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John Elias was a Christian preacher in Wales in the first half of the 19th Century, as part of the Welsh Methodist revival. His preaching was noted as being exceptionally powerful, "as if talking fire down from heaven". On one occasion it is said he preached to a crowd of 10,000 people. He was a strict High-Calvinist. He came to be known as Y Pab Methodistaidd (The Methodist Pope) because of his forthright views. Despite wide interests, he was a religious conservative opposed to all forms of political radicalism or the popular idea that "the voice of the people was the voice of God".

Brief biography
John Elias was born at Abererch near Pwllheli on May 6, 1774 as John Jones.
For much of his early life he was brought up by his grandfather, and possessed the rare ability at the time to read both Welsh and English from an early age. He was able to read the Welsh Bible when 4 or 5. On Sundays they attended the parish church in the morning, and in the afternoon they would walk long distances together in order to hear Methodist preachers.
The religious impressions of his younger days were deepened by a visit to an association meeting in Bala in 1792. The preaching there persuaded Elias to pursue the things of God. He left home and stayed with Griffith Jones at Penmorfa, Caernarvon, a weaver by trade and also a local preacher. Some weeks before being received into church-fellowship, he conducted family prayers during the absence from home of his master. The news of this spread abroad and caused a stir in the religious circles of the neighbourhood. They marvelled that he should pray in public. Griffith Jones commented "His penetration and importunity in his prayers made us all marvel greatly."
"A day to remember," he wrote, "was that one day - Christmas Day in the year 1794 - when I was received a member of the Monthly Meeting, and permission was given me to preach the Gospel of Christ. I was then only twenty years and six months old, and only one year and three months old as professor of religion."

His progress as a preacher was very rapid. He proved himself to be a gifted young man, a born speaker. His passion also for work was intense. With all his might he laboured night and day in order to make amends for what was lacking in former days.
He was received into the Caernarvonshire Presbytery of the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists at Christmas 1794.
Soon after New Year's Day 1799 he moved to Anglesey. On February 22 he married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Broadhead of Llanbadrig, Anglesey. The couple were happy, loving and deeply sympathetic with one another, they enjoyed a life of sweet companionship for over 29 years, until her death on April 2, 1828. They had four children. Two died in infancy; two survived their father.
In 1830 following his second marriage he moved to Llangefni, where he lived until the day of his death, June 8, 1841. He is buried at Llanfaes Churchyard. A celebrated clergyman of the Church of England wrote in his diary,

"To-day, June 15, was buried the greatest preacher in Wales, and, perhaps, the greatest in the kingdom. May the Lord have mercy upon his church, and favour her again with such a minister as Elias was, like a flaming seraph in the pulpit." Some 10,000 are estimated to have attended his funeral.

Writings
John Elias was the author of numerous works in Welsh, all on theological themes. He contributed regularly to the early Calvinistic Methodist periodical Y Drysorfa and wrote an autobiography, which was published long after his death. His most influential works in his day were Traethawd ar y Saboth (1804) and Golygiad Ysgrythurol ar Gyfiawnhad Pechadur (1821). See here.


Bibliography
Edward Morgan (1973). John Elias - life, letters and essays. Banner of Truth Trust, Edinburgh. ISBN 0-85151-174-0.
Nigel Clifford (1994). Christian Preachers. Evangelical Press of Wales. ISBN 1-85049-114-3.

R. Tudor Jones (1975). John Elias: Prince among Preachers. Bridgend.
John Elias (2006). in Owen Milton: The Experimental Knowledge of Christ and Additional Sermons of John Elias (1774–1841), Iain Murray, Reformation Heritage Books. ISBN 1-89277-777-0. — includes a biographical introduction by Iain Murray

Pulpit eloquence

An example sermon by Elias can be found here on pages 605ff. On 1 John 5:19 it is called The two families and is the 83rd sermon in Henry Clay Fish's History and Repository of Pulpit Eloquence.

This sermon was reproduced back in 1964 in Series XVI (No 5) of From the Inheritance of our fathers.
Also available here.

Revival

This article by Elias is found here.

The word revival means the gracious visitation of God to His people in the ordinances of the gospel and by the outpouring of the Spirit. The results of revival include the bringing to life of that which was spiritually dead and the converting of sinners. In addition, the work of the church (Hab. 3:2), the hearts of God's people (Ps. 85:6), the Spirit's sanctifying work (Isa. 57:15), and the prayers, sermons, and worship of the church are profoundly benefited.
There is no true revival except of God's doing. He 'quickeneth all things' (1 Tim. 6:13, KJV). When the Holy Spirit works in a special way through the ministry of the gospel, then the unregenerate are raised to spiritual life, the sleeping are awakened, backsliders are restored, and lives are renewed and rearranged.
Some false things may pass under the name of revival: excitement unrelated to the fear of God; fear without a clear view of being lost without Christ; decisions apart from the power of spiritual life. Some may make a decision to join a denomination of Christians, yet they remain without the Spirit despite their profession of faith.
In fact, in movements that seek revival, there is a danger of leading people to think that to make a profession of faith is religion enough. Preachers may terrify their audiences instead of enlightening them by showing the danger of being without a profession of faith rather than showing the danger of being without godliness. Such tactics can multiply the numbers of their party without getting people safely transferred from the power of Satan to God.
Some may strive for the benefits of revival in order to justify a ministry that lacks the Spirit or to prove that their methods are right contrary to the assertions of others. However, when God brings revival, He works in recognizable ways.
The false retreat and disappear when the Lord comes. In the brightness of sunshine, candlelight is extinguished. The men who are under His gracious and holy operations are different from all others. They are self-denying, humble men who abhor sin, lament because of it, and loathe themselves because of their own sinfulness. The sovereign grace of God, which alone could save sinners such as themselves, produces a spirit of wonder and praise within their hearts. 'Not unto us but unto Him' is their whole song.
In true revival there is:
A reviving of true doctrine and practice of the truth, an attitude of humility and willing obedience, and deep enjoyment of God.
The conviction and conversion of sinners through Christ as well as crowds of people coming to the church to learn the ways of the Lord.
The glorification of God's grace manifested in the person of Christ and the unity and effectiveness of the body in accomplishing its purpose on earth.
A marked difference in believers who now embrace spiritual disciplines, change their behavior, fill their thoughts and speech with the things of God, and adopt eternal values and priorities. Some will be ready to ask, 'What is the cause of this great change in the behavior of men under the Word as compared with what it was before? Why do they tremble and mourn and rejoice while others do not do so under the same sermons?' However, is it not more reasonable to ask how any of us can read and hear the Word of God without its having any effect upon us? It may be answered:
Because we do not consider that it is the Word of God.
Because we do not believe that they are words about real things, and not falsehoods and fables.
Because we do not understand that they apply to us.

Things visible affect men because they are regarded as real, concrete things, but they behave toward the words of God as they do toward unfounded, false fables. Nevertheless, when the Spirit of God works savingly on men, He applies the truths of the divine Word to their mind and conscience, and they are then seen to be real. They hear God speaking through His Word to them. They appreciate the worth and feel the infinite weight of the things in the Bible. They look on the things that are not seen with new eyes of faith.
When the Spirit of God convicts sinners, they see what the law of God requires of them, and that it threatens them. As they hear about the bad miserable condition of sinners, they see the sinfulness of their own condition, and they hear the sentence of condemnation from the throne of God! Is it not reasonable to fear and mourn? Who shall stand?
In this condition, when they then encounter a Savior and a free salvation solely of grace, how can they but rejoice? Then the things of the Spirit fill their affections. Is it not reasonable for them to love and praise God, delight in His work, and seek to live to His pleasure? It is then that the poorness of earth and of all temporal things will be revealed to them. They see themselves as strangers on the earth. They follow Christ and travel toward a better country, despising the world. When God visits His church, according to His promises, effects follow that make people shout, 'This is the finger of God!'
The church does not feel the need for revival as it should. God alone can make the blessings of a revival to be valued. He has promised, and He will fulfill. Let us pray fervently in faith, expecting the fulfillment of His precious promises. God in His grace can lay bare His arms, grant a true revival, and perform a true reformation. Let us pray without tiring, and let us wait without becoming weary. Oh, let Him hurry, let Him hurry! Amen.