If a person does not have the light of the Holy Spirit, it is possible that he can be like Judas, who saw his sin, was suffering and had no peace within, but would not see his own position before God. Without the light, he would not see his position of perdition. Man's feeling concerning sin goes only so far as to realize that he has done wrong. He does not realize that he is a lost one before God. We are willing to admit that we are sinful. But without the enlightening of the Holy Spirit, we will not admit that as a result of sin, we became lost persons before God. In the eyes of God, we are lost persons.

There is the possibility of a fleshly counterfeit even in the matter of sin-consciousness. The flesh can replace the work of the Holy Spirit. Many tears in revival meetings are but results of man's flesh. They are not produced through the work of the Holy Spirit in man. It is one thing for man to know that he has sinned. It is another thing for man to know that his relationship with God is wrong. The Holy Spirit patiently and carefully enlightens man and shows him that he is lost. What the Holy Spirit does is to show man that his position is wrong. Hence, the first feeling of everyone who has experienced the work of the Holy Spirit of God is not something related to sin, but the feeling that he is away from home. His relationship with God is cut off. He has developed a problem with God. He is a lost man.

Our problem before God does not lie merely in how much we have wasted ourselves in eating, drinking, fornication, or gambling. It is a problem of being away in a distant country. When the Holy Spirit enlightens man, the first thing He does is show man that he is in a distant country. When one reads the last parable in Luke 15, he has to take note of what the prodigal said to the father. He did not say that he had squandered all his father's estate with harlots. The first thing he realized when he came to himself was that in his father's house there was an abundance of bread. Why then was he living with the hogs in a distant country and not able even to satisfy his hunger with the carob pods which were for the hogs? When the Holy Spirit enlightens a person, he will realize that he has a problem with God, that he has left his Father's house, and that he is away from his Father. My friends, when a person in the world has come to the end of himself in his sinful condition, he may, like Judas, become aware of his sins. But without the light of the Holy Spirit, he will not feel that he has left the Father's house and is in a distant country. I am not saying that sins are not serious. Sins are sins. But the Bible shows us that man's chief sin lies in the fact that he is lost. He is standing on an improper ground. He may not be in an improper condition. Of course, all those who are in an improper condition must stand on improper ground. When the Holy Spirit enlightens us, first He shows us that we are on an improper ground. Then He shows us our improper condition. This is the enlightening of the Holy Spirit.