“In time the amorphous aim will dwindle until neither truth nor personality remain and the sermon will become what it all too often is today, the third-rate conveyance of fourth-rate opinions.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 45
Dereliction, Not Humility
“A proper humility before God and modesty concerning himself and his capabilities are not to hinder the preacher from the bold assertion of the authority of the message he has to deliver. Indeed, it is a dereliction of his duty if he does not claim that authority.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 44
So Turn the Key
“The Reformers all interpreted the power of the keys as the Church’s preaching.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 43
How God Extends the Scepter
“This is why Calvin calls the pulpit the throne of God: voila the pulpit, which is the throne (le siege) of God, from which he wills to govern our souls.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 42
God and Governments
Sermon Video Introduction: Consistent Christians are not anarchists or scofflaws. We are gathered together today in this particular way precisely because we are not scofflaws. Every Christian ...
Calvin on Courage
“The preacher needs courage — not courage to believe but courage to proclaim the truth, however unpalatable, and to rebuke where rebukes are necessary. It is inevitable that he will arouse opposition. ‘They that intend to serve God faithfully and to proclaim his Word will never lack enemies.’”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 40
In Three Places
“It would be better for him to break his neck going up into the pulpit if he does not take pains to be the first to follow God.”
Calvin, in Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 40
Humble Authority
“The qualifications of a preacher, according to Calvin, arise out of this single-minded, single-hearted adherence to Scripture. The first is humility, and that in two senses. Faith, or trust, in Scripture implies submission . . . And what is submitted to inwardly is also treated as sovereign in the pulpit.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 39
Reason is Finite, Not Incoherent
“Reason, that necessary guide in things earthly, is out of its depth in the realm of revelation and must submit to the infinite superiority of God’s wisdom.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 38
Stand at the Source
“Correspondingly, the preacher is the servant of that message. As preacher he is committed completely to the Bible.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 35