‘The Expository Genius of John Calvin’ by Steven Lawson is not the biggest book I’ve read in recent weeks but its impact has been massive. If read and digested by preachers around the world this little volume could, by God’s grace, have a significant influence for good on the church.

I read it through last week as part of my effort to learn more about preaching by studying the lives of preachers and will review the book with that in mind. Let me review the book itself, sum up what I will call Calvin’s ‘ministry method’ and then draw out three main lessons that I and other preachers can learn from the life and ministry of this outstanding preacher and theologian.

Review: This book is the first in a planned series which will examine the lives and ministries of notable preachers. Lawson’s conviction is that there is “no better discipline for preachers today, apart from the study of Scripture itself, than to examine the biblical exposition of spiritual giants from the past.” After a short overview of the life of Calvin, Lawson introduces us to 32 ‘distinctives’ of Calvin’s ministry, gathered under the headings of ‘Approaching the Pulpit’, ‘Preparing the Preacher’, Launching the Sermon’, ‘Expounding the Text’, ‘Crafting the Delivery’, ‘Applying the Truth’ and ‘Concluding the Exposition’. All of these subjects, in one form or another, I have encountered repeatedly in my reading on preaching but they came alive in a fresh way as they are exemplified by the ministry of Calvin.

At the close of each section Lawson draws out the need for the lessons from Calvin to be learned by this and every generation of preachers and cries to God for his power to be unleashed to that effect

Calvin’s Ministry Method: John Calvin was committed to verse by verse exposition of the Scriptures. When he returned to Geneva after his three years of exile in Basel he simply resumed his Bible ministry at the next verse to where he had left off three years previously. Over the years it has been estimated that he preached some 4,000 sermons, commonly ministering ten times in a fortnight to the same congregation. He systematically worked through Genesis, Deuteronomy, Job, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, the major and minor Prophets, the Gospels, Acts, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus and Hebrews - and all this in addition to his voluminous writings and commentaries. Lawson writes, “Week after week, month after month, year after year, and decade after decade, he anchored himself to the biblical text, then made it known to his people.”

Calvin generally preached for about an hour and completely extemporaneously. After the briefest of introductions where he commonly reminded his listeners of where they had reached in their studies, setting the next verse or verses in context, he launched into his exposition.

Lessons to Learn: So what made Calvin, who Lawson describes as “the most influential minister of the Word of God the world has ever seen” apart from the biblical authors themselves, such an outstanding and effective preacher of God’s Word? For me there were three headline factors.

1. Calvin’s view of the ministry. “When we enter the pulpit, it is not so that we may bring our own dreams and fancies with us….as soon as men depart, even in the smallest degree from God’s Word, they cannot preach anything but falsehoods, vanities, impostures, errors, and deceits.” (p26) “The office of teaching is committed to pastors for no other purpose than that God alone may be heard there.” (p29) “God begets and multiplies His church only by means of His Word…It is by the preaching of the grace of God alone that the church is kept from perishing.” (p35

2. Calvin’s confidence in the presence of God. “when the minister executes his commission faithfully, by speaking only what God puts into his mouth, the inward power of the Holy Spirit is joined with his outward voice.” (p2 “Wherever the gospel is preached it is as if God himself came into the midst of us.” (p2 Says Lawson, “A life-transforming pulpit ministry, for Calvin, required the divine presence in power.”

3. Calvin’s view of himself. Lawson writes, “his sermon preparation was not primarily for others; it was first and foremost for his own heart.” Calvin himself wrote, “If we enter the pulpit, it is on this condition, that we learn while teaching others. I am not speaking here merely that others may hear me; but I too for my part, must be a pupil of God, and the word which goes forth from my lips must profit myself; otherwise woe is me!” (p41) The preacher “needs to be the first to be obedient to (the Word), and that he wishes to declare that he is not only imposing a law on others but that the subjection is in common and that it is for him to make a start.” (p116) Or Lawson again, “There was always one man in the congregation to whom Calvin primarily directed his sermons. Whenever Calvin stood in the pulpit, he was toughest on this man. He never let this hearer off easily; he never let him escape his evaluation. This man was present every time the Reformer preached. Indeed, he never missed a message. Still, this man was the one least impressed with the great theologian’s reputation and giftedness. Who was this targeted man? It was none other than Calvin himself.” (p115-116)

Fellow preachers - whatever other book you have your eye on, buy this one and more than that - read it!