Calvin’s method of preaching is truly expository, and is the model for all truly expository preaching. Indeed, to get to know the true Calvin, we must see him as a preacher of the Gospel. This is what took up most of his time and energy in Geneva. His demanding preaching schedule saw him preaching 10 times every fortnight. He preached in plain, colloquial French, and used turns of phrase that the common people would easily understand.
His preaching is Christ-centred throughout. He discovers Christ in all the Scriptures. Throughout, he uses the New Testament to interpret the Old Testament.
Isaiah preaches as if he was referring directly to Christ. His office and calling is to be “the Redeemer of all believers and of all the elect ... of saving all His own.”[1] And that is what He is! That is precisely His calling.
But Calvin interpreted Scripture with Scripture, believing, as he did, that God's revealed will is revealed in ALL the Scriptures, and not in certain verses and passages only. In the first sermon, Calvin speaks of Christ as "the Saviour of all the world."[2]
How beautiful is his balanced
Biblicism! How refreshing his faithfulness to Scripture! And how
laudable his evangelistic zeal!
What obviously drove Calvin’s evangelistic endeavours was his deeply held belief that Christ did in fact die for the world, for humanity, for the human race. He saw this doctrine as clearly as he saw any other biblical doctrine. The Bible taught that when God was offering salvation to the lost, guilty, dying world, that it was offering something real, something that anyone in that world could receive. When the “Lamb of God” died to “take away the sin of the world,” [3] Calvin was convinced that here was a powerful message of salvation for all mankind. And if it was for the taking away of the “sin of the world,” it was then for me, for I am “of the world.”
Christian men and women, this
message must be recovered if ever this generation is to be won for the Saviour. If ever a lost world is to be reconciled to
God by the Saviour, then we must re-discover the only message that can do that
very thing! God sent His Son to die on Calvary that “the world through Him might be saved.” Says Calvin, “the guilt of the whole world
was laid upon Him.” There is therefore
hope for this world of ours – but only in Christ. Our responsibility is to herald that
glorious message to all and sundry. We
are to go and “make disciples of all nations.”
We are not to be content to merely ‘share’ this message with others, for
that would be to disobey what our Saviour commanded. We are to “make disciples of all
nations.” Mere decisions do not ‘cut the
ice.’ Getting sinners to merely ‘profess
their faith’ in some formal manner, is not what our Lord is talking about. This completely rules out all varieties of
formal religion, evangelical and reformed included. Our aim in preaching this mighty message is
not to get their names written in the Communion roll of a church, but to get
their names written in heaven! Anything
short of that will offend our God, and do a massive dis-service to our fellow
human beings.
Calvin will have none of
that! His gospel is full-blown; it is
full of verve and nerve; it is powerful and passionate and riveting, coming, as
it does, from a man whose heart is on fire for Christ. Calvin’s gospel is no dull theological
lecture delivered to disinterested individuals, no take it or leave it matter,
no spiritual add-on to their already very full religious and worldly life. Not at all.
Calvin’s gospel is manly, it is directed and targeted, it is precisely
applied to those he had in front of him.
Calvin spoke a message for the very hour in which he lived. And he applied it without fear or favour to
all who heard him preach. He was very
much a man’s man, a man’s preacher.
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