Sermons on Deuteronomy, Sermons · Sermon 74
THE 74. SERMON OF IOHN CALVIN On Wednesday the xviij of September. 1555. The Lxxiiii. Sermon, in which the last verse of the tenth Chapter is expounded, and this is the first Sermon vponupon the eleuenth Chapter.
22 Thy fathers went downe into Egypt, in number threescore and ten soules: and now the Lord thy God hath made thee in multitude as the stars of the skie.
The eleuenth Chapter.
LOueLove the Lorde thy God therefore, and keepe his appointmentes, Ordinances, Lawes, and Commaundementes for euer.
2 And consider you this day (for I speake not to your children which hauehave neither knowen nor seene [them]) the instruction of the Lord your God, his greatnesse, his mightie hande, and his stretched out arme,
3 And his wonders and workes which hee did in the middes of Egypt, vntounto Pharao king of Egypt and all his Land:
4 And what he did to the host of the Egyptians, vntounto their horses & Chariots, when the Lord brought the waters of the read sea vponupon their faces when they pursued you, and how the Lord destroyed them vntounto this day.
I HaueHave alreadie shewed ye meaning of Moses, how that by rehearsinge ye wonders yt GOD had wrought for the deliuering of his people out of captiuity he shewed the Iewes that they ought to hauehave bin the more conformable to him, in respect of the fauor and louelove which he had shewed to them at al times. For he had alwayes shewed by his doings, that his promising to take Abraham & all his ofspring into his protection, was not in vain. Ye see then an euident proofe yt God hauing receiued Abrahams ofspring into his free fauour, hath also confirmed it by deedes & experience. And thereupon it is to be concluded, that if that people had not beene altogether froward, they ought of reason to hauehave serued God. And that is the point that Moses shot at. Consider with your selues (saith he) if ye be not bounde to giuegive your selues wholy to the obeying of your God. For he hath multiplied you as the stars of the skie. Through his gratious goodnes you are become so great a nūber, yt euen you your selues may be astonished at it. To be short, if ye look vpō your body, yt is to say your state; you cānot but see such a wōderful fauor of your God, as you could neuer hauehave once looked for or hoped. Sith it is so, there is now no excuse for you if you cannot find in your hartes to glorifie his name,Gen. 15.5. seeing he hath shewed him selfe so good & merciful towards you. That is ye sūme of ye matter yt Moses intended to set down.
And he speaketh expresly of the stars of the skie, because of the promise. For God speaking to his seruāt Abrahā, shewed him in a vision ye multitude of the stars, which is infinite. Euen as they be past reckening (saith god) so also shal thy seed be. Now then the meaning of Moses in this text is, yt Gods saying so was not in vain, & that Abraham was not disappointed of his hope in resting altogether vponupon yt promise: for we see the thing performed before our eies. And this is wel worth the noting. For if God hauehave done vsus any good, we wil indeed for maners sake say it was he yt did it: but to be throughly persuaded of it in our hart, that is a very hard thing. Therefore is it requisit in respect of such rudenes, yt we should be cō demned by Gods word, to the end we may ye better consider of his hand & power. As for example: if we had neuer read any whit of holy scripture, & yet notwithstanding god should hauehave deliuered vsus frō some aduersitie: to say ye truth, our own naturall wit would put vsus in mind, to think our selues indetted to God for ye same: But when we be exercised in the holy scriptures, and hauehave seene there yt God reserueth to himself the issues of death, & that it is in him to succor vsus, yea euē after a strange fashion when al seemeth to be vtterly forlorne; so as if we call vponupon him, he will heare our sighes: the performance therfore maketh it the easier for vsus to conceiue his goodnes, bicause we be taught aforehand, the same things which we come to find by experience. For why? The word yt went afore, is as a lampe to giuegive vsus light. Of our owne nature we be as it were blind. True it is that God inlighteneth vsus by his holy spirit: but yet are we still in darknes & cannot see two fingers bredth afore vsus. But whē God teacheth vsus by his word; yt is as a lampe to guide vsus & shew vsus our way. Therfore let vsus marke well yt to profit our selues by the benefits yt God bestoweth vpō vsus, it is good, yea & nedful for vsus to be put in mind of his promises, & to compare thē together God had promised it; & now he hath performed it: here we see a testimony yt he is alwaies faithful in his sayings, & yt a man may safely rest vpō his truth. That is ye thing which Moses sheweth vsus in this text, in that he speaketh not simply of the great multitude whereinto the people had bin increased, but also saith yt God had multiplied them as the stars of the skie, to the intent that eueryevery mā should think vponupon ye promise which was vniuersally knowen among them, & thereby confirme themselues, inasmuch as God had so kept touch with his seruāt Abraham: & eueryevery man consider thus in himself, Indeed we ought to receiue gods simple & single word, although the effecte of it were not scene. But now that Gods hande & his mouth go iointly together, so as he hath shewed a true proofe of his presēce before our eyes, and that he meant not to disappoint the hope of his seruants; we know yt our God hath a care of vsus, & forgat vsus not at such time as we were in the land of Egypt. For ye time of the peoples abode there was as a kinde of buriall in their graues, so as it might hauehave seemed yt all Gods promises had bin quite dashed. Whē he drew Abraham out of the land yt he was borne in, he said vntounto him, I giuegive thee al this land frō one side to another,Gen. 12.7. to thee & to thine ofspring for euer. And yet for al this, yee see howe Abraham did but soiourne there as a strāger: he was hunted & faine to fleet frō place to place, & he trotted vp and downe like a poore man that had not a corner to hide him in.Hebr. 11.9. The like befel to his sonne Isaac, Iacob was banished thence during al the flower of his youth, & when he returned thither againe, hee was faine to remoue oftentimes in his old age, and in the ende God conueied him away into Egypt. Thus was yt house as it were broken vp & cleane banished out of the countrie. And where is the lande of Chanaan which was the heritage yt God had promised thē? They were bereft of it. Indeed Iacob caused his body to bee conueied thither againe when he was dead: but yet did the people abide still in Egypt, & god seemed to hauehave mocked thē in saying, ye shal inherit this land. But when god brought them again out of the captiuitie & cruell tyranny wherein they were, it was as a rising again frō the dead, & as a taking of them againe out of their graues. So then, ye people are exhorted in this text, to vnderstand that they ought to impute this redemption of theirs to the promise that had beene made long time before.
And we on our side hauehave generally a very profitable lesson: which is this. As oft as we fal asleep and minde not Gods benefits so sufficiently as might make vsus to perceiue his working & power: we must resort to his promises, yt they may be as a light vntounto vsus to shew vsus the good way. Let that serue for one point. And now by the way, we see how God vttered his power in multiplying the people after yt fashion. For who would hauehave looked that of threescore & ten persōs there should hauehave issued seuen hundred thousand & aboue? It is incredible (if wee looke no further than to the course of nature) yt in three hūdred yeres, threescore & ten persons shold increase & multiply to so great a number. Had there come of them ten thousand or twentie thousand, it might wel hauehave bin imputed to the course of nature. But when it came to a hundred thousande, or a two or three hundred thousand, yea & to so huge a number as seuen hundred thousand; al men must needes be abashed at it, & it was not to be thought yt euer it could hauehave bin possible. But we must not mesure Gods power by our wit: for it was his wil to work after that strange & vnaccustomed fashion, that men might be driuen to think it to be his worke. For if God worke after an ordinary maner wt vsus, we be so vnthankful, yt we take the thing to happen by chance, or by our own policie, or by some mans fauor, or other meane which we hauehave foūd in ye world▪ & we bereaue God continually of his honour. In deed we wil not say yt we purpose any such thing; nay, we protest the cleane contrarie: but yet for al yt, men are so wickedly giuen, yt they alwaies deface Gods power & goodnesse to the vttermost yt they can. God therfeore is faine to bring vsus perforce to the acknowledging of his works, so as we must be compelled to confesse yt it is he which helpeth & succoureth vsus. Let vsus mark wel then, yt when he multiplied his people after yt sort, he meant to work a myracle that had neuer bin looked for, to the intent yt men should no more doubt that it was he that spake vntounto Abraham, & that he had not in vain promised him to become ye defēder of him & of al his ofspring. Nowadais there ar a sort of skoffers, who to make al things doubtful, wil cauil after this maner; Is it possible yt in so short a space of time, threescore & ten persons should grow to so huge a number as seauen hundred thousand? Is it possible? Yea, & if that people had bin increased but after an ordinarie maner, what would they say then? Came not this of other men? & should we then say that god gouerneth vsus? Why? ye order of nature afordeth as much. After yt maner would the mockers prate. And therby we see the lewdnes yt is in mē. For if God goe not beyond the ordinarie course of nature, they hauehave no sight at al to discerne his hand, but (to their seeming) it is fortune or their own wisdom, or some inferior meane of ye world. And on the other side, if God lift vp his mighty hand, & do a thing beyond mans capacitie, and such as men would hauehave thought coulde neuer hauehave bin done: then wil they say, how coms this to passe? And they could find in their harts euen to deface gods power quite & clean, vnderunder color yt it surmounteth their reason & capacity. But for our part, let vsus learne to do god so much honor, (for so hee well deserueth) as not to iudge of his workes after our own fancy specially when they be miraculous.
And here wee hauehave as it were a looking glasse, wherein to see how God raiseth vp his Church, according also to this his speaking of it by his prophet Esay,Esa. 51.1.2. Loke backe to the quarrie of sto…e (saith he) whereout of ye were hewen, hauehave an eye to the womb of your mother Sara. Loke vpō Abraham your father: was not he alone? yes, & yet hauehave I now made you manie in number, as ye thing it selfe declareth. In that place God likeneth Saraes womb to a quarrie of stone. See here (saith he) from whence ye be come. Howe is it possible that such a multitude of people as you be nowe growen vntounto, shoulde be drawen out of one quarrie of stone? And yet notwithstanding, from thence hauehave I fetched you, all of you are
but onelyonly aunswere: Let GOD bee obeyed, according to the praiers which he hath cōmanded folke to make with this solemne protestation Amen,1. Chro. 16.36. so as there may not be any replying at all to yt which God hath once vttered with his mouth. And that is the verie cause why the word Keepe, is set downe here. For men wil needs hauehave manie things to keep, and they beare thēselues in hand, that they hauehave kept the law very well, after what fashion so euer it be. But our Lord telleth vsus that we hauehave things enough to keep and to obserue, in following his lawe, so as we neede not to adde any thing to it.
Furthermore to the intent yt the people may be the more moued, Moses confirming here the matter yt we heard euen now, saith thus: Bethinke you therfore: for it is not spoken to your children which hauehave neither seen nor heard of it, but to you your selues which are witnesses of the great myracles, mightfull workes, and tokens which God shewed in bringing you out of the land of Egypt, and specially in your passing of the read sea, where he wrought with a wōderful power. For what a thing was it yt the sea shronk aside to make you way to passe through it? And that afterward it swallowed vp al your enemies, that folowed you with so great puissance, yt you thought your selues vtterly vndone? You hauehave seen those thinges with your eyes saith he. What a thing were it then, if ye should forget such wonderfull workes of God, and suffer them to vanish away? Might it be imputed to any ignorance? No, but to vnthankefulnes, & it were malicious spitefulnes for you to tread the thinges so vnderunder foote, which God hath shewed vntounto you.
And wheras he saith. It is not spokē to your childrē which hauehave neither seen nor heard of it: He meaneth yt he speaketh not of thē as shal be spoken afterward. True it is that at this day when we reade the storie of the deliuerance that was wrought at that time, we ought to be moued at it. For it is an euerlasting euidence of the care which God hath had of his Church. And in ye same we hauehave a liuely picture to shew vsus how God draweth vsus as it were out of the dungeon and gulf of death, by chosing vsus to be of his house, and therefore it behoueth vsus to make our profit of the thinges that were done then, although we saw them not. But here Moses reasoneth thus by comparison. If I speake to your children (saith he) yet were it their dutie to make their profit of yt things which they were taught: and although they hauehave not seene the things with their eyes, yet ought this recording of them, to do them good. But as for you, ye ought to be better aduised in taking heed to the things yt God hath shewed you. For your thanklesnesse is dubble, & much sorer shal your condemnation be, if you profit not by thē. What can ye alledge for your selues, if ye giuegive not your selues whollie to the magnifying of such grace, that is to say if ye honor not God, seing he hath bought you so dearly, and shewed that he setteth so great store by your welfare? Seeing that God hath shewed himselfe to be such a one towardes you, what is your dutie? Here we be put in mind that when our Lord hath made vsus to find fauour by experience, if we profit not by it to serue him with the better courage and earnester zeale, it must of necessitie come to account, & wee must looke for more horrible damnation in reward of such vnthākfulnes. But now let vsus see what we become the better by gods benefits. Hath it not bin sufficiently seene & perceiued in our time, … he hath helped vsus at our neede, & howe he hath stretched out his mightie hande? If eueryevery man would acknowledge for his own part, how many waies god hath shewed himself boūtiful towards him, surely we should be at our wits end. Againe, let vsus loke vpō the state of ye Church in generall. Hath not god wrought after such a sort on al sides in our daies, as if we be not very monsters, or at leastwise worse than bruit beasts, we must needs perceiue by his miracles, yt he ment to shew here how he reigneth in heauē? But now let vsus se how eueryevery of vsus is stirred vp therby, to serue him. Nay it should seeme we seeke nothing else but towels to hid our eyes withal, and yt we beleeue not the thinges which are & ought to be most apparant to vsus. Yet was not this doctrine vttred to no end. For if God hauehave shewed vsus by his deeds, that …e dwelleth amōg vsus, & hauehave reached out his hand frō heauen, to proue yt all power belongeth … him, and yt he wilbe ye sauior of his church, & yet we beleeue it not, but play ye blind bussards, and turne our backs vponupon him, shutting our eyes wilfully when we should take most heed to cōsider in what wise ye Lord hath shewed himselfe to be ye father & sauior, both of our selues & of al yt are his: what excuse will there be for vsus? Ye see then here is a lesson yt toucheth vsus. For if euer God vttered himselfe: surely we of our time hauehave seene such deeds of his, as are worthy of remēbrance. And whē men shal reherse thē a hundred yeres hereafter, (if ye world indure so long) it is certain yt they shal serue to make them ashamed yt shall hauehave heard thē spoken of, so we may wel say, (as is said by ye prophets) yt the strāgenes of thē shal make their eares to glow yt shal heare of thē:… for yt is ye maner of speech which the Prophets vse in such cases. And we hauehave seene these things, and had experience of them. Now if ye report of them in time to come, ought to moue ye people yt shalbe then: although they shall hauehave had none other knowledge of thē: ought not we much rather to be moued by them now presently? Ought they not to pearce our hearts? Must not Satan needes hauehave vtterly sotted vsus, whē after such perceiuing of gods benefits & power, we see nothing at all, but go on stil & conceiue nothing? Is such blockishnes to be borne with? No verily. And therefore let vsus bethink ourselues, & consider wel how god hath wrought in gathering vsus together, & in that we can worship him purely as he requireth. Who is he, (be he a citizen borne or a stranger,) which hath not cause to say, lo how my god hath so vttered himselfe to mee, as if I had seene his hand come downe from heauen to me in some visible shape? For what hope had they which are here townsmen borne, to be either in libertie, or to be but euē a mean people? Insomuch as it seemed yt al should hauehave gone to wrack, & come to vtter ruine ere this time. As touching ye Gospel, this citie was but a hellish gulfe of superstitions and diuelishnes, (as was to be seen euerywhere) and al maner of abuses, ydolatries & practises of Satan did so reigne in it, as there was no likelyhood that euer there shold hauehave bin any roome for Gods grace. And therefore those whom God hath visited so louingly, and to whom hee hath vouchsafed to come home into their houses to seeke them out, hauehave good cause to glorifie him. And as for them yt are come out of forrein countries, and are gathered together here as it were into one flocke; what can they say, but that our Lord hath performed yt thing towardes them at this day, which he spake so long ago by his prophet Esay:Esa 2.3. …. 17.25. namely that he would make charyots and wagons trotte apace through the world, to bring folke from al coasts to serue & worship him in his Church? Nowe then if we looke not vp at such things; surely it wilbe no excuse or shift for vsus, to say: I thought not on these things, because they were not knowen to me: for God sheweth vsus thē apparantly ynough, so as we need but to opē our eyes to see them. Thus ye see how we ought to practise this lesson nowadays, where it is said, I speake not to your children which might reply that they neuer sawe nor heard of these things. For looke what you ought to know as cōcerning Gods power, he hath done you to vnderstand it by his deeds.
And now by the way let vsus be contented with the experience which we hauehave had of the goodnesse and power of our God, in his redeeming of vsus from ye endles confusion wherin we be al born in Adam. For what is our original? Whence doth God draw vsus when he vouchsafeth to hauehave vsus to be of his flock? Frō our mothers womb we bring nothing with vsus but vtter cursednes: we be heires of endlesse death: wee be forlorne & damned: if God should iudge vsus after our deserts, he should needs be our enemy and aduersary, and imploy all his power against vsus. Now if our nature be so gracelesse & frowarde, that as long as it beareth sway in vsus, it bendeth it selfe against God: must we not needs also wage battel against him? Yes: for looke how many lusts be in vsus, so many defiances are there, as if our purpose were to arme him to vengeance against vsus. Yet notwithstanding it hath pleased him to pull vsus backe. When God taketh vsus so to him to be his people and of his houshold, it is more than was his deliuering of the Iewes out of the thraldome of Egypt. For that was but a figure of this redemption that is wrought by our Lord Iesus Christ. For his deliuering of vsus is not from thraldom to some earthly & mortal prince: but from the gulf of hel, & from Satans bonds. Where doth God take vsus, when he vouchsafeth to call vsus to him, & to make vsus feele his grace? Must some messenger be faine to bring vsus newes from farre? Let eueryevery of vsus looke vponupon himselfe, and we shall finde that as in respect of our selues, our state is nothing but eternal death. Therefore to applie this doctrine to our vse, wee must vnderstand yt when God calleth any of vsus to him, it is more than if hee had rid vsus out of all the bondages and slaueries of this worlde, yea euen of the cruellest that could bee indured. Let vsus know that: and also let vsus apply our selues aduisedly to the cōsidering of Gods works: for that is the thing whereto the scripture bringeth vsus, to make vsus perceiue the benefites that he hath bestowed vponupon vsus, that wee may fare the better by them. And it is also a way to bring vsus to ye knowing of God, and to prouoke vsus not onelyonly to worship him as our God, and to make vsus stoope vnderunder his glorious maiestie: but also to beare him such a childly louelove, as to come vntounto him willingly, and to yeelde him such reuerence, as he may accept vsus and auow vsus to bee his, for our Lorde Iesus Christs sake.
Now let vsus cast our selues downe before the heauenly throne of our good God, acknowledging our wretched sinfulnes, yt we may be wholly cast downe before him: & yet notwithstanding, praying him to vouchsafe to admit vsus in ye name of our lord Iesus Christ, so as we may not be shakē off at his hand, though we be worthy of it, but rather yt he beare with vsus of his infinite goodnes, vntil he hauehave conueied vsus quite & cleane out of this world, & clothed vsus againe with his owne righteousnes, & with ye perfection which he hath promised vsus. And so let vsus say, Almighty god &c.