The Unknown Alarm

Good Monday Morning To You!
I’ve got to tell you what happened to me last Tuesday morning. Let me set up the scene. My cell phone had a problem --- you could not hear the ringer, or any of the alerts. My son, Kevin, and I had planned to take it back to Verizon for a repair or a replacement. I went to bed and Kevin was going to wake me the next morning. Miss Bessie and I had bought a new mattress and it was our first night on it. The next morning we were awakened to the loudest siren I have ever heard. I knew it was not one of our alarms, so I figured it had to be my C pap machine. It was just slightly out of reach, but I frantically kept hitting the off button, but the alarm still sounded. As I said, we have a new mattress and it is hard to sit on --- it’s slick. Picture this, I am leaning over quite far and I am sliding toward the floor. I managed to get my feet to the floor, but it is tile and I was bare footed. It was like being on ice. I am sliding to the floor and I yell, “Kevin, help!” He came in and took my hand, but instead of a hand up, he helped me make a more graceful fall to the floor. I’m sitting on the floor, the siren is still sounding, and the three of us are laughing hysterically. Kevin said, “Dad, turn off your alarm.” I replied, “What alarm?” Kevin said, “I fixed your phone, and I set your alarm.” He turned it off and I told him to never again set an alarm in my room without me knowing it. We all laughed about it the rest of the day. It would have been great for “America’s Funniest Videos.” Seriously, family life is wonderful and I wouldn’t trade it for the world!

Yesterday was a great day at Friendship Harmony. The attendance was good and there was a good spirit among the people. The congregational singing was excellent, and I might try to have a make shift choir from time to time. I certainly have the singers for it.

Yesterday I concluded our series of messages concerning, “Why God Allows Suffering.” Below you will find the sermon notes, but I would hope that tomorrow, Tuesday, you will watch the video. It is the message as delivered to Friendship Harmony in its entirety. The video can be seen at www.facebook.com/friendshipharmony. Remember, you do not have to have a Facebook account in order to view the video. Below are the notes; please feel free to use them for your personal Bible study. Preachers and teachers may also use them for their classes, their small groups, or their messages. May God bless you as you study His word.

Why Suffering?
Various verses
Suffering Series 3 of 3 8/12-9/6/14
By Victor Cooper

Intro: The other day I was asked, “Why does God allow suffering? Why does He allow someone to hurt an innocent person?” This is the age old question which was probably asked by Eve when she buried her son, Abel.

Review: Earlier we discovered that sin originated with Lucifer; it did not originate with God. We learned that the reason for suffering is sin. Sin means, “to miss the mark.”
The question is not, “Why is their suffering?” The question is, “Why does God allow suffering?
All sin is rebellion against God, not withstanding any one or anything else offended.
Rebels often try to enlist the aid of others in their cause.

God allows suffering because:

I. God has limitations. There are two kinds of limitations pertaining to God.
A. Natural limitations. His limitations are those things contrary to His nature.
1. God cannot lie. Titus 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
2. God cannot be tempted to sin, nor can He tempt man to sin. James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
B. Self imposed limitations. Those things He has chosen not to include in His plan.
1. He choose Isaac not Ishmael; Jacob not Esau.
2. He choose not to spare James.
Acts 12:2 And he (Herod Agrippa I) killed James the brother of John with the sword.
3. God did not spare His own Son.
Romans 8:32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
God’s Self imposed limitation is the first tie in point to our question, “Why does God allow suffering?”

II. Man has free will. The ability to determine how one will live their life, and whether or not they will submit to God’s will.
A. For God to stop suffering at the hands of another, He would have to remove their free will.
B. To remove one’s free will, they are no longer responsible and are outside of the need for redemption.
C. To remove free will reduces man to being an automaton, one destined to serve God without any say in the matter.
D. Becoming an automaton leaves out loving God.
E. In order for God to even remove a person’s free will temporarily, He would have to remove it from everyone.
Man’s free will is the second tie in point to our question
“Why does God allow suffering?”

III. It reminds us of the viciousness of sin.
God takes sin more seriously than we do.
A. Sin brought man into open rebellion against God.
B. Sin affected all God’s creation from the angels in Heaven, to the fish in the deepest part of the sea.
C. We see the sins of others as bad, but our own we justify away.
D. From week one we quote from Professor Walter Veith “Sin must run its full course for the enormity to be fully abhorred; but it eventually will be eradicated along with its instigator.”
Professor Veith’s observation is the third and final tie in point to our question,
“Why does God allow suffering?”

Conclusion: Our question was, “Why does God allow suffering? Why does He allow someone or something totally ` innocent to be hurt by another?”
The answer:
1. God’s self imposed limits will not allow for it. This is a point of Theology.
2. Man has a free will. This is a gift from God; it is a point of Grace.
3. It reminds us of the viciousness of sin.

A final thought: In my blog dated Sunday, August 24, I wrote, “On the surface these are not easy questions to answer, but actually they are. The problem is not the answer. The problem is our acceptance of the answer. Here is where faith enters the picture. I am talking about a mature faith that has been and is being nurtured by a diligent study of Scriptures, and much communication with the Holy Spirit.”

I’ll not be seeing you here on the blog for the next three weeks. Miss Bessie and I will be on vacation. I will miss you, but I’ll tell you all about our trip when we return. Please pray for us for safe travel and for a time of mental and spiritual refreshment. May the LORD richly bless you, and I’ll see you on the video tomorrow, and again in three weeks on Monday Morning With Pastor Vic!!!

Why Does A Good God Allow Suffering?

Good Monday Morning To You!
Welcome to the blog. If this is your first visit, my prayer is that these writings will be a blessing to you. If you have come this far, you can also read blogs from the past. For those of you who stop by for a visit occasionally, or regularly, I thank you for your time. I enjoy our visits together!

Yesterday at Friendship Harmony, I began a series of sermons examining the oldest two questions known to man. The first is, Why would a good God allow suffering? The second is similar; Why would a good God allow an innocent person to be hurt by someone else?

On the surface these are not easy questions to answer, but actually they are. The problem is not the answer. The problem is our acceptance of the answer. Here is where faith enters the picture. I am talking about a mature faith that has been and is being nurtured by diligent study of the Scriptures, and much communication with the Holy Spirit. Does that sound like believers have a lot of work to do? Actually, we should be living like that every day. Do you have the time for Bible study and prayer? If you do not, I’m glad you don’t feel the same way about breathing! I am happy that your heart does not send a message to your brain saying, “I’m tired. I beat constantly day and night. I’m going to take a few days off.” Yet that is the same thinking many believers apply toward their Bible study and prayer. If you want to effectively deal with the reason why God allows suffering, you need to tighten up your Christian life. If it sounds like I’m preaching, you’re right. I am preaching to everyone reading this blog, beginning with the man writing it --- me!

Yesterday I began our series of messages titled, “Why Suffering?” I said that the quick and easy answer to the question is sin. In the message we examined what God had to say to Lucifer, also known as Satan; the devil. Rather than me attempting to re-preach the message in this blog, I’m happy to announce that the entire message was video recorded yesterday. You will see it as did the people at Friendship Harmony. It should be ready to view on Tuesday morning. You can find it at www.facebook.com/friendshipharmony. You do not need a Facebook account to see the videos. In the meanwhile, please enjoy the sermon notes used in our study. All message notes will be available to you on this blog.

Why Suffering? ©
Various verses
Suffering Series 1 of ? 8/12-16/14
By Victor Cooper

Intro: The other day I was asked, “Why does God allow suffering? Why does He allow someone to hurt an innocent person?” This is the age old question which was probably asked by Eve when she buried her son, Abel.

. We must start by examining “sin.” Definition> missing the mark

I. The origin of sin.
A. It originated with Lucifer
1. Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
2. Something happened.
3. Ezekiel 28:2 Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord God; Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:
4. About whom is the Holy Spirit referring; the king of Tyre, Lucifer, or someone else?
5. Three individuals.
6. Point of Theology: In Scriptures there are several kinds of truth.
(a) Immediate truth. It is true at that moment
Example: Genesis 6:7 (KJV)
And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
(b) Eternal truth For evermore
Example: Romans 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
{c} Prophetic truth for the future
Example: Rev. 20:10 (KJV)
And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.
(d) Our Scripture in Ezekiel 28 employs all three .
(1) Immediate --- king of Tyre
(2) Eternal --- Lucifer aka Satan
(3) Prophetic --- the antichrist
B. Now lets go back to our Isaiah and Ezekiel Scriptures, and apply it to Satan

II. God is not the originator of sin --- Lucifer is.
A. God created Lucifer perfect.
B. Then sin was found in him. How did it get there.
C. Simple answer; Lucifer chose it.
D. During every age, whenever man, or in this case angels are given a choice, they will eventually choose wrong.
E. Why didn’t God simply eradicate Lucifer along with sin?
Answer Professor Walter J. Vieth wrote, l “If God had chosen Lucifer at that point, some would have served God from fear rather than from love.” “Sin must run its full course for the enormity to be fully abhorred; but it eventually will be eradicated along with its instigator.”

Once again, thank you for reading the blog. I really appreciate you so much. This coming Sunday I will be delivering part two of our series. We will examine the nature of God. In order to answer our questions about suffering, some groundwork must be set. That is what the first two messages in our series will do. Have a good week wherever you are and I’ll see you tomorrow at www.facebook.com/friendshipharmony, and then again next Monday Morning With Pastor Vic!!!

Gettin' Better

Good Monday Morning To You!
Once again this will be an abbreviated blog. I’m still recovering, but I tire easily. This hospitalization took a lot more out of me than ever before. Each day is some better, and as I write, they have my blood numbers where they want them. I was able to preach at Friendship Harmony yesterday. It felt good being in the pulpit again. When I was preaching, I felt strength surging through my body. Some might say this was an adrenalin rush, but I beg to differ. I believe it was a Holy Spirit rush; I’ll never be convinced otherwise!

An abbreviated version of the message will be available on Tuesday, August 19. You can see it at www.facebook.com/friendshipharmony. In this message I pose this question: How big is your Jesus? I hope you’ll watch it.

Now let me make an announcement. This coming Sunday Morning, I will be beginning what I believe will be the most important series I have ever delivered in my 42 year preaching ministry. The series is called, “Why Suffering?” I was asked recently, “Why does God allow suffering? Why does He allow an innocent individual to suffer physical, emotional, or spiritual injury at the hands of another?” I will attempt to address this question in the weeks to come. If you cannot be with us here at Friendship Harmony, it has been requested that we tape the entire message for the video. This we will gladly do because in this suffering world, this is a most important question. Please pray for me as I prepare.

This coming Sunday is our fellowship meal. If you are in the area, plan on being with us in our morning service, then we invite you to stay afterward for a delicious meal. I hope to see you there. If not I’ll see you tomorrow on the video, and again next Monday Morning With Pastor Vic!!!