most powerful meetings I have ever been in were those in
which there came a sort of hush over the people, and it seemed as if
an unseen power gripped their consciences. I remember a man coming to
one meeting, and the moment he entered, he felt that God was there.
There came an awe upon him, and that very hour he was convicted and
converted.

2. Contrition.

The next thing is contrition, deep Godly sorrow and humiliation of
heart because of sin. If there is not true contrition, a man will turn
right back into the old sin. That is the trouble with many Christians.

A man may get angry, and if there is not much contrition, the next day
he will get angry again. A daughter may say mean, cutting things to
her mother, and then her conscience troubles her, and she says:

"Mother, I am sorry: forgive me."

But soon there is another outburst of temper, because the contrition
is not deep and real. A husband speaks sharp words to his wife, and
then to ease his conscience, he goes and buys her a bouquet of
flowers. He will not go like a man and say he has done wrong.

What God wants is contrition, and if there is not contrition, there is
not full repentance. "The Lord is nigh to the broken of heart, and
saveth such as be contrite of spirit." "A broken and a contrite heart,
O God, Thou wilt not despise." Many sinners are sorry for their sins,
sorry that they cannot continue in sin; but they repent only with
hearts that are not broken. I don't think we know how to repent
now-a-days. We need some John the Baptist, wandering through the land,
crying: "Repent! repent!"

3. Confession of Sin.

If we have true contrition, that will lead us to confess our sins. I
believe that nine-tenths of the trouble in our Christian life comes
from failing to do this. We try to hide and cover up our sins; there
is very little confession of them. Someone has said: "Unconfessed sin
in the soul is like a bullet in the body."

If you have no power, it may be there is some sin that needs to be
confessed, something in your life that needs straightening out. There
is no amount of psalm-singing, no amount of attending religious
meetings, no amount of praying or reading your Bible that is going to
cover up anything of that kind. It must be confessed, and if I am too
proud to confess, I need expect no mercy from God and no answers to my
prayers. The Bible says: "He that covereth his sins shall not
prosper." He may be a man in the pulpit, a priest behin