The Calvin You Haven’t Read

John Calvin died in 1564. His works have been continually read since his death. What more can we learn from his sermons at this point in history?

A recent collection of sermons, translated into English for the first time, helps us answer that question. In the Power of the Spirit: Sermons on Matthew, Mark & Luke is replete with instruction and wisdom for modern readers. Roger White, who has translated several of Calvin’s works for the Banner of Truth, relied on the 1562 French text to produce this collection on the beginning of Christ’s earthly ministry. In these 18 sermons, Calvin ingeniously harmonizes the Synoptic Gospels as he preaches on their doctrine and practical application.

These sermons are new material for today’s readers, but they serve to remind us of ancient truths every generation needs. From the opening sermon, Calvin celebrates the beauty of the gospel message. He writes, “For what are we to think when, as our Lord Jesus Christ was being crucified, his side was laid open, as if to reveal his very heart? Should we be neither moved nor touched when our Lord invites us so winningly to himself and gives us such a pledge of his love?” (8–9). The sermons are worth reading simply to behold this affection for the gospel. Yet readers can also see how Calvin applied the gospel in his context, especially as he instructed about preaching the Word and explored spiritual applications for the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

Preparing and Proclaiming

Calvin’s sermons show how important the Bible was for sapling churches maturing as Reformed orthodoxy took root in Protestant soil. Calvin emphasizes two distinctives in how the Bible is preached: how church members ought to receive the Word and how preachers ought to deliver it.

According to Calvin, church members should actively prepare to receive the Word: “Whenever we come to church, we must have these two things in view: first, we must cast aside all earthly worries and concerns, all empty desires and other such things which stop us drawing near to God; second, we must feel such deep reverence for what we know comes from God that we receive and accept it without dissent, and that we allow him to place his yoke upon our necks, being ready and willing to bend beneath its weight” (166).

In Geneva, the Sunday sermon and weekly lecture were meant to be high points of the week for believers, essential to their spiritual growth. So should it be for us. Sitting under preaching includes preparing to receive nourishment from Scripture and prayerfully considering its application.

Sitting under preaching includes preparing to receive nourishment from Scripture and prayerfully considering its application.

Yet the sermon was meant to be more than instruction. Calvin expects the preacher to place the gospel front and center before the congregation. He emphasizes the evangelistic purpose of preaching: “The gospel is not preached in order to terrify people, but to soothe their sorrow and to call them to Jesus Christ, so that they receive healing from him if they are sick and quickening for their souls, dead though they are” (244). Calvin not only declares these truths but demonstrates them in his preaching. By doing so, he calls preachers to consider their tone as much as their message—all for the sake of making Christ preeminent among God’s people.

Spiritual Signs

Calvin also addresses baptism and the Lord’s Supper. Most of our contemporary debates are about the mode of baptism and the exegesis of specific passages in support of a particular view. Yet in these sermons, Calvin is much more interested in the ordinance’s spiritual significance.

The baptismal water has no power but is a visible sign of God’s work, according to Calvin. However, he argues that “our Lord Jesus Christ is its true substance, its fulfillment and its end, so that the sign is neither empty nor unavailing” (71). As a Reformed Baptist pastor, I heartily agree.

Concerning the Supper’s spiritual significance, Calvin writes with a polemical edge: “All we see is the wine, yet Jesus Christ affirms that we receive, and share in, the blood he shed for our redemption. Of course, the bread and wine are not our Lord’s body and blood, as the papists foolishly imagine; but he did not bring us empty symbols in order to entertain us, as if some comedy were being acted on a stage” (189). The significance comes from Christ’s spiritual presence, not from a transformation of the elements.

Thus, the Supper is a call to rejoice because the elements are signs of our redemption. As Calvin declares, “When Jesus gives himself to us to be our food, and when by these symbols he shows that he both nurtures and brings us to maturity, he seeks to assure us that all his benefits are also bestowed on us. He does not come to us naked and empty-handed, nor does he come poor” (190). Calvin thus reminds us how beautiful the Supper is, calling us to come to the table with joyous zeal.

Contemporary Communication

Though they come from 16th-century Geneva, these sermons speak to the modern church. Each generation in the pew needs to hear again the spiritual power of the preached Word, of baptism, and of the Lord’s Supper. Today’s readers find reminders of our Lord’s nourishment despite spiritual famine. We find encouragement through Christ’s compassion to persevere by defying of Satan and dispelling of anxious thoughts. These evergreen truths compel us to a salvation that “did not reach us by accident” (76). Geneva needed to hear these truths, and so do our churches.

Each generation in the pew needs to hear again the spiritual power of the preached Word, of baptism, and of the Lord’s Supper.

Calvin scholars will appreciate In the Power of the Spirit because it presents new material for study in English. Pastors will benefit from this collection as they see Calvin take the Reformation’s inheritance and apply it to the local church. His challenge remains: “Supposing we have understood the whole of Scripture, what good will it be to us if we merely read it but cannot apply it for our use or instruction?” (126).

Much is still to be gleaned at the feet of this famous reformer as he draws our attention once again to the beauty of the gospel. This sermon collection will strengthen and stir the hearts of those who love church history and delight in the good news of Christ.