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Harbour Lake Baptist Church
“A Radical Revival”
Based on the book called “Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From The
American Dream”, by David Platt.
Study Guide for “Chapters Two and Three”
1. Read the second and third chapters of the book “Radical”.
2. Answer the following Questions as you read:
a. Discovering the Truth and Beauty of the Gospel (Chapter 2,
pages 23-26):
1) According to David Platt, the 20+ men and women in the Chinese
house church were begging him to keep teaching them everything
about the Old Testament for how many days and how many hours a
day? (page 24, top)
2) According to David Platt, what motivated them to want to study
God’s Word that long? (page 24, top)
3) Read Jeremiah 15:16. What did Jeremiah do with God’s “words”?
3a) What was the result?
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4) Read 1 Peter 2:2. Given that the “Spiritual Milk” that Peter refers
to is “God’s Word”, what does Peter say we should do about this
“spiritual milk”? ----- Why?
5) Have you ever been as “hungry” and “craving” for God’s Word that
you were willing to study it for 8-12 hours a day for days at a time like
these Asian Christians were?
If “yes”, explain when and what was the effect of your study.
If “no”, what do you think is different between them and you?
b. Secret Church (pages 27-28)
According to David Platt, when he returned to America after
encountering these “hungry” Asian believers, he decided to start a
“Secret Church” at his church, (Brooks Hills), where they would meet
on Friday nights from 6 p.m. until midnight to do NOTHING MORE
than pray and study God’s word for SIX HOURS. (page 27; center)
1a) If we were to start something like that at Harbour Lake, do you
think anyone would come? Why or Why not?
1b) Would “YOU” come? Why or Why not?
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2) According to David Platt, the American dream, where “self” reigns
as king (or queen), we have a
dangerous tendency to do what
with the gospel? (page 28; middle)
2a) Why? (also page 28; middle)
c. Who He Really Is (pages 28-30)
1) According to David Platt, what is something that the gospel
“reveals”? (page 28, bottom)
2) We know that God is a “loving God” for 1John 4:16 says, “God is
love”. But, the Bible teaches us some other things about God. Read
the following verses and write down what you learn about God from
each one:
2a) Isaiah 6:3
2b) Habakkuk 1:13
2c) Psalm 5:5
2d) Proverbs 6:16-19
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2e) Psalm 7:11
2f) Hebrews 10:31
2g) Hebrews 12:29
2h) John 3:36
3) According to David Platt, the gospel reveals realities about God
that we would sometimes rather
not face. Instead, we prefer to sit
back and do “what”? (page 29, bottom)
4) According to David Platt, we are many times “afraid” that if we stop
and really look at God in His Word, we might “discover” what? (page
29, bottom)
d. Who We Really Are (pages 30-32)
1) Read the following verses and write down what it says about “Man”
(i.e. human nature):
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a) Genesis 8:21
b) Psalm 51:5
c) Romans 3:12
d) Romans 3:23
e) Ephesians 4:18
f) 2Corinthians 4:4
g) James 4:4
h) Romans 7:15
2) According to David Platt, the gospel confronts us with the
hopelessness of what? (pg. 31; bottom)
3) According to David Platt, we don’t like to see ourselves in the
gospel, so we shrink back from it. Therefore, we prefer to live in the
land of “what” and “modify” what? (page 31, bottom)
4) According to David Platt, our self-diagnosis of our spiritual
condition and our conclusions on how
to improve it, fit nicely in a
culture that “exalts” what? (page 32, top)
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5) According to David Platt, most people already have a fairly high
view of their own morality, so they add “what” to their lives and think
everything we be all right in the end? (page 32, top)
6) Based on your own worship, prayer, and bible study practices,
would you say that there is evidence of more “God” dependency or
“Self” dependency as you live your life on a day to day basis?
6a) Why do you say this?
e. What (or Whom) We Really Need (pages 33-36)
1. According to David Platt, our understanding of who God is and who
we are should drastically affect “what”? (page 34; top)
2. According to David Platt’s understanding of Matthew 26:39, what
was Jesus “recoiling” from in the garden when He asked His Father to
“remove this cup from Me if possible”?
(page 35; bottom)
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3. According to David Platt, what happened at the Cross was not
primarily about “nails” being thrust into Jesus’ hands and feet but
about “what”? (pages 35, bottom and 36, top)
4. According to David Platt’s understanding of Matthew 27:46, when
Jesus cried out “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”, God
had turned away from looking at His Son for what reason?
(page 36, top)
f. Radical Revelation To Be Radically Received (pages 36-39)
1) According to David Platt, our “twisted”, “self-exalting” view of the
gospel causes us to take the infinitely glorious Son of God, who
endured the infinitely terrible wrath of God and who now reigns as the
infinitely worthy Lord of all, and “reduce Him” to what? (page 37,
middle)
2) Do you really think that Jesus NEEDS your “acceptance”? Why or
Why not?
3) According to David Platt, when we really understand the message
of the gospel it should evoke us
to what? (page 37, middlebottom)
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4) According to David Platt, the gospel demands and enables us to do
what? (page 39; top)
5) Based on your answer to the previous questions, do you believe
you have truly done what David
Platt thinks a person who
understands the message of the gospel should do?
5a) Why or Why not?
g. The Importance of Relying on God’s Power (pages 43-45)
1) According to David Platt, before students in the Indonesia seminary
can graduate, what are they required to do? (page 43, middle)
2) According to David Platt, what was the most solemn part of the
seminary graduation service? (page 43, middle-bottom)
3) According to David Platt, the problem in our culture is that we are
tempted to trust in “what”? (page 45, middle)
h. Subtle Dangers (pages 45-47)
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1) According to Dr. Platt, the American dream influences us to think
that there is no limit to what? (page 45, bottom)
2) According to David Platt, what is the “dangerous assumption” of
the American dream? (page 46, middle)
3) According to David Platt, what does the gospel “beckon us” to do?
(page 46, middle)
4) Read John 15:5. According to Jesus, “apart from Him” we can do
what?
5) According to David Platt, what is the “fatal goal” we may achieve
when we pursue the American Dream? (page 46, bottom)
6) According to David Platt, what is the “goal” of the American dream
and what is the “goal” of the gospel? (page 47, top)
7) Read Isaiah 42:8. What does the Lord say about “His glory”?
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i. Exalting Our Inability (pages 47-48)
1) According to David Platt, what does God actually “delight” in?
(page 47, top)
2) According to 2 Corinthians 12:9, how is God’s power made
“perfect”?
3) According to Joshua 6:2, why were the Israelites able to defeat the
mighty city of Jericho?
4) According to David Platt, God had Joshua and the Israelites (and
their armies!) “just” march around Jericho and blow trumpets so that,
in the end, God would get what? (page 48, middle)
j. Dependent on Ourselves or Desperate for His Spirit? (pages
48-50)
1) According to David Platt, what are a few of the key elements
necessary to draw a crowd based on the expectations of our culture?
(page 49, middle through page 50, top)
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2) According to David Platt, what is strangely lacking in the picture of
our performances, personalities, programs, and professionals? (page
50, middle)
3) According to David Platt, what can we so easily deceive ourselves
into mistaking? (pg. 50, bottom)
k. A Different Picture (pages 50-53)
1) Read Acts 4:29-30. When the first church of “believers” wanted to
expand the kingdom of God as they were commanded to do by Jesus,
they did NOT ask the Lord for a “bigger building” and “better children
and youth programs”! Instead, they asked the Lord for “what”?
2) What happened after the church prayed together for the Lord’s
power? (Acts 4:31)
3) Read Acts 2:47.
How did the first Christian church grow?
4) Read Zechariah 4:6. According to the word of God, how are the
things of God accomplished?
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5) According to David Platt, why does God give unlikely people His
power? (page 53, middle-top)
6) Spend time thinking about what takes place in HLBC. Give an
honest assessment of what percentage of things done do you think
are done ONLY in the power of man versus the percentage of things
done that can only be explained as “the power of God”.
(Example: 50% only man’s power; 50% God’s power!)
7) Explain why you answered the previous question the way you did.
List examples of things done in HLBC that appears to you to be done
only in man’s power. List examples of things done in HLBC that
appears to be done primarily through God’s power.
l. Ordinary Christians, Extraordinary God (pages 54-56)
1) George Muller wrote that the “first” and “primary” object of his
work with orphans was what? (page 55, middle-bottom)
2) According to David Platt, God stands ready to allocate His power to
whom? (page 56, top)
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m. God Our Father (pages 56-59)
1) According to Luke 11:13, what is your Father willing to give to
those who ask Him?
2) According to David Platt, when you pray to God to ask for comfort,
how does God answer your prayer? (page 57, bottom; see also John
14:16-17 and 2Corinthians 1:3-4)
3) According to David Platt’s understanding of Jesus’ words, what
does God our Father delight in? (page 58, bottom)
m. On Our Knees (pages 59-60)
1) According to David Platt, surrounded by the self-sufficiency of
American culture, what can we convince ourselves of? (page 59,
bottom)
2) According to David Platt, instead of “asserting ourselves” and
“imagining all the things we can accomplish”, what should we be
doing? (page 60, top)
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3) According to David Platt, what is our “great need”? (page 60;
bottom)
4) Would you say that your life is marked right now by desperation for
the Spirit and power of God?
Please be prepared to explain why you answered the way you did.
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