Tuesday, October 19. He started homeward, but stopped at Brother Michael Grabil's and attended a meeting in Roanoke meetinghouse. Assisted by brethren Kinsey and Brubaker, he ordained Brother Christian Wirt to the full work of the gospel ministry.
Friday, October 29. He arrived home safe, after an absence of something over four weeks. The whole distance, going and returning, was about 600 miles. This he traveled on Nell's back. Good, patient, faithful Nell!
From this time on to the close of the year, Brother Kline was mainly engaged in the practice of medicine, together with his ministerial labors. On far into the next year the same may be said of his work. Ever active, no such thing as idleness ever had a place in his life. Looking through his Diary, observing the unintermitting activity of his life "every day and Sunday too," I am struck with wonder that he did not get tired.
Sunday, March 13, 1853. Meeting at the Elk meetinghouse, in Page County, Virginia. Acts 9 was read. My topic was Saul's conversion. There are three points in the conversion of Saul which I noted particularly in my discourse to-day. They are as follows:
I. Saul's conversion was unexpected.
II. It was miraculous.
III. It was thorough.
No event could have been less expected than the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Lightning from the clear blue sky, or the breaking forth of the sun at midnight, could not have struck both Jews and Christians with deeper amazement than did the report of the change of Saul from persecutor to protector of God's people. But this is sometimes God's way. Often does he send us blessings and do wonders when we least expect them. Day breaks at the darkest hour. In the midst of parching dryness the refreshing shower comes. The hardest pain is just before the birth. A sleepless night ends in a joyful morning. In this way he shows us that the "excellency of the power is not of men, but of God."
In our religious experiences we sometimes feel prayer a burden; reading and meditation a task. We loathe ourselves and wonder how Jesus can love us. Out of such frames of feeling the Lord sometimes suddenly lifts us, by causing light to break in upon our souls, revealing some new truth, some fresh affection, in which we rejoice. In addition to these instances of unexpected blessings, we sometimes see men gathered into the fold, for whose conversion we had lost all hope.
We need not wonder that Saul's conversion was wholly unexpected. He had shown such hostility to Jesus of Nazareth that no ground for hope of any change in him was anywhere visible. His conviction was therefore, in the eyes of Christians, a miracle. But it was so only in appearance. The light, above the brightness of the sun, that shone upon him, was but the same light that shone from the face of the Lord and glistened from his raiment on the holy mount when he was transfigured. John had a somewhat similar vision of the Lord upon the isle of Patmos. John was better prepared to receive the vision than was Saul; but even John fell at the Lord's feet as dead. The Lord immediately laid his right hand upon John, and in the tenderness of his love said: "Fear not." These same sweet words fell from his lips upon the ears of the three disciples on the holy mount. But Saul heard far different words. A voice sounded into his soul: "I am Jesus of Nazareth whom thou persecutest." This terrific announcement broke up the sealed fountain of his sinful heart and he cried out: "Lord, what wouldst thou have me to do?" He was then told to go into the city of Damascus, and it would there be told him what he had to do.
Notice the difference. The Lord did not say to him as he had to many others: "Fear not." This seemed to be his cherished phrase to all who loved and believed on him. To the women at the sepulcher, these words, "fear not," were addressed by the angel. To the church, seen in vision by the prophetic eye of Isaiah, the words, "Fear not, for I have redeemed thee: fear not, for I am with thee," are tenderly spoken by the Lord. If Saul's conviction had been brought about by human agency through the preaching of the Word, the adversaries of the cross might have said that he had been persuaded, or bribed with money to change his manner of life. But nothing like this could be said now. The men who journeyed with him could testify otherwise. They saw the light that flashed upon him; but they heard not the words spoken. They were not persecutors of Jesus by intention as Saul was. Like the soldiers who nailed the Lord to the cross, they knew not what they did. But Saul knew what he was doing, and the light struck conviction to his heart.
Conviction is a knowledge of sin imparted by the Holy Spirit through the Word. The light that Saul saw is an expressive emblem of the light of revealed truth. Light signifies truth, in very many places in the Scriptures. Take, for examples, the following: "The people which sat in darkness saw great light." Darkness here does not mean natural darkness, but mental or spiritual darkness, which is ignorance. Again: "Every one that doeth evil, hateth the light." This was Saul's state exactly. He was doing evil, and he hated the light to such a pitch of passion that he sought to take the lives of the children of light. But it was God's way then, and it is God's way now, to convict and convert men by means of the very thing they hate, which is the Word of Truth.