having the spirit of the Pharisee comes into an after-meeting, I know
of no better portion of Scripture to meet his case than Romans iii.
10: "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: there is
none that understandeth; there is none that seeketh after God." Paul
is here speaking of the natural man. "They are all gone out of the
way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth
good, no, not one." And in the 17th verse and those which follow, we
have "And the way of peace have they not known; there is no fear of
God before their eyes. Now we know what things soever the law saith,
it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be
stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."

Then observe the last clause of verse 22: "For there is no
difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."
Not part of the human family--but _all_--"have sinned, and come short
of the glory of God." Another verse which has been very much used to
convict men of their sin is 1 John i. 8: "If we say that we have no
sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."

I remember that on one occasion we were holding meetings in an
eastern city of forty thousand inhabitants; and a lady came and asked
us to pray for her husband, whom she purposed bringing into the after
meeting. I have traveled a good deal and met many pharisaical men;
but this man was so clad in self-righteousness that you could not get
the point of the needle of conviction in anywhere. I said to his
wife: "I am glad to see your faith; but we cannot get near him; he is
the most self-righteous man I ever saw." She said: "You must! My
heart will break if these meetings end without his conversion." She
persisted in bringing him; and I got almost tired of the sight of
him.

But towards the close of our meetings of thirty days, he came up to
me and put his trembling hand on my shoulder. The place in which the
meetings were held was rather cold, and there was an adjoining room
in which only the gas had been lighted; and he said to me, "Can't you
come in here for a few minutes?" I thought that he was shaking from
cold, and I did not particularly wish to go where it was colder. But
he said: "I am the worst man in the State of Vermont. I want you to
pray for me." I thought he had committed a murder, or some other
awful crime; and I asked: "Is there any one sin that particularly
troubles you?" And he said: "My