I am profoundly amazed at how grace is the most powerful dynamic to assure victory in the life of a believer. In his work, Personal Declension and Revival of Religion in the Soul, Octavius Winslow writes of the nature of true grace in its keeping power. “The finished work of Jesus keeps him, the indwelling of the Spirit keeps him, and keeps him to eternal glory….true grace is indestructible grace; it can never die. But it can decay.” Peter writes in his first letter that the saints “are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation….though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
It has been demonstrated by the saints down through the ages that it is the means of grace that insures the strength to persevere through the travails of life. Peter calls the saints “a peculiar people”, “strangers and pilgrims” (II Peter 1:2-3) who have been empowered by the grace of God to “abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul”. (II Peter 2:9-11) Paul writes in II Corinthians 12:9 of the Lord’s word to him in his petition to be released from his thorn in the flesh; a messenger of Satan (a demon) who buffeted him. “My Grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Notice that grace is poured out from God. David said; “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him (a means of grace) and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise Him.” (Psalm 28:7) Yet another means of grace derived from the act of trusting God.
As I look in my Bible another verse I have underlined beams into my soul! God’s comforting means of grace in the midst of anxiety. “In the multitude of my anxieties within me Your (God’s) comforts delight my soul”.
God’s Word is a means of grace to our soul. In John 6:63, Jesus says; “The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” God’s Word itself is a powerful antidote to sin. David writes in Psalm 119:11; “Your word I have hidden in my heart that I might not sin against you.” The fellowship of one another together in a local church is a means of grace with the worship, prayer, teaching, and preaching of the Word. So many believers have abandoned this powerful means of grace in disobedience to God. “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25
My fellow believers in Christ Jesus, do you not see that the best way to be victorious in your life is to stay under the means of grace? People are constantly fearful that their loved one will fail if they are not in some secular program to keep them on the straight and narrow way. No, my friend, it is God, in the Name of Jesus Christ, who is your help and strength. Even though grace is indestructible it will decay if you do not stay under the means of grace. This is why I always answer the same thing when I am asked what Bethel’s follow-up program is – make sure that one stays under the means of grace. Grace will flow from the fountains dispensed from prayer, worship, fellowship of the saints, teaching, preaching the Word of God, etc.
How sad it is that so many of God’s children have gone to the world for help rather than to God. The Israelites were guilty of that in the time of Jeremiah. “Thus says the Lord, ‘What injustice have your fathers found in me that they have gone far from me, have followed idols and have become idolators?’” In other words, they had left the means of grace; God and His Word. Many saints have wandered in the world of gracelessness looking for help in time of need and have become idolators as a result..
May God’s grace be poured out on you as you seek to stay under the means of grace,
