Sermons of Christmas Evans. Evans Christmas

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      CARDIFF

      “After having entered into this covenant,” says Mr. Evans in his diary, “I came to Cardiff, heartily and unhesitatingly, like a merchant that should send his vessel to sea after it had been registered in the insurance office. I had nothing now to lose, for I had given myself up to the possession of Jesus, the Mediator of the New Testament, for time and for eternity; and so I have had to abide here in the secret of his tabernacle for these nine months.”

      He removed to Cardiff in the autumn of 1828, and remained there two years and a half. During this time, he received into the church about eighty converts. He was much in secret prayer, and enjoyed intimate communion with his God. He not only retired for devotion several times every day, but ordinarily rose at midnight to call upon the Lord. But the whole period of his residence was not a cloudless day. Some unpleasant matters arose in the church, which caused him much sorrow, as is evident from the following entry in his diary: —

      “April 27, 1829. I earnestly entreat thee, blessed Jesus, for the sake of thine own name, to regard me in this request. * * * * Let things be ordered, O Lord, that they may not be impediments and discouragements unto me, and a hinderance to the progress of religion. O, interpose between me and these obstacles, O Lord, that I may have no occasion to dispute with any, and so embitter my spirit! Thy power is infinite, and thy wisdom is infallible. Stand thou between me and all contention, that no ill effect come upon me. I flee to hide myself under the shadow of thy wings. Permit nothing to blunt the edge of my talents, my zeal, or my success, – nor corrupt the church. Grant me this for the sake of thine infinitely precious blood. Set thy name to this request in the court of heaven, and let Satan’s party grow weaker and weaker, and the cause of truth and righteousness become like the house of David, and the house of David like the angel of the Lord. Deliver me, that my spirit be not irritated, and I speak unadvisedly with my lips, as Moses did. Hide me in thy pavilion from the strife of tongues * * * *. I am as it were on the verge of eternity; O save and preserve me by thy boundless power. Amen, Amen, Amen. Lord, regard, behold, hear, and spare. – Christmas Evans. Write this in thy book, O my Lord, and my God. Let none be disappointed that wait upon thee, gracious Lord. – Remember me.”

      He adds in another passage: —

      “I have given my soul anew to Christ; my body; my talents; my influence in preaching; my name; my character as a man, as a Christian, and as a preacher of the gospel; my time, and the remnant of my opportunities; my success; my peace and comfort as a Christian and a minister. I have resigned all afresh into the hands of Christ. I have commended to his care, also, my wife, and all the circumstances of my family, and my friends and assistants in the work of the Lord, for whom I pray earnestly that they may be blessed, throughout Anglesea, Caernarvon, Caerphilly, Cardiff, and indeed in all the counties of Wales. There are many of them who were helpers to me in my day. I will say, in the language of Paul, and I hope with affectionate emotions of love to Jesus Christ, ‘The Lord grant unto them that they may find mercy of the Lord in that day.’ It is a great privilege to a minister to retain beloved friends, who have helped him with their prayers and sympathy. O bless those whom I have, and preserve the new race, the new generation of them that I have found in these parts. I committed to God, also, those who obstruct the progress of the cause here, and disturb the unity and brotherly love of the church. Let Christ, whose the church is, and let not me, remove every obstacle, either by changing and melting in the love of the gospel, or taking them somewhere else, where they shall not be a curse and an impediment to the cause – and by the means that shall seem fit in his sight. A word or a nod of thine shuts and opens heaven and earth, and all the locks of the land of Hades, or the invisible state. For the sake of the blood of thy covenant, grant the above things unto me, thine unworthy servant.”

      SERMONS FOR THE PRESS

      During his sojourn at Cardiff, though now sixty-five years old, much debilitated, and almost blind, he wrote about two hundred sermons for the press, many of which have since been published. It is certainly very remarkable, that he should write, at his advanced age, with all the vigor and vivacity of his earlier years. Perhaps, of all the sermons he ever made, those composed at Cardiff are the best. Most of them were preached on the Sabbath, and written out during the following week. This circumstance, with their author’s peculiar nearness to God, may account for their freshness and power.

      Mr. Evans was in the habit of referring every important matter to God. We find in his diary the following paragraph: —

      “Cardiff, February 2, 1829. Lord, I have been importuned by many of my brethren in the ministry, to prepare a number of my sermons, that have been in the course of my ministry the most useful in thine hand for the conversion of sinners, with a view to publication. I had no time when in Anglesea to engage in the work, because my circumstances required so much travelling every week. I left the work to lie by, the two years I was at Caerphilly; but here, at Cardiff, I have had a new impulse in my thoughts to enter upon it; and I come unto thee, my great Lord, to consult thee, who art the Head of the church, and the Head-Prophet and Teacher of thy people. Shall I proceed with the work or not? Is it a part of my duty, or is it a useless, foolish notion of my own? I entreat thy gracious direction in this matter, for the sake of thy great name. Suffer me not to afflict myself, when my eyesight is so weak, with a work that thou wilt not bless, but which shall be buried in the land of forgetfulness. If thou wilt not open a door – with thee are the keys of the house of David – in thy providence, that I may obtain subscribers, and bring the work through the press, without hazarding myself in such a way as will involve me in debt and disgrace: and also if thou, the great feeder of the flock, wilt not direct me to give the true gospel, not only without error, but with the savor and unction which accompanies the works of Bunyan and others, which thy Spirit is likely to make use of whilst thou hast churches in Wales: if they should not be for thy glory in the building up of thy church, and the calling of sinners, – if these objects should not be accomplished by the publication of the sermons, dispose my mind to relinquish the undertaking. But if thou wilt patronise the work, strengthen me to accomplish the design. Lord, thou knowest I feel my own insufficiency for such an important enterprise, and my unworthiness to solicit of thee such a favor: but I cannot refrain from making these requests: therefore, for the sake of thine infinite merits, according to thy manner unto thy people, grant unto me my request. Amen.”

      WELSH JUMPING

      In the autumn of 1829, Mr. Evans wrote in his diary extensive notes of a conversation which he had with several ministers in Bristol, on “the manner of religious rejoicing so remarkable among the Welsh.” His friends condemned it in a sweeping sentence, under the name of “Welsh jumping.” Mr. Evans attempted its vindication. We insert his own account:

      “I observed that I could find no account of it among the Welsh until the time of Harris and Rowlands, Calvinistic Methodists, who flourished in Wales about the same time as Whitefield and Wesley in England. The preaching of these men was the means of producing a religious revival throughout all the principality, which had sunk into a state of deep lethargy, since the time of the great awakening under Vavasor Powell, about one hundred years before. At this period nothing was to be seen in almost every parish but young men and young women flocking together into the churches and church-yards, and engaging in different gambols and pastimes, such as ball-playing, foot-ball, leaping, fighting, and such like frolics, as if Wales had been changed into an Olympic mountain, and old paganism restored again. It is true, there were some preachers and churches, both Congregationalists and Baptists, then existing in the principality; but their talents, their spirits, or their magnanimity could not storm such a fortress of impiety. And, besides, there was a dreadful prejudice still remaining in the country against all sects, since the days of Charles II.; and they suffered persecution even unto blood, for about one hundred years previous to the appearing of these men. But from the ashes of those sufferers the revival by Harris and Rowlands sprung up, as did Luther from the ashes of Huss and Jerome of Prague.

      “Mr. Rowlands and Mr. Harris were СКАЧАТЬ