Acts 19:2 *“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” he asked them. “No,” they replied, “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit*” (NLT)
*THE PERSON OF THE HOLY SPIRIT* (f)
The Holy Spirit is the lifeline of the believer. Without Him, the believer is nothing. God the father is in heaven, God the son is seated at His right hand in heaven but the only representative of the Godhead present with us on earth is the Holy Spirit.
He is the one running the show. If believers are not properly acquainted with His ministry here on earth, we may miss out. Let me show you another thing the Holy Spirit does that reflects His person.
*VI. HE CONVICTS*
John 16:8 says, *"And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment*" (NLT)
To the unsaved, the Holy Spirit is actively working to convict them of their sin. The principal sin of the sinner is unbelief. All others come after it. Jesus confirmed it in the verse that followed.
John 16:9 says, *"The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me*"(NLT).
Unbelief (about the saving power of Christ) is the summary of the sin the whole world is committing. The work of the Holy Spirit is to convict sinners about their failure to believe in Christ.
He won't stop there; Christ is the standard of righteousness not any religious leader. The world knows about self -righteousness, rules, regulations and ethical codes. In fact, some religion have tough ethical codes that requires discipline. Most of their adherents are striving to keep them.
The Holy Spirit will convict the world about righteousness pointing them to Christ as God's standard of righteousness. This is profound. He won't stop there. He will convict them about the coming judgement of God to all sinners.
When next you are going out for evangelism, ask the Holy Spirit to do His work of conviction. We cannot achieve any of these with the arm of the flesh. You cannot use baits like "come to Jesus for money, He will make you super wealthy" to achieve the convicting work of the Spirit in the life of a sinner.
At best, you will have false conversion of people who want to follow Jesus for their problems to be solved not because they realize their sinfulness, the consequences and the need for a saviour. Those who come to Jesus for their needs to be met often turn back If their needs are not met.
When next you are going for evangelism or to the mission field, ask the Holy Spirit to convict the sinners about their sin, righteousness and the coming judgement of God. If this happens to any sinner willing to be saved, genuine salvation will be the result.
Holy Spirit, convict (...mention the name of an unsaved person that you know) and let salvation be the result in Jesus name.