Power Point Ministries - Jack Graham

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A
little later in the program, we'll tell you how you
can get a copy of doctor Graham's book Diamonds in
the Dark. But first, here's the message. Love so amazing.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Take your Bible's turn with me to First Corinthians chapter thirteen. Now,
First Corinthians chapter thirteen has been called the love chapter. Obviously,
it is the hymn of love. It is a beautiful
portrait of Christ himself. Now, when I was studying First
Corinthians thirteen once again this week, it is extremely convicting.

(00:46):
Someone suggested that rather than love, you put your own
name in the text. That Jack is kind, that Jack
is patient, that Jack doesn't boil over with anger, is
long suffering, that Jack believes all things. And the more
I did that, the more depressed I became. Because Jack

(01:12):
ain't any of this, but Jesus is. And so what
I would rather us do is to put Jesus' name
in the text. Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind. Jesus
love in us revolutionizes our lives. And so what I

(01:33):
want us to do is to take the text and read.
It is very familiar and is perhaps read at your wedding,
and I hope not only read at your wedding, but
lived after the wedding in your home and the power
of God. But let's look once again, because this connects
with the Gospel in the sense that this is the

(01:54):
love expressed by God and received by each one of
us who have received this gospel and therefore lived out.
And the way to get the Gospel to the world
is by living what we're about to read. So one
Corinthians thirteen, Verse one. If I speak in the tongues
of men and of angels, but have not love, I
am a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. And if

(02:16):
I have prophetic powers and understand all mysteries and all knowledge.
And if I have all faith so as to remove mountains,
but have not love, I am nothing. If I give
away all I have, and if I deliver up my
body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast.

(02:41):
It is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist
on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful.
It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes, all things,
endures all things. Love never is. As for prophecies, they

(03:02):
will pass away. As for tongues they will see says.
For knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part,
and we prophesy in part. But when the perfect comes,
the partial will pass away. When I was a child,
I spoke like a child. I thought like a child,
I reasoned like a child. When I became a man,
I gave up childish ways. For now we see in

(03:25):
a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I
know in part, but then I shall know fully, even
as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope,
and love abide these three. But the greatest of these

(03:46):
is love, amazing love. The source of this love, as
I have said, is God himself, First John for six.
So we have come to know and to believe the
love that God has for us. God is love, his

(04:07):
very nature, His character is to love. And whoever abides
in love abides in God, and God abides in him.
The fruit of the Spirit is love. And in First
Corinthians chapter thirteen we see this amazing description of love.

(04:28):
You really cannot define love, certainly not in the English language,
we say I love my wife and I love hot
dogs in the same breath. But the word that we
find in First Corinthians thirteen, you probably know is is
unique to the Christian faith, and it is agape, which
is selfless love, sacrificial love. It is the love that

(04:52):
we see in Christ on his cross dying for us.
And this love Jesus said, I give you a new
commandment in John thirteen, that you love one another even
as I have loved you. He said this as he
was nearing the finish line of his earthly walk, looking

(05:14):
towards the cross to bear our sins. Love is active
and as you read, as we get to the descriptions
in just a moment of the love that we have
in Christ, you may think that these are adjectives, and
they appear to be adjectives in the English language, But
in the language of the New Testament, these are verbs.

(05:39):
We've heard it said. Love is a verb and is true,
isn't it. Love is not static or sentimental. Love is
active and aggressive and authentic. It is powerful, and it
is persuasive. We will never convince or compel people to

(06:02):
come to Christ with our evidence. There is evidence, and
we can stand up and go face to face in
toe to toe with any atheists, with any doubt, or
with any skeptic and unbeliever. But ultimately, Christianity is a
faith decision. You tell me you don't believe in God.

(06:25):
I tell you I do believe in God. But it
is a faith proposition. But what makes the difference. Love
makes the difference. Love can change. And if you are
a loving Christian, you are never at the expense of
the mercy of an argument. If you have the love

(06:47):
of Christ in you love. The love of God is
the most compelling force on earth, and so you love
with tears and compassion and devotion. And sincere seekers people
who want to know you know. There's a difference between
sincere doubters and insincere doubters. Insincere doaters don't know and

(07:11):
they don't want to know. Their minds are made up.
But sincere doubters are skeptics. They may say, I don't
know if this is true, but I want to know.
You show them the love of God in Jesus Christ,
and it tilts the argument to Christ and the Holy
Spirit will begin to work. And so here God's love

(07:35):
is acted out in the giving of his son. For
God so loved, what did he do? He acted? He
gave his only son. So what kind of love that
is of God is in us? Well, let's let's take

(07:57):
this passage apart. Now, I always has a hat to
take these great passages apart. In some way, it's like
taking a flower and picking off the petals. But I
want us to understand and go perhaps a little deeper
than you've been in the past, as to what this
text actually means. That it's not mere emotion or feeling,

(08:19):
but the act of God in us. And the first
thing that he says is love is patience. The King
James gives this long suffering, which means to suffer long.
To be loving means to be slow to anger. It
refers to patience, not particularly so much with circumstances or events,

(08:45):
but it refers to patience with people. Patience with people
can be difficult, because people can be difficult. It is
descriptive of a believer who doesn't fly off the hand,

(09:07):
whose temper is under control, one who doesn't retaliate or
seek revenge against enemies. And why we do not approve
of those things that may be wrong and the insults
we practice. This love as Jesus taught us in Matthew
five point forty four. But I say to you, love
your enemies. Peter one day wanted to know, Lord, how

(09:30):
many times should we forgive those who have hurt us?
Seven times sounds magnanimous. Jesus said, no, seven times seventy.
In other words, as often as a person needs forgiveness,
do it again and again and again and again, because

(09:50):
love is patient, even as God has been patient towards us.
But not only that, love is kind, the love of
Christ is kind. Now to some of us, perhaps kindness
may seem like weakness. After all, we celebrate strength and

(10:11):
courage and standing up for ourselves and our rights. It
is the survival of the fittest. We're swimming with sharks
these days, and we value people who will strike back
and stand up and be tough. But kindness, love is kind,

(10:35):
and yet love is Its kindness is so extremely powerful.
It is kindness that moves towards helping hurting people. It
is kindness that reaches out to difficult and demanding people.

(10:59):
It is kindness who wins over the week by compassion
and devotion, kindness and acts of love and ministry and
serves and goodness. Kindness. The love expressed in kindness can
heal the hurts of the world. Kindness can restore your marriage.

(11:22):
Kindness will bless your children.

Speaker 1 (11:26):
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message
love so amazing. If you're walking through a tough season,
Diamonds in the Dark is a message you need to hear.
In this honest and hope filled book, doctor Graham shows
you how God uses grief, loss, and hardship to reveal
spiritual treasures you'd never discover otherwise. We want to send

(11:48):
you Diamonds in the Dark as a thanks for your
gift of ten dollars or more. Call now to request
your copy. Call one eight hundred seven ninety five four
six two seven. That's one eight hundred seven ninety five
four six two seven, or text the word diamond to
five nine seven eight nine. Don't let stress rob you

(12:09):
of peace. It is possible to break the destructive grip
of stress on your life and enjoy the peace and
abundance God desires for you. That's what doctor Graham helps
you do in his booklet Breaking Free from Stress. We'll
send you a digital download of Breaking Free from Stress
when you sign up For email updates from PowerPoint Today,
just go to PowerPoint dot org slash stress and sign

(12:31):
up today. Now let's get back to today's message. Love so amazing.

Speaker 2 (12:38):
Love is not jealous. We're just looking at love here.
Love makes it possible impossible for you to be jealous
or to envy someone else. Now, envy is, according to
Solomon in the proverbs, rottenness of the bones. Envy makes
the bones rot. The word means can be to boil.

(13:02):
It refers to something that is boiling, that is seething.
And this is not love, because you see, love celebrates
the successes of others. Love supports those who are are winning.
And let me tell you the way not to be jealous,

(13:24):
The way not to be envious is to be grateful
to God for what he has given you. He has
given us far more than any of us deserve. To learn.
To be content, to be satisfied with what we have
is the way of love. Love does not produce envy,

(13:52):
and then love is humble. Verse four says it does
not boast. Love does not boast. It is not arrogant.
Love and pride are totally the opposite. Pride is a
word which at its root means I like this wind
bag or blowhard. To be boastful is to be a

(14:15):
know at all. Love does not shoot off its mouth.
Love does not brag in order to make one self
feel superior and others inferior. Let's face it, nobody, and
I mean nobody likes a braggart. When somebody comes into
a room where their arrogance and ego that is a

(14:38):
huge turn off. I typically saturate that place with my
absence as soon as I can. Love is humble, and
you know, it's the empty trucks that make the most noise.
After all, Love is not egotistical or self centered, but humble.
Humility is genuine. You know, you heard about that guy

(14:59):
that was even to meddle for his humility, and then
they had to take it away from him because he
wore it all the time. People who are humble typically
don't know that they're humble, and they're not, you know,
walking around like this all the time. That's not humility,
that's just bad posture. Humility is not thinking lowly of oneself.

(15:27):
It is not thinking of yourself, and love thinks of
others rather than self. The scripture says, let the one
who boasts boast in the Lord. Look, if there's anything
good about you, if there's anything good about me, it
is Jesus. Lets boast in him. You want a subject

(15:49):
to talk about, talk about Jesus. Don't talk about yourself.
So love is not boastful. And then you're gonna like
this one verse five. Love is not rude. Now, rudeness
refers to unbecoming behavior. This is very, very practical. There
is so much crudeness and rudeness today, especially in relationships, languages,

(16:19):
and families and homes. Love, however, is courteous practices, good manners.
Love says please and thank you and I'm sorry, And kids,
it says no, sir and yes, sir. Love is sensitive

(16:40):
to others, considerate, and gracious. Love is not rude. You
forfeit your witness when you are rude and uncaring towards people.
This is love in the little things. You know this
will change the atmosphere of your home. Just to practice

(17:04):
some godly tenderness. Don't just grunt guys when your wife
speaks to you or kids when you're parent You know teenagers,
talk to your teenagers. Huh eh h, no, whatever, Use

(17:28):
good manners at your office. Driving these freeways. Somebody cuts
you off, you let that go. And remember I pointing
a finger at you today I got three coming right
back at me. Love is unselfish. It does not Verse

(17:48):
five insist on its own way. We all battle self
the desire to put ourselves first. But for the loving Christian,
the way up is down to put others ahead of ourselves.
Jesus again is the example here. Jesus does not insist
on his own way Matthew twenty twenty eight. Even as

(18:10):
the Son of Man came not to be served, but
to serve, and to give his life as a ransom
for many. Love is unselfish. Love is not irritable or resentful.
Some live in a constant state of being ticked off.
But love is not touchy or thin skin. Here again,
you can lose your testimony with your neighbors or with

(18:33):
unbelievers very quickly. Some people are constantly angry, They're constantly negative,
They're always ready for a fight. Love is the only
cure for irritability. Love is optimistic, rather than being resentful
and skeptical. Love thinks well of others, believes and looks

(18:54):
for the best, rejoices in the truth, believes all things
hopes all things, endoers all things. Doesn't account for the
failures and the weaknesses of others. To resent. The word
here in the passage does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but
rejoices in the truth is actually taken from a book

(19:16):
keeping term. In other words, love does not keep a
record of offenses. Love does not keep adding up offenses
and calculating ways to get even real destroys bitterness and
hatred and malice. Love forgives and forgets. Stop rerunning the
offenses of others against you. This is what love does.

(19:40):
Love accepts and appreciates the differences in people. You know,
when I was a little boy, I grew up in
small town, Arkansas, the first ten years of my life,
grew up in Sunday School, and I remembered singing the
little childhood song that many of us have sung. Jesus
loves the lit children of the world, red and yellow,

(20:03):
black and white. They are precious in his sight. Jesus
loves the little children of the world. But even as
a little boy, I got to noticing at our church
there weren't anybody but white children. And then as I
got a little older, I realized that some people in
my church didn't like people of other races. In fact,
they hated them. And I want to say one more time.

(20:26):
We've said it many times that there's no place for
racism in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Their churches.
I can point to these churches. The glory of God
has departed. Life has departed because of the anger and
the hatred towards others that exist in those churches even

(20:48):
to this day. May God give us his love to
love because love conquers again. Love bears all things, believes
all things, hopes all things. Love never quits or gives up.
This will save your marriage. You say, well, I don't
love her anymore. In Christ, learn to love her the

(21:09):
same Christ that ignitinges your heart and love will give
you love for your wife and your family or your husband.
And if you want to win in life, the way
to win is to love God's way, because love is
never defeated. Love conquers everything else will fail or disappear,

(21:29):
but love never fails. This passage says, if I speak
with the tons of men and angels, give my body
to be burned, sacrifice my life, give away my possessions.
If I know mysteries, you can foretell the future, and
have not love. I am nothing, I gain nothing life.

(21:53):
If you want this sermon in a sentence here it
is life minus love equals zero nothing. Jesus said, by this,
will all men know that you are my disciples, that
you have love one for another. Verse one of Chapter

(22:15):
fourteen says, pursue love. Make love your aim. Once you
experience the love of God, then you begin to aim
for love in your life. Make it your purpose in life.
Because here's the bottom line. The Gospel not only changes
our position from death to life, from being objects of
God's wrath to being the objects of God's love and salvation.

(22:38):
But it not only changes our position before God. It
not only changes our purpose, but it changes our personalities.
Takes us from being hard and critical and self serving
and self centered to people who love. By this, shall

(23:01):
all men know that you are My disciples, that you
have love for one another. The Gospel tells us in
Jude one twenty one, keep yourselves in the love of God.
As long as we stay close to his love, let
him love us. We will overflow with that same love

(23:25):
to us.

Speaker 1 (23:26):
You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and the message
love so amazing life doesn't always unfold the way we hope.
There are setbacks, losses, and seasons that leave us asking
where is God in all of this. In his honest
and encouraging book Diamonds in the Dark, Doctor Graham shares
how God is not absent in our pain, He is present,

(23:49):
and He is at work. This powerful resource walks you
through some of life's hardest places to reveal spiritual treasures
God plants along the way. If you or someone you
love is facing grief, fear, or uncertainty, this message will
help you find strength, clarity, and hope right where you are.
And when you give a gift of ten dollars or more,

(24:10):
we'll send you a copy of Diamonds in the Dark
as our thanks. Call one eight hundred seven ninety five
four six two seven. That's one eight hundred seven ninety
five four six two seven, or just text diamond to
five nine seven eight nine, and don't forget to visit
Jack Graham dot org where you can shop our eastore,

(24:31):
give a gift online, or sign up for doctor Graham's
free daily email devotional. Our website again is Jack Graham
dot org, and also be sure to sign up for
doctor Graham's podcast Bible in a Year pastor what is
your PowerPoint for today?

Speaker 2 (24:48):
Jesus made love a top priority for people who follow him,
as he said in John thirteen thirty five. By this,
all people will know that you are my disciples if
you have love for one another. So love is vitally important,
essentially and extremely important. But what we need to understand
is that Jesus isn't talking about love as we typically

(25:10):
mean it. He's talking about the god kind of love,
the kind of love that's written about in firse Corinthians thirteen.
It's the word of gopi, and a gopy is a
word that is unique to the Christian faith. It describes
a selfless and sacrificial love. This is the kind of
love that Jesus showed toward us when he gave himself

(25:31):
for our sins, and it's the same kind of love
that you and I are to show to each other
as believers, as well as to those who are around us.
First Corinthians thirteen, which has been appropriately called the Love Chapter,
shows us what this kind of love looks like, and
in the process paints a beautiful portrait of Christ himself.
So let me read these familiar words, replacing the word

(25:54):
love with his name. Jesus is patient and kind. Jesus
does not envy or boast. Jesus is not arrogant or rude.
Jesus does not insist on his own way. He is
not irritable or resentful. Jesus does not rejoice in wrongdoing,
but rejoices with truth. Jesus bears all things, believes all things,

(26:15):
hopes all things, endures all things. The love of First
Corinthians thirteen is the love of Jesus, and that love
is in our hearts as believers because the Holy Spirit
is there. Try putting your own name in there, and
you see the challenge of loving like Jesus loves. We
need God's Spirit to love through us, Christ in us,

(26:38):
loving the world through us. So the love of God
is active and authentic. His love changes us from being
critical and self serving to being people who put the
needs of others first. God's loves changes our personalities, our relationships,
our marriages, our parenting. It even impacts our encounters with

(26:59):
complet leak strangers. Now this is the extraordinary love that
we are called to as followers of Jesus. So I
challenge you today and every day. Make it your purpose,
make it your priority to love as Jesus love. It
is love so.

Speaker 1 (27:15):
Amazing, and that is today's power Point. Remember when you
give a gift of ten dollars or more to PowerPoint,
we'll send you doctor Graham's book Diamonds in the Dark
As our Things call one eight hundred seven ninety five
four six two seven. That's one eight hundred seven ninety
five four six two seven. You can also text the

(27:37):
word diamond to five nine seven eight nine and join
us again next time as doctor Graham brings a message
about how you experienced real life change through Jesus. That's
next time on power Point with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with
Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministry.