Thematic Bible




Thematic Bible



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.

"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.


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.


To them it was revealed that they were serving not themselves but you, when they foretold the very things which have now been openly declared to you by those who, having been taught by the Holy Spirit which had been sent from Heaven, brought you the Good News. Angels long to stoop and look into these things.

And He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you--that everything must be fulfilled that is written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and the Psalms concerning me." Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said, "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise again from among the dead; read more.
and that proclamation would be made, in His name, of repentance and forgiveness of sins to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem. You are witnesses as to these things. And remember that I am about to send out my Father's promised gift to rest upon you. But, as for you, wait patiently in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."

And because you are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of His Son to enter your hearts and cry "Abba! our Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir also through God's own act.


"If any one loves me," replied Jesus, "he will obey my teaching; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who has no love for me does not obey my teaching; and yet the teaching to which you are listening is not mine, but is the teaching of the Father who sent me. "All this I have spoken to you while still with you. read more.
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will teach you everything, and will bring to your memories all that I have said to you.

"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.

"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.



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.


To them it was revealed that they were serving not themselves but you, when they foretold the very things which have now been openly declared to you by those who, having been taught by the Holy Spirit which had been sent from Heaven, brought you the Good News. Angels long to stoop and look into these things.

And He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you--that everything must be fulfilled that is written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and the Psalms concerning me." Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and He said, "Thus it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise again from among the dead; read more.
and that proclamation would be made, in His name, of repentance and forgiveness of sins to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem. You are witnesses as to these things. And remember that I am about to send out my Father's promised gift to rest upon you. But, as for you, wait patiently in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."

And because you are sons, God has sent out the Spirit of His Son to enter your hearts and cry "Abba! our Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir also through God's own act.


"If any one loves me," replied Jesus, "he will obey my teaching; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who has no love for me does not obey my teaching; and yet the teaching to which you are listening is not mine, but is the teaching of the Father who sent me. "All this I have spoken to you while still with you. read more.
But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will teach you everything, and will bring to your memories all that I have said to you.

"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.

"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.



so that you may recall the words spoken long ago by the holy Prophets, and the commandments of our Lord and Saviour given you through your Apostles.

When however He had risen from among the dead, His disciples recollected that He had said this; and they believed the Scripture and the teaching which Jesus had given them.

Then they remembered His words, and returning from the tomb they reported all this to the Eleven and to all the rest.

The meaning of this His disciples did not understand at the time; but after Jesus was glorified they recollected that this was written about Him, and that they had done this to Him.

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.