Review of Session 12: Making Other Disciples·
. In the Great Commission Jesus commands His disciples to do 3 things: 1) make other disciples, 2) teach them His commandments, and 3) baptize them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit (i.e., the Trinity)
· Paul points out that the Gospel is not readily received by the wise of this world, but can only be accepted by virtue of the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of believers
· Understanding this fact allowed Paul to overcome the fear of rejection as he became “all things to all men” in order to obtain the prize of fulfilling the Great Commission in his ministry, looked upon as a spiritual discipline: the discipline of evangelism.
Thought Questions
1. Has someone close to you died—spouse, parents, children, siblings, etc.?
2. Are you able to conceive of your own death?
In order to allow sufficient class time for filling out the end-of-course survey, we will study only a single passage in this session:
II Cor 4:7 – 5:10
1. What is Paul referring to when he uses the phrase “jars of clay”?
2. What does he mean when he says in verse 10 that he is always carrying about in his body the death of Jesus? How does that reveal the life of Jesus?
3. What does the resurrection of the dead have to do with all of this (verse 14)?
4. What do you suppose Paul is speaking of when he says “we are wasting away” (verse 16)? Is he speaking of aging? Of persecutions? Of illness?
5. Other translations of verse 17 use the phrase “eternal weight of glory,” which is also the title of a famous sermon by C. S. Lewis. Recall what we learned in an earlier session was Lewis’s definition of glory.
It is written that we shall “stand before” Him, shall appear, shall be inspected. The promise of glory is the promise, almost incredible and only possible by the work of Christ, that some of us, that any of us who really chooses, shall actually survive that examination, shall find approval, shall please God. To please God..to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness…to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son—it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is.
6. How do our troubles in this life bear on our glory in the life to come?
7. Beginning in Chapter 5 Paul refers to a home, or dwelling or tent, 7 times over the course of 9 verses. What is his point in these references?
8. Often, after the death of a saint, we hear the phrase: “absent from the body, present with the Lord?” What do people mean when they say this? Is it justified by this passage?
9. How does being “present with the Lord” in verse 8 relate to the resurrection mentioned in 4:14? Are these the same event, or different ones?
10. What happens when we die in the Lord?
Review of the Course
1. We set out to compare 3rd Millennium discipleship with that of the 1st Millennium. How are they the same? How are they different?
2. What stands out as the central goal of our discipleship?
3. What is the cost of discipleship and what is its reward?
Review of Sessions 10/11: The Disciple and the Sanctifying Spirit
· Our study of Romans 7 shows that even a “super-disciple” like Paul wrestled constantly within himself with the law of sin & death, such that the good he wanted he did not do, but the evil he did not want was the very thing he did. If him, how much more us!
· In spite of that, as a result of the work of Christ, we who have the Spirit of God living within us can experience true freedom from this struggle as we set our minds on the things of the Spirit
· That life in the Spirit brings us into close fellowship with all three Persons of the Trinity, to the point where we cry out “Abba” or “Daddy” as the Spirit groans inwardly on our behalf as we pray.
· Christ Himself intercedes for us in the midst of creation’s groaning under its futility awaiting our redemption as sons of God and fellows heirs with Him. Because of this nothing can separate us from His love.
A Thought Question
When you hear the word “evangelism” what emotion do you experience? Is it positive or negative? Why is this?
Matt. 28:16-19
1. Traditionally, this passage has been give a name, or subtitle. What is it and why do you suppose it goes by that name?
2. What three action steps are commanded by the resurrected Jesus at the end of Matthew’s gospel?
3. What two facts are these action steps founded upon? Why are they important?
4. To whom is this “great commission” given? Is it limited to only this group? Why or why not?
5. What has been, and is now, the practical outworking of this “great commission”?
6. What is our personal responsibility regarding this commandment?
7. What does it mean to “make disciples”?
8. Why is baptism as a disciple important?
I Cor. 1:18-21
1. What kind of reception did the preaching of the Gospel receive in Paul’s day?
2. Compare Paul’s day to ours. Is the teaching of “intelligent design” eagerly accepted by the intelligentsia and elites of our culture?
3. What point is Paul making about “boasting” in this passage? Where does intellectual pride ultimately come from? Where does true humility come from?
4. Please compare Jesus Christ to Albert Einstein with respect to “intelligence.”
I Cor. 2:10b-16
1. What is the Spirit’s role in evangelism?
2. How does that fact change our approach to evangelism?
3. Given the fact that people smarter than us are going to reject the Gospel when we share it, will that make us fearful or bold as we present the Gospel? How did Paul “cope” with this?
1 Cor. 9:19-27
1. What was Paul’s strategy in preaching the Gospel?
2. What motivated this strategy? (Hint: see verse 23)
3. What metaphor does Paul use to describe his preparations for evangelism? How does that fit in with other teachings on “spiritual disciplines”?
1 Cor. 10:23-33
1. What does Paul mean when he says “everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial”?
2. What does Paul’s hypothetical situation of a believer eating a meal with an unbeliever tell us about his approach to sharing the Gospel?
3. What kind of sensitivities must we have in dealing with an unbeliever and his conscience? Please give examples from your own life.
4. How does this passage direct our efforts in dealing with cross-cultural evangelism, such as that with foreign students?
5. How is verse 33 the “bottom line” on our evangelism?
Please go to the following link to see a follow-up on the class in which we viewed the video Unlocking the Mystery of Life. This link points to an OpEd piece by the biochemist Michael Behe in the N.Y. Times on Feb. 7, 2005, defending Intelligent Design theory from recent attacks by the Darwinian establishment.