Elias, Evans, Williams Wern

 

See here for this portrait from St Ffagan.

See also here.

Portrait

 This print of Elias is held by the British Museum. See here.

Edward Morgan Biography

The Edward Morgan Biography can be accessed here.

Anecdote 3 An Elias Sermon

John Elias was preaching at an open air meeting in Holyhead when some drunkards joined the throng, attempting to disrupt his sermon. This was John Elias' response -

"Are there drunkards here? I’m afraid there are: May I make an appeal to you? Will you just for today try to control yourselves? …What shall we do with them brothers? ...I feel a desire," he said, as he became more agitated, "to put them up for auction to anyone who will take them, so that they will never bother us any more." Then stretching forth his arm as though he were holding them in his hand, he shouted at the top of his voice, "Who’ll take them? Who’ll take them? Anglicans, will you take them? ‘Us!! In our baptism we profess to reject the devil and all his works. No, we will not take them.’"

Are there drunkards here? I’m afraid there are: May I make an appeal to you? Will you just for today try to control yourselves? …What shall we do with them brothers? ...I feel a desire," he said, as he became more agitated, "to put them up for auction to anyone who will take them, so that they will never bother us any more." Then stretching forth his arm as though he were holding them in his hand, he shouted at the top of his voice, "Who’ll take them? Who’ll take them? Anglicans, will you take them? ‘Us!! In our baptism we profess to reject the devil and all his works. No, we will not take them.’"

"Then a moment of silence followed. "Congregationalists, will you take them? ‘What? Us! Many years ago we left the Church of England because of its corruption. No! We will not take them.’" Silence again.

Then, with his arm stretched out, he shouted again, "Baptists, will you take them? ‘Us! We immerse all our people in water to show that only the clean are acceptable to us. No! We will not take them.’" Silence again. "Wesleyans, will you take them? ‘What Us! Good works are an issue of life with us; we do not wish to have them.’"

Then stretching his hand out as though he were holding them in it, and casting a glance over the crowd, he shouted at the very highest volume of his voice, "Who will take them? Who will take them? Who will take them?"

…He turned his face towards the left, and in a rather low voice, and yet distinct enough for the whole congregation to hear, he said, "I rather thought I heard the Devil at my elbow saying, Knock them down to me; I will take them.’" Then, he raised his eyes, and with a grave, extremely serious look on his face, he searched the congregation with his eyes and for about a quarter of a minute, he never said a word.

…and then [he] shouted with tremendous force until his voice echoed thought the town, "I was going to say, Satan, that you could have them: but…"

and he raised his eyes towards heaven, and with a victorious, yet tender voice, he cried, "I hear Jesus shouting, ‘I will take them; I will take them; to wash them of their filth, to sober them in their drunkenness; to purify them of all their uncleanness in my own blood.’"

See here for this

Quotations from the Journal

These quotations are from Elias's journal as recorded here

"We stand in need of those fresh, powerful manifestations from heaven. We are, alas! accustomed to go on with the service of God in human strength; praying, hearing and preaching in that way! We are so lukewarm, without the light and the power of the Spirit! We neither feel nor see others experiencing His powerful operations! It is not often that unbelievers may, when they come to our congregations, cry out, ‘God is of a truth among you.’ And, alas! there is hut little lamentation on that account!"

"Ministers seem often satisfied with having freedom to speak, and seeing many hearing them with attention and delight; but alas! without experiencing the effects of the power promised to attend the ministry of the gospel, the power necessary to produce a saving change in the sinner1 The ministry neither alarms, terrifies nor disturbs ungodly persons who sit under it…No experimental, thoughtful Christian can deny that God has withdrawn Himself from us, as to the particular operations of His Spirit and the especial manifestation of His grace."

"There is but little thirst for the gracious and powerful visitations of God, and also, the prayers for these blessings are weak and cold…Is there not reason to fear that the prayers of many of us are merely customary and formal, asking many things without feeling the need of them? We seldom inquire whether our prayers are answered; and if not, what hinders them? Do we avoid indulging in those thoughts or practices that hinder and mar our prayers? Are we indifferent as to the aid of the Spirit in prayer? O seek His face – His face; seek Him with all your heart! There are many in the church, I believe, who have seen better days, but they sleep heavily now."

"It is difficult to judge by the fruits of hundreds of professors that they are godly! There are signs of worldly-mindedness in many of the aged. In others there is a lack of principle in doing righteousness. The young people conform to the world, following its ways and foolish fashion. Others delight in wrangling disputes, and foolish and unprofitable questions. There is a multitude of mixed people lusting after the things of Egypt – hankering after the expressions and the baser things of other denominations and religious parties. They delight in swimming in the stream of the spirit of the age in things political and religious."

Rowland, Elias, etc

You may be interested to know that these 14 (six in Welsh) Evangelical Library of Wales lectures from the seventies and eighties are available here. The whole site (Thomas Charles Institute) is worth a look.

Four Stones

An interesting reminder of certain aspects of Elias's life from the point of view of a local historian can be found here. It is has been arranged in four parts with reference to four geographical points where stones can be found. The stones are

1. The Tre'r Gof Uchaf Stone  2. The Llanrhwydrus Stone 3. The Llanfechell Stone 4. The Llanfaes Stone

Quotation Temper

A portion of a letter by the Welsh pastor, John Elias, to his son John who was away at school. Edward Morgan said of Elias, “How few professors and ministers pay so much attention to the spiritual interest of their children as Elias did!” Elias’s son was 16 years of age when this letter was written in 1819.

Take great care of thy temper; learn to be master of it now in thy youthful days; yea, if some laugh at thee, or despise thee, or offend thee, receive it mildly, and take care that thou dost not suffer thy self to be under the dominion of an angry, surly, and revengeful temper. It is not manly, much less Christian-like – nay, it is Satan-like. Therefore, my dear son, beware of this temper; it is a disgrace to the human nature; it is a great defect in the moral character of man, to say that he is of a rash, angry, and revengeful temper.

John Elias: Life, Letters and Essays, by Edward Morgan, first published in 1844, reprinted by the Banner of Truth, 1973, p 204. See here. (Thanks Dean Olive).

Article by David W Norris

An article on Elias by David Norris can be found here.