Whereas the object and purpose of our instruction and charge is love, which springs from a pure heart and a good (clear) conscience and sincere (unfeigned) faith. – 1 Timothy 1:5, Amplified Bible (AMP)

There is an old saying that goes, “Birds of a feather flock together.” In other words, people who are alike tend to hang out together. In order to “hang out” with God willingly and regularly, we have to be like Him. The more we are, the more we enjoy His company, and He ours.

God is love, and in order for us to grow in our relationship with Him, we must be filled with His love. We cannot fill ourselves with His love; only the Holy Spirit that dwells within the saved person can do that. But here is where preaching is paramount. Preaching’s purpose is to remove the two key obstacles that prevent the Holy Spirit from filling us with His love: sin and ignorance.

While we harbor sin in our hearts, the Holy Spirit will not work in us. Preaching’s first purpose is to prick the sinful hearts of people into repentance. As long as sin remains, love of self will stifle love of God and of others. Once sin is crushed, however, personal holiness takes its place, and the Spirit will be free to instill in us a love for God and for others.

Next, preaching’s purpose is to make our faith sincere and strong. It does this by helping us understand who God really is: our Savior, our Friend, our Protector, our Provider, our Teacher, and so much more. To know God is to love God, and to love God is to obey God. Before we can “love,” we have to “know,” and good preaching is very effective at helping us to “know.”

A good preacher understands that Biblical love springs from both a pure heart and a sincere faith, and he will work to address both sin and ignorance in his messages. But most of us are not now and never will be preachers. Nevertheless, we ought to take these lessons to heart, for we will have opportunities to introduce our Savior to people who don’t know Him. We will also have discipleship opportunities to help other believers draw closer to Him. In order to bring both groups of people closer to God, we must be ready to address both sin and ignorance as The Lord leads. But before we can do so effectively, we must deal with these same issues in our own lives.

Purging sin and ignorance from our lives is not something we do in one day. It is a lifelong process. As we get further along in that process, we will become better and better equipped to help others draw closer to the Savior.

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