Grace Was Upon Them

If I am tempted and afflicted with many tribulations, I will fear no evils while Your grace is with me. This is my strength. - Thomas à Kempis(1)

In Hebrews 4:16, we’re told, “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Most believers know that they are saved from the penalty of their sins by God’s grace (Eph 2:8; Rom 6:23). However, I want to emphasize that, according to Hebrew 4:16, believers are also provided “help in time of need” by God’s grace.

In Romans 5:2, we read that “we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand.” You see, by grace through faith we’re able to stand; to stand strong during times in which we feel weak, when we’re facing trials and obstacles, and when we need strength to boldly proclaim the Word of God.

A pastor was traveling on a bus down a bumpy road. Seated next to him was a college student who noticed that the minister was reading his Bible. The minister asked, “Are you spiritually ready for the temptations that you will face in college?” “I don’t have a problem with temptation,” the young man told the minister. “I have strong willpower.”

The minister took a pencil from his pocket and said, “I can make this pencil stand up on the cover of this Bible even though the bus ride is bumpy.” The young man said, “I’ll believe it when I see it. I don’t think you can do it.”

“Look, I’m doing it,” he replied as the young man watched. “Yeah, but you didn’t tell me you would hold the pencil up with your hand.” “I didn’t have to tell you,” the pastor remarked. “Have you ever seen a pencil stand up on its own without someone holding it?” The minister then let go of the pencil, which instantly fell over.

“The only reason you stand,” he continued, “is because God is holding you up with His hand.” If God were to remove His hand of protecting grace, we would immediately fall into sin. Humility is depending completely on God, realizing that He upholds us by His grace.(2)

In our message this morning, we’re going to see how God abundantly pours out His grace, or His “help in time of need,” whenever His people run boldly to His throne and cry out to Him for His help in which to stand. We will uncover four major ways in which God’s grace can be demonstrated in one’s life, as we view how the Lord’s favor worked in the lives of His apostles and believers in the New Testament church.

God’s Grace Was upon Them

When we’re weak and in need of God’s help in our life, then all we have to do is call on the Lord for His grace. He will generously extend His grace, which will provide us the necessary strength to continue living for Him.

In 2 Timothy 2:1, Paul encouraged young Timothy, reminding him that strength would come by God’s grace; and in 2 Corinthians 12:9, the Lord also spoke to Paul, saying, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” We will find “great strength” in the Lord’s “great grace.” This is what the New Testament apostles and believers discovered firsthand. Let us stand in honor of God’s Word, as we read Acts 2:24, 29-33:

So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them . . . Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”

And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common. And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all (Acts 4:24, 29-33).

Luke said that “when they heard that, they raised their voice to God” (Acts 4:24). Heard what? What did the apostles and other believers (4:23) witness that made them turn to the Lord?

Peter and John had just been used by the Lord to heal a man (Acts 3:1-10), and they also preached the gospel message of Jesus Christ crucified and raised from the dead (4:10). They publicly declared of Him, “There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved” (4:12 NLT).