Words from John Calvin to the CRCNA

“Further, we see their impudence when they accuse us of excessive severity and say, 'You do not need to lash out this way against the pope and his people and call him Antichrist. You can preach the gospel well enough without such accusations. What good does it do to say that priests are ravenous wolves who will devour the flock of Jesus Christ and poison everyone with their false doctrine?' Those men are really dreadful teachers. They should have been born sooner so they could have taught Peter how to preach and instruct him what to say.” -John Calvin

It is true there will be many individuals, as I have said, who will claim to preach the gospel and not want to be thorough hypocrites. But if you then exhort them to declare publicly against the errors they think the people engage in, they will say they do not wish to place themselves in danger and must avoid an occasion for sin. Really? And when the poor ignorant people fall into a ditch, will they be made to sin when someone pulls them out? Must we not cry out, 'Keep yourselves from this perverse generation, when we realize that everyone is going to hell? Let us not think our Lord can tolerate seeing himself and his word mocked this way any more than he can tolerate seeing those who are responsible for his flock watch it perish this way without concern.

Further, we see their impudence when they accuse us of excessive severity and say, 'You do not need to lash out this way against the pope and his people and call him Antichrist. You can preach the gospel well enough without such accusations. What good does it do to say that priests are ravenous wolves who will devour the flock of Jesus Christ and poison everyone with their false doctrine?' Those men are really dreadful teachers. They should have been born sooner so they could have taught Peter how to preach and instruct him what to say. That is the way those scoundrels imitate evangelists for a sop as much in France as in Italy, being urged on by their wits to deceive and please men by all they proclaim. But we do not have to do that. We must be confident that what we understand is from God and his Holy Spirit, for in truth we are taught by God in this passage that if we wish to come to him through our Lord Jesus Christ, we must rid ourselves of this perverse generation. For we cannot do that unless we separate ourselves from their lies and deceits. It is generally believed that since God's promises are ours, we are no longer encompassed by the defilements of this world - and there are no worse defilements than those in the world, for we see that the devil is always sowing it with error upon error, lie upon lie, so that, by turning to Jesus Christ and beseeching him to favour us with deliverance, we may live more and more in him and be changed more and more by him.

Now just as Peter spoke of the perverse generation of his time, so must we understand we must do the same today, not only among the papists, but also among those who have made profession of receiving God's teaching. And we must remember that the word of God must be proclaimed and preached fervently and that unacknowledged sins must be rooted out, for the devil works hard to undermine everything we build up. Let us see to the matter early on because if we leave the poison there too long without counteracting it, it will infect the whole body and bring death. We must cry out against this infection: 'Save yourselves from this untoward generation? And if anyone says we can preach without such vehemence, we must consider that Peter speaks just as Jesus Christ spoke before. For even though the scribes and Pharisees had God's teaching and were mingling their false teachings with it, Jesus Christ nevertheless cries out in opposition, as if wanting to destroy everything. Now we see which of them is much worse than the other, the scribes or the Pharisees. It is true that Jesus Christ reproaches them for closing the door on the teaching. They do not wish to enter, and yet they prevent those who come to the door from entering (Matt. 23:13; Luke 11:52). But the Pharisees are more dangerous, for they turn aside those who are already on the narrow way and lead them away from holy enterprises.

Are we servants of God if we turn a blind eye to that? Are we to keep silent when we see some people indulging every evil practice and others filled with greed, usury, and strong-arm tactics? If we do, villainous and dissolute acts and inconstancies will have a stronger upper hand than ever. Others will come to vent their damnable blasphemies against God and his word, saying, 'And since Jesus Christ has died for us, is it not enough that we know it without citing that Old Testament, as if Jesus Christ had not come into the world?' Oh, let us flee from such blasphemers! When we hear such blasphemies, we must fear that our Lord will immediately give Satan permission to throw us all into consternation and that in our bewilderment we will be at a loss to know what to do - as is in fact already the case. Many more will yet be found that God has completely abandoned. They are no longer aware that salvation is by Jesus Christ, through his word and by his acts of grace toward us. Those blasphemers will shred him into small pieces and have no more reverence for his holy name than dogs have. That is good reason enough to say, 'Save yourselves from this untoward generation.'

Suppose I see a man so near a precipice that if he takes but one or two more steps he will fall into it and be killed. Will it be enough if I but say to him, "Watch where you are going'? Not at all! But I must shout: 'Hey! Don't take another step! Stop where you are or you'll break your neck!'That is exactly what we must do, for we see many on the verge of stumbling fatally. If we leave them alone without a word of caution, we betray God and you as well. When we see that some are given to adulteries and excesses, and others to usuries, strong-arm tactics, and so many other wicked deeds, we have to shout, 'Hey! Not another step! You are nearing the pit of hell! If you fall in, you will never get out and, count on it, you will be in unending torment! Such is the responsibility we receive from our Lord Jesus Christ and learn from his word. So must we fulfil it.

Time now prevents us from saying more. We shall keep the rest for another time. But we need to remember that if we do not ask God to help us and fill us with the desire for his name's honour and glory and for the advancement of his kingdom and the welfare and advantage of our neighbours, we will not be able to draw near to him and abandon that perverse generation which entices us into its condemnation. To do that, we must receive the word of God with all reverence, and his word must be our bread and healing balm - bread, because it is that spiritual food which eternally nourishes our souls; healing balm, because it cleanses all stains which so defile and deform our souls that they dare not present themselves before God. That is why we must cry out against the dissolute acts and inconstancies so prevalent now, for after we have warned them that they are going to hell, they still pay no attention, but rather abound increasingly in their wickedness. We must confront them, and if we see that those who are to correct others are themselves encouraging them, then we have to cry out, 'You poor people are destroying yourselves; you are hard on the heels of your ruin. Watch out!' For those who encourage the wicked in their iniquity strangle them more than the hangman who would put a rope around their neck. Do not be surprised then that we who wish to please God must be humble enough to prostrate ourselves, for we shall never come to Jesus Christ unless we abase ourselves so he can lift us up and so nothing can keep us from following the pure teaching of God, such as he reveals it to us.

from: John Calvin, Sermons on the Acts of the Apostles: Chapters 1-7 (Banner of Truth, 2008), p 50-53