Sermons of Christmas Evans. Evans Christmas
and found many harps hanging about the pulpit, wrapped in coverings of green. Then, said he, “I will take down the harps of heaven in this place.” In removing the covering, he found the ark of the covenant, inscribed with the name of Jehovah. Then he cried, “Brethren, the Lord has come to us, according to his promise, and in answer to our prayers.” In that very place, he shortly afterward had the satisfaction of receiving one hundred and forty converts into the church, as the fruit of his ministry.
While at Caerphilly, he entered into a second marriage. He remained there only two years. He says: “I never spent a short time in greater comfort, for the ark of God had appeared there, and the harps of one hundred and forty souls had been tuned to the song of redemption.” Happy years no doubt they were, and gladly would Mr. Evans have ended his life in Caerphilly; but troubles arose between him and some of his parishioners, and, receiving a call from Cardiff, a neighboring town, he went to take charge of a church in that place.
ANOTHER COVENANT.
Previous to his removal, and while he was meditating the matter, he made a new covenant with God. We extract again from his journal:—
“While returning from a place called Tongwynlâs over Caerphilly mountain, the spirit of prayer descended very copiously upon me. I wept for some hours, and heartily supplicated Jesus Christ, for the blessings here following. I found at this time a particular nearness to Christ, as if he were close by me, and my mind was filled with strong confidence that he attended to my requests, for the sake of the merits of his own name. This decided in favor of Cardiff.”
I. “Grant me the great favor of being led by thee, according to thy will—by the directions of thy providence and word, and the disposing of my own mind by thy Spirit, for the sake of thine infinitely precious blood. Amen.—C. E.
II. “Grant, if I am to leave Caerphilly, that the gale (of the Spirit’s influence) and religious revival I had there may follow me to Cardiff, for the sake of thy great name. Amen.—C. E.
III. “Grant thy blessing upon bitter things, to brighten, and quicken me more and more, and not to depress and render me more lifeless. Amen.—C. E.
IV. “Suffer me not to be trodden under the proud feet of members, or deacons, for the sake of thy goodness. Amen.—C. E.
V. “Grant me the invaluable favor of being, in thine hand, the means of calling sinners unto thyself, and of edifying thy saints, wherever thou wilt send me, for the sake of thy name. Amen.—C. E.
VI. “If I am to stay at Caerphilly, give me some tokens, as to Gideon of old, by removing the things that discourage me, and are in the way of the prosperity of religion in that church. Amen.—C. E.
VII. “Grant, Lord of glory, and Head of thy church, that the Ark of the cause which is thine, in Anglesea and Caerphilly, may be sustained from falling into the hands of the Philistines. Do not reject it. Aid it speedily, and lift up the light of thy countenance upon it; and by thy Spirit, word, and providence, so operate as to carry things forward in the churches, and neighborhoods, in such a manner as will produce changes in officers, and measures that will accomplish a thorough improvement in the great cause, for the establishment of which in the world thou hast died;—and by scattering those that delight in war, and closing the mouths of those that occasion confusion. Amen.—C. E.
VIII. “Grant me way-tokens by the time I begin my journey to Liverpool, and from thence to Anglesea, if it is thy will that I should go thither this year. Amen.—C. E.
IX. “O grant me succor beneath the shadow of the sympathy that is in thee towards them who are tempted, and the unbounded power there is in thee to be the relief of such. Amen.—C. E.
X. “Accept of my thanksgiving a hundred millions of times, that thou hast not hitherto cast me from thine hand, as a darkened star, or a vessel in which there is no pleasure; and suffer not my life to be extended beyond my usefulness. Thanks, that thou hast not given me a prey to the teeth of any. Blessed be thy name. Amen.—C. E.
XI. “For the sake of thine infinite merit, do not cast me, thy servant, under the feet of pride and injustice, of worldly greatness, riches, and selfish oppression of any men, but hide me in the secret of thy tabernacle from the strife of tongues. Amen.—C. E.
XII. “Help me to wait silently and patiently upon thee, for the fulfilment of these things, and not become enraged, angry, and speak unadvisedly with my lips, like Moses, the servant of the Lord. Sustain my heart from sinking, to wait for fresh strength from Zion. Amen.—C. E.
XIII. “Help me to wait upon thee for the necessaries of life; let thy mercy and goodness follow me while I live; and, as it hath pleased thee to honor me greatly, by the blessing thou hast vouchsafed upon the ministry through me, as an humble instrument, at Caerphilly, after the great storm had beaten upon me in Anglesea, like Job, grant that this honor may continue to follow me the remainder of my days, as thou didst unto thy servant Job. Amen.—C. E.
XIV. “Let this covenant abide like the covenant of salt, until I come to thee in the world of eternal light. I entreat aid to resign myself to thee, and to thy will. I beseech thee take my heart, and inscribe upon it a deep reverence of thyself, with an inscription that time and eternity cannot efface. O let the remainder of my sermons be taken by thee from my lips; and those which I write, let them be unto thee for a praise. Unto thee I dedicate them. If there should be any thing in them conducive to thy glory, and to the service of thy kingdom, do thou preserve it, and reveal it unto men; else, let it die like the drop of a bucket in the midst of the scorching heat of Africa. O grant, that there may be a drop of that water which thou alone canst impart, and which springs up to eternal life, running through all my sermons. In this covenant, which probably is the last that will be written between me and thee on the earth, I commit myself, my wife, and the churches amongst whom I have preached, to the protection of thy grace, and the care of thy covenant. Amen.—C. E.
XV. “Let this covenant continue when I am in sickness or in health, or in any other circumstance; for thou hast overcome the world, fulfilled the law, finished justifying righteousness, and hast swallowed up death in victory, and all power in heaven and earth is in thine hand. For the sake of thy most precious blood and perfect righteousness, note this covenant with thine own blood in the court of the memorials of forgiving mercy: attach unto it thy name in which I believe; and here I, this day, set my unworthy name unto it, with my mortal hand. Amen.—Christmas Evans. Dated, Cardiff, April 24, 1829.”
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