The JOY of Holy Ghost Conviction

Everything that God the Father seeks to do in our lives by His Spirit ends in exceeding “JOY”. Not one of the “JOYS” that our Father gives is more wonderful than the result of Holy Ghost conviction of sin. The Great Father and His Son Jesus will not allow sin to go unpunished. They have made sin exceedingly terrible for our benefit, and the Holy Spirit convicts every soul of his sin. The sinner has a God-given conscience that will not leave one guilty moment alone. The believer that is truly born again cannot get away with anything. Sin hounds men day and night because God has made sin to be like a corrupt boil in every soul. This beautiful work of the Holy Ghost – convicting men of sin – is the source of the greatest “JOY” on earth, but only when it is confessed and cleansed. More “JOY” and peace of mind can be derived from genuine contrition for sin than from ten thousand psychologists or mental health therapists.

One of the most beautiful sights in the world is a new convert that has just been fully forgiven and is now flooded with the “JOY” of new life. Jesus Christ taught us, “…that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Luke 15:7) I know of no other place in Scripture where the “JOY” on earth is recorded as reaching all the way to Heaven and causing joy in Heaven, too. Our God never does anything in His Kingdom with harsh or unsympathetic reasons. We are the “JOY” of Heaven. The conviction of sin has only one motive and that is to make us pure, blessed, happy, and the “joy of the whole earth.” The intent of the Holy Spirit is to never allow one soul to be happy in their sins. The world is full of unhappy expressions that arise out of guilty lives. In fact, all unhappiness is the result of sin.

A Christian that falls into willful sin is the most unhappy soul on earth. In this fallen state, the grace of God withdraws itself, and the soul is like an empty garden where the flowers have all been plucked. “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.” (Hebrews 10:26) The “JOY” of new life is withdrawn by the Holy Spirit to convict that soul lest they become reprobate and void of the sense of sin’s penalties. Thank God, He gives them space to repent. “And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.” (Revelation 2:21) The Holy Spirit never allows sin for which He provides no work of conviction. The great host of the angelic order of Cherubims is fully engaged with the Holy Spirit as “keepers of holiness in the earth.” The Scripture teaches, “Whithersoever the Spirit was to go, they [His Cherubims] went…” (Ezekiel 1:20)

A repentant Christian is a joy to the saints and the church. We must be extremely sensitive that we never kill the wounded. “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:1-2) Who is he among us that has never fallen? May God bless him, although I have not met him. The repentant Christian will always be characterized by a deep humility and brokenness that draws the entire church family to a fresh sense of the “fear of God.” The person of the Holy Spirit becomes ever more precious to us as we behold His marvelous grace in rescuing the broken saints of God. The Apostle Peter, although backslidden, was a picture of Divine grace as he took hold of Christ on the banks of Lake Gennesaret. Our Lord, in resurrected glory, simply said, “…Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs.” (John 21:15) “For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again…” (Proverbs 24:16) Please do not excuse your sins with that, but let it remain with you that you can get up and go on with God.

The prodigal son was Christ’s great reminder to us that He never ceases to love the fallen, and He convicts them for days without end. This loved son had gone to the bottom of sin’s ladder. He was insane with sin and its consequences, “but he came to himself.” There was no power in him to see his error because he was darkened and blind. The Father was waiting and watching, while the Spirit was wooing and disturbing. This picture paints upon our minds the beauty of Holy Ghost conviction. The prodigal was feeding with swine and sharing the trough where they ate. The Holy Spirit was in a hog pen with this sinner (though not a partaker of its filth) calling him home to the Father’s table.

Apostle Paul said, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) This prodigal son had no hope out of his lost state. But the “Convicter of sin” moved upon the fallen son. “And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.” (Luke 15:17-18) The story ends at a banquet table as “JOY” fills the FatherÂ’s and the SonÂ’s hearts. “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.” (Luke 15:24)

No “JOY” can be greater than what the Holy Spirit seeks to do in the heart of every person that is bound with sin or in the believer that has fallen into sin. There cannot be one ounce of coddling of sin within the church, but there must be sainted souls ready to share with the Spirit in rescue. The Holy Ghost will never pour His oil upon the unrepentant, but He will never refuse to call and convert the repentant. The Holy Spirit is the “Hound of Heaven” and no sin can escape His call.