Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
Discovering the intimacy and the nearness of the Lord. Part 1.
Wednesday, June 20, 2001
“near” = engus = near concerning place or time, at hand, to have access to God, or nearest.
Near concerning a place, LUK 19:11. An adverb of time, MAT 24:32-33. Near in a covenant, EPH 2:13.
EPH 2:17 – near to God in the sense of relationship.
PHI 4:5 – the grace provision of God, the Lord is near to provide.
1. The Lord is “near” from the standpoint of the omnipresence of His essence; He sees and hears everything we do, ISA 41:10; HEB 4:13.
HEB 4:13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
2. Living grace makes it possible for the believer to reach supergrace and understand fully the reality of the grace provision given by God.
MAT 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.”
JOH 6:27 “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man shall give to you, for on Him the Father, {even} God, has set His seal.”
3. The intimacy and the nearness of the Lord or near grace makes it possible for the supergrace believer to advance to ultra-supergrace.
2CO 13:8 “For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth.”
PRO 21:30 “There is no wisdom and no understanding and no counsel against the Lord.”
ROM 8:28 “And we know that God to those who love God, He works all things together for good,”
4. Saving grace to supergrace, by way of living grace; because you have grown spiritually you will experience near grace, or greater grace.
Food, shelter, clothing, transportation.
A pastor-teacher.
The grace provision which took you from salvation to supergrace will also carry you from supergrace to ultra-supergrace.
Living grace keeps the believer alive in the devil’s world and provides every need and every blessing for the advance.
Near grace is a supercharger performing the same function as living grace except that the provision is intensified in the advance.