John Kline

“ Secession means war; and war means tears and ashes and blood. It means bonds and imprisonments, and perhaps even death to many in our beloved Brotherhood, who, I have the confidence to believe, will die, rather than disobey God by taking up arms.
The Lord, by the mouth of Moses, says: "Be sure your sin will find you out." It may be that the sin of holding three millions of human beings under the galling yoke of involuntary servitude has, like the bondage of Israel in Egypt, sent a cry to heaven for vengeance; a cry that has now reached the ear of God. I bow my head in prayer. ”

“ As the pall of that night's darkness gently settled on the grave of the crucified Jesus, the Jews felt relieved that they had now, as they thought, put their enemy out of sight. But on the morning of the third day after this some women came to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus, and, behold! it was not there; but a bright and shining angel of glory was there, who said to those good women: "He is not here; he is risen from the dead." They could hardly believe for joy. Soon, however, they, with many others, saw the risen Lord for themselves, with their own eyes, and never doubted any more. ”

“ 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. ”

“ Their joy in this is commensurate with the exalted knowledge they have of the blessedness of true penitence. In it they see light shining in the darkness of the poor sinner's heart. Peace to the waves of his storm-beaten soul,—a new creature in the image of their and our Lord Jesus Christ coming forth into the enjoyment of a new life in him; deliverance from the bondage and power of sin, and restoration to the glorious liberty of the children of God! How much more than all this they see in the return of one soul to God. I do not know; and we never can know fully until we go up higher. ”

“ There is a trinity in every good thing we do. There must be the love to prompt or make the start, the wisdom to direct this love intelligently, and the power to execute what is in the will and understanding to be done. Our trine immersion of the body in water, the beautiful emblem of truth, shows our acceptance of it internally and externally, in life, in death, in heaven.
"One more thought, and I will close. Once within the city, we shall thirst no more: 'For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall lead us to fountains of living water.' All darkness will be removed. ”

“ And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass.
The grass withereth, and the flower falleth."
"Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return," is the doom of flesh and blood sealed to every mortal as a consequence of sin. No wonder the grave is sad and lonely to the contemplation of those who have no hope of aught of life or love beyond it. It is sad to think how many have no higher claim to life and happiness than mere fleshly, bodily existence. ”

“ You love your Bible because it tells you of your sin and your Savior, of your cross and your crown. But how is it with many? They read some, no doubt; partly from a sense of duty and to quiet their consciences; but not, I fear, with a deep and inmost desire to learn the things of salvation.
Brethren, if the Bible be true, it is tremendously true. It is true with a power that lifts the contrite, penitent, faithful follower of our Lord to the gates of the Holy City, and opens them to him; and it is true with a power that sinks the faithless, impenitent, careless, sin-loving sinner to hell. ”

“ I fully believe that man's will is free. And I do also believe in my very soul that it would be the pleasure of the Lord to save every human being born into existence. "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" ”

“ Judgment and reward will be according to works, and never according to professions of faith, except where the professions are genuine, and lead to good works from the love of doing good. I have met with some who have manifested dread in contemplating the majesty of that great day, the day of "a judgment to come." I feel warranted in making the assertion that no one whose purpose in life is to do the will of our Father in heaven has any just ground whatever to dread the coming of that day. Justice never condemns the innocent. ”

“ Why do you live in this orderly and consistent way? Is it because you love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength, and your neighbor as yourself? If you can truly say that this love is the hand that leads and draws you in your good life, I say, Thank God! I have found a brother of whom I am not ashamed. But anything short of this love is short of what God requires, and you with the rest are called upon to repent. You still have a way that is evil in God's sight. ”

“ Human laws and customs have really and legitimately nothing to do either with its organization and government or with the admission of members into its body and their retention and conduct in the body. But the church is in the world. By its being in the world, where sin and sorrow and suffering abound; where there is so much pain to assuage, so much want to relieve, so much evil to combat, so much ignorance to dispel by the light of truth, numberless and boundless opportunities and demands are presented for "the good man, out of the good treasure of his heart to bring forth good things." ”

“ But the water of Divine Truth will effectually and forever wash away all this filth and loathsomeness from the redeemed sinner's soul and prepare his spiritual body for that bright array of fine linen, clean and white, in which the saints shall be clothed as a fit emblem of their righteousness. Paul calls all this the washing of regeneration. In that great change, without which no man can see the kingdom of heaven, called regeneration, or the new birth, wrought by God only, the water of truth is the means employed. ”

“ And now I will venture to make a statement for the consideration of every thinking mind in this house—a statement which, if it be true, is of infinite and eternal importance—and it is this: Love and truth support and keep life in man's spirit, just as bread and water support and keep life in man's body. ”

“ In my travels among the mountains of our Virginia I have often seen the laurel holding out its evergreen but poisonous leaves in sprays of most enticing beauty. Miles and miles of road, in one unbroken stretch, may there be seen densely hedged on either hand by this beautiful emblem of sin and death. Herds of cattle and flocks of sheep are every year driven over these roads. Every herdsman and shepherd knows the danger to be apprehended from the inclination of some of either kind to "sidle" off from the plain and beaten track and pluck the green leaves of the laurel to their own destruction. ”

“ The real trouble with this man is akin to that of all the rest. It has its seat right in the will. He loves the world, and the world loves him; and to hold his place in society he must comply with its demands. He must not be scrupulous about small matters. He must take a drink with a friend. If invited to take part in some pastime or popular amusement, even if it be of doubtful moral character, he dare not decline the invitation. If memory should even blow the ashes from some live coals of truth, and conscience remonstrate, he must ignore all weakness of that kind. ”

“ Let me say to you, friends, that right here in this Divine Word is one greater than Solomon, whose eyes are as a flame of fire to illuminate the sinner's dark understanding, and whose countenance is as the sun shining in his strength to warm and cheer the sinner's cold and cheerless heart. ”

“ And one might just as well talk to a pillar of salt about the glory, and the beauty, and the bliss of the eternal state of the righteous after death, as to talk to men whose backs are heavenward and their faces earthward. You have no eyes in the back part of your heads. Your ears are set to hear what is said to your face, and to catch the sounds that meet you in front. ”

“ This is the glorious work of regeneration.
"But, Brethren beloved, let us inquire a little as to whether the church, our own church I mean, needs to be made over anew, or as we may say, needs to be renovated. Can any brother or sister in this house say: 'I am just as pure in heart as I desire to be. My faith never grows weak; my love never grows cold. I am as innocent and pure in all my affections and thoughts as a little child. I have no jealousy or envy in my soul. I never get angry, or think of wishing evil to any one. ”

“ Without both together no seed could sprout, no plant put forth its leaves. Just so it is with the growth of gospel seeds in the soul. There must be love and faith, both. But this is very plain and easy to be understood. No one can believe in Jesus truly without loving him; and no one can love him without at the same time believing on him. "We love him because he first loved us:" and faith is but a belief in and joyful acceptance of the words which tell us how he has made known his love for us. Out of this love and faith true obedience springs. ”

“ If salvation is anything it is everything. This world, with all its fleeting show and short-lived pleasures, is nothing in the comparison. Salvation, or the life to which the narrow way conducts us, is so glorious, so ineffably exalted above the loftiest conceptions of the human mind, that the prophet Isaiah could justly say: "Since the beginning of the world none have heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, besides thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him." ”