Holy Spirit convicts people of their sin

As prayers were offered during the course of an evening Good Friday service, the Spirit of the Lord brought conviction upon a zealous student pastor who had secretly withheld money that wasn't his. He publicly confessed and promised to restitute accordingly.

A Christian businessman alongside his fellow Christian partners were about to go ahead with a shady business deal when the Holy Spirit awakened their consciences and they were helped to retrace their steps to the glory of God.

After they themselves had been under conviction from the Holy Spirit, students at Sienyu asked to be allowed to go to "their own house unto their friends, and tell them how great things the Lord had done for them, and how He had mercy on them." They went and visited "cold churches," setting them on fire.

When a man who had led a notorious secret gang called the "Guan and Knife Society" comes under conviction, he makes a promise to repent and just like he led scores to doing his bidding in sin, he was used of God to lead many to righteousness.

In a conference meeting, Miss Vaughan was led by the Holy Spirit to ask everyone to stop and pray a specific prayer. As they obeyed this leading of God, the Holy Spirit fell upon them with great power and conviction.

Mr. Swen, a Chinese farmer, was convicted of his sins and he publicly confessed them, promising to renew his commitment as a servant of God. As he matched his words with actions he saw, like never before, God's powerful blessing on his business.

Before the revival meetings, a spiritually asleep village church was unwilling to support a school for girls. But on the tenth day of a conference, a backslidden evangelist came under Holy Spirit conviction. His public repentance led to a revival amongst the congregation. Echoing Psalm 110:3, "That His people will be willing in the day of His power," the school was enthusiastically supported.

The people of Shan Tung province were desperate for rain. For weeks they made sacrifices and offered prayers to their rain god, but to no avail. Ultimately, giving up, they threw the idol in a ditch. At the same time the Christians of the area had been praying for rain and were discouraged that their prayers also brought no rain. In a purposefully public demonstration of James 5:16-18, Miss Vaughan led the believers to seek right relationship with God through repentance, which resulted in a dramatic answer to prayer.

In a prayer meeting, more than fifty clergymen confess to different sins including ambition.

A group of Normal School boys in the revival meetings sat with their heads down, reading books instead of listening. After days of resistance, one schoolboy yielded to the Spirit’s conviction, publicly threw down his distracting book, and led the way to confess to the sin of adultery. More boys, broken by God, emulated him and also confessed their sins.

A church elder confessed his sin to Jonathan Goforth. The next morning, he confessed it to all the people, which open the floodgates. Confession and repentance engulfed the entire church, bringing about forgiveness and restoration between one another.

A pastor called on his congregation to pray for those who had drifted away from the church. The congregation responded in unity and prayed as one man. Not long after that many of those who had backslidden began to return, confessing their sins and crying out for mercy.

Jonathan Goforth openly rebuked a man under the devil’s influence and demanded that he stop his empty prayer and sit down. After the meeting, the man confessed to Mr. Goforth that, in order to avoid dealing with his sins, he had been led by the devil to merely appear spiritual. The following day he confessed this and his many other sins to the entire congregation.

A young woman who had conspired with her father to steal medicines from the mission hospital. She left the mission, ostensibly, over her wounded pride at being accused. A series of revival meetings were being held in her village, but she refused to attend. The congregation led a special prayer for her. The Holy Spirit not only compelled her to attend, but led her into sweet repentance.

Mr. Kuo was an influential church member whose courage during the boxer uprising comforted and strengthened many Christians. But he became a backslider and left the church. Jonathan Goforth personally invited him to attend a revival meeting. When it was time to pray, there were many distractions, and Mr. Goforth despaired that the Holy Spirit would not move. But when Mr. Kuo began to pray, the environment immediately changed, and he many others found repentance and relief.

Some had thought that the manifestations of God's Spirit through the ministry of Jonathan Goforth would be limited to places where he was well-known. Even Mr. Goforth himself was wary. His visit to Changtehfu showed that God would show His power anywhere.

Dr. L—’s minor altercation with a fellow evangelist became the stumbling block to God’s overpouring in a meeting. When Dr. L— publicly confessed his sin, the whole atmosphere changed, men and women in the building fell on their knees confessing their sins, including the offended evangelist.

Members of a congregation were pushed to confess their sins on the platform publicly, they had tried to confess privately, but they had no peace. Several shy schoolgirls were bold when it was their turn to confess, saying private confession had given no peace.

Only four simple but mightily inspired words were used by the Holy Spirit through a preacher, to bring conviction of sin to the heart of a rambling atheist. And realizing he truly was lost; he, in due time found the One who saves the lost.

Ah Lung’s remarkable conversion led a 19-year-old fellow inmate arraigned for rape to trust in Christ. So remarkable was the 19-year-old’s conversion that he accepted his wrong, and the consequences, and changed his plea from “not guilty” to “guilty.”

A broken and contrite Wang-ee confessed to inflating the losses he suffered during the 1900 Boxer uprising, which ensured he received an undeserved amount in indemnity from the government. Wang-ee promised full restitution, and he kept his word.

Despite the progress he was making professionally, a physician of note found that he was increasingly unhappy. But as he became convicted of his sins, it became clear to him the source of his miserableness. And until he finally gave up his infidelity, there was no remedy for him!

When a Cherokee Indian joined the Fulton Street prayer-meeting one day, he gave a most moving account of his conversion, starting from the pioneer work of foreign missionaries among his people, to his own experience with the convicting Holy Spirit, and his acceptance of the free gift of salvation.

It was just one scripture; "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7) that God used to bring conviction of sins upon Ishak and to set him on the path of salvation!

Missionaries in Changtefu joined together for a special prayer with great expectation. God answered, poured the blessing of His Spirit upon them and several confessions were recorded. The most astonishing of all was that of a pastor who confessed that he never believed in the previous revival meetings organized by Jonathan Goforth, but now had himself been moved by the Spirit to repentance.

When Jonathan Goforth and his wife, Rosalind were invited to hold meetings at a certain place, she almost did not go. But she did anyway, and later rejoiced, for the Lord brought thousands of souls into the Kingdom through those meetings.

Bilquis Sheikh lied at a relative's funeral she attended and by so doing, grieved the Holy Spirit and thus lost His comforting Presence. Only by repenting did the warmth of His Presence return to her.

Two boys in Folkestone had a quarrel and went on to fight with the defeated one vowing to exact revenge on the other. That same evening, they met at a townhall where Ned Wright was preaching and were both convicted of their sins. They apologized to each other and reconciled one to another.

When Ned casually accepted an invitation to a gospel meeting, little did he know that that meeting will mark a new beginning for him and a radical departure from the life he had led up until that moment.

Ned was determined to keep preaching even after he was stoned for doing so, and that same night the Holy Spirit worked through him to bring conviction to an active thief in the crowd he was addressing.

Under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, Dr. Sung confronted the church leaders about their sin of unforgiveness during a meeting. This led to confession and repentance. The meeting ended in unbounded joy.

Revival broke out in the city of Tenghsien leading to several confessions including some high profile individuals.

When in the place of prayer, John Sung becomes conscious of his many sins, he cried to God for forgiveness until he heard a voice saying, "Son, thy sins are forgiven". The result of receiving forgiveness for Sung was great joy, and the empowerment to become a witness for Christ Jesus, just like he desired.

When a staff who was stealing from the hospital he worked heard the story of the Cross read, his heart is soon changed and now full of conviction, he reports himself and asks that his salary be docked in repayment.

Bonnke and his father had a sharp disagreement on their way to a prayer meeting. But as the prayers were ongoing, the Lord revealed this rift through a vision to one who was at the meeting and Bonnke's father was convicted of his sins. Publicly, he asked for his son's forgiveness, and two, united in love, embraced each other even as tears flowed freely.

Mr. Moody's attempt at preaching the gospel to a stranger on the street was met with anger and a rain of curses. But days later, the same man, under conviction of sin, came to Mr. Moody seeking guidance for his salvation, having been plagued by guilt since their encounter. They prayed together, and the man became a Christian, eventually going off to war with a newfound faith.

Mr Moody recalls an incident while preaching in Glasgow where he urged the audience to accept Christ and meet him at the "marriage supper of the Lamb". Three sisters and another young lady were convicted of their sins and accepted Christ. However, one of them fell ill with scarlet fever the next day and passed away soon after, but not before telling her family that she was going home to be with Jesus and died a happy Christian.

The Holy Spirit used a passage that was read at a Bible study Tesfai attended. The verses came back to haunt him as he retired that night and convicted him of his sin and unmasked him as the fraud that he was.

Ed is surprised when one night, a young man who attended crusades with the sole aim of arguing with and harassing him responded to the call to accept Jesus as Saviour. After crying and confessing his sins to God and obtaining mercy, with great joy he became a christian that night and continued afterwards in the faith.

David Cresswell, a stammering and blaspheming Roman Catholic addicted to tobacco and alcohol, became convicted with a sense of his sin after joining a prayer meeting. And after finding peace in Christ, he changed; lost his taste for liquor and tobacco, and was cured of his speech impediment.

A man who came to mock the sacred things of God was convicted by God. He converted the next day.

Rees Howells is rebuked by the Holy Spirit for allowing jealousy grow in his heart toward his friend whom the Lord used mightily to bless His people at an open air meeting. Rees learned detest jealousy and trust God more from this experience.

Sonny, a former meth. manufacturer was on his way to murder someone when the Holy Spirit arrested him and led him to a men's meeting at a church. That meeting, was the start of his restoration back to his Savior.

Marie had just finished teaching a group of sixteen Chinese women on the barbaric practice of infanticide when the Holy Spirit began to do His work. One by one, fourteen of them were convicted and they publicly confessed this sin.

Three stories reveal the Holy Spirit's power to bring not only conviction of sin but to bring about voluntary public confessions of secret sins, restitution and a change of heart.

A recalcitrant schoolgirl who had been sent away from one school to another is finally brought to a mission school and there she continued in her rebellion towards authority. But at a Christian meeting, she was convicted by the Holy Spirit and the transformation that happened afterwards in her life amazed all who witnessed it!

He came with the intention to rob the Sadhu but he left a penitent, completely changed and born again man!

In 1844, Dr. Mason and Mr. Vinton were in Pyeekhya for three weeks during which there was such an outpouring of the Spirit of God that many who were previously uninterested became instantly drawn to God, got baptized and publicly confessed their transgressions.

Bongoli was a brilliant man who had rebuffed all entreaties to accept Jesus as his Savior. But prayers were continually offered on his behalf until one day, he came under great conviction, and came to the missionaries himself to learn the way of God. Upon his conversion, he dedicated himself to God's service among his people.

Titus Coan depended only on God's Spirit to bring home the words whenever he preached. And the Gospel he declared wrought changes in the hearts and lives of those who listened; sins were confessed, quarrels reconciled, idolatry renounced and God's cause; greatly advanced.

When a hardened thief finds himself at a gospel meeting, little did he know that that same night, the Holy Spirit will convict him of sin, but as he sat through the meeting, the moment came when he could no longer resist God.

L, who described himself as "one of the greatest thieves, drunkards, and blasphemers that ever lived” could not-try as much he did-shake off the conviction of sin that came upon him after attending a gospel service. And until he surrendered, peace eluded him.

A simple conversion between M and L left M thoroughly convicted of, the dishonest life he was living, and until he turned a new leaf by accepting the Lord Jesus into his life, he was not at peace. And despite the difficulties that have visited his business since his conversion, he continues to stand for the Lord.

Even after his close friend, Watchman Nee became a fervent Christian, Kwang-hsi Weigh was intent on pursuing fame and vanity. But one day, as Nee visited him and preached to him about the love of God, Weigh came under the convicting influence of the Holy Spirit; he realized his sins and accepted the Saviour that day.

After years of praying to God for revival in Hequ, the Torjesens' prayers were finally answered when the Spirit of God was seen mightily at work in the course gospel meetings held in 1934. Many convictions, as well as publicly confessed sins were recorded among adults and children alike.

As two missionaries gathered to pray on the opening day of the Ping Yang High School, the Holy ghost moved to mightily convict the students and caused them to confess their sins. Even a native pastor who had attempted to block the Spirit's move was himself brought under conviction and he confessed his sins.

An elder was convicted to confess the sin of theft from his friend's widow on the 8th day of a weeklong prayer-meeting, opening the way for the long expected mighty move of the Spirit. Following him, many more glorified God by confessing their sins.