Memory Text: Revelation 14:7 KJV “Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.”

Sunday, September 24 Judgment and Justice
Psalm 73:1-17 Holman “1 ¶ A psalm of Asaph. God is indeed good to Israel, to the pure in heart. 2 But as for me, my feet almost slipped; my steps nearly went astray. 3 For I envied the arrogant; I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 They have an easy time until they die, and their bodies are well–fed. 5 They are not in trouble like others; they are not afflicted like most people. 6 Therefore, pride is their necklace, and violence covers them like a garment. 7 Their eyes bulge out from fatness; the imaginations of their hearts run wild. 8 They mock, and they speak maliciously; they arrogantly threaten oppression. 9 They set their mouths against heaven, and their tongues strut across the earth. 10 Therefore His people turn to them and drink in their overflowing waters. 11 They say, “How can God know? Does the Most High know everything?” 12 Look at them––the wicked! They are always at ease, and they increase their wealth. 13 Did I purify my heart and wash my hands in innocence for nothing? 14 For I am afflicted all day long, and punished every morning. 15 ¶ If I had decided to say these things /aloud/, I would have betrayed Your people. 16 When I tried to understand all this, it seemed hopeless 17 until I entered God’s sanctuary. Then I understood their destiny.”

Monday, September 25 Vindication and God
Psalm 19:9 NKJV “The fear of the LORD [is] clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD [are] true [and] righteous altogether.”
Romans 3:26 NKJV “to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”
1 Corinthians 4:5 NKJV “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.”
1 Corinthians 13:12 NKJV “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.”

Tuesday, September 26 The Second Coming
John 14:12 KJ21 “Verily, verily I say unto you, he that believeth in Me, the works that I do he shall do also; and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto My Father.”
Acts 1:11 KJ21 “who also said, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven."”
Acts 1:11 COMMENTARY THE FOURFOLD GOSPEL It should be observed that the angels stated not merely that Jesus would come again, but that he would come in like manner as they had seen him go; that is, visibly and in his glorified humanity. It is a positive announcement of a literal and visible second coming.
1 Thessalonians 4:14-18 KJ21 “14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so will God bring with Him those also who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord: that we who are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; 17 then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
Revelation 22:12 KJ21 “"And behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every man according as his work shall be.”
Revelation 22:12 PEOPLE’S NT COMMENTARY Then the unjust and the holy shall each be rewarded according to his works.

Wednesday, September 27 The Assurance of Salvation
How do the following texts refute the idea of “once saved, always saved”?
Ezekiel 18:24 MKJV “But when the righteous turns from his righteousness and does injustice, [and] does according to all the abominations that the wicked do, shall he live? All his righteousness that he has done shall not be remembered; in his trespass that he has trespassed, and in his sin that he has sinned, in them he shall die.”
Ezekiel 18:24 COMMENTARY BY ADAM CLARKE Here is the second case. Can a man who was once holy and pure, fall away so as to perish everlastingly? YES. For God says, "If he turn away from his righteousness;" not his self-righteousness, the gloss of theologians: for God never speaks of turning away from that, for, in his eyes, that is a nonentity. There is no righteousness or holiness but what himself infuses into the soul of man, and as to self-righteousness, i.e., a man's supposing himself to be righteous when he has not the life of God in his soul, it is the delusion of a dark and hardened heart; therefore it is the real righteous principle and righteous practice that God speaks of here.
Matthew 24:13 MKJV “But he who endures to [the] end, the same shall be kept safe.”
Luke 8:5-15 MKJV “5 A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, the one fell by the roadside and was trampled; and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 And other fell on a rock, and sprouting, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. 7 And other fell amidst thorns, and springing up with the thorns, [they] choked it. 8 And other fell on good ground and sprang up, and bore fruit a hundredfold. And when He had said these things, He cried, He who has ears to hear, let him hear. 9 And His disciples asked Him, saying, What might this parable be? 10 And He said, To you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God. But to others I speak in parables, so that seeing they might not see and hearing they might not understand. 11 And the parable is this: The seed is the Word of God. 12 Those by the roadside are the ones who hear; then the Devil comes and takes the Word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 Those on the rock [are] the ones who, when they hear, receive the Word with joy. And these have no root, who for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. 14 And those which fell among thorns are the ones who, when they have heard, go forth and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of life, and do not bear to maturity. 15 But those on the good ground are the ones who, in an honest and good heart, having heard the Word, keep [it] and bring forth fruit with patience.”
Romans 11:16-21 NRSV “16 If the part of the dough offered as first fruits is holy, then the whole batch is holy; and if the root is holy, then the branches also are holy. 17 But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the rich root of the olive tree, 18 do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember that it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you. 19 You will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in." 20 That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, perhaps he will not spare you.”
1 Corinthians 9:27 NRSV “but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.”

Thursday, September 28 Judged By Works
How does this text present faith and works in their proper relationship?
Ephesians 2:8-10 NKJV “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:10 COMMENTARY BY ALBERT BARNES Paul held perhaps more firmly than any other man to the position, that men are saved by the mere grace of God, and by a Divine agency on the soul; but it is certain that no man ever held more firmly that men must lead holy lives, or they could have no evidence that they were the children of God.
What is the role of our good works?
Job 1:7-11 NKJV “7 And the LORD said to Satan, "From where do you come?" So Satan answered the LORD and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it." 8 Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, that [there is] none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?" 9 So Satan answered the LORD and said, "Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 "Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 "But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!"”
Matthew 5:16 NLT “In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.”
Matthew 5:16 COMMENTARY BY BARNES It is not right to do a thing merely to be seen by others, for this is pride and ostentation; but we are to do it that, being seen, God may be honoured…Seeing in your lives the excellency of religion, the power and purity of the gospel, they may be won to be Christians also, and give praise and glory to God for his mercy to a lost world.
1 Corinthians 4:9 NLT “Instead, I sometimes think God has put us apostles on display, like prisoners of war at the end of a victor’s parade, condemned to die. We have become a spectacle to the entire world––to people and angels alike.”
1 Corinthians 4:9 COMMENTARY JOHN WESLEY NOTES God hath set forth us last, as appointed to death-Alluding to the Roman custom of bringing forth those persons last on the stage, either to fight with each other, or with wild beasts, who were devoted to death; so that, if they escaped one day, they were brought out again and again, till they were killed.
Ephesians 3:10 NLT “God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 3:10 COMMENTARY BY BARNES One grand purpose in the creation of the universe was, that the wisdom of God might be clearly shown by the church. It was not enough to evince it by the formation of the sun, the stars, the earth, the seas, the mountains, the floods. It was not enough to show it by the creation of intelligent beings, the formation of immortal minds on earth, and the various ranks of the angelic world. There were views of the Divine character which could be obtained only in connexion with the redemption of the world.