Sermons of Christmas Evans

Having bid the old Rabbi a respectful farewell, on they go; and reaching the river’s side, they inquire of the by-standers for the son of the old priest. Immediately he is pointed out to them. There is a “raiment of camel’s hair about him, and a leathern girdle about his loins.” They ask him if he knows any thing of the young child. “Yes,” says he, “there he is: behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world! There he is; he will bruise the dragon’s head, and bring in everlasting righteousness to every one that believeth in his name.”

VI. VARIETIES OF PREACHING

I perceive four strong men on their journey toward Lazarus’ grave, for the purpose of raising him to life. One of them, who is eminent for his piety, says, “I will descend into the grave, and will take with me a bowl of the salt of duties, and will rub him well with the sponge of natural ability.” He enters the grave, and commences his rubbing process. I watch his operations at a distance, and after a while inquire, “Well, are there any symptoms of life there? Does he arise, does he breathe, my brother?” “No such thing,” replies he, “he is still quiet, and I cannot salt him to will– and besides this, his smell is rather heavy.”

“Well,” says the second, “come you out; I was afraid that your means would not answer the purpose; let me enter the grave.” The second enters, carrying in his hand a whip of the scorpions of threatening; and, says he, “I will make him feel.” He directs his scorpion and fiery ministry at the dead corpse; but in vain, and I hear him crying out, “All is unsuccessful; dead he is after all.”

Says the third, “Make room for me to enter, and I will see if I cannot bring him to life.” He enters the grave, and takes with him a musical pipe; it is melodious as the song of love; but there is no dancing in the grave.

The fourth says, “Means of themselves can effect nothing, but I will go for Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life.” Immediately he leaves to seek for Christ, and speedily returns, accompanied by the Saviour. And when the Lord came, he stands in the door of the sepulchre, and cries out, “Lazarus, come forth!” and the dead body is instantaneously instinct with life.

Let our confidence be in the voice of the Son of God. And let us turn our faces toward the wind, and say, “O breath, come from the four winds, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live!”

VII. THE SIX CROCODILES

Every church-member should learn to hunt a crocodile. The first crocodile is a spirit to search closely for faults, instead of hiding them with brotherly love, according to the directions of the gospel. This is Ham, the old crocodile, that exposed the nakedness of his father, instead of hiding it like Shem and Japheth; for which his father banished him to the river Nilus, where he still remains in Africa, under the curse of his father.

Old pious Eli erred greatly, by allowing his children to enter the sanctuary as crocodiles, by sparing them, and suffering them in their sins, which brought, through these crocodiles, destruction on his house: and in the same manner since upon many congregations, – as the churches of Asia. This is an evil spirit in the mount.

Another crocodile is the spirit of preference. This is the crocodile Judas, who was offended with Jesus in Bethany on account of Mary’s ointment, which she poured on the head of Jesus; and that only because they did not consult him; in revenge for which he turned traitor. He was a selfish miser; and ultimately hung himself, and went to his own place. This crocodile still lurks among the reeds. There are many like him, ready to blame every act of discipline in the church; not that they care so much for the interests of the church, or any belonging to it, but they wish to swallow all up themselves.

Another crocodile is the spirit of Ahithophel, who plotted a cunning artifice to dethrone a person whose heart was with God, and raise Absalom, a wicked man like himself, to the throne in his stead. God turned his counsel into foolishness. He was disappointed – his heart failed – he saddled his ass, and went and hung himself. This was the end of that crocodile.

Another is a spirit to trample and destroy, for the sake of being head. This is the crocodile Joab, who killed Abner, who was better than himself. This crocodile strikes every one who may be in his way under the fifth rib, for the sake of being head himself. But his end came; he lost his life at the horns of the altar, by the sword with which he himself destroyed another.

But, upon looking again, we see the sixth crocodile, and his name is Cain, who would triumph over God and man; without grace, or talents, or faith, or love; and without any sacrifice that has blood in it; and because God will not regard him without faith, he opens his mouth, and sets himself to swallow pious Abel. God delivers him over to the possession of the wicked one.

O brethren, let us prove the spirits, whether they are of God, or of the devil!

I will tell you an anecdote of Mr. Rowlands, of Llangeitho. When he wished to crush the spirit of calumny (the crocodile Ham) which lurked in the church, he said to the slanderer: “Thou sayest, man, that sins must be hunted and exposed, because they are too numerous in the church – and that they ought not be hidden. Be quiet, man. Who art thou? I think I know thy family, and thy eldest brother, even Ham, the son of Noah. His two brothers wished to hide their father’s nakedness, but he would expose it. What reward did they receive for covering their father’s nakedness? The blessing of God and their father. And what reward did thy brother receive? The curse of God and their father. And I doubt not thy reward will be nothing better.”

VIII. ENVIOUS AMBITION

The forest of Lebanon once held a consultation to choose a king, upon the death of the king, the Yew-tree. They agreed to offer the crown to the Cedar; and if the Cedar should refuse, to invite the Vine and the Olive to office. They all refused the honors for the following reasons. The Cedar refused, “because,” said be, “I am sufficiently high as I am.” – “I would rather,” said the Vine, “yield wine to cheer others, than receive for myself.” And in the same manner, the Olive preferred giving its oil to honor others rather than receive any honors to itself.

All these having refused the honors offered them, they next agreed to call the Thorn to the government; and if he should decline, to choose the Bramble. The White Thorn, in its beautiful dress, received the honor, speaking thus to itself: – “I have nothing to lose but the white coat, and some red berries; and I have prickles enough to hurt the whole forest.” But the Bramble instigated a rebellion against the White Thorn, and kindled the fire of pride in the forest, so that all the trees were set on flame.

Two or three vain and proud men in a peaceful congregation, have, by contending for the preference, disturbed the peace, and obstructed the prosperity of many a church, while there was no more virtue in them than there is of value in the white thorn or prickly bramble.

IX. THE DOVE, THE RAVEN, AND THE EAGLE

A nobleman had a Dove, a Raven, and an Eagle, belonging to his palace. There was no sociability or fellowship prevailing among them. The Dove fed on its own food, and hid herself in the clefts of the rocks, or in the dove-house near the palace. The Raven fed upon dead carcasses, and sometimes picked out the eyes of little innocent lambs, if she could pounce upon them in a chance place; – she also nestled in the top of the trees. The Eagle was a royal bird, flying very high, but yet of a rapacious character. Sometimes he would not mind eating some half a dozen of the Doves for his breakfast. He thought himself the king of birds because he flew higher than they all. The Doves greatly dreaded his strong beak, his wrathful eyes, and his sharp grappling claws. When the gentleman threw wheat for the Dove on the pavement, the Raven would have a piece of an ear or the foot of a lamb in its beak; and the Eagle was for taking up some little child from the cradle to his nest.

The Dove is the pious diligent Christian; the Raven is the dissolute and difficult to be managed; and the proud, selfish professor is the Eagle. These three characters are too frequently to be found together, and there is no denomination, in church or chapel, without these three birds, if there are any birds at all there. It is impossible for three birds, so different in their dispositions, ever to be happy together. Brethren, pray for the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

THE END

1

Down to this time, the Welsh inhabited all of what is now denominated England. But henceforth they are confined to the western part of the island, called Cumry, or Wales.

2

A part of this sermon, as delivered on another occasion, is given in the latter part of this volume.

3

Jer. xv. 12.

4

Isaiah lxvi. 8.

5

Isaiah ii. 3.

6

Hos. xiv. 2.

7

Such an accident is said to have occurred at Shrewsbury, in England, a few fears ago.

8

The three are since dead; the first two named died before Mr. Evans, and Mr. Thomas since.

9

1 John i. 1–3.

10

Rom. vi. 17.

11

The eighteenth.

12

Dr. Edward Williams, of Rotherham, author of some abstruse inquiries on the Divine Sovereignty.

13

This paragraph is one of the celebrated “Specimens of Welsh Preaching,” printed in England some years before the publication of any of these sermons. We give the first English version verbatim. Ed.

14

The substance of this transcendent passage Christmas Evans often repeated in his preaching, and of course with considerable variation on different occasions. There are two other versions of it in English. One of them, translated many years ago, and published under the title of “A Specimen of Welsh Preaching,” has been everywhere justly admired, as one of the finest productions of sanctified genius. The other, which we give below, was taken from the lips of the preacher, and rendered into English, by one of his frequent hearers and intimate friends. “All the stores of his energy,” says the editor of the English memoir, “and the resources of his voice, which was one of great compass, depth, and sweetness, seemed reserved for the closing portions of the picture, when he delineated the routed and battered hosts of the pit retreating from the cross, where they had anticipated a triumph, and met a signal and irretrievable overthrow.” – Editor.

“Methinks I find myself standing upon the summit of one of the highest of the everlasting hills, permitted thence to take a survey of our earth. It shows to me a wide and far-spread burial-ground, over which lie scattered in countless multitudes the wretched and perishing children of Adam. The ground is full of hollow’s, the yawning caverns of death, while over it broods a thick cloud of fearful darkness. No light from above shines upon it, nor is the ray of the sun or moon, or the beams of a candle seen through all its borders. It is walled around. Its gates, large and massive, ten thousand times stronger than all the gates of brass forged among men, are one and all safely locked. It is the hand of Divine Justice that has locked them, and so firmly secured are the strong bolts which hold those doors, that all the created powers even of the heavenly world, were they to labor to all eternity, could not drive so much as one of them back. How hopeless the wretchedness to which the race are doomed, and into what irrecoverable depths of ruin has the disobedience of their first parent plunged them!

“But behold, in the cool of the day there is seen descending from the eternal hills in the distance, the radiant form of Mercy, seated in the chariot of the divine promise, and clothed with splendor, infinitely brighter than the golden rays of the morning when seen shooting over mountains of pearls. Seated beside Mercy in that chariot is seen another form like unto the Son of man. His mysterious name is the ‘Seed of the Woman,’ and girt around him shines the girdle of eternity, radiant with the lustre of the heaven of heavens. ‘He has descended into the lower parts of the earth.’ I see Mercy alight from that chariot, and she is knocking at the huge gate of this vast cemetery. She asks of Justice: ‘Is there no entrance into this field of death? May I not visit these caverns of the grave, and seek, if it may be, to raise some names at least of the children of destruction, and bring them again to the light of day? Open, Justice, open; drive back these iron bolts and let me in, that I may proclaim the jubilee of deliverance to the children of the dust.’ But I hear the stern reply of Justice from within those walls; it is, – ‘Mercy, surely thou lovest Justice too well, to wish to burst these gates by force of arm, and thus obtain entrance by mere lawless violence. And I cannot open the door. I cherish no anger towards the unhappy wretches. I have no delight in their eternal death, or in hearing their cries as they lie upon the burning hearth of the great fire kindled by the wrath of God, in the land that is lower than the grave. But I am bound to vindicate the purity, holiness, and equity of God’s laws; for, ‘without shedding of blood there is no remission.’ ‘Be it so,’ said Mercy, ‘but wilt thou not accept of a surety who may make a sufficient atonement for the crime committed and the offence given?’ ‘That will I,’ said Justice, ‘only let him be duly allied to either party in this sad controversy, a kinsman, near alike to the injured Lawgiver, and to the guilty tenants of the burial-ground.’ ‘Wilt thou, then,’ said Mercy, ‘accept of the puissant Michael, prince among the hosts of heaven, who fought bravely in the day when there was war in heaven, and also vanquished Apollyon upon the summit of the everlasting hills?’ ‘No,’ – said Justice, ‘I may not, for his goings forth are not from the beginning, even from everlasting.’ ‘Wilt thou not then accept of the valiant Gabriel, who compelled Beelzebub to turn and seek safety in flight from the walls of the heavenly city?’ ‘No,’ – cried Justice, ‘for Gabriel is already bound to render his appointed service to the King Almighty; and who may serve in his place while he should be attempting the salvation of Adam’s race? There needs,’ continued Justice, ‘one who has, of right belonging to him, both omnipotence and eternity, to achieve the enterprise. Let him clothe himself with the nature of these wretches. Let him be born within these gloomy walls, and himself undergo death within this unapproachable place, if he would buy the favor of Heaven for these children of the captivity!’

“But while this dialogue was held, behold, a form fairer than the morning dawn, and full of the glory of heaven, is seen descending from that chariot. Casting, as he passes, a glance of infinite benignity upon the hapless tenants of that burial-ground, he approaches, and asks of Justice: ‘Wilt thou accept of me?’ ‘I will,’ said Justice, ‘for greater art thou than heaven and the whole universe.’

“‘Behold, then,’ said the stranger, ‘I come: in the volume of the book has it been written of me. I will go down, in the fulness of time, into the sides of the pit of corruption. I will lay hold of this nature, and take upon me the dust of Eden, and, allied to that dust, I will pour into thy balance, Justice, blood of such worth and virtue that the court of heaven shall pronounce its claims satisfied, and bid the children of the great captivity go free.’

“Centuries have rolled by, and the fulness of time is now accomplished; and see, an infant of days is born within the old burial ground of Eden. Behold a Son given to the dwellers of the tomb, and a spotless Lamb, the Lamb of God, is seen within that gloomy enclosure. When the hour came at which the ministers of the Divine Justice must seize upon the victim, I see them hurrying towards Gethsemane. There, in heaviness and sorrow of soul, praying more earnestly, the surety is seen bowed to the earth, and the heavy burden he had assumed is now weighing him down. Like a lamb, he is led towards Golgotha – the hill of skulls. There are mustered all the hosts of darkness, rejoicing in the hope of their speedy conquest over him. The monsters of the pit, huge, fierce, and relentless, are there. The lions, 22 as in a great army, were grinding fearfully their teeth, ready to tear him in pieces. The unicorns, 23 a countless host, were rushing onwards to thrust him through, and trample him beneath their feet. And there were the bulls of Bashan, 24 roaring terribly; the dragons 25 of the pit are unfolding themselves, and shooting out their stings, and dogs 26 many are all around the mountain. ‘It is the hour and power of darkness.’ I see him passing along through this dense array of foes, an unresisting victim. He is nailed to the cross; and now Beelzebub and all the master-spirits in the hosts of hell have formed, though invisible to man, a ring around the cross. It was about the third hour of the day, or the hour of nine in the morning, that he was bound as a sacrifice, even to the horns of the altar. The fire of divine vengeance has fallen, and the flames of the curse have now caught upon him. The blood of the victim is fast dropping, and the hosts of hell are shouting impatiently: ‘The victory will soon be ours.’ And the fire went on burning until the ninth hour of the day, or the hour of three in the afternoon, when it touched his Deity, – and then it expired. For the ransom was now paid and the victory won. It was his. His hellish foes, crushed in his fall, the unicorns and the bulls of Bashan retreated from the encounter with shattered horns; the jaws of the lions had been broken and their claws torn off, and the old dragon, with bruised head, dragged himself slowly away from the scene, in deathlike feebleness. ‘He triumphed over them openly,’ and now is He for ever the Prince and Captain of our salvation, made perfect through sufferings. The graves of the old burial-ground have been thrown open; and from yonder hills gales of life have blown down upon this valley of dry bones, and an exceedingly great army have already been sealed to our God, as among the living in Zion.”

15

Was it the amount of suffering, or the dignity of the sufferer, that gave merit to the sacrifice sufficient for the world’s redemption? Ed.

16

Dan. xii. 11, 12.

17

This sentiment, in different forms, occurs very frequently in these sermons. It is questionable theology. – Ed.

18

Acts iv. 4.

19

Rom. i. 19–21.

20

Acts xvii. 22–28.

21

James ii. 17–26.

22

Allusion to the language in which Psalm xxii. predicts the Saviour’s sufferings. The Psalm which our Saviour himself quoted upon the Cross, when he cried, “My God, why hast thou forsaken me.”

23

Ditto.

24

Ditto.

25

Ditto.

26

Ditto.