we now propose to deal with his doctrine of eschatology and we would again point out that there is a connection between these two for Calvin sees the doctrine of law as the instrument or better one of the instruments that needs to be wielded to move toward the eschatological goal that he detects in scripture Now it has been pointed out that Calvin's eschatology is rather sober, and this is true inasmuch as Calvin is not a speculative eschatologist. That which he says, he says sparingly, he says economically, and he says without imaginative speculation. Also, a lot of Calvin's eschatology, such as it is, is directed in dealing with the condition of man after death notably in his work Psychopenicia being a vindication of the immortality of the soul after death against certain Anabaptist groups who were denying it at that time in much the same as the Jehovah Witnesses and the Seventh-day Adventists do today and Calvin also spends some time discussing the nature of heaven. We must also bear in mind that most of what Calvin has written has not yet been translated at all out of Latin into French, still less out of French and into English, and so that those who limit their research of Calvin's eschatological writings, merely to that which is accessible in the English language, are hardly looking at the tip of the iceberg of all of the eschatological statements which Calvin did make. With these reservations then, let us look, as broadly as we've been able to discover, at Calvin's eschatology not dealing with his doctrine of the continued conscious existence of the soul between death and resurrection, nor dealing with his doctrine of the nature and duration of everlasting punishment, nor even, except in the final analysis at the end of the lecture, dealing with his understanding of the nature of heaven. But let us rather confine ourselves principally to Calvin's understanding of historical expectations in world history between the time in which he flourished and the time of Christ's second coming. What did Calvin expect would happen in the world between Calvin's time and the end of history? That's the problem that we would like to focus on in this particular lecture. Now the first thing that we need to see, I believe, is that Calvin did not believe in the second coming of Christ immediately after the revelation of Antichrist, nor did he believe that Antichrist was an end time figure who would only be revealed at the very end of the world. It's quite clear from a cursory reading of the Institutes of Christian Religion, Book 4, Chapter 7, Paragraph 25 and elsewhere that Calvin believed Antichrist had already been revealed for many centuries and also that world history was going to continue for a long time after that revelation of that present Antichrist and finally that that Antichrist would be overthrown as the gospel progressed and advanced before the second coming. Writes Calvin at that place, all the heresies and schisms which have existed from the beginning belong to the kingdom of Antichrist. Yet, when Paul predicts an approaching apostasy, he signifies by this description that that seat of abomination shall then be erected when a universal defection shall have seized the church, notwithstanding many members dispersed in different places, who persevere in the unity of the faith. It is evident, therefore, that the Roman pontiff has impudently transferred to himself some of the peculiar and exclusive prerogatives of God and Christ. It cannot be doubted that he, the Roman pontiff, is the captain and leader of this impious and abominable kingdom of the Antichrist. Now what is Calvin saying there? He's saying first that every heresy that has ever existed from the very beginning is part of the kingdom of Antichrist. Second, that Paul predicted an intensification of the kingdom of Antichrist sometime after Paul's own lifetime, and that that antichrist kingdom would be intensified and centralized after a time of widespread defection in the church itself but not a complete falling away of everyone in the church says Calvin but a falling away of church leaders and especially at the geographical center of Christian Europe he says even at that time there would be many people dispersed in different places who would persevere in the unity of the faith. Elsewhere, Calvin, in dealing with Christian baptism, makes the point that Antichrist, especially at the time of his climactic rule throughout Southern Europe, meaning the papacy, was not able to obliterate the sign of Christianity, of Christian baptism. which was widespread everywhere in Southern Europe and even in the North. So then he says, it is evident that the Roman Pope has transferred to himself some of the prerogatives of God. No one can doubt, says Paul and says Calvin, that the Roman Pope is the captain and the leader of this abominable kingdom of Antichrist. He's not saying that a particular Pope the Pope that ruled in Calvin's lifetime or the particular portion of his lifetime was the Antichrist and the previous Popes or subsequent Popes would not be. No, he's saying the papacy, the institution of the papacy from the time of Gregory the Great in 604 A.D. the first time the Bishop of Rome was first called the Pope right down till the very end of the papacy Antichrist rules in this centralized way. Nor is Calvin saying that Antichrist is limited to the papacy. But he's saying that the papacy, not a particular pope, but the papacy as an institution, is the leader of this impious and abominable kingdom of the Antichrist. So that more remotely, Islam Judaism and anything else that would challenge the crown rights of King Jesus could properly be construed as a less centralized form of Antichrist. But he is saying that in spite of the ongoing power of the papacy Christ has his church everywhere throughout the world and he's about to predict that that church through the preached word will rise up and will overthrow the Antichrist and that the true church will then expand and take command of the world now in Calvin's commentary on Psalm 2 he says the following the father will deny nothing to his son which relates to the extension of his kingdom to the uttermost ends of the earth but in this wonderful matter Christ is introduced as presenting himself before the father with prayers in order to illustrate the free liberality of God in conferring upon men the honor of constituting his own son governor over the whole world. In other words, the manner in which Christ is enthroned or the manner in which men are moved to acknowledge the enthronement of Christ is through the action of Christian men. God working through his church. Unless, therefore, we suppose this prophecy concerning the vast extent of Christ's kingdom to have been uttered in vain and falsely, we must apply it to Christ, who alone is subduing the whole world to himself, and embracing all lands and nations under his dominion. Christ is immediately armed with power to destroy in the day of his wrath kings and their armies who are hostile to him they shall at length be compelled to feel that he whom they refuse to honor as their king is their judge in short they are broken in pieces by various methods till they become his footstool in what respect the doctrine of the gospel is an iron rod may be gathered from Paul's epistle to the Corinthians 2nd Corinthians 10 verse 4 where Paul teaches that the ministers of Christ are furnished with spiritual weapons to cast down every high thing which exalteth itself against Christ and if we go to Calvin's commentary on Psalm 22 we find him saying the Gentiles awakened by the signal miracles wrought by God would again come to embrace the true religion from which they had fallen away he's saying the Gentiles once had the true religion namely in their ancestor Adam before the fall well they'll be brought back to this true Christian religion of Adam's worship of the triune God, the ontological Trinity, in the future. Moreover, as God had not subdued the world to himself prior to the time when those who before were unconquerable were subdued to a willing obedience by the preaching of the gospel, we may conclude that this conversion was to be effected only under the management of the government of Christ there Calvin mentions the means of conversion of the pagans to bring them back to original religion the means of the preaching of the gospel and then Calvin writes in his preamble to his commentary on Psalm 47 as well as in his comment on the text of verses 7 and 8 of that psalm the following words listen to this the kingdom of God is continually growing and advancing to the end of the world we must pray every day that it may come for to whatever extent iniquity abounds in the world to such an extent the kingdom of God which brings along with it perfect righteousness is not yet come In his commentary on the Gospels and elsewhere, he goes on to say in Psalm 47 that this Psalm chiefly magnifies the favor which, according to the state of things at that time, God had graciously vouchsafed to the offspring of Abraham, and salvation to the whole world was to proceed from this source. However, At the same time it contains a prophecy of the future kingdom of Christ. It teaches that the glory which then shone onto the figure of the material sanctuary will diffuse its splendor far and wide when God himself will cause the beams of his grace to shine into distant lands so that kings and nations may be united into fellowship with the children of Abraham. The kingdom of God would be much more magnificent and glorious at the coming of the Messiah than it was under the shadowy dispensation of the law inasmuch as it would be extended to the uttermost boundaries of the whole world. You see wherein Calvin believed the New Testament's glory exceeded that of the old. Not in that it would introduce a completely different kind of dispensation at all, but more glorious than the Old Testament in that the New Testament would universalize and render worldwide the blessings that God had given and the same kind of blessings that God had given to his people on a national scale alone in Old Testament times and then Calvin in his commentary on the twelve minor prophets volume five makes the following remarks it's in one of the prayers that he prays after his prophetic exposition may we daily solicit thee in our prayers and never doubt but that under the government of thy Christ thou canst again gather together the whole world though it be miserably dispersed so that we may persevere in this warfare to the end until we shall at length know that we have not in vain hoped in thee and that our prayers have not been in vain when Christ shall exercise the power given to him for our salvation and for that of the whole world. In Calvin's outline of Psalm 68-67, in his commentary on that psalm, he tells us that the psalm contains a prediction of Christ's kingdom, and of which the whole world was to be adopted into a privileged relationship with God. The passage might be understood as encouraging the minds of the Lord's people to trust in the continuance and increase of the divine favor. Here we have a clear prophecy of that extension of the grace of God by which the Gentiles were to be united into one body with the posterity of Abraham. The psalmist argues that should God liberally supply the wants of his people, the consequence would be to increase the fear of his name, since all the ends of the earth would, by what they saw of his fatherly regard to his own, submit themselves with greater cheerfulness to his government, even to the uttermost boundaries of the globe. As we would expect, Calvin waxes very eloquent and confident in his exposition of and commentary on Psalm 72. Here he says, according to Psalm 72, the kingdom of Christ is to be extended from the rising of the sun to the going down thereof. The meaning is that the king chosen by God in Judea will obtain so complete a victory over all of his enemies, far and wide, that they shall come humbly to pay him homage. Verse 11 contains a more distinct statement of the truth, that the whole world will be brought into subjection to the authority of Christ. The nations will be convinced that nothing is more desirable listen to this, than to receive from Christ laws and ordinances. David breaks forth in praising God because he was assured by the divine oracles that his prayer would not be in vain. David therefore, with good reason, prays that the glory of the divine name may fill the whole earth since that kingdom was to be extended even to the uttermost boundaries of the globe and we would expect Calvin to encourage us similarly from Psalm 110 as he does in his outline recorded at the beginning of his exposition and commentary on that Psalm there he tells us in this Psalm 110 David sets forth the perpetuity of Christ's reign and the eternality of his priesthood. In the first place, he affirms that God conferred upon Christ supreme dominion combined with invincible power with which he either conquers all his enemies or compels them to submit to him. In the second place, he adds that God would extend the boundaries of this kingdom far and wide Christ should not reign as king upon Mount Zion only because God would cause his power to extend to the remotest regions of the earth if we then turn to Calvin's catechism or his instruction in faith and take a look at his exposition of the Lord's Prayer there, we find a striking comment made on the second petition, Thy Kingdom Come. Here Calvin says that in praying Thy Kingdom Come, we pray therefore that God's reign may come, that is to say, that the Lord may from day to day multiply the number of his faithful believers who celebrate his glory in all works and that he may continually spread upon them more largely the affluence of his graces. Similarly, we ask that from day to day he may through new growths spread his light and enlighten his truth so that Satan and the lies and the darkness of his reign may be dissipated and abolished. I like particularly what Calvin writes in his Institutes, Book 4 and Chapter 3 and Paragraph 4 in commenting on the Great Commission. Calvin says, the nature of the apostolic function is clear from the command, Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, Mark 16, 15. No fixed limits are given the apostles, but the whole world is assigned to be reduced unto the obedience to Christ, that by spreading the gospel as widely as they could, they might everywhere erect his kingdom. And then In the Institutes, book 3, chapter 20, paragraph 22, Calvin tells us, God sets up his kingdom by humbling the whole world, though in different ways, taming the wantonness of some and breaking the ungovernable pride of others. We should desire this to be done every day. in order that God may gather churches to himself from all quarters of the world, may extend and increase their numbers, enrich them with his gifts, establish due order among them. On the other hand, beat down all the enemies of pure doctrine and religion, dissipate their councils, defeat their attempts. Hence it appears that there is good ground for the precept which enjoins daily progress, for human affairs are never so prosperous as when the impurities of vice are purged away and integrity flourishes in full vigor. In his fifth book of his commentaries on the twelve minor prophets, Calvin tells us here in Malachi 1 verse 10, my name shall be great among the heathen God shows that he no longer cares only for the Jews for he bids altars to be reared for him everywhere and through all parts of the world that he might be purely worshipped by all nations for the doctrine of salvation would be propagated to the utmost extremities of the earth everywhere and then In the Institutes, Book 4 and Chapter 2, as well as in Book 1 and Chapter 14, comparing that with Calvin's commentaries on Isaiah 2 and 11, we perceive the following. While the fullness of days began at the first coming of Christ, it flows on in uninterrupted progress, Isaiah 2. until Christ appears the second time for our salvation the prophet here shows that the boundaries of his kingdom will be enlarged so that he may rule over various nations Christ is not sent to the Jews only that he may reign only over them but that he may hold sway over the whole earth there's a lot of good material in Calvin's comments on the book of Isaiah, such as what he says on Isaiah 9 verse 7. Says Calvin, God not only protects and defends the kingdom of Christ, but also extends boundaries far and wide, and then preserves and carries it forward in uninterrupted progression unto all eternity. We must not judge of its stability from the present appearances of things, but from the promise which assures us of its continuance and of its constant increase. And then, commenting on Isaiah 12, Calvin says, Make known his works among the people. Isaiah 12, 4-5. Isaiah means here that the work of this deliverance will be so excellent that it ought to be proclaimed not in one corner only, but throughout the whole world. He wished, indeed, that it should be first made known to the Jews, but that it should afterwards spread abroad to all men. As the Jews proclaimed among the Medes and Persians and other neighboring nations the favor which had been showed to them, so, when Christ was manifested, they ought to have been heralds to sound aloud the name of God through every country in the world. Hence it is evident what is the desire which ought to be cherished among all the godly. It is this, that the goodness of God may be made known to all so that all may join in the same worship of God. He shows that it is our duty to proclaim the goodness of God to every nation. While we exhort and encourage others, we must not at the same time sit down in indolence, but it is proper that we set an example before others. And in Isaiah 49 verse 6, Calvin says, the labor of Christ and of the whole church will be glorious, not only before God, but likewise before men. Hence it follows that we ought to have good hope of success. Especially on Isaiah chapter 60 does Calvin say many deep and wonderful things. Surely the islands shall wait for me. Isaiah 60 verse 9. Do not wonder that so many shall flow into the church, says Calvin. For the islands, which at present sometimes despise and sometimes fight against me, shall become so attentive to me as to execute whatever I shall command. Besides, the prophet declares that the riches of the Gentiles, which he appeared to represent a little beforehand as the prey of the church, or the prize of victory shall be a sacred offering to God. And thus he states more clearly what I have said, that there is nothing which we ought to desire more earnestly than that the whole world should bow to the authority of God. Commenting on verse 11, and thy gates shall be opened continually. Isaiah 60 11 Calvin tells us the gates shall be open so that riches may be brought into the city of God from every quarter and as burdens are usually carried in the daytime the day he says will not be enough so vast shall be the crowd of those who bring into it precious treasures and therefore the carrying will be so constant that it will be necessary to keep the gates open night and day. When Isaiah says that the forces or the wealth or the riches of the Gentiles shall belong to the church, let us not view this as referring to carnal luxury, but to obedience which the whole world shall render to God in the church. For he says that what is offered to God belongs to the church because God has nothing separate from it last analysis all of world history will prove to have been the unfolding of church history when the last day arrives and thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles Isaiah 60 verse 16 says Calvin it appears to be incredible that the church which has been reduced to calamities so great and so numerous, will be restored and will spread throughout the whole world. Her condition was desperate, but at length, out of that slender remnant which had been, as it were, snatched from the burning, to the great astonishment of all, the Church is restored, and her seed is spread far and wide through every part of the world a little one shall become a thousand Isaiah 60 verse 22 says Calvin let us consider that what was said to the Jews is now being said also to us that is though we are few in number and inconsiderable and appear to be very near to destruction Still the church cannot perish, but will be enlarged and multiplied till it become very numerous. And this shall take place before all the nations. Isaiah 61 verse 11 says, Calvin, Isaiah again shows that the boundaries of the church shall no longer be as narrow as they formerly were, for the Lord will cause the church to fill the whole world. And last, on Isaiah, I like what Calvin says in his commentary on Isaiah 66, verse 18. I will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall come and see my glory. Says Calvin, Isaiah means that the knowledge of God shall be spread throughout the whole world for the Greeks, Italians, Parthians, Cilicians and other nations had heard nothing about pure religion and the true worship of God and the whole world was plunged in the deepest darkness of ignorance. He therefore promises that the glory of God shall be known in every part of the world the word nations is emphatic for at that time the Lord was known to not more than one people but now he reveals himself to all Calvin also has some very very wonderful things to say in his comments on the book of Daniel I would really recommend an intense study of Calvin's commentaries on Daniel especially and what he says in Daniel chapter 11 so many misinterpretations even in semi-Calvinistic circles as to the meaning of Daniel 11 but if you read Calvin you'll see that he says that Daniel 11 all of it is what happens between the time of Alexander the Great and the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and that Daniel chapter 12 the appearance of Michael standing up for his people in a times of persecution such as the world has not seen why that's the first coming of the great Michael Christ the archangel, the leader of all of the angels the uncreated God himself who in human flesh leads his people even in spite of the great tribulation that they underwent between especially his death and the death of that nation in A.D. 70 well now there is some important prayers recorded in Calvin's commentary on Daniel especially at the end of the 9th and the 65th lectures that he gave on that book of the Bible prayed Calvin grant I say that we may raise our eyes upward and consider how much power thou hast conferred upon thine only begotten Son. Grant also that He may rule and govern us by His Spirit, protect us by His faithfulness and guardianship, and compel the whole world to promote our salvation. May we never grow weary, but may we learn to overcome the whole world to Calvin's comment on that most difficult book of the Bible, the book of Hosea. After lecture 34 on that book, we find Calvin praying, O grant that we, being mindful of thy benefits, may ever submit ourselves to thee, and desire only to raise our voice for this end, that the whole world may submit itself to thee. and that those who seem now to rage against thee may at length be brought, as well as we, to render thee obedience, so that thy son Christ may be Lord of all." And he prays a beautiful prayer too, after his comment on Micah 7 verse 15. May we daily solicit thee in our prayers, and never doubt that under the government of thy Christ thou canst again gather together the whole world though it be miserably dispersed so that we may persevere in this warfare to the end until we shall at length know that we have not in vain hoped in thee and that our prayers have not been in vain when Christ shall exercise the power given to him for our salvation and for that of the whole world. He also has an interesting comment to make in Institutes book 3 and chapter 20 paragraph 42 as well as in his comment on Matthew 6 verse 10. Thy kingdom come Matthew 6 verse 10. Says Calvin Because the word of God is like a royal scepter, we are bidden here to entreat God to bring all men's minds and hearts into voluntary obedience to it. We must daily desire that God gather churches unto himself from all parts of the earth, that he spread and increase them in number, that he cast down all enemies of pure teaching and religion that he scatter their counsels and crush their efforts from this it appears that zeal for daily progress is not enjoined upon us in vain with ever increasing splendor God displays his light and truth by which the darkness and falsehoods of Satan's kingdom vanish and are extinguished and pass away again as the kingdom of God is continually growing and advancing to the end of the world we must pray every day that it may come for to whatever extent iniquity abounds in the world to such an extent the kingdom of God which brings along with it perfect righteousness is not yet come if we study Calvin's 1558 sermon on Isaiah we will find that it contains the following words let us all come with true humility to embrace this Redeemer who is offered to us and let us be so mortified within ourselves that we may be raised up in the majesty given to him to be partakers in the life that he has won for us that he may grant this grace not only to us but to all peoples and nations of the earth and then in his massive 68 volumed opera Omnia all of his works most of which have never been translated into French let alone into English in volume 5 we find the following this is the cause of God he will take it in hand and bring it to a happy end whatever resistance we see being offered today by almost all the world to the progress of the truth, we must not doubt that our Lord will finally break through all of the undertakings of man and make a passage for his word. Let us hope boldly then, even more than we can understand, God will surpass our thoughts and our hope. I also believe that it's extremely profitable for us to read Calvin's comments on his pastoral epistles, particularly what he says in writing to Titus and in 1st and 2nd Timothy. I'll leave that for you to do, but study Calvin's comments, the pastorals, his encouragement to those two young preachers, and you'll be amazed to see how many times. As a matter of fact, I would challenge you to count how many times Calvin, in his comments on those three epistles, encourages his young preacher reader to be confident, to be full of hope as he does the work of the Lord and to expect great things from God. Just recently, I got these very interesting excerpts from Calvin's sermons on Deuteronomy, and I was particularly intrigued by the prayers at the end of them. For example, the prayer at the end of Calvin's exposition of the execution of rebellious children. We find Calvin saying, amongst other things, the following, Now let us kneel down in the presence of our good God with acknowledgement of our faults, praying him to vouchsafe to tame us that even though we are inclined to much wretchedness and corruption at least we may not become stubborn and unreformable and then he closes that this may please him to grant us this grace not only to us but also to all the nations and peoples of the earth and then in Calvin's sermon on the death penalty not being optional from Deuteronomy. He similarly closes the sermon with the prayer, Let us fall down before the majesty of our good God with acknowledgement of our sins, beseeching him to make us feel them the more, that thereby we may be the more inflamed to serve him and worship him by obeying him with our whole life, preventing all causes of offense and disorder that it may please him to grant this grace not only to us but also to all people and nations of the earth and then finally in Calvin's sermon on the court of final appeal it closes with the prayer that God would grant the grace not only to us but also to all peoples and nations of the earth rescuing all poor and ignorant people out of the bondage of errors and darkness wherein they are held, so that they may be brought to the knowledge of his truth. Calvinism, you see, is not merely an escape hatch for a handful of frozen chosens, and who cares what happens to the rest of mankind? No, no, Calvinism is the ultimate system of compassion. It's the one true humanism or better concern for humanity as a whole. Calvinism is the ultimate civilizing and mercy bringing ministry to the whole of mankind. That's why Calvin writes at the end or rather during his epistle to King Francis of France to whom he dedicated his institutes in the tenth paragraph, our doctrine must stand sublime above all the glory of the world, and invincible by all of its power, because it is not our doctrine, but that of the living God, and of his anointed, whom the Father has appointed King, that he may rule from sea to sea, and from the rivers even to the ends of the earth, and so rue as to smite the whole earth and its strength of iron and brass, its splendor of gold and silver, with the mere rod of his mouth, and break them in pieces like a potter's vessel. According to the magnificent predictions of the prophets, respecting his kingdom, Daniel 2, Isaiah 11, Psalm 2, unquote, John Calvin. In conclusion, and very shortly, I would like to point out that Calvin's rarely expressed expectation of the nature of life in heaven is not in disjunction with what he expects and experiences of our earthly life now or of the earthly life of our descendants in the future before the second coming. We'll see from these last quotations that I'm about to present that Calvin had a very concrete, down-to-earth concept of the nature of future heaven as being a continuation and a consummation of this present life as we serve God across the board in every theater of art, science, literature, and whatsoever. If we look, first of all, at Calvin's Institutes, Book 3, Chapter 25 and Paragraph 8, we'll see that Calvin there says that the body in which we shall rise will be the same body as at present in respect of substance, then he tells us in book 3 chapter 9 and paragraph 5 shall the lower animals and the inanimate creatures themselves even wood and stone as conscious of their present vanity long for the final resurrection that they may with the sons of God be delivered from vanity Romans 8 verse 19 namely If they themselves have no interest in continuing to exist, albeit in glorified form, after man's resurrection? Calvin says, don't think that there'll only be disembodied spirits in heaven after the second coming. Don't think that you'll only have men in heaven, albeit with their resurrection body. No, no, he says, in heaven there will also be lower animals. also lifeless creatures they too long for the final resurrection even wood and stone of this world in the life of heaven to come elsewhere some heretics asked Calvin and this is institutes book 3 chapter 25 paragraph 11 the heretics asked Calvin Why then should the world need to be repaired? And Calvin answered them, that quite independently of the use of the world, there will be so much pleasantness in the very sight that this happiness will far surpass all the means of enjoyment which are now afforded. Fruition, pure and free from defect, is the summit of happiness. In other words, the things that your eyes now see and hear and enjoy and taste and your tongue tastes which are not in themselves bad these things will come to greater fruition on the new earth to come and will not be blotted out and liquidated we're not on some sideline to be swept to one side when an express train goes through again on the railroad of history We're right on the main line all the time, from Genesis to Revelation and beyond. All world history will ultimately be shown to have been the history of the church in its rich, cosmos-embracing scope. Other people ask Calvin, well, what about rust? What about impurities in metals? If you say there's going to be metals in heaven and on the new earth, Calvin answered, Well, I concede this to them, that there will be no rust, and yet I expect with Paul, Romans 8.22, a reparation of those defects which first began with sin, and on account of which the whole creation groaneth and travaileth with pain. When scripture so highly extols the blessing of offspring, it refers to the progress by which God is constantly urging nature itself forward to its goal in perfection. On the new earth then, silver, gold, iron, copper, yes, but no rust on such of those metals as may rust. Last, Calvin states in his commentary on 2 Peter 3 verse 10, as regards the elements of the world, on the future renewal of our present heaven and earth I should only say this one thing that they are to be consumed only that they may be renovated their substance still remaining the same as may easily be gathered from Romans 8 verse 21 and from other passages and on Romans 8 verse 19 and subsequent verses Calvin comments that the obedience in all things springs from hope, for God has imparted inwardly the hope of renovation into the alacrity of the sun and the moon, and of all of the stars in their constant courses, the earth's obedience in bringing forth fruits, the unwearied motion of the air, and the prompt tendency to flow into water, water, wind, earth, fire, metals, animals, plants, and humans. going forward triumphantly toward God's new earth where the new earth too shall be covered with the knowledge of the glory of the Jehovah that created them all as the waters now cover the sea. 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And remember that John Kelvin, in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship, or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship, commenting on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart. From his commentary on Jeremiah 731, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since He condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to His commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle is adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship in which they absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying His word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words, then, are very important, when he says that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind, as though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew.