is fading away. And it would fade away, but it would be fading behind the veil so the people would still think of the glory, the majesty of Moses' face. And they don't see the glory fading away. He goes back into the presence of God. He takes the veil away as he speaks with God. Again, his face begins to shine. Again, he comes out and speaks to the people about what God has been telling him. Again, they see his face radiant and shining. So again, having finished speaking to them, he covers his face because the glory is fading away until he then goes back into the presence of God and the radiance is renewed. So Paul has been talking about these The face, the face of Moses displays something of the glory of the old covenant. The face of Jesus displays something of the glory of the new covenant. And the face of Jesus never dims in its glory. The new covenant never dims in its majestic promises. The New Covenant will never be abolished. The Old Covenant was going to be abolished. It was to fade, its glory was to fade. But not the New Covenant. Some of you may be familiar with the morning star, Venus, the planet. Often in the morning you can see this bright star, as it seems, it's not a star, it's a planet, Venus. It's shining. When all the other stars have disappeared as the dawn begins, Venus is still shining. The glorious star, as it were, outlasting all the others. But then the sun rises and Venus disappears. Well, it's still there, but we can't see it. When we do see Venus and the sun together in the sky, it's when Venus is making its transit across the face of the sun. Transit of Venus. I don't know if any of you watched it when it happened a few years ago. I did set up some binoculars to watch it. And the binoculars were focused on the sun, onto a piece of card and I could watch Venus go across the face of the sun. And all it was was a little black dot transiting across the face of the sun. And Venus that has this glory in the twilight, I don't know what the opposite of twilight is, what's it in the morning? in the dawning light. It's glorious then, but it has no glory once the sun comes. It's just a black dot going across the sun sometimes. And Paul says the old covenant is glorious on its own, but it fades into insignificance in the light of the new covenant. The ministration of death was glorious. It was a ministration of condemnation. It was a ministration of the letter that kills. But it had glory. But it was to be done away with. And that which was done away was glorious, much more that which remains is glorious. And it had no glory in comparison with the glory that continues. The glory that continues is this glory of the new covenant. And this glory shines in the face of Jesus Christ. As the glory of the old covenant shone forth, as Moses had been in the presence of God, and that promises of the old covenant, the whole law that God had given was glorious and it's shown in the face of Moses but then there's a new covenant. A new covenant would I make with the house of Israel and the house of Judah after those days says God and then he makes all these promises I'm going to write my law not in stone tablets to be hidden away but I'm going to write my law on their hearts on their minds They'll all know me from the least to the greatest. It won't just be Moses who can come into my presence. They will all be able to come into my presence. And then he says, there are sins and iniquities I will remember no more. They won't need to be offering sacrifices morning and evening, every day. They won't need to have days of atonement every year because there will be one sacrifice that deals with sin forever. So there are these exceeding great and precious promises in the New Covenant, and they're all secured through Jesus Christ. And God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. When Moses went up the mountain, he said, show me your glory, show me your glory. He'd already been at the burning bush and seen something of the glory of God. He'd already been up the mountain once and received the first set of 10 commandments. But he knew there was something more about the glory of God. Show me your glory. And God shows him, as much as he's able to receive, shows him something of the glory. And the glory is his grace. Exodus 34, or Exodus 33 and 34 is the story where God passes by and says, I am gracious and long-suffering, forgiving iniquity and transgressions. And so the glory is God's grace. And the glory of God's grace shines for us supremely in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the new covenant promises. It's a ministration of life, not death. It's a ministration of justification, not condemnation. It's a ministration where the Spirit writes the law on our hearts and minds, and it shines in the face of Jesus Christ. So we think about the face of Jesus Christ, the wise men, who visited Jesus when he was born. Mary, don't you know? When you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God. And the wise men, they came. They travelled because they'd seen a star and were given some understanding by God of what it meant the king was born. And they come and see the face of a little baby. Now, many babies' faces are exquisite. You don't say anything else to the parents. Exquisite, but the wise men, when they see Jesus, a young infant, by faith, they see in the face of Jesus, the majesty of God's chosen and eternal King. The sight moved them to worship and they opened their treasures to him and presented their gifts. We by faith should see in the face of Jesus Christ, God's chosen eternal King. We should be moved to worship Jesus as the King and to give to him. John the Baptist, he saw many faces as he baptised people in the Jordan. Faces that came to him bowed with guilt and shame. Faces stained with the tears of repentance. He saw the faces of others raised with arrogance and gloating hypocrisy. And then he saw Jesus coming. And as he sees Jesus coming, he sees here a face that has no, shadow of shame or guilt or regret of sin, no hint of hypocrisy. He sees the face of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He sees the face of innocence, of intelligent submission as he comes to obey his Father and fulfil all righteousness. We see the face of Jesus in the wilderness after 40 days, a face that's thinned by fasting for 40 days. The face of our conquering warrior who is doing battle with the powers of darkness, doing battle with Satan himself. And never once would you see a flicker of the eyebrow Entertaining the thought of doing what Satan was suggesting. No flirting with temptation, but fighting it right from the moment Satan uttered a word. The face of holy resolution, determined to secure the righteousness that we need in order for the covenant promises to be kept. the face of Jesus Christ, resolute in his fight against Satan. What an encouragement to us that we have such a conqueror. We may have needed to squeeze through the crowd if we were to get a vantage point to see the face of Jesus. In that crowded room, when the four friends of the paralysed man broken open the roof and they let their paralysed friend down. And then to see the smiling face of Jesus as he says to the paralytic, son, be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven you. You ever seen anything like that? The face of Jesus Christ speaking to you? Be of good cheer. Your sins are forgiven you. the glory of the knowledge of God, the forgiving God, the gracious God, who forgives iniquity and transgressions in the face of Jesus Christ. Or you think of the eyes of Jairus' daughter. They'd closed in death hours before, maybe less than an hour before. We do not know what she'd seen. with her eyes closed in death. But then she hears the voice of Jesus. Telleth her, Kumai, young girl, I say to you, arise. And out of death, her eyes opened to see the face of Jesus, the resurrection and the life. I don't know what she would have written in her autobiography if she'd ever written it, but how she would have described the face of Jesus. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Mary, Martha, Lazarus, they'd seen the face of Jesus, weeping with grief, at what death had brought to that home of the family he loved. And then they are able to see him and Lazarus to see him with resurrected eyes. The woman taken in adultery, condemned to death by the kangaroo court, as it were. And then Jesus saying, neither do I condemn you. The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, seen by all these different people. The Samaritans, not the first group of Samaritans we read, but a later group. They saw that his face was set with determination to go to Jerusalem, and so they didn't entertain him in their village. Jesus, the face of determination, he's going to Jerusalem. He's going to offer himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. And in Gethsemane, you see the face of Jesus, a face anguished in prayer, sweating great drops of blood on a cold night in the darkness, shone upon by the full moon The face of agony. Father, if it's possible, let this cut pass from me. But if it is not possible, your will be done. Father, give me the strength to do your will, to glorify you. And then the face of Jesus on the cross, forgiving love. Think of the two thieves, what their faces were doing when they were being nailed to the cross. And the face of Jesus Christ as he is nailed by those soldiers to the cross, Father forgive them, they don't know what they're doing. The face of loving care for his mother. Simeon in the temple, when he carried the baby Jesus in his arms, warned Mary that a sword would pierce her own heart too. And there it was at Calvary, the sword piercing the heart of Mary as she sees her beloved son, her precious son, whom she knew was miraculously conceived and who she had followed and trusted all her life, being executed in that manner. And then Jesus from the cross with loving compassion, commending her to his beloved disciple. And then the face of promising love, as the dying thief calls across to the Lord Jesus Christ, after having spoken to his colleague in crime, to Jesus, he says, Lord, remember me. Have mercy upon me when you come into your kingdom. which you will have mercy upon me. And Jesus, knowing he is going to triumph, and yet still having to do so much in order to triumph, promises him, today you will be with me in paradise. What a wonderful thing for a dying person to, as it were, see the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, and to, as it were, hear Jesus and see Jesus saying to them, today, you will be with me in paradise. The comfort shining in the face of Jesus Christ. And then, something of the face of Jesus we can never see. Engulfed in the darkness, where people couldn't see anything. The face of Jesus in the darkness, filled with agony, abandonment, outer darkness. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, the glory of God as he lays upon him the iniquity of us all. As the chastisement that secures our peace was endured by him, Jesus' face would have expressed something of the torment and the terror and the anguish of abandonment. But that is hidden from us in the darkness. And yet we believe that Jesus went through that hell on earth for us. The grace of God, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes upon him should not perish, but have everlasting life. What are you trusting in to give you everlasting life? What are you trusting in to give you everlasting life? What does God say you must trust in? to gain everlasting life. You must trust his son. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should have everlasting life. And then see the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. As Jesus, emerging from the darkness, is able to say with triumph, it is finished, And having said, it is finished, to say, Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. Father, this restored contact between the person of Jesus in his humanity with God, his Father in heaven, and as a human committing his Spirit into the hands of the Father, the relief, the face of Jesus Christ. One last glimpse into the face of Jesus Christ. Through eyes blurred with tears, Mary Magdalene, in the garden on the first day of the week, Not long after the sunrise, she thinks that must be the gardener. She thinks the gardener must have had some responsibility in conveying the body of Jesus away. Sir, she says, supposing him to be the gardener, if you have carried him somewhere, tell me and I will take care of the body. And then Jesus says to her, Mary. And Mary turns to see Jesus. the face of her risen Lord. The glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. There's a hymn, oh that will be glory for me, when by his grace I shall look on his face, that will be glory, be glory for me. One day we will all see the face of Jesus Christ, literally, fully. When he returns, every eye will behold him. Every tongue will confess Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. This morning, I trust something of the light of the knowledge of the glory of God is by the Spirit has been shining in your heart to give a knowledge. of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And may the light shine on in our hearts, radiating in our hearts, filling our hearts with joy and peace and gladness. Amen. We will close by singing hymn number 123, 123. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds in a believer's ear. It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds, and drives away his fear. Number one, two, three.