Heaven's Point of View

The Gift of All Things

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Frank Fournier

Home

Series Code: HPOV

Program Code: HPOV000015A


00:01 Hello, my name is Frank Fournier.
00:03 I'm here to welcome you to Heaven's Point of View.
00:05 We started a lesson
00:07 on the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
00:09 Today is lesson two, go get your Bible,
00:11 come and meet with us, there's a blessings in it.
00:43 Thank you for coming and joining us.
00:45 Turn your Bibles, turn to yours Bibles
00:47 if you will Galatians Chapter 6
00:49 we are going to be reading verse 3 in just a minute.
00:53 In our last study we saw that a certain man had two sons.
00:57 The certain man represents God
00:59 the two sons represent the human race.
01:02 One of the sons is lost in the world
01:04 and perhaps you and I can understand
01:06 something like that we probably have been there.
01:09 The other son however was in the church.
01:12 And because he was in the church
01:13 he thought himself saved,
01:16 he thought that that's all that it took,
01:18 he thought that his good behavior
01:20 would get him merits with God
01:21 and we found out
01:23 that it's not enough to be religious.
01:26 As a matter of fact I have a question to ask you.
01:29 How much confidence would you put in nothing?
01:33 Well, I assume you wouldn't put much confidence in it.
01:36 Turn with me to Galatians Chapter 6
01:39 we're going to look at verse 3.
01:44 "For if a man thinks himself to be something,
01:48 when he is nothing, he deceives himself."
01:53 Do you know friends,
01:54 that this is the very basis for all deceptions?
01:58 Did you know that if we had no confidence in ourselves
02:01 we could not be deceived?
02:03 Perhaps that's an exaggeration I don't know,
02:05 but let me tell you something
02:06 because we put confidence on ourselves
02:09 we set ourselves up to be deceived.
02:12 If a man thinks himself to be something,
02:14 when he is nothing, he deceives himself."
02:18 And of course, this was the problem
02:20 with the elder brother
02:21 in the Parable of the Prodigal Son.
02:24 Now I would like to tell you a little story.
02:27 As a matter of fact before I do,
02:30 do you know that the very central theme
02:34 of the Bible says this.
02:37 This is found
02:40 "Cursed it is the man, the trust in man."
02:42 Cursed is the man, that trust in himself
02:44 or in any other man for that matter,
02:47 but blessed it is the man, that trusts in God.
02:53 In 1987, my wife and I were asked
02:58 to take up a ministry in Zambia in Africa.
03:02 We were in Zambia for one year,
03:04 after one year we received the call
03:06 to go to a little country called Lesotho.
03:08 I don't know if you've ever heard of Lesotho
03:10 but Lesotho is a little landlocked country
03:13 in South Africa.
03:14 So you have the South Africa the country
03:16 and in the middle of it
03:17 there is a little country called Lesotho.
03:19 A doctor as a matter of fact two doctors,
03:21 Dr Rick and Lorna Lukens had been in Africa for 14 years
03:27 and they started a little mission
03:29 in a valley called Senqunyane in Lesotho.
03:32 Well, their children had become teenagers
03:34 and because they were teenagers
03:36 they thought that their children
03:37 needed to go to school in America.
03:40 Well, my children had become teenagers
03:43 and I thought that they needed an education in the third world.
03:48 And so we made our way to Africa
03:50 while they were making their way to America.
03:54 When we arrived in Lesotho the chiefs in the valley
03:58 there were about 3,000 people.
04:00 The chiefs called a meeting and they said to us listen,
04:03 the only reason we allowed a white man
04:06 to be here in this valley
04:07 is because he's a doctor and he opened the clinic.
04:10 Now he's leaving and he's bringing in another family
04:13 and we want to say to you that the only reason
04:16 that we would allow a different family to live in this valley
04:19 would be if they kept the clinic going.
04:23 Well, friends, no problem
04:25 my wife has a grade ten education
04:27 and I have a grade ten education that's 20 years between us.
04:30 Surely we can keep a clinic going.
04:32 Well, no, no, it doesn't work that way
04:35 and I understand that it doesn't.
04:36 But we are in Africa at that time
04:39 and there were certain needs there,
04:41 so we said yes we will keep the clinic going.
04:43 We were in touch with Maluti Hospital
04:45 and if anything happen that we just couldn't handle
04:48 we could get some help from there,
04:49 so we agreed to do it.
04:53 Now all this is background.
04:56 One night it's about midnight
04:58 and my wife and I are sleeping
04:59 and all of sudden we heard a rocket outside.
05:02 We didn't know what was going on,
05:03 but you have to understand
05:04 Lesotho is called the kingdom in the sky.
05:07 It's because it's situated on top of the Drakensberg
05:10 or the Maluti mountains
05:11 depending on which side of the mountains you are.
05:13 And my drive way was very, very steep
05:18 I had cemented two tracks so that I could come in and out.
05:20 I had to only pickup in the whole valley.
05:24 And so it was very difficult to get out of there.
05:26 But what was happening was an ox cart
05:29 was coming down the drive way
05:31 and it was making a lot of noise.
05:34 My wife and I got dressed we went outside to see
05:37 who it was and what they wanted.
05:39 And it turned out that
05:40 there was a pregnant woman in this ox cart.
05:43 And this pregnant woman said to my wife,
05:45 you must deliver my baby.
05:48 Now my wife said,
05:51 I've never delivered a baby before.
05:53 I don't know how to deliver babies.
05:56 Why don't you go on to the hospital
05:57 it's about 12 kilometers away
05:59 and they can deliver the baby there.
06:01 But the lady said, well, sorry, but it's too late.
06:04 I'm in an ox cart I don't have enough time
06:06 to get to the hospital you must deliver my baby.
06:10 So I went in to the library that Dr. Lukens had left
06:14 and I found the book there and in the book
06:15 I found the chapter that said how to deliver babies.
06:18 Well, that was wonderful.
06:19 I lit all the lanterns, we had no electricity,
06:22 I boiled water,
06:23 I didn't know that you didn't need to boil water
06:25 to deliver babies, but they do in the movies
06:27 and so I boiled water.
06:29 I gave my wife the book and with the book in one hand
06:32 my wife delivered her very first baby
06:35 with the other hand.
06:38 Now here's a question.
06:39 Here's the point of the whole thing.
06:41 Do you know that we were in Africa for 10 years?
06:45 Do you know that my wife delivered
06:46 one, two, three, four, five babies
06:49 every week for 10 years?
06:51 How many babies is that we never counted them.
06:54 But I can tell you this, my wife never lost one baby.
07:00 Do you know why she never lost one baby?
07:03 Because she didn't know how to deliver babies
07:05 and every time she saw someone coming
07:08 she would get on her knees and she would say,
07:09 Lord, I'm here to help people,
07:12 I'm not here to hurt people,
07:13 I've never been trained as a midwife,
07:15 I don't know what I'm doing,
07:17 don't send these people here
07:19 unless you send wisdom with the people.
07:21 And in 10 years she never lost one.
07:25 She even delivered one of our grandchildren.
07:27 Yeah, yeah.
07:29 This is an example of the plan of salvation.
07:33 She didn't know how and yet she never lost one.
07:38 We can't save ourselves, we can't heal ourselves,
07:41 but we need not be lost.
07:46 Turn with me to Luke 15
07:49 we are studying the Parable of the Prodigal Son together.
07:53 So we were in Luke Chapter 15.
07:54 Yesterday we looked at verse 11
07:57 and in verse 11 of course
07:59 we saw that a certain man had two sons.
08:01 Now we're going to verse 12 in Luke Chapter 15.
08:07 "And the younger of them said to his father,
08:09 Father, give me the portion of goods that fall to me."
08:14 And so here we have it.
08:15 Is a young man we don't know how old he is,
08:18 all we know is that he's young
08:20 and he's asking his father for his inheritance.
08:24 Now in that culture,
08:25 that would have been a terrible insult to the father.
08:27 Its equivalent to saying dad, I wish you were dead,
08:30 because I want my inheritance now.
08:33 If you had been the father of that boy
08:35 what would you have said?
08:37 What would common sense had said?
08:39 Well, obviously you'd put your arm around the boy
08:42 and you would say listen kid, I love you.
08:44 You know that I love you but you're very young,
08:48 you're immature, you have no experience
08:50 and I have put all kinds of money into this,
08:54 I have invested all kinds of efforts into this,
08:56 I have built up an empire.
08:58 How can I put this empire in the hands
09:01 of one who has invested no sweat,
09:03 no blood, no tears?
09:04 As a matter of fact it's all yours anyway,
09:06 it's yours when I die.
09:08 The only problem is of course I ain't dead yet see.
09:11 Now wouldn't that have been the right thing to say?
09:16 Wouldn't common sense have said that?
09:19 Oh, I hope so at least in your mind,
09:22 but I want you to notice
09:23 what the father in the Parable says to his son.
09:27 This is the last half of verse 12 now.
09:30 We're in Luke Chapter 15 and it says
09:35 "And He the Father divided unto them his living."
09:40 Now don't miss what's happening here.
09:42 We're studying the Gospel here,
09:44 we're studying the plan of salvation.
09:46 This is not just common sense.
09:48 God sense is anything but common.
09:52 And so where we would with hold He gives
09:55 and it has to be that way don't you understand,
09:58 God is not trying to tell us by giving us this parable
10:01 that we need to put aside common sense.
10:03 This is not the point of the parable.
10:06 God is trying to tell us
10:07 that unless God's steps into the picture,
10:10 unless God does something we cannot be saved.
10:14 And so in the parable the Father does something
10:16 which would be contrary to our common sense,
10:19 He gives us something.
10:25 When the Father gave his living what was He giving?
10:29 Well, if you spiritualize this parable
10:34 you would go to John 3:16
10:38 " God so loved the world,
10:40 that He gave His only begotten Son."
10:42 Everyone knows that verse and it's true.
10:45 Do you know what God has given
10:47 when He gave His Son?
10:48 I'm gonna ask you to turn with me
10:50 to Romans Chapter 8,
10:52 turn with me to Romans Chapter 8
10:54 and I want you to see
10:56 what God gave when He gave His Son.
10:59 Look at Romans Chapter 8
11:02 and we're going to look at verse 32.
11:03 This an amazing verse and by the way friends,
11:06 if you could ring up your faith to the point
11:10 where you can accept every word
11:12 we're about to read you will have all things.
11:15 Look at it this is Romans Chapter 8
11:18 we're looking at verse 32.
11:21 "He that spared not his own Son" Talking about the Father.
11:25 "But delivered him up for us all."
11:27 Now notice for whom he delivered him.
11:30 He delivered him up for us all.
11:32 Did God delivered His Son for the Christian?
11:35 Oh, no. No, no.
11:36 God so loved the world He gave His Son.
11:39 He gave His Son to the whole world.
11:41 Now notice what the rest of the verse says.
11:46 "How shall he not with him also freely give us all things?"
11:53 Do you know that you have all things today?
11:57 Does it feel like you have all things today?
12:02 Well, I don't know what you're feeling.
12:04 I don't care what you're feeling.
12:05 The word of God says that with His Son
12:08 He has freely given you all things.
12:11 You know, there was a time
12:15 when I truly, truly wished that I could be a millionaire.
12:19 Now I'm sure I'm not alone in this thing.
12:21 And it was very difficult in my mind
12:24 to come to grips with the idea
12:26 that some people could be so wealthy
12:28 and I could be so poor.
12:30 And I really wished that I also could be a millionaire.
12:33 Well, friends, I don't wish this any more because I am.
12:36 Do you see it in the verse,
12:39 with His Son He has freely giving me all things.
12:41 Now its true the money isn't in my pocket,
12:44 the money isn't in an account under my name,
12:47 I understand all of that but it doesn't matter
12:50 because there is a verse in the Bible.
12:52 Philippians 4:19 doesn't it say
12:55 "My God shall supply all your needs."
12:58 Isn't that true?
12:59 If God has promised to supply all our needs
13:02 do you need anything more than that?
13:04 Oh, friends, from the soul that feels
13:07 his need nothing is with held this is the promise of God.
13:10 What a blessing it is
13:12 and today I don't have to envy anyone
13:14 who has the money in their pockets.
13:16 I don't care because when I have a need I have a God.
13:20 And because I have a God who has made this promise
13:22 I can go to Him on my knees and say Father, you promised
13:26 and He will give me that which I need.
13:28 He doesn't always give me that which I want of course,
13:31 but He does give me that which I need.
13:34 Turn with me now to 1 John Chapter 5 this is--
13:39 this is that little John in the back of the Bible
13:42 we're going to go to chapter 5
13:43 and our friendly Baptist friends really make hey of this verse
13:48 and rightly they should,
13:49 because it's one of the most beautiful verses
13:51 in the Bible.
13:53 So we're in the 1 John Chapter 5
13:54 we're looking at verse 11.
13:56 And it says there "This is the record,
13:59 that God has given to us eternal life."
14:02 Well, with His Son He's given us all things.
14:04 Do you know that God has given to the whole world eternal life?
14:07 It's true He's proffered to them.
14:11 Yeah.
14:12 But there is a caveat, there is.
14:15 Look at verse 12 it tells us how we need to relate to this.
14:18 Look at verse 12, "He that has the Son has life,
14:23 he that have not the Son of God have not life."
14:27 This is how we're meant to relate to this thing.
14:29 Well, it's true.
14:31 Friends, God does not separate His gift
14:34 and give us money as I would do it.
14:37 I could take $20 out of my pocket and give it to you.
14:39 I could walk in one direction you could walk in another.
14:42 I may never see you again, I may never see the $20 again.
14:45 But God doesn't operate that way.
14:47 God has given to us every gift that we could possibly want,
14:51 but the gift is in His Son.
14:53 He does not separate the gift from His Son.
14:56 And so the question now is,
14:58 do you have the Son?
15:00 Friends, I hope so. I truly, truly hope so.
15:04 This is what we want, this is what we need.
15:07 I'd like to have to turn with me to Genesis Chapter 2.
15:11 We're in Genesis Chapter 2
15:12 and we're going to begin
15:13 taking a little look at the plan of salvation.
15:16 We need to explain this thing to ourselves sometimes
15:18 and I don't know you may have been Christian for 50 years
15:22 and I don't care, truly it's still bears
15:25 looking into this thing will never understand it at all.
15:28 In Genesis Chapter 2
15:29 God has just finished creating the world,
15:31 He put our first parents in the garden there
15:34 and in the garden He provided for everything for them
15:37 everything they could possibly need.
15:40 But now He began to reason they have everything
15:44 how can they prove that they love Me
15:47 if there is no way of doing anything contrary to My will.
15:50 And so for that I will give them just a little test.
15:54 And it was barely a test at all there was plenty of fruit trees,
15:57 there were plenty of food there they didn't need this,
15:59 but God said from a certain tree
16:01 you shouldn't eat from it.
16:03 While here we are, we're in Genesis Chapter 2
16:05 we're looking at verse 17.
16:08 "But of the tree of the knowledge
16:09 of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it,
16:12 for in the day that thou eat there of thou shalt surely die."
16:18 Now does God mean what He says?
16:22 Does God say what He means to say?
16:25 Did He actually say that in the day
16:27 that you eat there off you will surely die?
16:30 Friends, did Adam and Eve eat from that tree?
16:33 Did they die in that day that's the question?
16:39 Well, you know there's three answers to that.
16:41 And every time I share this with other people
16:44 everyone comes up with the three answers
16:46 and the three answers are right.
16:47 Somebody will say well, they began to die.
16:50 Well, that's true.
16:51 Adam lived 930 years after he ate or at least
16:55 that was his age when he died in any case.
16:58 And so he began to die that day.
17:00 Someone else would say yes
17:01 but we died spiritually that day.
17:03 And that's true also
17:05 if you look at Ephesians Chapter 2
17:07 it says that we are,
17:08 we are dead in sin and trespasses
17:10 when we are in our carnal nature.
17:12 Isn't that King David who said that we are conceived in sin,
17:16 born in inequity or the other way around?
17:18 And anyway it means the same thing.
17:21 And also the third answer is,
17:24 no, Adam and Eve did not die that day.
17:28 What God was saying to them
17:30 was when you disobey Me, when you fail to trust Me,
17:33 when you don't want to believe Me,
17:35 when you believe someone else
17:37 then I will send you back where I got you.
17:39 And do you know where He got them?
17:41 Well, as far as I know they didn't exist before.
17:43 And He meant to send them back.
17:47 Yeah.
17:49 Why didn't they die?
17:52 Does that make God a liar?
17:54 I mean, does God's is He like a permissive parent?
17:58 Does He say something and then
17:59 when the kids disobey when they went oh,
18:01 well, I promised you spanking, but I let you go this time.
18:05 No, no, no, no, God means exactly what He says.
18:08 So why did they not die that day?
18:11 Do you know that the answer is Revelation Chapter 13?
18:15 Go with me to the Revelation Chapter 13.
18:17 It always strikes me when I talk about this
18:19 that we ask this question in Genesis Chapter 2
18:22 and we can't find the answer
18:23 until we hit Revelation Chapter 13.
18:27 It's also a very strange place in which to find this answer
18:32 because Revelation Chapter 13
18:34 is about beasts and images to the beasts
18:37 and the number of his name and 666
18:39 and all of these symbolisms
18:40 that many people do not understand.
18:42 Why should the answer be there?
18:45 Well, we're in Genesis Chapter 13
18:47 and we're looking at verse 8 here.
18:50 Notice what it says.
18:54 "And all that dwell upon the earth
18:55 shall worship him,
18:57 whose names are not written in the book of life."
18:59 Now watch "Of the lamb slain
19:03 from the foundation of the world."
19:07 Who's the lamb? Why Jesus is.
19:11 When was He slain?
19:13 Well, it says here He was slain at the very beginning
19:16 and the very foundation of the world.
19:18 Now wait a minute,
19:19 I thought He was crucified just 2,000 years ago
19:22 and isn't that where He was-- when He was slain.
19:24 Well, yes for sure,
19:26 He was slain 2,000 years at the cross of Calvary
19:28 but friends, let me tell you
19:30 the pain that He suffered on the cross 2,000 years ago
19:33 did not begin 2,000 years ago.
19:36 It began with the very inception of sin.
19:40 And friends, the minute there was a sinner
19:43 there was a savior.
19:45 When Adam took a bite of that apple
19:47 God true to His word,
19:49 send the blow to put Adam out of his misery,
19:52 but Jesus stood between Adam
19:55 and the blow that was coming from heaven
19:57 took the blow upon Himself and became the Lamb slain
20:01 from the foundation of the world.
20:06 What would have happened to you and to me
20:10 had Adam been killed that day?
20:13 Why?
20:14 We wouldn't be here.
20:16 Do you know that the only reason
20:18 that you have life today
20:19 is because of the cross of Calvary?
20:22 Do you know that it had there been no cross
20:24 there had been no life and it goes deeper than that.
20:28 Do you know that every loafer bread is stamped
20:30 with the cross of Calvary?
20:31 Do you know that every drink of water
20:33 is stamped with the cross of Calvary?
20:35 Everything that you enjoy
20:37 is stamped with the cross of Calvary,
20:39 because you would enjoy none of it.
20:40 Adam and Eve sinned and in sinning
20:43 they forfeited every blessing of God.
20:46 Well, friends, you and I--
20:48 well, Adam and Eve are not the only ones who have sinned,
20:50 you and I have sinned and we have done our share
20:53 in forfeiting all the blessings.
20:57 But did you eat today?
20:58 Did it taste good?
21:01 Have you been breathing air today?
21:04 Do you have a wife? Do you have children?
21:06 Do you have a husband?
21:08 Do you enjoy anything?
21:09 Do you know that in this world
21:11 we enjoy all kinds of things
21:13 whether we are a sinner
21:14 or whether we are a saved sinner?
21:18 We enjoy things in this world
21:19 because Jesus went to the cross of Calvary.
21:22 I often think if Hitler had known this wonderful fact
21:27 would he had done what he did?
21:30 Do you know that Hitler enjoyed all kinds of things?
21:32 There's no doubt in my mind that he enjoyed a good meal.
21:35 He had a girlfriend her name was Eva Braun.
21:37 There's no doubt he enjoyed her and there are many things
21:40 that he might have enjoyed in his life.
21:42 Isn't that amazing that God would give to Hitler
21:45 a blessing and blessing and more blessing?
21:49 Why would he do that?
21:50 It hardly makes sense doesn't it?
21:52 Because he was such an evil man.
21:55 But friends, Jesus went to the cross
21:57 with every man's sins.
21:59 Jesus paid the penalty for every man
22:01 whether his sin is in the past, the present or the future
22:04 Jesus paid the penalty
22:06 and turns around and gives to every soul
22:08 a huge blessing of bloodbath at the cross of Calvary.
22:14 Now why would He do that?
22:18 Turn with me to the Romans Chapter 2,
22:21 Romans Chapter 2
22:23 and I want you to see the answer to that questions.
22:26 It is so plain that you can't miss it.
22:28 We're in Romans Chapter 2
22:30 and this is from the Apostle Paul
22:33 and he puts it in the form of a question.
22:35 Look at verse 4 Romans Chapter 2
22:37 we're looking at verse 4.
22:39 "Do you despise the riches of his goodness."
22:42 Now friends, you can't get any gooder.
22:44 Forgive my English but this is the way I see it.
22:47 God so loved the world that with His Son
22:49 He has freely given us all things
22:51 you can't get any better and it says here
22:54 "Do you despises that kind of goodness
22:56 and forbearance and long suffering,
22:58 don't you know that the goodness of God
23:01 is meant to lead you to repentance."
23:05 When the Father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son
23:08 gave his Son his inheritance he gave him a gift.
23:11 Do you know that there is a message
23:12 in every gift that his given?
23:14 Have you ever given a gift?
23:17 What do you say in the gifts
23:19 that you give isn't it I love you
23:24 and when the father in the parable
23:25 gave his inheritance it was meant to say to the Prodigal Son
23:28 I love you turn your heart toward home.
23:33 This is what repentance is by the way,
23:36 and this is why God has been willing to freely
23:39 give us all things.
23:42 Now, some of you may be saying
23:47 if I have everything why do I feel so deprived?
23:53 Why do I feel so poor?
23:55 Why do I have so little money in my account?
23:57 Why so few brains in my head?
23:59 Why so little power in my influence?
24:01 Why do I feel so sick?
24:04 How can this guy preach such abundance
24:07 when I feel so deprived?
24:09 Do you know the answer to that question?
24:11 Well, friends, the answer is in 2 Corinthians 5:7.
24:15 It says there "That we need to live
24:17 by faith and not by sight."
24:20 What's wrong with sight?
24:22 Do you have a sight?
24:24 Well, what's wrong with sight is that
24:25 we see things only under surface
24:27 that as far as where our sights can penetrate.
24:30 You may see a beautiful lady
24:31 and you may think what a doll.
24:34 And you may wish that she is as beautiful inside
24:36 as she is outside, but she may not be
24:39 we cannot tell just by looking at a person externally.
24:43 And so it is with everything
24:45 that we look at all we see is the surface of things,
24:49 but faith is different.
24:52 Faith can penetrate to internal realities.
24:57 I like to illustrate that.
25:00 This way I have a little acorn here,
25:05 it's full of life.
25:06 Here you are here's a little acorn.
25:07 I don't know if you can see this on the screen
25:09 it's pretty small.
25:11 Now usually I ask the question
25:14 what do you see
25:15 and the people will automatically respond
25:17 and say I see an acorn.
25:20 And then I'd say well, now if you had faith
25:23 what would you see and someone will invariably say
25:26 I see a oak tree.
25:28 Can you imagine there is an oak tree in this little seed?
25:30 That's the truth.
25:32 But if you had more faith what would you see?
25:35 Wouldn't you see a whole forest?
25:37 Should you plant this acorn?
25:40 Wouldn't there be an oak tree to grow?
25:42 And wouldn't it drop more acorns
25:44 and more oak trees and more acorns
25:46 and more oak trees
25:47 until you could have a whole forest.
25:49 And not only that don't you see the furniture?
25:51 Don't you see the baluster?
25:53 Don't you see the toilet paper
25:55 whatever it is that can come out of here
25:57 do you see it?
25:58 Friends, it's a miracle as far as I'm concerned,
26:00 how can all of that come out of this little seed
26:03 a whole forest and tons and tons of furniture
26:07 it just doesn't make sense but that's the way it is.
26:10 That's exactly the way it is.
26:11 Do you know that God's gifts are in His seeds?
26:17 Do you know that His seeds are His promises?
26:19 Do you know that the seeds are in His Bible?
26:21 And where is the Bible?
26:23 Isn't it in your hand?


Home

Revised 2014-12-17