JOHN ELIAS 1774 - 1841
There have been men who made the most profound impression upon their own generation, yet whose very names are well-nigh forgotten by posterity. Man "fleeth as a shadow and continueth not, and another generation takes his place upon the stage of life. Such is the shortness of life that few find time to obey that Scriptural command - 'Inquire, I pray thee, of the former age ... Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee?' (Job. 8: 8-10). As a result those glorious works which God wrought among their forefathers are unknown, and the lessons they ought to have learned from them wholly lost. One cannot consider the life of John Elias without being sadly persuaded that such observations are true. Though he died only some hundred and sixteen years ago, though his preaching was attended by such evidences of Divine power as have not often been seen in these British Isles-promoting a great awakening in North Wales-though his influence as a minister of Christ in his own day was second to none, yet the fact is that his life is now neither known nor remembered by the vast majority.
John Elias was born near Pwllheli, Carnarvonshire, on March 6, 1774. His parents were not religious, but under the hand of his godly grandfather he was brought to fear God at a tender age. By the age of seven he had read through the Bible from Genesis to the middle of Jeremiah. Soon after when his aged grandfather was unable to walk with his grandson on Sabbath days to hear the breaching of the Methodists, the young boy would continue to walk without a guide or friend upwards of ten miles to hear the Word of God. His distress at his parents' failure to observe God's commands caused him to weep much, and at length prevailed upon them to hold family worship. Though between the age of fourteen and sixteen (Elias tells us) he experienced great inward conflict "there was a strong inclination to become light and trifling like my contemporaries" - yet these serious impressions did not leave him, and the concerns of his soul remained the one thing needful in his mind. From his earliest days he had heard stories of the great work of God in South Wales and of the revivals which had occurred under the preaching of Howell Harris and Daniel Rowlands. The former Elias could never hear for he had died in 1773, but Rowlands in his old age, was still preaching with great power at Llangeitho. As soon as he felt strong enough for the walk of 80 miles Elias was determined to journey south to Llangeitho. But one Sabbath morning, in his seventeenth year, upon going to church in Pwllheli he was overwhelmed with the mournful tidings of Mr. Rowlands' death. Little did Elias realise at this time that he himself was to be in the north what Rowlands had been in the south!
North Wales at this time was a scene of spiritual darkness. The Established Church was dead, and the people were given over to all manner of ungodliness. When Harris had preached in the north in 1741 he had very nearly lost his life. But there were some in the north who had been converted under Rowlands or Harris and who began to form Methodist societies as in the south. Their leader was Thomas Charles who settled at Bala in 1783. God's time to favour them was about to come. In 1791 a great awakening occurred at Bala. Charles writing in that year says - "We have had a very great, powerful, and glorious out pouring of the Spirit on the people in general. Scores of the wildest and most inconsiderate of young people of both sexes, have been awakened. Their convictions have been very clear and powerful . . . divine truths have their own infinite weight and importance on the minds of the people . . . at one time there were but very few who had not felt awful impressions on their minds, producing foreboding fears respecting their future existence in another world." The following year Elias, now eighteen joined a large company of young people who were to attend the Association meeting at Bala. (These Associations were regular meetings among the Welsh Methodists, when believers gathered to be addressed by several ministers). As they walked to Bala, a distance of 40 miles, Elias says their time was filled with praise or discourse concerning the Bible or sermons. "They were indeed most anxious for the unspeakable favour of meeting with God. When we came there we observed crowds from different places, meeting together, and the whole multitude, appearing as persons of one mind, and engaged in the same important business . . . God owned the preaching in an extraordinary manner, making his servants like a flame of fire. The saving operations of the Spirit were most clear and powerful on the people; and the divine glory rested on them ... I had such delight and pleasure in the fellowship of these godly people that I could not live separate from them. I determined to join them."
It was about this time that Elias was brought to a state of peace in his own soul, and he began to be burdened towards the work of the ministry. In 1793 Thomas Charles wrote, "A very general awakening now prevails through the greatest part of the county of Caernarvon." At Christmas 1794, the monthly presbytery meeting in Carnarvonshire received John Elias a preacher. "Brethren," said an old minister "when I am in the dust this young lad will be a great man" Never was the ministry undertaken with more gravity and solemnity. Apart from one or two Puritan works he had read few books, but, says Morgan, his biographer, "he was so well acquainted with the chief subjects in every chapter in the Bible from the beginning to the end, that he could easily make use of them on any occasion." On Elias's first appearance as a minister at an Association meeting he opened in prayer, the effect of which was, says one who was present, that "all around me were in tears as well as myself; indeed we trembled as if we were going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ." It made a deeper impression than all the sermons they were to hear at that Association. After he had preached a few times the rumour travelled the country that a great servant of God had been raised. At one church, where he was sent to preach in the place of another, because of his youthful appearance the members felt doubtful at first whether they would allow him to preach "but before the sermon was over he appeared unto them as a seraph come from heaven."
There have been men who made the most profound impression upon their own generation, yet whose very names are well-nigh forgotten by posterity. Man "fleeth as a shadow and continueth not, and another generation takes his place upon the stage of life. Such is the shortness of life that few find time to obey that Scriptural command - 'Inquire, I pray thee, of the former age ... Shall not they teach thee, and tell thee?' (Job. 8: 8-10). As a result those glorious works which God wrought among their forefathers are unknown, and the lessons they ought to have learned from them wholly lost. One cannot consider the life of John Elias without being sadly persuaded that such observations are true. Though he died only some hundred and sixteen years ago, though his preaching was attended by such evidences of Divine power as have not often been seen in these British Isles-promoting a great awakening in North Wales-though his influence as a minister of Christ in his own day was second to none, yet the fact is that his life is now neither known nor remembered by the vast majority.
John Elias was born near Pwllheli, Carnarvonshire, on March 6, 1774. His parents were not religious, but under the hand of his godly grandfather he was brought to fear God at a tender age. By the age of seven he had read through the Bible from Genesis to the middle of Jeremiah. Soon after when his aged grandfather was unable to walk with his grandson on Sabbath days to hear the breaching of the Methodists, the young boy would continue to walk without a guide or friend upwards of ten miles to hear the Word of God. His distress at his parents' failure to observe God's commands caused him to weep much, and at length prevailed upon them to hold family worship. Though between the age of fourteen and sixteen (Elias tells us) he experienced great inward conflict "there was a strong inclination to become light and trifling like my contemporaries" - yet these serious impressions did not leave him, and the concerns of his soul remained the one thing needful in his mind. From his earliest days he had heard stories of the great work of God in South Wales and of the revivals which had occurred under the preaching of Howell Harris and Daniel Rowlands. The former Elias could never hear for he had died in 1773, but Rowlands in his old age, was still preaching with great power at Llangeitho. As soon as he felt strong enough for the walk of 80 miles Elias was determined to journey south to Llangeitho. But one Sabbath morning, in his seventeenth year, upon going to church in Pwllheli he was overwhelmed with the mournful tidings of Mr. Rowlands' death. Little did Elias realise at this time that he himself was to be in the north what Rowlands had been in the south!
North Wales at this time was a scene of spiritual darkness. The Established Church was dead, and the people were given over to all manner of ungodliness. When Harris had preached in the north in 1741 he had very nearly lost his life. But there were some in the north who had been converted under Rowlands or Harris and who began to form Methodist societies as in the south. Their leader was Thomas Charles who settled at Bala in 1783. God's time to favour them was about to come. In 1791 a great awakening occurred at Bala. Charles writing in that year says - "We have had a very great, powerful, and glorious out pouring of the Spirit on the people in general. Scores of the wildest and most inconsiderate of young people of both sexes, have been awakened. Their convictions have been very clear and powerful . . . divine truths have their own infinite weight and importance on the minds of the people . . . at one time there were but very few who had not felt awful impressions on their minds, producing foreboding fears respecting their future existence in another world." The following year Elias, now eighteen joined a large company of young people who were to attend the Association meeting at Bala. (These Associations were regular meetings among the Welsh Methodists, when believers gathered to be addressed by several ministers). As they walked to Bala, a distance of 40 miles, Elias says their time was filled with praise or discourse concerning the Bible or sermons. "They were indeed most anxious for the unspeakable favour of meeting with God. When we came there we observed crowds from different places, meeting together, and the whole multitude, appearing as persons of one mind, and engaged in the same important business . . . God owned the preaching in an extraordinary manner, making his servants like a flame of fire. The saving operations of the Spirit were most clear and powerful on the people; and the divine glory rested on them ... I had such delight and pleasure in the fellowship of these godly people that I could not live separate from them. I determined to join them."
It was about this time that Elias was brought to a state of peace in his own soul, and he began to be burdened towards the work of the ministry. In 1793 Thomas Charles wrote, "A very general awakening now prevails through the greatest part of the county of Caernarvon." At Christmas 1794, the monthly presbytery meeting in Carnarvonshire received John Elias a preacher. "Brethren," said an old minister "when I am in the dust this young lad will be a great man" Never was the ministry undertaken with more gravity and solemnity. Apart from one or two Puritan works he had read few books, but, says Morgan, his biographer, "he was so well acquainted with the chief subjects in every chapter in the Bible from the beginning to the end, that he could easily make use of them on any occasion." On Elias's first appearance as a minister at an Association meeting he opened in prayer, the effect of which was, says one who was present, that "all around me were in tears as well as myself; indeed we trembled as if we were going to appear before the judgment seat of Christ." It made a deeper impression than all the sermons they were to hear at that Association. After he had preached a few times the rumour travelled the country that a great servant of God had been raised. At one church, where he was sent to preach in the place of another, because of his youthful appearance the members felt doubtful at first whether they would allow him to preach "but before the sermon was over he appeared unto them as a seraph come from heaven."
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