“Expository preaching consists in the explanation and application of a passage of Scripture. Without explanation it is not expository; without application it is not preaching.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 79
Shared Responsibility
“It follow that the congregation no less than the preacher have a responsibility towards what is taught . . . They, no less than the preacher, have a duty to see to it, so far as they can, that the message of the Bible shall alone be heard in their pulpit (for the pulpit is the pulpit of the whole Church, not merely of one member, the preacher.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 51
Sitting Silently in Rows
“The assumption seems to be that, whereas the preacher is really doing something, the people have a passive role, like so many jugs waiting to be filled.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 48
The Preacher as First Listener
“They should consider that in the sermon God rules his Church by declaring his will . . . Their representative and leader, the preacher, has been the first to submit completely and unconditionally to the message of Holy Scripture. They can do no less when that message is passed on to them.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 49
As They Often Are in the Sermon as Well
“Now, it is a strange fact that, although there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of books written about the preacher, the hearers have been largely neglected.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 48
The Actual Point
“The preacher’s purpose is directed first of all towards God. He preaches in order that God may be glorified. The very act of declaring the Gospel is a praising and exalting of God in his mighty acts.”
Parker, Calvin’s Preaching, p. 46
And That on the High End
“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