Every intelligent human being is a sower of some kind of seed. Every
one is either sowing the Word of God or the word and spirit of some
one else; but let the seed be of whatever kind it may, this thing is
sure: "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. He that
soweth to his flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that
soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."
Sowing to the flesh is living after the flesh with its affections and
lusts; but sowing to the Spirit is crucifying and mortifying the
flesh, and living the new life of faith, and hope, and love.
Brethren and sisters, there is a mighty, _mighty_ difference between
the two. What has the mere fleshly, carnal mind to hope for in the
world to come? It can feel no delight, no enjoyment in heavenly
things, such as love to God and love to man. It knows nothing of that
love which is the bond of perfectness.
You can always tell what a man's love is by the company he keeps. If
his love is of worldly things only, you will see him in worldly
company, and hear him talk only of worldly things. Notice the books
and papers he reads. They are of the same character. He enjoys no
other readings. He delights in no other company and conversations.
This man is sowing to the flesh, and he will be sure to reap
corruption. His treasure is all on the earth; his harvest is here; and
he is sowing no seed for a harvest of glory and bliss in the world to
come.
The good ground hearer is a very different man, and he sows far
different seed. HIS SEED IS DIVINE TRUTH, AND HIS FIELD IS HIS OWN
SPIRIT. He digs up the thorns and the thistles by the roots; destroys
the serpents, and drives out the wolves and the foxes. In this way he
mortifies the body of sin and crucifies the flesh with its affections
and lusts. In a well prepared soil he plants the fig and the olive,
the vine and the pomegranate. In the place where the lion lay, the
calf shall lie down in peace; and instead of the wolf and the fox, the
sheep and her lamb shall feed in safety. Where the serpent hissed and
the basilisk was waiting to sting, the myrtle and the rose shall
bloom. Thus is the desert made to rejoice and the wilderness to bloom.
The man who thus subdues and cultivates his own spirit that is within
him, all by the help of God, is sure to be everlastingly blessed in
his deed. He will reap a rich harvest of righteousness, peace and joy
in the Holy Ghost, here and eternally in the heavens.
FRIDAY, September 17. The two brethren reached home. Of this Brother
Kline says: "Brother Isaac Long and I have been together nearly all
the time on this journey, which has occupied just five weeks. It makes
me feel somewhat lonely to part hands with such an agreeable companion
in labor; so cheerful; so full of the Spirit; so wise in counsel; so
clear in judgment. I feel that we have been together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. Ah, well! not long till we shall no more take
the parting hand! The Brethren everywhere showed us much love. May the
Lord continue to bless them, both temporally and spiritually."
Between the twenty-ninth of August and the above date they attended
quite a number of love feasts and other meetings. The Diary reports
many families visited in Huntingdon and Bedford Counties. Probably
many of the older brethren and sisters, then belonging to the families
named, may still remember this visit. Among the names reported are to
be found the Spanogles, Altebergers, Becks or Bocks, Allebaughs,
Browns, Bicheys, Sniders, and others.
Want of space absolutely forbids any further notice of the Diary for
this year.
SUNDAY, January 23. Peter Nead is with us to-day at our meetinghouse.
He spoke at some length from Acts 13. To those who could follow him
his discourse was very instructive. He traced Paul in his journeys
with Barnabas and John, from the first place named in the chapter to
the last.
SUNDAY, April 3. Meeting at Samuel Wine's in the Brush. Luke 14 was
read.
TUESDAY, May 10. Brother Kline, in company with Abraham Stoner and
David Kline, started to the Annual Meeting. On the evening of the
twelfth they got to William Deahl's, near the place of meeting.
FRIDAY, May 13. Council meeting opened. Many Brethren present. He
says: "The acquaintance, brethren and sisters form with each other at
these meetings, is not the least good accomplished by them. We stay
to-night at Solon Garber's."
SUNDAY, May 15. Public meeting to-day. Matthew 11 was read. Love feast
to-night. We stay all night at William Deahl's.
MONDAY, May 16. Started homeward, and got as far as to Brother B.
Bear's.
FRIDAY, May 20. Got home this evening. Often will my thoughts return
to the churches attended and the homes visited. I could not help
cautioning the Brethren in some of the congregations against the
inroads of pride and fashion. The younger members, particularly, need
to be instructed in regard to these things, that they may avoid
conformity to the world in dress and other things; not because the
church, as such, opposes them in it; but because the Word and Spirit
of the Lord opposes them in it. The love of Christ, that is, our love
for him and his people, and the way of holiness, lead to a life of
self-denial for his sake. The new nature in Christ does not crave the
vain and often hurtful fashions of the world. It is best, for both
body and soul, to dress plainly, but comfortably; and to live, in
every respect, according to the same rule. The godliness that is
profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is and
also of that which is to come, is not conformed to this world.
THURSDAY, June 2. Council meeting at the old Garber meetinghouse. The
subject of marrying was under consideration. It was laid to continue
as the church has heretofore held it. The enemy of souls was ready to
interfere with the holiness and innocence of our first parents in the
garden of Eden. Time has not changed his nature. Nothing but the
flaming sword of God's Word and Spirit can keep him out of the church.
The flaming sword! It gives light and heat to the children of God; but
threatens destruction to their enemies. All should bear this sword;
not sheathed in a scabbard, but forever held high in the right hand,
ready to be used whenever the enemy approaches.
SATURDAY, August 13. Daniel Miller and I go to Brother Nasselrodt's in
Brock's Gap and take dinner with him. In the afternoon we go on to
Lost River, and stay all night at Jacob Motz's.
SUNDAY, August 14. Meeting at Brother Motz's. John 15 was read. After
meeting we went to the Yellow Spring, where we stayed all night.
SUNDAY, August 21. Meeting at Neff's schoolhouse. Matthew 25 was read.
Also meeting at Samuel Wine's in the Brush. Matthew 25 was read there.
Also meeting at Pleasant Valley. Brother Koontz was baptized.
WEDNESDAY, August 24. Went to Benjamin Bowman's and back home. We have
had a wonderful rain to-day. Waters higher than they have been for
twenty-eight years.
SUNDAY, September 4. Meeting in our meetinghouse. Romans 6 was read.
John Miller and Abraham Deitrich's wife were baptized by Benjamin
Bowman.
THURSDAY, September 8. Anna [Brother Kline's wife] and I go to Lost
River to attend a love feast. We stay all night at Celestine
Whitmore's.
SUNDAY, September 11. Meeting and love feast at Mathias's. Hebrews 8
is read. We have a delightful day and night, and many people are
assembled. I speak on the chapter read, and also upon the general
scope and design of the epistle to the Hebrews. Hebrews, and Jews, and
Israelites are all one; each being only a different name for the same
race of people. The name Hebrew and Hebrews appears to have been
derived from Eber or Heber, the grandson of Shem. The name Jew and
Jews is supposed to have been derived from Judah, one of the sons of
Jacob. The name Israelite and Israelites was derived from Jacob, whom
the angel of the Lord called Israel.
This epistle was written to the Hebrews, or Jewish Christians, to
remove from their minds some difficulties and obscurities in their way
of rightly understanding the way of salvation provided by our Lord
Jesus Christ. On account of their former connection with the
ceremonial law and the Mosaic ritual, it was hard for them to see and
appreciate the simplicity that is in Christ. Like Naaman the Syrian,
they thought the ceremonial part should possess more parade and show,
to have in it the required virtue. He thought that bathing his body
seven times in the river Jordan was a ceremony too simple to remove
his leprosy: so these Hebrew Christians thought the simple ordinances
of the house of God were too insignificant to take away their sins.
They had been instructed in the ordinances of a worldly sanctuary and
a worldly priesthood. As Christ had abolished all these, by giving to
the church the spiritual substance of which these were the shadow, it
was necessary that they be very particularly and plainly taught how
this was done. The writer of this epistle has shown this in very clear
light.
The chapter read speaks of the True Tabernacle, which the Lord
pitched, and not man. It presents Jesus as the Mediator of a better
covenant, which has been established upon better promises. This is the
covenant: "I will put my laws into their mind, and on their heart also
will I write them: I will be to them a God; and they shall be to me a
people. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." These are cheering
words: "Their sins will I remember no more." Beloved brethren and
sisters, this is precisely the way God deals with every one of his
truly penitent and obedient children. He remembers their sins no more.
No matter how great sinners they have been, no matter how they have
abused and dishonored him, he holds nothing against them. In this we
may see the spirit we should all possess. We are all commanded to be
followers of God, as dear children, and walk in love.
I have sometimes heard a brother or a sister say: "I can forgive, but
I cannot forget." Brethren, we would not feel very well if the Lord
were to say this to us and of us. How would we be made to feel if our
blessed Lord were to say to each of us: "I am willing to forgive your
trespasses against me; I am willing to save you, because I have
promised to save all who repent and believe my Gospel; but I can never
forget the way you have treated me, and will never be willing to trust
you as I could have trusted you; and can never again have the same
confidence in you that I would have had, had you treated me in a
different way"? Such forgiveness as this on the part of our Lord
toward us would rob salvation of all its joy. It would turn the sun
into darkness and the moon into blood. It would change the harmony of
heaven into notes of discord in our ears. But this would be the very
sort of forgiveness that is implied in the saying: "I can forgive, but
I cannot forget."
Notice, however, the care and the order apparent in the insertion of
that loving clause, "and your sins will I remember no more." Notice
the introduction: "I will be to you a God; and ye shall be to me a
people." In what follows the Divine Love is strongly marked: "For I
will be merciful to your iniquities, and your sins will I remember no
more." This last crowns it all. The same thing is meant by the prophet
in another place where the Lord says: "As far as the east is from the
west, so far have I removed your sins from you;" and again: "He hath
cast our sins into the bottom of the sea;" so deep down are they that
they will never rise up against us any more.
Such must our forgiveness of one another be, brethren and sisters, if
we would imitate the Lord. We should never forget that genuine
forgiveness implies a complete forgetfulness of all trespasses in the
past. Our Lord says: "If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither
will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses." To forgive from
the heart is to forgive in love; and love thinketh no ill of one's
brother or sister.
Let each one examine himself. If you feel in your heart that you love
the Lord your God with all your heart, and your brother and your
sister in the Lord as you love yourself, I feel authorized in behalf
of Christ and the church to say to you that Jesus will remember your
sins no more. You have a right to sing the song:
"Savior, more than life to me,
I am clinging close to thee;
Let thy blood, by faith applied,
Keep me ever near thy side.
Every day and every hour,
Let me feel thy cleansing power,
Till my soul is lost in love,
In a brighter world above."
TUESDAY, September 20. Love feast at our meetinghouse. John 3 was
read. David Correll and Abraham Miller and his wife were baptized.
WEDNESDAY, September 21. Benjamin Bowman and I start very early to
Hampshire County, Virginia. We get dinner at Rorabaugh's, and reach
Moorefield by night, after a ride on horseback of forty-seven miles.
THURSDAY, September 22. Go to David Vanmeter's for breakfast; reach
Abbey Arnold's for dinner, and get to the love feast at David Arnold's
just after the first meeting. We have delightful weather, good order
in the house, and a pleasant meeting.
FRIDAY, September 23. Meeting again. Revelation 3 is read. Stay at
David Arnold's all night.
SATURDAY, September 24. Go to Joseph Arnold's, and in the afternoon to
Joseph Leatherman's, where we have night meeting. I speak on Luke
24:48.
SUNDAY, September 25. Attend a love feast at Solomon Michael's.
Revelation 3 is read.
MONDAY, September 26. Homeward through Petersburg; dine at Isaac
Shobe's; then to night meeting at Sister Chlora Judy's. We speak on
Matthew 11. Stay all night.
TUESDAY, September 27. Cross the South Fork mountain over to Jacob
Warnstaff's, where we have an afternoon meeting. Speak on Luke 28. We
also have night meeting at the same place. Brother Benjamin speaks on
Luke 16. His talks are not lengthy, but they are very pointed, and
prove that they come from a thoughtful and studious mind.
WEDNESDAY, September 28. We both get home.
SUNDAY, October 2. Meeting at Henry Huffman's in Page County, Virginia.
Mark 1 is read. Isaac Spitler is baptized.
SATURDAY, December 3. Samuel Wampler and I go to Lost River. We stay
all night at Silas Randall's.
SUNDAY, December 4. Meeting at Brother Celestine Whitmore's. Matthew 7
is read. Silas Randall and his wife are baptized. We stay all night at
Celestine Whitmore's.
SUNDAY, January 1, 1843. I and Frederic Kline go to George Fulk's
schoolhouse in the Gap. We have meeting, and I speak on John 15. We
dine at George Fulk's, and in the evening return home.
SUNDAY, February 19. Meeting at our meetinghouse. John 3 is read. In
afternoon Peter Nead and I go up to Benjamin Bowman's, at the head of
Linville's Creek, where we have night meeting. Brother Nead speaks
very beautifully on John 15:14, "Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever
I command you."
THURSDAY, March 30. Visit Dr. Newham, and take him through "_a course
of medicine_." This last expression frequently appears in Brother
Kline's Diary. The phrase, "_course of medicine_," was first
introduced by Dr. Samuel Thompson, the founder and propagator of what
afterwards assumed the name of "The Thompsonian System of Medical
Practice." To the minds of many very worthy and sensible people in
Virginia and other States, Dr. Thompson's definitions of disease, and
his corresponding views of their treatment, appeared quite reasonable.
They met with great favor in some communities, and by many were
enthusiastically received. Among the latter Brother John Kline stood
in the foremost rank. He espoused the "Theory and Practice of Dr.
Samuel Thompson" with unreserved confidence. In his zeal to do good
with it he furnished the medicines and administered them to hundreds
of the afflicted; and to many free of charge.
The phrase, "_course of medicine_," was meant to comprehend in its
signification the whole routine of treatment demanded by nature to rid
itself of disease. This usually consisted of a Lobelia emetic or
vomit, more or less thorough as the symptoms of the impending disease
appeared to require. Preparatory to this vomit, and in connection with
it, warm and stimulating infusions or teas were administered to induce
very active sweating, or "free perspiration," as it was called. As an
aid to this, steaming the patient was sometimes resorted to. The
"_course_" usually took up several hours. After all was gone through
with, the patient was allowed to rest, excepting, however, the
administration of a few mild sedatives or soothing nervines, to induce
sleep. The reader may conclude that the patient very likely needed
rest after all this treatment.
Prejudice against the system has grown old, and nearly died out; and,
at this point of distance in time, it may be calmly said that "_the
course of medicine_" very often seemed to do much good. Many were
ready, at any time, to bear testimony in behalf of its efficacy in
their own individual cases, and in those in their families; and it is
hard to conclude that mere confidence in the treatment, and in the
hands by which it was administered, could effect so much good.
Brother Kline went into it with a sort of zest and zeal that looked
a little as if he might have hitched it to his train of religious
duties. Be this as it may, one truth is sure, a truth which Wordsworth
has beautifully woven into the poetic lines which follow:
"The sick he soothed; the hungry fed;
Bade pain and anguish flee:
He loved to raise the downcast head
Of friendless poverty."
SUNDAY, May 28. To-day we held our first regular meeting in our new
house. It has been decided to name it "The Brush Meetinghouse." This
is a frame building, constructed by Christian and John Wine, sons of
Samuel Wine.
"The Brush" is a small section of country in Rockingham County,
Virginia. It lies between the North mountain on the west side and
Linville's Creek on the east; and between the North Fork of the
Shenandoah river on the north and the head waters of Muddy Creek on
the south. It comprises, probably, sixteen square miles.
Samuel Wine, one of the pioneers of the German Baptist Brethren,
raised a very useful and respectable family in the very heart of the
Brush. Of his sons, Christian, and John, and Samuel, and George were
set to the ministry of the Word in the church of their father's
choice. Michael, the only other son, is a deacon.
Jacob Mitchell, who spent his last years in the same Brotherhood,
raised a very respectable and intelligent family in the Brush, at the
place now occupied by his son Joseph A. Mitchell, and officially known
as Cherry Grove; that name having been given to the post office kept
at the place, from the great abundance of sweet cherries which for
many years have grown there and in the vicinity to great perfection.
Anthony Showalter, father of John A. Showalter, and grandfather of
Anthony J. Showalter, both favorably known as composers and teachers
of music,--raised a numerous family of noble boys and girls in the
same section, nearly, if not quite all of them, members of the
Brethren church.
All of the above-named brethren were personal friends of Brother
Kline, who often visited them at their homes.
David Haller, whose name is often seen in the Diary, was another
intimate friend of Brother Kline. He held membership in the church
many years, and assisted in building the Brush meetinghouse. From what
has been said of the Brush, it appears to have been favorable to the
reproduction of the race, both numerically and substantially. Brother
David Haller had born unto him from a first and second marriage
twenty-two children, nearly all of whom grew up to manhood or
womanhood. The question was once asked: "Can any good thing come out
of Nazareth?" History forever answers, yes! Truth echoes the same
answer to the same question, applied to the Brush.
SUNDAY, June 4. Meeting at the Flat Rock. Mary Pope is baptized.
SUNDAY, June 25. Meeting at the Powder Spring. Peter Beacher is
baptized. We dine at Abraham Funkhouser's and stay all night at
Abraham Swartz's.
THURSDAY, June 29. Attend a very sad funeral to-day. Brother John
Zigler's child was drowned, and quite dead when discovered. It was one
year, seven months and twenty-eight days old. The death of a child is
always distressing; but when death comes by accident, it is much more
so. Brother John Zigler lives in Timberville, Rockingham County,
Virginia.
MONDAY, July 10. Dine at Sister Judy Deitrick's. Call on Dr. Biggs,
whose headquarters are at John Higgins's. He is a straight up and down
Thompsonian doctor. He seems to fear no opposition. He says that such
plain, common-sense principles as underlie Thompson's System of
medical practice must stand the test of time, and eventually win the
day. He says that Dr. Thompson was the first to formulate the Axiom:
"Remove the cause, and the effect will cease." Disease is removed from
the body by expelling the cause. Nature, when the cause of disease is
removed, will of herself, restore health to the body. Reduce the
strength of the patient, and you reduce the patient's power to get
well. Do bleeding, blistering, starving and drastic purges strengthen
the vital forces, or add power to the recuperative system? No! All
these tend to reduce the restorative forces by weakening the
alimentary, respiratory, circulatory and nervous systems of the body;
the only powers upon which the physician may rely, and to which he
dare look for the restoration of the sick to health. Such are the
convictions which the doctor expressed to me in the brief interview I
had with him to-day. Stay all night at Joseph Miller's.
SATURDAY, July 15. Brother Daniel Miller and I go to Brock's Gap, dine
at George Moyers's, and stay all night at Celestine Whitmore's.
SUNDAY, July 16. I baptize Magdalena Moyers and Barbara Tusing. We
stay all night at Charles Snider's.
FRIDAY, August 11. Attend harvest meeting at the Flat Rock. It
behooves us, at these meetings, to be on our guard, lest we fall into
a feeling of self-satisfaction. I mean by this that it is possible for
us to become so well satisfied with ourselves now that we have
returned thanks to the Lord for the rich gifts of his love, in the
bountiful harvest we have just gathered, that we have no need of being
watchful as to the use we make of it. Brethren, if our thankfulness be
from the heart, this very feeling will lead us into a desire to make a
right use of what the Lord has given. Perhaps it would be better for
us to take up more time at our harvest meeting in talking about the
ways and means of using the gifts of God, and how best to apply them
to the end that will do most good to one another and the poor, and
thus most honor and glorify him. I made remarks similar to these, and
think that I will speak more on the same line of thought to-morrow.
SATURDAY, August 12. Harvest meeting at our meetinghouse. After
meeting, go up to Isaac Ritchey's in Brock's Gap, and stay all night.
SUNDAY, August 13. Jacob Stirewalt, a Lutheran minister, preaches and
administers the sacrament at Sowders's church to-day. I happen to be
present, and am reminded of my boyhood experience in Pennsylvania,
when I used to be in the Lutheran church on such occasions, and when
it often fell to my lot to pump wind for the organ. In the afternoon
we have meeting at Jacob Whetzel's. I stay all night at James
Fitzwaters's.
SUNDAY, August 27. Meeting at Daniel Garber's. Matthew 13 is read.
Brother Daniel Miller baptized three persons to-day. This day also
Samuel and Joseph Good and their wives are baptized.
FRIDAY, September 15. Creek and river very high. A great freshet. A
very wonderful washout occurred in the side of the North mountain,
above Turleytown, back of Elijah Baker's. It is supposed to have been
caused by a waterspout or cloud-burst, as it is sometimes called. A
great flood of water seemed to fall on the side of the mountain on a
small patch of ground, uprooting trees, overturning rocks, and
carrying all in one huge mass into the hollow below, where they
lodged. The flood, rolling on, carried off Moses Pumphrey's
milk-house, and did some other damage.
WEDNESDAY, October 4. Meeting and love feast at Beaver Creek. Hebrews
12 is read. The brethren and sisters were exhorted to "follow after
peace, and the holiness without which no one shall see the Lord; to
take heed lest any fall short of the grace of God by living unholy
lives." Whilst it is the duty of the housekeepers to look after the
purity and order of the church at all times, still it does appear that
a special eye should be had on the body at the times of our love
feasts. "All things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we
have to do." There should be no spots in our feasts of love. All
should be unspotted love and purity in Christ Jesus. Otherwise our
services may not be acceptable to him. If there be anyone amongst us
to-day who feels and knows in his own heart that he is a fornicator or
profane person as Esau was, any one that is conscious of having in
himself any feeling of bitterness towards the body or any member of
it; I hereby, according to authority from the Lord, admonish such not
to approach the table of the Lord. Such sins should be publicly
confessed before the church; and according to the words of the Lord,
the church has authority to loose the brother or sister from such
sins, when deeply and duly repented of. "Whatsoever ye shall loose on
earth, shall be loosed in heaven."
But I here entreat all to think soberly. Let none stay away from the
table of the Lord on account of a feeling of unworthiness before God.
"For the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a
contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise." When we are meek and
lowly in heart under a deep sense of unworthiness and shortcomings,
then it is that the spirit is bearing witness with our spirits. Though
free from sin, still our Lord confessed that he himself was "meek and
lowly in heart." Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand
of God, that he may exalt you in due time. He that humbleth himself
shall be exalted.
After such exhortations and instructions the brethren and sisters
joined in singing that heart-cheering old hymn:
"Arise, my soul, arise;
Shake off thy guilty fears:
The Bleeding Sacrifice
In my behalf appears.
Before the Throne my surety stands;
My name is written on his hands."
We have had good weather all this day and night, and a fine meeting.
MONDAY, October 16. Between this date and the twenty-third Brother
Kline, in company with Anna, his wife, visited the following named
families: Daniel Glick's, David Wampler's, Widow George Kline's,
Samuel Miller's, Jonas Wampler's, Daniel Wampler's, Jacob Hoover's
above Staunton, Joel Garber's, Jacob Zigler's, Christian Kline's,
Jacob Wine's, Martain Good's, Joseph Miller's, Daniel Garber's,
Frederic Kline's, Jacob Earley's and Flory's. He attended a number of
meetings in connection with the foregoing visits, and reports the
Brethren and relatives generally well.
WEDNESDAY, October 25. Brother Kline started to Hampshire County, West
Virginia. He went by way of the South Fork and Moorefield in Hardy
County, West Virginia; and got to Brother Nicolas Leatherman's by
Thursday night, after two very hard days' ride on horseback. On this
journey he visited John Leatherman's, Daniel Arnold's, Joseph
Arnold's, David Good's, Solomon Michael's and others. He attended a
love feast and one other meeting at Arnold's meetinghouse, and had
night meeting at Solomon Michael's. Here his subject was the baptism
of John. From Solomon Michael's he went to Brother Stingley's in the
west part of Hardy County, West Virginia, where he met and filled an
appointment for preaching. From this place he went to Parks's; and on
WEDNESDAY, November 1, he took dinner at Saul Hyre's, above Petersburg,
and stayed all night at Isaac Shobe's.
THURSDAY, November 2. He had meeting at the widow Chlora Judy's on
Mill Creek, where he spoke from John 1:29. "Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world." The next day he had meeting
at Rorabaugh's on the South Fork; and in the afternoon went across the
Shenandoah mountain to Brother Nesselrodt's. He says: "I crossed two
very high mountains to-day. It is cloudy and cold, threatening snow."
SATURDAY, November 4. Snowing fast this morning. Go on to Mathias's on
Lost River, where I meet a small gathering of people at night. Snows
fast all day, and meeting small; but I nevertheless speak as best I
can on the last two verses of the ninth chapter of John. These are the
words, and what follows is an outline in substance of what I said:
"And many came unto him; and they said, John indeed did no sign: but
all things whatsoever John spake of this man were true. And many
believed on him there." Our Lord's work on earth in the flesh, was now
fast drawing to a close. Honest hearts were accepting him as the
Savior of the world. His enemies, on the other hand, were becoming
more violent in their opposition to him, on the ground that if they
would let him go all men would believe on him. One striking feature of
our Lord's spirit and doctrine was that of "_nonresistance_" of
personal or bodily enemies. "My kingdom," said he, "is not of this
world; else would my servants fight." Ignorant of the power of love,
these Jewish enemies of our Lord could foresee nothing in the
tendencies of his doctrines but the destruction of their city
Jerusalem, and the same also of their nationality as a people.
Although John did no sign or miracle, still he told the truth about
Jesus; and inasmuch as he did this in the beginning of our Lord's
ministry, and was beheaded soon after, it was in itself strong
evidence in favor of our Lord's Messiahship. The people could plainly
see the agreement between the life and teachings of Christ and what
John had said they would be. The agreement was too exact and uniform
to be accidental. This led many to believe on him. They alleged that
all things whatsoever John spake of this man were true; and they came
unto him. In this they showed their wisdom. How they hung upon his
words! How their hearts did burn as he opened unto them the
Scriptures! Like Mary, many sat at his feet and heard his words.
At the present day, when any begin to inquire the way of salvation,
instead of going to the Word wherein the way is plainly revealed, and
the Lord may be found, they go to their preacher, or to others whom
they regard as safe guides, or to books that purport to lead inquirers
into the right way; and very often they are wrongly taught and misled.
If there be one here to-night who is anxiously inquiring the way to
Jesus, I say to him: "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world!" "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I
confess before my Father and the holy angels." "Whosoever shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved: for with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation." A good many tongues are found in the mouth with which
men make "confession unto salvation." But they all speak the same
thing, and the thing which they all speak is humble obedience to the
Word of the Lord. Baptism is one tongue. Feet-washing is another
tongue. The Lord's Supper is another tongue. The Communion is another
tongue. A quiet, honest and peaceable life is another tongue, and one
that speaks very loud for Christ. Temperance in eating and drinking,
and abstemiousness in the way of rejecting the use of all unnecessary
or injurious things is another tongue of power on the Lord's side.
Come to Jesus. Confess him in these ways, and thou shall live.
SUNDAY, December 31. Meeting on Lost River. Matthew 2 is read. Stay
all night at Christian Halterman's.
It is said that the centipede has a hundred feet. It may have; and it
does seem that superstition, or the belief in supernatural things of a
trivial nature has quite as many; and, like the fabled animal of
ancient times, has also a hundred heads.
This evening I overheard a conversation among some young people where
I stayed, in which one said that every New Year's night, that is, the
night in which the New Year comes in, the cattle and sheep all get on
their knees, as if they might be in a devotional posture of body. They
talked as if they really believed that this might be so. I do not know
how this impression has come about; but I have heard this before, and
guess that some mischievous or sportive person tried to make some one
else believe that cattle and sheep kneel _only_ on New Year's night,
when the truth is that they kneel whenever they lie down to rest. I
have often thought it a pity that people are so ready to believe in
marvelous and supernatural things which can do them no good, and so
backward to believe the most marvelous truth the world has ever known;
the truth that God has provided eternal life and salvation for all who
are willing to accept it on the easy terms upon which it is offered.
In this year I have traveled, mostly on horseback, three thousand, two
hundred and sixty miles.
MONDAY, January 1, 1844. I feel sure that the work of the year cannot
be entered upon more suitably than by making arrangements for building
a house of worship unto the Lord. The need of a house of this kind has
long been felt among the Brethren on Lost River. We have here, as
elsewhere, "not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God" publicly,
as Paul says he did among the Ephesian brethren, "and that from house
to house." But it is best to have a stated place of worship, and with
this in view we have this day made arrangements to build a
meetinghouse, to be known as the Lost River meetinghouse. Celestine
Whitmore, Jacob Mathias and Silas Randall have been elected trustees;
and Celestine Whitmore, one of the number, has been elected master
builder.
SATURDAY, February 24. Raise the new meetinghouse on Lost River. Stay
all night at Silas Randall's.
TUESDAY, March 26. My dear old father dies this night, at forty
minutes past three o'clock in the morning. He has lived to a great
age, has seen all of his children settled in life and doing well, has
served his day and generation to good purpose by a faithful discharge
of duty as a husband and father in his own family; as a kind and
ever-obliging neighbor in his community; and far, very far outweighing
all these, he has honored his God by embracing the faith set forth in
the Gospel of the Son of God, the faith that works by love, that
purifies the heart, and that overcomes the world. All great endings
are but great beginnings. The end of our Savior's life on earth was
but the beginning of his life of ineffable glory and exaltation in
heaven. As the Head is, so shall the members be. In his own measure,
as it hath pleased the Lord to give my father grace, so shall his
reward in glory be. Death is the door through which we enter life.
"Farewell! we meet no more
On this side heaven:
The parting scene is o'er,
The last sad look is given,
"Farewell! O may we meet
In heaven above:
And there, in union sweet,
Sing of a Savior's love."
THURSDAY, March 28. Daniel Miller and Benjamin Bowman preach father's
funeral. The earth that covers the body and hides it from sight does
not bury our hopes. The anchor of the soul is sure and steadfast. It
has its hold upon the things within the veil, which are eternal and
immovable. I will not sorrow as those who have no hope. Father's age
was eighty years, eight months and twenty-two days.
_Sermon by Elder John Kline._
_Preached at Old Father Kagey's,
Sunday, March 31._
TEXT.--For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man
perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.--2 Cor. 4:16.
Our heavenly Father makes known to his children the things necessary
for their instruction in the way of a holy life, that they may do his
will in all things and live well-pleasing to him at all times. To this
end many precious promises are held up to our spiritual vision, and
many encouragements set forth to animate us to love and duty. Hence
Paul says: "For this cause we faint not. Even though our outward man
perish," that is, show signs of decay and approaching death, "yet the
inward man is renewed day by day." This natural body in which we live
and move, in which we serve and suffer, is what Paul calls "the
outward man." Elsewhere it is called "a natural body." It is the
offspring of the natural act of generation between the father and
mother, and is in its nature bone of their bone and flesh of their
flesh. This is why it is called a natural body. In the text it is
called "the outward man," because it is the external part of the man;
is visible; has weight; may be handled and felt; and is the medium of
direct sensation. It is also the seat of suffering and sin, and is
subject to death and decomposition as its end. Of this body it is
written: "Dust thou art; and unto dust shalt thou return." Paul says:
"In me, that is, in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing." He is
very particular to tell us in which part of him it is where no good
thing dwelleth. He says: "In my flesh."
But there is "an inward man" about which none of these things can be
said. This is elsewhere called "a spiritual body." It is so called
because it is born "not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of
the will of man, but of God." It is also called "a new creature in
Christ Jesus." Generation, in a natural sense, implies the begetting
and bringing forth of the "natural body" the "outward man," "the old
man;" but regeneration implies the begetting and bringing forth of
"the spiritual body," "the inward man," "the new man," which after God
is created in righteousness and true holiness. Peter says: "Born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of
God, which liveth and abideth forever."
But it matters not how good a thing may be, if it is out of our reach
or beyond our power to get, it can do us no good. But the new life in
the soul, the eternal life of the spirit, is not out of the reach of
any, is in reach of all. Even the dead shall hear his voice, and they
that hear shall live. "He that heareth my word, and believeth him that
sent me, hath everlasting life." "Whosoever cometh unto me, I will in
no wise cast out." "He that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit
reap life everlasting." "This is life eternal that they might know
thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." "If
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things have passed
away; behold, all things have become new."
Obedience to the ordinances of God's house has its place here in
connection with faith. By works is faith made perfect. The first
command that Paul received in connection with his conversion was:
"Arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name
of the Lord." The instruction of Peter to the convicts on the day of
Pentecost was: "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost." In preaching Jesus to the eunuch Philip
evidently preached our Lord's baptism, else what would the eunuch have
known about baptism? How else can we account for his remark to Philip
and implied request: "See, here is water, what doth hinder me to be
baptized?" "If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest," was
Philip's answer. Sinner, you are invited to come and take of the water
of life freely. Come, believe, obey, and live forever.
FRIDAY, April 12. Plant corn in the lower field.
SATURDAY, April 13. Finish planting the lower field. I never plant
corn or commit any seed to the earth, but I am filled with wonder in
the contemplation of God's power. In my thoughts over things of this
kind my mind and heart find pleasant relief, by recalling in memory
the beautiful similitude which Mark, alone of all the evangelists, has
left on record for us. These are his words: "And he [the Lord] said,
So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed upon the earth,
and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up
and grow, he knoweth not how. The earth beareth fruit of herself;
first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear." These
words greatly encourage me to labor more faithfully in the ministry of
the Word: for as we know the Lord has power to make the dry seed in
the dry ground grow unto a rich harvest, we know not how, so has he
power to make the seeds of his truth spring up and grow in the hearts
of men unto a harvest of eternal blessedness in heaven. But as the
corn must be tended, the field kept clean, and the ground kept in
order during the growing season, so must the Word in the heart be
guarded from the inroads of evils, such as are clearly described in
the Lord's own words.
SATURDAY, April 20. Council meeting to-day on Lost River. Celestine
Whitmore elected speaker, and Silas Randall elected deacon. Stay all
night at John Miller's.
SUNDAY, April 21. Meeting at Whitmore's. Luke 14 is read. _Humility_
was my subject to-day, founded on the words of the eleventh verse.
Pride is the opposite of humility. The proud man exalts himself and
refuses to follow in the footsteps of the meek and lowly Jesus.
"God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble." So says the
Apostle James. And why is this so? Because the proud man, in his sense
of self-sufficiency, feels no want at the present which he thinks he
is not able to supply, and dreads no want in the future, either
because he does not think of any future life, or because he has
persuaded himself to believe there is no future state of existence.
God can never give grace to such a man, in such a state, because he
will not receive it. A thing may be offered, but it can never be said
to be given unless it is received. Wherefore the Apostle Peter says:
"Humble yourselves therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that he
may exalt you in due time." When God exalts a man, when God lifts a
man up, he then is lifted up, he then is exalted, sure enough. This is
the exaltation to which we may truthfully apply Paul's exultation:
"Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the
heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared for them that love
him."
SUNDAY, May 12. Meeting in our meetinghouse. Ephesians 4 is read.
Samuel Myers and his wife are baptized.
TUESDAY, May 14. Council meeting to-day at our meetinghouse. John
Bowman, of Franklin County, Virginia, and Brother Barnhardt, of
Roanoke County, Virginia, were with us to-day; and they are with me
this evening to stay all night.
THURSDAY, May 16. Raise the mill, and in the afternoon go to the Gap
and marry George Fawley and Catharine Fulk.
SATURDAY, June 1. Love feast to-day at our meetinghouse. Brother
Daniel Barnhardt, of Roanoke County, Virginia, and Brother John
Bowman, of Franklin County, Virginia, and Brother Peter Nead were with
us. We had much good speaking by the visiting brethren on the 10th
chapter of John and other passages of Scripture.
SUNDAY, June 2. Go to Daniel Miller's to meeting. Luke 14 is read. I
then go to Joseph Miller's where I stay all night.
MONDAY, June 10. This morning the intelligence comes of the sudden
death of Reuben Yount. He was found lying dead in the road. It is
supposed that he was killed by being thrown from his horse on his way
home last evening.
TUESDAY, June 11. Reuben Yount was buried to-day. Age, twenty-five
years and thirteen days. Verily the sons of men sink into the grave
like raindrops into the sea, and are seen no more. As unexpectedly as
the pitcher is broken at the fountain, even before it is filled with
water, so unexpectedly does death come to many.
MONDAY, June 24. Finish making hay. We have about twenty-two tons in
all.
SUNDAY, June 30. Meeting at Frederic Kline's, near Dayton, Virginia.
Six persons baptized.
SUNDAY, July 7. Meeting at our meetinghouse. John Kave and wife, Katy
Keysayer, Betsy Holsinger, Polly Knopp, Katy Fry and Betsy Andes were
baptized to-day. Daniel Miller baptized them.
SATURDAY, July 27. Harvest meeting at Copp's schoolhouse in Shenandoah
County, Virginia.
WEDNESDAY, July 31. Harvest meeting at the Brush meetinghouse.
THURSDAY, August 1. Go to harvest meeting at Daniel Garber's
meetinghouse. Stay all night at John Myers's in Augusta County,
Virginia.
FRIDAY, August 2. Love feast at the Brick meetinghouse. Luke 14 was
read. One brother spoke impressively on the last three words in the
first verse: "THEY WATCHED HIM." Said he, "The enemies of the Lord
most likely did this. They were ever eager to find some ground of
accusation against him. But the Lord was not alone in this. 'A servant
is not greater than his lord.' We, Brethren, are liable to be watched.
And I think I may say truthfully that we are watched not only by our
enemies, but by our friends too. But there is a great difference
between the eye of an enemy and the eye of a friend. The eye of an
enemy seeks for faults with which to accuse and persecute; and when no
real fault can be found the evil eye seeks to make faults by looking
at our actions and motives in a false light, and if possible getting
others to regard them in the same false light. But not so the eye of a
friend. A wise father watches his children, not to find faults with
which to accuse, but in love to correct by pointing out their evil
tendencies and the end to which they lead.
"So, dear brethren and sisters, should we watch one another in the
house of God. We should never be quick to take offense when some
brother or sister out of pure love for us kindly warns us of some
fault that we may not be fully conscious of."
In words as nearly like the above as I can give them, and in many
others, did the brother exhort the church.
SUNDAY, August 25. Attend meeting at the Flat Rock. First Corinthians
1 is read. Louis Nasselrodt and wife and Henry Strawdeman and wife
were baptized. I baptized them.
SUNDAY, September 1. Meeting at our meetinghouse. Colossians 2 was
read. Philip Bible and wife, Adam Hevner and wife, William Andes,
Samuel Zigler, Christian Krider and old Mother Minick were baptized
to-day.
SUNDAY, September 8. Meeting at Stoner's to-day. Romans 6 was read. I
baptized Christian Krider's wife to-day.
[With Elder John Kline to plan was to do; to propose in mind was to
perform in act; ever though, let it be remembered, by the help of the
Lord. "His will, and not mine, be done," was Brother Kline's motto.
The following notes are word for word from the fly leaves of his Diary
for the present year. They are inserted here for two reasons. First,
to show that he formed a purpose and laid down a plan before acting.
In the following pages it will be seen how faithfully the plan laid
out in the Diary was executed. Second, to show something of the
confidence reposed in his genuine honesty, and his business capacity
as a man.--EDITOR.]
I have in contemplation to take the following route to Ohio: Start on
the seventeenth of September, and on the eighteenth have an afternoon
meeting at Parks's, in Hardy County, Virginia [now West Virginia]; on
the twenty-first to stop at Jacob Thomas's in Preston County, Virginia;
on the twenty-second to be at George's Creek; on the twenty-sixth to
be at Bull Creek, Columbiana County, Ohio; on the eighth and ninth of
October to be at Bucyrus, Crawford County, Ohio; on the twelfth to be
at Sugar Creek, in Allen County, Ohio; on the sixteenth, seventeenth,
eighteenth and nineteenth in Henry County, Indiana; on the evening of
the twenty-third to be at Bear Creek, Montgomery County, Ohio. Things
which I have to attend to on my trip to Ohio and Indiana:
To inquire of George Weaver about a legacy of William Toppin, orphan
of Thomas Toppin.
Received of Jacob Hoover $73.42 to be paid over as follows:
To George Hoover, $17.57
To Peter Fesler, 17.57
To Elizabeth Fesler, 38.28
------
$73.42
To get some rents of Joseph Garber for Susanna Garber.
To pay over to Betsy Fesler, $200.00
To pay over to George Hoover, 50.00
This money I received of Aunt Katy Hoover.
To collect some money of Mahoney and of John Kline for Ziglers. I hold
papers for the same.
To collect money of Jacob Leedy in Columbiana County, Ohio, for Peter
Nead.
To collect money of John Garber, of Montgomery County, Ohio, for
Solomon Garber, of Rockingham County, Virginia. I am to let John
Garber have the note if he pays $150.00.
TUESDAY, September 17. Brother George R. Hedrick and I start from my
home this morning, on horseback, for Ohio. We dine at William
Fitzwater's, in Brock's Gap, and arrive in the evening at Isaac
Dasher's on the South Fork, Hardy County, Virginia, where we stay over
night.
WEDNESDAY, September 18. Come to Isaac Shobe's for breakfast, and on
to Parks's for dinner. Meeting in the afternoon at Parks's. John 3
is read. On the way to-day Brother Hedrick and I talked over the
interpretation we are to give the Lord's words in the thirteenth verse
of the chapter read this afternoon. These are the words: "And no man
hath ascended up to heaven." I asked Brother Hedrick if Elijah had not
ascended to heaven? I quoted to him the very words recorded in the
eleventh verse of the second chapter of Second Kings: "And Elijah went
up by a whirlwind into heaven." Brother Hedrick confessed that a first
thought on our Lord's words might lead the mind to conclude that there
is a want of harmony between what he says to Nicodemus and what is
plainly said of Elijah. But he removed the difficulty from my mind at
once by explaining the Lord's words to mean that no one in his own
strength or by virtue of his own power had ascended to heaven. "Elijah
went up to heaven, it is true," said he, "but the horses of fire and
the chariot of fire by which he went up, beautifully and impressively
symbolize the Lord's hand by which he was taken up. And besides this,
we read in 2 Kings 2:1, 'And it came to pass when the Lord would take
up Elijah into heaven by a whirlwind, that Elijah went with Elisha
from Gilgal.' Here it is plainly implied that the Lord took up Elijah
into heaven. And this falls in as a part of the great lesson the Lord
was seeking to impress upon the mind of Nicodemus, the great truth
that the Lord alone has power to lift men, through the regeneration,
up to heaven." Stay all night at Parks's.
THURSDAY, September 19. We go to Stingley's for breakfast; to Eliza
Hays's for dinner (still in Hardy County, Virginia), and stay all
night at Gilpin's. We are now within sixteen miles of the Maryland
line.
FRIDAY, September 20. To-day we passed through what is called the
Glades and Wilderness, to the Briery mountain. A very lonely road; but
the companionship of a man and a brother like George Hedrick makes
solitude enjoyable. Only those who have experienced the agreeableness
of a bright, serene, calm and contented mind and heart, such as I find
in Brother Hedrick, can ever realize the pleasure of such company.
It does seem to me that we can almost adopt toward each other the
beautiful sentiment of love which Ruth expressed for Naomi: "Whither
thou goest I will go, and where thou lodgest I will lodge. Thy people
shall be my people. Where thou diest I will die, and there will I be
buried." We fed our horses and took breakfast at Smith's tavern, in
Preston County, Virginia; took dinner at Bransonville, and find
ourselves here at Brother Jacob Thomas's, where we are spending the
night.
SATURDAY, September 21. Meeting in the schoolhouse near Brother
Thomas's. Deuteronomy, eighteenth chapter is read. I spoke on the
latter portion of the chapter read, from the fifteenth verse to the
end. I spoke particularly on the following words: "The Lord thy God
will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy
brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken." This was spoken to
the children of Israel. What follows was spoken directly to Moses: "I
will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto
thee; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto
them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that
whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my
name, I will require it of him." I tried to show these people the
great danger there is in a life of sin. The great Prophet spoken of
and promised in the words of my text is none other than the Lord Jesus
Christ. In the fullness of time he appeared. The prophecy just read
was recorded by Moses very nearly fifteen hundred years before it was
fulfilled by the appearing of our Savior. This single consideration
may serve to remind us of the faithfulness of God in fulfilling his
Word. And our blessed Lord while in the flesh more than once turned
the eyes of his disciples to the prophecies that foretold his coming.
In one place he said to the people: "Think not that I am come to
destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to
fulfill." After his resurrection, on his way to Emmaus, in company
with two of his sorrowing disciples who had not yet fully learned the
truth of his having risen, he said in reference to his sufferings and
death: "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet
with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the
law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me."
I am now prepared to tell you, and I trust you are prepared to hear
some of the particulars in which Christ Jesus was like unto Moses. You
know the text says: "A Prophet like unto me." This is the language of
Moses. The Lord God had just before told him this. We will now turn
to some of the points in the comparison of Moses with Christ. Moses
told the people to believe what he told them and obey the commands he
gave them. He taught them that if they would obey the commands and
ordinances which God gave and established through him they would
receive the favor of the Lord, and that as a reward for their
obedience he would bless them exceedingly. But if they would turn away
from him, he would turn away from them, and multiply their troubles
greatly. Christ Jesus does the same. Just at the close of the most
wonderful sermon the world has ever heard preached, a sermon in which
all the moral and spiritual relations of men to each other and to God,
together with the duties growing out of these relations, are set forth
the Lord says: "Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth
them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a
rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a
rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them
not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon
the sand: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of
it."
Friends, let me say to you that each and every one of you is building
a house for himself on one or the other of these foundations. Your
life, your every-day life, from beginning to end, is the house you are
building. If your life, from love to the Lord, is based upon the solid
rock of his Revealed Truth, it will stand the temptations and trials
symbolized by the floods and winds; but if not, it will never be able
to stand, and great will be its fall. Some may think that because God
is long-suffering, and does not punish sin in this world so manifestly
as he sometimes did in former times, he is becoming more merciful and
takes less account of sin than formerly. But this is a very great
mistake. God has always been quite as merciful as he could be
consistently with his justice and holiness; and the warning given
in Hebrews 2:2 should be heeded. This is the warning: "If every
transgression and disobedience" under Moses, "received a just
recompense of reward, how shall we escape if we neglect so great
salvation?" Notice this also from the same book: "He that despised
Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how
much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who
hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of
the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath
done despite unto the Spirit of grace?"
Again: The children of Israel were baptized unto Moses, that is, into
a visible covenant with him, in the cloud and in the Red Sea, as they
passed through. In this act of baptism, by which they declared their
willingness to follow him as their leader, but the one action was
required, and that action was their passing between the walls of water
on the right hand and on the left hand, with the cloud overhead
completely shutting them in from the world. But the Christian, to be
a true follower of the great Prophet of whom we are particularly
speaking, is required to submit to a threefold baptism, which is an
immersion of the body in water in the name of the Father who loved us
and gave his Son; another immersion in the name of the Son who redeems
and saves us; and lastly an immersion in the name of the Holy Ghost
who convinces of sin, who comforts us, enlightens us as to our duties,
sanctifies and makes us meet for heaven.
Again: Moses gave the people water from the Rock. Christ Jesus gives
his people the water of life. He says: "If any man thirst, let him
come unto me, and drink."
Again: Moses fed the people with manna, which they gathered every
morning from the ground. Christ feeds his people with the heavenly
manna, which I take to be the great and eternal love of the Father
contained in the blessed words of truth which his Son has declared to
the world.
In such and many other words did I speak unto these people, seeking
to instruct them in the things of salvation, and induce some of them,
at least, to turn to the Lord. After meeting we dined at Brother
Thomas's, and started for George's Creek; crossed Laurel mountain to
Hagtonsville, then to Brother Joseph Leatherman's, in Fayette County,
Pennsylvania, where we stay all night.
SUNDAY, September 22. Go to George's Creek meetinghouse. We have
forenoon and afternoon meeting. Second Corinthians 6 is read in the
forenoon meeting. In the 3 o'clock meeting Luke 14 is read. I speak on
the great supper, from the sixteenth to the twenty-fourth verse.
Whilst I am a stranger to most of you, I nevertheless feel assured by
the signs I witness that I can confidingly and affectionately address
some of you, and I trust a goodly number too, as beloved brethren and
sisters. This is, so far, as it should be. But what would be the joy
of my heart, and what would be the joy of heart with each one of you,
could it be said that this entire congregation is of one mind and all
speak the same thing! But the words of my text, harmonizing with the
closing words of another parable, recorded by Matthew, which declare
that "many are called, but few chosen," may continue to be true, for
a long time yet to come. Whilst the advocates of election and
predestination claim this as one of their proof texts, to my mind it
proves the exact reverse. "Many are called." Here, if I mistake not,
the German has it: "The many are called." I take this to mean that all
are called. Now compare this with what is said here in my text: "Then
the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, Go out
quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither
the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. And the servant
said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
And the Lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and
hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." This
surely proves that all are called or invited to the great supper.
First, the Jews were invited. When Jesus sent forth the twelve he
commanded them saying; "Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into
any city of the Samaritans enter ye not: but go rather to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel." Here it is plain that the Jews were
the first to be invited. "But they all with one mind began to make
excuse." Next then the poor of the city were invited. Still there was
room. Next the off-casts and beggars were invited. These included the
very lowest of the Gentile nations, and comprehend all that live,
every creature.
Now I ask, in the name of all that is reasonable, can we, dare we,
accuse the Lord of dealing deceitfully? Perish the thought forever.
No! He invites all because it is his blessed will to see all come
and sit at his table spread with the great love feast which he has
prepared for all who are willing and desire to come. This very thought
is the joy of my heart and the boast of my tongue. And it is a joy
which no man taketh from me, because it rests on the rock of Divine
Truth. But a preparation is necessary. We can hardly separate the
parable under consideration from the one recorded in Matthew
twenty-second chapter. There we read of a wedding dinner made by a
king, to celebrate the marriage of his son. And when the king came in
he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. And the king
said: "Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?
And he was speechless." And why was he speechless? If he would have
had any reasonable excuse to offer for the unprepared appearance which
he made, would he have been speechless? Reason says at once. He would
have urged his inability to procure a suitable dress for the occasion,
as the cause for his appearing in the way he did, if any such cause
had existed. And the king knew this full well; otherwise he would not
have required all to have on the wedding garment.
I now call your attention to the closing words of the parable: "I say
unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my
supper." The reason for this is found in the fact that they would not
come. They were the first to be invited. Had they come, they would
have received the right hand of welcome. But notice the unreasonable
excuses they made. One had bought a piece of ground, and he must go
and see it, as if night were the time to look at land. Another must
try the five yoke of oxen he had that day bought, as if night were the
best time to do this. Another had married a wife and could not come,
as if night were not a suitable time to enjoy a rich supper with his
bride. We wonder at these vain and almost unnatural excuses; but do we
find the excuses of men any more reasonable to-day? Men hazard their
souls in a life of sin, not for want of invitations, entreaties and
warnings from the Lord to come unto him, but because they will not.
The Lord pleads with men to-day, just as he pleaded with Israel
centuries ago. Hear what he says to Israel by the mouth of the Prophet
Ezekiel: "Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions;
so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your
transgressions, ... and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why
will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of
him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves and live
ye."
And now, Brethren and friends, to make a brief application of some of
the great principles laid down, I will say that the Lord's Supper is
the great love feast which he has prepared for you, for me, for all.
This great love feast, of which our own ordinance by his appointment,
and bearing the same name, is a beautiful and fitting emblem, is
neither more nor less than the bountiful provisions Christ has made
for the salvation of all. These provisions are the great truths of his
Word, filled with his love. The Lord Jesus says: "I am the bread of
life." To the Jews he said: "Your fathers did eat the manna in the
wilderness, and they died." "If any man eat of the bread which I shall
give him, he shall live forever." When we are faithfully obeying the
Lord from love in our hearts, we are eating this life-giving bread.
Every truth which the Lord has revealed, and by which the spiritual
man is fed as to his soul, may be regarded as a component part of this
great feast.
Jesus said to the tempter: "Man doth not live by bread alone, but by
every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." The tempter here
meant material bread for the body, and the Lord answered him according
to that meaning. This is the kind of bread, material bread, with which
the devil seeks to satisfy every demand of our being. It embraces
everything the natural appetite of man craves. The devil is ever
seeking to lead men to feed on the husks which the swine do eat, and
to be satisfied with that kind of food. But the blessed Lord Jesus
resists the tempter, and continually seeks to lead men into a higher,
nobler and heavenly life. He says to every sinner: "Arise, and go to
thy Father, and say unto him, Father, I have sinned before heaven, and
in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." This is
repentance. This is the first move man makes in the way of approach
to the feast the Lord has prepared. "Man liveth by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God." This embraces all of Revealed
Truth. Every law, every precept, every prophecy, every parable has
some outflowing, healing virtue, some life-imparting power. We touch
the hem of its garment when we read or hear in sincerity of heart. O
sinner, come and partake of this feast, and thy soul shall live.
We stay all night with David Longenacre.
MONDAY, September 23. On towards Ohio. Dine and feed our horses at
Brother David Wise's. This evening we are at Hays's tavern in
Washington, Washington County, Pennsylvania, where we[1] stay all
night.
TUESDAY, September 24. Go to Hickorytown where we feed our horses and
get breakfast. Then on through Burgitsville and Florencetown to
Frankford, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, where we feed and dine at
Duncan's tavern. Then on to Georgetown, where we cross the Ohio river
in a horse-boat, and stay all night at Smith's tavern. A lonesome ride
to-day, because we have seen no Brethren.
[1] Brother Kline in the Diary almost invariably puts it "_Stay
all night_." I am not willing to depart from his usage in
this.--ED.
WEDNESDAY, September 25. Breakfast and feed in Darlington at Dunlap's
tavern. Then on to New Middletown to Daniel Summers's; and this evening
reach Brother Henry Kurtz's in Columbiana County, where we stay all
night.
THURSDAY, September 26. Meeting at Brother Haas's. Hebrews 8 is read.
Love feast this evening. Come back to Brother Kurtz's and stay all
night. Paul has told us more than once of the joy he felt, and how his
heart was refreshed on meeting dear brethren and sisters whom he had
not seen for a time. In meeting the brethren and sisters here and
elsewhere we experience much of the same feeling. They everywhere make
us feel at home, and show us more love and give us more attention than
we deserve. What a blessed thing it is to be filled with the love of
Christ! This implants love in the heart for the Brethren. John says:
"We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love
the brethren." This is the first-fruits of the tree of life in our
hearts.
FRIDAY, September 27. Go westward through Greene, Salem, Damascus,
Westville, and on to Brother Joseph Bollinger's, where we stay all
night.
SATURDAY, September 28. Meeting. John 3 is read. Evening meeting at
Brother Metse's, where we stay all night. Hebrews 12 is read. Begins
to snow this evening, and continues all night.
SUNDAY, September 29. Meeting in the Franklin Lutheran church. Matthew
7 is read. After meeting we come to Brother David Sommers's. Evening
meeting. John 10 is read. Stay all night with Brother Sommers. The
weather has cleared up.
MONDAY, September 30. Visit Michael Dickey who is very sick. We then
attend a meeting at Eli Dickey's, in Starke County. Galatians 3 is
read. Stay all night with Brother Dickey.
TUESDAY, October 1. On westward, through Canton, Massilon, Brooklin,
Dover, Wayne County, to Brother Jacob Kurtz's, where we have night
meeting. Matthew 9 is read. Fine weather.
WEDNESDAY, October 2. Pass through Jefferson, Pittsburg, and on to
Brother Lucas's, where we have meeting. Second Corinthians 2 is read.
I spoke awhile on the last verse, particularly on these words:
"Corrupting the word of God." In the margin the translation of this
part of the verse is somewhat different, and, if I mistake not, is
sustained by the German of Luther. It is this: "Making merchandise of
the word of God." I regard this as the more literal of the two
renderings. But they both mean very nearly the same, with this slight
difference, that the one strikes more at the cause, while the other
regards particularly the effect of "handling the word of God
deceitfully." Men who make merchandise of the Word of God are exactly
in line with the Pharisees as the Lord described them: "Verily, they
have their reward." Jesus says: "Provide yourselves purses which wax
not old; a treasure in the heavens which faileth not." But those who
make merchandise of the Word of God provide purses for themselves, for
this life, which do wax old; and they lay up their treasures here. Sad
to say, such corrupt the Word by handling it deceitfully, that they
may make the things of religion pleasing to the natural man, and
thereby draw numbers to their side. But, brethren and sisters, I
hardly need tell you that this world is no friend to grace--no friend
to God--no friend to your souls. "Except a man deny himself, and take
up his cross daily, he cannot be my disciple." How different these
words of Jesus are from some remarks I heard one of those gospel
merchants make from his stand not long since. I give them as nearly as
I can. Said he: "Religion is natural to man. And that religion is the
best which enables a man or a woman, in the easiest and most
respectable way, to lead a good moral and civil life in this world.
Christ is your righteousness, and he gives you your necessary fitness
for heaven without any effort on your part, any more than to just
believe on him; so all you have to do is to sustain a respectable
standing in the church, by attending to its ordinances, and you are
and forever will be all right."
Now I would ask if such talk as this is not corrupting the Word? How
any man, in the face of the sermon on the Mount, in which the deepest
humility of heart--in the way of self-denial, forgiveness of enemies,
love of the truth, obedience to every commandment, from supreme love
to God--and the lowest self-abasement is laid down and set forth in
the clearest light and plainest injunctions--how, I say, in the face
of all this, can a man speak in this way? And more. Hear the awful,
terrific denunciation at the close of this sermon: "He that heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a
foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: and the rain
descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that
house, and it fell: and great was the fall of it." Ah! Brethren,
something more than a desire to appear respectable in the eyes of the
world, and hold an honorable place in the church, so called, is
necessary to withstand the floods and storms of temptations that are
sure to try us in this world. This is why so many make shipwreck. They
do not count the cost; and this is why they desire to make peace, when
they see and feel the army of twenty thousand temptations coming
against them, and they have only ten thousand, very poorly equipped,
to resist their attack.
The temptations to conform to the vain fashions of the world, especially
with the young, may be called legion. The temptations to commit
adultery are a host. I speak plainly, Brethren, but I must not corrupt
the Word. The temptation to acquire property from the avaricious love
of wealth, more than we can use ourselves or handle to good ends,
comes as the prince of darkness with clouds that shut out the light of
heaven from our sight. Brethren and sisters, as I love you all dearly,
let me say to you at the close of my remarks that the Lord says: "The
scriptures cannot be broken." No man can intentionally break the
Scriptures and be saved. We dare not corrupt the Word of God.
After meeting we go to Brother John Shoemaker's, where we have night
meeting, and stay all night. Ephesians 6 is read.
THURSDAY, October 3. Take the Ashland road to Brother Joseph Rupp's,
near Ashland, Ashland County, where we have meeting. Luke 14 is read.
Stay this afternoon and night with Brother Rupp.
FRIDAY, October 4. Go to Brother Jacob Whisler's, six miles north of
Mansfield. Meeting at 3 o'clock. John 14 is read. To-day we crossed
the Black Fork of the Mohican. Stay all night with Brother Whisler.
SATURDAY, October 5. On westward through Shelby, to Brother Samuel
Cover's in Crawford County, where we have night meeting. Last part of
Acts 3 is read. Stay all night with Brother Cover.
SUNDAY, October 6. Meeting. Matthew 7 is read. Stay all night with
Brother Martain Hestand.
MONDAY, October 7. Visit William Lupton, but not finding him at home,
make settlement with his son of business connected with Hoover's
estate. Look over Hoover's land, and stay all night at Bender's. Fine
day.
TUESDAY, October 9. Meeting at Brother Hestand's in afternoon. Matthew
10 is read. Night meeting at Brother Clark's. Part of John 3 is read.
Stay all night at Brother Clark's. Fine day.
WEDNESDAY, October 9. Start for Allen County. Dine and feed at Upper
Sandusky; then on to Huston's, in Hardin County. Bad road from the
Bellefontaine road for twelve miles. Stay all night at Huston's.
THURSDAY, October 10. By Williamsburg, breakfast and feed at Michael
Baserman's, and on to Abraham Miller's in Allen County, where we stay
all night. Brother Hedrick and I have slept together in the same bed
every night since we left home.
FRIDAY, October 11. Stay at Brother Miller's till after dinner, then
go to Brother Samuel Miller's, where we stay all night.
SATURDAY, October 12. Pass through Lima, dine and feed in Wapokaneta,
and stay all night at Shannon's tavern.
SUNDAY, October 13. Go to Brother Joseph Risser's, dine and feed, then
to Brother Jacob Basehore's, where we leave our horses and walk two
and one-half miles to meeting and back to Brother Basehore's. Night
meeting at Brother Cabell's. First John 3 is read. Stay all night at
Brother Basehore's, in Miami County. Fine day.
MONDAY, October 14. Westward through Greenville to Brother Emanuel
Flory's in Darke County, where we dine and feed; then on to Winchester
in Indiana, and stay all night at Acker's tavern. We are now in
Randolph County, Indiana. If we were among false brethren in this new
country, as Paul says he once was in the land in which he traveled,
situated as we are in respect to bad roads, a long way from our homes,
with no means of conveyance except the backs of our horses to carry us
to Virginia, the prospect of our stay here, and our hopes of safe
return, might be gloomy indeed. But, thanks to the good Lord, we are
not among false brethren. Our Brethren are true Brethren wherever we
find them. There may be some hypocrites, God knows; but I know of
none. Brother Hedrick and I have repeatedly discoursed on this subject
in our travels together, and neither he nor I have in a single
instance met with a brother or sister that has not, in our presence at
least, shown something of the gentleness and meekness of Christ. We
are made to feel at home wherever we go among them, and these
considerations strengthen our faith and encourage the assurance that
the Gospel which we as a band of Christians preach and practice, and
which works mightily in the hearts of the dear Brethren everywhere, is
of God. "By their fruits ye shall know them."
FRIDAY, October 11. Still westward through Cameron, to Brother
Fullhearts, where we feed our horses and get dinner. We then cross the
White river to Muncie in Delaware County, and stay all night with
David Bowers. Rough, windy and rainy day.
WEDNESDAY, October 16. Visit the following named families, in nearly
all of which we find members of our Brotherhood. We first visit
Sowerwine's, then Joseph Coffman's, Sheets's, Jacob Good's, Absalom
Painter's and George Hoover's. At the last-named place we have night
meeting and stay all night. We are now in Henry County, Indiana.
THURSDAY, October 17. Meeting at Jacob Brunk's. Mark 1 is read. Then
to Peter Fesler's, where we have night meeting. Acts 3 is read. Stay
all night with Brother Fesler.
FRIDAY, October 18. Come to Middletown and get a letter from home.
Glad to hear that all are well, but sorry to learn of some deaths.
Leaving Middletown, we go eastward to Brother David Hartman's, in
Wayne County, where we stay all night. Raining all day, and in
afternoon it falls in torrents.
SATURDAY, October 19. Love feast at Brother Abraham Hoover's. John 1
is read. Stay all night at Brother David Hartman's. Clear and cold.
SUNDAY, October 20. Forenoon meeting. Acts 3 was read. I spoke on
verse twenty-second: Subject, "The Great Prophet." Meeting again at
one o'clock. I speak on Mark 1:27. Text: "And they were all amazed,
insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is
this? What new doctrine is this?"
The Jews could well ask the question set forth in the text: "What new
doctrine is this?" To them the teachings of Christ were all new.
Whilst he came not to destroy the law or the prophets, but to fulfill,
nevertheless his fulfillment of them was so spiritual, so essentially
holy, so pure in motive, so beneficent in act, that the Jews were
entire strangers to it: or probably better, it was strange and new to
them. Even Nicodemus, a ruler among the Jews, failed to perceive what
Jesus meant when he told him about the nature and necessity of the new
birth. Our Lord manifests something of surprise at the ignorance and
stupidity of Nicodemus. Such ignorance as Nicodemus exposes in the
presence of Christ appears to us as wholly inexcusable, when we look
at what had already been taught on the subject of a change of heart,
or regeneration, in the law of Moses and the prophets.
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, walked with God three hundred years, and
never saw death, for God took him. Did he walk with God in a fleshly
mind, or in a spiritual mind? Hear what Jesus and Paul say: "That
which is born of the flesh, is flesh," and Paul says: "Therein
dwelleth no good thing." "But that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit," and therein serve we the Lord acceptably. Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, Moses and Elijah are to-day in the heavens. Are they there in
the flesh? Nay, verily, but in the spirit; in the new nature which God
had implanted in them. "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
heaven."
"And what shall I say more? for the time would fail me to tell of
Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephtha; of David also,
and Samuel," who prayed: "Create in me a clean heart, and renew a
right spirit within me." But the Jews had become carnal, fleshly
minded, and, like Nicodemus, were unable to see the spirituality of
their own Word. How, then, could they apprehend the grace or see the
truth which came by Jesus Christ! Let us, Brethren, search the
Scriptures and acquaint ourselves much with the Gospel of our
salvation, so that when we read or hear, it may not be to us as it
was to the Jews, a new doctrine, but the
"Old, old story,
Of Jesus and his love."
This is nearly the substance of what I said.
Night meeting at Samuel Cave's. I speak from John 1:29. Fine day. We
stay all night with Brother Cave. We are now in Wayne County.
MONDAY, October 21. Start eastward to William Minnick's, and on
through Richmond, by Eaton, Preble County, Ohio, to Samuel Showalter's,
where we stay all night.
TUESDAY, October 22. Get dinner at Jacob Trout's: visit John Brower's,
and stay all night at Solomon Stoner's. Fine day.
WEDNESDAY, October 23. Visit Joseph Kline's, Samuel Kline's, David
Dristle's, and have night meeting at David Bowman's. Matthew 25 is
read. Stay all night at Brother Dristle's. Our gatherings for worship
and attendance upon the Word, as a rule, have not been large; but
people generally appear to pay heed to what is spoken, and we trust
the good seed may find a lodgment in many an honest and sincere heart.
THURSDAY, October 24. Meeting at Bowman's meetinghouse. Luke 14 is
read. Stay all night at Brother Abraham Aerbaugh's.
FRIDAY, October 25. Visit George Miller's, Sally Aerbaugh's, Daniel
Garber's, John Garber's, David Miller's, and Joseph Garber's, where we
stay all night. Fine weather.
SATURDAY, October 26. Visit Felix Landes's, and go to night meeting at
Philip Wampler's. Matthew 11 is read. Stay all night at Philip
Wampler's.
SUNDAY, October 27. Meeting at the Bowman meetinghouse. Acts 3 is
read. I then visit Brother Brumbaugh, who is very low in sickness; and
also visit Henry Harshbarger, and stay all night at John Kline's.
MONDAY, October 28. Go to Dayton, and after spending some time in
visiting the factories and other points of interest in the city, we
start towards Cincinnati, and stay all night in Miamisburg, at
Zimmers's tavern.
TUESDAY, October 29. Pass through Butler County into Hamilton, and
stay all night in Cincinnati, at the Franklin House, kept by Ross.
WEDNESDAY, October 30. Visit Dr. Curtis and settle with him. [Dr.
Curtis was at this time a very noted Thompsonian doctor located in
Cincinnati. He was editor of the _Botanic Medical Recorder_, a journal
which was very popular with the advocates of the Thompsonian practice
of medicine in its day; and also author of a series of lectures in the
same line.--ED.] Dr. Curtis appears to me as a very kind, open-hearted,
well-informed man. He seems to be very confident as to the future
success and final triumph of his favorite system of medical theory and
practice. "Why should we not," said he, "feel as sure that the might
of truth will prevail in this as in other things? It may be that
further experience will shear off some things that we now hold; and
add on to our system some others which we as yet lack; but the great
principles of truth which underlie our medical creed must remain
unshaken, while the laws of health and the inroads of disease remain
as they are to-day." We then visited the city markets, and about 10
o'clock started for Clermont County, and got to John Dickey's tavern,
where we stay all night.
THURSDAY, October 31. On to Hillsborough in Highland County; dine and
feed at Jacob Runyon's, and stay all night at Elijah Thurman's.
FRIDAY, November 1. On into Ross County, and stay all night at David
Kline's.
SATURDAY, November 2. Cross Deer Creek and push on across the Scioto
river at Boggs's Mills, and get to Sampson Zimmerman's, in Hocking
County, where we stay all night.
SUNDAY, November 3. On through Logan on the Hocking river; then down
the same river to Warren's tavern, near Athens, in Athens County,
where we stay all night. The Hocking Valley is a fine, rich country,
and I feel to encourage some of our younger people to come here and
get good cheap homes. In this way they might establish the church
here, and thus prepare the way of the Lord as John did in the
wilderness of Judea. What an opening there is here for good,
industrious people!
MONDAY, November 4. Down the Hocking river to where the road takes off
towards Parkersburg in Virginia, near which place we cross the Ohio
river in a horse boat, and stay all night at Henry Dill's
entertainment, in Wood County, Virginia.
TUESDAY, November 5. To-day we travel thirty-nine and one-half miles
on the Parkersburg turnpike, and stay all night at Isaac Martain's, in
Ritchie County, Virginia.
WEDNESDAY, November 6. Keep the turnpike all day. Dine and feed our
horses at Neeley's tavern, and stay all night at Clinch's, three miles
west of Clarksburg, in Harrison County.
THURSDAY, November 7. Through Clarksburg, Prunty Town, Evansville and
on to J. Stone's tavern, in Preston County, where we stay all night.
FRIDAY, November 8. Cross Laurel mountain, Cheat river, and on to top
of Cheat mountain, where we dine and feed at Stemple's tavern near
West Union; then to North Branch to Hays's where we stay all night.
Fine day.
SATURDAY, November 9. Go to Stingley's, dine and feed; stop awhile
with old Sister Parks; then on to Enoch Hyre's, on the South Branch,
near Petersburg, Hardy County, Virginia, where we stay all night. Fine
weather.
SUNDAY, November 10. I do not like to travel far on this day, but
there being no meeting in reach of us, and both eager to get as near
home as possible, we leave Sister Hyre's, stop a little with Isaac
Shobe's on Mill Creek, dine and feed at Isaac Dasher's, on the South
Fork, and stay all night at Jacob Whetzel's, in Brock's Gap, Rockingham
County, Virginia. Fine weather continues.
MONDAY, November 11. Home to-day. Find all well, but some sickness in
the neighborhood around. On the journey from which I have just
returned, I traveled 1,271 miles on horse-back, one beast carrying me
safely all of that distance. The roads we traveled were in many places
just as nature formed them, the hand of man having done but little
more than cut the timber out and remove impassable obstructions. We
crossed high and rugged mountains, and forded dangerous streams. But
in the West the people are waking up to the importance of improving
the public roads. The abundant natural wealth of that country, when
properly developed by wise industry, will respond in such lavish
abundance that there will be no lack of means to build the best of
roads, and in every respect to raise the country generally to that
state of beauty by high culture, which ministers to the comfort and
usefulness of its people.
The Baltimore & Ohio railroad will soon be completed to Wheeling, and
this road, in connection with other roads likely to be built and
connect with it, will open a very active traffic between that city and
the East. I feel like saying to the Brethren everywhere that now is
the time to sow the pure seeds of Gospel Truth in the West. If this be
not done, tares will be sure to grow and multiply where the wheat of
holy love should abound. Such fields of humanity, so full of life and
vigor, will never remain unproductive. Education and civil law may
help to control and keep in bounds the flood of moral and intellectual
power flowing from them; but if the hand of sanctified religion be not
put forth to give it proper direction, they will turn out to be a
moral wilderness of sin, filled with all the wild beasts of human
passion, "and every hateful bird."
In the time of my absence Eli Spitzer and wife, Polly Hindgardner,
and another woman were baptized. This was done September 18. On the
twenty-second there was a love feast at the Lost River meetinghouse;
and about that time Samuel Toppan and wife, and three other persons,
all on Stony Creek, were baptized. Thomas Lampkin and Polly Fridley,
and another sister were also baptized in my absence.
MONDAY, December 16. To-day I preach the funeral of old Brother John
Wine in the Forest. Text, Rev. 14:13, "Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest
from their labors; and their works do follow them."
I aimed to set forth, in the practical part of my discourse, a few
thoughts based on the last part of the verse: "Their works do follow
them." Our works are as sure to follow us from this world to the next
as they are when we remove from one place to another in this. Let any
one come among us, no matter from where, and he brings his character
with him. If that is good, good works will follow him. They follow not
only in the way of reports we may receive from those among whom he
lived before he came among us, but they follow all he does while here.
In this consists the blessedness of those who die in the Lord. In
heaven the same good works follow them in all they do, only in much
greater perfection, that accorded with the good will in their hearts
that characterized their lives while here. The lives of good men are
so conjoined with the Lord, because from the Lord, that whatever good
they do in the way of helping others he accounts it as done to him.
Indeed, this blessed following is the ground of proof that they are of
his sheep. "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my
brethren, ye have done it unto me." Will not that be a glorious and
happy following? Is it not something worth sacrificing our life and
our all in this world for? And that day will surely come. Just as sure
as we live it will come, for the Scripture cannot be broken. This
blessed following of good works will be sure to receive on that day
the welcome plaudit: "Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou
into the joy of thy Lord."
WEDNESDAY, December 25. Christmas day. Meeting in Keagey's schoolhouse.
Matthew 2 was read. Brother Daniel Miller spoke beautifully in the
German language on the advent of the Lord Jesus. His main subject was
the love of the Father, the good will toward men that gave the only
begotten Son to redeem and save them.
He said: "The day is unimportant. We may have Christ's birthday
correct, or we may not. I am not historian enough to speak positively
on this point. But one thing there is upon which I can speak
positively; and all the enemies of Jesus are unable to wrest the
conviction of that truth from my heart; and that thing is this, that
'God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world through him might be saved.' It has pleased our
heavenly Father to tell us about our Savior's birth; how lowly it was,
in a stable; and that he was laid in a manger, which means a kind of
box from which horses take their food; and that a star in the east,
sometimes called the Star of Bethlehem, guided the wise men who came
from the east to see the infant, Jesus, to the place where he lay.
Those good men hardly knew that this beautiful star was but an emblem
of the leadings of God's revealed Truth. But it is so; for all the
light of prophecy centered in that star which showed the time and
place of the birth of the Son of God. Some seem to think the star was
only a natural light, such as natural eyes could see, but I do not
think so. I rather think it was a heavenly light, and that it could be
seen only by such as loved the hope of our Lord's coming and were
ready to rejoice at his birth.
"We have the brighter light of his more clearly revealed Word, by
which we are enabled to find, not an infant Savior, but a Savior grown
up to perfect manhood made perfect through sufferings ending in his
death upon the cross. We find him as the risen and glorified Lord with
power to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him. His
heavenly truth is to us now and to all who are willing to open their
eyes and see, as the Sun of Righteousness; 'for we are not of the
night, nor of darkness, but we are all the children of light, and the
children of the day.' Paul here means such as are true Christians. I
love to preach the Gospel; but I love still more to see men and women
open their eyes to the light of its truth, and their hearts to the
warmth of its love. In this way they are led to seek the Lord; and the
promise is: 'Every one that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh,
it shall be opened.'
"One more thing I must notice. These wise men brought gifts to the
infant Jesus. I suppose these were the first Christmas gifts ever
made; and the custom of making presents at this time has probably been
kept up ever since. If presents are made on this day with an eye to
the gift of God's love, they will be acceptable in his eye; but if
made lightly, simply to comply with custom or fashion, they have no
promise."
I must yet add this from the brother's beautiful discourse. He said:
"The greatest of all the Christmas gifts that man ever has received,
or that even God himself can bestow, was made on that first Christmas
day. Some of you may not think as I do about it, but on that day God
gave to the world his own and only beloved Son, and to my eyes, and I
hope to the eyes of many of you, he is the fairest of all the fair,
and the one altogether lovely. I lay all the gold, and the
frankincense, and the myrrh of my heart's best affections as thank
offerings at his feet on this Christmas day. Brethren, God has made
his most costly gift to us in the person of his Son; should we not be
willing to reciprocate this gift with the most precious gift we are
able to offer? And what is the most precious thing in his sight that
we can give? It is our love in return for his love to us. If we do
make this return in fullness, we place ourselves in a state of highest
blessedness, described by John in few words: 'We love him, because he
first loved us.' This is a heavenly state, and it must be the basis of
all the bliss of saints and angels."
I wish I had time to give more than this mere outline of the brother's
excellent discourse in the German language, but I must leave off. We
have night meeting at Koontz's, where Brother Daniel Miller and I stay
all night.
TUESDAY, December 31. I have traveled since last New Year's day,
nearly all on horseback, 3,827 miles. The year's work is done. The
record on high is made. Does it stand favorably in my behalf for the
life to come, or have I received my reward here? I can only pray my
Father in heaven to forgive the wrong and bless the right. This is my
evening prayer at all times, but especially do I offer it now at the
closing hour of the year.
SATURDAY, January 4. Go to Isaac Myer's on Stony Creek, and stay at
Louis Naselrodt's all night.
SUNDAY, January 5. Meeting in the Sulphur Spring schoolhouse. Acts 3
is read. Stay at Brother William Andes's all night.
MONDAY, January 6. Return home. Snows all day.
THURSDAY, January 23. Solemnize the marriage of David Hoover, near
Plain's Mill, and Mary Zigler, of Timberville.
SUNDAY, January 26. Attend the funeral of Mrs. Kootz, mother of our
State Senator, Samuel Kootz. Her age was seventy-three years, five
months and twenty-eight days.
WEDNESDAY, February 12. Attend the funeral of old mother Shultz. Her
age was seventy-five years. I speak from Isaiah 3:10, 11. Text: "Say
ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with them: for they shall
eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill
with them: for the reward of their hands shall be given them."
I regard these words of the prophet as being true, not only as
applying to the world to come, but as applying with equal power to
the life of man in this world. A life of honesty, integrity,
righteousness, in all we do, is not only policy or wisdom in respect
to the world to come, but it is the best policy or highest wisdom in
all the affairs of this life. It secures the best results because it
makes use of the best means to promote our own happiness here, and
the happiness of all within the sphere of our influence. Says the
Psalmist: "The leaf of the righteous shall not wither, and whatsoever
he doeth shall prosper. He shall flourish like the palm tree." We are
told that the palm tree, to which the righteous are here compared, is
not only a very beautiful tree, but a very useful tree. It casts a
very delightful shade in the hot climates where it grows; from the
abundance of its sap it affords water to the thirsty; and its
excellent fruit supplies food to the hungry.
Whilst godliness, as Paul says, "is profitable unto all things, having
promise of the life that now is, and also of that which is to come;"
still, the life to come is what should chiefly concern us here. Our
time in this world is so short, so brief, that it makes but little
difference whether we are poor or rich, whether we weep or rejoice,
whether we be sick or well, provided we have a clear title to a
heavenly home, a clear title to an "inheritance that is incorruptible,
undefiled, and that fadeth not away." We may just as certainly get a
true title to this heavenly possession by a proper course of life here
as we can to a farm or any other property we may buy and pay for. The
difference, however, between the title to earthly possessions and that
to a heavenly estate is that the first is visible to our natural eyes,
and the last is not. How justly the old adage, that "a bird in the
hand is worth two in the bush," applies to the views and decisions of
great numbers of people! They talk of not risking a certainty for an
uncertainty,--the very thing they are doing. Such make no preparation
for death and eternity which are certainties; but all for life in this
world, which is an uncertainty.
But to be faithful to my calling, friends, I must repeat the last part
of my text, if nothing more. Hear it, take the warning of its terrific
words, for it is God's warning and not mine. Here it is: "Woe unto the
wicked! it shall be ill with them, for the reward of their hands shall
be given them." These words should strike terror into the hearts of
the ungodly. The word reward means recompense, and recompense means
payment for work done or services performed. But, according to all
just laws, the one in whose service we labor is the one to whom we
have a just right to look for our pay. Now I ask you to tell me whom
you serve. Can you say in your heart, "I am serving the Lord"? If not
the Lord, whom do you serve? Satan, the Devil, the old Serpent, the
world and the flesh. These are what you serve, and these are the
one--for all together make but one--to whom you are to look for your
reward. And let me tell you from love in my heart for your soul, that
your life in the service of the devil is a life of sin, and the reward
or wages of sin is death; not extinction, but a state of deadness to
all blessedness and happiness forever. But you say, "I cannot bear
such a thought." Neither can I. Come then with us, as the prophet
says, and we will do you good. Turn from sin and seek the Lord. Serve
him, and your reward will be glory, honor, immortality and eternal
life.
FRIDAY, February 28. Father Wampler died at eleven o'clock to-day.
SUNDAY, March 2. Father Wampler was buried to-day. His age was
seventy-six years, five months and seventeen days. He was the father
of Anna Kline, my beloved wife, and of Samuel Wampler, one of our
ministers. He was the grandfather of a very numerous line of
grandchildren, among whom are many excellent members of the Brethren
church.
SATURDAY, March 8. Samuel Wampler and I go to Page County. We have
night meeting at Isaac Spitler's. I speak from John 1:16. Text: "And
of his fulness have all we received."
The Apostle John made his record of the Gospel sometime after the
other evangelists had written theirs. This fact accounts for the many
things given by John which are omitted by the others. He wrote it
long after the day of Pentecost, and after he had seen the church
established in Judea, and in the regions of Asia under the ministries
of Paul, and Silas, and Barnabas, and Peter, and others. He saw a
tendency in the churches even in his day to depart from God's
ordinances; and led by the Divine Spirit he felt it his duty to set
these forth in their simplicity and plainness, as he had seen them
instituted and exemplified in his own personal presence by the Lord
himself.
I think it is clear that the corruption in the Corinthian church had
broken out before John wrote. Paul tried to check this disorder by a
letter, and instruct them in that way as far as he could at the time;
but at the close he adds: "The rest will I set in order when I come."
I am free to express the belief here, that Paul wanted to see John and
learn from him all about feet-washing and the Lord's Supper. Up to
this time Paul had not taught the Corinthian brethren anything about
these ordinances. He had only taught them baptism and the Communion,
as he had received them from the Lord by reading the accounts given of
them in the records made by the other evangelists. Hence John finds
it necessary to give a particular account of the institution of
feet-washing and the Lord's Supper, from beginning to end, with the
same exact care that characterizes everything else which he has
written. John can well record the words of my text: "And of his
fulness have all we received." Jesus has left nothing incomplete.
There is fullness and completeness in his life and examples, in his
doctrines and practices, and in his objects and their accomplishment.
Near the close of Paul's life he wrote a kind of love letter to his
son Timothy, as he calls him, in which he says: "All scripture is
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the
man of God," meaning the church, "may be perfect, thoroughly furnished
unto all good works." There is no place for a doubt in my mind that
Paul wrote this letter to Timothy after John had made his gospel
record. He therefore includes the Gospel recorded by John in his
comprehensive expression that "all scripture is given by divine
inspiration." In this view of the case, Paul could well insert the
words, "and is profitable for CORRECTION, for INSTRUCTION in
righteousness," because he himself had been corrected and instructed
by it.
And now, brethren and sisters, and as many as hear me to-day, let us
go to the fullness of his love as it is tied up in his Word. Let us
open these bundles of grace with penitent hearts and tearful eyes, and
the peace of pardon, like the odor of the ointment from Mary's broken
box, will flow over our souls. Then with joyful heart each one may
say: "Of his fulness have all we received." But we constantly need
fresh supplies. We naturally run dry. The anaconda, it is said, can
live three months on one meal. But he can do this only in a state of
absolute inactivity. God does not expect us to live in a state of
constant inactivity as this serpent does; he expects us to work for
him, and the workingman has need of daily food and drink. Let us so
live that we may all joyfully approach some one of the pearly portals
of the Golden City, and receive the angel keeper's welcome there: "Of
his fulness hast thou received: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
SUNDAY, March 9. Meeting at Lionberger's schoolhouse. Romans 10 is
read. Dine at Lionberger's, and come to Abraham Rothgeb's (Rodecap's)
on Mill Run, where we have night meeting, and stay all night. I speak
from the latter part of Acts 3. Subject, "The Great Prophet."
SATURDAY, March 15. This day I mail a letter to Henry Kurtz; one to
Daniel Arnold; one to Jacob Basehore, and one to Philip Wampler.
TUESDAY, April 1. Council meeting in the Garber's meetinghouse. Two of
Brother Daniel Miller's sons, viz, Joseph and Jacob, are elected to
the deaconship.
SATURDAY, April 5. Council meeting at our meetinghouse. Brother
Abraham Knopp is elected speaker, and two sons of Brother Samuel Wine
in the Brush, viz, Christian and Samuel, are elected to the
deaconship.
TUESDAY, April 8. Council meeting at the Flat Rock. Isaac Myers is
elected speaker; and John Neff, Jacob Wine, and John Hindgartner are
elected to the deaconship. Daniel Miller and I go to the widow
Wilkins's and stay all night.
WEDNESDAY, April 9. We attend council meeting in Shaffer's meetinghouse
to-day. John Copp and Thomas Baker are elected to the deaconship. We
stay all night with Brother George Shaffer in Shenandoah County,
Virginia.
TUESDAY, April 29. Prepare for love feast at our meetinghouse. Brother
Henry Kurtz and Brother Shively come to my house to-day and are with
us to-night. To say the least, it is exceedingly pleasant to have such
company. We heard some good speaking done by them at our love feast
this evening and night.
SATURDAY, May 3. Start, in company with brethren Kurtz and Shively,
for Botetourt County, Virginia. Get as far as Brother Jacob Humbert's
in Augusta County, where we stay all night.
SUNDAY, May 4. Love feast at the Brick meetinghouse to-day.
MONDAY, May 5. Dine at Brother Coffman's and stay all night at Brother
Jacob Forrer's.
TUESDAY, May 6. Through Greenville, and on to Layman's tavern, in
Fairfield, for dinner. Stop a little in Lexington, then on to Siler's
tavern, where we stay all night.
WEDNESDAY, May 7. Get breakfast and feed our horses at Luster's tavern
at the Natural Bridge. This is one of nature's wonderful curiosities.
But it does not strike me with that degree of astonishment which many
seem to feel on a first sight of it. I am so familiar with God's
sublime works among the mountains of Virginia and those of other
states that the view does not impress me with that sense of sublimity
and awful grandeur that one might expect from reading the descriptions
given of it. The Natural Bridge appears to me to be nothing more than
the remains of a cave, nearly all of the roof of which has long since
fallen in and been washed away. There are many natural bridges in
Virginia and Kentucky, but they are mostly underground. From the
Bridge we go on to Brother Peter Ninsinger's, where we stay all night.
THURSDAY, May 8. Get to Brother Benjamin Moomaw's for dinner. Brother
Moomaw gives promise of great usefulness. We then go to Brother
Barnhardt's, where we stay all night.
FRIDAY, May 9. The Yearly Meeting opens to-day. Many Brethren are
present. We stay all night at Brother Haut's.
SATURDAY, May 10. Back to meeting at Brother Barnhardt's. Council
continues till noon to-day, then public meeting begins. We have a love
feast out in the orchard this evening and night. I stay all night at
Brother Eller's.
SUNDAY, May 11. Meeting to-day. John 7 is read. Brother Henry Kurtz
spoke from the eighteenth verse. Text: "He that speaketh of himself
seeketh his own glory: but he that seeketh his glory that sent him,
the same is true, and no unrighteousness is in him." The brother spoke
in substance what I here give in small space. He said:
"These are the words of Jesus Christ, who knew what was in man. It
becomes every minister who preaches the Word, to examine himself
prayerfully, in the light of Holy Truth, to know certainly what impels
him to the work. If, by such examination, he becomes assured that the
love of Christ and for Christ lures him on, and that the salvation of
souls and the consequent glory of the Lord is the beginning and the
end of his motives, he can go on with heart and tongue, under the
Lord's banner, defying the very gates of hell. But if the love of self
and the love of the world enter as the chief elements of his power and
will in the work, it would be better for him, better for the cause,
and less dishonorable to the Lord if he would stop off short. I will
here repeat the text. You may now be better prepared to perceive the
warmth of its power and the light of its truth. 'He that speaketh of
himself'--or as the Greek more nearly and fully puts it, FROM himself,
from love to himself the meaning is--'seeketh his own glory.' This is
self-evidently true, for such a one can have the glory of no one else
to seek. Self, the love of self, fills his eye and heart. And, like
the Pharisee, verily, he has his reward.
"But, my beloved Brethren, especially you who have been set to the
work of the ministry, I can say from my heart that I have but little
apprehension that you are led on in your work by any other than a
right motive. I do believe, from all that I know of you personally, as
well as by reputation, that each one of you, with perhaps a somewhat
varied perception of their exalted meaning and power, can adopt Paul's
words: 'The love of Christ constrains me.' 'Woe unto me if I preach
not the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation.'
"There is one feature particularly in the order of our ministry that I
have always advocated, and expect by the grace of God to advocate to
the last, and that is an _unsalaried_ ministry. The world will say to
me right here: 'You are working against your own interest. You are
destroying the race that would bring water to your mill. You are
breaking the wagon that would carry grain to your storehouse.' In
answer to this I have to say that God never meant for the Gospel to be
used as a means for getting water to the preacher's mill, or grain
into his garner. When the Gospel is converted into merchandise, the
preacher becomes a merchant, and like all other merchants it becomes
his interest to handle his goods in a way that will please his
customers, and put them in such shape and procure for them such kinds,
whether good, bad, or indifferent, as will suit their fancies and
please their tastes. 'The love of money is a root of all evil,' no
less in the ministry than anywhere else.
"'But he that seeketh the glory of him that sent him, the same is
true, and no unrighteousness is in him.' How wonderfully did our Lord
fulfill his mission! Even on the banks of the Jordan, when John had
already expressed his unworthiness to untie the latchet of his shoe,
still more so to baptize him, he said: 'Thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness.' And the Father answered, and the Holy Spirit bare
witness. 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' Brethren,
our Lord's maxim, expressed in these words, 'I came not to do mine
own will, but the will of him that sent me,' should be the watchword
with every one of us. And if the truth leads us through the waters of
the Jordan, or into the fire of persecution, let us still deny
ourselves, bear the cross, and say: 'Thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness;' and we, in heart, in a conscience void of offense
toward God, will be sure to receive the heavenly recognition: 'This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'
"But it is not to be inferred from anything I may have said that a
minister should not have a decent regard for the manner and the style
of language in which he proclaims the Gospel of Christ. The most
faithful and skilled workmen in any craft are, as a rule, the most
careful in regard to the quality and fitness of the tools they employ,
as well as about the manner in which they handle them. Paul instructs
Timothy to 'study to show himself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.' When a
man seeks the honor, the wealth and general interest and success of
his employer he gives proof of his honesty in the service, and also of
love in his heart for him. These two principles underlie all right
work for the Lord,--honesty and love; childlike simplicity and
sincerity. Brethren, let us not aspire to the high things of the
world, but to the meekness and gentleness of Christ."