Preach the Word
Puritan: William Perkins
Source: The Art of Prophesying
Originally Delivered: 1592, Cambridge, England
The Lord’s Day: September 27, 2026
“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?” – Romans 10:14
“The Word of God alone is to be preached, in its perfection and inner consistency. Scripture is the exclusive subject of preaching, the only field in which the preacher is to labor.
The word of God is God’s wisdom revealing from heaven the truth which is according to godliness. “But the wisdom, which is from above is first pure …” (James 3:17); “Paul, a bondservant of God … according to … the acknowledgement of the truth which accords with godliness” (Titus 1:1). The exceptional qualities of the word, both in its nature and its effects, evoke our admiration.
The excellency of the nature of Scripture can be described in terms of its perfection, or purity, or its eternity.
Its perfection consists in its sufficiency. Its sufficiency is such that as the word of God it is so complete that nothing may be either added to it or taken from it which belongs to its proper purpose: “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul” (Psa. 19:7).
The purity of Scripture lies in the fact that it stands complete in itself, without either deceit or error: “The words of the Lord are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Pas. 12:6).
The eternity of the word is its quality of remaining inviolable. It cannot pass away until everything it commands has been fully accomplished (Matt. 5:18).
The exceptional character of the influence of Scripture lies in two things:
1. Its power to penetrate into the spirit of man: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).
2. Its ability to bind the conscience, that is, to constrain it before God either to excuse or accuse us of sin: “There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy” (James 4:12); “The Lord is our Judge, The Lord is our Lawgiver, The Lord is our King: he will save us” (Isa. 33:22).
The word of God is in the Holy Scriptures. The Scripture is the word of God written in a language appropriate for the church by men who were immediately called to be the clerks or secretaries of the Holy Spirit: “for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit” (2 Pet. 1:21). We speak of it as canonical Scripture because it is, as it were, a canon, that is a rule of line used by a master workman, by the aid of which the truth is first discovered, and then examined: “… and as many as walk according to this rule” (Gal. 6:16). Consequently, the supreme, final determination and judgment of all controversies in the church ought to be made by it.
A true minister must be inwardly taught by the spiritual schoolmaster, the Holy Spirit. Ministers are not fit to preach to nations and to kings until they have eaten the book of God; that is, until above and beyond all the learning that man can impart, they are also taught by the Spirit of God himself.
God’s Spirit does not work except on the foundation of the word. A minister must be a divine interpreter, an interpreter of God’s meaning. And therefore, he must not only read the book, but eat it. He must not only have the knowledge of divine things flowing in his brain, but engraved on his heart and printed in his soul by the spiritual finger of God. To this end, after all his own study, meditation and discussion, his use of commentaries and other human helps, he must pray with David, “Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from your law” (Psa. 119:18).
Let all true ministers of God first of all be God’s interpreters to their own consciences, and be their own souls’ interpreters to God. Then they will know better how to discharge the office of true interpreters between God and his people.