The Sermons upon the Epistle of Saint Paul to the Ephesians


Read by InTheDesert

While many of Calvin's sermons are now lost after they were sold by weight by the library of Geneva, his sermons on Ephesians have been preserved, having been translated into Early Modern English by Arthur Golding (who also translated Calvin's sermons on Galatians, Job and Deuteronomy). Arthur Golding's claim to fame is that his translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses influenced Shakespeare.

A comparison with Calvin's commentary on the same letter shows that Calvin saw preaching as no mere explanation of the text - the sermons work consecutively through the text but circle round on the point many time with brief illustration and continuous application to the hearers. The sermons on Ephesians were preached in French on Sundays morning and evening in Geneva in 1558 and were taken down in shorthand by Denis Raguenier, who had started taking his own notes on Calvin's sermons and was eventually employed to perform the task and did so until his death. Calvin preached without notes.

Calvin's aim was always to bring about faith in his hearers by which he means them comprehending their own helplessness and the kindness of God in Jesus Christ. An example of this from sermon 14 illustrates Calvin's goal and style:
Thus ye see that the thing which we haue to do continually, is too show that God hath been so kind unto us, as too be at one with us in the person of his Son, yea and to receive us to himself, that we might be washed and scoured from all our filthiness, and be accepted for righteous before him. Lo! how wretched souls are unbound. Lo! how poor captives are let out of prison. Lo! how they that erst were plunged in darkness of death are brought out again to the light of life.

(Summary by InTheDesert) (28 hr 15 min)

Chapters

Greeting and Argument 11:50 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 1 (Ephesians 1:1-3) 38:05 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 2 (Ephesians 1:3-4) 33:54 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 3 (Ephesians 1:4-6) 36:20 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 4 (Ephesians 1:6-10) 37:39 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 5 (Ephesians 1:13-14) 37:56 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 6 (Ephesians 1:15-18) 39:42 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 7 (Ephesians 1:17-18) 36:04 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 8 (Ephesians 1:19-23) 39:50 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 9 (Ephesians 2:1-5) 36:46 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 10 (Ephesians 2:3-6) 34:31 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 11 (Ephesians 2:8-10) 34:08 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 12 (Ephesians 2:11-13) 35:54 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 13 (Ephesians 2:13-15) 32:55 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 14 (Ephesians 2:16-19) 35:03 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 15 (Ephesians 2:19-22) 34:47 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 16 (Ephesians 3:1-6) 30:30 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 17 (Ephesians 3:7-9) 30:05 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 18 (Ephesians 3:9-12) 35:02 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 19 (Ephesians 3:13-15) 33:58 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 20 (Ephesians 3:14-19) 41:38 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 21 (Ephesians 3:20-4:2) 36:24 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 22 (Ephesians 4:1-5) 44:39 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 23 (Ephesians 4:6-8) 34:32 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 24 (Ephesians 4:7-10) 31:15 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 25 (Ephesians 4:11-12) 34:26 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 26 (Ephesians 4:11-14) 34:07 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 27 (Ephesians 4:15-16) 35:16 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 28 (Ephesians 4:17-19) 38:40 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 29 (Ephesians 4:20-24) 32:04 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 30 (Ephesians 4:23-26) 33:38 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 31 (Ephesians 4:26-28) 34:37 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 32 (Ephesians 4:29-30) 34:47 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 33 (Ephesians 4:31-5:2) 34:34 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 34 (Ephesians 5:3-5) 35:02 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 35 (Ephesians 5:8-11) 31:58 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 36 (Ephesians 5:11-14) 34:44 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 37 (Ephesians 5:15-18) 34:24 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 38 (Ephesians 5:18-21) 35:59 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 39 (Ephesians 5:22-26) 30:44 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 40 (Ephesians 5:25-27) 35:50 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 41 (Ephesians 5:28-30) 31:54 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 42 (Ephesians 5:31-33) 31:08 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 43 (Ephesians 6:1-4) 34:43 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 44 (Ephesians 6:5-9) 34:13 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 45 (Ephesians 6:10-12) 36:28 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 46 (Ephesians 6:11-17) 34:45 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 47 (Ephesians 6:18-19) 32:33 Read by InTheDesert
Sermon 48 (Ephesians 6:19-24) 35:48 Read by InTheDesert