I feel awful. I never felt this way before in all my life," and
his great frame shook with emotion. "I know what is the matter with you,"
I said. "You are under conviction of sin; the Holy Spirit is dealing with
you," and I pointed him to Christ, and he knelt down and cried to God for
mercy, to forgive his sins for Christ's sake.

Not long after, one Sunday night I saw another man sitting in the gallery
almost exactly above where this man had sat. A diamond flashed also from
this man's shirt front. I said to myself, "There is another sporting man."
He turned out to be a travelling man who was also a sporting man. As I
preached, he leaned further and further forward in his seat. In the midst
of my sermon, without any intention of giving out the invitation, simply
wishing to drive a point home, I said, "Who will accept Jesus Christ
to-night?" Quick as a flash the man sprang to his feet and shouted, "I
will." It rang through the building like the crack of a revolver. I
dropped my sermon and instantly gave out the invitation; men and women and
young people rose all over the building to yield themselves to Christ. God
was answering prayer and the Holy Spirit was convincing men of sin. The
Holy Spirit can convince men of sin. We need not despair of any one, no
matter how indifferent they may appear, no matter how worldly, no matter
how self-satisfied, no matter how irreligious, the Holy Spirit can
convince men of sin. A young minister of very rare culture and ability
once came to me and said, "I have a great problem on my hands. I am the
pastor of the church in a university town. My congregation is largely made
up of university professors and students. They are most delightful people.
They have very high moral ideals and are living most exemplary lives.
Now," he continued, "if I had a congregation in which there were drunkards
and outcasts and thieves, I could convince them of sin, but my problem is
how to make people like that, the most delightful people in the world,
believe that they are sinners, how to convict them of sin." I replied, "It
is impossible. You cannot do it, but the Holy Spirit can." And so He can.
Some of the deepest manifestations of conviction of sin I have ever seen
have been on the part of men and women of most exemplary conduct and
attractive personality. But they were sinners and the Holy Spirit opened
their eyes to the fact.

While it is the Holy Spirit who convinces men of sin, He does it through
us