Life and Labors of Elder John Kline, the Martyr Missionary | Page 8

prison house of sin into "the glorious liberty of the
children of God." He proposes to take you out of darkness into "his
marvelous light." He will, if you but rise up and follow him, give you
eternal life, and a home in heaven forever, free from sickness, sorrow,
pain and death. Will you not go with him?
VISIT TO A SICK WOMAN.
After preaching the above sermon, Brother Kline, in company with
Brother Kagey, visited a sick woman living on Forrer's land. He says:
"She seemed to be suffering a good deal in body; but more, I think, in
spirit. We told her that Christ Jesus was the only substantial hope we
had to set before her; that faith in him would bring salvation and peace
to her soul. I read to her from the Sermon on the Mount: 'Ask, and it
shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be
opened unto you: for if ye know how to give good gifts unto your
children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good
things unto them that ask him.' The best thing that our heavenly Father
can give us is a heart to love and obey him. God works in us both to
will and to do the things that please him; but we at the same time must
have a willing mind to do them. In this way we come to be co-workers
with God.

"'Baptism,'" I said to her, "is the first public act of obedience required at
our hands. Here our sins are in figure washed away; for baptism is
called in the Word 'the washing of regeneration.' As a newborn child is
washed before it is clothed and set before the family, so the newborn
child of God must be washed and made pure before he or she can come
into the church as a full member. But the baptism of the child of God
denotes a spiritual cleansing; whilst the washing or bathing of a
newborn infant means only bodily cleansing. Hence Peter says that
'baptism is not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer
of a good conscience toward God.' This means that it fills the heart with
a sense or feeling of 'righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.'"
"After instructing her awhile in this way we ended our call with
prayer."
On Sunday, March 15, there was meeting in
DANIEL MILLER'S DWELLING HOUSE.
This is about five miles north of Harrisonburg, in Rockingham County,
Virginia. It is at present occupied by Benjamin Miller, the youngest son
of Daniel Miller. He stands high as overseer of the Greenmount church.
He has a numerous family of intelligent and godly children, all now
grown up, and members of the Brethren church.
At the time of this meeting, Brother Daniel Miller's family was young,
and most of the children were at home, eighteen in all; and all children
of one mother. Brother Kline says: "I felt deeply impressed with the
weighty responsibility resting upon the father and mother of this
pleasant and orderly household; and not upon them only, but upon us
also, who are preachers of the Word. In this feeling, I proposed the
reading of the fifteenth chapter of John's Gospel. I spoke briefly from
these words: 'If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had
sin.' John 15:22."
Sermon.
"These words are a part of our Lord's farewell counsel to his little band

of chosen disciples. This was just before his betrayal into the hands of
his murderers. He spoke to them about this sinful world. He told them
how the people of the world would treat them, and what they would
think of the glorious Gospel which they were soon to proclaim. 'In the
world,' said he to them, 'ye shall have tribulation; but in me, ye shall
have peace.' The text does not teach that men who are ignorant of God's
Word are sinless; neither does it teach that the doctrine which our
blessed Savior taught tends to make men sinners. Oh, no! But this is
what it means: That God is so merciful and gracious that until men are
instructed and warned of their danger, he does not hold them severely
accountable. But when the light of truth is shed around them, and the
way of life and salvation pointed out to them, and they then shut their
eyes to the light and close their hearts to knowledge, he holds them
accountable, and deals with them as sinners.
"I feel now to address a few words to the dear young people who are
assembled here. The Lord bless you in the dew of your youth, while
your hearts are yet tender;