Answer. This is both wondrous and deplorable, that God, both through creation and through His word, gives Himself to the knowledge of all. But the sinner, like a deaf man, does not hear His word, and does not know his Lord; he hears the name of God, but does not know God; He heareth the voice of the Lord with the ears of the flesh, but he heareth not with the ears of the soul; and so, hearing, he does not hear, and when he sees, he does not see. When God is preached by His holy word, then His holy will is also preached. But the sinner does not know it and does not do it. His omnipotence and majesty are preached, before which the sinner does not humble himself. His righteousness is preached, which the sinner does not fear or revere. His truth is preached, which the sinner does not believe. His omnipresence is preached, before whom the sinner does not revere, because he does not know Him. His all-wise Providence is preached, which the sinner does not understand. His highest holiness is preached, which the sinner does not revere. His supreme authority is preached, to which the sinner does not submit. His terrible glory is preached, which the sinner does not revere. His infinite goodness is preached, of which the sinner does not try and does not want to be a participant. His dreadful judgments are preached, before which the sinner does not tremble, and so on. So the sinner, like a foolish man, does not know, and the foolish does not understand God and the works of God! (Psalm 91:7)

True knowledge of God cannot be idle and fruitless, but brings true worship of God. The son of his father knows and honors, loves and listens to him; the servant of his master knows and fears him, obeys and serves him. Thus, whoever knows God cannot but revere Him, not listen to Him, not obey Him, and not serve Him, and not fulfill His will and commandments. About this God says through the prophet: The son honors his father, and the servant honors his master; if I am the Father, where is the reverence for Me? And if I am the Lord, where is the reverence for Me? (Mal. 1:6). But the son praises his father because he esteems him his father, and the servant fears his master because he has him as his master. If the father, the man, is honored by the son, and the master, the man, is feared by the servant, because the latter acknowledges the father as his father, and the latter acknowledges the master as his master, how much more is God, Who is Lord over all, worthy of honor and fear, when we acknowledge and honor Him as our Lord and Father.

You see that from the knowledge of God follows the worship of God. Tell me, please, who boasts of the knowledge of God and does not truly revere Him, how can it be that you wanted to sin, knowing that God is everywhere and sees every deed and is just; Who for sin both temporally and eternally executes, and in reality can smite you? Before the earthly king, the authorities, your lord and father, you do not dare to commit outrage – do you dare to do evil and contrary to Him before God, great and terrible? It can't be! How can you not thank Him from the bottom of your heart and love Him, knowing that He is the Creator, the Redeemer, the Father, the Nourisher, the Preserver, and the Highest Benefactor, Whom there can be no greater? A benefactor who supplies you not with his own, but with God's goodness, you love and thank him – is it God, from Whom you have your being, and every hour and minute you receive blessings, without which you cannot live, you will not give thanks? How can you not believe His word from the heart, when you know that He is true, and cannot lie, and His word is truth? You believe an honest man, who can lie, for every man is a lie (Psalm 115:2): will you not believe God, Who cannot and does not want to lie? All true piety comes from this: all true worship of God and piety depends on faith. How can you not tremble before His judgment, when you know His righteousness, which recompenses everyone according to His works? You fear the righteous ruler, and do not dare to break his law, which not everyone knows that those who are subject do it. Will you not fear the righteous God, Who knoweth all things, word, deed, and thought, and writes them down in His book, and in all these things will reward you? How can you not submit and obey His commands, when you know for sure that He is your supreme Lord, King and Sovereign, Who possesses heaven and earth? To man, the king, who has power only over your body, you submit, you obey, and you show all obedience. Will you not submit to God, Who holds both your body and soul life and death in His hand, and show obedience from the heart?

How can you not love Him from your heart, and seek Him, and cleave to Him, and have fellowship with Him, when you know that He alone is the supreme, essential, unchanging, and infinite good, with which to be is true and perfect bliss, and from which to be separated is true and perfect misfortune? You love a good man, who is adorned with mercy and other virtues, and what kindness he has, he has from God, – will you not love God, Who is good in Himself, so that no one is good but God alone, according to the word of the Lord? (Matt. 19:17).

How many are with the good kings of the earth, who themselves, as men, are subject to every calamity, desire to be and seek it with great zeal, for they consider it a blessing for themselves to be with them. Will you not wish to be with God, the King of kings and Lord of lords, good and merciful, when you know His goodness and taste and see how good the Lord is? (Psalm 33:9). How can you not show mercy to your neighbor – to every person, when you know that every day and hour you receive from God ineffable and incomprehensible mercy? By His mercy you live on earth, unworthy of life; By His mercy you are nourished, clothed, and whole.

How can you not give your neighbor of your goods, when you know that everything you have, except your sins and infirmities, is God's, and not your own? For we receive everything from God: our soul and body, life and breath, and we owe our existence to Him. As you do not forgive your neighbor for small sins, when you know that God in Christ has forgiven your innumerable sins (Ephesians 4:32); And that your debts will return to you again and be withheld, if you do not forgive your neighbor, and for them you will forever suffer in the prison of hell, as it is depicted in that parable? (Matt. 18:23-34) From whence the Lord concludes this parable: "Thus will My Father in heaven deal with you, if every one of you does not forgive his brother his trespasses from his heart" (Matt. 18:35).

How can you not despise the vanity of this world, and desire the blessedness of that future, and with all diligence will not seek it, when you will definitely believe the word of God, which variously depicts those blessings, both ineffable, and incomprehensible to the mind, and eternal, and infinite, as God Himself preaches and promises to those who believe in Christ and faithfully serve God and love Him? (see 1 Cor. 2:9).

Temporal bliss, which is nothing before, you diligently seek, because you see it. How can you not seek that infinite thing, when you see it by faith? For the sake of temporal honor and glory, you faithfully serve the earthly king and accept all kinds of labors, misfortunes and misfortunes, and go to bloody wars and battles, for you hope to receive honor and glory from him.

As it is written about Moses: he refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, and he would rather suffer with the people of God than have temporary sinful pleasure, and he considered the reproach of Christ to be a greater wealth for himself than the Egyptian treasures; for he looked to the recompense (Hebrews 11:24-26), which should be understood about the martyrs of the saints and other saints of God.

You see, Christian, what follows from the knowledge of God, namely: turning away from sin, the world, carefully doing His commandments, and true worship. In the knowledge of God consists the knowledge not only of His name, but also of His divine attributes, that is, omnipresence, truth, goodness, mercy, truth, omnipotence, and so on. And from the knowledge of God's attributes will certainly follow, as it has been said, God's unfeigned worship of God. His righteousness will teach you to guard against sin; His omnipotence and majesty are to fear, tremble, and humble ourselves before Him; His truth is to believe Him in all things; goodness is to love Him, and to seek Him with all one's heart, and to cleave unto Him; His mercy and mercies are not to despair because of sins, but to repent and show mercy to one's neighbor; His omnipresent omniscience will also teach you to turn away from all evil, sin, and disorder, but to revere Him, and so on.

From this you see that the lawless and fearless life, for example, of thieves, predators, bribe-takers, covetous, fornicators, blasphemers, scoffers, spiteful, haters, drunkards, and so on, is proof of their godless hearts, the blindness and darkness of God's darkened ignorance. And although such confess God, yet in their hearts they say: There is no God, as Psalm 13 shows other places in the Scriptures. Of such confessors the Apostle wrote: "They say that they know God, but by their works they deny it, being abominable and disobedient, and incapable of any good work" (Titus 1:16). And the Lord says: "These men draw nigh unto Me with their lips, and worship Me with their tongue, but their heart is far from Me" (Matt. 15:8).

Just as a tree is known not by its leaves, but by its fruits, so by God's knowledge an enlightened person and worshiper of God is known, not from oral confession, but from deeds that are in accord with confession. The heart, enlightened by the knowledge of God, knows God as He is called; he knows and believes, and so fears and honors above all creatures in heaven and on earth, he loves, serves, and all that is due to Him alone, and earnestly tries to give. Consequently, is it not manifest blindness and godlessness to fear man, and not to fear God; to serve and please man faithfully, but not to please God; to listen to the man-king, the ruler, the lord, and the father according to the flesh, but not to listen to God, Who possesses all kings and masters; to thank a person who gives God's good, and not his own, but not to thank God, from Whom all good comes and is poured out on us, not to thank; to hope in a person like oneself and seek help from him in sorrow, but not to hope in God and not to seek help from Him, Who alone can do all things and alone helps, protects, delivers, and saves those who trust in Him (Psalm 36:39-40); to fear human judgment, which touches the body alone, but not to fear God's judgment, which can destroy both soul and body in hell (Matt. 10:28), and so on?

Truly, there is not even the slightest spark of knowledge of God in such a heart, even if he teaches and preaches about God! We see this in many Christians of the present century. We see that many are afraid to anger their masters and authorities, but they are not afraid to anger God, and therefore they commit lawlessness. Many please people, because they do not want to offend them, but they do not please God and offend Him by transgressing His holy law. Many listen to their authorities and masters, they do their commands, but they do not listen to God and do not fulfill His commandments.

Many thank their benefactors, but they do not thank God, their highest Benefactor, because they do not love Him, and without love there can be no gratitude. In times of adversity, many people turn to a person for help and protection, because they hope in him, but do not turn to God, only because they have no hope in Him. As a civil judgment, many are afraid, as everyone knows, but they do not fear God's judgment, for they do not cease to sin: which God's judgment will certainly follow. You see that these do not repay God what they do to man, and they do not revere God as a man, Whom His true knowledge teaches to revere most of all. Therefore such and those like them do not know God, although they confess Him through His mouth.