'To have sure confidence in the will and power of Jesus': another Hackney Phalanx sermon sounding like the Wesleys

In last week's extract from an 1814 collection of sermons by Christopher Wordsworth (senior, d.1846), I suggested that it showed how a Hackney Phalanx preacher could sound like the Wesleys in a lively proclamation of salvation in Christ. This indicates how the ridiculously outdated, Old Hat view of 'moralistic' preaching of the pre-1833 High Church tradition - a view still oft-repeated by contemporary Anglicans despite being debunked by decades of historical research - is, to be blunt, nonsense.

Today's extract, from a sermon on Luke's account of the healing of the ten lepers, is another Wesley-like example of the lively faith proclaimed by this Hackney Phalanx preacher. When reading this sermon, I could not help think of the Tractarian slur of 'Two Bottle Orthodox', implying a cold formalism amongst pre-1833 High Churchmen. Reading Old High works and the sermons, however, reveals how entirely incorrect this. There is a warmth to the piety and a vibrancy to the preaching.

This extract from Wordsworth's sermon is an excellent example of that vibrancy, engaging heart and soul in placing us alongside the ten lepers, seeking the healing touch of Christ:

let us learn from this history, for our comfort, to have sure confidence in the will and power of Jesus to help us in our time of need. These ten afflicted lepers cried aloud to the Lord, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." In like manner, we, in our private and public petitions, pray to Christ, "O Christ, hear us, O son of David, have mercy upon us." Only then let us pray in faith, nothing doubting.

Think not ye that his arm is now shortened, and his good-will towards us less than it was, when he was upon earth, walking among men, and saying to these lepers, "I will, be ye clean." For he is now sitting, enthroned in glory, at the right hand of God; and all power in heaven and in earth is given unto him. He seeth all our wants, and pitieth our infirmities: and he encourages us by the tenderest invitations, and the most benignant promises, to draw nigh to the throne of grace, and to call upon him.

Doubt ye not then, but that if ye feel your wants, and know him who alone has power to relieve them, and pray to him in faith, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" he will hear you, and shed down his divine gifts upon you, and heal your sicknesses, and cleanse you from your pollutions, and give what is best for you, both for your souls and bodies.

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laudable Practice

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