Close Enough to Hear the Whisper

Just going to have you turn. Um, actually, I'll ask you to refrain from turning for just a moment, because I'd be the same way; I'd be so tempted to start once again reading these scriptures. But in just a few moments, we're going to talk about some things and a particular aspect of something I want you to see uh this morning from scripture. And those scriptures will be contained in a block of five chapters, and that's John 13-17. And so let me just talk about that in essence for just a moment, and then I'll have you turn there.

Many of you that are watching, many of you that are here, are very familiar with those portions of scripture: John 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. To me, um, I would call them um, the Holy Grail of Jesus's dialogue with his disciples. And the dialogue that he conveys there, that he has with the Father, the way that he presents um the Holy Spirit and our dependency upon the Holy Spirit, and Him sending the Holy Spirit—and so many different things are listed in those different chapters: 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. Yes, five—made to make sure I was saying five chapters correct. But it's all right before it's that last supper. It's the foot washing. John's the only one that really describes the foot washing in his gospel. Is very—there's a reason for that. I really believe there was a reason for that, because those five chapters are not just the closing dialogue of Christ and his disciples, but they're also something that is probably um the most intimate Fellowship that Jesus will ever share uh in his Earthly Ministry with his disciples. He he he fellowships around the sacraments; he fellowships around foot washing; and then he fellowships and brings them in which is most in the in his high Priestly prayer in John chapter 17, which concludes all this, and then he goes to Gethsemane.

But in his high Priestly prayer in John 17, the disciples are sitting there except Judas. And when he he allows them to come into a room that he and the Father are accustomed to sharing on on a continual basis, and it's a very intimate room, and it's a very um it's a room that people don't just get invited into casually. It's a room that has to be invited into because of relationship, and then the relationship turns into a fellowship. And in those that whole chapter, Jesus is not speaking the whole chapter; he's not speaking to his disciples; he's speaking uh to his Father. He's not speaking horizontally; he's speaking vertically to his Father, and he's sharing a high Priestly prayer um for them and for us, and an intimacy prayer, a prayer of intimacy with his Father that just supersedes anything um in that regard. And I'm not putting down any of the other three gospels; they all had their place in filling in the different details about those final moments of his life. But in that regard, John does something that none of the other Apostles did, and that's to take us into that deep room of fellowship and convey some things that were said by Christ to them that none of the others convey. And it's a very uh wonderful time that uh to look at and what Jesus did. Some of the most intimate and intricate, some of the most intimate and intricate details of Jesus's relationship with his disciples and the Father are recorded here and this, or these I should say, chapters. And I'll just mention this: Jesus washes the feet of the disciples—that's the only Gospel, as I said, that records that. He says that one of you will betray me, and we're going to look specifically at that in just a moment. He gives them a new commandment. How many of you know what that new commandment is? Can you tell me? Love. Walk in Love. Jesus foretells of Peter's denial, and then Jesus talks and teaches; give them—all of these are short teachings, but in-depth teachings during these five chapters. I am the truth and the life, he shares that Revelation. Jesus's promise of the Holy Spirit is in these chapters. He promises that the world will hate us as it hated him. Then he talks about the work of the Holy Spirit; he talks about that our sorrow and that their sorrow would be turned into joy; and he also shares that he had overcome the world, and of course tells us that we'll also overcome the world. And as I said, he shares that incredibly high, that high priest prayer um, High Priestly prayer um in John 17.

Now let's go to John chapter 14 together. Thank you for refraining for a bit. Let's look at it um, because I there's something here that I want us to to Really hone in on and emphasize for a purpose that we all agree on, but is so important to our our life in Christ. John 14, and we're going to look at John 14 verse 1-15. Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my Commandments, and I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another comforter." The interpretation really is another one of me, one just like me, that he may abide with you forever, even the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you. Here's remarkable: "He shall be in you." Yes, thank you, Lord. "I will not leave you comfortless; I will come to you." My God, my voice inflects with joy there. I I just man, hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. "Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but you shall see me: because I live, ye shall live also. At that day ye shall know that I am in the Father, and ye in me, and I in you." He that hath my Commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Everybody say, "manifest."

We've looked at these scriptures before; it's not really new to us. But let's just talk about manifest for just a moment. The word manifest is *m phanzo* in ano, and it means emphasis. Sounds like it, looks like it—that's what it is. It's an emphasis. It means to exhibit in a person or disclose by words or appear to declare plainly; to inform; or as he said, "will manifest"—to show a significance. So Jesus is promising here that if we love him and keep his Commandments, that he will come and manifest, or you could say it like this: Jesus said, "I will come and emphasize myself to you," or "I'll bring forth an emphasis to you." Isn't that a great promise? It's a really great promise. You could take this outside; you could do far-reaching; you could say, well, the basic fundamentals or the basic Foundation is he's talking to all born again that he'll come and—yes, I understand that truth, and that's the beginning truth. But he's going to take this another step uh further in that you begin to understand that he's not just talking about a positional truth that all born again people are really declared having the Father, being born of God, and the Holy Spirit coming to them. You could say that's a manifestation; I understand that, and I get that. But this word is much more than just a casual word; it's the word emphasis. "I will manifest," or "I will emphasize," if you will love me and if you'll keep my Commandments, then I'll come in this dialogue, this Fellowship that we're having, and I will emphasize or bring forth a highlighting of myself and the Father to you. Hallelujah. Can we say, "amen"? Amen.

So he says here in John 14:23, Jesus answered and said unto them—another one of these verses that I love so much—"said unto him, If a man love me"—because I think this was right after Philip said something—"if he will love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and we will make our Abode." Everybody say, "Abode." AB—it's the word *mane*. You've heard me talk about this before; it's not necessarily new. I'll remind you again that it means a staying place in the Greek, *monē*. Pronounce it *mon-ay*, with an accent on the *ay*: M A—staying or a place that is residential—a staying place. It's an act of—it's Abode. It's the same word, *mane*, that he talks about in, "My Father's house are many mansions." The word mansions is also the word *mane*. But Jesus is saying here that *mane*, that if you want this Fellowship of a *mane*, or if you want a a bode type Fellowship, Jesus said, "If you love me and you keep my words"—that's another thing. It's one thing I could get off on a tangent here, and rightfully so. It's one thing that I say I love Jesus and cry and still commit gross sins. The thing about it is, people, we know this; we all agree on this; this is the message that we have to get lovingly to the world, or to the church—the church really, because the church uh must be uh evangelized as well, and um it deserves—it's coming back; it's going to come back to a place where it understands that to love God is to keep his Commandments. It's not to cry; it's not to express emotion and then go out and do things that are contrary to his word. But Jesus says here, "We will come"—we, me and the Father—"and we will make our *mane*, or our Dwelling Place, our staying—" Oh my goodness, I just want agreement in this house. How many of you—this is a rhetorical question—how many of you want a staying place? I mean that he leaves with us and drives out of the parking lot and he goes to your workplace on Monday. Maybe you don't have have a workplace; maybe you're a stay-home mom, or you're whatever, maybe. But wherever you're at, the example, wherever you're at, that you feel his presence. Hey, let's take it another step further: that other people around you feel his presence. Hallelujah. They're not going to say, "Hey, you got a *monē* on you." We we don't even fully understand all of it; we just know this, that the Holy Spirit wants to follow us, yes, baptize us with a presence. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. You know what? And two, if you'll do that now—I'm not I'm not perfected in this; I'm describing a place where I have seen and been many times. I have experienced this *monē*. It will just kind of guide you around all kinds of distractions—not only distractions that you like, distractions that you don't like—and trip-ups, trip-ups when people try to want to pull you into something that you're like—Hallelujah, *monē* will kind of Shield you. No, they always they always came at Jesus. I'm not saying the opportunity won't come, but they always came at Jesus, but somehow he was able to just pass through the crowd or keep going. Hallelujah. It was the *mane*; it was the presence, the abiding or Abode that was on Jesus.

Now let's talk about this for a moment. You don't—please don't turn there, because you get distracted—and uh let's talk about the Betrayal and uh I don't want to emphasize the Betrayal, because the Betrayal is something of itself, but it's something about the Betrayal and how that it was addressed by Jesus and someone else in the crowd that's so vitally important to this message this morning—morning. And in three other gospels, you can just listen and try to remember this or write this down, or you'll you know—in three other gospels, the Betrayal is mentioned: Matthew 26:21-22, and then in Mark 14:18-21, and then in Luke 21 or 22:21-23. Jesus, and all three of those other besides for John's, talks and tell tells the disciples that he's going to be betrayed by one of them. So what John has to say is not the only gospel that says something about the Betrayal, as I just said. All all three of the others also list, and Jesus says in that last supper time, "I'm going to be betrayed," and in essence does tell them that it's one of them. He tells them that in none of these other gospels is the actual betrayer identified openly, although it may sound as such. Now I read through them yesterday, and it could sound like, well, maybe he did kind of identify by what he said. Listen, I will tell you this: if all of those guys would have known Judas was about to walk out of the building to go betray him, they would have all tackled him; they would have—he didn't—Elvis would not have left the building, I can promise you that. But you you read them for yourself; just read those for yourself. In none of these gospels is the actual betrayer identified openly, although it may sound as such. But John records something that the others, or the other three, do not. John records the intimate and intricate details of the identifying of the betrayer, and that's very important: the intricate and intimate details of identifying who the betrayer was. The way in which the betrayer is identified speaks volumes through an example, a place, a place of Fellowship.

Now look at John 13:21. This is our testimony, or John's testimony of where we're at this morning in scripture concerning the Betrayal. Thank you, Jesus. 21 says, "And when Jesus had thus said, he was troubled in his spirit, and testified, and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you"—and I say, sometimes I use the word truly, because that's what it is; it's an emphasis of, "I'm truly saying something"—it's very emphatic here—"Verily, verily, I say unto you, that one of you shall betray me. Then the disciples looked one on another, doubting of whom he spake." Now here it is; it's very important. "And there was leaning on Jesus's bosom"—the word bosom is the word *cavity* in the Greek, and it means the place between the two arms; it means bosom, cavity. *Ba* is the another word in the Greek, *ba* or cavity. In other words, he was very close um to Jesus; almost he was leaning with almost his head—the picture is—up against his chest—"and there was leaning on Jesus's bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved." I love the way John does this; he's so humble, and I just—maybe he's got enough love that he can speak to that kind of clarity concerning his his love and Christ's love for him. I'll read that again: 23. "Now there was leaning on Jesus's bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved. Simon Peter therefore beckoned to him that he should ask who it should be of whom he spake." He beckoned Simon Peter. In other words, he was not as close, or he would have said, but he beckoned. The word beckoned here is a wordless signal; it doesn't—it means he did not speak. Peter did not speak out where John could hear him, nor any of the other disciples. It's also the word no uh nod; it means he gave him a nod or a head gesture to say, you know, "I'm doing this, if you could"—maybe some of you can't see me uh, you know, if you're listening to this MP3, but kind of you know how you've kind of did this with your head, like, "Say something, say something." It was not—it was a wordless signal; it was a nod. To beckan means, "ask him, ask him." So still after what Jesus had said in any of the other recorded Gospels, it was still a secret in the room of who the other or who the betrayer was, and um and the dialogue between Peter and John was also a secret, so that wasn't even heard; it was it was given through a nod. And I'll remind you again, the emphasis is not what I'm trying to—what he'll get across to you that I trust is not an emphasis on the betrayer or the bet, you know, the Betrayal itself, but it's on the message of the how it was communicated.

And then verse 25, John 13:25, "Then or he then lying on Jesus's breast saith unto him, Lord, who is it? And Jesus answered"—now this is different than the other three—"he it is to whom I shall give a sop." So he's basically saying, "Watch this." Have you ever been with somebody or and you had to get an uh secret message to them, and you say, "Just watch what I do, or watch what I say, or don't say anything, don't say anything, just just watch this, and you'll learn something." We've all been there. Jesus answered, "He it is to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon." So that identified, at least to John—I'm guessing—I can't—I don't have word, but I'm guessing John nodded back like, "That's him right there. Jesus gave me a sign." Jesus, in the other gospels, what does he say in the other gospel? "He that puts his hand in the dish with me," or "takes the communion." But here in John, he says, "He to whom I shall give the sop," identifies at least at that moment. Basically, John, "Watch this." Even when Judas says, in one of the other gospels, "Is it I?" And the Lord says, "You have said it." Still had to be at some point some kind of blanket—the disciples weren't catching on; they didn't know—not to the point that Peter, sitting there at some point two, three, four, five people down, I don't know, they're reclining uh, you've seen the Lord's Supper uh paintings, of course, that's exactly how it had to be, right? Leonardo da Vinci was he was there in the room, wasn't he, when he when he did the Last Supper? I thought so. I don't know. Um, so wherever Peter was sitting, he got—he sent the nod; the nod came back. Probably—we do know one nod was given—and Jesus said, "He it is to whom I give a sop." And the word says in 27 that after the sop, Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, "That thou doest, do quickly." Thank you, Jesus. "No man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him." It's kind of like there was blinders on them; for some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, "Buy those things that we have need of against the feast," or maybe they thought like this, that he should give something to the poor. He then, having received the sop, went immediately out, and it was night. That's why I said earlier that Judas wasn't part of that those real intimate disc—discussions, and especially that high Priestly prayer that was prayed; it was like in a certain sense the room had to be cleansed; it really had to be cleansed of all disunity for what Jesus was about to say and what he was about to do. And so after Judas uh left, we do know this, the the chronology of all of the gospels, that Judas was part of the the foot washing; we do know that Jesus did wash his feet in an effort to be, you know, wash the scourge of betrayal off of him. That is another message and a wonderful message. So Jesus whispered to John—what was—now this is important—Jesus whispered to John what was concealed to everyone else.

Now let's get into the meat of everything here. Jesus was able to whisper to John—get this, and listen to this, and you'll catch this, because you have hearing ears—Jesus was able to whisper to John because of his proximity. Do you hear that? You say, "I know he was sitting right close to him." In fact, he was closer than that; he had his head on his chest. Now some of us men, we don't get that, because we're like, I don't know that there's anybody another man in the world, but this was all so pure, because this is Jesus, a man's man, and John, a man's man, and yet there's an intimacy. You just lift your hands; just say, "Jesus, I love you; you're so wonderful, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you for this place. Thank you for this place. Thank you for this place. Thank you for this place." Hallelujah. Jesus. Jesus was able to whisper to John because that how it was conveyed; it was conveyed through a whisper. Everybody say, "a whisper." Whisper. It was conveyed in such a way that nobody knew, and he—John just had to identify what Jesus—he knew what Jesus had showed him. But all of this is done in a dialogue that's so quiet that we would call it, and at least for this message I would call it, a whisper. Jesus was able to whisper to John because of his proximity. Everybody say it again: proximity. Proximity. And I'm not talking about a proximity this morning in physical terms; please gear your mind and spirit to think a proximity in the spirit. Now listen to this; this is vitally important for all of us. There are things that will be whispered—and I could say in your future—but there are things that will be whispered by the Father in intimacy in this life that only close proximity can hear. I think you got it, but let me say it again: there are things that will be whispered by the Father in intimacy in this life that only close proximity can hear. He will not reveal it in a shout; he will not reveal it to them or whoever, us—these things that are revealed in a whisper—he'll not reveal it to them in a congregation; it can't be revealed in a congregational meeting. He will not reveal it to them or—I could say us or me—he will not reveal it to them to someone or to them some—being someone or some—muddying this up—read it: he will not reveal them—these things—to someone else to give to you. These whispers won't come with a shout; they won't come in a congregational setting, and they won't come through somebody else. They will only and can only be revealed in the closest proximity to his bosom. Oh, I like that. Now listen, please. There are things that the Father wants to say and will and will only say—will only say in a whisper. If someone is not close enough to hear the whisper, certain things will never be heard, and they will be lost. That does not mean your salvation is lost; it means the message that to be conveyed was lost. I have to read that again: There are things that the Father wants to say and only will say in a whisper. If someone is not close enough to hear the whisper, certain things will never be heard, and they are and will be lost.

Now let's talk about what happens next, because I want us to talk about this thing with John a little bit further. In John 18:2—this is right after, and this is Gethsemane, and this is uh his arrest—let's look at verse 12, if you're following online or in here, please. Thank you. 12 says, "Then the B—and the captain and the officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him, and led him away to Annas first: for he was father-in-law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that year. Now Caiaphas was he which gave counsel to the Jews that it was expedient that one man should die for the people." 15. Let's look at Jes—Peter's denial, but something else more important that I want you to see. 15 says, "And Simon Peter followed Jesus: and so did another disciple." Now all Scholars that I've have read on—I mean that I've read on—you you'll find somebody probably uh I think I did see one that's kind of a it was, you know, an anomaly, but every scholar will tell you this was John. They'll tell you this was John. So I just believe myself that it's John. It says here, "And Simon Peter followed Jesus: and so did another disciple"—John. I should—I would say that disciple was known unto the high priest, and went in with Jesus into the palace of the high priest. When it says he was known of the high priest, it means he was recognized; there was something uh that John on—I'll I'll just read—let me read the the the next verse here and because it reiterates this, and then I'll read the paragraph that explains what I was about to say. Verse 16: "But Peter stood at the door. Then went out that other disciple, which was known unto the priest, and spake unto her that kept the door, and brought in Peter." Now we're not going to talk about Peter's denial and all that; that's a that's a message, a weighty message. But what I want you to see is here that two times here John is mentioned as the man or the disciple that was known by the priest. Okay, he had a backstage pass; he could get in. When he got in um and Peter wasn't with him because they had been together—he realized that Peter had been stopped at the door, and he thought, "Okay, I'm going to go back to get Peter." So he went back to Peter, and he said to the person keeping the door, "He's with me," and so "He's with me," got him into the inner circle, into the palace to hear the proceedings.

Now almost all Scholars agree that John was the disciple that had access into the Palace of the priest. John was known uh evidently by the high priest. Scholars and this what I what I've—what I've read—I've TR, you know, read on this. Scholars do not know if it was because of his family ties; it could have been family ties with the high priest or influential standing of his family in the community. Uh, nevertheless, John had a clearance pass, so he had some kind of standing; he was known of the high priest; the high priest knew John uh that gave him some clout; he was able to go into the palace; he was was also able to go back and say, "He's with me," and so it brought Peter into it. It is interesting to note here that although all of the disciples initially scattered—and Jesus said they would—in Matthew he said this night, you know, "Smite the shepherd, scattered the sheep"—John followed Jesus into the palace, knowing—now this is interesting—knowing that the high priest knew him. John, you got it so far. The high priest knew John. John had some kind of clearance to get in. So the high priest had to know, because I mean you just don't follow a man and are seen everywhere with him for three and a half years that everybody doesn't know that you have an affiliation with that person. Okay, so the high priest knew John, and the high priest had to know—if he knew John—that John was hanging around Jesus or following Jesus. That's that's a—give me—those those things are give-mes. John followed Jesus into the palace, knowing—here's the thing—John followed Jesus into the palace knowing that the high priest knew him, knew John, and no doubt that John had ties with Jesus. So we're doing good so far to understand this. Now here's something that I go back to with John's intimate words of saying, "The disciple that Jesus loved," and and the one that was just an hour ago leaning on his bosom and had this intimate Whispering. I can whisper, and we're using an analogy in the natural. The proximity of his body indicates the proximity of his heart—that John was able to speak and Jesus was able to hear, and then Jesus was able to speak and John was able to hear, because these Whispers, or however you want to say it, low-key talk, but I like whisper—these Whispers were being heard because of proximity. It appears that John's intimate fellowship with Christ helped Shield him from the incredible Battle of denial that Peter was going through. I mean, Peter—God loves Peter too; Jesus loved Peter too—but je—Peter's out there in the courtyard where most of those denials take place, and John's right there, and John's known to the high priest, and John's standing there where the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders, can look over there and see him, and yet this whole thing—yes, Satan is—is Jesus said—has desired to sift you as wheat, Peter. But I want you to understand something too, that there was something going on. It appears that there was a cloak of or a covering for John that Peter was not—that he wasn't facing that Peter was facing because uh of—I want to say intimacy, an ability to hear, and also just the body gesture of this, that he knows—he followed him to the Palace, but he knows he's going in there; he knows he's got clearance; the high priest knows John; he doesn't stand aloof; he goes into the palace where he can be seen. Peter's following him, but it's John's Choice. Even before born again and Spirit-filled—does this sound like—and I'm not saying John was, cuz he couldn't be—but does not this sound like, "Perfect love casts out fear"? Doesn't sound like love carries a weight? Sure does to me. So Peter's suffering out there—"No, I don't know him; no, I don't know him; no, I don't know him"—and John standing in there with all the big dogs looking at him, in essence, can see him; he's not under question. So John—John was recognized in—giving—let me say this—a back—can I say it like this? Is a little worldly in a certain sense, but not really; you'll get the idea. John was given a backstage pass because of his ties; the high priest knew him.

Now let me give you something spiritual on that. Someone can hear—someone that—someone that can hear a whisper in the spirit—now we're over in our realm now, born again—someone that can hear a whisper in the spirit will get to go behind the scenes with God. I want to be able to go behind the scenes with God, don't you? Now everybody's important to God—I'll say that in preface, and I don't have that in my notes, but you will—listen—you will remain a disciple sitting in an audience asking someone else directions that you should be hearing from him directly in the back room or backstage rooms of intimacy if you don't come into a place where you can hear a whisper. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Fortunes will be gained or lost. You know, you can have a fortune and lose it. Oh no, it can't be. Oh yeah, you can have one and lose it, or you can never get it when you should have got it. Fortunes will be gained or lost through the ability to hear or not to hear a whisper from the Father. Oh, come on, somebody—that's just good stuff. Fortunes will be gained or lost through the ability to hear or not hear a whisper from the Father. Mishaps—can I say tragedies?—oh, that's even a deeper word—mishaps will be more easily avoided, yes sir, only through a whisper. Yes sir. Thank you, ma'am. Instructions—listen—thank you—or instructions for life, instructions for life and Ministry at times will only come through a whisper. The volume of his voice cannot be heard from afar; it must be through close proximity. Hallelujah. I appreciate all these women saying, "Yep, that's an amen." Glory to God, and men as well. Thank you. Whispers are heard through time spent; any distance of proximity will impede or distort the instructions of a whisper. You know, sometimes people will hear him, but they'll only get it, and they'll get it part right. I don't want to get it part right. But any distance from him—not just physical distance, but not spending enough to know him—will impede or distort. Any distance. Now let's talk about intimacy that goes to the cross. I got time; you do too. John 19:23. Let's talk about this intimacy that we're we're sharing—that John, the Whisperer to Jesus, and the Jesus, the Whisperer back to John. John 19:23: "Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part, and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. And they said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among themselves, and for my vesture they did cast lots. And these things therefore the soldiers did. Now there stood"—watch this—"by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and here we go—"the disciple," thank you—"the disciple standing by, whom he loved"—which was who?—John—"he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, which was John, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home." John was the only disciple standing at the cross. Does that not tell you volumes? Yes, thank you. And you've got to understand this: if you read all the gospels, the priest, the high priest and those that slew Christ had him hung there; they were standing there also. So again, there's no hiding. John. Thank you. Perfect love once again. Priests are standing here; John standing here; they're looking—this is not incriminating the other—we know what happened to Judas—the other 10. But John—let's talk about John. John who heard the whisper, followed him into the palace, and then followed him to the cross, and he's the only one standing there of all the disciples, and Jesus is giving him incredible message that we just heard. The priest and the Jews were at the cross and had plain view of John; it was not hidden. John received Jesus's greatest Earthly prize, which was of course his mother. And if you're close—listen—if you're close enough to hear a whisper, if you're close enough to hear in your walk with Christ to hear a whisper, you'll be close enough to go to the Cross daily. That's good stuff. Glory to God. It's also important to note that John was the only one, as I said, of the—okay, this is different, a different note here. It is also important to note that John was the only one of the original 12 that did not die a martyr's death. It was because John had already died once. When he chose to walk up Calvary to the cross and stand in front of Jesus, he was making a decision; he was making an open choice to very possibly be arrested and martyred. He made that decision; he walked into the palace; he walked up Calvary; he stood there. The Jews are standing there; they're hearing John—Jesus speak to John.

Let me close with this; we'll jump tracks here, but not jump tracks of the same thought process here. Let me read this out of First Kings 19. You can turn there if you like, but this is speaking of Elijah, verses 9 through 12. I I see I don't have 12 in my notes, but I scribbled it down real quick before I came out here. Somehow I did not copy and paste that last verse that I wanted. But this is n—this is after Elijah had called

Hear, on some media broadcast, that we are waiting to hear God's Voice through our favorite preacher. But our favorite preacher is the Holy Spirit, who whispers. And we hear his voice because we're close enough in proximity to hear his voice. We love you. Bless your people. May the grace of God abide upon them, and we give you all the praise and glory in Jesus' name. Amen.

Please come tonight. Watch Gary; he will be here, and uh, we'll watch him. We'll have some handouts for you, and if you're watching online, you can go to his website and get those PDFs for this whole series. Stop by and see Davey and Amber; they will be waiting on you ladies. God bless you. Amen.