1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,800 For those of you visiting with us this morning, 2 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:04,140 or if you're newer to Oak Hill in the last year, 3 00:00:04,180 --> 00:00:06,740 let me explain what today is all about. 4 00:00:06,780 --> 00:00:10,240 Every late October, we take time out from our regular 5 00:00:10,280 --> 00:00:15,020 expository preaching schedule to look back at some aspect 6 00:00:15,060 --> 00:00:17,020 of the Protestant Reformation. 7 00:00:17,060 --> 00:00:18,620 Now, why do we do that? 8 00:00:18,660 --> 00:00:22,960 Because the Reformation is a key part of our spiritual heritage. 9 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:26,060 In fact, most of what you hear taught from this pulpit week 10 00:00:26,100 --> 00:00:29,640 after week can be found among the teachings of the reformers 11 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:31,480 in the 16th century. 12 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:34,020 So our goal this morning is to grow in our knowledge of church 13 00:00:34,060 --> 00:00:38,020 history, but also grow in our understanding of the development 14 00:00:38,060 --> 00:00:41,160 of theology over the last five centuries. 15 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:43,620 And as we do this type of study, we get to do two things. 16 00:00:43,660 --> 00:00:47,760 First, we celebrate God's faithfulness to His church. 17 00:00:47,800 --> 00:00:49,900 We have to say that right out of the gate, 18 00:00:49,940 --> 00:00:52,740 remembering how some 500 years ago, 19 00:00:52,780 --> 00:00:58,400 He brought His church back to its foundations in the Word. 20 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:00,840 And then second, we get to highlight particular servants 21 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:04,980 that God sovereignly used to spark critical movements, 22 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:06,980 which brought about the corrections 23 00:01:07,020 --> 00:01:09,120 that needed to take place. 24 00:01:09,140 --> 00:01:12,220 And so the reason this matters to us here at Oak Hill 25 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:14,460 is we are the beneficiaries of all of the work 26 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:17,980 that these faithful servants engaged in. 27 00:01:18,020 --> 00:01:20,620 At great risk to their own lives, they fought against it, 28 00:01:20,660 --> 00:01:24,700 overcame the entire weight and power of the medieval Roman 29 00:01:24,700 --> 00:01:28,840 Catholic system so that we can be here this morning and worship 30 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:31,540 freely and preach the truth from Scripture. 31 00:01:31,580 --> 00:01:33,820 So we owe them a lot, but most importantly, 32 00:01:33,860 --> 00:01:36,860 we owe the Lord for what He has done. 33 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:38,620 Now why have we chosen late October? 34 00:01:38,660 --> 00:01:42,060 Well, the original spark that lit the fire of reformation 35 00:01:42,100 --> 00:01:45,500 in Europe took place on what day? 36 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:50,200 October 31st became known as All Saints Day, 37 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,840 All Hallows Eve, which then turned into the modern day 38 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:55,140 Halloween. 39 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:57,500 But first and foremost, it is Reformation Day. 40 00:01:57,540 --> 00:01:59,700 That was the day that Martin Luther, 41 00:01:59,740 --> 00:02:01,500 who lived in Wittenberg, Germany, 42 00:02:01,540 --> 00:02:05,780 went to Castle Church and nailed this very famous document 43 00:02:05,820 --> 00:02:09,480 known as the 95 Theses to the door of the church, 44 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:13,060 proposing that the local population begin 45 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:16,460 to debate a number of things that were coming out of Rome 46 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:20,800 that he deemed were spiritually wrong and abusive. 47 00:02:20,820 --> 00:02:23,200 Now this year, we're taking two Sundays 48 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:26,640 to celebrate the Reformation by covering the life of the 49 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,080 reformer that we most align with here at Oak Hill. 50 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:33,520 As much as we admire the courage and the tenacity of Luther 51 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:35,880 and his life is definitely worth studying, 52 00:02:35,920 --> 00:02:38,260 we are not a Lutheran church. 53 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:40,800 The reformer we most align with is John Calvin. 54 00:02:40,820 --> 00:02:42,620 And today and next Sunday, we're going to weave our way 55 00:02:42,660 --> 00:02:47,000 through his remarkable life and talk about what he taught, 56 00:02:47,040 --> 00:02:50,800 talk about why it matters and the legacy that he left to us. 57 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:52,000 And along the way, I think you're 58 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:55,200 going to be surprised by what you think you know about the man 59 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:57,640 or what you think you know about his teaching. 60 00:02:57,660 --> 00:03:00,000 You might be surprised to find out that not everything 61 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:01,940 you read today is true. 62 00:03:01,980 --> 00:03:04,380 So let's begin our time and a historical study 63 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:07,120 as we should with what? 64 00:03:07,140 --> 00:03:09,320 Not just a map, but several maps. 65 00:03:09,340 --> 00:03:13,180 Okay, now normally I have maps up here of Israel, 66 00:03:13,220 --> 00:03:14,860 and we're somehow breaking that down. 67 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:17,160 This is a map, a blank map right now, 68 00:03:17,180 --> 00:03:19,820 well not quite blank, but blank as far as I'm concerned, 69 00:03:19,820 --> 00:03:24,260 of what Europe looked like in the year 1500. 70 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:26,520 Now I'm going to put some dots and squares on the map 71 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:31,060 so that you can get your boundaries set here. 72 00:03:31,100 --> 00:03:34,500 A couple important cities to note right out of the gate 73 00:03:34,540 --> 00:03:38,140 is left to right you have the blue square there is Paris, 74 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:40,200 the capital of France at the time. 75 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:44,380 Moving to the right in the pink there is Geneva. 76 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:46,240 Then you have of course on the bottom you have Rome, 77 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:49,320 the center of power of the Roman Catholic system, 78 00:03:49,320 --> 00:03:51,960 and that yellow square up there is Wittenberg, 79 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,100 that is where the original part of the Reformation, 80 00:03:55,140 --> 00:03:57,840 where Luther lived, where that broke out. 81 00:03:57,860 --> 00:04:01,000 Now as we look at this map, let's talk about the centers 82 00:04:01,040 --> 00:04:03,540 of Roman Catholic power at this time. 83 00:04:03,580 --> 00:04:06,280 And these are all the green dots, again moving left to right. 84 00:04:06,300 --> 00:04:08,640 In the bottom you have Spain and Portugal, 85 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:12,180 absolutely staunch Roman Catholic. 86 00:04:12,220 --> 00:04:14,420 You have up top you have Ireland, 87 00:04:14,460 --> 00:04:17,080 which at the time remained staunchly Catholic. 88 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:20,380 And France, France was one of the strongest proponents 89 00:04:20,420 --> 00:04:23,620 of Roman Catholicism during the life of Calvin. 90 00:04:23,660 --> 00:04:26,660 Then moving over of course we have Italy, that's a given. 91 00:04:26,700 --> 00:04:28,860 Italy was staunchly Catholic. 92 00:04:28,900 --> 00:04:31,800 Southern Germany, now Germany wasn't a nation yet, 93 00:04:31,820 --> 00:04:33,960 it's part of what's called the Holy Roman Empire, 94 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,060 but southern Germany remained Catholic. 95 00:04:36,100 --> 00:04:38,400 And then moving over there you had Poland. 96 00:04:38,440 --> 00:04:41,200 So that's where most of the power center 97 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:44,240 of Catholic system was located. 98 00:04:44,280 --> 00:04:46,720 In terms of Reformation, where was that breaking out? 99 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:50,300 Well, going up to the top we have Scotland with John Knox. 100 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:52,060 And below Scotland we have England, 101 00:04:52,100 --> 00:04:54,800 where King Henry VIII was doing his own thing, 102 00:04:54,840 --> 00:04:56,200 his own form of Reformation, 103 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:58,500 establishing the Church of England. 104 00:04:58,540 --> 00:05:01,900 Then you had the Netherlands, the Dutch Reformed Church, 105 00:05:01,940 --> 00:05:04,580 which the Netherlands at this point is not a nation either, 106 00:05:04,600 --> 00:05:06,420 it is under the control of Spain, 107 00:05:06,440 --> 00:05:09,940 and they will soon fight their own war of independence. 108 00:05:09,980 --> 00:05:13,520 Then we have the territory known today as Switzerland. 109 00:05:13,520 --> 00:05:18,880 Zwingli in Zurich, for example, had turned that city Protestant. 110 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:21,560 The northern territories of Germany, 111 00:05:21,580 --> 00:05:24,080 which is where Luther was at work, 112 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:26,460 and that spread north into the Scandinavian countries, 113 00:05:26,500 --> 00:05:30,220 Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, that was all Lutheran. 114 00:05:30,260 --> 00:05:33,040 And then finally you have Bohemia. 115 00:05:33,060 --> 00:05:35,460 You have Bohemia, which we call today the Czech Republic, 116 00:05:35,500 --> 00:05:38,160 that's where Jan Hus had done a lot of work 117 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:39,500 on the Protestant Reformation, 118 00:05:39,540 --> 00:05:42,240 and then further south into Hungary. 119 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:44,200 The land south of Hungary 120 00:05:44,240 --> 00:05:47,900 is part of the Ottoman Turkish Empire and is all Muslim. 121 00:05:47,940 --> 00:05:50,080 And they were constantly threatening Europe 122 00:05:50,100 --> 00:05:52,640 from that particular launch point, 123 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:54,780 and the Holy Roman Empire was constantly fighting 124 00:05:54,820 --> 00:05:56,720 against the Turks to hold them back. 125 00:05:56,740 --> 00:05:59,420 The land to the east of Poland and Hungary you see there 126 00:05:59,460 --> 00:06:02,420 was entirely Eastern Orthodox. 127 00:06:02,460 --> 00:06:04,960 So that is the battle lines that were drawn 128 00:06:04,980 --> 00:06:08,320 for the soul of Christianity back in the 16th century. 129 00:06:08,360 --> 00:06:12,000 Now, let's turn our attention to how Calvin fits into this story. 130 00:06:12,000 --> 00:06:14,740 So first of all, as we dive into his life, 131 00:06:14,780 --> 00:06:16,720 we should be reminded of what Calvin looked like, 132 00:06:16,740 --> 00:06:18,080 just so that you can understand. 133 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:22,020 This is probably the most famous etched portrait of him 134 00:06:22,060 --> 00:06:23,960 in his later years. 135 00:06:23,980 --> 00:06:27,060 Now, I find pictures like that difficult to relate to 136 00:06:27,100 --> 00:06:28,820 because they look so old. 137 00:06:28,860 --> 00:06:31,260 I found this amazing YouTube artist. 138 00:06:31,300 --> 00:06:34,200 There's a guy who has an account who goes in 139 00:06:34,240 --> 00:06:37,040 and looks at facial structures in portraits 140 00:06:37,060 --> 00:06:40,640 of very famous people, and he, using AI tools, 141 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:42,600 brings their faces to life, 142 00:06:42,640 --> 00:06:45,440 even has them move their mouth and talk, 143 00:06:45,460 --> 00:06:47,300 so that you can better sort of relate 144 00:06:47,340 --> 00:06:50,480 to what older, ancient people looked like. 145 00:06:50,500 --> 00:06:51,980 And so he's done that with Calvin, 146 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:54,240 so I thought I would put this picture on the screen 147 00:06:54,280 --> 00:06:56,780 just so that you might have a more sort of realistic 148 00:06:56,820 --> 00:06:58,540 understanding of what he might have looked like. 149 00:06:58,580 --> 00:07:00,120 Just not a fan of the beard. 150 00:07:00,140 --> 00:07:02,280 The beard should be longer, but that's okay. 151 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:04,560 I'm okay with it, but this is perhaps more 152 00:07:04,580 --> 00:07:07,700 of what Calvin looked like as he got older. 153 00:07:07,720 --> 00:07:10,160 Now, let me start with a question. 154 00:07:10,160 --> 00:07:12,360 Don't answer out loud, but just consider 155 00:07:12,380 --> 00:07:15,900 your absolute first gut reaction when I ask this question. 156 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:20,660 What do you think of when you hear the term Calvinism? 157 00:07:20,700 --> 00:07:22,200 Think about that. 158 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:23,360 For some of you here today, 159 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:25,440 it may carry a negative connotation. 160 00:07:25,460 --> 00:07:27,700 It might trigger your heart just a bit 161 00:07:27,740 --> 00:07:33,180 because Calvin's name and Calvinism as a theological system 162 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:36,540 is mostly vilified in our culture today. 163 00:07:36,580 --> 00:07:38,420 Unless you run in reformed circles, 164 00:07:38,420 --> 00:07:41,100 or at a minimum, you go to a church like ours 165 00:07:41,120 --> 00:07:43,560 where we're constantly preaching about God's sovereignty 166 00:07:43,600 --> 00:07:46,160 and salvation, unless you're in those circles, 167 00:07:46,200 --> 00:07:49,640 Calvinism is often going to create a negative reaction. 168 00:07:49,680 --> 00:07:52,540 So for Roman Catholics, for Eastern Orthodox, 169 00:07:52,580 --> 00:07:54,580 for Methodists, for some Baptists, 170 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:57,120 even certain evangelicals, 171 00:07:57,140 --> 00:08:00,780 Calvinism has become something of a boogeyman. 172 00:08:00,820 --> 00:08:04,860 In fact, he is the Voldemort of the theological world today. 173 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,320 His name is not to be invoked. 174 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,760 Seriously, if you drop the word Calvin or Calvinism 175 00:08:10,780 --> 00:08:12,160 with your Christian friends, 176 00:08:12,180 --> 00:08:14,520 you've got probably a 75% chance 177 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:16,160 of triggering them in some way. 178 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:17,020 So you've got to be careful. 179 00:08:17,060 --> 00:08:19,260 Now, why all this hatred? 180 00:08:19,300 --> 00:08:20,800 Well, it comes from one of two things, 181 00:08:20,820 --> 00:08:22,660 either ignorance, 182 00:08:22,700 --> 00:08:28,640 because so many people today don't actually study books. 183 00:08:28,660 --> 00:08:32,000 They don't look at primary sources. 184 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:34,540 What they do is they get a soundbite from Twitter 185 00:08:34,580 --> 00:08:36,280 or from some podcast. 186 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:38,420 So they speak as if they know what they're talking about, 187 00:08:38,460 --> 00:08:40,300 but they're really ignorant about the man 188 00:08:40,320 --> 00:08:43,200 and what he taught, or oftentimes, 189 00:08:43,220 --> 00:08:45,960 and you'll see this a lot with debaters, 190 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:49,440 it's born out of intentional misrepresentation. 191 00:08:49,460 --> 00:08:52,280 It's people who want to defend their own theological system, 192 00:08:52,300 --> 00:08:54,040 and in order to overcome Calvinism, 193 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:58,180 they will distort what Calvinism actually stands for. 194 00:08:58,220 --> 00:09:00,940 So today's Calvin's reputation is of a man 195 00:09:00,980 --> 00:09:03,620 who was an ivory tower academic, 196 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:05,820 a cold-hearted intellectual 197 00:09:05,820 --> 00:09:07,520 whose main focus was one thing, 198 00:09:07,540 --> 00:09:09,780 and that is the doctrine of election 199 00:09:09,820 --> 00:09:11,980 or the doctrine of predestination, 200 00:09:12,020 --> 00:09:14,380 which, by the way, is a subject that is very important, 201 00:09:14,420 --> 00:09:15,860 intensely biblical, 202 00:09:15,880 --> 00:09:20,220 but it's very uncomfortable for some people to even consider. 203 00:09:20,260 --> 00:09:22,060 And so these folks will point to, 204 00:09:22,100 --> 00:09:23,100 and you've heard this term before, 205 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:25,460 the five points of Calvinism 206 00:09:25,500 --> 00:09:29,300 represented by this famous acronym TULIP, 207 00:09:29,340 --> 00:09:31,900 and by the way, we'll cover all of that next Sunday, 208 00:09:31,940 --> 00:09:34,480 but here's what you need to know before we go any further. 209 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:39,100 That sort of profile of John Calvin is not true at all. 210 00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:40,960 When you actually study the man's life, 211 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:42,600 when you read his works, 212 00:09:42,620 --> 00:09:45,360 when you read eyewitness testimony of his life 213 00:09:45,400 --> 00:09:47,460 from colleagues and from biographers, 214 00:09:47,500 --> 00:09:50,340 a whole different picture of Calvin emerges. 215 00:09:50,360 --> 00:09:53,980 He was a very reserved and humble man 216 00:09:54,000 --> 00:09:55,640 whose heart was not just for doctrine 217 00:09:55,680 --> 00:09:58,180 but for pastoral ministry. 218 00:09:58,200 --> 00:10:00,880 He had a heart for proper worship, 219 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,080 and most of all, to see practical Christian living 220 00:10:04,080 --> 00:10:07,240 that brings actual life transformation and change 221 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:10,480 to both individuals and even nations. 222 00:10:10,520 --> 00:10:13,560 In other words, John Calvin was about far more 223 00:10:13,580 --> 00:10:14,720 than the five points. 224 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:16,520 In fact, you may or may not know this, 225 00:10:16,560 --> 00:10:19,160 the whole organizing of the five points of Calvinism 226 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:21,420 did not come from John Calvin. 227 00:10:21,460 --> 00:10:24,260 It came from his followers who systematized it 228 00:10:24,300 --> 00:10:26,740 50 years after his death. 229 00:10:26,760 --> 00:10:29,140 So it's been said the followers of Calvin 230 00:10:29,160 --> 00:10:32,340 were more Calvinistic than Calvin. 231 00:10:32,380 --> 00:10:33,740 They did it after his death, 232 00:10:33,740 --> 00:10:36,140 and he would be horrified today 233 00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:38,600 to think that we took the biblical teaching 234 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:42,140 on the sovereignty of God and called it Calvinism. 235 00:10:42,180 --> 00:10:43,140 He would hate that. 236 00:10:43,180 --> 00:10:45,640 He was too modest of a man to accept such a thing. 237 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:47,040 You know what he would call it? 238 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:48,940 Biblical Christianity. 239 00:10:48,980 --> 00:10:50,280 That's it. 240 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:51,720 He was also a deep-feeling man 241 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:55,680 who wrote and spoke constantly about the heart. 242 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:58,520 Huge focus for him and about human emotions. 243 00:10:58,560 --> 00:11:02,360 He was a man also who suffered personally 244 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:03,460 all throughout his life. 245 00:11:03,460 --> 00:11:04,460 With a whole bunch of things. 246 00:11:04,480 --> 00:11:07,660 He was persecuted by the Catholic authorities. 247 00:11:07,700 --> 00:11:10,100 He lived with threats against his life all the time. 248 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:13,460 He was constantly attacked from within Christendom 249 00:11:13,500 --> 00:11:15,100 by his opponents. 250 00:11:15,140 --> 00:11:17,800 He suffered from constant bouts all his life 251 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:20,500 of debilitating illnesses. 252 00:11:20,540 --> 00:11:22,140 And he lost not only his wife 253 00:11:22,180 --> 00:11:23,580 after just nine years of marriage, 254 00:11:23,600 --> 00:11:27,380 he lost three infant children. 255 00:11:27,420 --> 00:11:29,580 He suffered greatly. 256 00:11:29,620 --> 00:11:31,780 Calvin was a man so devoted to Christ 257 00:11:31,780 --> 00:11:33,480 and to the church and to the scriptures 258 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:37,140 that he quite literally worked himself to death 259 00:11:37,180 --> 00:11:40,020 at the early age of 54. 260 00:11:40,060 --> 00:11:42,820 But what he left behind in terms of a legacy is so big, 261 00:11:42,860 --> 00:11:44,760 it's almost difficult to comprehend. 262 00:11:44,780 --> 00:11:48,460 Most unbiased historians who look at Western civilization 263 00:11:48,500 --> 00:11:51,760 will tell you that Calvin was one of the most influential men 264 00:11:51,800 --> 00:11:54,300 in the history of Western Civ. 265 00:11:54,340 --> 00:11:57,500 Not only was he a theologian and a pastor, 266 00:11:57,540 --> 00:12:00,200 but he was the founder of both the Reformed 267 00:12:00,200 --> 00:12:02,440 and Presbyterian denominations, 268 00:12:02,460 --> 00:12:06,400 which if you count it up over the past five centuries, 269 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:09,800 produce hundreds of millions of professing believers 270 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,980 from every corner of the earth. 271 00:12:13,020 --> 00:12:16,320 Not only does he have weight in terms of religion, 272 00:12:16,340 --> 00:12:19,380 he had a huge impact on the way people in the West 273 00:12:19,420 --> 00:12:24,720 view modern education, how we view civil government, 274 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:29,360 how we view even democracy itself owes a debt of gratitude 275 00:12:29,360 --> 00:12:32,960 to some of what Calvin wrote on that particular subject. 276 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:34,920 And we'll touch more on legacy next week. 277 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:36,320 For now, let's go back to the screen 278 00:12:36,360 --> 00:12:38,500 and let's look at what's gonna guide us 279 00:12:38,540 --> 00:12:40,700 through both today and next week, 280 00:12:40,740 --> 00:12:43,900 and that's a timeline of Calvin's life. 281 00:12:43,940 --> 00:12:45,340 You see there the beginning of his life, 282 00:12:45,380 --> 00:12:48,700 born in 1509, died in 1564, 283 00:12:48,740 --> 00:12:51,840 and then you see there some particular years 284 00:12:51,880 --> 00:12:55,120 and particular locations where he lived and ministered. 285 00:12:55,140 --> 00:12:58,120 So this will guide us through today's message and next Sunday. 286 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:01,140 So born in 1509, and at first glance, 287 00:13:01,180 --> 00:13:02,880 you might read the name John Calvin 288 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:04,180 and think he must have been English. 289 00:13:04,220 --> 00:13:05,460 It sounds very English. 290 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:07,960 But Calvin was French through and through. 291 00:13:07,980 --> 00:13:10,260 In fact, his name was actually Jean. 292 00:13:10,300 --> 00:13:11,420 Is Sam here today, by the way? 293 00:13:11,460 --> 00:13:13,300 Sam Jean? 294 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:14,520 Okay, all right. 295 00:13:14,560 --> 00:13:16,360 His name was Jean, not John, 296 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:18,340 but we tend to anglicize everything. 297 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:20,040 But he was French through and through, 298 00:13:20,060 --> 00:13:22,700 born in a very small town called Noyan 299 00:13:22,740 --> 00:13:26,540 about an hour's drive north of the city of Paris. 300 00:13:26,540 --> 00:13:28,500 He was the second of three children 301 00:13:28,540 --> 00:13:31,300 born into a very middle-class family, 302 00:13:31,340 --> 00:13:34,140 a very middle-class family that had strong ties 303 00:13:34,180 --> 00:13:36,640 to the local Catholic diocese. 304 00:13:36,680 --> 00:13:38,840 It's amazing to think about how all the reformers 305 00:13:38,880 --> 00:13:40,680 started as Roman Catholics. 306 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:42,480 Many of them were actual priests 307 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:46,960 before they came into Reformation theology. 308 00:13:46,980 --> 00:13:50,260 In fact, Calvin's father was the financial administrator 309 00:13:50,300 --> 00:13:53,100 at the Catholic cathedral in their town, 310 00:13:53,120 --> 00:13:55,500 and he desired and hoped that John would eventually 311 00:13:55,500 --> 00:13:57,600 go into the priesthood. 312 00:13:57,620 --> 00:13:58,620 So at the age of 14, 313 00:13:58,660 --> 00:14:01,060 John was sent away to Paris for schooling, 314 00:14:01,100 --> 00:14:02,660 and it was there in Paris, 315 00:14:02,700 --> 00:14:05,000 big cosmopolitan city at that time, 316 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:07,440 where he began to meet other young men 317 00:14:07,460 --> 00:14:09,400 who were being swept up by the excitement 318 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:11,040 of Reformation ideas. 319 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:13,300 And most of that was coming from German 320 00:14:13,340 --> 00:14:14,740 and Swiss territories, 321 00:14:14,780 --> 00:14:17,580 but was making its way into France. 322 00:14:17,620 --> 00:14:19,220 So at the time Calvin went away to school, 323 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:21,080 the Lutheran movement in Germany 324 00:14:21,120 --> 00:14:23,020 had been chugging along for about a decade. 325 00:14:23,020 --> 00:14:26,220 Calvin was seven years old when Luther 326 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:31,060 pounded the 95 theses onto the door of Castle Church. 327 00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:34,660 So at the age of 17 now at school, 328 00:14:34,680 --> 00:14:37,620 Calvin was able to get a hold of Luther's ideas. 329 00:14:37,660 --> 00:14:38,760 Because of the printing press, 330 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:41,400 Luther's ideas were being disseminated 331 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:43,800 all over Europe in the form of pamphlets, 332 00:14:43,840 --> 00:14:48,040 and Calvin and his friends were reading them voraciously. 333 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:50,180 So by that time at the age of 17, 334 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:52,540 he decided to turn away from the idea 335 00:14:52,540 --> 00:14:54,140 of going into the priesthood, 336 00:14:54,180 --> 00:14:57,800 and he chose instead to relocate to the city of Orleans, 337 00:14:57,840 --> 00:14:59,780 where he would study the law, 338 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:01,840 and his father approved of that. 339 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:05,120 And while he was at Orleans in those years, 340 00:15:05,140 --> 00:15:07,920 Calvin began to involve himself in what today 341 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:10,520 we would judge as a radical student movement. 342 00:15:10,560 --> 00:15:12,760 It was called humanism. 343 00:15:12,780 --> 00:15:15,400 Now don't think about humanism as we view that today. 344 00:15:15,420 --> 00:15:17,160 This is something entirely different. 345 00:15:17,200 --> 00:15:20,200 Medieval humanism had one of its goals 346 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:24,340 to reform the church and to reform European society 347 00:15:24,380 --> 00:15:28,620 based on the model of classical Christian antiquity. 348 00:15:28,660 --> 00:15:30,220 And one of the ways that humanists of the day 349 00:15:30,260 --> 00:15:32,460 were seeking change was, get this now, 350 00:15:32,480 --> 00:15:35,260 a return to the holy scriptures, 351 00:15:35,300 --> 00:15:38,060 which had been fallen away during the Catholic years, 352 00:15:38,100 --> 00:15:39,260 a return to the scriptures 353 00:15:39,300 --> 00:15:43,600 and a return in the original languages. 354 00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:45,940 So Calvin began to read the works of men 355 00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:48,040 like Erasmus and Lefebvre, 356 00:15:48,040 --> 00:15:50,440 and then he got a hold of the works of Augustine 357 00:15:50,460 --> 00:15:52,540 and began to read the early church fathers, 358 00:15:52,560 --> 00:15:56,400 and he dove into a passion to learn biblical Hebrew 359 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,880 and Greek and also Latin. 360 00:15:59,900 --> 00:16:03,580 The humanism of that day was vocal in its opposition 361 00:16:03,620 --> 00:16:06,720 to many of the things that were coming out of Rome at the time. 362 00:16:06,740 --> 00:16:10,660 Things like the unquestionable authority of the papacy 363 00:16:10,680 --> 00:16:12,560 didn't work for humanists. 364 00:16:12,580 --> 00:16:15,760 The church's tiered organizational structure 365 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:18,960 that shouted elitism and corruption 366 00:16:18,980 --> 00:16:21,060 in every particular corner. 367 00:16:21,080 --> 00:16:23,260 Many of the rituals of the church 368 00:16:23,300 --> 00:16:27,600 were being condemned by humanists as superstition, 369 00:16:27,620 --> 00:16:29,200 and that's the way Calvin viewed it, 370 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:32,400 as superstition, not as reality or truth. 371 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:35,280 Humanism also was opposed to the asceticism 372 00:16:35,300 --> 00:16:36,680 of the Catholic monks. 373 00:16:36,700 --> 00:16:38,200 In the mind of the humanists, 374 00:16:38,240 --> 00:16:40,280 it was better to enlighten the mind and the heart 375 00:16:40,300 --> 00:16:44,180 than to deny the flesh in that ascetic way. 376 00:16:44,180 --> 00:16:45,800 And at the bottom of all of it, 377 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,140 humanism was critical of the Catholic Church 378 00:16:48,180 --> 00:16:50,740 because what they saw was the dogmas 379 00:16:50,780 --> 00:16:55,020 and the teachings of Rome were not helping in any way 380 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:56,620 to solve the practical problems 381 00:16:56,660 --> 00:16:58,480 in European society at that day. 382 00:16:58,520 --> 00:17:00,260 In other words, it might have been up here 383 00:17:00,280 --> 00:17:02,760 in terms of you've got a Catholic church 384 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:04,760 doing masses in Latin, 385 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:06,120 the people aren't understanding, 386 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:07,820 there's no life transformation, 387 00:17:07,860 --> 00:17:10,460 and society was not being impacted. 388 00:17:10,500 --> 00:17:12,900 So the humanist movement was very, very important 389 00:17:12,900 --> 00:17:14,200 in Calvin's life. 390 00:17:14,220 --> 00:17:16,460 On the positive side, when he read Men Like Erasmus, 391 00:17:16,500 --> 00:17:20,340 what he saw was a focus on spiritual conversion, 392 00:17:20,360 --> 00:17:21,800 spiritual renewal, 393 00:17:21,840 --> 00:17:24,540 practical Christian living and holiness, 394 00:17:24,580 --> 00:17:27,680 and of course, actual Bible study and meditation. 395 00:17:27,700 --> 00:17:29,480 Guys, we take that for granted, 396 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:31,640 but those were new concepts 397 00:17:31,680 --> 00:17:34,320 at the time of Luther and Calvin. 398 00:17:34,340 --> 00:17:36,980 Now, while he was finishing his schooling in France, 399 00:17:37,020 --> 00:17:40,520 Calvin's life got very interesting very fast. 400 00:17:40,520 --> 00:17:44,020 While he was at university studying law, 401 00:17:44,060 --> 00:17:47,820 he made certain associations which made him dangerous, 402 00:17:47,860 --> 00:17:50,960 and he actually worked on some Reformation statements 403 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,400 that put him on the radar of the French government 404 00:17:54,420 --> 00:17:56,100 and not in a good way. 405 00:17:56,140 --> 00:17:57,360 So at the age of 22, 406 00:17:57,400 --> 00:18:00,200 Calvin's life in his home country completely ended. 407 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:02,240 He felt it prudent to flee 408 00:18:02,260 --> 00:18:04,600 because of his own safety was at risk, 409 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:07,400 to flee France and to head across the border 410 00:18:07,440 --> 00:18:10,140 into what we call today Switzerland. 411 00:18:10,140 --> 00:18:12,580 Now, Switzerland at this time was, again, not a nation. 412 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:16,140 It was a loose confederation of what they call cantons. 413 00:18:16,180 --> 00:18:18,380 We would call them counties, 414 00:18:18,420 --> 00:18:20,980 and they were territories that some were Catholic, 415 00:18:21,020 --> 00:18:22,880 some were Protestant, 416 00:18:22,920 --> 00:18:26,760 but it was Calvin's idea to make his way 417 00:18:26,780 --> 00:18:28,720 to the city of Basel, 418 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:30,460 which is where he wanted to study. 419 00:18:30,500 --> 00:18:32,460 So let's go back to our map here real quick. 420 00:18:32,500 --> 00:18:33,760 We'll look at a couple things. 421 00:18:33,800 --> 00:18:35,460 So notice, first of all, you got France. 422 00:18:35,500 --> 00:18:36,800 So we've zoomed in here. 423 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:40,160 France to the left, Paris in the blue square. 424 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:42,460 That blue squiggly line there is the border 425 00:18:42,500 --> 00:18:45,160 between France and the Holy Roman Empire, 426 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:46,900 and then you have some areas in here, 427 00:18:46,940 --> 00:18:49,480 the Swiss Confederation at the bottom. 428 00:18:49,500 --> 00:18:53,280 The pink dot is Basel, where he ended up, 429 00:18:53,300 --> 00:18:54,940 and I've given you the purple dot as well. 430 00:18:54,980 --> 00:18:57,820 That's Zurich, and again, just as a point of reference 431 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:01,680 because that's where Zwingli had done so much incredible work 432 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,060 in establishing the Protestant faith 433 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:06,160 in that particular canton. 434 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:08,140 And so what does Basel look like? 435 00:19:08,180 --> 00:19:10,700 This is the travel brochure. 436 00:19:10,740 --> 00:19:11,940 By the time we're done with this series, 437 00:19:11,980 --> 00:19:13,680 you're all gonna want to move to Europe. 438 00:19:13,700 --> 00:19:15,580 Basel is a beautiful... 439 00:19:15,620 --> 00:19:16,940 I've been there twice. 440 00:19:16,980 --> 00:19:21,020 It's one of the most beautiful spots in all of Europe, 441 00:19:21,060 --> 00:19:24,460 and so I don't blame Calvin for going there. 442 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:26,620 So Basel becomes the place 443 00:19:26,660 --> 00:19:28,560 where for the first time in Calvin's life, 444 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:31,120 he can settle on Protestant soil. 445 00:19:31,160 --> 00:19:32,900 And while he's studying in Basel, 446 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:34,860 two important things take place. 447 00:19:34,860 --> 00:19:36,620 First and most importantly, 448 00:19:36,660 --> 00:19:39,400 as he was continuing to study the classics 449 00:19:39,420 --> 00:19:40,860 and study biblical language, 450 00:19:40,900 --> 00:19:43,440 but most of all study God's Word, 451 00:19:43,460 --> 00:19:45,060 this is the point in his life 452 00:19:45,100 --> 00:19:47,800 where Calvin's eyes were opened by the Holy Spirit, 453 00:19:47,840 --> 00:19:51,700 and he gave his life to Christ and was saved. 454 00:19:51,740 --> 00:19:54,740 He not only was saved, but he wrote about it later on. 455 00:19:54,780 --> 00:19:58,020 In fact, he only wrote about his conversion one time, 456 00:19:58,040 --> 00:19:59,980 and of all the places to write it, 457 00:20:00,020 --> 00:20:02,420 Calvin wrote a brilliant commentary on the Psalms. 458 00:20:02,420 --> 00:20:05,620 In the preface to his commentary on the Psalms, 459 00:20:05,640 --> 00:20:08,520 he made a short statement about his own conversion, 460 00:20:08,540 --> 00:20:10,520 and I'll give you a quote on what he wrote. 461 00:20:10,560 --> 00:20:13,380 And it's interesting, he describes his former life 462 00:20:13,420 --> 00:20:17,000 in Roman Catholicism under the term popery, 463 00:20:17,020 --> 00:20:20,200 not popery, popery. 464 00:20:22,300 --> 00:20:23,260 That just came to me. 465 00:20:23,300 --> 00:20:24,740 Literally, as I was saying that out loud, 466 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:26,200 I'm like, that sounds like popery. 467 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:28,140 No, popery as in the pope. 468 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:29,940 Okay, here's what he said. 469 00:20:29,940 --> 00:20:34,240 He said, and first, since I was too obstinately devoted 470 00:20:34,260 --> 00:20:36,980 to the superstitions of popery, 471 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:41,880 to be easily extricated from so profound an abyss of mire, 472 00:20:41,900 --> 00:20:43,840 by the way, these guys wrote beautifully. 473 00:20:43,880 --> 00:20:45,380 They really did. 474 00:20:45,420 --> 00:20:49,660 God, by a sudden conversion, subdued and brought my mind 475 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:52,860 to a teachable frame, which was more hardened 476 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,220 in such matters than might have been expected 477 00:20:55,260 --> 00:20:57,720 from one of my early period of life. 478 00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:00,060 Having thus received some taste and knowledge 479 00:21:00,080 --> 00:21:02,960 of true godliness, I was immediately inflamed 480 00:21:03,000 --> 00:21:07,400 with so intense a desire to make progress. 481 00:21:07,420 --> 00:21:10,460 So basically, God got ahold of John Calvin in this moment. 482 00:21:10,500 --> 00:21:12,300 The spirit drew his mind and brought him 483 00:21:12,340 --> 00:21:14,140 to this place of teachability, 484 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:17,800 and he lit up Calvin's heart with a passion for truth. 485 00:21:17,840 --> 00:21:20,580 And once he was converted, he took all of his energy 486 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:22,140 and all of his brilliance and skill, 487 00:21:22,180 --> 00:21:25,380 and he applied it towards Reformation theology. 488 00:21:25,380 --> 00:21:27,780 So that's the first thing that happened in Basel. 489 00:21:27,800 --> 00:21:28,880 He got saved. 490 00:21:28,900 --> 00:21:32,140 Second thing was, he began to work on a little book 491 00:21:32,180 --> 00:21:35,220 he called The Institutes of the Christian Religion. 492 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:37,620 And I say that sarcastically because some of you 493 00:21:37,660 --> 00:21:41,460 who know that work or have it on your shelf in your library, 494 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:44,120 know it's anything but a little book. 495 00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:45,460 But it started out that way. 496 00:21:45,500 --> 00:21:47,260 So you may have this book at home. 497 00:21:47,300 --> 00:21:50,500 It is worth it to have it on your shelf and to read it. 498 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:52,540 It is absolutely amazing. 499 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:54,500 But what seemed to have motivated him 500 00:21:54,500 --> 00:21:57,260 in writing this work, at least at the beginning, 501 00:21:57,300 --> 00:22:01,000 was news that he was getting from back home. 502 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:04,540 He was hearing that Christians in his beloved country of France 503 00:22:04,580 --> 00:22:08,680 were being arrested for opposing Catholic theology, 504 00:22:08,700 --> 00:22:11,480 for speaking openly about Reformed ideas, 505 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:14,720 and some of them were even being burned at the stake, 506 00:22:14,740 --> 00:22:17,420 which still shocks our conscience, doesn't it? 507 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:21,880 That professing Christians can actually execute people 508 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:24,480 based on a difference of opinion 509 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:26,060 in terms of theological systems. 510 00:22:26,080 --> 00:22:27,320 There was a reason for it. 511 00:22:27,360 --> 00:22:28,820 We'll get to that. 512 00:22:28,860 --> 00:22:30,520 Calvin knew that he couldn't stay silent 513 00:22:30,560 --> 00:22:31,920 about the persecution, 514 00:22:31,960 --> 00:22:34,260 that he had to do everything within his power 515 00:22:34,300 --> 00:22:35,720 to oppose religious tyranny. 516 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:37,660 Otherwise, and he says this very clearly, 517 00:22:37,700 --> 00:22:40,100 he says, I would be a coward and a traitor 518 00:22:40,140 --> 00:22:41,460 to the cause of Christ. 519 00:22:41,500 --> 00:22:43,400 So he sat down to write this work. 520 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:47,340 And the original edition of it was brief compared 521 00:22:47,380 --> 00:22:49,240 to how it would eventually end up. 522 00:22:49,240 --> 00:22:52,700 The first edition was just six chapters long. 523 00:22:52,740 --> 00:22:55,240 And it's interesting, Calvin's original intent, 524 00:22:55,280 --> 00:22:56,840 today people look at the Institute 525 00:22:56,880 --> 00:22:59,880 as this high-level seminary work, 526 00:22:59,920 --> 00:23:03,220 but he originally wrote it for the common people of Europe 527 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,660 to inform them of the basics of the Christian faith. 528 00:23:06,680 --> 00:23:09,660 You have to remember, going back centuries in Europe 529 00:23:09,680 --> 00:23:10,920 in what we call the Dark Ages, 530 00:23:10,960 --> 00:23:14,160 very few people could read or write. 531 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:16,700 And so how did they work out their faith? 532 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:18,160 They couldn't read the Scriptures. 533 00:23:18,160 --> 00:23:20,360 So they had to trust in the priest, 534 00:23:20,400 --> 00:23:24,560 the only one in the whole town who could actually read Latin. 535 00:23:24,600 --> 00:23:26,100 And they had to put all their trust in him. 536 00:23:26,140 --> 00:23:27,840 Well, Calvin looked at that and said, 537 00:23:27,860 --> 00:23:29,900 that is unacceptable. 538 00:23:29,940 --> 00:23:31,740 That is unacceptable. 539 00:23:31,780 --> 00:23:34,280 And he wanted to rectify it. 540 00:23:34,300 --> 00:23:36,780 Now, the subject he chose for that first edition 541 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:39,040 of the Institute is very revealing. 542 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,240 First of all, he wrote the address 543 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:42,680 in the preface to the book. 544 00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,220 He addressed it to the King of France, 545 00:23:45,260 --> 00:23:46,160 which is pretty cool. 546 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:49,340 Francis I, very powerful King of France. 547 00:23:49,360 --> 00:23:51,580 And he hoped that he could demonstrate to the King 548 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:55,640 that all this reform theology that was going all over Europe 549 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:57,780 was actually not a radical thing, 550 00:23:57,820 --> 00:24:00,840 that it really was a return to the apostolic teaching, 551 00:24:00,880 --> 00:24:04,180 and that it was Rome that it strayed from the true faith. 552 00:24:04,220 --> 00:24:07,280 And he hoped by writing it to him and addressing it to him 553 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:08,960 that maybe the King would be persuaded 554 00:24:08,980 --> 00:24:12,100 to at least stop persecuting 555 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:15,760 and executing reformed Christians. 556 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:17,520 So here are the topics in that first edition. 557 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:21,760 Chapter one was, interestingly, an exposition of the law 558 00:24:21,800 --> 00:24:23,800 of the Ten Commandments in particular. 559 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:27,040 Chapter two was an exposition on the Apostles' Creed, 560 00:24:27,060 --> 00:24:28,740 what the Church taught. 561 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:31,100 Chapter three focused on prayer, 562 00:24:31,140 --> 00:24:33,900 and in particular, a focus on the Lord's Prayer. 563 00:24:33,940 --> 00:24:36,940 Chapter four put forth the true sacraments of the Church, 564 00:24:36,980 --> 00:24:38,640 baptism and communion. 565 00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:41,180 And then in chapter five, he went on the attack, 566 00:24:41,220 --> 00:24:43,180 talking about the false sacraments 567 00:24:43,180 --> 00:24:46,220 that were being promoted by Roman Catholicism 568 00:24:46,240 --> 00:24:48,420 without Biblical support. 569 00:24:48,440 --> 00:24:49,880 And then finally, in the last chapter, 570 00:24:49,920 --> 00:24:51,980 he discussed Christian freedom, 571 00:24:52,020 --> 00:24:55,280 ecclesiastical power, and civil government. 572 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:57,160 And it is an absolutely brilliant read, 573 00:24:57,200 --> 00:24:58,700 but that was only the beginning. 574 00:24:58,720 --> 00:25:00,800 His second edition, which he published 575 00:25:00,820 --> 00:25:05,360 just three years later, added 17 more chapters to it. 576 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:07,260 Four years after that, four more chapters. 577 00:25:07,300 --> 00:25:09,700 By the time the final edition was done, 578 00:25:09,700 --> 00:25:13,140 just five years before Calvin passed away, 579 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:14,900 the whole size of the work had grown 580 00:25:14,940 --> 00:25:17,100 by more than five times. 581 00:25:17,140 --> 00:25:22,780 So, all in all, the Institutes became Calvin's life work. 582 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:25,220 23 years of blood, sweat, and tears, 583 00:25:25,240 --> 00:25:27,940 and still today, the Institutes are considered 584 00:25:27,980 --> 00:25:30,980 the single most important comprehensive statement 585 00:25:31,020 --> 00:25:33,220 of Protestant belief. 586 00:25:33,260 --> 00:25:35,860 And it's the Institutes that solidified Calvin 587 00:25:35,880 --> 00:25:39,560 as the preeminent theologian of the Reformation. 588 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:42,920 Oh, and by the way, he wrote it down in two languages. 589 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:45,160 I mean, he started in Latin, 590 00:25:45,200 --> 00:25:48,900 but then decided to write it in French for his own people. 591 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:49,900 Man. 592 00:25:49,940 --> 00:25:53,140 Oh, and by the way, he was only 26 years old. 593 00:25:53,160 --> 00:25:55,200 That's what really blows your mind right now. 594 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:56,540 Think about how old you are. 595 00:25:56,560 --> 00:25:58,840 Okay, 26 years old. 596 00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:04,040 He'd only been saved for three or four years. 597 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:07,520 And he'd already mastered Biblical Greek and Hebrew. 598 00:26:07,520 --> 00:26:10,360 This is a brilliant man, a remarkable man. 599 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:12,160 Now, the first edition of the Institutes 600 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,360 was immediately popular, just like Luther's writing. 601 00:26:15,400 --> 00:26:18,000 It began to be distributed, hit the printing press, 602 00:26:18,040 --> 00:26:19,840 was distributed all over Europe, 603 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,280 and it met with rave reviews everywhere it went 604 00:26:22,300 --> 00:26:23,740 in Reformed regions. 605 00:26:23,780 --> 00:26:25,440 But the funny thing is, 606 00:26:25,480 --> 00:26:28,820 Calvin was completely embarrassed by all the attention. 607 00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:31,820 In fact, he's on record in Basel of several times denying 608 00:26:31,860 --> 00:26:33,580 that he was the author of the work, 609 00:26:33,620 --> 00:26:36,120 because Calvin's mindset by the time he was in Basel 610 00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:39,520 at that age was, I don't want to be in the limelight. 611 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:42,920 He fancied himself a scholar and a writer 612 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:44,860 and wanted to keep it that way. 613 00:26:44,900 --> 00:26:47,460 But God had another plan. 614 00:26:47,500 --> 00:26:50,300 So, let's take a pause on the history of Calvin's life. 615 00:26:50,320 --> 00:26:52,640 What I want to do now is just stop and consider 616 00:26:52,660 --> 00:26:55,100 some of the theological principles 617 00:26:55,140 --> 00:26:56,940 that caused Calvin to turn away 618 00:26:56,960 --> 00:26:58,840 from his Roman Catholic upbringing 619 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:02,300 and caused him to move towards Reformation theology. 620 00:27:02,340 --> 00:27:04,840 As we do this, guys, this is that part 621 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:07,940 where I want you to pay attention to the arguments. 622 00:27:07,980 --> 00:27:09,540 And I want you to, as we go through it, 623 00:27:09,580 --> 00:27:11,840 to understand, well, I believe that too, 624 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:16,220 but know why you believe it, especially contra Rome. 625 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:17,580 Why you believe what you believe. 626 00:27:17,620 --> 00:27:20,120 It's so important that we don't just memorize things 627 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:21,460 that we believe, but we know why. 628 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:22,680 We know the logic behind it. 629 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:25,860 We know where it's rooted in Scripture. 630 00:27:25,900 --> 00:27:27,900 So, first of all, Calvin was clear in his writings 631 00:27:27,920 --> 00:27:30,600 that Luther had begun a noble task 632 00:27:30,620 --> 00:27:32,360 in calling for Reformation of the church. 633 00:27:32,400 --> 00:27:34,460 But in doing so, he said this. 634 00:27:34,460 --> 00:27:38,200 He said, Luther was met by Rome with an effort 635 00:27:38,240 --> 00:27:42,800 to suppress the truth with violence and cruelty. 636 00:27:42,840 --> 00:27:44,200 But it's interesting, Calvin said, 637 00:27:44,240 --> 00:27:46,240 we should expect that. 638 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:48,640 He understood the spiritual warfare 639 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:51,780 that was being engaged with Rome. 640 00:27:51,820 --> 00:27:53,520 So it's not a surprise, he said. 641 00:27:53,540 --> 00:27:56,880 He said, for the uniformed fate of the Gospel, 642 00:27:56,920 --> 00:27:58,860 from its first commencement has been, 643 00:27:58,880 --> 00:28:01,880 and always will be, even until the end, 644 00:28:01,880 --> 00:28:06,880 to be preached in the world amid great contention. 645 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:08,960 And we should learn from that. 646 00:28:08,980 --> 00:28:11,800 And he goes on to say, because he understood the stakes. 647 00:28:11,820 --> 00:28:13,900 He understood, it's funny, sometimes people ask, 648 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:16,060 well, do the reformers really know what they were doing? 649 00:28:16,100 --> 00:28:17,800 Calvin understood what was at stake. 650 00:28:17,840 --> 00:28:18,800 Here's what he said. 651 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:21,740 He said, the whole substance of the Christian religion 652 00:28:21,760 --> 00:28:24,240 hangs in the balance. 653 00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:26,000 Oh, that's all. 654 00:28:26,040 --> 00:28:27,380 That's a lot. 655 00:28:27,400 --> 00:28:31,240 Calvin was well aware that the work that men like Luther 656 00:28:31,240 --> 00:28:32,640 and Zwingli and himself were doing 657 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:36,440 to bring the necessary changes to Christ's church. 658 00:28:36,480 --> 00:28:39,380 So three issues in particular I want to touch on 659 00:28:39,420 --> 00:28:41,920 that really caused Calvin to move away 660 00:28:41,940 --> 00:28:45,680 from Catholic theology and towards reformed ideas. 661 00:28:45,720 --> 00:28:48,260 And the first one is, in my mind, 662 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:51,320 even today, if you have Roman Catholic friends, 663 00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:55,000 this is the singular most important issue 664 00:28:55,020 --> 00:28:56,160 that you need to talk about. 665 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:59,800 And that is the issue of justification. 666 00:28:59,840 --> 00:29:01,000 Justification. 667 00:29:01,000 --> 00:29:04,800 The core tenet of Christianity that asks 668 00:29:04,840 --> 00:29:09,240 and answers the question, how can a sinner be forgiven? 669 00:29:09,260 --> 00:29:12,200 How does a sinner receive eternal life? 670 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:13,800 What is God's role in that? 671 00:29:13,840 --> 00:29:16,200 What is man's role in that? 672 00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:19,240 Well, for centuries, Rome's answer on this was very clear. 673 00:29:19,280 --> 00:29:22,720 Yes, they would say faith is essential to be saved, 674 00:29:22,740 --> 00:29:26,820 but it's not sufficient for salvation. 675 00:29:26,860 --> 00:29:29,760 It's a starting point, is the way Rome would say. 676 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:31,240 Make sure you understand that. 677 00:29:31,260 --> 00:29:32,440 It's only a starting point. 678 00:29:32,480 --> 00:29:37,580 Faith is essential, but it is not sufficient to save, 679 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:39,680 which then begs the question, what else is needed? 680 00:29:39,720 --> 00:29:41,740 Well, Rome is clear on this too. 681 00:29:41,780 --> 00:29:43,920 Justification starts with faith, 682 00:29:43,940 --> 00:29:47,420 but it is accomplished by participation 683 00:29:47,460 --> 00:29:50,420 in the Roman Catholic sacraments. 684 00:29:50,460 --> 00:29:51,760 Very, very important. 685 00:29:51,780 --> 00:29:54,500 So through baptism, through the Mass, 686 00:29:54,520 --> 00:29:57,420 through the Eucharist, through confession and penance 687 00:29:57,420 --> 00:30:04,700 and more, Rome said the sinner receives justifying grace 688 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:07,300 from those works. 689 00:30:07,340 --> 00:30:10,340 So first of all, because the church controls the sacraments, 690 00:30:10,360 --> 00:30:11,360 guess what? 691 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:14,600 Salvation is then mediated by, not by Christ, 692 00:30:14,640 --> 00:30:17,140 but by the church itself. 693 00:30:17,180 --> 00:30:18,400 You have to recognize that. 694 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:20,780 It's a very controlling thing. 695 00:30:20,820 --> 00:30:22,420 But more importantly, in practical terms, 696 00:30:22,440 --> 00:30:24,920 by Rome's own theology and logic, 697 00:30:24,920 --> 00:30:28,460 God cannot justify anyone unless he or she 698 00:30:28,500 --> 00:30:32,440 has earned their righteous standing. 699 00:30:32,460 --> 00:30:34,040 Did you catch that? 700 00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:37,400 God cannot justify unless you've earned a righteous standing 701 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:39,380 by participating in those sacraments, 702 00:30:39,400 --> 00:30:41,380 by doing those things. 703 00:30:41,420 --> 00:30:43,680 And there's no telling how many of those things 704 00:30:43,720 --> 00:30:46,620 you have to do in order to be justified. 705 00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:49,220 There is no assurance of salvation 706 00:30:49,260 --> 00:30:50,860 in Roman Catholic theology. 707 00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:51,920 And at the end of the day, they'll say, 708 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:54,880 well, it's OK, because if you end up falling short 709 00:30:54,920 --> 00:30:56,880 in the number of good things you do, 710 00:30:56,920 --> 00:31:02,020 you can work those off in a made-up place called purgatory. 711 00:31:02,060 --> 00:31:04,160 That's how the system goes. 712 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:08,540 And all of this, in spite of what God explicitly declared 713 00:31:08,560 --> 00:31:09,940 in the book of Romans through Paul, 714 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:12,440 for all ascend and fall short of the glory of God, 715 00:31:12,460 --> 00:31:17,300 being justified as a gift by his grace. 716 00:31:17,340 --> 00:31:18,780 Pretty clear, right? 717 00:31:18,800 --> 00:31:21,540 And again in 328, for we maintain that a man is 718 00:31:21,540 --> 00:31:26,980 justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 719 00:31:27,020 --> 00:31:28,580 And one more time in Romans 5-1, 720 00:31:28,620 --> 00:31:31,820 therefore having been justified by faith, 721 00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:35,060 we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 722 00:31:35,080 --> 00:31:36,860 It's very, very clear. 723 00:31:36,880 --> 00:31:39,460 So Calvin came to see that the biblical description 724 00:31:39,480 --> 00:31:42,860 of justification could not be reconciled 725 00:31:42,900 --> 00:31:46,900 with what Rome was both teaching and controlling. 726 00:31:46,940 --> 00:31:50,600 And therefore, Rome was indeed preaching 727 00:31:50,600 --> 00:31:53,660 a different gospel. 728 00:31:53,700 --> 00:31:55,860 And we have to know that today. 729 00:31:55,900 --> 00:31:57,440 We love our Roman Catholic friends. 730 00:31:57,460 --> 00:32:00,940 We know many of them are well-intentioned. 731 00:32:00,980 --> 00:32:02,340 But it's a different gospel. 732 00:32:02,380 --> 00:32:05,640 It's a gospel that cannot save. 733 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:08,380 And so we need to know that. 734 00:32:08,420 --> 00:32:11,020 And he believes, Calvin believed that this issue rises 735 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:11,820 above all the rest. 736 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:12,820 Here's what he said. 737 00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:16,020 There is no point which is more keenly contested, 738 00:32:16,060 --> 00:32:18,760 none in which our adversaries are more inveterate 739 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:22,600 in their opposition than that of justification. 740 00:32:22,640 --> 00:32:27,780 Namely, as to whether we obtain it by faith or by works. 741 00:32:27,820 --> 00:32:30,740 On this doctrine depends the safety of the church. 742 00:32:30,780 --> 00:32:32,880 And because of errors on this doctrine, 743 00:32:32,920 --> 00:32:36,020 the church has incurred a deadly wound 744 00:32:36,060 --> 00:32:41,820 and been brought to the very brink of destruction. 745 00:32:41,860 --> 00:32:43,460 By the way, the Reformers did not hold back 746 00:32:43,500 --> 00:32:45,860 on their language. 747 00:32:45,900 --> 00:32:47,360 Because they wanted to be clear with the people. 748 00:32:47,360 --> 00:32:48,920 And we need to be clear as well. 749 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:51,460 With love, but clear. 750 00:32:51,500 --> 00:32:54,800 So the second issue which caused Calvin to reject Rome 751 00:32:54,840 --> 00:32:58,040 was its view of the sacraments themselves. 752 00:32:58,060 --> 00:32:59,640 Now next Sunday, I'm going to go into more detail 753 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:02,140 on what Calvin taught about the Lord's table. 754 00:33:02,180 --> 00:33:04,700 But for today, let me give you some overall thoughts. 755 00:33:04,740 --> 00:33:07,440 First of all, the definition for the word sacrament 756 00:33:07,480 --> 00:33:08,120 is important. 757 00:33:08,140 --> 00:33:10,020 How many of you guys have heard that term? 758 00:33:10,040 --> 00:33:12,780 We sometimes hear the word ordinance used as well. 759 00:33:12,780 --> 00:33:17,280 The term sacrament for the Roman Catholic Church 760 00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:18,320 refers to something different 761 00:33:18,340 --> 00:33:20,220 than the way we would use that term. 762 00:33:20,260 --> 00:33:23,580 For the Catholics, sacraments were rites or ceremonies 763 00:33:23,620 --> 00:33:28,220 which actually conveyed divine grace to the participant. 764 00:33:28,260 --> 00:33:29,620 By the way, regardless of whether their faith 765 00:33:29,660 --> 00:33:33,340 is real or not, just by going through the rite or ritual, 766 00:33:33,360 --> 00:33:34,660 they are given divine grace. 767 00:33:34,700 --> 00:33:38,300 Meaning it adds merit to the salvation 768 00:33:38,340 --> 00:33:41,540 of the person participating. 769 00:33:41,540 --> 00:33:44,200 The Reformers rejected that completely. 770 00:33:44,240 --> 00:33:48,180 For Calvin, a sacrament is an experience of something sacred 771 00:33:48,200 --> 00:33:50,580 that communicates God's promises to his people 772 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:53,620 through signs or symbols. 773 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:56,180 And therefore, they are practically able to nourish 774 00:33:56,220 --> 00:33:58,380 and strengthen our faith. 775 00:33:58,420 --> 00:34:02,620 But in no way do they add to the grace necessary to be saved. 776 00:34:02,660 --> 00:34:05,560 That was earned by Christ on the cross, right? 777 00:34:05,580 --> 00:34:07,420 That only comes through the righteousness of Christ 778 00:34:07,460 --> 00:34:11,420 applied to us when we put our trust in him. 779 00:34:11,420 --> 00:34:13,720 So for Calvin, Rome had made a whole laundry list 780 00:34:13,760 --> 00:34:15,220 of errors in this area. 781 00:34:15,260 --> 00:34:18,000 First, he complains that Scripture only gives us 782 00:34:18,020 --> 00:34:19,660 two sacraments. 783 00:34:19,700 --> 00:34:22,400 The word only mentions two instituted by Christ, 784 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:24,740 and that is baptism and communion. 785 00:34:24,760 --> 00:34:26,700 But what had Rome done? 786 00:34:26,740 --> 00:34:29,940 Added five more, seven sacraments of the church. 787 00:34:29,980 --> 00:34:33,340 More ways to receive divine grace and control it, right? 788 00:34:33,380 --> 00:34:34,440 You've got to come to the church. 789 00:34:34,480 --> 00:34:35,940 You've got to participate here. 790 00:34:35,980 --> 00:34:37,420 Seven sacraments. 791 00:34:37,440 --> 00:34:40,280 No biblical support for those five. 792 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:41,640 And that was the second complaint, 793 00:34:41,680 --> 00:34:44,520 that Rome had completely divorced the sacraments 794 00:34:44,540 --> 00:34:46,980 from God's Word. 795 00:34:47,020 --> 00:34:48,880 Which is a huge problem for Calvin. 796 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:49,980 In fact, he writes this, 797 00:34:50,020 --> 00:34:52,360 there is no use in the sacraments 798 00:34:52,380 --> 00:34:55,560 unless the thing which the sign visibly represents 799 00:34:55,600 --> 00:34:59,460 is explained in accordance with the Word of God. 800 00:34:59,500 --> 00:35:03,300 There's no use to it if it's not in Scripture. 801 00:35:03,340 --> 00:35:07,100 To him, the Lord's Supper is so simply described 802 00:35:07,140 --> 00:35:09,380 in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, 803 00:35:09,380 --> 00:35:10,660 but in Rome, he says, 804 00:35:10,680 --> 00:35:15,060 they turned it into a theatrical exhibition. 805 00:35:15,100 --> 00:35:16,620 You think about that upper room scene. 806 00:35:16,660 --> 00:35:19,060 So simple what Jesus did with his apostles. 807 00:35:19,100 --> 00:35:20,700 What had Rome done with it? 808 00:35:20,740 --> 00:35:24,940 Made it into this giant ritual. 809 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:26,980 Sacrificing Jesus every time. 810 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:29,780 Sacrificing him over again. 811 00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:31,780 Praying the elements into the literal body 812 00:35:31,800 --> 00:35:33,440 and blood of Christ. 813 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:36,120 Worshipping the consecrated bread and wine. 814 00:35:36,140 --> 00:35:37,120 And Calvin said, 815 00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:40,100 all serves to destroy the true meaning of the cross. 816 00:35:40,140 --> 00:35:41,260 Here's what he said, 817 00:35:41,300 --> 00:35:43,440 while the sacrament ought to have been a means 818 00:35:43,460 --> 00:35:46,240 of raising pious minds to heaven, 819 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:49,240 the sacred symbols of the supper were abused 820 00:35:49,280 --> 00:35:52,280 to an entirely different purpose. 821 00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:54,940 And men content with gazing upon them 822 00:35:54,980 --> 00:36:00,620 and worshiping them never once thought of Christ. 823 00:36:00,660 --> 00:36:02,480 The work of Christ is destroyed 824 00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:04,420 in the Eucharistic sacrifice 825 00:36:04,420 --> 00:36:07,480 where Christ is sacrificed a thousand times a day 826 00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:14,020 as if he had not done enough in once dying for us. 827 00:36:14,060 --> 00:36:16,360 Beautifully put. 828 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:17,660 The way Calvin saw it, 829 00:36:17,700 --> 00:36:20,440 Rome had destroyed the glory of Christ 830 00:36:20,460 --> 00:36:22,440 in so many ways 831 00:36:22,460 --> 00:36:25,740 by calling upon the saints to intercede for them. 832 00:36:25,780 --> 00:36:28,540 When 1 Timothy 2, 5 says explicitly, 833 00:36:28,580 --> 00:36:33,980 Christ Jesus is the only mediator between God and man. 834 00:36:33,980 --> 00:36:35,440 It destroyed the glory of Christ 835 00:36:35,480 --> 00:36:37,340 by venerating the Virgin Mary, 836 00:36:37,380 --> 00:36:39,540 by appealing to her in prayer 837 00:36:39,580 --> 00:36:41,380 when Christ alone should be worshiped 838 00:36:41,420 --> 00:36:45,080 and he alone is our great high priest. 839 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:47,980 By offering a continual sacrifice in the mass 840 00:36:48,020 --> 00:36:51,020 when this one sacrifice that Christ made on the cross 841 00:36:51,060 --> 00:36:52,560 was complete, he said it, 842 00:36:52,600 --> 00:36:57,900 it is finished and sufficient for the forgiveness of sins. 843 00:36:57,940 --> 00:37:02,660 And by elevating tradition and church teaching 844 00:37:02,660 --> 00:37:04,040 to the level of Scripture 845 00:37:04,060 --> 00:37:10,100 and sometimes making Scripture dependent upon the tradition. 846 00:37:10,140 --> 00:37:12,240 At the root of Calvin's passion for the sacraments 847 00:37:12,280 --> 00:37:15,080 was his conviction that God gave them to the church 848 00:37:15,100 --> 00:37:17,480 because we need them. 849 00:37:17,520 --> 00:37:19,020 We need them as worshipers. 850 00:37:19,040 --> 00:37:20,020 Why? 851 00:37:20,040 --> 00:37:22,580 Because we're weak and we're forgetful. 852 00:37:22,620 --> 00:37:25,320 And so the sacraments are regular reminders to us 853 00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:27,920 about the most basic truth of Scripture 854 00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:29,520 that there is no cleansing of sin 855 00:37:29,560 --> 00:37:31,900 without the body and blood of Christ. 856 00:37:31,900 --> 00:37:34,880 And we need to be reminded regularly. 857 00:37:34,900 --> 00:37:37,240 So for Calvin, the sacraments are always designed 858 00:37:37,280 --> 00:37:40,380 to draw us back to Christ, to nourish our faith, 859 00:37:40,420 --> 00:37:46,380 and then to strengthen our resolve to walk with him daily. 860 00:37:46,420 --> 00:37:47,620 The final thing I'll mention this morning 861 00:37:47,660 --> 00:37:49,320 about Calvin's break with Rome 862 00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:52,320 had to do with the governance of the church. 863 00:37:52,360 --> 00:37:54,160 And that started with the pastoral office. 864 00:37:54,200 --> 00:37:56,600 One of the great accomplishments of the Reformation 865 00:37:56,640 --> 00:37:58,400 was the restoration of preaching 866 00:37:58,440 --> 00:38:01,700 to its proper place in the church. 867 00:38:01,700 --> 00:38:04,460 What had happened in the Roman Catholic churches was 868 00:38:04,500 --> 00:38:09,400 preaching was relegated to this like short homily 869 00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:12,900 done by the priest with or without the Bible 870 00:38:12,940 --> 00:38:13,900 for what purpose? 871 00:38:13,940 --> 00:38:16,080 So they could get to the Eucharist. 872 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:18,020 And that's why if you go into Roman Catholic churches, 873 00:38:18,040 --> 00:38:19,820 what is front and center? 874 00:38:19,840 --> 00:38:21,920 The altar. 875 00:38:21,960 --> 00:38:23,360 When you go into a Protestant church, 876 00:38:23,380 --> 00:38:25,280 what's front and center? 877 00:38:25,320 --> 00:38:28,020 The pulpit. 878 00:38:28,060 --> 00:38:29,120 And the Reformation did that, 879 00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:31,780 and it brought preaching back to the centerpiece 880 00:38:31,820 --> 00:38:34,260 of church order. 881 00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:36,120 Calvin complains that instead of preaching the truth 882 00:38:36,160 --> 00:38:38,460 of Scripture to the glory of God, 883 00:38:38,500 --> 00:38:40,900 the leaders of the Catholic church do this. 884 00:38:40,920 --> 00:38:44,160 The church exercises a most cruel tyranny 885 00:38:44,200 --> 00:38:46,100 over the souls of the people of God, 886 00:38:46,140 --> 00:38:51,800 claiming powers and authority not given to them by God. 887 00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:54,040 Calvin was an absolute trailblazer 888 00:38:54,080 --> 00:38:57,680 in advocating for a democratic model of church governance 889 00:38:57,680 --> 00:39:01,940 that was completely countered to this hierarchical structure 890 00:39:01,980 --> 00:39:03,740 that Rome had developed over the centuries. 891 00:39:03,780 --> 00:39:06,320 What Calvin wanted to see happen was very simple, 892 00:39:06,340 --> 00:39:09,020 and this is something that we hold in high regard here 893 00:39:09,040 --> 00:39:10,360 at Oak Hill today. 894 00:39:10,380 --> 00:39:14,080 An emphasis, first of all, on an educated clergy 895 00:39:14,120 --> 00:39:15,860 who not only know the Scripture, 896 00:39:15,880 --> 00:39:19,300 but can teach the Scripture, and this is important, 897 00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:22,900 active participation by the congregation. 898 00:39:22,940 --> 00:39:26,000 Guys, that was unheard of back then. 899 00:39:26,000 --> 00:39:28,560 A clergy that could teach the Scriptures, 900 00:39:28,600 --> 00:39:30,560 that could preach the Word, 901 00:39:30,600 --> 00:39:32,900 putting that at the center of church order, 902 00:39:32,940 --> 00:39:38,380 and a congregation that could actively participate in that. 903 00:39:38,400 --> 00:39:41,180 In his mind, Rome was emphasizing the exact opposite. 904 00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:44,240 It was nothing but rituals and rites and ceremonies 905 00:39:44,280 --> 00:39:46,620 and traditions and superstition. 906 00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:47,920 And so the congregation was said, 907 00:39:47,940 --> 00:39:50,380 just sit there and observe, 908 00:39:50,420 --> 00:39:52,780 and somehow God is giving you divine grace 909 00:39:52,780 --> 00:39:58,020 by the fact that you're sitting in the building today. 910 00:39:58,060 --> 00:40:00,320 Finally, Calvin cited the moral corruption 911 00:40:00,360 --> 00:40:03,920 that was so obvious in the Roman Catholic Church in that day, 912 00:40:03,960 --> 00:40:07,560 and he says it had eroded the faith of so many people 913 00:40:07,600 --> 00:40:08,700 who wanted to believe. 914 00:40:08,720 --> 00:40:12,240 In fact, he said it eroded my faith as a teenager, 915 00:40:12,260 --> 00:40:15,300 seeing the corruption that was woven throughout the system. 916 00:40:15,340 --> 00:40:18,280 And of course, those moral failures always start at the top. 917 00:40:18,300 --> 00:40:20,300 Calvin was clear in his rejection 918 00:40:20,340 --> 00:40:22,340 of the authority of the pope. 919 00:40:22,340 --> 00:40:25,980 He said there are no biblical grounds for that position, 920 00:40:26,000 --> 00:40:28,880 no biblical grounds for that office. 921 00:40:28,920 --> 00:40:31,040 Listen to how fierce he is on this. 922 00:40:31,080 --> 00:40:33,320 We all know how Luther felt about the pope, 923 00:40:33,340 --> 00:40:35,280 but Calvin believed the same thing. 924 00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:36,280 Here's what he said. 925 00:40:36,320 --> 00:40:39,180 I deny that Rome is apostolic, 926 00:40:39,220 --> 00:40:45,560 oof, wherein nothing is seen but a shocking apostasy. 927 00:40:45,600 --> 00:40:48,740 I deny him to be the vicar of Christ. 928 00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:51,240 I deny him to be the successor of Peter, 929 00:40:51,240 --> 00:40:54,420 who is doing his utmost to demolish every edifice 930 00:40:54,460 --> 00:40:56,580 that Peter built. 931 00:40:56,620 --> 00:40:58,460 And I deny him to be the head of the church, 932 00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:02,400 who by his tyranny lacerates and dismembers the church 933 00:41:02,420 --> 00:41:04,400 after separating her from Christ, 934 00:41:04,420 --> 00:41:08,460 her true and only head. 935 00:41:08,500 --> 00:41:10,700 Wow. 936 00:41:10,740 --> 00:41:12,840 Okay. 937 00:41:12,860 --> 00:41:15,440 So that's how Calvin felt about the situation. 938 00:41:15,480 --> 00:41:17,600 Let's go back to our timeline real fast. 939 00:41:17,640 --> 00:41:20,240 I want to make one more stop in Calvin's life 940 00:41:20,240 --> 00:41:21,840 before we finish today. 941 00:41:21,880 --> 00:41:25,340 You see there, Geneva won in the year 1536. 942 00:41:25,380 --> 00:41:28,280 So let's go back to our story and we'll wrap up. 943 00:41:28,320 --> 00:41:30,880 Soon after publishing the first edition of his Institutes 944 00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:34,580 in 1536, Calvin's life took another interesting turn. 945 00:41:34,620 --> 00:41:37,120 This is one of the most famous parts 946 00:41:37,160 --> 00:41:39,220 of the story of his life. 947 00:41:39,260 --> 00:41:41,560 He went back over the border into France 948 00:41:41,600 --> 00:41:43,620 to pull his brothers out of the country 949 00:41:43,660 --> 00:41:46,000 because he was concerned for their safety. 950 00:41:46,020 --> 00:41:49,000 And then he went back east, crossed the border again 951 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:52,960 with the intent of going to the city of Strasbourg. 952 00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:54,840 Because there, there was a particular man, 953 00:41:54,860 --> 00:41:57,840 a pastor and theologian named Martin Buser, 954 00:41:57,860 --> 00:42:00,440 who was leading a strong Protestant movement. 955 00:42:00,480 --> 00:42:02,540 And what Calvin wanted to do at that point in his life, 956 00:42:02,580 --> 00:42:04,940 he's still in his 20s, so he wants to get there 957 00:42:04,980 --> 00:42:08,420 and to sit under the mentorship of this older man, 958 00:42:08,440 --> 00:42:09,580 Martin Buser. 959 00:42:09,620 --> 00:42:12,040 Now, let's go back to our map real fast. 960 00:42:12,080 --> 00:42:14,060 So again, you see the border between France 961 00:42:14,080 --> 00:42:15,380 and the Holy Roman Empire. 962 00:42:15,420 --> 00:42:16,820 The yellow dot is Strasbourg, 963 00:42:16,820 --> 00:42:19,040 technically outside of the Swiss Cantons, 964 00:42:19,080 --> 00:42:20,620 part of southern Germany, 965 00:42:20,660 --> 00:42:23,120 but a strong movement for Protestantism 966 00:42:23,160 --> 00:42:24,780 taking place there. 967 00:42:24,820 --> 00:42:26,460 That red dot is Geneva. 968 00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:28,160 That's where he's gonna end up. 969 00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:29,220 Now, here's how this happened. 970 00:42:29,260 --> 00:42:32,460 The Institutes had garnered a certain reputation for Calvin. 971 00:42:32,500 --> 00:42:35,860 He was becoming well known by other Protestant leaders. 972 00:42:35,900 --> 00:42:38,540 And so when a reformed preacher in Geneva, 973 00:42:38,560 --> 00:42:40,740 a man by the name of William Pharrell, 974 00:42:40,780 --> 00:42:42,800 heard that Calvin was in town 975 00:42:42,840 --> 00:42:45,500 because he stopped in Geneva on his way to Strasbourg. 976 00:42:45,500 --> 00:42:46,900 By the way, Calvin said, 977 00:42:46,940 --> 00:42:49,340 my intent was to stay in Geneva overnight 978 00:42:49,380 --> 00:42:51,040 and leave the next morning 979 00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:54,240 because I wanted to get to Strasbourg. 980 00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:58,140 But Pharrell hoodwinked him, hijacked him. 981 00:42:58,180 --> 00:43:01,380 There's our guy, which by the way, looks like Calvin. 982 00:43:01,420 --> 00:43:02,860 I mean, all the guys look like this, right? 983 00:43:02,880 --> 00:43:05,580 Great beards. 984 00:43:05,620 --> 00:43:10,100 So Pharrell hears that this guy, Calvin, 985 00:43:10,120 --> 00:43:11,500 is in his town, 986 00:43:11,500 --> 00:43:15,640 and he is trying to establish reformed ideas in his town, 987 00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:18,420 in Geneva, and he, in the middle of the night, 988 00:43:18,440 --> 00:43:20,780 goes to the inn where Calvin is staying 989 00:43:20,820 --> 00:43:23,780 and pleads with him not to go on to Strasbourg, 990 00:43:23,820 --> 00:43:26,020 but to stay in Geneva 991 00:43:26,060 --> 00:43:29,800 and help him establish the Protestant faith there. 992 00:43:29,820 --> 00:43:33,360 And after saying, you crazy man, what are you doing here? 993 00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:36,540 Calvin said, no, not interested. 994 00:43:36,560 --> 00:43:39,400 He basically said, look, bro, 995 00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:41,960 I don't know if you said that. 996 00:43:42,000 --> 00:43:44,940 Bro, I am a scholar. 997 00:43:44,960 --> 00:43:48,600 I am a writer. I am not a pastor. 998 00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:50,680 This is not within my job description. 999 00:43:50,700 --> 00:43:52,940 As much as I sympathize with your need 1000 00:43:52,980 --> 00:43:54,980 to establish reformed ideas here, 1001 00:43:55,020 --> 00:43:56,880 you need to find somebody else. 1002 00:43:56,920 --> 00:43:58,080 And as the story goes, 1003 00:43:58,120 --> 00:44:00,380 and there's multiple people who witnessed this, 1004 00:44:00,420 --> 00:44:04,480 Pharrell grew so frustrated at Calvin's refusal to stay 1005 00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:08,220 that he pronounced a curse upon him. 1006 00:44:08,220 --> 00:44:12,920 Imagine this, saying that if you continue down this path 1007 00:44:12,960 --> 00:44:15,160 of staying out of the limelight, 1008 00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:18,220 that God is going to curse your studies. 1009 00:44:18,260 --> 00:44:20,800 Basically, you're too brilliant to sit in the shadows. 1010 00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:21,960 You got to come out. 1011 00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:24,500 Now, Calvin always had a sensitive conscience. 1012 00:44:24,540 --> 00:44:27,780 He would later admit that this godly man 1013 00:44:27,800 --> 00:44:30,740 who was sitting in front of him, obviously passionate, 1014 00:44:30,780 --> 00:44:32,740 that that curse really shook him up, 1015 00:44:32,780 --> 00:44:37,320 and he decided, I guess that's what God wants me to do. 1016 00:44:37,320 --> 00:44:39,500 And he stayed in Geneva. 1017 00:44:39,540 --> 00:44:41,700 Here's what he later wrote about this incident. 1018 00:44:41,740 --> 00:44:45,340 He said, Pharrell, who burned with an extraordinary zeal 1019 00:44:45,360 --> 00:44:47,080 to advance the gospel, 1020 00:44:47,100 --> 00:44:49,300 immediately learned that my heart was set upon 1021 00:44:49,340 --> 00:44:52,480 devoting myself to private studies 1022 00:44:52,500 --> 00:44:56,880 for which I wished to keep myself free from other pursuits. 1023 00:44:56,920 --> 00:44:59,780 And finding that he was gaining nothing by his appeals, 1024 00:44:59,820 --> 00:45:02,220 he proceeded to utter imprecations 1025 00:45:02,260 --> 00:45:04,220 that God would curse my retirement 1026 00:45:04,260 --> 00:45:06,260 and the tranquility of my studies 1027 00:45:06,260 --> 00:45:09,100 if I should withdraw and refuse to give assistance 1028 00:45:09,140 --> 00:45:12,500 when the necessity was so urgent. 1029 00:45:12,540 --> 00:45:15,540 He says, by this imprecation, 1030 00:45:15,580 --> 00:45:17,920 I was so stricken with terror 1031 00:45:17,940 --> 00:45:20,880 that I desisted from my journey. 1032 00:45:20,920 --> 00:45:24,460 And from this, I learned that we cannot see very far before us 1033 00:45:24,480 --> 00:45:27,620 when I promised myself an easy, tranquil life 1034 00:45:27,660 --> 00:45:30,560 what I least expected was at hand. 1035 00:45:30,600 --> 00:45:33,900 Mark that last sentence in your life, too. 1036 00:45:33,900 --> 00:45:36,420 Just when you think, I've got life figured out, 1037 00:45:36,440 --> 00:45:38,440 and I'm gonna seek this tranquil place, 1038 00:45:38,480 --> 00:45:41,380 God says, uh-uh, uh-uh. 1039 00:45:41,420 --> 00:45:42,780 Not gonna go that way. 1040 00:45:42,820 --> 00:45:44,280 So that simple overnight stay 1041 00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:47,420 turned into two challenging years in Geneva. 1042 00:45:47,460 --> 00:45:52,800 But it was an absolute turning point in Protestant history. 1043 00:45:52,820 --> 00:45:54,060 Because in God's providence, 1044 00:45:54,100 --> 00:45:58,760 John Calvin could no longer just hide in his office and write. 1045 00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:00,060 He was gonna have to get out there 1046 00:46:00,100 --> 00:46:01,440 and be more than just a scholar 1047 00:46:01,460 --> 00:46:03,100 and develop some new skills. 1048 00:46:03,100 --> 00:46:06,260 So in Geneva, in that first day, just two years, 1049 00:46:06,300 --> 00:46:07,860 first of all, he took on the responsibility 1050 00:46:07,900 --> 00:46:10,600 of becoming the professor of sacred Scripture 1051 00:46:10,640 --> 00:46:12,300 at the local university. 1052 00:46:12,340 --> 00:46:13,940 But more importantly, 1053 00:46:13,980 --> 00:46:18,180 Pharrell put him, appointed him as pastor and preacher 1054 00:46:18,220 --> 00:46:19,620 at St. Peter's Church, 1055 00:46:19,640 --> 00:46:21,740 one of three churches in Geneva, 1056 00:46:21,780 --> 00:46:26,520 with a membership of 10,000 people. 1057 00:46:26,560 --> 00:46:29,220 Talk about your ministry challenges. 1058 00:46:29,220 --> 00:46:33,060 Again, he's only 28 years old at this point, 1059 00:46:33,080 --> 00:46:37,320 and now he's a professor and he's a pastor. 1060 00:46:37,360 --> 00:46:39,900 Now, I'm gonna end the historical details there. 1061 00:46:39,920 --> 00:46:42,300 We're gonna go back to just a wee bit more of his theology, 1062 00:46:42,340 --> 00:46:44,760 but let me give you a hint to where this is headed. 1063 00:46:44,800 --> 00:46:47,600 That every person who's ever been in ministry 1064 00:46:47,640 --> 00:46:49,180 knows this truth. 1065 00:46:49,200 --> 00:46:50,900 It's really hard. 1066 00:46:50,940 --> 00:46:51,900 It's really hard. 1067 00:46:51,940 --> 00:46:53,300 That first day in Geneva, 1068 00:46:53,340 --> 00:46:57,320 the very first pastoral job that Calvin landed 1069 00:46:57,320 --> 00:46:59,320 did not end well. 1070 00:46:59,360 --> 00:47:01,260 Two years after taking that position, 1071 00:47:01,300 --> 00:47:05,200 both he and Pharrell would be run out of town, 1072 00:47:05,240 --> 00:47:08,740 thrown out of Geneva by the city council. 1073 00:47:08,760 --> 00:47:10,580 But that's a story for next week. 1074 00:47:10,600 --> 00:47:11,780 Okay, as we wrap up, 1075 00:47:11,800 --> 00:47:13,180 let me just summarize a few more things 1076 00:47:13,200 --> 00:47:14,480 about Calvin's theology. 1077 00:47:14,500 --> 00:47:16,780 Listen, we have so much more to talk about next week. 1078 00:47:16,820 --> 00:47:20,480 We've got to talk about Calvin's view of worship. 1079 00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:23,020 It's surprisingly voluminous 1080 00:47:23,060 --> 00:47:25,120 how much he talked about worship, 1081 00:47:25,120 --> 00:47:28,180 about church order, about his view on preaching. 1082 00:47:28,220 --> 00:47:31,980 We're gonna talk about his very controversial views 1083 00:47:32,020 --> 00:47:33,960 on civil government, 1084 00:47:33,980 --> 00:47:36,520 and we will definitely talk about how his followers 1085 00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:41,060 engaged with a whole other wing of the reform movement, 1086 00:47:41,100 --> 00:47:45,760 the Dutch Reformed Church of Arminianism. 1087 00:47:45,800 --> 00:47:47,940 This is my teaser to come back next week. 1088 00:47:47,960 --> 00:47:52,000 Okay, as a summary, just a few more things. 1089 00:47:52,040 --> 00:47:54,440 You should know that on many points of theology, 1090 00:47:54,440 --> 00:47:56,840 Calvin was right in line with other reformers 1091 00:47:56,860 --> 00:47:59,000 like Luther and like Zwingli, 1092 00:47:59,040 --> 00:48:02,180 whether it was original sin, the authority of Scripture, 1093 00:48:02,200 --> 00:48:04,480 justification, sanctification, 1094 00:48:04,500 --> 00:48:08,340 salvation by faith alone, and more. 1095 00:48:08,380 --> 00:48:10,320 And contrary to what most people think, 1096 00:48:10,340 --> 00:48:12,360 even many Lutherans today, 1097 00:48:12,380 --> 00:48:14,820 Calvin's view of predestination 1098 00:48:14,860 --> 00:48:18,920 was virtually identical with Luther's view. 1099 00:48:18,960 --> 00:48:21,500 That will surprise most Lutherans today. 1100 00:48:21,520 --> 00:48:23,100 They were almost identical. 1101 00:48:23,100 --> 00:48:27,520 Calvin simply stated it more emphatically than Luther did, 1102 00:48:27,540 --> 00:48:30,120 which makes sense because these two great reformers 1103 00:48:30,140 --> 00:48:31,780 were really fighting two different battles 1104 00:48:31,820 --> 00:48:33,220 on different fronts. 1105 00:48:33,260 --> 00:48:35,460 And it was Luther who had to do the trailblazing, 1106 00:48:35,480 --> 00:48:38,720 and then Calvin was able to come in and be an assist. 1107 00:48:38,760 --> 00:48:40,720 But they were fighting, and Calvin was always, 1108 00:48:40,760 --> 00:48:43,160 listen, we love Luther. 1109 00:48:43,200 --> 00:48:46,200 I've always looked up to him because I love his passion, 1110 00:48:46,240 --> 00:48:49,440 his zeal, and his righteous anger. 1111 00:48:49,460 --> 00:48:52,840 But Calvin was always the more skilled theologian. 1112 00:48:52,840 --> 00:48:55,440 Luther in his day had to lean on Melanchthon, 1113 00:48:55,460 --> 00:48:57,640 his friend, for a lot of the theology 1114 00:48:57,660 --> 00:48:59,140 that came out of Germany. 1115 00:48:59,180 --> 00:49:01,040 But Calvin was just brilliant. 1116 00:49:01,080 --> 00:49:03,440 But election and predestination, listen now, 1117 00:49:03,480 --> 00:49:07,040 were not of central importance to Calvin. 1118 00:49:07,080 --> 00:49:10,820 Important, yes, but not central to everything else. 1119 00:49:10,840 --> 00:49:13,120 And definitely not as important as his followers 1120 00:49:13,160 --> 00:49:14,320 would later claim. 1121 00:49:14,360 --> 00:49:17,020 In fact, when Calvin writes about election, 1122 00:49:17,060 --> 00:49:19,600 he talks about it as a mystery, 1123 00:49:19,620 --> 00:49:22,020 as something to be approached with fear and trembling 1124 00:49:22,020 --> 00:49:24,960 and always in the context of faith. 1125 00:49:24,980 --> 00:49:27,900 And he viewed election not as something controversial 1126 00:49:27,920 --> 00:49:29,660 or something to be upset about. 1127 00:49:29,700 --> 00:49:33,060 He said, it's the greatest of all comforts 1128 00:49:33,100 --> 00:49:35,140 because you're entrusting all things 1129 00:49:35,160 --> 00:49:39,000 to this utterly reliable God in heaven, 1130 00:49:39,040 --> 00:49:41,680 this utterly reliable Father. 1131 00:49:41,700 --> 00:49:43,800 And although Calvin was firmly in Luther's camp 1132 00:49:43,840 --> 00:49:46,580 regarding sola fide, or faith alone, 1133 00:49:46,620 --> 00:49:49,120 in all of Calvin's writings, 1134 00:49:49,140 --> 00:49:50,380 he doesn't just leave it there, 1135 00:49:50,380 --> 00:49:53,440 he goes on to the necessity of progressing 1136 00:49:53,480 --> 00:49:55,480 towards holiness in the Christian life. 1137 00:49:55,520 --> 00:49:58,880 In fact, Calvin writes that it's the moving towards holiness, 1138 00:49:58,920 --> 00:50:02,780 which is a sign of true election. 1139 00:50:02,820 --> 00:50:04,620 So Calvin's aim in all of his theology 1140 00:50:04,660 --> 00:50:06,420 was not just about the mind. 1141 00:50:06,460 --> 00:50:08,100 It wasn't just intellectual. 1142 00:50:08,120 --> 00:50:10,800 It was to form the heart through the mind, 1143 00:50:10,820 --> 00:50:12,900 which then brings about life transformation. 1144 00:50:12,940 --> 00:50:15,200 In fact, here's how he described it in his own words. 1145 00:50:15,240 --> 00:50:17,500 He says, the gospel is not a doctrine of the tongue, 1146 00:50:17,540 --> 00:50:19,540 but of life. 1147 00:50:19,540 --> 00:50:21,760 That's a good quote. 1148 00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:24,600 It is not grasped merely by the intellect and memory, 1149 00:50:24,640 --> 00:50:26,180 like other disciplines, 1150 00:50:26,200 --> 00:50:31,040 but it is taken in only when it possesses the entire soul 1151 00:50:31,080 --> 00:50:33,620 and when it finds a seat and a place of refuge 1152 00:50:33,640 --> 00:50:36,580 in the most intimate affection of the heart 1153 00:50:36,620 --> 00:50:40,680 where it must have an effect on the whole human being. 1154 00:50:40,720 --> 00:50:43,520 So again, Calvin is often thought of as just this intellectual, 1155 00:50:43,560 --> 00:50:47,260 but look how holistic his view of the gospel is. 1156 00:50:47,260 --> 00:50:50,360 It's a life-changing experience. 1157 00:50:50,400 --> 00:50:51,800 For Calvin, knowledge of the scriptures 1158 00:50:51,820 --> 00:50:53,500 was never just about the mind. 1159 00:50:53,520 --> 00:50:55,960 It has to find its way into daily life, 1160 00:50:56,000 --> 00:50:58,640 or else we can conclude that spiritual life 1161 00:50:58,660 --> 00:51:00,500 is not present in that person. 1162 00:51:00,540 --> 00:51:01,700 Again, here's how he put it. 1163 00:51:01,740 --> 00:51:04,340 He said, our life is like a journey, 1164 00:51:04,380 --> 00:51:07,400 yet it is not God's will that we should march along casually 1165 00:51:07,440 --> 00:51:09,340 as we please. 1166 00:51:09,380 --> 00:51:11,480 He sets the goal before us 1167 00:51:11,520 --> 00:51:15,820 and also directs us on the right way to it. 1168 00:51:15,820 --> 00:51:17,940 And although he acknowledges that this process 1169 00:51:17,980 --> 00:51:20,120 will never be completed in this life, 1170 00:51:20,140 --> 00:51:22,180 here is his assurance to his readers. 1171 00:51:22,220 --> 00:51:25,180 He says, each day, in some degree, 1172 00:51:25,220 --> 00:51:28,960 our purity will increase and our corruption be cleansed 1173 00:51:29,000 --> 00:51:30,720 as long as we live in the world, 1174 00:51:30,760 --> 00:51:33,400 and the more we increase in knowledge, 1175 00:51:33,420 --> 00:51:35,960 the more we should increase in what? 1176 00:51:36,000 --> 00:51:37,600 In love. 1177 00:51:37,640 --> 00:51:40,460 Can you get an amen to that? 1178 00:51:40,500 --> 00:51:42,740 So what a unique and brilliant man Calvin was, 1179 00:51:42,780 --> 00:51:43,840 and what an example. 1180 00:51:43,840 --> 00:51:46,940 Guys, an example not just to pastors and preachers like me, 1181 00:51:46,960 --> 00:51:51,480 but to every single Christian who values God's Word, 1182 00:51:51,500 --> 00:51:54,140 to see the principles of Scripture lived out, 1183 00:51:54,180 --> 00:51:57,840 both in individual lives and in the life of the church, 1184 00:51:57,880 --> 00:52:01,020 without exception and without apology. 1185 00:52:01,060 --> 00:52:04,080 May the Lord continue to raise up more Calvins 1186 00:52:04,120 --> 00:52:05,880 in our generation. 1187 00:52:05,920 --> 00:52:08,400 Until next week, when we talk more about this, 1188 00:52:08,420 --> 00:52:09,900 let's pray together. 1189 00:52:09,900 --> 00:52:12,240 Father, more than anything else this morning, 1190 00:52:12,280 --> 00:52:14,880 we want to magnify Your name, 1191 00:52:14,900 --> 00:52:17,640 not the name of this man. 1192 00:52:17,680 --> 00:52:21,080 As wonderful as He is, as a spiritual Father for us, 1193 00:52:21,120 --> 00:52:23,120 we want to magnify Your name above all, 1194 00:52:23,140 --> 00:52:26,480 because Lord, You are sovereign over all things. 1195 00:52:26,520 --> 00:52:30,060 You are sovereign over this reformation process 1196 00:52:30,080 --> 00:52:35,560 that began 500 years ago and is still necessary today. 1197 00:52:35,600 --> 00:52:37,900 We affirm the fact that we are sovereign 1198 00:52:37,900 --> 00:52:41,840 over the reformation process that began 500 years ago and is 1199 00:52:41,880 --> 00:52:43,840 still necessary today. 1200 00:52:43,880 --> 00:52:46,780 We affirm the fact that we need to always be reforming, 1201 00:52:46,820 --> 00:52:50,660 always coming back to the truth of Your Word as our anchor 1202 00:52:50,680 --> 00:52:53,660 in our lives and in the life of the church. 1203 00:52:53,680 --> 00:52:54,920 So Father, thank You. 1204 00:52:54,960 --> 00:52:57,260 Thank You for the great work that You have done 1205 00:52:57,300 --> 00:53:00,700 through men like Luther and Zwingli and Calvin 1206 00:53:00,720 --> 00:53:02,460 as examples for us. 1207 00:53:02,500 --> 00:53:05,140 And may it light a fire in our hearts 1208 00:53:05,160 --> 00:53:07,440 to grow more in our knowledge of Your Word, 1209 00:53:07,440 --> 00:53:09,120 and may it light a fire in our hearts 1210 00:53:09,140 --> 00:53:11,380 that might cause us, Lord, to go out into this world 1211 00:53:11,420 --> 00:53:14,580 that we live in today and to preach the gospel 1212 00:53:14,620 --> 00:53:16,720 and to show people who Christ is 1213 00:53:16,760 --> 00:53:19,020 and to make a difference in this world. 1214 00:53:19,060 --> 00:53:22,400 Lord, light our hearts on fire to keep reforming. 1215 00:53:22,420 --> 00:53:24,660 We thank You again for this morning and for Your Word. 1216 00:53:24,660 --> 00:53:39,160 1