Life and Labors of Elder John Kline, the Martyr Missionary Part 27

FRIDAY, December 31. Meeting of general council in our meetinghouse.

In the year that is now about to close I have traveled 3,424 miles, nearly all on horseback. The work of another year is done; and the record has pa.s.sed into eternity. As clay, once formed by the hand of the potter and burnt in a kiln can never be reduced to clay again and worked over into other forms, so our deeds in life, once done, are done forever. A vase may be broken, it is true, but the fragments are apt to reveal the form of the vessel from which they came. So the hand of jealousy, of envy, of persecution even, may shatter the results of our best efforts here; but G.o.d will gather up the pieces and be able to tell by their appearance and quality that they belonged to a vessel of honor in his sight. Seeds sometimes lie a long time in the ground before they grow and make a blade; so it may be with much of the good seed that I and others of our beloved Brotherhood have sown this year.

Backward springs and other unfavorable states of weather during the early part of the growing season are sometimes followed by rich harvests. We do not know what the future may bring forth, but we do know that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. In him I trust.

SUNDAY, January 1. Attend the burial of old Mother Baer, at Brother George Kline's. Age, ninety-six years, four months and twenty days.

THURSDAY, February 3. Perform the marriage ceremony of Michael May and Julian Custer at George Riddle's.

About this time Brother Kline became deeply interested in the construction and erection of a bridge across a ford in the North Fork of the Shenandoah river. His design in this, however, included more than the avoidance of one dangerous ford; it took in two others. It was equivalent to spanning three bad fords with one bridge. His plan, which has since been exactly carried into effect, was to cut down the end of the mountain in the Gap where it projects into the river, open up a good highway through the cut, and thus shorten the distance very materially and shun two dangerous and ever-s.h.i.+fting fords, one above and the other below the cut. His patience and perseverance in this great enterprise yielded to no discouragements, and he saw the bridge built, and the projecting end of the mountain cut down. Like all other men who have embarked in great enterprises above or beyond the grasp of ordinary comprehension, he had to combat opposition from some who should, on the score of direct personal interest in the improvement, have been most willing to aid in the work. Brother Kline did not live to see his design fully executed, but it has been carried into effect within the last decade by the construction of a new bridge upon the old abutments, and a new road on the very line he proposed. As the improvement under consideration is a very great one, and originally undertaken by individual contributions; and as future generations may wish to know who the prime movers were, and when the first move was made, the following entry in the Diary will be given here:

FRIDAY, February 25. Attend a meeting of some public-spirited men, at Samuel Coots's store near the Gap, for the purpose of agreeing upon the construction of a bridge across the river near the store; for cutting down the face of the Gap Rock; for making a new road through the Cut; and for raising funds to meet the same.

Samuel Coots, State Senator from Rockingham County, took an active part. Abraham Funk, Benjamin Bowman, John J. Bowman, with many other prominent citizens, nearly or quite all of whom have pa.s.sed away, deserve to have their names enrolled as patrons of the enterprise.

WEDNESDAY, March 8. Attend the burial of Brother David Hollar's wife to-day. Age, forty-seven years and five months.

FRIDAY, March 10. Go to Michael Wine's and attend the burial of his mother. Age, ninety-three years, three months and fourteen days.

WEDNESDAY, April 12. Attend the funeral of Mrs. Wells Hevner in the Gap. Age, thirty-three years.

THURSDAY, April 13. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Samuel Wampler and myself are established in the ministry, and Joseph Miller advanced.

FRIDAY, April 14. Council meeting at the Flat Rock. Jacob Wine is advanced to the second grade in the ministry of the Word.

MONDAY, April 17. Council meeting in the Lost River meetinghouse.

Jacob Pope is chosen speaker.

FRIDAY, April 21. Council meeting in the Old Garber meetinghouse.

Solomon Garber is advanced to the second degree in the ministry of the Word. Sarah Norman is reinstated to the fellows.h.i.+p of the church.

WEDNESDAY, April 26. Attend the funeral of the widow Sister Cherryholms in the Gap. Age, fifty-nine years. Sister C. was a woman of real force of character. Her house was a welcome shelter for the Brethren and others who often visited her.

MONDAY, May 1. Attend the funeral of old Sister Evers, widow of John Evers. She died at John Hawse's. Age, seventy-two years, three months and three days.

WEDNESDAY, May 3. Brother Benjamin Bowman, with Sister Catharine his wife, and Brother John Wine, with Anna and myself, start to Ohio. We go in two carriages. To such as are not used to traveling in this way a journey to Ohio and back in a two-horse carriage, over all kinds of roads, through all the changes of weather likely to occur at this season, and I may add, among all kinds of people, might look like an undesirable undertaking. But for myself I can say I do not dread making the start. I am best satisfied and most delighted when doing something for G.o.d and humanity. But the company I have on this visit makes the antic.i.p.ation of it especially pleasant. Brother John Wine is a live man; cheerful, but ever earnest and sincere; lively, but never light or frivolous. His mind is always inquisitive, seeking for knowledge in every line of truth. Hence he asks many questions. If your answers involve any doubt as to their correctness, or fail of the clearness he thinks should appear in the instructions of a teacher to his pupil, he will dispute a whole day with you on a single question, rather than appear to be satisfied with your answer when he is not.

With a mind hard and sharp as flint, he strikes fire out of everything he hits. But he has sense enough, and goodness enough, never to strike fire where he has reason to fear there may be danger of causing an explosion. He is the son of Samuel, in the Brush, and brother of Christian Wine. He married Elizabeth, daughter of John Zigler, in Timberville, Rockingham County, Virginia. He now resides on his farm about two miles away from where he was born and raised. He is an eminently good and useful brother.

Benjamin Bowman is the son of Benjamin Bowman, who settled in Rockingham County, Virginia, about or very soon after the breaking up of the war of the Revolution. This elder Benjamin Bowman had three sons,--Samuel, Benjamin and John,--all of whom married, raised highly respectable families, lived and died in the same county in which they were born. These all became members of our Brotherhood; and Benjamin is at this time a very active and acceptable preacher of the Word, and promises to be a very agreeable companion on the journey we have now undertaken together. He is no great talker in the way of conversation, but what he says is generally to the point. Very considerate in forming an opinion, and exceedingly careful in reaching a conclusion, he is not likely to be wrong in anything he a.s.serts to be true. By means of these habits a.s.siduously cultivated, he has built up a reputation for reliability which not only aids him in business, but stamps the seal of truth on his discourses from the ministerial stand.

He will not readily debate a matter you may present to his mind, even if his views do not coincide with yours at the time; but after due consideration he will let you hear from him with arguments not to be refuted.

We stay first night at Celestine Whitmore's on Lost River.

THURSDAY, May 4. After we were on the way this morning Anna changed her mind and preferred going back to Brother Whitmore's. So we took her back, and they will convey her home. Travel thirty-three miles, and stay second night at Joseph Smith's.

FRIDAY, May 5. Go through Romney, Virginia, and at the end of thirty-five miles stay third night at McNaer's.

SAt.u.r.dAY, May 6. Go through Frostburg, and come to Jacob Lighty's. We have night meeting. I speak on Acts 17:30. TEXT.--"The times of this ignorance G.o.d winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent."

Athens, the capital of Greece, was a large city. It was noted as the chief seat of Grecian learning, refinement of taste, cultivation of genius, and skill in the production of almost everything belonging to the fine arts. It had its philosophers, statesmen, orators, lawyers, priests, poets and painters. It had its high and low orders in society. But when Paul beheld the city his spirit was moved in him, for he saw that it was wholly given to idolatry. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers encountered him and said: "He seemeth to be a setterforth of strange G.o.ds." They said this among themselves, because he preached unto them Jesus and the resurrection. But they did not seem inclined to do him injury as the Jews had done in some other places, but gave him a chance to speak in the Areopagus, a large building in the city called the Hill of Mars, or Mars' Hill. In this building Paul preached a wonderful sermon, the whole of which you may read in Acts seventeenth chapter.

But to-night I wish to speak on just one thing that Paul said in that sermon, and these are the words: "G.o.d commandeth all men everywhere to repent." When we are commanded to do something, we like to know what it is we are commanded to do. Now I will tell you. It is to repent.

But you may say, "I do not exactly know what that means." I will now tell you about all I know of the meaning of the words repent and repentance. The Lord Jesus knew exactly what these words mean, and I will give you his definition. He said to the Jews: "The men of Nineveh repented at the preaching of Jonah." Now let us turn to the book of Jonah in the Old Testament and see what the men of Nineveh did at the preaching of Jonah, and we will then understand what the Lord meant when he said they _repented_. You must know what Jonah's sermon was.

It was so plain that all could understand it, and so short that all could remember it, This is the sermon: "Yet forty days and Nineveh shall be destroyed." The city had more than a hundred and twenty thousand people in it; and it took Jonah three days to go from one end to the other with his message of destruction; but at the end of the first day "the people of Nineveh believed G.o.d; and when the word came unto the king of Nineveh he arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes and said: Let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to G.o.d; yea, let them turn, every one from his evil way. And G.o.d saw their works, that they turned from their evil way."

Now, notice, when G.o.d commands all men everywhere to repent, he means for them to do what the Ninevites did, but in a more spiritually enlightened way. They believed G.o.d. This is the first step in repentance, as this same apostle says: "He that would come unto G.o.d must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." The Ninevites had no written word as we have, that gives us intelligent knowledge of G.o.d as he is revealed in the face of his Son Jesus Christ. All they knew of him was from tradition, and what they could see of him in his works. But they believed G.o.d, and gave proof of it by turning from their evil way. Now, friends, this is just what G.o.d commands all men to do. This is what he commands every impenitent man and woman in this house to do to-night.

But some of you may say: "I have no evil way from which to turn. I do an honest business; I lead a sober life; I am true to my marriage vows, and live a moral and orderly life generally. What lack I yet?"

Let me ask you: Why do you live in this orderly and consistent way? Is it because you love the Lord your G.o.d with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself? If you can truly say that this love is the hand that leads and draws you in your good life, I say, Thank G.o.d! I have found a brother of whom I am not ashamed. But anything short of this love is short of what G.o.d requires, and you with the rest are called upon to repent. You still have a way that is evil in G.o.d's sight. That way is the love of self and the love of the world. The Pharisees were just as particular and careful in regard to their moral or outside life as you can ever be; and still the Lord said to his disciples: "Except your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye can in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven."

Their righteousness proceeded all from the love of self and the world.

Their ambition culminated in the honor, respectability, credit and wealth such a life procured for them; and on this account the Lord Jesus said of them: "Verily, they have their reward."

But our blessed Lord says again: "Except a man deny himself, and take up his cross daily, he cannot be my disciple." This means repentance.

It is commendable in the eye of society of almost every grade to live a decent, orderly, virtuous life; but if this sort of life be led from any motive short of the love of G.o.d, what is said of the Pharisees must also be said of this: "Ye make clean the OUTSIDE of the cup and the platter, but the inside is full of hypocrisy and deceit." Now, true repentance makes clean the INSIDE of the cup and the platter, "that the outside may be clean also."

"Repentance is to leave The things we dearly love; And o'er our sins to grieve, And seek the things above."

After meeting we go to David Beichley's, and stay fourth night.

SUNDAY, May 7. Meeting at Jacob Fige's. John 5 is read. Then come to Jacob Miller's, near Milford, and have night meeting in a schoolhouse near by. Stay fifth night with Brother Miller.

MONDAY, May 8. Go to council meeting at Joseph Lighty's. An election for deacons is held. Stay sixth night at Christian Miller's. Rain this afternoon and night.

TUESDAY, May 9. Dine at Emanuel Beichley's on Indian Creek, and stay seventh night at Joseph Folger's, near Mt. Pleasant.

WEDNESDAY, May 10. Stay eighth night at Beidler's tavern, in East Liberty.

THURSDAY, May 11. Breakfast and dine in Pittsburg, and stay ninth night in Economy.

FRIDAY, May 12. Stay tenth night at Jacob Leedy's, near New Middleton.

SAt.u.r.dAY, May 13. Get here to my dear Brother Henry Kurtz's, where we stay eleventh night.

SUNDAY, May 14. Meeting at Brother Jacob Summers's near by. Ephesians 6 is read. Brother Benjamin speaks first, and John follows him. They speak of the Christian's armor; that it is not for the flesh, but for the spirit; that it is not for defense against persecution and trials in our life here, but for defense against the wiles of the devil; that it should be constantly worn, and kept bright by daily use. After meeting the Brethren agree to have a little love feast this evening, and a good time we have. Stay twelfth night at Brother Henry Kurtz's.

MONDAY, May 15. Pa.s.s through a number of little towns and villages and at the end of forty-four miles to-day find ourselves pleasantly received by my very dear Brother George Hoke, with whom we stay thirteenth night.

TUESDAY, May 16. Meeting at Brother Solomon Kiser's. Mark 1 is read.

Three persons baptized. Stay fourteenth night at Brother Michael Sprinkel's, near McDonelsville.

WEDNESDAY, May 17. Get to Brother Jacob Kurtz's, where I have the pleasure of meeting again the dear family that showed me so much kindness two years ago. Stay fifteenth and sixteenth nights here. If the meeting with those we love, and a brief stay with them, can give us so much joy here in our imperfect state, what will be the measure of our joy when we meet in that world where all is perfection, and partings are known no more! "In his presence there is fullness of joy: and at his right hand there are pleasures forevermore."

THURSDAY, May 18. Evening meeting here at Brother Jacob Kurtz's, where we stay sixteenth night.

FRIDAY, May 19. Meeting in River Brethren's meetinghouse, near George Harting's. Luke 14 is read. Come to Wooster, Wayne County, and stay seventeenth night at John Overholtz's.

SAt.u.r.dAY, May 20. Meeting in the Campbellite meetinghouse. John 4 is read. Evening meeting at Brother John Shoemaker's. John 15 is read.

Stay there eighteenth night. Heavy rain to-day and night.

SUNDAY, May 21. Meeting at Brother Eli d.i.c.key's. Revelation 21 is read. Brother Benjamin Bowman gave us some delightful thoughts suggested by these words: "Behold! I make all things new." He said: "This promise is generally thought to point for its fulfillment to the golden day when G.o.d's people shall realize in fact what John saw in vision,--'a new heaven and a new earth.' I believe that day is coming.

I believe the tabernacle of G.o.d will be with men; that G.o.d will dwell with them in that Holy City, the New Jerusalem. But I ask here, first of all, whence arises the necessity for making all things new? If the existing order of things is faultless, why this renovation? There must be imperfection, there must be a defect somewhere. Whatever else these words may comprehend, I for one regard them as applying to the church as it will then appear, as Solomon describes it, 'comely as Jerusalem;' the New Jerusalem he means; 'and terrible' in the power of its righteousness and truth, 'as an army with banners.'