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

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; before age and sin have made you hard, give your hearts to God. This you can do by loving our Lord Jesus Christ, who laid down his life for you. When you love him with the heart, you believe on him with the heart; and when you believe on him with the heart, you have a desire in your heart to obey him by doing his commandments. You will purify your souls by obeying the truth. 'Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.' 'Seek the Lord while