William Perkins' Preaching Ministry (Part 3)

William Perkins’ Precondition to Preaching Sermons

Precondition 1: Necessity of Scripture for Preaching

At the heart of William Perkins’ preaching is his adherence to 2 Tim 3:16. He adhered to the following:

"Touching the Author, the Scripture referreth it selfe vnto God. Therefore hee alone is the true and vndoubted author thereof and none but he… if God were not the author of Scripture, there would bee no one booke in the earth so fabulous and so full of errorur as it: which is to say, is blaspheme. For it speakes such things, as neuer any could speake, but God… if it were not the booke of God, then all Gods will should be hidden, and God should neuer yet have reuealed his will to man… it if had not beene the word of God, the falsehood thereof would haue been detected long agone. For there hath beene nothing falsly said of God at any time, which hee himselfe hath not at sometime or other, opened and reuealed. Euen as hee did detect and discover the falshood of the false prophet… Gods heavy hand, no doubt, would long since haue been vpon the Ministers and preachers of this word…"

The following deduction can be made from this quotation: (a) Since Perkins clearly observes that Scripture testifies to its authorship by God, and (b) Since Perkins fully believes that Scripture is authored by God, therefore, (c) Perkins confidently preached the Scriptures that he observes and believes is authored by God. Otherwise, by his own admission, God’s “heavy hand” would have ensued already. Perkins preached the word because he believed it is of God!

Perkins also place emphasis on the nature of Scripture, namely, its sufficiency, purity, and eternality. Sufficiency of Scripture for Perkins means that its completeness forbids the addition of any new revelation and deduction of already given revelation (Deut 12:32; Ps 19:7; Rev 22:18-19). Purity of Scripture means that its completeness precludes both deception and error (Ps 12:6). The eternality of Scripture refers to its quality of inviolability, that its commands cannot pass away until they are all accomplished (Matt 5:18).

Perkins believes that this sufficient, pure, and eternal nature of Scripture makes it a powerful tool of the Holy Spirit in preaching. In The Christian Doctrine or The Foundation of Christian Living Gathered Into Six Principles Necessarie for Every Man to Learn, which reads like a catechism, Perkins insists the following:

"Q. What outward mean must we use to obtain faith, and all blessings which comes by faith?
A: The preaching of God’s Word, and the administration of sacraments, and Prayer.
Q: Where is the Word of God to be found?
A: The whole Word of God, needful for salvation, is set down in the holy Scriptures.
Q: How do you know that the Scriptures are the Word of God, and not mens policies?
A: I am assured of it: first, the holy Ghost perswadeth the conscience that it is so. Secondly, I see it by experience: for the preaching of Scriptures have the power of God in them to humble a man, when they are preached, and cast him down to hell, and afterward to restore and raise him up again.
Q: What is the use of the Word of God preached?
A: First, it breedeth, and then increaseth faith in them which are chosen to salvation: but unto them that perish, it is by reason of their corruption, an occasion of their further damnation.
Q: How must we hear Gods Word that it may be effectual to our salvation?
A: We must come unto it with hunger-bitten hearts, having an appetite to the Word, we must mark it by faith, submit out selves unto it with fear and trembling, even then when our faults are reproved: lastly, we must hide it in the corners of our hearts, that we may frame our lives and conversation by it."

It is garnered from here that Perkins deems the preaching of Scripture to be effective in at least five ways: (1) it humbles the unbelievers, (2) it casts “down to hell” the unbelievers, (3) it restores and renews the humbled unbelievers, (4) it increases the faith of the “chosen to salvation” (i.e. believers) and/or (5) it further damns the unbelievers.

Furthermore, Perkins espouses a thoroughly Christocentric emphasis on Scripture. He lays out the sum and substance of its message with the following syllogism:

"Major Premise: The true Messiah shall be both God and man, from the seed of David. He shall be born of his heavenly Father’s bosom. He shall satisfy the law. He shall offer himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the faithful. He shall conquer death by dying and rising again. He shall ascend into heaven. In due time he shall return for judgment.
Minor Premise: Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Mary, meets all of these requirements.
Conclusion: Therefore Jesus is the true Messiah."

Perkins argues that the major premise is drawn from the OT composed by the prophets and the minor premise from the NT composed by the apostles and evangelists. He sees a union between the former and the latter conveying a single message with one covenant of grace, given as a promise in the Old and fulfillment in the New. And so, Perkins’ holds that Scripture is unmistakably God-authored, sufficient, posses penetrating power, and presents Jesus Christ as its explicit theme. It is with this stance on Scripture that Perkins views that one should exercise the art of preaching.