The Art Of Prophesying

Summary

We come to The Art Of Prophesying looking for help with the work of preaching, not as a performance, but as ministry before God. This is a short book, yet it carries a serious ambition. It aims to train the preacher to handle Scripture with clarity, to read with reverence, and to speak so that the conscience is addressed, the mind is instructed, and Christ is honoured. Even where some language belongs to another era, the pastoral burden is recognisably timeless.

What we find here is a method shaped by confidence that God speaks in His Word. Perkins is not interested in cleverness. He is interested in faithful labour that makes the meaning plain, then presses it home. The centre of gravity is not technique for technique’s sake. It is the conviction that Scripture has an intended sense, and that the preacher is a servant of that sense. The preacher’s calling is to draw out what is there, then bring it to bear on living people.

We should read this with an awareness of its historical setting. Some categories and assumptions reflect the time. Yet the core instincts are remarkably sound. He refuses to detach doctrine from application. He refuses to treat application as mere moralising. He urges us to know the text well enough that we can speak to the varied conditions of the hearers. That is not gimmickry, it is pastoral care through the Word.

Strengths

First, it is relentlessly text driven. We are pushed to attend to the argument, the words, and the structure. The method encourages patient reading. It keeps us close to authorial intent and therefore guards us from hobby horses. In a ministry climate that rewards instant takes, this is a salutary rebuke. We are reminded that clarity is not a personality trait, it is the fruit of careful work.

Second, Perkins insists that preaching aims at transformation under God. We are not merely delivering information. We are handling the living Word. That gives the book a steady spiritual realism. It expects resistance, distractions, and self deception. It assumes that both preacher and hearer need grace. The best parts of the work feel like pastoral wisdom learned over years, expressed with simplicity rather than fog.

Third, it helps us think about application without flattening the gospel. Perkins gives categories for addressing different kinds of hearers, and that can help pastors as we prepare sermons for mixed congregations. There is also a helpful emphasis on order. A sermon should have a shape. The listener should be able to follow. That is not cosmetic, it is loving. If our people cannot follow us, we have not served them well.

Limitations

The chief limitation is that we are reading a historical manual, not a contemporary preaching textbook. Some phrasing and some assumptions need translation into modern pastoral settings. There is also a risk that readers treat the method as a template rather than as training in wisdom. If we turn this into a rigid checklist, we will miss the point. The book is trying to form instincts, not merely produce outlines.

We also need to remember that this is a compact guide. It will not answer every question about preaching, nor will it address every modern pressure. We will still need to think carefully about our own congregational context and about the demands of particular biblical genres.

How We Would Use It

We would use this as a sharpening tool for sermon preparation habits. Read a short section, then apply it immediately to next week’s passage. Let it expose where we have been lazy with structure, or vague with meaning, or thin with application. It also works well for reading with another pastor or a trainee, because it provokes concrete discussion about what we do when we preach.

We would also use it to remind ourselves what preaching is for. Our goal is not to be interesting. Our goal is to be faithful. That simple reset is a gift.

Closing Recommendation

This is a small book with a weighty pastoral centre. It will reward slow reading and repeated use, especially for those who want preaching that is clear, biblically governed, and aimed at the heart.