John 15:23 Themes and Topics

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you always--the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot receive this Spirit, because it does not see him or recognize him, but you recognize him, because he is always with you, and is within you. I will not leave you bereaved; I will come to you.

I am the True Vine, and my Father is the Vine-grower. Any unfruitful branch in me he takes away, and he cleanses every fruitful branch, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the Message that I have given you. read more.
Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains united to the vine; no more can you, unless you remain united to me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He that remains united to me, while I remain united to him--he bears fruit plentifully; for you can do nothing apart from me. If any one does not remain united to me, he is thrown away, as a branch would be, and withers up. Such branches are collected and thrown into the fire, and are burnt. If you remain united to me, and my teaching remains in your hearts, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be yours. It is by your bearing fruit plentifully, and so showing yourselves my disciples, that my Father is honored. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; remain in my love. If you lay my commands to heart, you will remain in my love; just as I have laid the Father's commands to heart and remain in his love. I have told you all this so that my own joy may be yours, and that your joy may be complete. This is my command--Love one another, as I have loved you. No one can give greater proof of love than by laying down his life for his friends. And you are my friends, if you do what I command you. I no longer call you 'servants,' because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have given you the name of 'friends,' because I made known to you everything that I learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you, and I appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that should remain, so that the Father might grant you whatever you ask in my Name. I am giving you these commands that you may love one another. If the world hates you, you know that it has first hated me. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world--that is why the world hates you. Remember what I said to you--'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have laid my Message to heart, they will lay yours to heart also. But they will do all this to you, because you believe in my Name, for they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin to answer for; but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them such work as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin to answer for; but, as it is, they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. And so is fulfilled what is said in their Law--'They hated me without cause.' But, when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father--the Spirit of Truth, who comes from the Father--he will bear testimony to me;

I did not tell you all this at first, because I was with you. But now I am to return to him who sent me; and yet not one of you asks me--'Where are you going?' Although your hearts are full of sorrow at all that I have been saying to you. Yet I am only telling you the truth; it is for your good that I should go away. For otherwise the Helper will never come to you, but, if I leave you, I will send him to you. read more.
And he, when he comes, will bring conviction to the world as to Sin, and as to Righteousness, and as to Judgment; As to Sin, for men do not believe in me; As to Righteousness, for I am going to the Father, and you will see me no longer; As to Judgment, for the Spirit that is ruling this world has been condemned. I have still much to say to you, but you cannot bear it now. Yet when he--The Spirit of Truth--comes, he will guide you into all Truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but he will speak of all that he hears; and he will tell you of the things that are to come. He will honor me; because he will take of what is mine, and will tell it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; that is why I said that he takes of what is mine, and will tell it to you.

After this, the Master appointed seventy-two other disciples, and sent them on as his Messengers, two and two, in advance, to every town and place that he was himself intending to visit. "The harvest," he said, "is abundant, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray to the Owner of the harvest to send laborers to gather in his harvest. Now, go. Remember, I am sending you out as my Messengers like lambs among wolves. read more.
Do not take a purse with you, or a bag, or sandals; and do not stop to greet any one on your journey. Whatever house you go to stay at, begin by praying for a blessing on it. Then, if any one there is deserving of a blessing, your blessing will rest upon him; but if not, it will come back upon yourselves. Remain at that same house, and eat and drink whatever they offer you; for the worker is worth his wages. Do not keep changing from one house to another. Whatever town you visit, if the people welcome you, eat what is set before you; Cure the sick there, and tell people 'The Kingdom of God is close at hand. But, whatever town you go to visit, if the people do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say 'We wipe off the very dust of your town which has clung to Our feet; still, be assured that the Kingdom of God is close at Hand.' I tell you that the doom of Sodom will be more bearable on 'That Day' than the doom of that town. Alas for you, Chorazin! Alas for you, Bethsaida! For, if the Miracles which have been done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have sat in sackcloth and ashes and repented long ago. Yet the doom of Tyre and Sidon will be more bearable at the Judgment than yours. And you, Capernaum! Will you 'exalt yourself to heaven'? 'You shall go down to the Place of Death.' He who listens to you is listening to me, and he who rejects you is rejecting me; while he who rejects me is rejecting him who sent me as his Messenger."

I am the True Vine, and my Father is the Vine-grower. Any unfruitful branch in me he takes away, and he cleanses every fruitful branch, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the Message that I have given you. read more.
Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains united to the vine; no more can you, unless you remain united to me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He that remains united to me, while I remain united to him--he bears fruit plentifully; for you can do nothing apart from me. If any one does not remain united to me, he is thrown away, as a branch would be, and withers up. Such branches are collected and thrown into the fire, and are burnt. If you remain united to me, and my teaching remains in your hearts, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be yours. It is by your bearing fruit plentifully, and so showing yourselves my disciples, that my Father is honored. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; remain in my love. If you lay my commands to heart, you will remain in my love; just as I have laid the Father's commands to heart and remain in his love. I have told you all this so that my own joy may be yours, and that your joy may be complete. This is my command--Love one another, as I have loved you. No one can give greater proof of love than by laying down his life for his friends. And you are my friends, if you do what I command you. I no longer call you 'servants,' because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have given you the name of 'friends,' because I made known to you everything that I learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you, and I appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that should remain, so that the Father might grant you whatever you ask in my Name. I am giving you these commands that you may love one another. If the world hates you, you know that it has first hated me. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world--that is why the world hates you. Remember what I said to you--'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have laid my Message to heart, they will lay yours to heart also. But they will do all this to you, because you believe in my Name, for they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin to answer for; but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them such work as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin to answer for; but, as it is, they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. And so is fulfilled what is said in their Law--'They hated me without cause.'

"My time," answered Jesus, "is not come yet, but your time is always here. The world cannot hate you, but it does hate me, because I testify that its ways are evil. Go yourselves up to the Festival; I am not going to this Festival yet, because my time has not yet come."

He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them such work as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin to answer for; but, as it is, they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.

He it is whose Coming was attested by means of Water and Blood--Jesus Christ himself; not by Water only, but by Water and by Blood. And there is the Spirit also to bear testimony, and the Spirit is Truth itself. Verse Concepts

I am the True Vine, and my Father is the Vine-grower. Any unfruitful branch in me he takes away, and he cleanses every fruitful branch, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the Message that I have given you. read more.
Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains united to the vine; no more can you, unless you remain united to me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He that remains united to me, while I remain united to him--he bears fruit plentifully; for you can do nothing apart from me. If any one does not remain united to me, he is thrown away, as a branch would be, and withers up. Such branches are collected and thrown into the fire, and are burnt. If you remain united to me, and my teaching remains in your hearts, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be yours. It is by your bearing fruit plentifully, and so showing yourselves my disciples, that my Father is honored. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; remain in my love. If you lay my commands to heart, you will remain in my love; just as I have laid the Father's commands to heart and remain in his love. I have told you all this so that my own joy may be yours, and that your joy may be complete. This is my command--Love one another, as I have loved you. No one can give greater proof of love than by laying down his life for his friends. And you are my friends, if you do what I command you. I no longer call you 'servants,' because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have given you the name of 'friends,' because I made known to you everything that I learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you, and I appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that should remain, so that the Father might grant you whatever you ask in my Name. I am giving you these commands that you may love one another. If the world hates you, you know that it has first hated me. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world--that is why the world hates you. Remember what I said to you--'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have laid my Message to heart, they will lay yours to heart also. But they will do all this to you, because you believe in my Name, for they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin to answer for; but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them such work as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin to answer for; but, as it is, they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. And so is fulfilled what is said in their Law--'They hated me without cause.' But, when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father--the Spirit of Truth, who comes from the Father--he will bear testimony to me;

And do not grieve God's Holy Spirit; for it was through that Spirit that God sealed you as his, against the Day of Redemption. Verse Concepts

So, also, the Spirit supports us in our weakness. We do not even know how to pray as we should; but the Spirit himself pleads for us in sighs that can find no utterance. Yet he who searches all our hearts knows what the Spirit's meaning is, because the pleadings of the Spirit for Christ's People are in accordance with his will. But we do know that God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love him-those who have received the Call in accordance with his purpose.

It is what Scripture speaks of as-'What eye never saw, nor ear ever heard, what never entered the mind of man-even all that God has prepared for those who love him.' Yet to us God revealed it through his Spirit; for the Spirit fathoms all things, even the inmost depths of God's being.

I have spoken to you in this way so that you may not falter. They will expel you from their Synagogues; indeed the time is coming when any one who kills you will think that he is making an offering to God. They will do this, because they have not learned to know the Father, or even me. read more.
But I have spoken to you of these things that, when the time for them comes, you may remember that I told you about them myself. I did not tell you all this at first, because I was with you. But now I am to return to him who sent me; and yet not one of you asks me--'Where are you going?' Although your hearts are full of sorrow at all that I have been saying to you. Yet I am only telling you the truth; it is for your good that I should go away. For otherwise the Helper will never come to you, but, if I leave you, I will send him to you. And he, when he comes, will bring conviction to the world as to Sin, and as to Righteousness, and as to Judgment; As to Sin, for men do not believe in me; As to Righteousness, for I am going to the Father, and you will see me no longer; As to Judgment, for the Spirit that is ruling this world has been condemned. I have still much to say to you, but you cannot bear it now. Yet when he--The Spirit of Truth--comes, he will guide you into all Truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but he will speak of all that he hears; and he will tell you of the things that are to come. He will honor me; because he will take of what is mine, and will tell it to you.

This, then, is the confidence in regard to God that we have gained through the Christ. I do not mean that we are fit to form any judgment by ourselves, as if on our own authority; Our fitness comes from God, who himself made us fit to be ministers of a New Covenant, of which the substance is, not a written Law, but a Spirit. For the written Law means Death, but the Spirit gives Life.

The Spirit himself unites with our spirits in bearing witness to our being God's children, Verse Concepts

I am the True Vine, and my Father is the Vine-grower. Any unfruitful branch in me he takes away, and he cleanses every fruitful branch, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the Message that I have given you. read more.
Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains united to the vine; no more can you, unless you remain united to me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He that remains united to me, while I remain united to him--he bears fruit plentifully; for you can do nothing apart from me. If any one does not remain united to me, he is thrown away, as a branch would be, and withers up. Such branches are collected and thrown into the fire, and are burnt. If you remain united to me, and my teaching remains in your hearts, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be yours. It is by your bearing fruit plentifully, and so showing yourselves my disciples, that my Father is honored. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; remain in my love. If you lay my commands to heart, you will remain in my love; just as I have laid the Father's commands to heart and remain in his love. I have told you all this so that my own joy may be yours, and that your joy may be complete. This is my command--Love one another, as I have loved you. No one can give greater proof of love than by laying down his life for his friends. And you are my friends, if you do what I command you. I no longer call you 'servants,' because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have given you the name of 'friends,' because I made known to you everything that I learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you, and I appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that should remain, so that the Father might grant you whatever you ask in my Name. I am giving you these commands that you may love one another. If the world hates you, you know that it has first hated me. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world--that is why the world hates you. Remember what I said to you--'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have laid my Message to heart, they will lay yours to heart also. But they will do all this to you, because you believe in my Name, for they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin to answer for; but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them such work as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin to answer for; but, as it is, they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. And so is fulfilled what is said in their Law--'They hated me without cause.' But, when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father--the Spirit of Truth, who comes from the Father--he will bear testimony to me; Yes, and you also are to bear testimony, because you have been with me from the first.

The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, whom you put to death by hanging him on a cross. It is this Jesus whom God has exalted to his right hand, to be a Guide and a Savior, to give Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins. And we are witness to the truth of this, and so is the Holy Spirit--the gift of God to those who obey him."

And now, under spiritual constraint, I am here on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, Except that in town after town the Holy Spirit plainly declares to me that imprisonment and troubles await me.

For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Jesus, the Christ, for the sake of you Gentiles-- For you have heard, I suppose, of the responsible charge with which God entrusted me for your benefit, And also that it was by direct revelation that the hidden purpose of God was made known to me, as I have already briefly told you. read more.
And, by reading what I have written, you will be able to judge how far I understand this hidden purpose of God in Christ. In former generations it was not made known to mankind, as fully as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to the Apostles and Prophets among Christ's People--

We have also the testimony of the Holy Spirit. For, after saying-- Verse Concepts

Who is he that conquers the world but the man who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? He it is whose Coming was attested by means of Water and Blood--Jesus Christ himself; not by Water only, but by Water and by Blood. And there is the Spirit also to bear testimony, and the Spirit is Truth itself. It is a three-fold testimony--

All who heard their story, moved by a common impulse, raised their voices to God in prayer: "O Sovereign Lord, it is you who has 'made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them,' And who, by the lips of our ancestor, your servant David, who spoke under the influence of the Holy Spirit, have said-- 'Why did the nations rage, and the peoples form vain designs? The kings of the earth set their array, and its rulers gathered together, against the Lord and against his Christ.' read more.
There have indeed gathered together in this city against your holy Servant Jesus, whom you has consecrated the Christ, not Herod and Pontius Pilate only, but the nations and the people of Israel besides--

Meanwhile Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the High Priest, And asked him to give him letters to the Jewish congregations at Damascus, authorizing him, if he found there any supporters of the Cause, whether men or women, to have them put in chains and brought to Jerusalem. While on his journey, as he was nearing Damascus, suddenly a light from the heavens flashed around him. read more.
He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him-- "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" "Who are you, Lord?" he asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," the voice answered;

I am the True Vine, and my Father is the Vine-grower. Any unfruitful branch in me he takes away, and he cleanses every fruitful branch, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the Message that I have given you. read more.
Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains united to the vine; no more can you, unless you remain united to me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He that remains united to me, while I remain united to him--he bears fruit plentifully; for you can do nothing apart from me. If any one does not remain united to me, he is thrown away, as a branch would be, and withers up. Such branches are collected and thrown into the fire, and are burnt. If you remain united to me, and my teaching remains in your hearts, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be yours. It is by your bearing fruit plentifully, and so showing yourselves my disciples, that my Father is honored. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; remain in my love. If you lay my commands to heart, you will remain in my love; just as I have laid the Father's commands to heart and remain in his love. I have told you all this so that my own joy may be yours, and that your joy may be complete. This is my command--Love one another, as I have loved you. No one can give greater proof of love than by laying down his life for his friends. And you are my friends, if you do what I command you. I no longer call you 'servants,' because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have given you the name of 'friends,' because I made known to you everything that I learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you, and I appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that should remain, so that the Father might grant you whatever you ask in my Name. I am giving you these commands that you may love one another. If the world hates you, you know that it has first hated me. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world--that is why the world hates you. Remember what I said to you--'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have laid my Message to heart, they will lay yours to heart also. But they will do all this to you, because you believe in my Name, for they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin to answer for; but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them such work as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin to answer for; but, as it is, they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. And so is fulfilled what is said in their Law--'They hated me without cause.'

The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had cured him. And that was why the Jews began to persecute Jesus--because he did things of this kind on the Sabbath. But Jesus replied: "My Father works to this very hour, and I work also." read more.
This made the Jews all the more eager to kill him, because not only was he doing away with the Sabbath, but he actually called God his own Father--putting himself on an equality with God.

While I was still on my way, just as I was getting close to Damascus, about mid-day, suddenly there flashed from the heavens a great light all round me. I fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to me 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' 'Who are you, Lord?' I replied. Then the voice said 'I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.'

Who are you, that you should pass judgment on the servant of another? His standing or falling concerns his own master. And stand he will, for his Master can enable him to stand. Verse Concepts

For it is by your words that you will be acquitted, and by your words that you will be condemned." Verse Concepts

Verse Concepts

In this the man who plants and the man who waters are one; yet each will receive his own reward in proportion to his own labor. Verse Concepts

"If you had been blind," replied Jesus, "you would have had no sin to answer for; but, as it is, you say 'We can see,' and so your sin remains. Verse Concepts

Verse Concepts

For every one must bear his own load. Verse Concepts

I am the True Vine, and my Father is the Vine-grower. Any unfruitful branch in me he takes away, and he cleanses every fruitful branch, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the Message that I have given you. read more.
Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains united to the vine; no more can you, unless you remain united to me. I am the Vine, you are the branches. He that remains united to me, while I remain united to him--he bears fruit plentifully; for you can do nothing apart from me. If any one does not remain united to me, he is thrown away, as a branch would be, and withers up. Such branches are collected and thrown into the fire, and are burnt. If you remain united to me, and my teaching remains in your hearts, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be yours. It is by your bearing fruit plentifully, and so showing yourselves my disciples, that my Father is honored. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; remain in my love. If you lay my commands to heart, you will remain in my love; just as I have laid the Father's commands to heart and remain in his love. I have told you all this so that my own joy may be yours, and that your joy may be complete. This is my command--Love one another, as I have loved you. No one can give greater proof of love than by laying down his life for his friends. And you are my friends, if you do what I command you. I no longer call you 'servants,' because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have given you the name of 'friends,' because I made known to you everything that I learned from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you, and I appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that should remain, so that the Father might grant you whatever you ask in my Name. I am giving you these commands that you may love one another. If the world hates you, you know that it has first hated me. If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world--that is why the world hates you. Remember what I said to you--'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have laid my Message to heart, they will lay yours to heart also. But they will do all this to you, because you believe in my Name, for they do not know him who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin to answer for; but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. He who hates me hates my Father also. If I had not done among them such work as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin to answer for; but, as it is, they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. And so is fulfilled what is said in their Law--'They hated me without cause.' But, when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father--the Spirit of Truth, who comes from the Father--he will bear testimony to me; Yes, and you also are to bear testimony, because you have been with me from the first.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you always--the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot receive this Spirit, because it does not see him or recognize him, but you recognize him, because he is always with you, and is within you. I will not leave you bereaved; I will come to you. read more.
In a little while the world will see me no more, but you will still see me; because I am living, you will be living also.

I did not tell you all this at first, because I was with you. But now I am to return to him who sent me; and yet not one of you asks me--'Where are you going?' Although your hearts are full of sorrow at all that I have been saying to you. Yet I am only telling you the truth; it is for your good that I should go away. For otherwise the Helper will never come to you, but, if I leave you, I will send him to you. read more.
And he, when he comes, will bring conviction to the world as to Sin, and as to Righteousness, and as to Judgment; As to Sin, for men do not believe in me; As to Righteousness, for I am going to the Father, and you will see me no longer; As to Judgment, for the Spirit that is ruling this world has been condemned. I have still much to say to you, but you cannot bear it now. Yet when he--The Spirit of Truth--comes, he will guide you into all Truth; for he will not speak on his own authority, but he will speak of all that he hears; and he will tell you of the things that are to come.