And I'm gonna bring a message
this morning, God willing, I'm gonna use from my text here,
verse six. 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. I want to talk about the face
of our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to talk about His face. And we talked about, you know,
turn your eyes upon Jesus. And things of this earth will
go strangely, strangely dim. First thing we know about this
here is that God has to command the light to shine. If you ever
see the light, You ever see that? Light means revelation. It means
understanding. It means seeing God. In his light,
we shall see light. And when we talk about light,
he's talking about bringing understanding, bringing the power. God has to
command the light to shine. And what did he say? Shine in
our hearts. That's where the darkness lies.
That's where the darkness lies, that's where the deadness lies,
that's where the emptiness lies. And he has to command it. This
idea that a man's got the power and the will and the ability
to stop God from doing anything is an absurdity. It's as unscriptural
as anything you'll ever find. And he's using the illustration
here of when God said, let there be light, and the darkness was
dispelled in the creation. He said that's exactly what has
to happen to us. We have to be made new creatures.
That he has to command the light to shine into our hearts. And
when he does command that light to shine into our hearts, he
gives us some knowledge. He brings with it knowledge.
And with that knowledge, you know what the knowledge he brings
to us? First of all, the glory of God. And there's only one
place, one place that God shows his glory and shines his glory
at, and that's in the person of his blessed son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And that's his face, in the glory
of his face. Now I tell you, beloved, you
can learn much about the character of others by looking at and studying
their face. You know, when I'm preaching,
I see everybody's face. Everybody's. And you know, and many times
looks are sometimes deceiving. But you can tell by looking at
a person's face whether they're in pain, whether they're happy,
whether they're restless, whether they have peace, whether they're
angry, or they're hurt. You can ask a person a question,
and you'll see what their face looks like trying to answer the
question. But there's lots of faces that people make. They
have a face of surprise, they look surprised. look shocked. And then they look displeased. They have smiling faces. They
have a pleasing look. And then there's by looking at
faces you can tell that people are ignoring you. People have
quizzical faces. What in the world are you talking
about? I've had a lot of those. I've had a lot of quizzical faces
when I say turn here and you know everybody looks up. Where,
where, where? I get a lot of quizzical faces.
But I want to talk this morning about the Lord Jesus Christ and
His face. Let's study the face of our Lord
Jesus Christ as He makes Himself known and God makes Himself known
in His Son. See what we can learn about our
blessed Lord And I'll tell you this much about his face, it's
not a feminine face. These pictures that have him
with the blonde hair and the real effeminate face with the
long hair, that's not the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ, the Bible tells us plainly that his hair was black as a
raven's. His eyes were dark and they were
like fitly set in milk. His eyes was dark and around
it was just as white as milk. So he was a Jew. And so he was dark headed, dark
eyes, and he, as far as his physical appearance was, he didn't look
no different than anybody else. In fact, they had to, they had
to, they had to, they had, Judas had to go and show them who he
was, who he was. But when we talk
about our Lord Jesus, I believe, beloved, that we can go through
the scriptures and find a lot about him as to who he is, what
he did, and why he did it, and where he is now. You know our
Lord Jesus, He has something about His face. His face. And the first thing I want to
talk about is the glory of God in the face of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now what does that mean? That
means that our Lord Jesus Christ was God Himself. That means that
He was God Himself. You know our Lord Jesus Christ
is eternal. He's eternal. That means He,
you know, most people think He never came into, He didn't start
existing till He was born of Mary and laid in a manger in
Bethlehem. But our Lord Jesus Christ, there
never was a time that He wasn't. He was God in eternity. He was
God when the world was made. He was God when He called the
Son into existence. He was God. He's eternal. Our
Lord Jesus Christ was eternal when He came here. And when He
became a man, He went back to glory. And He's eternal. He'll
always be eternal. But the only difference in Him
now when He came here is He became a man, but He was an eternal
person. He was eternal. And I'll tell
you what. Our Lord Jesus Christ says that
He had power over all flesh. All flesh. Who's got power over
all flesh but God? Who can give eternal life but
God? And where did He put this eternal
life? It's in His blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look with
me over in Colossians. Go to your right and go to Colossians
with me. You know, our Lord Jesus Christ
went People want to go on and on about
how impotent and that he is, but he's eternal. He's eternal. In the beginning was the Word. The Word was God. The Word was
with God. And everything that was made
was made by Him. And without Him, without Christ,
without the Word of God, there was not anything made that was
made. And this scripture said he was made flesh, and what did
we see? We saw his glory. What's his glory? He's the eternal
God, but the only begotten Son of God that was brought into
time. But look what he said here in Colossians 1 in verse 16. Well, verse 15 says, who's the
image, talking about Christ, the image of the invisible God.
You wanna see what God looks like? Look to Jesus Christ. You wanna see what God looks
like? Look in the face of Jesus Christ. Look at this person of
Christ. He's the image of the invisible
God. Look what he says, for by him
were all things that created. Now wait a minute. I thought
you said God said let there be light and there was light. In
the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. It says
right here by him all things were created. What does that mean? That means
he's God. He was there in the creation. Listen to this. Better in heaven. Better in earth. I've told you this before. People
debate and argue over creation. They say, well, what happens
when an immovable object meets an immovable rock? Well, there's
nothing immovable with God. There's nothing that God can't
do or can't handle or can't overcome. And that's what he says, if God
can say, let there be light, and when there is no light, there's
gonna be light. And that's what he has to do
to our heart, he has to command that light. Shine! Shine where? In that heart! What for? Because it's dark! And I tell
you, here's, look what else he goes on to say. And I tell you,
ever, he says, when you see something visible, We see so many things
that's visible. All the realm that we're looking
at is visible. But there's an invisible world
out here. A spiritual world. Angels. Demons. Gods and spirits. This world, there's a lot of
invisible things in this world. And there's thrones. There's
lots of thrones. There's lots of dominions. Lots
from sea to shining sea. That's America. And listen to what he says now.
Our principalities, our powers, and all things were created by
Him and for Him. And listen to this. And He's
before all things. And by Him, everything that's
holding up and consistent is consistent by Him. You know why
we're here today living and moving and having our being? Because
of Him. Because of Him. Oh my, I tell
you, beloved, the Scriptures tells us He's the brightness
of His glory, the brightness of God's glory. After He by Himself
purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Father
on high. Sat down at the right hand of
majesty. And let me show you something
else about our Lord being eternal. You know, this is something that
people really, really need to know and need to understand clearly. That the Lord Jesus Christ, now
Christmas time and Easter time, it's just another story. But
look in Proverbs 8 with me. Proverbs 8. That's why our Lord,
when He prayed His high priestly prayer in John 17, He said, Father,
glorify Thou me with the glory which I had with thee before
the world ever was. He had a glory with his father
before the world ever was. And you know this is something
that everybody wants to talk about the love of Christ and
the love of God and how much he loves you. I've seen a bumper
sticker yesterday that says, smile, God loves you. If they know how eternal He was, and that there never was a time
He wasn't, never was a time that He did not exist. Here's one
of the greatest mysteries that you'll ever confront. There's
God the Father, there's God the Son, and there's God the Holy
Ghost, three persons. And every one of them is exactly
the same age. And every one of them exactly
got the same power. Every one of them does exactly
the same thing. And you cannot have one without
the other. I'll always be 20 years older
than my son. But the father and the son are
exactly the same age. And we have to say age is because
they're eternal. How can a father and a son be
the same age? When you're eternal, you can
be that way. Huh? Thou shalt call his name Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. But look
what he said here in Proverbs 8 and Deuteronomy 22. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way,
before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, wherever the earth was. We never know deaths, how I was
brought forth. We never know fountains abounding
with water, before the mountains were settled, before the hills.
was brought forth, I was before the hills was, I brought forth. While as yet he had not made
the earth, or the fields of the highest part of the earth, or
the dust of the world, when he prepared the heavens, I was there. When he set a compass upon the
deep, Upon the face of the depth, I was there. When he gave the
decree, verse 29, to the sea, that the water should not pass,
his commandment, when he appointed the foundations of the earth,
listen to this now, then I was by him. As one brought up with
him, I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him,
before him. So I tell you, that's the eternality.
Now let's talk about His incarnation. When we talk
about incarnation, we're talking about the eternal God coming
down and inhabiting the womb of a woman, a virgin. You know, the Lord, the angel
Gabriel came and said, you know that You're gonna have a child. So how can this be? I don't know
a man. God said, the Holy Ghost will
come on you. God himself will come on you. And that child that
shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of the Highest. He shall be great. And I tell
you, and that's what happened. And when that was announced to
those shepherds out on the hill, it says, glory to God. Glory
to God in the highest. But our Lord Jesus Christ, and
this is the greatest mystery I think that man will ever be
confronted with, that God, who is pure spirit, came down here and took a woman
that never knew a man and went into her womb and planted a seed
And that seed was God himself. And when that seed began to form,
it made a baby. And when that baby was born,
that baby was God manifested in the flesh. God, that baby
that was born, that infant that his mother took up in her arms
and washed him off and swallowed him, that infant was the very
ancient of days that Daniel saw sitting on his throne. Now how can God come into eternity,
come into time? Well, the scriptures tells us
that God said, thou hast prepared me a body. Now why did Christ
have to come into time? And God said 700 years, well
he said in Genesis 3.15 that he would be the seed of the woman.
And then when he was prophesied of, he says a virgin shall conceive
and bear a son. And you know what you're gonna
call him? You're gonna call him Emmanuel. What does that mean? God with us. That was an old
man, an old man. He was an old man, and he was
just right on the verge of dying. He was ready to leave this world.
But God told him, he said, you're not going to die, you're not
going to die, I'm not going to take you home, I'm not going
to bring you to me until you see my salvation. He was walking through the temple, And that was where they came
and dedicated the Lord Jesus Christ in the temple, the firstborn
of every son has to be dedicated, given to the Lord. They was there
doing that. And there's this old man walked
through there, old white haired man, no white beard. He walked
through there and he was walking along and there's no telling
how many Jewish mothers was in there with their infants. But
he stopped and look at one. poor woman, poor man. He rushed down and can you imagine
what she felt like, said that old man rushed down and took
her baby out of her arms. He didn't say, listen, let me
hold your baby for a while. I think he's a pretty baby. He
rushed and got that baby, and he looked at it. He said, now,
now, Lord, let thy servant depart. Why? For mine eyes have seen
your salvation. He was looking at an eight-day-old
baby. Oh, what a mystery. What a mystery. And I tell you, I gotta show
you this. Look in 1 Timothy, excuse me,
2 Timothy 3, verse 16. Go right on over to your right,
using Colossians. If you're using Colossians, go
to your right. Oh, look at this. You know, the Holy Spirit reuniting
with flesh and producing the God-man, the God-man. Oh my. That's why he said, you
know, when Isaiah says, thou hast prepared me a body. Thou
hast prepared me a body. And he was God and man. And you
know, here's the thing about it. As a man, he had to learn. As a child, he had to learn.
He had to grow up. He increased in stature with
God and man. He had to hang on his mother's
breast and got his nourishments from his mother's breast. She
probably fed him from the table with her fingers just like mothers
do today with their children. So you know when you start thinking
about these things, you're talking about that infant was God. He saw his salvation. But that
infant had to learn to grow and he learned to walk. He grew up. Went to work, started
making a living, until he was 30 years old. But he was as much
a man as you and I, without sin. That's why he had to be God. And he could not be born of the
son of Adam, could not be related to us, like you and I are, because
then he would have been born with sin. So he was born of God,
so he'd be without sin. And he's God, now listen to me. As a man, he was able to die. He was able to bear sin. He was
able to suffer. But as God, he had all the worth
and merit and the ability to die and satisfy God first and
foremost and to die And by the power of God, raised himself
up again. Now look what I said here in
2 Corinthians 3.16. You're talking about... I've
told you this before. I asked Henry and Scott one time.
I said, what's the greatest mystery you've ever been confronted with?
And both of them immediately said, the Incarnation. Look what it says. All... Wait a minute. Without controversy. Wait a minute, let me see. Well,
I may be in the wrong place. Greatest mystery of God. That's
1 Timothy 3.16. I'm sorry. I told you. I told
you, I told you. I've done it again. I've done
it again. I looked at that and said, that's
not what I want. But now look what he said here
in verse 16, 1 Timothy 3.16. And without controversy, without
controversy, no argument about it, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. What a mystery. Justified in
the spirit, the spirit justified that he was God and man. Seeing of angels, angels came,
ministered unto him, preached unto a bunch of heathens like
us. He is believed on. There's people believed on him
in this world. I'm a believer, ain't you? And then he was received
up into glory. Oh my. Oh, God is his nature. Man was his work. And there was
a, when I read from, I read John Gill's whole body of divinity,
two great big huge books. And the only thing I got out
of it was this. I said, he offered his humanity
upon the altar of his divinity. Christ offered his humanity upon
the altar of his Godhead. And that's what that means. He
offered his humanity upon the altar of his deity. And that's what made him acceptable.
That's what made him acceptable. Now, so we see the glory of God
in the face of Christ. His eternality is in our nation.
The mystery of it. Then let's talk about His innocent
face. His innocent face. You know our
Lord Jesus Christ His face, when you looked on
it, it wasn't, you know it says His vision was marred more than
any man, but that was at the cross. Our Lord had such a glorious
face. Can you imagine what a face He
had? Can you imagine what a wonderful, glorious face it was to look
upon His face? When Mary sat at His feet and
said, you've chosen that good thing, And I tell you what, he
had the glory of God in the determination of his life in his innocent phase.
Our Lord Jesus was in a ship, in one of those fisherman's ships,
and a great big storm came up. Huge storm came up. Great big
huge storm, and it was, waves was going over the ship, and
going over the waves. And our Lord Jesus was laying
sound asleep. Now let me tell you something.
God does not sleep or slumber. But man does. God don't get tired,
but Jesus Christ as the Lord of glory, he got tired. And he
fell asleep. He had a sleeping phase. And
he was sound asleep. They ran down there and woke
him up. That storm wasn't bothering him.
Storms don't bother God. They bother us. Storms don't
bother God. We've been in a lot of storms,
and we're gonna be in some more storms. People go through storms,
and then there's a storm. And they run down there and woke
the Lord up, and Christ didn't worry. He wasn't caring about
that storm. They woke him up and he said, oh, you have little
faith. He said, I was here, what do
you think's gonna happen? You think this boat's gonna sink
with me in it? You think this boat's gonna,
y'all gonna die with me with you? That's not gonna happen. If they'd just stopped and thought
about it. But people don't think. But here they woke the Lord Jesus
up and he got up. And he said, peace be still. That storm stopped that quick. And you know what the first thing
they said? What manner of man is this? What manner of man is
this? You know, when he got up and
looked at those fellows, I'm pretty sure he looked at them
and said, That's the kind of face he had. Oh, you have little faith. I tell you what, he's said that
to me a few times. Oh, you have little faith. And
I tell you what, the glory of God was seen in his determination,
in the determination of his faith. Now let me show you something,
you know, in Luke chapter 9. Let me show you Luke chapter
9. And verse 51, you know we're
talking about the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. You know, He came here determined
to do God's will. He came here determined to do
God's will. And look what He said here in
verse 51. And it came to pass when the
time was come that he should be received up. He steadfastly,
listen to this, now set his face to go to Jerusalem. He said,
it's written of me, I delight to do thy will. Oh God, thy will
I delight to do. And then look what he said, and
sent messengers before his face. And they went and entered into
the village of the Samaritans to make ready for him. And they
did not receive him again because his face was as though he would
go to Jerusalem. He had a determinate face. His
face was set in one direction, going one place. Now I'm gonna
go left, now I'm gonna go right, my face is set, I've gotta get
there, I've got to go to Jerusalem. I've got to go up there, I've
got to face that cross, I've gotta face that crowd, I've gotta
face them mocking men, I've got to go up to Jerusalem. And he
said, I came down from heaven not to do my will, but the will
of him that sent me. And I tell you one thing, he
was determined not only in his life to glorify God, not only
determined to do God's will, but he was determined to go to
the cross. This is one of the most blessed
things that you could ever imagine that happened. Our Lord Jesus Christ come into
this world with one purpose in his mind, to do the will of God
by dying, not for himself, but dying for his people, for his
sheep. You know, he went to the cross
You know it. Let's look in John chapter 12.
You know, I should have told you when we started. I want you
to keep your Bible close to hand because I want you to see some
of these things. But John chapter 12, look what it says down here
in verse 24. He's determined to go to the
cross. Well, our Lord said in verse
23, our Lord answered them saying, the hours come that the Son of
Man should be glorified. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth
alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth
much fruit. He had to die, and we're the
fruit of his death, a multitude that no man can number. Look
what he says down in verse 31. Excuse me, verse 32. And I, if I be lifted up from
the earth, will draw all unto me. This, he said, signifying
what death he should die. What death he should die. Our
Lord determined to go to the cross. For the joy that was set
before him, he endured the cross. You all remember, I've told you
about it so many times. Our Lord told his disciples that
he had to go to Jerusalem. He had to be delivered into the
hands of sinful men. He had to be crucified and he
had to die. And Simon Peter took him and
said, Lord, he called him Lord. He said, Lord, be that far from
thee. Oh, don't do that. Don't go there. Don't suffer that. I don't want
you to die. I don't want you to suffer. I
don't want you in the hands of sinful men. I don't want you
there. I don't want to see you suffer.
I don't want to see you go to the cross. And you know what
our Lord said? You get behind me, Satan. Satan
didn't want him to go to the cross, because you know why?
Because he knew that salvation would be perfectly, completely,
and absolutely accomplished by what he did on that cross. Huh? That he would honor God, he would
save his people, he would die, he'd be buried, he'd be resurrected
again. And I tell you what, let me show
you something about our Lord Jesus Christ. You got to see these two things.
You got to see these things. Look with me back in Luke 22,
64. You just got to see these things. I don't want to take too long,
but you just got to see these things. Looking, talking about
the face of our Lord. Luke 22, 64. Look what it says here. And when they had blindfolded
him, blindfolded the Lord Jesus Christ, like they could keep
God from seeing. And when they had blindfolded
him, listen to this, they struck him on the face. Struck him on
the face and asked him, saying prophesy, tell us who it was
that smote you. Our Lord knew exactly who smote
him. He put him there to do it at that particular time. Now
that's the mystery of God in this. He smote him, that person
who slapped the Lord's face and said prophesy who did that. Christ
made the arm and had him there at the right time to do exactly
what he wanted to do and accomplish the will of God at the same time. Let me show you something else
over here in Matthew 22 verse 67. Talking about the face of
our Lord Jesus Christ. 26 and verse 67. Look what it says here now. Then did they spit in his face. and buffeted him and others smote
him with the palms of their hands. Do you know how awful it is to
spit in somebody's face? You know that shows you that
you have no regard for them, no respect for them. You're letting them know that
I think you're worth nothing but to be spit on. That you know
for somebody to walk up to you and hate you enough and despise
you enough and have a little regard for you and think that
they walk up and spit in your face. And they spit in the Lord Jesus
Christ's face and I'll tell you something. He was bound so he
couldn't even wipe it off his face. Spit running down that
holy face. Spit. They show you how despised
you are, how disregarded you are, how disrespectful you are,
and how hatred, how animosity they have for you to spit in
your face. To spit in your face. And I tell
you, beloved, and that's why Pilate said, I find no fault
in this man. I find no fault in him. But all we see the glory of God
His face was innocent, but they still smote it. His face was
innocent, but they still spit on it. His face was innocent,
though they did pluck out his beard. And then, beloved, He
was determined to go to the cross and die there for us. I'll tell
you another determination in where He sees the glory of God
is. He came to save His sheep. He says, you know, he said, I
lay down my life for the sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep.
The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. And I know
my sheep and have known of mine. So all the sheep And here's the
thing, there'll be two kinds of sheep. Lost sheep and found
sheep. And if you're a sheep, God's
gonna find you. Is that right? Oh, sheep. Save his sheep. Laid down his life, they come
to him and said, if you're the Christ, tell us plainly. He said,
I told you. But he says, you don't believe.
Why don't you believe? Because you're not my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me. He said, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to
me, there's no way I'll cast him out. I won't do it. And I
tell you what, he was glorious in the very presence of his Father.
In Matthew 17, it says that the Lord Jesus Christ went up on
unto a mountain, and he shined like the sun. Glisten like the
sun. And his father come down in a
great cloud and said, this is my beloved son. Listen to him. Listen to him. And then I'm going
to show you another one. And I'll be done here in just
a little bit. Look over in Revelation 6. Revelation 6, the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ. Revelation 6. Look in verse 15. And the kings of the earth, and
the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the
mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves
in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to
the mountains, and rocks, fall on us, and hide us from the face
of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
That blessed face that we love so dearly and say, we look upon
it. They gonna see the face of judgment. And they go, oh, mountain
fall on me. Mountain fall on me. Look in
Revelations 22. Look down in. Verse 11, excuse me. Let me start in verse 1. And
he showed me a river of water, clear as crystal, proceeding
out of the throne of the God and the Lamb in the midst of
the street, and on either side of it, of the river was the tree
of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded fruit
every month in the leaves of the trees for the healing of
the nation. And there shall no more curse,
but the throne of God and the Lamb shall be in it, and his
service shall serve him. And they, listen to this now,
and they shall see his face. And they shall see his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. Oh my. You know, that's one of the most
blessed things about getting to go home to be with the Lord
of Glory, is that you get to see Him. You get to see Him.
You get to see Him. One of these days I'm going to
see Him. You know why I want to go to heaven? Because that's
where Christ sat. You know why I want to go to home? Because
that's where Christ is. And so He's going to be the face
of judgment, last of all. We said, we shall see his face.
Someday we all gonna see his face as it is. We look through
a glass darkly now. But John said, behold what manner
of love is bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons
of God. And when he shall appear, we shall see him as he is, and
listen to this, and we shall be as he is. And I tell you what, We're going
to see His face, face to face with Christ my Savior, face to
face. So I tell you, my face gets old. Dirk wanted to see that mirror
that made me look so young. Talking about Sunday night, he
wants to see that mirror that made me look young. I wish I
could find one for you. But I'm getting old. But Christ is eternal. He'll
never get old. And we'll see His face. And we'll
see God's glory. We see God's glory in Him right
now. But you imagine what it's going to be when we see the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ when we see Him face to face. Can you imagine it? I can't. But I'm looking forward to it. Our Father, thank you for your
message. Thank you for your gospel. Thank you for your word. Thank
you for our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, I thank you that
you determined your face was set like a flint, set to do the
will of God, set to go to the cross. set to save us, set to
glorify and honor your Father, set to die, set to be buried,
set to rise again. Oh Lord, we thank you and bless
your holy name. And Father, we've gathered here
today to have a meal together, to enjoy our fellowship, one
with another. And we want to thank you for
the food, We want to thank you for the saints of God. We want
to thank you for all this food that's been prepared, prepared
with love, been prepared with joy, been prepared with thanksgiving,
been prepared with a forward look to the fellowship that we'll
enjoy together. Oh, Lord, bless our time together
this afternoon and do it for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen. Houston, come and sing that 511
face-to-face with Christ our Savior.