By Holy Spirit Power

Time was when, as an arriving passenger into Barbados, one had to fill out a form which, at the back, were questions.These questions, for many arriving passengers like me, required no other response but, no, to every question asked. I didn’t even have to read the questions any more, for at a glance, I knew the responses would have to be all, no. Well, this is how it was with the following questions. Is it the same for you? Here is your questionnaire. Answer each with either, yes or no.

Can a prostitute be kept from prostitution?
Can a liar be kept from lying?
Can a murderer be kept from murdering?
Can a pervert be kept from perversion?
Can a drunkard be kept from drunkenness?
Can a sinner be kept from sinning?

Then I am shown Jude 1: 24 and made to listen to it in a most disquieting and unconventional way. Listen to this doxology from Jude. To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy. Did you turn the volume to all, or have you turned it down? Here is the question that I turned off on. Can a sinner be kept from sinning? The triumphant answer to this and all the other questions is, yes.

Jude, writes his letter, To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ. Jude 1: 1. But exactly who are these people? They are all sinners called to repentance. Jude says that there is someone who is able to do this. That someone is God, our Saviour. It is God, your Saviour who is able to keep you from falling.

Prevent

It is God, your Saviour, who is able to prevent you from falling. Look at this falling, as falling into sin. See Jesus as the One, through the Holy Spirit’s Power, as being able to prevent you from yielding to the temptations of sin. Jesus, your Human Brother, was kept by the Holy Spirit, from sinning, so in Him, you can be kept from living in sin. At this point, I was reminded of God and Abimelech, in Genesis 20: 6, when God told him that He had kept him from sinning. Yes, I know that you did it with a clear conscience, and so I kept you from sinning against me. God, who is Spirit, prevented Abimelech from sinning against Him.

O Holy Spirit, today, even now, may I believe by faith that You can keep me, a sinner, from committing sin against God. Only You, O Jesus can show us the truth, not because You were totally Divine, but because You were totally human. Knowing Your human condition, You humbled Yourself and prayed daily to the Father to keep You from falling. The Father heard You and Prevented You from committing sin, through the Spirit. O conquering Lord Jesus, conquer me please. Ah, Divine Holy Spirit, I believe. Help me in my unbelief, please. Amen!

Only Jesus, the Conqueror of sin, death, hell and the grave, can prevent a flesh one like you and me, from sinning, by the Power of the Holy Spirit.

Present

It is God, the Son, your Saviour who is able to present you before His glorious presence, without fault, and with great joy. Will you now listen to this?

Can a murderer stand before God without murder?
Can a pervert stand before God without perversion?
Can a liar stand before God without lies?
Can a prostitute stand before God without prostitution?
Can a drunkard stand before God without being drunk?
Can a sinner stand before God without sin?

Spirit Divine, give us hearing ears please. Who is God our Saviour? Do I know this God, my Saviour? Only the power of the Holy Spirit, Your Guide and Guard, is able to present us before His glorious presence, most joyfully, as people without fault. God’s Word is flawless and what He says, is to be taken as fact, nothing else. Faith in God’s Word allows us to believe and know without second guessing, these humanly impossible facts, but possible by the Power of God, the Holy Spirit.

You who are blemished are presented, blemish-less.

You who have blame are presented, blameless.

You who have faults are presented, faultless.

You who are sinful are presented, sinless.

Our Saviour is able to present you like that. Why? How is that possible? Jesus, your Saviour is able, through the Holy Spirit to prevent you from falling. He can do it, remember, for He lived the actual working of this miracle. Jesus, the totally human Brother, was the only One to receive this work, so that, as your triumphant Saviour, He can do the same for you. When He prevents you from going the error of your ways, it is He Himself who will present you before His Glorious Presence. Understand clearly! He joyfully presents you before Him, for He is God.

Master, this Word is too much for me. It scares me Lord and I would easily explain it away. I’m so carnal and so sinful, I simply see it as not for me. Yet Jesus, will I deny Your Victory? Will I compromise Your Triumph? Will I adulterate Your Conquest?

A sinner, full of sin, I have been saved and I am washed and kept. I am kept with, and kept in and through the Indwelling Holy Spirit, so that I will be presented without sin? This truth is for you also and by faith, you must believe. O! Who is our God? What Grace! What Saving Grace! Thank You Lord! How does a sinner such as you and me, mere sinful mortals, give thanks to the Immortal? Jesus, make our lives thank offerings please.

I thank You Lord, for You are the Only One who is able to prevent me from falling and to present me before Your glorious Presence, without fault and with great joy. Amen!