Reformation History Session 3: John Calvin

We've come to our third and final reformer in this church history class.

And again, as I said, I'd argue that Calvin, more than Luther, more than Zwingli, is the most important reformer out of all of them.

His legacy looms so large that really a lot of people have very polarized opinions of him.

It seems like you either love him or you hate him.

You either commit Calvin phobia or Calvin olatry, as one historian puts it.

Here's some examples.

One from the prince of preachers himself, Charles Spurgeon.

The longer I live, the clearer does it appear that John Calvin's system of theology is nearest to perfection.

Or he said this quote, among those who have been born of women, which is all of us,

there has not risen a greater than John Calvin.

Very, very high praise.

On the flip side here, this pastor, Pastor Jimmy Swaggart, who has claimed Calvin has, I believe,

caused untold millions of souls to be damned.

Or historian Will Durant, who said, we will always find it hard to love Calvin,

who darkens the human soul with the most absurd and blasphemous conception of God.

Very, very stark words.

Even this supposedly unbiased neutral source, the Oxford Dictionary of Christian Churches,

writes, Calvin was the cruel and unopposed dictator of Geneva.

Quite the difference.

No.

So who was this man that we can't seem to agree upon?

Was he Satan incarnate or was he savior of the world?

As one historian says, we do no service to the truth by depicting Calvin as angelically good,

nor diabolically evil.

And so to be able to get to the real truth of who he is, let's take a deep dive into his story.

John Calvin was born in 1509, nearly 25 years after Luther and Zwingli.

And he's born in northern France, in Noyon, to a Roman Catholic family.

At this point in history, the Reformation, it's still in its early stages.

So it hasn't spread all over, hasn't spread all over France just yet.

Calvin's mother, sadly, tragically, suddenly dies when little John is just three or four.

And his father, Gerard, he was a secretary or an accountant to the local bishop.

He was a prominent man, which helps not only with the bills, but helps him gain some connections.

So hoping that little John would have a successful, sprawling career as a pastor in the church,

Gerard sends John to the University of Paris at the tender age of 13.

That sounds very impressive.

And no doubt, Calvin did possess exceptionally gifted skills and an exceptionally gifted mind.

But remember back then, the education system was very, very different.

You didn't have to know math, science, history, all these things that we need to know now.

All you really needed to know was just to know the language of Latin, which was in what all the lectures were in.

And then if you knew Latin, you were accepted.

So 13-year-old Calvin, he's at university.

It's immediately clear to his professors, his fellow students, that he possesses an exceptional mind,

that he's really, really gifted at writing and reading and rhetorical skills in particular.

But during that time, while he's at university to study, to be part of the clergy, something happens to his father.

We're not exactly sure what happens, but it appears that he's implicated in a financial scandal,

accused of misappropriating funds from the church.

And we're not exactly sure whether he did this or not.

It could be, he could just be, you know, the scapegoat.

But either way, he is excommunicated from the church.

And so seeing that the funds run out and seeing that money is tight,

Calvin's dad, he suggests that he should stop studying to be a pastor.

Instead, that he should study law, thinking that that would give him some more money.

And then John, humble John, he accepts that.

If you were here week one, we talked about Luther.

And it's an interesting contrast with him, because if you remember from that,

his father pleaded for him to go to law, but he refused.

He refuses.

So they take very drastic paths to the ministry.

But really, God uses it all to accomplish his will.

And maybe as an encouragement for you, if you feel like,

man, I'm not doing exactly what I want to do.

I want to go into ministry now.

God can do all things and he can lead you down different paths to do that.

It's during that time that he's studying law that Calvin is trained to become a humanist.

Was anyone there last week remember what it means to be a humanist, a medieval humanist?

Do you guys remember what the phrase was?

I think I even have it there.

Anyone remember humanism?

Master.

Master?

I'm sorry.

No, you're good.

You're good.

It's defined by the motto ad fontes, which again means back to the sources.

It's really where Calvin there is encouraged to study the original sources in the original languages

so that he doesn't have to depend on translators.

He doesn't have to depend on really other interpreters, but that he could read them for themselves.

And so he sufficiently, proficiently learns the ancient languages like Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.

And he really becomes very skilled at this.

He reads the ancients, gains wisdom from what they said, all reading the original context.

And this is just a really quick appeal to you guys to try studying the original languages of Greek and Hebrew.

It doesn't just have to be for pastors, for seminarians, right?

There are really lots of good resources online for you to study Greek and Hebrew, right?

Lots of you guys speak more than two languages, more than one languages.

You speak two or more.

And you understand how that when things are translated from one language to another, things are lost in nuance.

The original force is not completely captured as you get into this other language.

I think it's kind of like that.

When you know Greek and Hebrew and you're able to study in its original context,

then you kind of get the fuller picture of what the text is actually saying.

And that's not to say that if you don't know Greek and Hebrew that you don't actually understand the Bible, right?

I do think that our English translations are very, very, very good.

But if you have the time and energy, which maybe honestly, frankly, you might not,

a lot of you guys might not have because you're very busy people.

But if you have the time and energy, why not study the original languages

so that you can expand your tool set to understand the scriptures?

So quick appeal.

It's not just for pastors.

You guys can study Greek and Hebrew too.

At the end of his university days, he writes a dissertation in 1532

in which he takes on one of the most popular thinkers of the day,

and his name is Erasmus.

And he tries in particular to challenge Erasmus,

to show the errors of his interpretation of particularly a philosopher named Seneca.

And it seems like he really pours himself into this dissertation, right,

as all PhD students can probably understand.

He has big hopes, big dreams from what this dissertation can accomplish, right?

He thinks that it could prove his genius and that once it gets out there,

people are going to flock to him so that, you know,

they're going to flock to him, giving him job offers, asking him to teach.

But much to Calvin's disappointment, none of that happens.

It completely flops.

Nobody reads it.

Nobody cares.

We even have a letter from Calvin to one of his former professors,

basically pleading for him to add it, add this dissertation to his syllabus,

asking him to require his students to read this dissertation,

probably to, you know, gain some royalties, maybe gain some clout.

But that never pans out.

Nothing works.

And really, Calvin's at a complete dead end.

It's possible, some church historians hypothesize,

that God uses this particular experience of disappointment,

of struggles with obscurity to bring out full faith in his heart.

We don't know very much about his conversion.

One of the tough things about teaching on Calvin is particularly he hardly writes about himself.

Unlike Luther, who is very, very willing to wear his heart on his sleeve

and expound all about the things that are going internally within himself,

Calvin is much more hush.

He doesn't really talk a lot about himself.

But in one of his commentaries in the Psalms, he describes his conversion like this.

God, by a sudden conversion subdued and brought my mind to a teachable frame,

which was more hardened in such manners than might have been expected from one of my earlier periods of life.

And so it's clear that when we are converted, God brings us down first.

He humbles us so that we can truly see God as he really is, lofty and high and mighty.

And so it's really at this point, this pivotal point of his life,

that Calvin becomes convinced of reformational ideas.

Again, he has been Roman Catholic his entire life.

But it's at this point he becomes of reformational ideas that were previously heralded by Zwingli and Luther.

About a year after his published dissertation, the now pro-reformer Calvin,

he particularly finds himself in hot water.

So the story goes, a good friend of his, he's back in Paris.

Remember, Calvin used to go to the University of Paris.

So this friend's name is Nicholas Kopp.

He was the rector at the University of Paris.

And he actually delivers a pro-Lutheran, pro-reformational speech, a message.

And it lands both Kopp and Calvin in huge, huge trouble.

Because it's very likely that Calvin either wrote the message himself,

or at the very least had a very significant role in its development, in its writing.

So in response, both Kopp and Calvin are forced to flee the nation or the country of France altogether

because their very lives are on the line.

Because the Roman Catholic authorities, they were determined to suppress, to squelch,

to remove at all costs the spread of the Reformation.

One significant event that happens during Calvin's flight from France

was called the Affair of the Placards.

It happens in 1534.

So reformers, reformed-minded believers, they post these public notices,

criticizing the mass, criticizing the church in cities all across France.

And the reaction from the Roman Catholic authorities was swift and severe.

A wave of persecution followed,

and many suspected Protestants were then either imprisoned or executed.

And it includes many of Calvin's close associates, close friends.

While Calvin is on the run for his very life,

he lands in Basel, Switzerland.

And it's there, he works on two things of note.

Number one, he works on the French translation of the Bible.

Just like Luther, if you remember,

in the first week, Luther translates the Bible, the Latin Bible,

into the common language of German,

so that everybody can read it.

So Luther does the same thing in French.

Not, sorry, Luther.

Calvin does the same thing in French.

And more notably, he works on his first edition of the Institutes.

Has anybody heard of the Calvin's Institutes?

It's a really famous book.

I'm going to talk a lot about, more about it much later.

So this first edition that he works on,

it's notably shorter than the final edition.

It's only a fifth of the final length.

But that aside, the Institutes of Christian Religion,

it's really Calvin's magnum opus.

It's arguably the most important work of all of the 16th century.

And keep in mind that if you follow Luther's timeline,

he writes this magisterial tome,

this important piece of work,

one or two years after his conversion.

And he's at the tender age of 26.

That's how young he is.

That's how exceptionally minded he is.

Can you imagine writing the most important work,

theological work, in churches,

one of the most important theological works in all church history

at that young age just after you became converted?

It's an extraordinary achievement.

And it basically becomes a bestseller overnight.

And it completely sells out all of its printed copies

in just nine months.

In Basel, he sets his goal to go to Strasbourg,

which was in Germany back then.

But by God's providence,

some fighting, some military battles,

it prevents Calvin from taking the direct route

to get directly to Strasbourg.

So then it forces him to take a detour

to the southeast,

to the city of Geneva, Switzerland.

His eventual plan was to eventually turn north

to get to Strasbourg.

But while he is in Geneva,

he has this conversation

with a fiery man

with fire red hair,

fire red beard,

that completely changes his life

and his life's trajectory.

That guy's name is William Farrell.

I think I'm pronouncing his name right.

William Farrell.

Maybe this conversation,

conversation might not be the right word

to describe it

because it's not so much of a dialogue,

but it's really more of a confrontation.

To give a little bit more backstory on Farrell,

a couple years earlier,

the city council of Geneva,

they decide to turn Protestant.

And if you guys have been here in the past,

you guys know that city councils,

they've done that in the past

because they see that Rome

is taking away power from them.

Particularly a lot of money flows

to the Roman Catholic Church

through indulgences,

through taxes,

through fees,

whatever is like that.

So if they become Protestant,

it's in their best interest

because that money stays internal

and they can basically call the shots

instead of the church

in their particular town.

So they decide to turn Protestant

and they hire Farrell as a pastor

to essentially lead the people

to follow suit.

The problem is

that even after a couple years of ministry,

really not much progress

is being made on that front.

the people are stubborn,

that they don't want to become reformers

or reformed,

that they want to stay Catholic.

And essentially the laity

is threatening to convert back to Catholicism.

So Farrell, he's fiery,

but one particular note about him,

he's humble and self-aware enough

to know that he's not the guy.

He's not the guy who these people need

to lead them in reformational truths.

He knows that Geneva needs

a particular kind of man,

a theologian, an organizer,

better, better than him.

So Farrell, he hears that this precocious author

of the newly published institutes

has come to Geneva.

And so he knocks on his door.

And so he knocks on his door.

Convinced that God has brought Calvin to Geneva

for a purpose, for a divine purpose,

he urges Calvin to stay

and to serve as a pastor

in public ministry

and shepherding the flock of God

by feeding them the word of God.

It's a free job offer, right?

It's a free job offer served

on a silver platter.

But Calvin,

this embodied everything

that he actually didn't want to do.

In his preface of the commentary

in the Psalms,

we get insights into Calvin's

natural personality a little bit.

He thought of himself

as unpolished and bashful.

What he desired most

was not the limelight of the pulpit,

but he naturally preferred solitude.

He was introverted.

He liked his alone time.

The whole point of going to Strasbourg,

why I wanted to get there,

was because he knew

that there was a great

reformed pastor there already

and that he thought his plan was,

he thought he could find a patron

who would essentially just pay him

so that he could just stay inside,

sit in his room and read and write.

That was his big dream.

But now here is Pharrell

who is desperately urging him

to abandon that dream

and to lead the Reformation in Geneva.

So Pharrell essentially tells Calvin,

God has told me

that you are supposed to stay here.

And Calvin pushes back,

no, no, no, brother.

You see, I'm on my way to Strasbourg

and I'm going to read and write

and study there.

That's the way that I'll contribute

to the Reformation.

But here Calvin himself

describing Pharrell's response to that.

And when he realized

that I was determined

to study in privacy

in some obscure place

and saw that he gained

nothing by entreaty,

he descended to cursing

and said that God

would surely curse my peace

if I held back from giving help

at such a great time of need.

And so Calvin is shaken by this.

He's terrified.

He's terrified by this pronounced curse.

And so he ends up reluctantly,

but submissively,

he decides to stay in Geneva.

And he writes,

in his own words,

terrified by Pharrell's words

and conscience of my own

timidity and cowardice,

I gave up my journey

and attempted to apply

whatever gift I had

in defense of my faith.

He's a humble man,

a faithful man.

So that starts his pastorate

in Geneva.

And frankly,

these were probably

the worst three years

of his entire life.

while Calvin tried

to follow scripture,

implementing biblical practices,

people disliked him

from the get-go.

For one,

Calvin is French,

and so opposing him

becomes a point

of nationalistic pride,

right,

because they're Switzerland.

Who is this French guy

coming here

thinking he could be

our pastor?

And again,

two,

he's trying to lead

Catholic-minded congregants

down the path

of the Reformation.

And so,

hear this response.

Mobs,

they riot outside his house.

They threaten him frequently

that they're going to

just toss him

into the river.

And so,

reflecting on this period

of life,

he writes,

this,

I can truly testify

that not a day passed

in which I did not long

for death

ten times over.

He writes this

about Geneva.

There is no place

under heaven

that I am more afraid of.

I would submit

to death

a hundred times

than to that cross

which I had to die daily

a thousand deaths.

That's how Calvin feels

about his ministry

in Geneva.

It all comes to a head

in 1538

on Easter Sunday.

And this is kind of

a theme

that you're going to see

throughout his relationship

with the city councilors

in Geneva.

The city councilors

on Easter Sunday,

they demand

that the two

administer the Lord's Supper.

Calvin and Pharrell.

But they

believed that the church

was in such disorder

that they couldn't

administer the table

in good conscience.

So they insisted

that as the shepherds

of the flock,

they have the right

to fence the table.

and it's

that the power

doesn't belong

to the city councilors.

So the council

is furious

and they kick

Calvin and Pharrell out

to which I'm sure

Calvin was

more than happy about

because

now he finally

gets what he wants.

He finally gets

to go to Strasbourg.

So he gets to Strasbourg

and he just

loves it there.

It's like his

Disney, Disneyland.

Right?

Without a doubt,

these are the happiest

years of his life.

First,

he gets to do

what he wants

and that's writing.

He finishes

the second edition

of the Institutes.

And honestly,

the first edition

of the Institutes,

not only is it shorter,

but it lacks originality

because Calvin seems

to be very heavily

influenced by Luther

and his writings.

He kind of seems

like it pawns off

a little bit too much there.

It's really the second edition

where his genius

starts to shine.

And he also starts

to write commentaries

as he writes his first one

on the Book of Romans,

more to say on that later.

It's also at Strasbourg

where Calvin,

he gets married.

According to historian

Timothy George,

Calvin was doubtless

the most eligible bachelor

in the entire city.

The pastor there,

Martin Buzer,

the great pastor,

he tries to matchmake him.

And in fact,

there's one story

where he tries to matchmake him

with, I think,

a German or someone Swiss.

And she doesn't speak French

and he doesn't speak German.

So that first date

goes terribly.

And Calvin is like Luther

in that he's not really

all that interested

in getting married.

You really see

how much of a romantic Calvin is

in a letter

that he writes to Pharrell.

It says,

I'm not of the wild race

of lovers

who at the first sight

of a fine figure

embrace all the faults

of their beloved.

This is the only beauty

that appeals to me.

If she is chaste,

if she is not finicky,

if she is economical,

if she is patient,

if she is interested

about my health.

So that's his standard, right?

He ends up marrying

one of his congregants,

Idolette de Burr.

She is a widow

of a French-speaking Anabaptist.

And she converts

to the Reformed faith

and they get married.

Again, we don't know

a ton about their family life

because Calvin, again,

he's reluctant

to speak much about himself.

But we do know

that they loved one another.

They had one child

who was born prematurely

and then dies in infancy.

In another letter

to a friend,

you see how Calvin,

he wrestles with grief,

with suffering.

He writes,

Certainly the Lord

has afflicted us

with a deep, painful wound

in the death

of our beloved son.

But he is our father.

He knows what's best

for his children.

Later, his precious

Idolette would also pass away.

Calvin comments on this,

I am deprived

of my excellent life companion.

Although his child

would pass away,

doesn't mean that his house

was empty.

Idolette,

she brought in two children

from her previous marriage

about whom Calvin

assured to her,

promised to her

on her deathbed

that he would faithfully

raise them.

In addition,

he lived with

his brother's family

and his brother

had eight children.

For most of his life,

Calvin's house

was full of little children.

And I make the excuse

that Theo is so distracting,

always knocking on my door,

wanting to be picked up.

But now I know

to shut my mouth

because you look later on

the sheer output

of Calvin

and how hard he works

and he does it all

in the context

of living with little children.

Most importantly,

in the years

in Strasbourg,

he develops

a close relationship

with the remarkable

pastor there,

Martin Bootzer.

they develop

like a father

and son-like relationship.

And Bootzer,

the older pastor,

takes Calvin,

the younger pastor,

under his wing.

And Bootzer,

it's noted that he has

particularly theological

influences on Calvin.

The first is regarding

church governance,

church policy,

or polity, rather.

Bootzer shows that

there are only

four governing offices

in the church.

And he says that

number one

is the teacher,

is basically

like the seminary

professor,

the professor

responsible for studying

and teaching theology.

Then two,

the teaching pastor,

the one who's

responsible for

the ministry of the word,

for the sacraments.

Number three,

the ruling elders

who have the job

of governing the church.

And then four,

the office of deacon.

What's notably absent

is what Sean

talked about today

in his sermon

was the offices

of cardinal,

of bishops,

of the pope,

right?

Does anybody know

what a bishop

technically is?

Do you guys know?

Yeah?

Yeah, overseer.

Yeah.

In particular,

how the church

polity works

is that

essentially

it's the

local church

pastor's boss.

And so

the bishop

is in control

or overseers

multiple congregants

or multiple

churches,

parishes,

and he's kind of

like the head honcho.

So all these people

need to report to him.

So pastors no longer

are solely responsible

that the church

governance

doesn't belong

to local eldership,

but it ultimately

lands on bishops.

And then,

of course,

you see that

continue to climb up

with,

you end up

leading to the pope.

So what he says

is, no,

the church governance

ultimately lies

in the local pastors,

in the local eldership.

And so it's not

a hierarchical system

of the Roman Catholic Church

where authority

flows top down

from a single

supreme head

of the pope,

but it's instead

shared by

a plurality of elders.

That's Calvin's

big thing

or Bootser's

big thing.

And in terms

of the four offices,

we would essentially

agree with them,

but we just don't

bifurcate the

elder's role

like that

into teaching

and preaching

and ruling.

I think a pastor

should essentially

be able to do

all of those things.

And so many churches

like ours,

we do distinguish

the role of senior

pastor and associate

pastor, right?

But we don't

necessarily see that

as an explicitly

different class

of elders.

We also talked

about the

regulative principle

of worship

last week.

Does anybody

remember that?

Anyone remember

the regulative

principle of worship?

Anyone?

Yeah?

Okay.

Yes,

exactly.

Exactly,

exactly.

And that's

opposed to the

normative principle

of worship.

The normative

says that anything

that scripture

doesn't explicitly

prohibit,

you are allowed

to do.

So I use the

example,

right,

maybe you could

have a magic

show.

Scripture doesn't

talk about that.

Maybe you could

have a magic

show or maybe

you could have

a stand-up

comedy set.

This doesn't

say anything

about that,

so that could

be allowed.

So he becomes

very convinced

of the

regulative

principle of

worship,

which is the

hallmark of

really the

reformed

tradition.

So influenced

by Bootser,

later on in

Calvin's ministry,

he particularly

adopts,

and we talked

about this too

with Zwingli,

he adopts

the instrument

list,

the acapella

singing of

the psalms

only.

So no

guitars,

no amps,

no nothing,

just voices,

and just

the psalms.

And if I'm

honest,

I do confess

to you that

when I think

about that

kind of worship,

some words

that come to

mind are

boring,

sleepy,

I don't know,

those things,

right?

But nothing

is further

from the

truth about

the worship

that happens

in Calvin's

church.

Some visitors

joined the

service one

time,

and they

note how

shocked they

are,

how energetic,

how lively,

how passionate

these people

are in

singing worship.

Much of the

medieval Catholic

worship,

it was basically

being sung to,

right?

They have the

choirs,

they're the ones

who would sing

the worship,

and you just

sat there,

and you were

sung to.

But in Calvin's

church,

the roof is

practically popping

off because of

how loud,

how deafeningly

loud people are

at singing the

worship of their

God.

I've been to

some churches

where it's

deafeningly loud

because they

turn up the

amps like crazy,

I'm sure maybe

you know that,

and again,

maybe different

styles,

but I don't

know about you,

I'd rather be

in a church

where it's only

deafeningly loud

because the

people of

God are

singing worship

to him,

right?

And that's

what marks

and characterizes

Calvin's church.

Finally,

Bootser teaches

Calvin on the

necessity of

practicing church

discipline,

church discipline

being the

practice of

correcting,

restoring erring

members in

repentance to

protect the

holiness,

the witness of

the church,

and follows

biblical patterns

like Matthew

18,

1 Corinthians

5.

In particular,

Bootser impresses

on Calvin the

need to properly

fence the

Lord's table

to prevent

those who are

living in

egregious,

blatant sin,

unrepentant sin,

from partaking

of the elements.

And we're going

to see just how

that impacts

Luther a little

bit later.

So we talked

about Bootser.

Everything's going

just great for

Calvin until he

gets this letter,

and guess who

it is.

It's his

favorite people

on earth.

It's the city

councilors of

Geneva.

They're back

again.

And they're

desperate for

help because

in 1539,

this cardinal

of the Roman

Catholic Church,

Cardinal

Sattoletto,

he tries to

woo back

Geneva to the

Roman Catholic

Church.

He writes

that they have

abandoned the

one true church,

but we'll cut

you the slack.

You're going to

be completely

forgiven if you

just return.

If you join the

Catholic Church

again.

And he says,

look, particularly

at Pharrell,

look at Calvin.

They're false

teachers.

They're wolves

dressed in

sheep's clothing.

They have

misled you,

and look,

now, they have

abandoned you.

So the city

council and

desire to stay

reformed, they

search for help

to respond to

this letter.

They know that

they're not the

theologians.

They need help

writing a response.

They send help

to multiple

cities, but no

one comes to

their help until

they finally send

it to Strasburg.

Now, Calvin, I

think understandably

so, he's pretty

reluctant to help

these people out.

After all, again,

they drove him out

of the city, and

it's a bit of a

sour spot for

Calvin.

But by the

encouragement of

Bootster, he does

write the response

to Sattoletto.

And this reply

is widely

understood as

the most

succinct,

persuasive

treatise of

the Reformation.

It's a great

piece of work.

He not only

faithfully

exposits God's

word to

highlight key

reformational

ideas like

justification by

faith alone,

or sola

scriptura, or

the priesthood

of all believers,

all these things

that we've talked

about in the

past.

Most particularly

he highlights

our union

with Christ.

But he

expands the

argument to

say that

Rome, you

call us the

theological

innovators, but

it is actually

you who have

strayed away.

We stand in

line with the

apostolic teacher.

We stand on the

shoulders of the

church fathers.

You're not

following the

Bible.

So this

tour de force

of a letter,

it gets Calvin

back on the

radar for the

city councilors,

and they

realize they

made a mistake.

They write to

beg Calvin to

come back.

Again, Calvin

wants no part of

Geneva whatsoever,

but Bootser,

Pharrell,

the classic

people who

keep telling

him to do

things he

doesn't want

to do,

they eventually

convince Calvin

to return,

to serve the

needy people

there.

And Geneva

is where the

rest of his

ministry will

play out.

when he

returns to

Geneva after

three years

in 1541,

he famously,

he steps up

to preach at

St.

Pierre,

and what

does he do?

He simply

picks up right

where he left

off.

No, I

told you so.

No, you

were wrong to

drive me out.

Nothing like

that.

Just the next

passage.

If that's

not a

perfect

metaphor of

faithful,

patient,

enduring

pastoral

ministry,

I'm not

sure what

it is.

Kevin

Dillon, he

talks about

this.

You threaten

my life,

what do you

get?

You're going

to get the

next passage.

You threaten

to disown

me to raid

my house,

what are you

going to

get?

You're going

to get the

next passage.

That's the

kind of man

that he is.

And that's

the kind of

faithful ministry

that pastors

should strive

for.

You attack

me, what are

you going to

get?

You're going

to get the

next message,

my best

message the

very next

Sunday.

Following the

pattern started

from Zwingli,

he preached

Lectio Continua,

which we talked

about is just

preaching expositionly,

preaching through

the books of the

Bible, chapter by

chapter, verse by

verse.

He preached

often.

He preached

twice on Sundays

and every single

day of the week,

every other week.

never with the

manuscripts, Calvin

would steep himself

in the text in his

preparation and then

he'd just get up and

he'd preach.

His practice was

typically to preach on

Sundays in the New

Testament and then

through the rest of

the week, preach in

the Old Testament so

that his congregation

would receive a

balanced diet.

We have over 2,500

sermon manuscripts

that listeners, they

heard the sermon

that they would

transcribe and some

of which are still

being translated to

this day.

His preaching was

earnest, forceful.

One example, he

preaches through the

book of Ephesians and

during one sermon he

literally pops a blood

vessel because of how

forcefully he's trying

to preach.

And the frequency and

the volume of his

preaching is just the

tip of the iceberg of

the sheer output of

this man.

This man is

incredible.

In his short life, he

does the work that

honestly it would

require us probably

two or three

lifetimes to

accomplish.

Frankly, he writes

more than probably

most of us will ever

read in our entire

lives.

About 35 volumes of

correspondences of

letters in which

people wrote to him

asking for pastoral

advice for certain

situations like that.

People asked him for

pastoral advice and he

was never too busy to

answer them.

In our modern day

context, I think his

email inbox was

perfectly pristine.

He read everything,

replied to everything.

He writes catechisms,

tracts, confessions of

faith, ecclesiastical

documents, liturgies,

treatises.

He writes more than

50 commentaries

covering more than 70%

of all the Bible.

He writes about three

fourths, covers about

three fourths of the

Bible.

And he, again, goes

through them verse by

verse.

These commentaries, even

though they're more than

500 years old, they're

honestly still gold for

modern preachers and

pastors.

There are some things

that Calvin can argue

and elucidate more

clearly than any modern

commentator can do.

And that was his goal,

right?

Unlike other contemporaries

who use commentaries for

these lengthy, heady,

doctrinal digressions,

his simple goal was, in

his commentaries, clarity

and lucid, clarity and

brevity.

And it's really those two

aspects that allow these

commentators or comment,

commentaries to penetrate

our minds, the minds of the

readers.

Later, Jacob Arminius,

if you know the term

Arminianism, famously it's

put against Calvinism,

Arminianism, the clash,

right?

The founder, essentially, of

Arminianism, hear what he

has to say about Calvin.

He recommends the

commentaries, saying,

after the reading of

scripture, I recommend that

the commentaries of Calvin

be read.

For I affirm that in the

interpretation of

scripture, Calvin is

incomparable, and that his

commentaries are more to

be valued than anything

that is handed down to us

in the writings of the

fathers.

Very, very high praise from

someone who disagreed with

him, very starkly.

Here's another historian.

Calvin was an exegetical

genius of the first order.

His commentaries are

unsurpassed for their

originality, depth, clarity,

and soundness.

Calvin was king, king of the

commentators.

There, if you read through

them, he actually is

surprisingly unashamed to

admit as well when he

simply just doesn't know the

answer to a tough question.

I think that's so encouraging

for me to see his humility.

And he doesn't let perfection

come in the way of progress.

And he continues to track on

chapter by chapter, verse by

verse.

And finally, you can't speak

about Calvin and his work

without mentioning the

aforementioned 1,800-page

magisterial tome of the

Institutes.

And it's by far Calvin's

greatest achievement.

And he takes the classical

insights of the Reformation and

he gives them a clear

systematic exposition, which

neither Luther nor Zwingli

was able to do.

And so that's why people call

him the architect of the

Reformation.

So Martin Lloyd-Jones,

faithful pastor, he writes

this,

Luther was a volcano,

spewing out ideas in all

directions without form or

systems.

But ideas cannot live and last

without a body.

And the great need for the

Reformation was a theologian,

a systematic thinker.

And he goes as far as to say

that there was a very good

chance that the Reformation

would have died out by the end

of the 16th century if it

weren't for Calvin.

And the reality is that there's

a very good chance that all of

us then, without Calvin, would

be Catholic.

Catholic?

Right?

When Calvin comes on the

scene, he particularly, he

inherits a tradition and a

theology that's marked by two

decades of controversy, of

infighting.

Another historian, Caspar

Schweckfield, he says this,

the Papists damn the

Lutherans, the Lutherans

damn the Zwinglians, the

Zwinglians damn the

Anabaptists, and the

Anabaptists damn all the

others.

During Calvin's lifetime, at

that precise moment, Zwingli

had died, Luther was dormant,

the Roman Catholic Church was

resurgent, and the Anabaptists

were fragmented.

With the Institutes, Calvin

emerges as the new leader of

the Reformation and the

reformulator of a new

theology.

I talked at the beginning of

the class in week one about

how we should strive to

incorporate in our reading

diet old books by dead

people.

And I think the Institutes

is a great, great first

option because it's a very

pastoral work.

It's not just dry, heady

theological material.

Right?

In some particular sections,

especially on ones like

prayer, you really see

Luther's pastoral, or

Luther, Calvin's pastoral

heart come out.

Some have read through the

Institutes even devotionally.

And if you're interested in

reading it, I kind of feel

ashamed talking about it

like this because I've never

actually finished reading it,

but I love if you guys want to

read it with me.

This is pretty much the gold

standard of the Institutes.

It's obviously translated in

English.

This copy by John

Macnell, Sean bought it for me,

or the church bought it for me.

Yeah, it's long.

This is actually just one of two,

so there's another entire book

to it as well.

But there are some reading

plans that people have come up

with where you just have to

read 15 minutes a day.

15 minutes a day for a year,

and that you can get through

the entire thing.

And I think it's a great way to

sink your teeth into some old

books by dead people.

And if you want to read one,

this is probably one of the best.

Talk about it a little bit.

Calvin talks or covers such a wide

breadth of material from faith and

salvation to the local church,

from prayer to the sacraments.

So I couldn't possibly cover all

that Calvin says.

But just some really,

really brief highlights.

It opens with one of the most

famous openings of any theological

work.

He writes this,

Nearly all the wisdom we possess

consists of two parts,

knowledge of God and knowledge of

self.

And he says that those are

intertwined, right?

That's his genius immediately on

display.

You cannot have one without the

other.

You can't truly know yourself,

who you are as a finite creature,

without knowing the true and

living God.

And on the flip side,

you can't really know God unless

you actually see yourself for who

you are.

A creature,

a sinful creature at that,

right?

And living in total dependence on

him,

right?

Most of the theological works at

that time,

it tended to separate theology

proper,

the study of God,

and anthropology,

the study of man.

It tended to separate those two.

But Luther's genius is,

again,

to see that they are totally

intertwined.

And I think that's helpful.

Again,

you read through these old books

and you'll find that these things

apply to us in our day,

our day and age,

right?

Because you hear commonly the

language of self-discovery,

of self-actualization,

that people are saying,

you need to search within yourself.

You need to go travel and go

backpacking,

I don't know,

go meditating.

And if you search within yourself,

then you can find out who you

really are.

Luther would strongly push back on

that kind of talk,

saying that it's not by searching

internally do you find out who you

are,

but it's externally.

It's by seeing who God truly is

and all this splendor,

then you understand who you are,

right?

Next,

he talks about how Scripture is the

Word of God.

He highlights key doctrine of

Scripture,

like it's clarity,

veracity,

sufficiency.

Don't have time to get into that.

But one particular note about

the Scriptures is he asks,

how do we know that the Scriptures

are the Word of God?

And Calvin,

he argues that it really is by

the Holy Spirit alone,

the author of the Scriptures.

He is the one who convinces us

and it authenticates the Scriptures

to us that this truly is

the inerrant,

infallible Word of God,

right?

So we don't know and believe

the Bible is truth.

It's full of truth by subjecting it

to actually outside external

tests and measures.

We ultimately know

it is the Word of God

by the ministry,

the internal ministry

of the Holy Spirit himself.

And of course,

I'd be remiss if we didn't mention

the doctrines of grace,

topics like predestination,

election.

It's what Calvin is often

most known for,

but it's, number one,

hardly original.

At this point of church history,

Augustine,

Thomas Aquinas,

Luther,

Zwingli,

they all believed

and affirmed in election.

And it's also hardly all

that Calvin talks about,

right?

We talked about the different

editions of the Institutes.

In the first edition,

he doesn't even talk

about it at all.

And I mentioned that

he writes catechisms

in one 350-question catechism,

350 questions.

Not a single one

is about predestination.

That being said,

it's still such an important part

of Calvin's theology,

right?

Because I think it ultimately

flows from Calvin's

majestic view of God,

his big view of God,

and his small view of man.

He sees that God

is the first cause

and the last end

of all things.

He holds to a

monergistic soteriology,

big words,

but what it basically means

that monergistic

means essentially

one working,

because he held

that God alone,

he alone is the

effective cause

of our salvation,

of our regeneration.

And that's opposed

to a synergism,

where that belief

is that salvation

is a cooperative act

between God and man.

That man essentially

needs to supply something

from himself

to be able to be saved.

Because of texts

like Ephesians 2,

John 6,

Romans 9,

Calvin also taught

that sinners

are spiritually dead,

right?

They have no motion,

no function,

unable to cooperate

at all

with their salvation.

But only by the mercy

of God,

through the definite

and effectual atonement

at the cross,

Christ pays for the sins

of those he saves.

And by that atonement,

then he effectively

calls somebody.

And when he calls,

when his words

leave his mouth,

they never return empty.

So when he calls,

nobody can resist him.

And by that call,

he breathes life

into new souls,

resurrects us

to new life,

and that promise

of salvation

then leads,

this is the only basis

on which we can have

the total assurance

of pardon,

the total assurance

of salvation,

that God will be faithful

to his promise

because he can never

renege on his promises

and that we can trust

that he will hold us fast.

Do you guys know that song,

He Will Hold Us Fast?

Really,

you can't sing that song

fully

if you don't hold on

to a Calvinistic theology.

The common pushback

against Calvin

and the doctrines of grace

is the problem of hell.

It's a fair question.

It's a tough question.

If God is sovereign,

how is it right,

fair,

that any is sent to hell?

Calvin would follow

the Apostle Paul

in Romans 9

simply just saying,

who are you

as the pottery

to speak back

to the potter?

He has the right

to decide

what he will

with his pottery.

And I think it's,

it could be helpful

to also diagram,

hopefully you guys

can see this,

in particular,

how God treats,

can you guys see that?

He treats the two parties.

He has the elect,

he has the non-elect.

The elects,

he, of course,

saves,

and the non-elect,

he gives up

to their sin.

Why it's helpful

to diagram this,

diagram this,

is in particular,

you can see the asymmetry

in how he deals with them,

right?

So for the elect,

what does God give them?

He gives them

what they don't deserve.

He gives them grace.

He gives them grace.

Whereas the non-elect,

what does he give them?

He gives them

what they do deserve.

So there's a difference

in how he treats

these two parties.

Maybe another way

to frame that is,

in particular,

the elect,

God has to actively

step into their lives

and turn them to him.

Because they're on their path,

we're all once on the path

away from them,

right?

So he has to step in

and turn them to him.

Whereas for the non-elect,

it's not that God

has to do the same thing.

He has to step in

and turn,

they're running towards him

and that he actually

turns them away.

It's not like that,

right?

They're already

on their way to hell.

They're already

on their path.

And in the language

of Romans 1,

he simply gives them up

to their sins,

the lusts of their heart.

So there's an asymmetry

between the way

that he speaks

about these two groups.

Sometimes you hear

that also the accusation

that Calvinists,

they don't care

about evangelism.

They don't care

about missions

because, you know,

they just chalk it up

to God's sovereignty.

I think that's not only

a misunderstanding

of Calvinistic theology,

but I think it's also

a failure to account

for historical examples

in church history, right?

Not only are the founders

of the modern mission movement

like William Carey,

Adam Judson,

or Hudson Taylor,

all Calvinists,

Calvinists.

But we find examples

in Calvin himself.

So when Calvin returns

to Geneva,

the city became

something like

the missionary capital

of the Reformed world.

So Calvin,

he's so insightful.

He sees that this movement

is only going to continue on

if he trains pastors.

And so he sees it

as part of his ministry

to raise up other elders,

other leaders.

So he sets up Geneva College,

Geneva College,

where thousands

of Protestant refugees

flow to be trained

in the gospel

and then ultimately

to be sent back.

And it has a famous moniker,

a famous moniker

of being called

the School of Death.

Because why?

Because so many

of its graduates

would be then sent out,

fully knowing that

if they were to preach

the Protestant message,

that it could be

their very life

on their lines.

Calvin in particular,

he has a soft spot

for it seems like

the nation of France

because he's French, right?

So he sends

at least 88 pastors

back to France.

And these pastors,

they have an extraordinary

impact for the Reformation,

for the gospel.

Around 1555,

there were only a handful

of organized,

reformed churches

in France.

Just a handful.

By Calvin's death,

nine years later,

in 1564,

there were roughly

2,000 churches

and perhaps

one to two million

congregants

in those churches.

And most notably,

Calvin is also interested,

very heavily interested

in global missions

outside of Europe.

He sends out

the first Protestant missionaries

to the nation of Brazil

in 1556.

That mission ultimately fails

because of persecution,

internal conflict,

but it still demonstrates

nonetheless

that Calvin's vision,

he had a vision

beyond Europe

and he had a missionary's heart.

That was his goal.

Coming up on the end,

some challenges

to the ministry.

So hopefully,

you've seen so far

just how hard

this man works.

And honestly,

he probably works harder

than he should.

It's known that Calvin

regularly burns

the midnight oil,

working day and night,

tirelessly,

reading,

writing,

counseling,

studying,

thinking,

with basically

no breaks in between.

And why I say that

is because it certainly

didn't help

with his continuous

health problems.

Even from a very young age,

Calvin struggled mightily