Let the Nations Be Glad-Study Qs

Let the Nations Be Glad Discussion Questions

Supremacy of God in Missions through Prayer

In what way is life war? How does Piper make this case and how does he support it from Scripture? Why does he chose this imagery of the Christian life over other imagery Paul uses?

Explain, in your own words, what Piper means when he says that prayer is a “wartime walkie- talkie.” Why does he use this metaphor? What is meant by “wartime”? How is prayer a “walkie- talkie”?

How does Piper describe the problem with the way most Christians view the Christian life?

Why do most people ignore the devil especially in the west? How does this relate to the believer’s view of life and the devil himself?

What does Piper give as the reason for why the Father answers the disciple’s prayer and how should that inform the way we think about prayer and our relationship to missions.

Why, according to Piper, does Prayer malfunctions?

How does the prayer for peace relate to the idea that life is war and prayer is the weapon of the war?

In what way does the doctrine of election serve missions or hinders it?

What was “the power of the Puritan hope”? Why does confidence in God’s absolutely sovereign election of individuals unto salvation provide hope and motivation for missions rather than make missions unnecessary

What was “the power of the Puritan hope”? Why does confidence in God’s absolutely sovereign election of individuals unto salvation provide hope and motivation for missions rather than make missions unnecessary

How do the New Covenant promises relate to world missions? How is God glorified in and through prayer? What are some things we can learn from the early church about prayer? What kind of things did they pray for? How does Piper describe the relationship of the Word to prayer? Is prayer the work of missions? How does the power of prayer relate to the power of the Word, the gospel? Why is the author hesitant to call prayer “the work of missions”? What does he suggest is “the work of missions”? How is prayer related to this work? How can the prayers of Scripture help guide and direct your prayer life in the cause of missions and for the glory of God? Be specific. How does the church’s (and God’s) ultimate goal, described in chap. 1, relate to prayer? How does prayer advance that goal?

How do the New Covenant promises relate to world missions?

How is God glorified in and through prayer?

What are some things we can learn from the early church about prayer? What kind of things did they pray for?

How does Piper describe the relationship of the Word to prayer? Is prayer the work of missions? How does the power of prayer relate to the power of the Word, the gospel?

Why is the author hesitant to call prayer “the work of missions”? What does he suggest is “the work of missions”? How is prayer related to this work?

How can the prayers of Scripture help guide and direct your prayer life in the cause of missions and for the glory of God? Be specific.

How does the church’s (and God’s) ultimate goal, described in chap. 1, relate to prayer? How does prayer advance that goal?

Supremacy of God in Missions through Suffering

What is that makes the life of David Bernard and Henry Martin significant for world evangelization? How do stories of missionary suffering align with God’s ultimate purpose in missions?

What distinguishes a martyr from a terrorist?

In your own words, explain what it means to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus (). Explain why it is so crucial to have a right understanding of the call to be a Christian when reflecting on the task of missions.

What does the author mean when he speaks of “the domestication of cross-bearing”? Why do you think cross-bearing has been watered-down and domesticated so often in the contemporary church? What reasons does the author suggest?

How does the fact that believers have died with Christ relate to the call to willingly laying down our lives for the sake of the gospel? Why does Christ’s suffering and death not exempt us from suffering and death? How is Christ’s suffering and death both substitution and pattern for our own, and why is the order (substitution before pattern) so crucial?

Does the fact that Christ died for us eliminate our death for others? ?

Does God allow or appoint suffering for the saints and his missionaries? Why does God appoint suffering for the saints? What does Piper gives as reasons? How does this shape the way we should think about suffering? Piper lists six. Are there other reasons you can think of why God appoint suffering for the missionary?

Piper lists six. Are there other reasons you can think of why God appoint suffering for the missionary? In what sense did Jesus grow in obedience? Are there varying degrees of rewards in heaven? Is Piper’s argument convincing? Why or why not? What does the OT and NT teach us about eternal rewards? “Great” will be your reward in heaven” does not mean “greater” will be your reward in heaven. It is significant that Jesus does not use the comparative. In what sense is Christ’s suffering lacking? According to , what “thought” are we to arm ourselves with? How might we “arm ourselves” with this thought? What practical implications might this have on our daily lives?

In what sense did Jesus grow in obedience?

Are there varying degrees of rewards in heaven? Is Piper’s argument convincing? Why or why not? What does the OT and NT teach us about eternal rewards? “Great” will be your reward in heaven” does not mean “greater” will be your reward in heaven. It is significant that Jesus does not use the comparative.

In what sense is Christ’s suffering lacking?

According to , what “thought” are we to arm ourselves with? How might we “arm ourselves” with this thought? What practical implications might this have on our daily lives?

The Supremacy of God Among “All the Nations”

What is the basic question Piper aims to answer in this chapter (p 182)? How does he approach the task? What about his methodology is different from others and what is to be commended or rejected about his method?

In what way can love defined in human terms limit the work of missions? What does Piper mean when he states “love will refuse to define missions with a limited human perspective. Love will test its logic by the larger picture of God’s ways” (p 177)

What does Piper intend to communicate by the illustration of “two sinking ocean liners”? Note: “Love puts no higher value on distant souls than on nearer souls” (p 178) “Love alone may not see the missionary task the way God does” (p 178)

What is the scope of the task of missions? How does it relate to the nations?

How does Piper define missions on page 179: “leaving the safe shore of our own culture to conduct rescue operations on the strange seas of other languages and cultures.” What does he say must be added to the definition to impel us to leave?

What is God’s will for missions (p 179)?

What did Ralph Winter identify as a major problem in the way that people understood world missions in 1974? What is “people blindness”? In what ways could such a misunderstanding hinder missions?

How did the Lausanne Strategy Working Group define “people group” (p 180–81)? Is this definition biblical? Are there any points of disagreement? What would you add or subtract from this definition?

For whom is the Great Commission given? How does Piper argue that this commission is for the church today?

How is Ethnos in the singular used in the NT according to Piper? Do you agree? Why or why not?

How is Ethnos in the plural used in the NT according to Piper?

According to Piper, how is “Panta ta Ethne” used in the NT?

Why does Piper support English translations of in the way they render the first ta ethne as “Gentiles” and the second panta ta ethne as “nations”? (p 191). What does Piper state as one of the significance for Paul’s uses of the promise to Abraham to refer to individuals (p 191)?

What conclusion does Piper draw from the use of in the NT? Which passages in the NT uses this OT text? Is Piper’s argument convincing? Why or why not? What would you add or subtract?

What significance does Piper see in the phrase “families of the nations” ()? How does Piper define family? (p 192, 214–15)

Why does Piper think that one of the best ways to discern the scope of the Great Commission is to immerse ourselves in the atmosphere of hope that they felt in reading the Old Testament (pp 192–93)?

Why did God bless Israel according to Piper? Is this idea substantiated with the Scripture? What passages would you use to make a case for the goal of God in blessing Israel and his people in general?

What point does Piper aim to communicate with the example of Jonah as it relates to missions? How would you restate this in your words from the text of Jonah itself?

In what way is Jesus greater than Jonah, when he says “something greater than Jonah is hear”? . What does Piper state is the significant differences between Jesus and Jonah?

In what sense is Abraham the father of many nations? How do people become children of Abraham? How would you state this in your own words and what passages would you use to support your argument? ; .

How does the apostle John’s vision for missions compare to Paul’s? Are there any differences or similarities? What key passages would you use to show the similarities or dissimilarities between these two biblical authors?

What does the phrase “end of the earth” mean in ? How does it relate to the use of the same phrase in the OT, e.g., ?

what are the premises on which Piper builds the argument that refers to all the nations? What would you add and what other passages would you use to support the argument? See my article.

What does Piper suggests about God’s intention in the definition of people groups? Why would God keep the church from having a precise definition? P 212.

How does David Barrett define people groups? How would you state this in your own words?

How do we know a nation is reached with the gospel? What can we learn from Paul’s ministry model on what that means? What does Piper conclude from Paul’s missionary endeavors?

Why does Piper think there will always be some ambiguity in defining “reached” and “unreached” people groups? Page 218.

What does Piper state are the main differences between the Timothy type and Paul type missionaries. Which of them is more important? Whose role is it to do the Paul type missions work?

How does the supremacy of God in missions relate to Piper’s examination of the usage of panta ta ethne in the Bible? Why does Piper suggest is the reason for discipling all the nations?

How does God’s focus on the diversity of the peoples advance his purpose to be glorified in his creation? (p 221). State in your own words the four arguments that Piper makes. Pp 222–24.