[A golden chaine: or The description of theologie containing the order of the causes of saluation and damnation, according to Gods word; (Printed by Iohn Legat, printer to the Vniuersitie of Cambridge, 1600)]
William Perkins, born in the year of our Lord 1558 in Marston Jabbett, Warwickshire, did rise from modest origins to become a shining luminary in the reformed Church of England. Educated at Christ’s College, Cambridge, where he attained the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts, Perkins was elected Fellow of that College, a station in which he diligently exercised his gifts in the sacred discipline and did greatly profit the students in sound doctrine and holy conversation. Ordained within the ecclesiastical polity of the Church of England, Perkins served faithfully as lecturer at the renowned Church of Great St. Andrew’s, Cambridge. There, by the power of the Spirit, he did powerfully expound the Scriptures, laboring to reform men’s lives and to bring them into the obedience of Christ. His ministry was marked by an extraordinary zeal for experimental divinity, wherein he pressed upon men the necessity of true conversion, effectual calling, and a sanctified walk. Perkins excelled in the art of casuistry, providing godly counsel for tender consciences perplexed with the weight of sin, as demonstrated in his manifold treatises, among which The Golden Chaine and The Arte of Prophesying are eminent. He contended earnestly for the doctrines of grace, upholding predestination, the sufficiency of Christ’s atonement, and the authority of Scripture, all in the service of God’s glory and the edification of His elect. He departed this life in Cambridge in 1602, leaving a legacy both deep and wide, whereby his writings continue to guide souls in the straight and narrow path of godliness.
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After original sin in Adam’s posterity, actual transgression takes place. It is either inward or outward.
Inward, is of the mind, will, and affections.
The actual sin of the mind, is the evil thought or intent thereof, contrary to God’s law. Examples of evil thoughts: God (the only knower of the heart) has in diverse places set down in his word.
Eight Examples of Evil Thoughts:
I. That there is no God.
Psalm 10:4 — The wicked is so proud, that he seeks not for God, he thinks always there is no God. Psalm 14:1 — The fool says in his heart, there is no God.
II. That there is neither providence nor presence of God in the world.
Psalm 10:11 — He has said in his heart, God has forgotten: he hides away his face and will never see. Verse 13 — Wherefore does the wicked contemn God? he says in his heart, you will not regard.
III. It imagines safeguard to itself from all perils.
Psalm 10:6 — He says in his heart, I shall never be moved nor be in danger. Revelation 18:7 — She says in her heart, I sit being a Queen, and am no widow, and shall see no mourning.
IV. It esteems itself more excellent than other.
Revelation 18:7 — I sit as a queen. Luke 18:11 — The Pharisee standing thus, prayed to himself, I thank you, O God, that I am not as other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, nor yet as this Publican. Verse 12 — I fast twice in the week, and give tithe of all my possessions.
V. That the Gospel of God’s kingdom is mere foolishness.
1 Corinthians 2:14 — The natural man perceives not the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him.
VI. To think uncharitably and maliciously of such as serve God sincerely.
Matthew 12:24 — When the Pharisees heard that, they said, he casts not out devils but by the prince of devils. Psalm 74:8 — They said in their hearts, Let us destroy them altogether.
VII. To think the day of death far off.
Isaiah 28:15 — You have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell we are at agreement, though a scourge run over and pass through, it shall not come at us.
VIII. That the pains of hell may be eschewed, in the place before mentioned, they say:
With hell have we made agreement.
IX. That God will defer his both particular and last general coming to judgment.
Luke 12:19 — I will say unto my soul, soul you have much goods laid up for many years. And verse 45 — If that servant say in his heart, my master will defer his coming, etc.
Many carnal men pretend their good meaning: but when God opens their eyes, they shall see these rebellious thoughts rising in their minds, as sparkles out of a chimney.
The actual sin of both will and affections, is every wicked motion, inclination, and desire.
Galatians 5:17 — The flesh lusts against the spirit.
An actual outward sin, is that, to the committing whereof, the members of the body do, together with the faculties of the soul, concur. Such sins as these are infinite.
Psalm 40:12 — Innumerable troubles have compassed me, my sins have taken such hold upon me, that I am not able to look up: yea, they are more in number than the hairs of mine head.
Actual sin, is of omission or commission: Again, both these are in words or deeds. In the sin of commission, observe these two points: The degrees in committing a sin, and the differences of sins committed.