The Pastures comprise a considerable scope of rich grazing country in
the western part of Augusta County and the eastern part of Highland
County, Virginia. This section is watered by two principal rivers of
small size, respectively called the Calf Pasture and the Cow Pasture.
They are tributaries of the James river in Virginia. Here these
brethren preached day and night for some time.
We rarely find anything amusing in the Diary. Brother Kline's mind and
heart were too deeply imbued with sincerity in religion and the life
flowing out of it, to give place to things of a light or trivial
character. But for once, on this journey, we find one entry that
brings a smile to the face: One evening, when they were all seated
around the fire at Brother Henry Snell's the conversation turned upon
a company of Indians that had, shortly before, passed along that way.
They asked permission to spend the night in one of Brother Snell's
outbuildings, which was cheerfully granted.
These Indians, Brother Snell went on to relate, had killed a wild
turkey on their way that day, and in the evening asked the family for
a suitable vessel in which to cook it. This being furnished, they went
on to prepare the turkey for the pot. This they did in true Indian
style. Two squaws went through the performance. One took hold of one
wing, and the other took hold of the other wing; and thus between the
two most of the feathers were removed. They then opened the bird,
removing such of the internal viscera as were thought not fit for
food, washed it in a vessel of water, and then put it on to cook _in
the very same water they had washed it in_.
Brother Kline could not help applying the last point in the above
incident to some features in the lives of men. He says: "That minister
who gets up and in a beautiful and glowing discourse sets forth the
Christian 'cleansed from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit;' and
then comes down to mix with the world, and follow its fashions and
vanities, _is cooking his turkey in the same water he washed it in_.
That professor of religion who, to appearance, makes a very humble
confession of his sins, with seeming repentance and deep contrition of
heart, only to go away and thrust himself again into the filthiness of
his former life, is cooking _his_ turkey in the same water he washed
it in."
REFLECTIONS ON THE CLOSE OF THE YEAR.
FROM THE ENTRY OF DECEMBER 31.
This evening closes the work of another year. The record of this year
is now nearly complete. Have I any idea of that record? I think I
have. Of one thing I feel sure. It has not been kept with paper, pen
and ink. Neither has it been written in the skies. Each one's yearly
record is written by no hand but his own, and upon no tablet but that
of his own heart. Each one's LIFE, therefore, is his record. This,
before God and the angels, is a faithful transcript of his mind and
heart within. "A good man, out of the good treasure of his heart,
bringeth forth good things; likewise an evil man, out of the evil
treasure of his heart, bringeth forth evil things." The good things of
the one and the evil things of the other constitute the life record of
every man. This makes character, and character is the basis on which
men make up their opinions of one another; but the HEART, out of which
the character grows, is the BOOK that will be opened before the
throne, out of which every one will be judged. A _good heart_ is each
redeemed saint's BOOK OF LIFE: and an evil heart is each lost soul's
book of condemnation.
Hence we are told by our Lord "that every idle word that men shall
speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment;" and
that "whatsoever is spoken in the ear in the closet shall be
proclaimed upon the housetop." Good words leave the lines of their
light upon the heart's love-tablet; but evil words leave their shadows
in the chambers of the soul, and deepen the darkness there.
_Sermon by Elder John Kline._
_Preached on Lost River, West Virginia,
March 3._
TEXT.--Enter ye in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and
broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many be they
that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate, and straitened the
way, that leadeth unto life, and few be they that find it.--Matt.
7:13, 14.
It is declared that our Lord spake to his disciples in parables; "and
without a parable spake he not unto them." A parable is a brief
statement of such _facts_ as men are well acquainted with; which
facts are designed to correspond to or represent things they are
_not_ well acquainted with. Every parable, then, carries with it
two lines of thought. The one line is natural, and is based upon the
natural things given in the parable. The other line is spiritual, and
follows the natural line, as a shadow follows its substance. My text
is not properly a parable, but it is in the parabolic form, and must
be treated as such.
We notice at once the two gates and the two ways. We also notice that
these two ways or roads lead in opposite directions and to opposite
destinies. These statements the simplest mind can lay hold of. Even
young children know what gates are, and what roads are. They can also
look in thought toward the ends of roads, and comprehend, in some
measure at least, what is meant when they are told that one road ends
in a great fire that will burn forever, and that the other ends in a
delightful garden where flowers of beauty and fragrance, with fruits
of exquisite taste and healthfulness, hang upon trees and vines of
unfading loveliness.
It is never necessary to speak to the simple-minded man or child about
the freedom of the human will. Their lessons in this are learned from
observation and experience. By experience every one knows that he has
the power to choose what he likes and to reject what he does not like.
Even beasts, and birds, and reptiles do the same. They choose and
appropriate the foods they like. They mate together according to the
same free will, which is their love. Birds select their roosting
places, and construct their nests where and how they will. "Foxes have
holes;" but this is so because God first made the caverns in the
rocks, and the foxes afterward chose them for their habitations. Every
unit in the whole animate world, not only chooses the place of its
abode, but also the modes and means of its subsistence. Even plants in
a state of nature conform to this general law. Shall man, born to
glorify God and enjoy him forever, be cut short in the free exercise
of his will? I cannot believe it. But I do believe that the brightest
saint in heaven is where he is because it was first his will to go
there; and being there, it is forever his will to stay.
I am not ignorant of the arguments advanced by the other side. Many
good, but, I believe misguided men, hold the opinion that man is so
depraved as to his will, so lost to all sense and understanding of
what is good, that he is wholly incapable of choosing the right and
shunning the wrong. But I believe the Lord knows just what man can do
and what man cannot do. And it is a thing self-evident to my mind that
Goodness and Wisdom has never yet commanded man to do anything that is
out of man's power to do.
Let us grant that man is dead in trespasses and sins, as Paul
represents him. But does not Jesus say: "My words are spirit and they
are life"? The Lord's words have LIFE in them; and if man will but
hear them with his natural ear, as you now hear me speak, and then be
not a forgetful hearer, but be a doer of the Word; this man shall be
blessed in his deed; and soon be filled with the new life of God.
The text opens in these words: "Enter ye in at the narrow gate." This
is impossible for any one to do without his knowing what the narrow
gate is, and where it is. Whilst we have no direct and positive
information upon this point in connection with the text, we still may
learn something by noticing into what it opens. The narrow gate opens
into the narrow way, and this leads to LIFE. The narrow gate and the
narrow way are one. I mean by this that entering the narrow gate means
making a start in the direction of a good life, and walking in the
narrow way is progress in a good life. But where is the gate, and
where is the way? I answer:
"The Gate is before you, and so is the Way;
The Gate is wide open, and no toll to pay."
and this gate is our Lord Jesus Christ as set forth in his Word.
"Where'er we seek Him, He is found;
And every place is holy ground!"
But, my dear hearers, do not for a moment imagine that it is a small
thing to make the change here implied. First, it means a change of the
heart or will. Of course no one ever leaves a road that leads in one
direction, to turn right around and enter upon another that leads in
the very opposite direction, without a great change of mind. Second,
it implies that there has been new light imparted, new truth received
into the mind. This new truth teaches the understanding that it is
neither wise nor _safe_ to keep the broad road, because it leads to
destruction. Fear of destruction, then, on the one hand, and the love
of life on the other are involved in this change.
I am just now reminded of what we are told in history that a great
man, many years ago, left his home in Europe and came across the
Atlantic ocean in his own ship to hunt for the fountain of youth that
was confidently believed to exist somewhere in the wilds of America.
This fountain, it was said, possessed the virtue of imparting youth to
the aged, and life and health to the sick and dying. To the dying it
was, _Drink and live_; to the aged it was, _Bathe in its waters_ and
return to the _vigor_ and _beauty_ of _youth_. As this great man was
far advanced in age he thought it would be WISE to make an effort to
find this fountain, which never has existed but in the imaginations of
silly men; and never will exist in any other way in this world. Of
course he failed to find it; and, worst of all, he died in the vain
effort.
But not so with any that have ever entered into the narrow way through
the narrow gate. It surely leads to life, as thousands now living in
this world can testify. It does appear to me that this change is quite
as rational, quite as harmonious with man's common sense, as anything
that he does in the daily course of his life's experiences and
operations. The intelligent, rational man acts from reason in all the
affairs of life. What he loves he calls good, and what he fears or
hates he calls evil. This he shuns and that he covets, and puts forth
every effort of mind and body to gain it.
In this fact we find the truth of our Lord's words verified: "The
children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children
of light." The word GENERATION in this place means _state_ or
_condition_ from which proceeds a given manner of life, and daily
attention to business. The men of the world are active as to their
works, and watchful as to their interests. This watchfulness and
activity is what our Lord calls their _wisdom_, and in its degree it
exceeds that of the children of light. Our minds and wills act as
freely in choosing the things of religion, and doing the duties
connected therewith, as they do in the things that belong to this life
only.
But we must not forget that every one who enters in by the narrow gate
is but a child in experience when he first enters. He is but a lamb.
But the Good Shepherd and Father go with him, leading him and feeding
him. Like Enoch, he walks with God.
The text does not say that the narrow way _is_ life; but that it
_leads_ unto life. To my mind it is clear that whenever the "sinner
forsakes his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts," he then and
there enters in by the narrow gate. This is repentance. He returns to
the Lord by the narrow way: and the Lord is life.
It may well be asked why the gate and the way are narrow. The narrow
gate is the TRUTH of God's Word as it is first found and loved: and
the narrow way is the same TRUTH as it is followed and obeyed. Truth
is always a straight or narrow track, because any departure therefrom,
either to the right or left, is error and falsity.
Jesus says: "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be
saved." This door is just as narrow as the gate. He also says: "I am
the way." As such, he is so narrow that, as the prophet represents, it
is as if a fire of destruction were on the one hand and a flood of
wrath on the other. Ah, Brethren, the truth can never be made to bend.
It is as the builder's line to the foundation; and as the plumb line
to the column.
To such as walk in the narrow way our Lord says: "I give unto them
eternal life; and they shall never perish." Is not this encouraging?
It is to be in the Lord, and the Lord in us. It is to be a live and
fruitful branch of the true Vine. It is to be a son of God, an heir of
God, and a joint heir with Christ. It is, when the coil of mortality
is laid aside, to shine as the sun in the kingdom of our Father in
heaven.
It would afford me much joy to find some here to-day ready to enter in
by the narrow gate. Do I hear some one say: "I feel that I ought to
leave the broad road that ends in destruction, but I cannot"? It is
true, you can of yourself do nothing. If left to yourself you would
never draw another breath; you would never again move your hand or
foot. But for the life-supporting power of the good Lord you would
instantly be a dead man or woman in every sense. Do not forget that in
God you live, and move, and have your being. This is as certainly and
as literally true of every man's natural life as of his spiritual
life. God is constantly present with you; for without him you can do
nothing.
Now, since he is ever present with you, sustaining a life which you
acknowledge is not being spent in his service and to his glory, will
he not much more give you at the same time power and love and faith to
do his will? O, try him. Try my Lord in one sincere, humble, honest,
fervent prayer. Say, Lord, open my eyes. Take away my heart of stone,
and give me a heart of flesh. "Create in me a clean heart; and renew a
right spirit within me." My friend, the moment you sincerely wish to
do his will by loving and obeying him he will enable you to do so, as
surely as he now enables you to rise to your feet and walk home, or go
wherever you will and do what you choose.
It is not a small thing the Lord means when he says: "Consider the
lilies of the field, ... they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet
I say unto you, That Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one
of these. If God so clothe the grass of the field, ... shall he not
much more clothe you?"
My friend, let me here impress your mind with the sublime truth that
it is quite as much in accordance with the Lord's way, and quite as
harmonious with his love, to clothe you with power to do his will as
to clothe the grass of the field with beauty. He gives life and beauty
to every sparrow. Are you not more in his eye than many sparrows? Even
the very hairs of your head are all numbered. O friend, think of it.
He even hears the young ravens when they cry. And will he let your
soul perish? Will he suffer your naked soul to sink into hell when you
cry to him for help? Perish the thought! For it "is a faithful saying,
and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners"; not to condemn them.
WHAT IS IT TO BE SAVED? Let the Lord answer: "_He that heareth my
word, and believeth him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall
not come into condemnation; but is passed out of death unto life_."
This is salvation.