Life and Labors of Elder John Kline, the Martyr Missionary Part 4

I tried to impress upon all present the danger of continuing in the broad road of sin. This includes every l.u.s.t of the flesh, everything the heart desires through the eyes, and all the pride and vanity of life. I said to this audience: I learn that there is quite a Calvinistic or predestinarian sentiment in this community; and from the expression of the countenances of some of you I fancy I hear some of you saying to yourselves: "How can a dead man hear, except the Lord first give him life; or a blind man see, except the Lord first open his eyes?" I will answer your questions in order.

Lazarus had been dead four days. Jesus called to him with a loud voice to "_come forth_." How could Jesus expect the dead Lazarus to hear?

Why did he call? Why did he not first make him alive; and then after he found out that he _was alive_, and stirring round in the grave, call to him and tell him to come out of that dark place? This is precisely the way a Calvinist would think he ought to have done. But Calvinism was not known in the Lord's day, and so he took a very different way. He threw his voice into that cave, and it went right into the ear of the dead Lazarus, because his power went with the words, and the very instant they struck the ear of Lazarus the life was in his body and he heard. Thunder and lightning always go together; but Calvinists think the lightning must always be first.

The resurrection of Lazarus is a clear exemplification of our Lord's meaning where he says: "My words are SPIRIT, and they are LIFE." No sooner did the Lord call to Lazarus than his heart began to beat and his lungs began to breathe. The Lord's words to him were _life_ and _breath_. _Spirit_ [in one sense] means breath; and _life_ means a beating of the heart; for as long as man's heart beats there is life in him. Is any one here to-night willing to charge our Lord with the folly, the _madness_ of commanding one of his creatures to do what he knows he cannot do?

Sinner, if the popular view of election be correct, I have a word of comfort for you right here. In Jer. 13:21 we read this question: "What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee?" I will tell you what to say.

When you stand before his judgment seat and hear from his lips, "Depart, thou cursed into everlasting fire," just say to him: "Why do you condemn _me_? You told me to enter in at the straight gate, it is true; but you did not give me the power to move in that direction. I was blind, too, and you did not open my eyes. I was all leprous with sin; I knew that all the time; but you did not cleanse me, although you cleansed others. I am told that you say in your Word that you are no respecter of persons; how then can you make such a difference in your treatment of men, when you have 'included all under sin?'"

Now I say to you, poor sinner, the Lord never will and he never can send you to h.e.l.l with such questions in your mouth and in your heart.

There is no need of one sinner under the sound of my voice going to h.e.l.l, because Jesus is the STRAIT GATE and he is the NARROW WAY OF LIFE; and wherever his Gospel is preached his power goes with it, just as it went with his voice into the grave of Lazarus, or fell upon the bier of the widow's son. The blind man did not see until he went to the pool of Siloam and washed; but did not the power of Christ go with him?

Say not then, O sinner, "I have not the power to believe, repent and obey the Gospel." You have the power. G.o.d is giving you now, this very moment, all the power you need to reach hither your hand and take the gift of his grace. He has already opened your eyes to see the light of his truth; and were I to say to you this night that you are too dead to feel your duty; too blind to see the path; and too grossly ignorant to know your right hand from your left hand in spiritual things, you would feel yourself grossly insulted by me. But I do not say so; I do not believe so; and in this connection--and I beg you to think seriously upon it, to read the Bible and pray over it--I must repeat the language of Jeremiah: "What wilt thou SAY, when he shall punish thee?"

SUNDAY, November 1. Meeting and love feast at Bowman's meetinghouse.

This was Brother Kline's last meeting with the Tennessee Brethren on this visit among them. I must extend the outlines of his discourse as it was his last among them for some years.

_A Short Discourse by Elder John Kline._

TEXT.--He died for all, that they which live should no longer live unto themselves, but unto him, who, for their sakes, died and rose again.

This was Christ. Our natural feelings and desires are selfish. Jesus has given us the clearest example of unselfish love the universe has ever witnessed. "For G.o.d commendeth his love to us"--that is, he shows the exceeding greatness of it--"in that, when we were enemies, Christ died for us." I do not believe that we ever, in this world, can fully understand the merits of our Savior's life, death and resurrection.

Enough for us to know that he has opened a "new and living way" by which we may come back to our heavenly Father and be his children again.

Do you know that Adam was a son of G.o.d? Luke calls him so. But he, like Esau after him, sold his birthright, lost the divine image in which G.o.d had created him, and fell from his sons.h.i.+p. But now we read: "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not, with him also, freely give us all things?" The phrase, "all things," as here used, includes a restoration to our former sons.h.i.+p with G.o.d. We, as the children of G.o.d, are exhorted to follow in the steps of our blessed Lord. This not only means that we are to shun evils and bear reproach, but it also means that we are not to live unto ourselves and for ourselves alone, but unto him and his people; for "He went about doing good."

John says: "We love him because he first loved us." We, who are here a.s.sembled in his name, can truthfully repeat this language. But how do we prove to ourselves and the world that we DO love him? It is by letting our light s.h.i.+ne. Men do not light a candle and put it under a bushel. A city on a hill cannot be hid. Brethren, I hope we have all made clean "the INSIDE of the cup and the platter;" for this is the only way in which the outside can be kept clean. A pure life flows out of a _clean_ heart, and it can come from no other source. We show our love to the Lord by observing his ordinances: by baptism, by was.h.i.+ng one another's feet, by partaking with each other of the Lord's Supper, by communing with him in his broken body and shed blood, symbolized by the bread and wine: next, in "denying ourselves of all unG.o.dliness and worldly l.u.s.ts, and living soberly, righteously, and G.o.dly in this present world."

Think on this last text a little bit. "Soberly" means _calmly sincere_; not moved by fits of excitement. "Righteously" means _doing right_; right toward G.o.d by obedience, and right toward men in our dealings with them and in our influence upon them. Many a brother has ruined his power for good by not being _watchful_. He told "jokes." He delighted in frivolous, trifling things. He put on a square face at church, to be sure; but a little disappointment would lengthen it fearfully, and a little fun or glee would broaden it out of all Christian shape.

For the benefit of such and all, I will define the last but _not least_ word in the apostle's category--"G.o.dly." Brethren, this means LIKE G.o.d; and it includes all the rest, for "G.o.d is love." To abide in G.o.d is to live in holy, heavenly love. "Abide in me, and I in you."

Wonderful, wonderful words! This is heaven on earth.

The apostle says: "We have been made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." A beautiful figure. We sit in the sun, or in sunny places, when the light of the sun falls upon us in that position. We sit in heaven, or in heavenly places, when the light of heaven with its love falls full into our souls. I feel like giving utterance to the emotion of my heart in that sweet old love-song of ours:

"My willing soul would stay In such a place as this; And sit and sing herself away, To everlasting bliss.

"Here the Redeemer's voice Sheds heavenly peace around; And life and everlasting joys Attend the blissful sound."

And now I will close in the words of Paul's valedictory to the saints at Corinth: "Finally, brethren, farewell: Be of good comfort; be of one mind; live in peace. And the G.o.d of love and peace shall be with you." Amen!

TUESDAY, November 3. Our beloved brother started on his homeward way down the Valley of Virginia. He pa.s.sed through Abingdon, Salem, Lexington and Staunton, and on

TUESDAY, November 10, he reached home after an absence of two months to the day. He says: "I have been absent from home just two months to the day; and in this time I have traveled on horseback 1,317 miles.

With much thankfulness to our Father in heaven, do I recount my protection and preservation through the dangers and toils of traveling; the strength and support given me in preaching the Word; and the great joy I have had in meeting so many dear brethren and sisters in the Lord. Amen!"

Thus closes one of the most remarkable missionary tours on record. One would feel sad to think that no memorial should be reared in commemoration of it. But the heart finds relief in the thought that this book will perpetuate the memory of it to future generations, as a tale that will never grow old.

Brother Kline spent the remainder of the year about home; in visiting the sick; in attending to his domestic interests; and in preaching at the different appointments in the district. The Brethren at this time had but few houses of wors.h.i.+p. They consequently held meetings in the dwelling houses of Brethren; some of which had been constructed with an eye to that end.

BROTHER KLINE'S OPINIONS RELATIVE TO THE PRACTICE OF MEDICINE.

The Diary shows that in the course of this year, Brother Kline entered a new field of useful activity. In his desire to do good; in his heart of general beneficence, we are reminded of the philanthropy of Howard and Wilberforce. They, it is true, wrought in a wider sphere, and operated on a grander scale; but it may be seriously questioned whether they had any more of the love of G.o.d in their hearts, or any deeper sympathy for suffering humanity in their souls, than was to be found in our truly devoted pattern of genuine benevolence, Elder John Kline. This new field was that of administering medical relief to the afflicted.

FRIDAY, January 1, 1836. He says: "I have long had doubts in regard to the curative efficacy and health-restoring virtue of the regularly established course of medical practice of the present day.

Active depletion of the body, by copious blood-letting, blistering, drastic cathartics and starving, is, to my mind, not the best way to eradicate disease and restore the diseased human body to its normal state. I am well aware that every age has had its own way of treating diseases, and every age has thought its own way the best; but fas.h.i.+on and custom have, no doubt, had quite a controling power in this as in other things; and 'the fas.h.i.+on of the world pa.s.seth away,' because there is little or nothing of substantial good in it."

SAMUEL THOMPSON.

"Dr. Samuel Thompson, of Vermont, is introducing a new system of medical practice which I believe to be more in accordance with the laws of life and health than any I know of. His maxim, applied to disease, is: 'REMOVE THE CAUSE, AND THE EFFECT WILL CEASE.'

"Every diseased condition of the body is the effect of some cause.

This cause being removed, the disease, either simple or complex, must yield to the restorative forces of nature. But to diminish the activity of these forces, by copious depletion of the body, to be followed by a regimen so severe as to withhold, almost absolutely, the nourishment and support nature demands, is, in my view, to say the least, irrational."

Had Brother Kline penned these words fifty years later in the century, they could not be more in harmony with the popular theory of medical science as it is taught in the schools of the present day. They are almost prophetic. He goes on: "I am therefore determined to try the new way of treating disease, and see what I can do with it. I feel sure it will do no harm, even if it does but little or no good."

His subsequent success as a physician for many years proves that he was not mistaken in the conclusions at which he arrived preparatory to his entering the field of medical practice.

He procured his remedies in their virgin purity from the mountains, meadows and woods, either in person, with hoe in hand, or through agents whom he employed for the work. Lobelia, Boneset, Pleurisy-Root, Black-Cohosh, Blue-Cohosh, Lady's-slipper, Red Raspberry, Ginseng, Spignet, Black-Root, Seneca-Snake-Root, Gentian, May-Apple, Golden-Rod, and many other roots and herbs were quite familiar to him, not only as they were seen growing in their native mountains, fields and forests, but also as to their medical properties and uses.

No recreation could be more delightful to the true lover of nature than to get on a good horse and go with him to see the Brethren, as he called it. This may sound a little odd; but the reader must know that Brother Kline rarely went on an errand with a single aim. His object seemed to be to crowd into his life all the service for both G.o.d and man that it was possible for him to do. In this desire to do good he would sometimes humorously repeat the old saying: "Kill as many birds with one stone as you can."

When the season approached for gathering "_roots and herbs_" he would sometimes write to the Brethren among the mountains of West Virginia, that they might expect him to be with them at a given time. This announcement always sent a thrill of joy through their hearts. The news of his coming spread rapidly; and he was sure of large congregations for that spa.r.s.ely settled country.

One Sunday, toward the close of his life, he said to me: "Brother B----, would it suit you to go with me over to Pendleton and Hardy? I have a line of meetings in view; and if it would suit you to go with me I will be very glad of your company. I want to gather some medicines by the way, and as you are fond of rambling among the mountains you may enjoy the trip and make yourself useful at the same time."

I agreed to go. So on Thursday morning about the latter part of July, very early, we mounted our horses. "Old Nell"--as he called his favorite riding mare, that had up to that time, as his Diary will show, carried him on her back over _thirty thousand miles_--seemed to understand where we were starting for, and how fast she ought to go.

In the early part of the day she walked very moderately; but as the hours went by she quickened her gait, and really walked with a livelier step in the evening than she had in the fore part of the day.

Soon after our arrival the people began to come together for night meeting at the house where we staid.

After a most refres.h.i.+ng supper and a little rest we were ready to engage in the sacred duties of wors.h.i.+p. Brother Kline very kindly took the lead in the services, and in a very plain way delivered one of the best discourses I have ever heard on Col. 1:12. This is the TEXT: "_Giving thanks to the Father, who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light._"

He showed, in a very impressive way, that if an heir to an estate is not qualified to appreciate that estate, to enjoy it by making a right use of it, it can do him but little good. From this thought his mind ascended heavenward; and he said that heaven, with all its glory and bliss, can never be a desirable inheritance to any but to those who are qualified or prepared for it. Those who are thus qualified are described in the text as "_the saints in light_." He then drew a most lively picture of the difference between a saint in light and a sinner in darkness. It almost chilled my blood to see how low in the scale of intelligent beings the one stands contrasted with the lofty elevation of the other.

The next day we repaired to the Shenandoah mountain to procure medical herbs. We went up into a very deep and rich hollow, where it looked as if the rays of the sun could hardly penetrate, and soon I saw his face light up with something that evidently pleased him. "Ah! here it is,"

said he. "What is here?" I asked. "Don't you see this patch of Ginseng?" he replied. "Is this Ginseng? It is my first sight of it."

As I was much younger than he I insisted upon using the hoe; but no!

He was so pleased that he seemed to want to do all the digging himself.

When a supply of Ginseng was obtained we went to the top of the ridge, where we found a considerable quant.i.ty of Seneca-Snake-Root, an article very much in demand at the present day.

The next thing sought for was the Red Raspberry. We hunted and hunted, and were on the point of giving up the quest, when, at the extreme head of a very rough mountain hollow, we discovered a "patch" of the bushes. They were full of berries of a bright scarlet, resembling somewhat in form the common raspberry, but in some other respects they were quite different. They were very beautiful. If the plant would bear domestication it would be highly ornamental. Having filled a "poke" with the raspberry leaves, we set out to return to the place where we had left our horses. I doubt exceedingly whether I could have found the spot; but his familiarity with the mountains generally, and his acute perception of topographical relations in particular, enabled him to find the place without difficulty.

On our way back to where we had left our horses, however, we came across a "patch" of Golden Seal. This is a graceful plant, each one having a single calyx enclosing the seeds, somewhat in the shape of a b.u.t.ton or seal of a bright yellow color; hence its name. "The root of this plant," said he, "is an excellent alterative and tonic." We dug up the yellow roots with zest; but being by this time very hungry, I began to fear that we might come across a "patch" of something else that might still longer delay our return. But he seemed satisfied with his success, and we found our horses all right. "Old Nell" had, however, loosed the strap of her halter, and was quietly browsing around. When she heard us coming she threw up her head; and at the call of his voice she came up to him.