Preface – “…sad to say, we live in a generation that has compromised this sacred calling to preach. Exposition is being replaced with entertainment, preaching with performance, doctrine with drama, and theology with theatrics.” (p. XI)
“The greatest season of church history---those eras of widespread reformation and great awakening---have been those epochs in which God-fearing men took the inspired Word and unashamedly preached it in the power of the Holy Spirit.” (p. XII)
“By overwhelming consent, he [John Calvin] remains the greatest biblical commentator of all time.” (p. 4)
“…when John was 14, he entered the University of Paris to study theology in formal preparation to become a priest. Calvin’s time at the university resulted in a master of arts degree at age 17.” (p. 6)
“Frail in stature, Calvin suffered many ailments.” (p. 15)
Calvin permitted only the Word of God, the Psalms to be sung in his church. (p. 23)
“Calvin’s deeply embedded convictions about the supreme authority of the Bible demanded an elevated view of the pulpit.” (p. 24)
“This commitment to the undisputed authority of the Bible compelled him to preach verse by verse through entire books of the Bible.” (p. 24)
“It is the expositor’s task, he believed, to bring the supreme authority of the divine Word to bear directly on his listeners.” (p. 26)
Calvin wrote, “God will have His church trained up by the pure preaching of His own Word, not by the contrivances of men [which are wood, hay and stubble].” (p. 30)
“As a faithful shepherd, he fed his congregation a steady diet of sequential expository messages.” (p. 32)
“This verse-by-verse style---lectio continua, the ‘continuous expositions’---guaranteed that Calvin would preach the full counsel of God. Difficult and controversial subjects were unavoidable. Hard sayings could not be skipped. Difficult doctrines could not be overlooked. The full counsel of God could be heard.” (p. 32)
“Whether the biblical book was long and extensive…or brief and short…Calvin was determined to preach every verse.” (p. 34)
“In Calvin’s words, preaching is ‘the living voice’ of God ‘in His church.’”(p. 35)
”In all of life, one supreme passion consumed John Calvin: the glory of God.” (p. 39)
“…this commitment to God’s glory heavily influenced Calvin’ biblical exegesis. When he studied, it was to behold the majesty of God.” (p. 40)
“The pastor, he wrote, “ought to be prepared by long study for giving to the people, as out of a storehouse, a variety of instruction concerning the Word of God.” (p. 41)
Calvin’s personal motto was, “My heart I give to thee, O Lord, promptly and sincerely.”
(p. 44)
“Two things are united,” he confessed, “teaching and prayer; God would have him whom He has set as a teacher in His church to be assiduous in prayer.” (p. 44)
Calvin “… preached no less than ten times a fortnight to the same congregation.” (p. 46)
“Calvin was not a silver tongued orator, but a Bible-teaching expositor.” (p. 55).
“When Calvin stepped into the pulpit, he did not bring a manuscript of his sermon with him.” (p. 57)
“Calvin believed spontaneous preaching helped yield a ‘lively’ delivery, one marked by energy and passion.” (p. 58)
“In Bible exposition, substance is to be desired above style, and doctrine before delivery.” (p. 65)
“Calvin is the founder of the modern grammatico-historical exegesis.” (p. 69)
“…Calvin insisted on sensus literalis, the literal sense of the biblical text. He rejected the medieval quadriga, the ancient interpretation scheme that allowed for literal, moral, allegorical, and analogical meaning of a text.” “The true meaning of Scripture is the natural and obvious meaning.” (p. 71)
“When Calvin protested against allegorizing, he was protesting not against finding a spiritual meaning in a passage, but against finding one that was not there.” (p 72)
Calvin declared, “I have felt nothing more important than a literal interpretation of the biblical text. (p. 72)
“Calvin’s purpose in preaching was to render transparent the text of Scripture itself.” (p. 73)
“Calvin used cross-references sparingly. It appears that he desired not to wander unnecessarily from the primary passage that lay open before him.” (p. 73)
In Calvin’s preaching, two kind of cross-referencing are evident. In the first, Calvin cited a passage without attempting to quote it verbatim. (p. 73) “On other occasions, Calvin directly quoted verses or passages, either by reading them, reciting them from memory or paraphrasing them.” (p. 74)
“Throughout his ministry, Calvin kept his preaching singularly focused on explaining the God-intended meaning of the biblical text.” (p. 79)
“While there is only one correct meaning to a passage, there are multiple ways of conveying that meaning in a sermon. This difference accounts for the art of preaching.” (p. 84)
“The Reformer [Calvin] wrote his first book in Latin and preached in his native French from either a Hebrew or Greek Bible.” (p. 85)
“Calvin also spoke in simple sentences that were easily accessible to his listeners.” “As he preached, Calvin’s towering intellect nearly always lay ‘concealed, behind [his] deceptively simple explanations of his author’s meaning.’” (p. 87)
“Calvin will never speak the original Greek word and will rarely refer to ‘the Greek.’” (p.88)
“Another means Calvin employed to explain a biblical text was to restate a verse in alternative words. He would adopt a different sentenced structure and use synonyms.” (p. 88)
“Calvin’s signature formula to introduce a restatement was ‘It is as if he were saying…’” or “in other words…” (p. 93)
“He showed little concern to supplement his exposition with quotations from other authors. For Calvin, nothing must overshadow the Word.” (p. 96).
“Philip Schaff…notes, “[Calvin] lacked the genial element of humor and pleasantry; he was a Christian stoic: stern, severe, unbending, yet with fires of passion and affection glowing beneath the marble surface;.” (p. 99)
“He was by nature and taste a retiring scholar, but Providence made him an organizer and ruler of churches.” (p. 99)
“Calvin rightly believed that he did not need to make the Bible relevant---it was relevant.” (p. 104)
Calvin wrote, “We have not come to the preaching merely to hear what we do not know, but to be incited to do our duty.” (p. 104)
“He preached primarily to edify and encourage the congregation God had entrusted to him. In short, he preached for changed lives.” (p. 104 -105)
“Calvin was never needlessly harsh or domineering with his own congregation.” (p. 105)
“Calvin often utilized first person plural pronouns-- ‘us’ and ‘we’--as he exhorted his congregation.” (p. 106)
“…Calvin was a master of the art of pastoral exhortation with inclusive language.” (p. 106)
“Without a doubt, loving admonishment and reproof were a part of Calvin’s preaching.”
“All true exposition of Scripture must include such correction.” (p. 112)
”For Calvin, preaching also required an apologetic defense of the faith.” “In Calvin’s view, the full weight of Scripture must be brought to bear against theological error, whether inside the organized church or outside it.” ( p. 112)
“At the heart of this practice was a holy compulsion to guard the glory of God, defend Christ’s matchless character, and protect the purity of the gospel.” (p. 112)
“Calvin took every opportunity to uphold sound doctrine and to refute any and all contradictions to it. He was a staunch guardian of the truth.” (p. 115)
“Calvin’s expositions were approximately one hour in length, some six thousand words each.” (p. 120)
“In the conclusion of each sermon, Calvin first gave a short summation of the truth he had exposited. He then passionately called for his hearers’ unqualified submission to the Lord.” (p. 120)
“Finally, he concluded with public prayer, committing his flock into the sovereign hands of the Lord.” (p. 120)
“These concluding prayers were vertical in their thrust, pointing his listeners upward to God.” (p. 126)
“This was the passion of Calvin’s preaching. Start to finish, it was soli Deo Gloria—for the honor and majesty of God alone.” (p. 129)
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