Repentance Part 6

INTRO: Our subject is repentance. As we have seen already, it is a big subject and a very important one to all Christianity. We do not have revival because we do not have repentance, and we do not have repentance because conviction of sin is not strong enough. My wife and I attended some meetings the Sutera Twins held years ago in Ontario. There was something hindering revival and they felt it was the pastor himself, who had called them there. How heavy must conviction be before the Christian in the pew repents before man?
Just as I was working on this I came across this quote by Augustus H. Strong's book on systematic theology that I had underlined years ago. It says: "We are required to confess to another, and specially to those whom we have wronged." He then quotes James 5:16 and goes on like this: This puts the hardest stress upon our natural pride. There are a hundred who will confess to a priest or to God, where there is one who will make frank and full penitence to the aggrieved party" (834).
Well, we realize the need for revival. But it does not happen without conviction of sin. As long as we think we are in the right we will never repent. When we realize we are in the wrong, even then most won't repent. Only when conviction is heaped very high and we find it almost unbearable to live with ourselves any more will we repent to another whom we have wronged.