The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1913-02-13
DO YOUR LEVEL BEST.

By =. Z. Lewis. slous city. "a.

In striving to do hts best one must
not only put forth the best there is in
MN u IT must be devoted to the very
pest cause in which he can engage.
Inns - always n everywhere found
In seeking to lift ones self, and every
one within reach OF your influence to
q higher moral plane OF being and SO
see more clearly the face of our AFath-
er which is In heaven"
What" lays one, must we all be
preachers? Not a bit OF 1t, IL you
Of the best preaching is done outside
OF the pulpit, because II Is usually ac-
companied by. IL not indeed consist
ing entirely OF, practice, and practice
- the greatest accompanies to har-
monize and e~ffectuate preaching that
the world has yer seen.
Noah, we are told, was a preacher
or righteousness" but there is no rec
ORD OF his saying anything. He
preached a sermon 100 years long IN
the building Of the ark, every stroke
OF n hammer ~evidencing to an unbe-
Iieying generation his faith in Gods
word. Everything in nature was go
Ing on as 1t had for centuries, and ii
was q standing joke to poke fun at
Moan. Just as thousands have sneered
at, n today ridicule, those whose
work b. 1t upon Gods word, points to
2 future rather than the present. But
Noah p~ersevered, the ark was COM
pleted n God shut him in: and as
Tor the Jeering multitude, the flood
came and swept them all away" while
Noah became heir OF the righteous
ness which is by faith"
The finest sermon Edward Irving
ever delivered was from a s~hoernaker's
bench. When he went to Ecclefechan
they told him OF a cobbler there, q pro-
o man who made sport Of all religion
and church goers. Irving found that
ne needed some shoe repairs, went into
the shop, and while the man worked at
n job, talked about kip and upper and
sole leather, and various things used
by the sons OF Crispin, but not a word
about religion. On the next Sunday
the people Were surprised to, see the
man in church. dressed in his best.
After the meeting one holder than the
rest asked him how he, a scoffer, came
to be there. "Oh," said he, "yon
preacher mon kens a about leather
In a short time he came into the church
and was for years n OF Irving's strong
supports. g.
When DR.. Mabie was at Belyidere,
H., he walked out one day and found
an Irishman digging q ditch. Mr.. Mabie
fell into conversation about ditching
and other matter Of interest to his au-
ditor, until h man said: Where do
you, preach?' mo matter where, you
go to your own church, but try to do
what we have been talking Of" How
ever, the next Sabbath found the man,
pronounced Catholic though he was,
at DR.. Mabie's church, and II resulted
In an entire change OF belief and life.
One of the most far reaching results
came to the devoted efforts of a little
obscure shoemaker in Dover street,
London. c. H. Spurgeon entered upon
the pastorate Of the Park Street church,
London, in 1854. In 1855 the cholera
broke out with much virulence. Mr..
Spurgeon was daily engaged with fun
erals, n buried many Of his friends.
One day returning from a funeral and
feeling much depressed he was inclined
to give up. Passing the window of a
Dover street shoe shop curiosity led
him to notice q paper wafered in the
window upon which was written: Be
cause thou hast made the Lord, which
Is my refuge, ever the Most High, thy
habitation; there shall no evil befall
thee, neither shall any plague come
nigh thy dwelling" Mr.. Spurgeon APP
p~ropriated the text to himself, enewed
his strength, pursued his work., revived
his courage and always believed that
the exhibition of that scripture by the
unknown shoemaker, was designed by
Providence for his own fertilization.
Evil Is wrought by want Of thought,
AS well as want of heart"
A well developed moral-and with
still greater emphasis, Christian-char-
acter will be thoughtful and considerate,
not only Of the rights, but of the COM
fort and pleasure Of his fellows. More
over "the quality of mercy Is not
strained" no confined to human be-
ings. All the lower orders of life wait
upon God to give them their meat in
due season." They, as we'll as our
selves, are fed and cared for Of His
bounty and mercy, and when the Lord
says, BE ye merciful as your Father
also Is merciful." does 1t not seem to