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I. ITS NECESSITY.

1. When God viewed the earth it was formless and void, "and darkness was upon the face of the deep." So, when He comes to the soul, He sees it full of disorder and ignorance.

(1) It is hard to determine at what period idolatry commenced. But there were "lords many and gods many." As the object of worship was misunderstood, so the service rendered Him was no longer a reasonable service. Even human blood streamed upon their altars.

(2) Some acknowledge this to be a just statement of the 'heathen world, but will not allow it as regards nations blessed with the gospel. But are men secure from error and delusion in a land of vision? Do we not often see their ignorance in their views of the evil of sin and of the way of salvation — in their subjection to the world and their disaffection to God? The rays of the sun may shine around a man, while yet, because of his blindness, he may grope in darkness at noonday. We may be delivered from gross idolatry, and yet indulge in a more relined species of it, and which is equally destructive to the soul. Many make "gold their hope, and fine gold their confidence."

2. But this knowledge, of which we are destitute, is indispensable. "For the soul to be without knowledge," says Solomon, "it is not good"; it is like the body without the eye, or the earth without the sun. The devil maintains his empire by error, but God maintains His cause by truth. One reigns in a kingdom of darkness, the other in a kingdom of light. All God's operations in His people are begun and carried on in the illumination of the mind. Repentance, faith, patience, courage, love, result from, and are influenced by, just views of things, which supply what we call motives.

II. ITS MEDIUM "The face of Jesus Christ" (John 1:18); He declared Him, not only by the doctrines He taught, but by the work to which He was appointed, and by His temper, His life, His character. If we would know what God is, we must learn of Him "who went about doing good," and who said to Philip, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." Hence He is called "the image of the invisible God, the brightness of His glory," etc.

1. Much of God is indeed displayed in the works of nature.

2. It is in Christ that we see the glory of God without being dazzled to death by the effulgence. There it is approachable, inviting. There we have the only discovery of Him that could meet our case.

III. ITS RESIDENCE — the heart. We may perish not only by ignorance, but by knowledge. The head may be clear while the heart is cold. The knowledge of which the apostle speaks is distinguishable from mere opinion and speculation; it has to do with the heart. It affects it —

1. In a way of godly sorrow. There is a "broken heart" which "God will not despise," and here it is produced. "They shall look upon Him whom they have pierced," etc.

2. In a way of desire. The man longs to appropriate what he discovers. It is called "hungering and thirsting after righteousness."

3. In a way of complacency. The believer not only submits, but acquiesces. His necessity is his choice.

4. In a way of gratitude. We love Him because He first loved us, and cannot but ask, What shall we render unto the Lord for all His benefits towards us?

IV. ITS AUTHOR — God Himself. When Peter had made a good confession, our Lord said to him, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven." The same may be said of every enlightened sinner. "The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant." The nature, efficacy, blessedness of this knowledge prove it to be of a Divine original. And to this every believer readily subscribes.

(W. Jay.)

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KJV: For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

WEB: For we don't preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake;