The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1913-02-13
DO YOUR LEVEL BEST.
BY q. b. Lewis. Sioux city. la.

EEL 5NHa|N PIX HFeS .3eN4as44
In striving to dc his best one must
not only put forth the best there is in
MIN but 1t must be devoted to the very
pest cause in which he can engage.
Inns Is always and everywhere found
! seeking to lift ones self, and every
one within reach of your influence to
"a higher moral plane of being, and SO
see more clearly the face of our Faith
er which IS in heaven"
What" says one. must we all be
preachers ?" Not a bit OF 1t. If you
mean preaching from q pulpit; much
OF the best preaching is done outside
or the pulpit. because 1t is usually ac-
scompanied by, IL not indeed consist
ing entirely of, practice. and practice
IS the greatest accompanies to har-
NOME and efectuate preaching that
the world has ever seen.
Noah, we are told, was a preacher
OF 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 the hammer evidencing to an unbe-
lieytng generation his faith in Gods
word. Everything in atu was go
Ing on as 1t had for centuries, and 1t
was a standing joke to poke fun at
Noah, just as thousands have sneered
at, ana today ridicule. those whose
work built upon Gods word, points to
q future rather than the present. But
0--- 1 ~ was WILL
pieted 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 Ecclefechan
they told him Of a cobbler there, a pro-
fame man IN made sport of all religion
and church goers. Irving found that
ne needed some shoe repairs, went into
h shop, and while the man worked at
the 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 We're surprised to see the
man n church. dressed in his best
After the meeting n 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 one of Irving's strong
supports.
When DIR. Mabie was at Belvidere
ILL.,, he walked out one day and found
an lrishman digging a ditch. MI. Mabie
fell into conversation about ditchfne
and other matter OF interest to his au-
ditor, unit! the man said: Where dc
go to your own church, but try to dc
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 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. Sturgeon entered upor
the pastorate Of the ark Street church
London, in 1854. In 1855 the cholera
broke out with much v~irulence. Mr.
Spurgeon was daily engaged with fun
erals, and buried many Of his friends
One day returning from a funeral an6
feeling much depressed he was inclined
to give up. Passing the window of &
Dover street shoe shop curiosity lee
him to notice a paper wafered in the
window upon which was written: BE
cause thou hast made the Lord, which
Is my refuge, yer the Most High, tn,
habitation; there shall no evil befal
thee. neither shall any plague COM
nigh thy dwelling" Mr. Spurgeon ap.
propriated the text to himself, renewed
his strength, pursued his work, revived
his courage n always believed tina,
the exhibition Of that scripture by the
shoemaker. was designed BIZ
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, Christfan--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" nor confined to human be-
tngs. 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 we merciful as your Father
also is merciful." does it not seem tc