Sermons of Christmas Evans Part 6

That Christmas Evans was no bigot, might be inferred from the above anecdote. But we have other and ampler evidence of his Christian catholicity. He was a Baptist; and, with the rest of his brethren, a strenuous advocate for exclusive immersion. He was a Calvinist, and thought it very important to vindicate against Arminian views what are sometimes called "the doctrines of grace." But he was also a Christian, and held all other Christians as brethren. He did not repudiate the sincerely pious, because they could not say his "Shibboleth." Kind, candid, and ingenuous, he judged of things according to their real value and importance, and appreciated true talent and virtue wherever he found them. His creed was not; "I am of Paul;" nor, "I am of Apollos;" nor, "I am of John the Baptist;" but, "We are all of Christ!" He was not blinded by the senseless prejudice of sect. He was influenced less by the peculiarities of his denomination than by the love of Christ. Many of his warmest friends were ministers of other orders; and of the Methodists and Congregationalists at Caernarvon, he made honorable mention in his diary.

The most despicable reptile of the moral world is envy, the spirit that prompted revolt in heaven, and hurled archangels down to h.e.l.l. Yet it is often found among Christians; among the ministers of a religion whose very principle is charity. Some men, like king Saul, can never bear a rival. If the thousands of Israel raise the voice and tune the lyre in honor of some victorious David, the evil spirit comes upon them, and they launch their javelins at the young anointed, and seek "to smite him even to the wall." From such feelings Mr. Evans was always free. His large heart was utterly incapable of anything of the kind. He esteemed others better than himself, and in honor preferred his brethren. Wherever he discovered talent and sanctified ambition in a young preacher, he never exerted an influence to hinder him, but heartily bade him G.o.d speed. He did not deem it necessary to smite him on the head with a cudgel to keep him in his place. He was not afraid that others would outshine him in the pulpit. He would gladly have taken his place at the feet of any of Christ's amba.s.sadors. He was willing to accord due praise to merit, not only in the dead, but also in the living; not only in those of other countries and other denominations, but also in those of his native princ.i.p.ality and the Baptist church. His immediate contemporaries and neighbors were often the subjects of his highest encomiums. His heart was as large as the world!

INGENUOUSNESS AND HONESTY.

A late American writer has said of insincerity, that it is the most detestable of all vices for which men go unhung. Yet it must be admitted, there is no vice more prevalent, even among the professed followers of Him, "who knew no iniquity, neither was guile found in his lips." The sentiment, that it is right to deceive for the good of the church, is not peculiar to the Papists. Perhaps the enlightened Protestant can scarcely be found, who would verbally avow such a doctrine; but it is often practically avowed, even by the messenger of truth; and ecclesiastical elevation is sometimes attributable more to dishonesty than to real virtue or talent.

Christmas Evans' popularity, however, could boast a better origin. It was the spontaneous fruit of his graces and his gifts. He was never indebted to unfair and underhanded measures for his success. His conduct was always open and ingenuous. Of deceit and secret design he was incapable. He never attempted to build up his own church by proselyting the converts of other churches. In one instance, when a young man, who had been educated for the ministry in the established church of England, came to him, desiring baptism by immersion, instead of eagerly seizing upon so valuable an acquisition to the Baptists, as some doubtless would have done, he endeavored to dissuade him from his purpose, and yielded at length only to his fervent importunity.

He deemed the slightest departure from truth, in any instance, a crime, and a deep disgrace to the Christian character. He was innocent and unsuspecting as a child. His frank and confiding disposition was unquestionably the occasion of most of his heavy trials. Jealous and malicious men took advantage of his Christian simplicity, and made one of his sweetest virtues a poison to his peace.

He once employed a person to sell a horse for him at a fair. After some time, he went out to see if he was likely to succeed. There was a man bargaining for the animal, and the contract was nearly completed.

"Is this your horse, Mr. Evans?" said the purchaser.

"Certainly it is," he replied.

"What is his age, sir?"

"Twenty-three years."

"But this man tells me he is only fifteen."

"He is certainly twenty-three, for he has been with me these twenty years, and he was three years old when I bought him."

"Is he safe-footed?"

"Very far from that, I a.s.sure you, or I would not part with him, and he has never been put in harness since I have had him either."

"Please to go into the house, Mr. Evans," whispered the man whom he had employed to make the sale, "for I shall never dispose of the horse while you are present."

The frank manner, however, in which Mr. Evans told him all the truth, induced the dealer to make the purchase at a very handsome price; while it procured for Mr. Evans a good name, which is better than gold.

SARCASTIC REBUKES.

In conversation he was always careful of the feelings of others. He would never employ a sarcastic remark, but for the purpose of merited rebuke. "It is better," said he, "to keep sarcasms pocketed, if we cannot use them without wounding the feelings of a friend." But he was capable, when occasion required, of wielding this weapon with terrible effect. Take the following instances:-

Just before his removal from Cardiff to Caernarvon, he was conversing on the contemplated change in a circle of several ministers. His labors had been solicited in two or three other places, and the company were canva.s.sing the comparative claims of the different churches. A feeble-minded young man present, who "thought more highly of himself than he ought to think," said:-"It is my opinion, Father Evans, that you had better go to Caernarvon. It is not likely your talents would suit either of the other places, but I think you might do very well at Caernarvon."

Mr. Evans opened his large eye upon the speaker, and replied;-"And hast _thou_ peeped? When didst thou creep from the sh.e.l.l?"

Once, two ministers, of different sects, were disputing in his presence on what he deemed an unimportant matter of ecclesiastical discipline.

One of them asked:-"What say you, Mr. Evans?" Mr. Evans replied:-"I saw two boys quarrelling over two snails. One of them insisted that his snail was the better, because it had horns; while the other as strenuously argued for the superiority of his, because it had none. The boys were very angry and vociferous, but the two snails were friends."

The disputants burst into a hearty laugh, and the debate ended.

A shallow atheist was ridiculing the idea of a G.o.d, because, as he alleged, he had no sensible evidence of his being. Mr. Evans answered:-"My friend, the mole in the meadow has never seen a king; shall he therefore say there is no king? O thou atheistic mole! thou hast never travelled out of thy own narrow field; and if thou hadst, thou hast no eyes to see with; and wilt thou dare to say there is no G.o.d? Dost thou think all others as blind as thyself? All that thou canst say is, that thou dost not see G.o.d, and dost not wish to see him. How dost thou know that the being of a G.o.d is not so manifest on the other side of the river of death, that no doubt is entertained concerning it throughout all the expanse of eternity? Can the earth-mole say there is no grand Lama in Thibet? Poor worm! thou must travel through the gates of death, and fathom the bottomless pit, and measure the land of destruction, and scale the very heaven of heavens, and surround all the borders of time and eternity, before thou canst a.s.sure thyself there is no G.o.d!"

PULPIT TALENTS AND LABORS.

As a preacher, Mr. Evans was very peculiar. No translation of his sermons can give the English reader an adequate idea of their force and beauty in the original.

He was exceedingly methodical and perspicuous. His arrangement was never loose and vague; his thoughts never confused and mingled together. He was a "wise master-builder," who took care to lay a broad and firm foundation, and then "built thereon gold, silver, and precious stones."

The several parts of his discourse bore a mutual relation of dependence, and each would have been incomplete without the others. His order was so natural, that it was very easy to follow him; and his manner so impressive, that it was nearly impossible to forget him.

He never spoke on a subject that he did not understand. Before entering the pulpit, he invariably measured his text in all its extent, and considered it in every possible aspect. "He had a wonderful method,"

says one, "of making the most abstruse pa.s.sages appear easy and plain.

He interpreted scripture by scripture, and exhibited the component parts of his subject in a clear and beautiful manner, and ill.u.s.trated them by the most appropriate and striking metaphors; and forging link by link, united them together, and bound the whole up in one glorious chain. His talents were such as to enable him to cast a ray of light upon the darkest points of the Christian system."

Mr. Evans' descriptive powers were altogether unique. He abounded in allegories of the most forcible character. In this respect, he was equaled by none of his contemporaries; transcended by none of his predecessors. Pa.s.sages of this kind will be so frequently met with in the following selection from his sermons, that it is not necessary to point them out to the reader.

His happy art of description is attributable chiefly to a very remarkable imagination. This is one of the primary qualities of an orator. When it is lacking, no depth of learning, no graces of delivery, can compensate for its lack. True, argument is important. There is no eloquence without argument. Argument must const.i.tute the bone and the sinew of every good discourse. But the bone and the sinew const.i.tute only the skeleton. Imagination must supply the muscle and the nerve. Imagination must clothe it with beauty, and inspire it with life; give expression to the features, animation to the eye, and to the tongue motion and melody articulate. Argument is the John Baptist of eloquence, after whom there cometh a mightier, baptizing with fire!

"Logic," says Carlyle, "is good, but not the best. The irrefragable doctor, with his chain of inductions, his corollaries, dilemmas, and other cunning logical diagrams and apparatus, will cast you a beautiful horoscope, and speak you reasonable things; nevertheless, the stolen jewel which you wanted him to find you is not forthcoming. Often, by some winged word, winged as the thunderbolt is, of a Luther, Napoleon, Goethe, shall we see the difficulty split asunder, and its secret laid bare; while the irrefragable, with all his logical roots, hews at it, and hovers round it, and finds it on all sides too hard for him."

Mr. Evans had feeling as well as fancy. This in a preacher is even more important than the other. Here, we conceive, lies the princ.i.p.al distinction between the orator and the poet. Poetry is the language of fancy; eloquence, the language of feeling. The preacher who operates only on the judgment and the fancy may instruct and please, and thus prepare the way for persuasion. Persuasion itself requires a warm and glowing heart. Eloquence has been defined, "the power of imparting one's feelings to others." "If you want me to weep," said Horace, "you must weep yourself." The preacher who is himself unmoved, will toil in vain to move his hearers. His sermon may be as beautiful as the moon-beams on the snow; but it will be as powerless and as cold. As saith Longinus:-"The orator must have a vehement and enthusiastic pa.s.sion, a certain madness, or divine phrensy, breathing into his thoughts, and inspiring his speech." To use the language of another:-"Truth must be planted in the hot-bed of feeling, if we would witness its flowery development, and enjoy its fruit. The orator must be roused and inflamed by the majesty of his theme; not wrought up into an unmeaning fury, like a tempest in a tea-pot; but influenced and agitated by solemn considerations of truth, duty, interest, and moral grandeur."

If this description of eloquence was ever realized in the pulpit, it was in the preaching of Christmas Evans. He spoke what he felt, and because he felt. The fountain was in his own soul, and it flowed out upon his audience in streams of living water. He was always full of his subject, and his ordinary manner was exceedingly ardent and pathetic. Sometimes he seemed quite overwhelmed with the magnitude and grandeur of his theme, and then he spoke with such impa.s.sioned earnestness as to storm the hearts of his hearers. Thus inspired, it was scarcely possible that any man of ordinary sensibilities should be otherwise than eloquent. But Mr.

Evans' talents were of a superior order; and when kindling with the enthusiasm of his message, he became peculiarly energetic and impressive.

"His words came out," as Longinus says, "as if discharged from an engine," and their influence rested like a spell upon the ear and the heart. He transported his hearers beyond the region of argument, and leaving all their cavils and prejudices immeasurably behind, rapt them away to the third heaven of ecstasy!

The secret of all this power is found in the preacher's piety. He was a man of eminent faith and holiness. The "things new and old" for the edification of his hearers, he "brought forth out of the treasure of his own heart." The love of G.o.d within him imparted to his preaching a wonderful unction. His splendid mental creations were instinct with the inspiration of sanctified feeling. This divine anointing often rendered him superior to himself, clothed him with a superhuman energy, till he seemed a messenger from the other world. The man was lost in his theme.

Art was swallowed up in the whirlpool of excited feeling. The audience were swept irresistibly along by the current of the discourse; acknowledging, by tears and groans, the preacher's hold upon their hearts; and sometimes losing all self-control, and bursting into the most extravagant expressions of wonder and delight. On this subject take the language of one, who, from personal acquaintance with Mr. Evans, was qualified to form a correct estimate of his character as a Christian minister:-

"He was also an experimental preacher. That a preacher feel his subject, const.i.tutes one of his excellencies; but that his sermon be deeply imbued with the spiritual experience of the preacher, is the Crowning point of his excellency. It is true, a person may speak well of the distress of other people, but he will speak more powerfully of his own distress. Persons may expatiate very eloquently on the pleasant fragrance of the herbs and flowers of foreign lands, but those who have themselves partic.i.p.ated in the fragrant odors, in the soft breezes of those countries, can describe them in an infinitely superior manner, and to much greater advantage.

Many may speak fluently of the mercies of G.o.d, in providence and grace-protecting, preserving, pardoning sinners, &c., but those who have experienced a sense of the divine mercy in their own souls can speak much better of it. Mr. Evans had an experience of the things of G.o.d. Not only had he heard of Calvary, but in Calvary he lived; not only had he heard of the bread of angels and of the corn of heaven, but this bread and this corn were his daily food; not only had he heard of the river of life, the streams whereof make glad the city of our G.o.d, but the crystal waters of this river were his constant drink; not only had he heard of the renewing influences of the grace of G.o.d, but he himself had been made the subject of these influences. He had experienced the operations of the Spirit renovating his own heart, and therefore he could speak of them, not as a matter of hearsay, but with the apostle-'And what our hands have handled of the Word of life, declare we unto you.'" {71}

Mr. Evans' preaching was highly evangelical. "Jesus Christ and him 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 ill.u.s.trative of some important point in the economy of salvation. Every one of them tends to humble the sinner, and exalt the grace of G.o.d. 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 pa.s.sed 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 G.o.d.' 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 l.u.s.ts of the flesh, the l.u.s.ts 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 G.o.d."