Preaching

Thomas Scott, the commentator, tells the following incident: "A poor man, most dangerously ill, of whose religious state I entertained some hopes, seemed to me in the agonies of death. I sat by his bed for a long time, expecting to see him expire; but at length he awoke as from a sleep, and noticed me. I said, 'You are extremely ill.' He replied, 'Yes, but I shall not die this time.' I asked the ground of this strange confidence, saying that I was persuaded he would not recover. To this he answered, 'I have just dreamed that you, with a very venerable-looking person, came to me. He asked you what you thought of me.' 'What kind of tree is it? Is there any fruit?' You said, 'No; but there are blossoms!' 'Well, then, I will spare it a little longer.' This dream so exactly met my ideas as to the man's state of mind, and the event so answered his confidence by recovery, that I could not but think there was something peculiar in it. I have since learned that after many backslidings the man became a decidedly religious character — and his case furnishes a most striking instance of the long-suffering and tender mercy of our God!"