Christmas Evans, the Preacher of Wild Wales: His country, his times, and his contemporariesHood, Edwin Paxton
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Christmas Evans, the Preacher of Wild Wales: His country, his times, and his contemporaries
Hood, Edwin Paxton
Evans, Christmas, 1766-1838
“In conclusion:—The angel said to the woman, ‘Go quickly, and tell
His disciples that He is risen from the dead; and behold, He goeth
before you into Galilee; there shall ye see Him; lo! I have told
you. And they departed quickly from the sepulchre, with fear, and
great joy; and did run to bring His disciples word.’
“Brethren! followers of Jesus! be ye also preachers of a risen
Saviour! Go quickly—there is no time for delay—and publish the glad
tidings to sinners! Tell them that Christ died for their sins, and
rose again for their justification, and ascended to the right hand of
the Father to make intercession for them, and is now able to save
unto the uttermost all that come unto God by Him!
“And you, impenitent, and unbelieving men! hear this blessed message
of salvation! Do you intend ever to embrace the proffered mercy of
the Gospel? Make haste! Procrastination is ruin! Now is the
accepted time! Oh, fly to the throne of grace! Time is hastening;
you will soon be swallowed up in eternity! May the Lord have mercy
upon you, and rouse you from your indifference, and sloth! It is my
delight to invite you to Christ; but I feel more pleasure, and more
confidence in praying for you to God. I have besought, and entreated
you, by every argument, and every motive in my power; but you are yet
in your sins, and rushing on toward hell. Yet I will not give you up
in despair. If I cannot persuade you to flee from the wrath to come,
I will intercede with God to have mercy upon you, for the sake of His
beloved Son. If I cannot prevail in the pulpit, I will try to
prevail at the throne.”
This must be regarded as a very noble piece; the words make themselves
felt; evidently, the resurrection of our Lord, to this preacher, was a
great reality; it is now, by many, regarded only as a charming myth; a
very curious eschatology in our day has found its way even into our
pulpits, and we have eminent ministers of the Church of England,
well-known Congregational, and other ministers, who affect to believe,
and to preach the Resurrection of Christ; but a careful listener in the
pew, or a converser by the fireside, will find, to his amazement, that
the resurrection, as believed by them, is no honest resurrection at all:
it is a spiritual resurrection which leaves the body of Jesus unrisen,
and in the possession of death, and the grave. In that view, which has
just passed before us, a very different, and most absolutely real
resurrection is preached; indeed, it is the only view which leaves a
heart of immortal hope in the Christian faith, the only view which seems
at all tenable, if we are to believe in the power of Christ’s
resurrection.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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