Category: Bible Study

“Do not, then, surrender your confidence; it will have great reward.” –Hebrews 10:35 Satan is trying to get us to surrender our confidence, to draw back (Heb 10:38-39), to give up, to commit spiritual suicide. To keep the faith, we have to endure “a great contest of suffering” (Heb 10:32). This contest lasts a long time. Relief in our sufferings seems indefinitely delayed (see Heb 10:37). Any benefits from our sufferings seem to be invisible or negligible. Under these circumstances, we naturally feel like giving up. Satan will even let us give up without appearing to give up everything. He’ll...

“We should not absent ourselves from the assembly, as some do, but encourage one another; and this all the more because you see that the Day draws near.” –Hebrews 10:25 This Scripture passage is used to encourage people to go to church on Sundays, but it also applies to many other gatherings. How many have made worship a Sunday-only obligation? These too are absenting themselves from the assembly for almost all of the week. Some go to the assembly but stay to themselves. They are present in body but absent in spirit. Most Christians absent themselves from the assembly by...

“But those sown on good soil are the ones who listen to the word, take it to heart, and yield at thirty- and sixty- and a hundredfold.” –Mark 4:20 Jesus tells the crowds about the fruitfulness of good soil and the reasons why soil does not bear fruit. He also gives advice on how to turn unproductive soil into fruitful ground. Jesus can soften the hardest, rockiest ground, as He did with St. Paul. But we are God’s coworkers, and Jesus plans to use us to till the ground and care for it (see Gn 2:15). This includes the care...

“For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God bestowed when my hands were laid on you.” –2 Timothy 1:6 How well do you know your Catholic ancestry? Do you realize Timothy and Titus were ordained bishops? (see 2 Tm 1:6) By the laying on of hands, the Apostle Paul commissioned them for evangelistic work. “As for Titus, he is my companion and fellow worker in your behalf” (2 Cor 8:23). This illustrates New Testament-era apostolic succession. Paul also assigned a precise mission. “My purpose in leaving you in Crete was that you might accomplish...

“Before all men you are to be His witness to what you have seen and heard.” –Acts 22:15 The conversion of Paul is repeated three times at considerable length in the Acts of the Apostles (see Acts 9:1-22; Acts 22:1-21; Acts 26:1-23). This threefold repetition indicates how critical it is for people to hear about God bringing someone to conversion. Listen to Paul’s witness: “I once thought it my duty to oppose the name of Jesus the Nazorean in every way possible…I sent many of God’s holy people to prison. When they were to be put to death I cast...