Calvin As An Experiential Preacher -- By: Joel R. Beeke

Journal: Puritan Reformed Journal
Volume: PRJ 01:2 (Jul 2009)
Article: Calvin As An Experiential Preacher
Author: Joel R. Beeke


Calvin As An Experiential Preacher

Joel R. Beeke

John Calvin embraced a high view of preaching. He called the preaching office “the most excellent of all things,” commended by God that it might be held in the highest esteem. “There is nothing more notable or glorious in the church than the ministry of the gospel,” he concluded.1 In commenting on Isaiah 55:11, he says, “The Word goeth out of the mouth of God in such a manner that it likewise goeth out of the mouth of men; for God does not speak openly from heaven but employs men as his instruments.”2

Calvin viewed preaching as God’s normal means of salvation and benediction. He said that the Holy Spirit is the “internal minister” who uses the “external minister” in preaching the Word. The external minister “holds forth the vocal word and it is received by the ears,” but the internal minister “truly communicates the thing proclaimed [which] is Christ.”3 Thus, God Himself speaks through the mouth of His servants by His Spirit. “Wherever the gospel is preached, it is as if God himself came into the midst of us,” Calvin wrote.4 Preaching is the instrument and the authority that the Spirit uses in His saving work of illuminating, converting, and sealing sinners. “There is…an inward efficacy of the Holy Spirit when he sheds forth his power upon hearers, that they may embrace a discourse [sermon] by faith.”5

Calvin taught that the preached Word and the inner testimony of the Spirit should be distinguished but cannot be separated. Word and

Spirit are joined together organically; without the Spirit, the preached Word only adds to the condemnation of unbelievers. On the other hand, Calvin admonished the radicals who accented the Spirit at the expense of the Word, saying that only the spirit of Satan separates itself from the Word.6

This stress on preaching moved Calvin to be active on several fronts in Geneva. First, he showed his convictions through his own example. Calvin preached from the New Testament on Sunday mornings, the Psalms on Sunday afternoons, and the Old Testament at 6:00 a.m. on one or two weekdays. Following this schedule during his last stay in Geneva from 1541 to 1564, Calvin preached nearly four thousand sermons, more than 170 sermons a year. On his deathbed, he spoke of his preaching as more significant than ...

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