The Reformers restored the Church to her central task — preaching.
They brought down the papal system and pointed out the errors of mass. They denied the mass the primary place in the worship of the church. They cried down the sad lack of knowledge among the clergy and laity.
But what was to be done? What was to take the place of the mass? How were the people to receive the grace of God? How were they to be built up in the knowledge of the truth?
The unanimous answer was: by the preaching of the Word!
The Reformers came to this conclusion on the basis of the Scriptures themselves. The Reformation was a return to the centrality of preaching because it was a restoration of the Scriptures. As the Bible came once again into the people’s hands in their native language, and as they poured over it, they came under the powerful conviction that the Bible was the sole authority for the faith and life of the church. Therefore, they took it up as their sword to bring reformation to the church. With this sword, they cut down the authority of the pope and exalted the authority of God’s Word, the Bible. With this sword they shredded the Roman Catholic Church doctrine and practice of the mass.
But with this instrument they also established anew the true doctrine and the pure worship of God. In the Scriptures they rediscovered the truths of God’s absolute sovereignty in salvation, justification by faith without works, and Christ’s Headship over His church. And here they found again that pure, simple, humble way of worship God has commanded – with preaching at the heart as the chief means of grace.
In this way did the Reformers become convinced of the indispensability of the preaching. Having studied the Scriptures themselves, they came to see that the church could do without all the ceremonies and elaborate services. But there was one thing she could not do without, and that was the pure preaching of the Word. As they studied the Scriptures, they noticed that the prophets, Jesus Himself, and the apostles had all been instruments to bring the Word of God.
Consequently, they rediscovered the truth that the proclamation of the Word was God’s method of salvation. This is easily verified from the writings of the Reformers. We are familiar with Martin Luther’s 95 theses, which he nailed to the door of the castle church at Wittenburg on October 31, 1517. Perhaps the most noteworthy of these theses is #62 which reads: “The true treasure of the church is the most holy Gospel of the glory and grace of God.”
A little later in life Luther expanded on this in his “Treatise on Christian Liberty”:
One thing and one only is necessary for Christian life, righteousness and liberty. That one thing is the most holy Word of God, the Gospel of Christ…. Let us then consider it certain and conclusively established that the soul can do without all things except the Word of God, and that where this is not,, there is no help for the soul in anything else whatever. But if it has the Word, it is rich and lacks nothing, since this Word is the Word of life, of truth, of light, of peace, of righteousness, of salvation, of joy, of liberty, of wisdom, of power, of grace, of glory, and of every blessing beyond our power to estimate.
… On the other hand, there is no more terrible plague with which the wrath of God can smite men than a famine of the hearing of His Word, as He says in Amos, just as there is no greater mercy than when He sends forth His Word, as we read in Psalm 107.
…Nor was Christ sent into the world for any other ministry but that of the Word, and the whole spiritual estate, apostles, bishops and all the priests, has been called and instituted only for the ministry of the Word (Works, vol.II, p.314).
Calvin reiterated this when in preaching on Eph.4: 11-14, he said:
Now the fact is that it (i.e., the church, CJT) cannot be built up, that is to say, it cannot be brought to soundness, or continue in a good state, except by means of the preaching of the Word. So then, if we earnestly desire that God should be honoured and served, and that our Lord should have his royal seat among us peaceably, to reign in the midst of us, if we are his people and are under his protection, if we covet to be built up in him and to be joined to him, and to be steadfast in him to the end; to be short, if we desire our salvation, we must learn to be humble learners in receiving the doctrine of the gospel and in hearkening to the pastors that are sent to us… (Sermons on Ephesians, Banner of Truth, 1973, p.374).
In fact, it may be said that the Reformation itself was brought about through the power of preaching. How did the Reformation begin? It began with preaching. Men such as Wycliffe, Huss, Savanarola, and others before Luther, brought about reformation by preaching. And how did the Reformation move forward as an unstoppable force? By means of preaching! This was due to the fact that the Reformers believed preaching to be the power of reformation. There was present in the 16th century’ the radical wing of the Reformation, which wanted to use physical force and human power to effect change in the church. But the Reformers despised this, and instead held that only the preaching could effect change, since it was God’s spiritual power.
This was concretely manifested in Wittenburg, when Luther returned there after he had been excommunicated at the Diet of Worms and subsequently hid at the castle at Wartburg. The radical element in Wittenburg was threatening to ruin the true reformation of the church there by resorting to the arm of flesh. But Luther came and preached eight sermons in eight days, pleading with the people not to use force but to rely on the power of the Word. In his second sermon Luther stated clearly that the Romish mass was evil and that he wished it to be abolished. But he went on to say,
Yet Christian love should not employ harshness here, not force the matter. It should be preached and taught with tongue and pen, that to hold mass in such a manner is a sin, but no one should be dragged away from it by force. The matter should be left to God; His Word should do the work alone, without our work. Why? Because it is not in my power to fashion the hearts of men as the potter moulds the clay, and to do with them as I please. I can get no farther than to men’s ears; their hearts I cannot reach. And since I cannot pour faith into their hearts, I cannot, nor should I, force anyone to have faith. That is God’s work alone, who causes faith to live in the heart. Therefore we should give free course to the Word, and not add our works to it (Works, vol.II, p.397-98).
A little later in the same sermon Luther gave an example of how his preaching had been the power in effecting the Reformation:
I have opposed the indulgences and all the papists, but never by force. I simply taught, preached, wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And then while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my Philip and with Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that never a prince or emperor inflicted such damage upon it. I did nothing; the Word did it all. …For it is almighty and takes captive the hearts, and if the hearts are captured the evil work will fall of itself (Works, vol.II, pp.399-400).
Thus it was that the Reformers labors consisted chiefly of the proclamation of the Word. Luther, Calvin, and all the other Reformers were chiefly preachers. It is true that they were also men who wrote and lectured. All of them wrote books, commentaries, catechisms, and letters. And of course, as pastors of established churches, they had their regular duties of the ministry – bringing the word privately, leading meetings, and so on. But all of these labors were founded on and were the fruit of their preaching. The chief thing that has come down to us from them is their sermons.
That is because they saw their primary task to be that of preaching the Word. That becomes plain when one considers their labors in their respective places. Beginning in 1510, Luther preached at Wittenburg; and here he continued until his death in 1546. For 36 years then, Luther expounded the Bible in Wittenburg, first in the little chapel, and then in the great city church. He preached often: at least two times on Sunday, and usually three times a week, in the morning. And his method was to preach systematically through the Bible.
The centrality of preaching is especially evident in the ministry of Calvin at Geneva. When he came here for the first time in 1536, he immediately set himself to the task of preaching. But it was when he came back in 1541, that the labor of preaching the Word became dominant in his life and in the city of Geneva. Not only did Calvin himself labor in Geneva for 23 years chiefly as a preaching pastor, but he also established the preaching of the Word as central to the life of the entire city.
Shortly after he returned in 1541, Calvin worked with the government of the city to adopt an organized policy for the churches of the city. The result was the “Ecclesiastical Ordinances.” In these “Ordinances” the work of the pastors was outlined. In the three congregations preaching was to be conducted twice on Sunday and every day of the week! These sermons were at least an hour in length and usually longer.
Furthermore, both Luther and Calvin trained men to preach and sent them out with the Reformation gospel. Believing that the chief task of office of pastor was preaching, they established schools and seminaries where men might be prepared for this work. Luther did this at the University of Wittenburg, and Calvin did the same with his Academy at Geneva. At these schools young men were trained in the doctrines of the truth and in the knowledge of the Scriptures. And with this knowledge these men went out into all of Europe, Asia, and beyond with the message of the gospel.
Thus did the Reformers restore preaching to the lives of God’s people and to the center of the worship service. For this reason too, God’s people came readily to hear the preaching. In the preaching was the message their souls needed and craved. It was a refreshing oasis in the otherwise barren desert of the church scene. This God used to feed and nourish His people once again. Once more God’s people had the Word, and with that, a true knowledge of God and of His works and ways. This was the great benefit of the Reformation as a return to the primacy of preaching.
In this connection, T. H. L. Parker, a significant and sympathetic biographer of Calvin, makes these comments regarding the preaching which the people heard due to Calvin’s diligence in the pulpit:
Before he smiles at such unusual activity of the pulpit, the reader would do well to ask himself whether he would prefer to listen to second-hand views on a religion of social ethics, or the ill-digested piety, delivered in slipshod English, that he will hear today in most churches of whatever denomination he may enter, or three hundred and forty-two sermons on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah sermons born of an infinite passion of faith and a burning sincerity, sermons luminous with theological sense, lively with wit and imagery, showing depths of compassion and the unquenchable joyousness of hope. Those in Geneva who listened Sunday after Sunday, day after day, and did not shut their ears, but were “instructed, admonished, exhorted, and censured”, received a training in Christianity such as had been given to few congregations in Europe since the days of the fathers (John Calvin: A Biography, Westminster Press, 1975, p.92).
This is our Protestant heritage. This is what God has given Reformed churches through the Reformation.
But where do we stand today? Is the conviction of the Reformers still our own? Do we believe that the preaching ought to be primary in the labors and life of the church today? Is this what pastors are giving themselves to in their ministries? Is the preaching of the Word of God what we seek and love to receive each Lord’s Day for the salvation of our souls and those of our children?
Radical Disciples - A Remnant Revolution 