Life and Labors of Elder John Kline, the Martyr Missionary Part 1

Life and Labors of Elder John Kline, the Martyr Missionary.

by John Kline.

INTRODUCTION.

In the burying ground of the Linville's Creek German Baptist church in Rockingham County, Virginia, there is to be seen a marble slab engraved with the name JOHN KLINE.

In walking through a cemetery and pensively viewing the memorials of the departed, one question of deep interest often presses upon the mind and heart: Are these, whose names are here recorded on slab and obelisk, still alive and in the possession of conscious being, or are they dead--

"All to mouldering darkness gone; All of conscious life bereft?"

We turn to earth, and from her lips the ear of reason catches deep-toned words of a.s.surance that death is not the end of life. The hue of the b.u.t.terfly's wing, "the flower of the gra.s.s," the beauty of the vernal year, these all, all teach the sublime truth that "all great endings are but great beginnings." The voice of G.o.d from the unrolled page of plainer if not diviner truth, says: "These are not dead, but sleeping--they shall wake again."

Satisfied on this point, the next question turns to the lives and characters, works and words of those who lie buried here. Were they good or bad? Are their spirits now in heaven, or somewhere else? There are two cla.s.ses, however, concerning whom no such questions arise. The first cla.s.s is made up of those who have died in their infancy; and ever and anon while looking at the "little lamb," or "rose bud," or "young dove" not yet fledged, the words flow into the mind as from the lips of Jesus: "Of such is the kingdom of heaven." The other cla.s.s is composed of such as have given clear evidence, by profession and life, that they are the children of G.o.d. The words for them come as did the others, from the page of Heavenly Truth, "Therefore are they continually before the throne, and praise him day and night in his temple."

The epitaph of John Kline is read without a doubt ever springing up in the mind of any one who knew him. We saw him, not as Elisha saw Elijah in sight, ascend to heaven; but with the eye of faith we saw him clothed in a celestial body; and with the ear of faith we heard the welcome: "Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

THE ANNUAL MEETING OF 1878.

In the year 1878 the Brethren's Annual Meeting was held with the Linville's Creek church. Brethren and sisters from many sections of our Union were present. Many graves in the cemetery by the meetinghouse were to be seen. Epitaphs were read by the throngs of people who walked around to view them. Few of these bore anything beyond the simple inscription of the name and the two facts that fall to the lot of all: The time of birth and the time of death.

But there was one grave from whose humble mound each visitor seemed eager to pluck a flower, a leaf, or any other little thing that might be carried back home and enshrined in a casket for a memento of one never to be forgotten. That grave was the grave of John Kline.

One sister, with tears in her eyes, said: "He preached my mother's funeral." Another said: "He used to visit us in Ohio; and we always loved so much to see him come." A brother said: "I traveled with him over two thousand miles, and he was always one thing." Others said: "The meeting is lonesome without him." "He was at our love feast in Pennsylvania the year he was killed," said another. It would be vain to attempt to follow up all the affectionate memories that were expressed by the loving throngs of sanctified hearts that surrounded his tomb.

In this book ELDER JOHN KLINE is set forth not as dead, but as alive; as living and moving amongst us again. His life work stands recorded on earth as well as in heaven. With untiring perseverance Brother Kline kept a record of his work every day for a period of TWENTY-NINE YEARS. These records contain two great facts common to the life of every man, woman and child.

FIRST FACT.--Where he spent the day and night.

SECOND FACT.--How he spent the day and night.

A truthful record of these for many, made public, would blast their reputation abroad and blight their peace at home. But not so with our beloved brother. Whilst it is true that he had no expectation of his Diary ever being published, it is equally true that it does not contain a single entry of which he has cause to be ashamed before man or G.o.d. That the entries are faithful and true needs no proof other than the testimony that thousands still living are ready to bear to his untarnished name as a man honest and honorable in all things.

As a Christian, the beloved ministering brethren who spoke at his funeral are to-day not ashamed to apply to him the same words they applied to him then, and which were taken as the subject of discourse on that occasion. In speaking of his appointment to the ministry they took these words: "And they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost." Acts 6:5. They also added the other words spoken of Stephen in the eighth verse of the same chapter, a man "full of grace and power." Can anything loftier be said of a man's qualification for the work of the ministry?

As Stephen was the first Christian martyr, and Brother Kline the last then known, they closed their discourses in heartfelt realization of these words: "_And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him._" We all took part in the lamentation--the writer himself being present and speaking on the occasion--and felt that the ruthless hand of violence had wickedly torn from our midst a friend and counsellor whose place could not be filled by any other.

As a kind-hearted, loving mother puts her child's best new dress on it before taking it to church or in public, so have I endeavored to clothe the diary of Brother Kline in a suitable attire of Sunday clothes. I sincerely believe that the work in this form will be highly acceptable to the Brotherhood at large; and as Brother Daniel Hays says in a letter to me, "productive of much good."

PART II OF INTRODUCTION.

This book, if carefully read, will instruct both young and old. In this age of progress, when the forces of nature and art are being applied to practical ends; when "men are running to and fro and knowledge is wonderfully increased," it becomes us as intelligent Christians to look around and see whether we are not living in perilous times.

Far be it from me to discourage any one from seeking that knowledge which is good, or from availing himself of the benefits to be derived from the arts and sciences; but if this knowledge and these benefits are sought and gained only for worldly ends, only to add to worldly accomplishments or worldly treasure, they are dangerous for time and ruinous for eternity. What support can the soul have in its deep conflict with temptation, or in the dark hour of affliction or bereavement, when stayed on this world only? In all the tenderness of a father's heart I turn to the youth of our land and say to them in the words of the best Friend that G.o.d himself could give: "Seek FIRST the kingdom of G.o.d and his righteousness," and all earthly blessings will be added unto you.

In the following pages you may see what one man may do by "patient continuance in well doing." Brother Kline was a man "subject to like pa.s.sions as we are." He was once an infant just as you were, and lay at his mother's breast. He very well remembered, when an old man, how he felt when she made for him his first pair of "_pants_." When that kind mother put them on him, pleased and smiling in the tenderness of her nature, "the first use that I made of my hands," said he to me shortly before his death, "was to feel for the pockets." "We incline,"

continued he, "to carry this feature of our boyhood into youth and age. The pocket never ceases to be a very important appendage to our dress, and the hand inclines to put into it every valuable thing it can."

Brother Kline never went to school very much. He learned to read and write both German and English; and he also studied arithmetic. Further than this he never went in school. He did not have the advantages of free schools as young people now have. But you may learn from this that one may carry on his education after leaving school. In fact, schools only _open the way_ for acquiring an education.

When a boy I was very fond of reading the lives of great men. I did not then know very much about poetry, but I surely did feel something of the fire that Longfellow has made to glow with so much heat and light in his "Psalm of Life." I am glad to add, by means of this book, one more name to the list of great men, so that in the lines which follow he too may be included.

"Lives of GREAT MEN all remind us We can make our lives sublime; And departing, leave behind us Footprints on the sands of Time: Footprints, that perhaps another Sailing o'er life's troubled main-- A forlorn and s.h.i.+pwrecked brother-- Seeing, may take heart again."

Elder John Kline will be set forth in this work as one of the great PIONEER PREACHERS of the Cross. A brief but clear outline of many of his sermons, together with the time and place of preaching them, will be given. Many of the love feasts which he attended, and the substance of what he said at some of them will also be noted.

He has left a record of the name of every family he ever visited in all the States, together with the day and year when such visits were made. Those brethren and sisters of the Lord who still remember him, will, while reading this work, live over again the years that have pa.s.sed away and been almost forgotten. You will again listen to the voice of his holy, healing words at some love feast long ago gone by.

You will again sit with him by the "old home hearthstone" as it used to be when father and mother were living, and all the brothers and sisters together in the room, and hear him talk and sing, and read and pray. And will not this exercise of the mind and heart be pleasant?

Will it not be profitable? Will it not serve to refresh your love to Christ and the Brotherhood? May it not rekindle in your heart a flame of that first and tender love which shone so brightly when first you saw the Lord? You then could sweetly sing:

"Jesus, I my cross have taken, All to leave and follow thee."

Since that time many cares and toils and afflictions and bereavements, perhaps, have caused you to sigh in mournful memory:

"What peaceful hours I then enjoyed!"

and the heart-sobs sadly echo:

"But they have left an aching void The world can never fill."

In such seasons of sadness and despondency it is helpful to the heart to hold communion with the great and the good through the medium of their writings. Men who leave such comforting testimony behind them are a blessing to all within the circle of their influence while living, and when dead they continue to speak. Their words are felt and blessed on both banks of the "River of Time" as it flows down through the ages.

There were a few points in the life and character of Elder John Kline which may very appropriately be referred to here. I sincerely hope that all the youthful members of the Brotherhood, especially, may become acquainted with these points.

THE FIRST POINT.--_He was truthful._ He never spoke positively about anything without first examining the matter carefully; and even then he said about it only what he knew to be true. How different this habit from that of many who speak positively about things which they do not well understand, or which they are for the most part ignorant of!

THE SECOND POINT.--_He never spoke evil of any one._ It is not to be understood from this that he spoke _good_ of every one. On the contrary, he spoke freely of the sinner and to the sinner; warning him of his danger and pointing him to his impenitent doom. But it is to be understood that he never spoke evil to _injure_ any one. Whatever he said in that way was to reform and to bless. His heart overflowed with love to all.

THE THIRD POINT.--_He was temperate._ During a long personal acquaintance with him, I never knew or heard of his taking a drink of ardent spirits or intoxicating liquor of any kind. If he ever did use any at all, it was only as a _medicine_. But as he was very temperate in his eating, and judiciously careful of himself generally, he was rarely ever sick.

THE FOURTH POINT.--_He was abstemious._ This, in connection with strict temperance and pure morality, made him a clean man. His mouth was not polluted with _chewing tobacco_. His nose was not defiled with _snuffing tobacco_. His breath was not vitiated with _smoking tobacco_. He consequently never used tobacco in anyway. My dear young reader, in all the love of my heart, I urge you to "go and do likewise, that it may be well with thee."

LIFE AND LABORS

OF THE

MARTYR MISSIONARY

ELDER JOHN KLINE.

We have no certain account of the time and place at which Brother Kline was set forward to the ministry of the Word. On Sunday, Feb. 8, 1835, he spoke for the first time after his appointment to the ministry of the Word. This much, at least, is inferred from its being the first entry made in his Diary.