Emphasis Preaching Journal

In the 1860s a man named Job Smith was convicted for some offense and sentenced to die. His father visited President Abraham Lincoln to appeal for a pardon for his son. He sat in front of the President of the United States and wept. Lincoln wrote a few lines on a sheet of paper and handed it to Mr. Smith. It read, "Job Smith is not to be shot until further orders from me. Abraham Lincoln." Mr. Smith read it with surprise and disappointment. He said, "I thought it was a pardon.