Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1913-02-14

: DO YOUR LEVEL E
BY l.. e. Lewis. Sioux City. la.

In striving to do his best one must
not only put forth the best there is in
him but it must be devoted to the very
best cause in which he can engage.
This is always and everywhere found
in seeking to lift ones self. and every
one within each of your influence to
A higher moral plane of being, and so
see more clearly the face of our Faith
er which ls in heaven"
What says one, must we all be
preachers? Not a bit of it, if you
mean preaching from a pulpit; much
of the best preaching is done outside
of the pulpit, because it is usually ac-
c~ompanied' by, if not indeed consist
ing entirely of, practice. n practice
is the greatest accompanist to har-
monize and cffectuate preaching that
the world has even seen.
Noah. we are told. was a preacher
Of righteousness but there is no rec
ord of his saying anything. He
preached Il sermon l20 years long in
the building of the ark, every stroke
of the hammer evidencing to an unbe-
|lieving generation his faith in Gods
word. Everything i'm allure was go
ing on as ii a for centuries. and it
was Il standing joke to poke fun AT
at. ana today ridicule. those whose
work built upon Gods word. points to
a future rather h the present. But
Noah pe~rsevered. the ark was COM
pleted and God shut him in: and as
for 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 shoemaker's
bench. When he went to EccIefechan
they told him of Il cObbler there. a pro-
fame man who made sport of all religion
and church goers. Irving found that
he needed some shoe repairs. went into
the shop, n while the man worked at
the job. talked about kip and upper and
sole leather. n various things used
by the sons of Crispin. but lot a word
about religion. On the next Sunday
the people We're surprised to see the
man i'm church. dressed in his best.
After the meeting n holder than the
rest asked him how he. u s%coffer, came
to be there. oh said he. "yon
In a short time he came into the church
and was for years of Irving's strong
supports.
When DIR. Mabie vas at Belvidere.
ILL.,, he walked out one day and found
an Irishman digging a ditch. MI. Mabie
fell into conversation about ditching
and other matter of interest to his au-
uieoI' uh'ii ehe man SAID: Wnere do
you preach?' No matter where, YOU
go to your own church. but try to do
what we nave been talking Of" How
ever. h next Sabbath found the man.
pronounced Catholic though he was,
at DR.. Mabie's church.. and it 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. G. H. Spurgeon entered upon
the passionate of the Park Street church.
London, in 1854. In 1855 the cholera
broke ou with much virulence. Mr..
Spurgeon was daily engaged with fun
erals, and buried many of his friends.
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 ed
him to notice a paper wafered in the
window upon which was written: Be
cause thou hast made the Lord. which
1s my refuge, even the Most High. thy
habitation: there shall no evil befall
thee. neither shall n plague come
.propriated the text to himself. renewed
his strength, pursued his work. revived
his courage and always believed that
the exhibition OF that scripture by the
shoemaker. was designed by
for his own fertilization.
Evil is wrought by want of thought,
AS we'll as want Of heart
A we'll developed ~moral-and with
still greater emphasis. Christian-char-
acter will be thoughtful and ~considerate.
only OF the rights, but OF the COM
fort M pleasure of his fellows. More
over the quality OF mercy is not
strained" nor 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, b We merciful as your Father
is merciful." does it not seem to