The Works Of William Perkins Volume 1

This tenth volume brings together seven treatises that demonstrate Perkins’s core conviction that the gospel touches all of life by bringing it under the rule of Scripture. Treatise on How to Live Well in All Estates opens the volume with a description of the reign of faith in Christians’ hearts so that they avoid sin and pursue the will of God in all they do. Treatise on Vocations explains how God calls Christians to live out their faith in whatever responsibilities they hold within society. Right Manner of Erecting and Ordering a Family applies the concept of vocation to life in the home. Calling of the Ministry applies vocation to the church, describing the duties and dignities of the ministers of Christ. Art of Prophesying equips those called to the ministry with the proper manner and method of preaching God’s Word. Christian Equity exhorts Christians to maintain justice and preserve peace, whether in families, church, or the greater commonwealth. Having finished with principles of living by faith, the volume ends with Treatise on Dying Well , which discusses the importance of faith at the end of life.

The present volume contains three of Perkins’s treatises. The first is A Digest or Harmony of the Books of the Old and New Testament , which offers a synopsis of the Bible that relates sacred history to the chronology of the world. Dating God’s creation of the universe in 3967 BC, Perkins develops his overview of redemptive history that culminates in the final judgment. The second treatise is The Combat between Christ and the Devil Displayed . Expounding Matthew 4:1–11, Perkins shows how Christ’s temptation in the wilderness (1) set Jesus up to serve as the second Adam, overcoming Satan’s temptation in a way the first Adam did not; (2) reveals how the devil assaults the church so that we might be better prepared to resist his temptations; and (3) equipped Christ to be a sympathetic high priest to those who are tempted. The third and most significant treatise is A Godly and Learned Exposition upon Christ’s Sermon in the Mount . “Hereof I have chosen to entreat,” says Perkins, “because it is a most divine and learned sermon, and may not unfitly be called the ‘Key to the whole Bible’; for here Christ opens the sum of the Old and New Testaments.” The fact that Perkins saw the Sermon on the Mount as unlocking the meaning of Scripture in its entirety suggests that his understanding of what Christ declares in Matthew 5–7 was pivotal to the development of his theology and piety. Series Description The Works of William Perkins fills a major gap in Reformed and Puritan theology. Though Perkins is best known today for his writings on predestination, he also wrote prolifically on many subjects. His works filled over two thousand large pages of small print in three folio volumes and were reprinted several times in the decades after his death. However, his complete works have not been in print since the mid-seventeenth century. This modern typeset edition of the Works includes four volumes of Perkins’s expositions of Scripture, three volumes of his doctrinal and polemical treatises, and three volumes of his practical writings.

In The Art of Prophesying, Puritan William Perkins (1558-1602) teaches how to preach the Word with "studied plainness," not relying on technique or soaring flourishes of oratory, but rather by unleashing the majestic power of the unencumbered Word of God. Unlike so much of the milquetoast preaching heard today, Perkins teaches how to utilize the Scripture in all its capacities: for teaching correct doctrine, for reproof and correction, and for training the godly in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16). This type of preaching changed lives during Perkins' lifetime, and it has the same effect today. Includes a biographical preface by Benjamin Brook. Scripture references (from the ESV) are embedded in the text as hyperlinks--no internet connection required.

This theological classic is organized as follows: To the Christian Reader I. Of the Body of Scripture, and Theology II. Of God, and the Nature of God III. Of the Life of God IV. Of God’s Glory, and Blessedness V. Concerning the Persons of the Godhead VI. Of God’s Works, and His Decree VII. Of Predestination and Creation VIII. Of Angels IX. Of Man, and the Estate of Innocency X. Of Sin, and the Fall of Angels XI. Of Mans Fall and Disobedience XII. Of Original Sin XIII. Of Actual Sin XIV. Of the Common Punishment of Sin XV. Of Election, and of Jesus Christ the Foundation Thereof XVI. Of the Union of the Two Natures in Christ XVII. Of the Distinction of Both Natures XVIII. Of Christs Nativity and Office XIX. Concerning the Outward Means of Executing the Decree of Election, and of the Decalogue XX. Of the First Commandment XXI. Of the Second Commandment XXII. Of the Third Commandment XXIII. Of the Fourth Commandment XXIV. Of the Fifth Commandment XXV. Concerning the Sixth Commandment XXVI. Of the Seventh Commandment XXVII. Of the Eighth Commandment XXVIII. Concerning the Ninth Commandment XXIX. Of the Tenth Commandment XXX. Of the Use of the Law XXXI. Of the Covenant of Grace XXXII. Of the Sacraments XXXIII. Of Baptism XXXIV. Of the Lords Supper XXXV. Of the Degrees of Executing God’s Decree of Election XXXVI. Concerning the First Degree of the Declaration of God’s Love XXXVII. Concerning the Second Degree of the Declaration of God’s Love XXXVIII. Concerning the Third Degree of the Declaration of God’s Love XXXIX. Of Repentance and the Fruits Thereof XL. Of Christian Warfare XLI. Of the First Assault XLII. Of the Second Assault XLIII. Of the Third Assault XLIV. Of the Patient Bearing of the Cross XLV. Of the Calling Upon God XLVI. Of Christian Apology, and Martyrdom XLVII. Of Edification, and Almes Among the Faithful XLVIII. Of the Fourth Degree, of the Declaration of God’s Love: And of the Estate of the Elect After This Life XLIX. Of the Estate of the Elect at the Last Day of Judgement L. Of the Estate of the Elect After Judgement LI. Concerning the Order of the Causes of Salvation, According to the Doctrine of the Church of Rome LII. Concerning the Decree of Reprobation LIII. Concerning the Execution of the Decree of Reprobation LIV. Concerning a New Devised Doctrine of Predestination, Taught by Some New and Late Divines LV. Of the State and Condition of the Reprobates When They Are Dead LVI. Of the Condemnation of the Reprobates at the Last Judgement LVII. Of the Estate of the Reprobates in Hell LVIII. Of the Application of Predestination

Grace and Freedom addresses the issue of divine grace in relation to the freedom of the will in Reformed or "Calvinist" theology in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. It focuses on the work of the English Reformed theologian William Perkins, especially his role as an apologist of the Church of England, defending its theology against the Roman Catholic polemic, and specifically against the charge that Reformed theology denies human free choice. Perkins and his Reformed contemporaries affirm that salvation occurs by grace alone and that God is the ultimate cause of all things, but they also insist on the freedom of the human will and specifically the freedom of choice in a way that does not conform to modern notions of "libertarian freedom" or "compatibilism." In developing this position, Perkins drew on the thought of Reformers such as Peter Martyr Vermigli and Zacharias Ursinus, on the nuanced positions of medieval scholastics, and several contemporary Roman Catholic representatives of the so-called "second scholasticism." His work was a major contribution to early modern Reformed thought both in England and on the continent. His influence in England extended both to the Reformed heritage of the Church of England and to English Puritanism. On the continent, his work contributed to the main lines of Reformed orthodoxy and to the piety of the Dutch Second Reformation.

This treatise is an echo of Scripture teaching how God’s will and man’s will work in their respective spheres, and with each other working from his text, Matthew 23:37-38. This work is designed to humble the creature in realizing that God’s free grace is that which enables man to believe the Gospel. And it also teaches that man’s free will is actually a slave to his desires. Perkins' covers the will of God looking at both God’s sovereignty and God’s good pleasure in light of Jerusalem’s unwillingness to repent. He also covers the will of man in four important areas: in the garden before the fall, after the fall, in light of and after regeneration, and glorified in heaven. This is not a scan or facsimile and has an active table of contents for electronic versions.

Preaching today is in rapid decline. Pulpits all over the planet are filled with ministers who gain a paycheck, but give little else. William Perkins explains what it means to be truly called to the holy office of the minister. He does this from two principle texts: Job chapters 32-33 with emphasis on 33:23, and Isaiah 6:1-13. Perkins says that the words in Job contain, “a valuable description of a true minister,” how he is a messenger and an interpreter, one in a thousand. Then, he explains Isaiah 6:1-13 of Isaiah’s confirmation, showing Isaiah was fearful, stunned, cast down, comforted, and renewed in his commission to go and be sent of God to preach for Christ's glory. He explains that men ought to consider the extreme presumption of those who rashly enter the ministry. Many ministers come into God’s presence unsanctified, and in their sins, little concerned about how loosely they live before their people. Perkins will not make the ministry an easy door to open. That is because faithful exegesis on important passages about the ministry shows it to be a hard and difficult road. Being God’s mouthpiece is not an easy task, but being called to it is an honor that is inexpressible. This work is not a scan or facsimile, has been carefully transcribed by hand being made easy to read in modern English, and has an active table of contents for electronic versions.