Chapter 5: Persecution Reproach and the Worlds Praise 49
Contents
Editor's Note 1
Chapter 1: The Calling and Preparation of the Twelve 2
Chapter 2: Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit and Those Who Mourn 13
Chapter 3: The Meek Those Who Hunger for Righteousness and the Merciful
Chapter 4: The Pure in Heart Peacemakers and the PersecuteD 37
Chapter 5: Persecution Reproach and the Worlds Praise 49
EDITOR'S NOTE
The five sermons in this volume were originally preached by John Calvin in French and form part of his larger series of sermons on the Harmony of the Gospels. They are presented here in a new English translation prepared from the French text.
Artificial intelligence tools were used during the preparation of this edition to assist with the initial translation of the French text and with subsequent editorial revision. Every sermon was reviewed and revised by the editor. The French source text remained the controlling authority throughout the translation process.
The source text for this translation is Calvin's Soixante cinq Sermons de Iean Calvin sur l'Harmonie ou Concordance des trois Euangelistes, sainct Matthieu, S. Marc, et S. Luc, collected by Denis Ragueneau and first published in 1562. The present volume contains Sermons 61–65 from that collection, the five sermons in which Calvin expounds the opening portion of the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes. The translation was prepared from the French text preserved in the collected edition of Calvin's works made available through the University of Geneva.
Our aim has been to produce a faithful translation that reads naturally in modern English while preserving the character and force of Calvin's preaching. Because these sermons originated in oral proclamation, the French often contains long sentences, repetition, and idiomatic constructions. Where a strictly literal rendering would obscure Calvin's meaning, we have adjusted wording and sentence structure while preserving his argument, emphasis, and theological substance.
Scripture quotations have been translated from Calvin's French as they appear in the source text, with biblical references supplied where helpful. Our purpose throughout has been to let Calvin speak clearly in English without modernizing his theology or recasting him as a contemporary preacher.
C H A P T E R 1 THE CALLING AND PREPARATION OF
THE TWELVE
Mark 3:13-19. Then he went up into a mountain, and called to himself those whom he wanted: and they came to him. 14. And he ordained twelve to be with him, and to send them out to preach, 15. And to have power to heal diseases, and to cast out devils. 16. The first was Simon (on whom he gave the name Peter). 17. And then James son of Zebedee, and John brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, which is as good as Son of Thunder). 18. And Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, 19. And Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
Luke 6:12-19. It happened in those days that he went to a mountain to pray: and spent the whole night praying to God. 13. And when it was day, he called his disciples: and chose twelve of them, whom he also named apostles: 14. Simon, whom he called Peter, and Andrew his brother: James and John: Philip and Bartholomew: 15. Matthew and Thomas: James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot. 16. And Judas brother of James: and Judas Iscariot, who also was a traitor. 17. Then going down with them, he stood in a plain with the company of his disciples: and a great multitude of people from all Judea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, who had come to see, and to be healed of their diseases, 18. And those who were tormented by unclean spirits: and were healed. 19. And all the multitude were eager to touch him: for power went out from him, and healed them all.
Our Lord Jesus Christ in the fifteenth chapter of John, wanting to keep his disciples in fear and humility, and to deprive them of every opportunity to be proud, tells them that he chose them, and that they had not chosen him: as if he were saying that he anticipated them by his grace, and that they had not acquired such dignity by their own efforts. And this is what Mark here means to declare in a single phrase, saying, that our Lord Jesus Christ chose those whom he willed. As if he were saying that it is not for us to investigate why these twelve of whom he is speaking here were preferred above the rest of the company: