Brethren, this is what I have gained, it is what you have gained, it is what we all have gained by placing ourselves in sight of the Lord as he was passing by.  In itself, it was a small thing that Zaccheus did.  The tree which he ascended was not hard to climb; he was nimble, for he ran on before; and it did not take him long to climb, for he had not much time.  But in motive the act was great, because it was done to get a sight of Jesus the Lord.  The Lord knew this, and knew also that his motive was not one of idle curiosity, but honest desire to see him and to learn something more concerning him.  And see how he was blessed.  Although he was looked down upon as being a sinner, and felt in his heart that he was a sinner, still the blessed Savior regarded it not out of place for him to go and be guest with him, and crown the occasion with the joyful annunciation:  “This day is salvation come to this house, forasmuch as he also is a son of Abraham.”  All who believe in the Lord from the heart are sons of Abraham, and heirs of God according to the promise.

Now, when any one goes to church to hear the Gospel preached, and thereby to learn something about the Lord that he may have knowledge of Jesus, he is doing in effect just what Zaccheus did.  The same may be said with regard to reading the Divine Word.  It matters not how great a sinner he may have been.  No one now is likely to be a greater sinner than was Mary Magdalene out of whom seven devils were cast; and yet the Lord could say of her:  “Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she hath loved much.”  A dying saint was once heard to say:  “Hunt up all my sins; pile them mountain high; one breath of faith sweeps them all away; and the more I’m forgiven the louder I’ll sing.”

Ah, brethren and sisters, we can rejoice that the Lord condescended to be a guest with us poor sinners.  He proclaims salvation to every one of us.  And inasmuch as he has come in to sup with us and we with him, let us hold him by the feet, ever welcome to our hearts, and he will abide with us forever.

It is in a feeling of unavoidable sadness we now approach the closing weeks of Brother Kline’s life.  We will now, with great care, trace his steps going to and returning from the last Annual Meeting he was ever permitted to attend.

FRIDAY, May 6.  This is the day on which he started.  He stayed the first night with Reuben Regelman, then living in the head of what was then called Germany, a remote section of Brock’s Gap, and so called on account of the number of original German people who settled there near the close of the Revolutionary War.  Regelman lived in a deep mountain retreat, just in the line of what appeared to Brother Kline his safest route.