Life and Labors of Elder John Kline, the Martyr Missionary Part 35

because education is not a thing of the body, but of the mind; and the mind or understanding is invisible.

Just so it is with the kingdom of G.o.d. It has no connection with the body. In fact the body, with its appet.i.tes and pa.s.sions opposes it.

For as Paul says: "The flesh l.u.s.teth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other." The kingdom of G.o.d, then, has its place in man's renewed heart and mind, and can therefore never be a thing of observation. But let us look a little further. The most precious and valuable things of earth are worthless until brought out into use. Of what good are all the mineral treasures of earth while hidden in the mines? Just so "the kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in the field."

But our heavenly Father has prepared a body, a visible, organized body for his kingdom on earth, so that it may become active, useful, and in every way promotive of man's highest good on earth and his highest bliss in heaven. This body is the Lord's visible church. Like the human body, it is composed of members, and each member has his place and office of service in the body. The church is composed of those who do the Lord's will; and he owns all such as his brethren. On one occasion he exclaimed: "Who are my brethren?" And immediately he said: "Behold my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."

Thus the church is composed of such as hold a relations.h.i.+p with him, symbolized by that of brother, sister and mother. It is for his church that Jesus offered that wonderful prayer recorded in the seventeenth chapter of John. He there says: "I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word." The church, then, is composed of such as keep the Lord's Word.

He said: "My kingdom is not of this world." Neither is the church, which is the visible, active, use-loving and use-performing body of the kingdom, of this world. It is not organized according to the order of human inst.i.tutions and laws, but according to G.o.d's order. Human laws and customs have really and legitimately nothing to do either with its organization and government or with the admission of members into its body and their retention and conduct in the body. But the church is _in_ the world. By its being _in_ the world, where sin and sorrow and suffering abound; where there is so much pain to a.s.suage, so much want to relieve, so much evil to combat, so much ignorance to dispel by the light of truth, numberless and boundless opportunities and demands are presented for "the good man, out of the good treasure of his heart to bring forth good things."

And in the world is just where the Lord wants his church to ever be.

It is in the church on earth that G.o.d's people learn those wonderful lessons of self-denial, humility, gentleness, brotherly kindness, forbearance, patience, and all other heavenly qualities and graces. In a word, the church, in its purest form and highest sense, is heaven begun on earth. Hence the blessed Jesus, in the prayer referred to, says: "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil."

Since the church is the outward, visible form of G.o.d's kingdom on earth, it is of the utmost importance that the church give expression to and be a representative of the soul and spirit of the kingdom. Paul says: "The kingdom of G.o.d is not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." The church must be righteous. By this is meant that it must obey the Lord's Word. He says: "Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you." It is obedience on the part of the church that makes any organization bearing that name acceptable to the Lord. In the great day to come some will say: "We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets." But he will say: "I tell you I know you not whence ye are."

Many others again will say: "Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." The lips of man may not apply these terrific words to any whose doom is yet to be disclosed; but all organizations claiming to be churches of Jesus Christ will do well to see to it that they obey from the heart those ordinances given by our Lord both by example and precept. When he p.r.o.nounces us happy, we may feel sure that we are safe.

Let us now, before we close, look over the ground and see where the church of the Brethren stands, which it is my privilege to represent here to-night. Jesus was baptized, that is, immersed by John in the river Jordan. We follow his example as further set forth in the great commission he gave. He washed the disciples' feet, giving us an example that we shall do to one another as he did to them. This we do.

He ate a supper with them before the administration of the Communion.

This we do; and from other scripture authority we feel justified in calling it a love feast. He administered the Communion of his body and blood, symbolized by the bread and wine. This we likewise do. Now we have his blessed Word for it: "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them."

SUNDAY, December 7. Michael B.E. Kline and wife are baptized at Timberville.

WEDNESDAY, December 31. I have traveled this year 3,816 miles, mostly on horseback; and preached forty-five funeral discourses.

THURSDAY, January 22, 1852. Attend upon my aged mother. She pa.s.sed a calculus or stone from the bladder to-day weighing seven ounces and two and one-half drachms. Its greatest circ.u.mference is nine inches. A very wonderful concretion indeed.

THURSDAY, March 11. My dear aged mother pa.s.ses away from earth to-day, at 1 o'clock. She has been a good mother. I rejoice in the thought that from her bright home in heaven, if saints are permitted to look down upon earth, she can still witness the fruits of her good example and influence, manifest in the well-doing of all her children, and most of her grandchildren.

FRIDAY, March 12. Take Anna over to Brother Samuel Kline's, where our dear mother now lies a corpse.

SAt.u.r.dAY, March 13. Mother is buried to-day. Her age was eighty-one years, three months and twenty days.

MONDAY, March 22. This day Brother Kline started to Maryland. As usual on such journeys, he visited many friends and Brethren, among whom he mentions D.P. Saylor, Jacob Saylor, Howard Hillery, Brother Cover, Joseph Engle, Philip Boyle, Israel Engle, Brother Rupp, Jesse Royer, Betsy Engle, William Deahl, Abraham Deahl, Brother Rhinehart, and others. He preaches and prays as he goes; leaving behind him good examples, good instructions, good doctrines, with prayers and good wishes for all. What a life of good works! He returned home Thursday, April 1.

THURSDAY, April 15. Council meeting at the Flat Rock meetinghouse.

John Neff is elected speaker.

FRIDAY, April 16. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. John Zigler is elected to the deacons.h.i.+p.

SAt.u.r.dAY, April 17. Council meeting at the Brush meetinghouse. Jacob Miller is advanced in the ministry of the Word.

SUNDAY, May 16. Attend a meeting in the Campbellite church in Baltimore. I meet Brother D.P. Saylor there. He speaks from Heb. 12:1, 2. Outlines of his discourse. TEXT.--"Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us; and let us run with patience the race that is set before us; looking unto Jesus."

He said: The book of Hebrews is, in one respect, the most extraordinary book in the New Testament. It sets forth Christ the Lord to us in a somewhat new light, and new relation. All the other books of the New Testament are mainly occupied in setting forth Jesus as the atoning Savior. But this book is preeminently taken up with Christ the anointed High Priest of our profession. The other books tell what Jesus has done to redeem the world from sin. This book tells what he is now doing to save his people.

In his admonitions and instructions Brother Saylor beautifully referred to the Olympic games celebrated by the ancient Greeks once every four years. From these the figure of running a race, given in the text, was borrowed. A man cannot run long and well with a load on his back. You have no doubt seen the fabled demiG.o.d Atlas pictured with the world on his shoulders. I have often thought of that old Grecian representation of avarice, as being something like a true picture of many professors of the Christian religion at the present day. You see the old myth struggling along with this big round world on his back, apparently casting his eyes upward at times as if he might be longing to reach the top of Mount Olympus, the home of the G.o.ds: but alas! his head is bowed and his back bent under the mighty pressure, and he never got there. It will fare no better with the man who tries to carry this world with him to heaven. The apostle says: "Let us cast off every weight" that would hinder our progress.

You know the devil is called a serpent. No sane man ever yet invited a snake to bite him. If one is bitten by a copperhead or rattlesnake, it is either because he has gone where he ought not go, or else, if compelled, he was not watchful, but was off his guard. Besetting sins are these snakes in the gra.s.s and along the hedges. The apostle here takes it for granted, as a thing settled long ago, that the Christian has laid aside his habitual sins. Besetting sins are such as we meet or overtake unexpectedly in the way, and like robbers that beset us and take our goods, they spoil our peace and take away our joy. The best way for all Christians is to keep out of the way of snakes and robbers.

"And let us run with patience the race that is set before us." In another place Paul says: "I press forward to the mark for the prize."

He represents the Christian as running, but not as uncertainly. Not as if some one else might beat him and take the prize, and he thereby lose it. No, no! In the Christian race there is a prize for every one that runs with patience the race set before him.

But he also speaks of a _mark_. The language here employed indicates that the _mark_ must be reached before the prize can justly be claimed. This mark is conformity to Christ in spirit and life. "If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." "He has set us an example that we should follow in his steps." The prize is heaven and eternal happiness. G.o.d is pleased to give to his children things which they are incapable of obtaining by their own efforts; but he will not give direct what they are capable of getting by judicious means rightly applied. It is no credit to any one to depend on others for what he could win for himself. It is so in the Christian's race for eternal life.

"Looking unto Jesus." If you have ever been at sea you noticed the interest with which sailors watched the lighthouses along the sh.o.r.e in a dark night. This figure may help us in our thought of looking to Jesus. His word is a "lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path."

Friends, when you look prayerfully to the Lord's Word for guidance in your religious life you are looking unto Jesus. He is nowhere else to be found. But he is always there, and whosoever will look may find him there unto the salvation of his soul.

They stayed all night at Michael B. Kline's.

MONDAY, May 17. They stopped awhile with Sister Rubic.u.m in Philadelphia; and arrived at the Irving House, in New York City, at 10:30 P.M.

Men love to honor their favorites. Was.h.i.+ngton Irving has caused his name to be stamped upon the affections of the people of this city.

Irving collars, Irving hats, Irving signs and Irving attached to many things give evidence of the high regard in which he is held. We will pa.s.s his home on the Hudson to-day.

TUESDAY, May 18. Take the steamer "Henry Clay" to Albany, where we land at 3 P.M. Kossuth is in the place. A great procession, with many other demonstrations in honor of the Hungarian exile, is given. These things are not done for the man personally, but for the cause which he represents, that of freeing his country from the galling yoke of bondage. We have a delightful boat ride up the Hudson.

I must here relate a short encounter which I had with a professed infidel on the boat. He some way came to the conclusion that I was a religious man, and probably a preacher. This led him to approach me for a talk, and he introduced himself in a very courteous and agreeable manner. After he had stated his objections to the Christian religion, I asked him if he was absolutely certain that there is no place and state of future punishment. He answered: "I do not contend for this; but only hold that h.e.l.l is unreasonable, and that heaven is impossible: and according to Bible description, to me at least, it would be undesirable." I answered: "I suppose you will allow, that if the Bible is _not_ true I will fare no worse after death for having taught its doctrines and the faith of Jesus Christ: and you no better for having denied both?" "All this," said he, "is self-evident." "But if it so turns out that we both, after death, find that G.o.d's Word is absolutely true, which, my dear friend, will fare the better then?

You, for having rejected the Lord Jesus Christ before men; or I, for having humbly confessed him?" We parted at the landing to meet, perhaps, no more until that day when the secrets of all hearts shall be made known.

WEDNESDAY, May 19. Get to Buffalo, New York, at 8 P.M. Stay all night at the Mansion House. Philip Dorsheimer, proprietor.

THURSDAY, May 20. This day I enjoy my first sight of Niagara Falls.

Cross on the bridge over to the Canada side and go up to the falls.

Return by the bridge and go up to the falls on the American side. Go to see the buffaloes; and visit the telegraph office. Return to the Mansion House and stay there all night. I suppose that all the thoughts and emotions which a view of Niagara Falls is capable of exciting in the beholder have been so clearly and graphically expressed in prose and verse, so far as lies in the power of words to express them, that I feel like keeping silent. This, however, I will venture to say, that in the sight of such mighty power I felt very small and weak. How, then, thought I, will I feel when I come in sight of the Power that made and moves the world!

Cold and snow this morning. But I must remember that I am not in Virginia.

FRIDAY, May 21. Take pa.s.sage on the steamboat "America" to Erie; then on to Cleveland, where we arrive at 5 A.M. Sleep a little. Then, on same boat, to Sandusky City, where we take cars to Tiffin, and from there go to Brother Eversole's, in Hanc.o.c.k County, Ohio.

SUNDAY, May 23. Brother Kline attended forenoon meeting at Brother Peter Weant's; and afternoon meeting at Brother d.i.c.key's. In the evening he went to Brother Daniel Rosenberger's and a.s.sisted in anointing a sick sister. Next day they had meeting at Brother Jacob Kendrick's. On Tuesday, while they were detained at Perrysburg, Brother Kline says: "We saw the fishermen make a haul with their seine. While witnessing the adroitness and care with which they separated the bad fish from the good, I was reminded of the parable in which the same performance is spoken of. The gospel net catches or takes in both good and bad. But the separation of the good from the bad cannot take place on earth. 'At the end of the world the angels shall come forth and sever the wicked from among the just.'"

WEDNESDAY, May 26. They take the boat "John Hollister" for Toledo: from there they take cars to Elkhart, Indiana. The two brethren, Kline and Saylor, do not appear to have been together all the time on this journey; but at Elkhart it seems they got together again and two other brethren with them; for he now speaks of brethren Saylor, Krontz and P. Ebersole all going together and staying all night at Brother Jacob Studebaker's; and on the twenty-ninth they all go to Jonathan Wylan's, the place of the Annual Meeting. Brother Kline reports a wonderful concourse of people.

SUNDAY, May 30. They have meeting at three places. On Monday business begins. Many queries are placed in the hands of the subcommittees. On Tuesday the reports of the subcommittees are taken in, and discussions follow freely, but all in a spirit of love.

WEDNESDAY, June 2. Business is all disposed of by 3 o'clock, and the meeting breaks up. Brother Kline goes to Michael Waybright's and holds night meeting.

On his return trip Brother Kline revisits Elkhart, and goes to Dayton to Brother Henry Yost's. From there he goes to Cincinnati to see Drs.

Kost and Curtis, with whom he spends a night; thence back to Columbus; goes through the state prison; visits other places of interest; and thence through Cleveland and Pittsburg home. He arrived home

SAt.u.r.dAY, June 12. He reports 2,685 miles traveled from the time he left home till his return.

SUNDAY, June 27. Meeting at our meetinghouse. I baptize Daniel Wampler and wife.

FRIDAY, July 2. Write letters to Brethren in Pendleton and Hardy Counties to make appointments for preaching. He gives plenty of time for those Brethren to whom the above letters were sent, to make the appointments generally known; and allows time for the slow transit of the mails in that day. Brother Kline's successes were never brilliant or dazzling, as some men's appear, but they were acquired by methods which few men are willing to adopt; and achieved by self-sacrifices and labors which few men are willing to undergo.

FRIDAY, August 20. This day Brother Kline started to Pendleton County, Virginia. From Pendleton he went to Hardy County, and from there to Hamps.h.i.+re County. He filled every appointment made for him by the Brethren to whom he had written on July 2. On his outward way he left a line of appointments which he filled on his return homeward. On this tour he traveled 183 miles on the back of his faithful mare Nell, over roads and mountain paths next to impa.s.sable. He was gone from home on this trip just two weeks, in which time he preached nineteen sermons, attended one council meeting and one love feast.

Such preaching tours, as this work abundantly shows, were but common proofs of his missionary spirit and love for the souls of men. Added to this we find a purely unselfish spirit in him. Not long before his martyrdom he told me that if he would have asked for money along the lines of his work extending over many years--using his very words--"I know that I would have freely received it; but I have never asked one cent; and, G.o.d prospering me in the future as in the past, I never expect to." He went on his own expenses, always and at all times, apparently more ready to give than to receive.