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).
Their preaching outraged the Sadducees, therefore they arrested Peter and John. They then delivered them to be tried by Annas the high priest, and also Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the entire priestly family (Acts 4:1-6). While on trial, Peter and John were threatened not to preach or heal in the name of Jesus ever again (4:18-19), and afterward they were released to go their way (4:21).
Once they were set free they reported back to the apostles and other believers of what had happened to them (Acts 4:23), and at that very moment they all turned to the Lord for help. When they had finished praying for God’s deliverance and power, the Lord demonstrated His grace to them. We read that “great grace was upon them all” (4:33); and this passage reveals some of the ways in which God’s grace was manifested.
They Spoke With Boldness
The first way that grace was manifested to them was that they all spoke the word of God with boldness. They prayed to God, “Grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word” (Acts 4:29), and the Lord answered them. Verse 31 shows us that when the Holy Spirit came upon them, they did indeed speak the Word of God with boldness. In Romans 15:15, Paul demonstrated a boldness given by grace when he stated, “Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you . . . because of the grace given to me by God.”
In Ephesians chapter 3, Paul said that through Jesus Christ “we have boldness . . . with confidence through faith in Him” (3:12), and he prayed that Jesus would “grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man” (3:16). Paul continued to explain how through the boldness and strength that we have in Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we will be “filled with all the fullness of God . . . who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (3:19b-20).
Empowered By the Holy Spirit
The second way that grace was manifested to them was that they were empowered by the Holy Spirit. We read how “they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 4:31), “and with great power the apostles gave witness” (4:33). The word “power” comes from the Greek word dynamis, which is where we obtain our word for the explosive called “dynamite.”(3) God wants to fill His people with dynamite power to accomplish His purposes!
If we believe in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, then at the very moment of belief, confession, and salvation, the Holy Spirit indwells and sanctifies us. Now, the term “filling” is best understood as “empowering.”
If we know Jesus Christ as our Savior and have the Holy Spirit abiding within us, then we have the capacity to demonstrate God’s power in amazing ways. We’re covered by grace; and through grace, the Lord can use us in ways that perhaps we never even imagined!
Just consider that at any given moment we could find ourselves in a situation where God wants to see Jesus glorified and lifted up. Because of the Lord’s grace, the Holy Spirit can work in power through us to bear witness of the Son, and share the message of salvation through Christ alone. Through God’s grace we have the power to stand up before this lost and dying world to be an effective witness.
Jesus Worked Through Them
The third way that grace was manifested to them was that Jesus worked through them. They didn’t ask for God to give them the power to heal people in and of themselves. They specifically said, “by stretching out Your hand to heal” (Acts 4:30). They asked that Jesus would do the healing through them, and “that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus” (4:30). By God’s grace they could call upon the name of Jesus for help to show forth His ability to demonstrate God’s power (cf. Phil 2:10).
Perhaps you don’t believe that God works in such a way through believers anymore. You might feel that healings and miracles ceased with the apostles; however, if you believe that the Lord is a powerful God who can work in the lives of individuals today, then you can’t put Him in a box and limit what He can do. To say that the Lord can’t, or won’t, work in certain ways reveals that maybe we have a lack of faith in His power. Many believers today put more faith in scientific theory then they do in God. They reason that if it’s not rational or logical, then it can’t exist or really occur.
The Bible teaches that Christ works through believers in proportion to their faith (Rom 12:6). For example, one time Jesus was given the message that a young girl was dead. When He approached her house there were many people gathered all around mourning her loss. Jesus told them not to cry for she was only sleeping, and that if they would only believe then she would be made well; however, they ridiculed Him.
Jesus then had everyone put out of the house except for those who had faith. The only ones allowed inside were Peter, James, John and the girl’s father and mother. Jesus then took the girl by the hand and told her to rise, and she came back to life (cf. Lk 8:49-55; Mt 9:23-25; Mk 5:38-42).
Too many believers are like Thomas, who said, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe” (Jn 20:25). Many have to see the miracle first before they will ever believe it’s possible; however, Jesus said it’s supposed to be the other way around (Mk 9:23). In today’s society people demand that the sign precede their belief, but even when they see a sign it doesn’t guarantee that they will believe.
God’s grace will work through us in proportion to our faith. What’s truly amazing is that His grace is unlimited! This means that the more we believe, the more His grace and power will be released to work through us. In Ephesians 3:16, Paul petitioned, “I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit” (NLT). The only limit to God’s grace is a person’s unwillingness to receive and believe.
They Demonstrated Unity and Love
The fourth way that grace was manifested to them was they grew in their unity and love for one another. In Ephesians chapter 4, Paul urged the church to grow in love and unity by the grace of God. He stated:
I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace . . . [For] to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift (Ephesians 4:1-3, 7).
We read of their unity: “Now the multitude of those who believed were of one heart and one soul” (Acts 4:32). Unity is vital for enabling the body of Christ to function together in a common goal and purpose. In Ephesians 4:12-13, Paul spoke of how we must work toward the “edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God.” King David declared, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!” (Ps 133:1).
We read of their love: “Neither did anyone say that any of the things he possessed was his own, but they had all things in common” (Acts 4:32). Their example of giving reveals their great love for one another. True love leads a person to give, for that’s the essence of God’s agape love. Real Christ-like love is unconditional and sacrificial. Jesus told of the “greatest” gift of love when He stated, “No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13 HCSB). Love can lead a person to even give away their very life to benefit another.
Time of Reflection
If you’re in the middle of a situation in which you’re in need of some boldness, some dynamite power from the Holy Spirit, help through the name of Jesus Christ, or maybe the ability to love and work toward reconciliation, then I encourage you to run boldly to the throne of grace (Heb 4:16).
The apostles and believers “raised their voice to God” (Acts 4:24), and He answered them (4:33). If you will raise your voice unto the Lord then He will answer you too, just as He answered them; and He will abundantly pour out His grace.
It is through God’s grace that you also find the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Ephesians 2:8 declares, “For by grace you have been saved through faith.” If the Lord has convicted you that you are a sinner in need of salvation, the Bible declares, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom 10:13). Therefore, call on the name of Jesus for your salvation, and He will abundantly pour out His grace and forgiveness.
NOTES
(1) Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ (Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2003), p. 108.
(2) Kent Crockett, Making Today Count for Eternity (Sisters, OR: Multnomah Publishers, 2001), p. 123.
(3) “Dynamis,” Blue Letter Bible: www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=G1411&t=KJV (Accessed January 27, 2010).
