Life and Labors of Elder John Kline, the Martyr Missionary | Page 9

he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near;' for, saith he, 'they that seek me early shall find me.'
"But you may desire to know how you are to seek the Lord, and where you are to look for him. I hope you are thinking of this now; so I will tell you. The only place where the Lord can be found is in his Holy Word. There you find him in the form of the man Christ Jesus. And whilst he is there set forth as the 'man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,' he is also set forth as the 'true God and eternal life.' He there says: 'If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.' 'And he that drinketh of the water that I will give unto him shall never thirst.' This water is the TRUTH of his Word. It so fills the soul with love and light and joy and peace, as to become a fountain of delight within us. Reading God's Word in the right spirit is drinking of the Water of Life. When this truth finds a place in the memory through the love of it, the memory keeps our thoughts perpetually supplied with it, and thus it becomes, as our Lord says, 'a fountain within us unto everlasting life.'"
SATURDAY, March 21, Brother Kline, in company with Brother Daniel Miller, went to Brock's Gap, and spent the night at Brother Sunafrank's.
BROCK'S GAP.
This is a small area of country in Rockingham County, Virginia, containing about one hundred and fifty square miles. It is the head basin of the north fork of the Shenandoah river. It is almost completely surrounded by high and rugged mountains; and where the river has broken a gap for its outlet the scenery is not surpassed by that of Harper's Ferry.
A considerable number of people live in it, and there are some good farms and thrifty farmers. In Brother Kline's day Brock's Gap was only a mission field. At this time the German Baptist Brethren have two well-built and commodious houses of worship in it. At the time Brother Kline commenced preaching there they had no house of worship and the membership was very small. The membership at this time includes some from nearly all the leading families in the section. The Fulks, Fawleys, Richies, Hevners, Moyerses, Smiths, Doves, Lambs, Shoemakers, and many others are represented in the Brotherhood.
SUNDAY, March 21.--The two brethren crossed the Shenandoah mountain and arrived in
SWEEDLIN VALLEY.
This valley lies in Pendleton County, West Virginia. It extends northward along the west foot of the Shenandoah mountain for about eight miles, and is separated from the South Fork valley west of it by Sweedlin mountain. It is the habitation of a good many families, is exceedingly picturesque, and is in some respects beautiful.
The two brethren were called here to preach the funeral of old Brother Nazlerode. His father had been a Hessian, and served under British colors in the American Revolution. At the close of the war he, with many others, declined returning to his native home in Hesse-Darmstadt in Germany, and decided to stay in America. But this class of citizens was not very welcome among the patriots of American liberty. They were looked upon with a degree of opprobrium; and hence they sought homes in the more remote and secluded valleys among the mountains. Brother Nazlerode had died some time before. The preaching was at the house where the old brother had lived.
Sermon by Daniel Miller.
Brother Daniel Miller spoke first in the German language. He took for his subject 1 Pet. 1:24, 25. "For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass: ... but the word of the Lord endureth forever."
He spoke very beautifully and impressively on the short-lived pleasures of earth. He said that the new birth and the new life, which lift man to God and fit him for heaven, are not begotten of the corruptible seed of man, but of God through the Word of his Truth, which liveth and abideth forever. He pointed them to Jesus as the "Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world." He then, in a very affectionate manner, exhorted all to accept the salvation offered and walk in the way that our Lord has made plain in his Word.
Brother Kline followed and said: "Brother Daniel and I both felt moved to pity when we considered the situation of these people. They have a poor chance to hear the Gospel, and but few of them can read the Bible. We closed the services suitably, and then went to friend Jacob Wansturf's and spent the night."
MONDAY, April 13.--Brother Kline, in company with Brother Frederic Kline, went to Brock's Gap on the yearly visit.