John 15:17 Themes and Topics

"Thus I command you to love one another.

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be for ever with you--the Spirit of truth. That Spirit the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him. You know Him, because He remains by your side and is in you. I will not leave you bereaved: I am coming to you.

"I am the Vine--the True Vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me--if it bears no fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are cleansed--through the teaching which I have given you. read more.
Continue in me, and let me continue in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself--that is, if it does not continue in the vine--so neither can you if you do not continue in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who continues in me and in whom I continue bears abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If any one does not continue in me, he is like the unfruitful branch which is at once thrown away and then withers up. Such branches they gather up and throw into the fire and they are burned. "If you continue in me and my sayings continue in you, ask what you will and it shall be done for you. By this is God glorified--by your bearing abundant fruit and thus being true disciples of mine. As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you: continue in my love. If you obey my commands, you will continue in my love, as I have obeyed my Father's commands and continue in His love. "These things I have spoken to you in order that I may have joy in you, and that your joy may become perfect. This is my commandment to you, to love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this--a man laying down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you. It is not you who chose me, but it is I who chose you and appointed you that you might go and be fruitful and that your fruit might remain; so that whatever petition you present to the Father in my name He may give you. "Thus I command you to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it has first had me as the fixed object of its hatred. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. But because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world--for that reason the world hates you. Bear in mind what I said to you, 'A servant is not superior to his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. But they will inflict all this suffering upon you on account of your bearing my name--because they do not know Him who sent me. "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin; but as the case stands they are without excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them, as I have, such miracles as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin; but they have in fact seen and also hated both me and my Father. But this has been so, in order that the saying may be fulfilled which stands written in their Law, 'They have hated me without any reason.' "When the Advocate is come whom I will send to you from the Father's presence--the Spirit of Truth who comes forth from the Father's presence--He will be a witness concerning me.

But now I an returning to Him who sent me; and not one of you asks me where I am going. But grief has filled your hearts because I have said all this to you. "Yet it is the truth that I am telling you--it is to your advantage that I go away. For unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. read more.
And He, when He comes, will convict the world in respect of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement; -- of sin, because they do not believe in me; of righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you will no longer see me; of judgement, because the Prince of this world is under sentence. "I have much more to say to you, but you are unable at present to bear the burden of it. But when He has come--the Spirit of Truth--He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak as Himself originating what He says, but all that He hears He will speak, and He will make known the future to you. He will glorify me, because He will take of what is mine and will make it known to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said that the Spirit of Truth takes of what is mine and will make it known to you.

After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them before Him, by twos, to go to every town or place which He Himself intended to visit. And He addressed them thus: "The harvest is abundant, but the reapers are few: therefore entreat the Owner of the harvest to send out more reapers into His fields. And now go. Remember that I am sending you out as lambs into the midst of wolves. read more.
Carry no purse, bag, nor change of shoes; and salute no one on your way." "Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!' And if there is a lover of peace there, your peace shall rest upon it; otherwise come back upon you. And in that same house stay, eating and drinking at their table; for the labourer deserves his wages. Do not move from one house to another. "And whatever town you come to and they receive you, eat what they put before you. Cure the sick in that town, and tell them, "'The Kingdom of God is now at your door.' "But whatever town you come to and they will not receive you, go out into the broader streets and say, "'The very dust of your town that hangs about us we wipe off as a protest. Only be sure of this, that the Kingdom of God is close at hand.' "I tell you that it will be more endurable for Sodom on the great day than for that town. "Alas for thee, Chorazin! Alas for thee, Bethsaida! For had the miracles been performed in Tyre and Sidon which have been performed in you, long ere now they would have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. However, for Tyre and Sidon it will be more endurable at the Judgement than for you. And thou, Capernaum, shalt thou be lifted high as Heaven? Thou shalt be driven down as low as Hades. "He who listens to you listens to me; and he who disregards you disregards me, and he who disregards me disregards Him who sent me."

"I am the Vine--the True Vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me--if it bears no fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are cleansed--through the teaching which I have given you. read more.
Continue in me, and let me continue in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself--that is, if it does not continue in the vine--so neither can you if you do not continue in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who continues in me and in whom I continue bears abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If any one does not continue in me, he is like the unfruitful branch which is at once thrown away and then withers up. Such branches they gather up and throw into the fire and they are burned. "If you continue in me and my sayings continue in you, ask what you will and it shall be done for you. By this is God glorified--by your bearing abundant fruit and thus being true disciples of mine. As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you: continue in my love. If you obey my commands, you will continue in my love, as I have obeyed my Father's commands and continue in His love. "These things I have spoken to you in order that I may have joy in you, and that your joy may become perfect. This is my commandment to you, to love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this--a man laying down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you. It is not you who chose me, but it is I who chose you and appointed you that you might go and be fruitful and that your fruit might remain; so that whatever petition you present to the Father in my name He may give you. "Thus I command you to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it has first had me as the fixed object of its hatred. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. But because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world--for that reason the world hates you. Bear in mind what I said to you, 'A servant is not superior to his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. But they will inflict all this suffering upon you on account of your bearing my name--because they do not know Him who sent me. "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin; but as the case stands they are without excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them, as I have, such miracles as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin; but they have in fact seen and also hated both me and my Father. But this has been so, in order that the saying may be fulfilled which stands written in their Law, 'They have hated me without any reason.'

"Remember it is I who am sending you out, as sheep into the midst of wolves; prove yourselves as sagacious as serpents, and as innocent as doves. But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to appear before Sanhedrins, and will flog you in their synagogues; and you will even be put on trial before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness to them and to the Gentiles. read more.
But when they have delivered you up, have no anxiety as to how you shall speak or what you shall say; for at that very time it shall be given you what to say; for it is not you who will speak: it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and father, child; and children will rise against their own parents and will put them to death. And you will be objects of universal hatred because you are called by my name; but he who holds out to the End--he will be saved.

Jesus had left the Temple and was going on His way, when His disciples came and called His attention to the Temple buildings. "You see all these?" He replied; "in solemn truth I tell you that there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be pulled down." Afterwards He was on the Mount of Olives and was seated there when the disciples came to Him, apart from the others, and said, "Tell us when this will be; and what will be the sign of your Coming and of the Close of the Age?" read more.
"Take care that no one misleads you," answered Jesus; "for many will come assuming my name and saying 'I am the Christ;' and they will mislead many. And before long you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. Do not be alarmed, for such things must be; but the End is not yet. For nation will rise in arms against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places; but all these miseries are but like the early pains of childbirth. "At that time they will deliver you up to punishment and will put you to death; and you will be objects of hatred to all the nations because you are called by my name.

As He was leaving the Temple, one of His disciples exclaimed, "Look, Rabbi, what wonderful stones! what wonderful buildings!" "You see all these great buildings?" Jesus replied; "not one stone will be left here upon another--not thrown down." He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite to the Temple, when Peter, James, John, and Andrew, apart from the others asked Him, read more.
"Tell us, When will these things be? and what will be the sign when all these predictions are on the point of being fulfilled?" So Jesus began to say to them: "Take care that no one misleads you. Many will come assuming my name and saying, 'I am He;' and they will mislead many. But when you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed: come they must, but the End is not yet. For nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These miseries are but like the early pains of childbirth. "You yourselves must be on your guard. They will deliver you up to Sanhedrins; you will be brought into synagogues and cruelly beaten; and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to be witnesses to them for me. But the proclamation of the Good News must be carried to all the Gentiles before the End comes. When however they are marching you along under arrest, do not be anxious beforehand about what you are to say, but speak what is given you when the time comes; for it will not be you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. "Brother will betray brother to be killed, and fathers will betray children; and children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be objects of universal hatred because you are called by my name, but those who stand firm to the End will be saved.

When some were remarking about the Temple, how it was embellished with beautiful stones and dedicated gifts, He said, "As to these things which you now admire, the time is coming when there will not be one stone left here upon another which will not be pulled down." "Rabbi, when will this be?" they asked Him, "and what will be the token given when these things are about to take place?" read more.
"See to it," He replied, "that you are not misled; for many will come assuming my name and professing, 'I am He,' or saying, 'The time is close at hand.' Do not go and follow them. But when you hear of wars and turmoils, be not afraid; for these things must happen first, but the end does not come immediately." Then He said to them, "Nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be great earthquakes, and in places famines and pestilence; and there will be terrible sights and wonderful tokens from Heaven. "But before all these things happen they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you up to synagogues and to prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my sake. In the end all this will be evidence of your fidelity. "Make up your minds, however, not to prepare a defence beforehand, for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to withstand or reply to. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, friends; and some of you they will put to death. You will be the objects of universal hatred because you are called by my name;

"I am the Vine--the True Vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me--if it bears no fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are cleansed--through the teaching which I have given you. read more.
Continue in me, and let me continue in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself--that is, if it does not continue in the vine--so neither can you if you do not continue in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who continues in me and in whom I continue bears abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If any one does not continue in me, he is like the unfruitful branch which is at once thrown away and then withers up. Such branches they gather up and throw into the fire and they are burned. "If you continue in me and my sayings continue in you, ask what you will and it shall be done for you. By this is God glorified--by your bearing abundant fruit and thus being true disciples of mine. As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you: continue in my love. If you obey my commands, you will continue in my love, as I have obeyed my Father's commands and continue in His love. "These things I have spoken to you in order that I may have joy in you, and that your joy may become perfect. This is my commandment to you, to love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this--a man laying down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you. It is not you who chose me, but it is I who chose you and appointed you that you might go and be fruitful and that your fruit might remain; so that whatever petition you present to the Father in my name He may give you. "Thus I command you to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it has first had me as the fixed object of its hatred. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. But because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world--for that reason the world hates you.

When Jesus had thus spoken, He raised his eyes towards Heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son that the Son may glorify Thee; even as Thou hast given Him authority over all mankind, so that on all whom Thou hast given Him He may bestow the Life of the Ages. And in this consists the Life of the Ages--in knowing Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. read more.
I have glorified Thee on earth, having done perfectly the work which by Thine appointment has been mine to do. And now, Father, do Thou glorify me in Thine own presence, with the glory that I had in Thy presence before the world existed. "I have revealed Thy perfections to the men whom Thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to me, and they have obeyed Thy message. Now they know that whatever Thou hast given me is from Thee. For the truths which Thou didst teach me I have taught them. And they have received them, and have known for certain that I came out from Thy presence, and have believed that Thou didst send me. "I am making request for them: for the world I do not make any request, but for those whom Thou hast given me. Because they are Thine, and everything that is mine is Thine, and everything that is Thine is mine; and I am crowned with glory in them. I am now no longer in the world, but they are in the world and I am coming to Thee. "Holy Father, keep them true to Thy name--the name which Thou hast given me to bear--that they may be one, even as we are. While I was with them, I kept them true to Thy name--the name Thou hast given me to bear--and I kept watch over them, and not one of them is lost but only he who is doomed to destruction--that the Scripture may be fulfilled. "But now I am coming to Thee, and I speak these words while I am in the world, in order that they may have my gladness within them filling their hearts. I have given them Thy Message, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

For this is the Message you have heard from the beginning--that we are to love one another. We are not to resemble Cain, who was a child of the Evil one and killed his own brother. And why did he kill him? Because his own actions were wicked and his brother's actions righteous. Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you.

When Jesus had thus spoken, He raised his eyes towards Heaven and said, "Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son that the Son may glorify Thee; even as Thou hast given Him authority over all mankind, so that on all whom Thou hast given Him He may bestow the Life of the Ages. And in this consists the Life of the Ages--in knowing Thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. read more.
I have glorified Thee on earth, having done perfectly the work which by Thine appointment has been mine to do. And now, Father, do Thou glorify me in Thine own presence, with the glory that I had in Thy presence before the world existed. "I have revealed Thy perfections to the men whom Thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and Thou gavest them to me, and they have obeyed Thy message. Now they know that whatever Thou hast given me is from Thee. For the truths which Thou didst teach me I have taught them. And they have received them, and have known for certain that I came out from Thy presence, and have believed that Thou didst send me. "I am making request for them: for the world I do not make any request, but for those whom Thou hast given me. Because they are Thine, and everything that is mine is Thine, and everything that is Thine is mine; and I am crowned with glory in them. I am now no longer in the world, but they are in the world and I am coming to Thee. "Holy Father, keep them true to Thy name--the name which Thou hast given me to bear--that they may be one, even as we are. While I was with them, I kept them true to Thy name--the name Thou hast given me to bear--and I kept watch over them, and not one of them is lost but only he who is doomed to destruction--that the Scripture may be fulfilled. "But now I am coming to Thee, and I speak these words while I am in the world, in order that they may have my gladness within them filling their hearts. I have given them Thy Message, and the world has hated them, because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. I do not ask that Thou wilt remove them out of the world, but that Thou wilt protect them from the Evil one. They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.

"I am the Vine--the True Vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me--if it bears no fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are cleansed--through the teaching which I have given you. read more.
Continue in me, and let me continue in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself--that is, if it does not continue in the vine--so neither can you if you do not continue in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who continues in me and in whom I continue bears abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If any one does not continue in me, he is like the unfruitful branch which is at once thrown away and then withers up. Such branches they gather up and throw into the fire and they are burned. "If you continue in me and my sayings continue in you, ask what you will and it shall be done for you. By this is God glorified--by your bearing abundant fruit and thus being true disciples of mine. As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you: continue in my love. If you obey my commands, you will continue in my love, as I have obeyed my Father's commands and continue in His love. "These things I have spoken to you in order that I may have joy in you, and that your joy may become perfect. This is my commandment to you, to love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this--a man laying down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you. It is not you who chose me, but it is I who chose you and appointed you that you might go and be fruitful and that your fruit might remain; so that whatever petition you present to the Father in my name He may give you. "Thus I command you to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it has first had me as the fixed object of its hatred. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. But because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world--for that reason the world hates you.

"My time," replied Jesus, "has not yet come, but for you any time is suitable. It is impossible for the world to hate you; but me it does hate, because I give testimony concerning it that its conduct is evil.

"I am the Vine--the True Vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me--if it bears no fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are cleansed--through the teaching which I have given you. read more.
Continue in me, and let me continue in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself--that is, if it does not continue in the vine--so neither can you if you do not continue in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who continues in me and in whom I continue bears abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If any one does not continue in me, he is like the unfruitful branch which is at once thrown away and then withers up. Such branches they gather up and throw into the fire and they are burned. "If you continue in me and my sayings continue in you, ask what you will and it shall be done for you. By this is God glorified--by your bearing abundant fruit and thus being true disciples of mine. As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you: continue in my love. If you obey my commands, you will continue in my love, as I have obeyed my Father's commands and continue in His love. "These things I have spoken to you in order that I may have joy in you, and that your joy may become perfect. This is my commandment to you, to love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this--a man laying down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you. It is not you who chose me, but it is I who chose you and appointed you that you might go and be fruitful and that your fruit might remain; so that whatever petition you present to the Father in my name He may give you. "Thus I command you to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it has first had me as the fixed object of its hatred. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. But because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world--for that reason the world hates you. Bear in mind what I said to you, 'A servant is not superior to his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. But they will inflict all this suffering upon you on account of your bearing my name--because they do not know Him who sent me. "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin; but as the case stands they are without excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them, as I have, such miracles as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin; but they have in fact seen and also hated both me and my Father. But this has been so, in order that the saying may be fulfilled which stands written in their Law, 'They have hated me without any reason.'

"My time," replied Jesus, "has not yet come, but for you any time is suitable. It is impossible for the world to hate you; but me it does hate, because I give testimony concerning it that its conduct is evil. As for you, go up to the Festival. I do not now go up to this Festival, because my time is not yet fully come."

Jesus Christ is He who came with water and blood; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. And it is the Spirit who gives testimony-- because the Spirit is the Truth.

Verse Concepts

"I am the Vine--the True Vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me--if it bears no fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are cleansed--through the teaching which I have given you. read more.
Continue in me, and let me continue in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself--that is, if it does not continue in the vine--so neither can you if you do not continue in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who continues in me and in whom I continue bears abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If any one does not continue in me, he is like the unfruitful branch which is at once thrown away and then withers up. Such branches they gather up and throw into the fire and they are burned. "If you continue in me and my sayings continue in you, ask what you will and it shall be done for you. By this is God glorified--by your bearing abundant fruit and thus being true disciples of mine. As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you: continue in my love. If you obey my commands, you will continue in my love, as I have obeyed my Father's commands and continue in His love. "These things I have spoken to you in order that I may have joy in you, and that your joy may become perfect. This is my commandment to you, to love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this--a man laying down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you. It is not you who chose me, but it is I who chose you and appointed you that you might go and be fruitful and that your fruit might remain; so that whatever petition you present to the Father in my name He may give you. "Thus I command you to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it has first had me as the fixed object of its hatred. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. But because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world--for that reason the world hates you. Bear in mind what I said to you, 'A servant is not superior to his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. But they will inflict all this suffering upon you on account of your bearing my name--because they do not know Him who sent me. "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin; but as the case stands they are without excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them, as I have, such miracles as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin; but they have in fact seen and also hated both me and my Father. But this has been so, in order that the saying may be fulfilled which stands written in their Law, 'They have hated me without any reason.' "When the Advocate is come whom I will send to you from the Father's presence--the Spirit of Truth who comes forth from the Father's presence--He will be a witness concerning me.

And beware of grieving the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you have been sealed in preparation for the day of Redemption.

In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness; for we do not know what prayers to offer nor in what way to offer them. But the Spirit Himself pleads for us in yearnings that can find no words, and the Searcher of hearts knows what the Spirit's meaning is, because His intercessions for God's people are in harmony with God's will. Now we know that for those who love God all things are working together for good--for those, I mean, whom with deliberate purpose He has called.

But--to use the words of Scripture--we speak of things which eye has not seen nor ear heard, and which have never entered the heart of man: all that God has in readiness for them that love Him. For us, however, God has drawn aside the veil through the teaching of the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, including the depths of the divine nature.

"These things I have spoken to you in order to clear stumbling-blocks out of your path. You will be excluded from the synagogues; nay more, the time is coming when any one who has murdered one of you will suppose he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have failed to recognize the Father and to discover who I am. read more.
But I have spoken these things to you in order that when the time for their accomplishment comes you may remember them, and may recollect that I told you. I did not, however, tell you all this at first, because I was still with you. But now I an returning to Him who sent me; and not one of you asks me where I am going. But grief has filled your hearts because I have said all this to you. "Yet it is the truth that I am telling you--it is to your advantage that I go away. For unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world in respect of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement; -- of sin, because they do not believe in me; of righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you will no longer see me; of judgement, because the Prince of this world is under sentence. "I have much more to say to you, but you are unable at present to bear the burden of it. But when He has come--the Spirit of Truth--He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak as Himself originating what He says, but all that He hears He will speak, and He will make known the future to you. He will glorify me, because He will take of what is mine and will make it known to you.

Such is the confidence which we have through Christ in the presence of God; not that of ourselves we are competent to decide anything by our own reasonings, but our competency comes from God. It is He also who has made us competent to serve Him in connexion with a new Covenant, which is not a written code but a Spirit; for the written code inflicts death, but the Spirit gives Life.

The Spirit Himself bears witness, along with our own spirits, to the fact that we are children of God;

"I am the Vine--the True Vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me--if it bears no fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are cleansed--through the teaching which I have given you. read more.
Continue in me, and let me continue in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself--that is, if it does not continue in the vine--so neither can you if you do not continue in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who continues in me and in whom I continue bears abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If any one does not continue in me, he is like the unfruitful branch which is at once thrown away and then withers up. Such branches they gather up and throw into the fire and they are burned. "If you continue in me and my sayings continue in you, ask what you will and it shall be done for you. By this is God glorified--by your bearing abundant fruit and thus being true disciples of mine. As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you: continue in my love. If you obey my commands, you will continue in my love, as I have obeyed my Father's commands and continue in His love. "These things I have spoken to you in order that I may have joy in you, and that your joy may become perfect. This is my commandment to you, to love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this--a man laying down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you. It is not you who chose me, but it is I who chose you and appointed you that you might go and be fruitful and that your fruit might remain; so that whatever petition you present to the Father in my name He may give you. "Thus I command you to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it has first had me as the fixed object of its hatred. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. But because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world--for that reason the world hates you. Bear in mind what I said to you, 'A servant is not superior to his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. But they will inflict all this suffering upon you on account of your bearing my name--because they do not know Him who sent me. "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin; but as the case stands they are without excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them, as I have, such miracles as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin; but they have in fact seen and also hated both me and my Father. But this has been so, in order that the saying may be fulfilled which stands written in their Law, 'They have hated me without any reason.' "When the Advocate is come whom I will send to you from the Father's presence--the Spirit of Truth who comes forth from the Father's presence--He will be a witness concerning me. And you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the first.

The God of our forefathers has raised Jesus to life, whom you crucified and put to death. God has exalted Him to His right hand as Chief Leader and as Saviour, to give Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins. And we--and the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him--are witnesses as to these things."

"And now, impelled by a sense of duty, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit, at town after town, testifies to me that imprisonment and suffering are awaiting me.

For this reason I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles-- if, that is, you have heard of the work which God has graciously entrusted to me for your benefit, and that by a revelation the truth hitherto kept secret was made known to me as I have already briefly explained it to you. read more.
By means of that explanation, as you read it, you can judge of my insight into the truth of Christ which in earlier ages was not made known to the human race, as it has now been revealed to His holy Apostles and Prophets through the Spirit--

And the Holy Spirit also gives us His testimony; for when He had said,

Verse Concepts

Who but the man that believes that Jesus is the Son of God overcomes the world? Jesus Christ is He who came with water and blood; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. And it is the Spirit who gives testimony-- because the Spirit is the Truth. For there are three that give testimony-- the Spirit, the water, and the blood;

And indeed every one who is determined to live a godly life as a follower of Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

Verse Concepts

God, it seems to me, has exhibited us Apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; for we have come to be a spectacle to all creation--alike to angels and to men. We, for Christ's sake, are labeled as "foolish"; you, as Christians, are men of shrewd intelligence. We are mere weaklings: you are strong. You are in high repute: we are outcasts. To this very moment we endure both hunger and thirst, with scanty clothing and many a blow. read more.
Homes we have none. Wearily we toil, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we bear it patiently; when slandered, we try to conciliate. We have come to be regarded as the mere dirt and filth of the world--the refuse of the universe, even to this hour.

As He was leaving the Temple, one of His disciples exclaimed, "Look, Rabbi, what wonderful stones! what wonderful buildings!" "You see all these great buildings?" Jesus replied; "not one stone will be left here upon another--not thrown down." He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite to the Temple, when Peter, James, John, and Andrew, apart from the others asked Him, read more.
"Tell us, When will these things be? and what will be the sign when all these predictions are on the point of being fulfilled?" So Jesus began to say to them: "Take care that no one misleads you. Many will come assuming my name and saying, 'I am He;' and they will mislead many. But when you hear of wars and rumours of wars, do not be alarmed: come they must, but the End is not yet. For nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These miseries are but like the early pains of childbirth. "You yourselves must be on your guard. They will deliver you up to Sanhedrins; you will be brought into synagogues and cruelly beaten; and you will stand before governors and kings for my sake, to be witnesses to them for me. But the proclamation of the Good News must be carried to all the Gentiles before the End comes. When however they are marching you along under arrest, do not be anxious beforehand about what you are to say, but speak what is given you when the time comes; for it will not be you who speak, but the Holy Spirit. "Brother will betray brother to be killed, and fathers will betray children; and children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. You will be objects of universal hatred because you are called by my name, but those who stand firm to the End will be saved.

"Remember it is I who am sending you out, as sheep into the midst of wolves; prove yourselves as sagacious as serpents, and as innocent as doves. But beware of men; for they will deliver you up to appear before Sanhedrins, and will flog you in their synagogues; and you will even be put on trial before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness to them and to the Gentiles. read more.
But when they have delivered you up, have no anxiety as to how you shall speak or what you shall say; for at that very time it shall be given you what to say; for it is not you who will speak: it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and father, child; and children will rise against their own parents and will put them to death. And you will be objects of universal hatred because you are called by my name; but he who holds out to the End--he will be saved. Whenever they persecute you in one town, escape to the next; for I solemnly tell you that you will not have gone the round of all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. "The learner is never superior to his teacher, and the servant is never superior to his master. Enough for the learner to be on a level with his teacher, and for the servant to be on a level with his master. If they have called the master of the house Baal-zebul, how much more will they slander his servants?

Jesus had left the Temple and was going on His way, when His disciples came and called His attention to the Temple buildings. "You see all these?" He replied; "in solemn truth I tell you that there will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be pulled down." Afterwards He was on the Mount of Olives and was seated there when the disciples came to Him, apart from the others, and said, "Tell us when this will be; and what will be the sign of your Coming and of the Close of the Age?" read more.
"Take care that no one misleads you," answered Jesus; "for many will come assuming my name and saying 'I am the Christ;' and they will mislead many. And before long you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. Do not be alarmed, for such things must be; but the End is not yet. For nation will rise in arms against nation, kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places; but all these miseries are but like the early pains of childbirth. "At that time they will deliver you up to punishment and will put you to death; and you will be objects of hatred to all the nations because you are called by my name. Then will many stumble and fall, and they will betray one another and hate one another.

When some were remarking about the Temple, how it was embellished with beautiful stones and dedicated gifts, He said, "As to these things which you now admire, the time is coming when there will not be one stone left here upon another which will not be pulled down." "Rabbi, when will this be?" they asked Him, "and what will be the token given when these things are about to take place?" read more.
"See to it," He replied, "that you are not misled; for many will come assuming my name and professing, 'I am He,' or saying, 'The time is close at hand.' Do not go and follow them. But when you hear of wars and turmoils, be not afraid; for these things must happen first, but the end does not come immediately." Then He said to them, "Nation will rise in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be great earthquakes, and in places famines and pestilence; and there will be terrible sights and wonderful tokens from Heaven. "But before all these things happen they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you up to synagogues and to prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my sake. In the end all this will be evidence of your fidelity. "Make up your minds, however, not to prepare a defence beforehand, for I will give you utterance and wisdom which none of your opponents will be able to withstand or reply to. You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives, friends; and some of you they will put to death. You will be the objects of universal hatred because you are called by my name; and yet not a hair of your heads shall perish. By your patient endurance you will purchase your lives.

"I am the Vine--the True Vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me--if it bears no fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are cleansed--through the teaching which I have given you. read more.
Continue in me, and let me continue in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself--that is, if it does not continue in the vine--so neither can you if you do not continue in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who continues in me and in whom I continue bears abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If any one does not continue in me, he is like the unfruitful branch which is at once thrown away and then withers up. Such branches they gather up and throw into the fire and they are burned. "If you continue in me and my sayings continue in you, ask what you will and it shall be done for you. By this is God glorified--by your bearing abundant fruit and thus being true disciples of mine. As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you: continue in my love. If you obey my commands, you will continue in my love, as I have obeyed my Father's commands and continue in His love. "These things I have spoken to you in order that I may have joy in you, and that your joy may become perfect. This is my commandment to you, to love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this--a man laying down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you. It is not you who chose me, but it is I who chose you and appointed you that you might go and be fruitful and that your fruit might remain; so that whatever petition you present to the Father in my name He may give you. "Thus I command you to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it has first had me as the fixed object of its hatred. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. But because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world--for that reason the world hates you. Bear in mind what I said to you, 'A servant is not superior to his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.

"These things I have spoken to you in order to clear stumbling-blocks out of your path. You will be excluded from the synagogues; nay more, the time is coming when any one who has murdered one of you will suppose he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have failed to recognize the Father and to discover who I am. read more.
But I have spoken these things to you in order that when the time for their accomplishment comes you may remember them, and may recollect that I told you. I did not, however, tell you all this at first, because I was still with you.

And they, upon hearing the story, all lifted up their voices to God and said, "O Sovereign Lord, it is Thou who didst make Heaven and earth and sea, and all that is in them, and didst say through the Holy Spirit by the lips of our forefather David Thy servant, "'Why have the nations stamped and raged, and the peoples formed futile plans? The kings of the earth came near, and the rulers assembled together against the Lord and against His Anointed.'" read more.
"They did indeed assemble in this city in hostility to Thy holy Servant Jesus whom Thou hadst anointed--Herod and Pontius Pilate with the Gentiles and also the tribes of Israel--

Now Saul, whose every breath was a threat of destruction for the disciples of the Lord, went to the High Priest and begged from him letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, in order that if he found any believers there, either men or women, he might bring them in chains to Jerusalem. But on the journey, as he was getting near Damascus, suddenly there flashed round him a light from Heaven; read more.
and falling to the ground he heard a voice which said to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" "Who art thou, Lord?" he asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," was the reply.

"I am the Vine--the True Vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me--if it bears no fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are cleansed--through the teaching which I have given you. read more.
Continue in me, and let me continue in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself--that is, if it does not continue in the vine--so neither can you if you do not continue in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who continues in me and in whom I continue bears abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If any one does not continue in me, he is like the unfruitful branch which is at once thrown away and then withers up. Such branches they gather up and throw into the fire and they are burned. "If you continue in me and my sayings continue in you, ask what you will and it shall be done for you. By this is God glorified--by your bearing abundant fruit and thus being true disciples of mine. As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you: continue in my love. If you obey my commands, you will continue in my love, as I have obeyed my Father's commands and continue in His love. "These things I have spoken to you in order that I may have joy in you, and that your joy may become perfect. This is my commandment to you, to love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this--a man laying down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you. It is not you who chose me, but it is I who chose you and appointed you that you might go and be fruitful and that your fruit might remain; so that whatever petition you present to the Father in my name He may give you. "Thus I command you to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it has first had me as the fixed object of its hatred. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. But because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world--for that reason the world hates you. Bear in mind what I said to you, 'A servant is not superior to his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. But they will inflict all this suffering upon you on account of your bearing my name--because they do not know Him who sent me. "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin; but as the case stands they are without excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them, as I have, such miracles as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin; but they have in fact seen and also hated both me and my Father. But this has been so, in order that the saying may be fulfilled which stands written in their Law, 'They have hated me without any reason.'

The man went and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had restored him to health; and on this account the Jews began to persecute Jesus--because He did these things on the Sabbath. His reply to their accusation was, "My Father works unceasingly, and so do I." read more.
On this account then the Jews were all the more eager to put Him to death--because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also spoke of God as being in a special sense His Father, thus putting Himself on a level with God.

"But on my way, when I was now not far from Damascus, about noon a sudden blaze of light from Heaven shone round me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, "'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' "'Who art thou, Lord?' I asked. "'I am Jesus, the Nazarene,' He replied, 'whom you are persecuting.'

"I am the Vine--the True Vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me--if it bears no fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are cleansed--through the teaching which I have given you. read more.
Continue in me, and let me continue in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself--that is, if it does not continue in the vine--so neither can you if you do not continue in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who continues in me and in whom I continue bears abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If any one does not continue in me, he is like the unfruitful branch which is at once thrown away and then withers up. Such branches they gather up and throw into the fire and they are burned. "If you continue in me and my sayings continue in you, ask what you will and it shall be done for you. By this is God glorified--by your bearing abundant fruit and thus being true disciples of mine. As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you: continue in my love. If you obey my commands, you will continue in my love, as I have obeyed my Father's commands and continue in His love. "These things I have spoken to you in order that I may have joy in you, and that your joy may become perfect. This is my commandment to you, to love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this--a man laying down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you. It is not you who chose me, but it is I who chose you and appointed you that you might go and be fruitful and that your fruit might remain; so that whatever petition you present to the Father in my name He may give you. "Thus I command you to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it has first had me as the fixed object of its hatred. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. But because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world--for that reason the world hates you. Bear in mind what I said to you, 'A servant is not superior to his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. But they will inflict all this suffering upon you on account of your bearing my name--because they do not know Him who sent me. "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin; but as the case stands they are without excuse for their sin.

"I am the Vine--the True Vine, and my Father is the vine-dresser. Every branch in me--if it bears no fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are cleansed--through the teaching which I have given you. read more.
Continue in me, and let me continue in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself--that is, if it does not continue in the vine--so neither can you if you do not continue in me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He who continues in me and in whom I continue bears abundant fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If any one does not continue in me, he is like the unfruitful branch which is at once thrown away and then withers up. Such branches they gather up and throw into the fire and they are burned. "If you continue in me and my sayings continue in you, ask what you will and it shall be done for you. By this is God glorified--by your bearing abundant fruit and thus being true disciples of mine. As the Father has loved me, I have also loved you: continue in my love. If you obey my commands, you will continue in my love, as I have obeyed my Father's commands and continue in His love. "These things I have spoken to you in order that I may have joy in you, and that your joy may become perfect. This is my commandment to you, to love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this--a man laying down his life for his friends. You are my friends, if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because all that I have heard from the Father I have made known to you. It is not you who chose me, but it is I who chose you and appointed you that you might go and be fruitful and that your fruit might remain; so that whatever petition you present to the Father in my name He may give you. "Thus I command you to love one another. If the world hates you, remember that it has first had me as the fixed object of its hatred. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own property. But because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world--for that reason the world hates you. Bear in mind what I said to you, 'A servant is not superior to his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you: if they have obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. But they will inflict all this suffering upon you on account of your bearing my name--because they do not know Him who sent me. "If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin; but as the case stands they are without excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them, as I have, such miracles as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin; but they have in fact seen and also hated both me and my Father. But this has been so, in order that the saying may be fulfilled which stands written in their Law, 'They have hated me without any reason.' "When the Advocate is come whom I will send to you from the Father's presence--the Spirit of Truth who comes forth from the Father's presence--He will be a witness concerning me. And you also are witnesses, because you have been with me from the first.

And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate to be for ever with you--the Spirit of truth. That Spirit the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him. You know Him, because He remains by your side and is in you. I will not leave you bereaved: I am coming to you. read more.
Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me: because I live, you also shall live.

But now I an returning to Him who sent me; and not one of you asks me where I am going. But grief has filled your hearts because I have said all this to you. "Yet it is the truth that I am telling you--it is to your advantage that I go away. For unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. read more.
And He, when He comes, will convict the world in respect of sin, of righteousness, and of judgement; -- of sin, because they do not believe in me; of righteousness, because I am going to the Father, and you will no longer see me; of judgement, because the Prince of this world is under sentence. "I have much more to say to you, but you are unable at present to bear the burden of it. But when He has come--the Spirit of Truth--He will guide you into all the truth. For He will not speak as Himself originating what He says, but all that He hears He will speak, and He will make known the future to you.