Life and Labors of Elder John Kline, the Martyr Missionary: Collated from his Diary by Benjamin FunkKline, John
Religion
Life and Labors of Elder John Kline, the Martyr Missionary: Collated from his Diary by Benjamin Funk
Kline, John
Kline, John, 1797-1864
The following encouraging thought comes into Brother Kline's mind in
connection with a review of his work on Lost river. It is dated:
SUNDAY, February 18. One man may sometimes strike a hard stone a good
many times without breaking it; when another may take the same hammer,
strike it in a slightly different place, or in a different way, and it
falls to pieces. It may be that the first man's strokes accomplished
more than he knew of. The force of his blows may have diminished the
solidity of the stone, and thus made it easier for the second man to
break. If I cannot see much fruit of my labor here now, perhaps some,
who will come after me, may.
THE COVE.
SUNDAY, April 22. Brother Kline and Daniel Miller had meeting in a
place among the mountains in Hardy County, Virginia, called the Cove.
This consists of an area of country so nearly enclosed by mountains
of a somewhat circular form that it has but one outlet both for its
streams and its inhabitants. Viewed from the summit of some
neighboring peak it has the appearance of a vast amphitheatre whose
dome is the sky, whose floor is a variegation of corn and wheat fields
interspersed with beautiful green meadows, and whose walls are the
substantial mountain masonry of nature's own sublime art. Here these
two beloved brethren broke the Bread of Life to a small gathering of
people, mostly residents of the place we have described.
Acts 3 was read. After many instructive remarks by Brother Kline
concerning the great Prophet spoken of in the latter part of the
chapter, Brother Daniel Miller followed with a brief discourse, so
clear, so pointed, so forcible, that I will give his remarks as nearly
as I can in the order and manner in which he presented them.
He first endeavored to draw the attention of the unconverted part of
the audience specifically to these words: "_Every soul, which will not
hearken to that prophet, shall be utterly destroyed._" "I know of no
expression in the Bible," said he, "more sharply pointed than this.
The word '_destroyed_,' as here used, does not mean blotted out of
existence. But it does mean _cast out as evil_, unfit for the
companionship of God's people in heaven. In much the same sense of the
word it is said that intemperance _destroys_ men. It unfits them for
the duties of life, and for the society of the pure and the good.
"A ship may be said to be destroyed even though its dismantled hulk
still floats upon the sea, borne by the waves and driven by the winds.
A fruit tree is destroyed when a worm, secretly gnawing at its root,
girdles it with a belt of deadness. It may still stand, but fruitless
and lifeless. An eye is destroyed when it becomes so far injured by
disease or accident as to be forever out of the reach of power to
restore its sight.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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