crucified,” was the alpha and omega of his ministry. The character of
the following sermons fully justifies that remarkable saying upon his
death-bed: “I have never labored without blood in the basin.” Every one
of them is illustrative of some important point in the economy of
salvation. Every one of them tends to humble the sinner, and exalt the
grace of God. Every one of them abounds with lofty views of the Divine
Justice and Mercy.
“It is generally allowed,” observes his friend, “that the people who are
trained by a minister, and moulded by his instructions, are a good
evidence of the tendency of his doctrine and ministry. In this view
then, it is observed, the church where he more statedly labored in
Anglesea, and where the most of his care and efforts were bestowed, were
a people mighty in the Scriptures; that they would converse well and
readily on most of the doctrines of the Christian faith; that they
labored much to improve in knowledge, and were active in the cause of
religion. These nearly all were Mr. Evans’ own people; they were
nurtured by him, and upon his ministerial food they grew to be men, and
were wholly according to the mold of his doctrine. It has been remarked,
‘that if volumes upon volumes were written upon the subject of the
tendency of his ministry, it could never be exhibited to greater
advantage than has been done by himself, in those bright, clear, and
golden letters, which he has inscribed upon the people of his charge at
Llangevni.’”
The following extracts from Mr. Evans contain his views of the
evangelical over the legal style of preaching:—
“While a preacher inculcates duties in any way but with a view to the
promises of mercy, and of undeserved strength, he is more like to a
moral philosopher, than to the apostles and preachers that have been
a blessing unto men, such as Whitefield, and hundreds who have been
in a degree blessed in the same doctrine, and by the same Spirit. It
is not in the duties we are to rest, but in Christ. ‘Blessed are the
dead which die in the Lord—that they may rest from their labors, _and
their works follow them_.’ It was not in reliance upon their works
they passed through the river of death, as if presumptuously on a
bundle of rushes, but their works will meet them in the judgment day;
to be weighed there in the balance of the faith and love of Christ;
and they will be there as witnesses on the part of the saints,
bearing testimony that the love of Christ constrained them to live to
him that died for them and was raised again.”
Again:—
“By endeavoring to avoid the bog, you sink in the quicksands—while
you are hiding the system of grace, and casting it, as it were, into
the shade—duties without faith are not acceptable, for ‘Without faith
it is impossible to please God.’ I compare you to a dry-goods
merchant, who should hang up a piece of white cloth over the shelves
of his store, where the cloths, fine linen, silks, &c., are kept, and
thus hiding every article in his store, without exposing any thing to
the view of his customers, yet he would stand at the counter, and
address them in the language of surprise, Why do you not buy here,
for I know you have wherewith? So some preach, standing like the
store-keeper at the counter, saying, while the doctrine of grace is
kept put of sight, Why do you not buy here? for we know that you have
the money of ability; but you spend your money in the shops of the
lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life. But
they reply, What shall we buy, sir? you tell us that there is
salvation in your store—and fine linen wrought out from Bethlehem to
Calvary, and white raiment; gold and pearls, and food and drink
indeed; but you hide them under the vail: bring them to the counter,
and open them before us; show us, carefully and plainly, whence this
salvation proceeds, and by what means it has been procured;—has it
been expensive to some one, seeing it is free for us?”
Once more:—
“I compare such preachers to a miner, who should go to the quarry
where he raised the ore, and taking his sledge in his hand, should
endeavor to form bars of iron of the ore in its rough state, without
a furnace to melt it, or a rolling-mill to roll it out, or molds to
cast the metal, and conform the casts to their patterns. The gospel
is like a form or mold, and sinners are to be melted, as it were, and
cast into it. ‘But ye have obeyed from the heart that form of
doctrine which was delivered you,’ {73} or into which you were
delivered, as is the marginal reading, so that your hearts ran into
the mold. Evangelical preachers have, in the name of Christ, a mold
or form to cast the minds of men into; as Solomon, the vessels of the
temple. The Sadducees and Pharisees had their forms, and legal
preachers have their forms; but evangelical preachers should bring
with them the ‘form of sound words,’ so that, if the hearers believe,
or are melted into it, Christ may be formed in their hearts—then they
will be as born of the truth, and the image of the truth will appear
in their sentiments and experience, and in their conduct in the
church, in the family, and in the neighborhood. Preachers without
the mold, are all those who do not preach all the points of the
gospel of the grace of God.”
Christmas Evans was in labors more abundant than any of his Welsh
contemporaries. We have stated in the memoir, that while in Anglesea, he
frequently preached five times a day, and walked twenty miles. During
his ministry, he made forty journeys from North to South Wales, and
preached one hundred and sixty-three associational sermons. It is
wonderful that his extensive travels and arduous labors did not hurry him
to the grave before he had lived out half his days. But he had a firm
and vigorous constitution; and having borne the burden and the heat of
the day, the Master sustained him in the vineyard till the setting of the
sun.
And his labors were as successful as they were extensive. “The sound of
heaven,” remarks his friend “was to be heard in his sermons. He studied
his discourses well; he ‘sought to find out acceptable words, even words
of truth;’ and the Holy Ghost attended his ministry in an extraordinary
manner.”
Few men of modern times have had a more numerous spiritual family than
he. Wherever he went, throughout all Wales, multitudes claimed him as
their father in Christ. “In his day the Baptist associations acquired
their great popularity, and in his day arose a number of the most
respectable ministers ever known in the principality.” Some of them were
his own converts, and many of them had their talents inspired and their
zeal inflamed under his powerful ministry. “Life and evangelical savor,”
said one of them, “attend Christmas Evans, wherever he is.” “None of
us,” said another, “understand and comprehend the full extent of his
usefulness.” The celebrated Robert Hall mentioned his talents in terms
of high commendation, and ranked him among the first men of his age. A
Congregational clergyman, who was well acquainted with him, speaks of him
as follows:—
“He is a connecting link between the beginning and the ending of this
century. {74} He has the light, the talent, and the taste of the
beginning, and has received every new light that has appeared since.
He was enabled to accompany the career of religious knowledge in the
morning, and also to follow its rapid strides in the evening. In
this he is unlike every other preacher of the day: the morning and
evening light of this wonderful century meet in him. He had strength
to climb up to the top of Carmel in the morning, and remain there
during the heat of the day, and see the fire consuming the sacrifice
and licking up the water; his strength continued, by the hand of the
Lord, so that he could descend from the mount in the evening, and run
without fainting before the king’s chariot to Jezreel.”
We conclude this brief and somewhat imperfect portraiture with the
following characteristic paragraph from the pen of Mr. Evans,
illustrative of his views, not only of the right kind of pulpit
ministration, but also of the injurious influence and tendency of the
principal theological controversies which during his day agitated the
Baptist churches in the principality of Wales:—
“I consider that a remarkable day has begun upon Wales. The dawn of
this day was with Vavasor Powell and Walter Caradork; the former
amongst the Baptists and the latter amongst the Independents
(Congregationalists). Several churches were gathered in both
denominations in the twilight of morning. But when Rowlands and
Harris rose—it was the sunrising of this revival day. Mr. Jones, of
Pontypool, was one of the sons of the sunrising. About ten or eleven
o’clock, a host of Baptists, Calvinistic Methodists, and
Congregationalists, arose; and among this class I had the honor of
entering the field. The day was warm—the sermons and prayers were
short, and the doctrine was evangelical. But I have reached the
evening, and the day is greatly cooled. Power, tenderness, and the
cross of Christ, marked the sermons in the morning; but length and
tediousness are the distinguishing features of the prayers and
sermons in the evening. It was too warm to preach two hours in the
heat of the day. It appears, also, that talents are become much
weaker and more effeminate as the evening spreads its shades. Beyond
a doubt, the preaching of intricate points—something like questions
concerning the law, and endless genealogies, have been the means of
cooling the work and the workmen in the evening of the day. They
will now lift up their heads and talk to every traveller that passes
the field; and towards Merionethshire, they will inquire, ‘Dost thou
know any thing about Sandemanianism?’ and in other districts they
will ask, ‘Dost thou know something about Williamsism {75} and
Fullerism?’ and in consequence you may see young doctors many,
springing up, talking like learned Lilliputians. ‘Some say that
Christ died for all, and others that it was for his church he died;
but the truth is this,’ said the Lilliputians: ‘he did not die for
any man, _but for the sin of all men_.’ I was there also on the
great platform of this period, but I dared not condemn all systems by
a sweeping sentence of infallibility, and take the bagpipe under my
arm, as some were disposed to do, and cry down every new voice
without proving it. ‘Prove all things.’”
SERMONS OF CHRISTMAS EVANS.
A New translation from the Welsh.
INTRODUCTION.
IN presenting to the public a selection from the sermons of Christmas
Evans, we find ourselves embarrassed by two circumstances:
First.—It is impossible to exhibit on paper the peculiarly forcible
elocution of the author. Some of the most effective discourses ever
delivered seem comparatively powerless when perused afterward in private.
This observation is verified in the case of the two most remarkable
pulpit orators of modern times, George Whitefield and John Summerfield.
Their spoken eloquence was like the breathings of the seraphim, but their
printed sermons are of no very extraordinary character. Like them, Mr.
Evans was much indebted, for his success, to a very popular and powerful
delivery. His appearance in the pulpit was fine and commanding; his
voice, one of unrivalled compass and melody; his gesticulation, always
easy, appropriate, and forcible; and when he warmed under the inspiration
of his theme, his large bright eye shot fire through the assembly. But
the sermons are now divested of all these auxiliary accompaniments; and
without the prophet before us, we may wonder at the effects attributed to
his message. The following selections will give the reader at least a
tolerable idea of Mr. Evans’ modes of thought and illustration; but if he
would have any adequate conception of the splendid phantasmagora in
process of exhibition, he must imagine the burning lamp within the
scenes.
But the greater difficulty is the impossibility of a perfect translation.
Genius is proverbially eccentric. Mr. Evans’ style is altogether unique.
The structure of his sentences is very original. None of his countrymen
approximated his peculiar mode of expression. It would be exceedingly
difficult for any man, however well qualified to translate other Welsh
authors, to render him into English, with the preservation, everywhere,
of his spirit. The writer at first thought of publishing a selection
from his sermons as translated by J. Davis; but upon examination, that
translation was found so faulty, that it was deemed expedient, if
possible, to produce a new. In pursuance of this purpose he obtained the
aid of a friend, whose excellent literary taste, and accurate
acquaintance with both languages, constitute a sufficient guarantee for
the general correctness of the following translation. It lays no claim
to perfection, though it is at least free from the most obvious and
glaring faults of Mr. Davis’ version. Some of the nicest shades of
thought are inevitably lost, and many of the startling metaphors and
splendid allegories have doubtless suffered some diminution of their
original force and beauty; but the writer trusts that enough of the
author’s spirit is retained to furnish a pretty correct idea of his
talents, and render the book acceptable to the reader.
With these apologetic remarks, we commit the sermons of Christmas Evans
to the press; praying that they may be accompanied with something of the
same Divine unction, as when, in their original delivery by the author,
they “set the land of Cambria on fire.’”
JOSEPH CROSS.
_Philadelphia_, May 30, 1846.
SERMON I.
THE TIME OF REFORMATION.
“_Until the time of reformation_.”—Heb. ix. 10.
THE ceremonies pertaining to the service of God under the Sinaic
dispensation were entirely typical in their character; mere figures of
Christ, the “High-priest of good things to come, by a greater and more
perfect tabernacle, not made with hands;” who, “not by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, has entered once into the holy place,
having obtained eternal redemption for us.” Sustaining such a relation
to other ages and events, they were necessarily imperfect, consisting
“only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances,”
not intended for perpetual observance, but imposed upon the Jewish people
merely “until the time of reformation,” when the shadow should give place
to the substance, and a Greater than Moses should “make all things new.”
Let us notice the time of reformation, and the reformation itself.
I. Time may be divided into three parts; the Golden Age before the fall,
the Iron Age after the fall, and the Messiah’s Age of Jubilee.
In the Golden Age, the heavens and the earth were created; the garden of
Eden was planted; man was made in the image of God, and placed in the
garden to dress and to keep it; matrimony was instituted; and God,
resting from his labor, sanctified the Seventh Day, as a day of holy rest
to man.
The Iron Age was introduced by the temptation of a foreigner, who
obtruded himself into Paradise, and persuaded its happy denizens to cast
off the golden yoke of obedience and love to God. Man, desiring
independence, became a rebel against Heaven, a miserable captive of sin
and Satan, obnoxious to the Divine displeasure, and exposed to eternal
death. The law was violated; the image of God was lost, and the enemy
came in like a flood. All communication between the island of time and
the continent of immortality was cut off, and the unhappy exiles saw no
hope of crossing the ocean that intervened.
The Messiah’s Age may be divided into three parts; the time of
Preparation, the time of Actual War, and the time of Victory and Triumph.
The Preparation began with the dawning of the day in Eden, when Messiah
came in the ship of the Promise, and landed on the island of Time, and
notified its inhabitants of his gracious intention to visit them again,
and assume their nature, and live and die among them; to break their
covenant allegiance to the prince of the iron yoke; and deliver to them
the charter, signed and sealed with his own blood, for the redemption and
renovation of their island, and the restoration of its suspended
intercourse with the land of Eternal Life. The motto inscribed upon the
banners of this age was,—“He shall bruise thy heel, and thou shalt bruise
his head.” Here Jehovah thundered forth his hatred of sin from the thick
darkness, and wrote his curse in fire upon the face of heaven; while
rivers of sacrificial blood proclaimed the miserable state of man, and
his need of a costlier atonement than mere humanity could offer. Here
also the spirit of Messiah fell upon the prophets, leading them to search
diligently for the way of deliverance, and enabling them to “testify
beforehand of the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should
follow.”
Then came the season of Actual War. “Messiah the Prince” was born in
Bethlehem, wrapped in swaddling-bands, and laid in a manger. The Great
Deliverer was “made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem those that
were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” With an
almighty hand, he laid hold on the works of the devil, unlocked the iron
furnace, and broke the brazen bands asunder. He opened his mouth, and
the deaf heard, the blind saw, the dumb spake, the lame walked, and the
lepers were cleansed. In the house of Jairus, in the street of Nain, and
in the burial-ground of Bethany, his word was mightier than death; and
the damsel on her bed, the young man on his bier, and Lazarus in his
tomb, rising to second life, were but the earnests of his future triumph.
The diseases of sin he healed, the iron chains of guilt he shattered, and
all the horrible caves of human corruption and misery were opened by the
Heavenly Warrior. He took our yoke, and bore it away upon his own
shoulder, and cast it broken into the bottomless pit. He felt in his
hands and his feet the nails, and in his side the spear. The iron
entered into his soul, but the corrosive power of his blood destroyed it,
and shall ultimately eat away all the iron in the kingdom of death.
Behold him hanging on Calvary, nailing upon his cross three bills; the
handwriting of the law which was against us, the oath of our allegiance
to the prince of darkness, and the charter of the “everlasting covenant;”
fulfilling the first, breaking the second, and sealing the third with his
blood!
Now begins the scene of Victory and Triumph. On the morning of the third
day, the Conqueror is seen “coming from Edom, with dyed garments from
Bozrah.” He has “trodden the wine-press alone.” By the might of his
single arm, he has routed the hosts of hell, and spoiled the dominions of
death. The iron castle of the foe is demolished, and the hero returns
from the war, “glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of
his strength.” He enters the gates of the everlasting city, amid the
rejoicing of angels, and the shouts of his redeemed. And still he rides
forth in the chariot of his grace, “conquering, and to conquer.” A
two-edged sword issues from his mouth, and in his train follow the
victorious armies of heaven. Lo! before him fall the altars of idols,
and the temples of devils; and the slaves of sin are becoming the
servants and sons of the living God; and the proud skeptic beholds,
wonders, believes, and adores; and the blasphemer begins to pray, and the
persecutor is melted into penitence and love, and the wolf comes and lays
him down gently by the side of the Iamb. And Messiah shall never quit
the field, till he has completed the conquest, and swallowed up death in
victory. In his “vesture dipped in blood,” he shall pursue the armies of
Gog and Magog on the field of Armageddon, and break the iron teeth of the
beast of power, and cast down Babylon as a millstone into the sea, and
bind the old serpent in the lake of fire and brimstone, and raise up to
life immortal the tenants of the grave. Then shall the New Jerusalem,
the metropolis of Messiah’s golden empire, descend from heaven, adorned
with all the jewelry of creation, guarded at every gate by angelic
sentinels, and enlightened by the glory of God and of the Lamb; and the
faithful shall dwell within its walls, and sin, and sorrow, and death,
shall be shut out for ever!
Then shall time be swallowed up in eternity. The righteous shall inherit
life everlasting, and the ungodly shall find their portion in the second
death. Time is the age of the visible world; eternity is the age of the
invisible God. All things in time are changeful; all things in eternity
are immutable. If you pass from time to eternity, without faith in
Christ, without love to God, an enemy to prayer, an enemy to holiness,
“unpurged and unforgiven,” so you must ever remain. Now is the season of
that blessed change, for which myriads shall sing everlasting anthems of
praise. “To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
To-day the office is open; if you have any business with the Governor,
make no delay. Now he has time to talk with the woman of Samaria by the
well, and the penitent thief upon the cross. Now he is ready to forgive
your sins, and renew your souls, and make you meet to become partakers of
the inheritance of the saints in light. Now he waits to wash the filthy,
and feed the hungry, and clothe the naked, and raise the humble, and
quicken the spiritually dead, and enrich the poor and wretched, and
reconcile enemies by his blood. He came to unloose your bands, and open
to you the gates of Eden; condemned for your acquittal, and slain for the
recovery of your forfeited immortality. The design of all the traveling
from heaven to earth, and from earth to heaven, is the salvation of that
which was lost, the restoration of intercourse and amity between the
Maker and the worm. This is the chief of the ways of God to man, ancient
in its origin, wise in its contrivance, dear in its accomplishment,
powerful in its application, gracious in its influence, and everlasting
in its results. Christ is riding in his chariot of salvation, through
the land of destruction and death, clothed in the majesty of mercy, and
offering eternal life to all who will believe. O captives of evil! now
is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation; now is the year of
jubilee; now is the age of deliverance; now is “the time of reformation!”
II. All the prophets speak of something within the veil, to be
manifested in due time; the advent of a Divine agent in a future age, to
accomplish a glorious “reformation.” They represent him as a prince; a
hero; a high-priest; a branch growing out of dry ground; a child toying
with the asp and the lion, and leading the wolf and the lamb together.
The bill of the reformation had been repeatedly read by the prophets, but
its passage required the descent of the Lord from heaven. None but
himself could effect the change of the dispensation. None but himself
had the authority and the power to remove the first, and establish the
second. He whose voice once shook the earth, speaks again, and heaven is
shaken. He whose footsteps once kindled Sinai into flame, descends
again, and Calvary is red with blood. The God of the ancient covenant
introduces a new, which is to abide for ever. The Lord of the temple
alone could change the furniture and the service from the original
pattern shown to Moses in the mount; and six days before the rending of
the veil, significant of the abrogation of the old ceremonial, Moses came
down upon a mountain in Palestine to deliver up the pattern to him of
whom he had received it on Sinai, that he might nail it to his cross on
Calvary; for the “gifts and sacrifices” belonging to the legal
dispensation “could not make him that did the service perfect, as
pertaining to the conscience; which stood only in meats, and drinks, and
divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of
reformation.”