August 2nd, 2000, Wednesday Evening



-- FAITH PROMISE MISSIONS CONFERENCE -- DAY 1 "Reason to Give" What God gave to us that we should pass on to others (Special Guest Missionary: Pastor Pat Boulton) OPENING: 1 John 3:1, KJV

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WELCOME TO THE KICKOFF OF THE FAITH PROMISE MISSIONS CONFERENCE. THE GOAL OF THIS CONFERENCE IS: "INCORPORATE A GREATER BURDEN WITHIN US ALL FOR THE SOUL-WINNING CHALLENGE." OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS, THE VISITING MISSIONARY SPEAKER, PASTOR PAT BOULTON, THROUGH GOD'S WORD AND GUIDANCE, WILL ACCOMPLISH THIS MISSION.

1 John 3:1: This verse presents a question. What manner of love has God bestowed upon us?

1 John 3:1: The word "Behold" means to not just glance, but to view and inspect. In Greek, it means "Looky!!! Looky here!!!"

God's love being passed down to us and His reason for giving is the focus of this message

To understand what it means to be saved, consider this illustration:

• Envision the following components:
  "A" is a person's body, "B" is that person's soul, "C" is the Holy Spirit, and "+" is the cross (which as you look at one you see Jesus is not on it because He is risen)

  We're all born in the same condition--sinners The body and soul are connected when you are born Colossians 2:11: At the right time, the Holy Spirit begins to speak to your soul with the Word of God The Holy Spirit disconnects the soul from the body and the soul kneels before the cross (before God) as you are saved by grace--for eternity Your soul and the cross and now locked (become part of Christ's body) forever. Now the body isn't facing the cross. The Holy Spirit brings the body to the cross later Your body is born into sin. The body battles between the flesh (desires of this earth) and the Holy Spirit (God's will and command). Through prayer (and asking of forgiveness), the body returns. However, it is a constant battle, so the body doesn't look saved all the time John 10:27: Our soul is saved for eternity. For now we are in the body of Christ. We're His hands. How is it possible to be cut off? Then the body wouldn't be able to live!

  + [AB] C + [AB]C +BC A [+B]AC [+B]C <==> A

So what manner of love has God bestowed upon us?

• A MANIFESTED love. Don't be a closet Christian. Be the example the Father set by manifested love for us by letting His only Son die, practically naked, spat upon, humiliated, and insulted, on the cross.
  
  
  • TRUE STORY: One evening, Pastor Pat Bolton took his wife and mother to dinner at the Cracker Barrel restaurant. In a booth next to the pastor was an elderly couple. The wife was in a wheelchair, unable to move. The husband sat across and cut up his wife's food and saw to it she was fed before he took a bite of his ever-growing cold dinner. When the pastor and his family finished eating, he noticed the elderly man was still cutting his wife's meat into bite-size pieces and reaching over to feed her.
    
    The pastor was so moved by this display of the man's MANIFESTED display of love for his wife that the pastor paid for that man's ticket. The pastor approached the elderly couple's table and told the man that his display of love for his wife is the greatest public display of manifested love he'd ever seen.
  
  
• Hebrews 7:25: An INTERCESSORY love: God intercedes for us to magnify His love.
  
  
  • Many times you ask yourself in a situation: "Where do I go?" or "which way?" God will answer but not necessarily with the answer you're looking for. He'll give you an idea. With God's input, ask where to go, and you'll head toward your destiny.
    
    
  • If you're not talking / praying / living for God, you'll end up in a direction you'll not be familiar with or afraid to take.
    
    
  • Next time you shout at your kids, ask yourself: "Did I have my devotion with God this morning?"
  
  
• God's love is a TRANSFERRED love.
  
  
  • God IS love (1 John 4:16) and His love is directly transferred to you by grace. When you're saved, this grace is transferred to you.
    
    
    • The bad becomes good
    • The impure becomes pure
    • The stingy becomes generous
    
    
  • "You can give without love but you can't love without giving."
    
    
  • T.V. evangelists pray for money and sell you hankies that cure warts or pop people in the head and they fall back to the ground. These people are experiencing a power but it's not God's. Consider: Did Jesus ever have to pop people in the head so they fell backward, unconscious? NO.
    
    
  • The reason you want/will give is because this love is a gift from God--it's a transferred love. The world will not understand this.
    
    
    • TRUE STORY: The pastor was audited years ago. He was more than $100,000 in debt and the auditor claimed Pastor Bolton owed over $26,000. But the Pastor insisted that $26,000 went to his church. The auditor could not understand why some one so much in debt would give so much to a church!
  
  
• 1 John 4:16-20: God's love is a MATURED love.
  
  
  • Can you imagine not being afraid? When God gives His love to you, it will manifest within you and mature. You won't be afraid. However, there is a difference between concern and fear. You may not fear but can be concerned: about your children, your personal welfare, about others, your church, etc.
    
    
    • 1 John 2:28: Have confidence. Do not be afraid.
    
    
  • 2 Corinthians 3:18: This transferred love matures and grows. It will result in your "changing." People mature differently. You're not maturing if you're not drawing closer to God even though you go to church, tithe, pray, etc.
  
  
• God's is a TRANSFORMING love: In your years of salvation, you transform in God's love--maturing. For example, you'll learn a tithe is a debt you owe; You learn to give it back to God
  
  
• Ephesians 4:32 then Ephesians 4:29: God's is a KIND love: You can't love without being tender. Soon, you won't give because you see a need but because God tells you to. In time, this will help you to control your tongue.
  
  
  • Anger turns to forgiveness
  • "Flying off the handle" turns to "walking away and sinning not"
    
    
  • Love...
    
    
    • Doesn't shout, "STUPID!"
    • Doesn't shout, "I WANT A DIVORCE!"
    • Doesn't keep a ledger of sin of others that you'll remember.
    • Is measured by your level of sacrifice.
    
    
  • "The bible will clean you up and clean you out!"
    
    
  • Why give? Because the manifested love passed down from God to you must be passed on from you to others.
  
  
• 1 John 4:11 then 1 John 4:20: God's love is MANDATORY: Without repentance, there is no remission

Love is multiplied when you share it. It is manifested by your giving. The best example in the entire bible of this is John 3:16.

"Either you're a saint or you ain't." (Being saved, sons of God (1 John 3:1), we are saints.)

CLOSER

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10 little Christians standing in line one disliked the preacher now there were 9 9 little Christians stayed up very late one overslept Sunday then there were 8 8 little Christians on their way to heaven one took the low road then there were 7 7 little Christians chirping like chicks one disliked the music then there were 6 6 little Christians seemed very much alive one lost his interest then there were 5 5 little Christians pulling for heaven's shore one stopped to rest then there were 4 4 little Christians each busy as a bee one got his feeling's hurt then there was 3 3 little Christians knew not what to do one joined the yuppie crowd now there were 2 2 little Christians our rhyme is nearly done differed with each other then there was 1 You can't do much with one 'tis true brought his friend to bible study then there were 2 2 earnest Christians each one one more that doubled the number then there was 4 4 sincere Christians worked early and late each one found another then there was 8 8 splendid Christians if they doubled as before in just as many Sundays we'd have 1024 In this little jingle there's a lesson that's true either you belong to THE Body ...or the wrecking crew

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