Some may smile at this; but suppose the trumpet had then sounded!
Would those who now smile, or perhaps laugh, have been able to hear the thunder of its voice with a steadier nerve than she? Her faith was strong; nay, too strong for the weakness of her feeble body. She believed every word of Divine Truth. She believed in a final judgment, than which nothing is more positively declared in the sacred Scriptures. But because she had never seen such a sight before, and as no one could account for it, the conclusion was quickly reached that it was supernatural and sent as a herald of the coming Lord.
But he will come, and every eye shall see him. But "who shall abide the day of his coming?" Only they who shelter under the almighty wings of Jesus. "How often"--said he to Jerusalem, and now to every one else--"would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen doth gather her chickens under her wings." To those who laugh at sacred things now, it may _then_ be said what follows in the above connection: "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate."
"Hide me, O my Savior, hide; "Neath the shadow of thy wing."
The above phenomenon lasted till midnight.
SUNDAY, February 12. "Peter Nead was with me at the Plains to-day."
Whether Brother Kline saw or heard something in Peter Nead to-day that especially wrought upon his attention, he does not say; but this follows in the entry: "Brother Nead gives promise of becoming a very able speaker and a very useful man. May the Lord prosper him in all he sets his heart and hand to in his service." The church now knows the singular correctness of Brother Kline"s estimate of the man, written over sixty years ago.
Brother Nead, like many other good and live men, may have had some apparent eccentricities in the direction of practical conservatism and the like; but, take him through and through, it is questionable if the church has ever been favored with a purer or sounder man.
THURSDAY, May 4. Preparations are being made to-day for the Annual Meeting. The brethren and sisters are all alive with desire to make all the visiting brethren and sisters as comfortable as possible during the meeting.
The Diary reports the arrival, during the next week, of brethren from Tennessee, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Among those named are John and Joseph Bowman, Henry Kurtz, George Hoke and Brother Yant.
THURSDAY, May 11. Brother Beachley arrived. Brother Kline reports something like a heavenly feeling permeating the heart at the sight of the arrival of those beloved brethren. They all stopped with Brother Kline, whose house and heart both were large enough for their reception and entertainment.
As editor of this book, what would I not give for an exact report of the heart-refreshing conversations and sweet interchanges of thought and sentiment enjoyed by this group of heavenly-minded brethren, during their sojourn here! As a relief, however, to this thought another comes to mind, that this same group are again together, not for a "Yearly Meeting," but for an eternal meeting. The last one has been called to glory. The cross then; the crown now.
The interviews of brethren with each other fifty or sixty years ago present a striking contrast when placed side by side with those of the present day. The native simplicity, the artless manners, and the honest motives of all betokened a purity of heart and life that was truly charming. We mourn the absence of these marks of genuine piety, when at the present day, we see artistic display, formality, stiffness, and a "putting on" of studied courtesies and civilities on the part of many. The exterior of the hive is more ornamental now than it was then, and the swarm may have the appearance of better order in some of its workings, but it is a question whether there is as much pure honey inside. The _robe_ may be more showy, but there is less wool in the "_nap_."
FRIDAY, May 12, and SAt.u.r.dAY, May 13, were spent at the meetinghouse preparing to have everything in order.
YEARLY MEETING BEGINS.
_Introductory Sermon by Elder George Hoke, of Ohio, Sunday, May 14._
TEXT.--And it came to pa.s.s, that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them.--Luke 24:15.
To the true child of G.o.d no conceptions of bliss are worthy of being compared with those that flow from an ideal companionship and a.s.sociation with our Lord Jesus Christ.
"To dwell with him; to feel his love, Is heavenly bliss enjoyed above: And the sweet expectation now Is the same bliss begun below."
The text selected is suited to the occasion that has brought many of us together. We have met to commune in our thoughts with each other, and to reason together. Since the first hour of my arrival here I could but notice the delight, and even joy, on the part of many at meeting former acquaintances and renewing the ties of love, both social and Christian, that have bound us together in one common Brotherhood for years in the past, and which are still to bind us and our children"s children together in the future on earth and the eternity in glory.
The subject for to-day naturally divides itself into three propositions:
I. _They communed and reasoned together._ II. _Jesus himself drew near._ III. _Jesus himself went with them._
We readily enough, at the start, inquire who they were that communed and reasoned together. This we never can know with certainty, until the scales of mortality drop from our eyes. One, we are told, was Cleopas by name. It may have been the same Cleopas whose wife had stood by the cross. Some think the other was Luke, the writer of the Evangel, whom Paul calls the beloved physician.
Slowly and sadly, with crushed hopes and broken hearts, these two loving disciples of our Lord were wending their way from the scenes of confusion that had attended his crucifixion in Jerusalem to a quiet little village about eight miles distant, called Emmaus. Here, at least, they hoped to find exemption from the taunts and sneers of the infatuated mob in the city, whose mutterings were still to be heard in the distance, like those of a cyclone that has done its work.
I. "THEY COMMUNED AND REASONED TOGETHER."
The particular point in their conversation is not stated, but it is included in the general topic which is given as "the things which have happened in Jerusalem concerning Jesus of Nazareth." The imagination here finds scope to multiply themes without limit, on which they could reason, and over which they could be sad. At this very point of time, just when despair, like darkness at the close of an evening twilight, had settled down upon the entire landscape of their mental sight,
II. "JESUS HIMSELF DREW NEAR."
_"But their eyes were holden that they should not know him."_ This simple statement has more than once caused "smiles in tears;" _smiles_ at the half playfulness of Jesus talking to these two beloved disciples as a tender father sometimes talks to his little children; and _tears_ at the condescending love of Christ our G.o.d and Lord, walking as a wayfaring man with two of his heartbroken creatures. Can you take this in, and not fall at his feet and kiss them? Can you take this in, and not look up into his face smiling through your tears?
And then he said: "Behooved it not the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory?" This very sentence, by which he shed the first rays of light upon the dark waters of their storm-beaten bosoms, tells the whole tale of Christ"s redeeming love. The cross and crown!
Joy of earth and bliss of heaven! The cross of dishonor; the crown of glory! The cross of death; the crown of life!
"But their eyes were holden, that they should not know him." He came as the divine Word. He is the truth and the life of the Word; for "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." Though they knew not that it was he, still their hearts did burn within them as he opened unto them the scriptures. "Beginning at Moses he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself." They do not tell us the pa.s.sages he quoted and explained; but it is believed we have them all in our Bibles. I think it is evident we have all the Scriptures now that were extant then; and it is our great privilege to hunt up for ourselves and others these broken pieces of the Bread of Life.
The word "HOLDEN" means simply, _held back; restrained_. For wise reasons he _held back_ the sight of their eyes that they should not know him. Had they known him at first sight, it would have interfered with and prevented the accomplishment of his gracious purpose to make himself known in the "breaking of bread." In this very act he has taught his people one of the most precious lessons in all the Christian"s experiences. He is the Bread of eternal Life. His whole Word is but one great loaf, and he is that loaf. And how my soul quivers with the thought that if we invite him in as these loving disciples did, and ask him to abide with us, he will take a seat with us at table, and break unto us the Bread of Life. Our spiritual eyes will be opened, and we shall joyfully know him. Then will
"Our hearts grow warm with heavenly fire; And kindle with a pure desire; While our blest Savior from above Feeds all our souls with holy love."
None but those
"that know the Lord, And taste the sweetness of his Word,"
can ever know the joys of his salvation.
III. "JESUS HIMSELF WENT WITH THEM."
We are not informed how many of the sixty furloughs they had already pa.s.sed over on their way when "Jesus himself drew near, and went with them;" but from the loving kindness of our Lord we readily conclude they had not gone very far. "Can a mother forget her sucking child?
Yea, she may forget; yet will not I forget thee." He knew the depth of their disappointment and the grief that followed when they could say: "We hoped that it was he which should redeem Israel." "_We hoped_--;"
but alas! all hope is now forever gone. It lies buried with him in his tomb.
If one born blind could unexpectedly open his eyes to see the light of the morning sun in a cloudless sky, the surprise and joy could not be greater than were these to the two sitting at the table. They forgot to eat. They were so filled with the sight of the Lord that their hunger for that which merely represented him was all gone. They not only saw the proof of his resurrection; but in him they felt the resurrection of their own buried _faith_, and _hope_, and _love_.
"They rose up that very hour,--" I do not believe they sat still one minute after he vanished out of their sight--"and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, ... saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon." This was to them one of the wonders connected with his rising, as Simon had so shamefully denied him so shortly before. But such is the fullness of his grace, that where sin abounds, grace does much more abound unto all such as are willing to receive it.
Some people do not believe the story of the resurrection. But, strange to say, they can believe something a hundred times less reasonable, and absolutely false. They can believe that a LIE has done more to better the condition of mankind in this world than all the truth that has ever been told. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the keystone to the great arch upon which rest all the truths of Divine Revelation.
Destroy this, and the arch, with all upon it, falls a pile of ruins.
There is one special fact connected with the Lord"s resurrection which we must not forget. He never appeared to any but his own. They, only, had eyes to see him. Some may wonder why he did not go out into the streets of Jerusalem and there, to gaping crowds, show his risen form with the nail prints and the spear mark still fresh in his hands and his feet, and in his side. In answer to this I have but little to say, more than that he was ever averse to casting pearls before swine or giving that which is holy unto dogs. I will add this, however, that as none but spiritual eyes can see him now, so none but spiritual eyes could see him then. This is what he meant by saying: "Yet a little while, and the world beholdeth me no more; but ye behold me: because I live, ye shall live also."
And now, my dear Brethren, what have we learned by our meditation to-day? If we have learned to know the Lord a little better, that we may draw nearer to him, we are edified, and our preaching and hearing have not been void. In all our communings with him, Brethren, let us believe and love with all our hearts. In our reasonings together let us know and _feel_ that "_he is nigh, even at hand_." When we are in the way of duty, we love to feel that Jesus is with us, that he knows all we think, and sees all we do; but when out of the way, when walking in forbidden paths, how abashed and confused would we feel, if "_Jesus himself_ were to draw near!" O brethren and sisters, let us so live, that every thought and word and act of our lives may be fit for his eye. Lord, give us grace so to live. Amen!
YEARLY MEETING OPENS
_At the Linville"s Creek Church, Monday, May 15._
Brethren Henry Kurtz, John Garber, Umstead and Price spoke in exposition of the Word and doctrine in the forenoon meeting, which opened at 8 A.M.
Brother Price took the lead, and spoke from 1 Peter 1:12. I will give a faithful report of his discourse as nearly exact as it can be made from the very brief outlines left by Brother Kline. Had the thought ever entered Brother Kline"s mind that his Diary might at some future day be published in a regularly prepared form, I feel sure he would have left more extended entries on points of intense interest.
TEXT.--"Which things the angels desire to look into."