“Blessedness” In The Piety Of William Perkins: Objective Reality Or Subjective Experience?

By Stephen Yuille

In Matthew 5:3 –12, Christ uses the term blessed nine times. What does He mean by it? According to John Stott, “Jesus is making an objective judgment about these people. He is declaring not what they may feel like (‘happy’), but what God thinks of them and what on that account they are: they are ‘blessed.’” [1] John Blanchard agrees: “When the Bible tells us that someone is ‘blessed,’ it is not telling us what they feel but what they are.… Happiness is a subjective state, whereas blessedness is an objective state.” [2]

The objective nature of blessedness is confirmed in Romans 4:6-8, where Paul writes, “Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, ‘Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.’” [3] Here we find a three-fold description of the blessed man: (1) God forgives his iniquities; (2) God covers his sins; and (3) God does not impute sin to him. In other words, God does not take his sin into account. Instead, God credits Christ’s righteousness to him. Therefore, blessedness is rooted in the believer’s position in Christ; it is indeed an objective reality.

But does this necessarily exclude a subjective experience? Commenting on Matthew 5:3 –12, James Boice writes, “When Jesus spoke these words He was telling His listeners how they could be deeply, spiritually, and profoundly happy and how they could maintain this happiness even in the midst of life’s disappointment and hard times.” [4] Boice does not deny that blessedness is ultimately rooted in an objective state. However, he believes that our position in Christ leads to fellowship with God. For Boice, this fellowship is an essential component of blessedness.

John Calvin articulates a similar view, affirming that Christ’s aim in the Beatitudes is “to show where true peace of mind lies.” [5] For Calvin, everyone desires “true peace of mind.” The problem is that most people err in their pursuit of it. Calvin speaks of the Stoics, who believe it is found in indifference — the impassionate acceptance of circumstances. According to this view, we must learn to desire what is. When we do, we rise above the perturbations of life to experience “peace of mind.” Calvin also speaks of the Epicureans, who believe blessedness is found in indulgence—the incessant gratification of desires. For Epicurus, there are two kinds of pleasure, stemming from two kinds of desire: natural and vain. People must learn to satisfy their natural desires while denying their vain desires.

According to Calvin, these two (Stoicism and Epicureanism) epitomize man’s efforts to find “true peace of mind.” He remarks, “This was a topic constantly debated by the pagans of old. The principal question posed by the philosophers was the nature and purpose of the sovereign good (for that was the term they used). We might call it by another name—man’s true blessedness.” [6] But, according to Calvin, the philosophers proceeded on a faulty premise: the notion that peace of mind is related to circumstances. To put it bluntly, they were mistaken. Christ makes it clear that blessedness (or “true peace of mind”) does not flow from circumstances but from fellowship with God.

In the words of Robert Harris, “The end whereto all men are carried, and whereat they aim, is happiness.” [7] Similarly, Thomas Watson declares, “Blessedness is the desire of all men.” [8] The problem is this: “Millions of men mistake both the nature of blessedness and the way thither.” [9] Why? They equate blessedness with externals. [10] But as Harris makes clear, “Man’s happiness is not in outward things.” [11] The reason why is obvious: the human soul and “outward things” are mismatched. For starters, the soul is eternal; it cannot be satisfied by something that is not equal to its own duration—the temporal. In addition, the soul is spiritual; it cannot be satisfied by something that is not equal to its own nature—the material. Finally, the soul is exceptional; it cannot be satisfied by something that is not equal to its own quality—the trivial. The soul can only find happiness in that which is suited to it. This means that the soul can only find happiness in God.

The pursuit of such happiness is a central Puritan motif. Thomas Watson writes, “Blessedness lies in the fruition of the chief good. It is not every good that makes man blessed, but it must be the supreme good, and that is God.” [12] Robert Harris remarks, “God enjoyed is man’s happiness.” [13] William Gurnall declares, “Man’s happiness stands in his likeness to God, and his fruition of God.” [14] Thomas Shepard comments, “There is no man’s heart but it must have some good to content it; which good is to be found only in the fountain of all good, and that is God.” [15] Richard Baxter states, “Every soul that hath a title to this rest, doth place his chief happiness in God. This rest consisteth in the full and glorious enjoyment of God.” [16] Finally, John Flavel affirms, “God is that supreme good, in the enjoyment of whom all true happiness lies.” [17]

This Puritan consensus is summed up in the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism: “What is the chief end of man? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.” [18] This “chief end” is formative when it comes to the way in which the Puritans handle Matthew 5:3-12. They believe these verses describe the “blessed” man—the one who enjoys God. This approach is particularly evident in the writings of William Perkins. In his treatise, A Godly and Learned Exposition Upon Christ’s Sermon in the Mount, Perkins expounds the Beatitudes as eight “rules” of blessedness (or happiness). [19]

Who Are Blessed?

1. “Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit”

The first “rule” of blessedness is poverty of spirit. Evidently, Christ is talking about spiritual poverty as opposed to material poverty. Perkins defines it as such on the basis of Isaiah 66:2, where God declares, “But to this man will I look, even to him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” For Perkins, poverty of spirit is an attitude before God that arises from a proper self-perception. We perceive our sin. We recognize that we are without moral virtues adequate to commend ourselves to God. As a result, we are aware of our utter dependence upon God’s grace. Perkins puts it like this: “Finding no goodness in their hearts, they despair in themselves, and fly wholly to the mercy of God in Christ, for grace and comfort.” [20]

Later Puritans are in full agreement. George Swinnock describes the poor in spirit as the “broken-hearted,” who possess a “hungry soul.” [21] Robert Harris says that poverty of spirit describes the individual who looks “into his spiritual state, and there finds himself worse than nothing, and thereupon makes to God for a spiritual supply, and is willing to take it upon any terms.” [22] Similarly, in defining the poor in spirit, Thomas Watson refers to “those who are brought to the sense of their sins, and seeing no goodness in themselves, despair in themselves and sue wholly to the mercy of God in Christ.” [23]

This “awareness of our utter nothingness” is exemplified in Paul’s experience. He writes, “For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died” (Rom. 7:9). Here, Paul describes life and death in relative terms. Basically, there was a time when he was alive apart from the law. He had studied it since his childhood, yet he lacked any experiential knowledge of it. Without that experiential knowledge, he felt alive. In other words, he thought all was well with his soul. He says of himself, “Touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless” (Phil. 3:6). However, the time came when Paul died. Why? The law arrived home, and sin became alive. In other words, the law revealed and provoked his sin. He saw God’s righteousness. As a result, he saw the depths of his own depravity. It made him utterly weak; spiritually, he died to his own righteousness. In a word, Paul became poor in spirit.

2. “Blessed Are They That Mourn”

The second “rule” of blessedness is sorrow. Perkins says that “by mourners, we must not understand every one that is any way grieved, but such as have just and weighty causes of grief.” [24] By “just and weighty causes,” he means “grievous distress” (e.g., calamity, sickness, bereavement) that is accompanied by “an inward feeling” of spiritual want. [25] “This rule then,” writes Perkins, “must thus be understood, that they are blessed who with ‘their mourning’ for weighty causes of grief, do withal mourn for their sins.” [26]

The Puritans go to great length to explain what it means to mourn for sin. In this connection, they are careful to distinguish between godly and ungodly sorrow. [27] George Swinnock explains, “There are two words used by the Holy Ghost for repentance, µεταµελεια (Matt. 27:3) and µετανοια (2 Tim. 2:25); the former signifieth sorrow for a fault committed, the latter after-wit, a change of the mind, or making wise for the future.” [28] The first is ungodly sorrow, whereas the second is godly sorrow. unbelievers (such as Esau, Saul, and Judas) might experience the first, but never the second. Why? Simply put, they never feel the burden of their sin as committed against a glorious God. According to Swinnock, godly sorrow “springeth from the consideration that thou hast sinned against so good, so pure, so perfect a God, in conformity to whom, and communion with whom, all thy happiness consisteth.” [29] Thomas Shepard conveys a similar sentiment, stating, “Thou hast sinned, and that grievously, against a great God .… First, in every sin thou dost strike God, and fling a dagger at the heart of God. Second, in every sin thou dost spite against God…. Third, in every sin thou dost disthrone God, and settest thyself above God.” [30] When people see their sin in this light, the result is godly sorrow—mourning.

3. “Blessed Are The Meek”

The third “rule” of blessedness is meekness, which Perkins defines as “a gift of God’s Spirit, whereby a man doth moderate his affection of anger, and bridle in himself impatience, hatred, and desire of revenge.” [31] Perkins finds its source in the first two Beatitudes. The poor in spirit are those who know they are sinful. The sorrowful are those who mourn for their sin. unsurprisingly, this leads to meekness. The meek realize that God has the right to do with them whatever He pleases. They know that anything short of eternal damnation is a mercy. [32] Such meekness, according to Perkins, is seen in bearing “God’s judgment” and “man’s reproach.” [33] John Blanchard lends a contemporary voice, stating, “Meekness towards God is a spirit of submission to all of God’s dealings with us…. Meekness towards man means bearing patiently with the hurtful actions of others and dealing gently with their failures, not only in the assurance that all of these are under God’s providential control, but in the knowledge that, left to ourselves, we have no claim to be any stronger than the weakest of our friends or any better than the worst of our enemies.” [34]

4. “Blessed Are They Which Do Hunger And Thirst After Righteousness”

The fourth “rule” of blessedness is longing for righteousness. According to Perkins, righteousness is twofold. [35] (1) It is “the righteousness of faith, whereby a sinner is justified through grace in Christ, and so stands righteous before God, having the pardon of all his sins.” (2) It is “inward righteousness, whereby a man is sanctified and made holy, having God’s image renewed in him by the Spirit of grace, which was lost by the fall of our first parents.” For Perkins, therefore, to hunger and thirst after righteousness is to long for both justification (righteousness imputed) and sanctification (righteousness imparted).

As for the actual act of “hungering and thirsting,” Perkins says “we must understand two things: first, a sorrow and grief of heart in regards of a man’s own sins, and unrighteousness: secondly, an earnest and constant desire of the righteousness of God, that is, of justification and sanctification in Christ.” [36] When we perceive the seriousness of our sin, we become poor in spirit. The result is godly sorrow—mourning for sin. These two characteristics naturally lead to meekness — an acknowledgement that anything short of God’s judgment is a mercy. This, in turn, leads to a desire to be rid of sin, and to “an earnest and constant desire of the righteousness of God.” [37]

5. “Blessed Are The Merciful”

The fifth “rule” of blessedness is mercy. According to Calvin, mercy “is nothing else but the pain we feel at someone else’s sorrow.” [38] As Watson puts it, mercy “is a melting disposition whereby we lay to heart the miseries of others and are ready on all occasions to be instrumental for their good.” [39] In similar fashion, Perkins views mercy as a “holy compassion of heart, whereby a man is moved to help another in his misery.” [40] He divides this definition into three parts. [41] (1) Mercy is “of the heart.” In other words, “it makes one man to put on the person of another, and to be grieved for the miseries of another.” (2) Mercy is a “holy compassion.” This means that it differs from “foolish pity, whereby a man doth unlawfully tender him that is in deserved misery.” [42] (3) Mercy moves “a man…to help another in his misery.” [43] How?

First, mindful of the body, the merciful seek to alleviate people’s physical suffering. There is disease; the merciful want to build hospitals. There is sickness; the merciful want to provide medicine. There is famine; the merciful want to distribute food. There is crime; the merciful want to provide protection. “Mercy towards the body,” writes Perkins, “is called alms or relief, whereby a man’s outward necessity, for food, raiment, or such like, is supplied.” [44]

Second, mindful of the soul, the merciful seek to alleviate people’s spiritual suffering. They are like Christ, “moved with compassion” for the multitudes, who are “as sheep having no shepherd.” [45] The merciful know that the gospel is the only answer to sin. “Mercy towards the soul,” says Perkins, “is, when a man is careful for the salvation of another, using means to bring a man from spiritual darkness unto light, from the power of Satan unto God, from the state of sin and the danger of hell fire, to the state of grace in true faith and repentance, and so to life eternal.” [46]

Either way (body or soul), the merciful seek to help those in need. In a word, they are active. As Robert Harris makes clear, “There is no mercy in the heart (whatever you profess) if there is no help in the hand. Full clouds will drop down their fatness into the bosom of the earth.” [47]

6. “Blessed Are The Pure In Heart”

The sixth “rule” of blessedness is purity in heart. For Perkins, the pure in heart are “such as are holy in heart, having their hearts purged from the defilement of their sins, and be in part renewed and sanctified by the Holy Ghost.” [48] By “heart,” he means the soul: “the parts and faculties thereof; that is, the mind, the conscience, the will, and affections.” [49] In Perkins’s thinking, these faculties of the soul, characterized by righteousness and holiness, constitute the image of God in humanity. [50] He explains,

The image of God, is nothing else but a conformity of man unto God, whereby man is holy as God is holy: for Paul saith; Put on the new man, which after God, that is, in God’s image, is created in righteousness and holiness. Now I reason thus: wherein the renewing of the image of God in man doth stand, therein was it at the first: but the renewing of God’s image in man doth stand in righteousness and holiness: therefore God’s image wherein man was created at the beginning, was a conformity to God in righteousness and holiness. [51]

When Adam sinned, this image was corrupted. This does not mean Adam lost his faculties; on the contrary, his soul still consisted of understanding, affections, and will. Rather, it means he lost righteousness and holiness. Perkins writes,

We must know, that there were in Adam, before his fall, three things not to be severed one from the other; the Substance of his body and soul; the Faculties and powers of his body and soul; and the Image of God, consisting in a straightness, and conformity of all the affections and powers of man to God’s will. Now, when Adam falls, and sins against God, what is his sin? Not the want of the two former, (for they both remained) but the very want and absence of the third thing, namely, of conformity to God’s will. [52]

This deprivation of righteousness and holiness (i.e., conformity to God’s will) had a negative impact upon Adam’s faculties. His will was no longer directed by an understanding that knew God or affections that desired God. Rather, his mind was darkened, his affections were hardened, and his will was enslaved. This has been the predicament of his posterity ever since.

For this reason, the faculties of the soul must be renewed in righteousness and holiness. For Perkins, this renewal is brought about by a two-fold act of the Holy Spirit. [53] (1) “By creating in the mind a saving faith, which unites a man unto Christ, and as an hand applying Christ’s purity, that is, his obedience to the heart.” (2) “By mortifying all the corruptions in the mind, will, and affections, and by putting into it inward holiness, whereby the Image of Christ is renewed therein.” Perkins makes it clear that the “measure” of this renewal “is only in part in this life; for the grace of sanctification is not perfect till death.” [54] Those, however, in whom this renewal is begun, are already “pure in heart.”

7. “Blessed Are The Peacemakers”

The seventh “rule” of blessedness is peacemaking. “By peace,” writes Perkins, “we must understand concord and agreement between man and man.” [55] However, the starting point for such peace with man is peace with God. Paul makes that clear in Romans 5:1-2, where three great truths emerge. (1) The object of peace is God: “We have peace with God.” (2) The source of peace is Christ: “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (3) The foundation of peace is grace: “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand.” [56]

Having peace with God, peacemakers—according to Perkins —seek two things. (1) They seek to bring peace to others. [57] In other words, they attempt to “make peace between God and man” through the proclamation of the gospel, for Christ has given us “the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation” (2 Cor. 5:18-19). (2) They seek to keep the peace among others. Perkins writes, “Where God’s Spirit works peace of conscience towards God in Christ, there the same Spirit does move the party to seek peace with all men; as also to make peace between those that are at variance.” [58] Those who are proud, discontent, and resentful cause discord wherever they go. However, those who are at peace with God keep the peace, seeking to extinguish anger, strife, and division.

8. “Blessed Are They Which Are Persecuted For Righteousness’ Sake”

The eighth “rule” of blessedness is persecution. According to Perkins, to suffer persecution “for the sake of righteousness” means to suffer “for professing, believing, and maintaining the doctrine of the Gospel taught by Christ, touching remission of sins, and life everlasting, to them that believe.” [59] The world admires the self-confident, not the poor in spirit; it admires the lighthearted, not the sorrowful; it admires the proud, not the meek; it admires the shameless, not the righteous; it admires the avenger, not the merciful; it admires the self-indulgent, not the pure in heart; and it admires the aggressor, not the peacemaker. In short, the world despises Christ and, therefore, it persecutes anyone who is like Him.

For Perkins, such persecution should not surprise us. On the contrary, “it is the will of God [that] his Church in this world should be under the cross.” [60] In a similar vein, Richard Baxter writes, “If for the sake of Christ and righteousness, we are accounted as the scorn and offscouring of all things, and as pestilent fellows, and movers of sedition among the people, and such as are unworthy to live, and have all manner of evil spoken of us falsely, it must not seem strange or unexpected to us, nor cast us down, but we must bear it patiently, yea, and exceedingly rejoice in hope of our reward in heaven.” [61]

Why Are They Blessed?

These, then, are the eight “rules” of blessedness, according to Perkins. In the first, Christ declares, “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In the eighth, He declares, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The “rules” begin and end, therefore, with the phrase kingdom of heaven. As Don Carson explains, this is a stylistic devise known as inclusion, meaning that everything bracketed between the first and last “rules” belongs together. They form a unit under one theme. [62] This is important, because it means that the blessings found in these verses belong to all those who are part of God’s kingdom. The promise—“for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”—in verses three and ten is in the present tense. The six promises in the intervening verses are in the future of assurance. This indicates that membership in God’s kingdom will culminate in all of these blessings.

When speaking specifically of the kingdom of heaven, Perkins makes two important distinctions. [63] (1) He differentiates between God’s universal kingdom (i.e., His rule over all things) and God’s particular kingdom (i.e., His rule over His people). In the Beatitudes, Christ is speaking of the second. (2) In terms of the particular kingdom, Perkins differentiates between the present kingdom of grace and the future kingdom of glory: “One kingdom, but the rooms are two, an upper and a lower, known by the name of the church militant and triumphant; their states the same in substance, only their degrees varying.” [64] These two aspects of the particular kingdom do not differ in “substance,” but in “degree,” in that the kingdom of grace is the beginning of the kingdom of glory. This means that there are “already” and “not yet” aspects of the particular kingdom. Simply put, it has “already” arrived, and it has “not yet” arrived. [65] Perkins explains,

This estate is called the kingdom of heaven, because that man in whom Christ rules by his word and Spirit, is already himself in heaven, though in body he be yet on earth; for heaven is like a city with two gates, through both which a man must pass, before he obtains the full joys thereof: now so soon as God by his word and Spirit rules in any man’s heart, he is already entered the state of grace, which is the first gate; the other remains to be passed through at the time of death, which is the gate of glory, and then he is in full possession. [66]

Believers are blessed, therefore, because they possess the present kingdom of grace and will one day enjoy the future kingdom of glory. Focusing on the present kingdom of grace, Perkins appeals to Romans 14:17, where Paul declares, “For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Here, Paul mentions three components of the kingdom. (1) There is “righteousness.” All those who are part of God’s kingdom are righteous, because God reckons Christ’s righteousness to them. This is the doctrine of justification. (2) There is “peace.” All those who are part of God’s kingdom enjoy peace. As Paul declares, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God” (Rom. 5:1). The term peace means binding together what has been separated. (3) There is “joy.” All those who are part of God’s kingdom experience joy in the Holy Spirit. This joy is rooted in the fact that they have found favor with God.

Based on Paul’s words in Romans 14:17, Perkins remarks, “Here the apostle teaches three things: namely, that when God’s Spirit rules in a man’s heart then first, he is justified, there is righteousness. Secondly, he has peace with God, even that peace of conscience which passes all understanding: thirdly, the joy of the Holy Ghost, which is an unspeakable comfort, passing all worldly joy whatsoever.” [67] And “these three,” affirms Perkins, “do notably set out the state of a happy man.” [68] The happy (or blessed) man enjoys an objective reality, for he is in “a state or condition…whereby he is in God’s favor, and has fellowship with God.” [69] And the happy (or blessed) man enjoys a subjective experience, for his “fellowship with God” is his “whole felicity.” [70]

Conclusion

What will be the extent of our “felicity” when this kingdom of grace gives way to the kingdom of glory? In a word, we will experience the beatific vision (Matt. 5:8). For Perkins, this is not a “sight of the eye,” for there can be no sight of God’s essence by nature, because there is no “proportion” between a human eye and that which is invisible. [71] The promise must, therefore, refer to a “sight of the mind”—“when the creature sees God, so far forth as it is capable of his knowledge.” [72] We will see God, in that He will impart Himself to us according to the fullest capacity of our souls. And, for Perkins, “this seeing of God” will be “true happiness.” [73]

Notes

1. John Stott, The Message of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 –7): Christian Counter-Culture (Downers Grove: Inter-Varsity Press, 1985), 33.
2. John Blanchard, The Beatitudes for Today (Surrey: Day One Publications, 1999), 54. Also see Terry Johnson, When Grace Transforms: The Character of Christ’s Disciples Envisioned in the Beatitudes (Fearn: Christian Focus, 2002), 22.
3. See Psalm 32:1– 2.
4. James Boice, The Sermon on the Mount: An Exposition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1972), 17.
5. John Calvin, Sermons on the Beatitudes, trans. by Robert White (1562; reprint, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2006), 18.
6. Ibid.
7. Robert Harris, The Way of True Happiness, Delivered in Twenty-four Sermons upon the Beatitudes (1653; reprint, Morgan: Soli Deo Gloria, 1998), 10.
8. Thomas Watson, The Beatitudes: An Exposition of Matthew 5:1-12 (1660; reprint, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1994), 24.
9. Ibid., 25. For a contemporary voice on humanity’s futile pursuit of happiness, see Blanchard, Beatitudes for Today, 48 –53. He refers to it as the “elusive emotion.”
10. Watson shows the folly of believing that happiness is found in “terrestrial things” by appealing to the example of Solomon (Beatitudes, 25-26). (1) Solomon had parentage; he was the son of David. (2) Solomon had wealth; he “made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones” (1 Kings 10:27). (3) Solomon had luxury; he was surrounded by extravagance—gold, silver, ivory, apes, peacocks, horses, spices, vineyards, music, food, etc. (4) Solomon had power; he “reigned over all the kingdoms from the river unto the land of the Philistines and unto the border of Egypt: they brought presents, and served Solomon all the days of his life” (1 Kings 4:21). (5) Solomon had pleasure; “he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines” (1 Kings 11:3). (6) Solomon had wisdom; “And all the earth sought to Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart” (1 Kings 10:24). In the face of it all, what does Solomon declare? “All was vanity and vexation of spirit” (Eccl. 2:1-11).
11. Harris, Way to True Happiness, 18.
12. Watson, Beatitudes, 29.
13. Harris, Way of True Happiness, 18.
14. William Gurnall, The Christian in Complete Armor: A Treatise of the Saints’ War against the Devil (1662; reprint, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1995), 1:415.
15. Thomas Shepard, The Sincere Convert: Discovering the Small Number of True Believers and the Great Difficulty of Saving Conversion in The Sincere Convert and the Sound Believer (1853; reprint, Morgan: Soli Deo Gloria, 1999), 62.
16. Richard Baxter, The Practical Works of Richard Baxter: Select Treatises (1863; reprint, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1981), 54.
17. John Flavel, The Works of John Flavel (1820; reprint, London: Banner of Truth, 1968), 5:210.
18. According to B. B. Warfield, “The ultimate source of the declaration is almost as easily identified as its proximate source. This must undoubtedly be found in John Calvin, who, in his ‘Institutes’ and in ‘Catechisms’ alike, placed this identical idea in the forefront of his instruction” (The Westminster Assembly and Its Work in The Works of Benjamin Warfield [Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2003], 6:380).
19. William Perkins, A Godly and Learned Exposition Upon Christ’s Sermon in the Mount in The Works of William Perkins (London, 1631), 3:3. Perkins examines these eight “rules” by asking the same two questions of each. (1) Who are blessed? (2) Why are they blessed?
20. Perkins, Christ’s Sermon in the Mount, 3:4. Similarly, Calvin writes, “That person, then, is truly blessed, who is poor in his own estimation, who willingly abases himself, who sees nothing good in himself, makes no false claims about himself, and instead accepts rejection by the world” (Sermons on the Beatitudes, 23).
21. George Swinnock, The Works of George Swinnock, ed. J. Nichol (1868; reprint, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1992), 1:206.
22. Harris, Way to True Happiness, 28.
23. Watson, Beatitudes, 42.
24. Perkins, Christ’s Sermon in the Mount, 3:6.
25. Ibid.
26. Ibid.
27. Harris speaks of: (1) carnal mourners (i.e., they mourn because goodness is so near them and sin so far away); (2) natural mourners (i.e., they mourn for the presence of some temporal evil or the want of some outward good); and (3) spiritual mourners (i.e., they mourn for the want of some spiritual good or the presence of some spiritual evil) (Way to True Happiness, 57). For a similar thought, see Watson, Beatitudes, 63.
28. Swinnock, Works, 5:68.
29. Ibid., 3:341.
30. Shepard, Sincere Convert, 94.
31. Perkins, Christ’s Sermon in the Mount, 3:7.
32. John Brown provides a helpful description of the meek: “An enlightened conviction of the infinite greatness and excellence,—the sovereignty, and wisdom, and holiness, and righteousness, and condescension, and kindness of God, and of our own insignificance as creatures, and demerit as sinners, lies at the foundation of that meekness which forms an essential part of the character of a genuine Christian.” (Discourses and Sayings of our Lord Jesus Christ [1850; reprint, London: Banner of Truth, 1967], 1:121).
33. Perkins, Christ’s Sermon in the Mount, 3:7-8. Watson elaborates on both of these in Beatitudes, 105 –106.
34. Blanchard, Beatitudes for Today, 133.
35. Perkins, Christ’s Sermon in the Mount, 3:10.
36. Ibid.
37. This is an important Puritan motif. We must be “weary and heavy-laden” before we will seek rest in Christ (Matt. 11:28-30). We must be like a “battered reed” (i.e., easy to break off ) and a “smoldering wick” (i.e., easy to put out) before we will turn to Christ (Matt. 12:20). In short, there must be humiliation for sin before there will ever be a panting after righteousness. For more on this, see Richard Sibbes, The Bruised Reed (1630; reprint, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1998).
38. Calvin, Sermons on the Beatitudes, 42.
39. Watson, Beatitudes, 143.
40. Perkins, Christ’s Sermon in the Mount, 3:12.
41. Ibid.
42. By way of example, Perkins appeals to Saul’s treatment of Agag (1 Sam. 15:8) and Ahab’s treatment of Benhadad (1 Kings 20:33). There is a mercy that is natural to man. It differs from spiritual mercy, in that it lacks moral judgment.
43. For three “rules” governing the performance of this duty, see Perkins, Christ’s Sermon in the Mount, 3:13.
44. Perkins, Christ’s Sermon in the Mount, 3:12.
45. Matt. 9:36. Christ is also “moved with compassion” when He sees the sick (Matt. 14:14), the hungry (Matt. 15:32), and the blind (Matt. 20:34).
46. Perkins, Christ’s Sermon in the Mount, 3:12.
47. Harris, Way to True Happiness, 207.
48. Perkins, Christ’s Sermon in the Mount, 3:14. Harris identifies a two-fold purity: (1) “legal” purity (i.e., conformity to God’s will); and (2) “evangelical” purity (i.e., sincerity in seeking to do God’s will) (Way to True Happiness, 236). He believes the second is in view in this Beatitude: “In a word, he is pure in heart who is sincere, upright, and plain-hearted” (ibid.).
49. Perkins, Christ’s Sermon in the Mount, 3:14.
50. See Ephesians 4:24; Colossians 3:10.
51. William Perkins, An Exposition of the Symbol or Creed of the Apostles, according to the Tenor of the Scriptures, and the Consent of the Orthodox Fathers of the Church in The Works of William Perkins (London, 1608), 1:153. The Westminster divines agree in WCF, IV:II. So does Calvin in Institutes of the Christian Religion in The Library of Christian Classics: Vol. XX-XXI, ed. John T. McNeill (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960), 1.15.4.
52. William Perkins, The Whole Treatise of the Cases of Conscience, Distinguished into Three Bookes (London, 1632), 6.
53. Perkins, Christ’s Sermon in the Mount, 3:14.
54. Ibid., 3:15.
55. Ibid., 3:17.
56. Interestingly, the expressions we have and we stand are in the perfect tense; hence, they point to a continuous state.
57. Perkins, Christ’s Sermon in the Mount, 3:18.
58. Ibid., 3:17. Perkins describes three virtues that are essential for keeping the peace: humility, meekness, and longsuffering (ibid., 3:18).
59. Ibid., 3:20.
60. Perkins, Christ’s Sermon in the Mount, 3:20.
61. Richard Baxter, A Christian Directory in The Practical Works of Richard Baxter (1846; reprint, Morgan: Soli Deo Gloria, 2000), 1:184.
62. Don Carson, The Sermon on the Mount: An Evangelical Exposition of Matthew 5-7 (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1978), 16.
63. Carson provides a helpful discussion of these distinctions in ibid., 11-15.
64. Harris, Way to True Happiness, 28-29.
65. Carson writes, “Eternal life, though experienced now, is consummated then, in conjunction with such a renovation of the universe that the only adequate description is ‘a new heaven and a new earth’” (Sermon on the Mount, 14). See Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1.
66. Perkins, Christ’s Sermon in the Mount, 3:5.
67. Ibid., 3:5.
68. Ibid.
69. Ibid.
70. Ibid.
71. Ibid., 3:15.
72. Ibid., 3:16.
73. Ibid.