One of the qualities that made Perkins' preaching so effective was his "plain style." His preaching was plain and evident, but not tedious or boring. In his Commentary on Galatians Perkins discusses this style and suggests a pattern for effective preaching:

1. The first is true and proper interpretation of the scripture, and that by itself (scripture is both the glosse and the text).

2. Secondly, the preacher should gather the points of "wholesome doctrine" from the passage and expound upon them.

3. Finally, the preacher should apply the doctrine as the text dictates -- "either to the information of the judgment, or to the reformation of the life. This is the preaching that is of power."5

What Perkins meant, in seeking for the correct interpretation, was that the preferred sense of scripture was always the literal sense. Perkins challenged the interpreters of the Church of Rome and their fourfold allegorical meaning of scripture. He said this method "must be exploded and rejected. There is only one sense, and the same is literal."6 When it came to the interpretation of a passage of scripture Perkins asked questions which ring familiar to Bible expositors today: "Who? To Whom? Upon what occasion? At what time? In what place? For what end? What goeth before? and what followeth?"7

Perkins' sermons were very practical in nature as illustrated by the subjects of some of his works. He preached and wrote on such topics as: proper Christian recreation, the Christian family, the vocations or callings of men, practical theology, and homiletical works for preachers. Perkins plain and practical preaching style was defined by what it lacked as well as by what it contained. What plain preaching avoided was the heaping up of citations by the church fathers, and repeating words in Latin and Greek. Perkins said that to preach using languages of the unlearned which divert attention to the preacher instead of the content of the sermon "is a sin to unbelievers -- I Cor. 14:22. And in this kind of preaching we do not paint Christ, but ... our ownselves."8

Even more memorable is the tribute that Thomas Fuller paid to Perkins, who was said to preach in such a way that "his sermons were not so plain but that the piously learned did admire them, nor so learned but that the plain did understand them."9

Perkins apparently preached series of sermons His Commentary on Galatians is the substance of the Sunday lectures of three years at St. Andrews. His exposition of Hebrews 11:1-12:1, entitled A Cloud of Faithful Witnesses, and his famous Discourse of the Damned Art of Witchcraft began as series of sermons first preached at Cambridge.

What makes a study of Perkins' preaching so valuable is that he has left us a legacy of Puritan preaching methodology. His insights into the interpretation of scripture, early expository preaching, the work of the minister, and the practical application of the word of God to everyday life placed him at the forefront of the preaching of his day. Perkins was exceptionally organized and orderly in his method of preaching and ministry. He clearly defined the primary business of preaching and the church in no uncertain terms: it is "to collect the church and to accomplish the number of the elect." Its other function is to "drive the wolves away from the folds of the Lord."10