William Perkins (1558–1602) Quotes from David Silversides’s Book on the Free Offer

The benefits proper unto men are of two sorts: some are common to all men both good and bad, and some proper to the elect and faithful.

‘An Exposition of the Creed,’ in The Works of That Famous and Worthie Minister of Christ, in the Universitie of Cambridge, M. W. Perkins, (John Legat, Cambridge, 1605), 324; also in William Perkins, “An Exposition of the Symbol, or Creed of the Apostles,” in The Works of William Perkins, 10 vols., ed. Ryan Hurd, Joel R. Beeke, and Derek W. H. Thomas (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2017), 5:309.

…but the bond is conditional, according to the tenor of the covenant of grace: for we are bound to believe in Christ, if we would come to life everlasting…

‘A Discourse of Conscience,’ Works op. cit., 628; also in William Perkins, “A Discourse of Conscience,” in The Works of William Perkins, 10 vols., ed. Ryan Hurd, Joel R. Beeke, and Derek W. H. Thomas (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2017), 8:24. The editors of the 2019 edition noted that in the 1631 edition of his Works, the following paragraph is included: “I answer again that whatsoever a man is bound to believe is true, yet not always in the event, but true in the intention of God who binds. Now the commandment of believing and applying the gospel is by God given to all within the church, but not in the same manner to all. It is given to the elect, so that by believing they might indeed be saved, God enabling them to do that which He commands. To the rest, whom God in justice will refuse, the same commandment is given not for the same cause, but to another end, that they might see how they could not believe, and by this means be bereft of all excuse in the day of judgment. God does not always give commandments simply that they might be done, but sometimes for other respects, that they might be means of trial, as the commandment given to Abraham of killing Isaac. Again, that they might serve to keep men at the least in outward obedience in this life, and stop their mouths before the tribunal seat of God.”

and seriously bethink thyself of Christ, as he is revealed in the history of the Gospel, and as he is offered to thy particular person, in the ministry of the word and sacraments.

‘A Declaration of the True Manner of Knowing Christ Crucified,’ Works op. cit., 751; also in William Perkins, “A Declaration of the True Manner of Knowing Christ Crucified,” in The Works of William Perkins, 10 vols., ed. Ryan Hurd, Joel R. Beeke, and Derek W. H. Thomas (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2017), 9:5.

Q. But to whom will this blessed King communicate all these means of salvation? A. He offereth them to many, and they are sufficient to save all mankind; but all shall not be saved thereby, because by faith they will not receive them.

‘The Foundation of Christian Religion,’ Works op. cit. p. 768; also in William Perkins, “The Foundation of Christian Religion Gathered into Six Principles,” in The Works of William Perkins, 10 vols., ed. Ryan Hurd, Joel R. Beeke, and Derek W. H. Thomas (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2017), 5:499.

There is but one will in God: yet doth it not equally will all things, but in divers respects it doth will and nill the same thing. He willeth the conversion of Jerusalem, in that he approveth it as a good thing in itself: in that he commands it, and exhorts men to it: in that he gives them all outward means of their conversion. He wills it not, in that he did not decree to effectually work their conversion.

‘A Treatise of God’s Free Grace and Man’s Free Will,’ Works op. cit. p. 876. Or see William Perkins, A Treatise of God’s Free Grace, and Man’s Free Will (Cambridge: Printed by John Legat And are to be sold at the signe of the Crowne in Pauls Churchyard by Simon Waterson, 1601), 44–45. Also in William Perkins, “A Treatise on God’s Free Grace and Man’s Free Will,” in The Works of William Perkins, 10 vols., ed. Ryan Hurd, Joel R. Beeke, and Derek W. H. Thomas (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2017), 6:403.

…the desolation of Jerusalem may be a glass to every one of us, who in these days of God’s merciful visitation, set the ministry of the Gospel at naught.

William Perkins, ‘A Treatise of God’s Free Grace and Man’s Free Will,’ Works op. cit. p. 900; also in 

These quotes can be found in David Silversides’s book The Free Offer: Biblical & Reformed (Glasgow, Scotland: Marpet Press, 2005), 94–95; also in William Perkins, “A Treatise on God’s Free Grace and Man’s Free Will,” in The Works of William Perkins, 10 vols., ed. Ryan Hurd, Joel R. Beeke, and Derek W. H. Thomas (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2017), 6:441.

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One may gather from these quotes that Perkins believed:

1) God gives some “benefits” to all mankind, even the non-elect. This is the idea of common grace.
2) The covenant of grace is conditional, because we must believe to gain eternal life, i.e., faith may be called a condition.
3) Christ is “offered” through the Gospel to all those that hear it proclaimed, even to the non-elect.
4) The means of salvation, which must include Christ’s sacrifice, is “offered” to all and is “sufficient to save all mankind.”
5) There are distinctions in God’s will, such that he can be said to both will and not will the same thing in different respects.
6) God willed the “conversion” of all of Jerusalem, which included the non-elect Jews.
7) The gospel is God’s “merciful visition” to all that are exposed to it.
8) Some “set the ministry of the gospel at naught.”

Observe the following points as well:

9) While Perkins says God’s will is “one,” there is complexity in it, such that it does “not equally will all things.”

10) God is said to both “will and nill the same thing,” but in different senses, i.e., he wills and also nills the conversion of Jerusalem.

11) Perkins says that God wills “the conversion (which is the same as salvation) of Jerusalem,” and he does not think of all in that group as elect, since he says God “did not decree to effectually work their conversion.”

12) God does not merely command their conversion, but he exhorts them to it, and gives outward means in order to convert them.

Nota Bene: God himself is the ultimate or remote cause (by willful permission) of the inefficacy of his revealed will, but disobedient men are the immediate and blameworthy cause; that is to say, God willfully decrees to permit men to act contrary to his preceptive will.

William Cunningham (1805–1861) on God’s Preceptive Will and the Offers of the Gospel

Many of the events that take place,—such as the sinful actions of men,—are opposed to, or inconsistent with, His will as revealed in His law, which is an undoubted indication of what He wished or desired that men should do.

William Cunningham, Historical Theology, 2 vols. (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1994), 2:452.

Cunningham, another high or strict Calvinist, does not hesitate to refer to God's revealed or preceptive will as something God wishes or desires that men should do. In his view, God's revealed will is an "undoubted indication" of that.

The offers and invitations of the gospel are intended to lead men to repent and believe, by setting before them motives and encouragements to persuade them to do so. But they, at the same time, include or imply a command, that those to whom they are addressed, should receive them and deal with them, according to their true nature and import.

William Cunningham, The Reformers and the Theology of the Reformation (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1967), 593.

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Samuel Rutherford (1600–1661) on the “Sweet Evangelick Invitation”

It’s much worthy of observation, how that sweet evangelick invitation is conceived, Isaiah 55:1, Ho, every one that thirsts; the Heb. word ‘hui‘ is alas, or ah, every one that thirsts, come to the waters, and he that hath no silver, come, buy, and eat: as if the Lord were grieved, and said, woe is me, alas that thirsty souls should die in their thirst, and will not come to the waters of life, Christ, and drink gratis, freely, and live. For the interjection, (Heb. Hui) Ho, is a mark of sorrowing… it expresseth two things, 1. A vehemencie, and a serious and unfeigned ardencie of desire, that we doe what is our duty, and the concatenation of these two, extremely desired of God, our coming to Christ, and our salvation: This moral connection between faith and salvation, is desired of God with his will of approbation, complacency, and moral liking, without all dissimulation, most unfeignedly; and whereas Arminians say, we make counterfeit, feigned, and hypocriticall desires in God, they calumniate and cavil egregiously, as their custom is. 2. The other thing expressed in these invitations, is a sort of dislike, grief, or sorrow; (‘tis a speech borrowed from man, for there is no disappointing of the Lord’s will, nor sorrow in him for the not fulfilling of it) … God loveth, approveth, the believing of Jerusalem, and of her children, as a moral duty, as the hen doth love to warm and nourish her chickens… but there is no purpose, intention, or decree of God holden forth in these invitations called his revealed will, by which he saith that he intendeth and willeth that all he maketh the offer unto, shall obey and be saved.

Samuel Rutherford, Christ Dying and Drawing Sinners to Himself (London: Printed by J. D. for Andrew Crooke at the Green-Dragon in Paul’s Church Yard, 1647), 443–444.

(HT: James Durham Thesis blog)

Donald, from the JDT blog, observes a number of important points from the above quote:

* Rutherford speaks of the gospel offer as a ‘sweet evangelick invitation’ showing he obviously believed it to be more than a mere presentation of facts or a command.

* Rutherford speaks in ‘a speech borrowed from men’ showing his willingness to speak as scripture speaks whilst at the same time guarding against abuse of scriptural expressions by noting their limitations.

* Rutherford uses desire in connection with the revealed will of God and the gospel invitation.

* Rutherford was aware of the charge of inconsistency levelled against his views of ‘sweet evangelick invitations’ and election by Arminians. He rejected this charge outright.

Update on July 23rd, 2007: My point in posting this quote by Rutherford is to show that he, a high supralapsarian Calvinist and one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly, did not hesitate to refer God's revealed will as indicating a "vehement," "unfeigned," "serious," "ardent" and "extreme desire" that we, all of humanity, "come to Christ" for "salvation." Even Turretin, a staunch anti-Amyraldian and high Calvinist (though he was an infralapsarian), referred to God's preceptive will as a "desire."

Rutherford says that God “desires the obedience of Judas and Herod and Pilate,” by his approving, commanding, and revealed will, and “yet he decreed [by his hidden or decretive will] that they should crucify the Lord of glory” [Examen arminianismi, conscriptum & discipulis dictatum a doctissimo clarissimoque viro (Utrecht: ex Office Antonii Smytegelt bibl., 1688), 182; “Ideòque Deus multa vult & approbat Voluntate approbante, quæ nunquàm fieri Voluntate Beneplaciti decrevit: ut vult obedientiam Judæ & Herodis & Pilati; & tamen decrevit ut crucifigerent Dominum gloriæ, se permittente”].

Guy M. Richard, “Deus qui regnat in excelso: Samuel Rutherford’s Radical God-Exalting Theology and the Grounds for His Systematic Opposition to Arminianism, with Special Reference to the Examen Arminianismi and the Question of Hyper-Calvinism” (PhD Diss., University of Edinburgh, 2006), 109. “In this way, God desires, approves, and commands many things to be done, which he decrees not to be done in actuality, and he forbids many things from being done, which he decrees to be done in actuality.” Ibid.

Thomas Watson (c.1620–1686) on Meditation

Bret Lovitz, on his Ponderings and Musings blog, has posted some excellent material by Thomas Watson on meditation.

Thomas Watson (c.1620–1686) on God's Mercy

Even the worst taste of God's mercy; such as fight against God's mercy taste of it; the wicked have some crumbs from mercy's table. "The Lord is good to all." Sweet dewdrops are on the thistle as well as on the rose. The diocese where mercy visits is very large. Pharaoh's head was crowned though his heart was hardened.

Thomas Watson, A Body of Practical Divinity (Aberdeen: George & Robert King, 1838), 95.

Found in Spurgeon's The Treasury of David on Psalm 145:9

NKJ Psalm 145:9 The LORD is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works.