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The Word of God in Psalm 110.3

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declares that people shall be willing in the

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day of thy power.

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And I believe, friends, that verse pretty much

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sums up the whole shooting match when it

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comes to a person's salvation.

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A rebel will not willingly lay down his

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arms to a sovereign if he believes he

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still has a fighting chance.

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But if that sovereign overpowers him, then he

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has no choice but to lay down his

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weapons of rebellion and surrender.

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What the modern church has succeeded in today

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is to wrestle salvation out of the hands

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of God and put it in man's hands.

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The consequences of a perverted gospel are baptized

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individuals who are running our churches and ruining

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this nation, but they have no idea of

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what being regenerated by a holy God means,

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and that they think they have a hope

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of heaven while they're living like the devil

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out of hell.

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Oh, what we see today is that salvation

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is something God does.

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In Jonah 2.9 it declares the sovereignty

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of God and the salvation of man, for

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the Word of God says salvation is of

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the Lord.

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I believe every man and woman born of

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Adam is born under a curse and void

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of any desire for holiness unto God.

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In fact, the amnity of man against God

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is so strong that every shotgun in his

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arsenal is pointed up at God's throne, and

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if you had enough gunpowder to reach him,

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you'd shoot God right off his throne and

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sit there yourself.

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You might have a good opinion of yourself,

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friend, but I believe my Bible says about

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you that your heart is so wicked and

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so full of deceit that your heart is

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as black as the hinges on the doorposts

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of hell, and if you get saved, friend,

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it's not going to be by some physical

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response to a preacher's emotional appeal where you

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make a decision for Jesus, but rather God

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Almighty has to perform a miracle in your

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heart.

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Our text from Psalms declares thy people shall

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be willing in the day of thy power,

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and God wrought the work of grace on

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a poor sinner's heart by the divine operations

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of his Holy Spirit, and that's what we're

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going to cover today, friends.

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The title of my message today is the

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divine operations of the Holy Spirit on the

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sinner's heart.

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We're going to study these three aspects today

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in how God's Spirit works on and in

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a sinner's heart.

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I call these the three foundational pillars of

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salvation, for if you get saved, you'll experience

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all three of these conviction, compunction, regeneration.

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Conviction is the work of the Holy Spirit.

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The main reason why our churches today are

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full of the unconverted is that we've made

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our own converts with a diluted gospel and

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crusade evangelism, man-made tactics.

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We hand folks a gospel that's easy to

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swallow without any commitment on man's part other

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than a mental flip for Jesus.

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Our churches and our pulpits are loaded with

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deceived individuals whose hope of heaven is nothing

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more than a hole in the wall because

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they've never come under Holy Spirit conviction.

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God was absent in their so-called conversion,

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and all they have is an empty religious

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profession as a travel, a religious road to

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hell.

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Now I'm being honest with you, friends, because

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I will be true to your soul.

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In the book of Acts in chapter 2,

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we see how the Spirit of God deals

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with the soul.

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The apostle Peter's message created a disturbance that

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day in his hearers when his sermon reached

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its climatic close as he brought the curtain

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down when he cut the cord and dropped

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the boom on them with the cutting words,

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Therefore let all the house of Israel know

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assuredly, meaning without any ifs, ands, or buts

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about it, listen to them now, that God

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hath made that same Jesus whom ye have

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crucified, both Lord and Christ.

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Conviction of sin is where the Holy Spirit

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reproves or convinces the world of sin.

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The first operation of the Spirit of God

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upon the sinner's heart is conviction of sin.

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This is where the sinner is made to

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see his sin.

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He sees sin as a vile evil against

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a holy God.

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He sees his own sin as a thing

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vile and evil.

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Before the Spirit of God comes, man cannot

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nor will he see his sin as evil.

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A man is dead in sin, blind to

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his own condition.

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But when God goes to work in the

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day of his power, he opens man's eyes

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to their sin.

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And that's what happened, friends, on the day

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of Pentecost, when Peter preached his powerful sermon

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that came with the force of a double

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-edged claymore as he hewed his hearers down

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by calling them out as guilty of crucifying

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the Prince of Glory.

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They were full of conviction of sin, and

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they clearly saw the evil of their sin.

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Then what happens next is the second operation

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of the Spirit of God on the heart

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of the sinner.

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That is compunction.

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Compunction is a sense of sin, a strong

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uneasiness caused by the Spirit.

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Compunction follows on the heels of conviction.

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When they heard this, in other words, when

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they saw and were convinced of their sin

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in crucifying the Lord Christ, which before they

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did not imagine to be a sin, but

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now it stands out before them like a

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black specter hovering over them.

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And it not only stands out, but it

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stabs them in their hearts to where they

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can feel and sense it.

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Our text says, now, when they heard this,

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they were pricked in their heart.

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That, friends, is compunction.

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I remember the day God got ahold of

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me and opened my eyes to see I

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was nothing but a lost man on a

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religious road to hell.

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Good church member that I was, I was

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lost.

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I saw my sins that day as they

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rose before me like Samuel unto Saul, and

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I saw for the first time that I

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was a sinner on my way to hell.

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And not only that, but I deserved to

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go there.

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I came under conviction and compunction that day

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and saw my guilty, ruined estate.

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My false foundation was broken up by a

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divine sledgehammer in conviction of sin.

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I felt guilty like a dirty rebel who

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had committed treason against a sovereign.

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I was guilty as charged and deserved to

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hang on the gallows for my crimes.

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God worked a work of grace on my

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heart that day in regeneration, giving me repentance

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and faith.

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And if you get saved, friend, you will

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stand up in alarm like that crowd who

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were pricked in their hearts by the truth

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of God's word and who cried out in

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agony of soul, men and brethren, what shall

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we do?

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Well, Peter the preacher tells them what they

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must do to be saved.

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Then Peter said unto them, repent and be

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baptized every one of you in the name

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of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.

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Salvation, friends, is of the Lord.

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It's high time we got back to preaching

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a God-centered gospel that shuts up men

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and women to a holy God for pardon

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for sin.

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It's high time we get back to preaching

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a bloody cross on which a bloodstained savior

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bled and died for sin.

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That if an old sinner like E.A.

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Johnston is to be saved, then the Lord's

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life must be laid down and his merits

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applied to me.

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Thy people shall be willing in the day

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of thy power.

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Let us pray.