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[0:00] In all about dependence upon the Lord for his gracious help and seeking your prayerful attention I would direct you to the second epistle, Paul to the Corinthians, chapter 4, considering verse 6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, have shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ The second epistle of Paul to the 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

[1:06] The apostle, writing to the Corinthian church, would have them to know that Christ is all the glory Now no doubt, his thoughts here go to the beginning, to the work of creation And we read, and the earth was without form and void And the darkness was upon the face of the deep And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters And God said And this is the first recorded part of God's Word Where God speaks And it is done God said, let there be light And there was light And God saw the light That it was good

[2:08] And God divided the light From the darkness There was Nothing there A light The world The world was created By the mighty Hand of God The way that all Was without form And void God spake And it was done And the earth took shape And out of that Mass of darkness Was the beginning The beginning of creation The beginning of God's work Here upon earth Without help But by his open divine power

[3:13] God spake God spake the word And it was done Now the Apostle Paul Would bring this to the hearts Of these Corinthians But it is that same work That same almighty power That put forth In the hearts of men That brings about That new creation That same power That same power is needed That same work Must be done For man has nothing In and of himself That can commend him To God But all is darkness And in one sense It needs a mightier work By the hand of God To new create

[4:14] The soul of man Than it did To create the world In the first place You see God spake the word He commanded That there should be light And there was light And in all God's creation He saw That it was good But in the heart of man Was there anything there Good To commend To God What is The operation of God When he comes To the heart of man What does the light Reveal Or when it shines forth When God created the world He looked upon the world

[5:17] And everything there Was perfection But when the Holy Spirit Enlightens the heart of man What does he see What does the eye Of man see When God begins That work Does he see Perfection No He sees A ruined Mass Of sin He sees A blackness A vileness This is This is something That the world Does not see This is what The natural heart Cannot see For the natural heart Is at Enmity against God It will not see

[6:17] It cannot see But when God The Holy Spirit Begins Then he reveals To the heart of man What he is He shows him a little Of that which Lies within And that For the grace of God Continuing In man But for that work Going on Man will be brought To utter despair What a mercy That God the Spirit Does not leave us There He who hath begun A good work in you Shall perform it To the day of Jesus Christ We cannot say

[7:18] That the Spirit Of God Has begun In our hearts Unless we come To see Something Of the Vileness Of sin Oh thou Hideous Monster sin What a plague Has thou Built in As the Lord Revealed Thus far Yes it's easy In these days To say We are sinners And we receive Christ Jesus But there is very Little spoken Of a mourning Over sin A grief Because of sin If we look Back to the Lives of some Of God's dear people Reading their accounts

[8:19] We find that There is some of them They went in a state Where they were In bitter grief Sometimes for many months And sometimes Even years But the Lord Never left one There If he has begun He will continue And except We repent Of sin And are brought To turn to Christ Then we cannot Speak Of the work Of God In our hearts We must know Something Of this We know That God Is sovereign In his ways We know He deals With one In one way And another In another But this

[9:20] General principle Is true Of all Convince me Of my sin Then Lead to Jesus' blood When light Is given In the soul Then life Has begun Then there is A struggle Against sin For when We are in Darkness We know Not What surrounds Us We know Not what We have Need of We read That Men love Darkness More than Light Because the Deeds of The heart Are all Evil A man Does not Want to Receive This

[10:20] He does Not Think himself To be As bad As he Is Man Has a Better Opinion Of himself Than ever God will Have In the Day of Judgment And it's Very often That we See in Each other That which We do not See in Ourselves So then Have we That evidence That we Are sinners In God's Sight Has the Light Been revealed Sufficiently To show Us what We are By nature For God

[11:20] Who Commanded The light To shine Out of Darkness Have shined In our Hearts And We are To give The light Of the Knowledge of The glory Of God In the Face Of Jesus Christ It is The desire Of the Apostle That he Should lead Sinners To Christ And here Is the Preaching Of the Gospel Here Is the Purpose Of the Gospel Being made Known That sinners Might be Brought to Christ And as he Commences By Showing the Creation Of the World So he Would have Ways to Understand How the

[12:22] Lord has Worked Through the Process of Time How that The Old Testament Also speaks Of that Light to Come Of the Glory of Christ To be Revealed For we Read with Abraham That he Believed In this Promise That he Believed God and It was Counted Unto him For Righteousness But Abraham Did not Have that Light As we In this Gospel Day Have that Light Now in The third Chapter Which we Read together It speaks Of Moses The man Of God The man Who God Wonderfully Used In bringing His people Out of

[13:23] Darkness Into Light That one To whom The law Was given That law Which is Our Schoolmaster To bring Us to Christ Now we Must Ever Remember That in The law There was Never Intended To be Salvation The law Could not Save In that It was Weak For the Glory Of that Law Was to Be Done Away With That Law Which was Given unto Moses Was for A time And was For a Purpose To teach

[14:23] The children Of God That it Was to Teach them To look Forward To anticipate That day That the Messiah Would come And each Old Testament Saint Could only Be saved In that he Look to Christ Now we Read When Moses Came From the Mount That his Face Shone His face Shone So much That the People could Not bear To look Upon him That he Had to Bare His face So that They could Look To him Here Was the Anticipated Glory Of

[15:24] At Last To come But it Was a Light That could Not be Seen When Moses Himself Assault The Lord He Said Unto Him Show Me Thy Glory And the Lord Said Unto Moses My Glory Can No Man See And Live But there Is A Place In The Threat Of The Rock And the Lord Said That he Would Cover Him With His Hand While He Passed By And he Would Remove His Hand So That he Might See His Back Pass Such Is The Glory Of Christ But it Is A Glory

[16:24] That Can Be Seen The Glory Of God As God Cannot Be Looked Upon Man That Glory That Glory Arise Shine For The Light Is Come And The Glory Of The Lord Is Risen Upon Me So Said The Prophet By The Inspiration

[17:25] Of God Jesus He He Fours Saw That Day Of Christ And Throughout The Prophecies Until We Find The New Testament Day And John Preaching In The World Of This I Am Not That Light but I have come to bear witness of that light which is the true light which lighteth every man of that believer John was bold in his speech he would not be seen as that light but he was the forerunner of that light which had entered into the world and when Christ came he declared himself to be the light of life the light of the world that light in which was no darkness and the apostle John speaking of that light could speak of the glory of that light which had come into the world in him was light and light was the light of men and the light shineth in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not he was not that light but was sent to bear witness of that light that was the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world and the world was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth and he goes on to say this no man have seen God at any time the only begotten son which is in the bosom of the father he hath declared him to shine out of darkness we have many things that will keep us in darkness and the apostle here shows us that man by nature is kept in darkness but if our gospel is hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of God should shine unto them then has this light has the light of life entered into our hearts have we had a revelation of Jesus Christ have we seen him the only begotten of the father full of grace and the truth the apostle surely could speak of this we have his account of his conversion on the Damascus road which he repeats and again how that he was going about seeking whom he might hail into prison doing the work of darkness and yet we read on that journey in the light of the midday sun a more glorious light appeared unto him a light which was far brighter a light which outshone the glory of the sun the light of God from heaven came upon him and that light was not only manifest in an outward form it was manifest into his very heart he received the light of truth and the light of knowledge who art thou

[23:18] Lord I am Jesus whom thou persecutest has that question entered into our hearts who art thou Lord Jesus reveal thyself to me make unto me salvation known make thy glory to appear and to enter my heart and into my soul that I might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent have shone into our hearts Paul could boldly say this he was a witness of that light and if we know anything of the grace of God then we can join with him yes that light must enter into our hearts and without the light of the knowledge of the glory of Christ then are we still in our sins then are we still a captive to the God of this world then all must remain darkness but Paul could speak of that light entering into his heart

[25:16] Lord what wilt thou have me to do and if that light enters into our hearts it will make us subject to the mind and to the will of God if we know him and the power of his resurrection then will we be conformed unto his glory for God who commanded the light and notice it is a command man wants to do something to earn his salvation he must as it were put his hand to the work surely he can do some little thing where was man when the world was created man was not there and when that new creation begins in the heart and soul of man man will not be there he can have nothing to do with it all all is of grace all is by the divine favour of God unto his people are we the lords are we called according to his purpose in that light of the knowledge of the glory of God has shone into our hearts and made

[27:29] Christ Jesus known now we have no knowledge of the mind and will of God except we see it in Jesus Christ many today want to add to the scriptures they want the revelation which is not according to truth and some today speak of lights shining into their souls and yet what they describe is not in accordance with God's word these are false lights they do not give into the heart of man the knowledge of the glory of

[28:32] God in the face of Jesus Christ they must reject anything which is not according to truth the word of God has been revealed this word that we have before us has been preserved for three countless generations that we too might have that knowledge that we might have that confidence and that work of grace begun within is truly the work of God upon ourselves there are others who want the light who want the knowledge of scripture but they are satisfied to have that light and that knowledge fixed upon their minds this too we must reject because unless the word enters in it will do us no good can you look back to that time before the law began you could read the word of

[30:10] God and you may have even learnt it in an academic way but when the glory of God shone into your hearts then the scriptures were revealed to your minds to your understanding and most of all to your heart of the eyes of our minds the eyes of our understanding but most of all the eyes of our hearts that we might receive the doctrine of Jesus Christ that we may walk in this life as lights in a dark place and here also the apostle

[31:22] Paul would manifest his own office that the Lord had given unto him as an apostle of Jesus Christ has shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ we have the writings we have the account of Paul's life and when the light of the knowledge of Jesus Christ had so shone in his heart his desire was according to the mind and will of God that he should shed that light of all in the hearts of others where we do not mean and we would utterly reject that Paul in and of his own strength could do anything although he was appointed to that high office although he indeed was a mighty apostle yet this work is of

[32:47] God nevertheless the Lord hath appointed means he hath sent forth his servants for they might declare unto all men the scriptures of salvation that the earth might be filled with the knowledge of the glory of God as the waters cover the sea and in Paul's journeys throughout the world it was his earnest desire that this gospel might be proclaimed he was an evangelist that he might make Christ Jesus known to all those to whom he reached and we know that the church was established and strengthened and supported by the apostles preaching of the gospel but not only was it made known in his preaching but his life was a witness to the glorious gospel of

[34:32] Christ to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ it was his delight to preach Jesus and so through the generations and even until this present dark and evil day the light of the glorious gospel of Christ has shone abroad and the Lord has appointed his servants to take that light light that it may be manifested in the hearts of man and it is under the preaching of the gospel that the Lord has especially blessed his own word and when that word by the grace of

[35:41] God is made light and life into our souls then there will be a receiving there will be an entering in and there will be a following of Christ but a favour if this light has shone into our hearts for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness have shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ but there is one other point which the Lord has laid upon my mind we are called upon to walk in this world we are called upon to be as a city set upon a hill which cannot be hid we are not all called to be ministering servants we are not all called to preach the gospel upon the walls of

[36:59] Zion but every child of God is called upon to be a witness to that truth but we live in a dark and evil day we live in a day of trouble and man is born under trouble as the sparks fly upward and the child of God in this sense is not protected from that day of trouble and in our Christian life in walking through this wilderness journey we will at times come into dark places in the providence of God we will come to difficult times and seasons now this is well supported by the word of

[38:11] God who had mentioned Abraham and was not his a dark providence darkness that promise gave God gave him a promise that through his seed a mighty nation should be formed and yet Sarah was without child dark places but God shined in that darkness and Sarah when she was well past the age bore us on but you see many think we have one trial and that is sufficient he knoweth the way that we take when he hath plied us we shall come forth as gold there came a time when Abraham was commanded by God to take his son his only begotten son and to sacrifice him upon the altar and we read that early in the morning

[39:40] Abraham obeyed God and took his son Isaac laid him upon the altar and took the knife in his hand well we can read this account quickly can we enter into the heart and mind of the man his only beloved son and God had commanded him to take that knife and to slay him dark providence indeed for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness his hand was stayed a ram was caught in the thicket and Abraham was shown for that ram was to be sacrificed instead was to take

[40:47] Isaac's place now can we not see the light the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ he came to be our substitute he came to take our place as we mentioned at the beginning in creation God made everything and it was good it was perfect but sin entered in it marred that which God had made and all the troubles of this life are as a result of sin then what a glory what a beauty is seen in the face of Jesus Christ if we have that knowledge of salvation to know that it is

[42:01] Jesus in the sinner's place it is Jesus who stands in my womb place instead have you come there have you come to the foot of Calvary's cross have you looked up to behold yon lovely man to see the Lord of life and glory as he hung and suffered there is there not a brightness brightness that shines through it all a brightness that enters into the heart a brightness which dispels all the gloom and dreariness of this life that light affliction which is but for a moment worth it for to far more exceeding an eternal weight of glory for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined into our hearts this world can be viewed as a dark it is a dark and dreary land it is a gloomy place and although that light shines forth it shines forth in the midst of the blue but there is a day fast hastening on when the people of God shall come into the clear light of day we'll see as in a glass a dark but then shall we behold him face to face us we know him not but then shall we know him as he is the glory of God in the face of Jesus

[44:13]  Christ it is the only way that we can look to God no man has seen the father at any time but we see Jesus we see him we know him we love him or that that light might shine more brightly might shine in our hearts until that glory be fulfilled then shall we be forever with the Lord may he have his blessing Amen