Perkins uniquely divided "the ways of application" into seven categories, depending on the conditions of the listeners. The categories ranged from the unbeliever who is both ignorant and unteachable, to some who do believe, to some who are fallen. He had a particular strategy for preaching application to each category. One category that I particularly found interesting was the sixth -- "some who have fallen." Perkins gave new meaning in his day to the familiar phrase "preaching the truth in love." He says concerning fallen Christians: "These need that doctrine which do cross their error ... demonstrated and inculcated (or beaten upon them) together with the doctrine of repentance, and that with a brotherly affection."15

In closing I want to draw forth several contributions of Perkins' preaching and make some observations about preaching today. First, Perkins has much to teach us about balance in the preaching ministry. His sermons were doctrinal in nature, yet there was a freshness and vibrancy to them. He displayed a strong Calvinism that was equally warm and full of enthusiasm. It has been said that orthodoxy without unction -- preaching without passion -- may be one of the greatest heresies of evangelicalism today. Perkins avoided this tendency because he knew that true preaching was the spirit of God in him and speaking by him. He said that "this makes the ministry to be lively and powerful."

Perkins long pastoral tenure is further testimony and fruit of his well-balanced preaching ministry. He preached a steady and purposeful diet of sermons to his congregation. He preached series of sermons -- both topical and expository -- through books of the Bible. He wrote and studied extensively in the areas of preaching and theology. He also wrote and preached many practical and polemical works. Undoubtedly his diversified and wholistic ministry served to keep him balanced for his long pastoral tenure. There is a lesson for us in this. If we would desire to be fruitful in the preaching/pastoral ministry we must learn to be content where God has placed us, never cease to grow and mature, and preach "the whole counsel of God."

Another lasting contribution that William Perkins' preaching brings to us is his insistent emphasis on "Plain preaching." This style propelled his preaching from the study to the pulpit. The erudite Perkins could never be accused of being anti-intellectual. He was a brilliant man; however, his education and study always was a servant to the preaching task. Perkins combined a vital theology with the practical pastoral aspects of ministry in a way that few others did. Perkins "plain style" was primarily seen in the practical nature of his sermons and his emphasis upon application. There is always the danger (especially in expository preaching) to relegate application to the last few minutes of the sermon. Perkins saturated his sermons with application throughout. His preaching was always meant to affect change.

What perhaps best sums up the preaching of William Perkins (and the Puritan preachers in general) is that it was rooted in the Bible being the absolute word of God. Perkins said, "The word of God must be our rule and square whereby we are to frame and fashion all our actions; and according to direction received thence, we must do the things we do, or leave them undone."16

1Samuel Eliot Morison, The Intellectual Life of Colonial New England, 2d ed. (New York: New York University Press, 1956), p. 134.

2R. T. Kendall, Calvin and English Calvinism to 1649, Oxford Theological Monographs (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982), pp. 52-53.

3J. I. Packer, A Quest for Godliness (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1990), p. 280.

4Everett H. Emerson, English Puritanism (Durham: Duke U. Press, 1968), p. 154.

5William Perkins, A Commentary on Galatians, ed. Gerald T. Sheppard (New York: Pilgrim Press, 1989), pp. 140-141.

6William Perkins, The Work of William Perkins, ed. Ian Breward (Foxton: Burlington Press, 1970), p. 338.

7Perkins, Works, p.338.

8Perkins, Galatians, p. 140.

9As quoted in Leland Ryken, Worldly Saints (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1986), p. 105.

10Perkins, Works, p. 331.

11Ibid., p. 349.

12William Perkins, A Commentary on Hebrews 11, ed. John H. Augustine (New York: The Pilgrim Press, 1991), p. 22.

13Perkins, Works, p. 347.

14As quoted in D. M. Lloyd Jones, The Puritans: Their Origins and Successors (Southampton: Camelot Press Ltd., 1987), p. 385.

15Packer, p. 72.

16Perkins, Works, p. 464.